My dad is terrific, but he hasn’t been very supportive of the plans my mom and I have to grow vegetables in the flower box on the south side of our house. I suspect it may be because he doesn’t want to eat any of the vegetables that the flower box may produce. Anyway, it hasn’t concerned him much that the chipmunks and cottontails have been stripping our baby plants of all their leaves. So while he was at Scout camp this week, I purloined his circular saw, a staple gun, some wire mesh and scrap lumber and got to work. I never took wood shop in high school, so the end result was no masterpiece, but it has kept our little plants from being denuded so far.
It was too late for the first tub; we'll have to replant
My older sister Celia died last Saturday after a short but intense fight with leukemia. She was diagnosed with the disease a week and a half earlier. Because the type of leukemia she had was supposed to be very treatable, my family was optimistic that our sister would pull through. However, Celia’s body didn’t respond well to the chemo that the doctors started her on, and her organs began to shut down a couple of days after she began treatment. After a bad reaction to dialysis, Celia developed a brain aneurysm and never woke up after that. I’ll miss her more than I can ever hope to express.
Those of you who knew Celia know what an amazing person she was. Those of you who didn’t know her, I wish you could have. She was smart, funny, kind — everything a big sister should be. She encouraged my love of reading even before I could tell an A from a Q. We had a deal that I could get in bed with her at night and she would read to me if I let her put her cold feet on my legs to warm them up — I still think I got the better end of that bargain. She always made up original games for me and my brothers and sisters to play, and she came up with the best characters for playing make-believe; Old Dame Dob and Gretchen von Klutz were two of my favorites. Unfortunately, neither of those characters ever made it into any of the numerous family plays she wrote and directed. The audience (Mom, Dad, grandparents) always seemed to love those plays, even though the acting was far from Tony-worthy.
As we grew older, I loved spending hours talking to her. Often when I’d visit her, we’d stay up talking and laughing (she was always laughing — one thing I loved about her) until 2 or 3 in the morning. Then she’d get up at 6 the next day to make sure her kids had everything they needed to make it to school prepared and on time. And she was always cheerful doing it. She was one of my best examples of love, compassion and selflessness in life, and I’m eternally grateful for the time I’ve spent with her.
My mom has been teaching music at Joseph City Elementary for almost as long as she’s been a teacher there. Her music students have three performances a year, and the community loves them. Two and a half weeks ago, my mom had her last concert as a full-time teacher because she is retiring at the end of this school year. One of her dreams has always been that her own children would be like the Von Trapp family and sing together, so for her last concert, all of my siblings surprised her with a performance of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from “The Sound of Music.” My mom loved it — and we didn’t even have to flee the Nazis afterward.
I haven’t seen Sesame Street in decades, but I spent last night with two of my nieces, and they watch the Street every morning. I looked up from a NYT blog post about Terry Eagleton’s new book to see Rachael Ray cavorting with a muppet tomato. Why? I have nothing against the woman (unless you count my disdain for people who name magazines after themselves and put their own face on the cover of every issue), but does she really have to be that ubiquitous?
A few weeks ago I went to a reception for admitted students at Syracuse University to see if I could envision myself going to grad school there. The campus was beautiful, and I really liked what the alumni, professors and current students had to say about the university’s library and information science program. The town itself, on the other hand, was kind of a dump, so it’s kind of a mixed verdict. I still may end up going there, and I need to make my decision soon, so watch this space for updates.
After spending a couple of days in Syracuse, I went to New York City to play for a few days. I actually liked the city a lot more than I thought I would. It’s definitely an urban jungle, but I loved walking around Central Park, and I’d like to scoop up Broadway and Times Square and transplant them into Seattle. I did a TON of walking – my toes were an unrecognizable mass of blisters by the end of my trip. I didn’t take very many pictures this time around, but here’s a glimpse of what my trip was like.
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Is it wrong to like the naughty kids in Primary the most? I can’t help it; they’re way more interesting than the good, reverent kids. A couple weeks ago my favorite 4-year-old in Seattle told a joke that went like this:
G: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Me: I don’t know. Why did the chicken cross the road?
G: I don’t know, but it got smashed by a car and died!
The Primary president was visiting my class that day so I tried my best not to laugh, but a tiny guffaw slipped out. I think that’s one of the best chicken jokes I’ve ever heard. Plus, she was so naughtily cute when she told it. My other favorite chicken joke is one my high school buddy Elizabeth’s dad told me, but it’s best told with salty language, so I’ll leave it off my blog.
Today the last P-I was printed. I’ve worked at the newspaper for eight years, and although it has been frustrating at times and I’ve thought about quitting more times than I can count, it’s heartbreaking to see the paper die. A lot of commenters on the P-I’s website (which is continuing operation) say the paper was a lefty, liberal rag that deserved to die. The first part of that argument may be true, in some ways. But the conclusion is dead wrong. P-I reporters did a lot of amazing journalism that really made a difference in Seattle, and I hope they all can keep writing great stories, whether they’re sticking with seattlepi.com or moving on. Continue reading ‘The final P-I’
So, I haven’t blogged in awhile, as you can see. Here’s what’s been going on in my life between the last time and now.
I applied to grad school in the beginning of January. I’m planning on getting a master’s degree in library and information science. The highlight of my application process was doing an interview with Nancy Pearl, my librarian hero. I listen to her podcast, and I have a deluxe action figure of her with shushing action. A little dorky, I know. So far, Syracuse has accepted me, and I’m waiting for decisions from the University of Illinois and the University of Washington. I’m going to visit Syracuse in a couple of weeks and then spend a few days in NYC. Anyone want to join me?
The other big event was on January 9. Steve Swartz, the Hearst head of newspapers, came to the P-I and told us that Hearst is tired of losing money publishing the newspaper, so the company was going to try to sell it. If a buyer isn’t found within 60 days, Hearst will close the P-I. The 60-day mark is next Tuesday, so we’ll see what happens. You can probably get a pretty good idea of what we’re going through at the P-I by watching the video on the Rocky Mountain News website. It’s sad to see newspapers dying, especially with the up-close and personal view I have.
Last year I made a goal around the end of May to ride 1,000 miles by my birthday. The idea was that I would give myself permission to buy a nice road bike if I accomplished that. I blasted through my goal, but I never bought the bike because, well, journalism isn’t really a high-paying profession, so I haven’t scraped up enough money yet. Anyway, I’ve decided to put a set amount of money into a savings account for every mile I ride this year. I haven’t decided how much yet, but my goal is to ride at least 3,000 miles. If anyone wants to pledge money to the cause, I’d be more than happy to set up a PayPal account for it. o^-^o You can check on my miles here (starting from nothing again, sob!).
Man, it just keeps snowing here. Our stake canceled all church meetings today because the roads are dangerous, so Meg and I took another walk around the neighborhood to see what snowy shenanigans were going on. The neighborhood kids had found the perfect spot for sledding in the park a couple blocks from our house, so Meg grabbed her old snowboard and we joined in the fun. The weather forecast is saying six more inches will fall by tomorrow, so it could be quite the adventure to get to work. I was used to riding my bike in the snow on my mission, but I haven’t tried it here yet. I’m not sure that I will.
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