Saturday, September 15, 2007

NANO!

I'm writing my blog while listening to my new nano. How ought's is that? (We're in the ought's decade, aren't we?)
Have to stop typing. Sting singing Flow my tears just has to be listened to.
First question: No, not the new nano with the TV in it.
Second: And the earbuds aren't bothering me, and they aren't falling out.
oops. spoke too soon. left ear itched; tried to scratch it, now the left one won't go back in.. The apple support website ipod manual really ought to have some directions for the things. ok. it's in. but my left ear is itching again. inside.
Jeff got a free nano when he bought his new apple laptop. He asked me if I wanted an iPod. I said sure. I thought he'd give me his old one now that he had a new one. I'd figured eventually someday I'd get an old shuffle from some niece or nephew who was upgrading. But no. Jeff generously just gave me his brand new in a box shiny blue nano.
And love, is love, in beggars and in kings.
Right. He said I owe him a favor. That made me consider giving it back. Nonspecific favors to be repaid at indefinite dates are something to be cautious about.
But the fact is, we already owe Melinda and Jeff lots of favors. They've
Though all my wares be trash...the heart is true--the heart is true.
been wonderful. For years.
Nano! Nano! Nano! Yay!
Thank you Jeff!

Monday, September 10, 2007

political question

I don't dislike any of the Democratic candidates. John McCain's the only Republican candidate I respect. Should I vote Republican this year, so I can vote for McCain?

Tooth Fairy, Part II, Unclear on the Concept

So I was getting ready for work the first morning after the tooth fairy's first visit to our house when I heard Zoe crying and crying. "What's wrong?" I asked my husband.
He says "I don't know."
I went to Zoe's bed. The tooth case was out, the dollar on the sheets, and Zoe was sobbing.
"Look, the tooth fairy left you a dollar!" I said, or something of the sort. Zoe just kept crying. I cuddled her until she could stop crying enough to speak.
"My teeth are gone!" She said. She didn't want to even look at the dollar.
Unclear on the concept, I think.
"But, that's what the tooth fairy does. You give her the tooth, and she gives you money for it."
"I want my teeth back!" Zoe cried.
"Why? What do you want them for?"
"I want to play with them!"
I truly don't care if the tooth fairy ever visits the house again. I don't feel comfortable lying to Zoe anyway. It seems to me that in childhood we tell our children there's a God, Tooth Fairy, and (sometimes) Santa Claus and Easter Bunny. Then when they grow up we tell them we were lying about all but the first of those. I wish we could be honest, but there's too much social pressure not to be.
And I don't care if she has the teeth or not. Ugly small bloody things. I'm glad we didn't throw them out. She can have them. But how to maintain the lie?
"Maybe if you write the tooth fairy a note, she'll give them back to you...."
We make up stories about maybe today when Zoe's in school, Daddy can find the teeth in the woods where the fairy hid them. By evening we decide to put some shiny sequins in the tooth box to buy back the teeth. (Zoe rejects the notion of giving back the dollar.) But when bedtime comes, the tooth case is lost. Now it's Monday night, and I haven't heard anything else about the teeth.

Tooth Fairy, Part I

Zoe had her first loose tooth while she was still in kindergarten, last May. It didn't fall out, but the one next to it also became loose over the summer. Months went by. The two grownup teeth started to grow in behind the loose baby teeth, but they still didn't fall out. After two months, Zoe gave up asking me when they would fall out. I was as mystified as she. I don't remember enough about being in the baby-teeth-falling-out age to know if this is normal or not. Finally, last Thursday, during second day of first grade, she "pulled" them out. I'm not sure if she always could have done so, but, I came home from work and learned that Ro and I needed to play tooth-fairy that night.
"If you told me before I left work, I could have stopped at the bank and seen if they had any dollar coins," I said.
The tooth fairy job was complicated by Zoe not using the traditional envelope. After yanking out her teeth, Zoe was sent to the school nurse, who presented her with a white plastic tooth-shaped tooth case on a gold cord. The tooth-case looked too small to hold anything but maybe a dime.
Ro wondered how we'd get the case out from under Zoe's pillow. I snuck it out easily. Children do sleep soundly. If they didn't, I don't think this tooth fairy custom would be so widespread or have survived so long.
We wonder what to do with the teeth. "I think my parents threw them out," I say. I remember that's what we concluded when we reached the age to know the Truth about the Tooth Fairy.
"It seems like something we should save," said Rodrigo. "I should call my mother and ask her what to do with them."
"She'll say throw them out!"
I take the teeth that Ro has put an envelope. Where to hide it? Zoe goes through all of my stuff. I put it in Ro's drawer, too high and stuck for Zoe to open.
Since it was two teeth, we thought we should put two dollars in the case.
We considered ironing the dollar bills so they'd look nice, but I figured I'd have to fold them up very tiny anyway. The tooth case was too small for two dollars. I only managed to fit in one dollar bill, much creased and folded, and then rolled up to fit inside the case.
I snuck it back under the pillow.
How I wished I could see her expression the next day when she opened the case and found the dollar!

Friday, September 07, 2007

Why I like the radio

Walking in the parking lot of our industrial complex at lunch, I hear a U2 song that I like blaring out. It reminds me of why I like the radio. When the radio plays a good song, it's random good luck. And often it's a song I haven't thought of for a while. With an iPod/CD/Cassette, I have to decide and choose. There's nothing unexpected random spontaneous good luck about it. Of course, after switching stations many times with no satisfaction, it's sometimes a relief to push in the CD or cassette and hear that favorite song.