lululu

I reread most books I enjoy, particularly the novels, and often more than once. I turn down corners to mark my place—though I feel worse about that after teaching proper book-care to classrooms full of teenagers. But I’ve never been able to maintain a reliable bookmark.
I love to fold down a corner and discover [...]

To at least tip our hats to the fact that this week is Berkeley’s spring break (and my last one after…oh god, 20 years?), Bryan and I spent a long weekend in Santa Barbara with some friends. It may have been the most coupley event we’ve ever participated in. What started as a girls’ trip [...]

Last week Peanut dropped a pair of twins! And little red-head scamps they are. Meet T-bone and Ribeye.*

Two more of the cows (Domino and JoBob) birthed yesterday, and more calves are on their way. Evidently it’s just Puffy Bottom City out there.
*not their real names

[Shouts & Murmurs]

A Conversation at the Grownup Table, as Imagined at the Kids’ Table
MOM: Pass the wine, please. I want to become crazy.
DAD: O.K.
GRANDMOTHER: Did you see the politics? It made me angry.
DAD: Me, too. When it was over, I had sex.
UNCLE: I’m having sex right now.
DAD: We all are.
MOM: Let’s talk about which kid [...]

I’ve been to Half Moon Bay a dozen times at least. Yesterday I saw it in the sunlight for the first time.

After a picnic on the beach, we bought some fresh fish and made sushi rolls. Fish-and-rice-based hilarity ensued. Many pictures on gallery.

This just in, folks: Teaching middle school is hard.
What, what?

Oh, the public library! Much as I love my well-worn book collection, it’s so nice to read new things. And for free! These are some books I’ve enjoyed in the past month.

The Quincunx - Long, intricate, Dickens-esque romp through Victorian England, as a kid grows up and tries to pick apart the mysteries about his [...]

With a birthday Borders gift card, I purchased Alton Brown’s cookbook, I’m Just Here For the Food—the only cookbook to date I have brought to bed with me at night and read straight through. I would not have expected to become disciple to a Food Network personality, but here I am, waving from the bandwagon.
The [...]

The end of yesterday’s Harpers Week-in-Review:
Female koalas in Australia were ignoring males in favor of five-bear lesbian orgies, Ann Coulter called former Senator John Edwards a faggot, and social scientists found that
Americans born after 1982 have succumbed to an epidemic of pathological narcissism.
1 - awesome
2 - nice work, always elevating the dialog
3 - what, they [...]

A few days ago I said something to Bryan to the effect of: “You can’t get upset about my little ticks because my neuroses have been clear from the beginning.” He laughed. But it’s true. I try to be upfront about the crazy.
I went on to list my most obvious points of weirdness, none of [...]