"And a little child will lead them."

As a man who digs babies, a political observer, and simply a human being, this comparison speaks volumes to me.

(H/T to O'Toolefan, perhaps the MOST prolific tweeter on the internets.)

Let's step away from the negative and talk about something positive. Like gay marriage in New York!

Just look at this picture.

Seen here are Phyllis Siegel (left) and Connie Kopelov (right) of New York City, the first same-sex couple to get married at the Manhattan City Clerk's office.

Is that not just the sweetest thing you have seen in very a long time?


I cannot imagine ANYBODY telling these wonderful ladies that they could not express their love for each other by legally committing their lives to one another. It just seems cruel upon reflection doesn't it?

This has started my daughter talking about wanting to get married as well, which I am VERY excited about! I have actually given away a lot of brides, but I had given up hope that I would someday do the same for my daughter.

Just another reminder to NEVER give up hope.

You can see more wonderful pictures over at Gawker.

The Magic of Winnie the Pooh.

Before I begin this post I just want to mention that I used to be a power lifting and martial arts champion.

In other words I lifted really heavy things and punched people in the heads for trophies, and sometimes cash prizes.

Those are very, very manly things, I am sure you will agree.

Did you get that manly part?

Okay then, on to Winnie the Pooh.

In those emotionally overwhelming  moments when I first held my newborn daughter, I made a decision.

Well the first thing I thought was that somebody needed to take her and hose her off a little because she was covered in goo and it was making me gag a little, but the second thing that I thought was that I was going to make sure my daughter was exposed to the best things that life had to offer, which included reading to her from the classics of literature. (I actually wrote about that in an earlier post.)

So the very first book that I bought for us to read together was this one.

 

As you can no doubt tell from the tears in the cover and the weathered overall look, this book has been read, and reread, many, many times.

However I was in such a hurry to start reading the "classics" to my new born daughter that I literally purchased this book, which is NOT the watered down Disney version by the way, just days after her birth.

Though I was completely convinced that my daughter would have the IQ of a genius, it did occur to me that the current level of her comprehension might make this unsuitable for bedtime reading for at LEAST a few more weeks.

So to prepare her for the first step on her long literary adventure I bought this:

I know, isn't that adorable?

However in the baby instruction book that I bought, (because for some reason she did not come with one), it said that my daughter's eyes may not be able to focus on the mobile very well for the first few months, so I decided to buy one of these for her to sleep on:

And, of course, one of these:

Only the original Pooh bear would suffice for my daughter.

(You don't think I overdid it do you?)

So long story short, my daughter was raised around Winnie the Pooh, and Winnie the Pooh paraphernalia, and yes, she grew up LOVING the Winnie the Pooh stories. (So yes parents OCCASIONALLY the things you want your children to do they will actually do. Remember, I said occasionally!)

So let's fast forward about twenty three years into the future, to two days ago.

There I was surfing the net, looking for adventure movies full of action, and violence (and hopefully some tasteful nudity), to watch this upcoming weekend, when I happened to notice that this movie was also playing at the local theater.

Have you ever smelled a smell, or heard a sound, and suddenly found yourself transported to a different time and place? A distant, happy, nearly forgotten place which seems to envelope you in warm, soothing memories that quickly dissipate just as you find yourself reaching out to touch them?

Suddenly all thoughts of superheroes, giant transforming robots, and immature scatological comedies completely left my mind and all I wanted was to watch this movie.  This animated, G rated, Saturday matinee friendly movie.

Did I mention I used to be a bouncer at a strip club?  Well I was!

But you know I didn't REALLY want to see this move.........alone.

In fact there was only one way I would actually go through with it and humiliate myself by sitting in a sticky theater with a bunch of over caffeinated preschoolers. And let's face it there was NO WAY my too busy to even text her father back, adult daughter was going to want to watch this movie!

Right?

But I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask, so I did.

"So Honey, I happened to see that there was this new, probably completely screwed up, Winnie the Pooh movie out.  And I was wond..."

"Oh yeah, I was going to ask YOU if you wanted to go to that! I think it looks really good!  Do you remember all of that Winnie the Pooh stuff you bought me?  I kept it and still have all of it in storage! (You do?) So can we go tomorrow?"

"Sure.....I mean....if that is what YOU want? I guess I could find the time."

So it looked like we were going after all.

The only potential obstacle to our plan was that the movie started at 10:15 in the morning, which was the only time I could make it due to work commitments, and my daughter is NOT an early riser. (That kids, is what is known as a HUGE understatement!)

So the next day I decided to start waking my impossible to rouse daughter a whole hour before the movie was supposed to start. (Imagine ripping a giant tree trunk out of the ground, only then imagine that when you turn your back it replants itself and makes you start all over, and you will have SOME idea of what it is like to get my daughter out of bed before noon.)

However right when I had a couple of pots and pans to bang together in my hands, and was walking up to her bedroom door, I noticed that she was already in the bathroom getting ready. (Yeah I admit I had an "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" moment there.)

Before I knew it she was ready to go and we were on our way. On our way to see Winnie the Pooh.  The matinee showing.  My twenty four year old daughter and I. Why was I doing this again?

On the way we managed to catch up on all of the things that we are both too busy to discuss while living in the same house and sleeping only TWO DOORS AWAY FROM EACH OTHER! (Did I mention that she  texts me from inside her room when she wants to tell me something, rather than open the damn door and say "Hey Dad, I have something to tell you?" Well I am mentioning it now.)

When we got to the theater I told her she could get anything to eat she wanted, my treat.

So she did.

Thirty five dollars later (When did theaters start serving Filet Mignon?), we were ready to find our seats.

As anticipated the smallish theater was full of sticky little ankle biters that had apparently just broken out of the cotton candy factory, and were so hopped up on sugar I swear I saw their eyeballs vibrating.  But once the movie started they settled down to only intermittent screams of "Stop touching me!" and the occasional maniacal giggle.

The movie was okay, nothing special.  To be honest I liked the old Disney version a little better, but it was relatively entertaining. You know, for a cartoon.

But just as I was about to lean over and whisper my disappointment into my daughter's ear, I heard her laugh.

It swear it sounded different than her usual laugh, yet also...familiar.

So I glanced over.

It was just for a moment.  One bittersweet, precious, magical moment.

But it was enough.

I am off camping right now, but I thought I would share some pictures and memories with you this Monday morning.

I am away from my computer and can only hope that this posted correctly in my absence.

I do have my I-Phone with me so, if I am still getting service, I can moderate messages and retrieve a stubborn post that might get stuck in the weeds over at Blogger.

The other day my daughter brought me some pictures that I had not seen in years which she had squirreled away in various picture albums. While looking through them I was amazed at how quickly the memories came flowing back.

Not yet three months old but already occupying the center of an entire family's universe.

She knew she was not supposed to go up those stairs, hence that mischievous look.

I blame my daughter for interrupting my early writing career. It is kind of hard to write the next great American novel when SOMEBODY keeps fooling with the typewriter.

It did not make any difference where we were going, she was always excited about riding in the car. "Let's go to outer space Daddy!' "Your wish is my command" I would reply, and off we would go to whatever magical place our imaginations could take us.

We had nothing in those days.  I worked a low paying job, and was constantly struggling to make ends meet, but in my memory they were the very BEST of times.

Sometimes it was just she and I together, playing in the park, watching "Mary Poppins" for the hundredth time, playing dress up while drinking imaginary tea, or simply bike riding around Anchorage together looking for trouble. 

After her mother and I split up, I had a couple of short lived romantic flings. But the only relationship that I ever really put all of my energy into was the one with this gorgeous little girl.

I guess I always knew the others were going to be temporary, but that being Daddy was going to last forever.  And so it has.

If babies had the right to vote, the winner of our next Presidential election would be a foregone conclusion.

After I posted the "Oh Baby" video and the post referring to President Obama as the "Baby Whisperer" I found myself inundated with pictures of our president with babies. Apparently there are dozens and dozens of them.

Now I tend to resist the urge to revisit a topic after I have posted about it once, but I have to admit that after looking through these pictures there appears to be something almost magical in how Barack Obama interacts with our youngest Americans.

Take a look for yourself, and tell me if you agree.

And it isn't just the babies who are charmed by our President. Their older brothers and sisters seem to gravitate toward him as well.

You know if I were on Obama's reelection committee, I would simply run an political ad of nothing but President Obama interacting with children. The man gives an amazing speech, but his effortless rapport with children is an open window to his soul.

Take it from a guy who has worked with kids his entire life, and also enjoys a certain amount of automatic trust from them, you can learn a great deal about a person's humanity by how they interact with children.

Barack Obama, the "baby whisperer," strikes again. Updated with a new picture.

It is part of every child's survival instinct to know who they can trust enough to let their guard down.

I wish EVERY American understood what this child naturally understands.

You can see more pictures of President Obama's visit to Iowa by visiting the Obama Diary.

Oh hell, let me leave you with just one more.

Something about the emotion on that woman's face touches me.

Update: Okay so since so many of you requested it, here is the picture of Sarah Palin demonstrating her child comforting abilities.

By the way, who in the hell autographs babies?

The New York State Senate JUST passed their same sex marriage bill!

Courtesy of Bay Windows:

The New York Senate voted to legalize same-sex marriage in the state Friday, June 24 with a vote of 33 to 29.

The measure needed just one more supporter in the Republican-controlled Senate. Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) called the body back into session after it expired Monday, June 20 to continue debating the issue. The governor expressed his support for legalized same-sex marriage, and spent the past few weeks personally lobbying senators on the matter.

The bill, which had been passed by the State Assembly, includes measures that would exempt religious groups who don’t support legalized marriage equality from having to officiate or otherwise participate in same-sex unions.

Now that is a pretty great way to wrtap up my blogging this Friday evening!