Nutgraf

Here’s some great advice from friend Laina – who has personally manufactured two fine offspring of her very own, so you know she knows what she’s talking about.

It doesn’t matter what you say. Kids only learn from what you do.

You watch TV? Good luck following the American Academy of Pediatrics advice to keep them away from TV until age two.

You like healthy food? With a few small battles in the toddler years, your offspring will probably grow up eating their veggies most of the time.

Same thing with naps and bedtime. If you believe in sleep and take it seriously enough to put them in a quiet, dark place at more or less the same time(s) every day, they will learn to nap. And well-rested kids are happier kids.

You know, I’d take this farther and come out and say that “walk the walk” is good advice for more than just parenting. Know where you stand and live your ideals.

Have something to add? Currently seeking words of wisdom about work, parenting, home maintenance, cooking, relationships… Tell me what you know!

There's work to be done.

The weather outside is deeply disturbing. And something about the air pressure make me keep tipping over on the sofa like a buffalo with a dart in its flank, napping randomly. But I am delighted to report that I have successfully worked my way through this pile of New Yorkers, and resolve to stay more on top of things moving forward.

• Winter wonderland photos and Deathsnow Challenge Part I
• Bare shelves at Safeway, and Deathsnow Challenge Part II

February 8, 2010, continued

Okay, so after the Keyser Söze piece, I did enjoy the profile of gospel singer Tonex, and his complicated past and present. Best of luck to him in all of his future endeavors. ‘William Burns’ by Roberto Bolano was a dark and disturbing piece of fiction that I was happy to end. Castle in the Air – about a ginormotron skyscraper in Dubai – Vegas of the Middle East, but without the class – was honestly pretty cool. No matter how repulsive  a city it is, they do build some cool stuff. None of the other reviews/critiques really moved me.

And on to the big, fat 85th Anniversary Issue, the last in my series.

Feb 15 & 22, 2010

In Talk of the Town, comparing the week’s takings for Avatar to the federal budget deficit is an unspeakably depressing thing to do. Thanks.

And so we move on to “The Trial,” and Eric Holder’s battle about trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Lots of bloodthirsty people on all sides of this equation who don’t want this to go to trial. Easy for them to say, seems to me. And while we’re at it – if none of the places where people died on 9-11 want to host an expensive and divisive trial, they should just have it here in DC. We never make our budgets anyway and public transportation is already a disaster. Also, c’mon people, due process and human rights are what America’s all about. Love it or leave it, man.

Mules? By the way? Are awesome. And this piece about alcohol and alcoholism across different cultures is really interesting. As is the incredible civil rights photographic portfolio by Platon and introduced by David Remnick – a class act.

And with that, I’ll get back to obsessing about the weather and the poor performance of WMATA. I thank you for your kind indulgence.

It just won’t stop frakking snowing, so I’m still trying to burn through these New Yorkers. Just when I thought that I was nearing the end, the mailman managed to access our house despite the Deathsnow and deliver another one.

• Read Part I of the Deathsnow Challenge

Meanwhile, Spouse had to walk me around today, in advance of this latest storm, so we went to our neighborhood Safeway. A couple of snapshots, to give you an idea of the carnage. I think Spouse was having flashbacks to his youth in Moscow. He kept muttering “if you are for the first time in Moscow, welcome.” and something about 12 kilos of potatoes. Poor Spouse.

February 1, 2010

Bed bugs, Lady Gaga, and the ongoing tragedy in Haiti open up this week’s issue. I kind of lucked out this time, since my copy is missing a bunch of pages from the middle – the result being that the article about Dresden merging awkwardly with one  about the Department of Investigation, also known as “the city’s secret police.” I think.

Meghan O’Rourke’s piece about grief hit kind of close to home, what with my rockstar Grandma dying just a couple of weeks ago. Which reminds me to point out that Cancer is Still an Asshole, and that I’ve had some great success with the Amazon affiliation since launch. There will be a donation to the ACS, as promised, just as soon as Amazon submits their tally. Not bad! Remember, all you have to do is go through this link or any on the Cancer is an Asshole Web site, buy whatever you’re going to buy on Amazon anyway, and they’ll kick me 4% or so of your purchase price, every cent of which I will send to the ACS.

The analysis of the Leno/O’Brien squabble is best summed up as “an abject failure of leadership” and left to die. Never cared for any of those programs myself, so it’s hard for me to take this story or the analysis thereof at all seriously.

Meanwhile, this is taking me so long that I just got another issue. And damn! As the special 85th Anniversay Issue, it’s a fat one.

February 8, 2010

Naturally, this issue opens with a couple of remembrances of J.D. Salinger. More power to ‘em. Moving on to the tragedy in Haiti, the story about Nadia provides a vivid picture of the harsh realities on the ground – both now and before the earthquake.

I don’t know why, but the Shouts & Murmurs pieces have been pretty weak for the last few issues. I could also be humor impaired after sitting in the house all this time. Now, I’m working my way through a really great article about a guy they’re comparing to Keyser Söze, but keep getting interrupted by things like dinner, extremely welcome phone calls, and Spouse wanting to read that article even more than me.

But since it’s Still Frakking Snowing, I’ll have some time tomorrow to finish up.

This month’s BookGraf pick is Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen. I must admit that I’ve read this one already, but was delighted when Friend Jenn suggested it because I thought it was just phenomenal.

I must admit to a family history of affinity for the circus. My uncle (who passed away years ago) was a fanatical fan and obsessive collector of posters, photos, memorabilia and other errata. He also belonged to a number of organizations and developed long and mutually rewarding friendships with others so afflicted.

The history and mystery of the circus has long captivated our imagination. This book is also captivating, and I hope that you enjoy it.

• BookGraf, the low-impact book club is on Facebook. Stop by and/or join us.

When I was in grad school, one of my instructors assigned the class to read The New Yorker each week. Most of us subscribed, many of us got hooked. My weekly commute is – conveniently – about one New Yorker long, when Metro is behaving itself. Which has been great – the magazine fits neatly into my purse, and I get to maintain that smug sense of self satisfaction that comes with feeling reasonably well-informed.

It was a good system for several years. Then a bunch of stuff started interfering (trains running in a nauseating manner that was not conducive to reading, that damn iPhone having so much fun in it), and I fell behind.

And here we are – with two feet of snow on the ground, and five magazines to get through.

January 11, 2010

Chainsaw class? Phyllis Diller? A great start to the issue, but I’m afraid I’m just not going to get through the big economics feature. Too antsy watching the state repeatedly plow us back in after Spouse shovels us out. Stupid state. Meanwhile, there’s a really interesting article about the fountain architect who brought us the spectacle at the Bellagio, and another (and very long) about Justice Sotomayor. The review of Elizabeth Gilbert’s new book (Committed) is way better than I thought her first book – which was kind of solipsistic and itch-provoking.

January 18, 2010

The Sure Thing: Oh, Malcolm Gladwell. Your analysis of what makes a (wildly) successful and predatory entrepreneur is as engaging as it is useless to me. No way will I be able to just balls my way through making a multimillion dollar company into a multibillion dollar enterprise. Guess I’ll have to stick with my day job.

Udder Madness: I think only Jews from New York use the word “homunculus.”

Rodarte looks cool, Ted Olsen and David Bois are unlikely allies in the fight for marriage equality

January 25, 2010

I usually don’t get into the fiction so much, but “The Trailhead” was pretty great – and ants are totally violent, but not as violent as King Lear (what with the eye gouging and assassinating and stuff), a review of a half-assed production of which follows. Also, the tricky thing about memoirs, in addition to mortifying friends and family, is that so many of them turn out to be embellished or just not true. On the other hand, no one really seems to care if things “happened,” as long as they “feel honest.”

Didn’t make it the whole way through, but this is great progress!

Good God, I’m dull.