The Buzz

Day of the Disney

Recently Disney, which seems hell-bent on becoming some sort of cultural Monsanto, had to backpedal on a couple issues after some very understandable public outcry. In one case, Princess Merida, the fiery warrior-tomboy from “Brave” was Stepford Wived into the stock Disney princess mold – she got a sexed-up makeover that utterly ignored the entire

Following Procedure vs Getting Results

So I’m putting together a positive feature story for someone, and one of my contacts is a federal employee. I sent this employee an email and asked her what would be the best way to include a mention of her organization. She very nicely and honestly wrote back and said she’d love to help but

Objects in Mirror are Older than they Appear

A piece of equipment at work broke down the other day and I was ultimately forced to call the equipment’s technical helpline for help. After asking me a few questions, the tech guy leveled with me. “They don’t even make the parts to fix that anymore,” he smugly said. “I mean that equipment is four

Twenty

My grandfather went to church with us for the last time when he was 90. He had not attended for a few years, but decided to surprise the rest of us by actually agreeing to join us for a Christmas service. It didn’t take him long to start misbehaving. He pointed at an elderly priest

The Justin Bieber Incident

Just an update on the family’s Justin Bieber Incident. For those of you who do not follow my private Facebook account, my pleasant family life was shaken Thursday afternoon when my beloved 3-year-old daughter, Amelia, informed me that she played “the Justin Beaver game” at daycare, which, after some investigation, very loosely involved pretending to

How Can We Save the Mescal Roast?

I developed a love for the Living Desert soon after I moved to Carlsbad, some 15 years or so ago now. There are state and national parks in other parts of the world that seem to have a philosophy that the less human presence there is the better option. The rotating wardens of these parks

Praise the Process, Not the Product

I try very hard to be a progressive daddy. Since day one, I’ve changed diapers, played princess and sat out in the hall and listened while the other waiting “dance moms” shared details with each other about their latest visits to the OBGYN. Not only do I love living in a time period in which

Rhythm of the Dance

I spent last Saturday navigating my way through an extremely well-attended pancake breakfast at the Carlsbad High School cafeteria. And that was only from one of Carlsbad’s popular dance studios. I also know, from experience, that it is basically impossible throughout the month of May. Point being, dance is big here. While we generally watch