Infants can't blow their noses. This, of course, you realize only after you've had a baby, and only in the middle of the night when you've already been up for hours holding the baby in your arms at an incline to clear his stuffy nose somewhat so he can breathe so he can go to sleep. Obviously, you are not thinking straight but the conditions are just right for a bolt of inspiration (or something like it) to strike. Desperation, as they say, is the mother of improvization.
So, during one such night, when Big N was but an infant, I leaned close to his face as it nestled in the crook of my left arm, lifted my right hand, wrapped my forefinger, middle finger and thumb around a clump of my hair and tickled his nostrils with my soft, no-split-ended hair.
He sneezed.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Some things have changed
Spanish seems to be everywhere now. Instructions for everything on every product come in Spanish as well. Home Depot has Spanish translation of nearly every English word they use (wonder what took them this long).
Shops don't require to sign your credit card slips anymore if the total bill is less than $20. I think I scared the Chipotle check out guy by insisting that I need to sign the slip.
There's no Peter Jennings, no Ed Bradley, no Tom Brokaw, no Dan Rather, no Sopranos.
Within the first week of being here a guy at the grocery store started a conversation and talked about India, and actually knew that there was a language called Kannada. In all the years I'd lived here before, Americans always assumed that for some reason I'd decided to talk about Canada when they'd asked me about my mother tongue. Now someone actually knows about Karnataka and Kannada. He also invited himself over for Dosas and Samosas. Two days later an American who'd spent five years in Pakistan asked for detailed instructions on how to make chapaties, and a neighbor (who I met for the first time two weeks ago) asked to borrow my Indian cookbooks so she can make chicken curries. I'd fielded a lot of requests for information about good area Indian restaurants, but never came across anyone who actually wanted to cook Indian dishes.
There's On Demand TV! I don't know if this has happened to you, but very often, when I switch to a movie channel the chances are pretty good that I'll catch a rerun of a movie. For a few days I unfailingly catch the same movie every time and, most frustratingly, will catch it at exactly the same point every time. With On Demand TV, none of that anymore. The movie will start when I want it to.
Shops don't require to sign your credit card slips anymore if the total bill is less than $20. I think I scared the Chipotle check out guy by insisting that I need to sign the slip.
There's no Peter Jennings, no Ed Bradley, no Tom Brokaw, no Dan Rather, no Sopranos.
Within the first week of being here a guy at the grocery store started a conversation and talked about India, and actually knew that there was a language called Kannada. In all the years I'd lived here before, Americans always assumed that for some reason I'd decided to talk about Canada when they'd asked me about my mother tongue. Now someone actually knows about Karnataka and Kannada. He also invited himself over for Dosas and Samosas. Two days later an American who'd spent five years in Pakistan asked for detailed instructions on how to make chapaties, and a neighbor (who I met for the first time two weeks ago) asked to borrow my Indian cookbooks so she can make chicken curries. I'd fielded a lot of requests for information about good area Indian restaurants, but never came across anyone who actually wanted to cook Indian dishes.
There's On Demand TV! I don't know if this has happened to you, but very often, when I switch to a movie channel the chances are pretty good that I'll catch a rerun of a movie. For a few days I unfailingly catch the same movie every time and, most frustratingly, will catch it at exactly the same point every time. With On Demand TV, none of that anymore. The movie will start when I want it to.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Just a Quick Post...
... to say hello. After two weeks in Europe, we're finally back home. Still out of pocket in terms of a few things (such as the internet). Will be back on line in a few days and hope to have settled in better by then.
In the meantime, thank you for all your comments. I promise I'll respond to them once I'm online.
Cheers!
In the meantime, thank you for all your comments. I promise I'll respond to them once I'm online.
Cheers!
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