nina turns 40

I find taking pictures to be very healing, no matter what ails me, from boredom, to existential angst, to heartbreak, if I can get outside and shoot some fotos I'll feel better. I always process things by writing about them, but making images works on a different level, and I'm not sure I understand it yet, and I don't care that I haven't figured it out. I'm also learning as I shoot. I've been interested in fotography for years, but just recently, with the acquisition of my first digital camera (thanks, dad!), have I really begun to practice it. And that's what's so great about digital, not that you can email your shots or post them to blogs, though I love doing that, but the true power of it for me is the instant feedback I get when shooting, the ability to play around, try new things, and see what works without having to wait to get the film developed. In other fotography news, I went to see her speak on Friday night at SAM. She didn't have much to say, which seemed appropriate somehow. She spoke in Spanish which I enjoyed thoroughly, especially getting snarky on the translation. Considering it was sponsored by these folks, we were appalled at the quality of the slides, and the Q&A session afterward revealed some Seattleites to be a bunch of culturally insecure folks trying to show off that we're not so provincial afterall. Oh well, fodder for more snark.

the saddest phrase I know

I love you, but...

The kidlet is all registered for kindergarten. I got very emotional at the enrollment center as I was handing in the paperwork. It's a strange combination of, oh my god, my baby is growing up, and a flood of memories about my own elementary school experiences. I loved school. And now it's his turn. I won't know until the end of March if he'll get into the school I picked, which is not our neighborhood school. Next step is figuring out where he'll go during all those off-school hours that I'm still at work. Oh, and in a kidlet sidebar: for his birthday his daddy got him a set of video games that is this weird little metal box with a joystick that you plug into the TV. Cool thing is, it's got old school games on it like Pac-Man and Galaxia. Games mommy used to play. So, we take turns. During my turn, the kidlet watches intently and shouts at me, "mommy, eat the big dots, eat the big dots!"

fuck the patriarchy

I can't say that I'm surprised by the NYTimes story today:"The United States military is facing the gravest accusations of sexual misconduct in years, with dozens of servicewomen in the Persian Gulf area and elsewhere saying they were sexually assaulted or raped by fellow troops...", but I'm no less saddened or outraged. Turning boys into soldiers also turns them into rapists. Yeah, yeah, gross generalization, but I'm so sick of this crap. Truly sick of it.

I know that this is not exactly breaking news anymore, but here's someone who sums up the ridiculousness of the hoopla over Miss Jackson's breast quite nicely indeed (via Dooce).

nina's coffee roasting tip #1: after roasting, let the beans rest for 24-36 hours before you brew. I'd been roasting at night and then brewing the next morning, and was rather unsatisfied with the results. This morning, however, I had some coffee made from beans roasted on Sunday night and it was much better. It's fairly common roasting wisdom to let 'em sit for awhile, but I was surprised at how much difference another 24 hrs. made. Plus, it seems to me that my home roasted coffee gets me buzzed quicker than my usual stuff, which is not something I've read about. Is caffeine content subject to the effects of time? Anyway, my main complaint right now about home roasting is that my little roaster can only do 1/2 cup of beans at a time, which is only two mornings' worth for me.

It's great to have friends with so many cameras that they dump their old slightly less than perfect ones on you. Just a couple of the many shots taken around the house this evening when I should have been doing dishes or something else more practical.

unsafe at any speed

Oh, Ralph. What are you thinking? You're just pissing people off this year. Believe me, I hear what you're saying about the Democratic party not being a true voice for the left wing pinko wack jobs like myself, and I find the two party system restrictive and all of that, but right now the most important thing is to unseat Bush. And a lot of folks think you're gonna hinder that. So why not just sit this one out. Please? Perhaps when the country's recovered a bit from this debacle (OK, you know I want to say it: fucktard) of a president we can entertain some variety in our candidates, but the best thing you could do right now is to jump in bed with the Dems., help them win, and then keep pushing them to do better.

par-tay

Now I realize how smart I was not to do this for the first four years of his life. Kids' birthday parties are expensive and exhausting, not to mention messy. But the kidlet had a great time, and scored major quantities of these, which he's very happy about, so what can a frazzled mommy do? Eat cake, of course!

cooking tips from nina

When steaming tamales in a bamboo steamer, make sure you have enough water in the saucepan to keep it from boiling dry. Otherwise, you'll have an interesting little science experiment on your hands: high heat+hot metal+flammable organic material...

well, you get the picture.