Lots of books here, of course.
I was 29, and reading "Goodbye to All That" in "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" by Didion. I was miserable at my job and knew for years I needed to get back in school and finish my degree - but it was that essay that finally moved me to enroll.
My dad had given me the book in a stack of books he thought I should read, which included Camus. My dad's not real good at communication, but that stack of books changed my life, and somehow he knew I needed it.
#8, Fireworks
I was in Disneyworld with my high school band, and the well-off mother of one of our friends gave a small group of us a great gift we hadn't even known was possible - dinner in Cinderella's Castle. I remember nothing of the food, but what came during dessert lives bright in memory - fireworks through stained glass. I watched them in awe, and in that moment anything seemed possible for me.
My fil has been through this three times this year. Our family's best wishes to yours for a speedy and answer-filled recovery.
We all really hated the not-knowing parts.
Lee @93: Just south of Detroit, in a little town called Melvindale. Often referred to as Smellvindale, even though it really doesn't, anymore.
It is a wonderful place to live, between 75 and 94 and the Southfield Freeway - we drive to Ann Arbor to work and friends, though, and want to move there.
I am in London for the first time in my life. I live in the Detroit area, so this is a wonderful adventure for me. Last night I got to look at Van Gogh's Sunflowers at the National Gallery, and tonight we go to the British Museum.
It's a work trip, so it's not all fun and games, but getting to see so many things - getting to see a play at the Globe! - makes me happy this week. Next week, I will be happy to see my daughter.
My 65 year old, straight-laced mother, giggling:
"Your father and I already decided to go vote for Ron Paul to mess them up!"
Being a suburban Detroiter, this is a Very Frustrating primary. I would have never thought of voting on the Republican ballot on my own, but now my husband and I are considering it. The thought does give me an icky feeling, though. I'm still trying to determine if it's an ethical ick or 'I don't want to touch their yucky ballot' ick.
My almost-13-year-old thought hard and said, "when the twin towers fell."
I was born in 74, and my first news memory isn't really news, but my dad picking me up, sitting me on the kitchen counter, and having a bitch-fest about what a moron Jimmy Carter was. My dad is a die-hard teamster democrat, and wow, was he mad. He can't remember it when I ask him about it, but I've always wondered what just happened to set him off. It was summer, I had on a pink dress.
Last night was (chicken, not turkey) dinner with my side of the family. Today, we have a 3pm reservation for dinner with my husband's side.
We go to this Hall that usually does 4 weddings a night - they open all 4 halls, and in the middle put a gigantic 2 story Santa surrounded by table upon table of buffet dishes, with ice sculptures everywhere, and all along the back - section upon section of dessert. Including a huge chocolate fountain.
We love it. It's stress-free, and frankly, the food is better than what my in-laws do. (Oh, hoping they never find this, but it's true.) It's a new tradition started last year because my mil was post-surgery, and continued this year because her kitchen is being remodeled.
We haven't yet figured out how to ask for this to be a 'forever' tradition without heartbreak.
My 12-year-old Fi said, when we talked about this tonight, "Kids do this now, with notes."
I pointed out the problem was a grownup was involved. So we discussed strategies for figuring out if someone was real. And she told me she didn't want to be on social-networking sites yet anyway. Then she angled to try to get us to buy her some anime downloads instead.
Yup, we love that kid.
As the mother of an almost 13 year old who went through the trauma of having her best friend turn on her and take all her other friends with her last year in 6th grade (we're having *much* better year in a new classroom now!), this story may cost me some sleep. I never called the school or anyone's mother, I just gave the best advice and encouragement I could and was there for my kid.
Of course I wanted to protect her. I wish I could have. I try to help her build her own armor, instead of being a shield.
Now, of course, we need to discuss this situation. She's not on social networking sites yet, and we read her email (and she hasn't changed her password *yet*), and we've talked about the normal pervs, the trolls, spam and popup add trickery, and certainly about not putting anything out there you don't want out there forever - but now we need to talk about this too.
It gets tiring.
Thanks for this. So much I was never taught and don't even know to look for, but I stumble across these things all the time here, and am better for it. Much appreciated.
It also makes the point, it is kind of embarrassing, the Republican Party ought to be hanging its head in shame, that it has so much difficulty getting women to vote for it.
Just sayin'.
I live *just* south of Detroit, and everyone I know thinks this is an awful idea and people will die. Probably boaters, at the very least. Someone will wander in zone. The lakes get remarkably crowded - especially around Sarnia. Good Lord!
Two weeks ago, my former Navy husband told me I was being paranoid in my thinking the gunships are really for controlling our own citizens (see what kind of damage they could do to a riot in Hart Plaza or on Belle Isle).
Much like the earlier ex-Navy commenter, my husband is just certain these guys are getting trained to go fight in the Persian Gulf, our Gulf and Cali coast against drug-runners. I said, "why train them here, then?" and he said, "because you don't train in the zone you're going to fight in. That'd be like sending troops to Iraq to get trained."
I'd like to feel reassured, but I'm afraid I share the paranoia, even if my pov on it was skewed to controlling Detroiters in particular.
The Einsteins' Theory of Relativity:
Just sayin. Scroll down to Maria Maric Einstein. Always have to mention these things when I think of them, in light of the feminist discussion above. I only found out about this a few years ago - never had a women's studies course. So many things they never mentioned in school.
My 10 year old is very smart, and very dry. Lucky for me, I find it amusing. My mother does not.
Nonetheless, when I just told her about this, she said, dryly, "They should have invited him to stay. He's rich, right?"
Madeleine said:
"Julie, age five, told a woman she was BAD because she scolded me for something."
My daughter Fiona, now ten, tells my mother and my mother-in-law, the two worst offenders for drive bys in my life, to "stop being mean to my mother. I'll be just fine" or "I'll live."
This is something of an echo of what she hears from me.
"I forgot my gloves." - You'll live.
Because she will. I try to be a sane mother. Really hard.
The book with the car that drives itself:
It is Roger Zelazny, and I believe it may have started as the novella "He Who Shapes" and later morphed into something else. Not sure on that, but I remember those cars.
There is also a scene when they mention kids pulling (what we might now refer to as) the GPS chip out of the car and letting it run to random coordinates. Or maybe that's something the main character does at some point...
You should re-read it. Excellent stuff! Now have to go search out my escapism...
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