cake for all!

"Do not be critics, you people, I beg you. I was a critic and I wish I could

take it all back because it came from a smelly and ignorant place in me

and spoke with a voice that was all rage and envy. Do not dismiss a book

until you have written one, and do not dismiss a movie until you have

made one, and do not dismiss a person until you have met them. It is a

f***load of work to be open-minded and generous and understanding and

forgiving and accepting, but, Christ, that is what matters. What matters is

saying yes."

-Dave Eggers, *The Harvard Advocate*

Hello to you -- tonight finds us eating Phish food ice cream (thanks to Alice for teaching Jack and Frank how to make chocolate sauce) and watching myth busters while I deny that I have tons of reading to do. I hope you had an enjoyable day and a lovely evening -- it feels good to be back here.

back now!

When it's a gray day,
and Father's Day,
we get in the car and go away
to get some.................................

kittens!

Two kittens, Roscoe and Smokey, for Jack and Frank. Or, wait, is that Jack and Frank for R and S? We have never 'catted' before, and are having a great time. Pics to follow if I can figure out how to do that...

5 guys and me in a hotel room...

eating pizza, watching movies, going swimming to celebrate Jack turning 13!!! We went to Embassy Suites near the SF airport and this is what we learned:

- when running on grass, whoever takes their shoes off first will be the one to find the mud.
- if you wear pants that are too big and have a broken clasp, your zipper will break.
- hotel gift shops should sell safety pins.
- boys aren't particular about brands of soda, just quantities of soda.
- how it feels to be a minority.
- a saavy person can figure out who left the butt cheek imprints on the full length mirror by the height of the marks.
- pepperoni is an easy sell.
- adolescent girls watch boys; an adolescent boy only watches himself.

she tries out for a reality t.v. show...

This morning I cruised on a yacht around Alcatraz: clear, blue, vividly beautiful at every vista, intentionally chosen or not. I was attending a preliminary 'meet and see if you have a match' function for a reality t.v. show about 'truth and dating' which i was invited to attend. They were filming today as well. Everyone was there: arrogant marketing man swaggering, Jennifer Lopez look alike in hot pink chewing blue gum a tad too vividly, sad and shy guy losing his hair. Oh, also scary young guy drinking multiple straight vodkas who runs a 'private club' in the city.

My experience:
Yay – the buffet has salmon,
God is everywhere –
A seagull pooped on my head and jacket
I laughed.

whew!

What a wonderful birthday -- a great day at school, with many people honoring me in the sweetest ways, and then J & F took me out to dinner. and tomorrow..........
I'm off on a cruise in the early morning. It's being filmed by channel 5: if I meet someone with whom I can practice 'truth skills in dating' then we may be filmed for an episode of an upcoming REALITY TV SHOW. People have either said, "cool..!!" or "why would you ever want to do that?!?" I think it's kind of a grand adventure, and what a great excuse for not catching up on my papers and reading; what do you think.........?

..Huh........?!

Aye, Madre.............

The syllabus for Culture & Consciousness says:

Note for Students on the Graduate Seminar Style

In constrast to lecture format, graduate seminar assumes the joint enquiry in the class based on the material studied individually. To ensure the success of the study, please complete all weekly reading assignments on time. The in-class work is primarily dialog and experiential ( non-psychotherapeutic) process. Lecture will be only a small part of the class time. Unless the readings and assignments are completed, participation will be impossible. The amount of readings for this course generally exceeds the requirements for other classes. Please dedicate at least 4 hours weekly to do the home work for this study.
This topic combines intellectual challenge with emotional intensity and high personal meaningfulness. Therefore, in the course of the study, one can expect to experience emotional involvement, and personal reactions to the material that are more than average for the academic setting.

in the next week, oops, that's for NEXT THURSDAY, read:

Cole, pp. 1-37; up to 115 – capture main themes, skipping details is OK.
Shweder, pp. 1-113 – read with attention to details
Cushman , pp. 1-23 – read with attention and take notes

Also mediate in the prescribed way for at least 20 minutes a day, making notes to fill out the online reaction sheet detailing your experience by each Monday at 9pm...

hmmm. this might be an even more challenging quarter than anticipated. there are 6 other classes I'm taking...

tough question: should I read this stuff first, or the stuff for my sex, gender & spirituality class? The teacher's book just came out: Transcendent Sex: When Lovemaking Opens the Veil...

IT'S FRANK CRAVENS BD!!

And, in his honor, we have..........
a poem called 'Ode to Shallots" from the Lady of?
an idea for a party, for you Frank? will you give it?
a toast to Frank, each of us holding a cup of homemade BBQ sauce?
a BIG BIG HUG and KISS to one of the kindest, sweetest one who breathes on this planet.

Frank, i was just thinking of how great you are. I need to see more of you!
Happiest, happiest of birthdays to you - what a beautiful day it has been here on the coast.

latest favorite kid quip:
"You're defaulting my accusements!!!" (Jack this week)

between rainstorms

whew! it's been raining testosterone here. the drops are small, but there are a lotta them. last night we had two additional boys sleeping on the floor (10 and 12 years), tonight we have an additional 13 year old. it's the eye of the storm here: i've just dropped the three off at the schoolyard along with two skateboard ramps. tomorrow we hit van's skatepark in milpitas.

this morning i made four cheese omelets, three with cheddar, one with jack, all with tomato. Jack wanted shallots on his as well. there was a HUGE discussion about shallots. we now buy them by the sack-ful.

i love making a meal in which ALL the big plates are used up. success!

I love that moment when...

... it's cake time at a birthday party. when i open my PO box and there's a letter, unexpected, from just the right person, the person i didn't even anticipate.
...i have a son who says, "Oh, Mom, I'd never say THAT (in response to my advice about some jerky kid saying something mean) -- that's a 'motherly comeback.'
...there's gummy bears about...