The First Day of Work

Well, I survived the first day of work, it was mostly uneventful...filling out paperwork in the morning, meeting dozens of people whose names I'd forgotten as soon as they were spoken, and reading a lot of old experimental data. Of the two senior scientists who were less than thrilled with my interviewing for a position with their group, one was quite kind and took me under her wing, the other did not say two words to me all day and seems to have a chip on his shoulder. I'll win him over eventually...he just needs to figure out that I'm really not a threat to him.

The good thing that happened today? I was already able to contribute significantly in a group meeting...

The bad thing that happened today? I was asked by at least five people if I was an RA (this is a great insult to someone who was previously a Senior Scientist and interviewed at the company for an Assistant Director position). My response was to smile and say "no, I'm a contract worker, so I don't have a title". Grin and bear it, right?

"What are we going to do tomorrow, Brain"

"The same thing we do every day Pinky, try to take over the world"

Getting Closer to the New Car

After a rediculous amount of time spent on the internet, I think that I've narrowed down my car search to two candidates...the Ford Freestyle and the Chrysler Pacifica. So, I went to my local car dealers yesterday for some test drives. Aside from the pure joy of seeing the look on the salesmen's faces when not only did a very pregnant woman walk into their showroom, but a pregnant woman without a man in tow, I enjoyed the shock they involuntarily revealed after I told them exactly what I was looking for after my extensive web research. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm going to get now, but let me tell you about my experience first...

I first went to the Ford dealership around the corner from my house. The salesperson was a very nice and knowledgable man. He treated me with a great deal of respect, not only detailing to me the fluffy "girly stuff" about the car, but also taking the time to describe the more technical aspects of the vehicle without making me feel like he thought I was a auto-moron. We took a long test drive (he let me choose the route) and I got to experience a lot of different circumstances that might occur with day-to-day driving. I told him about the other cars I was considering while we were driving around, and rather than poo-pooing them, he told me what he thought was good and bad about each of the other vehicles. When we returned to the dealership, he gave me comparison worksheets showing similarities and differences between the Freestyle and the other cars that I was looking at. There was no pressure, no sales pitch, no nonsense. Just his business card and the message that if I wanted to take another test drive, even test the car on my route to Worcester before I make the commitment to buy it, he'd be happy to oblige.

Next I went to the Chrysler dealership. This was a polar opposite experience. I was greeted at the door by a very slimy, balding, overweight, yucky salesperson. I told him what kind of car I wanted to test drive (i.e. the options I'm interested in), and he pulled over a car that "was the first I could find", rather than what I asked for. It was a very stripped-down basic model, not what I wanted at all. Then, he made me go get gas for it on the way to the test drive (he was in the car)! He didn't tell me any of the features of the car, he didn't tell me what makes it better than the other cars I was looking at, he didn't speak much at all aside from when I asked him very direct questions. He made me take a specified route that didn't allow me to test different conditions (i.e. highway vs. town), that lasted about 5 minutes. He also refused to put on his seatbelt because it was too hot. I don't care if he wants to kill himself, but the car has an alarm that tells you when someone is in the passenger seat without their seatbelt on, and he didn't know how to turn it off. So, we drove the whole test-drive with the stupid car beeping at me! When I finally asked him what makes the Pacifica different than the Freestyle, not only could he not answer with specifics, all he said was that the Ford is a piece of junk and that the Chrysler sells better. HUH?

Ok, so aside from the differences in the dealership experiences, what about the cars? I think I am able to separate the salesmen from their cars and keep an open mind on the pluses and minuses of each, and regardless, I came away liking the Freestyle better. Here's why:

• The Ford has a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) and the Chrysler does not. After driving a car with a CVT, the 4-speed automatic transmission of the Pacifica felt jerky. The CVT also improves on fuel efficiency
• The Ford's seats fold absolutely FLAT, and the center console of the second row of seats opens both frontwards and backwards, so that it also becomes flat if the seats are down. You can even fold the front passenger seat flat, so that there is almost 10 feet of flat cargo space if needed. The Pacifica seats don't fold flat, so you have a bump in the cargo compartment.
• Both cars have large disc brake rotors including ABS, but the Ford braked better, perhaps because it weighs a bit less than the Chrysler
• The Freestyle has more headroom, legroom, and cargo space
• There is poor visibility out the side and back windows of the Pacifica, I felt a little unsafe at intersections because it was difficult to see
• The true cost to own difference between the Freestyle and Pacifica is six cents per mile. That adds up...

So, I think I've decided on the Freestyle...what's the caveat? The slimy dealer at the Chrysler shop offered me $7100 off the sticker price of the Pacifica, including whatever they can give me for my trade-in (most likely the Jeep). This means that I could get a $36,000 car for about $25,000 (including the money from my trade-in). That's not bad. I could consider overlooking the other stuff for that price. I guess now is the time to call up the Ford dealer and see if he's willing to wheel and deal. This is the part I'm not good at. I need one of my sisters here - she and her husband are incredible bargain shoppers and HAGGLERS. They LOVE haggling...I HATE it.

Once I screw up my courage, I'm gonna give the Ford dealer a call...Umm...maybe tomorrow...

Ikea

I have a new favorite store - it's Ikea! I have actually been in these stores before, but I never really appreciated what they had to offer until last week. I have been looking for a dresser for my son's room for a while. I didn't want to spend a lot of money for it, but I didn't want a really cheap fiberboard piece of furniture either. After several online searches and trips to local furniture stores (bargain and otherwise), I realized that I wasn't going to find anything that fit my expectations for under $200. That is, until I went to Ikea last week.

My son and I went shopping, which is usually a recipe for disaster, because kids and furniture shopping don't mix very well. A 19-month old doesn't really have the patience for walking around and looking at boring furniture. The great thing about Ikea is that they encourage touching of their furniture, and each room that we went into had some sort of child-friendly activity or attraction. Especially in the children's furniture department, they had a whole room with things that the kids could play with. So, I had the opportunity to take my time and look at the dressers that they had available and pick out something that was pretty good quality and yet still affordable. BONUS!

Here's what I got, and I spent just over $100. It's perfect for our son's new bedroom, and it didn't break the bank!

The dresser:

The hamper:


The bonus kids table:

I also got a set of dividers for the top drawer of the dresser, and a set of plastic kid's cups for our son to graduate from his sippy cups with.

Grand total? $100.22 Woo-hoo!

As an aside, because I saved so much on the dresser, I splurged and bought some novelty drawer pulls to exchange for the ones that came standard. They're from a website called www.coolknobsandpulls.com.

Better Late Than Never

Well, here I am with 54 days to go until my due date (but since I only went to 39 weeks with my first son it's most likely 47 days...that's just under seven weeks for those of you who are as mathmatically impaired as I am), and I have a job! Ok, so it's not a REAL job with benefits and all the bells and whistles, but it is an income that is greater than my unemployment income. Beginning Monday, I am a consultant for the company I had the exploratory interview with in June. They hired me for eight weeks, to see if I could do more in these eight weeks than their current scientists have done in the past eight months. NO PRESSURE! Actually, I don't know that the last statement is true, I just know that they've been working for a while on developing the same assays that I'll be working on, and that they haven't made any significant progress. Thankfully, I have extensive experience with all three types of assays that they're trying to develop, so I can hit the ground running.

Here is my hope... I hope that I can get these assays going in my six-plus weeks with the company, and leave the higher-ups slack-jawed. That way, when I am back on the market for a position in November, they'll be begging me to come back and offer me a very prestigious position within the company. What will most likely happen outside of my imagination? I will at least not make a total ass out of myself in the next six weeks and leave them regretting bringing me on board for such a short period of time. Whatever happens in November I'll worry about as November approaches...I may not even like it there after I've been there for a short period of time!

As an aside, I was speaking with my mom yesterday and she said that after my scare on Tuesday, it's probably a good thing I've gotten a job because it's as close to "taking it easy" as I'll get. It's ironic that she thinks of it that way, but she's absolutely correct! At least if I'm working I'll be sitting at a desk or at a laminar flow hood and there will be no heavy lifting (son, laundry basket, furniture), no running after my son on his tricycle, not much bending... Who knew that getting a job would be a relief for more than financial reasons?

Keeping Track of Baby!

I found this website from postings on babycenter.com, isn't it cool? You insert your due date and then it keeps track of little details about your pregnancy...it's so fun to get the updates on where the baby is development-wise. Um, 56 days? That's SOON!



But, we can't forget about our first born son, this website also has a tracker to see how they're progressing... here's his:

Pre-term labor - AGAIN

Well, I had the distinct pleasure of spending a few hours in labor and delivery last night. Thankfully everything is ok, but I did have a little bit of a scare for a short period of time. It all started on monday night, when I was woken up by extreme pains that felt like contractions but were much higher than labor pains and were not the typical Braxton-Hicks contractions. I actually assumed that it was some stomach bug, so didn't worry too much about it. Unfortunately, the pains continued throughout the day on Tuesday, at times with these pains building up on one another in quick succession that made me double over in pain. I had my son at home with me, which made it even more difficult. But, I tried to continue about my day, we went to Costco and my son went for a bike ride up and down the street (I pushed the trike). I took a nap at the same time that my son did, but was unfortunately woken up several times from the nap by the pains.

Finally around 3pm I got a little fearful and couldn't take the pains any more, so I called the doctor. He asked me to come in to the hospital so that they could evaluate me, and I had to call my husband at work and ask him if he could come home early. Thankfully he could... He came home and took care of our son while I drove to the hospital and went into the Labor and Delivery unit. They hooked me up to the machines that measure the baby's heart rate (it was fine the whole time) and my contractions. Much to my surprise, I was having pretty substantial contractions, not of all of which I could feel. They were pretty regular in frequency but not in intensity or duration. They did some tests, including a fetal fibronectin test which would determine if I was going to go into true labor in the next couple of weeks. The tests were all negative, indicating that I should have at least two to three more weeks before delivering, and that I'll most likely go to term. So, the doctor gave me medication to stop the contractions, and they kept me there through dinner (yummy hospital food) and then released me to go home telling me to keep my feet up and drink lots of water.

Ironically, a similar but different thing happened with our first son. I didn't have these substantial pains, but I felt incredible pressure on the pelvic floor at around the same time of gestation. They had me go into Labor and Delivery and put me on i.v. fluids and a muscle relaxer, and monitored the baby. Similar to this pregnancy, they determined that I was having pretty substantial contractions that I wasn't actually feeling, but that could be responsible for the pressure that I was experiencing. As with the incident yesterday, I was sent home and told to take it easy for a day or two, and then I went about my business as usual. My first son ended up going to 39 weeks, so I'm convinced that all is well.

I mentioned this in a previous post - it's amazing how similar and yet how different this pregnancy is from the first. It's an emotional and physical roller coaster, and I'm having a wild ride!

Time Magazine Inappropriateness

There was an essay on the back page of last week's Time magazine that was, in my opinion, extremely misguided and inappropriate for the Father's Day holiday. The author is Daniel Gilbert, who is a Harvard psychologist. The premise of the essay is that fatherhood does not actually make you happy...I think that this man could use some therapy himself. Although the man is an acclaimed professor, he obviously has some unresolved issues. Ironically, the man has no children (or even pets) so I am not sure how he can write as an authority on the issue of fatherhood.

He begins his argument with the following paragrah:

Psychologists have measured how people feel as they go about their daily activities, and have found that people are less happy when they are interacting with their children than when they are eating, exercising, shopping or watching television. Indeed, an act of parenting makes most people about as happy as an act of housework. Economists have modeled the impact of many variables on people's overall happiness and have consistently found that children have only a small impact. A small negative impact.

Here is one of the flaws that commonly occurs with op-ed pieces written by scientists, especially those who are trying to use generic data to support their point of view. Without all of the information in the studies to which he is referring, we have no way of drawing conclusions for ourselves. What kind of interaction with their children? Is this when they come home and find that their child has shaved the dog and flushed mommy's jewlery down the toilet? Of COURSE I'd be unhappy interacting with my child at this point in time.

He then uses three arguments to support his point (I'm paraprhasing):

1. We pay more for things that make us happy, so since children are expensive, we assume that they MUST make us happy
2. Good memories are far more powerful and long-lasting than bad memories, so we fool ourselves into believing that we're happy by selectively remembering the good memories
3. Children are like heroin, when you're involved with children, all other things that previously made you happy fall by the wayside

Wow, this guy is OUT there. I could use these arguments in the absolute opposite way just as easily. First, people pay bucketloads to play golf, and I know MANY men and women who are absolutely MISERABLE when play, but they do it anyway. In addition, mortgages are expensive, but no one considers that they make us happy. It's just a necessary evil for home ownership. Second, I witnessed a house fire several years ago, and watched the firemen pull the lifeless bodies of five children out of the burning house. I can still see their bodies, I can still remember the smell of the fire, and the firemen who literally collapsed with grief when they completed their task. I'm not saying that this overpowers my every day thoughts, and I do have hundreds of good memories that fill my subconscious. But, my point is that unless you're very good at selective memory, you don't remember the good times at the expense of the bad. Third, yes, we less frequently participate in activities that we had previously done when we were single, but we have also increased our participation in in events we had never formerly taken part in.

Yes, our lives have changed, and we'll never get back to who we were when we were swinging singles or newly married. But frankly, I wouldn't want to go back to those times. Life and happiness is about evolving, experiencing new things, and finding joy in everything we can. As trying as our child can be, (and I have to add that he was VERY trying yesterday), I think that I can speak for both my husband and myself when I say that he is the light of our lives and that he truly DOES make us happy. Dr. Gilbert is a very bitter and misguided man who needs to experience fatherhood before he again attempts to write with authority on the subject.

Second Pregnancy-itis

No one ever tells you how different your second pregnancy is from the first. I think that part of it is that you don't know what to expect with your first, so you take everything in stride. This pregnancy has been different from the very beginning. I had incredible morning (actually evening) sickness and I crave sweets; with my first, I had very little morning sickness and craved spicy food. I was so sure that I was having a girl, but the ultrasound showed (very clearly, I might add) that we were expecting a second boy!

Anyway, last night I was home alone with my son, when I started having incredibly sharp pains that I have never felt before. I knew that they weren't contractions, but I also knew that I didn't have those pains with the first one! The difficulty was that my son was still insisting that I get him dinner and then we had to have our nighttime bath, but I was actually afraid to stand up as a result of the pain! I obviously had to, because I couldn't ignore the needs of my son. Luckily, once I put my son to bed and was able to lay down on the couch and get my feet up, the pain subsided and I started to feel a little better.

By chance, I had a routine OB appointment today and so I asked about it... Guess what she said? (I'm paraphrasing here) Oh yeah, that happens with second and subsequent pregnancies...your body never quite goes back to normal after you have one child. You're going to find that you have pains that you never had before, varicose veins show up (I don't have any yet, knock on wood), and from time to time it may feel like your baby is just going to FALL OUT (I'm not kidding - this is what she said). She then followed up by saying that I shouldn't worry because none of these things are abnormal and the baby won't just fall out. (Ok, the scientist in me knew that this was the case, but I still had this sense of...phew). She said that when I feel this way, I should just lay down, drink water, and keep my feet up until the feeling subsides. Are you kidding? She has kids, she should know better! There is no way my son will let me lounge around with my feet up whenever I feel this way! Oh well, such is the life of parents with young children.

This makes me laugh about my behavior during my first pregnancy. Based upon all of the doctors rules and suggestions, I didn't lift the laundry basket after my first trimester, I didn't have an OUNCE of caffeine, I protected my belly at all costs (even from benign threats). I definitely wasn't in the real world of parents with children. It's not that I'm not trying to do those things now, but my son weighs 30 lbs and I HAVE to lift him up, that is much more than a laundry basket would weigh! I had awful headaches at the beginning of this pregnancy, and so my doctor TOLD me to drink a cup of caffeine when that happens. My son routinely knees me or jumps on me (as toddlers are wont to do) and while I try to protect my belly, I'm beginning to learn how tough it is to damage these babies in utero.

So, the second pregnancy is really quite different than the first. I can't possibly be as careful as I was, and yet, so far, everything is going according to plan. The strange pains and other feelings are definitely new territory, but I will trust my doctor that this is just second pregnancy-itis. In the meantime, I'm counting the weeks until the baby is born. I don't want him to come early, but I am also ready to be done with this discomfort (and suffering through the heat!). To quote the Grateful Dead, "what a long, strange trip it's been..."

New Respect for Single Parents

My husband was out of town last week for a business trip. He was gone from a Friday to Wednesday night, but to me it seemed like an eternity. It's not even that my son is all that challenging, he's actually a great kid who is pretty easy-going. But, my husband's absence made me realize that when I am becoming frustrated with my son, I often look at the clock and calm myself down with the realization that he will be home in X hours to give me a break. That knowledge alone is enough to help me regroup and regain patience with my son. When my husband was gone, I didn't have that buffer and I found that I was really struggling to remain sane during the trying times. Luckily, I was able to retain my composure for the most part, and I hope that my son is none the worse for wear.

The experience really made me have respect for single parents. I suppose that if you never had a significant other to help you share the burden of child-rearing, you find other outlets for your frustrations so that you don't take them out on your children; but, if you are accustomed to having help, the lack of help really creates a void. The experience also helped me to realize how much my husband really helps out when he is around. He can sense when I'm getting to the end of my rope and swoops in to entertain our son or distract him. It's also wonderful to see how our son missed him when he was gone - every time we'd see his car in the driveway while he was away, our son would say "daddy's car", and be seemingly disappointed when we got inside and there was no daddy. Most of all, I think I really understand the concept of "it takes a village to raise a child". When my son was most challenging, it was wonderful to be able to go to a friend or neighbor's house and let him play with the other kids and just get a breather (or have a sounding board).

Bottom line is, to all single parents...I salute you. I hope that you have a great support network of friends and family to turn to in your trying times as I do!

What Are They Afraid Of?

I tend to stay away from discussing politics with anyone, mostly because I am far from an expert on the subject, and I don't believe that I can intelligenly discuss many issues. One of the reasons for my ineptitude with all things political is that I really never had confidence in our political system. In fact, I didn't even vote in a presidental election until the Clinton/Bush election. My sister and I would often argue about my inertia when it came to voting, and I would always respond that I just didn't feel like my vote mattered. How ironic when the sentiment came true in the Bush/Gore election (even though I DID vot in that election)! I just realized I should have called my sister to rub it in when Gore won the popular vote but Bush won the election! Man, what a missed opportunity.

Anyway, what's making me nervous this week is this issue with the FBI search of the office of Congressman William Jefferson from Louisiana. C'mon, the dude had $90,000 in his freezer, this is not the behavior of an innocent (or at least not a sane) man. The thing that is scary about this news story is that as a result of this search, there was bipartisan agreement in Congress that this search by the FBI was illegal and that congressmen should have immunity from search by any branch of the justice department. These political parties cannot agree on ANYTHING lately, yet suddenly they agree on this. This leads me to the question - what in the world are these people afraid of? What are they hiding in their offices that they don't want the general public (or the justice department) to know about? I've read a couple of articles on this, and I can't even decipher what the constitution intends by the amendment that Congress thinks is being violated...here's an excerpt from a blog at the Chicago Tribune:

That protection rests in the “speech and debate clause” of Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution. It reads that senators and representatives “shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.”

The clause was meant to prevent members of Congress from being “intimidated” during political disagreements by the two other branches, the executive and judiciary, according to Charles Tiefer, a law professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law and a former legal counsel in both the House and Senate.

Ok, I agree that intimidation should not be a factor in the activities of Congress or the Senate, but I have long had an issue with diplomatic immunity. Just because of someone's status as a diplomat, it should not make them above the law that the remainder of the citizens of the United States (or in whatever country the diplomat is assigned) are held to. And, typical of Bush, rather than addressing the issue directly and takind a stand, he decided to seal all of the records to give everyone a "cooling off period". Are you kidding me? This is the solution?

How in the world is there any protection of Joe Citizen when our government officials (starting with the President) believe that they are above the laws that were created to protect our rights? How in the world can we protect ourselves if there is NO GROUP of individuals that has the right to investigate potential wrongdoings? The fact that our representatives from both parties in Congress are agreeing that their offices should be their own private domain not under the jurisdiction of any legal agency again leads me to the question, "Shouldn't WE be afraid of what they're afraid of us finding in there?"

Ridiculous Traffic!

I have been frantically looking for the perfect gift for my father for Father's Day, and I'm running out of time! I had to go get the car serviced today, north of Boston, and I decided that I would go to a quaint specialty shop in Cambridge on my way home. It's not really on the way home, but I had to go South, so I went Southeast rather than Southwest. I should have known that something was up when the offramp for Storrow Drive heading West was backed up at noon on a Friday, but I remained blissfully unaware of the true meaning of backup until I tried to get into Cambridge.

You see, at least twice a year, Cambridge becomes a no-travel-zone for the locals - the two times a year are the day that the colleges begin their fall terms and the day they end their spring semester. Harvard and MIT exist within a few miles of one another, and they have oodles of students that are only here during the school year. Today happened to be the end of the semester for Harvard students, and I happened to pick today to go to Harvard Square to go to this shop. BIG MISTAKE. If the driving capabilities of these students and their parents are any reflection of their mental capacity, then we should all be VERY afraid (and I'm not just saying this because I went to rival Cornell). People were driving the wrong way down one-way streets, blocking intersections, and double-parking on one-lane roads. What should have been a quick trip ended up taking me 2 1/2 hours because I was TRAPPED within the maze of Harvard Square roads. I finally found a parking space and went into this great shop, and they had that PERFECT GIFT FOR MY DAD! Unfortunately just not in the size I wanted... Bummer. It was par for the course of my life lately!

I swear, the Universities should be required to take out huge print, radio and television ads to let us poor schmucks know when these traffic days from hell are going to take place so that we can avoid those areas like the PLAGUE.

Hopefully I'll find something for dad this weekend!

Proof I Really Need a Job

The real proof that I desparately need to rejoin the workforce and stimulate my brain is that while I was mowing the lawn this week I had "The Honker, Duckie, Dinger Jamboree" from Sesame Street running through my head. Yikes.

I Got Stoned & Missed It

Don't panic mom and dad, I'm not talking about myself. I heard this song on the radio today, and was SHOCKED to find out that it was done by Shel Silverstein! This is the same man who wrote such inspirational tales as The Giving Tree and The Missing Piece. These are children's classics! I also vividly remember reading his books of poetry in gradeschool - Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. We even wrote a book of poetry as a class when I was in gradeschool and called it "A Candle in the Basement" in tribute to the great Shel himself. I guess I have to take off my rose-colored glasses now.

So, I went on to do a little research to find if there were other things I didn't know about Mr. Silverstein. Did you know he wrote the Grammy-winning "A Boy Named Sue" for the late great Johnny Cash? Neither did I! There's a lot more to this man than his children's books - here's what I found in Wikipedia:

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein's talents were already well-developed by the time he served in the US armed forces. Silverstein was stationed in Japan and Korea in the 1950s, and while in the military, he was a cartoonist for the Pacific edition of the military newspaper, Stars And Stripes. After serving in the military, Silverstein became a writer, photographer, cartoonist for Playboy in 1956 (and ended up living in the Playboy Mansion for an extended period of time), but he is best known for writing and illustrating his children's literature including The Missing Piece, A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, Falling Up and The Giving Tree. He also wrote Uncle Shelby's ABZ Book, a satirical mock children's book, and created Different Dances, a coffee-table book of wordless, adult-themed cartoons.

Silverstein's passion for music was clear early on as he studied for awhile at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. As a songwriter, Silverstein kept a low profile but cast a long shadow. He tended to shun publicity and even photographers. Nonetheless, his musical output included many songs which were hits for other artists. Most notably, he wrote the music and lyrics for "A Boy Named Sue" that was performed by Johnny Cash (for which he won a Grammy
in 1970); "One's On the Way" (which was a hit for Loretta Lynn), and "The Unicorn Song"; which, despite having nothing to do with Ireland nor Irish culture, became the signature piece for The Irish Rovers in 1968 and is popular in Irish pubs all over the world to this day. He wrote the lyrics and music for most of the Dr. Hook songs, including "Cover of the Rolling Stone," "Freakin' at the Freakers' Ball," "Sylvia's Mother" and the cautionary song about VD, "Don't Give a Dose To the One You Love Most." He also wrote many of the songs performed by Bobby Bare, including "Marie Laveau", "Rosalie's Good Eats Cafe", "The Mermaid", "The Winner", and "Tequila Sheila". The song "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan," recorded in 1979 by Marianne Faithfull and later featured in the films Montenegro and Thelma & Louise,
was also by Silverstein.

Silverstein also had a popular following on Dr. Demento's radio show. Among his most popular songs were, "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout (Would Not Take The Garbage Out)", "The Smoke Off" (a tale of a contest to determine who could roll - or smoke - marijuana joints faster) and "I Got Stoned And I Missed It". He also wrote "A Boy Named Sue, Part 2", in which he tells the story from the original song, but from the father's point of view.

During his short career as a producer, he co-wrote the screenplay Things Change with David Mamet, and was nominated for an Oscar for his music for the film Postcards from the Edge. He also composed original music for several other films, and displayed a musical versatility in these projects, playing guitar, piano, saxophone and trombone. He continued to write colloquial poetry on occasion throughout his life, including a rap version of Shakespeare's Hamlet that was published (on yellow-beige specialty paper) in Playboy magazine in 1998.

Silverstein was posthumously inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 2005, Silverstein's most recent book, entitled Runny Babbit, was published. As the title suggests, every poem and illustration in the book consists of spoonerisms.
Silverstein died on May 10, 1999 in Key West, Florida of a heart attack. He had two children. Shel's daughter was named Shoshanna, shortened to Shanna. Her mother was a woman named Susan Hastings, whom Shel had a relationship with but did not marry. Shanna, born on June 30, 1970, died in Baltimore, MD, in April 24, 1982, at the age of eleven of a brain aneurysm. "It was the single most devastating event of his life, and he never really did recover from it", says a close friend. Had Shanna lived, she would have been 29 at the time of Shel's death. Shoshanna's mother, Susan, died on June 29, 1975, also in Baltimore. A side note: "A Light in the Attic" was dedicated "to Shanna", and Shel had drawn the sign with a flower attached. Shoshanna means "rose" in Hebrew. Silverstein's son, Matthew, was 15 when his father died on May 10, 1999. Matthew is the sole heir to Shel Silverstein's $20 million estate. Shel's 1996 "Falling Up" was dedicated to Matt

Wow, what a career! What I love best about all this information is that most of his amazing career took place beneath the radar of the common Joe. More than that, he was so well-rounded. He was a novelist, a poet, a lyricist, a producer, a father, a playboy (I'm assuming giving the fact he lived in Playboy mansion), a soldier, a rapper, a satirist, and probably more that we don't know about.

I wonder which of these descriptions he would list first?

Not Even on "The Jetsons"

Have you seen this article about robots in the classroom? I don't even think they conceptualized this on The Jetsons! Here are the basics from the PEBBLES Project website:

PEBBLES was developed in Canada by a private company called Telbotics in cooperation with Ryerson University and the University of Toronto.

A PEBBLES system consist of two child-sized robots capable of transmitting video, audio and documents to each other. One unit is placed with the hospitalized child and the other unit is located in the child's regular classroom. The units are connected via a high-speed communications link. The classroom unit has a swiveling monitor that duplicates human head movement and a hand that serves as an attention getting device. PEBBLES creates a virtual presence for the remote child in the classroom. The presence that is so real that teachers and fellow students come to react to the school unit as if it were the hospitalized child.

I think it's a fantastic concept...what a great opportunity for children who are bed-ridden. Life in the hospital must be so isolating for children, especially those with terminal cancer, and this can help them to feel like they're having at least a more normal childhood. I am curious why they chose the hospitals that they did for the pilot program. Not that I know anything much about these hospitals that they did choose, I'm just curious.

One of the hospitals that was chosen was the Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. This hospital holds a special place in my family's heart, because their NICU is where my little sister lived for a while after she was born two months prematurely. It's amazing what these nurses and doctors can do for preemies. I remember that at the same time my sister was in the NICU, there was another baby who was born three months prematurely, and her future was quite uncertain. There were no traditional baby clothes that would fit her, so they dressed her in Holly Hobby doll clothes. I am not sure what happened to her, but I do know that this hospital did a great job with my little sister, and that she's a beautiful, intelligent, accomplished woman now!

Ok, back to robots. If I was made of money, I think that I would invest in this program. I did a post-doctoral fellowship at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and I saw first-hand so many brave children who are struggling with their illnesses and who cannot leave the hospital. They do have teachers come in and teach them so that they don't fall behind their peers, but imagine if they can spend each day (or a portion of each day) with their friends in "real time"! I firmly believe that a part of recovery process for these kids is feeling "normal", not different from the others. This program may give them the hope that they're not falling behind their peers and that when they recover, they can fully integrate into the life that they knew prior to becoming so sick. Kudos to The Learning Collaborative Inc. and the PEBBLES Project for implementing this program in the US. I wish it continued success!

Drat that Cat!

We adopted a cat a little over a year ago, he was a stray that someone who had a lot of cats took in, only to find that he didn't get along with other cats. Thankfully, he gets along well with dogs, which ultimately led to our adopting him. He is FIV positive, (the kitty equivalent to HIV), so we are trying to be responsible and not let him out any more, since he could infect other kitties. For the most part, we've all adapted nicely. The dog thinks that he's a built-in playmate, and he's a total enigma to our son. He's made it clear that he merely tolerates us because we feed him. He has a tendency to beg for food, even though he's well fed. I suspect that this goes back to his days as a stray when he wasn't sure when his next meal would arrive. He starts begging for dinner (we feed the critters around 6pm) at 3pm, and he starts begging for breakfast around 3am. He is VERY vocal. This is very annoying, especially at 3 in the morning. Point is, he loves food.

This brings us to today. My son has a little cabin fever due to the incessant rain of the past few days. He definitely needs his outside time every day or he starts to go a little batty. I took him grocery shopping today and when we got back from the store he wasn't prepared to be patient for me to put the groceries away. So, I quickly threw the frozen stuff in the freezer, and left the remainder of the groceries in their bags while I took my son outside to stomp in puddles in the drizzle. We were outside for about 20 minutes. We came back inside, and what did I find? Not the dog, but the CAT rummaging through the bags. I was already having a tough day, but this was icing on the cake! He actually broke into the chicken sausages I had bought and ate one of them. He must have thought he hit the jackpot! I was so proud of the dog, she was looking at me like "see? I didn't touch it, but did you see what the kitty did?". Unfortunately, you can't really punish a cat, so all I could do is pick up what was left of my groceries and go on with my already yucky day.

This is the thanks we get for taking in a stray cat...a very loud wake up call at 3am and a food thief. It's a good thing he's really affectionate and has so much personality, or he might have been looking for another new home by now!

Car Search

The dilemma that I have for the summer is what car to buy. I just bought a new (used) car two years ago, it's a Volvo S40 sedan, and I really like it. So, why do I need to buy a new car after only two years? Well, the S40 is a pretty small sedan, and when the car seats are in the back, the front seats have to be pushed all the way forward. I could probably live with that with only moderate discomfort, but my husband is tall enough that he can't comfortably ride or drive in the car with the seats that way. Hence, new car. It seems a little counterintuitive to me to spend money on a car when I don't have a job, but c'est la vie. Besides, I never sold my Jeep Wrangler when we bought the Volvo (anyone want a red 1998 Jeep Wrangler with low mileage?), so I can sell two cars and hopefully get enough cash to pay the majority of the cost of a new car.

What seems like a logical car to get is a minivan, but for reasons that I can't quite explain, I have a serious problem with buying a minivan. I don't know what my issue is with them, I just REALLY don't want one. We rented one once, and it was actually quite comfortable and easy to maneuver in with the little one, so again, I don't know why I don't want one. Maybe it's because every family that I know with small kids own a minivan and for my entire life I really strove towards nonconformity. Granted, that tendency has mellowed out a little bit since I graduated from college, but I still just don't want to be like everyone else. Because I've said all this, you know I'm going to end up with a minivan right?

The next car type that I've considered is a station wagon. Ironically, there are very few station wagons that have legroom in the back seat that is considerably larger than the space in my sedan! But, I've considered the Volvo XC70, the Chrysler Pacifica, and the Dodge Magnum. I ruled out the Magnum because it has really poor visibility, and I ruled out the Chrysler Pacifica because it has pretty poor gas mileage and is essentially a minivan without the convenience of the wide sliding doors. This leaves the Volvo...the problem with the Volvo is that it is pretty pricey and it's not very fuel efficient. If I'm going spend a lot of money and settle for lack of fuel efficiency, I should get an SUV!

So, what about the SUV hybrids that are out now? My husband is a little wary of them because they're quite new and unproven yet. There's not much info on resale value or on dependability yet. Moreover, with hybrids, you may be saving on gas but you're ultimately creating incredible landfill waste with the batteries...there's no way to recycle them currently, and they're obviously not biodegradable, so at the end of the car's lives there's going to be a huge hybrid battery graveyard somewhere. Nevertheless, I am intrigued by the hybrids, and will still consider them...perhaps a lease? Anyway, we drove the Ford Escape Hybrid, and it was incredibly sluggish and poor handling, so that's out. The only two hybrid SUVs that have pretty good ratings are the Lexus and the Toyota. I can pretty much rule out the Lexus because I can't afford it (unless I find an incredible job in the near future), which leaves the Toyota. I haven't driven it yet, but I am looking forward to seeing what it's like.

All of these considerations give me a headache. I just want a car that's fun to drive, is safe for my kids, has space for us all to sit comfortably, is good in the snow, and that doesn't break the bank. Is that too much to ask? To quote John Cusack in Say Anything, "I can't figure it all out tonight sir..."

I am truly addle-brained

I am really hoping that this is another one of those "pregnancy moments" and not a true representation of my faculties...I was rushing this afternoon to pick up my son from day care and my cell phone was on the couch so I grabbed it as I walked out the door. On the way to get him I reached into my purse to get my phone to make a call, and what did I pull out? Not my phone, but the remote control to the television! Oh boy.

I'm only glad that I hadn't heard it ringing - then I'd be truly nervous.

Genius Boy

Ok, I know that every parent thinks that their child is a genius, but I have to say that I think I'm on to something with our son. Yesterday we were in a second-hand children's clothes and toys shop, and there was a playskool slide that was disassembled for sale. Our son really wanted to go on this slide, but couldn't because it was in two pieces. I became distracted paying for the items I chose (not including the slide) and when I looked back, he had reassembled the slide and was going down it. It wasn't erector set difficult, but it was definitely something he had to think about to get put together properly, and he's only 18 months old! I'm so impressed!

Keep in mind that this is the same boy who is currently trying to climb head-first into a 1x1 box that holds his legos, but hey, baby steps...

Job Interview!

I had a job interview yesterday with a small biotechnology company - it was called an exploratory interview, where they could assess my skills and see if I would fit into their organization somewhere. This translates into "we don't really have a position for you, but we want to meet you". I think it went well overall, my meeting with one of the VPs and the COO were very productive. But, when I met with the senior staff who would most likely be reporting to me, I was met with some degree adversity (could even be considered hostility). I sensed resentment that the higher-ups would consider bringing someone in above the levels represented in the current group, perhaps because they hoped one of them would be promoted from within. While I can understand this sentiment to some degree, I would most likely feel the same way in their position, I don't think it's a professional way to treat another scientist. Now if I'm offered a postion there, I have to consider if I should take it immediately because I really need a job, or if I should be hesitant due to the way the people who would report to me treated me during the interview. I wonder, does behavior during interviews really reflect professional behavior on a day-to-day basis?