Chimera Song Mosaic
Sunday, June 22, 2003
Chris Murry over at tex files has just gushed about my review of Casares’s book—and now I am blushing! And plus she beat me to the praise, and now I can’t say how much I have been loving her Tornado Alley Series (I’ll admit it’s the first thing I check for) because if I do, it will just look like reciprocal admiration. Too bad! I’d like to give Chris a great big “Howdy!” I bet she doesn’t hear it enough!
I am knee-deep in a fellow Montana grad’s first novel—Amanda Eyre Ward’s Sleep Toward Heaven. Amanda graduated in 1998, and I didn’t really know her, but Marisa did, and I did have one intense conversation with her at a party before she left for a summer on her comadre’s houseboat in Cairo. She was headed to Austin after that—and she’s been there ever since! More on this later.
Ps. Doesn’t Amanda have the coolest middle name ever?
Pps. On the off chance she’s listening, a great big “Howdy!” to Amanda, too!
Nick is right: A blog doesn’t need a clever name is surely essential reading. It provides links to some fascinating and varied topics, such as an article about questionable faculty achievement awards and a slug in a salt maze (ouch! “Slugs are small and portable”). Then from the slug maze I found some admiring comments and a question about PETA's role in all this. Best gem was a reply that attempts to show the connection between animal cruelty and the Holocaust: “PETA and the Holocaust.”
After that I followed some more links and ended up on visuals of Winnie the Pooh, Hello Kitty, and Mickey Mouse vibrators. Why not?
Today is Lars’s birthday! Happy Birthday, Big Dog! You look like Rygel on Farscape and are so pleasing to me. Remember that time that you got in a fight with Hank in Montana and Hank accidentally punctured Matt’s thigh? Remember “Up the Hill” and the snowy mountain passes? Remember how you kept taking Colleen’s stuffed animals and sucking on them? And that time you ate her antibiotics? Remember the neuticals and the replesticals that had to be removed because they were oh so rigid? In two weeks, I will take you to “Grandma’s House” for your summer camp (so she can watch you while I am on vacation).
Today Lars is 11. This is the only picture I have of him online. It’s pretty cute. This morning, we woke up at 7:00 AM and put him on the bed. He rolled and snarfed and rubbed his face on all the pillows. Then he eased onto his back and put his feet in the air for 10 minutes of belly rubbing. (Lance said, “Look at that croc! He can’t keep from going to sleep when you rub his belly!”) And he did. Then we got up and went for a long walk where he and Lucy got to run off the leash. Later they got birthday baths in the back yard. Then we video taped them running around the room and ambushing each other and us. Later he played with his toys roughly and then sucked on the butt of his fluffy pink pig. They they were both wiped out and slept the rest of the day.
Here is a poem Lars sent me by email once when I was away:
Subj: Lars agin. I not no how 2 werk this.
I rite u a pome.
It is so sad wen ur knot ner-bi
rilly it makes me kry.
I miss u so much.
I rilly need ur tuch.
Help me Help I m so sad.
wen u come home i will be so glad.
i luv you iluv u need u
i tink now i go make poo.
pleez come home soon.
I dunno if i spel gud.
Lars.
I promise I didn’t write it.
