Two items for Kirsten

I need to mention two things of note that will be very relevant to Kirsten.

First, Kirsten is very obsessive about cars. She's certainly not of the type who understands the mechanical bits of an automobile well, but she completely sucks up into the whole "you are what you drive" thing. This is a trait I gave her as a reflection of my own tastes (though I care about the inner workings as well). As I interview Kirsten, I'll have to dig into her decision to sell her car twice, both times for political reasons (Hyundai Elantra in 2004 over the W re-election, BMW 330i in 2008 over Prop 8). Of course, I'll make sure to let her know that had she kept driving her Hyundai, I might want to buy it from her now, as something for me to refurbish on my own. (As it turns out, Hyundai has put all its service manuals on a website, where anyone can register for free access. I've learned tons of gearhead info on my new Genesis. Of course, I must acknowledge that I am only to perform procedures that I understand, am qualified for, and have proper tools for.)

In fact, if something happens to my daily-driver Honda Accord, and I end up in a used Hyundai Elantra as a replacement, I might as well say that I "bought it from Kirsten" or whatever. :)

This is happening because I am actually going through another phase of my own obsession with automotive stuff. Washing/waxing my cars as my daily workout makes me appreciate my own vehicles more - and think about the mechanical maintenance stuff too, to make them run as good as they look. (And working on my cars myself saves a bundle, both in service/parts costs and in making my cars last longer.) Though in Perfect Girl, it'll be Sarah who's the mechanically inclined type - definitely blame her male upbringing for it.

Second, Kirsten's pregnancy must be progressing very nicely. Unfortunately, I won't be able to do a very good job of describing how Kirsten feels during the pregnancy; it simply can't happen, when I was not even born with a uterus. Even in Perfect Girl, the story will be told through Sarah's voice, and Sarah, like me, lacks a uterus. However, I do need to get the details of Kirsten's pregnancy down pretty well, for the final few chapters of the story. Fortunately, I seem to be in luck. I can follow a real pregnancy as it unfolds, and hopefully translate some of its details over to Kirsten.

As it turns out, the pregnancy that I will follow is none other than that of my mentor Gayle Brandeis. She already has a son in college and a daughter in high school, and everyone thought she'd be a young empty nester in a few more years. Everyone was wrong; she's somehow pregnant again. She's just started a new blog to document the experience, and I'll find it to be a very eye-opening experience. (And I'll make sure to say hi to Gayle in person a few times soon.)

Mama Redux