And The Earth Shook

We had an earthquake here tonight---a 5.6. Not enormous but definitely enough to feel. It was the first one that any of my kids had felt--the youngest was a bit freaked out but the two older ones thought it was quite cool. Um...I don't know if cool is really the word that comes to my mind but it's a bit awe-inspiring. You think that surely it's done now but no...keeps going. Anyway. No reports of injuries anywhere or damage. Wasn't the big one....but a little reminder that it could come someday.

Which brings me to survival methods. There's a theory called "Triangle of Life" which is interesting and possibly life-saving. Unfortunately, it's been discredited by the American Red Cross. They strongly hold to the "Drop, Cover, and Hold On" method. It's a mystery for sure. When the big one hits we're going to be running back and forth underneath stuff, beside it, in the fetal position, under a doorway....who knows. I just hope when it hits I'm visiting the east coast or something (where I'll likely be caught in a tornado or blizzard or some such thing). Most of us prefer the catastrophe we know, I guess.

At any rate, a little reminder that life is unpredictable and uncertain and that we're definitely not in charge--no matter how much we might like to think we are.

A Puzzler

Many mornings I see a woman walking near my neighborhood---she's walks at a good clip and pushes a stroller with one hand.....an empty stroller. Every time I see her, the stroller is empty. So I'm confused. Or she is. Or we both are. Is she practicing? Is she delusional? Did she drop the baby off at baby school and is walking the stroller home? It's just strange. I'm not sure if I should feel sorry for her or steer clear.

Let's Give Them A Hand.....No, Let's Not

When you consider all the things that people have to deal with, I know this ranks right down there in the bottom one percent as far as importance, difficulty, etc. etc. you name it. BUT. My kids do this thing that drives me absolutely batty. You ready? They clap incessantly. Sounds harmless? Let me tell you, some days I think I'll go nuts. They don't just clap like "yay, that was neat." They clap loud, deliberate, slow cymbal-sounding claps that make my head split in two. And if they're in a room that's kind of echo-y, it's astonishing how loud a clap can be. They've mastered the art of having just enough air between their palms---or some such thing---to make a simple clap become an act of torture.

Yes, yes, I tell them to stop. We're working on that part.

So if you ever see one of my children minus a hand or two, you'll know why.

I Am A Rock

Do you ever feel like your heart is this hard little chunk sitting uncomfortably in the middle of your chest? Like it rises up to choke you when you need to swallow and leaves a bitter taste in your mouth? Like bits of it slough off and leave a gritty trail when you open your mouth and instead of kind, encouraging words, it's little painful pellets that burst forth, hurting and maiming? Do you ever feel like it'll take a complete season of rain and tornadoes, hurricanes and whirlwind storms to soften the rock that has settled inside?

Suffering

I know that there are people starving all over the world. Unmentionable atrocities are happening in many places right this instant. Death. Sickness. Sorrow.

But I had to listen all morning to my youngest reading every single page of a Family Circus book. Now let me tell you about suffering.

The Weight Of Education

The other day I weighed my sixth grader's backpack. It weighed in at a hefty 33 pounds. Thirty-three pounds!! It's ridiculous for a kid to be hauling around 33 pounds of books and crud, ruining his back in the process. So then we went to the rolling backpack, which dismayed my senior because it's so uncool. I do see a lot more rolling backpacks now than when he was a sixth-grader so I don't think there's quite the stigma attached as there once was. And you have to consider how cool it's going to be to have major back problems by the time you hit your 20s. It'll be really cool to be all hunched over by 25.

The problem is, the rolling backpack lasts about a week (at the hands of a sixth-grader). Because it often twists about when going over bumps or whatnot, it then gets dragged briefly on its side which tears up the side edges. From the looks of my son's backpack, I think that maybe he just pulls it exclusively on its side, thereby saving on the wear and tear of the wheels. I'm not sure.

At any rate, the sides are now not connected to the bottom and it's only a matter of time before it rips more and stuff starts to come out. He'll be leaving a little trail everywhere he goes. Lovely. More lovely than that, even, is that we tried duct tape. Yep. What a pretty sight that was. That lasted for about a day before the tape curled up and it now looks worse than the original open-air look. Back to the drawing board. Here's what we really need (excuse the crude, caveman-like drawing):


That's right. We need wheels all around the entire backpack. That way, no matter how much it might fall to its side or get twisted around, it can just be rolled from that position. Perfect! I think I'm onto something here.


(I know the artwork is startling in its precision and beauty. I think I should switch careers. My job as an artist, as you can see, will pay about as much as my current job: nothing).

I Have No Idea What They're Saying

...but it really doesn't matter. This is one of the coolest things I've heard in awhile.

any guesses as to what language this is??

This is running neck and neck. To find out more about them, go here.