This post is a part of the glorious event that is FatherHood Friday. That’s where Dad and Mom bloggers come together on Friday and discuss what FatherHood is all about. Be sure to click the link on the left for more fabulous contributions. Isn’t this header thing like the top of the first page of an old comic? “Bitten by a radioactive spider, young Peter Parker….”
It’s no secret that I’ve been stressed lately. I’ve blogged about it, tweeted about it and ranted about it to friends, family, and anyone who happens to be standing close to me at any given time. It’s funny, since for a while I’ve tried to project a fairly care-free, nothing bothers me attitude. But lately, none of the pieces seem to fit.
I’ve already blogged about how my kids help out with all the stress, but there’s something else that helps me when I’m stressed that I hadn’t thought of in a while. Something that you could say began in my teenage years. Something that I can only do when I am alone.
This doll will help Calli learn to potty ... right?
OK, I’m pretty sure around the time that Calli was born I read somewhere that girls generally start potty training at 18 months. ‘Woo-hoo!’ My inexperienced father’s brain cried. Only a year and a half of foul-smelling, foul-colored, unidentifiable, unexplainable messes in diapers? I can handle that!
Nearly three years later, I’m still changing diapers. I’ve failed. You can see pictures of the wife and I in the parenting Hall of Shame. There’s a failed potty-trainers wing, and we’re the star attractions.
Then again, maybe not!
Yesterday I was selling iPhones at work and striking up conversations with the customers. One couple had a one year old with them. He just kept giving me this huge, toothy grin. At least, it would have been toothy if he had more than four teeth! I just couldn’t stop looking at his giggling little self, so I said, “You look awfully happy! Is this going to be your new toy?”
“Noooooooo.” the father quickly replied.
“It won’t be long.” I said. “Leap Frog makes a baby blackberry.” (They do. Check it out!)
Anyone who pays a little bit of attention has noticed that comic books really aren’t for kids anymore. Gone are the days of going in to your local grocery/convenience store and picking up the latest adventures of your favorite caped do-gooders. You might find an Archie Digest still on the checkout lane, but it will generally be placed out of the reach of children. I’m not sure who they’re marketed to, nostalgic parents? Truthfully at this point, nostalgic grandparents! Old Archie hasn’t done the best job of keeping up with the times…
As some of you who follow my twitter updates and Facebook status updates know, I’ve been using my AT&T cell phone as my modem. I had what was advertised as an unlimited tethering package. So when I recently moved, I didn’t worry about setting up cable TV, because I could stream my favorite shows online! I’d hook up the laptop to my TV, and we’d catch up with Heroes, Pushing Daisies, Daily Show, etc.
Incidentally, Hulu is my current favorite site to stream television shows, though Joost has a lot of good stuff too.
Waay back in 2008, I blogged about the dangers of Twitter. In that blog, I made the case that it’s possible to pollute your favorite social media sites with compelling entries such as “I’m eating a burrito.” I thought that this could be off-putting to the people you could be trying to attract to your blog/online business by tweeting.
Today, I watched this video on johnchow.com:
Wow, this video makes a compelling case that “I’m drinking a cup of coffee.” Is something people might actually want to know!
Hmmm….
There’s only one conclusion.
Lately I’ve been doing some soul searching about my responsibility to the online community. I recently became a fairly heavy Twitter user. Any time I am at my computer, Tweetdeck is running. At work, I have Tiny Twitter running on my phone.
Interested in monetizing wesites and blogs, I decided to give Magpie a try. I decided to have them post an ad in my tweet stream after every five tweets. I then tweeted things like what I had for breakfast, the weather outside, whatever was on my mind. I literally started to think in 140 characters or less. (‘This just happened, how would I tweet that?’) I was trying to earn some cash from Magpie!
Yet again, my twittering has landed me on michael-wayne.com. He is another blogger/social media user. Unlike me, however, he actually has made a few bucks with his blog! 
Check out his Twitter Question of the Day for 11/24/08.
-Justin
Popularity: 3% [?]
Today was really crappy. Super crappy. I mean, it couldn’t have gotten worse if Murphy himself showed up, slapped me around a bit and screamed his law in my face. It was seriously that bad. I was so depressed and mopey when I got home that my wife, empathic soul that she is, immediately felt depressed and mopey too. A few minutes before Heroes started, my wife got a phone call and left the room. Not wanting to watch one of my favorite shows without my favorite companion, I hit record, changed the channel on the T.V., and sulked some more.
