Friday, January 29, 2016

TGIFlu


"How are you feeling, Bob?"

"I'm super glad the doctor told me I could go to school today because Fridays are always fun. And I really feel fine! I just have this cough where I cough and cough and can't stop coughing and a scratchy weird voice and I think I might have a fever and maybe the chills, but mostly I'm super good."





Thursday, January 28, 2016

Max and Keith Richards: Both Still Alive


Max does this thing where he looks super dead, floating motionless at the top of his little tank and yet, he's very much alive. Max the Wonderfish is near four-and-a-half-years-old. His life expectancy is two to four years, so he's beating the odds. A year ago, we thought he was gone but he just keeps on partying down in his Sponge Bob Pineapple House. Bravo, Maxy.

P.S. Don't tell Max about Abe Vigoda.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Tall-ish Tale



"Mom? Andy in my class said that he's bionical."

"What does that mean?"

"Part human part robot, mostly robot."

"Wow."

"He says he works for the government and if he tells the secret of being bionical to anyone he could get turned off. Do you believe him, Mom?"

"That's an interesting story, but no, I don't believe him. Do you?"

"I did, but then I realized he can't be a robot because I saw his belly button."


Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Detour


"How many times have you listened to this song this morning, Mama?"

"Maybe three times?"

"Who is it?"

"Chris Cornell."

"How old is he?"

"I think he's my age."

"He's thirty?"

"You're my favorite."

"Just kidding - he's 51?"

"Around there."

"Okay, but do you know anyone who's ever had something amputated?"

"What? What just happened?"

"It's called a subject change, Mom."



Monday, January 25, 2016

Monday Morning


"Seatbelt on, Bob?"

"Yeah."

"It's Monday! You know what that means?!"

"You wear sunglasses all day even inside?"

"Possibly! But no, I'm talking about the other thing!"

"Oh, right. Where you do a list of stuff and I repeat it. Do we have to do that?"

"I will learn a lot of stuff this week!"

"I will learn a lot of stuff this week."

"I will be kind and stand up for the little guy!"

"Which little guy?"

"Any little guy! And I will have fun!"

"I will have fun. Mom? Did you put pretzel sticks in my lunch?"

"Yes! And the last thing! You know what it is!"

"Be The Awesome?"

"That's right! Be The Awesome!"

"Okay, but mom can you not be so loud when we get to the drop off line?"

"Say it for me, Bob!"

"I'll be The Awesome."






Saturday, January 23, 2016

Smacksy Sunday Links



Everything is fine.

This unexpected Q & A is important.

A cautionary tale about money.

Basic survival skills for living a good life.

These women are growing older with style.

And kittens in a teacup.

Happy Sunday.




Smacksy Saturday Photo: Baseball Try-Outs


Today was already try-outs for the Little League season. I'm still driving around with the soccer banner in the back of the station wagon.

Friday


In the 6 years and 8 months that I have been writing smacksy, I have never missed a day of posting. I'm not going to let that happen today. I'm playing beat the clock.

Please enjoy this lovely photo Mr. Rosenberg took in Kauai last month. 

Thursday, January 21, 2016

Uncanny Resemblance


"Look, Mom. I made me as a part robot, part scary guy in a hockey mask, part ghost."

"Nice."

"I call him Robort 2.0. Get it? Ro-bort?"







Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Ceramics


"I love that you made this, Bob. Tell me about it."

"It's an ancient Columbian goat sculpture. How did you not know that?"




Tuesday, January 19, 2016

A Little Help


"Oh, man, Bob!"

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"I have a foot cramp."

"Oh, do you need me to drive?"





Monday, January 18, 2016

Happy Birthday

Photo: Flip Schulke, Corbis

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
- Martin Luther King Jr

Friday, January 15, 2016

The Moves


"Watch, Bob! Karate!"

"Me too, Desmond!"

"That's not Karate, that's The Robot."




Thursday, January 14, 2016

The January Window


Lately, I'll find myself sitting down for a minute and then it's suddenly three hours later and I don't know where the time went. Or I can't be bothered to make small decisions so I wear the same dress everyday. (The black dress pictured above - currently going on 6 days.)

I have done the bare minimum it takes to show up for my life: basic hygiene, keeping appointments, mom-things, a few hours of sleep here and there. I decided somewhere around last Tuesday that I am giving myself a free pass for a few days. I'm not folding laundry or grocery shopping or crossing anything off of any lists. My expectations of myself are extremely low and I am just barely reaching them.

I will pull it all together again, but not today. Today is for phoning it in, drinking coffee, and staring out the cold, January window.



Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Tardy


"Mom! Come on! I don't want to be late again and have to go through the office."

"We won't be late."

"Look what time it is, Mom! Why do we have to live on the edge?"




Tuesday, January 12, 2016

My Mom's Birthday Cake


I told the cake-guy "MeeMee." With an M, I said. As in Mary, I said. "Got it!" he said.




Monday, January 11, 2016

Starman

A still through my lens. 1995.

In 1995, I produced a show we created for VH-1 called Naked Cafe. We traveled around the country, interviewing musical artists as they did non-musical things, usually a hobby or other interest. Sometimes I did the interviewing, more often my partner did the interview while I ran a second camera.

Through my lens I saw The Rolling Stones and REM and Robert Plant and Jimmy Page and Tony Bennett and Joni Mitchell and John Lee Hooker and Sting and Bonnie Raitt and many others. Meeting my heroes was exciting. In person, sometimes these legends were kind and gracious, other times they were horrendous windbags.

Deep into our second season, our booker announced that we would be interviewing David Bowie and that we would be speaking with him while he created a painting. Bowie was my ultimate rock god and I was a superfan. I knew immediately that I would not be able to do the interview myself because my nerves would break me down. I passed the interview to our line producer, Bart, while I opted to operate the second camera.

Bowie was on time to shoot with us at an artist's studio on the westside. I met him at the doorway. As we were introduced, my mind's eye was a flip book of the moments in my life that were given a soundtrack by his music. Driving lonely LA freeways with Heroes. Hearing China Girl for the first time and the song erasing the sting from my third grade playground nickname. Running through a sold out arena to Modern Love shaking the walls. 1984 playing at midnight at a crowded '84 New Year's Eve party in a warehouse in San Francisco. In high school, sneaking a small tape recorder into a midnight showing of Man Who Fell to Earth so that I could carry his speaking voice home with me.

He did not travel with an entourage that day. He enjoyed painting on a giant canvas stretched on the floor as he spoke about different schools of art. He was intelligent and interesting and warm and funny. For those two hours, he was more than a rockstar; he was a little bit mine and he was perfect.

This morning, my husband woke me up to tell me the news of David Bowie's passing. I read the texts and the emails from friends. I thought of my friend Donny, a genius musical presence on the new Blackstar album - for him I knew the loss would be personal. I sat with my coffee and wept. My son asked if I was going to cry all day. I answered that I didn't know. Many of us are pulled into sadness by the news today, with our own living soundtracks and memories of David Bowie. He was a little bit all of ours and he was perfect.







Sunday, January 10, 2016

Smacksy Sunday Links


Being ready.

My favorite part of the New York Times is the Modern Love column. Here is one I loved from November. Here are the links to all of the essays in one place.

Saving the goodness for a rainy day. I love this idea.

How much is enough?

And a puppy taking a bath.

Happy Sunday.



Friday, January 8, 2016

Visions


Tonight, my girlfriend Jessica invited a group of ladies over to her place to make vision boards. If you're not familiar, a vision board sometimes known as a desire map, is a visual representation of what you would like to manifest in your life. I remember making one in my twenties - so long ago that my images of typewriters, heartthrobs, and REM lyrics were pasted onto the board using rubber cement.

This evening we sat around the table and ate and drank things and talked and laughed. We flipped through magazines looking for words and pictures that would best show our hopes and goals. The board I made this evening concentrated on writing for the most part, with family, friends, music, and travel rounding it out. And coffee. Always cups of coffee.

The plan is for the same group to gather again a year from now and bring our boards with us to see what's come to fruition. I'll keep you posted.



Thursday, January 7, 2016

Crossed the Line


"Mom! I can't believe you kissed the top of my head like that in public!"

"It was just a little kiss."

"Well, I guess no one saw, but still."

"People expect that your mom is going to kiss you."

"Maybe, but not so loud."









Wednesday, January 6, 2016

Dark Wednesday


There was a six-hour electric company planned power outage today at Casa Rosenberg. I've been dreading the inconvenience of it for the past few days. It was stormy and dark and raining sideways so I lit some candles. No power? No laundry. No vacuum. Also no coffee maker, no computer, and no heat. 

Our oven is gas so I turned it on and did some baking to warm up that part of the house. (Made this and these.) I played piano. I talked to Karen on my cell phone, made pour-over coffee and hung out with Teddy. I read a book with a flashlight. (This book. Fun.) Clouds and candlelight made the dirty bits of the house invisible. A dark house has never felt so inviting.

It was fantastic.

Contemplating having a "planned power outage" every week. 





Tuesday, January 5, 2016

Under the Weather


"Mom? Since I'm staying home from school with this sore throat, we should go to the movies today."

"Are you kidding? No. We're not going to the movies."

"Can we go out for lunch?"

"No."

"Can I have a playdate later?"

"No."

"You're making being sick no fun at all."



Monday, January 4, 2016

The Worst Place in the World


Mr. Rosenberg has named this cabinet corner in the laundry area, "The Worst Place in the World." We have both had our turns ducking under the cabinet to reach Teddy's bowl or grab something that has fallen out of the dryer, then stood up quickly, slamming our heads into this evil region. resulting in extreme pain, much cursing, and many ice packs. Mr. Rosenberg is 6'4" so he wins the terrible contest of who has murdered the top of their head the most.

Daily, Mr. R conks his head ducking in and out of our tiny, shared bedroom closet. Trees with low hanging branches scrape his forehead. When we moved into this house, we had to take out all of the ceiling fans lest he be decapitated. Still, nothing has caused more pain than the corner of the cabinet.

I have finally ordered baby proofing corners. I haven't ordered them sooner because each time we hit the corner we always think we'll be more careful next time. Also I have been hit on the head too many times to think clearly. In the meantime, perhaps we should start wearing our bike helmets in the house.




Friday, January 1, 2016

Super Model by Day...


Ted is modeling his Christmas present from Bob, a red scarf with a decorative paw print feature. (It's what all the discerning dogs are wearing this season.) Teddy kept the scarf on for approximately eight seconds, removed said scarf with a quick shake, and was then rewarded with a doggy snack.
Happy New Year, Everyone.