Happy Thoughts; or, Always Keep Your Focus

Tomorrow LG has off from school, as do I.
He's announced what he thinks is our best course of action for the day: drinking hot chocolate with marshmallows in bed while watching cartoons.
I think he's on to something.
It's these vanishing points that become focal points when you're juggling, dear reader.
May you have such lovely focal points.
I'll talk with you soon.

Through the Looking Glass; or, There and Back Again

Visualization has always been a most helpful technique.

This is what I am visualizing lately:

and meanwhile, moments such as scratching an itch on LG's back he just can't reach, BG making a joke, Snowy stirring up shrimp and grits on the stove; Student 1 and Student 2 taking a structured peer-to-peer play session and running with it--- not needing my prompts at all after the first few minutes, indeed, taking their prompts from each other to the point we were all howling with laughter, literally on the floor---this---this is what my eyes remain fixed upon.

May you be happy with what your eyes are fixed upon, dear reader. I'll talk with you soon.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?; or, It's Been a Hard Day's Night (and I've Been Working Like a Dog)

I've been thinking about you , dear reader---and wondering how you are doing.
How I miss our visits together!
My new job is requiring so much of my time right now; thus, my lack of posting.
But you, dear reader, as kind and as clever as you are, you already knew this.
I'm taking it day by day.
Take good care.
I'll talk with you soon.

Long Story Short

I got it!
I start with the New Year.

How's your week been, dear reader?

Break on Through to the Other Side; or, The Importance of Being Earnest

Sweet Frida, Jean Wertz
http://www.wertzcandy.com/chocolate/personal/pers17.html

Dear reader, how are you?
This past week has been a long and busy one here: what with work, end-of-the-semester homework, domestic and familial responsibilites, and my sojourn on the couch for a long hazy weekend of sickness. I am feeling better, and for that, I am glad, for so very many reasons.

One major reason, dear reader, involves my opportunity. It seems only fitting that I share some detail with you, no matter the ultimate outcome.
Tomorrow I will be visiting an elementary classroom in a different school district. It is a small class of children with autism. All of the students are non-verbal.
Their teacher will be leaving around the Christmas holidays. And I, dear reader, am one of the candidates to take that teacher's place.
And that, as Forrest Gump would say, is all I have to say about that.

I wonder what selections we will all be plucking from that proverbial box of chocolates before the New Year?
What do you think, dear reader?

Naples, This One's for You; or, A Short Post

Our dear Naples Yellow is one of our returning students from last year. This year, the weather has become an object of perseveration for Naples; additionally, anything but sunny and clear weather has become something that causes much anxiety.
It's bleak and rainy today.
Our lead teacher is out for the next three days.
Naples, this one's for you.



I'm still waiting for the outcome of the opportunity I spoke of earlier.
(Waiting is helping me to think about perseveration: remember, autism falls on a band of the spectrum of human behaviors. We all have these behaviors, more or less.)
For some reason, when I think about waiting, I hear Kahe Ched Mohe from Devdas.




We all have our ways to lessen our worries, yes?

Have a wonderful day, dear reader.

This Buddha Has Four Arms (Brought to You by Hasbro and SRA); or, Good Times Were Had By All

BG had a very good birthday. He did mention, however, that he would welcome a bathtub like the one that Francis had:



Me? This is what I wish for (though in my version the bacon is veggie, the cereal is whole grain and sugar-free, and the Potato Head is fashioned into a Buddha!)


But this music does play into my head often. It seems to fit.
I hope these clips make you as happy as I am: welcome to my world, dear reader!

Neroli's Day Off; or Gimme Gimme Octopus

Today on my day off I thought I would return to writings about violence and the awareness of violence.
Somehow, while looking for a link about the Milgram experiment, I wound up watching videos from a Japanese children's TV show from the 60's.




My mind just works that way, sometimes, dear reader.
Doesn't it look like he cracked open a star pinata in the second video?
Hope you are having a great week---like a pinata, full of whatever is good to you.
(Fortune-cookie fortunes would be ever so lovely wafting down...)

Time Flies: or, Are You Having Fun?

Dear reader, it's been a week of Very Long Days.
I hope that you've been well.
Last night, we had takeout from our favorite local Chinese joint.
My fortune cookie told me that I was ready to take on the world.
Don't you just love it when that happens?
Be well, dear reader. I'll talk with you soon.

Neckties, This One's for You; or, I Love to Laugh (long and loud and clear)

Dear reader, my good friend Neckties reminded me of a song that always made me laugh.
We got a good laugh out of it.
Please do join in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHI0Cz3JjbM

Have a great day. Thank you for stopping by.
I'm always glad to see you.

Random Non-attachments; or, A Short Post

Pop culture has been a consistent source of amusement for me, particularly when it behaves as its name suggests: when it "pops" out of nowhere. You know me, dear reader---cognitive dissonance is one of my favorite jokes.
Madder was having one of his verbal episodes yesterday, on the way to the bathroom:

Man Raid, Man Raid---
the Dir-ty Bub-ble! the Dir-TY BUB-ble!
(repeats)

And, dear reader, if Frida coming in November doesn't already make that month extra-special, look what else does!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuiH9jzHr_U

And also: Myanmar is very much in my mind.

My faith practice asks me to see all these things as "pop."
Sometimes that joke just isn't as funny.

Namaste, dear ones, all.

Topography of Motion; or, Another Short Post

I love videos, as they are a way of showing motion as a visual. It's a favored form for me.
Often, when I hear sounds, they process for me in a very visual way; just as when you twirl a sparkler in the air, it leaves a light trail behind, ever so briefly, ever so brightly: topography of motion, fading to a still as it dims on the retinas, slowing to silence.
It looks something like this: though I see motion, not specific images that speak to a referent.
It's something that makes me happy.
How's your week been, dear reader?
I'm always glad to see you.

And Pinch-Hitting for Neroli...; or, A Short Post

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cE6Pg2q3lI

There's a Bakery Past the White-washed Pooh; or, A Short Post

http://www.mcgeeproductions.com/art.html

Tonight I was driving home from university.
I passed a commercial bakery, and smelled a yeasty, dense, slightly chemical smell, as if I were the proverbial Princess of the Pea , sitting on a pile of mattresses---if the mattresses were all plastic sacks filled with spongy white-bread hot dog buns.
It made me laugh.

I laughed imagining myself as such a princess; I laughed imagining that the bread starter making its way in the mail from Bee and Jai must smell so differently, so elemental and alive in its fermentation.
It's funny to me how things dance together, as if they are so much dough and freshly ground spices, dry fruits soaked to swollen, rising up in the heat of the oven: absolutely delicious, absolutely worth passing around to share.
Don't you think?

The Fashion Show; or, A Short Post

Lucy, to Ethel: Why must you act like such a rube?
Ethel to Lucy: Because I am a rube!

I just adore Ethel's attitude.