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JoustingBabies are necessary to grown-ups. A new baby is like the beginning of all things -- wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities. In a world that is cutting down its trees to build highways, losing its earth to concrete... babies are almost the only remaining link with nature, with the natural world of living things from which we spring. |
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Saturday, April 4, 1998
I was up relatively early this morning. My sister B--- woke me at eight thirty with a phone call from Delaware, but I would have gotten up pretty soon anyway. I went over to John Berry and Eileen Gunn's house (they live not far from me, or have done up till now, sob!) to buy something at their moving sale. They are moving to New York! John has got a primo job: editor of Upper and Lowercase, the premier magazine of typography. It's a great opportunity for them, but it's a sad loss for our social circle here in Seattle! And it struck me as I was wandering around their back yard: What will Howard Waldrop do? He lives way out in the country here, so he can fish for trout and salmon. John and Eileen have been his connection in the city. Someone will have to adopt him.
I ended up not buying anything that belonged to John and Eileen, but their former housemate Rhonda was selling jewelery that she had made herself, at no more than the price of the materials. I bought a pair of earings: blue and white chinese bead dangly ones, with the double happiness character on them (to coordinate with my slinky blue knit dress). She also had some necklaces of braided tiny beads, blending from one color to the next. I was confused, because they seemed to be attached into one long chain, feet and feet of it! Rhonda recalled that she had done that one evening, when an odd mood struck her. I made her an offer for the whole thing, and she took it. I like the abundance of all the colors, and there is a large proportion of those dark irridescent colors I prefer, with a sprinkle of other shades to spice it up.
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My next errand was to the Southcenter Toys-R-Us, to buy a baby shower present for my friends Jayson and XE. This is the first baby born to members of the Seattle Cacophony Society, that we know of. I went to the customer information center to look them up in the baby registry. But Jayson's last name wasn't listed, and I couldn't remember XE's last name (shame on me when I've known her for years!). So I took another option, and bought a Fisher-Price cloth textured rattle-ball, and Toys-R-Us bucks that they can use for whatever they need.
A quick stop at the Half-Price Books next door for CDs (Thad Jones Mel Lewis Big Band, at the Village Vanguard, 1970. Yay!). Then I stopped at the Ranier Court -- what an elegant name for a mall food court! -- and had lunch. It was peak lunch time, so I shared a table with an older couple. They had apparently missed connecting at first, so they discussed who had been where when, who had gone into what store, and so on. I was reading a book all this time, not obviously listening. In fact, I wasn't trying to pay attention at all! It wasn't that interesting a conversation! But I was amused when, after the woman left to go back to the class she was taking, the man started talking to me about it! He must have been more pissed off than he looked, or else he was such a chatty sort that he would have to be talking to someone all the time. But since I hadn't been listening, I couldn't really sympathize with him on all the details as he seemed to wish me to do.
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The baby shower was a nice, relaxed time. A friend of XE's hosted it, in a Capitol Hill duplex. The games were fun. Darn! I think I left my prize behind by mistake! We played a game where the players wrote excuses for the parent of the corresponding sex to use in order to get the other parent to change the baby's diaper. XE judged my excuse to be the funniest:
XE to Jason:
"You were the one who fed chili to the baby.
YOU CHANGE IT!"
Now, this is an obvious borrowing from Mr. Mom, but it is pretty funny, if I do say so myself.
Other games were feeling baby related items in a pillow case and writing down all the ones you recognize and remember, and "Pin the Sperm on the Egg." The parents-to-be got a lot of good gifts.
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I was late to Vanguard, because I was waiting for someone. We were supposed to get something to eat in the early part of the evening, then go to the party. His orginal proposal was to meet at five o'clock! This got pushed back during the week, first to six, then (as of Friday) to seven pm. When I hadn't heard from him by eight o'clock this evening, I called. Not at home. So at nine o'clock, I sent him mail with directions on how to get to Jane and Luke's if he should want to join me there, called and told his housemate that I had sent the man such mail, changed my outgoing message in case he should call, then went to Vanguard. I was hungry!
There was food at Vanguard of course, including some very tasty chicken brought by John Hedtke. My contribution to the evening was Peep Jousting! This is a very fun game.
Take two marshmallow chicks (Peeps is the brand name, I think). If they aren't different colors, distinguish them by putting a dot of food coloring on one, or some other method. Tuck a toothpick under the wing of each chick. Pointing the toothpick up is probably a good idea, rather than having it on the straight horizontal angle. (I'll bet you didn't think this could get so technical!) Place them in the microwave, an inch or two apart, facing each other. Turn on the microwave oven. Let the Joust begin!
Jane went to the effort of bringing her microwave out from the back room so more folks could see. I had bought the peeps at Toys-R-Us earlier in the day: a pack of the traditional yellow, and a pack of a cool new-age pale purple color. The only drawback was that the microwave was an older model, and had a screen in the window that made it difficult to distinguish what was going on. We were able to have several matches, though, and discovered that the uneven heating pattern in the oven made the chick on the right hand side win consistently.
We followed this up by experimenting with a lit candle. Impressive!
My friend Tom Lawrence told me that he had moved from his old place on the Eastside, to a new place in Fremont! I knew this was in his plans, but he was originally going to make this move in the summer, so when he told me the other night that he had found a place, I didn't realize he meant that he was moving immediately! Fortunately for him, he is still at a life stage where he has very few possessions, so he was able to move himself in about a day.
Andy Hooper asked me, as he has before, for a full print run of all copies of Machination. I don't know if such a thing exists, but I said I'd inquire about it. Valerie asked me for some dance info, because she wants to start up again. Vonda asked me if I had brought my digital camera, but I hadn't! She has the idea of getting images of some Clarion auction items up on the web, such as examples of the fine patchwork vests that Kate Schaefer will custom-make for a successful bidder. I think this would be a useful project.
So Vanguard was a fun evening, but I don't know what's up with this person who effectively stood me up. As of this writing on Sunday morning, I still haven't heard a word. Oh, well!
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