zygote daddy

so is this considered hubris or simply narcissism?

You know, I fear it's presumptuous to think that anyone would want to hear what I think about anything. But if I didn't already have a flair for the narcissistic, I wouldn't have a blog, now would I?

I bring it up because I have recently doubled my presence on the innernets. Drumroll please...

Announcing A Compendium of All Knowledge Related to the Rearing of Offspring, a place for me to dispense my limitless parenting wisdom to the huddled, grateful masses. That's right, I have heard your pleas, I have answered the call.

You're welcome.

a public service announcement of sorts

From the good people at Toothpaste for Dinner:

wait — the French don't have a childhood obesity epidemic?

Spotted by Christian and Megan on a French grocery store shelf. Nothing like a heaping bowl of Choco Crack first thing in the morning, you know?

         

Must be because French children spend their time playing stick-and-hoop and chasing balloons around cobblestone streets...

A very brief note:

Let me just say that I take it as a point of pride that this blog is the first result when you google pastel baby stuff is horrible.

what about national awareness awareness month?

So I hear that November is National Blog-posting Month, or, for the innernets-speak set, "NaBloPoMo". Because raising awareness about blogging is clearly the critical awareness link between National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) and National Drunk Driving Awareness Month (December). If we lose our awareness ability after the hyper-aware, pink-coated month of October, what happens when December comes and no one is aware anymore?

It will be carnage in the streets, I tell you! Come on bloggers, for God's sake keep blogging! Humanity's awareness hinges on us!

Ahem.

Sorry.

Kind of a fun idea actually, posting every single day for the month of November. Maybe, if things were different, and d.w. wasn't giving birth (did I just mangle the subjunctive?) ANY DAMN DAY NOW, I might give it a shot. But I have a hard enough time blogging regularly as it is.

I just don't need that kind of pressure, 'k?

Coda: Dang. I just used "the Google" to figure out what else we need to be aware of during the month of November. Apparently there isn't an "Awareness Gap" after all. November also happens to be:

• National Alzheimer's Disease Awareness Month
• National American Indian & Alaska Native Heritage Month
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Month
• American Diabetes Month
• Diabetic Eye Disease Month
• National Epilepsy Awareness Month
• National Family Caregiver Month
• National Healthy Skin Month
• National Home Care Month
• National Hospice Month
• Temporomandibular Joint Diseases and Disorders Month
• Lung Cancer Awareness Month
• National Marrow Awareness Month
• Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
• Prematurity Awareness Month
• Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month
• National Adoption Awareness Month
• Religious Life Awareness Month
• Manatee Awareness Month
• Pet Cancer Awareness Month
• Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Month
• Investment Awareness Month
• National Novel-writing Month
• Tobacco Cessation Awareness Month
• Motor Meals Awareness Month
• National Disability Employment Awareness Month
• National AIDS Awareness Month
• Reflex Systemic Dystrophy Month
• Non-traditional Student Appreciation Month
• Foster Care Awareness Month
• National Kindness Month
• National Woodsmoke Awareness Month
• College Awareness Month
• Realtor Designation Awareness Month
• Crohn's Disease and Colitis Awareness Month
• Family Violence Awareness Month
• National Beard Month

I suppose I ought not worry about being at a loss for awareness in November.

unabashed fraternal jealousy

My brother, he has this blog, Le Blog. You know, 'cause he lives in France. Makes sense. While my sister-in-law studies her ass off, he gets to go out with friends and dine for free in the kitchens of two-star (two Michelin stars, that is) restaurants. While I'm sitting here blogging about diapers and food stamps, he's off to grab some dinner in Italy. And if you think I sound pretentious, let me show you where I get it:

On being an illegal migrant worker experiencing the grape harvest:

I did the vendange with a friend of mine's family estate, Domaine Audoin in Marsannay.  Marsannay is the northern most commune in the Cote de Nuit, just south of Dijon.  The weather was cool, the clouds hung low and the soft mist had turned the vineyard's clay soils to mud.

The upside of this day was working on a picking crew unlike any we use in California.  In Cali., the crews are incredible...  I have tried to work with the (mostly) Mexican guys there, and was never able to keep up.  I couldn't go half as fast as those guys.  France is different.  The crews are composed of students and the under- and un-employed.   

On bargain shopping:

I called Megan to ask if it would be possible to take advantage of a screaming bargain, but she (typically) said no.  I thought $400 for a bottle of H. Jayer's Cros Parantoux '88 was clearly meant to be...  The retail on this wine is between $2100-$2600...  She clearly doesn't recognize that we lost money because I didn't buy the bottle.

Oh Christian, Christian, Christian.

I tease because I love. And because I'm painfully, painfully jealous.

a little message from zygote d-a-double-dizzy

Thanks to Samantha from Back to Me, I have discovered a new favorite time-suck. Incidentally, I also feel way, way whiter.

But at least now Fox (Faux?) News is mildly tolerable.

giving new meaning to "birth of a new era"

Thanks to the political junkies at the Washington Post, I just saw that the election is 82 days away. If you look to your right, you will notice that the zygote is scheduled to make his triumphant arrival in 84 days (assuming it's still Friday, which it probably isn't anymore).

As much as I love getting an "I voted!" sticker from a cheerful retiree, methinks it's a good year for absentee voting.

another blogger moves up in the world

That little back alley of the blogosphere, the one inhabited by expectant fathers, just shrank by one when Papa Bradstein moved on up to the side street storefront known as "dad blogging". So head on over and welcome little 3B to the world.

And then make sure you subscribe to PB's rss feed. Excellent, excellent stuff.

next thing you know I'll be on myspace...

There was a cute little article about blogging in the Washington Post today. And of course by "cute", I mean it managed to reduce the storied newspaper of our nation's capital to a weird old guy ranting to whomever will listen. Or maybe it's more like in seventh grade when the headmaster at Town School for Boys addressed my classmates and me as "Dudes". I'm still cringing about it now.

So here is how the thing starts:

They consider themselves digital natives.

They're young. They're addicted to instant messaging and social networks. And they're more apt to dish about the drama at last night's party than the president's latest faux pas.

OMG, WP! You, like, totally know me and stuff! ROFLMAO! :D

Ahem. Sorry about that.

Because, you know, there's nothing I love more than "dish[ing] about the drama at last night's party". For example last night: d.w. and I hanging out with a friend and her 18-month-old twins, enjoying a tall glass of tap water and going home at ten because I had to work this morning. And there's no way I would ever imagine mentioning the creepy backrub given to the leader of the largest economy in Europe. Wouldn't think of it. 

Onward:

"Of all the bloggers out there, there are only about 10,000 that have an audience beyond their friends and families," said B.L. Ochman, a business blogger who tracks online trends.

"It astounds me that people are willing to do this stuff without getting paid," Ochman said. "I come from a generation that gets paid for our work."

I know! What a sucker I am! Who in their right mind would ever put pen to paper for enjoyment and catharsis? Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with B.L. to go kill some puppies and push a few blind old ladies into the street. That is, as long as someone pays for things like that. Because what's the point of doing something if you're not getting paid?

Alright, next one:

"The average blogger is a 14-year-old girl writing about her cat," said Alexander Halavais, an assistant professor of interactive communications at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.

OK, just because I have a category dedicated to our cats doesn't mean I'm a cat-obsessed 14-year-old girl. But I have to admit that one hurts a little. I mean, until the zygote hatches, what else is there running around the house purely for my amusement?

But you know what? This is only the second most amazingly broad brush I've seen used this week. The winner of the award for "Most Appalling Generalization of Mothers and Tibetans" was presented this week by the peerless (and ruthless, in a ridiculously good way) mr. nice guy. Here you go.