What the Camera Sees

More Photos Than You Can Shake A Stick At

Here's Iain, experiencing the joy of playing with Brand New Presents. (and their wrapping)

He's not sure what to play with first...the pom pon, the old AFLAC duck, or the new maracas?

Whatever. First, it's necessary to taste it.


Then: FREAKOUT!! Van Halen meets Motley Crue meets Queen meets...Drum Line.


Whaaa! Faster! Louder! I AM A BOY!!!


Oh, wait. Need to taste it again to ensure quality control.


Tastes good. What shall I play next??

Oh! My head! Good idea. Whack, whack, whack.

I Love the Folk Tree

When we lived in Pasadena, The Folk Tree was my go-to place for gifts. They had a little of everything: jewelry, fabric, toys, clothing, household items, and even exhibits by local artists.

Over the years, I often bought presents there, especially earrings and toys for children. I sent my godson a box full of noisemaking toys, mostly imported from Mexico and various parts of Africa.

So the other day, when a box arrived from Megan, and inside I saw the familiar brown gift boxes...it was exciting.

Inside was a little something for Iain:*


And a little something for me!

Thanks, Megan!

* Iain also got a stuffed elephant made with Mexican fabrics, but I failed to obtain a picture of it because he's too busy alternately sucking on its trunk and waving it around.

Happy birthday to me,
Happy birthday to me!
Happy birthday to me-e-e-e
Happy birthday to me.

Shhh!

Graham wants you to know that while the library is a place that welcomes a variety of people, its rules must be obeyed. There is no talking in the library. There is no "hanging out" or "chilling" in the library.

Beware. He'll come over and set you straight.


Of course, he's not exactly...intimidating. So follow the rules, or he'll charm you to death!

Truth

Worth reading.

Color!

One of my presents came with this wonderful pom pon on top. I love it. It shakes and makes swooshy noises and it's sooo colorful.

Presents!

What a week! I've been getting presents left and right. Pictures to come...

In the meantime, here I am, looking super-artsy. On the outside, I'm all elegance, but inside I'm thinking...TOAST!!

Not What I Expected

For the last month or so, Iain and I have had a little communication problem.

I say: "MaMa. Say MaMa. Ma. Ma. Ma. Ma."

And he replies: "Dad."

Urgh.

But today was different. We were hanging out, listening to the radio, dancing and reading. I decided to change his diaper. So I'm chatting at him to distract him so he won't squirm right off the changing pad, and I say, "Mama. Say Mma. Mma."

And he says "Mohhh"


!!!

Until I realize that the song on the radio is Billy Idol's "Mony Mony."

No Pictures No Pictures

Sheesh. Paparazzi. Go take pictures of the Oscar winners!

Oh yeah. That's it.

This morning, on NPR, the subject of high-speed rail came up. The story included a quote from someone in the Transportation Department (the Secretary himself? No idea.). He said, "President Obama wants to be the High-Speed Rail President."

Sure.

Sure he does.

Because when you're the first African-American president, what you yearn for, in the dark of the night, is to be known as The High-Speed Rail President.

Phhhbbt.

Sigh

Apparently, we set the worldwide standard for Type 2 diabetes.

But now we've got competition.

What caught my eye here is that lovely English talent for delivering a little pinch when you're not looking. Why, we're Worse Than Americans!? No! How can that be?

Funky, baby...

Scene: Mom, Dad, Iain. Dinnertime.

[background music: the theme to "Shaft"]

Mom: Shaft!

Dad: Shaft!

Iain: [grins while squeezing banana out of his mouth through his 2 teeth. Claps hands covered in carrot and corn.]

Spring? Spring? Has Anyone Seen Spring??

Seriously, kids. The sun is shining, people are starting to ask about my "birthday" (whatever that is), and the mail is full of catalogs featuring shiny red tomatoes.

But it's 29 degrees outside. And forecast for 16 tonight.

What's that? Not spring.

I'm still in a good mood. For now. But winter had better go away soon. I got a spiffy new baseball cap in the mail today and I want to wear it!

Little Brothers

Miss Chloe wants to strike a blow for her little brother, even though (in general) she stands for the idea that little brothers are mostly composed of poopy diapers. Still: you gotta defend your own.

So she submitted this picture, definitively establishing Brando as King of Belly.

Not bad on the cheek front, either. I assume you've been feeding him toast? Waffles? Pancakes? Cupcakes????

Soup! Or Not.

I made chicken soup today. Except I didn't. Somehow.

What happened? First, I roasted a chicken last night. Callie, Iain, and The Staff ate most of it, but I used the carcass to make stock and shredded the last meaty bits off to use in soup.

Fast-forward to today. I took the stock out of the fridge (where it had been chilling since I strained it last night) and removed the congealed fat. I used that to fry a chopped sweet onion, added garlic, dried thyme, Greek seasoning, three wedges of lemon, and a bit of celery, and poured in my stock plus about 6 cups of chicken broth. Add tiny minced carrots. Add shredded chicken.

It was a lovely, bubbling broth of goodness. So I got out the star-shaped pasta Iain helped me pick out last week. One small box. Perfect. In it went.

And 20 minutes later, I got this:


Not soup. More like chicken risotto. Delicious, but basically a pasta product, not a mess of potage.

Ok. I can roll with that. After all, it's tasty. So I boxed it up for lunches (I'll freeze some, though, because the total volume was close to 5 quarts), and I guess that's a lesson learned. Next time, add a cup of pasta, not a pound.

Belly!

Callie says: "Eat it, Brando!"

Duuuuude...

Stop looking at me like that, Dude. I got nothing to be ashamed of. I let her play with my toys. I didn't say anything when she left early because "she had an early meeting tomorrow."

Just because I didn't call...doesn't mean anything. I'm a guy. I might call later in the week. Or not. Doesn't mean anything. It's not like she's my girlfriend.

Right?

Big Decisions

Hi. I had another date with Iain tonight. Things are getting kind of serious. I used his changing table (I needed a bit of freshening up), played with his toys, and joined him for dinner cooked by our staff.

I think I had a bit too much milk, though. Soooo embarrassing. I never drink too much on a date, but tonight I got excited and the next thing I knew... I just feel so relaxed with Iain.

It might be love. Or possibly it's all about the toys. But either way, a night to remember.

So, what do you think? Should I move in, or what? I mean, I know it's early days, but when you feel a real bond with someone (and their toys), you have to act. Life's for living, right?

Yeah. I think so, too. I'm going to bring over my alphabet rug and join it to Iain's alphabet rug. Together, we can have a great time. He'll play with my egg sorting toy, I'll play with his miniature Radio Flyer, and the staff can prattle on incessantly about "adult" stuff. B-O-R-I-N-G.

Gotta go pack - Bye!

--Callie

Happy Birthday, Maddie

Maddie turned one. There was a cupcake massacre. Read all about it.

Ovah!

Boys: your Tater Tot, French Fry, SesameStreet.org-watching, stay-up-late holiday is OVAH.

We will now return to regular programming, including broccoli for dinner for A Certain Someone (who wears diapers).

Snow Storm Music Video

I am a sucker for tilt-shift video. Thanks to Boing Boing, once again, for bringing this to my attention.

Fire (Jimmy Edgar Remix) from Erik West on Vimeo.

Negotiations

Callie had a serious talk with "The Dads" about our relationship. She feels that family is sooo important to a healthy romance. As you can see, she brought my representative (Teddy McTeddersons) to the meeting, just so I had a voice. Very evenhanded, that girl.

Callie is not above using her feminine wiles on The Dad.

Let's Get Physical, Physical...

On our Valentine's date, Callie and I wrestled:


I played the "reluctant suitor," but really I enjoyed gazing into Callie's eyes.


After a while, the Staff swooped in and rescued me, but somehow I found myself upside-down. Not sure how that happened.


Like MacGyver, I swung backwards and forwards until I could reach the safety of Callie's Mom.


At the end of our date I got a hug goodnight. It's not as good as a kiss, but with her mom watching you can hardly blame her. Next time.


[P.S. I love Olivia Newton-John.]

Let them be boys

"[W]hat they're doing is playing around with ideas of courage and valor, good versus evil, and teamwork. These are ideas we want to inculcate in our culture."

and

"However, her sons asked her to play some games with them before she finalized her judgment. 'I sat down and played Halo with them, and while I saw that it's very violent, I also saw that it's a very condensed form of violence… so I started to take a different view about video games: maybe I should be a little less hysterical about them.'"

and, finally,

"Hopefully, by getting society to lighten up a little on these zero-tolerance policies, the academic and creative development of young men might get back on track. 'I think if we don't start thinking about [the issue] a little more seriously,' said Tyre, 'it's not going to change.'"

My Girlfriend

Here's Callie during our Valentine's date. As you can see, she's adorable. Her pink PJ's won my heart,

But it was her fun-loving attitude that sealed the deal.

She has a good relationship with her Mother. I've thought about it, and I think I could make a good son-in-law. And having a mother-in-law who knows how to do backwards handsprings can only be useful.


When it was time to part, Callie was sad. Naturally. Anyone would be sad to leave moi. Never fear, beloved! We'll spend another evening together soon.

And to help you pass the days, I'll post a few more pictures of Our Special Night.

Mother/Son Bonding

The night before last, I dreamed that my identity was stolen.

I was visiting a foreign city, and accidentally left my luggage sitting in a semi-public room. I returned to find that everything important - papers, credit cards, ID - had been taken.

The rest of the dream consisted of me worrying myself in circles. Someone was charging Gucci shoes and applying for student loans, all with my personal information! I had no list of what was in my wallet, and no way to be sure I could call and cancel everything. But, of course, I had no phone numbers to call, since the numbers are on the cards. Also, I had no ID to prove who I am. And no ticket home. And no money. Where to begin?

Iain must have known I was having a nightmare. He's so empathetic. So loving.

How did he deliver me from my dreams? He sacrificed his own sleep, screaming his head off and waking me up at 5:40am.

Isn't that lovely?



[Last night, I dreamed that I cleared my inbox down to 7 emails. I kept looking at the scroll bar on the right, enjoying how big it was. Iain knew this, too, I think, because this morning he slept until 7!]

Dear Waffle

Listen up, son, 'cause you're about to get took to school. Last week, you came at my boy Toast pretty hard, tellin' him how you were the new starch in town, tellin' him about, "oh, I make cheeks grow."


Well, let me tell you about a little something we call "what goes around comes around." Looks like Madeline's with me, now.

There's a fast train out of town tonight -- I suggest you be on it.

in your face,

-Rice Cake

[Submitted, with impressive aggression, by Maddie's Daddy. Who, apparently, feels strongly about carbohydrates.]

Lurv

Oh, Callie. Our Valentine's date was soooo good. I'll never forget it, baby. Never. Posting photos on teh interwebs will help me remember.