John Gruber of Daring Fireball has written an excellent piece on the iPod’s past and continuing success and how it differs from the early success of the Macintosh in the mid 1980’s. Check it out. The iPod Juggernaut
I found a nifty tutorial which makes photos look like models. Here are a couple of photos I took in Kagoshima that I edited following the tutorial previously mentioned.
Technorati Tags: Photography
That’s right folks you read it here first. At approximately 11:30 Japan Standard Time, that’s -9 GMT, Ken rolled over for the first time. He has mastered the left roll, and is close to perfecting the reverse left roll, although now it just frustrates him and he transforms into Mr. Crankypants. We asked him what’s next and he told us his short-term and long-term goals.
> Well, I think I’ll tackle the right roll and reverse right roll once I’ve mastered that dang reverse left roll, which is quite difficult. After that I think I’ll take some time off and just see if I can start giving my parents some grey hair by rolling off things. Ultimately though I want to master walking so I can get into all kinds of things and keep my parents busy. They get into too much trouble when they have too much free time.
Remember folks, you read it here first, and say a prayer for his poor parents. They’re bound to be busy soon.
Technorati Tags: Parenting, Fatherhood, Humor
I woke up last night around 3:30 in the morning and had to go to the bathroom. While I was in the bathroom I heard footsteps outside in one of the innumerable parking lots near our apartment. I glanced out the window and saw someone wandering around in one of the two parking lots in front of our apartment. Something seemed odd about his behavior, so I opened the window more for a better view. After a while a car pulled alongside the parking lot and stopped. That’s when the first punk broke into the first car, many more would follow.
I had somehow known that this was going to happen, but was faced with a dilemma. What to do? I didn’t want to call the police and try and explain what was happening because I knew it would be difficult to communicate clearly with them in Japanese. Neither did I want to wake Nobuko and have her call since she had to get up early and go to work the next day. What’s a civic-minded resident to do? Should I have broken out the katana, or perhaps a good old-fashioned American baseball bat and brandished it wildly, screaming as I charged the scum?
Maybe I should have merely stepped out onto the landing and bellowed dorobo, which means robber, at the top of my lungs. Sure it would have been immensely satisfying to see those punks lose control of their bladders as I advanced upon them waving a katana, but where was the justice in that.
I came up with a much better solution. I grabbed my camera and headed out the front door. Unfortunately I was unable to get any shots of them because they bolted as soon as they saw me. This did, however, give me the perfect chance to leisurely stroll over to their car and snap a few photos of the car and license plate.
Today while Ken and I were taking a walk I noticed a woman and her small son standing near a car in the parking lot. The woman looked upset so I walked over and asked if her car was okay. She was surprised by my question and asked me why I had asked it. I explained everything that had happened the night before, and she told me that she was waiting for the police, whom she had called. She asked if I would mind waiting, and I told her of course not.
The police got there and the woman and I talked with them separately. The cops, and the woman too come to think of it, were really surprised and happy that I had taken a photo of the criminals’ car. I then went back to the apartment and printed off the photos and took them back to the police. I even took the opportunity to complain to the police about the punks that abound in this neighborhood late at night, and chided them for not patrolling more. They agreed with me and thanked me for my help. I really hope they catch those worthless pair of scumbags.
Here’s one of the photos I took, which with my testimony should help to put these punks behind bars where they belong.
In an amazing second round Brian makes a surprise comeback thanks in part to his trainer Nobuko’s purchase of a new piece of equipment—a nipple designed by Pigeon® to more closely resemble the real thing. The guy who invented this thing deserves a Nobel Prize in my opinion. Today’s schedule:
I fed him formula using the new nipple and he guzzled it down like a frat boy at a kegger. I changed his diaper and played with him for about an hour, and then he sat in his Baby Björn bouncer for about forty-five minutes.
1:00 Ken woke up, I changed his diaper, and then ate lunch while he watched. Afterwards we played some more.
1:45 I fed Ken using that Nobel Prize deserving nipple again. This time milk that Nobuko pumped yesterday. I think he thought I was Nobuko. Changed another diaper and put him down for another nap.
4:20 I fed him one more time before Nobuko got home. Changed his diaper again. And we played for a bit before he fell asleep.
All in all, no problems. I think I can do this stay-at-home dad gig after all.
Round 2: Ken 0 Brian 1
Technorati Tags: Fatherhood, Humor, Parenting
With the Winter Olympic Games just ending I thought this post would be appropriate.
Parenting should be added as an official Olympic event. Okay, I know it sounds strange, but stop and think about it for a moment. Here are some common requirements for Olympian events:
Parenting wins hands down. Just ask any new parent after they’ve brought Junior home from the hospital and haven’t slept for a month.
Have you ever seen a parent go for a burping cloth as Junior is about to spit up some partially digested milk all over that brand new carpet?
If you’re not a parent then you probably have no idea how much strength it takes to hold down Junior as you’re attempting to suck out all of the snot that has packed his nose as tight as a Tokyo commuter train.
Have you ever tried changing a diaper?
For reaching for the two things Junior wants immediately which are nowhere near each other.
Holding Junior with one hand while attempting to cook is as difficult as it sounds.
If you’re lacking in these departments buy some earplugs because you’re going to need them.
I could go on, but I think you’ve got my point by now. Parenting is the ultimate sport. Maybe you’ll see me in the diaper relay, or the feeding marathon in 2008. We’ll be going for the gold!
Technorati Tags: Fatherhood, Parenting, Humor
Today was Nobuko’s first day back at work, and my first day as a stay-at-home dad–due to my current unemployment. I think I can succinctly sum up the way today went by saying it did not go well. It started off without any major hitches, lulling me into a false sense of confidence as the only parent on duty, and the one without breasts at that–more on this later. I woke up at 7:30 and took a quick shower before Nobuko left. Then I shaved while Ken was still sleeping. I had an appointment at Hello Work, the Unemployment Office, at 10:30, and Nobuko told me that Ken hadn’t eaten much when she fed him earlier and that I probably should feed him before we left. I tried giving him a bottle of formula around 9:30 and he didn’t really eat at all. This was a warning of things to come, but I just figured he wasn’t hungry. We left for Hello Work around 10:00. THe weather was awful. It was cold and raining. My umbrella kept Ken dry but my trousers were completely soaked by the time we got there. Ken slept all the way there and most of the time at Hello Work. Things went as expected and I should receive unemployment pay next week. It’s not even 50% of my former salary at NCB, but it’s better than nothing. We left Hello Work around 11:00 and Ken was awake and checking things out most of the way back. He fell asleep before we reached the apartment and was still asleep when I got him out of the Baby Björn Carrier. Unfortunately I knocked over my briefcase and woke him up. He was not happy. I tried to feed him some formula. No good. He glared at me and gave me a look that said, “What the hell are you trying to pull here?” Crying and screaming ensued. No, not me. I was sure he was hungry so I decided to try giving him some of the milk Nobuko had pumped and saved in the freezer. Again no good. He cried for about two hours despite my best attempts to placate him. Finally he fell asleep for about 45 minutes. When he awoke it was the crying and screaming routine all over again. This cycle continued for the rest of the day until around 4:00 I finally got him to take the second batch of milk Nobuko had frozen. But it wasn’t enough, and he let me know it. I have never so looked forward to seeing Nobuko as I did today. If this keeps up I definitely won’t be able to find a job while we are still living in Japan.
Round 1: Ken 1 Brian 0
Technorati Tags: Fatherhood, Humor, Parenting