Me
I've been mildly flu-ish the last couple days — sniffly, achey, occasionally fevered, and confused. Not so sick that I can't do things — like feed and dress the kid, or myself, clean the cat litter, or hop over to the grocery store for milk. Not so sick that coffee tastes disgusting.
But sick enough that I can't really focus on anything much for too long at a stretch (like work), I don't feel guilty for whining to J-F to make me some tea, I'm sleeping a lot, and I feel generally shitty.
The kid
Since the daycare trip to Le Jardin botanique a couple weeks ago and the encounter with Esméralda, Helena has been looking forward to Halloween. The festive spirit of the season is not lost on her (as it was last year). For about 48 hours after meeting Esméralda, Helena wanted to dress up as a witch for Halloween. She has changed her mind.
I don't know if someone or something at daycare inspired her decision or whether she came up with it on her own. Certainly, it is not the sort of idea J-F or I would've casually suggested. Helena wants to be Mickey Mouse, and the idea persists.
The only Mickey Mouse exposure the girl has ever had, to my knowledge, is the occasional viewing of the Sorceror's Apprentice, in Fantasia. Whatever the origin of her fixation, we think it's weird.
I'm somewhat charmed by the idea's simplicity. All we need to do is find some ears and fashion a tail. The basics of the "costume" are already in her wardrobe. (Or will be, once we go shopping for winter clothes that fit.) Black turtleneck, leggings, red shorts — we're done, yes? Where can I get ears?
J-F thinks Helena's choice is "of another era" and would rather encourage some other costume that will have more recognition and approval from her peers (and their parents). I hesitate to point Helena in a specific disguise direction unless I am certain we can pull it off. I refuse to spend real money on a pre-packaged costume, but trust that the local dollar store will have everything we may need.
We are considering "astronaut." No, I have no idea how to do that.
Whatever we choose, I suspect Helena won't go for it. Either we wholeheartedly embrace the Mickey Mouse concept now, or we ensure the materials are at the ready as a backup when Helena starts to cry. Whatever we choose, you can bet that I'll put off getting organized about it till it's too late and it'll be half-assed.
The blog
This place is a mess. I need to get organized.
If you notice me spending an inordinate amount of time on your own blogs, I'm likely mining your link lists for inspiration and good reading, or I'm stalking you, or I've fallen asleep in front of the computer (Because I'm sick-ish, not because you're boring. You most decidedly are not.). Recommend me a blog, please.
I still intend to write about Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook. Something about doing so scares me. It took me years to ready myself for reading it; it may take me a while longer to develop some coherent thoughts out of the mist of emotion it left me in. But it's something I need to do. Someday.
The rest
We're still fine-tuning our home, repositioning pictures and shelves, and preparing for the acquisition of new furniture. I have a pile of work to do, which I'm actually making progress on. I'm still reading Don Quixote, which at this point I'm loving.
Mostly, this week, I just feel really, really bored.
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10 comments:
Hi! I think Mickey Mouse is a fantastic idea! We have ears from our trip to dineyland.....
Rachel wants to be a bride. There's no way i could have made that costume, so i bought it.
Did you like Golden Notebook. I've always wanted to read it and never have made it through.
I like the Mickey Mouse idea, too.
Anyway, I've been working on a re-do of my own blog, too. Maybe it's something in the air.
Devyn wants to be a princess (she is adamant) and I haven't started working on anything for her. It will have to be homemade because I haven't seen anything remotely worth buying to that end.
I didn't think we'd be taking her out this year but, thanks to Dora and co., she knows exactly what the event is. Go figure!
Go with the Mouse -- I speak, of course, as a lazy parent who would pluck a costume off the store shelf if they all weren't so godawful tacky.
After careful and in-depth quizzing it turns out she wants to be Sorceror's Apprentice Mickey Mouse, not regular Mickey Mouse. Am now on a quest for a wizard hat and robe.
Oh, I envy your boredom, though not that state of being sick but not properly sick.
The sorcerer sounds infinitely preferable to Mickey Mouse-- we have two sorcerers in our house this year, though one is good and one is evil. And a butterfly. But I have a feeling our butterfly is going to change her mind once her suit has been lovingly completed.
I read The Golden Notebook so many years ago I can barely remember it. I went through a big Doris Lessing phase in my early 20's, where I read most of her stuff. But I know I was too young to get what The Golden Notebook was about. You may inspire me to reread it- I would be interested to hear what you have to say about it when you gather your thoughts.
Here are some wonderful blogs that I recently discoverd:
http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/
http://bookpuddle.blogspot.com/
http://arb0rv1tae.typepad.com/bookworm/
http://www.katesbookblog.blogspot.com/
http://emdashes.blogspot.com/
Hope you're feeling better; I was suffering with those same feelings for the past week and a half. Very frustrating!
Oh, thank you, Patricia, for the wonderful recommendations. That was much easier than plodding through a thousand blogrolls.
Raehan, Martha: I have to admit I prefer other Lessing novels over The Golden Notebook. It was even a bit of a letdown after all the buildup I'd created within myself. However: it has a really interesting structure; I have a sense of why it's considered an "important" (and feminist) novel; and I read it at exactly the right time in my life — not that it's greatly affected my life from this point forward, but it's helped me frame the woman I've been till now. And that's why writing about it is hard — it's not about the book, so much as reconciling my past and present. Kind of.
Having just moved from feeling "fluish" to Flu (the second time in a month), I suggest you take care and don't let it migrate to something worse.
Mickey Mouse is a cute idea. We are considering having my son go as John Denver. He has the same face-shape and the same hair. All we need is fake pair of glasses, a little guitar, and a t-shirt that says "thank God, I am a country-boy". Of course, he is fifteen months and has no say in the matter....
I feel for your kid, Russell, though for a second I was thinking Bob Denver (I always mix those two up) — an even easier costume (just keep calling him "li'l buddy").
Hey, stalk away! Stalkers are a good thing, as you'll know from my post du jour. :-)
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