I finally got around to clicking this link -- http://www.earlyword.com/2009/11/16/stephenie-meyer-on-oprah/ -- and watching the videos for Oprah's interview of Stephenie Meyer (thanks to Flower who sent it to me in the first place!)... I am sure y'all know I am a HUGE fan of the Twilight series, and also that I truly adore Robert Pattinson in the role of Edward... But I think I am becoming even more of a fan girl for Stephenie Meyer as I watch the interview, and even I didn't know that was possible... On a funny side note: the middle school librarian they talk to at one point is named Crystal Methvin... Teeheehee... Her name is "Crystal Meth"... Yeah, I know... I'm immature... Why do you think I manage to get along so well as a teen librarian?!? In other news... Stephenie Meyer later said something about a movie for The Host... http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost_movie.html... Holy crap! Later days...
My husband will get all huffy and say "not until the 21st!" but to me, once the temp dips 35F and below and snow/sleet/ice start blowing around, it's winter. My least favorite season (I'm not alone there, I know) because driving is stressful and just getting anything done or going anywhere is a big hassle. Not to mention it's fucking cold, and as I get older, cold hurts more. Why can't I convince my husband to give up this farming gig so we can go move someplace warm? I don't care if we're poor, we'll be warm!
Right, now I've got that whining out of the way - who's ready for Christmas? Another thing I'm grateful for as I get older - Christmas/Holidays is FAR less of a big deal than it used to be. I do enjoy buying gifts for people, but no longer am I all excited/concerned about what I'll be getting back. Some might say the loss of that excitement is a bad thing - to me it just means I'm more self-sufficient, and that's a good thing! (If I really want/need something, I just go buy it now. Anything extra is nice but nothing to get all worked up over!)
I also gave up (pretty much before I ever started) the stress of holiday cards, decorating, and all that extra jazz. I send cards to the people closest to me (and the in-laws because they'll get huffy if I don't!) but we don't bother with decorations or parties or anything like that anymore. YAY. True, I'm still forced to do the holiday parties at work, but even those are low key and require very little from me. I show up with food, and all is well.
Speaking of food - damn I do hate this section of the year because no matter how hard I try to keep it from happening, the pounds pile on. That's what New Year's is for though of course, and like billions of people I'll be making that resolution to "get back to a healthy weight". If only just so my pants fit comfortably again. I'm annoyed that my favorite trousers are currently all too tight!
Sooooo. There we go, that's my boring update. Hope your lives are all well.
My husband, my son, and I are all self-proclaimed geeks... We honestly love every minute of it... So, I was thrilled when I saw this book on the shelf as we shifted the parenting collection: BRINGING UP GEEKS [Genuine, Enthusiastic, Empowered Kids]: how to protect your kid's childhood in a grow-up-too-fast world... I vaguely remember ordering this book in my brief stint as the person responsible for ordering parenting books, but I forgot to ever check it out... With glowing reviews by people like Chris Hansen (the guy from Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator"), I'm sure that Marybeth Hicks won't let me down! Later days...
In case you missed it this morning, I was interviewed by Dan Harmon about The Tattooed Lady on Milwaukee's local NPR station's Lake Effect show.
You can listen online: http://www.wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/view_le.php?articleid=863 or download as a podcast via iTunes.
Littleman will never cease to make us laugh. I uploaded some pictures the other day and found these:
This must be what he's doing while I am changing diapers....I love, LOVE that my kid is such a character.
Also, Papabear and I recently discovered that Littleman has an interesting way of saying November and December. For some reason he adds "derf" to the end. So, he says, "Novemberderf" and "Decemberderf." Go ahead, say it out loud a couple of times - we were in tears.
Here's the "snow" we had the other day.
I have a video up on facebook of the snowfall, I'll try to get it up here soon.
Littleman has finally begun to show an interest in letters and writing. Here's a drawing of the two of us. (I'm on the right, you can tell by the hair.) :-)
And finally, this year's gingerbread house.
The nice folks over at Woodland Pattern are putting out lots of good words about my upcoming book signing...
Check out the current issue of the Riverwest Currents and the Express Milwaukee!
From Express Milwaukee:
Milwaukeean Amelia Klem Osterud is a tattooed
academic librarian, so no one should be surprised that her first manuscript is
called The Tattooed Lady: A History.
Yet while Osterud is indeed permanently inked, this publication is no autobiography.
She writes of a time when it was entirely unseemly for a woman to show off a
tattoo. The Tattooed Lady is a
momentous tale that chronicles the women behind the tattooed bodies, women who
traveled across America
on circus trains during a time when even to reveal an ankle was outrageous.
Osterud provides veritable accounts of these fearless females by bringing them
front and center out of the carnival tents and into real life. By combining
research with period photography, this local author explores women’s history
alongside the cultural movement of tattooing. Osterud will visit Woodland Pattern Book
Center as part of a new
prose series on Wednesday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m.
See you all next week at Woodland Pattern!
I think I honestly spent about 2 hours this morning/afternoon just filling out medical release and patient information forms... Even though I have been saying I would do it for a couple of years now, I have just finally gotten around to switching our general practitioner to a well-recommended doctor in the town where we now live... As much as I liked the former doctor on a personal level, I am so happy to be done with her snotty/stupid staff, the 25 minute drive to get to her office, and the unreasonably-long wait times (even when I arrive 15 minutes early for an appointment, it's not uncommon to be in the waiting room for at least an hour and then to wait another 15-20 minutes in the room before being seen)... This doctor's office has a great reputation -- according to some neighbors and our former physician's assistant -- and is only a 1-2 minute drive from our house... I suppose we could walk if we really wanted/needed to, but we'd have to go down a busy main road on a winding hill... Boogie and I have our first appointment there in the morning, and I can't wait to meet the new doctors... I also filled out paperwork so that I could switch over to the home-birth midwife! Clark told me, Friday morning, that he was ok with the switch, so we are going to start meeting with the new midwife and planning for a home-birth... Yay! I felt kinda bad switching from the midwives at the OB/GYN office I have been going to for almost 6 years, since they are still awesome... But, I am much happier with my choice for this baby's birth... I will just go back to that office next fall when I need my "well care" visit... So, yeah... After filling out forms, I called to schedule and cancel necessary prenatal appointments and then ran around delivering the paperwork to all of the offices that needed them... I could have waited until tomorrow's appointments to drop off forms with the new doctor, but they were super happy to see that they could get our charts ready ahead of time, and I was happy to make a nice first impression! And since the old doctor's office has such incompetent staff, I figured I would hand-deliver the release forms and give them no excuse but to get started... Let's hope they don't eff it up... Later days...
This Thursday, Dec. 3rd, I'll be attending the cool Black as Ink film event at Intuit in Chicago:
An evening of three short films related to tattoo history and culture:
'Stoney Knows How' (1981), by Alan Govenar and Bruce “Pacho” Lane, 29
minutes; 'Tattooed Lady of Riverview' by Tom Palazzolo, 14 minutes; and
'Fullsuit: A Portrait of Blu-Bak' (1991), by Kapra Fleming. There will
be a Q&A session with filmmakers, Tom Palazzolo and Kapra Fleming.
Kapra will also be sharing an additional short film on Blu-Bak and
Amelia Klem Osterud will be on hand to sign copies of her new book 'The
Tattooed Lady: A History' (available for purchase in the gift shop).
$10 non-members / $5 Intuit members and students
Tickets can be purchased at the door.
The films should be amazing, and the gift shop at Intuit has gotten copies of The Tattooed Lady and I'll be there to sign them! This is in conjunction with their great exhibit- Freaks and Flash, which is at the museum until Jan. 9th.
See you there!
for some SERIOUS cuteness! Can you believe his shirt says "little guy"??????? AND, it was only three bucks at WalMart! This might be the most perfect picture I have ever taken. Ever.
And I almost wish these two were related so this could be my christmas card!!!!
Can you stand it???? I know, neither can I. *sigh* Such cuties....
