Limon

Today, we saw the heartbeat of the newest member of our family whose pre-release name is Limon. After release, Limon's name will change... to a different pseudonym.

I guess Frances will no longer be the sole focus of this blog.

mwz

No Longer Reading Atrios

I haven't felt like blogging in a while. I don't know why. Lately, I just haven't felt like writing.

But I have to finally write this post because I've stopped reading Eschaton. Atrios has grown increasingly rabid (which is the trait that drove me from daily Kos) but he finally went over the line for me by basically saying it was justice that Michelle Malkin be called racial slurs. In my book that makes him an apologist for racism.

Here's a little background, Michelle Malkin wrote a book called "In Defense of Internment". In the book, she supports the decision to intern the Japanese Americans during WWII using the information that they had at the time. If it makes any difference to you, she is Philippino (I think), so her arguments are not as easily dismissed using the race card.

I haven't read the book, mostly because I don't have any interest in the subject. So I'm not going to debate the book.

Because of this book though, the left hates her. There was a spat in August where the left was really riled about her discussion on Cindy Sheehan. In one of many posts (link) attacking Ms. Malkin, Atrios finally killed my interest in reading his... um... work.

[Michelle Malkin who wrote ] a highly misleading and historically innacurate (sic) tract which defends the mass arrest and internment of American citizens based on nothing more than who their ancestors were has pretty much given up any right to complain about such comments.

Emphasis his.

So what he is saying is that someone who holds an opinion different than his, on something he feels strongly about, should just suck it up when facing racism. It's what she deserves right?

Of course he starts his post with " I certainly don't approve of racist comments of any kind, and people who make them should be ashamed of themselves, but" which he feels absolves him of his later remarks.

It just reminds me of the They Might be Giants lyric "Can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding".

So Atrios no longer.

mwz

Frances and a Pen

We've been on vacation and I might get a vacation post up in the next couple days but sometimes it gets kind of daunting. I couldn't let this pass without a post.

Frances loves to carry around pens (she also likes to collect sticks when she is outside but there are no sticks inside, so she is stuck with pens). So today, it didn't come as much of a shock to see her with a pen.

The really cool thing was that she was able to put the cap back on (and that she realized this was something that could be done). She repeatedly took the cap off and put it back on. It was fun to see her do it and then look proud when I cheered for her.

Arial also says that she has started figuring out the shape sorter but I haven't seen it so I'm not going to blog about it... Not that I don't believe Arial... I just have nothing to say on the topic.

mwz

Sin City

Last night we rented Sin City for our last movie before we quit our Blockbuster movie pass thing (they raised the rates). It was incredibly good.

It was visually interesting and it kept my interest the whole way through. Normally, I'm too antsy to watch a movie (at home) without getting up and walking around but I sat and watched all of Sin City.

Also, it had Rori from Gilmore Girls and Bruce Willis (who reminds me of one of my brothers).

You should go rent it, unless you don't like movies with a lot of violence or are opposed to comic book movies in general (as Arial is).

mwz
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Brick Border

Today, we put in a brick border around the shrubs near our house. It was a lot of work. I had to dig a trench.

Digging a trench may sound easy but keep in mind that it has to be the right depth and width to fit the bricks. You can't just dig a trench all willy-nilly and expect it to come out right. At least I hope not, otherwise I put in a lot of work that I didn't need to do.

That said, I expected it to be difficult so it wasn't much of a shock.

The worst part (it turns out), is that I did the work without a shirt on. Not only did this let the neighbors see my large tummy but it also exposed the pale skin on my torso that is normally protected by my shirt. I didn't think about sun screen and the layer of dirt clinging to me apparently didn't help.

I went to bed (for a nap) at 9pm because I was wiped. At midnight, Arial came to bed and I got up to feed the cats. Afterwards, I couldn't get back to sleep. So here I am, blogging at 2:40 in the morning.

I've gotta try to seem again. Good night.

mwz
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Rau Rau Rau

Since I work at home, I occasionally leave my office, go downstairs and see Arial and Frances (usually on my way to get a snack, which is why I'm not the slender, young fellow that I used to be). Sometimes when I go back upstairs, Frances protests my leaving. To try to get her to understand that I'm going upstairs (and that she needs to deal with that), I say "Bye-bye" and "I love you" a couple times.

On a couple occasions over the last few weeks, when I've gone upstairs I heard Frances say something that sounded like "I love you". It was in the same intonation that I use when I say it to her in that circumstance.

Now the question is this, are those her first words? Or am I just hearing what I want to hear like the lady whose dog "says" "I love you" but actually just howls three times?

Either way, it is neat that she picked up the intonation from one time and applied it to the next.

mwz
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Been Away For a While

Last week I had to go on a business trip. It was kind of last minute so I decided to drive the 5 and a half hours. Since I was driving, Arial decided to come along (bringing Frances of course).

Frances did about as well in the car as can be expected. No major crying fits or anything. Although the first night we got there, we wanted to get some local food. But Frances had been in the car all day and didn't want to be in it any more, even if we were hunting for a good restaurant. So when we saw a large man walking with some KFC (meaning there was one close) we quickly gave up our hope for local cuisine and got some chicken.

It was pretty warm while we were there and the hotel had a pool. So, everyday I took Frances swimming.

Now, you know how sometimes the water is a little cold at first but after you get used to it it is fine? Well it turns out that part of the "getting used to it" is moving and generating your own heat. Curling yourself into a little ball and trying to snuggle close to the large person holding you is not going to get you warm. None of our swimming sessions lasted longer than ten minutes.

The longest time we spent swimming was when I finally figured out (based on something Arial suggested) that when I lifted her out of the water and then put her down (in a fun manner) that she would kick her legs. This got her to the point were she didn't look cold. She also seemed to enjoy it. Unfortunately, that day I was keeping her from her nap and she was tired (and therefore grumpy). That session didn't last that long ether.

One of the guys I was working with gave me a tip on a good, "organic" restaurant. They apparently package their food and sell it in grocery stores (or co-ops, I guess). We thought we would give it a try.

We learned two things:

1. Restaurants that only serve organic food are expensive. Pesticides are used for a reason and part of that is to keep costs down.
2. We don't like "wholesome" food. After our pricey meal where we consumed what looked like a reasonable amount of food, we were still hungry.

So, we went to the grocery store, bought a half gallon of ice cream and since we didn't have a freezer, tried to eat the whole thing by ourselves.

And we very nearly did.

mwz
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