nicholas is at the stage where things both simultaneously frighten the shit out of him and also attract him too. for example, at the exploratorium in sf weekend before last there was an exhibit with a very life-like, yet fake, human hand in it. the idea is to have one person put his/her hand on a shelf above the fake hand while another person is supposed to use only his/her sense of touch to determine which hand is the real one. the moment nicholas saw that fake hand he reeled back in horror and panic. and yet, he can't stop talking about THE HAND IN THE BOX.

the same goes for halloween imagery. he loves it and he's frightened by it. so tonight as we went shopping at target he was begging us to see the aisles of halloween gee gaws, but when we took him there he freaked. then when we were paying for our goods nicholas begged us to see the halloween stuff.

and but so, saturday we took him to this giant pumpkin patch in the tiny agricultural hamlet wheatland. nicholas laughed, and cried, and laughed, and then lost his marbles and laughed some more. 2-3 year-olds do not possess a steady center. rather, the emotions shoot from pole to pole. one moment, ecstasy, and the next a full-on tantrum. all within the space of a few minutes.

does that keep me young? they say children do keep you young. i'll get back to you on that.

this ramble was meant to talk about poet jim mccrary. mccrary's video reading from his chap being frida kahlo is up at the continental review. editor nicholas manning posted this wonderful note about jim. and mccrary is also one of the featured readers at the new reading series an actual kansas located in jim's own lawrence.

i've been battling a very minuscule case of the blues the past few days. best not to wallow in it. and jim's reading and video make me happy. why not. mccrary is one of our best.

word to yr mama