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I have been putting off updating the blog for a few reasons, not least of which is the pressure I feel to write something brilliant to make up for the lapse. In place of brilliance, I give you the very cute pictures above.
There's a lot going on right now. We are moving, yet again, at the end of February. It's back to UT apartments for us, but saving a heap of money without losing space. I am excited to return to a community of grad students with kids. Let's face it, it's nice to be around similar people. It will be great for the girls to be around kids whose families value knowledge and culture but don't necessarily have a lot of money. As lovely as I find Hyde Park, it's a tad precious. And all the money around here that doesn't think it's money is really annoying. What's especially irksome is the way that having money makes people think that luxuries are essential items. Piano lessons and hand-carved organic fill-in-the-blank are not essential, people!
Nonetheless, we are trying to keep Lucero at her current elementary school, despite the fact that they don't allow people who live out of the district to attend. I remain hopeful, but if she can't stay, it's not so bad. I worry about her growing up with wealthy kids (read: upper middle class). Some of her classmates live in mini-mansions. I hate to think that as she gets older, she'll worry that her clothes come from Target instead of Nordstrom. I used to envy kids whose parents got them clothes at Mervyn's, and I was embarrassed to wear second-hand corduroy pants long before they'd made a comeback (cue the mournful violins). Rather than using those memories to justify spoiling my kids, I'd rather bring them up around people who don't overemphasize superficialities. Basically, I'm looking for a utopic and egalitarian community sans hippies and religious fanatics...
A friend from Europe once said that Americans are obsessed with talking about how poor they were growing up, even if they weren't. I think it's true. Even people who grew up with money have to defend themselves by talking about how hard their parents worked to make the money they have. That annoys me. A lot of people work really hard and they're still poor. I wonder why I seethe with class rage, still. Right now it's particularly sharp. Must be those bail-outs. I just don't see why those Wall Street jerks can't be forced to live on minimum wage. Sorry bud, you gotta move to Queens and live like the majority of us.
To be fair, even if many of Lucero's classmates come from "comfortable" homes, at least their folks are liberal money. That's central Austin for you, a big cuddly lovefest of liberal money. What's so wrong with that? Why do I feel hostile towards it all? I think I'm the only progressive liberal who isn't basking in the afterglow of Obama's election.
In other news, Agapito is in Mexico for the week. His younger brother, Danny, was hit by a motorcycle and we're waiting to see what happens. What else is there to say other than life is filled with suffering, y'know? (and other inspiring quotes for my daughters). I don't believe in interventionist prayer, but here's hoping things turn out all right.
Rosalía was dragging Agapito's work satchel around the housing and saying "Papa" yesterday morning. It was sad. I miss him.
I'm going to distract myself with an inane tv show. I've watched "Grey's Anatomy" for the last 2 nights. What a terrible show! All of that mugging and dime store philisophical reflection. And they manage to trivialize most every major life event with wry grins and annoying xylophones in the soundtrack. "Scrubs" and "House" are superior. And yet, the melodrama of "Grey's Anatomy" distracts me enough until I fall asleep.
