2003-07-23 Anna Newsletter the First

Anna Newsletter #1 2003-07-23

Intro to Shunning Ducks (a.k.a. Intro Duck Shun) (the level of humor here is probably indicative of how mentally tired I am)

Ok, I've been thinking about creating this list for months but I kept getting tangled up in the ethicality of making it "opt-out" and deciding that I would first send out a mailing inviting everyone to join before adding anyone to the list -- and then I would get tangled up in thinking "but how do I send out the first newsletter when nobody has subscribed yet" and "how do I update the people who join after I send out a newsletter" and wondering if there's some way of having these all archived on a web page somewhere, and then of course I start thinking about ways to automate all that and of course it will probably be years before I have time to do anything about that.

So I've decided to make this list opt-out. If anyone doesn't really want to receive occasional updates on the status of The Anna Monster, just let me know.

I'll also be creating a newsletter for General Activities of The Hypertwins, and that one will be opt-in; just let me know if you'd like to be added.

Advanced Duck Shunning begins here (i.e. end of Intro Duck Shun)

For those who don't know, we had to call off the long-planned California trip we had scheduled for last week. We had the childcare all lined up, but when we added up the expenses and compared with the cash on hand (which was smaller than expected, due in part to all the time I'd been spending making arrangements for the trip rather than working hours for Carrier), there just wasn't enough. We're looking at possibly Thanksgiving (a.k.a. Anna's birthday) now, though there are logistical complications.

Much of the groundwork laid for this (abortive) trip will not have to be re-laid for future trips, so I don't count it as wasted effort.

As a consolation prize, we took two shorter trips.

First, we dragged the whole crew except Josh (i.e. Sandy, Zander, Benjamin, Anna, and myself) to the NC Zoo on Sunday. We walked along the entire path, starting on the Africa side and ending up at the swamps in North America, then took the trolley back to do the other side of the main Africa enclosure. We took lots of pictures and short video clips which I will hopefully get around to doing something with.

Then Sandy and Anna and I took off for the beach for a couple of days (Tuesday & Wednesday nights), staying at the Surf Suites. We're there now as I write; it's Wednesday morning, 8 a.m. Anna was very excited yesterday when we arrived and almost immediately went in the water (stayed there for about an hour or two, then went to the pool for another hour or so); we had supper at Oceanic next door.

Now she is bored and wants to go back in the water or go to an aquarium or a snake exhibit or SOMETHING, NOWWWW. She has settled for getting on the internet and tending to her NeoPets while the rest of us recuperate a bit.

The Anna is due back in its native habitat on Saturday.

Since Anna arrived in NC, we've been reading "Xenocide" (book 3 of a series by Orson Scott Card) for our mutual bedtime story. Just now she made a happy noise because she solved some problem with her NeoPet shop, and I offhandedly referred to her NeoPet activities as "woodgrain tracing" -- to which Anna replied that she tried woodgrain tracing and it's fun. (I'm not sure what the Gods would say about that, much less the Ancestors.)

3:01 pm

We went driving up and down the island, trying to figure out places we might have stayed (both Sandy's family and mine were into regular beach trips when we were growing up). I'm quite sure we stayed on Wrightsville Beach at least once (possibly in this hotel, the Surf Suites, though I think it would have to have been circa 1970), but most of the places I remember staying were (I think) further north -- somewhere on the island containing Emerald Isle, or thereabouts.

Anna gets very squeaky and excited in the water, and only gets out when the cold becomes a bit overwhelming. (The air temperature has been lukewarm, with not much sun.) In the hotel room she is either wondering what we're going to do next, trying to find something to help with (nothing, usually, unfortunately) or is avidly pursuing NeoPet projects. I think I once called her the Constant Stimulation Kid, back when she was maybe 3... apparently some things never change.