Clarissa's Blog

This was written by one of the kids who survived the shooting. It’s heartbreaking but useful.

Turns out there are duvet covers with little ties on the inside of the corners. And duvets that have little loops for the ties that help the duvet stay in place. I have gone 40 years struggling with a duvet that shifts inside the cover and bunches up in one corner. And it turns out there are these little loops and ties to keep it in place. I just spent the first night of my life without bunching issues, and it is intense.

And then people ask why there is no alternative to capitalism. Folks who discovered the loops inside duvet covers won’t want to do without them. And the only way anybody is going to create duvet loops is if they are eager to take away market share from the guy who sells loopless duvets. What else can possibly motivate one to put any thought, let alone effort, in the loops? The milk of human kindness towards strangers who suffer from bunched up duvets? That’s not very likely.

The old saying in my country goes, “Those who get up early are rewarded by God.” The saying in my new country should be “Those who get up early are rewarded by Sam’s Club.”

Turns out there is free coffee (and desserts I can’t have) for early shoppers at the store. I’m a single mother until Sunday because N is at a conference, so the need for coffee is even higher than usual.

Friday, 40 degrees colder than Thursday. And then Monday, 42 degrees warmer than Sunday.

Is it the same shooting as the other day or is it a new one? I’m either losing touch with reality or there’s been a whole cluster of shootings in the past couple of months.

Love you, Americans, but this is totally messed up.

It turns out that the most important event all year around here is a Daddy-daughter dance. There is a huge wait list, and people who can’t get in are weeping and offering to sell a kidney on FB if somebody can get them in.

I know that I will never be able to explain the concept to poor N. So I’m beginning to wonder if we should move. It’s not something we can culturally comprehend. I’m not criticizing, I’m just saying that we are not culturally situated in a way that would make this comprehensible.

That weird feeling when the kid you used to fight for toys and who kept stealing your outfits as a teenager gets invited to mentor at the Women In Tech Mentorship Program at Google’s Startup Grind Global Conference in Silicon Valley. . .

This training is just out of this world nuts. There is a whole segment on how when you see a student at a party getting very drunk and being groped by another student, you need to come up to the groper and tell them off.

Of course, the chances of me hanging out with drunk and groping students are less than nil. What are the students going to say? “Hey, I know what will make this party real fun. Let’s invite the middle-aged non-drinking Professor B to the party so that she can hover around, barking ‘Speak Spanish!’ and ‘Have you started working on your lab yet?’ at us!”

So why am I being quizzed on behaviors I’m beyond unlikely to observe?

Valentine’s is such a weird holiday. We still can’t figure it out. N and I thought it was supposed to be a holiday for romantic couples. The roses, the big red heart-shaped candy boxes. But then I’m seeing tons of photos on FB of little girls with huge bouquets and red hearts whose Daddy is their Valentine. N says it looks creepy.

So now we are completely confused. If it’s a day of friendship and non-romantic love and you are supposed to give gifts and cards to friends, then why are all the cards so clearly romantic in nature? I couldn’t find any for Klara’s little friends at school. I’m not getting it. What is it that we are supposed to be celebrating?