Our Persisting Memories

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/03/28/webb/index.html

Sophia adores these wild animal plastic toys that Granny has at her house. She spent nearly 2 hours in the sandbox a couple weeks back playing with just the animals in the sand....and then in the tub. I broke down and got her 2 buckets of animals for our house--Safari Animals and Farm Animals. They came with a bunch of plastic rocks and trees too, which is great for more imaginative play. She was so excited about them, and very possessive (because they really were for her AND Phoebe). She really took to lining them all up and admiring them and talking to them. BJ was just happy she was finally interested in "boys toys". 56901|360 56883|380

Somehow Sophia's bed has slowly become overrun. She has her typical lovey's--her 2 blankets, but then there is this mish-mash of all sorts of things. Each night can bring something new that she wants--Tigger, her blue snake, a doll, and so on. So, currently on her bed she has: 4 pillows, 2 handmade to match her curtains, one regular pillow, and a "baby pillow" her long blue snake Tigger 2 beanie babies, a leopard and an ostrich Giraffe stuffed animal 2 baby blankets 2 blankets for covers Nemo animal Lightening McQueen stuffed car Seriously! HALF the bed is STUFF and the other half is her little body. I have attempted some nights to put some things away, but she notices! So I have left them alone and slowly allowed this bed to become crowded with the things she wants. However, I also KNOW my child is not the only one. I have observed at friend's and family's homes that their kids' beds are loaded with a variation of pillows, blankets, toys/animals as...

The New York Times Magazine has a very nice article about Freeman Dyson. Please read it. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/magazine/29Dyson-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp . Oh and Larry Niven gets a mention. It expresses his concerns about the modern environmental movement and the direction it shifts our focus. I agree with him. The article is not about that particularly. It's about the result of his opinion within the scientific community. How odd that I plead open mindedness in order to convince people that Global Warming is not the threat it is made out to be. I only say that in the context that there are other things that CAN be solved that would have a far greater effect on humanity than addressing our impact on the environment. Global warming could have a disastrous effect, but there are other things that are killing people now and in much greater numbers than even the worst projections of the side effects of global warming. I have to justify saying this at any ti...

This has been a long time coming but I'd like to post some of my favorite music tracks from last year. The following 5 tracks seemed to get more listening time than any others during my evaluation. These aren't in any particular order since the genres aren't really comparable. Meshuggah - Bleed (Yes that's a real drummer. And only 1 drummer.) [audio:http://upload.naasen.org/up/03%20-%20Meshuggah%20-%20Bleed.mp3] Priscilla Ahn - Dream (It's been featured in quite a few soundtracks so I lose cred for that. But being the father of 2 daughters, the sentimentality captures me.) [audio:http://upload.naasen.org/up/01%20-%20Dream.mp3] Andrew Bird - Effigy [audio:http://upload.naasen.org/up/04%20-%20Effigy.mp3] Azam Ali & Tyler Bates - The Spill (Tyler Bates does the equivalent of modern synth guitar Top Gun soundtracks for Zack Snyder (director of 300 and Watchmen). Sure it's cheese, but it's catchy and I've listened to this track way too many times to ...

Just a quick FYI http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875 The Government is trying to do too much and screwing it up again. Hand crafted toys and now staight to market food. It's all in the name of safety, and if carried out perfectly would increase our food safety... but complete single actor control over the certification of any and all food facilities in the US probably isn't the best thing in the world for roadside peach dealers, custom salsa makers, direct delivered meats, fine cheese, wineries, direct food, and anything that isn't processed to the nth degree. You might want to write your congressman to oppose this one BEFORE it gets passed.

Sophia has been saying the funniest things lately. She pays attention more than we think to what we say. She might not use her sentences perfectly, but there is truth there...... 56308|380 The Brown family was visiting a couple weeks back. Adrian says to Max, her 18 month old, "Max, I have a feeling you are about to make trouble." Sophia, coming out of the pantry declares in an earnest voice, "Mama! I want to make trouble too. I wanna make trouble!" I am sure she thought "trouble" was food, because I always say I am going to "make" something as opposed to saying I am "cooking" or "baking." Yoroko, their 3 year old, and Sophia are playing in bed. Yoroko covers her with the blanket and asks, "Are you okay friend?" Sophia replies, "No, I have dead batteries." Sophia sticks a red, plastic ball down her panties and with a big smile tells me, "Just like a penis!" We have been working with Sophi...