11.19.2008

The Bagpipe Didn't Say No - Shel Silverstein

Just because it's my favorite poem from childhood, and I like the fact that if I post it on this blog, I'll have access to it for the foreseeable future, hurricanes be damned.

It was nine o'clock at midnight at a quarter after three
When a turtle met a bagpipe on the shoreside by the sea,
And the turtle said, "My dearie, May I sit with you? I'm weary."
And the bagpipe didn't say no.

11.15.2008

Conversations With a Three-Year-Old, Volume 5

E: Mommy, I like that Shrek guy.

Me: Yes, he's funny, isn't he? He's a nice ogre.

E: Yogurt? I don't really like yogurt. Especially not the strawberry kind. The strawberries are too small. I like big strawberries--I really like those ones that Gigi makes with the dip. But I like Shrek--he's a nice yogurt.

11.14.2008

Conversations With the Father of a Three-Year-Old

Me: Why are you taping the Wizard of Oz?

K: I thought Emmeline might like it.

Me: The girl who has screaming nightmares about the Care Bears and an imaginary frog in her closet? How do you think she'll feel about the Wicked Witch of the West?

K: Yeah, now that you mention it, I guess the flying monkeys probably wouldn't go over real well, either.

Me: Not unless you want her sleeping in our bed until she's 12.

K: (Deletes Wizard of Oz.)

11.10.2008

A Letter to My Daughter, 11/08

Dear Emmeline:

You are a funny, funny child. At least a couple of times each day, you say something that cracks me and your father up, often much to our dismay--like the times when we're trying to discipline you and you say something outrageous, which leads to both of us holding back laughter and smiles and flashing each other looks across the room. We try really hard to be stern when the situation calls for it, but sometimes we just want to collapse in laughter as a result of some of the things you come up with.

Your favorite game in the whole wide world right now is when I or K blow raspberries on your stomach. You think this is hilarious and will lie on your back with your arms spread wide, screeching, "Do it again, do it again!" Your second favorite game is pretending that you're going to kiss K and instead giving him a raspberry on his cheek. You then scream out "I tricked you!" and dissolve into hysterical giggles.

11.05.2008

I Voted for Barack Obama Because...

This post has been percolating in my head for awhile--let's see if I can get it out.

I voted for Barack Obama because I'm tired of the terrible turn that political discourse has taken in this country. And during the past eight years, I can count myself among the people who have, at times, been blinded by anger and intolerance when discussing politics, even with people that I love and value dearly.

I voted for Barack Obama because I want my country back--the country that I believe in. The country in which we don't torture people, no matter who they are, because it's wrong. Because it's immoral. Because how can we lead by the power of our example when we're on the wrong side of the argument? It doesn't matter whether the people we're torturing are terrorists or really, really bad people, or whether they really might be the key to that elusive ticking time bomb. Did you ever stop to think that some of them are most definitely innocent? Torture is wrong. America is better than that.

11.04.08, Part Two

Thrilled beyond belief....