happy new year! (i think)

at 11:30pm last night i was sitting in a rocking chair, trying desperately to calm my screaming baby to go to sleep (after sitting with him screaming and writhing in my arms for almost an hour). i'm not sure what he's going through, (growing pains, teething pains, etc, etc, you never know), but sleep is at a bare minimum in this house and new years eve just didn't seem that important. i had big plans for new years day, i was going to get up early, take a crispy cold walk around the block, do 8 sun salutations, and a bit of meditation on a fresh start...but harlan had other plans. at 11:55pm, my last look at the clock, we both finally drifted off to sleep in bed...the welcome of the new year came and went with a whisper, i didn't even hear the fireworks in boston bay.

i am excited for the new year because of these things:
1. harlan may learn to walk (party party!)
2. we're getting a bigger bed (yay, a real family bed!)
3. visits to europe are in the works
4. god willing, my pre baby body will come back to me

i am nervous and anxious for the new year because of these things:
1. my little brother's trial will begin and end (insurmountable fear and dread, too much even to think about)
2. harlan may learn to walk
3. travel means flying, i hate flying
4. this year may come and go without some necessary changes being made (stagnation, my ultimate fear)

i resolve to be a more organized mum, i resolve to be more patient and forgiving and to finally get my act together and learn another language (for harlan's sake)...would love to continue with french, but i think spanish might be more helpful.

sending out big love to all of my family of friends, and family of family...i hope that your new year is better than the last, or at least different from before.

(oh, and the pic of the baby seal is here because, well, it's adorable...happy new year baby seal!)

just close your eyes and breathe...

yes, yes, merry christmas and happy new years, etc. etc.
this was the best christmas so far, hubby, baby, dog and myself all stayed home for quiet time, barely even stepping out of our pajamas for the entire day. there really should be more days like this, not just christmas.

on an unrelated topic, (or maybe not), i am in love with this idea, and i'm so excited that someone actually took the initiative to start something like this. if you can, please support it, i can personally account for the wonders of meditation in my own life (and i'm not even that good at it).
rarely do i find a cause that i can truly get behind, but this really is a good thing. i honestly believe that if i would have been taught meditation or "quiet time" techniques as a child, i would be a much less neurotic person these days. (granted, there would still be a bit of neurosis, but i would deal with it better, i think). i think that so many of my friends would be taking a lot less medication if they had been taught from childhood how to deal with all the crazy things going on in their heads, instead of just being told that we would "grow out of it".

so, kudos to your mister lynch! you can do something other than making crazy weird and fantastic movies!

this makes me SO happy!!

harlan's new favorite toy (this week)

it's fun to watch him try to crawl with a heavy stainless steel pot in his hand.
too bad we spent all that money on toys...

tots, sprogs, and the what have you...

mister irving questioned my usage of the term 'sprog' the other day, so i went here and found quite a few other slang terms for our wee ones. my personal favorite is "crotch fruit"...i plan to use it often, especially on play dates, and at tumble gym.

funny parent thing i said today

harlan, stop licking the dog!!

(oddly enough, ernie had already admonished harlan earlier this week for licking the dog...guess he'll learn eventually right?)

bleakness

hey, so that last post was a little bleak. just had to vent like an angry teenager for a minute.
on a lighter note, i think this is the best idea ever.

at first, i thought there seems to be a lot of taser usage by police these days, i wonder what that's about. but, now it seems each and every time i turn on the news, i see another video of an out of control cop using his "safe" taser to "control" someone who is "out of control".
this is getting ridiculous people, c'mon! i knew things were bad, but this just scares me.
being a person who suffers from fairly severe anxiety and panic attacks, and being closely related and friends with people who suffer from mental illness, and uncontrollable anxiety, as well as knowing quite of few children with autism, can i just say that all of these stories are horrifying and sickening to me. it just seems that every time someone starts acting the least bit erratic these days, the cops pull out the taser, no matter what their age, phyisical or mental health condition. then they yell at the person to 'calm down', or 'be still', before they taser them again and again. are these cops so stupid that they don't even know the biology of the human body?? the last thing i think my body would do if i were being shocked with mass amounts of electricity is 'be still', or 'calm down'.
i remember seeing a video once of cops being trained with pepper spray. each cop had to be sprayed in the eyes with pepper spray to let them know how it feels, and to try to convince them to use it sparingly. i think the same demonstration should definitely be in affect for ANY and ALL cops issued taser guns. they should be tasered, and then be told to 'be still' and then if they don't comply, they should be tasered again and again and again, until they can finally be still.

open letter to our housemate in our basement

dear basement chick,
why do you listen to such uninteresting, bad music? it amazes me on a daily basis that you never get sick of listening to that lionel richie album over and over again at top volume. yeah, i understand there may be some sort of 'hipster irony' to your listening to countless hours of lionel richie, michael macdonald, peter cetera, etc...but, every day??!
also, for there to be 'hipster irony' attached to the listening of these awful albums, you would also have to, at some point, listen to a few good albums, at least every now and then. but, you don't. i would even understand if you listened to these albums for sentimental reasons, or if maybe they were a 'guilty pleasure'...but, this is obviously the entire content of your music collection.
you are fashionably dressed usually, you lived in europe for a while, you work for an environmental non profit, you have a ridiculously french sounding name and probably speak fluent french as well...i don't get it, you look so good on paper. what is wrong with you, basement chick?

i don't need to understand you or your reasons, i just want to spend one day of my life without the melody to 'stuck on you' in my head. i feel like i'm walking around in a walmart at 2am, while i'm here in my own apartment!

in closing, you obviously need a serious reality TV style music collection makeover. if not for the sake of your neighbors, just think of your neighbors children...think of the children!!

with sincerest sincerity,
your upstairs housemates

i'm dreaming of a green christmas...

thanks to al gore, 'being green' is all the rage this year for the holidays. it is so chic to try to save the planet from global warming that i figured i should jump on this band wagon quick, before this fashion trend goes the way of the ugg boot.
so, here are my 'green goals for christmas' (also known as, the "we're quite broke this year from producing and caring for a small spawn, please accept these homemade or gently used gifts from us...we still love you" christmas goals).

1. do not purchase one roll of new wrapping paper (this one is a doozy, because i'm a giant capitalist sucker for pretty paper, it's even one of my favorite willie nelson christmas songs).
2. give at least 75% recycled gifts. (i.e. things from around the house that i'm tired of looking at...ooh, ooh, you could be one of the lucky ones!)
3. in lieu of sending tons of cards, call family and friends and sing them carols. (this one is also a doozy, because i LOVE sending mail...i can't even tell you how much i love to send mail...the usps loves me!)

i'm not sure how many of these i'll keep. but i thought i would post them here anyway, just to keep up with the trends.

harlan's favorite toy

teeny halloween

harlan as jake gyllenhaal as donnie darko as a hipster skeleton

mister irving and i really get into halloween. i don't know if there has been a year that we've known each other that we've not dressed up (or had a kick ass party). but, this year, with the coming of our wee sprog, we were a bit sidetracked and forgot to buy costumes. of course, being new parents, it's easy to get sidetracked with a baby when the rest of the world kind of 'let's go' of you. i'm just saying, in years past, ernie and i have been invited to at least two (usually multiple) halloween parties. this year, we were invited to one (thank you jesse's friend jon for inviting us to your party...we assume that you invited us because you forgot we have a baby, but thank you anyway, it made us feel good).
i know, i know...there's a good chance we wouldn't have made it to any parties (and didn't), but c'mon people, we have a baby, we aren't dead yet.

we vow that when harlan is older we will treat him to halloween costumes and parties that will blow his friends away. we will probably spend more on halloween than christmas...and if he wants to go to salem to go trick or treating with the rest of the frat boys and goth kids, so be it, we'll drive him ourselves.
so, we fell short this year..his costume was bought at target, and daddy and mommy didn't dress up...we'll be better parents next year.

just in time for halloween

still breaks my heart, this song...


also, if you're bored, check out jeffrey lewis "williamsburg will oldham horror"...simply fantastic.

day man, fighter of the night man (aaahhh,aaaaaaaah,aaahh)

it's the third season of 'it's always sunny in philadelphia'...if you aren't watching this show, get your shit together and and don't miss another episode.
this is from last week. i almost lost my mind laughing at this scene. in fact, i stayed up later to watch the second showing of the episode just to see this scene again, and i laughed just as hard the second time.
i was crying. literally crying.

harlan and the hippies

on saturday, mister irving and i were hanging out around the house as we usually do on saturdays, wondering what to do with our precious family time, since there is always a delicate balance when you have a baby and a dog. it's very hard to find interesting things to do that will make the whole family happy (and as we move into toddlerhood with harlan, i'm sure it will begin to get much harder). as we were padding around the kitchen, drinking tea and eating egg sandwich, our great friend ethan called to tip us off to a street festival that was happening in davis square called "honk! fest". as he described it, "a bunch of punk kids with marching bands, you know, lots of stinky hippies"...he had me at 'marching bands'.
i have to say, i'm not one drawn to the 'pseudo hippie element' that sometimes permeates somerville/cambridge..in fact, mostly those kids annoy the hell out of me (you can not be an anarchist AND a social activist, it just doesn't make sense!!)...but, when it comes to louisiana/carnivale/balkan style marching bands with lots of horns and drums, and circus types, belly dancers and people in costume on stilts, i'm all mush.
somerville really came through on this one. there were five staging areas, where the band would play, then they would all march to the next staging area on the hour, one big crazy sidewalk parade. so, at any one time, at least five marching bands were playing in a one square mile area. i can tell you it felt quite like we were in a fellini film, and that's what made it wonderful.
here are pics from the festival just to give you an idea of what it all looked like.
harlan was less than pleased with all the noise. i'm sure when he is a bit older, he'll love all the hippie freaks in their costumes with their noise makers...but, at seven months into this world, it was a bit much. he promptly fell dead asleep in his carrier.
mister irving and i loved it so much, that the next day, some of the same bands were performing in harvard square at the annual oktoberfest, so we dragged some of our friends out and did the whole thing again.

this is a promo video for the most entertaining band at the festival, the 'march forth marching band', (the one that brought us back the next day).

absolutely smitten

i am absolutely taken with Beirut's new album, 'the flying club cup'. i loved, loved the last one, but i think this new one may be a smidge better.
you can listen to the entire album here or you can visit here to watch a video for 'nantes', my new favorite song.

go support this kid, he's wonderful.

falls first donut

without a doubt, one of my favorite things about living in this area is the knowledge that when the seasons start to change from summer to fall, someone somewhere will be making cider donuts for me to dip into hot apple cider and fill my belly.
in massachusetts that place is russell orchards in ipswich. hands down, best cider donuts i've ever eaten. yesterday, hubby and i drove the hour to ipswich and then waited in line, in a barn, for an hour to enjoy these beautiful, heavenly circles of love.
yesterday, i ate five cider donuts...i was up for an entire night with horrific stomach cramps. today, i will eat more. they're just that good.

god save fluff

everyone knows that fluff was invented in somerville ma, right?
well, if you didn't, stick that bit of trivia in that spot in your brain where you usually store information like where you put your keys when you came home from work (you'll be late for work, but you'll always know where fluff came from).
this year is the 90th anniversary of the invention of fluff, and in somerville (union square to be exact) they're having a 'fluff festival'..officially called the 'what the fluff?' fest.
there will be a fluff baking contest, fluff games to play, and an appearance by the 'flufferettes'...boy howdy!!
here's the info...looks so kitschy i can barely stand it.

*oh, and just in case anyone is confused, when i say 'fluff', i'm talking about the white marshmellowy substance that you use in rice crispy treats, or ambrosia, that comes in a jar...i am not talking about softcore gay porn. just wanted to clear that up.

you can't tell a hero by his size

when harlan was first born, i sang this the theme song all the time. it just seemed appropriate. then i realized that mister irving had no idea what i had been singing, because he had never seen the skit on sesame street...i couldn't believe it, it was only my single most favorite thing on sesame st. i learned so much from the teeny little super guy...i would have never made it through second grade without him.
i remember getting so excited when the shot of the kitchen counter would come on and the whispery voice over would start.
"ladies and gentlemen; the teeny little super guy."
hats off to you paul fierlinger!

why starbucks is king of the coffeehouses

when you're in the midst of a bad morning, it's hard to think of anything, or anyone else. i'm sure in the my future parent life, i'll have countless more mornings like i did this morning. although, this is little consolation when the baby is screaming, (and, mind you, has been up all night, leaving me exhausted and sleep deprived), you're late for his doctor's visit, and you're cleaning dog puke off the carpet. that was just a taste of my morning mayhem...that was exactly the point when i was two seconds away from calling my husband and telling him that if he didn't come home at that very minute that i was going to put the baby and the dog in the pack and play and let them go at it in a mad max style cagefight.
but, i took a few deep breaths, (was quietly thankful i only had one child, and he wasn't quite mobile yet), loaded my child into the car (in the pouring rain) and headed off to the doctor. finally finding a parking spot, i loaded my child out of the car (in the pouring rain without umbrella) and trucked into the office, (soaking wet) where i was told that his appointment wasn't until 2:30pm, not at 11am, like i had thought.
holding back a little bitty tear in my throat, i did some more deep breathing, smiled at the receptionist and gave a chipper "i guess we'll be back". back out into the rain, i saw the starbucks just next door as a quick spot to get dry. so, i went in, knowing full well, that there is a big independent coffee house just across the street. but, let me tell you why i went into the starbucks and not the coffee house across the street. because, when you're having a bad morning, it's hard to think of anything or anyone else but yourself.
each and every time i've been into a starbucks (while i've had some damn disgusting coffee), i've never had to deal with attitude from the 'baristas'. not once. each and every time i go into previously mentioned coffee house across the street from the starbucks, i am met with such completely annoying, 'i'm cooler than you, get out of my face, what do you think i actually want to serve you?!,' attitude that if they served a hit of ecstasy with every cup i would still leave with a frown on my face, disgusted with the rest of the world.
i love supporting locally owned, independent businesses. really, i do. i've gone out of my way many times to order things from some of the local businesses that i could have just gone to megastore and bought off the shelf. i hate the fact that there is a starbucks on every corner of the planet. think globally, buy locally...hippie bumper sticker or not, it's a good way to be. BUT, the independent coffee house counter help attitude has got to GO. just a little back story, i worked at one of these places...in fact, where i worked, i actually could have had reason to have an attitude..it was a teahouse in harvard square...we only served tea and scones (no coffee, no cappuccino, no latte, just honest to god slowly brewed whole leaf tea), if anyone could have been snotty about what they were serving, it was me. but, the only time i ever gave anyone an attitude was when they hit me with one first. and even then, i found that it made them much more angry to be overly bubbly and nice to them.

to finish, i went into the starbucks to get out of the rain, i was met with a smile from the girl at the counter and a very friendly attitude. i ordered something very sweet and creamy and over the top (pumpkin spice latte decaf). i even ordered a 'small', and she still smiled (for those of you under rocks, the lingo for small in starbucksland is 'grahnd-ay'). she was so pleasant that i immediately felt better about things, i went and sat down in a big plush leather chair, and harlan was being adorable and quiet. i was warm, and dry and about the have a serious sugar buzz...things were looking up, i can do this.
and that is why starbucks is king of the coffeehouses.