botany and prepositions

A few sprigs of chives have sprung up through the poison ivy next to the sidewalk outside my office building.

Literal truth just begging for symbolism.

not a sequel, not a prequel, 1984.1?

Is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead a parralelquel?

Has anyone written a parralelquel about a guy who monitors the 2-way TV's in 1984?  He probably works in a cubicle among many.  His life is probably not too different from Winston Smith's.  My guess is there are folks now with similar jobs in nursing homes or prisons.

They must have some rules as to what kind of activity to report.  Probably lists of boring rules, with jargon.  I bet there's official jargon, for reporting activity, and slang that the monitors use for joking about the people they're forced to watch all day and night long.  I mean the 1984 folks, particularly, but I imagine it exists to some extent in real life.

I remember a high-tech day care center that would give parents a secure URL/Web address so they could watch their kid from their PC at work.  It is a reassuring feature for guilty/worried/lonesome parents.  But with some disturbing implications.

decent weekend

Saturday skating with Rafi.
Sunday Avatar with Zoe.
Got past page 100 in #1B1T and read some 21st century Ray Bradbury too.
Monday managed to swim before work.
O.K. Now work.   :^)

Rafi's haircut

First off, she looks adorable with it.  She was already adorable, and beautiful, but sometimes, as the day wore on, she looked... well like she could use some attention to her hair. 

Second, I've wanted her to have a short hair cut for years because

• I thought it would look good because she always looked great with her hair tied back. 
• Half the time she is off to school before anyone brushes her hair.  By the time I see her Friday night at Aikido her hair is often a disaster.

Third: I did not trick her the way my mother tricked me.  When I was 6, my mother asked me in a bright voice:  "Would you like a pixie cut?" and that sounded so magical I said yes.  I didn't know it would mean cutting my hair off.  I remember crying in bed that night missing my hair.  In defense of my mother, when I look at my first grade photo with the pixie cut I must admit it's a lot cuter than the 2nd grade photo of me with longer hair.

Remembering the pain of that pixie cut, I did not use trickery.  I used propaganda.  I asked Natalie to cut my hair short first.  Then I asked Rafi, "Do you want a short hair cut like Mommy?"  Rafi said "Yes!"  And her hair cut came out even better than I expected.  I'm amazed at how cute she looks.  She's pleased with herself.  That's the best part.

I, alas, don't look as good with a pixie cut as I did when I was 6.  No photos until it grows out.

Fourth:  Propaganda may not have been needed.  She had already taken a scissors to her own hair a few weeks earlier.  She wanted her hair cut.

As to donations, yes I would like it if it went to a child who could use it.  We'll measure it and send it off if it is 12".  I am too much an animist to send my 6-year old daughter's precious talisman of a braid to wipe up nasty oil spills.  My hair clippings, fine, but they've gone up Natalie's vacuum cleaner already.

on route 3 south this morning...

A pickup pulls in front of me in traffic.  It's a large olive drab Nissan Titan.  If it gets into an accident, will the police report be titled "Crash of the Titan"?