Suck It, Whigs!

For all of you who have wondered about this phrase (which appears every so often in our posts and for which we are the top Google hit (!)), here is the original art.

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It came from a string of these, all devoted to adding LOL cats captions to images from American presidential history. As you can see, this one is a hilarious take on the Andrew Jackson administration.

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As I recently said to my high-school classmate Ethan, you just don't see that much Whig humor.

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Iain has been expanding his repertoire lately. First, it was the car (see video). Then came the little rolling toy we bought him:
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Then Callie's parents loaned Iain her Exersaucer. He's not sure about the seat, but (like Callie) he definitely likes the cell phone and the pop-up apple. Note the drool on his shirt:
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But today he found the best toy of all. Scotch tape.

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I was wrapping Christmas presents (yes, I am organized. You are sooo impressed.), and Iain got his hands on a scrap of paper. Then he reached for the tape dispenser, and the roll popped out into his hand. Naturally, the tape stuck, even when Iain pulled it across the bed.

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You could see his little noodle working: Innnnteresting...this stuff is sorta sticky...

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I took back the roll, leaving Iain his five-inch piece of tape. It stuck to the wrapping paper scrap, so he had a streamer on his hand. This was playtime gold. He waved it, he touched his hands together to make them stick, he scraped the hand on the bed, and (of course) he tasted it.

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So. Scotch tape. Which proves that babies are not unlike kittens. Forget the expensive toys. Give that little guy a ball of aluminum foil and a cardboard box.

Still Single...

Months ago, I posted a singles ad. I like naps, a nice bottle, someone to change my diaper and read me books, and occasionally a stroll through the neighborhood in my BOB.

NO replies. What's wrong with me? I'm nearly six months old, and the ladies don't seem interested. It's like I don't speak their language or something. I just want to say, "What? You don't like drool?"

Maybe I should start hitting the gym. A new haircut? Some fancy duds?

Tilt-Shift Time Lapse Video

Beached from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

For a bit more of an explanation for this tilt-shift time lapse video, and more examples, check out Gizmodo.

Look what the guard brought in

Look at the jolly red boots.

I can has jolly red boots to go with my guard outfit? Please?

Poor Old Girl

On Saturday, Juno went outside for some fun. She charged the fence, leaped at imaginary foes, barked her head off (while Iain was napping, obviously), and generally enjoyed herself.

But then I heard her cry out. There was a long, long whine. She came back into the house limping. Since then, she's been stiff and wobbly on her paws. Poor old girl.

Juno is coming toward her eleventh birthday. And you can see the white in her muzzle:


But at least she has a new puppy to play with.

See how Iain holds her hand? See how she looks at you as if to say, "This puppy doesn't do anything. And he poo's in his own pants. What's up with that? I went potty outside at 4 months!"

Speaking of Faith

I'm not a religious person. At all. In fact, churches burst into flame as I pass.

Not really.

But I just don't feel it, and never have.

That does not prevent me from being interested in religion, and in religious people. I've been obsessively interested in the Puritans for the last 15 years or so, and often find that my students presume I am a person of faith because of the detail with which I describe Puritan religious values.

Americans make a lot of decisions based on faith. So for someone like me, who is a professional Explainer-of-Why-Americans-Do-That-Crazy-Stuff, understanding faith is a good idea. I can't just dismiss other people's views because I don't agree. Whether I agree or not, many publicly significant decisions will rest on the faith of my neighbors.

But the vast (VAST) majority of discussions about faith frustrate me. They're simple, one-sided, intellectually shallow, etc. etc.

Cue Krista Tippett and her program, Speaking of Faith. Yesterday, in the car on the way home from taking a walk with Sarah B. and Callie (and Iain, of course), I listened to Tippett talk with Amy Sullivan about abortion. It was the only nuanced, honest, and calm such discussion I've heard in years. The segment was called "Between the Polarized Extremes of Abortion," and it boiled down to a hope that people would relax their spines enough to talk openly about the interaction between religious faith and policy.

The podcast is free on Speaking of Faith's website. They're launching a series next week about faith on the left and the right. I'll be listening.