Wrong Number

I'm over here now....

www.IrrationalDad.com

Little Blog on the Prairie

Ladies and Gentlereaders... I have exciting news for all of you. Well, maybe it's not exactly exciting for you, but it's very exciting for me. I can't help but to feel that I've outgrown Blogspot, or Blogger, or Google Blogs, or whatever they're calling themselves.

I've been out of the blogging (reading and writing) loop for the past week, because I've been feverishly working to set up a wordpress blog at my very own domain.

On Sunday, the 15th, I'm going to redirect the RSS/Atom feeds to point to the new domain. This may create a little bit of havoc on your blog reader (if you use one). What I think is going to happen is that your blog reader is suddenly going to show 100+ new posts from me. Go ahead and just click on the "Mark all as read" button" and maybe check out the most recent post, just in case I got ambitious and wrote a new post. I apologize for this part, but I can't think of a way around it.

For those of you that are on the email subscription list... uhhh.... fingers crossed that you don't get 100+ emails. I'm super super sorry if you do.

For those of you that have this site bookmarked, please update your bookmark to the new address. I'm going to program in a redirect on this blog, so it'll automatically send you to the new address. But, the best bet would be to just update your bookmark.

Let's see... am I missing anything? Oh yeah, the address to the new (and kinda improved) blog.

Irrational Dad is now living at:
http://www.irrationaldad.com

I did my best to get the layout to match what I've been using. There may be a couple issues here or there. If you notice anything that's off kilter, please email me at joe@irrationaldad.com to let me know. Seriously, I hate things that aren't right, and I need you to be my editor. I'm still wrapping my head around WordPress and how it all works, so bear with me.

Wall Climbing

Only eight months old, and Tyler’s already wall climbing…

 

 

There is a walking path near our house. We like taking it because we can let Delilah off her leash to run around. With the unnaturally warm temperatures on Friday and Saturday, we capitalized on the situation. At the end of the path, the city is building around eight to twelve baseball diamonds. They also have a very nice playground, and that’s where we went.

 

Tyler played on the swings.

 

He went on the slides.

 

He teeter-tottered.

 

And he even went rock climbing.

 

He loved his daddy.

 

We did lots of other things there too.

Vote for Tyler

Tyler has been entered in a local photo contest. The winner will have their picture printed in color in our local newspaper, with a chance of being on the cover of a local family magazine.

The photos are all located here:
http://www.kpcnews.net/photocontest

Tyler’s picture is the first picture on page 4:
http://www.kpcnews.net/photocontest/?page=4&max=79&month=March

View just his picture here:
http://www.kpcnews.net/photocontest/viewphoto.php?ID=237&month=March
and click on "VOTE" to the right of the image.

All you need to do is click “VOTE” under his picture. Help me out, my dear blog readers!!!! This could mark the 3rd time Tyler has been in our newspaper!!!

The backstory on the picture is here:
http://joegearhart.blogspot.com/2009/01/oreo.html

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

"In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The A-Team. "

 
I used to watch The A-Team when I was a child. Who wouldn't want to watch Mr. T, covered in gold jewelry and sporting a mohawk, beat the crap out of countless bad guys (with his bare hand, no less), and then have to be knocked unconscious by his own teammates because he is terrified of flying? That's quality television right there.

The series ran from 1983 - 1987. I have to assume that I watched it in syndication, as I doubt that my parents would have allowed me to watch a violent TV show when I was between five and nine years old. I know that I was young, but I just can’t remember how young I was when I watched it. Most of you know that I've got a very muddy memory, and if you didn't know, you do now.

I think it was intended that Mr. T's “B.A. Baracus” character be the favorite. I mean, c'mon, he had a mohawk. Why he never received a "Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series" award is beyond the grasp of my expansive knowledge. Now don't get me wrong, B.A. was a great character. I liked him a lot. I thought then - and I still think now - that B.A. should have been the initials for “Bad Ass”, as opposed to the appropriate-for-1980's-television-audiences “Bad Attitude”.

I'm not going to talk much about Templeton "Face" Peck. His character was likely cast for the simple reason that reluctant wives would sit through the episodes with their cavemen husbands because Face was easy on the eyes. Since he was the resident ladies man, this also provided an excuse for the directors (writers, producers, whomever) to cast a beautiful woman in - I believe - every single episode.

H.M. Murdock was my favorite character. I don't recall whether his first name was ever revealed, as I can only remember H.M. referring to his nickname, Howlin' Mad. Murdock was declared mentally insane, and regularly "escaped" from a mental hospital to take part in the team's missions. Looking back, I would say that he was my favorite because I think I could relate to him and his strange “quirks” on some strange level.

John "Hannibal" Smith was the (official/unofficial?) Leader of The A-Team. I remember thinking about the appropriateness of the character who was known for wearing a multitude of disguises having the most common name in America. The only name that would have better suited him is "John Doe". Hannibal did the planning for the team’s missions. In the end, the A-Team came out on top, but the plan usually fell apart at some point. Think of the dad that gives his son a baseball bat, and tells him to swing at the ball that’s sitting on the tee. Only the father stands too close to the boy. The boy does indeed hit the ball, but it didn’t exactly go to plan for the father. The boy hit two balls too many. That’s Hannibal, the dad who has great intentions, but doesn’t always lay the best plans.

Why am I forcing you to read all this? Because of Tyler. Me talking about the A-Team is all Tyler’s fault. Strangely, it had nothing to do with the faux-hawk that we often style his hair into.

Anyway, in addition to being a master of disguise, Hannibal was a cigar smoker. He would put a cigar in his mouth, light it, draw smoke into his mouth, and immediately blow it out the side of his mouth, without inhaling it into his lungs. Puff, blow, puff, blow. That was the memory Tyler drudged up yesterday which had me mere seconds from adding The A-Team to my Netflix Queue. I still may do just that.

After Sarah fed Tyler his supper yesterday, she went to make supper for herself. Yesterday was "leftovers night". I had the pizza rigatoni that Sarah recently prepared in the crockpot. While she reheated her chili leftovers, I sat and talked to Tyler, who was still in his highchair. As he sat there, listening to me counting to ten or naming colors of objects, he put his sippy cup to his mouth, sucked water in, and drooled it out the side of his mouth three or four times. It reminded me completely of the way Hannibal smoked his cigars. The first thought that flashed in my mind (which A: I am shocked that I remembered in the first place, and B: Nobody here will understand unless you were a fan of the show) was "Tyler's on the jazz."

I’ve been slacking off on my photo uploading, so I’m posting a picture of Tyler’s faux-hawk from January. I can’t believe how much his hair is (finally) growing.

Interview 2009

There's a new phenomenon sweeping the blogging world. It's called Interview 2009, and I guess it isn't really sweeping the blogging world. Phenomenon may be a bit of an overstatement as well. But it's happening nonetheless. I was asked to interview Lora (who has, like, a hundred and twelve blogs), and you can find that interview here. Cat, from My Name is Cat, was my interviewer. The thing I liked about this project is that it required me to read more blogs. I couldn't necessarily interview Lora without first doing some research. Well, I guess I could, but my name isn't Larry King. Then, I've got this random "Cat" person getting ready to shoot some questions my way. I had to read her blog to see who the heck this person was. As a result of all this, I've added a few more blogs to my reader. There's actually more I want to look into, but there's only so much time in the day.

Chris, over at A Free Man, was the organizer of this event. The first blog I ever read of his was a "Science Tuesday" post discussing vaccines and Autism (Note: I can't locate the actual post. The link is to his follow-up post). I really wish I could remember how I found his blog, but that's outside the grasp of my memory. I've been an avid reader since then, even if we don't always have similar opinions. But, he's much smarter than me, so you can make your own call there. If you are a fan of music at all, I would highly recommend you keep up on his blog.

Anyway, I get an email from Cat, telling me that she likes my blog, and that she's going to read some of my back posts before asking me my questions. I can respect that. Well, then she drops off the Earth and I never hear from her again. I don't want to say that my feelings were hurt, but it didn't feel great, that's for sure. I even went to her blog and posted a couple comments. You know, to remind her that I'm alive, and she has obligations. Nothing...

A couple days ago, an online friend needed my assistance with webpage design and code. We started up a chat with 2 other people on MSN so we could all get on the same page. MSN Messenger does this really annoying thing where it always pops up a little window to tell me that I've got unread mail in my inbox. I say it's annoying because I don't use hotmail. Ever. I use my Yahoo account for email. I only have the hotmail account because you have to have it to use MSN Messenger. Actually, it's called Live Messenger now, but that's semantics. I clicked on the window to make it go away, but accidentally clicked on the link to open my inbox...

... and there was an email from Cat with my interview questions. Whoops. Looks like I listed the wrong email address on one of my profiles. Now I have to get my voodoo black-magic book (bound with human skin, no less) off the shelf and see how I would go about removing curses from someone. Here are the questions and answers.

1) Cat: You are fairly new to the dad game, so what has been your biggest surprise about being a dad?
I almost said "not realizing how tired I would be, ALL THE TIME." But then I thought about it for a minute. The whole "so tired I could probably sleep during a nuclear war" thing wasn't really a surprise. That was one of the first things that any guy would warn me about. One guy told me that I will soon wonder what I used to do with all my free time before having a baby. He was right, by the way.

I've got two answers to give, because they both really caught me off guard. First, I didn't realize how much of a strain it can put on a relationship. Everything's fine, don't worry folks. But our buttons seem to be much more sensitive now, and it's much easier for us to push each others'.

The other surprise, and probably the bigger one, is in how much I've changed. Kids never impressed me. Actually, they sorta annoyed me, always asking questions, doing stuff they shouldn't be doing, and crying their little heads off at Wal-Mart. Now... I empathize with parents, and understand that kids/babies are just being kids/babies. That being said, I still have little (read: no) patience for parents that don't control their kids. Letting a kid run rampant at Target, knocking &@#$ off shelves because they're too busy looking at clearanced Christmas decorations is just plain stupid, ignorant, and other insulting words.

2) Cat: Besides gestation, giving birth and nursing, what do you think is the major differences in being a mom and being a dad?
Tyler has been learning to pull himself up to a stand, with the help of household furniture. He's still grasping the concept that standing on two legs is completely different than hands and knees. As such, he's learned a few things about gravity and hard surfaces. When Tyler falls, and smacks his noggin on the floor or side table, Sarah rushes to him to make sure he's fine (not all the time, but enough). I, on the other hand, look at him and tell him, "That didn't hurt, you're ok. Get up and try again."

So, my answer is:
Mom :: Dad : Nurture :: Nature

(seriously, I've been racking my brain, and using google, to figure out if I wrote that correctly. I may have mixed up the single colon and double colon. If any of you could point me to a reference, I would be very appreciative. For those of you not in "the know", it is read as "Mom is to Dad as Nurture is to Nature".)

3) Cat: If you are able to attain your lifelong goal of becoming a superhero, what would your name be, what special power would you want and what would your costume look like?
I never thought of a name for myself. I always liked how, in the comic books (and some of their movie adaptations), the populous named the superhero. It could easily backfire, for sure, but I trust the people that I selflessly protect.

Superpower... well, there's the stock answer of "flying" that everyone says. I loved what Neo was capable of in "The Matrix" and while I would never want to sound or look like him, I would love his powers. Truth be told, they weren't really powers, since the Matrix was just a virtual world. Then again, at the end of the second movie, we saw Neo display a power in the real world. If you've got some time, we could analyze deeper, but I really would like to keep the reader base that I currently have.

As for a costume... much to the dismay of my female audience (and maybe some of my male audience), you will NOT see me in spandex or tights. Probably a pair of Old Navy jeans, a vintage fit t-shirt, and a fleece jacket on chilly days. At home, alone, I may try out a cape.

4) Cat: For the unconverted, why Firefox over Microsoft Explorer?
Oh, where do I begin? IE (Internet Explorer) is finally getting some things right, like tabbed browsing. If you haven't used tabs before, you're really missing out. It's like always riding in the passenger seat, and then your dad gives you the keys and lets you take it for a spin. IE also has many vulnerabilities that don't get patched quickly from MS (Microsoft). FF (Firefox) is much more standards compliant... blah blah blah, right? Well, I will tell you this, with absolute certainty... FF is faster than IE, and that's what matters to most people nowadays. Plus, you can always uninstall it if you don't like it. Oh... and the addons for FF are beyond awesome.

If you do try FF, get an addon called "Adblock Plus". It makes the internet so much more pretty.

5) Cat: Are you going to get a tat commemorating the birth of your son?
Let's recap first. When I turned 18, I got a tattoo of a clown... on my forearm. I won't go into the details, but I will say that I was a fan of a local band named "Insane Clown Posse". What? I said I was 18 for cryin' out loud! I have Chinese writing behind both of my shoulders. They say "Crazy" and "Insane". At least that's what I'm told they say. I have a huge tribal piece between my shoulders and down the middle of my back. Then, I've got two dragons on my lower back.

I truly regret the one on my forearm, but don't have a spare $2k to get it removed. I also wish I hadn't gotten the other pieces done. Ahhh.... youth. Now I have to explain to my son why he shouldn't do what I did. Why, oh why didn't I listen to my parents when I was younger?

That ends the question and answer session. I hope you liked it. Take a few minutes and click on the links. I try to only read the best of the best blogs out there, so you won't be disappointed if you check them out.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I've made some big changes to the code and styles that run this here blog. Hopefully, the only thing you'll notice is a change from 2 columns to 3 columns. I'm fairly certain that I've salvaged the legacy code that needed to be kept in order to get all posts before this one to display correctly. But, just in case, don't freak out if things are a little buggy for about a week, while I hammer out the little stuff that I may have overlooked.