My mom's visit was going really well until the 22nd. That day she skipped lunch and ate chocolates instead. Also, she didn't take her nicotine patch. The straw that broke the camel's back was the continuous screeching and battling of her grandchildren. Anyway, she felt like Jill was at fault for the poor behavior of her grandchildren. Jill and I felt differently and Nancy had to take a trip to Brooklyn on e day earlier than planned.
My cousin Michael sent us a game, Cariboo, that I played with May and Jill's dad, Sandy. The game evoked high drama at our house. After matching her drawn card to the appropriate tile, May would press the 'magic key' and open the game board looking for a 'treasure ball.' This worked well the first couple of times, but, in later rounds, after she matched her card to the tile, the tension was too much for her and she would screech and cover her eyes until I unlocked her tile with the 'magic key.' At one point, Sandy went through a dry spell in which he recovered no 'treasure balls' and he pretended to be sad. May was very sympathetic and offered to share with him her next 'treasure ball.'
After we finished playing and before I put her to sleep, May told me, "I really like to win games."
Jill got May and Ben picture albums for Christmas. May hasn't looked at her album very often, but El Destructo ripped right into his. He tore it immediately and we took it away from him.
Jill feels guilty about my mom's early departure. I feel a little bad, and I hope mom doesn't feel that bad about it.
I had a very "east coast" moment at the bagel shop the other day. I was buying some bagels and had everything picked out. The clerk was standing at the register and I had my money in one hand and my son in the other. All of a sudden, a pushy east-coast-woman steps in between me and my intended financial transaction and begins ordering her bagels from a different clerk.
I could not believe the nerve of this woman. She's got the whole store in which she can order bagels, so why does she have to order in such a way that it interferes with my business? Politely, I said, "Pardon me." And she kept ordering.
A little louder now, "PARDON ME!" Still this east-coast woman ignored me.
Finally, I have become one with the east coast, "PARDON ME!!!!!" The lady gets the hint. I think if I had never lived out East I would have let her cut in line. Still, the nerve of this lady. I'm holding my enormous fat baby and can barely hang on. All I want to do is get my bagels and get out of there. Where does she get off standing in front of the register right before I pay.
My cousin Micahel also sent me 'The Diving Bell and The Butterfly,' and I enjoyed it terrifically. A few of the neurologists who lectured to us last year mentioned it, but it wasn't at the library (vast as the holdings of the Collingswood, NJ library might be) so I didn't read it over the summer. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. The writing was economical and poetic.
Right now, I'm almost done with 'White Teeth' By Zadie Smith.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
I Am A: Neutral Good Human Fighter/Wizard (3rd/2nd Level)
Ability Scores:
Strength-14
Dexterity-9
Constitution-17
Intelligence-17
Wisdom-17
Charisma-13
Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.
Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.
Primary Class:
Fighters can be many things, from soldiers to criminal enforcers. Some see adventure as a way to get rich, while others use their skills to protect the innocent. Fighters have the best all-around fighting capabilities of the PC classes, and they are trained to use all standard weapons and armor. A fighter's rigorous martial training grants him many bonus feats as he progresses, and high-level fighters have access to special melee maneuvers and exotic weapons not available to any other character.
Secondary Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.
Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)
Ability Scores:
Strength-14
Dexterity-9
Constitution-17
Intelligence-17
Wisdom-17
Charisma-13
Alignment:
Neutral Good A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because because it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.
Race:
Humans are the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.
Primary Class:
Fighters can be many things, from soldiers to criminal enforcers. Some see adventure as a way to get rich, while others use their skills to protect the innocent. Fighters have the best all-around fighting capabilities of the PC classes, and they are trained to use all standard weapons and armor. A fighter's rigorous martial training grants him many bonus feats as he progresses, and high-level fighters have access to special melee maneuvers and exotic weapons not available to any other character.
Secondary Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard's strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.
Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Christmas season is upon us. My mom is visiting and we are relaxing, as much as we can relax anyway. For regular readers, I apologize for not having kept up. I'm entering a busier-than-usual stretch in my education and induction into the American medical-industrial-complex. I'll do my best to blow off steam and let you know about the minor tragedies and major dramas of my family, but I beg your patience.
My mom is visiting us for the next few days and, when she visits, she likes to cook a lot of really good food. Unfortunately, our kitchen is deceptively small and there is really not room enough for more than one person to work in the kitchen at a time. Mom's food is great, but she seems to be out-of-sync with our normal circadian rhythms. For example, an eighteen pound turkey is sitting in the stove behind me as I type. It is fully cooked and ready to eat with cranberry sauce, stuffing (more on the stuffing later), sweet potatoes, and gravy, yet everyone is sleeping except for me. Then, when people are hungry and meals need to be prepared, Mom is working on her next masterpiece, which should be ready at 10:30 AM or so. Nevertheless, we are getting along well and I am on my best behavior, or at least I am trying to be good.
An important item in mom's stuffing and gravy are turkey or chicken giblets
which Jill loathes. After lunch today, Ben climbed up on the step stool to 'help' me with the dishes. He spotted a bowl of gizzards and turkey necks beside the sink. What could be a better treat? He grabbed a mealy, gamey turkey gizzard and began to eat it. He then ran upstairs where his mom caught sight of him. She came downstairs and we had a little fight about it.
Jill said, "Did you do that on purpose?"
I replied, "No, I did not."
Mom defended the gizzard eating, "Everyone in the Barasches and McCannons eats these, there's nothing wrong with it. Everyone does it. I don't know anyone who doesn't eat the gizzards."
Jill said, "You know me! I don't eat that!" She was angry. Then she fell asleep, too sick for lunch. She has a passing stomach illness that is greatly exaggerated by the sight of her offspring eating poultry innards.
I just finished reading a book for fun, though it has a passing connection to Neurology (my professors kept talking about it last year in neuroscience), called The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It's about a guy who has a hemorrhage in his brain stem and can thereafter only communicate by blinking. Before his accident, the author was the editor-in-chief of a parisian fashion magazine, so the text is very poetic. It's not as depressing as you might think.
May has beens struggling with potty problems since our Thanksgiving venture to NYC.
My mom is visiting us for the next few days and, when she visits, she likes to cook a lot of really good food. Unfortunately, our kitchen is deceptively small and there is really not room enough for more than one person to work in the kitchen at a time. Mom's food is great, but she seems to be out-of-sync with our normal circadian rhythms. For example, an eighteen pound turkey is sitting in the stove behind me as I type. It is fully cooked and ready to eat with cranberry sauce, stuffing (more on the stuffing later), sweet potatoes, and gravy, yet everyone is sleeping except for me. Then, when people are hungry and meals need to be prepared, Mom is working on her next masterpiece, which should be ready at 10:30 AM or so. Nevertheless, we are getting along well and I am on my best behavior, or at least I am trying to be good.
An important item in mom's stuffing and gravy are turkey or chicken giblets
which Jill loathes. After lunch today, Ben climbed up on the step stool to 'help' me with the dishes. He spotted a bowl of gizzards and turkey necks beside the sink. What could be a better treat? He grabbed a mealy, gamey turkey gizzard and began to eat it. He then ran upstairs where his mom caught sight of him. She came downstairs and we had a little fight about it.
Jill said, "Did you do that on purpose?"
I replied, "No, I did not."
Mom defended the gizzard eating, "Everyone in the Barasches and McCannons eats these, there's nothing wrong with it. Everyone does it. I don't know anyone who doesn't eat the gizzards."
Jill said, "You know me! I don't eat that!" She was angry. Then she fell asleep, too sick for lunch. She has a passing stomach illness that is greatly exaggerated by the sight of her offspring eating poultry innards.
I just finished reading a book for fun, though it has a passing connection to Neurology (my professors kept talking about it last year in neuroscience), called The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It's about a guy who has a hemorrhage in his brain stem and can thereafter only communicate by blinking. Before his accident, the author was the editor-in-chief of a parisian fashion magazine, so the text is very poetic. It's not as depressing as you might think.
May has beens struggling with potty problems since our Thanksgiving venture to NYC.
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