From Where We Have Come, Part II

Nana & Papa came for a quintessentially San Francisco visit. We had a twilight BBQ on the beach next to the glowing Golden Gate Bridge. Anja had her first smore. And a second... and another. Someone once said wisely that Grandparents and Grandchildren are natural allies. Nana apparently taught Anja "Are You Sleeping Brother John". She hasn't stopped singing Ding-Dong-Ding-Dong since.

If ever you crave surrealism, attend your 20 year High School reunion. One saintly person organized our entire reunion and, in her attempt to remember hundreds of details, she forgot the name tags with our 1986 grad photos (mine above). The reunion took place during a heat wave which made a bewildering game of "Do I know you?" even more fun. My short-term memory is embarrassing. My long-term, however, is sharp. I remember everyone. I remember most people's parents & siblings, details about them and conversations going back 30 years. I should have been a country doc... Remembering something, occasionally mistaken for 'knowing' something, that no one else does can make a person crazy. Many people at my reunion didn't remember me. Wasn't there an episode of The Twilight Zone where someone was trying to convince everyone that they knew him? Maybe I'm the only one who saw it...

What's New PussyCat?

One of the joys of parenting is exploiting your baby for cute little tricks to show others. Every baby has a song or a dance. This started out as Anja's diaper changing song, but one day she started singing along! (Click here for the vid, cuteness factor of 12.5 )

I leave you with Daddy and his pet

As peaceful as pre-Terrible Two's get

From Where We Have Come

My parents spent an enormous sum for a computer in 1983. They thought that it would be a good idea. It was a Microsoft PC Junior. Capable of moving words, producing BioRhythms, doing loan amortization... not much more. They stopped making software for it shortly thereafter. My parents were livid. I took the computer to college and a room mate stole the computer for money to buy drugs. A small insurance settlement was the best possible outcome, believe me.

In '95, the World Wide Web was news. Some predicted that the Info Super Highway would look like a dirt road in 10 years, to describe the momentum. We bought a $3,000 system with one gig ("Did you say giggle-byte??" I asked the Gateway salesperson). I taught myself HTML and jumped into the pool.

Looking back, I'm so grateful that vast information is available to the masses. If something newsworthy happens in the most remote places of our planet, it's published. It feels like the best Democratic tool that has ever been.

People You'd Never Meet Otherwise

Here are a few places I love. Merely finding them is a positive product of our Information Age. There is so much brilliance! A lot of bull**** too. ...Democracy.

The Woodring Monitor (Right: "Drowned Man's Colors" by Jim Woodring)
Zefrank.com (especially this page)
Improv Everywhere
Kyd Charlemagne (phenomenal travel photos, I'm in "Slovakia")

A Creative Source...

...should be kept guarded. So I've heard. My caution is to the wind. This has been one of my greatest sources of inspiration since I discovered it accidentally on a radio dial in Europe. Much more than music, which you can stream into your home - FM4, Vienna (Part English, part German language).

A Simple Salute

Daddy made me promise that I wouldn't do anything 'silly for Father's Day' this year. Since it isn't Father's Day, I can keep my promise can't I.

A partner is one who leaves a trail of thier snacks all over the house. Toothpaste in the sink. Your mate is the one who watches Sports Center. A lot.

And yet that same person can be a gifted parent, with an astonishing sense of detail. You only need look at the child to see how happy they are. I know someone like this...

He feels all of Bebe's little pains. He makes up strings of ridiculous nicknames for her and songs to go with them. Today he put every item of clothing on that she brought him from the laundry pile. When I walked in, she had a bright green bathing suit with striped knit tights pulled over the top of them. Silly Bebe. Silly Daddy.

Happy early Father's Day.