July 2002 Archives

A comprehensive and informative guide to the Tour de France.

I'm still reading Austerlitz, a beautiful work of art. What really gets me about it is that it seems, on the surface, like a book that would put me sleep, a book that I "should" read because it's such a great literary achievement and yet have to plod through because it's sort of dull. It seems like that sort of book, but it isn't that sort of book at all. Yes, it has long sentences and no chapter breaks and it sort of meanders. Yes, I am taking a long time to read it, but I'm not plodding. I'm savoring every sentence, every image Sebald creates.

Is Henry the reincarnation of a Buddhist monk? We have a book, Paint: The Big Book of Natural Color, that has a picture of a moss covered Indonesian statue that looks a lot like a Buddha. Henry loves flipping through the book, saying "Find Buddha. Find Buddha!" One of the first times he did this, he pointed right at the Buddha's nose and pressed while saying "Beep!" He also kisses the Buddha almost every time he sees it.

Brad made it back safely after his ordeal at the car dealership. We missed him, but managed to have a fun day anyway! We spent a long time at the View Ridge Playground.

Most of the time, having just one car works out fine. Even when we were both working, we managed without difficulty. More often than not, we both took the bus anyway, so the car just sat unused. Sometimes, though, it's a pain.

I'm currently stuck at the Subaru dealership waiting for our clutch to be repaired (current ETA: 4PM). The dealership near our house decided to stop selling (and servicing) Subarus a couple years ago to focus on Volkswagon and Audi, so the nearest one is not nearby. I looked in to taking the bus home from here, but figured it would take at least two busses (maybe three) to get home from here. Of course, a rental car or taxi would work, but they seem like overkill. Given that I didn't know how long it would be, I just decided to wait.

Brad posted a new picture of the day.

We had pizza over at Alison, Neil, and Max's house this evening. I worked with Alison at Amazon for a while. Henry had a blast, playing with the gravel in the yard and riding scooters (with our hovering assistance, of course). It was a nice, relaxing time.

Lots of activity at our house, but we're starting to have doubts about whether we'll really be able to move back in early August. We'll see.

Outside, all of the concrete work is done, so we have our front steps back (not to mention a new driveway!). The landscaping is moving along, too. The first bunch of plants have arrived and I suspect they'll start putting some of them in the ground this week. Inside, the tile is in progress, more paint is done, and the floor finishing should begin tomorrow. There are still many, many little things left to be done. I suspect that we will move back in before some of them are done.

A few more pictures are available for your perusal in the gallery. The first new picture is here.

I am officially a warm weather wimp. It is 81° and 27% humidity, according to WeatherPop, a nifty application Brad installed on my iBook. In Maryland, where I grew up, this would be turn-off-the-AC-and-let-some-fresh-air-in-weather. Here, now that I have acclimated to the Northwest, I feel stifled and sluggish. Henry and I are sitting on the couch (he's asleep in my lap) with the fan blowing on us. Sheesh! As bad as I am, Brad is even worse. Give that man a partly cloudy 55° to go with his triple grande 2% latte, please. Temperatures approaching 70° get him groaning about the heat. I can't figure out why he likes the Kona coast of Hawaii so much. Must be the mai tais.

I am awake, alone. Brad and Henry are sleeping. I can hear them breathing, all the way out here in the living room.

Candace Bushnell got married. So did a bunch of other people. Brad and I sometimes talked about having a "real" wedding, maybe on our 10th anniversary. Well, that came and went. Anyway, I think of the wedding we did have as real. I wish we'd had more family and friends there, but I am not sorry we skipped the big traditional wedding. I recently watched Michael Apted's Married in America and was fascinated. This review of the program is better than the Flash-y official site. Of course you wonder, who will make it? The next installment is to be filmed in 2 years. Will anyone split up before then? What problems will they encounter?

It's raining now and I can't hear Brad and Henry over the sound of the rain splashing down. We had some thunder and lightning, too. I should head to bed, I suppose.

It's that time of year again. The Tour de France has begun. I'll definitely be following the action, probably mostly via the web. Velo News has special coverage, as does Bicycling, and the BBC, among others. There's even a Tour de France game online. I haven't stumbled across a Tour weblog a la the World Cup weblog, but I haven't looked too hard yet.

What's the point of a weblog if I have nothing interesting to write?

Sure, I could write more about Henry. I find it interesting, but it seems like I should have some other things to say, too. Future plans, thoughts on patriotism or culture or politics. That sort of thing.

Nope. Nothing. All bottled up for now, I guess. I think I need more sleep. Or, more chocolate.

Moth is more like it. Lurking in the shadows, then suddenly flitting over to crash and burn in the light.

Played bridge with some old Amazon cronies this evening, and some folks who still work there. Reminds me that I really want to read Mike Daisey's book. Boycotting sentence subjects here, in case you hadn't noticed. Not sure why; to avoid using the pronoun "I" perhaps. Concerned about ego?

As for Henry, he's just great. He knows the UPS truck brings presents and he can recognize the truck by sound. He went to the eye doctor today and all seems well with his eyes; no strange muscle problems like I had. He loved all the eye doctor's flashlights and instruments, and was disappointed when he wasn't allowed to hold any of them for further investigation.

He seemed older today, suddenly. I guess that's how it happens. Even though I see him everyday, the changes seem so sudden.