He Means Well, But...

...Mr. Obama's stimulus plan strategy looks like it relied to much on the goodwill of Republicans - you know, the minority party that, politically speaking, has an interest in seeing his presidency go down in flames - and now the plan is that much poorer for all this "cooperation".

"The Dude" Gets Smacked Around at Sundance

To think that I always thought that The Dude was a lover, not a fighter ("Just take the four dollars, man!"). Well, maybe he's not really much of a fighter, since he apparently didn't get a punch in.

[for those of you non-Achievers, Jeff "The Dude" Dowd is the real-life person upon which the Cohen Brothers based Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski]

Sasha!

It's unsurprising, but still pretty remarkable, that the arrival of such a small creature can cause so much...commotion. So many regular activities, so much of life's daily rhythm, blown completely away with the birth of a child. It certainly made a difference that this particular child (my daughter! even a few weeks in, still somewhat strange to think of oneself as a father) added to said commotion by arriving well ahead of schedule, by a whole five weeks!

As lucky as we are to have Sasha healthy, despite being pre-term, we're equally fortunate to have our families and friends so involved, and so very generous. It's far too easy to take those around you for granted, but ocassions like this really bring all the generosity, caring, and concern, into focus. Whether a beatiful baby shower - complete with a special guest, the actual baby! - or the food that nieghbors, family, and friends brought over, or a grandma who hopped on a plane not twelve hours after the birth to come help us out for a few weeks, or grandparents who cleaned our house, took care of our furry, non-human (sorry to break it to you Marty, but you're actually a dog) daughters, and outfitted their first grandkid with enough clothes to last until she's age five, it's all been quite cool to have all of you around and watching out for us. Thank you.

Will this blog turn into "All Things Sasha"? I don't think so; I've tended not to include too many personal/family posts in the past, and that trend will probably continue. But there will be updates here and there. And you never know - after all, one shouldn't underestimate the enthusiasm of a proud dad...