Article, sunshine

It is 10:15am, and I am still in my pajamas. This is thrilling on so many levels. For starters, I'm as comfortable as I'll ever be, cozy too. Secondly, this might suggest to you, correctly, that I've not yet had to leave the house. Jack rode to school with our carpool, and Tom took Oliver on his way back out of town. I have nowhere that I have to be until 1:15. At present, I'm snug on my couch watching Nutmeg romp with a noisy ball bedecked with feathers. It's amazing how flat he can make himself- no chair is too low to snake under in pursuit of a lost toy. I've spent the past hour writing and Percy the pug sausage has gotten progressively closer to my right side and thigh such that now, he is almost under my leg. He loves it, and I'm made even warmer. Yesterday's grim weather gave way this morning to a beautiful, cloudless blue sky. I love days on which the sun is so bright that you don't need to turn on lights. Bliss.

Not blissful was reading this article about the slaughter of African forest elephants last night. It is so heartbreaking and sickening; I almost couldn't read parts of it. But we must ALL be informed about these horrors, in my opinion. It is our duty to stop them as best we can. Elephants are extremely intelligent, social, sentient beings, and if drive them out of existence, it will be to our world's and their ecosystem's detriment.

Engaging articles

This one is a "wow, women, you rock" kinda of piece. This one is weirdly gripping, like can't-put-it-down, and it's about bosons, for the love. The Higgs boson specifically. If you think I understand anything about physics, you're dead wrong but still, this is a fascinating article.

This one is a good distillation of the "WTF?!" many women feel about when/if to have kids. Bottom line, it's never a perfect time, and it's always going to mostly affect the woman's schedule.

This one, even if scientifically sound, makes me want to barf. I do quite enough housework, thankyouverymuch!

Misc musings

When my dear husband decides to close all the computer windows I've purposefully left open so that I can return to them when I have time, it peeves me to the max. How has he not learned this after nearly 9 years of marriage? I am quite vocal about my dislike of this tendency of his and still it persists. Grr! Today was a marathon run in cold rain. That's actually a nearly literal statement. The weather here blows, but March is a'coming Feb, so watch out. Around 2p I realized I'd never had lunch so flew into some juice bar'y market near Ol's school to grab something before picking him up. I chose the Morning Tonic juice (kale, celery, apple and grapefruit) after considering the fact that all I'd eaten thus far was a bowl of cereal, one clementine (or was that yesterday?) and a handful of corn nuts I found at the Spanish market I went to (recommended by chef-teacher from this past weekend) sometime before this stop. Quick fun fact: corn nuts are called quicos in Spanish. I didn't know this before. Have y'all had corn nuts? They're puffed/probably fried corn kernels that seemed everywhere in Louisiana snack aisles. Tom got home tonight, said he'd never seen them before, and promptly fell in love with their consumption after the first handful.

Anyway, in addition to the Morning Tonic, I got a breakfast burrito that included tofu, kale and black beans but, oddly, no eggs. Don't breakfast burritos always have eggs? Bygones. I didn't have time to eat it before picking up Ol, and when he and I returned to the car he asked, in the most disdainful voice, "what IS that yukky smell?" I said, "thank you, Ol, that's my late lunch." To which he replied, "oh... what is it?" I told him and he said, "I want a bite" after which he ate half before telling me I "could have a bite." Then he asked about my juice, and I said he could taste it but may not like it, and next thing I know the suck sound that happens when what you were drinking is gone but you want more and think sucking harder will make some appear happened. Mother effer, that kid had drunk all my juice.

Now, for a foodie mom, this was vexing. I was, on the one hand, extremely proud of my guy's palate. Good for him, just downing all that healthy, not-vanilla-in-flavor food. On the other hand, I was still hungry.

For dinner tonight, collard green-chorizo handpies and some pimenton-roasted cauliflower. Delish, and now goodbye.

Suggested reading: the cover story from last Sunday's NYTimes magazine, "I feel so sorry for the public", an expose of the processed food industry in the U.S., and the article in today's NYT Science section about owls. You just didn't know how cool owls are! Damn evolution, damn!