Ethan asked if he could try sleeping with underwear at night. He said, “If I pee in the sheets then I will go back to pull-ups”. Two nights in a row, he is dry as a bone. Good Boy. He is pleased with himself. I am pleased with him too.

He also said this morning, “If I feel under my penis there are two balls there.” He was very pleased with himself. I am pleased with him too.

Jared is still giving me the raspberry when I suggest using the potty. He is pleased with himself. I am perturbed.

Shout-out to Ethan’s friend Geffen who took off the training wheels yesterday and rode without them for the first time.

Also a shout-out to Bapu! Hang in there! I know you don’t read this, but we love you anyway!

Matt said his first word (I think). He said Abu Ghraib. He was very distinct and clear. I am just unsure why he chose to say that.

Could he be saying that Abu Ghraib is a sign of American willingness to be as brutal as any dictatorship and look the other way while still clinging to our moral superiority? Could it be an indictment of our own national character?

Or maybe he was saying that Abu Ghraib is a metaphor for the entire Iraq adventure. No WMDs were ever found, yet we went to war on this basic assumption and none other. Maybe Abu Ghraib is a symbol for our own deep desires to take perverted pictures of oppressed people while giving a smiley thumbs up sign. Does our government and media do the same thing? Look more body bags, say cheese! Is Bush leaning over the naked and tortured body of Iraq smiling right at the camera with the thumbs up sign?

Matthew clearly put a lot of thought into his first word. I think he may be a brilliant leader in the future. Helping us through our repressed sexual and violent urges towards a more utopian society. Matt, if you are reading this in the future…I believe in you.

I provide technical support for a dozen or so people on an ad hoc basis. I have recommended software to people countless times. I have supported the Microsoft view of the world and Windows software for 20 years. I have never installed Linux (sorry Aunt Susie).

This article shows the basic gameplan for Microsoft to curb piracy. I think it is a mistake. Here is why:

People like myself are the reason Windows works for many consumers. We fix the problems. We upgrade the Ram. We remove the spyware. We do the backups. We show you where Windows Update is. Dell may sell you the box, but we (your techie friend or relative) keeps you running smooth. DSL and Cable modem providers allow completely un-firewalled access to your computer. Windows security is terrible “out of the box”. Computers need maintenance. And your techie friends/relatives provide that maintenance all across the country.

If those people can not afford to purchase software, they can not get “good” at that software. More and more, I see people like myself turning to open source. Linux is getting much, much closer to prime-time. I am questioning whether or not to start educating myself in the open-source world.

I would need to get good at a lot of new stuff, but it might be worth it. I suppose I could run Windows in VNC if Linux didn’t have a Quicken or MS Money type program.

Anyway, as a Microsoft supporter, I am admitting, I am considering jumping ship.

It’s good to be back home. Its nice and temperate. I love our house. It feels so comfortable. Now if only we could clean out the garage and put everything away. Maybe I could make the crib too. And hang up some pictures.

Good to be back at work too. One day we will go on a real vacation, with sun and sand and tennis. But until that day comes…something. I am very tired. I am still on East Coast time I guess.

Danny sent me this link. I made one too. Its very neat.

My three boys are adorable. I love them so much. Jared and Ethan were the only ones in day care running around without shirts. Ethan drew apache war paint all over his body. Good boys.

Shout out to Bapu and “Little Bapu”! Get well guys!

We were scheduled to fly out of JFK on Saturday, but 30 inches of snow conspired to keep us on the east coast. The first flight JetBlue could reschedule us was Tuesday morning. So we need to get up tomorrow at 5am to pack and get the car to the airport and go over to the airline, check in, etc etc. Im so excited to get up in the middle of the night. (Notice the sarcasm)

The New England Patriots beat Pittsburgh easily and the Eagles trounced the Falcons. So the Superbowl in 2 weeks is Pats vs. Eagles. I think the Pats will win, but Im rooting for Philly. Bill Smell-a-chick (best tease name I could think of on short notice) can kiss my butt. How can such a good coach totally diss the Jets? (He was coach of the Jets for 1 day and quit.)

I need to go home. The weather here is insane. 10 below zero is not normal. We made a snowman. Not perfect, but it was nice. The kids are getting stir crazy, as is their mama. We are going to try and see a movie today.

Yes, the Jets somehow lost the game. But let me start at the beginning.

My brother scheduled his wedding at the exact time of the game against Pittsburgh. I told him not to do it, but would he listen? No. Nice brother huh? So my only link to the game was a 40 year old radio, my cell phone web access and a little TV someone brought that showed 30 seconds of static for every 2 seconds of blurry game.

At first we were keeping it close. We were doing well. We were scoring on special teams and the defense even scored. The offense missed two field goals and in total scored 3 points. (Hello, Scott Norwood? Maybe Norwood changed his name and joined the Jets) The score was tied 17-17 with the Jets in field goal range to win the game. They missed the field goal. Overtime. Then the Jets won the toss, couldn’t convert on 3rd down and had to punt. Pittsburgh marched up the field and won. The end. The Jets were robbed.

Who to blame? First I blame Danny for scheduling his wedding so thoughtlessly. Who ever heard of a wedding on a Saturday anyway?? Second, I blame Paul Hackett. Hackett, I don’t care if you are Buddy’s brother, you suck and you need to leave. Your offense is terrible. We need new blood. No hard feelings, just don’t let the door smack you in the ass on the way out. If Hackett isn’t fired within 30 days, I will then shift blame to Terry Bradway, the general manager. Terry, do the right thing here. Hackett’s offense is not good.

So the Jets lost. They are a young team. We have a great defense. Justin McCarrins and Santana Moss are good. We could use an upgrade at tight-end. Martin won the rushing title and I see no reason for him to do just as well next year. He is a rock. We have a good young team. Wait….I feel something…Yes, yes…really?

Wow. I just was visited by God! The Almighty told me, “Do not despair. The Jets fans are my chosen people. You shall win the superbowl next year. I promise.” Holy Fish Paste! That was awesome. Well, you heard it here first. The Jets are going to win the Superbowl next year! God said so. He said, “This time, FOR SURE.”

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Trip update: The wedding was nice. Total absence of anything offensive (just like the jets). Some funny moments. All in all, an unqualified success. Put one in the Win column for Danny and Lindy (unlike the jets).

The boys are having a good time with Bapu and Susu. Matt got everyone sick by putting his hand in every person’s mouth. I keep telling them, stop letting him do that, he just had his hand in [insert other relative's name] mouth two seconds ago!

Bapu is saying now that Matt will be standing in 4 weeks. I think he is on crack, but you never know. I think he will have a tooth on the bottom in 4 weeks. Ill check back on this issue.

Next we travel to Washington DC to see Kara and go to the Spy Museum.

P.S. Jared wants everyone to know that you should pull over your bike when a car comes.
P.P.S. My dad also wants me to stop throwing Matt in the air.

The Jets won in a roller coaster game! Woo hoo! One step closer to the superbowl! You know…I think I predicted a superbowl win this year. As a matter of fact, I predicted it on September 10, 2004, at 2:08pm. Two days before the season started. God told me so. Right after he told me he was backing Bush for president. At the time, I didn’t believe him, but you can’t argue with results.

A more important issue. If Indianapolis beats Denver tomorrow, that means that the Jets will play in Pittsburgh DURING DANNY’S WEDDING! This can not be. It must not be. Is this God playing more jokes? “HA HA, The Jets will win, but you will not be able to see it!” Wait a minute!! He did the exact same thing to Moses because of what he did at the waters of strife! ARRRGHHHH. It is all coming together now.

Woah. Click that link to the waters of strife. What kind if insane crap is that? He spoke angrily to the rock? What does that mean? Tell me you can read that without saying, “What the?!”.

CNN has apparently decided to cancel Crossfire as reported by the New York Times. They apparently cite John Stewart of the Daily Show when he said that point-counterpoint style shows are “hurting America”.

This is a HUGE coup for Comedy Central. I am proud of them. Comedy is the only “good” way of making change in the world. The not-so-good way is to use power and brute force. This is something I have been thinking about related to The Power Broker, which I have been reading.

The question is: Do the ends justify the means?

I think anyone who says “Never” is naive, and someone who says “Always” is evil. But then how do you know? When do the ends justify the means? Ponder.

I think I am much happier when I can be productive. When my efforts do not go towards the progress of something, I feel frustrated and tense. I think maintenance of things is important, but the feeling of creative production is so fullfilling to me. This is a double-edged sword. I need to remember always to place myself in a position where the perception of my value is closely coupled to the creative production of something. If I am asked to project manage too much or test something too much, I make mistakes and generally get unruly.

Both Jared and Matt have been coughing and now Ethan is coughing too. Katie and I have been OK, but I imagine those little germ factories (kids) are going to infest me with their viruses. Yesterday, I thought Matt and Jared both looked bigger.

There is something else on my mind, but I am not sure what it is. Little gnome in my mind, itching.

I’m happy to be back at work. The holidays are such work. So without getting into the details…we all had a good time, and I got a cool remote control.
Something interesting…I was explaining to Ethan what a “year” means. I showed him using his light (on his bedroom ceiling) as the sun. I explained how the earth revolves on its axis (day/night) and how the earth also goes all the way around the light bulb. He seemed to absorb about 10-20%. But at one point I asked, if this is 2005, how many times has the earth gone around the sun since we have been counting?

I then went into the billions of years the earth has gone around the sun in general. But the whole thing got me thinking, Why is this 2005? Because some guy said so a couple of thousand years ago. The Jewish calendar says the year is 5758. Why? Because at some point a few thousand years ago, someone said, this is the way it is. We take so many things for granted. The year, the time, our names, our stations in life, democracy, religion, life/death etc etc etc, because someone said so and we have believed it ever since.

Evaluating our assumptions should be a part of every child’s upbringing, but it isn’t. We evaluate little of our assumptions. I suppose this is the case because it would be anarchy otherwise. Or would it? Hmmmmmmm.