Mahalo.ne.Trash

The physical spacing isn't right--which, granted, would be hard to do--but the periods obey Kepler's Third Law of planetary motion (as far as I can tell). http://www.whitevinyldesign.com/solarbeat/ Mesmerizing, ain't it? h/t Doug

"Mommy, when my hair was longer, it was heavier a little bit, but I was fast. Now that it's shorter, it's even lighter and so now I'm EVEN faster! Oh, and do you think I look different?"

So what does the new Health Care legislation mean for you? The Washington Post has a handy calculator. If you are doing okay financially, it most likely means nothing at all. But if you're hurtin' during these tough times, help is around the corner. So what was it that we were supposed to get all worked up about here? The law saying that you have to have insurance? Don't we already have laws for that? (auto insurance) I'm having a hard time seeing the impending Socialist coup...However, stuff like this makes me giggle: How about: In troubled times, the uneducated start making posters... or Stalin and Hitler, buddies once again! or A fascist, a communist and a Black Democratic President walk into a bar... I've just spent 6 hours on a plane and an hour in a cab, so I'm sure you can think of better tag lines than these...

by John Not long ago I came across an old friend on Facebook, who I knew from church about 12-13 years ago (has it been that long?!). We exchanged a few emails and our conversation quickly turned to matters of faith and morality. I recounted my long journey away from church, and she talked about how her own faith had only grown since we were in youth group together. While she claimed to be an open-minded Christian, she found it absolutely shocking that I did not believe in her god. Her main contention boiled down to not understanding how I could be a moral individual without belief in a higher power. I laid out my basic belief system for her as a way of demonstrating how I can have morality, even when it isn't enforced from the outside (or inside, depending on ones perspective). My moral code is built around: "If your behavior or action harms others or prevents them from pursuing happiness, it is likely immoral. If it does not, and it brings you happiness, then it is probably ...

So how are we doing so far? Well, I can't tell. I can say that I've never kept a journal for this long. Thanks for reading and I hope to post more in the coming months. Brace yourself for an increased density of philosophical musings, more astronomy/science, and of course plenty of cute pictures and videos of Owen and Mar. If not, and if you want more posts, please bug us about it! Sometimes we need the motivation. Plus, we just love to hear from you, our viewing audience. Note the bump at month 14, when Marcus was born :) I'm surprised our rate didn't increase again when we moved back to the mainland...

I think it happens to all parents. It feels like you just give and give and give, and in the short term you have nothing to show for it except two screaming kids and a bunch of crumbs and smashed banana on your spot on the couch. Last weekend I had all of the above, plus a host of work-related deadlines and general grown-up pressures of the difficult type (like a letter in the mail from the city zoning office). All of the stress piled up and turned an otherwise mild-mannered Daddy into a raging bull. I was over being a grown-up in general, and a parent in particular. I was having vivid fantasies of an alternate life as a dual-income, no kids (DINK) lifestyle. Just imagine: sleeping in on the weekends, long drives with no specific destination in mind, watching a full basketball game without a child getting injured in front of the TV. I must admit, there were more than a few instances last weekend when I was far from a model parent. But then at some point during this week I got over my f...

Our good friends Jason and Julia stayed with us last week. They showed us a video in which they tell Jason's parents that Julia is pregnant (!). His mother's reaction is truly priceless. Enjoy! Here's the long version. Congrats Jason and Julia!