Is facebook killing Blogger?

With the facebook insurgency upon us, I wonder: Does anyone read my blog anymore? If not directly, then do you read the version that is posted on my facebook page from my blog? I hope so. Anyway, I want you to know that I will continue to blog and write for your entertainment despite the temptation to simply update my facebook status. Jack Kerouac did not "Twitter" his way to literary greatness. Nor will I. Look forward to future blog posts and a forthcoming book from yours truly. I will not let you down. And for $19.95, what do you have to lose?

Bicycle! Bicycle!

Bethany thinks I need to start working out. She is right of course. It is hard to find the time to do so when you are at home with two kids and one of them is only 2 years old. When Bethany comes home in the evening, she leaves again to ride her bike or go for a run since she is always training for her triathlons. When she gets back from exercising it is dinner time, after which we enjoy an hour or so of family time before the boys' bedtime routine kicks in. That leaves me pretty much no time to leave the house to do anything, ever.

So it was decided last evening that I will be allowed time to ride my bike a few days per week. Apparently, Bethany is willing to give up a couple of her days of training so that she doesn't have to be seen with a flabby husband. (We all have to make sacrifices.) Frankly, I've heard enough comments about my physique and or health lately. But I look forward to riding more often. I used to ride a lot when I was a young buck, and I loved it.

So the plan is to ride at least twice a week and hit the punching bag a couple times a week. I will track my progress and keep you posted as I become the lean, mean love machine that my wife married 13 years ago. Wish me luck.

"Merle's Door", book review

You are probably familiar with "Marley and Me," a wonderful book about the world's worst dog. As great as that story was, I finished reading a book yesterday called "Merle's Door," written by Ted Kerasote, that blew me away. This is the story of the best dog in the world (in contrast to the ornerey Marley.) The book paints a most vivid portrait of Merle and the Teton Range in Wyoming where he lived with his owner Ted. By the end of the book, thanks to Kerasote's detailed and intimate accounts of life with his dog, I felt like Merle belonged to me. I couldn't help feel like I had known him all my life. Which made the story very emotional for me as well.

Kerasote appreciated every small detail about his dog's life. He allowed Merle to be himself which allowed the dog to blossom into a magnificent animal and companion. His accounts of their life together has caused me to re-examine the relationship I have with my own dogs. Am I too controlling? Do I micro-manage every aspect of their lives? Do I allow them the freedom to be themselves? Are they happy? I hope that I can be a better dog owner from now on and give my dogs the opportunity to live their lives to the fullest. It's what Merle would have wanted for them.

Thanks go out to Kim McCullough, my good friend and fellow dog lover, for recommending this book to me. Although this story caused me to cry for the first time since my mom died, (and for only the second time since my beloved dog Jake died a year and a half ago,) I feel that my manhood is still in tact. In fact, I think I'll be a better man (at least in my dogs' eyes) now that I've read this book.

Facebook and Fireworks

First of all, I love facebook. I love it like I love beer. It makes me all warm and fuzzy. But just like beer, a person can have too much of FB. One of the unintentional side effects of all my time spent on FB is that I have not been blogging as much. I used to put a lot of thought into my blog and lately I take the lazy way out and just post one sentence here and there on my FB page instead. My 335 FB friends obviously appreciate the frequent tidbits I post for their amusement, but I feel that I am leaving my blog-followers unsatisfied lately. I vow to rectify that. Starting...now.

On July 3rd, Truman will have been with us for 8 months. Time really flies. Actually, it feels like he has been with us since he was born because he is proving to be 100% Naughton. (His Irish temper betrays him.) This 4th of July will be his first spent as an American. I hope that as he grows, he will appreciate how fortunate he is to be a citizen of this country. I think a lot of us who were born here take for granted the freedoms we enjoy. When I reflect on our time spent in Communist China, watch news reports of bedlam in the streets of Tehran, and read accounts of never-ending violence in Baghdad, I realize how incredibly lucky I am to have been born in the United States. Our country is far from perfect, but I will take growing up in the American midwest with it's laid-back lifestyle, friendly neighbors, and relatively safe streets over just about any other place on Earth. I hope when Truman gets older, he will feel this way, too.

So while you are watching fireworks (made in China) this Independence Day, take a moment to appreciate what it means to be an American. Then take a moment to appreciate what it must be like to be Chinese, working seven days a week in a factory making fireworks for Americans' amusement while earning about a dollar a day in the hope that someday you can make a better life for your children. That's all any of us can hope for, no matter where we're from. Isn't that what we call "The American Dream?"

Happy 4th of July. Now, back to facebook...

The Discovery Club

I have been promising to build a clubhouse for Alex for some time now. Yesterday, I finally did it. It took nine hours, and I finished just before it started to pour outside. Alex calls it the Discovery Club. I built it as an "annex" to the party porch, so it doesn't take up much space and it sort of blends into the wordwork. It has two windows, shelves for Alex's treasures (fossils, bones, seashells, etc.), a table and chairs, rubber floor mats, and it didn't leak a drop when it rained last night! The boys love it. I kinda do, too.