12.06.09 HOB Chicago!

My 80-something year old volunteer at work just gave me her holiday cocktail recipe.

-hollow-stem glassware required
-drain a can of apricots and freeze them
-fill the stem of each glass with Southern Comfort
-place a frozen apricot over the stem at the bottom of the glass
-fill the glass with Korbel champagne

Dear Leonard,

I am a long-established character in a superhero comic. Recently, I have begun to suspect that I am being drawn by someone under the sway of Japanese manga. How can I be sure?

yours,
Yellow Peril-ized

Dear Peri,

To determine once and for all if you have fallen under the influence of the most formalist cultural aesthetic since the dawn of the Mad Lib, take this simple quiz.

1. Despite putatively being a grown adult, have I recently begun to look like I am no older than 16?

2. Is my waist depicted as being only a few centimeters thicker than my bicep?

3. Instead of a nose, do I now have a scribbled placeholder that resembles a disassembled wire coathanger?

4. Does my mouth, when open, occupy more than 75% of the surface area of my head?

5. Have I recently begun to express my emotions through hugely oversold facial expressions, gurning, and histrionic body movements that make me seem like I am in a really bad community theatre?

6. Does my hair jut out at strange angles and generally appear as if it is capable of putting someone's eye out?

If you can answer "yes" to more than 3 of these questions, you have likely come under the spell of an American artist who is influenced by manga style. The next question is, what can you do about it?

I recommend suicide.

At the Rendezvous with my shirt in the sink, I may have, at first glance, appeared to be trying to salvage a shirt from a stain. Relatively quickly, though, it would be come apparent that I was trying to cover it in blood as unobtrusively as possible while periodically making room for others to engage in appropriate restroom hygiene. Having arrived late to the pre-party costume session, I entered my friend's birthday party in a shredded paint-spattered plaid shirt, some borrowed pajama pants, and wearing hastily applied face-whitening makeup and fake blood. In the red light of the grotto, this read more "homeless" than "zombie", prompting the change to the back-up costume and upping the ante on dripped blood. Though in comparison to most of the other attendees, this didn't constitute taking it to the max, it was a definite improvement. For future reference, light colored clothing is the way to go for your zombie needs.
( Read more... )

That time of year again!

Some of you have moved, some of you are new friends, and for some of you, I've misplaced or lost your addresses (oops)!

So update my Rolodex with your latest contact info (whatever you want to share):

Full name
Mailing address
Phone number
Email

Comments are screened.

Baby's now the size of a banana!
Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion, and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. And, if baby is a girl, her womb is now stocked up with her lifetime supply of six million eggs (the number will drop to around one million by birth).

First-- On average from week 20 to week 21, a fetus grows 4 inches and 2 ounces!! I am completely astounded by this growth. Baby, you are growing!!

Peanut has been moving around at a higher intensity and frequency than last week. These "quickenings" do not feel like "butterfly kisses", which is what online girls have been calling it (with misty eyes and nostalgic sighs). It also doesn't feel like the thrill you get from a rollercoaster, which some other girls describe it as.

For me, the movements feel like twitches-- you know how you sometimes get that uncontrollable eye twitch that just wont stop? That's what it feels like, except two inches below my belly button. When Brian or my sister reached to feel it, they both instinctively reached for the most protruding part near my belly button and not below (it's closer to top of my pantyline), but that's where you can feel Peanut the best!

You can simulate the same feeling that you get from placing your hand on my belly by doing the following: place your hand up against your cheek. Then use your tongue to make a quick, stabbing motion against the inside of your cheek towards your hand (like a fast boxer jab). It truly does feel the same!

I'm also learning her patterns. Peanut moves consistently every day between 5 and 7 p.m. This is her waking hour when she is most active. Aside from these two hours, she barely stirs, unless I eat a meal. This is not an immediate effect... I've noticed that it takes approximately 15 minutes into a meal before the stirring begins. I'm guessing it has to do with my sugar levels.

Some girls online say their baby's movements is correlated with the time they turn on a switch, press buttons on a microwave, or make a phone call. The scientist in me is trying to figure out how biologically this is possible; unless they always turn on a switch, touch the microwave, or make phone calls, at a regular time every day. The girls swear it's not the case. I am immediately questioning the accuracy of their data observations and rigorousness of record-keeping. Not to mention lack of hypothesis as to what could possibly correlate a baby's movement with something like phone calls. I truly want to know.

I attended the first baby shower on Saturday! It was for a friend I've known since high school, so we're going on 15 years here (or half my life!). I really liked it because she did three key and crucial things: (1) both males and females were invited (the baby does, after all, have two parents. Why does only the mother sit in on these things?), (2) she kept it small (only 7 couples in attendance, including in-laws, a neighbor, some sorority sisters, and a few high school friends from both sides), and (3) no games!

One, by keeping it small, she really indicated to all of us that it wasn't about the gifts or the presents; it was about celebrating the impending birth. And it was nice to see her at 8 months, happy, excited, blissful. Two, by inviting significant others, it cut down on the "girly TMI talk" and cooing/aahhing that tends to happen at showers every time a gift is opened. It also cut down on the awkwardness of feeling like you didn't know anybody else there (only people I knew were my sister and Brian, who I dragged along). And three, the silly games! I was so grateful that we didn't have to do embarrassing games or silly things that just humiliate everyone involved. It was a classy get-together where we snacked, talked, caught up, opened gifts, congratulated the couple, and enjoyed the company. PERFECT BABY SHOWER! I think all other baby showers will now pale in comparison from this point forth.

The A.V. Club presents its 15 best vidya-games of the decade.

It's a fine list, a solid list, a list with which I have little to no quarrel. Here's my top 20 (absolutely reflecting my own tastes, which explains the general lack of team shooters, racing games, Madden, platformers, Japanese RPGs, MMORPGs, and anything made by Microsoft):

1. Grand Theft Auto III, Rockstar, 2001
2. The Sims, EA Games, 2000
3. Rock Band, EA Games/MTV Games, 2007
4. BioShock, 2K Games, 2007
5. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Activision, 2007
6. Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar, 2008
7. Katamari Damacy, Namco, 2004
8. The Orange Box, Valve/EA Games, 2007
9. Fallout 3, Bethesda Softworks, 2008
10. Civilization III, Infogrames/Aspyr, 2001
11. Wii Sports, Nintendo, 2006
12. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Rockstar, 2004
13. Fight Night: Round 3, EA Sports, 2006
14. Left 4 Dead, Valve, 2008
15. Ninja Gaiden, Tecmo, 2004
16. FIFA 09, EA Sports, 2008
17. Shadow of the Colossus, Sony Entertainment, 2005
18. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, Activision, 2001
19. Silent Hill 2, Konami, 2001
20. NBA 2K2, Sega, 2001

When will we ever get a truly great baseball sim? And has any studio/label/publisher put out as much consistently good work this decade than Rockstar Games?

I've been feeding Freya every 90-120 minutes during the day. It makes the time fly.

We took her to be weighed again today and she has finally gained weight. Yay! This is surely due to my increased feeding frequency, more milk supply, and weaning myself off the stupid nipple shield. My nipples are still pretty sensitive, but the way to overcome that is to just nurse all the time until they toughen up.

Our baby is so damn wonderful. She loves being close to us and spends lots of time riding around on one of us in her carrier or being held in our arms. This is building a foundation of security and trust that will hopefully last a lifetime.

I listened to this song a lot while I was pregnant and listening to it now makes me cry even more.

"Where is my Love" by Cat Power

Where is my love
Where is my love
Horses running free
Carrying you and me

Where is my love
Where is my love
Safe and warm
So close to me
In my arms
Finally

There is my love
There is my love
Horses galloping
Bringing you to me

The fetal monitor I was attached to while in labor sounded like a galloping horse. I listened to it for 16 hours, then it haunted me for the entire next day. When her heart rate dropped, I pictured a herd of wild horses, and willed her to recover. She is a strong baby.

My days are monotonous and I am losing track of time. All I really think of is how long until the next feeding. She needs to feed every 90-120 minutes so she can gain weight. Still not over her birth weight. Please think good thoughts for us.

From the back:
(I look pretty much the same...)


From the front:
(Oh wait, is there a bump there...?)


From the side:
(OMG yes, there's definitely a belly bump!)


I'M SO HAPPY IT'S HARD TO STOP SMILING!

When we had finished our errands, filled the trunk in the returning mist, rounded everyone and everything up and were finding the express lane with me behind the wheel, I had no expectation that we would arrive in to get a spot on the evening ferry. I thought that at best we might make it through the pounding rain to see a line of cars or the boat pulling away. But instead, even though we managed not to decipher the text messaged clues from the other car about their nonexistent object even after going well above the usual twenty questions, we gained a place in the hull of the great beast and quickly decamped to the deck.
( morcas )

Baby's now the size of a cantaloupe!
Baby gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies respond best to tastes they've already had via amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you'd like your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.

Flutterings have started.

Heartburn has increased.

And belly is growing larger. People keep commenting that they think I'm carrying twins. (No, there is only Peanut in there! Just one girl! Thanks for telling me I'm gaining too much weight, though.)

Registered for childbirth preparation classes at the delivery hospital (5-week program starting when I'm 32 weeks).


Update:
I'm having the worst luck with eating out lately!

On Sunday, we went to IHOP for lunch (and saw four pregnant ladies, is this a hub for pregnancy-cravings?) and I ordered eggs over well, hash browns, strawberry pancakes, and two sausage links.

Instead, the waitress brought me plain pancakes and two slices of bacon. I don't return food (they just spit it in the new stuff...) and I was hungry, so I ate it anyway.

Then Monday for dinner, I ordered a Philly cheesesteak with peppers and onions, and a side of French fries. The order? Just plain cheesesteak with no vegetables. Boo! So flavorless!! :(