I saw this over on Facebook, and felt kind of sad:


I am definitely a hero to my son, arguably the most dedicated he'll ever have. But he's never really been the Jimmy Olsen to my Superman; he's the J. Jonah Jameson to my Spider-Man. Some days I'm not sure I'll ever see him show me the common courtesy he'd show a stranger, to say nothing of actual respect. But I'm not going to stop. And that's heroic, even if he never recognizes it.

But then there's the second part of the inscription, which is actually true and heartwarming. My daughter has mentioned wanting to marry me a couple of times in the past (though it's been a while; she learned and accepted the impossibility just fine). She's got a healthy love for both of her parents. Her faith in me inspires me to live up to it.

I’m not making any New Years resolutions this year. I haven’t been good about keeping them in past years.

Instead, I’m making decisions. And I make those every single day anyway. Today’s are no different; they’ll have to be renewed tomorrow too.

I’ve been neck-deep in self-analysis and behavior modification for months now already, trying to change my very nature. It’s been about as fun as it sounds. So, calendar, I say it’s about damn time you caught up.

I saw Mike Doughty perform with a backing band at The Loft in Atlanta last week. The other times I've seen him perform, he's been an opening act, and it's just been him and his acoustic guitar. I kind of think his vocals were mixed a little low this time, they had a hard time competing with the band. I knew almost all the songs already, so Mike's artisanal wordsmithing wasn't lost on me, but if I didn't know the words I would've found it hard to discern a lot of them. So I was a little disappointed on behalf of the friend I had brought with me to the show, but he assures me he enjoyed it too.

I sang along a lot, which always feels good. There were a couple of moments where Mike got mixed up on the verses and somehow I made the same mistakes along with him in real time. It was kind of uncanny. I felt very present, if that makes sense.

The opening band was an act called Moon Hooch, who claimed to have been plucked from the streets of New York by Mr. Doughty and invited to tour with him on the spot. They were two sax players and a drummer; their whole performance was instrumental, but their pure musicianship was mesmerizing to watch. These guys can BLOW.

It was great to get out, even on a Thursday night. I need to commune with sound more often, it's so therapeutic.

MOM and SON are in a cemetery. SON is in goth attire. MOM is convincing him to ditch the bad-influence goth girlfriend and come home.

MOM: When you're with the right person, you don't have to change who you are.
SON: Then why are you always trying to change Dad?
MOM: Because that's who I am.
(studio audience laughter)

Ha indeed. :P

Worst day of my life? Probably. Maybe I can manage to get mauled by a bear tomorrow.

No, I don't want to talk about it. Suffice it to say that, even as fucking stupid as I am, Life Itself has proven once again that it can out-stupid me in a heartbeat.

( A quiz meme? Moi? )

Real update soon, cross my heart. There's plenty to say, for once. I just haven't been inclined to sit down and type it up.

The new house has been everything I hoped for and more. We're fitting into it perfectly now that we put up a storage shed in the yard. Looking out through the back windows to see all the trees, with the shadows of their leaves dancing on the skylights back there, lifts my spirits so easily. The open layout makes the most of the space we've got, and it feels cozy, not cramped at all.

But the biggest difference I'm feeling is from our location and our neighbors. We've got tons of families with young kids on our block. The kids play together outside just about every day. It's like my own neighborhood was when I was a kid, except with more parental supervision. But the parents cover for each other all the time, which gives more moments of freedom than I've had in years.

We also walk the kids to and from school. I love doing that so much. We get to stretch our legs in the fresh air instead of creeping the van along a line of cars at a dropoff point. It's a privilege I'll be exercising at every opportunity. Maybe I'll change my tune once winter digs in, but I really hope not.

I really can't overstate how this neighborhood changes the whole game for me. I already know more people here, within a half-mile radius, than I knew in Knoxville and Fayetteville put together. I'd even call some of them good friends already. And now that the loneliness of the past few years isn't gnawing on me all the time, I'm kind of amazed to see how much of it I tolerated.

Hello LJ. I still love you, I've just been going through stuff and feeling even less inclined to post than usual. I'm still reading you almost daily.

I started an account on Tumblr, but I'm not sure where it's going to go. I'm thinking I'll use it for some very specific topic or other. It was kind of silly to start in the middle of a big posting ebb, but in my own mind at least, I'm on the brink of becoming more active again.

For now I'm off to cook grownup dinner. It's a new menu: chicken turkey patty pita sandwiches with a cucumber mint yogurt sauce, and sesame eggplant on the side. First time cooking both recipes, but they both sounded pretty good.

I caught a cold from Lydia a day or two ago, and today it's going full steam. To keep me from sneezing all over our holiday meal all day, Laura's stepfather and mother graciously stepped in to cook tonight's feast. We're having cassoulet, and asparagus goat cheese salad. I would never have chosen to do something so complicated if I'd thought they'd be doing the cooking.

I wrapped all the kids' presents last night except two; I ran out of steam and went to sleep. I finished up the last ones tonight. All of Riley's missing gifts are accounted for at last. These will be two happy kids tomorrow morning.

I didn't even know much to ask for myself, my life is pretty darn good. I doubt anything could ever top the super hug Lydia gave me tonight when she crawled up on my lap and said "Happy Merry Christmas, Daddy." However I do want to thank cobie for what will surely be my most Awesome present this year. :)

Wherever you are and whatever you're doing, I hope this holiday season brings you joy.

We sat down with the kids yesterday and transcribed their letters to Santa. ( Scans inside. )