take 2: circular breathing

Monday, March 17, 2008

take 2: circular breathing
Current mood: sleepy

CRAP CRAP CRAP.
I had this great blog post almost complete, and my laptop (at more than 30% battery power) shut off unexpectedly. It's been having serious battery issues lately. And *!@^*!! myspace does not save your work until you finish and post. So the whole damn thing is gone. I have got to do something about this battery, and I really must start composing my blogs over at blogspot instead, or in a word processor. Dammit.

Sigh. Lesson learned? Old habits die hard.
Oh, wait. Here I am again. Composing in myspace. Nosir. Nosirree. Off to blogspot I go!

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Anyway, what I was saying is that there's one in every family, I think. The vortex. The conversational black hole. The one who practices circular breathing. Once they corner you and start talking, there is no escape.

In our family, it's Billy's "Aunt" M. She is visiting Billy's folks right now, and today I brought the boys up to see everyone. Babyman was unusually good, which meant I could sit outside and knit for some time. Now, there are good and bad things about knitting in Aunt M's presence. On the one hand, I become a sitting duck just waiting for Aunt M to come sit beside me and crochet (and TALK!). On the other hand, I can concentrate on my knitting and just nod my head and murmur once in awhile to show that I am not ignoring her. Aunt M's conversational black holes are, shall we say, imaginative. It's too bad she won't write some of these stories down- unfortunately, she prefers voluble oral storytelling. I can't remember everything she told me of today, but here are just a few examples:
- By about 1 1/2 years old, her son knew his full name, his address, and he could dial his home number on the telephone. He knew all about strangers and knew he shouldn't tell this information to anyone. He was also speaking in full, coherent sentences, and could hold an adult level conversation. (Her son tragically died at about 2 years old or so- this I know to be true- so I can understand why she would wish to fantasize about what could have been).
- In the same vein, there was a lengthy story about how her son could play any piece of music by ear on his toy piano, everything from TV show themes to complicated classical pieces. He requested a baby grand piano. He was really quite a prodigy.
- I learned that Jerry Lee Lewis was an SOB who cussed out little kids. It was Aunt M who put him in his place, of course. She threatened to "go public" with his disgraceful behavior if he didn't shape up.
- However Frank Sinatra was a lovely man who knew Aunt M on a first name basis. He had a beautiful Chinese Junk (green) that Aunt M got to tour.
- There were a number of anecdotes from her disgraceful marriage, all of which ended with Aunt M standing up for herself and putting her husband in his place. There was also the tale of when she had a miscarriage 3 months into her pregnancy, when she'd not been aware that she was pregnant. It was twins, and the miscarriage was her husband's fault. She never told him. Some of these stories made me a little uncomfortable, because I don't know if they are true or not. I didn't know how to react appropriately. I'll have to ask my mother-in-law about it. Luckily Aunt M never stays with one subject for too terribly long, because to pause for breath would be to lose her captive audience.
- She told me about the wild lizard who fiercely "protected" her while she was napping- another in a long tradition of tales about her special affinity with animals.
- Oh yes, and there was the goose who could communicate with her.

I wish I could remember more of them- they really are quite interesting. They do start to blur together after awhile, though. I was starting to get a little desperate when (thankfully) one of the older boys needed something from me, and then Babyman woke, and finally Aunt M was called away to do something. Whew.

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Oh, guess what I was finally able to order yesterday? A wii! We've been wanting one for the studio for quite some time, but have been unable to find one available. I'm excited! It looks like a lot of fun. I am sticking to my plan not to have video games here in the house, but Littleman will be able to enjoy it when he hangs out at work with Daddy. Plus it will be fun for our clients. Anyway, I mention it here just in case one of you are looking for one- as of yesterday, there were still quite a few in stock at. . . oh, wow. Damn. Well, I just went to get the link to post here, and they are all gone. Wow. I'm sorry! But it was here at www.toysrus.com that I'd found it. Maybe check your local Toys R Us store? Probably better to call ahead.

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Today's thumbs-up is for these awesome photographs by Michael Eastman. Enjoy!