i'm pro-vaccine. and yes, as a matter of fact i DO have a child with autism.

i just watched this. did you? no? watch it. you need to. herd immunity people. polio isn't common in the US anymore because of an extremely successful vaccine campaign. that's why you need to vaccinate. your little precious is not more important than the health of your entire community. the child you choose not to vaccinate puts all children too young to vaccinate at risk. little teeny tiny babies. you're really willing to risk a baby's life rather than risk a infinitesimal chance that your child could have a reaction to a vaccine? that is just insane. i'm pro-vaccine. and yes, as a matter of fact i DO have a child with autism.

nina katchadourian

a blissful rainy saturday morning currently being spent drinking coffee and being blown away by the work of nina katchadourian while the dude and the unicorn melt their beautiful brains with too much cartoonage. take a seat and check out katchadourian's mended spiderweb series then explore her site and her other amazing projects. found via my new favorite blog the jealous curator.

me, you, and every girl you know

do these photos remind you of the best parts of being a little girl like they do me?

friday favorites

some things that held my attention this week, clockwise from top right:

the work of Kiki & Polly had me wanting to time travel and hang out with little kid me for a bit.

oh, god, how i am envying jean lee's mega doily rug.

i've been busily wishing i'd had her idea first. i am in love with the photography/embroidery mash-up work of diffractionfiber.

i'm mesmerized by the photography/illustration mash-up work of johan thornqvist. don't you just want to crawl into one of these pieces and explore for a while?

grow

in an instant i glimpsed the future. as he helped each boy lift the drill and steady their tiny hands. i saw the dude's hands growing, morphing into mitts the size of daddy's. i heard a teenage unicorn's unfamiliar voice as he asked for his turn next. saw the three of them huddled together over the construction of a nearly finished half-pipe. felt a little left out. felt the tug, the heartache of letting go. and just then, the dude---proud, so proud of himself---looked up at me, his little face hungrily awaiting my approval and anticipating the reflection of his joy to shine from my own face. and just like that, the ache lifted and i knew. they will always look to me, our connections somehow reflexive. their hands will grow and change with their hearts and minds, into complete man-sized vessels of possibility. and as they do, i will be there and be as i should, having endured the slow and bold transformation as well. they can only outgrow me if i stop growing along with them. my boys, my dear sweet boys, now i know and i will continue to savor every moment of this motherhood, the one i am loving right now. because this tender phase is short lived for them, and as it fades into their histories i'll have to shed that skin as well. so for now, i will bask in it's holy heat and try my best to build the base for something solid and forever. and i will succeed.

eli doesn't sparkle

the mister and i may have been the last couple in america to see this movie. but on the off chance that we aren't, and you haven't seen it, i highly recommend this beautiful vampire love story to you.

now available as a "watch it now" selection on netflix.

i love these posters

www.musicphilosophy.co.uk

comic timing is everything

we've got these neighbors. think of your worst non-violent nightmare kind of people. white trash, ignorant, filthy, loud, clueless, smoke-through-a-pregnancy, park-on-your-garbage-strewn-lawn types and i swear they're reproducing almost as fast as gremlins. a total cliche. this is the family of Special Powers, of Mud Huggies, of four other children, five barely literate adults and five pit bulls. jealous? thought so. but our whole family loves those filthy neighbor kids, so we bite our tongues and tolerate the adults. our kids, especially The Dude, love playing with them, and because they are always outside and unsupervised, the neighbor kids are always available playmates. lots of them. lots and lots of them.

yesterday, The Unicorn engaged in a conversation with one of the neighbor's guests. he stared intently at the unsightly smeared dirt and chunky-chocolaty-paste covered face of the tiny child as the kid went on and on for the longest time explaining what sort of day he'd had, how many eggs he'd found in the egg hunt, and what game the kids were playing at the moment. The Unicorn appeared to be listening intently, but at the end of the urchin's little-voiced rant, The Unicorn paused for about a half a second and then he yelled excitedly into the Dirt Boy's face, jumping up and down and pumping his arms in time to emphasize each syllable, "WOW! your face is really dirty!" proving that he hadn't actually heard a single word of Dirt Boy's monologue. and then he walked away. like, i'm sorry, kid. i didn't hear anything you said because i was too busy trying to figure out what the fuck is caked all over your face, little man. peace!

as you wish

last night while i went out with friends, tony introduced the kids to *the princess bride. the dude, in all of his three-year-oldness, loved it. my sweet, tenderhearted unicorn, on the other hand, became unhinged emotionally during a few scenes. tonight, i overheard this conversation during their bath.

the dude: why didn't you like the princess* movie?
the unicorn: because it had a lot of hurting.
the dude: oh. you didn't like a lot of hurting?
the unicorn: no. it makes me sad.
the dude: but it's only a story. a book the grandpa is reading.
the unicorn: well, i don't like stuffs that make me sad.
the dude: (with much excitement) but it has sea monsters and sword fights!
the unicorn: i know. but also lots of hurting.

home sweet home

here's the handknit, quilted banner we made for our sweet friend who's paradise bound. hopefully it will help cozy up her brand new home in st. croix while reminding her of how much we miss her. now if that doesn't say "you'll be missed" i don't know what does. trust that every stitch was made with love, L. we're gonna miss you. international knit night anyone?