quasi~crazy

Racist bastard - how does he get away with it?

2008-11-18T13:23:00.000-08:00

Actual lunch conversation had at 12:42pm, outside on Montgomery near Washington
Herm: Whoa. That was the trippiest thing I've ever seen.
Nayan: What?
Herm: I just saw -- get this -- an Asian driving a UPS truck.
Nayan: So what?
Herm: I just, you know, thought there was an unwritten rule that they were never allowed behind the wheel of commercial vehicles.

This is amazing

2008-11-13T15:51:00.000-08:00

Obama headlines

Genius toddler

2008-11-09T11:44:00.001-08:00

This week we skipped church because David has been feeling under the weather (I'll blog about church later, once I've had time to gather my thoughts about the whole experience in general), so we went out for breakfast for the first time in a while. It used to be a weekly thing, but other competing priorities of late have forced me to hastily make breakfast while we mad dash out the door.

Today, though, was nice and relaxed, as we eased back into the familiar ritual of breakfast at the local diner, where they all know your name (okay, not mine, but everyone knows David's name because apparently I don't have huge cheeks and a double chin that people seem to adore on him). As we strolled out the diner, we headed to the market, where we passed by a small white dog on a leash. David squealed, and then said "doggie doggie!", followed by a "ooof!" I thought that was so freaking adorable, and I said, "yes, that's right, doggie goes woof!" And just to make sure it wasn't a fluke or lucky guess, I said "what sound comes from kitty?" and he goes "mao!" If it didn't take so long to unstrap and restrap him back in the stroller, I'd have picked him up and eaten him up right there for being so darn smart and cute.

Really seeing the potential to exploit David's new talent

2008-11-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

Prior to the period of time between 2 years ago and now, I generally answered my phone all the time. Lately, though, that depends on a lot of factors that stem from one monster toddler.

This morning, my dad called me and my cell phone was ringing from some pocket of some jeans in some room somewhere, and not only did I not hear it, but even if I did, I couldn't possibly get to it. Suddenly, I hear the pitter patter of little footsteps and the cell phone is getting louder and louder. Once I begin to realize what is happening, I put it all together: David FETCHED my ringing cell phone and brought it to me. Eeeeeeee! Once I can get him to go get the mail and make me a cup of coffee, I'll be set.

And now, a message from David. Translation: No, no, no, no

2008-11-03T17:53:00.000-08:00

www.tokbox.com

Really enjoying Picasa 3

2008-11-03T14:22:00.001-08:00

I neither loved nor hated the original Picasa, so I kinda tossed it aside. I revisited, and now it's Picasa 3rd gen. And wow. I love it. No offense, Steve, still love the grommit gallery -- I'm not comparing them because they are very different and serve distinct needs. I just love how I'm able to sync the local app with the web album since I get harassed about David pics on a regular basis by the family. Now that I have a laptop with an SD card slot (yes, I've joined this millenium finally), it's a breeze. All the pics I want to post are online in a few minutes. I feel like I'm gaining time! Great tool.

My favorite new thing about David

2008-11-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

So a misguided combo of unenforced bedtime policies and overly indulging a certain someone's nocturnal sissiness has yielded a 19 month old who requires assistance falling and staying asleep. Translation? My bedmate is a kicking, fitful, sensitive thing who can be awakened at the sound of a pin drop (so never you mind about the middle of the night peeing, just hold it til the morn and pray you don't get a UTI!) Yes, I am frightened of this creature who stands 32 inches tall. My hair can stand on end when I hear him shrieking and I'm sure it's only 1:30am.

But, there's a silver lining, as there always is. Some weekend mornings, I can talk him into sleeping in a WHOLE HOUR by nuzzling him close to me so that he's sleeping in my arm pit (cuter felt/seen than read) and he hugs me while sleeping. I hug him back, but here's the kicker: if my hand is resting on, say, his belly, or his arm, and he feels me trying to move it, he will (IN HIS SLEEP) grab said arm and put it back where it was. How freaking cute is that. Totally makes up for having to get up at 6:30 all other days.

David relishing his new furniture

2008-11-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

2008 Oct New Table

Seattle trip photos

2008-11-01T08:42:00.001-07:00

Seattle

Some recent pics from a pumpkin patch

2008-11-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

2008 Oct Pumpkin Patch

No, no, no, no, no!

2008-11-01T08:29:00.001-07:00

So many have asked: has he hit the "no" phase yet? I was happy that he hadn't, though interestingly, he has hit the "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mom" phase. You know, in the tone that a 7 year old would use when at a toystore and really wants Mom to pay attention to the object in question. So, considering he had hit such an advanced phase, I thought maybe he was so evolved he wouldn't hit his no phase.

But he did.

And guess how he said it. Yup, just the same way he does the repetitive Mom thing. Sometimes he challenges himself to do it super turbo charged so it sounds like "Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-nooooo!" which makes me want to laugh, but I don't dare lest I encourage this obnoxious yet still deliciously cute habit.

David and Goliath

2008-08-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

Rob is 6'10". David is not.

Happy 1st Birthday David!

2008-03-25T15:05:00.000-07:00

Prince David turns one today. That is all. Thank you.
Pictures!

In case you ever wanted to know

2008-03-17T11:01:00.000-07:00

Carr water crackers store very precisely into an empty cylindrical container of Sunsweet "Ones". Hmm. Yeah. I really need to get out more. Which will be difficult, since I no longer need to anymore.

Single serving desserts

2008-03-16T17:24:00.000-07:00

This burst of popularity with offering single serving desserts is alright by me. Piedmont Grocery, which is nearly across the street from where I live, has offered this for a while now - fresh desserts in the refrigerated section, but stores like Trader Joe's and Safeway are really getting into the business of frozen gourmet dessert offerings and they are fabulous!

Trader Joe's has one of my favorite desserts, the molten lava cake, which is basically chocolate cake that houses inside of it melty warm fudgy chocolate sauce that flows out when you break it with your fork. It is amazing served warm with ice cream, and I happily shell out 10 bucks for this sinful stuff at your typical nice restaurant that will offer this. TJ's has it for around 3 or 4 bucks. FOR A 2-PACK. Friggin ridiculously cheap. And it's really good. Their panna cotta is amazing too. All you have to do to prepare it (as opposed to baking, as with the lava cake), is thaw it in the fridge for 3 hours, then serve. You invert it onto the plate, where you'll discover that there are blueberries and mangoes on top! Safeway has a molten lava cake in their "Select" line of foods and I recently tried it. Verdict? Amazing. Maybe even better than Trader Joe's! The cake is more delicate and fluffy. It is also in the 3 to 4 buck range for a 2-pack.

If I was served any one of these desserts at a restaurant in a blind taste test (a la Folgers' Instant Coffee commercials circa early 1980's) and then charged 8 to 10 bucks for it, I would not in any way be disappointed.

Anyone else wondering why I still can't manage to shed the last 15 pounds of my pregnancy weight gain (she says as her son is about to turn 1 year old in a week...)

Online grocery delivery. I never have to leave the house again.

2008-03-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

There are some things that I often wonder to myself why I haven't started sooner, like online grocery delivery, or yelping...I think for the latter, I had been doing so much ridiculously detailed reviewing on amazon, or on this site, that I was soooo over it before yelp was even twinkle in the creator's eye, and the former was perhaps sullied in my mind's eye after the collapse of webvan, a company I never tried and have regretted bitterly. That regret has probably made me be very wary of trying Safeway.com, lest I get addicted to something that may go away right at the moment that I find it indispensable to my life. It's oddly funny that I didn't exercise the same caution with amazon, which is absolutely essential to my life in a way that I don't want to live in a world that doesn't have it...yet they were the one company that in the reigning years of fuckedcompany.com seemed the one "least likely to succeed". Funny how things turn out.

Anyway, now that I can no longer be as extravagant with my shopping habits (Trader Joe's for this, Andronico's for that, Safeway for this, Berkeley Bowl for that...etc), I've found myself going to Safeway more and more for staple items, and since their "O" (as in Organics) brand is really doing it right with baby and other foods, it's just become practical to choose them as my one-stop-shop. But. But. How I hate shopping. Even though it's only one store, I have to go there every week, spend anywhere between 100 and 150 bucks, and it's an utterly painful, surprisingly disappointing time, every time. It's crowded, it's very time-consuming, it's dirty...and I have to bring the baby with me.

I tried Safeway.com for the first time on...drum roll...this very day. How embarrassing, I know, that I waited this long to have someone else do the work of bringing 100 bucks' worth of groceries right to my door for 10 bucks (but the first delivery was the sweet sweet price of nothing). Suffice it to say that I feel that I never need to leave my house again. True, I had to commit to a 2 hour delivery window (normally 13 bucks) and must resign myself to a 4 hour delivery window (because I'm a cheap bastard who only wants to pay $10), and also true that they don't have real-time inventory availability at the point of internet sale (meaning, I didn't find out that the 16 bottles of mineral water that was my main purpose of choosing online delivery was out of stock until they came to my door to inform me, along with the balance of my groceries that were in stock), and still also true that some items had to be substituted...all told, it was an extremely pleasant experience that I'm thrilled exists and now wish I had tried during the 30 days after David's birth that I voluntarily did not leave the house. This is highly compatible with my distaste for wearing pants, a habit and trait that my child is warming up to very quickly.

Contemplation at my child's 10 months

2008-01-30T15:58:00.000-08:00

David is now 10 months old, and at times, I have to stop and take stock of all that has happened since his birth to marvel at how far I've come (and shudder at how much more there is to come).

Now that he can crawl quite efficiently, I consider him beyond the helpless phase of his newborn days, when he was subject to the whims of his caretakers as to when he would move from "here" to "there". Now, if he wants to be "there", he can get his own ass there, whether he should be there or not. I wouldn't quite call him independent; perhaps "slightly beyond dependent" is more accurate. Still, it amazes me that he has reached even this stage when I consider the days of car rides or diaper changes that could not be accomplished without fits of screaming (usually by the baby, sometimes by me along with him in order to cope).

Yes, it is amazing to me that Eugene and I have kept a baby not only alive, but (seemingly) happy as well. But...

On the flip side of the shiny happy coin of new-parent, foggy-eyed "bliss", if you were to ask me what one thing I miss the most about my former life since having a baby, it would be difficult for me to give you one answer because I'd be quick to rattle off a list of things, like "the ability to go have a drink after work for an hour", or "the ability to watch a movie at the theatre", or "the ability to respond to an evite right when I receive it rather than having to check and double check with 3 different support systems" or "the ability to go to the gym whenever I want to" or "the ability to not have to spend all of my free time doing dishes/laundry/cleaning/cooking, all of which have increased exponentially" because it seems silly now that I've written it all out because even I can look at the list and say, "well, why don't you?" The answer is that I've come to realize that what I truly miss is the ability to be spontaneous. I don't like knowing where I'll be 2 weeks from now at 3:30pm because of something I RSVP'd for 2 months ago. I want to say "sure, I'll go have a drink with you at 6pm" when it's 5:53pm, or announcing to my boss that I just bought a ticket to Hawaii so note that I'll be gone from tomorrow for a week. There are of course, many cool things going on in my life that I wouldn't trade for anything, but the baby definitely makes it nearly impossible to be spontaneous with the energy and time that you have remaining at the end of the day. I think the only way you can continue a life of spontaneity after having a child is to have a full-time backup babysitter, like grandparents that live nearby who wouldn't mind being left with the baby at a moment's notice, but alas, this is not a reality for us.

I don't miss my old life too terribly, but now I fully understand why new parents encourage their friends to join their lifestyle (of getting married, popping out a kid or two), because I'd give my right arm to have a close friend going through the first-baby experience with me right now as it's happening.

Hey!

2007-12-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

What I don't give thanks for

2007-11-28T16:19:00.000-08:00

With the passing of Thanksgiving, so did David's 8th month of life. And oh, so many milestones have been reached. For example, he is now officially forward facing in his childseat! I don't want to hear any comments from naysayers about how he has to be 1 year old before doing such a change. He is 23 pounds for crying out loud. Plus, he hated facing backward, so there you go. (Ah, the internet, great for so many things, but terrible for parenting advice or encouragement when it comes to making up your own rules out of necessity. So, I'm saying it now, I'm saying it loud, I'm saying it proud: He is forward-facing in his car seat! And we celebrated.) We will not feel guilty that he is not yet a year old since he already surpasses the more important factor of the weight minimum.

He also started eating meat for the first time 2 nights ago when he had "Chicken and Rice Dinner" (thank you Gerber!) He was in daycare yesterday so I don't know what occurred of the aftermath (in case you don't understand, I'm talking about poo), but last night he had "Beef and Vegetable Dinner" (thank you Gerber, once again!) and since I'm home with him today, I can say he officially lost his innocence. I once commented right here on this very blog about how the days of breastfed-milk yellow poo were over once formula started, and even mentioned how disgusting formula poo was after that transition. I'm here to now announce that his new poo, thanks to a well-rounded diet of meat and other disgusting things that we all eat regularly (and in my case unapologetically), is absolutely horrid. I'm talking about a log, folks. And some stuff after that, too. It was so disgusting that the only thing I can think to compare it to that could do it any justice is...well, adult poop!

Welcome to a new chapter in your life, Baby David!

When the pond looks like an ocean, I don't need to know about the guppies that just swam by

2007-11-15T14:49:00.000-08:00

Is there a bigger joke than the "Friendster Schoolmates Update" email? I get these emails more frequently than seems proper (I suppose I could turn them off, but then what would be the fun in that?), and it gives me a notification that a random sample of 10 people who also went to UC Berkeley have updated their profiles recently. As if that's the same thing as getting a "Schoolmate Update" from my elementary school that informs me that Joe Chen and Jeremy Smith have updated their profiles (hint: these are people I actually did go to school with from K - 4) and I would actually give a damn, and only maybe, at that.

Getting an email that lets me know that a random 10 people from UC Berkeley have updated their profiles is akin to getting an email notifying me that 10 fellow taxpayers in Alameda County bought a cup of coffee at Starbucks sometime this week. Or that 10 fellow drivers in California experienced road rage in the past week. Especially helpful is the fact that it's first name only. It's like I'm supposed to say "Ohhh, Jennifer with no included pic from UC Berkeley! I know her! She received a new testimonial! Good for her!"

Truly "Baby Huey"

2007-10-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

We snapped some pictures of David at his 6 month check-up and didn't look them over until now...and in this particular picture, he looks ENORMOUS!!! We almost died laughing. I mean, he's big, sure, but this picture makes him look like a sumo wrestler! No photoshopping or alteration done.

Another reason to love Costco

2007-10-07T21:13:00.000-07:00

It's not for the obvious reasons that I particularly love Costco, though the obvious ones are good, too. The generous return policy, the 1.50 hot dog with soda, the fact that I always have at home 60 extra rolls of toilet paper and 4 extra spools of floss at any given point in time. Sure, those reasons are understood and universal for the typical Costco shopper.

But to me, it's the hidden gems that I really enjoy. The things that have always been there, but delight me when I accidentally discover them. Like the ATM machine at the store exit. It looks like any other ATM machine that you see dozens of throughout your day. But, let's just say you needed to get some cash out and you're nowhere near your bank. You've been in a situation like this. You're a Bank of America customer and you only see Wells Fargo ATMs as far as the eye can see or vice versa. You are forced to do the unthinkable, and before you know it, you've been charged almost 5 or 6 dollars after fees in both directions to take out your own money. Well, much the way Costco drives down prices by forcing their suppliers to cut costs, so it goes with their ATM's as well. They probably got some ATM agreement that allowed them to set a limit on the fee, which is currently a lovely 75 cents on any withdrawal. If you get charged a fee from your bank, then the 75 additional doesn't hurt too badly. For me, it's almost nothing because my bank never initiates a charge, but I must pay any ATM fees that the other bank charges. Considering I've paid $3 in Arbuckle at a bank called Umpqua, 75 cents seems practically free.

PC LOAD LETTER for flash sites

2007-10-04T13:27:00.001-07:00

You know that scene in Office Space where they are kicking the CRAP (I'm trying to curb my cursing) out of the printer? (M Bolton: "PC Load Letter? What the fuck does that mean?" <-- curse curbing doesn't count if I'm quoting someone) They take it out to a field and just start going crazy on it, like a gang-banger getting initiated? If I could take all the websites in the world that are Flash-based, and somehow morph them into some physical form, THAT is what I'd do to them. I'd be the guy who, after the group decides that they're done with their destruction, breaks away from them and starts running back to get in a few more punches and kicks.

So much pointless form, absolutely no function. Why can't they be banned?!

David is 6 months old today

2007-09-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

It really seems like just yesterday that I had no idea how to make this little butterball stop crying. This non-interactive, fleshy, yellow blob of poo and drool. People gushed at how in love I must be with my new baby. Huh? How do I have time to fall in love with him? I'm too busy trying to make him stop crying. And when he's not crying, I'm busy resting. Truth be told, it took me 4 months to truly bond with the little man to the extent of all the cliches of mother-infant love. And now, here we are, 2 months later, to exactly 6 months after he exited the warmth and safety of my belly.

And what milestones we've reached, even as recently as 3 days ago, when we noticed the unmistakable ridges of the peak of a new tooth (bottom left), explaining away the fussiness of the past several weeks! The same night, he slept through the night, and I don't mean the medical definition of 5 to 6 hours. I'm talking about the real-life, what-matters-to-most-people definition: 8:30pm to 6:30am. I had heard of these babies that slept through the night, babies that belonged to people that I actually know, but I swear that I could not comprehend how such a thing could exist. As far as I was concerned, these babies were as mythical as unicorns. So, imagine my surprise when I woke up at 6:30am on a Sunday morning, totally refreshed after having the first 8 hour stretch of uninterrupted sleep in about 9 months (I didn't sleep well my final trimester), energized, my mood light and spirited, and with the full realization that David had accomplished this important and seemingly impossible step. When I went into his room, he was already up, looking around, not already crying as he usually is when he wakes, and positively giggly when he saw me. That's called a good night's sleep, for both of us!

He's eating (when I say eating, I mean slopping around his face and clothes) sweet peas, green beans, sweet potatoes and rice cereal along with 4 feedings of formula.

He still loves to play with his toes.

He still loves to squeal with delight.

He isn't so jazzed about the exersaucer anymore, and he has all but outgrown the swing (not in size, but in interest).

He now doesn't drop items in his grasp so much has chuck them across the room, unaware of his strength. It's more that he's doing an involuntary jerky movement, and, while the toy is caught in his grasp, he lets go as he jerks another movement in an unintentionally perfectly timed moment.

He is about 21 pounds now, which is pretty heavy for a 6 month old, in fact all but one infant carrier goes up to 22 pounds, and that is supposed to last him (in theory) for the entirety of the first year of life. Thank goodness we bought the infant car seat that goes to 30 pounds, you know the one.

He is now in size 4 diapers, which has a range of 22 - 37 pounds. Usually babies don't progress this quickly through diaper sizes, so I don't know what is going on with the little guy. For a while, I actually thought that the diaper size indicated how many months old the baby is, because he was in size 1 until he was 2 months old, at which time he switched to 2, then when he was 3 months old, size 3. He stayed in size 3's until he was about 5 months, which was when that pattern broke. I was once told that I couldn't possibly buy too many diapers in any particular size, since it'll take a long time to outgrow any size. I'm glad I didn't follow that advice. Had I done so, I would have more excess size 2's and 3's than I'd know what to do with. Come to think of it, I'm glad I didn't follow a lot of advice, since David's growth is far from average.

I want to take this opportunity to do a special shout-out to Costco, without which we would have certainly been bankrupt. People kept telling me after I stopped breastfeeding (after 4 months) how expensive formula is. And I already know how expensive diapers are. Costco has made both of these expenses totally bearable. If you can find powdered formula for cheaper than 38 cents per ounce, then you are one smart shopper!

I have to say the best thing about my day is in the early morning: I drop him into the exersaucer, I leave the room to shower and get ready for work, and at the end of those 10 minutes that he is in his own world of toys that surround him, I come back in the room and he realizes in a split-second that I was gone and now back, and he breaks into this radiant near-giggly huge smile that tugs so intensely at the strings of the heart I didn't even know I had. More than that, it makes me think that, as with most babies a few months older than David, once his separation anxiety is fully developed, I'll have a hard time figuring out if it's his or mine.

When you're a return queen, you appreciate all the tips you can get

2007-09-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

So, I'm a retailer's worst nightmare. I love to return items, especially from places like Costco and Target. I'm not an abuser of return policies by any means, in fact, most of the items I return are unopened and can be turned right back around and sold again. It's just that, when companies have generous return policies, I tend to buy first, think later, and possibly (usually) return later.

This led to a buying craze that necessitated an organization system for my receipts. I have an envelope labeled "Target", another one labeled "Costco", "Babies R Us", "Home Depot", etc., and all the receipts within each envelope are stacked in chronological order. It's a sickness, I know.

At one point, I actually had piles of things that needed to be returned to one store or another (that was during the range of time between when I was a bit incapacitated with too big a fetus in my womb and when I was a bit incapacitated with that syndrome known as "Having a Newborn") because it had accumulated and I had zero time to do leisurely returns here and there spread out over time, as was my usual m.o. By then, it became almost impossible to decipher items on the receipt (Costco and Target in particular have extremely cryptic item descriptions on their receipts, often words that are nowhere on the product itself. Consequently, I didn't know which receipt to bring with me when returning any specific item.

Well, for Target items in particular, I just discovered a new trick. On the receipt itself, ignore the text description entirely, and go to target.com and look up the numeric code in the left column on the receipt. Voila -- it maps instantly to the mystery item! As crazy as I was with returns before, this new trick may grant me license to become even crazier!