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2003-04-15 - 10:37 a.m.

Okay.

Nora had set up an ambitious social program for today, involving going to Marine World with 7 of her friends. They had parents to drive, and to pick up, and one parent to stay the whole time. I was pretty impressed, but apparently some of the parents were concerned that one lonely parent, whom they didn't even know, I believe they sort of rudely told her, would not be able to handle their precious children.

I guess I understand, except -- they really are all very good kids, not prone toward getting into trouble. Marine world on a tuesday would probably have been fairly quiet and thugfree. And, I think you probably could let them split up, as long as they had cell phones. Most likely they would have all wanted to stay together anyway.

I don't know -- I sort of tried to stay out of it, so I'm not sure exactly what the whole story was, but it seems to me that of parents had worried, they might have called the mother who was going to stay a bit earlier than 9:00 last night to express those concerns.

On the other hand, for all I know, they may not have found out about the whole thing until 8:45.

So -- we'll try again on Saturday, but with more parents or fewer kids, depending.

Nora thinks it's all the fault of people who only have one kid. It is certainly true that some people with one kid have not been subject to the stresses and strains of opposing opinions among their offspring that result in them saying -- fine, Y, you can walk to the video store while X and I are here trying on pants. We'll meet you in 20 minutes at the ice cream store. But some people with only one child are much looser than I am.

She was less upset than I expected -- I think organizing the whole thing was a lot more complicated than she had anticipated.

OKay --

Here's a very sad story about the burning of a famous old Iraqi library. Sounds more like am archive, actually.

Here's some good news -- as I was walking into work yesterday, ominous tree work made me believe that a lovely old (I think it's an elm, although I admit that my tree knowledge is a bit shaky) was going to be cut down. There's a rash of construction going on around here -- three huge projects going on in a three block radius, and this elm was making it hart for enormous trucks to back in and out of one sight. At another site, they'd already wasted some lovely flowering cherries, a huge and delightful wisteria arbor, and a really nice plane tree, so I was sort of resigned to complete tree death. But they didn't cut it down! They only trimmed it. Hopefully it will recover. Probably this is not optimal tree trimming season.

The feeling of the street really has changed around here -- a parking lot is now a building, built right up to the sidewalk. I think these other new buildings will be similar. It changes what the street feels like -- not necessarily in a bad way. It feels more urban, though. It's odd to have a street that you've been walking along for ten years change, though. It's also funny how quickly you get used to to it. It's odd to be looking into the courtyard of a building, and see people coming in and out of a building -- people who live int a building -- to see that building sitting there as if it were a real building, when I still don't really think of it as a real building at all.

Hmmm.

Alright -- I've got stuff to do, and it's important stuff, too.

--Bye.

Oh -- a woman I work with has a new scooter! I'm quite jealous, I think. Her husband seems to deal with the childcare. What would it be like to ride a scooter to work? I think I'd rather have a new bicycle, and bike to work. But it is awfully shiny and pretty.

I think I'd like to just ride it once ...

out of print - new releases

find me! - 2008-02-12
where I've gone - 2008-02-07
Where I've gone - 2008-02-05
where I've gone - 2008-02-01
New - 2008-02-01

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