A system of tubes

Tonight we explained to Wild Thing how choking works. Two tubes in your neck, one for breathing, one for swallowing, etc. This explanation followed a minor incident in which WT got some carrot stuck in his throat while waving his head around madly at the table. Coughing ensued.

I finished my explanation and asked WT if he understood that his food had "gone down the wrong way."

"Yeah. I think that piece of carrot went into my arm."

The Triumphant Return of the Friday Random Ten

1. "Lonely Weekends"--Charlie Rich, Best of Sun Records V. 1.
2. "Manha de Carnival"--Bola Sete, Tour de Force.
3. "I'm an Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)," Sonny Rollins, Way Out West.
4. "Lambori"--Batman Samini, downloaded from this marvelous site.
5. "A Lover Sings," Billy Bragg, Back to Basics. Ah, back to college.
6. "Eighth Cognition/All You've Left," Six Organs of Admittance, School of the Flower.
7. "We and Dem"--Bob Marley & the Wailers, Uprising.
8. "Did it for Me"--The Spectacular Fantastic, The Spectacular Fantastic Goes Underground.
9. "Charley Patton Songs"--Gomez, How We Operate.
10. "Mexican Special"--Rebirth Brass Band, Feel Like Funkin' it Up.

Love and geography

Wild Thing is increasingly fond of describing his love for us in spatial terms. "Daddy? I love you all the way to Australia!" Very nice, and of course reminiscent of this book. Of late the comparisons have become charmingly incongruous. "Mommy? I love you all the way to the top of that tree. And, all the way to Pluto!"

OK, let's get back on track

The last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy, between midterms and visits to our exploratory trip to our soon-to-be new home near the research university where we'll be next fall. But we do have a few Wild Thing tales kicking around, if I can remember them long enough to hack them out here in a timely way.

The most telling, to me, is the new sympathy ploy. On Friday night, Overworked Spouse and I were watching a movie downstairs when Wild Thing (who sleeps upstairs) walked in distraught and frightened. I asked him if he'd had a bad dream; he nodded.

"What was it about?"

"Flies."

OK, then. That insect unit at school is sinking in, I guess. But he calmed down with a bit of snuggling and was able to get back to sleep quickly.

He clearly remembered the snuggling part better than the dream itself, though. For the last two nights he's been coming out of his bedroom before he falls asleep. "I had a bad dream, daddy," he says, not looking the least bit frightened.

They learn quickly, don't they?

Attack of the blowfish

On Saturday we visited a lovely public market in North Vancouver. It's a lively place, full of food stands, wee shops, and vendors dispensing free balloons to the kids. Wild Thing was riding atop my shoulders, red balloon held high, when Overworked Spouse spotted a fish market. "WT, do you want to see a real live crab?"

"Yeah!"

Approaching the counter, we heard a loud pop overhead. Sadly, Wild Thing's balloon had met its only natural predator--the carcass of a blowfish (or several, actually) bedecking the entryway.

There was some sadness, but it was worth it in my view to hear my son say resignedly, "I had a balloon, but then a blowfish popped it."

Learning new things

Did you know that rats can swim up sewer pipes into your toilet?

Well, neither did I, until about 20 minutes ago.

Eeeeeewwwww!

Truth in advertising

Sign seen on the back of an early-90s Honda minivan:

"For sale, $2,000. Sweet ride."

Standards for sweetness are slipping, apparently.