Journal of a Sabbatical

November 27, 2000

rainy monday

Quote of the Day:
"We won't know if it's a nor'easter until we determine the direction of the storm." -- a radio newscaster on WBUR

Today's Reading: The Story of the Stone (a.k.a. Dream of the Red Chamber): Volume 3 by Cao Xueqin, Autumn from the Journal of Henry David Thoreau edited by H.G.O. Blake

OK, so rainy is an overstatement. Misty? Drizzly? Misty would be more alliterative. It is dark and dreary, which is also alliterative.

It's 'sposed to snow on Wednesday. Weathermen are salivating already. You can hear it in their voices on the radio.

I went to the supermarket to look for wasabi to spice up some of the leftover mashed potatoes. Not that Thomas' mashed potatoes normally need anything to enhance them, but he gave me enough to feed an army and I need some variety in my all mashed potato diet. Well the only thing resembling horseradish I could find was some kind of lemon horseradish sauce, which looked nothing like wasabi and whose ingredient list sounded nothing like wasabi. I went to Wild Oats where I thought there'd be a better chance of horseradish-like substances. No luck there either. I ended up buying a tiny can of mushroom gravy (the kind without meat stock), which I poured over the mashed potatoes before I put them in the microwave. It actually came out delicious. Not spicy, which had been my goal, but delicious anyway.

What have I got to show for another day at home with my computer? Not much. I didn't even work on the China trip journal, at least not so far today. I finished up the incomplete entries for the past three days (24, 25, 26) so they should make more sense now. Or at least as much sense as I usually make when I'm in this sort of mood. And no, I have not dyed my hair green yet.

The question of the day is "do the kids watch too much TV?" Actually that was the question of yesterday when La Madre called to find out if I had bought Andrea the latest Brian Jacques book (Lord Brocksomething). Andrea had gotten it out of the library and La Madre told her not to read it until she found out whether I'd already bought it for her for Xmas. Since Andrea had already asked me that on Thursday, and I had not already bought it, it's not on my list of books to get her.

This led to discussion of the Madeline L'Engle books I bought on Saturday, but La Madre couldn't remember which ones she'd already given her. How this led to the TV question I'm not sure.

I don't think they watch as much TV as their peers, but La Madre is comparing them to us when we were growing up. Considering that we didn't even have a TV during my early formative years I'm not sure this is a fair comparison. I mentioned that Andrea watches Pokemon and La Madre was surprised. Both kids had previously declared they didn't want anything to do with Pokemon. Personally I think they just don't want any of those stupid plastic Pikachu toys. So, do I think they watch too much television? Compared to what?

My fervent desire to become a toon didn't just spring up out of nowhere. Observation of what gets their attention reveals toons to be much more interesting than eccentric old maid aunts. But does Andrea find TV more interesting than books? I don't think so. She frequently has book emergencies in which an adult has to drive her to a library or bookstore immediately. I can't recall any TV emergencies.

On the other hand, La Madre says Elizabeth watches TV while she does her homework. That works OK in the lower grades, but in 7th grade (eek, she's in 7th grade!) the homework requires a little more attention. I can't watch TV and read a book expecting to absorb what's in the book. (Actually I can't seem to absorb the Latin names of plants whether the TV is on or not.) Maybe today's media-savvy youths can do two things at once and pay full attention to both. Maybe this is good training for talking on the cell phone while driving.

Anyway, I'm not qualified to answer this question as my antipathy toward TV is well known to my family and friends. I just get totally bored by it except of course for Full House reruns and The Wild Thornberrys. I don't even go out of my way to seek out those shows I do like. And I famously loathe watching baseball on TV if I can listen to it on the radio instead. I'd rather watch birds than TV. Even starlings.