exhaustomatic

Gratitude Project, Game Over

2010-12-13T12:27:00.000-08:00

Am I too impatient? A mutant? Expressing gratitude in the wrong way? Focusing on the wrong things to be grateful for? Disturbed? Over simplifying? Could they be wrong? Dunno, but my feeling is that seven weeks of this is, if anything, bringing me down. And because I take a certain pleasure in quitting things that appear to bring me down . . . ciao.

Gratitude Project, Week Seven

2010-12-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

Feels like I'm trying to make lemonade this week, but here it goes:

Wallace Thing: That his recital is now over so we don't have to work on Sonata in C Major by Jean Baptiste Breval any more.

Running: Hitting my goals.

Simon Thing: Listening to him sing "My mother had a great deal of trouble with me . . . but I think she enjoyed it."

Wallace & Simon Thing: They are OBSESSED with Star Wars and have checked out every graphic dictionary/encyclopedia on topic from the library. They sit with 10+ oversized books and watch part of an episode every day, pausing the DVD a zillion times to make connections between the movies and the books.

Gratitude Project, Week Six

2010-12-02T06:31:00.001-08:00

Simon Thing: He sits by the toe-kick fan in the kitchen and calls the blowing hot air "dragon's breath."

Unitarian Thing: What they teach the kiddos:
Q: What do you teach children?
We teach children that they are capable of looking into their own hearts and minds for religious truth. We teach them that their natural response of awe and wonder to the beauty of the world is a spiritual response. We teach them to think deeply about moral and ethical issues, and to be curious and respectful rather than frightened or angry when they meet persons who are different from them.

Kevin Thing: That sometimes he has good dreams.

Book: The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller. Thought provoking about the importance and inevitabilities of childhood. And, some ideas about what to do when it all goes so confusingly and heart-breakingly wrong.

Literary Character: Miggery Sow in the Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. She is the victim of such misfortune with priceless observations, like: "That's some good sophosy, that is, kill 'em, even if they's already dead."

Find on the Internet. Beat poetry at its finest. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/11/a-poem-for-sunday.html

Gratitude Project, Week Five

2010-11-27T14:03:00.000-08:00

Simon's Joke: Q: What did the math book say to the principal?
A: I have so many problems.

Essay: Jonathan Franzen's essay "Why Bother" in his collection titled "How to Be Alone" --still not sick of him.

Weather: Watching the storm roll in and white out Tuesday evening. Wallace and Simon put on their hats, coats and boots to go out in it and then Wallace stripped off his coat, sweater and shirt because he wanted to feel the "power."

Wallace's Exasperation: Wallace's ability to dramatically poke holes in well-meaning advice he receives. He has a flair for facial expression, grand full-body gestures, and ending a verbal tirade with a higher-than-he-started vocal tone. Like, when instructed to replace "I'm worried about" with "I wonder what will happen if" as one way to cope with the repetitive hand wringing that keeps him up at night, he points out that it doesn't relax him to wonder what will happen when all the adults in his life get a brain disease and become stark raving, mad cannibals.

New Song/Video: Pink's Raise Your Glass - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vXuw0p7Aqc

Gratitude Project, Week Four

2010-11-18T07:18:00.000-08:00

Simon Thing: The way Simon says: “Thanks for the good luck!” when you wish him good luck, like you just gave him an extra dessert.

Wallace Thing: Brought home a trophy for winning the Reflections (theme: Together we Can) contest at his school. He entered a poem which made his Dad so very proud (and validated). Here it is:

Together We Can

Alone I can kick a soccer ball
With a friend we can make a pass
With a team we can play a game
Without barriers we can play the World Cup

Alone I can play a solo
With a violin we can perform a duet
With an orchestra we can play a symphony
Without discord we can live in harmony

Alone I can be happy
With a friend I can be happier
With a family we can love
Without hate we can leave war behind

Alone I can do some things
Together we can do more

Me Thing: That I can watch DVDs from the library in the middle of the day all by myself, like Blind Date (loved Stanley Tucci), The City of Your Final Destination (loved Anthony Hopkins), Whatever Works (loved this Woody Allen) and Inside Man (loved this Spike Lee)

Gratitude Project, Week Three

2010-11-11T08:06:00.000-08:00

time
how Paige laughs at everything
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
patience
Simon's art
Wallace's obsessive mind
people at First Unitarian Church
Kevin's interest
this song (though not this rendition): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2b-swbPxfU&feature=related

Gratitude Project, Week Two

2010-11-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

This week's favorites for which I am grateful.

Find on the internet: http://storycorps.org/listen/stories/sarah-and-joshua-littman/
(a 12-year-old with Asperger’s interviews his mother)

Simon thing: “Dad says people say ‘bless you’ when you sneeze because they think your soul is coming out of your mouth. But I don’t think your soul looks like that. I think it looks like bones. The bones, like, in your shoulder and down to your elbow. Right?”

Wallace thing: “Sam says it’s fun to break the rules and get in trouble. He’s wrong. I mean, sure it may be fun for, like, one minute. But, then, seriously, how can people trust you or think you are a man of your word?”

Book passage: “Chip’s hand went to the rivet in his earlobe as to a talisman. He felt like a child out of Grimm, lured into the enchanted house by the warmth and the food; and now the witch was going to lock him in a cage, fatten him up, and eat him.” The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen (Chip, a grown man, returns home (after an absence of four years) for Christmas at the behest of his aging parents and siblings only to be asked by his mother to stay for a week while his father undergoes hospitalization.)

New word: Spandrel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spandrel_(biology)) (stumbled across in the Preface of How Pleasure Works, the New Science of Why We Like What We Like by Paul Bloom)

Weather: Highs in the 60s.

Corrective running shoes: Pearl Izumis for pronaters

Gratitude Project, Week One

2010-10-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

It is apparently scientifically well-documented that gratitude increases psychological well-being. Psychological well-being being something that I’m for, I think. Anticipating the unyielding, inevitable onslaught of the upcoming (un)holydays compounded by what is sure to be very little direct, sustained sunlight, I’ve decided to test this principle. I hereby commit to document weekly favorites for which I am grateful. Below are this week’s favorite . . .

Find on the internet:
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2010/10/the-first-person-i-came-out-to-was-god.html

Email response:
“I’m sorry I flamed you. The last line is the only one I meant. I don’t have the right temperament for e-mail. Please write back.”

Statement from the Godbox:
“There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.”

Wallace thing:
“Meg asked me to go to this dinner and dance thing. I mean, can you believe that?” – Or, “I just don’t get how a yedi can be black. Even the leopards in the Himalayas are white.”

Simon thing:
“I love texting.” – Or, “I don’t want vegetarian. I want combo! And, breadsticks.”

2010 Self Portraits

2010-06-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Um, can you tell which is firstborn?

The Simon-ator

2010-06-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Just doing his job, which is why you probably never see them. That, or they live in a petri dish.

In case you were wondering:

They work together. Special attack. Mind control and multiply theirself. Wanted, and his group.

Special attack. Jump on you. He works alone. Wanted.

Same Hike, Different Day.

2010-03-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

Donut Falls.

Fall 2009.

Winter 2010.

FYE 2009 Bonus

2010-03-14T21:30:00.001-07:00

It came in an envelope and everything.

April Goo

2008-04-30T19:49:00.000-07:00

Is it just me or has April been one giant unmet expectation? Cold, no holidays, big tax bill due, cold and windy, Obama looking like he needs a smoke, starter stopped, Goldsmith on sabbatical, really cold.

Like a March Hare

2008-03-09T13:36:00.001-07:00

Do you think Simon has drawn:

A. Kevin
B. Julie
C. a hermaphrodite
D. the Spirit of Life

What He Said

2008-03-06T14:48:00.001-08:00

I feel exactly same way, but wasn't able to articulate it until yesterday.

Favorite Portmanteaus

2008-03-03T18:28:00.000-08:00

blog (duh), soundscape, brunch, hazmat, wifi, mockumentary, ginormous, malware, liger, bromance, cineplex, pulsar, sexcapade, emoticon, sitcom, neocon and crazyass (perhaps a compound word)

Better Than February

2008-02-25T18:43:00.001-08:00

The Gingerbread Man

2008-02-23T21:25:00.001-08:00

He looks like what I imagine bliss feels like. Or the chick holding the camera appeared receptive. Either way, I'm happy he's found an endorphine source. May we all be so lucky. Especially this year when there are TWENTY NINE days in February.

2008-02-23T21:25:00.000-08:00

Thanks for visiting.

2007-02-19T21:05:00.001-08:00