Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Scorsese + Stones = new doc

Joe sent me this trailer for a new Stones documentary filmed by Martin Scorsese called Shine a Light. Sounds and looks like it'll be really cool!

Whole new world

Today, Jane turned 15 weeks old (I'll be happy when I can stop counting in weeks... maybe I can do that now?) and started her first day of daycare. We're doing a nanny share with a family who lives in our 'hood. It seemed like a pretty good situation when we first discovered/heard about it, and so far we like the nanny. Liz was very worried and stressed about Jane starting daycare, plus she went back to work today too. So, this is a new twist on being new parents that we're sorting through. But Liz, as always, has been very focused on this and has just about thought of everything in order to keep things from falling apart. And for that, I'm very thankful. Liz has been focused on Jane and being a (great) mom, and I've been tyring my best to be a helpful dad and husband.

But the baby thing continues to open our eyes to a whole new world. Now as parents we have to worry about China. Not China as in "those commie reds," but China as in "that country that supplies the US (world?) with baby products." Seriously, seemingly every baby product we own -- from toys to clothes and everything else except our bottles -- are produced in China. And now that China has demonstrated that their standards for quality control are not the greatest, we've got to worry like crazy people whether our baby is exposed to all sorts of bad stuff. I knew I was signing up for (partly) a lifetime of worry by having a baby, but this is some serious modern-day worrying. Sure doesn't seem like the garden-variety worrying my parents did (eg, out past curfew, did he dress himself properly today, etc.).

Now I pay attention to all sorts of parent/child-related content on the web... such as this, uh, interesting story about people reserving domain names for their kids. Who knew? Not me. But in this case, I don't think I'll be reserving a domain for Jane. That just seems a bit excessive.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Missing: Megan Elizabeth Welch

UPDATE, 8/19: Megan has been found. Thanks to everyone who helped out.

I wanted to help spread a message from my sister in law that her step-sister has been missing since Mon, Aug 13. Here are the details, including a picture. Please help if you are able.

Name MEGAN ELIZABETH WELCH
DOB March 10, 1993
Height 5 ft. 6 in.
Weight 140 lb.
Hair Light brown, short
Eyes Hazel
Others Freckles and wears braces
Scars Chicken pox scar under right eye
Wearing when last seen:
Jean shorts and tank top (unknown color), Silver earrings, pierced and a Star of David necklace, White watch and flip flops

Picture attached was just taken last week.

Note: Megan takes several medications and has not had any since Monday morning.

Last seen Monday, August 13th about 3 PM in Laurel, Howard County, MD.

If seen, please call Howard County Juvenile Dispatch 410-313-2620

Sunday, August 12, 2007

What's new?

Things have been busy around here lately... The weekend was a full one as usual. Well, maybe not full exactly, but with the baby, time seems to evaporate. I spent some time working on the yard over the weekend. Yardwork is not my idea of a good time. Mowing the lawn is not something I look forward to in the least. Weeding the backyard so my property value don't drop like a stone does not make me smile. But I did it. At least it wasn't a thousand degrees like earlier this week.

On the topic of work, I was offered and accepted a new position within our newly re-orged department. It's a promotion, which is really nice. So I'm pretty happy about the way that turned out. But even at the last minute, I was contemplating taking the package. In the end though, I think this is the best move for me at this point in time. Should be a busy period from now until maybe the end of the year though. We've got a lot to work through while we transition work from people who are leaving, and most people who are staying will have new responsibilites to pick up. And it looks like we'll be shorthanded until all the positions are filled. Should be fun! I'm just glad things are settled for me, and now I can move on.

On a sad note, I sold my Miata today at Carmax. I've had that car for 11 yrs, and it was the best car I've ever owned, hands down. It was certainly impractical, but, man, it was a lot of fun to drive! Like driving a go kart. I kinda regret that I didn't do some fun drives leading up to this weekend, but time did not allow for it. I drove it to work a bit this past week, but only was able to drive it twice this weekend: once to pick up some Chinese for dinner on Sat and then the drive today to Carmax. Wished I could've driven it more over the weekend since it was so nice. When I drove it up to Carmax today, we video'd my final "approach" (ie, me getting in the car, putting the top down, and turning it on). I put on The Great Twenty-Eight by Chuck Berry and hit the road. I figured that was a fitting way to say goodbye. And then I got up there, they gave me a check (after a coupla hours of waiting -- it was busy there), and we were on our way. Still a little bummed, but I couldn't keep it forever! We've def had a lot of change going on this year: new baby, new house, new car, sold old car, new job... I need some dramamine! I don't think we have enough going on right now... let's see, what could I do to make some things happen around here?? Eh, nope, this is enough for me... Life is good.

The last bit of info is that our nephew Isaac is coming down tomorrow for the week -- he'll be leaving on Sat. So we're excited about that! I haven't seen him since Jan, and he hasn't been down here since last summer. He's excited to meet Jane, and visit w/ Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Greg, Aunt Dena and his cousin Mason. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures of his visit to post when he heads back home to NYC. Getting his travel arrangements worked out has been a bit difficult, but I think everything will work out. We're excited to see him.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Benefit for John Stabb

Recently, John Stabb from Government Issue got severely beaten up near his home in MD. On dcist.com, there's now information about a benefit concert for him tomorrow night at the Velvet Lounge. I think when we were kids we saw GI more than any other harDCore band around. Mostly because they played like crazy. But they're a big piece of my teenage years (and beyond).

Velvet Lounge to Host John Stabb Benefit Show

GI on youtube.com

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Jane at 12 weeks

This past Wed (8/1), Jane hit the 12 week mark. So now at 3 months, her lifetime achievements include meeting her great grandmother, continuing to add OZ's (altho she's still small compared to other babies her age), smiling a *lot*, sleeping for 5-6 hr stretches at night, and shrieking happily while watching the mobile in her crib. So, life with Jane is good. She's starting to show some hints of personality now. It's still tough at times, but it's much easier and more enjoyable compared with 1 or 2 months ago. Here are the latest pics:

View Slideshow

Friday, August 03, 2007

Old video but still very funny

This is via dcist.com, but it's pretty funny (and very real). It's a clip of WRC news anchor Jim Vance laughing uncontrollably during a news piece about fashion models. Hearing people laugh like that just makes me laugh. Reminds me of the old Carol Burnett shows where they would lose it while doing their skits. Loved that!