... Thanksgiving dinner was at our house this year, so my mom had much cooking and baking to do. I tried to help bake a pumpkin pie. But apparently, to make pie crust, you need to sift the flour first. My mom pulled out the sifter and it was all rusty inside. We debated for ten minutes over whether or not it would get rust in the pie. We decided it would. So I went out with my sister at 11pm to find a flour sifter. (Luckily, our 24-hour supermarket carries that stuff.)

Dinner itself was pretty small, just my family and just one set of grandparents. (We learned long ago that mixing grandparents was like mixing ... whatever two household items always combine to make those science-project volcanos.) Our dinner conversation sounded like a holiday rendition of Abbott and Costello's Who's On First? routine.

Grandma: Did you see Carol Channing on TV yesterday?
My sister Christina: Who's Carol Channing?
Mom: Ooo, I hate Carol Channing.
Grandma: You saw her on TV?
Mom: No, I'm glad I didn't see her.
Christina: Who is she?
Mom: She's like Judy Garland. She sang that song...
Grandpa: She never stood a chance against Judy Garland. Judy Garland will go down in history as one of the greatest singers of all time.
Christina: Who is she?
Grandma: She dances all around. Oh, she's so limber. I love it.

Tuesday, November 26, 2002

I went to a children's event at a public library today: Jazz singer Al Jarreau read aloud a book called Charlie Parker Played Bebop, by Chris Raschka. It was cool as anything to see the reading. It was more like a performance. He be-bopped through the book, singing all the right trumpet sounds.

But afterwards, a co-worker and I were supposed to meet people -- Verizon was funding the event. We were supposed to meet Verizon people. Maybe they could give us money. A local children's author was there. We were supposed to meet her. Maybe she could appear at one of our events.

Instead, we both bolted without really saying much of anything but the bare minimum to anyone. Sure, we said our thank-yous and all that. But we didn't exchange any business cards with anyone or really get into a conversation.... I just don't like to disrupt people who are having a good time with my awkward, half-hearted attempts to get something from them.

I was feeling clueless since the event began, anyway. I didn't know who Al Jarreau was before I got there. And apparently, neither did the kids. Before he began to read the book, he asked the crowd of 100 small children: "Do you know who Charlie Parker is?" They responded angelically in unison: "Youuuu..."

Monday, November 25, 2002

Humans. We think our little squabbles are soooo important. But really, our island could sink at any time.

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