I’m not reading much for fun and/or book reviews, nowadays, because i’m too busy giving presentations, teaching, studying, and paying attention to Steve & the kids… Argh. Maybe I’ll get a chance over the holiday breaks? (she says, wistfully.)

(i should start a category called, “Not Reviews,” eh?) And of course I almost missed out on posting about the Smart Chicks Kick It Tour (the real reason they sent me the books gratis). (Please see disclaimer, mercy bouquet.)

Ladies, rock on. I will read all of your books, eventually. And, dear readers, you can start with their blog and go from there!

Now. I just finished reading “The Hunger Games” about half an hour ago (the first book in Suzanne Collins’ trilogy). It scared me and I loved it. What more can you ask for on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Portland?

ttfn,

wm

Reading (and just looking at longingly):

to her dad and me, in the car on the way home from taekwondo: “The first fifty years of marriage are the hardest.”

randomly, daily: “I’m, like, what the cuss?”

after school today: “Everyone at my school is named Hannah, Emma, Chris or Zach.”

and this one remains my favorite, from Wacky Girl to her dad: “You will never understand the life of a woman.”

no, he never will, baby.

“You must live for something higher, bigger and better than you.”

listening to 2Pac, “Me Against the World,” and doing my LifeMap homework. My life, as illustrated by books. i don’t want to go too deep, but i want to go wide. after five-plus years of blogging, i’m not so into the self-assessments. too much navel-gazing. I’ll do it anyway.

“i got nothing to lose/
it’s just me against the world, baby…”

— Tupac Shakur

lie. he had everything to lose. talk about self-reflective, my Lord, this album — so brilliant. You know the poet Nikki Giovanni has a THUG LIFE tattoo on her arm? she does.

i have everything to lose, too (cuz me and 2Pac, so much in common, right?) — i want to get books to as many students as possible as I can before my time is up, and sometimes, that altruistic mission, which sounds like a cakewalk, right?, becomes such a struggle. wish me luck. have a great week.

— wm

And then there’s this oldie-but-goodie. You know I have to put this on auto-replay whenever I’m writing. I esp. love when she punches him in the nose.

Edited at 10:14 p.m. to say… Homework is done, three days ahead of time! Now I need some sleep. have a really superfine week, y’all. See ya when I see ya. Leave me some comments!

“Now is the time to understand / That all your ideas of right and wrong / Were just a child’s training wheels / To be laid aside / When you finally live / With veracity / And love.” — Hafez, poet (1315-1390)

this was the poem for yesterday, September 11th:

Dance

— Rumi

Steve sent me this clip along with a note that said, At least I’m not this bad!

He’s wrong, he is. Cuz when our girl was waiting for the bus, for her first day of middle school, with a bunch of kids she has never seen before in her life, Daddy wanted to check on her. So he dropped off her brother, buzzed back home, then, uh… yelled out to her…

“HI HONEY, I, UH, FORGOT SOMETHING! HAVE A GOOD FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!”

She loves him so.

“it’s the first day of school/
and the boys are watching…”

putting myself to bed after Wednesday night class (four hours, all scintillating.) (no, i’m not being “sarcastic,” i mean it.) is going to be really really tough.

so it’s now 11:16 p.m. and i have to go to bed! OK??? OKAY!

ps Steve’s blog post about Dylan got hijacked by a Japanese blog today and for some reason that just made my day. yeah, i’m easy to please.

… and if you know the Wacky Family well, you know that means one thing:

Pound Cake.

and a whole lot of fried potatoes.

bon appetit!!!

wm

private note to steve: still love you. xoxoxoxoxo me.