viva la weekend--

--i figured i should continue owen's coldplay obsession (ask him any track number of any song on viva la vida and he can tell you the song title and when it will get "faster" or "quieter" and what song is coming next. he will also tell you your favorite song as well as his own and point out whenever he sees a "violet hill"). as i've bemoaned elsewhere, weekends, well, suck. the weeks pretty much are a blur, but there's this pee-wee-herman-esque quality to the weekend (watching all those bikes go by) when michael's gone.

but this weekend was pretty great. we ventured into the city and had a super "play date" at LACMA with jasmine (check out these great pics!). i love that rather than ask owen what color the wooly mammoth animatron was she explained the function of tusks, the reason for bubbles in the tar pits, and the etymology of t-rex. the page museum was lots of fun natural history, but then we ventured over to see iconic contemporary art at BCAM. as soon as owen saw the exterior escalator (like the tunneling ones at the pompidou in paris) he ran right up to the kiosk and exclaimed "i need a ticket!". and here's the really fabulous part--we got him a "nexgen" pass which means that until he's 18 he not only gets in for free but so does any accompanying adult. we had so much fun running through the richard serra "ribbons" of steel and looking at our reflections in jeff koons' balloon dog that we're leaving our pass in the car!

sunday was a quieter, but restorative day. we met b&w and baby stella at the big park and had an impromptu picnic and are doing dinner & a movie (i'm thinking the sword in the stone) tonight--and hopefully putting together a proposal for a motherhood & academia cfp. the lesson, of course on motherhood, academics, commuting, across-the-world-daddies, is always the same. you need your friends, your family, and a loving community--a little art, some good music, and lots of joy help too!