Getting Better All the Time 3.18

blog move

all good things......must come to an end.

soon, this Imperium blog will be going away.

SportsFans! I really appreciate all the love you've given me over the past four years. (And thanks Zorloc for offering this venue, it got me started writing my thoughts which I hope to read someday when I'm older and crazier.)

But don't you fret, you'll still be able to find me, to read my daily adventures, to see me rant about Hollywood & politics, and most important, to discover what my childrens are doing....same great blog, new tasty version 4.0!!

We are moving to:

http://gettingbetterallthetime.wordpress.com/

...Please make a note of it.

this morning

Mr. Grunty did a few steps towards me. I propped him up at the couch, moved away, held out my hands, he grinned and took a step forward and fell into my arms. It's progress. And he was telling a wonderful story, with words I have never heard before.

Miss Squeaky is finding out that growing up can be painful. Especially when you used to be able to stand up under a table, but now you bonk your head when you do that. Or when you try to walk out from underneath, and you keep hitting your head on the apron of the table.

Oh...and we have a thief. Or a political protester. Sometimes difficult to tell the difference. Miss S does not like socks on people's feet. And when Mr G was standing at the gate, shaking it, she was bending down and trying to pull off one of his socks.

Mr. Grunty's news

Mr. Grunty decided that since today was such a slow news day, that today he would start walking. He can take a step or two and then stumble, maybe a couple of times he took three steps. BUT, he did it with a giggle and a huge smile and not holding onto furniture or parental-hands. He found it especially funny when we would catch him as he fell towards us.

And, we discovered a new fun for the family game. I placed Mr. G on the side of Miss Squeaky's high-chair, she was still in it. He then pushed her to the other side of the room. Both of them laughed.

Tonight was bath night. And after, they had some naked-butt time in their cribs. Always a risk of them wetting their beds, but we're not worried, because we like doing laundry. They like naked-butt time. Miss S was either jogging in place, or vigorously shaking the side of the crib with excitement. Mr. G was laughing and doing a little jig w/o moving his feet my quickly flex and relaxing his knees.

All in all, a pretty normal day.

Happy Happy,...and Happy!

co-written by GBAtT & MyBetterHalf on Tuesday, July 22nd

Hey Sportsfan!
recently, MyBetterHalf woke me up at 6AM with those beautiful words, "I think my period is late." I woke up a lot quicker than normal, and with a sleepy smile asked, "really? how late?" She said "a few days." I asked, isn't her cycle wonky from time to time? True, but this time was different. Later that day I got an easy to read pregnancy test, and we waited anxiously for the next morning.

I was excited. Another baby, the natural way, a surprise baby even. Finally I can feel what it's like to be a normal "breeder". Isn't this the way it's supposed to happen? "honey...guess what!"
:-)

My biggest fears. SIDS and our marriage. I rationally know that since we follow the "Back-to-Sleep" campaign, and didn't let Unter & Uber sleep on their tummies, that was good, and we don't smoke, that's good. Still, I was very relieved at one year, when SIDS risk plummets. I am afraid of traveling through the Valley of SIDS-Risk-Age again. Just recently, things have started getting back to normal, we're not dealing with infertility (stressful), we're not pregnant, or on hospital bed-rest, or have newborns, or lack of sleep. We are starting to return to being husband and wife, and I am nervous about another year plus of stress on our marriage. Oh well, we had a couple of relaxing months recently. I think we're recharged and ready for the next challenge. LOL!

Next worry, everything that can go wrong with fetal development, or during a pregnancy. Dude, too much can go wrong. (I know, most of the time it doesn't.)

Next concern. It might be necessary for me to quit the day job to look after the kids (no child-care costs) and try and make up the difference in salary working weekends and/or nights. (And doing a few napkin calculations, if I got a minimum wage job ~20 hours a week, we would be ahead in income. But maybe behind in benefits, and more than likely way behind in retirement.)

a sign I know...MyBetterHalf keeps falling asleep ~8:45 on the sofa. Ah, just like old times!

So, July 1st, we took the test.
(And here I could say..."to be continued"...but I won't. That'd be mean.)
It came back positive. Woo-hoo! But we had to remind ourselves that maybe it was ectopic, or chemical pregnancy, or something else could go wrong.

And since we had two test, we used the next one a couple days later. Why save it? When would we need it again?
Positive. (I think I used the Juno quote of "Your eggo is prego")

So now, I have the background for this post written, there are only two ways for it to end, Happy or Sad. We'll find out Wednesday morning which it is.

Version ONE - Happy
We're having a baby!! I tell you more later! Please remember us in your prayers.

And SportsFans, do not use this as evidence of "relax and conceive". Seriously, we tried for five years, and I'm sure we relaxed in the beginning, (let me check my sex-blog) then we used the help of doctors trying multiple methods, until finally we did IVF as a method of last resort.

written at work
...we just got back. It's real. We saw the flutter of the tiny little heartbeat.
I am so excited.
And nervous.

People used to say when we told them we had boy - girl twins, "now you're done"
Now we can reply, "Bass, Drums & Guitar"
Even though GBAtT wants to reply "Center, PointGuard, PowerForward, Shooting Guard, SmallForward..."

Evidently our OB/GYN said, "I'll see you again" when MyBetterHalf told her we didn't need birth-control. We asked today at the appointment, how often this occurs, a natural pregnancy after an IVF, we were told they see it about once a year at their clinic. We asked during the ultra-sound to look around for twins, just to be sure. Only one was found. (sigh of relief)

ETA March 6th

There will be less risks, and an easier pregnancy with a singleton
:-)
There will be fewer ultrasound pictures for our youngest child
:-(

(And to answer the question, we weren't using birth control.)

It is kinda funny that previously, MyBetterHalf was a bit sad a few times because she knew we would never be pregnant again. And we missed feeling the kicking around they did and watching her belly get pushed out by a kicking or punching baby. Well, we get another chance. Thank you God.

Well, maybe I should try to concentrate on work.

this morning

I was feeding Mr. Grunty yogurt, and put a cheerio on top of the yogurt. He gave the spoon the strangest look, and moved his head back. He wouldn't take a bite of cheerio on yogurt.

Miss Squeaky pulled down the precariously perched high chair trays, spilling cheerios all over. No was hurt or scared. Yay! But I was kinda hoping that she would've said "uh-oh".

HS reunion 20 years

crap I'm old

I had all intentions on going...but the closer it got...the less thrilled I was at the concept.

So, I did what all HS kids do. Get their best friend to go, and catch up afterwards.

KemoSabe, was my best friend from my graduating class. I owe many things to him. He gave me my first guitar. He got me to run track & cross-country. A month after graduating, and I was clueless about what I was going to do for college, he drove me up to the big UW and paid my registration fee.

He was one of the two people I know, who had a plan in H.S. for career, and then did it. (The other is now a MedSchool Professor.) He is an urban planner. Yeah, I know, what kind of kid wants to do that? But he did. And along those lines, I have never known him to be lost, be it when we were on a training run in the woods or mountains, or driving around an unfamiliar city in a borrowed car. I trust him before MapQuest any day of the week, even if he was blindfolded.

I am very happy for his success, and look forward to hopefully soon meeting his cute 20 month old daughter. She (and her mommy) didn't go to the reunion because KemoSabe only had a 48 hour pass in town. (Stupid work!!!)

We chatted about our kids. Told birth-stories. Caught each other up on what our respective siblings were doing. We didn't talk about embarrassing high-school stuff. Not much about the reunion, except he told me, "a bunch of people say 'hi'."

While this was happening, Mr. Grunty and Miss Squeaky found a new, super fun game. Push-the-chairs-around-the-deck.

last week snippets

Miss Squeaky, sometimes, when she is given a doll, will bring it to her shoulder and burp it. So cute. (And then she'll toss it aside...)

Mr Grunty is starting to experiment with one-handed walking. (He has one hand free, the other holding onto a parent.) I tried it, he was grasping my right index finger, and I had my other hand under his opposite arm, so he could feel support on his left side, and he started walking, and then I slipped my left hand away, and he kept going, a little more cautiously, but still one hand! yay!!

I heard Mr.Oliver-kitty yelp and I scurried to the childrens' bedroom. Just then Oliver was trying to escape the bedroom, saw me, freaked out, ran back in, saw Miss S, freaked out, ran around and eventually escaped the room. All the excitement freaked out Miss S, and she started to cry. I hugged her, made sure she was alright. She was, no wounds, bite or scratches on her. I later checked up on Oliver, see if he was alright, he grudgingly licked my forehead. I figure that Miss S pulled his tail, he yelped and tried to get away. What a very good, and very well controlled cat. I would've thought he would use claws. He uses claws on me when I try to trim his claws.

Mr G and me have a new game. We'll start on opposite ends of the room. Look at each other in the eye, and with a chuckle start crawling towards each other. He's giggling the whole time. Then, a second before we crash, I go from a crawl, to stooped over on hands & feet, so the boy can pass underneath. (Very Inspector Gadget like if you ask us.) That is High-Larry-Ous!

advice from Bitter-kitten

The other day, I asked a youngster if I could "pick her brain" because she may have advice on raising kids that her mom (who was there with us) didn't think of because adults are old, and forgetful. I asked Bitter-kitten what were good things that her parents did.

"Use sugar as a reward." ...hmmm...I dunno if that's such a good idea.
They're paid allowance to do chores. (That might have worked better with me, the chores and the allowance were always separate issues. I like the formalization. My compromise as a kid, I didn't do chores, and I didn't really ask for an allowance.)

Another friend started training their child as soon as the kid could carry a dish, that every night after dinner the child would "help" do the dishes. Wait a minute. Miss Squeaky and Mr. Grunty can carry things. And they do like to give us things. Mr. G will give me my pink flip-flops. Miss S will bring us dust-balls she finds.

Her mom asked why she doesn't invite her friends over. Bitter-kitten said because she doesn't know what they would do, and doesn't want to be in charge of making sure they aren't bored. Then later, it came out, that sometimes, her mom will tell embarrassing stories about her when others are around. I told her I could relate, it seems my mom also likes to tell the embarrassing stories of my youth. We told Bitter-kitten that it is best to practice hosting.

hmmm....I wounder will Mr. G and Miss S not want me telling their cute little anecdotes to their friends?

One good thing done, is parents put $X in a savings account for each of them each payday. Me & MyBetterHalf should really set up some sort of official savings account for the childrens.

"Brave New World" book 11 of 2008

I tried to read this as a kid, couldn't get into it. This time around it was a quick and easy read.

I really liked Huxley's intro to a later edition:
"Chronic remorse, as all the moralists are agreed, is a most undesirable sentiment. If you have behaved badly, repent, make what amends you can and address yourself to the task of behaving better next time....

Art also has its morality, and many of the rules of this morality are the same as, or at least analogous to, the rules of ordinary ethics. ...To pore over the literary shortcomings of twenty years ago, to attempt to patch a faulty work into the perfection it missed at its first execution, ...is surely vain and futile."

Ah...thanks Aldous, now I have an articulate reason why the Police's 1986 remake of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" is lame. Yes, "lame," it goes nowhere. So there you go, Mr. Lucas, a moral argument that Han shot first!

Oh yeah, a book review....I'll give it a A- , but maybe I'm only doing that because it's a classic.

Is it necessary to say "SPOILER ALERT" for a 75 year old book??

In our utopia of the future, everyone is happy with their lot in life. They're bred and trained to do and appreciate their occupation. There's plenty of excitement in the off hours. Plenty of sex. Drugs to make you feel good with no side affects or addictions. Everything is built to ensure the happiness of the populace.

It appears that most of the people are happy. But what is happiness? (I think this might be a theme of dystopian literature.) The founding fathers said we "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Huxley seems to think that when we choose Life and Happiness, the cost is Liberty. In Brave New World, everyone is so occupied with simple pleasures (meaningless sex, titillating entertainment, happy-pills) and they have been bred and trained to accept their society, to give major importance to the stability of society to accomplish the happiness of all, that they don't think or care about liberty. In fact they believe that they have the freedom to do what they want to make them happy, lots of sports, entertainment, sex, drug options. What more could one want?

So, the sex life in this dystopia? I'll call it hippy-style free-love. People hook up, and go along to the next hook up, no sense in being tied down to one person for more than a couple of weeks. In fact society frowns on the characters that don't sex around. (Quite different than 1984. We'll see how other dystopias deal with sex.) The only obscenity... procreation or reference to parents... because infants come from the factory.

How did the dystopia occur? People wanted to be happy. People gave up their freedom in order to be safe. "What's the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when the anthrax bombs are popping all around you?" pg 228

my favorite line, which I hope to use in daily life: "you've got to stick to one set of postulates. You can't play Electro-magnetic Golf according to the rules of the Centrifugal Bumble-puppy." That right!

this morning

So, I called out to the childrens, "Cheerios" and rattled the box. They came quickly from the bedroom, but there was a slight problem. Mr. Grunty was crawling, and was in Miss Squeaky's way. She tried to step past, but fell down on him, effectively tackling the boy. He was first to get out of the scrum, and crawled forward, undeterred from his goal. She was a little too upset to continue. And after I put Mr. G in his high-chair, I had to go pick Miss S up.

Later, Mr. G was having a very fussy moment, and wanted me to snuggle him while he cried. I did. And Miss S brought us some toys in an effort to cheer up Mr. G.

Mr. G was very funny doing his best Oliver-kitty impression. There is this cloth cat-bed, in the hall, that is hardly ever used. Mr. G got in it, and tried to stretch out, cramped by the confines of the bed. He would turn his head, and sing. And then move around and stretch out again, looking up to smile at me. Oliver kitty has done the same.

And can you believe it? Neither of my childrens wanted to share their banana pieces with me this morning! Hurmphff! Tonight, when I tried again, Mr. G put a piece of BoccaBurger almost in my mouth, but then pulled his arm back and ate the Bocca himself with a grin.

Later, to make it up to me, he crawled up on me, and gave me a hug while singing on my belly.

Happy 1 yr, 1 month, 1 day!!

Childrens! Happy 1-1-1....I know, if I were really cool I would've wished it to you at 1:06 AM and 1:07 AM respectively.

I had fun this morning at the GreenLake. Miss Squeaky, you'll have to be careful running down the hill, or you'll tumble. Mr. Grunty, we'll get you some shoes that fit.

I hope you childrens had fun this afternoon in the pool. Sorry, I was busy mowing the yard so I couldn't join you. Soon you'll understand, and I'll be in the pool while you're doing chores.

Miss S I had fun shopping with you tonight. (Wow, groceries have gotten expensive.) Sorry it took so long. By the way, little girl, please refrain from clanking & grinding your four cute little teeth.

Mr. G you were so cute, grunting at your mommy tonight when she was giving banana to your sister. You could hardly wait for the yummiest food ever! And then, you were very polite and shared some banana with me. Such a sweetie.

snippets

Me & MyBetterHalf have a little problem. It bothers us, tremendously, when the childrens do something potentially harmful to one of their books, like eat it, or rip a page. We know, that's what kids do. But it still makes us squirm and try to avert the book damage.

A friend was telling me about "The 4 hour Work Week", evidently, this dude believes the 80-20 rule applies to work, like you do 80% of your work, in 20% of your time. Dude was in sales, so go figure. (Always Be Closing!) Dude suggests turning off the email, and only answering email twice, say 10AM and 4PM, ...and apply to other things too. Doing stuff in big batches, instead of constantly jumping between tasks. That's why I'm gonna quit brushing & flossing, let the dentist take care of that every 6 months if I need it or not.

Since we got the second car, I've been walking less, because I take the car home instead of walking 10 minutes from the bus stop.

...and my big issue right now. I burnt my microwave popcorn. Sadness.

So, we have these books for the childrens, that have "fur" on the animals. Sophie-kitty was grooming one of them.

So, on to what you want...stories about my sweet childrens.

Miss Squeaky likes to drink while standing. And then go walking, staring at the ceiling and drinking.

Mr. Grunty has a cup holder on this high-chair tray. He stores some cheerios in there. When he runs out on his tray, he fishes the stored cheerios out.

I can not believe how MyBetterHalf dressed him the other day. A Mariners shirt with golf pants. Just because both sports are played by hitting a ball with a stick, and both are incredibly boring, doesn't mean they match. Now if she wanted to go with a baseball shirt, then she should've mixed and match with some water-polo speedos, or golf pants with NFL shoulder pads and helmet. Sheesh.

The other day, Miss S was grabbing the singing-puppy toy in just the right spot, so that it would play the "head-should-knees and toes" song. And every time the song started, Miss S would touch the top of her head.

Richmond Beach

we just got back from the beach! it was lots of fun!!

Mr. Grunty enjoyed flipping the sand up with his sandals whilst walking.
Miss Squeaky found rocks and showed them to us.
She even shared a rock with her brother, who, unbeknownst to me, promptly put it in his mouth for safe keeping. Luckily, MyBetterHalf is a bit more observant than me.

Mr. G enjoyed walking in the surf, and got me to go in deep enough that my nice shoes are all seaweedy and wet.

Miss S fed me cheerios while there, and it was a nice new flavor, Cheerios w/ sand. Yum.

Happy 13 Months!

Time flies when you're having fun.

My dear Miss Squeaky & Mr. Grunty

I know soon you will be asking for the keys for the car, and not just so you can chew on them. (Hey childrens, there are better ways to get iron in your diet, like liver and broccoli.)

I have enjoyed being your papa. I have relearned from you the joys of blowing raspberries, of yelling into the couch cushions, and how much fun it is to walk and crawl. I also believe that me being a papa has made me a better man, and I hope you can forgive the mistakes I've made.

Thanks for coming down from heaven and picking me and your mommy as your parents. I love you lots and lots!

:-papa

"The Diving Bell & the Butterfly" - book 10 of 2008

Jean-Dominique Buaby, former editor of Elle, at 43 years old, had a stroke, and the only power he had left was to blink his eye. And with that, he dictated a book, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

grade: B

Yeah, it is a little on the short side, but that's good for me, I need to catch up to read 24 books this year.

The code, is the letters of the alphabet listed in frequency of their usage in English (naturally different for Mr. Bauby in French ), someone reads the list, and the invalid blinks on the correct letter, and then you start again. Building words, letter by letter, blink by blink.

e t a o i n s r h l d c u m f p g w y b v k x j q z

If I'm in a coma, please, someone make sure that I have music for a couple hours every day. Not radio, especially not Seattle radio, sheesh, that stuff is horrible, and the commercials would drive me mad. Make play lists for me. It's OK if there is a horrible song or two, good for keeping the emotions working, but do be so kind as to mix it up, maybe follow a Gwen Stephani with some Tibetan Monk Chanting, then some Willie Nelson followed by Tiffany for a laugh. What does worry me, Buaby's hearing was horrible after the stroke, and some things were aggravated, and other things he could not hear. That would suck.

Hopefully my childrens would be able to read this blog and know how much their papa loves them. I would want to see them all the time with my one semi-functioning eye, but I wouldn't want to depress them, or keep them from growing-up. The Father's Day chapter was pretty sad for me.

Bauby loved getting letters, and was surprised that some of the deepest, most personal letters, were from people he hardly knew. So, please be kind to write. Even though I'm not sure I would say to someone in a coma.

I am reminded of Paulos Erdos , and when a friend had a stroke, Paulos went in, and immediately started giving his friend math problems, with increasing difficulty. To kick start his friend out of depression. So, I guess with me, start arguing with me about politics. Or show me a Hollywood blockbuster, and tell me how great it is, that would get my blood a' boilin'.

Recently, I am told that someone my age, who used to work in my department, recently died because of a tooth infection gone bad. Wow. Life really is uncertain.

"Dancing Naked In Front of the Fridge" book 9 of 2008

I'll give it a C , but I am glad I read it.

Identical twin sisters Nancy Sipes, PhD (MCB) and Janna Sipes JD, wanted to write a book for us about what it's like being a twin. Dancing Naked In Front of the Fridge

They call a twin a "built in comparative study" of your self (pg 65).
They recognized as children that they were the center of attention, especially as babies, because one baby is cute, but two...even more cute. I have noticed that, we do get alot of ohs and ahhs on walks. Except at Baby-r-Us, no one notices us there.

I feel most of the book was for identical twins, and alot of their issues were in establishing an identity. One concern was that twins were soon type-cast, in an effort for an outsider to tell them apart, and they would trained into the role that they were type cast. Which later put stress on the twin-relationship when they grew/changed/deviated from their stereotype.

And there was a bit too much NewAge references. Hippies

Most of the twins interviewed loved being a twin. It was like a built in friend, experiencing growing up with you. Every night was a slumber party (hehe, Mr. G & Miss S do this, stand in their cribs and talk to each other after we put them to bed. I suspect Miss S stands until she falls over from exhaustion.)

"Sharing was about having someone else there to enjoy and enhance the moment. Everyone knows that many pleasures are amplified and many unpleasant experiences are more bearable in the presence of another." pg 212 But I have to say, currently, they are a lot quicker to share something with a parental, then with a sibling. But this morning, Mr. G did give a Cheerio to Miss S.

I hope that Mr. G & Miss S are best of friends forever.

Some issues, warnings to me...
Identical gifts...in an effort to not show favoritism, leads to not valuing individuality.

Type casting...in an effort to distinguish, make sure that I don't label one of my children "the leader" or "the messy one" or "the musician" or "the shy one".... I guess it's OK to say that Mr. Grunty is "the boy" and Miss Squeaky is "the girl".

Don't get between twins in a fight...they are quick to anger with each other, but just as quick to forgive and forget.

Don't be jealous of the special relationship the twins have. And it's OK if sometimes they go off into their own little world with each other.

"Prince Caspian" book #8 of 2008

I liked the book. It was a quick, fun read. I'll give it an "A".

...now, compared to the movie...it's not as bad as some adaptations to the big screen, but I wonder...how does a studio writers/producers/directors meeting go...

dreamy music

Producer: "Hey, that LotR was a hit, so was Harry Potter. Quick! We need a fantasy movie to make me some money."

Intern, meekly, "I liked the Narnia stories as a kid..."

Director: "Great, we'll have the good guys storm the castle!"
Intern, "...but that didn't..."
Producer, "And don't forget the love intrest, that'll bring the girls into the theaters!"

Writer: "Oh, and have a girl in the big battle just like that girl Legolass from LotR! Girl power!!"

Intern "but that's not the point of the book...it's a Christian allegory"

Producer, "Boy, that's pronounced "Christ-one-hell-of-a-story. Make sure we get the big name actress that plays the villian to come back in every movie!"

Intern, "but the White Witch is only talked about in Prince Caspian"

Writer: "Look kid, I'm a Hollywood writer, I know a lot more about what makes a good story than some stupid C.S. Lewis, heck, he wasn't even smart enough to spell his first name."

Directory: "Yeah, we'll make sure that the fight scenes take up most of the movie, and all subtle references to religion are taken out."

...END dream sequence.

I'm sure that's how it happens.

Well...CS did good. Most of the fight scenes are short, let the reader fill that in if they wish. The long duel between the kings, the text focuses mostly on the reaction of the spectators, as opposed to the play-by-play of sword blows.

One interesting thing that the movie added, there was a fight in train station, and after, in his defense, one of the kids said, "we used to be kings." What would it be like, to go back to your normal life after saving Narnia?

In the movie The castle attack, they wanted to show that the Narnian forces losing, in the book, there is a paragraph that says they keep losing battles in the woods daily, and then dwells on the low moral amongst the Narnians. I do suppose that a castle battle is more visually exciting.

I probably would've missed the X-ian allegory thing. I don't really pick up on this. I also fall completely, and am shocked & amazed at Every M.Night Shamalon movie.

I liked the description of the trees feasting, how they would savor different types of dirt. (I wonder if that section made a certain Moonbeam want to go out and try the dirt in her backyard?)

I'm always troubled by the concept of children in war. A problem I had with Gibson's "the Patriot". And considering it is a real problem in the world, I hope in the future, Hollywood will go away from glamorizing it. Hmmm....am I against CS...allegedly in first book, the kids were turned into adults. I should read that book. I dunno how I feel.

I think Lucy was my favorite. I liked when she was doubted, she replied, "don't talk to me like an adult."

Lucy is faulted by Aslan for not believing enough to go alone and leave the others. A key to faith, being able to leave your loved ones behind. (Yeah, Hollywood left out that part.)

Lucy wonders, when they encounter the bear that went wild, "What if men go wild?" Interesting, and I think it happens, where men become wild and forget who they are, and what they are to do, and cravenly destroy.

"What will happen? There is only one way of finding out."

"Collapse" book #7 of 2008

grade: A-

Diamond is a good writer. His words flow well, he tells stories about people to point out environmental issues. He never loses sight of the fact that it is normal people, making perfectly sensible decisions that mold the making of history. And not once does he refer to AlGore!

My only suggestion of what could've made it better, would've weakened his effort. He gives so many examples, that after awhile, I was thinking "OK, I get it, now to the next point." I learned a lot, mostly it could be called trivia, but in the context of how/why it was more meaningful, and I'm more likely to remember both the lesson and the trivia.

For instance, he describes 17th century Japanese silviculture, in excruciating detail. There is a paragraph describing the results of a forest census, it wasn't enough just to say there was a precise counting of trees, he lists the number, species, and quantities of a 1773 census of 4114 in a small forested area. I didn't need that information, and after I read the long list (my fault) I was a little bitter about wasting my time. However, I will now never forget the lesson, that the Japanese, hundreds of years ago, were practicing forest management.

I recommend that everyone read at least some parts of "Collapse".
Chapter 12 - About China, and their current environmental issues
Chp 15 - Big Business & the environment - it's not all bad news
Chp 16 - What it all means

Then, the first 9 chapters have excellent history / anthropology of earlier societies, and I learned something from each chapter. Choose a few if ya wanna, there's Vikings & Indians & Polynesians!

The chapters are independent enough that the book doesn't have to be read in a particular order.

Diamond shows that what might have been a successful strategy for a couple hundred years, can eventually lead to your destruction if you cling to certain core beliefs. That is one of his themes, is that in order to survive, sometimes you need to let go of certain values. For example, Vikings in Greenland wanted to dress European, and refused to eat fish...eventually that caused them to starve.

In discussing rational behavior that is destructive, Diamond brings up the "tragedy of the commons". There is a finite resource that is shared, but everyone takes more than their fair share, rational because "if I leave a bit extra, someone else will take it, and I need to feed my family."

Regarding mining and timber, Diamond never calls these industries evil. He quickly points out that we need metals & lumber.

Some disagreements I have:
He claims the wealthy like to insulate themselves from the problems of the common man. I will counter with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Bono, Dikembe Mutumbo & Oprah. I hope that soon, some wealthy heirs, who have done minimal work especially in comparison to their money and fame, will want to cement their legacy through their generosity.

He claims that there is a connection between environmental hot spots, and politically unstable nations. I don't believe the connection is 100% causal. Especially in light of his chapters on Australia & China.

To sum up
Diamond is "cautiously optimistic", and points to recent successes we've had. He cites Chevron's oil business in Papua New Guinea as very impressive in being environmentally sound (pg 443 - 452). Chevron is doing this in order to gain long term access to oil fields (pg 451). Cleaning messes is costly, and a public relations nightmare, "Exxon Valdez, Piper Alpha and Bhopal ." (pg 446). Diamond points to a nation wide 25% decrease in six major air pollutants during the past three decades in USA (pg 523). He tells of the Forest Stewardship Council, an independent 3rd party auditing system, which gives the consumer (at HomeDepot for example) a way to know if their purchase came from soundly managed forest (pg 473).

What is the public to do? We need to find links in the supply chain that are sensitive to our wishes. Because businesses change in response to public want, and though we have no influence on a metal mine, Tiffany's wants to look good in the public image, and so they can influence the mines. (pg 467)

a story

Sometimes, the childrens will sit facing each other, and take turns stealing the pacifier from their siblings mouth. (Zoink!)

Today, there was only one. Mr. Grunty had it, and knew that he had to make a break for it. He turned to crawl away, Miss Squeaky tried to crawl after, but Mommy's leg was in the way. So, doing her best defensive lineman impersonation, lunged forward and grabbed the top of her brother's shorts and stopped him mid-crawl.

They were up late tonight. Maybe they'll let us sleep in.

Miss S has tooth #3! On the top. She's been walking really good. But still, sometimes, she wants to hold onto a parental hand, so then she can run. Sometimes, when she's fussy, and we pick her up, she'll latch her hands together, and put her arms down between herself and a parent, and nuzzle her face into her parent's shirt. Snuggly, warm, and a great way to clean the nasal drip.

Mr. G has a new fun game. He'll reach out his hand towards you, then when your hand gets close, he'll pull away and laugh.

They're still happy to feed me Cheerios.

walkin' girl

Miss Squeaky walks. She made it, all by herself, from the far end of the love seat, all the way to the bedroom, even turning a corner, looking for me tonight.

Mr. Grunty crawled around, chasing either a car or a ball.

convoy

...this morning, when me & my mom dropped the childrens off at daycare they both took off to play. And very soon, Miss Squeaky was in the lead, followed by Mr. Grunty, followed by another crawler. All of them headed towards the playroom.

Tonight, they clapped when I came home. Miss S pulled on my finger, and I acted like she was pulling me towards her, she laughed (I learned that trick from MyBetterHalf). Mr. G fed me some apples. Later, you know how if you fake laugh with other people, eventually it will turn into real laughter, we did that.

stories

Mr. Grunty got a tooth. It was not a happy experience for him, and he yelled at us for telling him to get one. We told him the next one would be easier.

Mr. G likes to feed his papa. Cheerios. Yesterday at a picnic lunch he fed me little diced soft carrot pieces. He thinks this is funny, but will now sometimes initiate the feeding of me. Or sometimes, when I ask for a bite, he'll smile, slowly pick up a piece of food, tilt his head to the side, and look up at me with his big blue eyes, and then with a grin, eat the food himself.

Miss Squeaky likes to help with the laundry. The other day whilst I was changing her brother's diaper, she was quiet. When I finally finished w/ diaper, I saw that she was standing next to a laundry basket. She was sorting the clothes, carefully considering,...left, right, behind. Sounded by a growing pile of clean clothes on the floor.

The other day, Miss S had a shirt. She shook it, and laid it down. Then she picked it up, and laid it down again, in a different spot. That wasn't right either, so more shaking, and another spot. She was never quiet happy with her "folding" job on that shirt.

It like, finally got warm here. Mr. G doesn't like it, and woke us up to complain, poor little boy. He does like a cool wash cloth on his head. Miss S gets very started by the cool wash cloth.