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Family matters

Sister Golden Hair

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I am a very blessed man.

Every day, I have the chance to spend time with my wife and daughter. I usually get home around 6:00 in the evening. Nichole is usually busy making dinner or she’s in the living room playing with Poppy. When I step in the door, I hear,”DADDDYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!” and this small whirlwind of hair and flailing limbs comes running around the corner to meet me at the toddler gate next to the kitchen.

“Hi Poppy!”

“Daddy, up?” she says with her arms reaching up.

And so I pick her up and much silliness ensues. Sometimes we play in her igloo/tent, tickling and laughing. Sometimes we read books in the floor. Sometimes we finish watching a show she’s been watching. Usually we wind up slumped in the floor from all the silliness. I usally have enough energy for one more tickle.

Whatever we do, it always makes me smile. It’s the best part of my day. I come home, and I realize why I go to work everyday, why I put in those crazy hours, sometimes sleeping only a couple hours a night. I do it so that Nichole can spend everyday getting to know her daughter. I do it because I love them so much.

On Wednesday, Poppy turns 2. I can’t really wrap my brain around it sometimes. She has grown so fast, she says so many new words everyday. I remember the way she came into this world: emergency C-section on a rainy Monday afternoon in Missouri.

I remember seeing her for the first time and realizing that nothing would ever be the same.
I remember how small she was.
I remember driving 80 miles an hour down Providence Road in Columbia to get her to the hospital when she was dehydrated from the flu and needed fluids.
I remember wondering if she would sleep through the night.
I remember wondering last weekend if she was ever going to wake up so I could play with her.

******

My good friends Chris and Sinead are about to be parents. I can’t really say what it’s been like for Nichole so Sinead, I’m sorry, you’ll have to ask her for more particulars. Chris, you need to enjoy each and everyday. Read all the books you can to your child, play with them in the floor, push the stroller, take them with you wherever you go. This little person will cling to you and love you like no one else ever will and the bond you share is stronger than you could ever imagine. Make the most of every opportunity you have to be with them. Give Sinead a little extra help after the baby arrives because she’s going to be a little tired for a while. Get up and change those diapers and do the late night feedings. Don’t act like a Dad, be a Dad.

I have every faith in you, Chris.

*******

Ever since Poppy came into our world, I’ve been much more emotional. I cried at the end of “The Bridge to Terabithia” when I watched it on an airplane. I’ve also gotten much less tolerant in what I allow into Poppy’s presence and surroundings. We have a strict no potty-mouth policy. And pretty much we watch mostly Sesame Street and Clifford’s Puppy Days. Anyway, I find that song lyrics really get to me more than they did before. By this I mean, I tend to get weepy when I’m in the car alone driving to work listening to Dan Fogleberg sing “The Leader of the Band.” Combine this with my love of ’70s-era singer song writers and it’s a recipe for Dr. Phil. However, I know that my love of music must be wearing off on Poppy. Here is a list of her favorite songs:

Bread – Guitar Man (much to the chagrin of Nichole)
Wilco – Either Way, Shake It off, Kingpin
Gerry Rafferty – Baker Street
James Taylor – Mud Slide Slim and The Blue Horizon
Sufjan Stevens – Sleeping Bear, Sault St. Marie
Elizabeth Mitchell – Peace Like a River
America – Sister Golden Hair

I guess I should stop rambling. It’s just that when the topic is Poppy, I could write volume upon volume about how much I love her. So I guess I’ll end with this from Bob Dylan:

May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

I love you, Poppy. Happy Birthday.

Screen time

Dispatches from the nerdery, vol. II

Last week, Nichole asked me to write something on the blog about Barry Bonds and his ascension to the homerun crown.

Well, that’s done.

******
rocket2.jpg

“The Welfare lines are full of video game players.”
“No they aren’t, Dad.”
“Well…they will be!”

As of late, Nichole and I have been enjoying a TV show that we watched way back when. “Freaks and Geeks” is this little gem of a show that focuses on two fringe groups at McKinley High School outside Detroit. The Weir family has two representatives: Lindsey (Freak), the former mathlete gone (mildly) bad after the death of her grandmother and Sam (Geek), an awkward young man struggling to avoid bullies and having to take showers after PE.

The show only ran for 18 episodes back in 1999-2000, which is really too bad. There are few shows that capture the drive to try and fit in matched with the futility of the effort with quite as much heart as this show. I guess I never realized how much I liked this show and how it became part of my subconcious meter stick for how shows measure up. But after watching these episodes again, I discovered the impact it had on my tastes. After “Freaks and Geeks” I had a hard time watching canned laughter shows. They just didn’t work for me anymore. Of course I can watch and enjoy Seinfeld re-runs but for the most part the laugh track shows lost it for me.

The other aspect of the show that I found comforting, for lack of a better word, was the way in which series creator and writer Judd Apatow portrayed the Geeks. This is probably because I was and still am one.

Yes, I can quote from Blade Runner and a bevy of other Sci-Fi movies.
Yes, I have a Star Wars pillow (REturn of the Jedi era, no less!).
Yes, I could sit down and debate the pros and cons of Hostess vs. Dolly Madison snack cakes, and in fact I have on occasion.
And yes, I wear sneakers that don’t match my socks from time to time….or almost every day.

“Freaks and Geeks” was one of the first shows to spotlight the difficulty with which kids navigate the treacherous waters of youth in the pressure cooker setting of High School. The great thing that most kids didn’t know then and still don’t today, is that it’s okay to be a geek, a nerd, a fringe member. It’s allright to not break into the inner sanctum and let me tell you why: I broke in and discovered that those kids (and now grown ups) were pretty sad and mixed up, too.

So be a nerd, be a geek! Quote from Blazing Saddles. Ponder the finer points of breakfast cereal. Enjoy being you.

Apatow said it like this: “I think that everything I do tends to root for the underdog. I always felt as a kid that I was under appreciated, invisible or weird, but I’ve always secretly thought people would one day appreciate what is different about me. I’m always putting that message out there. Eventually, the nerds and the geeks will have their day.”

Amen, brother.

Too bad there aren’t more shows like this and one less Grey’s Anatomy.

Screen time

Michelangelo Antonioni, 1912-2007

It’s been a bad week for directors.

Michelangelo Antonioni, director of Blowup and Zabriskie Point, died yesterday in his home in Italy. Antonioni was probably best known to most audiences for his 1966 film Blowup, which won the Golden palm at Cannes that year. American audiences became more acquainted with him through Zabriskie Point, his meditation on late ’60s American culture and counter-culture. While the film was by most accounts a flop, it was embraced by a core of fans. If nothing else, the soundtrack to Zabriskie Point is fantastic, including some great early Pink Floyd (Careful with that axe, Eugene) and Grateful Dead. Not one of my favorite directors by a long shot but someone who definitely added to the film lexicon. RIP.