Housekeeping.

I've added a bunch of links to the sidebar including my Posterous Page and a link to a gallery of all the pictures I've ever posted to this blog. After taking a few weeks off, its time to get back to regular posting and linking. I'm now motivated by a sudden and unexpected jump in the number of followers to this site's RSS feed. Wherever you all came from, welcome. I hope you find things here mildly entertaining and feel free to let me know what you think by leaving comments.

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I've enabled Google Buzz through my gmail and am not sure what to do with it. I guess now I'm a bit more connected to the 5 people in my address book who also use gmail. Strange. I don't have a Facebook. I had a Myspace for a few weeks that never got looked at and I haven't logged onto twitter in a month and a half. I guess I just needed more social networking gear to ignore. I did get Buzzed an awesome photo essay about butchering a pig from my brother the other day though. (photos not safe for vegetarians or weak stomached meat eaters like my wife. ) I love the Internet sometimes. I don't really get the whole Buzz thing yet and I might not ever, but for now its another distraction from more productive uses of my computer, and I'm always on the lookout for that.

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9 Awesome posters by Ross Berens. One for each of the planets. (Hat tip to Kottke.org for the link yet again.) I linked Jupiter but make sure you check out Pluto. I wish I had a room where I could hang all nine.
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An amazing collection of black and white nature photography by a fella named Nick Brandt. I was going to post one of the lion shots since the lion has become a symbol of sorts for Liam, but this shot (and all the elephant shots.) just blew me away.

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While I'm in my paragraph then pics rhythm, I might as well show you today's daddy picture. Karin sends a picture of Liam from her phone to my computer at work every day to say hi. It helps get me through every day of being away from them and is anticipated by a few of my co-workers each day as well. "Where's today's picture?" they ask each afternoon. It is growing to be a fantastic collection and since they are from her blackberry they are a nice manageable size for sending around quickly. I have been slacking on the photo thing lately as I would rather hold Liam in my hands than a camera but I have the next 4 days off of work and will have more time with him to indulge in some picture taking. Anyway, here is today's picture. Liam is ready for his close-up and his mom is doing very well at giving me a creative new angle in every shot.
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We here at Pressure Support have voiced our own support for one miss Regina Spektor(third to last paragraph) in this space before. Her newest album has meant so much to both Karin and myself as we made our way through a difficult summer. It will always be connected in my mind to Liam and his trach simply because it was what we listened to during the weeks and months before and after his surgeries. I have posted video of Regina performing a song that is clearly about a hospital stay with a chorus that brings such hope to issues that Liam was going through at the time.

Hold on, one more time with feeling,
Try it again, Breathing's just a rhythm
Say it in your mind until you know that the words are right
This is why we fight.

And so connected are we to another of her songs performed this week on the Jimmy Fallon show. We all watched the performance tonight off of the DVR and the moment and meaning were not lost as we all sang along with the chorus. . .

Hooked into a machine, hooked into a machine,
Hooked into a machine,
I'm hooked into, hooked into...

All the while with Liam being . . . hooked ... into ... a machine.




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Cleaning up some bookmarks.

Kurt Vonnegut Motivational Posters. It took some doing for me to decide on which poster I wanted to use for the link. I decided on this one because I love the photo. Little gems of wisdom from my favorite writer of all time. Ting-a-ling.

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Financial Times has a fascinating article up about stray dogs across Moscow that are able to use the mass transit system.

They also acted differently. Every so often, you would see one waiting on a metro platform. When the train pulled up, the dog would step in, scramble up to lie on a seat or sit on the floor if the carriage was crowded, and then exit a few stops later. There is even a website dedicated to the metro stray (www.metrodog.ru) on which passengers post photos and video clips taken with their mobile phones, documenting the ­savviest of the pack using the public transport system like any other Muscovite.

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It was of consequence, I should think; verily, it tied the room together

What if Shakespeare wrote The Big Lebowski? This has been floating around the Internet for a while and I think I remember reading somewhere that a small theater company in NY is going to stage it this spring. Funny stuff though I am not sure it stays consistently in Iambic Pentameter. Then again, I could be wrong on that. Shakespeare has never been my strong suit.

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That's all I've got. Funny, I thought I had more links to post but can't find them in my reader or my bookmarks. Oh well. I should be writing my own content anyway right? In home news there really isn't any, and, as has been the case since Liam was born, no news is good news. Liam has been having tons of fun with his mommy while his daddy works all weekend. Some progress has been made on the printer project and while I did take this morning off, Karin and I have been going to the gym nearly every day.

Its 3am now and Liam is actually sleeping. Karin is upstairs getting the rest she needs (and deserves) while I hold down the fort. Ventilator has been double checked, feeding pump has enough formula to make it through the night and some old Law & Order episode just started on cable. Good night all, time for me to stretch out on the couch next to Liam's crib and try to sleep.

Because this song is freaking awesome and it makes me smile.

(Thanks Scalzi)

Liam has decided that our sleep schedule just doesn't work for him. he would rather sleep all morning and nap for a while during prime time but from about 11:00pm to 4am is playtime. Boy is he excited to stay up all night long.


The In-Laws made it up for a visit today and will be staying for the Clam Alley Pots' (my father's pottery company) open house tomorrow. They had fun with Liam and overall we had a great day. The plan for the day included a walk to my Nan's house but after getting about 50 yards from the house Liam started showing some bad numbers on his oxymeter and his ventilator so we ran back to the house and did a quick trach change. We new it would happen sometime so karin and I were happy to get our first emergency trach change at home out of the way. It went very well and he has been much more comfortable and breathing much better since we finished it. Of course it freaked out my Mother-In-Law and Sister who were with us at the time. Its not a very pleasant procedure to watch.

My Mother-In-Law then cooked us all (Karin & I, my In-Laws, my Parents, and my Sister) a fantastic dinner of steak, potatoes, green beans, and summer squash. Delicious. It was meant to be my birthday dinner as I will be turning 32 this week. Liam finally settled down for a nap at about 6:30 after staying active all day long and I knew then that he would be up all night. None of us could bring ourselves to wake him up since he had had such a bad nights sleep last night.

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Check out this youtube video of the second largest aquarium tank in the world. Expand the view to full screen, let the whole video buffer so that it doesn't stall in the middle and enjoy. Watching this must be able to reduce your blood pressure by at least 10 points. (pretty sure I found this at kottke.org a while ago but I can't remember.)

I really don't remember where I found this but it is very true. This absolutely is why you're fat.