A post five days in the making...

Blogger has been grumpy about uploading pictures again, and when one only gets a few minutes a day to do things on the computer, that can be very, very frustrating.

At any rate, this pic is a picture which is not of my new built-in bookcases. They won't be done until after Christmas (but I've been assured they will be very nice when they finally turn up). Never get two perfectionists working on a project together, that's what I'm thinking.

I have asked why we absolutely had to move the old bookshelves out, and dismantle the entertainment center, and paint the wall before the wood was cut and ready to install. Strangely, I don't quite get an answer to that. I'm reminded of one of my favorite scenes from Mad About You when Helen Hunt is trying to get Paul Reiser to say he was wrong about something and all he'll admit to is "It's not the most right I've ever been." So the tree went up against the lovely brown wall and the echo is distracting, but it's just for a few more weeks.

(My other favorite scene from that show was when her sister was begging her to make some gravy. "But what are you going to eat it on?" "A plate.")

The boys in the pic are being hypnotized by this new show on Noggin called The Upside Down Show. It's technically for preschoolers, but it really is hypnotic. These two Australian guys pretend to do things, pantomiming and making their own sound effects, and pretend like they are being controlled by a remote control you're holding. They'll both fall down and say "Please don't press the stumble button." Oliver laughs and laughs. For a preschool show, it's surprisingly watchable. It's not as hypnotic as this, however:




I found a few other pics on the camera when I was downloading that shot of the not-bookcases, pretty old ones, too. I've been camera-neglectful. At any rate, my kids are both Lego Maniacs. If they had no other toys than Legos they'd be perfectly content. My eldest can build anything out of Legos. I've shown a few of his previous constructions before (and now I'm not digging up the links now, no time!). This one is an ATST. This is not a kit, this is his own design (the pieces come from other Star Wars sets, which is why the colors are mostly correct).

This one is Luke Skywalker on a speeder bike. Some of the colors are off, but the overall design I think you'd have to admit is very nearly spot-on.

And here is the boy in question, on his ninth birthday, with the pumpkin pie he asked for rather than a cake.