Not long ago, I stumbled across the hilarious comic strip Pearls Before Swine and it just clicked with me right away.   Well, just yesterday I discovered that the twisted & creative artist behind this, Stephan Pastis, writes a great blog that’s also named after the strip Pearls Before Swine.   (Okay, sometimes I’m a little slow.)

Even before I had read that Stephan, a former lawyer, credits classic comics as Berkeley Breathed’s Bloom County & Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes as influencing his work, I had already picked up on the similar sharp & snappy satire of the Pearls characters.   And you can easily tell that Pastis also draws plenty of warped inspiration from Scott Adams’ Dilbert and Gary Larson’s The Far Side.   He also pays homage to loads of other legendary comics by occasionally inserting their characters into the Pearls strip.

Labels: blogs, humor

Liam brought home the cutest Father’s Day card from daycare on Friday. The front of the card has a piece of gum in the pocket (in case you can’t tell from the photo below)and we both just cracked up when we saw the photo of Liam inside.

Thank you Rob/Daddy-O for being the best husband/father that anyone could have! Happy Father’s Day from your Liam-O and Momma-O!

Labels: holiday

We just returned from our first official family vacation.   We spent a week of sun-drenched, fun-filled days in San Diego, CA!

Liam did great on the plane ride and loved the water activities. We went to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo.   The dolphins & Shamu were a hit but the land animals at the Zoo were not as entertaining for him.   His favorite thing to do was just to splash around at the pool or any body of water.   He fearlessly charged into the ocean waves — the very chilly Pacific water didn’t intimidate him the least bit.


My friend Karen (a.k.a. Nanny Karen) from Kansas City met up with us in San Diego.   She’d never been there before and it was great to experience S.D. through new eyes.   Also, my friend Gretchen and her daughter who live in California drove down for the day to visit with us.   Liam loved having a new friend to hang out with at the beach.

The trip was also bittersweet for me as I scattered the ashes of my Uncle Whit there who passed away last December.   I had spent many summers out there with him in my high school / college years.   He had moved to Texas 13 years ago but his heart was always at his beach house so I wanted part of him to be back there.

Rob & I used to go out to San Diego once or twice a year (in fact, you can still view photos of our 2005 San Diego - Bakersfield trip on Kodak Gallery) and I’ve gotta say that this trip was quite different!   For those of you who have not vacationed with your new children, be prepared...   things go much slower and you run out of energy much faster!  

I overloaded our itinerary, forgetting that I needed to cater it to the attention-span and dawdling pace of a 3 year old doesn’t move at the same pace we do.   A few travel tips too: take lots of new things to entertain your child in the hotel room (thanks, Nanny Karen!) and be prepared for your child to be very cranky & moody at times since he/she will be way off of the normal routine.   (Being cooped up in a small hotel room where there’s little to do sure doesn’t help.)   Don’t get me wrong - we had a great time and San Diego was wonderful as always.   But vacationing with a toddler was a very different experience and everything happened at a far different pace than I would’ve imagined.
 

Labels: dolphins, travel

Our little boy is growing up so fast!



 

Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom and all the other Mom’s out there.   I had a wonderful Mother’s Day hanging out with my boys.   Rob started the day out with pancakes for all of us, then we spent the rest of the day doing one of my favorite activities...   shopping!

I received an especially nice and unexpected Mother’s Day gift from Teresa, Chris & Anna.   It’s a lovely oval shaped pendant with Liam’s picture on both sides.   It was a sweet & thoughtful gesture and as you can see below, Liam especially liked seeing himself around my neck.



I also received a special gift from Liam.   He gave me the poster shown below that he made at his daycare.



He got a little confused and told me "Happy Birthday!" instead of Happy Mother’s Day but I knew what he meant!   ;-)

Labels: holiday

atwitter   (u-twit’ ur)   adj.  [1825-35]
Being in a state of nervous excitement;  to chatter quickly;  aflutter;  twittering

By now, unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, chances are very good that you’ve heard of Twitter.   But maybe you’ve intentionally ignored the buzz or aren’t quite sure what it’s about.   Twitter is a free, real-time social messaging service.   Okay, that description may be technically accurate, but it sure doesn’t give a prospective user much to go on, does it?   And in turn, that sort of dry summary also shortchanges the service.   So, what then is Twitter, really?

Deceptively simple, Twitter is a free online social networking platform that allows users to send & receive text updates, or "tweets," from other users whom they’ve opted to "Follow."   Think of "tweeting" as sending an instant message to a whole group of people.   So Twitter is a global conversation; a DIY chat room; a link -sharing service; a permanent cocktail party where it’s socially acceptable to join in on any conversation.   (You can also have private conversations via Twitter’s Direct Message, which are exactly like the public messages except that they can only be read by the intended recipient.)

But really, the following Common Craft video created by Lee & Sachi LeFever explains Twitter far better than I can:



Twitter was designed as multi-platform service so tweets are limited to 140 characters in length so they can be delivered to a cell phone, email account, the Twitter webpage, or any of a vast array of Twitter reader applications that can be installed on nearly any kind of computer.   You may find the 140 characters to be rather restricting at first, but you quickly become adept at writing very concise posts to work within those confines.   And I recommend using one of the free URL shortener service like is.gd to compress lengthy web addresses down to more Twitter-suitable sized URLs so you can share links with your Followers.

On Twitter, you are, of course, free to talk about anything you want, but the question, "What are you doing?" may be a bit misleading.   Oh sure, you can tweet about the awesome BLT sandwich you just ate, but a much more effective or interesting approach is to think of the question above the input box as, "What would be funny, interesting, or useful to one or more of my Followers?"   So for example, while your Followers may not be all that interested in the awesome tuna wrap you’re having for lunch, they might be quite excited to read about the incredible deal you just discovered on a 3-pack of HDMI cables for $10.

Ready to give tweeting a try?   Pop on over to Twitter and get started!   Or if you need a little guidance, check out Darren Rowse’s How to Set Up a Twitter Account article.

So, what’re you waiting for?   Get all atwitter on Twitter!
 

Labels: cool sites, technology

The weather was perfect.   Cake was plentiful.   The jumper was, well, jumping.   Kids were squealing.   The gifts were endless!   Did I mention that the cake was plentiful?

Our "Backyard Birthday Bash" in honor of Liam’s 3rd birthday was a huge success!


We were a little nervous about the setup of the new jumper, but it turned out to be super easy, taking less than 10 minutes from cardboard box to inflated fun!   And that was even with Rob taking the time to — brace yourselves — read the instructions!

Big thanks go out to the everyone who came to the party.   And we’re especially appreciative for all of the wonderful gifts, several of which came from some of our great friends and family who weren’t even able to attend.   Also, a big thanks to Clems, Toby, & Brad S. for helping out with the photos & video!
 

Labels: holiday

Liam got gussied up for his 2nd Earth Day in a spiffy new t-shirt:



It seemed sorta fitting that we did our first lawn mowing of the year on Earth Day.   Liam has been not-so-patiently waiting for the grass to green back up since last Fall.   The yard is still a bit brownish, but there was just enough growth to warrant a quick trim.   Little does Liam know that this is also in preparation for his big 3rd birthday party that’s coming up on Saturday...

This also gave me a chance to test out my new Creative Vado HD pocket video camcorder.   This thing rocks!   I put the following video together with little effort.


 

Labels: environment

For Texans, there’s a set of unwritten, yet fully understood rules of etiquette that apply when driving on highways.   If you’re the slower-moving vehicle on one of the hundreds (thousands?) of two-lane highways that weave throughout the state and a faster one approaches behind, it’s simply expected that you’ll ease over onto the shoulder and let the faster driver pass without having to occupy the oncoming lane.   And accordingly, if you’re the faster driver who’s just been afforded this courtesy, it’s expected that you’ll give a little wave as you pass and/or after that slower car has moved back into the lane after you’ve gone by.

If you’ve never been a part of this graceful driver’s version of the Texas Two-Step, it may sound a little complicated, but it’s not — it happens so frequently throughout any trip within the Lone Star State, it’s instinctual.



Over the Easter holiday, we found ourselves on many of these two-lane roads and noticed how this Texas road courtesy is becoming a thing of the past.   Out of about 6 hours of driving on two-lane roads on that trip, there were very few drivers who would move over and allow us to pass.   Also, I noticed that when I pulled over to let people pass me, not a single person on this trip gave me the customary "wave" to say thank you.

All of this really bothers me a lot.   I’m saddened that people aren’t teaching their children the common driving courtesies that my parent’s did.   It seems that it’s mostly my generation that has done this.   What happened?   Have we become so impatient & self-absorbed that we’ve completely done away with common courtesy?
 

Labels: opinion, travel

I’ve been a huge Malcolm Gladwell fan for years and had the distinct pleasure last Tuesday of getting to hear him in person for the first time, thanks to UTPB’s Shepperd Distinguished Lecturer Series (which was previously responsible for bringing the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev here to speak).

Gladwell has a real gift for unearthing, dissecting, & interpreting social concepts & emerging trends and making them digestible & entertaining for the common person.   I’m a bit amazed that we somehow lured an author & speaker of this magnitude to our little corner of Texas — much less that the lecture was free!

I had to coax Dede to attend, but she was pleasantly surprised to discover just how engaging & thought-provoking a speaker the author is.   His lecture centered around one of the topics, capitalization, that’s focused upon in his most recent book Outliers: The Story of Success.   Capitalization is the ability to take advantage of peoples’ untapped potential for achievement & success.   Gladwell examined several of the factors that limit success and discussed some solutions to overcome & eliminate those.   Afterward, he graciously autographed each his 3 books that I had with me, including the copy of "Outliers," which I’d just bought that evening.


Want to hear some of the author’s thoughts yourself?   Check out his Human Nature lecture where he explores why we often can’t trust people’s opinions, using examples of New Coke & Herman-Miller’s Aeron chair — neither of which performed in the marketplace even remotely similar to how research suggested they would.

I also recommend you check out my Jumbo Shrimp & SUV Safety post where I cite some of Gladwell’s points on consumers’ flawed rationale behind chosing SUVs for safety.

And you’ll certainly want to watch the following TED talk where Malcolm talks about what spaghetti sauce can teach us about innovation:


 

Labels: education

We took Liam to our company Easter Egg Hunt and he made a new friend...   the Easter Bunny!   Each time the bunny came around, Liam wanted to go to him, give him big hugs, and attempt to hold deep, meaningful conversations with his new friend.   I’m pretty sure that the poor girl in the bunny suit was thinking "Oh no, it’s that same kid again!" by the time we left the park.

There was a big difference between the Easter egg hunt this year versus last year with Liam’s hunting & gathering skills.   Last year, Rob mostly picked them up for him and Liam kept busy dumping them back out of the bucket.   Not this year!   He rushed right out when the whistle blew and filled his large bucket to capacity very quickly.   Next year we may need a bigger bucket!

Here’s a picture of Liam giving the Easter Bunny one last hug before we left.


 

Labels: holiday

This may seem a bit fundamental, but sometimes a little remedial computer skills review can offer useful, new insights to even the most experienced users.

The first commercially-available scroll wheel-equipped mouse was the Genius EasyScroll mouse, released in 1995.   Mainstream adoption of the scroll wheel mouse didn’t occur, however, until Microsoft released the IntelliMouse in 1996 and subsequently began supporting the feature in the Office suite & Internet Explorer browser the following year.

The mouse scroll wheel is a hybrid of sorts, acting as both a rolling input and as an additional button, activated by pressing the wheel downwards (a.k.a. "wheel-click").   Recently, a new form of scroll wheel — the tilt-wheel — has been gaining acceptance as a standard mouse feature.   The tilt-wheel is like a conventional scroll wheel but can also tilt right & left for horizontal scrolling.

So odds are, if you’re using a mouse with your computer, it has a scroll wheel.   But while this ubiquitous feature has been right there under your nose all this time, there’s probably much more to it than you know.

That humble little scroll wheel has the potential to dramatically change the way you use your computer! Especially since so much of our computer use is browser-driven these days, here are a few tricks (for Windows users) that can make a world of difference and take your mouse far beyond simple scrolling:

1. Open hyperlinks in a new browser tab!
   Want to follow a link without losing your place on the current webpage?   Just click on the link with the scroll wheel to open it in a new browser tab!   In Firefox, you can even wheel-click items from the Bookmarks menu to open them in a new tab.   (You are using a tabbed browser, right?)


2. Close browser tabs!
   Just place your mouse cursor over a browser tab and wheel-click to close it quickly.


3. "Zoom" a web page!
   Enlarge or shrink the contents of a web page by holding the Ctrl key and rotate the scroll wheel back or forth, respectively.


4. Go forward or back on web pages:
   Instead of using the Back/Forward buttons on the toolbar, press Shift and rotate the wheel back to see the previous page or forward to go to the next page.


5. Scroll faster:
   Press & hold the scroll wheel while moving the entire mouse forward or back to scroll very quickly up or down a page.

Know of any mouse scroll wheel tricks that I missed?   Post a comment and let me know!

Trivia:   The computer mouse recently celebrated its 40th birthday!   Although development began 5 years earlier, the mouse was first publicly demoed at the Fall Joint Computer Conference on Dec. 9th, 1968.   That first mouse, a clunky wooden box that’d forever change computer input, was built by Stanford Research Institute’s (at that time) chief engineer Bill English, based upon the design of Douglas Engelbart.
 

Labels: technology

Even in spite of March being Nation Peanut Month, it’s not always easy being a goober booster these days.   Times are a little tough for the lowly peanut.   Pro-legume president Jimmy Carter is long since gone from the White House.   Peanut sales have stalled somewhat in recent years.   The poor peanut has taken quite a beating lately...



Food Poisoning

Peanuts have taken a big hit over the past 2-3 months because of the latest wave of much-publicized recalls prompted by Salmonella Typhimurium concerns.   Nearly 300 brands of peanut-based products have announced recalls due to fears of salmonella contamination since Feb. 1st, and dozens more were announced in January.   Affected items include jars of peanut butter, energy bars, cookies, candies, baked goods, processed foods, dog treats & more.   Yet, it’s important to note that this problem was caused by a single processor (the Peanut Corporation of America based in Lynchburg, Virginia) and the unsafe practices at two of their processing plants (in Blakely, Georgia & Plainview, Texas) not the peanut itself.

Peanut Allergies

Peanuts have also taken a beating due to the feverish frenzy over potential food allergies.   While it certainly is a legitimate concern for some, many scientists & food researchers suggest that the fear about peanut allergies is dramatically overblown.   A few overzealous schools & airlines have even banned the snack outright for fear of potentially-fatal peanut allergies.   Nicholas A Christakis, professor of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School, lends a healthy dose of common sense on the topic:

About 3.3 million Americans are allergic to nuts, and even more - 6.9 million - are allergic to seafood.   However, all told, serious allergic reactions to foods cause just 2,000 hospitalizations a year (out of more than 30 million hospitalizations nationwide).   And only 150 people (children and adults) die each year from all food allergies combined.   Compare that number with the 50 people who die each year from bee stings, the 100 who die from lightning strikes, and the 45,000 who die in motor vehicle collisions.   Or compare it with the 10,000 hospitalizations of children each year for traumatic brain injuries acquired during sports or the 2,000 who drown or the roughly 1,300 who die from gun accidents.   We do not see calls to end athletics.   There are no doubt thousands of parents who rid their [homes] of peanut butter but not of guns.

Obviously, those with legitimate food allergies are dealing with a very real issue that can be life-threatening and may be life-long.   But more often, the problem may be more a case of hysteria-fueled worries than true allergies.   Many believe that, by overreacting to the threat of potential allergies thus avoiding peanuts altogether, we may actually be contributing to the problem of more children being sensitized.

And the heightened anxiety over food allergies tends to also make it harder for parents to determine what constitutes a true allergic reaction.   If a child has an upset stomach, vomiting, or diarrhea after eating food containing peanuts, that’s more likely to be a minor case of food poisoning or other simple non-immunological reaction rather than a true food allergy.   But the hysteria surrounding peanut allergies can make it difficult for even the most level-headed parent to avoid jumping to conclusions.   Yet conversely, there’s mounting evidence that early introduction to nuts actually lowers the likelihood of peanut sensitization in young children.

But even for true peanut allergy sufferers, there are some glimmers of hope...   Recent results from clinical trials suggest that gradual, medically-supervised exposure to small amounts of peanut flour can increase tolerance and help children overcome peanut allergies.   Food researchers have also begun to unlock the secrets of what makes people prone to develop allergic reactions to food, focusing on the certain types of immune cells that react to peanuts and trigger antibodies to be produced.

Loving Peanuts Isn’t So Nuts

Despite the recent health & allergy scares, peanuts remain a reliable & affordable source of protein and a host of other healthful nutrients for most children & adults.

Now while it’s true that peanuts do contain a lot of fat, more than half of the fat in peanuts is monounsaturated.   Unsaturated fats can help lower LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol) levels in the blood without affecting the HDL cholesterol ("good" cholesterol).   And peanuts are loaded with resveratrol, a powerful antioxidant that’s been linked with fighting cancer, preventing certain brain disorders, and reduced cardiovascular disease.   To raise the heart-healthy stats even higher, each ounce of roasted peanuts provides 10% of the daily recommended amount of folic acid, which works along with vitamin B12 & vitamin C to help the body break down, use, and create new proteins, build tissue, form red blood cells, and helps produce DNA.

So exercise caution —: and a little moderation — but if at all possible, go nuts with peanuts!
 

Labels: food

Liam had his first dentist appointment last Wednesday.   I started preparing him for what to expect a few days in advance and he was very excited about meeting this Dentist doctor person.

For days he talked about going to the dentist and the morning of the big day, he woke up all excited.   As we sat in the waiting room, he announced proudly (and loudly) that he wanted to see the dentist.

As expected, when he got to the room, he turned bashful, had nothing to say, and buried his head into my chest.   He barely looked at the dentist out of the corner of he eyes when he came into the room.   I put him into the "big" chair and he was one scared little boy but fortunately, he didn’t cry.

We’ve been pretty diligent about teethbrushing being a part of each evening’s bedtime prep and it seems that our routine is paying off.   Once the dentist coaxed him into opening his mouth like an alligator, he said that Liam’s teeth looked good.   He’s hoping that after a few more visits Liam will be comfortable enough to let him take x-rays.   For now though, we’ll just keep on brushing!


 

Labels: parenting

Dede, Ashley & I were griping outside the daycare yesterday that we can never get our kids to repeat in public the latest especially cute or impressive thing they’ve been doing at home.   I suspect getting kids to perform on cue is a universal problem all parents face.   In fact it seems however much you’d like your child to recite or reenact some cool thing, that’s exactly inversely proportional to the likelihood that he/she will actually do so.

I call this the Michigan J. Frog syndrome.

Well after I made that comment, Dede was blown away that I even knew the name of that silly singing frog from the old Saturday morning Looney Tunes cartoons.   Furthermore, she insisted that there’s no way anyone else would ever catch such an obscure reference.   Ah, but I know that if all else fails, there’s at least one guy who would — without hesitation — know precisely what I was talking about.

So this post is for you, Pete C.!
 

Labels: humor, parenting, tv