2005
goodbye small hands
maura @ 10:41 pm
Phew, just barely coming up for air here before we jet off to the great Midwest for our 5 leisurely days with the grandparents, woo hoo! Things have been a mite crazy-busy recently, I’ve had lots of work, Jonathan’s had lots of work, and of course Gus is off school all this week. He and I have been seriously head-butting too, which doesn’t make anything easier. We are so similar, so stubborn, it’s a bit scary at times.
But never fear, for tomorrow we hit the promised land! Gus never wants a thing to do with us when the grandparents are around to attend to his every preschooler whim. Playdoh on the porch! Endless hours spraying everything with the garden hose! No pants ever! So we lounge, read, sleep, occasionally take a field trip to the playground or supermarket. It’s just lovely. I have FOUR books in the suitcase right now, AND my journal.
And, since that hotel date was so successful a few weeks ago, we think we’re going to try an overnight in Chicago while we’re out that way. I have been seriously suffering from the Chicago nostalgia recently. I read this, which I REALLY loved (even though it’s an Oprah book, o, the shame!), and of course reading Mimi Smartypants gets all the Chicago up in me, too. Our college friends we’ll be staying with told us that Demon Dogs, our favorite hot dog place (conveniently located under the El tracks), has closed, though, so who knows where we’ll eat. At least we can still have breakfast at Ann Sather. And I have this weird desire to see Millennium Park, does that make me completely uncool? Of course, if it’s 90 million degrees out we will not be spending any time outside, so I guess we need a plan B. Any ideas?
So, finishing the abovementioned book has put me in a bit of a fiction depression. I’d been on a serious, hardcore non-fiction jag, really for a few years now. But that book was so good, so dreamy, romantic, but not sappy, with all those tasty Chicago tidbits… Finishing it has left a big hole in my literary life. I know not what to read, I’m interested in nothing beyond reading MORE stuff EXACTLY like that. Sigh. Made an emergency run to the library last night to grab a few new books, so hopefully one of those will grab me. And if any of my 4 readers have any books they’re loving, let me know!
4 comments on “goodbye small hands”
“Devil in a White Town” and “Freakanomics!”
Most of the restaurants we knew and loved are now long-gone! I was there about 1 1/2 years ago–even the I-House cafeteria has been replaced by an expanded kitchen, where students cook for themselves! But I did eat at the Berghoff, mmmm tasty! And I’m sure there’s a Harold’s around, I hope they still yell at the customers from behind the bulletproof glass. Maybe Valois is still standing–it’s always nice to See Your Food!
Re: “No pants, ever.” This is the kind of thing I come home to every single day!
Well have fun!
Betsy, we love love love the first two books of that trilogy! The third is disappointing, but Northern Lights is SO great, it almost makes up for it. J got another really great kids book recently called Gregor the Overlander about an NYC kid who falls through a vent into this huge city underground, if you’re on a kids books jag (I read nearly all of it when he made me go to the ER for that stomach bug 2 mos ago).
Anne, I tried to read Devil in a White Town (recommended by Lucy to me last year) but, strangely, it freaked me out and I had to take it back to the library! Weird. I have Freakonomics on hold at the library but I am hold #101 so it’ll be a while. Damn library. We thought about going to Hyde Park but then didn’t, mostly because we just wanted to park the car + be done with driving for the day (it was Taste of Chicago, which I always forget about, and a Cubs game too). Next time.
“Devil” is pretty creepy and disgusting. You have to wonder how many people that guy killed vs. how many workers died building the World’s Fair! (This is why we have unions, pumkins!) But it was fun to try to figure out what was where (the map was pretty bad). It was heartening to realize how much improvement has been made in law enforcement and basic urban cleanliness since that time! Also it will make you reminisce about the Midway–freezing rain, ice skating, watching IMs, hangin’ with Linneas, etc.
I wanted our class gift to be a ferris wheel but now that I know how hard they are to build it’s probably best that we didn’t.
my backpack is full of Northern Lights, Pullman. you yanks call it The Golden Compass. I’m a bit embarrassed that I never crossed passed with His Dark Materials before, but it seems like time. I’m in the mood for a good trilogy. I’ve been fiction-free for a long time myself. our little library kind of bites– recent selections have been mostly cookbooks. L’s reading about the monarchy and the plague last time I checked.
Betsy