Today is a very bittersweet day. Bruce dropped a new one. I love this song and really like this song and I’m still feeling out the rest of the album. It’s hard when you alternate between kid’s stuff. Lately the kid’s stuff has been taking over the car. Meli has a hard time transitioning (from my arms to the stroller, from the stroller to the car seat, from the car seat to the stroller, etc.) When I put her CD on from our music class she instantly calms down.
And Bruce is on tour. Excellent. The last concert we saw was so fucking fantastic I still dream about it.
Anyway, I finally had a few minutes to get on the computer and I see that John Updike has died. I can’t tell you how sad this makes me. Harry Angstrom may be my greatest literary crush and I will always remember the summer I read all four Rabbit books with great fondness. (Rabbit, Run and Rabbit at Rest are my faves.) It will always make me a little bit sad that I can’t read them again for the first time. You know what I mean? I always looked forward to Updike’s inevitable next book – no matter how crappy it might be. Anyone who could write Rabbit could write another masterpiece, no? So I’m sad.
I’m also knitting. A lot. I’ve done very well with my sweater and I started a sock. My goals now include at least two rows on the sweater and at least one repeat on the sock. I hope to have pictures soon. Meli has begun crawling at warp speed and everything has become that much more difficult. I’m so tired, but I’m feeling okay.
Eli hasn’t started crawling yet, he’s just 6 months. But he has this uncanny ability to wake up just as my eyes close. It only takes a minute to get him to fall back asleep but then I’m wired! Ben, my 3 year old, shares a room with him and Eli can scream his head off for ten minutes and he barely moves, let alone bat an eye. His dad happens to be the same way.
My husband and I were discussing Eli and Jim said, “Man, he always wakes up screaming in the morning” and I said, “No hon, often he wakes up and is perfectly content, it just takes 15 minutes of him being alone before he starts looking for attention!” Moms are such light sleepers. Its incredible. I used to be able to sleep through a thunderstorm, now I hear a rustle and I wake up.
Glad you’re knitting, I have been able to be quite productive lately with hats and scarves and babette squares. The kids are down by 8:30 which is nice so I get some time. With today’s crappy weather I will take the train to work which will give me even more time.
Is this a comment or an email? Jeez, I just get excited when you post I guess. Have a good one. Thanks for keeping up with the blog.
Yeah, I’m sad about that too. I loved the Rabbit books. Good luck with the knitting…
Yeah, I’m sad about that too. I loved the Rabbit books. Good luck with the knitting…
We’re bummed about John Updike at our house, too. 🙁
Small knitting goals are great! And sometimes the only way to get it done with a little one in the house. Also, I didn’t comment on the video posts you did recently but I *loved* watching Meli shake her booty.
Small knitting goals are very important when there is a crawler in the house. You may not get much done in any given day, but it adds up in the end.
Andrew immediately calms down whenever I put in the music class cd too, especially on long car rides when we are all cranky. It’s like magic! (and I have the bongos cd on at the moment!)
Crawling is an exhausting stage–just when you think you’ve managed to baby proof the house, then they start walking and are at eye level to a whole host of new dangerous items. And then they grow a couple of inches and it all changes again!
Stay warm today!!
I have mixed feelings about “working on a dream.” I love the music, but the lyrics on some of the songs seem a bit…oh, i don’t know — uninspired? “Surprise Surprise” is kind of a throwaway, lyrically speaking — and of course, this is only MY opinion. I am thrilled about the dates, though. I think we could all use a Bruce show in a big way! As to Updike, I was deeply saddened by that news too. I totally get what you mean about not being able to read books for the first time: when I discover a truly great book, I’m always sad to finish it, and find myself slowing to a crawl as I approach the end. I hope something good happens this week. I suspect we would all welcome some happy news.
I just heard John Updike on Fresh Air and did you know that he still has two more books coming? One is a collection of short stories and there is a new book of poems, too.
I know just what you mean about wishing you could read them all again for the first time. I had a store full of customers when the email popped up saying he had died yesterday; I must have sounded like my best friend had died – everyone wanted to know what was wrong! No one seemed to understand how sad it made me.
Ah, a kindred spirit! I love the Rabbit books but really don’t know anyone around here who’s even heard of them! I was sad to hear of Updike’s passing, too. I saw him once, at a kind of intimate gathering in college. I will never forget it or him. I hope he continues to live on in people like you and me who won’t let others forget him.
Honestly, Cara…is it REALLY necessary to use the “F” word to get your point across…?! I am tired of that as well as your incessant whining…I raised seven children, all now highly accomplished adults, and didn’t need to moan and groan a fraction as much as you do…enough already…from a former reader of your blog…