Our little guy is a baby model! Our downstairs neighbor designs baby shirts and gave one to our baby when she moved in. He wore it to a luau when we were on Maui and I e-mailed the picture to Jen. She's used it for marketing postcards! So today was the start of the Northampton Sidewalk Sales and I dressed baby in Jen's shirt and took him downtown, where I roamed up and down Main Street, baby in one arm, baby's postcards in the other. We got a lot of double-takes from people trying to determine whether the real-life baby was the one in the postcard (he's two months older now and has more hair). It was great fun, and baby LOVED the attention. Yeah, like he doesn't get enough of that at home. There are three more days to the sidewalk sale and we might do it again if it's not too crowded. Good times!!! And the shirts are adorable. You should buy one for your favorite baby. Right after you buy yourself a Rhythmball set! 🙂

Went to bed at 11:30 after reading 10 pages of _Gravity's Rainbow_. Did I tell you that Monstro and I are reading Pynchon's epic this summer? Third time for him, first time for me. So far, it's funny, though the alliteration is a bit strong for my taste. But I like the songs, and want to set them all to 'ukulele. We'll see. Anyway, asleep at 11:30, awake at 2:00 when Monstro got home, sans keys, from Warhammer, awake again at 3:40, with baby screaming bloody murder, and awake again at 6:20, when baby was awake for good. This is some tough stuff, especially considering baby's been sleeping through the night for months now. Ugh. Is it naptime yet???

It was announced today that Syd Barrett, founder of Pink Floyd, died in his hometown of Cambridge, where he'd lived reclusively since leaving the band. This news has profoundly saddened me. I first heard Pink Floyd on a buddy's Walkman, while riding a bus to Denver with my high-school youth group. My friend Julie, amazed I'd never heard them, commandeered Steve's cassette player and plugged two headsets into it. We lied down in the aisle and closed our eyes. By the end of the song — something from Dark Side — I was a convert. Julie later became fanatical about Zep but I was always a Floyd girl. It was something I shared in common with my best friend, who is half a world away in New Zealand now, and all I want is for it to finally be 5:00 in the afternoon so I can call him and not wake him up tomorrow morning.

I didn't hear the group until loooooong after he'd already left it, but Syd was the progenitor of my high-school awakening, and for that I will always be grateful.

Rest in Peace, Syd. Have a cigar.

Yeah, you probably think I'm going to announce that I'm pregnant again. You could not be more high, uh, I mean wrong. In fact, it's almost the opposite: I'm on a quest to LOSE THIS FREAKIN' BABY WEIGHT. Seven months is long enough, and though I think I'm down around 30 pounds, I've got many, many more to go.

So I'm introducing (drum roll, please) my new blog: Exercise like Olympians, where I shall chronicle my new fitness plan of eating right and Rhythmballing. I'm off to a good start and would really appreciate your support!

Love and plankton,
Shamu

“Born today, you derive a great deal of strength and motivation from those things that do not seem to be going well in your life. While others may find themselves succumbing to frustration and depression when the going gets tough, you prefer to strengthen your resolve and face difficulties with renewed vigor and determination. This is a skill that will serve you well throughout your life — and enable you, upon occasion, to do great things for others as well as yourself, for you're not the only one to benefit from the strength you display under fire.

“You have a great deal of staying power, which will serve you well in both your personal life and your professional endeavors. Once you taste success, you're sure to make a steady diet of it — and all your rivals should beware your ability to turn one success into another, and another…”

Born today: President George W. Bush. Surprised? Yeah, me neither.