There's no place like home

I'm back.

I took notebooks with me, thinking I'd blog on paper while away, but it's just not the same.

I did make notes the first few days:

• March 25: Something about all the clouds looking like Dr Seuss characters, only comment-worthy because clouds to me usually look like clouds, with the occasional bear cub wrestling an alligator.
• March 26: Something about the moon, big and yellow, low in the sky. And a supper conversation: if Jesus rose on the third day, where was he on the second day?
• March 28: Something about lollipops and cakes for breakfast.

No, I will not transcribe my stupid notes.

I shopped: A new flitty skirt, green-ish. A DVD of my favourite film.

I shopped for books. When I first learned of BookCloseouts.com (thanks, Iliana), imagine my delight to find that the retail depot is located in my hometown. Of course I had to schedule a trip. One could spend days in this warehouse. Enormous possibilities for gathering, but hunting in so large a space is difficult — specific titles are better ordered online.

I read. I sacrificed sleep to read. Three whole books! None of which was Don Quixote; one of which was a novella and therefore maybe shouldn't count because of the low page count; another of which was chick-lit-ish, light a fluffy; and the third I haven't exactly finished yet, but it's on the brink of climax. So perhaps I shouldn't count any of them, but I will.

I watched movies with my brother. I sacrificed sleep for these movies:

• Saw — a decent thriller.
• Bubba Ho-Tep — pretty funny.
• House of 1000 Corpses — umm, ya. Kind of unpleasant. But I commend the last third, which for me evoked Silent Hill 2.
• Primer — fascinating stuff. Science geeks messing with refrigeration units, Schrodinger's cat, and time travel in the garage. I need to see this movie again. You should see this movie. It's smart. From the very first scenes I was impressed by the natural dialogue, everybody talking over each other, many conversations going on at once. This is how I imagine science geeks figuring stuff out in their garage. Time travel is explored sensibly, in units of hours rather than centuries. They grapple with the paradoxes rather than ignoring them.

There were many toddler difficulties — including a spider incident and massive public tantrums, but mostly to do with diapers and bedtime — with realizations about my mothering/parenting abilites, or lack thereof, as well as my mother's abilities and philosophies. I'm expecting an epiphany any day now.

Needless to say, the toddler joys were immense. Helena has discovered magic tricks and is developing an acute sense of showmanship. "Acadabada."