iced venti nonfat latte

Just remember: caffeine is a drug. And, like all drugs* can be a lot of fun should be consumed only in moderation.

Is Niobe been hitting the latte a little too hard this morning? Let's look at the evidence, namely, a few of her recent tweets.

And, moving right along, what's your favorite drink? Check out Calliope's Photo Friday for lots of pretty beverage (and cooking) pictures. Then go ahead and add your own.


*NB:I am, of course, referring exclusively to those drugs legal in all 50 states. Don't look at me like that.

spellbound

So, I'm posting these pictures of my two boys and what I'm thinking is mainly how impossibly lucky I've been. Yes, I've been unlucky too and there are lots of reasons that you would absolutely not want to trade your life for mine, but the last two years I've gone through two successful surrogacies, resulting in two perfect babies (a boy and a girl) and let's not forget the extra kid I already had.

Someone recently asked me how come I'm no longer cursed and while I don't have an answer, it's the kind of thing I wonder about when I have nothing better to do. In other words, far too often.

Which brings me to the ostensible point of this post, namely that the other day, a, um, friend of mine was googling curses and she found this nifty site enables you to send a free voodoo curse by email to the victim(s) of your choice (providing, of course, that you know his/her/their email addresses).

The recipient will get a personalized picture of a creepy voodoo doll with a creepy voodoo message. Plus the site has bonus features like tracking so you can see if the voodoo curse message has been opened and a selection of (definitely not family-friendly) victim feedback.

While I don't think I'd want to really and truly curse anyone, I have to admit the idea is intriguing. Considerations of karma and such aside, theoretically, is there a person or group of people you'd kinda sorta like something bad (but maybe not too bad) to happen to? Answer anonymously if you'd like.

good intentions

I'm an idiot for many reasons, not least of which is that I really, really thought I'd already posted this or at least a reasonable facsimile* thereof

First, because narrative clarity isn't my forte, I was planning to link to Ruby's birth story.

Second, I keep meaning to participate (And you should too! Participate, that is. Not mean to.) in Calliope's Photo Fridays, a weekly event where Calliope provides a prompt and you provide a photo.

For example, the picture above was supposed to be my representation of the Cooking Oil theme from a few weeks back. Though the actual theme was Cooking Oil and Electric Light Source, and it only now occurs to me that I'm not entirely sure whether it was a pick-one-from-column-A kind of thing or if photos of both are required. Obviously, if it's the latter, well, that's just another reason I'm an idiot.


*Also, because I'm always happy to provide unsolicited insight into the way Niobe's mind works, the word "facsimile" irresistibly reminds me of a sentence from some otherwise-forgotten 19th or early 20th work describing two sofas (or chaises or some kind of furniture) that facsimiled one another, meaning that they were exact duplicates. A usage that struck me as whatever the opposite of an anachronism is, something that seems temporally out of place, but actually isn't.

Like, for example, the all-too-modern (to my eyes, anyway) umbrellas in Caillebotte's famous Impressionist painting, Rainy Day. Which, incidentally, you can purchase in reproduction, printed on an actual umbrella. If you're so inclined.

one, two

I realize this is not exactly what Diana (link added) (who didn't leave a link to her profile) and Furrow had in mind when they requested a picture of Cole and Ruby together. But it's about the best I can do at the moment, because if my hands and attention are occupied with a camera, they are, necessarily, not occupied with preventing Cole from expressing his over-enthusiastic affection for his little sister.

The best I've been able to do is this photo which, though not the most awesome shot ever, nicely illustrates the problem. While Cole has managed to climb into Ruby's moses basket, he is not (I promise) sitting on top of Ruby's feet. However, I admit that his demonic grin is entirely due to the fact that he has, at long last, managed to swipe her bottle.

Note: My camera still isn't working, so I've been using this cute little Canon Ixus 100 IS that (I think) Gray picked up in Europe. I like it, but I yearn desperately for a camera of my own.

portents of the apocalypse

A ravening ash cloud spawned by a subglacial volcano! An eerie ball of fire in the midwestern skies!

And, for about half an hour yesterday, Cole and Ruby asleep at the same time!

Obviously, I haven't quite got this one toddler + one infant thing completely figured out yet. But I'm working on it.

the winner is...

Ruby!

Thanks so, so much for your votes and your good wishes. I can't begin to tell you how much they mean to me.

day for night

My camera's at least temporarily on the blink, as is the baby's ability to distinguish day from night. My capacity for coherent thought isn't doing much better (see, e.g., the hour-plus it's taken me to type out these sentences and my epic fail of an attempt to add a poll).

For the moment, we're slightly stranded in a perfectly nice hotel just off the highway and halfway to sleep, surrounded by what sounds suspiciously like the buzzing of innumerable bees, but is, in fact, the a/c.

Luckily, Kym lent me her camera, so at least there's the photo above. And, since I can't seem to focus, literally or, y'know, figuratively on the pressing issue of the baby's blog pseudonym, please vote in what I'm very much hoping is the poll below.

Or add your suggestions for a name -- or for just about anything else -- in the comments. I promise to thank you all, individually, collectively and sincerely, just as soon as I've managed to get a little . . . more . . . sleep.


eta: poll is now closed

at last

She's here! Everyone is doing very well and all of us are sleepy and at least one of us is crying.

details and pictures to follow...

minus seven one

I had this post all mapped out in my head. About how there were just seven days to go before (fingers crossed) the new baby arrived. About how I simply could not wrap my mind around this (admittedly none-too-difficult) concept.

Try to imagine the whole thing leavened with rapier-like wit, flashes of blinding insight and faint, yet earnest, attempts to transcend the solipsism that is my natural element. To, y'know, mix a whole bunch of metaphors.

However. As it turns out, I've spent most of the day on planes or waiting for planes. And Trish is going to be induced first thing tomorrow morning. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, look! Once again, the license plate auguries are speaking to me. As can be seen in the picture below, spotted on the cab ride on the way to the airport.

Minus one, indeed. And counting down.

eta: And a bonus special message from the bumper sticker gods! Check out the back window of the white van. (click on the picture and choose the all sizes icon) And don't blame me. I only took a picture of it. Well, and posted it on the internet. And drew your attention to it. Okay, I guess you can blame me.

prop

Finally, it was an actual nice (almost too nice, even) day, so I let Cole run around outside while I took pictures.

And, yes, in every single one of them he's clutching that bright green straw that we swiped from Starbucks when I got my iced latte. At least it's kind of photogenic.

april fishing

So, I open my browser to find that all the vowels have vanished from gmail and that Google has changed its name to Topeka.
eta: And Starbucks is offering two new sizes the itty-bitty micra and (for the true caffeine junkies among us), the 128-oz plenta!

Which leads me to the probably totally unnecessary suggestion that, for today, you take everything you find on the internets with an even larger grain of salt than usual. If you're in a Francophone country, watch your back. Literally. Or you might find an April Fish taped to it.

What's the best April 1 prank that you've ever been the victim (or perpetrator) of?


(Picture is a public domain image of French greeting card, found via Wikipedia)