Out of the loop

I just heard that one of my brothers and his wife are in Hawaii right now. Which brother? I've no idea. And that's my point. For the last few weeks, really since we've entered the post-Potter era (PPE), I've basically been running to keep up. I haven't watched much news, I haven't talked with many people unless it involved my language homework. And my last two attempts at sending out a mass email update to people apparently didn't go through. (Did any of you get our last update, sent about a week or two ago?)

So here's the update from my end:

Just finished my first week of the new language unit and am scraping by. I enjoy it since it's one on one and there's more thinking involved rather than just repetition. And I understand the material but there's a new component that's a bit more challenging: read the material, then summarize what you read in your own words. Well, my words are usually in English...

Celebrated @'s 3rd birthday last night with gifts from grandmas and grandpa as well as a few from us. I bought him a t-ball tee with a nerf bat/ball. Like with most kids, the real fun comes from sending the T flying. If the ball moves, that's ok too. He got great books, new DVDs (four hours of things we haven't watched a thousand times!) and some clothes that will fit him through his 10th birthday.

I did buy a few books while we were in Singapore but not nearly as many as I'd intended. Everything was so expensive, even at the used book shops, that I made a point of limiting my choices to things that I really knew I'd read within the next six months or so

I'm reading Kazou Ishiguro's "The Unconsoled." I know I've made a pitch for him before but, seriously, if you haven't read at least something by this author you need to. "When We Were Orphans" or "Remains of the Day" are the safe choices but "Never Let Me Go" or my current read are really what shows his greatness. It does require work to read him but this is one of the few contemporary authors I've picked up in the last five years who will will have college lit courses named after him in the future. (Of course maybe, I'm just spending too much of my time reading good writers and need to start reading more good authors.)

Not many new household projects. I hung a new spicerack for Amanda and Ibu. I think the house is in as good of shape as it can be before the rainy season starts. Then everything will start to drip, swell and warp again.

I'm putting of writing an essay about how people in this culture express disappointment. I did the interview but just don't want to write about it...in any language.

I really don't like our lizards anymore. On any given day I'll see no less than five or six in various places around the house; the bathrooms, the office, the kitchen. I know that they eat misquitoes but they don't seem to take care of the spiders or cockroaches. Amanda had me release two that were trapped in our water pitcher that was left out one night. Several have simply died while on the curtains or walls. A few have met messier fates.

My wife continues to amaze me as she meets people, grapples with the language and just pushes through the daily complications of life. I think it's the fact that she has a level of discipline I lack. She does things that have to be done while my first reaction is to look for a way not to do them or put them off (thus, this post when I should either be writing my essay or studying for my test). That, and I just think she's a neat person.

I'm trying my hand at some creative writing again. Gretchen did a poem (???) about where she comes from. I'll try the same model with @. I've been dwelling on the concept of "legacy" (a concept I'm still trying to define) for the past few months and it might be an interesting way to look at the legacy we are creating with our three year old.