Leaving For Portland

So tomorrow our happy little clan is heading to the Pacific Northwest for over a week for the Holidays. I've never spent Christmas out of Ohio and away from my family here, but I am looking forward to the trip. It is actually a great time to "leave" my family here for the Holidays (a long story I will try to post about in the new year). Any new experience is a good one in my mind and I look forward to seeing the Christmas traditions of my in-laws. From what I've heard the whole clan (15 Aunts and Uncles on one side) gather an Aunt's house . . .I don;t think there is any church involved.

The experience of flying across the country with a 5-month old . . .I'm not so sure about. For years when I flew I would avoid the person/couple with young children and now we are that couple. Ah karma you damn dirty whore! We hope for most of the trip she looks like she does in the picture below.

And let us not forget the "true" meaning of Christmas. "And there was a bear with a buckeye hat living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. The FSM appeared to them, and it's glory shone around them, and they were terrified. But the FSM said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is a Oregon Duck. This will be a sign to you: You will find a duck wrapped in green and lying in a manger."


This is the Nativity my grandmother had in her house for years, for some reason it ended up in my hands. I like the damn thing, despite being a heathen, but the baby Jesus is downright creepy so I replaced him with the Oregon Duck.

Merry whatever you celebrate everyone!

"War on Christmas" right here in Ohio!!

Just saw this story today in the Columbus Dispatch. Same old story, non christian boy sees the Nativity on state property, boy gets offended and complains, Nativity is removed, the Governor steps in and has the put back up. . . .wha wha what?

Gov. Ted Strickland weighed in a day after The Dispatch ran a story about the
controversy last week. Strickland told the state parks to put the scenes back
up.

"The governor believes that Nativity scenes are an appropriate part of
our traditional holiday displays," said Keith Dailey, a spokesman for
Strickland.

Yup, apparently since the nativity is "traditional" is is totally cool to have them. Never mind that baby Jesus is right in the fricking middle of them . . . no religion there. Other "traditional" items cool with the gov, separate drinking fountains for colored folks and women being denied the right to vote. Then he goes on to say that a menorah would be fine, but not a symbol for Zoroastrian because that is not traditional. BTW, I love that the person who protested wanted a symbols of Zoroastrian and Hindu with the Nativity.

Then we get back to some good old stupidity from the local politicians. City Council member Chris Rodriguez said this about another Nativity in Columbus that was moved (not taken down) from the main steps.

"Personally, I think people should get over it and stop being so smug about
their rights. It's freedom of religion, not the freedom from religion."

Smug about our rights? What the hell does that mean? You have rights but if you speak up for them you are being smug? Add in the the old tired line of, "not freedom from religion" . . *sigh*. All I can say is, you sir are a douche bag.

Back

Things have been a bit crazy recently, but here is an update. Our trip the Key West was great. What a beautiful part of the country and it was fun to act like college kids for a couple of days.


Nora did great with Grandma watching her, but a couple days after we got back she got sick for the first time in her young life. She had a high fever for 3 or 4 days and was clearly not herself. It is tough watching someone so little and helpless not feeling good and her sad little cries broke my heart. All she wanted to do was curl up in our arms and fall asleep.


While I was busy someone sent me a link to a great review of the creation "museum" in Kentucky. I know it has been talked about to death, but I thought this review was a good read. Plus he has 100 or so pictures with some fantastic captions. I knew the "museum" was crap, but reading some of the placards . . .I mean . . .wow. This quote from the review sums it up pretty nice, I think.

And this is, in sum, the Creation Museum. $27 million has purchased the very best monument to an enormous load of horseshit that you could possibly ever hope to see. I enjoyed my visit, admired the craft with which the whole thing was put together, and was never once convinced that what I was seeing celebrated was anything more or less than horseshit. Popular horseshit? Undoubtedly. Horseshit hallowed by tradition and consecrated by time? Just so. Horseshit of the finest possible quality? I would not argue the point. And yet, even so: Horseshit. Complete horseshit. Utter horseshit. Total horseshit. Horseshit, horseshit, horseshit, horseshit. I pity the people who swallow it whole.

A Night Out

Last night the HappyNatess and I got a chance to go out and see They Might Be Giants in concert while Grandpa watched Nora. We have had a few opportunities to have some time alone but last night we got to grab a casual dinner and do what we do best (drink beer and catch a live show). I've seen the Johns in concert a dozen times or so, it is quite shocking to think back of the first time I saw them in 1989 as a Sophomore in high school. This time through Columbus they were back at the Newport Music Hall which has hosted a myriad of acts from The Grateful Dead, to Billy Cyrstal, to Bob Dylan to Pearl Jam.

Oppenheimer opened and they were a fun duo. They are from Ireland and consist of a lead singer/drummer/toy keyboard/air horn player and a guitarist/keyboard/electronica sound maker. They kind of reminded me of a mix of TMBG and Grandaddy, not sure I could take a whole CD from them but they were entertaining.

It was nice to get out for a normal night, but we were both glad to see our girl after the show. This get away was a test for this weekend when we will flying down to Florida to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. Wow 5 years and it keeps getting better. My wife is really special to keep putting up with me.

Grandma (HappyNatess's mom) is flying in from Portland to to watch Nora while we are out of town so we know she will be in good hands. However, it will be tough to get on the plane and leave her for 3 days. I think it will be OK as long as we check in and hear she is doing fine. Grandma was here for Nora's birth and is VERY excited to get to see her again. I have a feeling she will be pushing on on the plane so her and Nora can play.

Motivation!

The Friendly Atheist challenged his readers to create a motivational poster for atheists from the site AutoMotivemaker. Here are my two entries.


We all know how atheists love succulent babies. Having a daughter has made me love them even more. And let's face it, life is all about her right now so she should be in her first motivational poster.

The Sky is Falling

For our first Halloween Nora dressed as a little chicken. I picked the chicken outfit for 4 reasons, 1) he has a damn fine Chicken mask that has been used on many Halloweens the past 15 years, 2) my fantasy football team is named The Gerneral Tso's Chickens, 3) it had no tail so she could fit in a car seat, and 4) it was not pink. The first time she tried it on Nora wasn't so happy with it as you can see.













However, once she got used to it she seemed to like it. She wore her outfit to daycare and then to see Grandpa. Nora is obviously too young for candy so Mom and Dad helped out by taking some from Grandpa while he was distracted by the chicken.

Musings of a Proud Dad

If nothing else raising a child causes one to think about life. As I’ve watched other children in my life grow up I always focused on their physical development. I would notice them growing bigger, learning to walk, and watching them play (and swim). Seeing Eleanor start to recognize and really react to us it really occurred to me the vast amount of development that happens in the first few years of life and as she becomes an adult in society. I guess the totality of what Wendy and I get to witness has become apparent the last few weeks.

As Eleanor grows up she will not only learn to walk, talk, write, etc, but she will also develop a consciousness of her own. She will ask all the big questions about why we are here and her place in the world. Nora will have a chance to look at the stars in wonder. She will be able to question the existence of god(s) and come to her own conclusion if we are alone. She will form opinions about everything from art and music to politics. For a geeky sociologist to be able to observe her proceed in all areas of life is an amazing privilege. To realize that I have a prominent role in the development of her self is truly humbling. I guess I’m saying I like this dad gig.

First posts are usually insipid . . .

and this one will be no different. I'm a mid-thirties first time dad to a beautiful 3 month old girl, Nora. We already have a family blog for friends and family to keep up to date with our girl through the million or so pictures we have already taken. Due to the religiosity of both my wife's and my family I felt rather constrained to keep the posts all puppies and sunshine and not deal with the issues of being heathen parents. I don't know where this blog will go but I've been inspired by reading many other blogs of people in similar situations. So here we go . . .