bad things come in threes. or fours. (or maybe fives?)

Posted on June 2, 2009 - Filed Under goats, mayalife | 3 Comments

(1) Last week, when I was feeding our neighbor’s cats (they were out of town for a wedding—the neighbors, not the cats) some bozos broke into their house and stole their flatscreen. No shit! The weirdest part (besides feeling extremely vulnerable and freaked out) was that I heard the whole thing. I thought it was [...]

welcome to mayaland’s virtual macabre crawfish feast of death!

Posted on May 30, 2009 - Filed Under adventures, food | 2 Comments

In an apparently ongoing series on eating shellfish, I present to you the Memorial Day Crawfish Feast!

That’s right, we got a coveted invite to a fantastic cajun feast, put on by our once-neighbors, now living in their new digs, but still putting on The Feast, and sweet enough to remember us. Awesome folk, indeed.
But wait! [...]

2 stories, 1 joke, and a song

Posted on May 22, 2009 - Filed Under kiddo life | Leave a Comment

Story #1
Sophie was drawing an huge, scary, creature-looking thing last night and I asked her who it was.
“This guy is the meanest guy in the whole world. His name is Peacock Stink-poot! He has the stinkiest poots in the whole universe! When he poots, they can smell it all the way in China! His eyelashes [...]

unexpected benefit of living in a round house #27

Posted on April 26, 2009 - Filed Under mayalife | Leave a Comment

Paul and I were having a fight one day, I don’t remember what about, something stupid probably—aren’t most of these fights about something stupid? It’s too bad you only realize that after the fact. Anyway, the fight reached a head and we both stomped off dramatically, as one is wont to do in those moments. [...]

yurts: the downside

Posted on April 22, 2009 - Filed Under alternative building | 1 Comment

We love our yurt. I am really glad we decided to go this route.
But no space is perfect in all ways, and yurts are no exception. After nearly four years in ours, here is the unvarnished truth to living in a gigantic, glorified tent.
Sound
If you put up your yurt on a mountaintop, 100 acres from [...]

writing without pencil sharpening

Posted on March 18, 2009 - Filed Under writing | 2 Comments

I was talking with a few writers the other day about ‘pencil sharpening,’ that is, all the stuff writers do when they sit down to work, before they actually write. Of course, these days, why sharpen a boring pencil when you can surf the internet, peruse a favorite forum, read a blog, or check your [...]

bikini power vs. the ratty sweater

Posted on March 6, 2009 - Filed Under mayalife | 8 Comments

First the backstory.
I was the chubby, poorly dressed, semi-ugly girl in my Hawaiian high school. Sad but true. I was NOT one of the slim, popular, Asian girls with their perfect skin and gorgeous thick, straight, hair. They had no butts, and no body hair, while I had plenty of both, and while booty has [...]

happy birthday, sophie!

Posted on February 22, 2009 - Filed Under kiddo life | 5 Comments

Sophie turns 5 today. Wow!
I asked her if there was anything she remembered learning as a four year old, anything that marked being four for her, and she came up with this amazing list. The year Sophie was four she learned how to:

post on a horse and hold the reins with one hand

count to 100

snap [...]

cool felt picture fun for kiddos

Posted on February 19, 2009 - Filed Under making things | 1 Comment

Kids dig crafts. Want to hear that engrossed silence of kids making stuff? Here’s a quick and dirty project:
Get a stack of felt squares from a craft store and a bunch of scissors. Designate a few of the felts ‘backgrounds.’ You might be able to get a few stiff pieces for this. Set the kids [...]

triple chocolate pudding goop, or, this way lies madness

Posted on January 27, 2009 - Filed Under food | Leave a Comment

I have discovered the most amazing-gooey-triple-chocolate-orgasm recipe in this universe. Maybe all universes. Except for that weird one with all the shrimp. Anyway, this is chocolaty madness in a bowl, impossible to resist, instantly fattening, gross and wonderful, in the way eating cake batter can make you feel sinful in the best possible way. This [...]