Father's Day

Jack is growing up fast. I know this sentiment may seem extremely cliched, but really, it's one thing to hear about how fast children grow up, but it's quite another thing to witness it firsthand.

This is what Jack looked like the day he was born:

A few minutes old

Today he is only one year old, but he has already become a little person with his own goals and ideas about the world.

At the market

It's amazing to watch him explore and figure things out for himself. Through trial and error, he learns new things every day, and I learn new things from him.

Backyards are fun

It is indescribable how much love I have for this little guy. Even though helping him grow up is harder than anything else I've ever done, it is also by far the most meaningful thing I've done with my life.

Trivial

"Make him laugh and he will think you a trivial fellow, but bore him in the right way and your reputation is assured."

- Somerset Maugham

Christopher Buckley paraphrased this quote on NPR earlier this afternoon while I ate an apple in my car outside Starbucks in Fife while on my long-anticipated lunch break.

He was talking about eating puppies and chatting with some super-smart NPR guy about classic satirical movies and books, and people were calling in and talking about their favorites.

Eventually some lady called in and mentioned a book I had actually heard of: Breakfast of Champions. I like that book. A lot. So much so that I read it to Jack before he was even born. I even blogged about it.

Later in the conversation, Buckley mentioned that Vonnegut's book, Slaughterhouse Fife, still sells sixty or seventy thousand copies a year. (I wonder who is collecting those royalties these days.)

Vonnegut hated being labeled a Sci Fi author. Buckley doesn't like the label Humorist (he much prefers Satirist).

I wonder what people will label me after Paradise Squandered becomes a bestseller?

Hack, probably. :)

I wonder if people still use that term...