First, whoever sent me the invite to coComment, thank you! You rock.

I guess I will read the James Frey book, though it’s going be difficult what with all the uproar about it. Everybody has said it’s a very good book, but I think it’s going to be a little bit like, I dunno…having sex with somebody you know is great in bed but has herpes. It’s going to be hard to push all the “scandal” away from it. Knowing what he looks like doesn’t help; now that the scandal has taken a life of its own you simply cannot get away from his picture. I have a weird habit of not wanting to know what an author looks like when I’m reading their book. Seriously, it drives me crazy when they put the author’s big mug on the back of the book. I would really prefer not to know. Something about knowing what the writer looks like messes things up…I guess I like reading with no impressions or prejudices or thoughts about it beforehand…a clean slate. And that’s going to be impossible with this book.

I don’t think he should have lied, but I don’t think the publishers were innocent, either. As Richard Cohen of the Washington Post wrote, “Doubleday will chase a buck like any other company.” I know he originally tried to get it published as a novel, which is probably the best way to read it. That’s probably how I would have read it before the mess, knowing that some things were probably true and some exaggerated, nevermind the small letters on the front that said memoir. I believe the note to readers (pdf) that now appears in the latest editions is sincere.

I think it’s kind of fucked up the way Oprah (to use a favorite Republican term) flip-flopped on her stance. She may be right, but the fact that she changed her mind only when she got hammered by her fans—that’s the part I have a problem with. I’m not sure flaming him on live TV really accomplished anything except to vindicate herself.

There seems to be no end to the outrage over this book and Jon Stewart had a great point about that the other night. Where is the fucking outrage over the Iraq War lies? You know, something that is actually costing lives?

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This week I got some tests done to help figure out why I’m so tired. I had to bring the twins with me, and it was the same old joke from everybody at the lab: I think the two reasons you’re tired are sitting right over there, ma’am. Yeah yeah yeah.

Maybe my body is still adjusting to the Elmiron. Maybe my thyroid’s broke. Maybe I’m a little iron deficient. Who knows? But I took a hint from Claire and started snacking on prunes and the like this week, just in case. And yesterday I didn’t feel tired. Whether or not that was psychological I don’t know. I can’t take multivitamins thanks to the IC.

My friend Somebody’s Mom, bless her heart, is a pretty witty gal: “I am so so sorry you’re dealing with IC. You escaped the OC, but there’s no escaping the IC. How unfair is that?” Tomorrow while the girls are in preschool we’re going to go out drinking and cutting off mattress tags and stealing traffic cones.

So far so good with the preschool. I cannot tell you what a weight this has lifted from my shoulders. I didn’t believe all the hype about preschool–and I’m still not sure I buy all of it–but they like it, and it does seem to be a stimulating experience for them that I couldn’t really replicate. And they have a friend in the class, which I think has helped tremendously. If you have extremely shy and clingy kids, I highly recommend this method: sign them up with their friends. And wait until they are three.

Saige is officially potty-trained. We still do diapers at night, but really that is because I am too lazy to change bedsheets right now if an accident happened. Darcy is still in diapers. She has no interest whatsoever, not even after seeing her sister get stickers and lavish praise. She is a child that cannot be bought. (She will be a starving Green Party organizer in fifteen years). But oh! How easy it is to change only ONE child’s diaper a day! I expect a thank-you note from the local landfill any day now.

Three is a magical age. We are now firmly in “little girl” stage as opposed to “toddler” stage, and so far this has meant a little more reasoning capability, increased trust capability, and more sleep for everyone. I like it. I figured the night terrors would go up after preschool, but no, it seems to be going down. Coincidence? Maybe. All I know is I can feel my brain coming back after finally starting to sleep normally. I’m enjoying the girls a lot more instead of walking around with a dark cloud above my head, thinking, “What are they going to do to me today?” I am enjoying everything more.

But maybe that’s just the prunes and Postum talking.

Tags: James Frey, Oprah

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Note: if any of these links are repeats, forgive me. I haven’t figured out a good method of ticking off the links I’ve already posted.

Enough already
I love the look on the First Lady’s face, don’t you?
Keith Olbermann Video - “In a performance that deserves an oscar nomination Keith Olbermann ridicules the Fox News poster child Bill O’Reilly.” Hilarious.
Motorcycling though Chernobyl
Never have a dead cell phone again
Who needs a stinkin’ PDA?
A special sense of humor - not all the commenters have it
How to have twins - No, really! You too can enter the land of massive sleep deprivation. No family history of twins necessary.