As Gretta Grows

happy V day.

2012-02-13T21:23:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow marks 18 years of Sarah-Sam togetherness. More than half my life with this man who still makes me laugh every day.

mr. white belt

2012-02-10T18:27:00.001-05:00

Beck decided he wanted to try out karate. So far he LOVES it. And as of this afternoon he matches his father's skill level. Sam is a very proud life-long white belt.

the best ever.

2012-02-10T18:21:00.004-05:00

Check out this email Sam got from a reader yesterday:

"Sir,This is Amrith, a grade 12 student from far away India. The way you've written on Charles Dickens is simply amazing, mind blowing language, the way you've phrased words is wonderful, what a classic account of a literary tourist! I must say. Anyway, have you been to Statford Upon Avon, is it good?"

Isn't that the best, most adorable email ever?

so dickensian.

2012-02-09T20:16:00.001-05:00

Sam's essay about the Charles Dickens themed theme park, a piece 5 years in the making, has been published online and will appear in this weekend's magazine. Also there is a little companion blog post in which the heavily featured, but nameless 'friend' is unveiled. Read the piece before the blog, otherwise the blog won't be as much fun.

Also, did I ever tell you that we're moving to Italy for a month in the late Spring? Yeah, we totally are. I was chosen to teach a course I developed for the Mount's study abroad program in Florence. The course is called 'The Story of the Brain' and will be a history of neuroscience course that also explores Florence through the senses. To say we are excited would be an understatement of epic proportions. We're going to walk every where and eat cherries and pasta and gelato and look at art and speak halting Italian and eat gelato and live in an apartment and walk on the old bridge and drink wine and shop in the open air market and stare at the Arno and visit the David and eat gelato. I'm having a hard time concentrating on the semester I'm in the middle of right now.

when two awesomes make an awful.

2012-01-21T14:21:00.002-05:00

My awesome job and my awesome husband have cancelled each other out for the past two Januarys.

The last week of my winter break in 2011 was spent alone with the kids (who are, for the record, also mostly awesome) while Sam was visiting a friend in Mexico City.

The last week of my winter break in 2012 is being spent alone with the (same, mostly awesome) kids while Sam is visiting Dickens' World in England.

Last time he brought home the stomach flu, this year it snowed 6 inches.
Poor me.

another new smile.

2012-01-09T18:00:00.000-05:00

I got my front teeth (which were damaged in a bad bike accident when I was in grade school) fixed last week. This is kind a of a weird picture - my computer flashes at me and makes me blink, so I had to force my eyes open, but you get the point.

sugar loaf.

2012-01-08T21:14:00.000-05:00

It was 60+ degrees yesterday, so we took Walnut on his first hike. He loved it.

two more unstoppable things

2012-01-02T21:23:00.002-05:00

#1) Beckett's barfing. Doesn't everyone like to ring in the new year with the stomach flu? Here is how it works: first, act like a bigtime jerk to everyone, all day (including yelling I WANT TO GO HOME as loudly as you can for two hours while at a friend's new year's party), argue with your parents about as much as you can (including the temperature of your bath water), then go to bed, but wake up an hour later to throw up indiscriminately all over every single thing, then continue throwing up every 30 minutes (while your mother does laundry, lies on the couch watching Dexter, and frets about aspiration) until 4:30 in the morning. And yes, he is feeling better.

#2) Sam's reading - here is his year-end marginalia piece, with an audio interactive(!).

happy new year!

2012-01-01T10:52:00.002-05:00

Have a fantastic

2012!

HACKED.

2011-12-22T08:21:00.001-05:00

Sorry everybody - my hotmail account was hacked last night. Ignore all links sent via emails.
:(

walnut!

2011-12-18T16:39:00.003-05:00

It turns out our family doesn't function well without a dog. Meet Walnut our new 11 week old mini-dachshund. He's Moby's great nephew. :) Check out the New Puppy pictures!

happy holidays!

2011-12-18T16:33:00.004-05:00

Wishing for peace and health for us all in the new year.

occupy the table.

2011-11-28T09:22:00.001-05:00

I made this design at preschool. Very sophisticated, I know.

We had a lovely holiday. Aside from Beckett's protest of any and all Thanksgiving food (yes, really, not even mashed potatoes) - he ate two bananas for his Thanksgiving meal - things went much as you might expect. We had dinner in town with friends, but I made stuffing and potatoes at home too because we are pigs. We played outside in the unseasonably warm weather and saw the muppet movie and met friends for drinks (that was just me!), we strung up the Christmas lights (again, just me!), and danced and lazed around and read and took naps. It was thoroughly, wholly enjoyable.

And now, back to the regular programming of the last two weeks of the semester. The end of the year always catches me a bit by surprise - you'd think I'd be over it by now, but no. I still have all those papers to grade and those exams to write and those meetings to meet and blahblahblah.

In case you neglected the paper over the long weekend here is Sam's latest Riff. You should make a reaction video of yourself reading it. You can also watch this funny little video - watch past the credits!

p.s. If you are an immediate family member: Your Christmas gift is probably going to arrive this week - please don't open (for maximum surprise - WHAT COULD IT BE??) until Christmas!

p.p.s. If you are an immediate family member who purchases gifts for our children at Christmas, we have a very serious request: PLEASE LIMIT GIFT GIVING TO ONE(!) GIFT PER CHILD. This isn't meant to sound ungrateful (we aren't) - we're simply overwhelmed by material goods. Please feel free to give a gift to a needy family instead of to our very un-needy family. xoxox

I have unkind words for mother nature.

2011-10-29T15:16:00.001-05:00

In the nine winters we've wintered in New York, the earliest it has ever snowed was Halloween, and even that didn't stick. This is simply ridiculous.

We're trying to keep ourselves entertained despite the idiot weather.

Vampire & Jedi Knight 2011.

the work.

2011-10-22T22:19:00.000-05:00

It's here! It's finally done! I don't have to talk about Haruki Murakami ever again! Er... well, not exactly. I still have to talk about him constantly for most of the day, and even still pretty much every night in bed - being married to a feature writer is not without its interesting points (or, rather: points that start out as legitimately interesting, but that eventually get talked about until I start stabbing my own ears off). And I'm reading 1Q84 now, which is only like 40 million pages long, so I guess Haruki (do I have to call him Mr. Murakami, even if I'm just married to a writer at the Times?) and I are going to be together for a while longer.

Anyway, I love everything about the cover, don't you? The crazy huge picture with the inscrutable expression and the huge yellow words that say what they say in the exact way that they say them?

I LOVE IT!

And it seems like most everyone else does, too. Except for a few really stupid people, but what can we expect from them? They're stupid! Like one guy who emailed Sam and told him he was a 'typical American' for going to Japan so unprepared [Um, duh, so the point of the piece, dummy!] and then signed off by saying Sam has 'a lot in common with George W. Bush' [LOL]. Oh reader mail! How we've missed you! But mostly the reception for this piece has been decidedly unstupid and heartwarming.

Ok, so now go read it! And if you don't like it, you already know what we think of you.

ashlandia.

2011-10-02T23:28:00.001-05:00

Sam was invited by the Southern Oregon Arts and Lectures organization to give a talk about cultural criticism & how he came to be the NYTimes Mag critic at large. He also spoke to students at SOU, folks from the Rotary, the local TV news, and a JPR radio interview (which you can listen to, should you care to). He was everywhere. And his main talk was really well-received (read: awesome).

And the best part: the kids and I got to join him for a long weekend in the west.

goodbye, moby dog.

2011-09-12T11:09:00.000-05:00

We had to say goodbye to our beloved boy, Moby Dog, this morning. We're all pretty heartbroken. I keep thinking about the day we brought him home (from Mississippi, to Baton Rouge - he fit in our cupped hands) and the many hours spent with him running back and forth between us in the park, ears flying.

Oh, Moby - you helped prepare Sam and I for parenthood, you brought our family so much more joy than you brought us trouble. And that is saying quite a lot because, boy, did you bring some trouble.

2011-09-11T17:43:00.002-05:00

For your reflection - Sam's magazine opener this week.

school! school! school!

2011-09-07T13:29:00.001-05:00

We are new owners of TWO school age children. I want to hit the rewind button.

frogs

2011-08-29T18:18:00.001-05:00

One of Gretta's very best friends for the last two years, Louise, leaves tomorrow to move back to France. We are so sad to see her and her fabulous family go. But glad to have a place to stay in France!

subtle.

2011-08-22T10:38:00.001-05:00

This weekend Sam overheard Beck (who was in the backyard) bringing up the topic of smoking cessation with our neighbor Gary.
B: Hi, Gary! Do you want to die very soon?
Gary: Hi, Beck. (puff on cigar)
Beck: Because smoking makes you die much sooner.
Gary: Ok.
We're working on a more subtle approach.

MIA

2011-08-15T15:45:00.001-05:00

Sheepy, Beck's favorite sleeping companion, is missing. The two current and competing disappearance theories are:
1) Sheepy used magic to move himself to a secret location.
or
2) Robbers broke in to the bedroom (Gretta) using dinosaur bones (Beckett) and stole Sheepy.

In the meantime Beckett is keeping busy writing his debut solo album composed of vocals & very, very loud electric air guitar. Of the two tracks he's nailed down so far, I can't decide which one I like more, PENIS!! or Skeletons Are You Know? Or maybe, because (aside from the lyrics) they sound exactly the same, I don't have to choose?

birthday week, 2011

2011-08-13T11:18:00.000-05:00

Things are getting a little strange this week.

My husband seems to have acquired this very old typewriter as payment for a Japanese pencil sharpener.

And used it to write a letter to the Incredible Hulk.

paradise found.

2011-07-25T10:54:00.001-05:00

We're back from our fantastical, tropical beach vacation. It was everything we wanted: zero pressure to do anything but lie on the beach, float in the ocean, and eat seafood. We managed to snorkel, ride horses in the sea, drink rum punch, and nap. I also achieved a major trip goal: I showered every day. It's amazing to me how major the little things (like personal hygiene) become when you are the parent of two small children.

Speaking of the children, they did quite well here at home with their Grandma Née. Only poor Grandma Née picked up the strep throat I left for her on my pillow (instead of a mint). Ugh!

And we came home to this toothless grin, courtesy of a brother-bestowed karate chop to the mouth:

crazytown.

2011-07-23T20:21:00.001-05:00

Sam was in Tokyo last week. He was there interviewing one of our favorite authors, Haruki Murakami. He had a blast, rolling around in this completely other-worldly culture. Things there are super weird: the hotel lobby music sounds like Nintendo, nobody jaywalks (ever), they play lady gaga, chant elaborate chants & dance with umbrellas at baseball games. His toilet was a robot that sprays and deodorizes him. Every cashier acted as if Sam purchasing (anything, anywhere) was the most sacred and honorable event of his/her entire life. The breakfast buffet served ketchup in a gravy boat with a very long iced tea spoon. In other words, Japan seems exactly like a Murakami novel: efficient, orderly, & totally f-ing weird all at once.

Things back in Beacon, on the other hand are fairly normal. The kids are great - doing two weeks of camp this week & next. I'm trying to convince myself that I am actually starting classes on the 8th and mentally prepare for the departure of a certain helpful grandparent.

Moby dog.

2011-07-10T08:48:00.001-05:00

Moby is sick, everybody. He's anemic with grossly enlarged spleen and liver. They haven't figured out why yet. We're hoping it's something reversible/treatable. Send a healthy thought his way.

...but there is a little problem.

2011-07-09T09:51:00.001-05:00

Excerpts from Gretta's 1st grade writing portfolio. These are from the 'persuasive' letter unit. I love her technique: compliment, then attack.

And she only gets more persuasive.

You didn't even see that problem coming, did you? (Turns out she wants more blankets on her bed at night.)

We're starting to check out law schools now.

alterations.

2011-07-08T09:22:00.001-05:00

A new smile in the house. Tooth Fairy left $.30. Tough economic times.

'ole pink eyes.

2011-07-06T20:53:00.001-05:00

I was so blog-olicious, such a bloginator, for so many days, you may be wondering where I went all of a sudden.
I, along with several members of my family, made a little journey to sickville. First, G & B had coxsackie (which is pretty much as gross as it sounds), then I got a sinus infection. My sinus infection was lonely, so I went and picked up a side of pink eye. Not run of the mill, slightly crusty in the morn pink eye. What fun would that be? I got the 'you are going to go blind in 36 hours if you don't do something immediately' version. Of course I got this on Sunday. As in July 3rd, as in: 'you are doing nothing about your exploding eyes for at least 48 hours.' G felt left out, so she contracted a mystery fever that lasted 5 days.

Gretta is totally better and my left tonsil feels like it's going to fall off in the next 10 minutes.

Speaking of falling off in the next ten minutes, stay tuned for a breaking update regarding a certain seven year old's left front tooth.

We're also paying back some dog sitting karma and puppy sitting this puppy. His name is Rocket and he likes to chew on a stuffed, pink chicken. Among other things. I'm pretty sure I've never sent more text messages about poop than I have in the last week (still on the puppy, here). Nor have I more fully enjoyed the nighttime wildlife of my backyard.

The Boy.

2011-06-28T16:29:00.001-05:00

Beckett Finch is four. Unbelievable. And it better be easier than three.

He is as funny as he is grouchy and as sweet as he is obstinate. We love our boy and wish he would stay small for evermore.

happy father's day.

2011-06-19T17:58:00.001-05:00

or, more likely...

get moved.

2011-06-17T17:17:00.001-05:00

A friend of a friend helped make this movie, a documentary about one of the best cowboys on the planet. It's winning all kinds of awards, but that's not why you should see it. You should see it because it's going to make you a better person. Learn more about Buck, then go hug a horse.

picture show.

2011-06-06T17:08:00.000-05:00

Guys, I just discovered my iMac's slideshow software. Would you like more cheese with your family photos? Coming right up! These are the pictures from Gret's birthday party a few weeks ago (video below).

And if that wasn't enough - here are more pictures from various family happenings in May.

the opposite of that.

2011-06-06T16:33:00.000-05:00

Last night, at bedtime, Gretta and Beckett (who share a bedroom) had the following conversation [edited for length]:
G: Beckett, please stop gulping.
B: GULP!
G: Beck - I mean it! Stop!
B: Gulp. Gulp.
G: BECKETT, I can't sleep! You are making too much noise! STOPIT!
B: (obviously) GULP.
G: Moooooooooom!!!
Me: Gretta, try putting your pillow over your head (B, in backgroud: gulp).
G (with increasing intensity and frustration): I can still hear him gulping from under my pillow!! Mommm!
Me: Beck, can you please stop gulping? It's bothering your sister.
B: No, I can't. Gulp.
Me: Ok, well try drinking this cup of water and see if that helps you stop.
B (drinks, then with dramatic flair): Gulp. See, mom? Water *can't* fight gulping.
G (starting to whimper) : If you don't stop gulping we will take you to the doctor!!!
Me: Beck, please stop.
B: Guys, guys, guys... I can't stop.
Me: Why not?
B: Because I ate three bowls of Kix [cereal] and had a really big day. (gulp)
G (bursts into frustrated tears): I'm sleeping in another room!!
B: Gulp.

Sam, who has spent many hours trying to anger and frustrate his own siblings in very similar fashion, was beaming with pride.

sweet sisters and brave brothers.

2011-06-03T22:31:00.001-05:00

no words.

2011-06-01T22:13:00.001-05:00

Cappy Hotchkiss Photography

Almost home.

2011-05-30T19:18:00.001-05:00

We spent our last full day in DC with friends enjoying kiwi birds & gorillas during a short (but flesh-melting) walk through the zoo, followed by poolside hanging.

Sam dashed off to the Hall of Human History while the kids and I recovered from the sun.

We ate a nice take out dinner amongst the junkies of Dupont Circle, then more delicious gelato before heading back to the Shoreham and tucking our wild kids in for the night.

all work.

2011-05-28T21:34:00.001-05:00

We did a little sight seeing this evening - trying to beat Sarah Palin and the 60,000 motorcycles that will be there tomorrow.

lovely

2011-05-27T20:35:00.001-05:00

We're having a lovely time! The conference is going well, the kids are having a fun time, and we're spending our life savings on room service.

holiday

2011-05-26T09:12:00.001-05:00

We're away in DC this week/end - I'm attending the Association for Psychological Science conference & brought everyone along for some r&r and sightseeing. And swimming in the pool. And working on a piece while being (literally) shut up in a closet. I'll let you guess which one of us that is.

Meanwhile, I'm relaxing on a terrace waiting for my first session to begin.

that's a nice hind end.

2011-05-25T20:31:00.001-05:00

There's this old cowboy, Marty, who hangs around the barn a lot & tells me daily how good looking my mare's hind end is. I take it as a compliment.

Marty also says that he can't get a woman to listen to a thing he says unless she's sitting in a saddle.

pony party

2011-05-21T20:42:00.001-05:00

We celebrated Gretta's birthday at the barn this afternoon. The kids took pony rides, ate things, and painted horseshoes. The adults drank beer, ate things, and chased the children. Fun was had by all, photos forthcoming.

quarter horse chronicles

2011-05-21T08:26:00.001-05:00

My horse, Sassy, had a procedure yesterday to help address the stiffness that has developed on her right hind leg. I would describe the procedure thusly: $400 worth of cleaning my horse's legs, followed by $50 worth of injections. They literally cleaned her legs for 40 minutes - if you aren't great at math, that turns out to be $10/min. And I keep her pretty clean to begin with.
Don't get me wrong, the vet was awesome & I totally trust him, but hallelujah that was a lot of leg scrubbing.

gretta : 7

2011-05-20T11:25:00.001-05:00

Happy birthday to our sweet girl! We couldn't be more proud of her loose-toothed, fun-loving, brilliant self.

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-17T21:52:00.001-05:00

We had brunch at an organic farm & I ate the most delicious pancakes of my life (made with 22 yo sourdough starter). Then I went home and took a nap.

news from the barn

2011-05-17T16:58:00.001-05:00

I've hit my first equine-snag: my horse has a tendon injury that is going to require hock injections and/or shockwave therapy. This is fairly common in quarter horses, but still bums me out.
p.s. Those mushrooms are from the manure pile.
p.p.s. Thanks for tolerating my blogimentation today.

Even better?

2011-05-17T16:45:00.001-05:00

Now I'm trying a different program to see if I can get pictures on the blog directly from my phone, too. (no need to respond)

2011-05-17T09:26:00.001-05:00

Testing, testing... Trying out a feature that will let me blog from my phone. If it works, your world is about to get a whole bunch bloggier.

hello, summer.

2011-05-15T09:59:00.000-05:00

My flower obsession only grows.

I know what you are thinking: Another blog ALREADY!?!
I know! Isn't it nearly unprecedented? Well, here is the occasion - I turned in final grades on Thursday, went to graduation (all 4 speakers and 2.5 hours of it) yesterday, and am officially a lady of leisure until mid-August. Here's what I've done so far: had 2 lunch dates, ridden my horse 3 times, gone to one party, baked one loaf of sourdough, volunteered at one crazy 200-mile long relay race to benefit Gretta's school, and gotten a head cold. Oh - and did a little summer clothes shopping for the whole family.

I wish I could eat them.

I am definitely enjoying the Spring weather and the iced coffee and the sandals. I'm trying to convince myself that the long and terrible northeastern winter is worth the incredible bloom season that follows it, but haven't quite managed it.

Monkey-boy.

Beck climbed this tree and made this face. And then he got a haircut. And some new sunglasses. (pictures soon) We started a good behavior chart to try and combat some of the tiresome arguing and defiance that seems to come with the territory of 'almost 4' & are having good luck so far. One of the items on the chart is, 'Beck says, "OK!"' just to give you an idea of how far things had devolved.

Almost 7.

Our girl is turning 7 this coming week. It somehow doesn't feel quite a jarring as 6. More on this later in the week.

Dwelling art created by Gretta et al.

G participated in a local art project called Dwell, Climb, Fly where kids of various ages worked together over the course of three weeks to make some really cool mixed media pieces. Here are a couple of pictures of things she helped create.

More art by G - @ Open Space Studio on Main St.

Speaking of art, Sam's latest Riff is out this weekend in which he memoirs (I'm liking this as a verb, no?) about a memoir about a memoir. And his editor Adam wrote a funny little companion piece, too. And look at that - I just donated two NYTimes clicks to you. You're welcome.

summertime.

2011-05-04T22:35:00.000-05:00

Spring and summer are both here, all at once. The leaves are back, the rain is raining, and my semester ended yesterday. The grading will eventually end, but I can't quite believe it just yet. And so I procrastinate. By folding laundry. And making the bed that I already made, but the dog messed up. And who can grade when the bath toys are sitting there, right there, in the bathtub? I think I feel hungry. And sleepy. Was that the mailman? I should probably shred this water bill from 4 months ago.

And so the blog gets updated! I mean, really, its been such a long time since we shared some pictures.

Then there is this video of Beck from way back in the fall - I want to share it now because it shows how dramatically his speech has progressed in the last few months. This is where he was when he started speech therapy. And now... now our boy says the beginnings of all his words, uses the correct letters, and can effectively communicate with everyone. He had his final session last week & we are so proud of him for persevering through all the frustration and tiring tongue-work.

And if you haven't been following what Sam has been up to then shame on you. Because I'm too lazy to put all the links in. Plus, I'm worried if I do I'll use up all my free NYTimes clicks for the month. And I can't have that. Even if he did throw me a tenure-related surprise party last weekend, I ain't wasting my Times clicks on him.

hello.

2011-03-30T10:27:00.000-05:00

We're still here, we're just busy.

Spring Breaks and Sundays.

2011-03-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

It's the first official day of my Spring Break 2011! I don't think I can describe using words how dire my need is for this break. With all the snow days, my work has been piled up into a very condensed window of time and I feel like I've done nothing but grade, teach, and sleep for weeks now. Maybe a little eating every now and again when I'm lucky. But now...now (!) I have a whole week of bliss in front of me. Bliss, in my book (or blog, as the case may be), being riding, a spa day, a couple nights in the city (alone!), dinner with friends, and comedy night.

Another great way to be starting the break: Sam's newest creative endeavor appears in this week's Sunday NYTimes. You can wait for your Sunday paper (it is thrilling to see it in print), or you can get a sneak peak here. Also he'll be blogging about his Twitter project for the Time's Mag blog The 6th Floor each week - read the first installment here.

The kids are good. The weather is... New York. My semester is halfway done!

THANK YOU!!

2011-02-25T21:12:00.000-05:00

To everyone who donated for Gretta's Jump Rope fundraiser - thank you SO much. She raised $275 for the American Heart Association & feels really, really good about helping kids (like these) with sick hearts.
Yay!

my snow-bound heart.

2011-02-02T13:41:00.000-05:00

We're going a bit nuts here in the northeast. I've literally lost count of the number of school closings we've had so far this year. But we got over 4 feet of snow in January alone (with little melting), and the kids haven't yet spent any of February outside of our home (Well actually today after we scraped and scooped our way out of the ice fortress, I forced them from the house into the loving arms of Aunt Bridget, Beck's day care provider, who knows that bad things will happen if I am forced to be cooped up with two bickering children for a single minute longer.)

I've been wearing a 15 year-old calf-length black merino zip up sweater that looks like a lint covered housecoat everyday for FIVE WEEKS. My hair defies gravity every time I even get near it with a hairbrush. I got the stomach flu after eating almost a whole bag of CORN CHIPS. The underside of my NOSE is PEELING no matter how much freaking Norwegian Formula I paste on there. I cannot, I WILL NOT, listen to another minute of Michael Jackson. Nor will I read Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl another time. No, we cannot hit each other in the head with crutches that your father no longer needs, but somehow manages to never return to their rightful owner. And, no, we cannot play dumptruck with the laundry basket filled with your sister.

I'm losing my shit, people.

None of this of course was the point of this post. I am fully aware and grateful that barfing corn chips is way better than living in a tent battling cholera. And listening to MJ for hours upon hours isn't as tortuous as living in a war-torn, or politcally unsettled country. And our sweet girl Gretta is super grateful that she has a healthy heart that lets her run and play and jump as much as she wants. Which is why she is really excited about participating in the American Heart Association's Jump Rope for Heart fundraiser. This program is being run through the physical education dept. in her school & participating kids will jump rope during gym for the week of February 22nd-25th. Gretta's goal is to raise $100 for kids who have sick/broken hearts. You can mail a check payable to the AHA to us, or you can do it right now online: just Click here to Donate.

a new year.

2011-01-02T09:26:00.000-05:00

I've really let the blog get away from me, friends. Since I last we wrote all kinds of things have been happening. We drove to OH for TG & had a lovely (if cold) time with Pat and Emily and baby Finn. We had fun back-to-back visits from my dad and my mom & stepdad. The semester wound up & the kids got sick.

A certain someone in the house has been enourmously busy in the last two months, writing a reiew of essentially the entire genre of rap music, creating a slide show to go with it and then doing an online chat interview with NPR about it. He also reviewed a crazy WWII biography that should have been called The Distance, but is instead called Unbroken. I know you are already thinking, wow, that's a lot - but, friends, we're not even close to finished. Next was a review of two books in which Sam found very interesting parallels between the lives of George Washington and Jay-Z. This was followed by the annual Year in Books list and a fun project for a literary website called The Millions where he reviewed his year in reading via the marginalia in his review copies.

He also has an essay appearing in the NYTimes book review about the nature of book criticism in this weekend's paper. It will be running alongside a photo of Sam credited TO ME: yes, I am officially a published photographer. Lest you think I am not an internationally published photographer, the same author photo will run with a version of Sam's profile of James Franco in Austrailian Vogue. Or GQ. Or something like that. Whatever. The only thing that matters is that my name is underneath it, clearly marking me as one of the world's leading portrait makers. (In reality, the publications asked if the photo needed crediting and Sam knew he'd score major points if he gave me credit (it IS my photo). And so he did, on both accounts.) Anyway... there is also a podcast of a conversation that the critics participating in this project had about it.

Speaking of the NYTimes, Sam will be leaving New York Magazine and starting a new position at the Times Magazine (in the Sunday paper) in January. Sam is super sad to be leaving NYMag, for a number of reasons, but mostly b/c of his working relationship with the editorial staff there. But the Times simply made him an offer he couldn't refuse: a regular 2000ish word column at the back of the book on any aspect of culture he wishes to address, and two to three features a year. The job title is something that was invented for him: Critic at Large. We are simultaneously excited and terrified at the prospect of the change.

I'm looking forward to the spring semester, when I should be hearing about the tenure decision. And I don't think there is any other real news. The kids are good & we were all extremely lucky on Christmas.

boo.

2010-11-02T10:35:00.000-05:00

Batman and Michael Jackson say: Happy Halloween!

Now go read this. Then go vote. Then come do my grading for me.

all kinds of things.

2010-10-05T22:29:00.000-05:00

That, my friends, is my tenure application. I turned it in on Friday. I won't know the out come until the Spring semester. Let's hope it gets the job done.

Here are a few other goingson: Sam was on the radio, yet again - this time talking about author Roald Dahl. He says he was bumbly - you can find out for yourself by clicking the 'listen' button at the top of the linked page. Sam also interviewed a scholar about her new translation of Madame Bovary, which might sound boring to you - but as someone who laid around for literally HOURS in college with this man reading different translations of various Dostoevsky novels, line by line, aloud... Hm. Maybe it is boring? What certainly was NOT boring was the most recent BCRG comedy show in Beacon. Sam and David and Max Sylvestri, and Allison Silverman made about 100 people laugh very hard for about 1.5 hours.

Also, I never shared our Montreal trip pictures from September.

And just for fun:

I've done something a little rash.

2010-09-15T17:15:00.000-05:00

I bought this horse for our family.

A little ill-advised, perhaps. But aren't those always the best things? The most rewarding? Right?? Jesus. What have I done?? Actually, I'm mostly feeling really good about this decision and think the financial impact on our bank account will be far outweighed by the joy she brings to our family.

Anyway, let me get over my personal therapy session here and tell you about our mare: She is a 7 year old registered American Quarter Horse, named Impulse to Do, but called Sassy. She's a Liver Chestnut (i.e., Chocolate!) color and stands about 15.2 hands tall (i.e., medium-sized). She is trained exclusively in Western Pleasure, which is pretty rare in this area (most horses are ridden English out East) & has been shown by both kids and adults (most recently at the Dutchess County fair a couple of weeks ago). She has great blood lines, including Zippo Pine Bar (a Western pleasure champ) & The Invester (a Halter show champ). These horses are known for their dog-like personalities and skills in hand and under a Western saddle.

I'm so excited, I'm nearly beside myself. Gretta took her lesson on Sassy this weekend and loved riding her. I'm looking forward to getting settled at the stable where we're keeping her, getting back into the saddle myself and checking out the trails. Here are a few more pictures of Sassy.

In other news, the kids are back to school and are quite happy about it. Gretta seems to be faring well in the first grade. Beckett is staying at Aunt Bridget's house another year before preschool and should be starting speech therapy sometime in the near future (this is the slowest process on the planet, apparently). In the meantime he's developing very incredible theories about his testicles.

The other person with testicles in our house has written an excellent essay about Roald Dahl, will have his interview with Lydia Davis about her new translation of Madam Bovary in the magazine soon, and has begun to work on a forthcoming Paris Review interview with author Nicholson Baker. Not to mention he performed (some might say completely and utterly *bombed*) with David Rees at the Brooklyn Book Festival this past weekend (sandwiched btwn Sarah Silverman and Venus Williams), and will also host the 6th BCRG Presents Comedy Night on the 25th.

And me? I'm applying for tenure in 3 weeks.

Hello there, September.

2010-08-23T14:00:00.001-05:00

I have no idea how this happened. It's the end of August. We've celebrated birthdays, gotten bronchitis, and started teaching. Summer is over. It ended up being a good one. Here it is: in a nutshell.

Sam reviewed everyone's favorite grouch, Jonathan Franzen last week, and I can't wait to read the book.

The kids are up to their usual shenanigans and a few new things: Beckett is the proud new owner of a big boy bed (or most of a big boy bed, damned IKEA) and Gretta has started riding lessons. It was a surreal moment, watching her lead her lesson horse, Rocky, to the ring for a ride - it was like watching myself all over again, 30-ish years later. During Gretta's lesson Beckett pretended to be a zombie (thanks be to Michael Jackson for our summer-long daily review of the Thriller album) named 'Zombie Claps'. Zombie Claps (if you were wondering) hides behind trees and rolls around a lot on the grass and yells menacingly, then sits down for an adorable little rest:

Back to reality (nearly).

2010-07-26T10:43:00.000-05:00

It's the last day of our epic west coast vacation adventure. I'm completely unprepared to share anything fun about the trip just yet, but couldn't wait another minute to share Sam's latest feature. This piece has been months in the researching, interviewing, and writing. A huge amount of work, resulting in a really fun & interesting coverstory about the actor James Franco.
Read it! Share it!

THREE

2010-06-27T21:15:00.000-05:00

Our boy, that funny, sweet, cuddly, stubborn boy of ours turned himself three today. This is unbelievable and perfectly normal all at the same time. If you weren't able to join us (we kept the gathering intentionally small for Beck's sanity), feel free to take a look at Beckett's birthday pictures. I would also like to announce that Beck is officially potty trained, down to just an overnight diaper (a diaper that turns up dry about 50% of the time at this point, I might add). I hope this isn't the sort of thing that you announce and then it turns around and slaps you in the face. Keep your legs crossed. I mean your fingers. But anyway, back to the birthday - feel free to sing along.

If you aren't into that, you might want to peruse our weekend on Fire Island which was magical and beachy and shelly and even a little foggy.

Or if you are a grandparent or some other glutton for punishment, you might even be interested in coming along on the walk to Gretta's last day of kindergarten.

my man.

2010-06-03T09:17:00.000-05:00

People - my man is up to things these days. He's been falling back in love with Martin Amis, holding court in the reading room, and analyzing crazy comedians.

And speaking of comedians, he'll be performing as one (again) tomorrow night at BCRG presents...

celebrating life.

2010-05-27T15:35:00.000-05:00

Our family suffered a blow this week: Sam's mom's husband, Frank, died very suddenly on Monday morning. He was a funny and sweet man who treated Renee with great respect and love. I'm so glad we got to know him. So much of grief is rewiring your brain to accept the loss, adding an endpoint to the category of things you know about this person. It feels really, really weird. And sad. And even happy.

This sad event has reminded me again how much death is wrapped, inextricably, right up in life. And so it seems appropriate somehow to share, along with the sad news, the fun we had celebrating Gretta's birth.

Sixes.

2010-05-20T12:51:00.000-05:00

Our beautiful girl is SIX years old today.

This little thing, this wisp of a girl, makes us immeasurably happy each and every day. Happy Birthday, Gretta!! It is such a pleasure to watch you grow.

almost there.

2010-05-01T14:21:00.000-05:00

I've been such a neglectful blog keeper lately. The semester ends on Tuesday and after a brief staycation in gradingville (I don't know what's wrong with me today, I feel cheesey) I will be completely rid of Spring 2010. The summer is promising to be anything but work-free, but at least no more grading or student psychoses.

One last thing before I go mark some more papers: the neglectful bad wife attempts to redeem herself by passing you some weekend reading. 1) A review from ages ago. 2) Another review from an age and a half ago. 3) One more review from just last week. One day I hope to read these pieces myself. Or maybe you could read them and then tell me what they are about so I can pretend I've read them? That seems more realistic. Thanks for helping me out.

MoMA thing.

2010-03-27T19:47:00.002-05:00

Count Andrew Dice Dracula and Sam performing at the poprally Burtonalia event in mid-March. Take note of the pitcher full of ("Intern, probably Bard") blood.

Here Sam and I are looking skeptically on at another performer. I have no idea why we look so unsure - we LOVED the other acts at the event.

A few more pictures can be found at the poprally flickr site.

my new ride.

2010-03-27T19:36:00.000-05:00

Meet Fletcher, the horse it looks like I will be riding this spring and summer. He's a registered three year old gelding that was looking for a consistent rider to give him some attention. He is living on a farm about 25 min from Beacon and seems like a perfect match for a lady looking to get back in the saddle. I went out to meet him (and his owner) on Thursday & am going back out Sunday to spend some time grooming and lunging him.

sunny with a chance of barf.

2010-03-19T18:28:00.001-05:00

Check out our boy's face dancing (and some serious two year old impatience):

And his ever-evolving Michael Jackson impression:

That very same boy, that sweet thing with all the moves, is desperately trying to ruin our first glimpse of spring by getting himself the stomach flu. I disapprove. (He refers to the early morning barf-a-thon like this: 'Remember when a big river came out of my mouth? It was yucky.')

I can't believe I've been so lazy that I forgot to share the snow storm pictures - hold to your hats, you are about to have your minds blown by some snow, folks. Also, I never shared the latest review of Sam's - read what he thought (or at least 740 words of what he thought) about Reality Hunger.

I'm back to the drudgery of the semester after a fabulous spring break last week - I booked two days at a 4-star hotel in the city... BY MYSELF! It was incredible (the silence!), lavish (the shopping!), fun (time with friends!), enlightening (a trip to see the performance piece Sam was a part of at the Guggenheim!), delicious (fried chicken!!), and relaxing (manicure & pedicure, sauna, underwear-clad TV watching!). The best staycation ever - came home totally relaxed with renewed patience and energy. Thinking about making it a tradition.

Snowing like it's 1999.

2010-02-25T12:54:00.000-05:00

I miss California. Someone find me a job and then sell my house for at least what we paid and we'll be back next week. It is the time of never-ending snow in the northeast, when my DNA is saying it is about time to peel off the socks, shave the legs, and break out the flip-flops. Instead I'm looking at 24 inches of the heaviest, wettest, most repulsive snow ever to have fallen out of the sky in two days time. Please do not email me and tell me about how nice your weather is. Seriously.

At least we're managing to keep busy. I've been baking bread like gangbusters (3 loaves last week! gave 2 away, of course), and even made a delicious soup from half dead carrots and onions last night. That might not sound delicious, but it really did turn out fantastic. On a scale of 1-10, how irritating is it to have someone bragging about their culinary successes all the time? Really? That irritating? Well, that's about how freaking delicious my rotten carrot soup tasted. (unless you don't find it irritating and said like 1.5, in which case you must multiply your number by 100 to get a feel for how delicious this soup was).

Sam's latest review was on the newsstands this week, plus he wrote like a million things for the NYM website last week: a summary of some writing tips (sounds weird, but is actually interesting), an account of his twitter project (he has over 1100 people following his literary tweets now), a campaign to make Dave Eggers the editor of the Paris Review, and a little follow-up to his wildly popular ChatRoulette feature. He did all this in a single week, people. And in a couple of weeks he's doing another live comedy show with our friend David, but this time at an event that is part of the filmmakerTim Burton's show at MoMA in NYC - in front of a sold out audience of like 400. Just the idea of this makes me laugh.

2010-02-14T09:20:00.000-05:00

May your Valentine's be Sweet and Lovely.

video update.

2010-02-12T17:27:00.000-05:00

Beckett and Ruby play in the snow.

(note how the ever-present goggles compliment the pink snowsuit)

It's high time that we send out a few videos. First, Beckett displays his clearly genetically transmitted musical abilities on the 'cello'. Then we have a dance tribute to Michael Jackson, including emphatic hip-wiggling, moon-walking, and 'Oooooowww-ing'. Or, you might care for a more subtle form of modern dance, where no one would even notice you're dancing, unless they were looking hard enough.

sneak peek.

2010-02-05T13:13:00.000-05:00

Sam's latest feature is up on the website already & will be in the mag on Monday. Chatroulette! And have a good weekend.

my new life.

2010-01-30T13:03:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful way to end January: with sourdough! While I've always been a complete bread-eating success story, I have a long history of bread-making failures. Until now! I took a sourdough making class through my local farm CSA program last week & walked away with new skills and a nice little 2-ounce baggie of sourdough starter. I fed my starter and made the wild-yeast dough starter ealier in the week, then took the plunge and made my first loaf yesterday. It tastes as good as it looks! So far I'm finding my new life as a breadmaker to be a serious and rewarding exercise in both faith and patience.

Things around Beacon are cold. A litte colder than it was while we were in Florida earlier this month, but not by much. We had a fun trip despite the fridgid weather: a great teaching conference and a really fun trip to Disney. Gretta was big enough & brave enough to ride all of the big rides this year: rode in the front by herself on her first Space Mountain trip!

Sam is super busy these days - still writing reviews (like this one) and paying tribute to people (like J.D. Salinger - a quick and dirty obit piece that will appear in more polished form in the print mag on Monday). But also participating in an art performance that has him hanging out in the Guggenheim two days a week for the next six weeks. This week he's working on a review of two books, a feature essay on a crazy new internet chat platform, and doing the Gugg thing. Crazy!

The semester is rolling along for me & somehow teaching five days a week instead of just two makes me feel saner. I have no idea how that works, but whatever.

And here is our boy singing you a little goodnight song.

perfection.

2009-12-26T12:52:00.000-05:00

It seems to be the Beacon year of the truck.

We have had a lovely holiday season thus far: baking with friends, going to fun parties in the city, dinners out with good friends, opening a never-ending pile of gifts, eating good food, and taking big, long, lazy naps. All of which perfectly fits my definition of Christmas.

Here are a few more pictures and a few videos of our festivities:

Did the reindeer come?

Santa Gifts

Merry Chirstmas!

Hope this finds you happy and relaxed, ready for 2010!

happy, happy.

2009-12-21T13:25:00.000-05:00

In case you didn't get it the old fashioned way (i.e. email) - here is a link to our holiday card.

gretta.

2009-12-19T14:48:00.000-05:00

Gretta's school put on their Christmas show last week - the kids sang two adorable songs - the second one can be found here. I apologize for the terrible filming - it's hard to keep a camera steady while laughing.

Ballet review:

A few more ballet videos, including warm ups, approaching the barre, exercises at the barre, leaping, and the end of class routine.

alas.

2009-12-17T17:50:00.000-05:00

The semester is finally done, my friends! Let the merriment begin, let the joy flow.

days and decades.

2009-12-07T11:03:00.000-05:00

How to highlight your nativity scene? Shopping carts.

Beckett made it through his surgery quite well - this is day 5 of recovery and he seems mostly like his old self, with a fairly severe popsicle addiction. But of course Gretta woke up with a fever at 4 am, so here we go again. Bah to winter and all of its germs. And snow - we enjoyed the first snowfall of the year this weekend.

Sam has an essay analyzing the last decade of reading material in this week's Mag, which I am sure you will enjoy (though I can't say for sure as I have not yet enjoyed it myself).

Wish me luck in the last week of the semester!

procrastination.

2009-12-01T11:15:00.000-05:00

I have grading to do, which means it is the perfect time to update the old blog. Let's see what I can dredge up here...

Gretta will be the 'mystery reader' at her old school tomorrow! Her reading skills have skyrocketted dramatically in the last few weeks - to the point that Sam and I have to exchange amazed glances over her head several times a day. Yesterday evening for example she read her new reading books from school (there were 5 of them) over 30 times between 3:30 pm and 7:00 pm. I had to help her with the word 'brought' two times before she had it down. Hopefully I'll be able to video her reading to her friends tomorrow and will put it up as soon as I can.

Beckett, on the other hand, is amazing us in a whole different way. I'm pretty sure the world has never seen a child who is quite SO two before. Maybe my cousin Brad could have given Beck a run for his money, but I don't think anyone else even comes close. Take this exchange last night:
Beck: Thirsty, Mama. Juice please.
Me: Ok. (handing him a cup of OJ)
Beck: NOOOOOOO!!! NO JUICE. ONLY MILK!
Me: Ok. You're sure you want milk? Not Juice?
Beck: NOT JUICE, ONLY MILK!!!!
Me (handing over milk, not juice): Here you go.
Beck: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ONLY JUICE. NOOOOOO MILK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OOOOOOOOOOOONNNNLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYY JUICE.
etc.
To his credit, this was following a very ill-conceived late afternoon nap, but we did have a very similar conversation regarding boots vs. shoes earlier in the day. I somehow have the ridiculous notion that his ear tube and adenoid surgery (scheduled for this Thursday, btw) is going to solve all of these issues. Sam, on the other had, thinks a few years of Dialectical Behavior Therapy are in order.

I should also add, to be fair, that Beckett's language skills are undergoing a leap very similar to Gretta's reading skills - he speaks in very lengthy sentences these days, most of which we can understand. He has also developed the sweetest sense of sympathy ever observed in a two year old boy: he often asks, "You ok?" as in "You ok, Gretta?" (sometimes after hitting her himself, yes). And yesterday we spend many, many minutes processing the fact that his friend August bumped his head at our house this weekend, but was ok after getting a big hug from his dada and a big hug from his mama. He truly is as sweet as he is difficult.

As for the rest, we had an awesome holiday weekend - great Thanksgiving with friends here in Beacon, then a reunion with old grad school friends (over football and Abita, of course), Gretta had her first away-from-home sleepover with one of her best friends, Esther, during which Beck got a night of hibachi and pet store visiting with his best friend (the 37 year-old, David Rees), and we had a big pile of friends over for a Left-Over Brunch on Sunday (turkey cheddar biscuits, stuffing & squash stratta - MMmmm!).

And now it is back to reality. Grading.

Comedy Nite.

2009-11-22T21:03:00.000-05:00

Last night was comedy night again here in Beacon. Sam performed with our friends Liam and David & all three (and that broom) were hilarious. We had a great time & a much needed break from the sickies. Our poor children are still recovering from what I'm guessing is the Swine of '09 - I refuse to take them in to be tested b/c a) swabs up the nose don't make you feel any better when you have the flu, and b) ain't nothing gonna change no matter which flu it is. Right? Though it looks like we're going to end up at the doc tomorrow anyway for residual ear infection issues for you-know-who. Whatever, I'm convinced that we have to through the worst of it & will be able to make it though the day without watching 23 consecutive DVDs sometime soon.

Here's to a happy and healthy Thanksgiving for all!

2009-11-16T23:15:00.000-05:00

mixed-media self-portrait

October, 2009

And there is also this review. Evidence of my man's skills.

p.s. Beck's new favorite phrases: 'Oh Boy!' (said to indicate pleasure, pain, exasperation, and excitement) and 'Just a Sec' or 'Just a Minute' (both said with one finger pointed in the air, solemn eye contact, and eyebrows raised to the heavens).

Intuition.

2009-11-15T12:21:00.000-05:00

I'm having a frustrating weekend.

Not because I got in an accident while taking a picture of the car in front of me with my cell phone (I didn't - but who could resist the risk with such a fabulous license plate right there in front of them?), no. Because I argued with the pediatrician about catching Beck up on a couple immunizations the Friday before his Monday surgery, the surgery that we are understandably anxious to have over, my arguement being that if he reacted to the shots we'd have to postpone the surgery & he could just as easily have the shots postsurgery. I, shamefully, overrode my intuition, let the insistent doctor immunize Beckett, and lo and behold, he has a temperature of 102.5. Surgery: cancelled. Mama: angry.

I also seem to have found myself a cyber-stalker & have made the blog private because of it. This is a long and stupid story, the upshot of which is: if someone says something stupid to you on the internet, ignore them instead of responding, no matter how tempting it is or how pithy your response might be. Said stalker found out my professional affiliation by reading that newspaper article I linked to a couple of posts ago & sent at least one of my coworkers an inappropriate email. I'm dealing with it through campus IT and Security, but in the meantime, I'm having another intuitive moment that is telling me to reel in the public access to my private information. So, if you want the option of being able to go to the blog to look at it (the google group emails should still email posts to you directly)- please follow the directions in the blogger email that was sent out recently. I hope to make the blog public again sometime in the future, but for now we'll play it safe. Mama: irritated.

Ears and other things that need draining.

2009-11-12T22:54:00.003-05:00

We were lucky enough to get to take a quick (surprise!) jaunt out to CA to help Wayne celebrate his 60th birthday last week. We kept things pretty low-key, but managed to make a trip to the beach (beautiful, but windy with very high surf that "ate" my mom, according to Beckett) and to one of the most beautiful wineries I've ever been to: Artesa.

Our girl in her new poncho.

And our boy going full-force with the construction motif.

Mr. B will be undergoing minor surgery on Monday for ear tubes and adenoid removal - please think a good thought for him.

2009-11-03T09:42:00.002-05:00

Life is super crazed in our house right now, tons of work - a lot of which is simply going undone (take our yard for example: sorry neighbors! maybe it will snow over our wreck of a yard soon?). Crazy kids - both of whom are going largely unparented. Not really, of course, but you wouldn't know it from the looks we were getting in Panera the other day - looks for what that both Sam and I classified as an unmitigated successful restaurant lunch (can anyone say, 'lowered standards are the zest of life?').

Amidst all this craziness, Sam is becoming even more of a vegetarian - something he writes about here, and something that may require us to get some more marriage counseling (also not really, but still! I like eating non-pesticidey, humanely treated animals!). Plus, vegetable stock doesn't even taste regular. And his previous piece about Ayn Rand is still the most commented, viewed, emailed story on the website (what's a blog without a little bragging?).

I was interviewed about the increasing use of texting among young adults for a local newspaper story related to the new texting whilst driving laws in NY.

And we also celebrated Halloween as Witch, Instant Gorrilla, Vampire Queen, and 'Guy' (in order of age). Check out some of the pictures here.

Fall?

2009-10-18T21:43:00.006-05:00

We're not at all sure what's happened to fall around here. It was just September, and now it is nearly the end of October. It was lovely weather for a week, and now it is COLD and wintery. It was sunny, and then it snowed (yes, snowed). You see where I'm going with all of this, right? We're in for a long, complainy winter, ya'll.

Another thing we're not sure about is where the hell all those potatoes came from. We planted 3 little fingerlings (donated by neighbors), and we even did it all WRONG, then forgot about them, let the weeds grow, forgot about them some more (supposed to be harvested in Sept), and then: voila! (or however you spell the french word for ripping a cover off of something and there it is) Last week we dug around a little and pulled out 4.5 pounds(!) of potatoes. So far I've made a vegetable-bean stew & Sam made a huge boatload of Indian Alloo Gobi. And we still have a bunch left that I can't decide what to do with.

Speaking of Sam, he has a new review this week, and it promises to be a gangbuster. (or some other term that means really good and funny) It is about an Ayn Rand biography and had 22 comments on it already, which means he must have said something edgy.

The kids are doing great. Becky is still very, very two and very, very boyish, and very, very difficult and lovely. His ears are promising to give us another miserable run for our money this year, and so we'll visit the ENT to discuss the options (sigh) this week - wish us luck. Anyway, that's him with his friends Ruby & Charlie at Storm King Art Center a couple weeks ago.

Our girl is doing fabulously. She loves kindergarten, is reading like a crazed person (seriously - 40 books in 10 days?), and is a designated helper in her classroom (gets to walk kids to the nurse, takes notes around school, etc.). There are definitely a few things about public school that I am still not crazy about - the crowd control mentality and use of shame as a beahvioral modification tool, specifically - but mostly it is going really, really well. Gretta is back into ballet and danced in the Spirit of Beacon Day parade with her friends a couple of weeks ago (below).

As for me, I'm doing just dandy. Getting over a very lingery head cold, totally overwhelmed with responsibilities at work, but happy and still making time to cook and read. I've only forgotten meetings or double booked myself like 3 times so far this semester, which is totally an improvement from last spring. And I've been able to spend some great quality time with friends recently, which is such a fulfilling thing - spent the night in the city with friends from high school, went to an awesome birthday dinner (where the birthday girl cooked dinner for us!), and spent a great, relaxing weekend in with friends who are about to join us on the parenting roller coaster, too.

We are also extremely happy to report that Wayne, my step-dad, underwent a very successful surgical intervention for cancer recently and looks to be around to thrill and irritate the rest of us for years to come.

Time to get yourself back in the Reading Room.

2009-09-23T10:04:00.002-05:00

Sam's leading another round of book talk in the Reading Room. This time it is the new Dan Brown book The Lost Symbol (isn't that the most mysterious title you've ever read?) that is under discussion. Up for discussion? Being discussed? Whatever. The back-and-forth between the participants happens in daily installments throughout the week and is bound to be hilarious.

Kids on Bikes, Sam and Ping Pong.

2009-09-21T13:26:00.003-05:00

Our kids love to live dangerously. Specifically, they love to ride their bikes in the middle of the street and as carelessly as can be down even the largest, most perilous of hills. Taking them for a ride is an exercise in terror, every single time. And they love it.

The real big news, however, is that our very own Sam Anderson has taken second place in the first official Beacon Ping Pong Tournament. I don't really have anything more to say about it (b/c I didn't even get to see the game), other than I've heard his signature kill shot is called, 'the CLAW'. And the guy who beat Sam in the final game technically lives in Newburgh, so we wouldn't be lying if we said that Sam is officially the best ping pong player in Beacon. We're very proud.

You are going to freaking LOVE this.

2009-09-17T19:57:00.002-05:00

Flight, Sam's one and (thus far) only published book. The author photo alone is worth a peek. Read the blurby bit, then click on the slide show.
Enjoy.

Beacon Comedy Research Group

2009-09-16T22:26:00.003-05:00

Sam and our friend David are taking Beacon by storm:

I-Yon-Ike-It!!!!!

2009-09-14T21:17:00.003-05:00

This is Beckett's absolute go-to phrase at the moment. Ask him about anything (motor vehicles, his father, and sports excepted) and he'll shout right at you: "IYONIKEIT!" Which, if you need a translation, is his version of, 'I don't like it.' Here is a list of things that Beck doesn't (but really does) 'ike':
1. clothing of any kind, except his batman shirt
2. me, his mother (IYONIKEIT: MAMA!)
3. gretta
4. food
6. all of his friends
7. going to the park
8. taking off his shoes
9. taking a bath
10. reading books

I'll be glad when he moves into a more discriminating phase of not liking things. I grow tired of him not liking things that he really likes just because he is two and petulant and contrary. I might also like it if his father or anything about his father might get onto the list, even just once. But that is because I am petty and jealous.

Also, in case you were wondering, I learned a little life lesson today: it is never a good idea to take a petulant, contrary two year old to a work meeting with you during his nap time. It is a BAD idea to do that. Especially because a two year old in such a state may refuse any kind of entertainment and instead shout "BOOBYBOOBYBOOBYBOOBYBOOBY" at you while trying to expose your breasts to the other people at the meeting. Mortified doesn't even begin to cover it.

But, we keep him anyway, because he is just so damned cute:

Sammy-Sammy-Sammer-Sam.

2009-09-10T20:07:00.003-05:00

Two reviews this week! One on a Jane Austen parody series and another about the author of the DaVinci Code, who has a new book forthcoming.

And, if that isn't quite enough, just this morning he wrote an analysis of Obama's healthcare speech. Speaking of which, if you were as disgusted by Joe Wilson's(R-SC) behavior during the address, you might want to call him and tell him so: DC Office: 202-225-2452 Beaufort Office: 843-521-2530 Columbia Office: 803-939-0041 - so far I haven't been able to get through. Or you can entertain yourself with
this (click the words on the screen).

Kinderkid and other end of summer business.

2009-09-09T09:28:00.002-05:00

Our girl started kindergarten this morning! We can't really believe it. If anyone doubts that she is ready, you can watch her walk in & see for yourself here:

You are also welcome to watch our walk to school (5 min of pure Gretta chitchat), if you are in to that kind of thing. Or, just take a look at a few more images of the morning.

In other news, we had a fabulous last hurrah of summer trip to Montreal over the Memorial Day weekend. It was as close to perfect as a trip with two kids (one of whom is two) can get - great weather, awesome city, friendly people, and the best bagels we've ever had. Montreal feels like a combination of Paris, New Orleans, and Portland - all places we love. We will definitely be back.

And, just to keep things even - a video of Beck jamming at the TamTam drum circle this weekend.

Birthday Week 2009!

2009-08-14T18:23:00.003-05:00

We're in the midst of birthday week, people: 3 birthdays in 7 days (Aug 9 = me, Aug 15 = Moby (he's 10 this year!), Aug 16 = Sam). We've been celebrating by doing whatever we want. Whiling away a day in the city, going to the movies, drinks with friends, eating a lot of ice cream.

Speaking of getting older, Sam sent me this quote he liked from a book in his office pile, and I think it is incredible:
"I read of a Buddhist teacher who developed Alzheimer's. He had retired from teaching because his memory was unreliable, but he made one exception for a reunion of his former students. When he walked onto the stage, he forgot everything, even where he was and why. However, he was a skilled Buddhist and he simply began sharing his feelings with the crowd. He said, 'I am anxious. I feel stupid. I feel scared and dumb. I am worried that I am wasting everyone's time. I am fearful. I am embarrassing myself.' After a few minutes of this, he remembered his talk and proceeded without apology. The students were deeply moved, not only by his wise teachings, but also by how he handled his failings."
--Mary Pipher, Seeking Peace: Chronicles of the Worst Buddhist in the World

That loving feeling.

2009-08-04T13:34:00.003-05:00

We've gotten to the point in our lives where a few of our friends' marriages are starting to disolve & I'm finding it, frankly, pretty freaky. And sorrowful. Sometimes understandable and other times not. I guess I'm just surprised at the impact that changes in other people's relationships has on me.

I found these two really interesting articles in the last few days: first, the NYTimes
Modern Love column from this Sunday's paper blew my mind (it never even occurred to me that what this woman did in the face of her own marital strife was an option); and then another Times piece about the very real (and long-lasting) impact of divorce on health took me back to the heart of my professional passions - psychoneuroimmunology.

I'm begining to believe, or at least to consistently remind myself, that we can only change our own part of the relationship dynamic - no matter how much it is the other person who (in your estimation) needs to change. And that suffering is not actually a terrible thing. Suffering can lead to better, richer relationships - if you can man-up and bear it.

p.s. we are in a hard-earned, but good place, so no need for concerned calls. :)

Pynchon.

2009-08-03T11:16:00.002-05:00

Sam is doing a little hating on Thomas Pynchon this week.

Something.

2009-08-01T22:16:00.002-05:00

is happening here.

We've been hanging out with Grandma 'nee this week, having a grand time so far: playing, hiking, cooking, sailing, shopping, Hoboken-ing. Here are
some pictures of what we've been up to.

Rumpus Room.

2009-07-29T22:04:00.002-05:00

I was notified a bit late about *this* (like 30 seconds after I pushed publish on the last post) interview Sam did about book reviewing, etc. If you've never talked to him about what he does or why he does it, now's your chance.

The New Moby-Dick.

2009-07-29T21:19:00.002-05:00

Sam reviewed Vollman this week. Reward him for all that reading (seriously, like 1300 pages) by reading his really funny (the opening paragraph is fantastic) essay. Do it! You don't have anything better to do! Read it!

Summer.

2009-07-19T11:15:00.003-05:00

We're having a lovely summer so far. Gretta has been enjoying camp (one week of cooking, one week of worming), Beckett is enjoying hitting home runs and driving various driveable objects. Sam is reading two of the largest books ever published (at the same time, of course). I'm working way more than I intended to this summer, but still finding time to do fun things.

We took a quick trip to Massachusettes last weekend - Williamstown and North Adams, and this weekend we hiked up Mt. Beacon with friends visiting from Louisiana, then went to the Wilco concert last night (with just about every person we know in Beacon). Here are a few representative pictures.

It’s ontology porn.

2009-07-06T21:43:00.002-05:00

Sam wrote a really lovely culture opener for this week's New York - it's a review about a book you might never read, but the essay itself is a harkening back to one of the things he does best: a good, old-fashioned, literary personal essay. I think you'll like it.