Monthly Archives: October 2010

This afternoon I will take Alexander to UCLA. As Dr. Rosenbaum had promised before he passed, nine is the right age to start wearing contact lenses. Today Alexander will be fit for them. Next week we will pick up his lenses.

I am so incredibly sad, and it makes little sense. This is a wonderful moment for my son, he’ll no longer be the redhead with glasses. Quite an unusual sight at just four months old.

I like being the mom of the little boy with the red hair and glasses. I like looking at him through his lenses, it’s all we’ve known. It’s the way I see him.

I’ll make this a wonderful day for myself as well. I won’t let Alexander see that I’m not as excited as he is.

Yesterday after school Jane wanted to stay so that she could watch the boys football game.

Thus far she’s been the girl who played football with the boys, but apparently she is now the girl who watches the boys play.

It’s uncomfortable when you enter a new phase of development. We’ve given her a great toolkit, I hope she continues to use it wisely.

You might have seen some video from me this weekend featuring Jane’s Addiction or Tony Hawk. Then you might have been scratching your head wondering why Jessica is at a backyard party where Tony Hawk (and friends) are skating on a half pipe, while Jane’s Addiction performs. It did not happen because Tony Hawk sent me a handwritten invitation. I was not there because Perry Farrell knocked on my front door and said, “Please, I can’t possibly perform without your presence.” I was invited as a guest of Activision.

Tony Hawk is pretty passionate about making skate parks available to kids everywhere. He talked about using his influence to help build skate parks in neighborhoods where kids don’t have a place to play. It’s easy to want to contribute to his foundation, and I was thrilled to be at an event that built a skate park for kids in Long Beach. He talked about how the skate parks all closed down in the 80′s because of insurance costs, and that he was so bummed because he didn’t have a place to play. Which makes sense, because I remember kids skating in empty swimming pools, and in sewer pipes that were waiting to be installed. Kids skated everywhere.

But then kids started grinding on stairwells, and signs started popping up. NO SKATING. And suddenly skating was a crime.

Tony Hawk and Activision have a new game coming out in a few days. It’s called Tony Hawk Shred (TH Shred), and like TH Ride you can skate through all the places where no one wants you. I’m pretty sure that Shred is the only way I’ll be able to ride a skateboard around New Orleans, and I’m absolutely certain that it’s the only snowboarding I’ll ever do (I tried, snowboarding made me cry).

At this fabulous party I was lucky enough to try Shred. Basically it’s like Tony Hawk’s Ride but everything is bigger and better. The kids love it, and so do I. The only thing is that it does make noise. There’s a thump thump thumping that is only allowed after 9am in this house. On the good side, they work up a good sweat playing.

I didn’t get any pictures of myself or Jane trying out Shred, they were all super blurry, but I was able to snap a few of my friend Lolita’s boys. They had a blast.

Now, for the passive aggressive part of the post. I asked the folks at Activision if they would want to do a giveaway for the game. And they said, “no”… which I think we all know means “maybe”. Right? I’m pretty committed to pestering them endlessly until they agree that giving one of y’all a copy of this game would be the smartest PR move ever. Clearly when people want to know about good PR they ask me. Right?

Right.

The game goes on sale October 26, and it’s an awful lot of fun.

When Tony Hawk invites you to Ron Burkle’s house for a little skating demo and Jane’s Addiction.

Perry Farrell was charming as ever

Tony Skated for everyone

And I’ll be posting about the whole experience another time, hopefully I’ll find a way to get at least one reader one of Tony Hawk’s new games.

It was just fun. Lots and lots of fun.

Last night we had a familiar issue.

It’s all fine and funny, because (as usual) I didn’t see the rat. Mr. G. did. Let’s face it, over and over again my husband is seeing rats scurrying into and out of the house.  I have seen just one, and it was very very dead.

My friend Emily is on her way in for a visit, and we had this little interaction.

See?! It’s all still a joke. I haven’t actually seen the rat. I’m delighted to tease Mr. G. a little bit, and ask how often he hallucinates.

Until….

I spent the early morning hours at PetCo and the grocery store buying food, litter, toys, and a litter box. Then I spent the later part of the morning at the animal shelter trying to hold back tears.

You see Mr. G. told me last night that he was going to come home from work today and see a cat in the house. I do not like cats. I do not like kittens. I do not enjoy animals as a rule. I like poodles, they’re like their own kind of animal, sort of needy and snooty all rolled into one lump of really smart dog.

Now I’m standing in the cat house at the local pound. There must be fifty kittens all cute and mewing. I hardly look at them. I can resist the kittens, right? I was going to go pet some cats, but I realized I needed a strategy. I was there to look only for female cats who were already spayed. I’d like to find one that’s under five years old. That leaves me just seven cats in the shelter.

I petted them all. They’re all sweet, they’re all cuddly (well, except one), and when it came time to make a decision I just pointed. I had to get out of the area. Between the cacophony of barking dogs, mewing cats and the unbearable stench of urine, I was totally overwhelmed and needed to run home.

As I bring the unnamed cat home and take her out of her carrier I decide to snuggle her into my neck. Because animals need snuggling, right?

I forgot (don’t ask me how) that cats hate dogs. Junior trotted into the room, four sets of claws shot into my neck and chest, and I tried with all my might to stay calm, all the while thinking to myself how the fuck did this become my life.

She’s cute, but she did pierce my skin. In about six places.

Dedicated Rat Killer (we hope)