“grammer-light” post:

lack of movies in my life. a little sad, but there is always video. still, seeing a film in the theater is special. new favorite show on tv is the Ultimate Trailer Show. end-credits do sometimes feel like love.

Henry is awesome. super-happy and precocious. lot’s of baby-words. dada, mama, baba (bottle), nana (banana), doggie, hairy (henry).

playing tennis with Kal is great. amazingly, i am still improving. one-handed backhand is coming along. footwork needs help, as I do feel a little slower than before. dropping 5-7 pounds would help.

enjoying summer. saw Dylan and Willie Nelson. the Great Circus Parade. Bastille Days. planning daytrips to Chicago and Madison.

full stop.

We made our guest room a play room for Henry. It has a couch (sleeper sofa), foam rubber files covering the majority of the floor, and Henry’s toys. I think the crawling is the result of the extra real estate he now has in this room. Henry probably would have crawled sooner, but he didn’t have the space. The two dogs relegated to the first story made these floors off-limits. Are we too careful about germs?

Speaking of germs, this swine flu is a bit scary. And the scratch in my throat is not making me feel any better about it. Probably just my allergies.

So I am on Facebook nearly every day. I think I’m a little too attached to it. Then again, it makes me feel good to have some social contact with people I like. I would say at least half of my Facebook friends are legit. One thing I do worry about regarding Facebook is the fact that I post a fair amount to my profile, around 6-12 items a week. This in itself is not unusual, but most of my posts are related to interactive design. A lot of my Facebook friends are designers, so I don’t feel that there isn’t an audience for my interests. But the nature of my posts does make me wonder how many of my non-designer Facebook friends are uninterested or annoyed by my posts. Never thought I would be one for having a soapbox, but Facebook makes it too easy to broadcast oneself to people, whether they want to hear what you have to say, or not. Which is a good thing, because Facebook without posts and status updates would not be Facebook—it would be MySpace. I just wish I could know how many people have set me to “ignore”. I guess my real friends will put up with my shit no matter how uninteresting. In other words, it would be nice to know who my real friends are on Facebook.

On a related note, I’m not a fan of the “dislike” functionality that people are asking for on Facebook. The impact of this piece of functionality would be significant. Currently, Facebook is place where people are more or less friendly and positive to each other. People police themselves from saying anything too negative or controversial because it’s a public place. It’s rare to see real arguments between Facebook friends. People tend not to be negative out of a desire to keep things friendly. There is also the fear of being reported to the Facebook moderator. So responses to a post are either thoughtful and measured, or short and inconsequential, and most would rather say nothing than say something unkind.

With the option for “dislike”, it will be extremely easy to reject a friend’s post. This small rejection has very little impact on its own. But the ease by which people can post a rejection will result in multiple dislikes for unpopular posts. The psychological effect for the recipient of these small rejections will likely be cumulative, and this kind of mass rejection will feel like alienation.”Dislike” will promote self-editing, which kind of destroys the positive vibe of Facebook. It’s all good on Facebook.

Laying in bed after midnight. Not sleepy because I took a nap with Henry in the afternoon. Today was restful. A day of rest after travel and Easter activities. Debbie’s mom left today. She was a great help. We will miss her.

I really can’t wait for the warm weather to arrive. It’s been cold since October. This is the time of year I question why I live in Wisconsin.

I have not blogged in a while. I guess the past few months I haven’t felt like it. I go back and forth on this. I’m not one to claim I have anything worthwhile or important to say. I think I just need to get over myself already. The record is what’s important, perhaps more so than the content.

Debbie, Henry and I had a great time on our trip to Tybee Island and Savanna. Wish we could gave stayed longer. Next time we’ll fly–it just wan’t practical for Henry’s first vacation. As an infant, he has way too much stuff (carseat, playpen, etc.) And airlines charge an arm and a leg for this stuff now.

Savanna is a pretty and charming little city. I love its layout. The English-style squares are beautiful. The abundance of old trees and the lack of skyscrapers make city feel intimate and warm. There is an indescribable ease to the city. We needed at least 3 more days to explore it fully. I did get a good feel for the city though, and I very much liked what I felt.

The craniofacial physician assistant told us not to worry about Henry’s. He still has his soft spot and the other sutures have not fused. We’re just supposed to watch him, and we’ll take him back in 3 months for another assessment, this time by the physician specialist.

I am somewhat relieved that the physician assistant didn’t think Henry’s situation was serious. I’ll be even more relieved next time if things are looking good.

On a happier note, Debbie told me that Henry had his first bonafide crawl today! We have a play mat set up for him in our room and one of those Fisher Price stacking ring toys on the mat. He hadn’t taken interest in the rings before. Today, however, he did, and he proceeded to crawl towards them. Not bad for 5 months. I’m pretty proud of him.

The economic situation is depressing. I am seeing the effects of the economic situation at work. Companies are not spending money. And if there is no spending on marketing budgets, I’m out of a job.

What did any of us do to deserve this? Why are good people who work hard and pay their bills and taxes being punished? We did not make this problem. Things could be worse for me and my family, but I definitely feel like the precipice is not that far off. It must be terrible for those who have already fallen, who have lost their jobs, and have not been able to find work. Consider how many children are suffering because their parents can’t afford to put a nutritious meal on the table. Or how many people are experiencing depression because with their lost job they’ve lost an important source of self-worth and fullfillment. Or how many people are going to fall ill or die because they’ve lost their medical insurance and can’t afford proper healthcare. These are crimes against our fellow man, committed by financial experts too greedy and/or too dumb to keep our free market economy going. Too selfish and ignorant to the possibility that their actions might have a cost. And I’m sure there are plenty of financial experts who are just straight-up bad people, who know the consequences but don’t care, as long as they can gain.

I guess the economy is going to be bad for many months to come. We’ll do what we can in the mean time, but mostly we will wait. Wait for our tax breaks and stimulus checks. Wait for the refinancing of our mortgages. Wait for improvements in our big banks. Wait for Wall Street reform. Wait for jobs to be created. Wait for consumer confidence to come back. I guess when things go so far out of out-of-balance, it takes time to go back.

It’s been a while. I haven’t had the energy…

Henry is doing really well for the most part. He is a very happy baby, full of laughter and smiles; he smiles at everyone. Developmentally, all indications are he’s doing very well. He’s observant. He seems to have a growing awareness of his world around him. He’s picking things up. He plays with all his toys. Henry is also beginning to say “proto-words”. He’s sleeping on a more regular schedule, which has been great for mine and Debbie’s physical and mental well-being.

So Henry seems perfectly on track with everything. But a couple weeks ago Debbie and I noticed a ridge on his forehead. This is the metopic ridge, where the two frontal skull bones (can’t remember their names) meet and eventually fuse at around age 2. We’ve read that in some cases the bones can fuse prematurely, which is called craniosynostosis. The primary symptom of craniosynostosis is the formation of a ridge on the forehead or other deformities of the skull. The condition can interfere with normal brain growth, which in turn can lead to developmental issues. We’re taking him to see a craniofacial specialist on Wednesday to have a look at the ridge.

Needless to day, we’re anxious and concerned.

My blog is evidence that is not a prerequisite to be able to write well in order to have a blog. I am often embarrassed by something I’ve written. I am often tempted to edit these offending post, and do from time to time. Is this ok to do? Well, it is my blog after all.

I think many people don’t blog because they’re afraid they can’t write well, or feel as though they have nothing to say. Clearly that has not stopped me.

I write this blog for myself. I am the primary target audience. But you can read it too if you want.

Henry, my three-month-old son, is learning to crawl now, which is amazing to watch. He seems to know what to do with his arms. They’re supporting his weight. The problem is that he hasn’t quite figured out what to do with his legs. He wiggles them around, but his weight is too evenly distributed across his legs. In other words, he’s not using his knees. Today, however, he started to put his butt in the air, which means it’s only a matter of time before those knees are doing some propulsion. Oh my god. I need to child-proof the house.

These are not original ideas.

Stating the obvious, but maybe some don’t know yet: