Sunday, July 30, 2006

If you weren't here, then you missed the party. Okay, the party wasn't actually Here, because it rained here, so we moved to one of Max's favorite restaurants to celebrate his 8th birthday. Holly and Isabella were there and so were Rich and Nick, and Adam and Alex and William, Geoff and Maria and Me. We feasted, and Max opened his presents, and then we went to a park to light up the volcano cake and play the grabby game. It seems that when we plan a party and decorate the night before it causes climatic changes, but fortunately Max was able to overcome his disappointment and go with the new game plan, so I think we can call the event a success.

In a few days, when it is Max's actual birthday, Alex plans to make a second volcano cake... our volcano cakes are original and quite impressive, but we accept that there is room for improvement. We like the dry ice effect, but we need to adjust the natural disaster look. And later this month, when Tutu and Grampa Corm are here, we will make another attempt at having a Mt. Tiki-Soki sprinkler party with tiki bar and pizza... just for the thrill of it.

I enjoy sharing family news, but I am once again confronted with the two-headed beast of frustration: 1. I don't feel like I am reaching very many people, because I am either boring, or people don't care, or people don't know about Chickenblog. 2. I feel like there are some very strong subjects I want to address and I am not really opening up about a number of key topics affecting us. I realize not all subjects should be discussed over the internet. I had hoped that there could be more feedback, more dialogue, more reader response at Chickenblog... and thankfully there are a few people that exchange comments with me. I'm just thinking outloud... life is opening a lot of new and unsettling truths and maybe I just need to go find a couch and talk to someone. Sorry if I've made you uncomfortable, I'll post pictures later.

Questions...

1. Are our personal dreams more important than daily responsibilities?
2. Can a person live *freely* if they depend on other people's resources?
3. Should we be true to our own needs at the expense of others?
4. Does Diet Coke have more caffiene than regular Coke?

4 comments:

Anna Banana said...

Mid-life crisis? Join the uncomfortable crowd. The unexamined life is not worth living (Emerson? Thoreau? Ziggy?), etc. It's exhausting to question the tide of the popular culture, so much easier to go with the flow. Is it kinder to teach our kids to question authority or to teach them to fit in?

Anonymous said...

Re questions #1-3: "The value of a person resides in what she gives and not in what she is capable of receiving." - Albert Einstein, sort of

Question #4: Yes

Aloha

Tarie said...

Hi Natalie! NO WAY are you/your family/Chickenblog boring! I enjoy reading all of your family news and I do care. =) But yes, maybe not enough people know about Chickenblog. I have you listed on my blog, I hope that helps a bit. But I think I have the same problem. =( I want to be able to interact with MORE people through my blog. I would really like to meet new people through blogs. (Boy am I glad I met you and Janece!) I have to go to class now. (I am discussing Anton Chekhov's "In Exile" with my lit students.) I'll post another comment later. =)

P.S. Anna Banana, it was Socrates. =)

Tarie said...

My thoughts =) :

1. They are equally important. I do not think we should sacrifice one for the other. There should be some sort of compromise. I know that is easier said than done. =(

2. NO =(

3. NO. Again, there should be some sort of compromise. I do not think we should sacrifice one for the other. Again, easier said than done. =(

4. I don't know. I never thought of that. Hmmm...