reading, free lunch, exhibitionist, bees

there are way too many partially read books lying around this apartment. they reflect the disorganization within. right now
worldchanging,
the life and death of great american cities
relationship development intervention with young children
in persuasion nation
magic for beginners
collapse (mentioned earlier)

these links are boring me a little

also Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson

2 books on global warming i just bought have not been opened

also just ordered 2 discipline books online, as things are getting a little out of control around here lately! i'll report on them later

i've actually finished magic for beginners and persuasion nation, as short stories are my old best friends to spend time with, and if anyone wants to borrow either, come on over! i give persuasion nation a 9/10 and magic for beginners a 7 or 8, with no definition of the rating scale available. the other books are stimulating my children-numbed brain in a good way so far. i'm starting to make teeny tiny little green changes in our household, as it seems like changing our stuff will be a first step, our lifestyles next, and moving into the outer world last. at least for us. so we are composting our food scraps now (and hmm, there do seem to be more fruit flies flitting around), getting more bulk food, instituting a clean-up system which doesn't entail 10 paper towels per meal (maya likes them for dessert, i think she is getting some new molars), bought some tough metal canteens, and planted some drought tolerant plants on the deck to replace the old and sickly thirsty english garden types. also trying to think about the city a little more in terms of neighborhood, and what is a healthy neighborhood. ours is a special one, healthy in some ways, but hurt by the highway traffic, huge number of mentally and physically ill people coming in and out of sf general, and, in my opinion, the lack of front porches. i miss those big front porches we had so many of back east! i wonder if we would be happier in a healthier neighborhood, or even a few blocks away from here. i will read more of the great american cities book tonight.

so, more disorganized rambling. today we tried a free soccer class through parks and rec at garfield park. miles tried really hard and concentrated dribbling the ball for about 10 minutes, but then gave up in despair. "maybe when i'm a LITTLE bit older." he opted for running around the park with edison while his sister did a whole lot of whining and basically attacking (watch out little girl with the toy stroller!), and feeling conflicted between wanting to be held and taken care of and wanting to be on her own. whew. i need a vacation. i really do. at 12 the park served a free lunch and we waited in line for our american cheese on white bread bun, carrots, and milk with about 40 people who looked like they might need the lunch more than we. a lovely tan older man was sleeping in the sun with his pants unzipped and his, umm, thing sticking out right by our picnic spot. i told the director and the man zipped up and went back to sleep. did not make me hungry. this sparked a lively discussion about the pants police, why miles and edison could not go see the man's penis, sorry if you wanted to see his penis, but he's not a man you should be near because he doesn't follow the rules, etc etc until it came down to miles wondering what was so bad about the man's penis and i made up the fabulous lie that is was dangerous because he might pee on someone by accident.

we topped off our afternoon with a visit from the gentle giant bee remover jerry motak ( i highly recommend him and his wife for your insect needs), who came to remove what turned out to be an umbrella wasp nest out on our deck. he told miles (and meant it) that he would buy him a bee mask and train him to raise honey bees and remove insect problems when miles was older because it is a good job, an exciting job. maya was so freaked out by the mask that she could only be consoled with access to my checkbook. ripping and a little snacking. we then, desperate for activities, chopped up bananas and mixed them with hershey's syrup and put them in the freezer, followed by a not so fun for me game of miles being a carnivorous cat and maya his desperate to understand and catch up follower (we think she was a cat too). a little riding bikes up and down the hall and trying not to bash the walls with their new paint job but failing. a little game of throw wooden puzzle pieces on the floor in a pile because "maya did it and i want to be just like maya." then finally a calmish dinner of spinach pasta and a short chase mommy around naked into the tub with BOTH kids laughing and no one crying which was a good end for the day. hopefully tonight there won't be another earthquake, as last night's set me on an anxious tangent that lasted for hours and was only settled by some benadryl. i was visualizing us in a nice solar cabin somewhere with no earthquakes, in between horrifying images of earthquake damage to people. it was kind of a nasty little earthquake, felt like some big rude person grabbing and shaking the bed.

time to go read one of the many books with breaking spines around here.

goodnight.

oh yeah, and last night we watched the wild parrots of telegraph hill and it is pretty cute