This Gizmo is On Its Way to Our House

You're going to want to come over.

I guess this toy was popular a couple of years ago. But my son has only just found out about it (well, he met up with one at friend's house at Christmas time and has been talking about it ever since). So we've been watching for it on ebay and last night we managed to procure one. There's a lot I could say about this toy, but I'll let it speak for itself.



What's better than one? Two! They're so quick to make friends, highly social. Watch this lovely pas de deux.

So How Did You Do?

Okay so it's about that time again. I thought it would be fun to check in and see how many of the items on my 40-some list I actually did.

1. Finish my thesis. - uh, no. Have made huge progress though.
   
2. Breathe. - still working on it.
   
3. Learn to meditate. - Went on a mediation retreat last month.
   
4. Take a Qi Gong class. - That's a no.
   
5. Teach the kids to lie around the house. - Still working on it.
   
6. Teach the kids some Yoga. - No.
   
7. Make a new friend. - Hmm. I'll say yes.
   
8. Reconnect with an old friend. - Yes. Several. This is one of the things I've done that I'm most gratified by and excited about.
   
9. Read out loud. - To myself and to my kids. Yes.
   
10. Read two Shakespeare plays I haven't read. - Maybe one by Friday.
    
11. Read two Chekov plays I haven't read. Not going to happen.
    
12. Read a new play every month. - Surprisingly, I read fewer plays this year than last.
    
13. Read two of the books on David Sedaris' Recommended Reading List. - No. But I did read many books - among them: Elizabeth Costello (2x) and Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee, Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, The Nightingales of Troy by Alice Fulton, and Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner.
    
14. Resume free-writing exercises. - Still working on it.
    
15. Start a rewrite of one of my old plays. - Yes.
    
16. Start my new screenplay. - No.
    
17. Organize all my source material for playwrighting projects. - Still working on it. See #38.
    
18. Write down the master plan for my theater center. - Still working on it.
    
19. Take a food writing class at Stanford. - No.
    
20. Start learning a new language (I'm thinking Italian). - Attempts have been made. Inertia is being overcome.
    
21. Take a contact improv class. - No.
    
22. Sew some stuff for my kids. - No.
    
23. Sew some stuff to sell on Etsy. - Making progress.
    
24. Get my bike tuned up and ready to ride. - Yes.
    
25. Get a grill. - No.
    
26. Invite the neighbors over. - Didn't happen.
    
27. Experiment with making whole-wheat and/or gluten-free pie crusts. - No.
    
28. Make a fresh peach pie this summer. - No! I can't believe it.
    
29. Take the kids berry-picking. - No.
    
30. Go to the farmer's market most Saturdays or Sundays. - No. But signed up for CSA food share here (summer/fall) and here (winter/early spring).
    
31. Eat more vegetables. - Yes. Because of #30. Tyranny of the box. Yes.
    
32. Drink more water. - This is still a struggle for me. I don't know why. Water's mostly what I drink.
    
33. Get a massage or two or four or more. Yes! Yes! Yes!
    
34. Eat a meal at Zuni. - Sadly, no.
    
35. Plant pumpkins and sunflowers with my kids. - No.
    
36. Plant bulbs in front of my kitchen window. - Yes.
    
37. Buy a birthday cake for absolutely no reason. Anyone who wants can make a wish on it. - No again. But I am still very much intrigued by this idea. It's inspiring ideas connected to #40.
    
38. Continue with the clutter-taming. - Yes. I would say progress has been made. I've also reached a point where I'm just so tired of the clutter that I'm more wiling and likely to throw things away than I was last year. Also: we're going to get a scanner which will be a tremendous help with all my playwrighting source material. Have also discovered a unique way of displaying this material (scroll down to the 3rd and 4th pictures in the post).
    
39. Start a play reading salon. - No.
    
40. Involve the kids in a guerrilla art project. - No. But have an idea for one.
    
41. Do some of the Learning to Love You More assignments. - No.
    
42. Go on a geocaching excursion in our area. - Yes. We've been four times. Successful once.
    
43. Take my kids to SFMOMA. - Yes.
    
44. Take the kids to Big Sur and rent a cabin for a weekend. - No.
    
45. Travel some place we've never been. - No. What am I thinking? We went to Lego Land. I'd never been to San Diego before.
    
46. Attend the PICA TBA Festival. - Yes. So glad I did.
    
47. Celebrate Winter Solstice by having some folks over for dinner. - No. Scheduling issue. We were in Phoenix at Solstice. But did have friends over for soup and mustache-wearing extravaganza.

Stay tuned. I'm going to put together a new list in celebration of my birthday.