Health Care Sucks Fa La La La

Four doctors of mine over the past two years have stopped accepting Cigna, the insurance offered by (family friendly) Disney.

I've had pink eye for two weeks.

Kinetic or Frenetic

I'm staring at a stack of unpaid bills that owe their status solely to disorganization rather than lack of available funds. Beck's Modern Guilt is playing in the background. Leah is sleeping. Asher and Sarah are at the park.

Life continues to drift closer towards the frenetic end of the kinetic/frenetic spectrum. I'm more invested in work than I have been in a while. The real estate madness is reaching an apex. Leah has become one of those kids who tears off in a random direction the second you turn your head. Sarah's freelance gigs are piling up - and on top of each other.

Asher is..., well... three.

Since I can't talk about work in this public forum, let's check in on real estate: Our buyers go before the co-op board some time in the next two weeks. On the flip side, we're still not in contract with the new house. Logistics have held us up thus far, but now it looks like there may be a minor sticking point in the contract. Hopefully, that will be resolved on Monday.

If all goes well, we will be out of the old and into the new by the end of August. Everyone's invited over for dinner.

Playing with Fire

It is appropriate, I guess, as we approach the Fourth of July that I am playing with fire.

Zeitgeist

There's a guy whom I've never met face-to-face, a friend-of-a-friend, a business contact who is now linked to me through facebook. This guy, it turns out, also has kids. He also lives in Park Slope. He also logs onto facebook around 7am while his kids are watching Sesame Street. And, he also occasionally updates his facebook status with some riff on what Grover (or Big Bird, or Elmo) is doing on screen at that moment. We finally noticed the shared experience a few days ago. Amusing.

Our bid was accepted on a house. Our friends Amy and Dan (who live a block over and have two kids ages 4 and 1) are also moving two blocks from this house. Now we REALLY have to sell our place. Come on, make me an offer.

The first of my two business school-bound team members leaves tomorrow. Still no replacement.

We're taking the kids up to the Catskills this weekend for a little hiking, swimming and general family time. Should be a good break from Brooklyn.

I Was Born Too Late

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY

Washington, DC 20503

For Immediate Release:
Thursday June 12, 2008

New Report Finds Highest-Ever Levels of THC in U.S. Marijuana

Increased Potency of Smoked Marijuana May Be Responsible for Serious Mental Health Consequences for Teens

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released the latest analysis from the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project, which revealed that levels of THC – the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana – have reached the highest-ever amounts since scientific analysis of the drug began in the late 1970s. According to the latest data on marijuana samples analyzed to date, the average amount of THC in seized samples has reached a new high of 9.6 percent. This compares to an average of just under 4 percent reported in 1983 and represents more than a doubling in the potency of the drug since that time.

Leah Walks

Leah walks for the first time from Sarah Josephson on Vimeo.

Biden the Prophet?

Did we just nominate "the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" (thanks, Biden) more or less because he is, err.. the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy?

Did we nominate someone who won't be able to carry Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Michigan or Minnesota?

Did we just kick someone to the curb who would make a serious play for those states, plus Arkansas?

Did we just put New York State in play?

Did we forego someone who can play the politics of soundbyte and image with the best of 'em in favor of soaring rhetoric and honesty?

Did we nominate the best person to win?

Did we?

Friday Night With The Josephsons

Sarah's editing a wedding video while I contemplate our checkbook with confusion and mounting dismay.

The L.A. trip was not as painful as expected. The weather was nice. The corporate rah-rah was toned way down. The professional conversations were more substantive than not, and the comradeship was nearly real.

Our meetings were at a hotel within the Disneyland complex. Some of my colleagues ducked out to go to Space Mountain one night. I settled for a beer, a book, and an early bedtime. Alone time is so rare, that I'll take it whenever I can.

I'm presently faced with a question: Which is more important - to love what you do or with whom you do it? And what about the gradients? Is it better to be okay with what you do and not despise your colleagues, or like what you do and revile some key co-workers? Ah, vagueness. It's been a while since you've shed your gauzy light on this blog.

* * *

At any rate, the weekend's here. Maybe, we'll go to the duck pond in the park...

"How Are You Today?"

For some reason, Asher is asking this question to everyone he sees. I suppose it's polite. It could be cute. I think it's a little odd in a Stepford sort of way.

Let's see...

We're scrambling to put together bids on the aforementioned houses. We got lowballed on our place. That's real estate.

I have a new office, with a window, some space, and enough privacy to play Stephen Malkmus at the appropriate volume. I'm flying to California next week for a Disney-ABC TV Digital Media offsite. It's being held at Disneyland. That's work.

Leah's cutting more teeth, which means she's cranky. Asher has a bit of a cold, which means his moods are a mixed bag. Sarah's got a ton of freelance work. We have no solid plans for the weekend other than to spend quality time together. I think my old high school friend JR - recently back from a stint in Iraq - is in town and may swing by on Saturday. I think we may go to a beach or something with Pinko and her family on Sunday. That's family life.

It's Never Easy (Real Estate Redux)

We got outbid (just barely) on our preferred house. Now, our choices are:

1. A house that's 2/3 the size in the same neighborhood for virtually the same price as the one that we got outbid on.

2. A Park Slope house that needs some serious work.

Sigh.

Sunny Side Up

Things have been pretty hectic lately. And while I don't only report the positive here, sometimes it's better to say nothing if you've got nothing good to say, eh?

But fear not, dear readers, the sun is shining again!

Per Obama's NC victory speech last night, he's got his game back.

Leah is this close to walking.

We may be able to sell our apartment and buy a great house one block from Prospect Park.

It's 65 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

Sarah's got a steady stream of freelance work.

Asher is fully toilet trained.

Two ABC News projects I've been championing for nearly a year may actually launch soon.

Quick Hit

I've got a nasty cold.

My boss quit, and is not being replaced.

It's really nice outside.

Warning: Do Not Read If You Are Not A Parent

I got back from a meeting this afternoon, and had the classic toilet-training voicemail waiting for me:

(says Asher in his excitable, 3-year-old voice) "I pooped Daddy! In the toilet!"

No hello. No goodbye. No "It's Asher." That's it.

It was awesome.

It Got Better

It's going up to 67 degrees today.

Leah's illness is a thing of the past.

It's 7:15, and Asher's still sleeping. He's got five minutes until I wake his lazy three-year-old ass up.

Leah's Birthday

Leah's first birthday party was this past weekend. It was an intimate affair - family only. Asher and Sarah baked a cake. There was rye bread and lox aplenty.

The only problem: Leah got sick the night before, and spent her entire party either sleeping, crying, or enveloped in Sarah's lap.

April 4, 1968

The anger of the Lord flared against Israel, and He made them wander in the desert for forty years until the entire generation who had done evil in the eyes of the Lord had died out. (Numbers 32: 13)

Panel

Hey - I'm on a panel next month with some important, smart people.

Being on panels is nothing new, but something tells me that this one will be especially well-attended.

Anatomy of a Birthday

4:15am - Leah wakes up with a scream. Sarah rolls over and grunts, "happy birthday." Irony before 6am. Heh.

6:00am - I go back to bed, and hand Leah over to Sarah.

7:30am - The kids wake me up by climbing all over me and screeching "happy birthday!" We make pancakes, some of which are shaped like Mickey Mouse.

1:00pm - Nap time for the kids. I clean up a bit, then dash off to get a haircut.

3:00pm - Kids wake up. Sarah puts together an impromptu birthday party for me, with the kids clapping as I blow out the candle on a delicious coconut cream pie fashioned by Asher and Sarah.

4:00pm - We hook up with Sarah's sister Debbie and head up to Prospect Park for a little playground and soccer fun. Leah masters the slide.

8:00pm - Kids are in bed. Dan comes over to babysit, so Sarah and I can catch Roy Hargrove play around the corner at the Brooklyn Conservatory.

10:30pm - We get home. Dan leaves. Leah starts screaming. Sarah's in with her now. And there's wet laundry in the basement. And the kitchen still needs to be cleaned.

All in all, my best birthday in years. Seriously.

Happenings

Tomorrow's my birthday.

Yesterday, I went to a taping of The View and saw Obama get fawned over by the ladies.

Today, I'm trying to figure out the most productive way to tell a peer to shut the fuck up.

Quick Test...

Pay no attention... This is a quick test of MSNBC and CBS embed capabilities....

But What About the Homer Simpsons?

Atlanta Journal Constitution journalist Cynthia Tucker said this about the Obama Speech, yesterday on "This Week":

This Speech was not aimed at rank and file voters. It was aimed at political elites, mostly superdelegates.

It's a great point.

To be blunt: Unless Obama tattoos a swastika on his forehead, declares allegiance to al Qaeda AND cheats on Michelle with a white boy, Clinton is not going to surpass him in pledged delegates, popular vote, or States won. The only immediate political exigency he has left is to shore up enough support among the superdelegates to block his opponent's last path to the nomination. Obama needs to (re-)assure them in a measured and intelligent manner that he has the social, intellectual and rhetorical capital to rise above the "scary Black man"/anti-American motif planted by the Rev. Wright controversy. This is exactly what an Obama candidacy will face in the general election, and there has been growing concern that it would cost him (and the Democrats) the Presidency.

The Democratic superdelegates are people who pride themselves as having an intellectual streak, roots in the Civil Rights movement, and a hankering to rely on their "better angels" (yes, even class-A in-fighters like Rahm). And among them, I think the Speech was successful (witness Richardson's endorsement).

That said, there was a secondary and a terciary audience for whom the Speech was a mixed bag.

Among Obama supporters (regular citizens and journalists alike), it also reassured them. To paraphrase one excitable blogger, it was like giving the ball to Michael Jordan or Joe Montana with seconds left on the clock, holding your breath, and then sighing in relief when they came through as you knew/hoped they always would. Don't discount this secondary audience. Their support is critical to maintaining positive reinforcement in the media echo chamber.

The tertiary audience is, as Fox News and George Stephanopoulos (!!) has so frequently reminded us, the dominant voting block in a general election - white, working-class males. For these guys, there's a paradox: One Speech isn't going to do it (in fact, certain de-contextualized points of the Speech exacerbate the problem). But a few more of these Speeches, and Obama becomes "the Black candidate" - something that will undoubtedly sink his chances in the general.

Hmm...

The Speech

Barack Obama spoke today in Philadelphia about race in America.

Did you see it? Did you read it? Here it is.

Do you think America will realize how incredible that speech was?

Do you think America will realize how incredible it was that someone rose to write it and deliver it in such a fashion?

My Trusted Sources

Where do you go for your political information and punditry?

Here's my list:

Podcasts:
Now (PBS)
Bill Moyers Journal (PBS)
Face the Nation (CBS)
Countdown with Keith Olbermann (MSNBC)
Hardball (MSNBC)
Meet the Press (NBC)
On the Media (NPR)
Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
This Week (ABC)
Brian Lehrer Show (NPR)
World News Webcast (ABC)

Websites:
New York Times
Talking Points Memo
Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish
Political Punch (ABC News)
The Note (ABC News)
Daily Kos
My DD
Powerline
The Corner (National Review)
Red State

Saturday in the Slope

It was the first nice weekend day of the year, and Asher and I hit the road in search of the Prospect Park waterfall to celebrate. On the way, we picked up his friend Charlie, and the three of us "hiked" about 3/4 of a mile into the park and towards our stated goal where we threw sticks in the water and talked about why woodpeckers were probably sleeping in their tree homes ("Because it's winter?" Umm, yeah, that and it's still fucking 9 o'clock in the morning on a Saturday)

Afterwards, we hooked up with Charlie's parents, his baby sister, Sarah and Leah, and lounged around a bit before heading home.

Post-nap, Sarah, Leah and I followed Asher on his tricycle up to the new frozen yogurt store on the corner, stopped by the Brooklyn Conservatory fish pond (where Asher taunted the fish and I picked up tickets to the 3/29 Roy Hargrove show), and then found our way to the playground where we ran into, well, everyone.

Back home... leftover chicken for dinner. Baths, Frog and Toad for Asher, a colors book for Leah, and then bedtime for the kids. Now, I'm drinking scotch and forcing my way through intellectually deadening schoolwork.

Oh... Asher was the "Shabbos Aba" at school on Friday. That meant Sarah and Leah got to come for the Shabbos celebration. Asher had to wear a kepah and a tie, and once again, I ask myself, what the hell kind of place is this pre-school?!?!

Quick Hit

Online Community Resume

Another Monday, another room full of people talking about "online community" who have never participated in one beyond a stale facebook profile, created when ABC signed a partnership with them....

For the record, here's a partial of my online community resume:

1991:
First post to rec.music.gdead
Vote to establish rec.music.phish

1992:
Founding member and prolific participant in rec.music.phish

1994:
My site, Centerstage Chicago, adds user reviews of Chicago-area arts/entertainment establishments, becoming the first site to do so.

1995:
Senior thesis completed. Topic: practical applications and philosophical implications of online community
First WELL account

1996:
Head of online community for the Rolling Stone Network of sites (Rollingstone.com, TheSource.com, Downbeat.com, JAMtv, Tunes)

2000:
Led the listen.com redesign, adding community functions to the site.

2003:
Joined Friendster

2006:
Joined facebook

2008:
Active participant in facebook, Park Slope Parents listserv, Bay Ridge Parents listserv, Flatbush Families listserv

Toss the Maxells?

In 2003, just before Sarah and I moved here from Berkeley, I gave away most of my Phish and Dead tapes to an eager beaver who responded to my Craig's List ad ("FREE! Phish/Dead Collection Needs A Good Home"). But, I couldn't bear to part with some of the "gems."

Five years later, what that means is that I have an annoying stack of crappy-sounding cassettes collecting dust in a critical corner of my increasingly tiny apartment.

Should I just toss them?

I haven't listened to this stuff more than twice since we moved to NYC.

Should I take the last remnants of my care-free youth and kick them to the curb?

Can I do that?

Washington DC

I took the Acela (high-speed) train down to DC for some meetings yesterday. The trip took roughly 2 1/2 hours, and I spent it sitting in a plush chair pulled up to a sturdy table, laptop, blackberry and cellphone at my fingertips. It was very productive (the trip itself and the DC meetings), and very 21st century.

DC is a beautiful town - very clean, calm and civilized. The sidewalks aren't packed to the gills with people hurrying along at 60mph. There's no trash strewn across the gutters. People smile. You can see the sky.

Why do I live in NYC, again?

Wow, Has It Been That Long?

I'm certainly getting out of the blogging habit, aren't I?

What's new? Let's see...

Work:

I'm still trying to hire some solid product managers. We're pretty close with a couple of folks, and should know more this week. If all goes well, more hands will revolutionize my existence.

We're entering the thick of our annual long-range-planning. It's a fairly useless exercise for the business, I've learned. But, it's invaluable in that it keeps Corporate informed about and comfortable with the track that ABC News is on. For those unfamiliar with long range planning, here's what it means: We construct a five-year product roadmap, attach revenue/profit numbers to it, and run it up the flagpole. Hopefully, we will be able to show a scalable business with a healthy profit margin.

School:

Eh. This week's assignment was (more or less) to sketch a campaign strategy for Obama in the General. My response? Run to the right on foreign policy. Remember the missile gap in '60? We've got a security gap.

Home:
Business as usual. We're still consumed by real estate conversations - when we're not cleaning up after kids, or putting on puppet shows, or changing diapers, or disabusing the notion that grown-ups wear diapers during long car trips.

Happy Birthday, Asher!

Asher turned three today. The party's on Sunday, but we've scattered a few gems throughout the week.

On Monday, he got his first tricycle. "I have a bicycle because it's my birthday," he shouted to everyone he passed that day.

This morning, we sang happy birthday to him while Leah threw Cheerios.

My parents are coming in from Illinois tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, kiddo. This year's going to be a great one for you!

Blah

A few friends have complained about my lack of blogging. Apparently, it's the preferred method of staying "in touch" for some of those crazy West Coast folks.

Part of the reason I've laid off lately has been that I've been crazy busy, of course. But perhaps moreso, I feel like if I put the proverbial pen to paper, I will have to acknowledge that my life is largely a boring, monotonous cliche these days:

I work. A lot. And don't seem to get much done.

School is (once again) unsatisfying. Though, this semester's class at least holds the promise of being less time consuming.

I have kids. They're cute. They also require a lot of care and feeding.

I have a wife. We exchange hurried conversations, smiles, and the occasional embrace seconds before one of us drops from exhaustion.

I'm still trying to buy a house. Current candidate is mired in "estate issues" that involve squabbling siblings, lost wills and real estate agents of questionable integrity.


I think I really need a long vacation. It's been two years since I've had one.

Wait For It... Wait For It...