geek in training

this goes out to max...if this doesn't make you want to have kids...i dont know what will. you need to show this video to Keira and tell her how endless the possibilities will be of your future geek child.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYgre1eCsF4

peter fernandez eats chinese food

i really hope you all love peter fernandez as much as i do. he really is something special. i had to share todays clipping...the one on the right says:

"Photo shows Peter Fernandez of San Fernando City with whiz guitarist Charles Small interpreting a modest evening together at a Tokyo restaurant, & had learned on thoughtful table manners, with a waitress nodding & serving hot stuffs of rice, sukiyaki & tea, & was a thrill of feast to have used the chopsticks. taken on May 28, 2008 at a lively music concert in Hollywood."

The one on the left is also a true original:
"Photo shows Peter Fernandez of San Fernando City with sultry singer Tony Galla interpreting a sweet lullaby in delightfully eyeing together a garden in exchange of time, & the natural scene is fantastic, with pollinating butterflies & bees, & we have our prayers conjoined for pleasure & love. Taken on June 20, 2008 at a lively music concert at the Farmer's Market in Los Angeles."

san jose

we got back last night rather late from a san jose weekend visiting bryan's family. i have such great in-laws. i joke that the only time i ever get a true vacation is when we go visit bryan's parents because my mother-in-law takes bryson from the time he gets up until the prayers at night, but i dont worry because he is right there and i know he is in great hands...i mean they raised an amazing man so of course they know what they are doing! we got to go on a date with kimmy since she was in town from NY - we saw Batman and went to cheesecake factory and of course a trip up north wouldnt be complete without bob's BBQ - thanks bob! bryan's sister kristie is also pregnant (with a girl)...kathy was trying to do the needle tests on us - we decided an outdoor needle test with wind is not the proper way to diagnose...at any rate - we had a great time...ate some great food...and actually got some sleep for once!

baby bling

i read a great article in the paper today about 2 jewelry sites. the first was a genius idea for moms with babies in the grabbing/teething mode - http://www.smartmomjewelry.com/ - they make teething ring pendants for mom to wear - safe for the baby to chew on (since they do anyway). what a great way to still be able to wear jewelry and not worry about your baby either a)destroying your jewelry (see the empty plastic water bottle full of stones in my bathroom drawer or b)putting something in their mouth they shouldn't (which they manage to do anyway all the time - like how i caught bryson with a battery this morning). But look - aren't they cute too? they come in all sorts of colors and bracelets and i think it is just a darling idea - they call them baby bling...perfect gift for any mom who loves to look smart and loves their baby...i sound like an ad - they should pay me...or send me a free pendant...

the other website was http://www.exboyfriendjewelry.com/ a sort of craigslist for women who want to get rid of jewelry that their ex gave them...brilliant idea - each item has "the scoop" where women post the awful truths behind the men who gave them the jewelry like this one:

"someone please take all of this jewelry out of my face. the thought of it makes me sick. men are scum and i think we all know that. I dont know if its real or a replica. i just know i dont want to look at it anymore. if you decide to purchase please understand i dont want it back so its kinda a all sales final. i take paypal, and i really want someone to take this jewelry it has too many memories."

hilarious - great prices too - and it is free to look and free to post!

peter fernandez' special admirer

why didn't i think of this? sheer brilliance! one of the long beach press telegram's staff members is also a fan of peter fernandez of san fernando city and gave an homage to him a couple of weeks ago.

in case you can't read it this is what the homage (image on left) read, " Photo shows Mike Watkins, of Torrance, with homage to Peter Fernandez of San Fernando City, interpreting a boy who is lost in an oil tower on the beach with a telegram pressed against his long hands, searching for the secrets of life. Taken on July 16, 2008 in the eclectic & diverse lobby of the Press Telegram."

I was also a fan of a recent clipping (the image on the right) which reads, " Photo shows Peter Fernandez of San Fernando City with whiz pianist Alred Amadian interpreting on 'sirelis' meaning love in Armenian & has a peaceful feeling of friendship the world over that is away from a bone of contention, & he typifies an Armenian man with a broad head & prominent nose. Taken on May 4, 2008 at the lively festival of Armenia in Glendale.

i just love that he had to comment on how he typifies an armenian...

Middlesex

i must be on a pulitzer prize book thing. i heard enough people rave about this book so i picked it up right before my puerto vallarta trip and was almost successful in finishing it in a very relaxing weekend. after reading the road, it seemed like this book was a vacation in itself - i found myself thinking like the author and the only other book that was that contagious for me recently was bridget jones' diary, so i probably shouldnt brag about that, but i love it when a book is so inspiring that it catches on to your way of looking at the world. anyway i love the way that the author captures the history of his family all in the context of his story - it was fun to take that journey and got me thinking about my family in that light as well and what kind of skeletons are lurking around on the boat here from sweden....hmmm....i am guessing they are not so juicy as a brother and sister hooking up as did the author's grandparents, but still. the book is written in a sort of dreamy state - it in a lot of ways reminded me of 100 years of solitude in its almost folkloric prose.

throughout the book i stared at the author's picture at the back of the book wondering just how fictional this book is...at one point the narrator in the book describes himself as a faun - look at this guy...faun is he not? anyway from what i gather from interviews and such Eugenides is not a hermaphrodite, but it still awes me because i felt the voice of the narrative so feminine. he seemed to be able to peer inside the mind of a teenage girl so eerily well - as he also did in virgin suicides - and not just the teenage girl, but the way also in which he talks about his family and history.

i thoroughly enjoyed the book, although i must say that he lost me at the end. it seemed like at the end he felt like he needed some action in case this were to be made into a movie or something - or maybe it was bringing the story current that did it. whatever the case from the point the narrator ran away i stopped believing somehow. it didnt ruin it for me in any way, just threw me for a loop i guess. anyway - i more earnestly back this book up than any i have read for a while. and it won't make you want to kill yourself like the road.

20 weeks

halfway done. i recently watched an episode of House of Babies (on discovery health i believe about the miamy birth center) and they discussed pregnant women and their body issues. the head midwife shari daniels made a comment that most pregnant women think other pregnant women are beautiful, but never themselves. i was very puzzled myself the first time i was pregnant because i love pregnant bellies and just thought i would feel like the cutest thing in the world...not so much for me. i know other women who do enjoy it and feel very sensual, but for me i definitely felt the extra weight and tight itchy belly and extra cushion in the back...not the volumptious curvy beauty i had hoped. i am trying to be more conscious this time around about my weight, but also about my body image and feeling better about myself. i am trying to take compliments straight to heart and to feel even sexy when i can. i think pregnant bodies are gorgeous and full of life and potential and should be celebrated, not covered up - so i am trying to share my belly shots again. i can't promise i will feel this way the whole way through, but for now i am feeling okay - sleeping fine and trying to stay away from dairy (see past blog "ode to dairy") and sweets - sweets are a different issue all together and isn't easy when your dear husband comes home with a heart shaped box from Mrs. Fields full of delicious cookies! so i showed excessive restraint by not eating the entire box yesterday, but bryson did sit on my lap and we did enjoy a couple semi-sweet choc chip cookies together with big ol goofy cookie grins. any way - i am trying to enjoy this very temporary time in my life and savor every kick of the baby and every new development. yesterday the midwife was over and i was able to hear the heartbeat through the fetal-scope - such a sweet precious sound!

the most disgusting thing ever

a consistent belly ache led me to the doctor's office yesterday for bryson. he was not a good patient. he acted very much like a 2 year old yesterday i must say. he was not a fan of the scale, the height measurer, the thermometer, the table with the crinkly paper - nope - did not like any of it and he wanted to make sure that not just me and the nurse knew, but the entire pediatric office at Harriman Jones Medical Group...in fact i am pretty sure all of the second floor was aware that bryson did not want to be weighed. at any rate, nothing seemed abnormal, but "just to be sure" she handed me a lab slip to get some stool sample collectors at the lab...i battled between "keeping my eye on things" and "wanting to make absolutely sure" because i knew the stool collection would not be a fun task, but i did take him to the lab and i did pick up the containers and i did wait patiently for 1.5 days until he pooped...and i did regret giving him dried cherries yesterday - i believe some of them ended up in the containers...i hope that doesnt mess up their findings! any way - i had to post this because it was rather superhuman of me to do it all - it took me about 2 minutes to collect it all, which is pretty darn disgusting if you think about an open diaper and 2 minutes of the smell and a little spoon attached to a little container...anyway i had to share this experience, because some things should not be told and this is probably one of them, but on the other hand some things we do out of love that push us to our limits and should be openly talked about and displayed...okay - not that heroic i know - i just collected some poo, but i had to share it okay?