Istra + Emeth

Probably a year, at least, since Anne expressed interest in getting rid of her elliptical trainer, and Selena expressed interest in acquiring it, and many close calls of almost getting it, against all odds Anne still had it, and Sandro and I managed managed to extract it and get it to our place. And, almost miraculously, we found a corner space to shove the monstrous thing in. So, finally, Istra can get some exercise....


Emeth, on the other hand, has decided to stick with vigorous lolly popping as his exercise of choice.

(Sorry about the video being so dark. You know how it is...)

An irony of the kids being away is that I have at least a tiny bit of time to post things here. But, without the kids, what to post here?

So I've pulled up this photo shoot I did with Istra on Dec 14. I call it a photo shoot, but... the situation actually was I was sitting at my desk in my office and Istra showed up in the doorway pushing her toy stroller (with Eeyore the donkey and Tessa the pink puppy strapped in). I wanted to do a lighting (flash) test with my camera, so I grabbed it and took the top-left picture. As soon as the flash goes off, Istra goes off with the faces. So i keep shooting. She keeps making faces. I try to stop, but she wants me to take a few more, to show her what she looks like. Really, it only took about 3 minutes for all of those faces to materialize. (I was going to organize the heads into a neat block of squares, like last time... but then I noticed that the chaos and jumble much better captured the feel of the experience...)

In the interest of fairness I figure I'll go give Emeth a chance also. You may remember the head mosaic I did of Istra when she was only around 1 and a half years old (did another when she was even younger, standing in her crib, but can't find it at the moment). She was already making faces. Lets see what Emeth will do at two and a half...



I find Emeth in his room, sitting on the floor by himself looking at a book. He didn't say anything to me that I can remember. But I think if the heads spoke, the words may have gone something like this:

1) What? Oh, it's you. 2) Ah! What was that?!! Flash?? What are you doing?!!! Ugh. 3) I'm going back to reading my book. 4) Are you still here? Do not offend my dignity. Thanks for coming by. You are free to leave, any time you want.

Ha ha. Emeth is funny in his own way.

Some (yawn) scenes from Istra's first Christmas Concert, for those interested. The first and last pictures are of Istra's teacher, if you're curious as to her appearance.

Istra, after a long grueling night of trick-or-treat, releases herself from her uniform, and ponders the meaning of it all. Trick, or treat? Sucker, or suckee? Pony, or unicorn?


Emeth, rebel, refusing to don his dragon-y covering at the crucial moment, instead cleverly disguised himself as himself. A little boy with big pockets. He also refused to carry a bag, and insisted on people stuffing his right hand pocket with booty... only when it was filled to overflowing did he consent to adding a little to the left, also. Meanwhile back at home, daft poppy thought the lad could use a little broccoli pick-me-up after his long night's labours. Poppy was dismissed. But, broccoli-less, consciousness suddenly fled...

Let this be a lesson to you all.

This is not new (though it's not all that old either). But I've just been updating the Istra Art archive...