Wilson at 6 months
Doug keeps recreating this site to make it easier for me to post, but difficulty of posting is not what’s keeping me away. It’s that I simply don’t find the time. So there is much catching up to do.
Wilson had a hard time in his early months with colic. He had a bad case of acid reflux, which had him spitting up excessively and having heartburn when we laid him down. He also had terrible gas pain that would wake him (and me!) about every 30 minutes at night. The doctor gave us Zantac to reduce the stomach acid, which helped a little. And our friends the El Zeins recommened a product called “Baby’s Bliss Gripe Water”. What a blessing the gripe water was. It didn’t cure Wilson, but it helped tremendously and we were finally able to get some sleep. Wilson’s grown out of all that now and is a much more comfortable baby.
Wilson had a blocked tear duct for a couple of months, leaving his right eye gooey all the time. It lasted so long that we were getting worried that we may have to have the duct cleared surgically. But one day the problem just disappeared. Wilson sees clearly now.
In the last week, Wilson has learned to sit up. He’s getting stronger and better balanced each day. And this morning I found him in his crib with his rear end high in the air, as if he were making his first attempt at a crawl. And several more times today, I’ve seen him in that same position, trying to maneuver his way to something. He’s mobile now.
Wilson’s first tooth made an appearance on Thanksgiving.
Wilson had his 6-month well-baby checkup today. He weighed in at 18.1 lbs and 27 inches. The doctor says he is a very tall and heavy boy, but his weight:height ratio is perfect. She noticed that he’s exhibiting some stranger anxiety and said that he’s awfully early with that, and that is a good sign that he’s very intelligent. She also observed that Wilson is very verbal already. I told her that he’d have to be if he wanted to compete with his father and sister for any talk time. The doctor said that Wilson is developing right on schedule and that she doesn’t have any concerns.
Don’t play that CD!
If you have a music CD from Sony BMG, do not play it in your Windows PC! About 50 Sony CD titles contain copy protection software that is unbelievably nasty and will leave your Windows machine exposed to viruses, trojans, and worms from any script kiddie who cares to Google for instructions on exploiting Sony’s evil, evil music player software.
Also, do not follow Sony’s instructions for removing their spyware. Sony’s half-baked attempt to fix their blunder is actually more dangerous than their original error. Do follow these instructions for removing the nasty Sony invader manually. Then promptly write Sony and express your disgust.
The Manisfam won’t be paying for any Sony products any time soon, partly because we’re disgusted, but mostly because we can’t trust Sony’s products. Sony’s greed and arrogance has sent them leaping head-first into the deep end of corporate evil. They’ve joined Microsoft and Wal-Mart on the short list of corporations that people hate. Nice work, fellas.
[update 2005-11-17]
Wired has a nice overview of the firestorm: Real Story of the Rogue Rootkit. Here’s Sony BMG’s list of infected recordings.
[update 2005-11-22]
Not only is Sony evil, they are stupid. All their pain has been for a protection scheme that doesn’t work: Sony BMG DRM a Public-Relations and Technology Failure.
The Westing Game
“The Westing Game” is tangible proof that good books are still more fun than bad television. Parents, read this book and give it to your kids. They’ll never stop reading. Kids, go to the library tomorrow and check it out.
As an eleven-year old kid I loved the “The Westing Game” so much that I read it three times. I think it was checked out to me the entire school year. A mystery for young readers, it doesn’t read like a book for young people. There are over a dozen characters of equal importance that you must keep track of and dozens of clues spilling off each page that you must remember if the plot is to make any sense at all. But amazingly there are no red herrings — each plot twist and revelation is natural and totally predictable if you’re following closely. Sort of an anti-Grisham approach to mystery. An adult work written for young people, which is rare.
When I finished the book the first time, I wrote a letter to the author, Ellen Raskin, telling her how much I loved her story and asking how I could become a writer just like her. She not only responded, but gave me practical, serious advice on becoming a fiction writer. She new I was a young kid, but she respected my interest and treated me seriously. Her hand-written reply spilled across the boiler plate stationary it was written on, into the margins, onto the back of the page, and on and on into two more pieces of stationary that she must have lying on her desk. This woman was a brilliant writer and she loved to write and she wanted me to love it too. She told me to not be afraid — just get writing! because after “the excrutiating first draft” comes a second draft and a third, and a fourth, and so on until your editor tells you that you’re done. I fancied myself a pretty slick young author and she was the first adult to tell me that I must revise my work. Rewrite? Me? I thought I got it right the first time! Revise not just once, but many times until the words are perfect. She taught me about process and that scared the dickens out of me because it sounded like work and writing had always been easy for me. I wrote the letter, hand’t I?
But she told me the truth — writing is hard work. I always think of the “excrutiating first draft” when I’m starting a project. Her words remind me that it is painful but that’s OK because it’s painful for everyone and we all get through it. Just start writing and fix it later. Well, I never did become that kind of a writer. Not even close. I didn’t actually even try, which is a shame because I might have liked it.
I ran across “The Westing Game” at the library when my daughter was there for story time. In a fit of nostalgia, I checked out the book and read it straight through. My nostalgia fell away until only the joy of this great novel remained. I read it so intently as a kid that I could recite entire passages from memory.
Apparently Ellen Raskin died of cancer just a couple of years after she replied to my letter. I counted backward on the calendar and she must have been sick when she wrote her advice. I still have that letter somewhere in the house and am frantically searching for it. When I find it I’ll scan it and post it here for you to read for yourself. In the mean time, acquire a copy of “The Westing Game” for yourself and love like I did and do again.
