Godzilla Kisses

I may have a very small crush on Inkhosikati LaMbikiza of Swaziland.

At first I thought it was just the dress:



But then I saw some other pictures.








Sure, The Huffington Post and The Daily Beast may have jumped on the bandwagon, but that's because we all recognize greatness when we see it. Right?

( blunt sexual verbiage )

Today April and particularly Simone had a hard time on the playground. There was a group of older kids at Mosswood, all related, who resolutely did not want to play with them. Eventually April just went off to play by herself, but Simone was devastated. She sat in my lap and wailed for several minutes. The parent of the older kids was very apologetic, but I was a little bit more sanguine about it all and let her know.

Eventually I pointed Simone in the direction of a younger kid and a soccer ball instead and that seemed to solve the issue. Later, she found a branch and "shot" all of her adversaries in dramatically staged fashion. The other parent thought that was cute, thank goodness.

I am beginning to think, by the way, that kids at some parks, somewhat independent of age, are more open to strangers playing with them than at other parks. Bird Sanctuary Park (not its official name), for example, is incredibly social. Startlingly social. Big Frog Park is on the friendly side. Mosswood Park varies, as does Splash Pad Park. Totland is not as social as I always expect it to be, but I think that's in part because the children are on the young end and generally don't have the social skills necessary for more than parallel play. I don't know any of the other area playgrounds well enough to make a firm diagnosis yet.

So what is with this new food trend of serving dessert in a Mason jar, parfait-style?

Today's rediscovered historical figure that I must remember to tell my children about: Mary Anning.

a.k.a.: Dinosaur Hunter Mary!

Today I volunteered to accompany the girls on their preschool field trip to the local fire station.

And it was so much fun.

This was a walking field trip down to Station no. 10 on Santa Clara, around the corner from our house. In fact, we passed our house on the walk. Station 10, it turns out, is the oldest fire station in Oakland. We got to see the big picture window in the back looking out over the garage -- that used to be an open window for shoveling hay through for the horses that drew the engines.

I learned the difference between a fire engine and a fire truck. They told us their shift schedules and showed us the bunks, lockers, kitchen and lounge. The kids got to spray the hose and practice their "stop, drop and roll" routines. Simone got to try on a firefighter's boots, helmet and coat. The crew was very warm and welcoming all the way through.

There weren't any women on shift today but the chief made it a point to tell us not only that women could be firefighters, too, but that some of them worked regularly at this very station. As Simone currently aspires to be a firefighter when she grows up ("or a gardener"), I appreciated this.

Simone was disappointed she did not get to slide down the pole.

"Outlaw Bodies (for which we’re just finalising the reading now after having closed to submissions at the beginning of the month) is focussing on stories about trans* and queer issues, disability and health issues, gender, technology and a cyberpunk approach to the body. This includes questions and ways of looking at fiction that are new to me, and even if we weren’t going to have a wonderful collection of fiction at the end of it (which we are) I would be so grateful to Lori for having helped me to see and to think in this way. "

Interview: Some Thoughts on Post-Colonialism and Politics in SF with Djibril al-Ayad, Editor of “The Future Fire” Magazine

Lots of other tasty stuff too.

Today my children were whisked off to a unexpected playdate and I had a blessed hour and a half all to myself in the afternoon.

I promptly fell asleep on the couch.

G. and the kids and I drove up to Redding to watch the eclipse yesterday. 3+ hours there, 3+ hours back. abostick59 tagged along in the back of our rented minivan.

First of all, OK, minivan. With a built-in DVD player to keep the girls entertained! I think we may be sold on the idea, if not the reality quite yet. After a childhood full of building my muscles on the sliding van door, though, I am still freaked out by doors that close themselves.

Simone chose to skip viewing the eclipse in favor of playing with another slightly younger girl on the concrete stage in Redding's big central park. They built big piles of leaves and pretended to be dinosaurs eating lunch. April took a break to peek through her special glasses with the rest of us, however. Then she ran circles around the park until she tired herself out. We changed them into pajamas and diapers at a gas station on our way back after they feel asleep in their carseats.

The weird sickly sunlight triggered a serious sense memory of my "first eclipse," in 1999 in Germany. On my 29th birthday, as it happens. There is nothing else quite like that light, and it's so hard to capture what it's like.

Redding folks (and visitors) were very friendly, the park was busy but not too crowded, and all in all it was a lot of fun. Definitely worth the excursion.

Next time I pack a picnic.