Soul Man

This is what I would look like if I were an old African American guy.  My wife has said I have a nose like a black man.

Changing of the guard? There IS no guard and there is rampant looting

This is me after playing basketball with Joey for 20 minutes. In my early 40's I could run circles around my plodding, slow-footed youngest son. By the mid 40's he picked up a step, but I could usually scrap and cheat my way to beating him. In my late 40's the worst possible thing has happened. He toys with me. He feels bad about crushing me and let's me catch up. I hate that. I'd rather he beat me down like I was a thief.

Even my trusty chicken t-shirt didn't help me tonight.

balloons and burlesque

Satin and Algernon
....more from last nights fireside chat:

* We played the "what would your name be as a porn star game - 1st pet's name, 1st street name edition.

Mother Entwistle - Algernon Burnside, Intellectual Porn Star

Heather - Socks Cosby, Sporty Porn Star

Laura - Gefilte Cabot, Jewish Porn Star

Bill - Gypsy Rice, drag queen Porn Star

Jennifer - Veronica Beaufort, Ivy League Porn Star

Gina - Satin Hatten (seriously), Porn Legend

* Quote from Heather to Laura, "Do you dislike serial killers?" You'll need more context, but the earnestness in which she asked the question was classic.

Malikai had a little meltdown when he couldn't take home all the balloons. He crawled in my arms and melted me.

The monkey hat will be a tremendous addition to the blog. Look for it to come out any time Jennie and I have a slow picture night.

We have 28 more days before we return the wheel chair. Look for it to make the blog again as well.

Great picture of Heather and her little starlet.

The GodMother bursts into town.

Mother Entwistle rolled into Newburyport bringing with her a girl-band of family members.

The four generations of females rocked our little city and left it shaking in fear, but strangely asking for more.

Our Matriarch, hobbled by a bum knee, is no less intimidating in a wheel chair.

Children ran from her wake in fear, adults respectfully never made eye contact.

Meanwhile, back at home, Lili produced the single greatest piece of music Jen has ever heard (it may have been "Turkey in the straw"). Jen sports her new birthday monkey hat and Bill holds the new scary monkey (unnamed to date) also given to Jen by Mother. (They unveiling of this monkey was not unlike the horse head scene in The Godfather; same shock of horror)

Lili was forced to have fun. Laura brought over lovely cookies but slipped this poo on the plate as a joke.

Not the years in your life, but the life in your years

Jennie had a birthday today.

It started out a little rocky when we missed the train into Boston. But fear not, it went uphill from there.
We walked up and down Newbury Street, eating at Ciao Bella after Jen did a wee bit of shopping for herself.

Then we took the subway over to the MFA. There was a glass exhibit by a dude named Chihuly (pronounced Kihooley). Really exotic stuff. Much of it looked like the bottom of the ocean, only this ocean was very color saturated.

We had a little tea at the Pru.

Then we walked to the South End where we had a nice dinner outside to cap the day.

I wish I could say I planned this lovely day all out, but we winged it. And it worked out just fine.

Love you, Jennifer. Happy Birthday

Cut me some slack on this post...

Prom night at the Castle on Cranes Beach in Ipswich.

These pictures make me proud and sad at the same time. I mean, look at the young man he's become.

Joey loves his Gramma and lets her know it.

He realizes that his parents have been subtly (sometimes not subtly) playing tug of war with him. He balances us masterfully, knowing that Brenda and I both vie for our Joey-time.

He has a great group of friends; all of them really good kids who you can tell enjoy each others company.

And, like his brother, has a huge heart and always wants to please.

So why am I sad? The obvious reasons, I guess. Our baby will be heading out West soon. Our influence on him will change as he becomes more independent. It feels like a turning point in our lives. We're all kind of ready, but maybe a bit nervous, cautious.

(Can you tell I have a beer in me and am feeling emotional? My Dad and his Dad became criers as they got older. I'm on that path. I can see it coming.)

Cheers to you, Joey.

Teaching the young dog new tricks

Mom teaches Joey some pre-Prom dance moves.

Mom taught Joey some slow dance basics. Joey wanted to teach Mom some of his moves, but Trudie's days of head spins and one legged hopping are, unfortunately, behind her.

For our pretend 1st date Jen needed sangria

The geeks were out in full force tonight for China Mieville, author of The City & The City who turned out to be British and tatted and funny and fairly hot. His latest book seems a little too sci fi for my taste but he was funny and used profanity so it was a good night. Especially because I had a date waiting for me after.

Bill and I hit the roof deck at Daedelus for dinner and drinks. We sat next to a couple on a first date which made us wonder what we would talk about if we were on a first date. At one point the woman's phone rang and she didn't hear it - we assumed it was the bail out call. You know, a friend calling so you could pretend your grandmother was sick or your brother was just abducted by aliens and you have to get home right away. She was a fool not to take it. Petey makes all my bail out calls.

I had my first sangria of the season.

We ended the night at the Harvard Book Store to get our parking validated (which means we had to buy something!) and while we were there I spotted festival author Stephen McCauley. I didn't get to meet him at my own festival so I introduced myself and had a chat. You know how I like to chat up the authors....

Knock, you, before you Roku

Jennie bought Roku while I was away last week. Roku allows us to play Netflix on our television.

At the point of this picture the installation wasn't going well. One push of the button later we were back on track.

We are getting dangerously close to the day that we will never leave the house for anything.

Once we subscribe to Peapod and figure out a way to get our buffalo chicken wrap delivered, you'll never see us again.

21 years ago today....

First this public service announcement....Bret turns 21 today! Happy Birthday Bret!

Now back to the regularly scheduled blog post:

When I got up this morning Bill had sent me a photo from his big night out in LA seeing Adam Carolla, Bill Simmons and Jimmie Kimmel. The winning trifecta for Bill. Mandate - get it on!!

Meanwhile, back in the civilized world of Newburyport, Diane, Laura and I went to breakfast at Mad Martha's with the Sunday Globe and New York Times.

Bluestocking day

I had a full day today - first a literary walking tour with my Books on the Nightstand Goodreads friends. Marly, Callie, Trisha, Ann, Loretta and I strolled through down town Boston and Beacon Hill listening to stories of Longfellow and Louisa May Alcott. Then we had lunch at Scollay Square.

Then to top off the perfect day - cheese, wine and Jane Austen dvds with Diane. So agreeable!

Laura's best meal of 2011

Laura and I went out to dinner at Enzo tonight. She deemed it the best meal she has had since July 2010. She even indulged in dessert (Lemon Posset (rhymes with faucet)).

I had a linguini that was covered in hen of the woods mushrooms (delicious!) That lead me to describe childhood meals where we were not allowed to leave the table until all the mushrooms were eaten. We ate our meals in silence because we all read books (my mother had a novel and Andy and I devoured Archie comics....until we went to college...and beyond. I love my Archies!!!) When the boys were little I would sometimes declare that we were having an "Entwistle Meal" which meant everyone could get a book and read at the table. It makes me wonder what childhood "oddity" the kids will incorporate into their lives when they get older.

Not exactly kosher

As I was searching for a blog post on this uneventful night I realized that I never posted the end result of Laura's labor - my dill pickle bathroom. So tonight I decided to put it to the test against a Claussen kosher dill spear. Not an exact match but who wants to have a gherkin bathroom?

Super Sad True Night in Harvard Square

Today was so raw and rainy that I convinced myself that I was going to go home and get into pj's right from work but at the last minute I talked myself into going to see Gary Sheyngart (author of Super Sad True Love Story) in Harvard Square.

I can't say that I loved the book but he was very entertaining and his reading had a flair to it that made me appreciate the material more than I did from hearing in my own head.

I capped the night off with a slice of Pinocchio's pizza - quintessential Harvard Square fare. (This was part of the bargaining I did to motivate myself..."Come on, Jen, you can buy a book and even get Pinocchio's for dinner if you go!!" For the record, I bought Master and Commander - the first in the Patrick O'Brian series. )

And, yes, it's still raining!!!

It's not easy going topless in a one piece

I had lunch date with Shelly and Patrick. The three of us like a good gab session but the gossip was a little thin today. (Could our coworkers please start sleeping with each other so we can talk about it?? We haven't had an interoffice affair in a loooooong time!!!) Our hottest story was about Arnold Schwartznegger and his illegitimate ten year old until Shelly started telling us about her vacation in St Barts. As you can probably tell from the blog title - much was revealed!

We've Got Ourselves a Bull!

You may recall in the not too distant past Bill posted that someday we would have a Bull...and now we do! Vicki presented me with a post-festival gift - a painting by a local painter that Bill and I have long admired. This is supposedly a painting of baskets in a field in Long Island but I prefer to think of it as stacks of books...in a field....on Long Island. I mean, neither story makes much sense so why not just go with the festival appropriate book scenario?

Bulls and Manatees

Big night wiped us out. Our big event for the day was lunch at 10 Center Street.

One of the topics we covered was: If you could ride a giraffe, a giant eagle or a manatee, what would you choose? Joey loves manatees so he picked that. The eagle seemed the natural next choice except for those of us who get sick in a hot air balloon. I'd hate to throw up on an American symbol. And I'm rubbish in the water so the manatee was out.

I defaulted to a giraffe.

Behind Pretty Jen is an Alan Bull paining. It's one of our favorites of his. One day we'll own a Bull.

Happy 50th Steve!

Steve turned 50 this week and asked to celebrate "Big Night" style. Turns out many people are not familiar with the 1996 movies starting Cambpell Scott and Stanley Tucci but Bill and I knew it meant Lisa would cook a multi course big italian meal - count us in! (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115678/ )

Of course, you can't throw a 50th birthday party without goofy over the hill jokes...walker and birthday cake hat courtesy of Steve's friend Rich.

So while we were technically there to celebrate Steve, the real star of the evening was the meal. Lisa rented tables and cloths to set up dinner for twelve. We devoured six courses: melon wrapped with prosciutto, asparagus risotto, osso bucco with potatoes and spinach, salad, cheese and gelato.

Steve entertained us by shouting lines from the movie and pounding on the table. Few of us remembered the movie enough to understand the references but it was fun to see Steve cut loose and make a ruckus, tipping over wine glasses with his vigorous table hammering.

Steve shows off his AARP card.

Old Men:

Trophy Wives:

Happy birthday, Steve - can't wait to see what Lisa cooks up for 60th!

Man of his word

Joey went to the junior prom tonight with a friend (made the plans before he started dating a girl he really likes). He's sticking with his commitment for both proms.

It's the right thing to do. Proud of him.