Igor Fokin, Puppeteer, 1960-1996

We all watched the story of Igor Fokin, a puppeteer street performer in Harvard Square. It was featured on Art Close Up on WGBH. It was one of the first programs to be taped on our wonderful cable DVR, and was viewed a total of 6 times already! Adam was enthralled by the magical puppets and scared by the skeletons. He kept talking about the mouse dying, when it was just a metaphor for Igor dying at the young age of 36 (it is always considered young when they are younger than you). Doug and I were saddened that such a passionate, talented artist had passed before we could have seen him. We will be sure to look for his memorial, the funny guy (or the mouse as Adam sees it), on the traffic pillar next time we go to Harvard Square.

His favorite store - Everything for a Dollar. As for the puppets, he just "lends them a hand".

June 16, 2010 - Edited to add...
This was one of my favorite posts from six years ago!  Since then, we've gone to Harvard Square to see Igor Fokin's memorial.

A reader, Isabel, also contacted me about some videos that she had taken of Igor's son, Genya, performing with some of the puppets. The music alone brings me right back to the program.

Goodbye Mr. Reagan

When President Reagan was elected, I was only 12 years old. My first reaction was that he was going to ruin my teenage years being President. I thought he was a complete buffoon, an actor, and I couldn't see how people thought his oratory was so persuasive. Every time he spoke, I would just roll my eyes and say - what a joke, is this man a simpleton or what? Deficits and Star Wars, the country will run into the ground!!

Now that I am much older, tolerance and understanding do come. I am especially impressed with his visionary economic policy. He really did turn the economy around, producing more competitive companies and killing inflation to this day (although I am alarmed that the price of a gallon of milk just went up to $3.49 at my local store!!). It took a lot of guts and determination to pull it off. Never mind the sheer vision and genius. His foreign policy staging (was Star Wars just a bluff to push the Soviet Union over the edge?) helped to lead the end of the cold war. I remember when the Berlin wall came down, I thought, great, it will go down in history as happening under President George (H.W.) Bush, when in fact, communism just crumbled under its own weight. Bush, in that case, was a bystander in that event, not the cause, but the crumbling was not just from internal forces, US policy did affect it.

When I think back on Reagan, I remember that he was always smiling. Before, I thought he was just stupid and happy. Now I realize that he did inspire the country with his optimism. Not me at the time, I was already a bitter realist. Maybe I would enjoy him better now.

Of course I will never agree with any of the social views of the right, especially when it comes to women (choice choice choice) and science (please use all those discarded embryos at fertility clinics for stem cells), but they do have a better handle on economic issues. Do I think that years from now, I won't have the disdain that I do for President George W. Bush? We'll see, time will tell. It's amazing how your views can change.

6/27/04 - Oh wait, Iran-Contra, how quickly we forget!!
7/07/04 - Ketchup as a vegetable, another good one!!

Things I love about babies (especially mine)

Their sweet breath, especially after nursing, is intoxicating to inhale
Their incredibly soft delicate skin and extra fine soft hair
Their scent after taking a Lavender and Chamomile bath
Edible cheeks, edible everything, yum yum yum
Eskimo and butterfly kisses
Michelin arms and legs with rubber bands around their wrists and ankles,
dimples on their knuckles and elbows
Their tiny toes
Squeals of delight, smiles and laughter
Their emerging personalities
The way they stare into your eyes, not knowing the politeness of strangers
Complete innocence, they know no wrong and can do no wrong
(The lack of misbehavior, talking back, temper tantrums, etc.)
Their absolute trust in you
Their peaceful sleep

Adam's first press release in the Pepperell Free Press

Musical beds - sleeping bliss?

Sleeping with someone you love can create such a feeling of peace and happiness. It is one of the most wonderful things that you can share with someone. When you have a family, there are so many loved ones that can snuggle with. Adam has gotten into the habit of having Daddy fall asleep with him in his bed. Recently he has gotten in the habit of sleeping in all of our beds in the house!! I also end up sleeping in all different beds. When I wake up, I'm sometimes confused.. Where am I? How did I get here? and most often - What time is it? I think I am happier sticking to one bed. Less confusion and more peaceful sleep.

One night, Adam climbed in with me and Dova when I was nursing her in our bed close to his bedtime. Daddy climbed in on the other side and we were one big sandwich family (Doug, Adam, Dova, me). It was truly a happy family bed. When I awoke, I took a picture, but of course, I had to get out to do it. Later I had to carry Adam's 38 pounds up the stairs and into his bed. The next night, I nursed Dova upstairs in her room and Adam fell asleep with us again. It is really wonderful sleeping with your children except for the arm thrashing and head butting. I carried him back to his room again, put Dova in her crib, and went back to my own bed. These days, we are all sleeping in the right place. When you think about the evolution of humans, we certainly didn't all have separate rooms and beds!! But it is the norm and for the most part lends itself to better sleep.

There is something very special about sleeping with a baby, especially one who is still nursing. Many nights I have woken up with Dova nursing next to me, sometimes she had been nursing for 3 or 4 hours straight!! It is a lot harder to respond to the baby monitor and lug myself up the stairs in the middle of the night to nurse her. I love to snuggle with her for the rest of the night like when she was a newborn, but for the most part I lug myself back downstairs and snuggle with my mister :).

Dova Bea sleeps

I just had some of Mama's milk for a snack and I feel very happy, sleepy, warm and content. Mmmm, it's comforting to suck on my lip. Do I see Mama looking at me through my half closed eyes? She takes good care of me, I always feel loved and secure. Adam is sure making a lot of noise with his Mach V, but that's ok, I'm getting very close to dreamland.. zzz

Monster in a Box

I just finished listening to Spalding Gray's monologue Monster in a Box. It is the only thing that I actually purchased from Audible.com (a whole $10.95). I figured that it was worth purchasing, as the audio version is the more pure form of this work and as opposed to a mere book reading. Besides, I had already read the monster, Impossible Vacation, years ago. Although the audio was pretty poor, it was still fun to listen to. It was funny of course, and full of his Rhode Island accent (a mix between New York and New England with a lisp on top of it). I only wish they had all his monologues on Audible!!

Some parts of this monologue were so funny, that my mouth hurt from smiling and laughing so much. I wonder if anyone saw this crazy, happy woman walking her baby and listening to her Palm. It was really funny when he described being cast for the stage manager in the play Our Town, and he said, "Get Garrison Keillor." Just happened to be reading Lake Wobegon Days right now as well. Talk about a totally disparate monologist (more on a future post). There were also premonitory but funny lines like, "His insanity was leaking into mine." I kept thinking about his ill-fated battle with depression and untimely death. Nonetheless, he was a genius at expressing his experiences, neuroses and views from the edge of sanity. It is so unfortunate that he is no longer with us.

My favorite breastfeeding poems

I happened upon these while pregnant with Dova, which reminded me of my wonderful breastfeeding days with Adam and let me look forward to the days to come with Dova. Here is At My Breast and Milklight. My friend Jennifer called the poems pornographic(!!), even though she was an avid breastfeeder herself.

These come from Mothering.com, website of a crunchy granola magazine. My first Mothering magazine was given to me by a nurse in my OB's office. After she interviewed me and gave me all the other usual materials, she must have determined that I was sufficiently crunchy and specifically went back to fetch this magazine. I think it was because I knew the Stonyfield yogurt line intimately (Chocolate Underground) and I knew before she did that they had switched to the 6oz size from the 8oz. Also the fact that I breastfed Adam for 16 months. The magazine is about natural parenting, with "vaccines are bad" attitude and cloth diapers (no thank you!!). Although it is completely leftist propaganda (I am not THAT liberal), I still subscribe to the newsletter for an interesting article or two and the poems.

6/22/04 - I just found another one, A Mother's Nature.

Speed Racer

"It's my favorite show!!" Here is Adam with his Mach V playset (with Speed, Spridle and Chim-Chim), his Mach V Speed Hopper (yes, the switch is already broken) and the 8 piece Jack in the Box set. Thank goodness for eBay!! 

Me 

What a morning!!

Doug took his motorcycle to work this morning and left my car outside of the garage. Asked Adam whether he wanted to take the green car without realizing that my car was already out. When we went outside, I told him that we had to take the grey car since it was already outside. Adam had a fit and insisted on taking the green car. It was quite a struggle getting him into the grey car, he was completely hysterical. It is one thing forcing a 18 month old into the car, but by the time they are 3.5, you'd think they could be more cooperative. Didn't want to scare the neighbors by the way I was yelling, had to threaten a spanking, and he had already had a time-out earlier for driving his motorcycles on the walls. Finally drove to school, but he did not calm down. Kept crying and screaming the whole way. Half way there, he said he wanted his burpies and his baby (doll). When we got close to school, he said he wanted to go home and didn't want to go to school. Pulled into the lot and told him that we were not going home and he had to calm down. Had to stand outside of the car because I just couldn't take the screaming. Of course, baby Dova starts crying as well. I waited for 15 minutes for him to calm down, and he wouldn't. He refused hugs, he refused to calm down. Wanted to go home to get his burpies and his baby. I told him that if we had to go home I would be very angry. Of course the days of Kathy's house (family daycare) I would just drag him inside and leave him. Now, with preschool, I have to leave him as a happy boy or else they would cry abuse. I finally had to get back into the car and drive home. As soon as we started to head back home, he calmed down. Left him in the car while I got the burpies and the baby and he finally smiled when he got them. I was still livid. I kept lecturing about how he has to listen when I say we are taking the grey car, and that we would never ever drive home again after we get to school. He was all sweet and "yes, mama". I gave him lots of hugs and kisses when we got to school, he was still a bit clingy. Finally, I was able to leave him.

I was so exhausted from screaming and yelling at him (and calculating the amount of fuel I wasted driving back and forth.. at $2.299/G it is about 9 cents per mile x 7 miles = $.63, I guess that wasn't so bad), that I didn't go to the store and get food for Doug's birthday party on Sunday. Another time, now back to work...