morning activity

we sit on the stoop, J2 A E and me, to watch the dump truck go by.

hiiii!!! says A to the truck driver.

i wonder how many kids he sees on his route, J2 says.

i simply wonder.

sapiens - yuval noah harari (2011)

the cognitive revolution. imagined realities.

objective subjective and inter-subjective constructs.

the global empire.

sweeping and fascinating. also deliberately provocative. 

all thumbs up.

on the incomprehensibility of A's diction

amongst the morass of gibberish that A continually sprouts are a few choice pearls of clear communication:

adult: A, can you do this please? 

A: NO (clear grammatical emphatic and prompt)

also,

A: hi!! (with full command of the diphthong so it comes out as haaiiiiii!!)

A: bye!! 

the rest is everyone's best guess, J2 not unexpectedly being the most accurate guesser.

date time 2

we plan a dinner out. Ji and J2 assiduously suggest fine dining places.

HOM and i make our way to a burger joint*. what's not to like? it's uncrowded. the burger is good. the fries are satisfying. the wine is (kinda) acceptable. the price is gentle on the wallet. then we schlepp home to an early supper and bed.

we have become a pair of doddering fogeys, HOM and i.

*eureka! fresno

notes on the u.s. of a.

fresh from a series of china visits, here are some thoughts:

• the air is much clearer for the relative absence of cigarette smoking pedestrians
• i never get ambushed by hocking and spitting folk. it's making me feel quite happily secure 
• it's a lot noisier on the roads thanks to gas and diesel. one misses the EVs
• but i don't get ambushed by silent mopeds either. here they have harley davidsons. no ambush. no sirree! we assault!
• pedestrian is king here. in a really quite quite satisfying way that would be laughed out of the room back in asia
• sticker shock is real. my poor heart. especially when you do some mental arithmetic to convert the currencies
• add to that the tipping culture. owww
• the roads are wider and the houses are prettier, in the white picket fence way to which i have been  acculturated 
• you smell bbq instead of five spices on your walks
• the people make eye contact and say how are you? but you know from experience it is just as impersonal as elsewhere

spring time!

we do a quick grocery run at walmart and notice that the tree at the carpark which was bald a week ago has put out fresh shoots.

i prefer autumn but the new life in spring remains amazing to behold.

date time

the girls go off on a playdate so HOM and i get a coffee date.

flat white and a read. murmur of adult conversation in the background with some free-floating indeterminate music. umm lovely.

one (month)

little E turns a month old.

she is a tiny bundle steadfastly gazing at the world.

she is an undersized delicate faerie.

a voracious feeding machine.

she is a little miracle each time i look at her.

HOM bakes her a special pandan-adzuki-santan cake.

which we partake of on her behalf.

yet not i

what gift of grace is Jesus, my redeemer

there is no more for heaven now to give

he is my joy, my righteousness and freedom

my steadfast love, my deep and boundless peace

grateful and glad yet amazed and bemused to sing this. to be able to sing this.

time-tested lure

from long ago when we first get to know macy's to today when the one day sale still makes us spend.

long day's end

today HOM and i play tour-the-playgrounds-in-the-neighborhood with little A.

we are bushed. 'nuff said.

no boundaries

here is a solar-battery-heated swimming pool for sale in costco. in addition to rather good wines at pretty decent prices that all-time-winner rotisserie chicken and food samples to gladden a hungry shopper's heart. not to mention jewelry prescription refills and books.

you have elon musk and co. and their ai shenanigans doing iconoclast acts but costco was there before them all.

step ball change - jeanne ray (2002)

i read this in refuge from this.

as hoped, it is sweet decent well-paced and leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling for family and other awkward people.

also, it is remarkably easy to read and witty to boot.

spring sun

early morning walk in the nippy air and then emerging gladly from the shade into the warm embrace of sunshine even though back east we are trained from childhood to avoid the sun.

there are few more ineffable pleasures.

mediocre - ijeoma oluo (2020)

persuasive premise (it's on the cover).

strident tone. there's a chip on her shoulder.

pretty eloquent writing.

unfinishable. bah.

i am too old to read stuff that takes itself too seriously.

noble thoughts

one education superintendant's charge to new teachers, circa 2010 (?).

i am enchanted by his exhortation: teach students to win with class and to lose with dignity. ...teach them that there is a lot more to being a winner than the final game score. ...teach them to root for their team to win, not for the other team to lose. ...what to do when they lose.

good for him and his community, i think. for the country's sake, i hope they get their act back to around here.

consumer society

standing in the aisle

looking at the goods

wondering at the sellability

and amazed at the traffic

old tyme books

two lovely reminders of earlier phases in my life, courtesy of the clovis antique malls:

laura ingalls wilder's magical series (and nancy drew!) from before the dawn of awareness political correctness and feminist expectations.

i remember watching this and then reading the book in paltry paperback. here is the hard cover version!

old towne clovis

we spend a pleasant saturday morning rummaging.

thru the farmer's market some thrift stores (self-described antique stores) vintage buildings and even the town museum. the sun's warmth balances the nip in the air. 

picturesque-ness notwithstanding, HOM buys his baking pan from marshalls home goods. one must needs be pragmatic.

endless cycle

this is A's day, running on repeat:

• reading (not)
• playdoh
• playground
• lego
• sketch-a-doodle
• mop the floor

accompanied by a running commentary in gibberish punctuated by tantrums.

same as ever - morgan heusel (2023)

unusually for a modern american book, this one serves up new ideas right to the last chapter, with some gems along the way too. especially the thought, what have you experienced that i haven't that makes you believe what you do?

punchy story-telling in short attention-maintaining bytes.

i enjoyed it.

mini miracle

watching a child feed herself, it occurs to me that the fact that the food lands in the mouth and not on the floor is a feat that defies the laws of physics.

happy returns!

my resourceful resilient gentle helpmate

my rock who keeps me on the straight and narrow

my beloved my lover my friend

i wish you God's richest blessings

grandparenting

we get to return the baby when she is soiled upset hungry or unhappy

we have to learn a whole new toddler language

she gets new targets to twist around her little finger

we are assigned new roles in life

pretty awesome privilege

new world

little A discovers pockets.

now she saunters around like a little adult.

stereotyped

little A has us neatly classified.

she sees me and says, read!

she sees HOM and says, cashews!

eat cake - jeanne ray (2003)

warm cozy and sweet story line.

likable characters with relatable struggles. 

surprisingly authentic psychology.

as much tension as i can tolerate (minimal).

with luscious descriptions of cakes.

quite delicious.

pseudo-lunch

we stop by a ragged looking chinese place and become the only two asian-looking people in the (sparsely-occupied) place. our vegetable order turns out quite nicely i think (which is not what HOM thinks but then he has higher standards). the chicken dish (on the right) is unrecognizable.

on reflection, an establishment that advertises orange chicken to-go as their key offering is already suspect. we were forewarned.

yogurt ice cream

yasso. 

better than mini magnum.

yummo.

shopping

my boots from the online used goods circuit, purchased for a price i am embarrassed to repeat. intact waterproof and good lookin'.

there is asia with your lower cost of living and affordable almost-everything and then there is the thrift culture in the states which, if you couple with deal-of-the-day specials, can net you some unbelievable catches. girl ain't complainin'.

change of pace

so here we are at Ji and J2's and the focus emphatically switches from adult cares work weights various bypassing irritants and mature food options to elementary readers crumbs on every surface cheese slices and diapers. i vaguely remember i have another life somewhere else.

in other news, the cost of living here is stratospheric.