Yet again it's Sunday morning, my favorite time of the week. Before Atticus came I would wake up around six and begin the day writing or painting. Now I'm lucky if I wake up at all. We've settled into a schedule, up at midnite and at 4 am. Irene feeds him and I change the diaper and rock him to sleep. I wonder what he thinks and sees. Sometimes when he looks at me with his eyebrows all scrunched up he has that who the hell are you look. I like that. He'll probably have that same look later on in life and the words to accompany it.

Yesterday Irene and I saw a stunning movie called Afterlife by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Here is the plot summary from imdb


Plot Summary for
Wandafuru raifu (1998)

After people die, they spend a week with counselors, also dead, who help them pick one memory, the only memory they can take to eternity. They describe the memory to the staff who work with a crew to film it and screen it at week's end; eternity follows. 22 dead arrive that week, assigned to three counselors and a trainee. One old man cannot find a memory, so he watches videotape of his life. Others pick their memory quickly, and the film crew gets right to work. The trainee, 18-year-old Shiori, helps a teenage girl choose a memory other than Disneyland. The youthful staff have a secret and feelings, too, which play out, especially Shiori's affection for her mentor, Mochizuki


I don't even know if that captures the feel and beauty of the movie. One of the many questions it asks is What one memory would you take with you in the afterlife? The movie moves at a snail's pace, comfortable in its own unfolding. It is what my friend Lisa would call a quintessential Hilesh movie.

Right now I am watching Stella struggle to get up onto a chair. Once actually up there she walks in a circle for a minute adjusting herself then slumps down for sleep. If Sariah, the siamese cat, happens to walk by...then the spell is broken and a chase ensues and all hell breaks loose. Have you all met everyone in our family? I'll post pictures of the crew so you can get a better sense of our animal kingdom.

I'll also post pictures of the latest painting and a little project I am working on for Atticus. I cut up my very old Sex Pistols t-shirt and am sewing one of the images onto a tiny hoodie. I am using this nice deep red embroidery thread around the edges. Hopefully it'll turn out ok. I'll post the in progress pic.