• Three days ago, a fairly small segment of Chicago got rain. Most of the suburbs remained parched, but the North and Northwest Sides selfishly gorged on rainwater. We got 3 to 4 inches of rain in about a 45-minute period. Meteorologically speaking, most impressive! The flooded roads were entertaining. Ben enjoyed watching cars plow into a 5-inch-deep puddle and splash water clear over a parked SUV. (Alas, we also had to drive and walk in this rain. My comfy Naot sandals waded through ankle-deep water. And may building's basement flooded a bit, meaning I put in a lot of time downstairs cleaning out our storage locker this week.)
• On leaving the grocery store today, I witnessed a man digging into his single-item purchase while walking through the parking lot. This guy walked to the store specifically to buy a 16-oz. tub of cottage cheese, which he ate heaping spoonfuls of before he even left store property. Excuse me, but when did cottage cheese become handy on-the-go food? A wrap sandwich, sure. Bag of chips or a candy bar, yes. Granola bar, protein bar, beverage, why not? But a pound of cottage cheese is just bizarre.
• I had a third item and it was every bit a funny as Cottage Cheese Man. But I forgot what it was.
• I don't get tagged for meme duty very often, but the pseudonymous Jay has tagged me to list five reasons I blog. Since I was one of the people who nudged Jay into blogging—I kept sending her links to must-read blogs I knew she'd like—it is incumbent on me to pony up five reasons. Or maybe not quite five. Let's see:
1. Because I got hooked on reading several blogs and joining the commenting communities, and then the lovely PK sent me an e-mail and said something along the lines of "And where is your blog, young lady? (tap, tap, tap)" The impatient tapping pushed me straight into blogging.
2. Brvsudr—is that not the best typo ever for "because"? I was one key over for most of the letters. Reason 2: Because I like to express myself in writing.
3. Initially, because it helped me stay in touch with actual sentient adults when I was home with a small child. And then you get to liking the people, and it would be uncongenial to ditch the mutual read-and-comment relationship. Which is not to say I bear any ill will to those whose priorities have shifted and who no longer have the energy or time to write, or to visit the blogs they used to pop in on regularly. But every time I've met a blogger friend in the flesh, I've discovered that they are exactly as smart, articulate, and funny in speech as in writing. Haven't had a disappointing meet-up yet! Which reminds me—I may stop by the BlogHer conference in a month since it'll be here in Chicago. Her Feral Highness will be in town then, and I'm looking forward to getting beer-silly with her. (I know she can drink me under the table.) Anyone else heading to Chicago July 27–29?
4. I'm out of reasons for this blog. My other blog is a crossword blog. I started that one to have a place to talk about my pastime on my own terms, and what do you know? It led to a book deal. No regrets!
5. Do me a favor: Make up a wildly implausible reason that I blog and jot it down in the comments. If you have any desire to write about your own five reasons for blogging, consider yourself tagged. If you don't, then consider yourself tagged and berate yourself for letting me down every day that you don't write the assigned post.
• Back to random thoughts. This weekend, I have no plans at all. Next weekend, on the other hand, overfloweth with plans! Friday evening, Flea and I are going to the Police concert right here in my general neighborhood. Do I need to study for this? Are there new songs I should know? New songs? Ha! They broke up in the '80s! There are no new songs! At least, I think they'll be playing all old stuff perfectly suited to the aging nostalgic. Saturday evening, there are plans for a blogger meet-up, but a dear friend will also be visiting from out of town. Maybe she'll come along for drinks, or maybe she'll find something else to do, or maybe I'll skip the meet-up to hang with my pal. I only know one of the bloggers, ding, and have been reading another, Sid, for a while via a link at ding's blog. The other bloggers are not people I really know anything about, but everyone knows somebody who'll be there. Networking action!
• Ben started day camp this week. Did I tell you about this camp before? It's so awesome. From 9 to 3, five days a week, for six weeks, at a Chicago Park District facility that has a pool so Ben gets to swim every day. Lunch is included (yay! no packing a lunch!), as are a camp t-shirt and backpack. There's one field trip every week. (And Ben's best friend from school is in the same camp.) Let's play interactive infomercial. What would you expect to pay for roughly 180 hours of engaged child care with a meal? Go ahead. Guess. And then I will astonish you.
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4 comments:
So of all the items in this post, the one *I* fasten on is that Ben's camp serves lunch, and now I am totally jealous of you. My daughter's day camp doesn't serve lunch - I have to send her off each morning with two bathing suits (wear one under clothes, bring one), two towels, lunch and a water bottle. After a whole nine months of having her buy hot lunch at school without even needing cash for lunch money, I now have all this prep to do before I even have breakfast.
Reason five: you blog so you can tell all those cute Ben stories to people who haven't already heard them a million times. Or you blog so you can be a booster of the City with Broad Shoulders.
Here the deal for summer camp (thanks for teaching me how it's called in american english!) is 500$ for 120 hours. In fact 140 hours, since it's 9-4. Lunch and afternoon snack included, but I have to pack a midmorning snack, usually some fruit.
On point five: you blog because so many people like to read what you write. Myself included.
Didn't Descartes say "I blog, therefore I am?"
Here's a question for you-for everybody. How often do you mention you blog to someone you meet and hear: "What's a blog?" It's sort of extraordinary to me when you can't watch 2 minutes of a news show without hearing reference to "influential bloggers" or "the blogosphere." What do they think it's referring to? Runners against climate change?
Hey, you didn't tell me what y'all thought about the ol' Police.?.
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