http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark Ever-Fixed Mark is an unsentimental look at the adoptive process and adoptive parenting. Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:53:52 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en An e-mail chain was circulating among Husband's family this week, with every brother and sister on the cc list. (The family has come rather late to technology: "Awww," Husband said, "our first family thread!") "Your mother wants to get the new Bill O'Reilly book A Bold Fresh Piece of ... http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark/2008/11/15/lean-to-the-left-lean-to-the-right/ This weekend, I was invited to a Halloween murder mystery dinner, and I had to come in a costume that involved a formal gown. I had no idea how I was going to pull it off, but then while searching for something else down in the basement, I came ... http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark/2008/11/02/miss-scarlett-in-the-bedroom-with-a-needle-and-thread/ Or maybe just squirrels in ghost costumes? Happy Halloween! http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark/2008/10/31/i-see-dead-people/ Spoilers for the book and movie ahead. I first read Brideshead Revisited in college. I was attracted to the cover photo of Anthony Andrews standing in front of a big English manor house with a teddy bear, a tie-in with the BBC miniseries. It wasn't quite the romance I had ... http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark/2008/10/28/brideshead-revisited-revisited/ This weekend, Husband and I took the kids downtown for lunch, and afterwards we ordered them ice cream. As usual, I begged the girl behind the counter to measure out only a fraction of a kiddie cup for each of them, but they still got portions with enough calories ... http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark/2008/10/27/a-clear-exception-to-the-five-second-rule/ Yesterday afternoon, Husband and I were working from our home office when I received a broadcast e-mail from the school district. It said that, due to an emergency, the area schools had been put on lockdown, meaning that no students would be allowed to leave, either on bus or ... http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark/2008/10/23/the-lone-gunman/ Husband and I went to see Richard Thompson again this weekend. Once again, he was amazing, although unfortunately we missed half of his patter because he is such a fast talker. It was like trying to parse a foreign language; I found myself repeating the sounds in my head ... http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark/2008/10/21/garbled/ As the election draws nearer, Husband and I are trying our damnedest to avoid political clashes with friends and family, but sometimes a simple question like "For whom are you voting?" leads to an explosion. Husband was told at a wedding last week that he personally will be responsible ... http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark/2008/10/19/one-state-two-state-red-state-blue-state/ I just finished re-reading Rabbit, Run for my book club, and I'm so thoroughly depressed I want to gouge my eyes out. The last time I read it I was in high school; I remembered the plot outlines, and the dismal portrait of Reading, PA, but I had forgotten ... http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark/2008/10/14/things-that-make-me-sad/ The Route 51 bus circulates between our town and two others. In Port City, the end of the line, it loops a figure eight before starting the return route, which makes it seem like you encounter the bus everywhere you turn. For this reason, Husband calls it the ... http://wanderingbarque.com/everfixedmark/2008/10/10/ghostbusters/