tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131400322024-03-23T18:56:55.871+01:00The Xpat FilesI'm American. He's Swiss. The Boys are a bit of both. Dispatches from the far side of the Röstigraben. With a little cycling on the side.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.comBlogger532125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-15725446457790219322012-05-01T10:08:00.001+02:002012-05-01T10:08:18.562+02:00I moved blogs long ago. These days you can find me at <a href="http://www.magpiedays.com/" target="_blank">Magpie Days</a>. I hope you stop by.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-27121029913123654432008-10-03T10:45:00.001+02:002008-10-03T10:47:12.544+02:00I voted!If you're an American living abroad and you want to vote, go <a href="http://www.fvap.gov/">here</a> to get information about receiving your federal write-in ballot.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-39774684647216452022008-09-27T10:23:00.007+02:002008-09-27T14:09:32.713+02:00Dear International Herald Tribune print edition printed in Switzerland:If you have space in your print edition for a short blurb about <a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/26/europe/27swiss.php"><strong>Jet Man</strong></a>, you might want to mention that the <a href="http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/search/Result.html?siteSect=882&ty=st&sid=9754983"><strong>Swiss Finance Minister had major heart surgery and was in a medically induced coma for two days</strong></a> and that it remains unclear when or if he will return to the government, all in the middle of the worst world financial crisis in decades.<br /><br />Just sayin'.<br /><br />Love and strange priorities,<br />Swissmissswissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-25472141017333220222008-08-30T09:37:00.007+02:002008-09-21T20:18:13.143+02:00A confessionIt started out as a business relationship, someplace to concentrate on my writing, perhaps a way to meet fellow poets. But it started getting personal. I told a few stories about my children, I shared a few poems. I started spending more and more time there, neglecting other relationships. I'd save up experiences and stories to share there. I realized I was putting my emotional energies someplace else, but I can't give it up.<br /><br />It's true. I have <a href="http://www.magpiedays.com/"><strong>another blog</strong></a>.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-69217421747819152682008-07-29T18:18:00.003+02:002008-07-29T19:34:51.300+02:00This blog is clearly on life-supportJune 20? Really? My last post was June 20th? <a href="http://whittereronautism.com/"><strong>Maddy's</strong> </a>comment down there ("why can't I see the countdown clock?") inspired me to at least post some random bulltets of update:<br /><br /><ul><li>R. is back from his trip, which is why you can't see the countdown clock. I took it down.</li><li>We survived.</li><li>I had a few classic Great Moments in Parenting, but we survived.</li><li>I do not do well on continued sleep deprivation.</li><li>R. brought back fireman rain boots for Small Boy. He would wear them all day in 30 degree weather if I let him.</li><li>R. also brought back the most authentic little fireman suit I've ever seen. We're hiding it. Because if Small Boy saw it, we'd never get him out of it. I'm waiting for cooler weather.</li><li>Boychen has six teeth. Six!</li><li>Boychen isn't crawling yet but manages to scootch from here to there somehow.</li><li>When Boychen starts to crawl I am so. screwed.</li><li><a href="http://www.candywarehouse.com/rpbckissesrolo.html"><strong>These</strong></a> are really good.</li><li>Hey guess what? He's got another one of these in November! Oh joy!</li><li><a href="http://www.candywarehouse.com/rpbckissesrolo.html"><strong>These</strong> </a>are really good.</li><li>This blog is clearly on life-support.</li></ul>swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-14494146150396943272008-06-20T12:39:00.002+02:002008-06-20T12:42:19.847+02:00SighYou know it is going to be a long day when you have taken a walk, finished with the zoo, eaten a happy meal and exhausted the McPlayland <em>all before noon</em>. And hey, check out the countdown clock in my sidebar. Oh yeah.<br /><br />On the upside, I fit into a pair of pre-pregnancy summer pants today. Which is nice. Since it's summer.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-17662361635825899002008-06-18T17:04:00.002+02:002008-06-18T17:14:25.969+02:00Euro 08 comes to an end in BernWell, Bern's part of playing host to the Euro 08 is over; from here on out we're not hosting any games anymore. Contrary to <a href="http://expatfiles.blogspot.com/2008/06/if-i-dont-blog-it-will-it-still-happen.html"><strong>my concerns</strong></a>, it was really hardly an issue at all. On the three days we hosted the Dutch games the city was <a href="http://www.zisch.ch/openmedia_custom/files/BXMediaOne202998file.jpg"><strong>at capacity</strong></a>, but it was a friendly capacity. Once the Swiss team crashed out, the Bernese seemed to adopt the Dutch - staff at many restaurants were wearing Dutch jerseys and a lot of shops had "Hup Holland!" ("Go Holland!") banners up. But all in all I have to say the overall "Euro-phoria" was muted, to say the least.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-41985071320778676762008-06-11T15:04:00.000+02:002008-06-11T14:57:01.740+02:00Finding a fellow travellerRemember "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaydar"><strong>gaydar</strong></a>?" The little bell that goes off in the heads of the gay and gay-friendly that makes you think somebody is part of the community, a fellow traveller? That little something? Do you think infertiles have something similar? (What would we call it? Inf-dar? Bar-dar? ART-dar?) Because I did the strangest thing this afternoon.<br /><br />I hold my cards pretty close to the vest regarding the whole IVF-thing. Neither my family nor R's knows that Small Boy and Boychen are IVF/FET babies (though sometimes I think R's mom might suspect). Some of our good friends know - three we told during the process, people we'd been friends with for over a decade and who stood up for us at our US wedding; but Small Boy was one before I told Dutch Friend and two before I told Australian Friend. I don't mind people knowing, but I don't broadcast it. As I said, I hold my cards pretty close to the vest.<br /><br />Today I was at a playgroup some of the expat moms have been trying to get off the ground <em>forever</em> and talking with a new woman; I had come into the conversation late and she and Australian Friend were talking about how hard twins would have been and we don't know how we would have done it. But then we all agreed that we would have done it because it is what it is, and you just do it. Especially twins with a first (successful) pregnancy - you don't have any basis of comparison and infants are just hard anyway. And then we all agreed that twins the second time around would be <em>really</em> hard and I said - to a woman I'd just met five minutes ago - that when we were trying to get pregnant with the Small Boy I was willing to risk twins with a two-embryo transfer but the second time around, with Boychen, we only ever considered single embryo transfers. It just slipped out of mouth with all the natural ease in the world.<br /><br />And she said, that's what we're doing too.<br /><br />Whoa.<br /><br />Her child is an IVF baby too. We have different REs but they use the same lab and she knows Herr G, the Labmeister, too; we agreed he's a super-nice guy. (Did I ever mention that after my last transfer - the Boychen transfer - we hung around with Herr G chatting about cycling, the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong, and Fabian Cancellara? Well we did.) What a small world. And how strange that I would have picked that moment, with that woman, to say something that honestly I never introduce into conversation.<br /><br />What do you think, fellow ART-ers? Do you think we have an "ART-dar?" Has yours ever tingled? And were you right?swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-63378869195696700482008-06-04T10:06:00.004+02:002008-06-04T10:41:06.305+02:00Officially SwissallyThe boys' (I love saying "the boys" - <a href="http://expatfiles.blogspot.com/search/label/the%20infertility%20files/"><strong>who would have imagined I'd be saying "the boys?"</strong></a>) Swiss passports and ID cards arrived (by registered mail). Small Boy is renewed and Boychen is official. Yay. (Well, Boychen was official at birth due to the whole Swissness of the Dada thing....but it's nice to have the documents.)<br /><br /><a href="http://expatfiles.blogspot.com/search/label/the%20infertility%20files/"></a>swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-69716467133846702332008-06-02T09:57:00.006+02:002008-06-02T12:28:25.003+02:00If I don't blog it, will it still happen?Here's something I haven't blogged. Bern is one of the host cities for the <a href="http://www.euro2008.uefa.com/tournament/matches/index.html"><strong>Euro2008</strong></a> (that's the European Football [aka soccer] Championships). I can't begin to express the many ways in which this does not excite me, but I'll try:<br /><br /><ol><li>I'm not a football fan. I didn't grow up playing it, I didn't grow up watching it, and I'm too old and too busy to get interested in a new sport now.</li><li>I don't like crowds. When I lived in Washington, DC, inauguration day was a nightmare. Protest times were a nightmare. Heck, high tourist season was a nightmare. People lost, taking up tables at my favorite restaurants, crowding the Metro, people <em>standing still on the left-hand side of of</em> <em>escalators!</em> Ack<em>.</em></li><li>I don't like drunken crowds.</li><li>I hate lines.</li><li>The Old Town is being converted into a fan-zone.</li><li>I have to cut through the Old Town to get to several of my old stand-by playgrounds and other interesting Smal Boy places.</li><li>Plus, I just like to hang out in the Old Town.</li><li>The stadium is on the same tram line as Dr. Norwegian (our pediatrician).</li><li>The most convenient grocery store to shop in with two small children is <em>directly next to the stadium</em>.</li><li>There are, apparantly, fears of a <a href="http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/the_way_we_live/article3970205.ece"><strong>Wurst shortage</strong></a>! (link via <a href="http://www.zurika.com/"><strong>This Non-American Life</strong></a>)</li><li>The camp ground that has apparantly been booked out by the Dutch is on the same tram line as our <em>Tagesmutter</em>.</li><li>The camp ground that has apparantly been booked out by the Dutch is just upstream from one of my Small Boy hangouts.</li><li>Half of the games start at 8:45 pm and will end around 10:30; so the horn-honking car brigades will roll from 10:30 until....?</li><li>The Euro2008 will last for three weeks.</li><li>R will be gone for those exact three weeks: 1 week in Zurich (also a host city) and two weeks <em>in the United States!</em></li><li><em></em>Could there <em>be</em> a worse overlap?</li></ol><p>Seriously. If I ignore this, will it go away?</p>swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-10509463306826407382008-05-24T11:06:00.012+02:002008-05-24T13:03:58.053+02:00Finally, my long overdue post about getting the boys' their Swiss passports and a post that has something to do with being an expat!So. Forever ago <a href="http://expatfiles.blogspot.com/2007/12/bureaucracy-american-style.html"><strong>we went through the process of getting Boychen his US passport and registering his birth with the US embassy</strong></a>. At the time, I said the Swiss story would follow soon. Life with two children and two procrastinating parents being what it is, "soon" turned into, um, five months but who's counting? Since both boys had passports they could travel on (in fact, if one possesses a US passport one is required to enter the US using that passport), we didn't feel rushed.<br /><br />We needed to get a passport and national identity card for the Boychen and to renew them for Small Boy; the US passport is good for five years (so yes, my three year old is using a passport with a photo of him at ten weeks, which seems just the tiniest bit odd...I mean, do you have any idea how much a three year old does not look like his ten week old self?) but the Swiss identification both expired after three years. Since I took care of the legwork on getting the US documents I left the Swiss legwork up to R.<br /><br />R called the <em>Einwohnerdienste</em> (that would translate literally as resident services - I can't think of a good colloquial term for that in English) to ask what we needed to do and <em>to make an appointment</em>. Yes, unlike at the US embassy we were able to make an appointment so we didn't have to take a number and wait there all morning with two small children. Switzerland 1- US 0.<br /><br />To get the new passport and ID for Boychen, we needed the following documents:<br /><ol><li><em>Niederlassungsausweis</em> - I have never known how to translate this. It's a one page document that basically confirms that R lives where he says he lives. </li><li>For children under 18 a birth certificate or the <em>Familienbuchlein </em></li><li>A recent passport photo</li><li>And for a passport, the parents' travel documents (i.e. my passport and R's passport). </li><li>And in the case of Small Boy, who was renewing documents, the old ones.</li></ol><p>These are <a href="http://expatfiles.blogspot.com/2005/08/die-anmeldung.html"><strong>standard Swiss documents</strong></a>; if you're here legally chances are there is no trouble getting your hands on these, though if you don't have a passport and you want one for your child, you'd have to apply for (and pay for) yours, too.</p><p>We took the boys to get passport photos taken; we had procrastinated so long that Boychen's photos were too old so we needed pictures for both of them. The new rule is that you're not allowed to smile in your passport picture, which was very disappointing for Small Boy as he loves to ham it up for a camera. But he followed directions and didn't smile. Boychen just sort of sat there like a lump.</p><p>On the day of the appointment R took the boys and the documents to the <em>Einwohnerdienste</em>; unlike at the US embassy, the presence of both parents is not required. Switzerland 2-US 0. So while R and the boys were dealing with Swiss bureaucracy, I sat in the sun and drank a coffee. All alone. Switzerland 3-US 0.</p><p>The appointment lasted about 15 minutes, unlike the <a href="http://expatfiles.blogspot.com/2008/01/bureaucracy-american-style-part-three.html"><strong>2 hours we waited</strong></a> at the embassy. Switzerland 4-US 0. Because of the registration system in Switzerland, the <em>Einwohnerdienste</em> has all the necessary information about the boys on file, so they printed out the <em>completed</em> application forms for R to review and sign. Unlike the forms DS-11 and DS2029. Switzerland 5-US 0. R signed the forms and paid a total of 146 Swiss francs for two passports and two national ID cards compared to the 176.40 Swiss francs we paid for Boychen's one passport and one registration of birth. Switzerland 6-US 0. The documents will arrive in about three weeks by <em>registered</em> mail. Switzerland 7-US 0. Oh, and we didn't have to bring a stamp. For those of you playing at home, that's Switzerland 8-US 0.</p><p>So why, after all this complaining, did I get the boys US passports at all? Because if we're on on holiday and a tsunami hits, or an earthquake, or some form of violent civil strive, the US is so much better at evacuating its citizens than Switzerland because Switzerland doesn't have military transport planes like a <a href="http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/ec-130v.htm"><strong>Hercules</strong> </a>and the US does. So I'll be waving those little blue books at the Marines for all I'm worth, thank you very much. That's probably worth 8 points. Let's call it a draw then.</p>swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-77882814725233439332008-05-23T14:37:00.004+02:002008-05-23T14:46:07.753+02:00I am the best. mother. ever.Lunch. Green eggs and ham. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsP1xPp5IvG3EWX8l0KlGhMOhjs3KXeVqXX5VBIZ3buWmIFpLsvnFRlClaTXD3BH0n3i0duRqDN-LPvrq2BYO3WNGgcrvnFBh49V13ZeWbLoIAGfdM8UMfZ50LMVw9aiuhrHofqA/s1600-h/DSC01636.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203552263505354514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsP1xPp5IvG3EWX8l0KlGhMOhjs3KXeVqXX5VBIZ3buWmIFpLsvnFRlClaTXD3BH0n3i0duRqDN-LPvrq2BYO3WNGgcrvnFBh49V13ZeWbLoIAGfdM8UMfZ50LMVw9aiuhrHofqA/s320/DSC01636.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7umllpzLHL10B6-lMassN4QfShVaYlRFB03VplkS2j_5RkfnKLlkKouz3yEO0SjuRAC6gWC07tFcGa1aJeWRmMoRRFwG0z4D6geD6Qx7nbuXideYBcM-f970awMDnA7ICEsRIg/s1600-h/DSC01638.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203552272095289122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj7umllpzLHL10B6-lMassN4QfShVaYlRFB03VplkS2j_5RkfnKLlkKouz3yEO0SjuRAC6gWC07tFcGa1aJeWRmMoRRFwG0z4D6geD6Qx7nbuXideYBcM-f970awMDnA7ICEsRIg/s320/DSC01638.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dDPX_mj3T7uWDjPjhyphenhyphen-NYrAdObvci0mXKwHamZBBu4bEFqrCxk7YYUZb2cEQCo-wAwExwiKhDvPoL2b1kZF_fv_mIGjNtHigLwJ-mUM-gVbu1a1lfgzAcsLiew0eJ8oGclq-Qg/s1600-h/DSC01639.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203552276390256434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8dDPX_mj3T7uWDjPjhyphenhyphen-NYrAdObvci0mXKwHamZBBu4bEFqrCxk7YYUZb2cEQCo-wAwExwiKhDvPoL2b1kZF_fv_mIGjNtHigLwJ-mUM-gVbu1a1lfgzAcsLiew0eJ8oGclq-Qg/s320/DSC01639.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />(Click <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Green-Eggs-Myself-Beginner-Books/dp/0394800168/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211546616&sr=8-2"><strong>here</strong> </a>if you're not familiar with them.)swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-2958696878317216392008-05-16T11:47:00.004+02:002008-05-16T12:43:47.120+02:00Yes, I'm alive, aka the briefest of updates.Some days there is not enough coffee in the world; nor are there enough hours in the day.<br /><br />I've sent out some poems. Three of them came back to me like children who did not get into the college of their choice, and three are sitting in some editor's pile waiting their turn.<br /><br />We're trying to get our sleeping household in order. As in everybody in their proper beds. Boychen did surprisingly well last night; but once again I have given birth to a son who wakes at 5:45. Good lord. If those two boys didn't resemble us and each other so strongly I'd suspect lab error. Seriously, how can R and I - for whom sleeping is an Extreme Sport - have produced these roosters crowing at the sun? Stupid farming genes.<br /><br />The weather, at least, is lovely.<br /><br />We bought Small Boy a new bicycle helmet because the last one vanished off the face of the earth and it is strictly forbidden to ride anything with wheels <em>sans</em> helmet and Small Boy was missing his Like-a-Bike so. We got him a Giro brand, like his mama. I'm a Giro girl 'til death - back in the day I cracked a few helmets but never a skull. Giro's been good to me.<br /><br />Boychen will be six months old on Monday. I can't believe it. He can sit up unassisted for brief periods. He puts everything in his mouth. He's got two teeth. He is a happy child. He loves his brother. He covets the cat. He's eating baby food. I leave you with a picture:<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lwR6iQQ-uM13qDJH2FezbTycqHbE2DcZHYgpJ4AXOT4pw-XROftaH1f6JMk2I0dDZ-KpjlyHPSphXiqTJb0MZC7qDAteK748SsRDP7RkmtLbbZ0Rh0rYpbnTjWvtgHIk6kqgQg/s1600-h/DSC01574.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200912590439811938" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_lwR6iQQ-uM13qDJH2FezbTycqHbE2DcZHYgpJ4AXOT4pw-XROftaH1f6JMk2I0dDZ-KpjlyHPSphXiqTJb0MZC7qDAteK748SsRDP7RkmtLbbZ0Rh0rYpbnTjWvtgHIk6kqgQg/s320/DSC01574.JPG" border="0" /></a>swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-48253558242442806482008-05-02T20:48:00.003+02:002008-05-02T21:10:16.845+02:00Romanisch, Switzerland's fourth official languageSwitzerland has four official languages: German, French, Italian, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romansh"><strong>Romanisch</strong> </a>(that's in order of the percentage of the population claiming each language as their first language). About one percent of the population speaks Romanisch; I doubt if it will survive my sons' lifetimes. Which is a shame, because it's always a shame when a language dies and because I think Romanisch is beautiful. I don't understand a word of it, but it's beautiful.<br /><br />Now ne of these days I'll learn how to embed a YouTube video into a post. Today is not that day. If you click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8uoIkAgsNk&feature=related"><strong>here</strong> </a>you'll get a clip where you can here Romanisch (the big Steinbock - let's call in a mountain goat in English - is speaking Romanisch and the little one is translating into the local dialekt). I love the sound of Romanisch. I also love the Graubünden, the region this clip is advertising and the native home of Romanisch; it's my favorite region of Switzerland.<br /><br />I'd like to learn some Romanisch one day.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-76458254602117382862008-04-26T10:31:00.001+02:002008-04-26T10:32:55.892+02:00Ah, the BelgiansThis might be the best! world! record! ever!<br /><br /><a href="http://gizmodo.com/383936/belgian-students-break-mento+and+coke-world-record">http://gizmodo.com/383936/belgian-students-break-mento+and+coke-world-record</a><br /><br />Hat-tip to Husband for sending me the link.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-81774895877524961952008-04-10T18:45:00.003+02:002008-04-10T18:54:00.936+02:00Things I already knew<a href="http://www.20min.ch/news/wissen/story/18719366"><strong>This</strong> </a>headline, for example. Even if you don't understand German you can probably figure it out. But here's a translation:<br /><br />No Swiss quality by Swiss sperm.<br /><br />The sub-headline informs us that in a study of 800 young Swiss men, more than half of them had sperm quality (including total quantity, mobility, and speed) under the international norm. There is at this point no explanation for this, but as for "speed" it's a known fact that Bernese Swiss in particular are slow. What's your excuse, Geneva?<br /><br />Hat-tip to Husband for SMSing me the headline.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-76169813167395824812008-04-09T13:13:00.002+02:002008-04-09T13:18:28.079+02:00Dear FedEx Guy,Sorry about missing your delivery. I'm sure you suspected that somebody was home, what with Boychen screaming uncontrollably and Small Boy calling out "Hellooo? Hellooo?" after you rang the bell. You were quite patient, giving me a chance to come to the door, but between the screaming baby and the fact that I was still wet and not dressed from my extremely truncated and unsatisfying shower (see Baby, screaming) and the fact that Small Boy, who heaven help me still isn't potty-trained, had a dirty diaper it just wasn't gonna happen. Thanks for trying though.<br /><br />Love and redeliveries,<br />Swissmissswissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-35945808937755267722008-04-08T12:07:00.008+02:002008-04-08T14:37:02.561+02:00Poetry of witness for the internetI generally don't write poetry of witness. I'm not good at it, not good at mastering that control of outrage that keeps it from spiling over into shrill soapbox sputtering. The best poetry of witness (much of which is gathered in <a href="http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5688"><strong>this excellent collection</strong></a>) is controlled and specific, understated even, and all the more powerful for the control. Think of a horse at full run. Now think of a horse being reined in, jerking at the bit, <em>wanting</em> to be at a full run. That's the kind of power good poetry of witness - good poetry, period - should have. In not good at reining in, especially in political poetry - I let go the reins and watch my words bolt across the fields. Nevertheless, I'm trying to push my limits as a poet, so here's a political poem written especially for the blogging format - I've incorporated into the poem links to stories and pictures about the events I'm writing about.<br /><br />Is this a new way to use the internet in poetry or simply too clever by half? Does it weaken the poem; that is, do the links imply that I can't convey what I'm talking about without them? Really. I want to know what you think of this format.<br /><br />***<br /><br />Fifty Years in the Making<br /><br /><a href="http://www.printfection.com/politicalpoints?productid=2363733&mode=add&items=1&storeid=20638&show_invoptid=0&show_sideid=4539859&productsideid=4539859&tab=1&show_option_num=1&keywords=&id=165337&level=1&product_location=0&store_page=&color1=2679&size1=0&qty1=1&color2=111&qty2=1&color3=111&qty3=1&color4=111&qty4=1&color5=111&qty5=1">Flame of shame</a><br />is too obvious a rhyme,<br /><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/10/2185500.htm">but sometimes the obvious is true</a>.<br />Sometimes the obvious sits in front of you<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_Tibetan_uprising">fifty years</a><br />waiting to be noticed<br />and when it is, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzT0rw47-j4&feature=related">pent-up energy sparks</a><br /><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7333552.stm">a chain reaction</a><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9kWL_0aNqM">picked up by strangers</a><br /><a href="http://media.komotv.com/images/080407_torch_protests.jpg">who don't speak your language</a><br />but understand every word<br /><a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/nationworld/ci_8848514?nclick_check=1">and send the signal on down the line</a>.<br /><a href="http://www.savetibet.org/">We're the flame now</a><br />this conflagration of outrage<br />sending sparks across channels<br /><a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gEtQD-yS0Xp4_sizYjZ8SE7bG_1gD8VTLFA00">and oceans</a><br />and to <a href="http://www.raid-de-himalaya.com/2004LIVE/images/collection/roofworld.jpg">the roof of the world</a><br /><a href="http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/3103.cfm">where they wait for this burning</a><br />fifty years in the making.<br />No domesticated flame, this<br />no desecrated flame, this<br />just the fire of an outrage<br /><a href="http://www.savetibet.org/tibet/index.php">fifty years in the making</a>.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-69042178653213940132008-04-02T12:32:00.004+02:002008-04-02T13:02:27.731+02:00What I've been up toI've been a very bad blogger lately, I realize. I keep meaning to recommit to this blog and I keep not getting it done and I'm grateful that I have any readers left at all and that you say kind things when I throw up lazy posts involving pictures of The Boys. (A mother's entitled to be biased, but they are cute, aren't they?) I keep meaning to come back to writing in this space but at the moment most of my writing is in my notebooks.<br /><br />For years I have been calling myself a writer while always finding excuses to keep it safe: writing in my journals, writing on my blogs, writing "for myself." I have been writing stories and poems since, literally, I could grasp a pencil. And I have always lacked the courage - for long and complicated reasons that no longer interest me but generally start with the phrase "my mother" - to throw my writing out into the world and see what happens. And for long and complicated reasons that <em>do</em> interest me, I'm suddenly finding myself wanting to do that. Really wanting to. Wanting to so much that it is a physical effort to hold back and wait, to not send immature poems out into the world to be crushed by the last late snow of spring.<br /><br />I'm writing poetry again. Rather a lot and, even better, I'm actually revising it, crafting it, working. Really working. And I'm enjoying it so much. The work. The effort. I have a goal, and a plan, and a long thought out series of steps to get me from here to there. Step number one, of course, is to actually do the work, write the poems, revise the poems, tear them down and build them again. That is what I'm spending most of my free time doing these days - and since free time with two small children is hard to come by, the blog has taken a back seat. I hope to change this, but we'll see what time allows me to do. But right now I have to ride this wave of poetry and crash onto whatever shore it brings me to.<br /><br />For the most part I'm not going to be posting most of the poems I'm working on, for a variety of reasons including the fact that there are journals that don't want to publish poems that have already appeared on line, even on a personal blog. But this is National Poetry Month and I am trying to write a poem a day in April. Draft poems. Very rough draft poems that I can come back to later and really work. I expect that a lot of these poems are going to be inspired by the 20 minute exercises in the back of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Poets-Companion-Pleasures-Writing-Poetry/dp/0393316548/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207133276&sr=8-1"><strong>this wonderful little book</strong></a> (because that's about how much time I have on a given non-babysitting R out of town day), and there will be useful poetry prompts <a href="http://readwritepoem.org/"><strong>here</strong></a>, too. I expect them to read as though they'd been written in twenty minutes, since most of them will have been. But they'll be sitting there in my journal to go back to later, and one or two of them might turn into something.<br /><br />I will post the one I wrote yesterday, because even though I jammed it out in 15 minutes, I kind of like it. It was inspired by an exercise in Addonizio & Laux with the following instructions:<br />1. Write about writing<br />2. It's cold outside<br />3. It should have snowed by now but hasn't<br />4. Mention the time of day<br />5. Use the pronoun "we" as your speaker<br />6. Use the word "florid" in a way not ordinarily used.<br /><br />So here it is.<br /><br />The Clinic<br /><br />We've nearly given up<br />trying to tell you how we feel,<br />trying to turn this messy truth<br />into a poem that would suit you.<br />We have filled pages<br />and are done with all that,<br />this record-keeping<br />of our florid failure to reproduce.<br />Night is falling<br />and though outside our window it is spring<br />where we are it is cold.<br />It is always winter here,<br />but it never snows.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-34911565483815493412008-03-30T18:31:00.002+02:002008-03-30T18:35:43.328+02:00Why Boychen will never learn to crawlBoychen doesn't get a lot of "tummy time" around here, certainly not two 10-20 minute sessions a day as recommended by many experts. I know about tummy time and I know why it's important. Now that babies are going to sleep on their backs, a practice which dramatically reduces instances of crib death, time on the belly is even more important to help them develop the skills and upper body strength that lead to rolling and crawling. And I try, dutifully putting Boychen on his belly on his very colorful and interesting playmat (courtesy of Australian Friend) daily. But Boychen hates tummy time and starts crying - really wailing - after about three minutes. No matter what toys I present him with, however much I lower myself onto the floor to get fact-to-face with him, no matter how much Mozart that playmat belts out, Boychen wails. Which I can be hard-hearted enough to disregard for the sake of his physical development but for one thing: Small Boy comes running, yelling "<em>Mi bruder ! Mi bruder! Nay nay hor oof</em>!!* He doesn't like that!" and starts to try to roll Boychen onto his back.<br /><br />Which is totally interfering with Boychen's development but is kind of the cutest thing ever.<br /><br />I hope Small Boy is always this protective of his <em>chly bruder</em>.**<br /><br />* Translation: My brother! My brother! No no stop that!<br /><br />**Translation: little brotherswissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-89926889955357481592008-03-26T12:11:00.002+01:002008-03-26T12:17:46.722+01:00Newsflash: Swiss people have televisions!Dear Former Mayor Dinkins: (<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080313/ap_on_re_us/spitzer_talking_to_kids"><strong>jump to the last line of the linked story for the money line</strong></a>)<br /><br />As a resident of Switzerland may I inform you that we have televisions and newspapers too? I live in Switzerland, and the Swiss evening news followed the Spitzer story. Not as boorishly as US cable news, I've no doubt, but we here in Switzerland live in the heart of Western Europe, not on the moon.<br /><br />Love and chocolates,<br />Swissmiss<br /><br />As for the best review of the rest of the article, read <a href="http://bitchphd.blogspot.com/2008/03/prostitution-how-does-it-affect-you.html"><strong>this</strong></a> Bitch PhD post.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-11180889910847907532008-03-14T14:00:00.002+01:002008-03-14T14:02:53.377+01:00Is this the sort of thing I should keep social services from seeing?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySaa9KMVzyLjoaptGBCKKZrnmV_Y5Y9YMfdejq9NNTxefVqKsIhpgqXcRIUyI36I0ixrE2BNvtwZTICjcPCRAb0rvEi09zkiz0MumdxIoVHQ9RnME0hX5JSF5fs_aAX987R8tcQ/s1600-h/DSC_2732.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5177581790292718658" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySaa9KMVzyLjoaptGBCKKZrnmV_Y5Y9YMfdejq9NNTxefVqKsIhpgqXcRIUyI36I0ixrE2BNvtwZTICjcPCRAb0rvEi09zkiz0MumdxIoVHQ9RnME0hX5JSF5fs_aAX987R8tcQ/s320/DSC_2732.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5r9ryN0AIHctdKUuk_QHag9x-x4w38sr7jN8pH8i9zt-uXvgpSIGNW2cY9JaxPkVSUOtmXCf6NY54SowhHSvy3E9zrBHQYrp6pwdzLNym4vAWriLhCu7EJvUzId3yK3NQ6YIrg/s1600-h/DSC_2733.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5177581798882653266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR5r9ryN0AIHctdKUuk_QHag9x-x4w38sr7jN8pH8i9zt-uXvgpSIGNW2cY9JaxPkVSUOtmXCf6NY54SowhHSvy3E9zrBHQYrp6pwdzLNym4vAWriLhCu7EJvUzId3yK3NQ6YIrg/s320/DSC_2733.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div></div>swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-7783637006225098702008-02-29T18:32:00.004+01:002008-02-29T18:35:08.891+01:00Presenting the new and improved BoychenI mentioned in my last post that Boychen has taken a turn for the cheeful. Here's proof.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9w4lQ5i4BKQUqUu4oCLxm4pfeX6y6BiZMlZ6X4zTx15a3MbLQwfVaRTTgcmrk0S8SfdOUJOwksgfRHEwup6qLPZz9gzbPIfmCZ2fdUbYtyn5QDWfSlbvOhwazl1VmLoRzrNI8A/s1600-h/DSC_2696.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172456877730006786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9w4lQ5i4BKQUqUu4oCLxm4pfeX6y6BiZMlZ6X4zTx15a3MbLQwfVaRTTgcmrk0S8SfdOUJOwksgfRHEwup6qLPZz9gzbPIfmCZ2fdUbYtyn5QDWfSlbvOhwazl1VmLoRzrNI8A/s320/DSC_2696.JPG" border="0" /></a>swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-44470604048182732008-02-25T12:48:00.004+01:002008-02-25T13:09:29.008+01:00The whole is greater than the sum of the partsWhen the storm clouds of post-partum depression started gathering, a confluence of events conspired to push me over the edge: Boychen reacted badly to his first round of immunizations and there was much crankiness; my milk supply seemed to drop and it's possible he was hungry; the weather took a turn for the cold and grey; we hit the height of the six-to-eight week night colic; and perhaps most importantly R returned to work full-time after an extended period of paternity leave, part-time paternity leave, and Christmas and New Years holidays; then one week after he returned to work, he spent three weeks at a course in Zurich. I would say it was a post-partum perfect storm scenario except that I've sort of vowed never to refer to a confluence of events as a perfect storm scenario. Still. It all sort of went wrong at the same time and once the ball of depression started rolling down that hill it excelerated with alarming alacrity.<br /><br /><br />By the same token, miraculously, when things started looking up, things started looking up at the same time: thanks to a series of herbal suppliments the milk supply is back up and Boychen seems more content; the weather has been delightful for weeks, these almost kitchy post-card picture days; the Deroxat (Paxil) is clearly doing its job; and Boychen, at just over three months old, has turned the corner from newborn to baby. Those first three months, when the baby is disorganized and struggling to adjust to life on earth, are over and things really have gotten better. Boychen naps. In the house. Without touching my body. He falls asleep fairly easily at night. He's much happier during his waking periods; he can clumsily grasp soft toys and shove them in the general direction of his face. He can be awake on my knee or in his bouncy chair for 30 or 40 minutes without fussing. This is approaching a miracle. It's been a wonder.<br /><br />I'm enjoying my baby. He's a delight. Imagine that. He's a positive delight.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13140032.post-41790746367682717592008-02-19T11:53:00.004+01:002008-02-19T19:23:19.077+01:00Nice to know it's not all in my head"You're doing better," Dr. Fantabulous said when I sat down in his office yesterday. It was a statement, not a question.<br /><br />"I'm feeling much better," I replied.<br /><br />"I only have to look at your face to see you're feeling better. I'm happy for you.* Are you seeing Dr. FeelGood?"<br /><br />"Yes, and I'm taking the medication."<br /><br />"Well, it shows."<br /><br />* Actually he said "I'm lucky for you" but I know what he meant; it's a common mistake among German-speakers speaking English. In German the same noun, <em>Glück</em>, is used for luck and for happiness and the adjective <em>glücklich</em> can mean either lucky or happy. So when German-speakers turn around and speak English, they often use lucky and happy interchangeably. Later in the appointment we switched over to German because he said his English is no good first thing Monday morning. I love that we can do our appointments in either language, or, as usually happens, both.swissmisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18148758243391482706noreply@blogger.com1