Suddenly it all makes sense.

more the engrish!

Monster!

My darling little monster of a niece came by today and spent a few hours with me. Her mama is whisking her away to Eskimo country for the next week, so it was nice to spend some time with the little booger.

She's a little uh, camera shy. She's burst out crying every single time I have ever pulled the camera out to take her picture. This has been the case since the day she was born. Diana, I don't know how you do it. Because seriously? It was as if I were poking her eyeballs out with a rusty butter knife. My camera= extreme pain, apparently. And here I thought Nikon was a good brand.

I guess today was a good day because I got three before she realized what I was doing.



Mmm...tasty block.



Hey, wait a minute...



I know what that is!

Home Improvement- not for the faint of heart.

A pull switch in the kitchen ceiling fan has needed to be replaced for well over a year. In fact, the replacement switch has been in the junk drawer for so long that the glue on the package was brittle and required only a little bend for the plastic shell to pop off the cardboard. Yeah, I procrastinate. But in my defense, I am not so comfortable with messing around in the electrical elements of my house- and i'm too stubborn and cheap to pay someone to do something that should be a quick fix.

Should be.

I decided that I was tired of not being able to use the fan without the light on, so yesterday I set out to fix it. Gathering several screw drivers and the ladder, I figured it would take 20 minutes- max. Unscrewed the fuse, set up the ladder, and I was off.

I got the thing apart only to discover that the wires were hardwired to the bulb socket, which would require some wire cutting and those nifty little plastic wire connectors. Trouble was, we didn't have any. No problem.

Three stores and two hours later, I finally found a bag of 25 for $5 at Ace. Total overkill for the two that I actually needed, and more expensive than the pull switch itself, but hell. At least they had them.

Four hours after the project was started, I got the fan put back together and working.

At 4:30 AM this morning, the light globe crashed and shattered all over the kitchen.

At least the light works.

8.14

Just like most of the world, i've been watching a ton of the Olympics. I'm not going to lie- I don't watch everything. I watch every second of the gymnastics, but think the swimming is boring, unless it's diving, and I have no idea what steeplechase is. Is there Olympic Cornhole?

The world's attention is on China, of course, and it's funny how all of these criticisms have come out in spite of the fact that the country has devoted years to making this event its shining moment in recent history. Yes, they have terrible smog, and yes they built walls to hide ramshackle houses. But the buildings erected solely for the Olympics are stunning, and Beijing sparkles in a way it never has before. I wonder if the rest of the world has been as critical as the US media have?

There is the story about the little girl lip-syncing the Chinese national song because the real singer was deemed "not cute enough" for TV. The controversy over the real age of some members of the Chinese women's gymnastics team. The former gold medalist who was denied a visa by the Chinese government because of his creation of Team Darfur. (Not confirmed, but completely obvious, in my opinion)

These stories have been plastered all over the news as evidence of China's lack of modernity. But really, are they that different than what occurs here? We have hacks posing as musicians, only they have a studio full of voice altering technology to do the lip-syncing for them. No one ever says a word about that. People lie about their age all the time. Fake IDs, anyone? And as far as denying entry- it happens every day in our country built by immigrants.

So, China, I think you're doing a bang-up job, and I don't even care that you're Communists. I like Commies, actually. In fact, I carry a little communist in my wallet.

You don't believe me, do you?




There you go. Actual size.

8.4

The last few weeks have been hell, but at least my classes are almost over.

Only:
2 4-6 page papers,
1 1-2 page summary,
1 self-evaluation,
1 1 page worksheet/bulletin board post,
and
1 10 page research paper (almost done!)
to go.

All by Saturday. Oy vey. If I seem sleep deprived, it's probably because I am. My body has decided that sleep is for the weak and refuses to let me have any. What an asshole.

Getting all of this done should make the celebration for Tim's birthday Saturday night that much more fun.

7.27

A week ago tonight, my mother left us.

It's hard to talk about and even harder to write. Despite knowing that it would happen, nothing can quite prepare you for the incredible sense of disorientation that occurs when a hole of epic proportions is ripped into your heart.

I am not quite sure what to do now, but that doesn't make me lost. Bearing witness to the entire process of my mother's illness and death has given me a new perspective, but I suspect it will take time to filter out the bitter and painful parts to render it useful.

Poring over cookbooks over the phone, discussing recipes.
Sitting in the kitchen, drinking wine and laughing.
The goofy opera singing in the car.
Knowing that I always had a shoulder to cry on or my biggest cheerleader.

I miss these things, I miss everything. I miss the way life used to be. I miss her.

7.20

In times of hardship, we always discover who our real friends and family are.

It isn't always pleasant, but it sure is an eye-opener.

I'm learning that distance has nothing to do with friendship, and family is just a legal definition.

It's pretty disappointing, but i'd rather know than be misled.