My fifth grader is having to learn US geography — in particular, to look at a blank map and write in the correct name for each of the states. I think that’s great. I love maps and geography. But that’s a lot of states. I’ve been sharing with him a number of ways I’ve somehow [...]
Ten years ago today, my life changed forever. I became a father. A decade has passed, and it seems like yesterday and forever, simultaneously.
I’d thought about being a father before I became one, but I didn’t fully comprehend how much it changes you once it happens.
For one, you’re ready to die for [...]
Flipping through the LA Times last weekend, Meghan Daum had an opinion piece talking about President Obama as a new role model for Black fathers. That brought me up short, because in the past few weeks, I’ve just been thinking about him as a role model for any father, including myself.
Daum wrote:
It’s [...]
Another Christmas, and another one where I won’t be phoning my father. I used to for his birthday, Thanksgiving and Christmas — just to try and keep the whole family thing going to some degree. But I gave that up about 10 years ago.
My father wasn’t a very nice man. Well, he was nice to [...]
I’ve read plenty of articles by now that cover how much people might be exposing themselves to identity theft through social networking and social sharing sites. But I’ve had a different worry over the past year or so. Is all my twittering, Flickr posting, Facebooking and so on putting my kids [...]
After 12 years of living in the UK, I’m going home — back to Southern California, back to Newport Beach. This will be a fairly personal post about the decision my family has made, but my blog was supposed to be for more than writing about gadgets and computers and donuts. Good [...]
My boys were playing baseball today. Just up and decided to play all by
themselves, which is a pretty big thrill for an American dad living in England.
OK, I’m a sports idiot, as
I’ve written before. But I like baseball, going to the odd game on occasion, or
pretending I know how to actually throw one to the [...]
My arms are aching. The kids are out of school for spring break, and my wife
got a new trampoline for them to play on. I got dragged out of the office just
now to help her secure those "last few springs" to hitch the trampoline to its
frame.
When I opened my hotel room door Wednesday morning, the front page of USA Today sitting outside of it made me smile. It featured a big picture of the Peanuts characters in A Charlie Brown Christmas, one of my holiday favorites. But what’s this about being a baby boomer tradition!
The classic [...]
One of tonight’s bedtime books was You Wouldn’t Want to Be an American Pioneer! This was another great find I came across on a trip back home recently. It’s both well illustrated and chock full of information on what it was like to cross the country back in the 1800s.
The kids especially [...]