notable quotables

My two favorite quotes right now.

On parenting:
"The days are long but the years are short." - John Leguizamo (InStyle Magazine, July 2005, via Metrodad)

On life:
"everyone is as happy as they choose to be" - Abraham Lincoln, paraphrased by my mom. (Okay, before someone gets persnickety, the quote is really: "Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." I like my mom's version better.)

E.M.I.L.Y.

My Electronic Mechanical Individual is 8 months old! And right now, definitely yelling!

deadly sin of the day: envy

A friend of mine has tickets to the Studio Ghibli Museum today, and I am soooooo jealous! I hope we get to go there someday (and take Emily!) But hey, you have fun without me, A!! ::sob sob::

happy day

Since the IMDb lists it, it's hardly a secret that yesterday was our anniversary. (Curiously, someone has added that I was born in Louisiana -- which is true -- no idea who knew that though!) We decided to keep it low-key because of time and $$ constraints, and this awful heat!! So we went to our beloved Mitsuwa with Baby Em and spent the afternoon having fun, even though half the place is closed down. We goggled at the way overpriced but super cute baby toys selection (Mitsuwa is so NOT where I got Em's swanky Totoro stuff!), Ev drooled over all the new vinyl Kaiju, we pored over (but did not buy) the Ultraman Daddy and Child Care Book, and I did buy a book of kid's clothing patterns & designs ("Child's Collection 2005" -- I love those books!) which came with free Usahana fabric to make a little tote or something. There's a fantastic plaid dress that's slightly Goth Loli and super-cute! I'll be making that one when she's big enough, definitely. We then got way too much food (even though half the restaurants were closed as well!), featuring tonkatsu for me, sushi & tempura for Evan, and Baby Em's first taste of tofu! And then I got my heart's desire -- more boxes of Re-Ment miniatures! (Their site is down, but here're some pictures). I cannot begin to tell you how much I love Re-Ment, I mean it's well-known that I love miniature kitchen stuff, fake food, miniature food, and especially fake mini food, so it's like this stuff was created especially for me. I only wish I could afford to actually collect them all!! Finally, we picked up some wagashi -- at last I got the goldfish bowl wagashi I always miss every year (from the rotating seasonal selection) -- and then we started home.

on book covers

I just have to comment on the cover of the book I'm reading right now:
Mortal Engines, by Philip Reeve; I first found out about it in a British book about cover design, and I have to ask, what on earth were they thinking when they put the US edition out? The original cover (see left) is so nice, a great illustration in a classic children's book style -- and they replaced it with this boring, murky, pedestrian cover that from more than about 2 feet away looks like a whole lot of nothing. Honestly, I just don't get it. I guess some editor just had to put their "stamp" on it. Anyway, so far I'm enjoying the book enough that I will probably want to actually add a copy to our library (and get the sequels). So, amazon.uk, here I come!