They say the second child gets the shaft when it comes to photos and home movies. I've looked back on my blog, and that sadly seems to be true. And so, I give you Leah Josephson, age 3 months, at Janet and Micah's apartment on Roosevelt Island:

George Bush Hates Black People - Redux

Anyone been following the story about the FEMA trailers? This one's a doozy.

In an effort to quickly manufacture the trailers needed to house Katrina survivors, FEMA skimped on materials. The trailers were produced with a lower quality particle board with very high levels of formaldehyde.

These high levels of formaldehyde cause health issues ranging from persistent nosebleeds and minor respiratory problems all the way to terminal cancer.

Documents show that FEMA knew about the high levels of formaldehyde and the health concerns surrounding them, but took no action.

CBS News has been doing a great job of covering this.

The New York Times ran an editorial last week on the subject.

Zeitgeist All Around

This morning, ABC News launched a new user-generated video section. Check it out. Youtube it ain't, but it does take the concept farther than any other traditional media company has taken it.

Speaking of Youtube, last night's Presidential debates and the Youtube summary page are truly the best thing I've seen in civic participation and political web product.

Sarah, her parents, Asher and Leah are in Maplewood today to check out houses. I think we're going to put in a bid on one.

Not Black Enough?

Obama is polling 16 points behind Hillary among African-Americans in South Carolina.

I downloaded the new Harry Potter book last night, and read enough to know the plot and the important deaths, actions, revelations. Anyone wanna know?

On the Work Front

We need to increase available video ad inventory seven-fold in our next fiscal year (beginning in Oct.). Anyone got any good ideas?

Our new user-generated video site launches next week. We're in QA now. It's not going to blow YouTube away, but it will be the best thing produced by a mainstream media organization.

On the Home Front

Asher was being his usual obstinate 2 1/2 year old self yesteday. We fought. Today, he was extra good. When I got home from work, we went to the bakery for a cookie, and then to the Brooklyn Conservatory to check out the fish pond.

Sarah's exhausted. Leah woke up every 90 minutes last night. I think she just wanted to play. Cute, but come on, kiddo.

On the School Front

Yep, starts up again in a month or so. Just got the bill. Maybe, I can figure out the Disney red tape and pawn it off on them under their continuing education benefit.

Sarah Josephson wrote:

Hey Isaac,
I think I may have met you at some point but in any case we have many friends in common so maybe we can work together in the future. Most pressing is the task to get Asher to school tomorrow. Any chance you can handle that? Let's talk soon.

sj

On 7/3/07 3:16 PM, Isaac Josephson wrote:
--------------------
Sarah,

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

-Isaac

LinkedIn Invitations • View original invitation
• Respond to Sarah Josephson

Sex Education

I was just watching this news report about teaching sexual orientation in public school sex ed classes. Not surprisingly, some people think it should be taught, and some don't.

I'm confused. When did sex ed become anything more than biology? The extent of my sex education in the classroom was a few 5th grade lectures, one of which I got thrown out of because I wouldn't stop asking how the penis knows to make sperm come out instead of pee.

Has sex education evolved so much in twenty years that we're now teaching about non-biological workings? Is that a good thing to teach in schools? I dunno. Maybe if it went something like this:

Here's how babies are made.

If you don't want to have a baby, don't do that. Or, use birth control.

Some people of the same gender engage in sexual activity. This does not result in procreation.

The Boys

The Return

I'm three hours into my post-vacation Monday, and thought I'd dash off a quick blog entry between meetings.

Sarah, Asher, Leah and I spent Tuesday through Sunday with friends at a house on Puget Sound about an hour north of Seattle. There were four other couples, and a gaggle of kids. It was, for the most part, wonderful. We ate well, drank horrible kosher wine (Sarah's friends are observant Jews), took dips in the water, and watched our children spiral into a pit of sleep-deprived madness.

Asher slept in a room with three other boys where he learned words like "tushyface," and stayed up talking until well past his bedtime.

A bit of Delta redux... Fuckers canceled our return tickets when they re-booked us for the flight out to Seattle. It took a lot of cajoling, some well-timed crying (thanks, Leah!), and two full hours to straighten things out. Good thing we got to the airport at 6:30am.

Overheard on a Conference Call

"I will have to get to that later. Right now, I'm getting slammed by Cox."

Overheard on a Conference Call

"I will have to get to that later. Right now, I'm getting slammed by Cox."

Worst. Travel Experience. Ever.

I'm sure there's a humorous or engaging slant on this, but I'm too wiped to find or convey it at this point.

Our flight to Seattle was scheduled for 8:25am. We got to JFK airport two hours early, with two huge suitcases, three carry-ons, a car seat, a double stroller, and two woozy kids. The security situation and Delta Airlines incompetence caused a perfect storm of chaos, and we (along with about 30 others) did not get on the plane. The next flight was at 6pm. After 10 hours of waiting, we settled in for what promised to be a long and late flight that got into Seattle at 9:30pm West Coast time.

Of course, we didn't take off until 9:30pm. Thats right - 3 1/2 hours on the tarmac with two kids, no food, no entertainment, and very little patience left.

We finally got into Seattle around midnight West Coast time. Then the car rental place took an hour to find the kid seat for Asher (we brought Leah's). By the time we got to the hotel, it was 2am - 5am New York time. Both kids were completely melted down. Both parents were too.

Now, 8 hours and no sleep later, I'm working out of the Seattle office. Sarah's limping around with the kids and some college friends.

Ugh.