Operation: Fu Manchu

So... this is how I'm walking around now. Lord only knows for how long. The Lady doesn't like it; I've had to repeat myself once or twice because my "mouth is distracting".

Before
I'll probably get rid of it before I have to go back into work. I've been slowly growing this beast out for a while now in secret. It'll be a shame to shave it off.

- David

Jonas Bonus Update

Jonas' due-date has come and gone and his crib is still empty while Kasey's belly is still full.

We visited the doctors' office yesterday and they did a non-stress test on the little guy in which they attached heart monitors to Kasey's stomach and monitored his heart rate for about fifteen minutes and Kasey clicked a button each time he kicked.  He seems really healthy and the lady herself is in prime position for baby birthin'.  It's just a matter of waiting now.

We have another appointment on Monday and if he's not out then or by next Thursday then we're going to have him induced.  If he's any boy of mine cake or pie would be sufficient inducement, but I'm sure they'll try to use drugs or something instead, being doctors and all.

I walk by his bed a dozen times a day and look inside it each time, almost seeing him there, gurgling and wriggling around.  Soon my boy, soon.

 - David

Crib

Crib, originally uploaded by BodhiDave.

Built and bedded. It takes up a ton of room; we had to move the bed over just so I could get past. But it's purdy and it'll be his bed for years to come.

Today was his due-date but he's not having it. Only a few weird pains here and there later this evening. I wish he'd get here already.

- David

Hm?

Hm?, originally uploaded by BodhiDave.

Put some pics up of the recent Ride of Silence I partook of on Wednesday. This one is probably my favorite.

Ride wasn't so great (probably won't do again) but it was a gorgeous day. Trying to take pics while riding was new too, and fun.

Enjoy your weekends.

- David

BAYBEES

Lil' Jonas' due date is less than a week away and I think both Kasey and I are getting into full-on nesting mode now.  It took a while, but "better late than never" is kind of my credo.

This weekend we both had more energy than normal and got a bunch of apartment/baby stuff done.  Kasey washed a ton of baby clothes, blankets, and other items and we re-arranged his future room (which is currently a storage room) so that all his stuff is up front and the rest of our crap is in back.  We got a new dresser and devoted a drawer or two to his impossibly tiny clothing items (Have you seen a baby sock?!  It boggles the mind.) and some closet shelf space to his metric ton of blankets.

We dug out his car seat and I put it together and wrapped it back in the baggy to be placed in the trunk of the car for the fateful day.  Apparently hospitals won't let you leave unless you have a car seat.  Which is a shame because I was just going to put him up on the dash for the car ride home the way my family did when I was born.  His crib is on the way and should be here shortly and is truly an awesome piece of furniture.  It's white and reminds me of Nantucket (although I've never been there) and will turn into the next two beds he'll need as he grows into the squirrely menace I'm sure he'll become.

As the big day nears it seems like both of our heads are filled with visions of the future.  Like being the ones to teach him that if someone asks if you're sure you say "yes" and not "no" like little kids always do, and hearing him swear his first cuss.  And wondering if he'll be the kid who's getting made fun of, doing the fun-making, or the one in the corner of the playground eating dirt.  It's so strange to think we'll be there for all those years, teaching him all the things we take for granted now as adults.  I don't even know how good I'll be at all that.  I'm pretty crappy at basic things even now.  I'll look to Kasey for math, that's for sure.

This constant waiting is nuts; it's always in the background of my thoughts.  I'm kind of hoping he has to be induced so that we're already in the hospital and people are ready, and I know for sure it's coming.  Doing every day things like riding my bike to work or taking a bathroom break and forgetting to take my phone along stress me out.  I keep thinking I'll miss The Call.  Which I've been dreading/looking forward to as well.  Getting stuck in traffic trying to get to Kasey and/or the hospital would be amazingly shitty.

I'll breathe a sigh of relief once we get him home.  Then the real fun begins, right?

 - David

Toxic

So there's this thing called Punk Goes Pop where non-pop bands cover pop songs. They're up to album two and the Punk Goes 90s Kasey has is pretty good. I haven't listed to A Static Lullaby before but after hearing their cover of Toxic and seeing the video below I'm already a fan.


For an even funner version, click here. If you're only going to watch one of these I'd pick this one, but for some reason the poster disabled embedding. Which is sad because it's the original Brittany Spears video synced up perfectly with ASL's music. Enjoy.

- David

I Dunno How This Is Possible

But somehow the up and coming Jonas Charles set himself up a Twitter account. Which is weird because I didn't think I gave him Internet access until he got an A on his report card.

Most of yous guys know what Twitter is, but for thems that don't it's a social networking tool that's become almost annoyingly popular with everyone from middle schoolers to Oprah. It allows you to "follow" people as they make updates about their thoughts, current goings on, etc.

I use Twitter daily. (If you look to your right at the top of the page and see the stuff under "Currently", those are my Twitter updates, or tweets as we say in the industry. *EDIT* Apparently this was broken for a bit, fixed now.) For example, if I'm driving into work and traffic sucks I send a message like, "Late for work, traffic is all crappy on Hampton Blvd" and anyone who is following me gets the message. I also post useless crap like the song that's currently stuck in my head, how all the bathroom stalls are full, or any random thoughts I have.

It's hard to explain Twitter to someone and have it come off as exciting. But I love Twitter. And the more popular it gets the more cool people use it. For example, I'm following people like Trent Reznor (front man of my favoritest band ever), a bunch of web comic artists, a couple of my favorite authors, some people who don't even exist, and all my friends. You cannot grasp how truly awesome Twitter is until you start getting updates from someone you've admired for years. And it's just normal every day crap they're tweeting, but it's like you're buddies and they're texting you. I dunno, maybe it's just my crazy stalker side talking, but it feels like you're connecting with the people you follow.

As someone who bikes around a lot it's also become a helpful tool for Kasey to make sure I'm okay. I use another social networking tool called BrightKite to check in at different locations like work, the store, etc which get sent to Twitter. Kasey (and anyone else who cares) sees that I made it work okay and didn't get run over on the way.

When my friend David S. drives hours and hours to see his GF in northern Virginia EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND and posts images and such to Twitter I know he made it okay and get to see what a fun time he's having. The other day as Kasey and I were working our way through a whole mess of IHOP David S. checked in at the gym. We then sent him a picture of the indecent amount of food we were eating and told him to have fun working out! See how useful technology can be?

Twitter and Brightkite are both free and accessible from the Internet or a cell phone. I use both. And apparently the lil' one is following suit. Even Kasey is getting in on the action lately.

Click here to see Jonas' updates. You'll get a pretty page with a list of all the stuff he's been saying and doing. Mine is here. But I'm sure he'll be more popular than me before the doctor even spanks that tiny booty.

- David

Cross-sections

In reverse chronological order:























- David

Better Czech Yo Self

The lovely Kasey and I have a bunch of little inside jokes just like any relationship. A lot of them deal with movie quotes or scenes we love, and we've even reached the point where I can tweak a quote to better fit the situation and she still knows what movie I'm referencing. This probably says more about her sexy movie knowledge and less about my impression skills.

One of the inside jokes that has been coming up recently is my claim to Czechoslovakian heritage (and yes, I had to Google it to make sure I was spelling it right.) You see, my dad's ancestors are apparently from Czechoslovakia and my last name is Czech for "cake". This was confirmed by a guy I used to work with who was from there and told me over internal IM that I could get any lady I wanted if I visited his country because of my last name. One day I hope to find out if this is true.

So I make little comments sometimes about how "my people" no longer have a country (because Czechoslovakia is now Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic), and how much this pains me, etc. Usually it's in response to something like the treatment of the Native Americans or the Holocaust, which I admit may be construed as callous, but I assure you I feel White Guilt and am saddened by both events. During a visit to DC with my family in high school my dad and I opted to visit the Holocaust Museum while the rest of our peeps did something else. When we regrouped later neither I or my dad was in any mood to talk or do anything but stare at the ground and wonder how something like that could have happened. I remember my mom remarking that she was glad she didn't go with us.

Anywho, any time I make a joke about being Czech or that Jonas might be funny looking because my dad is funny looking, Kasey always corrects me by stating I am not Czech because I was adopted by my father, which is entirely true. I always forget that my dad adopted me when I was only months old, probably because I was a dumb baby back then, but also because in our family it never came up. Not in the secretive way that families push unwanted things under the rug, but we just didn't think of it like that. My dad is and always was my dad, not my adoptive father or anything like that. I don't think any of us can even remember being told, it's just something we always knew. I never felt different, or even aware that I didn't feel different. I was as much a part of my family as anyone.

This could be because I never knew any different. At three months old you can't really tell the difference between a cat and a nice set of drapes let alone between the provider of half your chromosomes and the guy who's feeding you, holding you, making sure you're still breathing when you sleep. Before I could even make memories my dad was there. I haven't known anything else. But I don't think that's all there is to it. It's more a testament to my father and the man he is, and how much love his heart had for me and my brothers. There's no way I could have felt like anything other than his son.

I can only hope that besides his love for books, kind-hearted sense of humor, and fondness for classic Star Trek that I've inherited his ability to make a child feel loved in this world.

Thanks Dad.

- David