Bloggystyle

What's the new

2008-06-30T22:49:00.002-05:00

What's the new

Maybe it's my relatively new allegiances to Twitter and Plurk, but I find myself just forgetting to post here. Sorry for that. I'll try to be better about keeping my voice from going out on this site.

I had a long-in-the-works review of Grand Theft Auto IV that ran in the paper last Friday. And I've got two big stories running Saturday and Sunday in Life & Arts this weekend.

Lilly has quickly gone from rolling over to sitting up to dragging herself across the floor to crawling on all fours to nearly standing up on her own without help. I think this is when things start to happen too quickly, like the baby's life is on fast-forward. It felt like we had months and months to baby-proof the house, but all of a sudden, we're keeping electrical plugs out of her mouth and we're trying to teach her to avoid all the open flames we keep around for our amusement.

I went through a major funk last week, just sort of summer blahs, party because of the video I wrote about last time, partly restlessness. Some of it was that I'm not really taking any vacation until August and I think I've burned myself out a little with our non-stop schedule.

This weekend, though, we spent a whole day at the mall, something we haven't done since before Lilly was born. She behaved incredibly well, just staring at all the sights (she'd never been), people-watching, not being fussy at all. It was a cool trip.

I sometimes struggle so hard to retain some of the normalcy from the time before Lilly was here. I get all frustrated that I can't do some of the things I did before, that I have to pass up opportunities to do artsy projects or go out and do party things. I try to work and live at the same pace I did before and I just exhaust myself.

I think the hardest part for me of parenthood hasn't been the parenting itself, because Lilly has been relatively trouble-free. I think it's just been accepting that I'm a parent, that my life has changed permanently, that there's no going back to those freewheeling days (which never seemed so freewheeling at the time; was I ever worry-free?).

I have to remind myself that lots of parents have been through this, have thrived, have found time to do the things that make them more than The Host Organism. And I guess I do still recap and work and play video games and do a comic strip and work on several blogs. I've only had to give up a very small number of things, and maybe those things had run their course anyway. Maybe Lilly has saved me from a rut and from some dead ends I didn't even see coming.

Trailers Trashed: Hancock

2008-06-25T12:56:00.004-05:00

Trailers Trashed: Hancock

A few weeks ago, my brother and I started working on a little video pilot for a corporate-owned entertainment Web site. We were flying largely by the seat of our pants, which is fine because we saw it as a learning experience and were trying to see what we could do with some light animation and voice-over work.

The pilot was rejected for several very good reasons and we're now working on something else that would be a lot less labor intensive and less sketchy. I'm not sure what'll happen with that, but we're going to give it another go, I think.

Even though this video wasn't usable for that site, we had a lot of fun working together on this and I thought I would share it.

You can see a larger version on YouTube.

Sisters in comedy

2008-06-23T15:55:00.006-05:00

Sisters in comedy

Another story of mine ran in today's paper, this one a "Masters of their Domains" about the Midlife Gals.

They could not have been nicer and you should check out the story and the video I shot that goes with it (below).

I also hosted a live chat today with Rochelle Hamby, who appeared in the Saturday coupons story. We had all kinds of crazy technical problems for the two hours before it went live and I wanted to just go home and forget the whole thing, but it all worked out in the end and there was some really good, lively discussion. You can find the transcript here. Lots of good ideas for saving money on groceries. At one point, offline, Rochelle said to me, "You PAY for cat food?! SUCKER!" I was humbled by her coupon knowledge, which is vast and devastating.

I really wanted to go see Islands, who are doing an in-store concert at Waterloo Records today, but I have the worst headache I've had in months, most certainly caused by lack of sleep. I love my daughter, I really do, but when she wakes up crying at 2 a.m. and then again at 5 and then she's fully awake at 7:30 ready to be cared for and given our full attention, I kind of want to book a flight to Cozumel, you know? Or at least just get rid of this no-sleep headache.

God bless you, single parents, because I don't know how you do this alone. You realize at some point that not only are you not in charge or your own sleeping schedule, you no longer are even given the time to poop in peace. Not unless you're willing to deposit the baby somewhere and listen to lusty wails while you do your business. Some people may find that facilitates pooping. I don't know. I am not that pooping person. And with that I will end this paragraph about pooping and hope never to bring the subject up again (unlikely).

I have to look at photos like this just to stay sane sometimes:

All right, kid. I guess I don't have to go to Cozumel right away.

Clippy

2008-06-22T01:15:00.003-05:00

Clippy

I had a story in Saturday's paper, the Life & Arts lead, about people who use online sites to get the most out of coupons and grocery deals.

It was one of those stories that I really didn't want to do at first because even though I've used coupons for a long time, the people who use them on some of these sites are hardcore and getting into their world is like learning a whole new language, as sometimes happens with the stories I end up writing.

Luckily, my editor and a person I work with are far better versed than me and helped guide me through it. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and I hope a lot of people get some use out of the tips in the story.

My only complaint is that the really wonderful illustration that Don Tate drew for the story didn't make it into the online version. Ah well. I'm going to be hosting a live online chat with coupon expert Rochelle Hamby at 1 p.m. Monday (CST) on my Digital Savant blog.

I've been working on a video project with my brother that we just finished (just before I got on Blogger to write this, as a matter of fact). We're hoping to sell it to someone, but whether that party buys it or not, it'll have to find its way online soon. I'll post it here as soon as that happens.

I've got several stories in the paper running the next few days that I'll link to when they're up, including a new Masters of their Domains and a long-in-the-works review of Grand Theft Auto IV.

Recently, I got to go to Houston for a story I'm working on and on my way back, I stopped at IKEA. MY GOD. We haven't been to the one in Round Rock because given that we live in New Braunfels, that's like asking us to go shop in Dallas. But I'm very tempted to go after seeing all the amazing nursery room stuff they had. I loaded up on little stuff for Lilly (she's in love with a tiny set of colorful bowls and a big stuffed frog I came back with).

Cool IKEA lights

I must confess that I got lost trying to get out of there and as I was leaving, I got a call from Jeff Koch in San Antonio for my weekly radio spot (it airs at 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays on KTSA AM).

I don't know if it was the store or my phone's low battery, but the interview was a complete fiasco. I couldn't hear the questions, so I tried to wing it based on the topics we'd chosen ahead of time, but I finally had to admit that I couldn't hear him (live on the air) and I felt horrible for ruining the segment.

Not much else to report right now. Things are going really well, work is busy but fun, Lilly grows and grows and grows.

Oh, here's something that happened: I get invited to speak at panels about old versus new media a lot since I work at a newspaper, but write a lot about online social media and blogging.

There was one Thursday called Interactive Austin, put on for a bunch of executives and marketers from different companies. The panel I was on was full very cool people, but I was the only newspaper person there (or at the whole conference, for that matter).

I gave some serious answers about what we're doing in new media. I talked about some major changes at our paper over the last five years. I talked about the divergence of the print product and the online product and how that might continue.

But because I can't leave well enough alone, I also joked about how in five years I might be eating cat food in the back of a bus and I may have said something about how readers of the print product are so much older than other media that they are very likely to... well, not be around as long, if you know what I mean.

It was totally a joke and I was being a little silly, but after the panel, an older gentleman came up to me and shook my hand. I would soon realize that he was not shaking my hand just to shake it. Still holding it, he began to tell me that older people like himself are perfectly capable of reading a newspaper and also going online and that he didn't appreciate my assholery. This went on for at least two minutes and he was still grabbing my hand and wouldn't let go.

Clearly, I was in the wrong. I shouldn't be allowed to speak in public where I try to say things for comedic effect. I should have just said that newspapers are working on a giant cocoon that you'll be able to keep in a swimming pool and that by using it, you'll never get sick, you won't get any older and you won't ever die.

Weakly reader

2008-06-19T23:06:00.001-05:00

Weakly reader

Click here for the Flickr.com version.

I really dig this photo, taken at her day care. She wouldn't hold still and this was the only relatively blur-free one I could get with the iPhone.

Lego man, throw me the whip!

2008-06-10T14:22:00.000-05:00

Lego man, throw me the whip!

Forgot to mention, I also had a game review in today's paper. It was a review of the very cute Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.

Links in

2008-06-10T10:43:00.002-05:00

Links in

A couple of recent things before I collapse from all the stuff going on this week.

I was on NPR's All Things Considered yesterday talking about the new iPhone. The press conference with Steve Jobs started at noon and I was scheduled to go to the UT studio at 1:45 to talk about it. By 1:30, as I was parking at UT, they still hadn't officially announced the new iPhone, so it was a little bit of scrambling to get the information in time, but it all worked out, I think.

There's a link at the top of this story to hear the audio from the broadcast.

Also, in today's newspaper, I did a story about online statuses (like your Facebook status, or your Instant Messenger away message, stuff like that). Dale Roe did an awesome job with the design and the images, but only a few of them made it to the online version. If you're in town and can pick up a copy of the paper today (Tuesday), it's worth a look. I love the visuals that ran with the story.

I've been keeping busy with house stuff mostly, but my brother and I are working on a video project that took up a chunk of our weekend. I hope to have something to show soon, or at least a preview of something to show.

Lilly is crawling all over the place these days, or doing the thing where she sits up, but uses her legs to spin around in circles. She also has my weird sleeping habits. She rolls around a lot. Last night I found her curled up in a corner of her (recently lowered) crib. I threw a blanket on her. Sometimes she's so happy she squeals and bumps her forehead against you or just wants to climb all over you and drool on your head. She just seems happier lately (when she's not upset that you're walking away from her or sleepy or hungry), and it's strange and wonderful to watch a personality develop right in front of you.

I've heard other parents say this, but it really does feel like she's always existed, has always been here; we were just waiting for her to arrive. I never thought of myself as a lonely person, or of our house being particularly empty, but I think back to the time before she was born and feel retroactive sadness for the times before she was with us.

Wormholes of the bearded kind

2008-06-05T10:26:00.003-05:00

Wormholes of the bearded kind

We posted a new comic this morning, part one of two in an epic space adventure.

The traveling

2008-06-05T00:40:00.001-05:00

The traveling

Since Lilly was born, we haven't really gone anywhere. I've even begged off on potential business trips because we're having a hard enough time staying sane and on-schedule with our dual commutes, day care and all that.

Yes. We are now Boring People. Fuck you. We're OK with that.

But recently, I was traveling two weekends in a row: a quick one-day trip to see Radiohead in Dallas with my brother and then Lilly's baptism in South Texas the following weekend.

What can I say about the baptism? It was pretty religious. We got to see a lot of family, many of whom hadn't met Lilly yet. She was, incredibly, on her best behavior. She didn't get spooked with a house full of people and she even suffered the heat and the endurance test of being on the road for multiple hours. She's a commuter. She's used to these things now.

We did have one really unintentionally hilarious moment: we took her portable playpen with us so she could sleep in it. When we arrived at my in-laws, she was sleeping, so we put her in the playpen. She she woke up, not only was she in an unfamiliar surface where she never sleeps, but she was in a whole other house. She woke up completely freaked out, crying and just beside herself with unfamiliarity. I snapped a photo of her fear-filled face, but I'm not cruel enough to post it here.

We did, however, get an awesome picture of her wearing a giant sombrero.

Apart from the holy head-soaking, it was nice to unplug from the Internet, or at least from broadband. I was still checking e-mail and RSS feeds on my iPhone, but things slow down on holiday weekends anyway, so I was able to just enjoy myself and hang out.

We took Lilly to South Padre Island for what I hope was the first of many trips to the beach. She didn't like the water (too cold) or the sand (too gritty), but she enjoyed sitting on the blanket we laid out in the early evening sunlight and feeling the breeze.

She's crawling now. It started with her dragging herself along the floor with her arms like some poor, blown-up bastard from Saving Private Ryan, but now she's got her legs working, too, and she's unstoppable. She'll be walking soon, so we'll have to remove all the land mines and bear traps we have lying around. ("Too late already," many parents are already thinking. Yeah. You're probably right.)

I'm done recapping for the summer, so I'm working on a super secret project with my brother, but I'm hoping I'll be able to share it with you within the next week or two. I'm really excited about it, and not just because it's new. I'm hoping it turns into Something Cool.

I wrote a book review that ran in the paper recently, of Jancee Dunn's Don't You Forget About Me. That's about it. All the stories I've been working on recently start running next week after a multi-week lag.

There was something with me in the paper on Sunday, though. I got awarded Employee of the Month for some work I did in March and they ran a house ad about it that I'd been dreading (and sort of anticipating at the same time). Please do not judge harshly:

I know, right? Some funny comments have been posted on the Flickr page.

I hope you're having a good summer. It's fucking HOT here. Too hot too soon. I hope my baby doesn't melt.

All the way live

2008-05-20T16:08:00.002-05:00

All the way live

First off, my last recap of Smallville and my last weecap of How I Met Your Mother for the season have both been posted. As fun as writing them can be, I am so relieved that summer's finally here because I'm pooped.

The Big, Gay Cold Shoulder -- Clark and Lex have a final confrontation in the Fortress of Solitude and seven years of sexual tension brings the whole house down. Also, Lana wakes up from her coma, Chloe gets arrested (again) and Brainiac bites the dust.

We got renewed? Miracle! -- The gang ponders the mysteries of miracles, fate and love as Ted is involved in a car accident that changes his life. Also, somebody pops the question. Yes, the question.

On Sunday, my brother and I went to Dallas to see Radiohead in concert. It was my birthday gift from him and we had a really good time. The trip coincided with a review that I'm working on of a Nokia N95 phone. The phone itself isn't all that great (at least not compared to an iPhone), but it can stream video online at high speeds to the Web site qik.com (which also incorporated a chat room -- messages from the chat room appear on the phone as you're shooting your video, which is all kinds of awesome). I was able to stream live video from the concert and shoot some videos on the road. I was amazed that it's possible to even do this.

A few things I discovered: I don't think I could ever do this on a regular basis. I just don't think I'm someone who can go on camera and be interesting consistently. I get really animated when I'm traveling or doing something fun, but the rest of the time, I'd rather express myself behind a keyboard. The other thing I discovered is that once they come out with an iPhone version, Qik is going to be huge because there are lots of people who WOULD be good at this and would be able to build an audience doing exactly this kind of thing.

Anyway, here are a few of the videos we did. There are more that we did over on Qik if you're interested.

Reviews of popular medias I wrote'd

2008-05-17T16:12:00.003-05:00

Reviews of popular medias I wrote'd

My job is primarily writing about technology, but because I sit in a cluster surrounded by the arts and architecture writer, the music writer, the food writer, the TV writer, the film writer and various editors who deal with both Lifes (Lives?) and Arts (just Arts), I sometimes get an opportunity to review stuff that has nothing to do with tech.

We talk enough that we sometimes have a sense of what each other is into. People know that I did Adult Swim and comedy stuff and Radiohead and Portishead, whereas I know who around me is obsessed with Mad Men and Wilco. LOTS of Wilco addicts nearby.

Apart from video game reviews, (which I'll link to here in sec: I've been neglecting my output around here), I just reviewed the new (free) Nine Inch Nails album, "The Slip." The review should run in print on Sunday, but the online version has been up for a few days.

I'm also reviewing Jancee Dunn's Don't You Forget About Me, a summer book that comes out in July. I really liked her first book, a non-fiction book about celebrity interviewing. This is her first novel and I read it over two nights and ... well, I'll leave it to the review to speak for me. The review should run around May 25.

My brother and I are driving to Dallas tomorrow to go see Radiohead in concert. It was my awesome birthday gift from him and we're planning to stay overnight. I'm testing out a Nokia N95 phone and it has the very neat ability to stream video online live using the Web site Qik.com. I was playing around with it the last few days and I'm going to try to do some live broadcasting on the road tomorrow (and maybe even at the concert if they don't confiscate my phone). Keep an eye on my Twitter page to see when the videos/live streams are available.

Here's some of the video game reviews: Mario Kart Wii, Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds, God of War: Chains of Olympus, Patapon, Devil May Cry 4 and Harvey Birdman.

I think there's something wrong with this toy

2008-05-16T00:17:00.002-05:00

I think there's something wrong with this toy

It could just be my ears.

The week in links and pictures

2008-05-13T17:08:00.005-05:00

The week in links and pictures

About two weeks ago, I started getting some really scary shooting pains and cramps in my right wrist. It got to the point where I've had to start using my left hand to mouse around or just take long breaks while writing (especially the crunch of doing How I Met Your Mother weecaps on Monday nights).

It scared me a lot and I'm vowing to try to spend more time away from the computer after next week, once Smallville and HIMYM end next week. I want to be doing more video and photos anyway. I don't even want to think about ideas like "RSI" or "carpel tunnel." I don't even want to entertain those thoughts.

So here's the stuff that's been posted this week. It's a lot and I apologize again for the link dump. It's been even crazier than usual, but that's all due to end in just 7 more days and then I'll be traveling to Dallas to a Radiohead concert (woo!) and traveling a few days later for a baptism (Lilly's). Good times we will have!

First thing: we posted a comic on Monday at Space Monkeys! that has to do with Tyler Perry. You should see it.

Next thing: I had a story that ran in Monday's paper about Diane Prechter of TodayinAustin.com. People I know in other cities sometimes ask me what's so great about Austin and why I've stayed here so long. It's because of people like Diana -- people who have lived here a long time and really care about the community and spend all their free time doing things to connect people and make it an even better place to live. That's why I like it. Here's the video that ran with the story:

One thing that had me a little nervous all weekend was that I gave a presentation at work about new media tools. My editor Sarah helped me come up with ideas and it all came out of the coverage we did for South by Southwest Interactive. I got freaked out right before it started because I had no login for the computer in the presentation room, then I couldn't get the projector to work and I thought I was going to die of excessive sweating. But the room ended up packed (some people sat on the floor!) and people asked really good questions. There was some cool discussion. Our editor-in-chief even came in and added to the dialog. Afterward, I was so shaken up from the release of tension that I needed a few hours just to decompress.

Anyway, here's a link to the PowerPoint portion of the presentation. It's embedded below, too.

And now for some recaps: here's the two last weecaps I did of How I Met Your Mother:

After the Bro-keup -- Barney tries to replace his downed wingman with Will Forte while Ted tries to get his new girlfriend Sarah Chalke over her five-year sexual dry spell.

G-CWOK-Approved -- Even Gay Couples Without Kids hate Lily's art, which she's trying to sell. But they love Ted's hideous red cowboy boots. Fashion is fickle!

And then there was the penultimate episode of the season of Smallville:

'Torso,' They Say -- Lex and Clark both get sliced up about the chest in a crazy game of Kryptonian symbol body art. Lex wins, though, because he finds the last piece of the puzzle before he finds Clark's secret. The chest stabbing was worth it!

What else... there's this picture of the Weenie Genie that I took the other night:

It reminds me of the planet of Hot Dogs comics we did way back in the day.

Also, Glark and Wing Chun have started a new site, a podcast called Overwhelming Positivity. You should go check it out. It's on iTunes, too, if you want to subscribe there.

More later when my hands are rested and I can catch my breath again.

Clarkless

2008-05-05T16:21:00.002-05:00

Clarkless

New Smallville recap. Only two more to go this season! Woo!

It's a Wonderful Life (But Not Such a Wonderful Show) -- Clark learns what would happen if he had never made it all the way to Earth. It's the end of the world. Self-centered, much?

Lilly starts to crawl

2008-05-05T12:13:00.002-05:00

Lilly starts to crawl

Playing with the new camcorder. I'm not Scorsese.

Laser-focused

2008-05-03T13:57:00.008-05:00

Laser-focused

I had a story (and video) in today's paper about Austin Laser Art. They did some very cool free iPod/iPhone/Macbook Pro engraving at South by Southwest Interactive and I was able to catch up with Aaron Haley afterward.

Now the Statesman has a new, better video player, I can embed videos I do for work here, too. Here's the video that went with the story:

I also had a How I Met Your Mother weecap earlier in the week that I didn't get a chance to link to:

Bros Before Shows -- The Bro Code is invoked and shown to be violated as the gang deals with the aftermath of Barney + Robin (AKA Robney. Or Barbin, if you prefer).

Not much going on besides work, recapping and playing Grand Theft Auto IV and Mario Kart Wii, both of which I'll be reviewing soon. I wrote some stuff about setting up an Apple Airport Express wireless bridge in the house and some thoughts on the recent iPhone 2.0 rumors over on Digital Savant.

In lieu of having had a Terribly Happy Mix CD this year, I'm experimenting with ways of doing something similar online. I was posting songs on MySpace, until MySpace became kind of a graveyard (they've really sapped all fun out of that place). Recently, I posted a set of 12 songs on Muxtape, which is neat, if bare-bones. You can find the Terribly Happy Muxtape here. Happy listening!

We also just bought an awesome little HD camcorder (the Canon HF100) so I might start posting some short videos on Flickr and embedding them here as soon as I figure out the minor speedbumps of dealing with AVHCD-format files.

Lilly just started taking her first little inchings toward crawling. It's happening so fast. But all these little things never stop being amazing.

(More pictures on Flickr.)

Big Pimpin' '08

2008-04-28T12:30:00.002-05:00

Big Pimpin' '08

I've let some links pile up, so here they go, all at once.

I had a story in today's newspaper about Grand Theft Auto IV. We haven't gotten the game for review yet, but the early word is that it's some kind of gaming masterpiece. We shall see. The piece I wrote is more of an essay about the impact of the series and what people should expect.

Also today is a new Smallville recap:

Double-O-Lame-O -- Jimmy plays James Bond, or at least a watered-down-martini version. Lex finally gets to Zurich and Clark and Chloe try to wrap their heads around time travel. Can they go back in time and fix Season Seven?

I also forgot to link last week to a weecap I did of How I Met Your Mother:

Beek Man's World -- James Van Der Beek breaks Robin's heart, again, as a Canadian loser who isn't aging well. Then something amazing happens with Barney.

And lastly, GeekAustin did an interview with me about some tech stuff and my work blog. They used the photo from my blog, which looks like it was taken when I died and went to heaven, but was somehow sad and ambivalent about it.

Whew! I'll write something for reals around here this week. Summer is coming and I can already taste the recapping vacation.

Of bastards and tweets

2008-04-21T15:10:00.002-05:00

Of bastards and tweets

A new Smallville recap is up today, in which we bid goodbye to Papa Luthor, played by one of my favorite actors, John Glover. It's bittersweet, but the death scene was handled awfully well:

Farewell, Sweet Bastard -- The Magnificent Bastard Papa Luthor goes to that great billionaire's mansion in the sky. Or maybe it's an overheated condo down below. We're still deciding.

We also have a new Space Monkeys! comic up, this one concerning the Twitter phenomenon. Topical? You'd better begrudge it!

Tommy Grand alert!

2008-04-18T19:38:00.002-05:00

Tommy Grand alert!

I will be talking (albeit briefly) to Tommy Grand of Cheaters tonight at just after 8 p.m. central on this Web radio show. I know it's short notice, but if you're a fan of Cheaters, or at least my entry about Cheaters, check it out.

Father of the Year: Part 1

2008-04-17T17:18:00.006-05:00

Father of the Year: Part 1

In parenthood, I like to think we're a lot more prepared than our fore- (or four- if you're lucky) fathers were. We have the Internet, we have tons of books on parenthood (mostly mom-focused, but still), we have lots of alterna-dads, hipping it up for the rest of us.

I think I keep it together pretty well for the most part.

But here is one of the three worst things I've done as a dad so far. I haven't dropped Lilly on her head (yet!) or fed her rat poison instead of Gerber's by accident (there's still time!), or taken her to a strip club (not till she's old enough to work there). But that doesn't mean I can't confess what it is to be a crap dad on occasion.

The locking

It goes away after a the kid gets past six months, but before that, co-workers constantly want to lay their eyes on the new child. Every day, I'd get asked when I was going to bring her by the newsroom and let the people who were generous enough to throw us a baby shower see her and coo at her cuteness.

What makes it a lot easier is that I take her to daycare every day and I actually have to swing back in the direction of work on the way home. One evening, I was actually struggling to finish up something and Lilly was only four months old, still in her "Sleep or cry" phase and not needing tons of attention all the time. She could be counted on to conk out in her carrier for hours and she was already used to our commute.

So I bring her into the office and lay her down next to my desk in the carrier as I finish up some work. She's perfectly still, so only people staying late at work who happen to walk by even notice her.

But before I can wrap things up, Lilly wakes up and starts fidgeting. I take her out of the carrier and she starts full-on crying. I keep looking around, worried that I'm bothering the people around me who are trying to finish things up on deadline.

I figured she must be hungry or need a changing, so I grabbed her diaper bag and carrier and took her to a small conference room just past the elevators.

She was indeed poopified. I laid her on the conference room table on a plastic green changing pad we carry around and got all daddy with the poop. I would say that this particular poop, which wasn't too spread about, had no chance against me, an expert cleaner of poops. It was over quickly.

I set the rolled-up diaper aside and got her dressed. I managed to get her back in the carrier (also up on the table) before she could start crying again. The poop must have worn her out because Lilly was already starting to fall asleep almost as soon as I strapped her in.

I zipped up her bag and grabbed the diaper for tossing. I looked around the room, but couldn't find a trash can. So I took the diaper into the hallway and tossed it into a trash can outside a nearby bathroom.

Turned around. Walked back to the conference room.

The door: locked.

I looked in through the narrow window next to the door. Lilly lay there. Staring right back at me.

I tried the door handle again. Still locked.

All right. Calm. I could go to the security desk and find somebody to unlock the door. But it was after 6, so nobody would be downstairs in the lobby, so I'd have to go all the way to the production entrance to find somebody with master keys. How long would that take? Two, three minutes? Can you get busted for child abandonment in three minutes?

What if someone with a key happened by, walked into the room and was like, "Hey, free baby!" What the fuck was I gonna tell Rebecca if that happened? "She's in a better home, probably?" Naw. Would not fly.

So, I did something even stupider: I knocked on the door.

I don't know why. Maybe a ghost with real-world abilities could help a brother out? Maybe I believed that my child is such a genius that she could somehow unstrap herself, hop off the table and somehow push a chair to prop herself up and open the locked door. My imagination, sometimes it is too active.

When knocking didn't work, I just stood there and sighed. I did it again. It wasn't working, but at least it made me feel a little better.

Then I got very lucky. An editor I work with named Gary was walking by and noticed my obvious distress. He asked me if everything was all right.

"Uh, my baby kind of... I kind of locked her in the room. And now I can't get in. Because of the lock."

As if not believing that someone employed here could be so negligent, he peeked in through the window. Lilly was starting to fidget again. Gary went into a panic.

"Do you need me to go get the key from security?"

"Oh man, could you? That would be great!"

So Gary runs like a superhero to go get the key.

My child looked at me. I looked at her.

"I'm sorry," I mouthed.

She was unimpressed.

Gary came back with the key less than a minute later. I unlocked the door and walked in and Lilly started crying immediately. I thanked Gary profusely and he said, "Anytime," as if aware that this was destined to happen to me, and to Lilly, again and again, as if we'd pissed off a Greek God.

I gathered her things and took her home.

That night, I told Rebecca the story and after she'd cursed me out a few times, she asked, "Wait a minute. Her carrier wasn't sitting on top of the table, was it? She could have rolled herself off and flipped over!"

You have two choices here: you can argue on the ridiculousness of a four-month old being able to pull off that kind of physical maneuver.

Or you can say what I said: "Of course not. She was on the floor the whole time."

Smart Kids Healthy Eating

2008-04-13T22:54:00.003-05:00

Smart Kids Healthy Eating

A "Masters of their Domains" feature on a Web site called Smartkidshealthyeating.com ran in the paper today and on the Web site is a video I shot and edited. That lady makes fantastic healthy scones.

The old man and the me

2008-04-11T16:18:00.002-05:00

The old man and the me

It was my birthday last weekend and it was even more low-key than usual, given that it was on a weekend (yay!) and that I've been keeping a low real-life profile lately.

I haven't really hung out with friends at all, or called anyone or really made an effort to be social. Mostly it's because the last month, I've been decompressing from the constant grind of South by Southwest Interactive, which was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I stayed out really late, I went to lots of happy hours, I met a lot of people and I think I got several months worth of being around grown-ups out of my system in four days.

What my life is like now is that I get up in the morning, late usually (but it still feels early). We wrestle with handing Lilly back and forth while we both try to get dressed, get our things together and get out of the house on time. I go to work, later than I want, but as early as I can manage. I sit at my desk or go do interviews, I make phone calls, I catch up on RSS feeds and e-mails, sometimes I meet with my editor or scramble to try to turn in a story.

I usually bring lunch with me or go to Thundercloud or somewhere else nearby and eat while I read the paper.

More work and suddenly it's 5:30 and time to pick up Lilly at daycare.

We drive home, which takes a lot longer than driving to work does with the early evening traffic. I make something to eat usually or we arrange to pick up. Rebecca gets home, we eat dinner, hang out, watch TV. I write the next day's Videogamey if I haven't already, catch up on anything I missed at work and, boom, shower and bedtime.

Weekends we do all the stuff (grocery shopping, visiting with family, eating out) that we can't do during the week. If it's a Smallville week, I spend a chunk of the weekend doing that and maybe trying to go to the gym once in a while.

And that's my life right now.

And that's cool. I'm not complaining. It's not as boring as it sounds. I still laugh and get emotional with Lilly and chat with friends/family on IM and take pictures and try to do creative things.

But there's a lot that's just not possible with that schedule. I can't go to the gym every day like I'd like, even though they have child care that I'm too afraid to try out.

I can't be in LCP right now because that would mean dragging Lilly to rehearsals or writing meetings. I tried that and it didn't work.

The one upsetting thing is that I haven't been writing here. I thought I'd have all kinds of stories to share about Lilly and funny observations about being a dad that would be worth posting online, but the truth is that I find if very hard to put into words what it's like. The words feel too small to describe what I feel for Lilly and how it's changed my life. It's a mix of every emotion you could feel, from despair (I get sad that she's growing so fast that she's already galloping past infanthood) to insane joy (she's hilarious; she dive-bombs me on the forehead with her open mouth and goes, "OMMMM!") to worry to stress to just weariness.

Sometimes I carry her to daycare and I feel like the most responsible person on the planet.

Other days, I look at my life and wonder how I got here and I don't feel like I'm old enough or wise enough to be where I am with these kinds of responsibilities. And then I remember my actual age and find that I'm being ridiculous.

Maybe I was old enough for this, but just not mature enough. I've been told constantly that I was going to have to make decisions and prioritize and give up things. Now a lot of what I think about is how sustainable my life and my habits are. How long can we keep this up (commuting, all the time I spend online, recapping, things like that).

I'm not under the illusion that all this energy I have is always going to be there and that I won't burn out.

But right now, everything seems to be balanced enough. I can do this, I tell myself. Mostly because I'm in the middle of dong it and so far, so good, you know?

If you are in your 30s and you really want to make yourself feel like a damned fossil, go to an Extreme Outdoor Skate Festival.

Rebecca asked what I wanted to do for my birthday and I told her I wanted to see a band I like, Girl in a Coma, at this outdoor event. They play in the area all the time, but it's always evening shows and I can never make it.

It was tons of colllege students and teens in bikinis (or shirtless), sporting tattoos and drinking beers and walking around without the possibility that they would go home that night and have a tiny person spit up on them or would need to change a diaper with carrot-colored poop in it. (Although I could be wrong; maybe that's what they do in college now.)

We saw that band it was awesome, but only two hours in, it was like, "It's hot, we're old, our baby is at home missing us, the drinks are expensive and the music is finished, anyway."

We went home. Lilly was waiting for us. I picked her up and she giggled and kicked her feet.

I didn't feel quite so old anymore.

Quick pimping before the real entry

2008-04-11T16:05:00.003-05:00

Quick pimping before the real entry

Quick links out of the way first that I've been neglecting: a Google Maps Street View story I wrote (and a blog companion piece to it) ran last weekend. I've been slow mentioning it.

I was also neglectful mentioning a new Space Monkeys! comic that ran last week.

And lastly, two Videogamey entries that I'm particular proud of: "Sgt. Pepper's Kingdom Hearts Club Band" and today's "Grand Theft Auto 4 Videogamey Pre-Order Bundle." Those were fun to write.

My dentist sent me this

2008-04-03T15:54:00.001-05:00

My dentist sent me this

Click here for the Flickr.com version.

I told you he was totally high-tech. I got this in the mail to remind me of my next appointment.

Check out that giant brush! It's digital, I bet.

Clark and Barney

2008-04-01T17:17:00.002-05:00

Clark and Barney

Some recaps are up. Last night's How I Met Your Mother was actually the best episode I've seen since "Slap Bet," and that's high praise indeed. I won't ruin the awesome ending for you.

Barney Scores! (And not just in bed) -- Perhaps the best episode of the season with the best ending and the best 20-minute song based on it is unleashed upon an unsuspecting sitcom world. It's all about the brackets. And the youngest-ever TV M.D.

And, oh yeah, Smallville. Some major character's gonna die soon, I can feel it. Please let it be Lana or Lois!

Night Of The Living Lana -- Braniac shows Clark how bad he can be by taking Lana's brain (mind-taking!) and making Kara fly into space with him. Meanwhile Papa Luthor warns that something terrible, worse than the writer's strike, is coming.

That's about it for now. I haven't been sleeping much because my allergies have been so bad, so my brain is kind of much right now. But I will be explaining soon how my seven-month-old ended up with a tattoo, so stay tuned for that.