Maria Dolores Martinez

1918 - 2006
We lost our Abuela last Tuesday. She died of a sudden, massive heart attack while sitting on the front porch, watering her flowers in the early morning light. She was a beautiful, elegant and graceful woman who had four children, two of whom are still living. She could make roses grow in the desert and her knowledge of native foods and cures was impressive. She was a tiny woman; at barely five feet, she still commanded everyone and was, in many ways, the queen of her small circle.
(more…)
Currently, I am in Boston attending the public library association annual conference, and I am still alive, although a bit tired and sore. It is now day 3 in our trip.
So, back in October when I booked our flights for my library conference in Boston, I thought, hey, spending 8 hours flying to Raleigh, North Carolina, renting a car, driving 4 hours south to my sister-in-law’s house, dropping off Ben, staying the night, then flying out of Columbia, South Carolina at noon the next day and spending 8 hours traveling to Boston — well, it will be challenging, but doable.
(more…)
Pregnancy from the front

And, pregnancy from the rear (Ben took this photo!)
Of course, he tinkered for hours with the layouts and fonts and programming before he wrote anything other than “hello world,” but he swears he really, really is going to write stuff. So take a look at Critical Moss sometime and drop him a line congratulating him on living with me this long.
The Chinese have started an body odor bank to help dogs track criminals. The Chinese “did not explain how the smells would be captured and stored,” leaving one to wonder at retrieval methods. How exactly does an odor bank help, I wonder? And who is the poor scientist that has to collect body odors?