13March
2010
maura @ 9:41 pm
We’re on Day 6 of the 10 Days of No Electronic Entertainment and doing pretty well here. The week was pretty easy, and as a bonus we discovered that Gus’s morning pokiness has nothing to do with video games at all: he’s just as much of a dawdler when he’s reading a book. I will admit to a bit of panic when I first heard that it’s going to torrentially rain all weekend, but today was fine. (Okay, I confess: he did have a birthday party in the middle of the day.)
All this talk of (no) video games reminds me that earlier this week I took a picture on my walk to work and haven’t had a chance to post it yet. So here it is:
Hard to make out, I know, so I’ll explain it. The college across the street from the college where I work has a dorm, and sometimes the students write stuff on the windows or use post-it notes to create pictures/words. This art using post-its is pretty damn brilliant: on the top is Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, and some gold rings. Moving down on the left is Pac-Man with a trail of dots, then Mario. Out towards the right away from Mario are boxes to jump on with a flag on the end all the way on the right.
Not only is this a cute riff on pixel art but it’s also cooperative. Since it spans many windows on multiple floors, the residents of those rooms had to get together to create it. Wonder if it was all at once or an accretion? Who knows, but I have to smile every morning when I pass by.
6March
2010
maura @ 6:37 pm
I’m always surprised at how fast things can change with early Spring weather. This time last weekend we were drinking hot chocolate after Jonathan took Gus and a pal to the park to get in some sledding and build a snow fort (after the 2 feet of snow we’d gotten the day before). Today it was 53 degrees and sunny, though there are still a few dirty piles of snow yet to melt. I took Gus to karate this morning, but we’ve spent the afternoon inside.
What is is about the internets that makes us want to own up to stuff that we’re maybe a bit ashamed about? I always feel guilty when we don’t take advantage of the nice weather and do something outside. The botanic gardens, the High Line, riding bikes in the park, getting back on our scooters: we could have done any of those things today. But I’m tired and Jonathan’s tired–indeed, we both napped, which is a rare luxury. Gus was perfectly happy to spend the day playing video games and watching Japanese Kirby videos (subtitled in English) on YouTube. And we’re planning to head to the zoo tomorrow so we’ll have plenty of opportunity for vitamin D and running around then.
You all know how I feel about video games, both for Gus and for myself. Recently we have put some limits on weekend gametime; the weekdays tend to police themselves, what with school and homework. But many weekends we’re doing stuff, too, in which case it’s not really an issue. We didn’t impose any limits today because Monday starts a 10 day electronic fast in our house. In Gus’s school the highest grades go on a camping trip each year, and to raise money for the trip they do a read-a-thon in which sponsors pledge a few cents a page. The teachers have decided that in the midst of the read-a-thon will be a 10 day period with no TV or other electronic devices. For everyone in the family, I might add.
I always feel a bit torn about these digital fasts. On the one hand, I do see some value in taking a break from electronics–they use electricity, and you don’t tend to move much while using them. They can also be kind of antisocial, though I hesitate to even bring that up because they can also be *more* social. When I’m talking to an old college pal on facebook aren’t I being more social than if I’m sitting on my sofa reading? And Gus already reads a ton–one day last month he read 219 pages of Harry Potter #2!–so it’s not like I’m worried that he’s not spending enough time hitting the books.
What I expect the 10 days will do (beyond raising money for the trip) is highlight my own various uses of electronics. Between my phone and laptop at home there’s work work (mostly but not solely email), research work, work-related reading, twitter (which is half work half not), personal email, news reading, facebook (actually not so much these days, maybe 2-3x/week), and TV/movie watching (I’ve been busy enough recently that there hasn’t been much gaming for me). Some of those can happen while Gus is asleep, so I don’t need to worry about them. But I do tend to use the phone, especially, to fill in at certain times. In the morning at the breakfast table I usually check weather, email, the NY Times, and twitter. In the evening while supervising Gus getting ready for bed I’m often catching up on personal email, twitter, facebook, or RSS feeds (overwhelmingly library- or higher ed-related).
Technically I won’t be able to use the phone or computer in that kind of filling in the cracks way during the electronics fast. Luckily I’m also about 2 months behind on New Yorkers, so maybe I can get through those, finally. But I predict that it’ll be hard to remember to check the weather at nights while Gus is asleep.
27February
2010
maura @ 9:52 pm
We are finally getting around to watching Julie & Julia. With the debt that we owe the late Mrs. Child (for me it’s mostly a caloric debt, but still), what the heck took us so long? Well, we tend not to squander sitter time on movies since it is possible to watch movies at home, and prefer to save it up for museums or dinners that don’t involve chicken nuggets or pizza. Of course, now that we’re watching it we see that we totally could have dragged Gus to see it,* though he probably would have been bored.
* We don’t tend to take him to any even remotely scandalous movies, though that streak may change tomorrow when we all go to see Avatar. But friends of his have seen it, prompting this hilarious summary: “There were these blue guys. They were the avatars. And they had a tree. And they really loved their tree. Then there was a fight.” So we feel like it’s probably going to be okay.
So far I totally agree with what everyone said: the Julia parts are wonderful, and the Julie bits fall flat. I kind of feel bad for Amy Adams: she’s a good actress, but who could compete with Meryl Streep in that towering role? It’s such a sweet movie, too, and Stanley Tucci is fantastic. I think I’ll have to read the book now (which, of course, we already own).
We didn’t get to finish it last night because Gus woke up twice and then it was suddenly after midnight and I have just been too tired lately to be staying up like a teenager. We paused shortly after Julia and Paul were packing up their Paris kitchen and I thought: “Hey, Jonathan has an orange Le Creuset pot just like that! Except his is oval and hers was circular.” I’m sure there are actual chef-y names for them like “stockpot” and “casserole” but I’ll never find out unless we finish that dang movie so bye!
26February
2010
maura @ 4:19 pm
Today is a snow day. I took Gus + a pal sledding then took a short nap but woke up all grumpy, feeling like I need to get some stuff crossed off my list but not very energetic nor sure where to start. Hmph. Maybe I need some more tea.
Then I realized I hadn’t posted my twitterstream for a while, so here are the fruits of my procrastination, just for you:
Impatience: http://twitpic.com/15hfuj
about 1 hours ago via Echofon
@divanoir oh yeah. heading to the park in a few, after I finish my coffee.
about 3 hours ago via Echofon in reply to divanoir
@lwaltzer hmm, that’s a tough choice. the ds has been a big win for us, but the accordion has some serious appeal.
about 5 hours ago via web in reply to lwaltzer
@ms_tinamarie @s_francoeur yep, we finally got a call, too. yay!
about 7 hours ago via web
Kinda disappointed–have some fun stuff planned for today, but could really use a snow day, too.
about 9 hours ago via Echofon
Lots on my plate. Timmy, my imaginary assistant, where are you when I need you to clear my schedule? SO unreliable, the imaginary.
about 18 hours ago via web
My Devo color is red: Find out your Devo color at http://www.clubdevo.com/colorstudy/ (note: not at all happy about red. green is me!)
about 18 hours ago via web
@mikhailg glad to help out! such a great record (and film, too).
10:13 PM Feb 24th via web in reply to mikhailg
today’s assertion: there is no grumpiness that listening to the pixies cannot cure.
2:01 PM Feb 24th via web
Testify! RT @TheRepoRat: New BoT post: Librarians: down with the impact factor! http://dlvr.it/2S33
8:01 PM Feb 22nd via Echofon
Away for 4.5 days and the cats are relentlessly needy now that we’ve returned, omg!
11:54 AM Feb 22nd via web
Home from vacation, missing the snow, sniff.
9:08 PM Feb 21st via web
@zephoria not sure, but would love to hear what others suggest.
8:51 PM Feb 20th via Echofon in reply to zephoria
Blech, so tired of watching skating. Bring back skiing & snowboarding!
8:52 PM Feb 19th via Echofon
cramming a week of work into 1 day, w00t!
12:24 PM Feb 16th via web
The kid is at a playdate and I have 3.5 hrs to deal with a CFP, why are the dang cats acting so freaky?
10:37 AM Feb 15th via web
@lwaltzer Fun! We keep meaning to go but have never been (yet!).
9:34 AM Feb 14th via Echofon in reply to lwaltzer
@lwaltzer ooh, nice sharks! Where are you?
5:03 PM Feb 13th via Echofon in reply to lwaltzer
23February
2010
maura @ 11:03 pm
The cats seem to have missed us while we were away. Dreadfully, achingly, pathetically missed us, if their behavior the past few days is any indication. The needy one can’t go an hour without sitting next to one of our chairs and mewing pitifully to be picked up, or flinging himself down on the floor in front of us as we try and walk through the apartment, to lure us into petting his soft underbelly. Even the stoic one is following us around and Will Not Stand for closed doors. And they’ve woken us up before dawn the past 2 days with meowing and sitting on us + purring (needy) and jumping onto the bedside table to sniff my head (stoic).
Gus, too, has not been a great sleeper since we returned. Sometimes he suddenly decides that something he used to find hilarious is actually quite scary, which seems to have happened on Sunday night with the awesome (and very cute, really!) game Plants vs Zombies, which Jonathan just got for the iphone. Honestly it’s not creepy at all, but for some reason it struck a nerve with the kid. He was up at every miniscule creaking floorboard and clanging radiator pipe on Sunday night, and we were up, too.
I’m tired. I think I need a sleep vacation.
22February
2010
maura @ 8:04 pm
Snow snow snow. I love the snow. I feel like the older I get the less I should love the snow. Like it’s unseemly for an adult to enjoy the snow, too childish. Or that the snow is just too cold and aren’t I getting to be too old for the cold?
But I can’t help it, something about snow is just too magical. The way it falls in big fat flakes and makes time slow to a crawl. Or the way it covers everything in glittery quiet. I never have been a princessy girl, but even I appreciate a little glitter now and then. Snow is especially awesome in the city, as a friend quipped, “it’s nature’s slanket.”
I’m writing this on our annual winter vacation to visit my dad + stepmom in Vermont, and it’s pretty snowy here. We were worried that it wouldn’t be wintery enough — there’s been much more snow down south since the new year than there has been up here. But there’s a good base and one night we got 4 more inches of fluffy dry stuff, just perfect for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, some of my favorite snowy activities.
Gus is seemingly eternally happy to play out in the snow. He loves to sled and skate and build snowmen and make snow angels, but he also likes just hanging out in the snow. Whenever we’re up here he’s out until it’s too dark to play, tromping around, looking for icicles, throwing snow chunks, etc. Often without a hat or with an unzipped coat — will someone please explain to me how a 50lb third grader with 0% body fat never seems to get cold?
Lately I’ve been wondering if we should take a warm vacation one winter. We never have before, we usually head north for our winter getaways. And there is something that sounds nice about taking a break in the bright sun during the gray of February. But I think I would miss the guarantee of snowy fun. Sure, we’ve had a fair amount of snow in NYC this winter, but that’s not always the case.
And there’s always Spring Break.
20February
2010
maura @ 5:49 pm
last weekend about time to write, I forgot to even mention that I posted on one of my other blogs. I actually ended up getting a fair amount of writing done last weekend, which was nice.
15February
2010
maura @ 12:26 pm
I think I may have too many blogs. Not that this is new — I’ve wondered about this before. But lately I’ve been feeling more blog-related confusion than usual.
Okay, so there’s this blog, the old reliable. A personal blog. For personal stuff. Except that sometimes I do want to write about library-ish things in a more casual way than on the other blogs. Like a couple of weeks ago, when I wrote about my class. But then I wanted to write about the class in a more formal way and give a shoutout to all of the other library classes I’d found inspirational, so I posted something about it on the ACRLog too. It felt a bit weird to write about the same thing in two different ways, but not so weird that I didn’t do it. I’ve also been feeling a tiny bit bloggers block with more formal library posts, too, and in some ways I think it loosened me up a bit to write casually about the course here before I wrote more formally about it over there.
It’s probably more of a systemic issue: things have been busy lately, and I haven’t done as much writing as I like. I am keeping my hour before work for research/writing, but there’s been a bunch of procedural research stuff to do lately like photocopying fliers and applying for grants and reading for literature reviews and… So not so much writing has been happening in the mornings. This article in the Chronicle last week, which I’ve just gotten the chance to read now, has come at just the right time. And it has helped me push through a bit more writing in the past couple of days, too. Just need to keep repeating that mantra which has worked so well for me in the past: To Write A Lot, You Have To Write A Lot. Where’s my pencil?
14February
2010
maura @ 10:49 am
I had a whole post ready to go that I wrote half one night last week and half yesterday morning at Gus’s karate class, but then things got busy in the afternoon and we had pals over for dinner and I forgot.
But it’s Valentine’s Day, so I can’t use that post today because it’s imperative that I remind you to get yr candy hearts for yr sweetie here, at my sweetie’s fab site, which this year is beating out even NECCO (the actual candy company) in the Google search results for “candy hearts.” w00t!
I’d also like to take this opportunity to plug the release of my sweetie’s newest fab project, Beautiful Tarot, truly the most gorgeous tarot iPhone app out there on the intarwebs. Hip hip hooray!
12February
2010
maura @ 8:10 pm
Today is the only day during the year that CUNY is closed but the public schools are OPEN. As if I needed another reason to like our 16th president.
In honor of this day I am doing no work at all. None! And also a couple of errandy things. And reading something for fun.* And I took a very small nap. Woo hoo!
* Just because I’m reading a book about plagiarism doesn’t mean it’s not fun!
Anyway, I have a couple of partially-written things to post here (or elsewhere) but I’m too tired from my day off to finish them now. Here’s some Twitter to tide you over.
RT @notjonathan My first iPhone app is live! http://cryptogram.com/tarot (iTunes http://bit.ly/bLLKH6) DM or @ me if you’d like a free promo code #tarot
1:22 PM Feb 11th from Tweetie Retweeted by you and 1 other
A brisk snowy walk, the quiet of the office before the library opens, taking some time to write. Happy Thursday!
8:40 AM Feb 11th from web
From the parent coordinator at my kid’s school: school is OPEN tomorrow. Best. Email. Ever.
6:27 PM Feb 10th from web
@alevtina Go, City Tech! Snow can’t stop the awesomeness, oh yeah. :)
8:20 AM Feb 10th from Echofon in reply to alevtina
RT @kittenwithawhip: RT @DrinkWellDoGood Southern Foodways Alliance seeking interns for Oral History programs. http://tiny.cc/8tVfD
11:36 PM Feb 8th from Echofon
Dear printer, Actually, paper is *not* jammed in the transport unit. Please get a grip. Thanks, Maura
4:07 PM Feb 8th from web
One of the cats likes to nap on the shelf next to my desk. Study buddy! http://twitpic.com/122mcu
10:23 AM Feb 8th from Echofon
RT @mwesch Check out “The Class” a parody of The Office on technology in the classroom from @LynnSchofClark ‘s class at DU http://bit.ly/cerGqP
7:48 AM Feb 7th from web Retweeted by you and 16 others
Watching Fringe + swooning over Olivia Dunham’s awesome black wool coat, as usual. 3 buttons on the sleeves!
10:41 PM Feb 6th from web
Brooklyn, NY = NOpocalypse. Bummed.
3:11 PM Feb 6th from web
Already disappointed that we are not going to get enough snow. Bah.
7:40 PM Feb 5th from web
Gus would like me to know that he does NOT have a giga-memory, GOSH, how can he POSSIBLY remember all of the THINGS he has to DO before bed!
8:41 PM Feb 4th from web
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