Movie Highlight

Posted on 12/30/2008 by chick

I just watched the end of Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, a classic movie in which Santa Claus says, “I oughta be able to get you to Father Time in a few bongs!”

Santa, you do enough bongs and you can imagine yourself anywhere, anywhen.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Christmas Chuckle

Posted on 12/30/2008 by chick

Here’s a funny moment from Christmas.

Faithful Reader and I were at my parents’ house and we were talking about babies. My father said that he thought the reason my brother had been born two weeks early was because the doctor had hurried the birth along. He said, “The doctor told us your mother was distended. Or distorted.” As I laughed over the obviousness of “distended” and the outrageousness of “distorted,” I wondered what word he was looking for. My mother soon filled it in. She said, “I think you mean dilated, Dear.”

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Lesson from 2008

Posted on 12/30/2008 by chick

While we were at Watkins Glen in July, I found this adorable little caterpillar. I photographed him and started to put my camera away. Faithful Reader asked, “Aren’t you going to take a picture from the other side?” I didn’t feel the need, but Faithful Reader did. He took my camera and snapped this shot. Looking at the pictures now, I think that the caterpillar’s creepy gripping parts are far more interesting than his hairy back. Really, if you’ve seen one hairy back, you’ve seen more than enough.

Grippy Parts

In 2009, I will try to remember to look at things from all sides.

Posted in Memories, Out and about, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Very Fattening Cake

Posted on 12/27/2008 by chick

I had a birthday in September.

I got pregnant in October.

Is there any correlation between those two occurrences?

Yes. Take a look at this.

Cake

Is it any wonder I got pregnant after eating this birthday fertility cake?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Great Expectations

Posted on 12/26/2008 by chick

Now that Faithful Reader and I have shared the big news with our families, I can now state it publicly.

I’m pregnant!

We told Faithful Reader’s parents by giving them an ultrasound picture in a photo album on Christmas Eve. We thought that would be a fun way to tell everyone, but our surprise was very nearly spoiled by his sister, our hostess for the evening, who kept questioning why I was drinking only water. I don’t think she believed my excuses, so she must have felt vindicated when the grandparents finally opened their special gift. The grandparents were thrilled by the news and soon began hovering around my belly as if awaiting the birth of the Chosen One.

We told my parents with a similar gift on Christmas Day. They didn’t know what to make of it at first, but Mom seemed happy enough later when she gave the news to her brother over the phone.

Whew! Now I can relax and let it all hang out. I wasn’t going to be able to hide my belly much longer, that’s for sure!

Posted in Baby | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Year-End Reading

Posted on 12/24/2008 by chick

I thought it would be fun to reread the entire Harry Potter series, so that’s what I’ve been up to lately. I already finished the first three (The Sorcerer’s Stone, The Chamber of Secrets, and The Prisoner of Azkaban). I’m not going to review them, since they’re all immune to the GLP, but there will be some small changes to my blog as a result of rereading the series. For one thing, I’ll have to update my Characters page by including descriptions of all the notable characters in the Harry Potter universe. That will take some time, I imagine.

The other change is to my Random Quotes collection. I have already added to it some of the wisdom of J.K. Rowling in the form of quotes by her characters. I will add more as I continue reading. If you haven’t checked out my collection of quotes yet, please do. I try to pull from all sorts of sources about all sorts of subjects, from the silly to the serious, and I hope you enjoy it!

Posted in Reading | Tagged , | 2 Comments

In Search of Culture

Posted on 12/23/2008 by chick

In retrospect, I think my 2008 might have been somewhat lacking in culture. One of the few culture-y things I can remember doing this year was the Corning Museum of Glass. While I was there, I took this picture.

Chihuly Sculpture

This is a glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. It is called “Fern Green Tower,” which is a lovely name, though the overall effect of the piece seems more yellow than green to me (but hey, that’s one of the nice things about being an artist—you can pick any names you want for your pieces).

While Faithful Reader and I were zooming along the highway recently, I saw an advertisement for a local Chihuly exhibit. It is at the Rhode Island School of Design’s Museum of Art. It ends on January 4, so anyone who wants to see it should get going.

Faithful Reader, would you like to squeeze a little more culture into your 2008 by accompanying me to this exhibit?

Posted in Memories, Out and about | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Learning from 2008

Posted on 12/23/2008 by chick

The year 2008 is almost over. I can’t help but look back at January through early December, searching for meaning, understanding, and inspiration. I want to wring everything I can from the year before it dwindles to nothing. Expect to see some posts based on old pictures and events from earlier this year.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Naughty Pancakes?

Posted on 12/13/2008 by chick

What is it about pancakes that makes them want to join together in the skillet? No matter how carefully I pour them, they manage to expand, sometimes even to grow pseudopodia, so that they may touch one another. Is it romantic, naughty, or just my bad luck?

And yes, I have always wanted to find a reason to use the word “pseudopodia.”

Posted in Interesting words | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Hippo Got Me

Posted on 12/13/2008 by chick

It’s almost Christmas and the radio stations are busy overplaying their catalog of holiday tunes. I haven’t heard the one about the Christmas donkey yet this year (thank God!), but that doesn’t mean I got off scot-free. Oh, no. This year the hippo got me.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas.
Only a hippopotamus will do.
No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses.
I only like hippopotamuses
And hippopotamuses like me too.

(or something like that)

It’s incredibly catchy. I only heard it twice and it’s been stuck in my head since. I guess it just wouldn’t be Christmas if I didn’t have a holiday tune playing nonstop in my mind.

P.S. If you could get any exotic animal for Christmas, what would it be?

Posted in Crazy Me, Music | Tagged , , | Leave a comment