Chatty, chatty bang-bang

I was given a hard time the other day about not giving enough updates on what the Bunny's been up to.  So, in an effort to remedy that, here's a little catch-up.

...She's becoming super communicative, which is a little surprising since her vocabulary consists solely of the words "mama," "dada," "happy," "up," "uh-oh," "yeah!" (always said that enthusiastically) and "no."  She answers questions, provided the answer is one of the aforementioned words.  And she's got an unexpectedly deep little voice. 

...She's a huge eater (with the chubby cheeks and round belly to prove it).  She loves fruit (grapes, bananas, berries, melon) and quite a few vegetables (notably members of the squash family, which seems odd).  She gobbles up pasta, bread, pancakes, couscous like it's her last meal.  She's not so big on meat, but I suppose that'll come eventually.

...She loves to dance, and she's got a better spin move than I did when Joker and I met. 

...Which should probably be taken with a grain of salt given she toddles around like a drunken sailor.

...She has a cute little head of curly hair, and I have not a clue how to style it.  When I comb it, she kinda resembles Art Garfunkel circa Bridge over Troubled Water.  So I just let it fluff out, and figure eventually the path will become clear.

...She adores - and emulates - everything her big sister does.  It's pretty awesome.  They love to hug and kiss, though I am at a loss as to why, in a house filled with toys, they always have to have the same one. 

...At 16 months, she remains as sweet a baby as you could ever hope to find.  She rarely cries, she loves to cuddle, she is admittedly just a so-so sleeper (goes down easy, but we rarely get to sleep straight through the night) and she makes us all laugh. 

A visit to Baltimore

Just after finishing a show that depicted the absolute worst of Baltimore, I had the good fortune to go there myself and see the good side of that city.  I met a few of my college girlfriends for a get-away weekend, and we ate great food (especially crabs), went to a totally strange art museum, saw the harbors and docks and drank way too much.  Totally fun time!  And Baltimore is a really pretty city with a nice downtown, plenty of live music and friendly people.

If you haven't heard of the American Visionary Art Museum (I had not), you should totally check it out.  Totally cool building, and it's full of crazy weird stuff. 

The Wire

Joker and I just watched finished watching the five-season HBO series The Wire.  It is fantastic.  It might be the best show ever created, and it earned constant critical praise during its run.  The series is a gritty, realistic portrait of inner-city Baltimore, with a large ensemble cast that includes the police, drug gangs, the dock workers, lawyers, politicians and the press.  Each season focuses on a specific area of Baltimore crime, with several storylines continuing through two or more seasons.  I cannot strongly enough suggest you watch it, if you haven't already.  Here are a few reflections on the series:

...There are two single characters with incredible arcs over the five seasons: Bubbles and Omar Little.  We meet Bubbles as a homeless heroin addict and police informant, see him truly hit rock bottom a couple of years later, and after a few bumps in the road he finishes the series having inspired a journalist to do his best reporting, and is on a clean path that'll allow for reconciliation with his sister.  Omar is a homosexual street vigilante who metes his own brand of justice with a sawed-off shotgun.  I can't say his story ends particularly optimistically, but his character is probably the most memorable of the series.

...Every character is seriously flawed (with the arguable exception of Prezbo).  The heroes are not clear-cut heroes; many of the villains have sympathetic qualities, and have endured such shitty circumstances you understand where they're coming from.  Cops cross the line.  Teamsters cross the line.  Politicians cross the line.  Jimmy McNulty, a cop who's essentially the main character, is a total scumbag... but somehow, despite that, I rooted for him through the end.  These characters are not my friends the way the Scooby Gang is, but they make for rich and compelling television.

...Baltimore sure looks like a shit hole.

...Drugs are bad.  Real bad.  And drug dealers?  The lowest of the low.

...The kids break my heart.  Season 4 focuses on four young friends: "corner kids" who are on the precipice of being dragged into the gangster life.  They waver between trying to stay in school and getting involved in dealing, while saddled with crappy, abusive and sometimes homeless families.  They are all good kids, they each end up drawing a different lot, and there's frankly not a lot of hope to go around.  In other seasons, kids commit murder, they beat up homeless guys, they do bad stuff.  And the circumstances that drive these kids to do what they do make my heart ache.

Without putting any more spoilers out there, I can only say that if you have never watched this series, you should.  It's as good as TV - or as any entertainment I've seen - gets.

Culebra, PR

Aunt Jessie sent this postcard to the Bug and the Bunny from her recent trip to Puerto Rico.  Culebra, a small island off the east coast of PR, also happens to be one of Joker and my favorite spots - we had a super fun dive trip there a few years ago.  Good diving, beautiful beach (with tanks), giant pina coladas and a friendly black kitty-cat we called Stringy.  I don't think Jessie befriended the same feline, but the rest of her trip sounded pretty fantastic nonetheless!

Diving in Cozumel

One of the highlights of our Cozumel trip was the diving.  Joker and I got to do four dives, and Columbia Wall was particularly spectacular - among the best we've ever done!  One of the guys on that dive had a camera and was generous enough to share some of his pictures with us.  The photos don't do it justice, but they are a fun reminder of a great trip!

Columbia Wall is absolutely breathtaking - great fish action, beautiful corals and rock formations - it's got the whole package.  The swim-throughs are fun, too!

Apparently the Cozumel reefs have had a recent problem with lion fishes, so divemasters kill any that they find.  Joker spotted this one hiding in a swim-through, and after his execution he became a snapper's morning snack.


Turtles and spotted eagle rays are always dive highlights, and we had the great fortune to see several of each. 

Farewell, My Lovely

Raymond Chandler is synonymous with the hardboiled detective genre.  His protagonist, Phillip Marlowe, is dry, sarcastic, self-effacing and a damn fine private eye.  He's a compelling character, and far more complex and interesting than a first glance may indicate.  The novels are filled with sex, drugs, beautiful women, con men, murder, extortion... and they were written 70+ years ago.

Farewell, My Lovely was Chandler's second novel, coming on the heels of the more highly-regarded The Big Sleep.  The book opens with Marlowe being inadvertently drawn (or, more precisely, dragged) up the stairs into a black nightclub by the enormous ex-con Moose Malloy.  Moose starts some trouble here, ending in the accidental murder of one of the club's managers, when he finds his old flame Velma is gone.  Though the case gets handed over to the cops (on account of the murder), Marlowe finds himself tracking down the owners of the club that had been in the location prior - a white nightclub where Velma's singing was a prime attraction.

After poking around for a day or two, Marlowe gets a seemingly unrelated call from a potential client.  Lindsay Marriott is looking for a wingman - a bodyguard - for a tryst with some jewel thieves.  Despite his suspicions as to the merits of this case, Marlowe takes in anyway. Which, incidentally, is par for the course for him.  He tries to unravel one case, while the other pulls him back in.  Whether or how they are related isn't revealed until the last pages of the book, but the adventure gets Marlowe tangled up with organized crime, the drug trade, a couple of beautiful (potentially shady) women, more murders and more run-ins with Moose Malloy.  It's a fun and fast read, and if you haven't read anything by Chandler it's a great place to start.

Up next: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke.  It's long - over 800 pages - but I get the feeling it's a good one;10 pages in and I am transfixed!

All you need is love

So I think the holiday is inane, but all the same... Happy St. Valentine's Day!

I spent about 3 1/2 hours this morning working with the Bug on her valentines for school - she had to "sign" 20 of them.  Plus, the ones we bought only had 8 envelopes for about 25 cards (WTF??), so we had to improvise the rest by folding them shut and securing with tape.  Luckily, the Bug is in a major tape phase right now. But still - 3 1/2 hours?  Wow.

One day last week, she brought this card home from school.  She made it for the Bunny.  And she signed her name at the bottom.  I think it's awesome.

Unrelated P.S.  The Bunny thinks she knows where her various body parts are.  When you ask where her tummy is, she lifts up her shirt and points at her belly button.  But, when you ask where her nose is, she does the same thing.  Hilarious, but not necessarily a sign of advanced intellectuality at work. 

P.P.S., also unrelated.  So my brother's wife is pregnant with twins, bringing my Sisters-in-law With Twins percentage to 100.  Awesome, right?!!  Also, pretty freaky.  Does this mean I'm totally doomed if I get pregnant again?  Or is it the opposite - too close for comfort is actually within the safety zone - no way I'd get hit, too?  I could argue this one either way.  Nonetheless... Congrats, Shane & Ali!