Archive for the ‘General’ Category
Musings From The Couch
Author: utbt26 Apr 2010
The intermittent rains means only one thing in our household and that is Mieja falling sick. Usually the duration in which she is sick is timed between a Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. The whole weekend I would carry her around like a joey and by Monday she would return to school healthy and me exhausted. This time she fell sick on a Monday afternoon. So I was happy for the small blessing.
Overall it was a pretty smooth sickness, we wrapped it off in two days with just one throw up and we vegetated on the couch and read plenty of books. When her temperature spiked she would have her medicine and pass off and I would catch up on my homework and reading work.
Beginning of every semester is time of glee for me. I thoroughly enjoy the process of signing up for the classes I need to do, bidding for used text books on Ebay and such. There is such a kick in getting a three digit dollar price text book for one sixth the price! Now that I am done with all my advanced level courses, I have a few general education courses that need to be done. I was said that I have to have at least one unit in PE(Physical Education). I tried my best to get PE waived in lieu of my stint as a yoga teacher. I am certified and I taught yoga for a good one year. But it did not fly. So I signed up for a Stretch and Flex televised course. Yep, ‘technology has improved sooo much-a?!’ that now I can do a PE course without being on campus. BTW, from my view from the couch, they can stretch a little bit more and flex a bit more 
Some of the books that earned Mieja’s approval(A.K.A read a 100 million times) are below.
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Tacky Goes to Camp by Helen Lester, Illustrarted by Lynn Munsinger. What is not to like about a goofy penguin?! Tacky lives in the Antartic with friends Goodly, Lovely, Angel, Perfect and Neatly. The names are apt and pretty much describe the bird. The other penguins go by the book and pack trail mix, first aid kit, blanket, hiking clothes and flashlight for their camping trip and our bird Tacky packs three boxes of cheese pizza with extra cheese, roller skates, cookies and a portable TV. On ‘Sleep Under The Stars Night’ Tacky accidentally ends up saving the other birds from a scary polar bear. Tacky is a laugh riot and there is an entire series based on him. |
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Animals Should Definitely NOT Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett, illustrator Ron Barrett. Come on admit it! The title hooked you guys in right?! Inside are pictures of a porcupine with quills ripping through his shirt, a snake slithering away from his pants, a giraffe with a multitude of ties to cover his long neck, a moose with his suspenders tangled in his antlers and so on. The book has pictures on one side and simple text on the other side. But for the most part I didn’t even read the text. We just looked at the pictures and burst in to giggles. I am not able to get out of my mind the picture of a hen trying to figure out how to lay her egg through her pants |
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I’m Not Cute by Jonathan Allen. On the cover picture is an owlet, with its fluffy feathers and huge eyes and my reflex was, “How cute is that! But the owlet claims that he is not cute?! I have got to read this book.” This is the story of owlet who wants to stroll through the forest and he thinks that no one will bother him because in his head he is mighty scary. But owlet is irritated because even his predators end up giving him squeezy hugs because of his over the top cuteness factor. He claims that he is NOT cute and that he is a “huge, sleek hunting machine with big see-in-the dark eyes”. But no one listens to him, except for his mama. Mama acknowledges that he is not cute and that his is every bit of the “huge, sleek hunting machine with big see-in-the dark eyes” he claims he is. But owlet is stumped, he did not want to hear this from his mama. He rolls on the floor kicking his legs claiming that he is cute. Mama gives him a great big hug and tucks him with a kiss good night saying that she thinks he is super cute for a “huge, sleek hunting machine with big see-in-the dark eyes”. |
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Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney. This is the story of a baby llama in a red pajama who is tucked in for the night by his mama. Mama llama thinks all is well and is tidying up the house. But baby llama refuses to sleep, he calls for his mama every two minutes. Much like a scene from our household. This book has a profound effect on Mieja. After she is tucked in, she now hollers ‘Mamma’ instead of her usual, ‘Ammmmmaaaa’. |
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Goldilicious by Victoria Kann. Pinkalicious, a girl in pink flowing dress, ensemble complete with a crown and a wand. Her imaginary pet unicorn, Goldilicious . Her brother whom she pretends is a mean wandering wizard. Her parents whom she pretends to be mean sorcerers. Tea party pretend play. That is it. To be frank, every time I read it, I try hard not to frown or to be a spoil sport. But it is super duper hit with the girls. |
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My Working Mom by Peter Glassman, illustrated by Tedd Arnold. Now, this book, me likey mucho and I think it deserves a spot on Saffron Tree. So hop over to ST to read the full review. |
Observations of a Five-Year-Old
Author: utbt22 Apr 2010
Chula is now in to reading. If she sees print, she HAS to read it. It has become a basic need for her. So I leave the child to dress herself for school or bed, what does she do? She is sitting there and reading labels on her clothes. This led to her observation, “Made in China??!!! Hmmm…. It looks like the whole world is made in China.”
Guess The Book
Author: utbt16 Feb 2010
See I simply cannot resist
Email, comment by Friday, 4.00AM PST.
And the clue is……
GuessBookFeb2010
Updated to add:
The answer is: THE GREAT INDIAN NOVEL by SHASHI THAROOR
The Print Lover nailed it. She says “Vyasa + Pillaiyar = Mahabaratha Twitter bird -> Shashi Tharoor?” And exactimo!
I have read Mahabaratha by many different authors and that was instrumental in me picking up this book. It took me a few pages to understand the allegory, but I was proud and pleased as plum that I did it all by myself without running to Wikipedia. Though I had to take a break from it I found it compelling enough to return to it. So far a good read.
‘Tis A Gift To Be Simple
Author: utbt3 Feb 2010
So here is the song in the girls’ voice.
Guess What Book
Author: utbt27 Jan 2010
I am reading currently.
Here is your clue and the condition is, YOU CANNOT GOOGLE.
Come on, be true to your heart.
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WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
====================================
Send your replies to me by email utbtkids@gmail.com.
You have till Jan 29, 2010 4.00AM PST
Edited to add
Law abiding citizens, the answer is
1984 by George Orwell
113 ppl have viewed this post. I get nada emails. So I take it tha ALL of you googled to find the answer. What honest citizens I say!!
4.1
Author: utbt8 Jan 2010
It was business as usual at work. We had just put the younger children for their AM nap, the older ones were engaged in work. The loud noise made me think that there was action going on in the elementary upstairs. But it dawned on me with the sudden movement. Earthquake.
We did the usual emergency routine and thankfully we were able to return to the usual routine, if you could call it usual and go on about your routine.
4.1 is relatively small. Probably mother Earth just sighed, stretched or sniffed when compared to the wrath she has unleashed in many places. But something being with children changes the whole deal. Mind being a monkey jumps and leaps and leads you to places where you don’t want to be. Children, though they do not have enough life experiences to fear the what if, are pretty acute on latching on to adult emotions. For the rest of the day they were a bit off put.
I am with Chula and Mieja in the same campus. So a quick peak through the window was a HUGE blessing. I did not fear their safety, for they are in the best possible care. But just their smiling faces soothed me, chasing all the unspoken fears. As soon as I could, I called R and we touched base on our family’s emergency routine. He said, ‘I will come and get you and the kids.’ And we had a good laugh.
[tags]earthquake[/tags]
6 Jan 2010
Chula: Amma, tell me about Lebanon.
Me: Errr…Lebanon?
Chula: I want to know about Lebanon.
Me: Okay, why do you want to know about Lebanon?
Chula: Because, I don’t know about Lebanon. That is why I want to know about it.
(Told with a sigh, eyes rolling, hand shaking and intonation as if explaining it to Rainman)
Me: But I don’t know anything about Lebanon
Chula: Googal it amma.
Me: What it?
Chula: Googal it.
Me: What is google Chula?
Chula: It is something that lives in our computer and when we ask a question it tells us an answer.
So we know about Googal, inspite of not introducing Googal formally.
[tags]google[/tags]
New Addition To Our Family
Author: utbt23 Dec 2009
It is a boy.
Yes, it is. Chula and Mieja have named him Harry, thanks to all the Harry Potter stories I tell them. In fact I am surprised they didn’t want to call him Hagrid, because Hagrid is their true love.
Okay more about Harry. He is red. He is a beta. He swims in his gallon tank with blue stones and a fake plant. He eats his own fish food flakes. Oh I forgot, Harry is temporary. He is the school pet and we are taking care of him during winter break.
This Harry fella seems to be an extremely lazy character. He is A.L.W.A.Y.S sleeping. I mean the dope doesn’t even eat the pinch of fish food flakes we give him every couple of days. I say it is laziness purely from the boy factor. If I put a fish couch in that fish bowl, he would happily roll in it. But R begs to differ. He says Harry is ‘dull’ because Harry is constipated. Yes, you all heard me right. ‘Beta can become constipated from dried fish flakes and must be fed freeze dried blood worms’ says Google-baba. So R is pushing for freeze dried blood worms. Oh, boy R is getting a little too attached to Harry. May be he thinks Harry being a boy and all will some how restore the estrogen <-> testosterone balance in the house.
R has taken up the duty of feeding and cleaning Harry. Today morning while cleaning the tank, R says, “I don’t want to dump the dirty water from the tank in to the toilet. If Harry falls in to the toilet, we have to get him before he swims away and it might be tough.” I had to set him right by telling him that if Harry falls in to the toilet, we flush him down and get a new red beta from PETCO and name him Harry and if there are plans of diving in to the toilet there is no ‘WE’ involved.
Chula and Mieja thought that Harry would come swimming to the glass wall of the fish tank and kiss their finger tips from the other side of the fish tank. Now they are getting a grasp of reality. They look at the tank, prod it, tap it and exclaim, “Oh, Harry you are still alive??! Were you sleeping?” and get on with their lives.
So folks, put your hands together for Harry Belldrin Tomas (hm-hm, hm-hm, hm-hm, that is what the girls have christened him) and I am hoping Harry does not die on me, not when I am “taking care” of him.
PS: So……. how many of you fell for the ‘New addition’ post title?
iPhone
Author: utbt16 Nov 2009
I am the proud owner of an iPhone. The process of acquiring the device itself will fill a post, but this post is not about that. It is about how the iPhone is doing what exactly I wanted it for.
It has crashed five times in the small two month time window I have owned it. In fact this is the second iPhone in two months. I had to return the first one and get a replacement because the first one simply died and didn’t want to wake up. As fate would have it, I had it in my pocket and was lying on the floor with partial weight on the phone for a good five minutes. I thought that I had crushed the phone to death and had nightmares of Apple voiding the warranty. But the Apple genius(?!) assured me that it was not me but the phone. But, crashing and giving me heart attacks, that is not I wanted the iPhone for.
Of course I must mention that as a cell phone, the voice quality sucks. I always think that the person calling me is underwater or travelling through an unending tunnel. It has dropped calls or sometimes it would directly go to voicemail and the voice mail notification would come a good three hours later. The tops was the time I was standing in our school lobby talking to our receptionist holding the phone in my hand. My colleague calls me from our playground, she was a good 10 feet away but we were within each others eyesight, to ask me to get something from the classroom before I joined her in the playground and I did not get that call. So she had to yell loudly, ‘Hey, you with the phone that does not work. Get X from the class.’ That sure did the trick. (That said, my colleague also owns an iPhone and she swears that she prioritises her pay check as rent, iPhone, kids, food.) But, to loose calls and be out of reach while owning a sophisticated 3G piece of technology, that is not I wanted the iPhone for.
I do my homework on the phone while my class kids are napping, I save my drafts and email it to myself and make the corrections while at home. I take pictures of my Chula and Mieja (also small video clips) and send them immediately to extended family, which is greatly appreciated. During extremely dry class lectures, I whip the phone out and secretly browse the Internet, thaks to open wireless connectivity in educational institutions. I also do the physically-present-but-mentally-disappearing routine while some one is boring me to death. I get the phone out to check something and when people have shifted focus, I slowly walk a couple of feet away. Voila escape from the harrowing situation! Me being an direction challenged person, the step by step driving directions and telling me exactly where I am is extremely convenient. Definitely pluses and yes some anti social behaviors, but yet these are not what I wanted the iPhone for.
I am checking email and my blog stats all the time. I go in a non stop loop-> yahoo -> nothing -> gmail ->nothing -> blog stats, who is on -> nobody -> yahoo and so on. But the problem is I neither get that many emails nor blog hits a day. So it is kind of a bummer. But giving me the realization that I am not that popular, that is not what I wanted the iPhone for.
I teach Tamil in a language school on Sunday mornings. It is Aug – June school, once a week on Sundays for 90 minutes. It starts at preschool level and goes all the way up to high school level. It is a well run outfit and has ties with the school district and the high school students get foreign language credits for the Tamil classes they take with this organization. I teach first grade and my class has six children between the ages 9 – 12. The first class the only word I heard was B.O.R.I.N.G. It was boring to read, it was boring to write, it was boring to make conversation, it was boring to open the book. Mere existence was sooooo B.O.R.I.N.G for these kids. Of course come class three, all but one were totally in to it, they were eagerly participating doing home work and playing along. Yes all but one I repeatedly got the answer from the said child that the parents did not get my email updates and hence the child was unable to perform the quota of homework. Initially I would note down the mom’s email ID again and come back home to check for typos and by the time the next Sunday comes it was still, “But my mom did NOT get it”. After the iPhone, I heard the story about the mother not receiving email, I asked child to write down email ID on a paper, I whip my iPhone out and check the email and ask child to explain what ever is going on. The said child’s jaw dropped, not because of being caught red handed but because of the iPhone Ahhh my coolness coefficient, it just sky rocketed in seconds! That is exactly what I wanted an iPhone for and it is working ))
PS:
Said child still does not do home work. “I lost my hand writing note book” is the recent excuse.
The Apple genius swears that the new software on my iPhone WILL take care of the call dropping and battery problems. At the end of the s/w upgrade, I lost my data yet again. But I am skeptical about the improvements I was promised.
I live in constant fear of dropping the phone or spilling water on it.
I wear clothes without pockets to force myself to leave my iPhone in my purse in order to cure myself of the iPhone addiction.
My right index finger is slowly becoming a hook, thanks to typing papers on the iPhone.
I have promised myself that I will not touch that iPhone other than to check directions while I am driving.
But COOL, that I am baby!
[tags]iPhone, iPhone problems, Tamil class, dealing with pre-teens[/tags]
If I Were In Harry Potter…
Author: utbt12 Aug 2009
…I would be Ron. Wanting to be something, but having no clue as to what the what is, waiting for something to happen instead of making it happen, dreaming of becoming famous without putting in the required hard work, always behind some one stronger, procrastinating under the pretext of waiting for inspiration, can catch a ball only by luck, buckling under pressure, rarely achieving and reliving the few rare achievements to eternity, putting action before thought.
If want to be like someone in Harry Potter, I would like to be Luna Lovegood. For her unfailing optimism, ability to find the truth no matter how jaded it is, telling the right thing to the right person at the right time (well…. except for the curmple-horned-snorkack bit), loving her dear ones, being totally secure about who she is.
Now, if you are going to think “What in the world is going on with her?”, I am just being my worst critic. Not feeling disillusioned or dispirited. Other than serious Harry Potter withdrawal symptoms, mental health well with in desired spectrum folks
If you feel up to it, indulge me folks.
Take it up as a tag.
Include the HP logo in your post.
Write about whom you currently identify with in Harry Potter.
Write about who you would like to be.
[tags]Harry Potter, Harry Potter characters[/tags]
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