Chingtone

I had a good laugh at the bookstore today. I'd gone in search of another copy of the Tao Te Ching at Half-Price Books. I recently ordered a copy from Amazon, a "New English Version" by Stephen Mitchell, recommended by one of the "elders" (that term, of course, isn't used by Unitarians, but that's what I call them in my head) at our UU church during his "The Ching and I" service a few weeks ago. The book is lovely and I'm enjoying the quiet rhythm of the chapters, but as Bill pointed out, it's a "version" and not a translation. I'm also a little bothered by the author's interview in the back of the book in which he mentions planning to write a Tao by Yoda (yes, that Yoda), but stopped after contacting Lucas and being told that he didn't want to associate the character with any one religion. It's hard enough to get Yoda's backwards voice out of your head when reading "The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao" without knowing that the guy who did this version was actually thinking about Yoda when he did it.

Nonetheless, I finally found the Religion section and and was standing in Christian Theology/Christian Fiction next to a lady who found what she was looking for in Bibles/New Translations ("There it is!" she'd exclaimed) when her cell phone rung, or screamed, "All aboard! HAHAHAHAHA......" She had a Crazy Train ringtone! Awesome.

I'd wanted to bring our copy of the Tao to work today, just for a quiet moment or two, and mentioned this on my Twitter update this morning. I'm now being followed by a Japanese dude in France who lists this: http://taotechingdecoded.com/ as his website. Thanks, Interwebs!

I did find another copy of the Tao at the store, but nothing I need to buy. I'll get it from the library. It looks really different from our current version, so I'm curious.

Lady Business

Millie is sorting a box of o.b. in the hallway as I type.   She's putting them back in the box, then in a little bucket we use to rinse their hair, and back in the box. Stu calls them "clooms."  I'm not sure what this means or what it's derived from, but I like it.

I laughed to myself as I walked to the ladies room today with a cloom concealed in my hand. It's been a while since I had to worry about such "lady business."  We had a good run, nursing amenorrhea and I, but it's come to an end.  A full 25 months since my LMP, and Millie's 15 months old.  I'm sure it's not a record but I was starting to wonder if something was up.

I'm planning on getting a Keeper.  Just like the sauce, it's in there!

My Mother's Day gift to myself was a few hours to work on the curtains for Millie's room while Bill and the kids were napping.  "Millie's room" is our computer room for now, but there's only one curtain in there, one I made about 6 months ago.  After a few hours of folding and ironing and finally believing I'd matched the length, I sewed a hem and a decorative top stitch.  And, it's too long.  I'm in the process of ripping the seams and will follow Bill's suggestion to measure it next time. Ahem. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised when these things don't work out when I'm mostly eyeballing it.  

Hair, Harry

Since deciding I would record dreams here, I haven't had one I remember.   

I can't decide if I prefer the day I don't wash my hair or the day I do.   This week I've been back and forth.  Yesterday was a good wash day, today is a so-so didn't wash day, but it was the opposite earlier this week.  I think I am committed to the every-other-day thing, though.  Bill tried to eschew shampoo for 5 days last week and ended up looking pretty homeless by day 4.  I recommended that he research pros/cons/methods before going cold turkey.

I've found that rinsing works better for me than the shower cap.  My sister has beautiful thick hair that can go to day 3 and still look lovely, and I know she uses a cap, but I always end up feeling like I've applied Crisco.

I'm starting to restart the 4th Harry Potter book for the 3rd time.  I'm into it, but I'm thinking this is the point in the series where JK started to get paid by the page.  It's good and all, but is it really necessary to drag out the part with Harry and Uncle Vernon discussing Mrs. Weasley's letter for 6.5 pages? We know he's going to bring up Sirius and Vernon's going to cave, so why delay?

What This Blog is About

Bill asked me tonight what this blog will be about.  "You!  My blog will be about you, Bill McAdams!"  That's not really true, but he'll probably show up.  I figure I'll write about knitting (the few project I get to do are lovely, and I'll post pictures), these kids, and dreams.  

I have lots of crazy dreams; I suppose everyone does, and this seems like as good a place as any to record them.  I don't remember my dreams from last night, but in the past week I've dreamt of a trip to China with special vomit seats (George Clooney starred as Bill in that one -- it wasn't sexy or anything, just George, but he was Bill) and Rachael and I working at a large blue warehouse, selling souvenirs. Or riding past the place they sold them on a little dunebuggy thing. Or was it a horse?

I also need to write more.  I miss writing and forget to do it, forget that's why I became an English major, forget there was a reason for doing that and not going to school for what they called at that time a "marketable degree."  I've been able to market myself so far, mostly by luck, I think, but it can't hurt to get my chops back up.   My 9th grade English teacher scrawled "You write a mean sentence!" across my position statement on why the no-shorts dress code did not support the fashion of the day (I'd been sent home for wearing a skort, the very same skort I'd worn to EASTER SUNDAY SERVICES, for chrissake,  and who were the Magnolia High School administrators to tell ME that I couldn't wear something permitted in the house of the Lord?!). 

This Must Be Why People Blog

Because if I blog it, I can tell everyone, and I can also have a place where I will be able to remember it myself.  I get it!

Last night was our first true "kids say the darndest things" night.  I didn't say darndest, but I was thinking it, when Stu asked me to draw gooseberries, then after a few minutes, we moved on to Millie and Stu having babies.  Stu's baby is a stuffed duck he got early on, whom he has named Folgie. Folgie has lots of pee and poop dipes and nurses frequently.  Millie's baby is my Bye-Lo reproduction doll, the one I got the year Mom couldn't find a Cabbage Patch Kid but wanted to get me a doll for Christmas. I called her Nellie, and we think Millie calls her Phil.

Millie also nurses Phil.  As we moved toward bedtime, Stu asked Bill if they could read the next chapter in the Cats book they've been reading since last week.  Stu said the next chapter might be about baritone cats.  Of course!  If there are baritone guitars, there are naturally baritone cats.  Good band name.