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Salamander
Fire Walking

Driving people nuts.
Tue Jul 15 2003

The Socialist had to take me downtown for check-up number 5 at Big City Hospital this morning. Hard to believe, but it's been eight weeks now since I got the new liver, and I've been home for six weeks.

Today's landmark decisions to come out of the follow-up:

- I get to drop two of the three diuretics I'm on
- We'll keep an eye on the pain I've developed in my left side, but it's probably just sub-q sutures getting tugged around more, now that I'm more active
-IGETTODRIVEAGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't have to be chauffeured around in the back seat of a car any more. I don't need to be chauffeured around at all. I get to chauffeur myself. I get to take my brand new little Prius out and DO things. OK, yeah, I know, I still have to take it slowly. But house arrest has finally ended. Party at my place at 10:00. Bring your own booze ... I'm not going to help anyone trash their livers at my new liver's Coming Out party.

Have I mentioned I get to drive yet?

Over the weekend I finally got my hands on the new Harry Potter book. I can't say that I'm the Potty-over-Potter enthusiast that most other readers are, but the books are clever and well-written, and they're usually on discount, making them fairly cheap reads as well. This was undoubtedly the best of the bunch so far. Our Hero finally does something to merit "Hero" status instead of just being in the wrong place at the wrong time and lucking out. I have a nagging little thought in the back of my head that this maturing of H.P. is exactly what Rowling has plotted out for her books, and if this is true she's earned my grudging respect and admiration. Frankly, I only started reading the books because I was convinced that nothing that popular could be all that good, and I needed ammunition to prove I knew what I was talking about. Now I find myself forced to back off that opinion just a tad.

[Rant begins here. For those not predisposed to put up with my nonsense, feel free to skip to the next paragraph.] There are many better books out there for kids to read, and I'll confess to being a bit dumbfounded as to why this on became a big best-selling series. I've had more than one person tell me "well, at least the books are getting the kids to read" and, to be brutally honest, I am not fond of that logic. Books don't get kids to read. Adults get kids to read. Adults who read to their preschoolers at bedtime. Adults who take kids to the library, and first introduce them to the children's section. Adults who see that there is reading material in the house for idle hands to pick up and idle eyes to peruse. Adults who demonstrate a love of reading themselves. In the case of the Potter books, the kids have circumvented the adult route, and used peer pressure to get interest up in reading the books. I fear that will turn out to be a "one trick wonder", and that these kids will not turn to non-Potter books once the Potter craze fizzles. Allimom has the right idea. She's reading Harry Potter to her kids. I really respect that approach, and I suspect that it will reap the highest rewards in the long run. Not because it's Harry Potter, but because it's interactive, it's supportive, it's a reward above and beyond the kid just reading the book to keep up with the prepubescent Jones'.[Rant ends here. It is now safe to resume reading entry.]

Have I mentioned they're letting me drive now?

Sunday I met up with my friend Dr. Twenty Cats, and we went Mall-Ratting (a highly approved form of exercise) at a local super-outlet mall in these parts. To both of our amazement, (hmmm ... should "amazement" be singular or plural in that usage ...?) neither of us purchased anything other than a quick snack. There was a Sack's Fifth Avenue Outlet there, and we did spend a fair amount of time cracking up over the $250 sundresses marked down to $125. OK, OK, there was one jacket there that I did fall in love with, but I was saved from making a very plastic mistake by the fact that it wasn't available in my size, and I refuse to pay that kind of money on something that almost fit. Afterwards, we stopped at Outback Steakhouse, where the only authentic Australian item appeared to be a picture of a kangaroo on one of the promotional cards on the table. One of these days I really must ask one of my Australian friends if they really serve bloomin' onions, shrimp on the "barbie" with Remoulade sauce, and "Australian chips" Down Under. What the heck is Remoulade sauce anyhow? Oh yeah, and the Toowoomba Pasta had crawfish in it. Do they even have crawfish in Australia? Inquiring minds want to know.


One last thing. I may have forgotten to note earlier, but they're letting me drive now.

14 Comments
  • From:
    AnneOakley (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 15 2003
    P~

    ALRIGHTEEEEE!!! Lets go for drive~!!! :o)

    Hugs, AO
  • From:
    Lilith (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 15 2003
    So, do you get to drive yet?

    =D


  • From:
    MoonriddenGirl (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 15 2003
    Congratulations on driving. :)

    I agree with you on the importance of exposing kids to books--early and often. But there seems to be something more involved in making them love it. Looking at my brother and I, we were both raised in a book friendly home. I read voraciously. He reads the newspaper. Sometimes.
  • From:
    Kittydragon105 (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 15 2003
    I agree with your view on getting kids to read. When i was little (mind you, i'm still only 17...) my mother would read to us before bed every night. And that would be the highlight of my day. I would catch my mom reading a huge novel and think 'i'll be like her one day.' And i was an avid reader from the very beginning, and still am. My room is cluttered with masses of books, lol.

    And you don't see that a lot any more. Parents give kids video game systems instead of books. Not that that didn't happen when i was little, but its happening more. I think if everyone read to their kids more, maybe kids would be a little more insightful. And maybe there wouldn't be kids who shoot up their school, to the parents utter surprise.

    Just a thought.

    Jenn
  • From:
    Toxicepiphany (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 15 2003
    I understand that just putting the book in front of the kid won't get them to read. My mom used to read me stories when I was little, but she wasn't always around to read them to me. She worked during the day, and I slept at night, so maybe if she wasn't tired from being "Super-Mom" she could read to me. But, it came down to it that if there was a new book she'd bought, but hadn't gotten to read to me yet, I'd be itching to read it. Eventually, at the age of 3, I taught myself to read, therefore freeing Super-Mom of having to read to me. I could read to her and to myself whenever I wanted.

    Thanks for the ideas on the shirt/dress. I ended up taking a good 8" off the bottom, and cutting off the sleeves and tying them up like a tank-top. Then, I cut up the sides to the sleeves, and made little ties to tie the excess fabric into. I must say, I did a great job for this being my first time making a large shirt into a small that looks nice. :o) I also used the extra material to make a headband and a little scarf for the kitty. He really likes it. I wish. :o) But he tolerates it, so I guess that's the best it'll get.

    By the way...congrats on getting to drive. You didn't seem too excited about it, though. :oP
  • From:
    Oshango (Legacy)
    On:
    Tue Jul 15 2003
    I will let you know. A burger joint? Is it White Castle? LOL!!!
  • From:
    Becoming (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Jul 16 2003
    Yay! So glad you are driving again . . . things seem to be going very well indeed.
  • From:
    Allimom (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Jul 16 2003
    RE: The Outback. I want to know the difference between Alice Spring Chicken and Chicken cooked & served anywhere else in OZ!

    Hey, I heard you get to drive now! KEWL!!!!!!!
    ;^D
    Alli
  • From:
    TraumaMama (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Jul 16 2003
    Yippee on the driving.
    I bought Brice the first Harry Potter book in hope of enticing him to read more. It didn't help, but motorcycle magazines do.
    I have it sitting in my room for when I am done with Trashy Novel.
    Yippee on the driving.
  • From:
    Calichef (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Jul 16 2003
    Congrats on the driving, and the taking of fewer drugs! (she says as she pops her little purple happy pill)

    As for the reading, my mother is an avid (more like rabid) reader. She is never without a book. I, too, love reading, and my son was read to practically non-stop as a child. While he somewhat enjoys reading, it's not the totally absorbing activity for him that I had tried to instill. I think he has a slight dyslexia, perhaps brought on by astigmatism?

    As for the remoulade (I know you knew I would answer this) here is the basic recipe, although it is often varied and great leaps of creative license are common. I, for example, serve it with minced chipotle peppers in it over crab cakes.

    Basic Remoulade Sauce
    3/4 cup mayonnaise
    2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
    1 1/2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
    1 teaspoon tarragon vinegar
    1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
    2 teaspoons drained tiny capers, chopped
    1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
    1 scallion (3 inches of green left on), very thinly sliced
    Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

    Combine ingredients in a bowl. Set aside, covered, in the refrigerator.

    Makes 1 cup (16 tablespoons).


    ~Cali
  • From:
    Jamisinc (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Jul 16 2003
    Yay! Just be careful not to overdo.
  • From:
    MagicWhiskey (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Jul 16 2003
    Have you picked a soundtrack to the Liver's maiden voyage at the wheel?
  • From:
    Shay40 (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Jul 16 2003
    This entry made me hungry.

    Glad your recovery continues apace. I hope the new liver likes its new digs :o)
  • From:
    AQuietEvening (Legacy)
    On:
    Wed Jul 16 2003
    Walhalla pasta and Aussie Cheese Fries are my Outback favorites....yummy.

    I read to my son and read to my son and READ to my son. Between me and my Mom I think he got more books than toys as a young child. He just didn't seem all that interested. I had begun to fear that my book loving gene had not been passed on until.. His teacher at school read The Cricket in Time Square and Harry Potter. Now I can hardly keep him in books and he's quickly going through The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. (A series which sneakily teaches kids SAT words, LOL!)

    I exposed him to a lot, but it wasn't until a book caught his imagination that he started developing a taste for it himself. But I think you're on to something...SOMEBODY was reading to him.

    ~QE
    Did I hear something about you driving?