Mind, Body, Soul

I've been going to the gym every morning at 5:30 a.m., getting in a quick workout, and rushing back by 6 to make sure I'm there if Asher wakes up. I'm not sure what I hope to accomplish, though thirty minutes of exercise is better than none.

Today, I got back, hopped in the shower, and ran into Asher on the way to my room to get dressed. "Put a shirt on, Daddy," he said. "You're naked and I want milk NOW!"

We gotta work on his manners.

On the other kid front, Leah's learned how to smile and coo. Small steps, but it always helps to get a little love back from that sedentary lump of pooping flesh for which you've been caring these past two months. Yes, Leah's nearly two months old, now. Time flies. Sometimes, I feel like she should be walking and talking already.

On the mind front... I got my final paper back. While I thought it was one of the worst things I'd written in a long time, and was barely held together by swiss cheese logic, my professor thought I should present it at NYU's fall conference.

Speaking of Fall, I got the booklist for my Fall class, and already have half of them on my shelves from undergrad. Not sure if that's good or bad.

When my kids read this in twenty years, they'll probably wonder about the dearth of posts in the months following Leah's birth. If they ask, I'll tell them it's because I didn't think anyone wanted to read about my singleminded obsession with real estate.

"That was the time that I couldn't stop thinking about Park Slope vs. Ditmas Park vs. Windsor Terrace vs. the (dreaded) suburbs, and the relative merits of each," I'll say.

Nearly every spare moment I have is spent gleaning information from InsideSchools.org, punching large sums into a calculator, and daydreaming about a backyard.

I say, "nearly" because I actually did take a few breaks from my obsession this weekend. Yesterday, we went to a playground in the (formerly) warehouse district of Brooklyn called Dumbo. It was actually a beautiful spot along the river, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, and nestled inside of a waterfront park. The highlight was all of the sprinklers and sand.

Afterwards, we went across the street to a very kid-friendly restaurant called Bubby's that had a playspace in the corner. Sarah and I had a leisurely brunch while Leah slept and Asher horded plastic construction vehicles. We felt almost human.

Of course, getting back to my obsession, we timed our departure from the restaurant to coincide with Asher's nap so that we could take a drive through Ditmas Park...

What Do You Think About This Idea?

Would you be interested in who your local representatives are, why they wanted their jobs, and most importantly, what they're doing in your name?

I'm talking about school board members, the local political party apparatus, circuit judges, your city councilman/woman, your state senator, and so on. We may read a paragraph about these folks around election time, but what does that really tell us?

What if there were a website that had 2-5 minute video interviews with these people, the ability to comment on the interviews, the ability to submit questions in advance of the interview, and quick summaries of their votes and public statements? It would start off small - maybe Park Slope or New York City. But it would eventually expand to the national level. And it would be powered by citizens. Individually, no one has the time or desire to do this, but collectively, we do.

Would that be compelling?

Would that be a good public service?

Can I get a grant to do this?

"What did you do this weekend, Isaac?"

"Well, on Saturday, Asher and I rode the escalator at Target for 45 minutes while Sarah fed Leah at a nearby Starbucks."

"And that was the highlight of your day? What about Sunday?"

"Sunday was great. I saw two overpriced houses, twisted my ankle on some plastic train tracks in the living room, and got talked into going to a street fair where the highlight was a fat woman wearing garters and a modified '40s sailor costume and belting salsa out of a blown speaker."

* * *

On a different note, Leah's started smiling. So, that's good.

4pm is when I went to the bathroom

I Love 24-Year-Olds

So, we're launching this new site to support this new show. It's all very high profile and high priority, and the like. Earlier this week, we had a meeting with the senior executives at ABC News about it. In the meeting were these two 24-year-old web-savvy guys who caught the ear of the CEO on another project, and were thus foisted upon us for this one.

In the course of the meeting, these guys did what young, intelligent guys who are unfettered by corporate culture often do: They said brash things in brash ways, and rubbed every executive the wrong way.

I thought it was awesome.

And then, I did what a smart boss (thanks, Bob Carr!) once did for me: I sat these guys down, helped them to understand where we were coming from on some of the things they thought were stupid, and acknowledged that they were right on other things. Now, they get it. I get it. And hopefully, we will all get a kick-ass site to support this new TV show. With their help, it might just be better and more quickly assembled than anything we could have done without them.

The Weekend

It was as relaxing as could be. Saturday morning, we went to a birthday party on a roof deck. Saturday afternoon, we took a 2-mile walk in search of affordable real estate (what looked good was not affordable; the affordable was depressing), and then met some friends in Prospect Park. For Mother's Day, we went out to the boardwalk on Brighton Beach, encountered surly Russians, picked at overpriced food, and climbed giant sand mountains.

Asher is getting tough to handle. Leah is getting tough to handle. I know from experience that we will find a new equilibrium, but it's going to be a bumpy ride for the next six months.

Moving on...

I found a new street vendor near my office that actually sells hot food for breakfast. So long, stale bagel and questionably-sourced cream cheese. Hello, egg on a roll! And it's only a buck fifty.

Barack Obama was on This Week yesterday, and I caught the podcast this morning. Unlike John Edwards on the same program, Obama came across very well - measured and not tethered to talking points. Strike that. He was tethered to talking points (they all are), but he did so in a way that was not utterly banal. Here's a question, though: Stephanopoulos seemed to treat him as most other journalists treat him - with kid gloves. Is it that everyone's afraid to smack around a well-groomed black man, or is it that Obama diffuses all of these potentially tough questions with his enduring (and endearing) attitude that he's not infallible, and that he's proven willing to listen to other points of view? Is it that no one's digging, or that he truly is (as Biden said), a clean guy with no terrible skeletons, no shady dealings, and no egregious hypocrisies?

Turns out Sarah's okay. Of course, now that means I have no excuse and have to attend the nearly mandatory after-work drinks session to celebrate the launch of the redesigned site.

It really kills me when I don't get to see Asher before he goes to bed.

Quick Politics Post

It's becoming increasingly apparent that Guiliani cannot survive the Republican primaries. Fred Thompson smells like another Wesley Clark (flash without substance, weak-kneed in the face of a grueling national campaign), and Mitt Romney won't be able to sell himself to the voters no matter how much money he has. That leaves our friend McCain as the Republican nominee. An old, compromised and myopic McCain who will eventually be handed the nomination much like Dole got it in 1996 - simply because it was his turn at bat.

On the other side, Edwards is holding fast to pathetic soundbytes amidst accusations that he cut and run from the Senate and reversed his positions on nearly every important issue over the past four years. Obama's lack of experience is starting to show, and none of the second tier folks are breaking through. That leaves us with holy shit Hillary Clinton. She's smart. As Senator, she's proved to be a great ally of the inhabitants of New York State. Her negatives aren't going any higher (how could they?).

After all of this, is it possible we're going to end up right back where we thought we would when 2008 discussions first began - McCain vs. Clinton?

Some day I will once again have the time and energy for lengthy and cohesive posts. But until then...

I'm reviewing the new Wilco CD for Down Beat. Just got it in the mail today, but grabbed an illicit listen a few weeks ago at work. Best thing they've done since Summerteeth is my first impression.

Every once in a while, I remember how incredible Jimmy Smith's The Sermon record is. If you get a chance, give it a listen. I'm not one for organ jazz, but the grooves he and his rhythm section lay down, and the solos (taken by the likes of Lou Donaldson, Kenny Burrell and a young Lee Morgan) are out of this world.

Leah went for her one-month doctor's visit today. She's in the 50th percentile for height and weight. For the non-initiated, that means she's in the bullseye of average. Given her genes, that's something of a wonder, and will not likely last for long. Asher, for example, is in the 5th percentile in height and the 10th percentile in weight.

Blah blah blah baby blah blah blah toddler blah blah blah.

I knew that music industry experience would come in handy, and other complaints

Oh Dear Reader(s), I haven’t felt so overwhelmed in a long time. Some tidbits:

On Tuesday night, I settled down to finish my paper, but Leah started crying. Finally got her down around 10pm, and wrote for an hour. Then, Asher woke up terrified of the thunderstorm. I stayed with him until after one in the morning.

On Thursday/Friday, Sarah, Asher and Leah all came down with some sort of stomach thing. I stayed home from work. At one point, when I was wiping Asher (who was redder ‘n a fire engine), Sarah said, “Why doesn’t he scream when you do that? He’s so raw that he shrieks when I try.” My response? “I worked in the music industry for a decade. I’m used to dealing with assholes.” Thanks. Be here all week.

Today, we made an impromptu trip over to Sarah’s grandmother’s house to stake claim on some miscellanea. This was supposed to have been done in an orderly fashion, but, well, it didn’t happen that way, and now it’s 9:30pm. Both kids are kvetching, and I’ve got a hallway full of paintings and 50-year-old throw pillows. Oh yeah, there’s a chicken in the oven that had to get cooked tonight (use it or lose it). It should be done around 11:15pm and cool enough to put in the refrigerator by midnight.

It’s got to get easier.

Scattered Thoughts

Joe Biden is a jerk who is in the pocket of big business. But he's a smart fuckin' guy when it comes to foreign policy. Contrary to EVERY OTHER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, I like him more whenever I hear him talk about that subject. If I were part of the "security mom" demo, he'd have my vote.

It's a good day when I can use the following phrase: In the case of news content, this means a creatio ex nihilo culture of information that has gone farther down the rabbit hole of the pseudo-event than even Boorstin could have imagined.

Happy May Day, Pinkos! (This means you, Amy)