Yay

Last day of 16 stay home days ~ we made it.

Bfast

Eatin' cream cheese at Cosi

Becky's Tattoo

Becky's Tattoo, originally uploaded by Chris Bail.

I was just surfing Flickr [everyone's uploads, columbus, oh search expression] and found this amazing shot. Click on the photo for technical details. The tattoo was being done by Matt Barnett from Evolved Body Art here in Columbus. Photo credit listed below the image.

(Parenting) Best of 2008, Columbus OH, 5 yr old edn.

Best ...

Breakfast:
Spinellis Deli (.com) in Victorian Village. Best bagels in the city, good fruit cups, incredible breakfast sandwiches and plenty of kids coming through with parents (occupies the kid's attention so they might sit still).

Outdoor place to go so the child can run wild:
Any Columbus Metropark (Metro Parks.net). Play structures, hiking, lots to do.

Indoor place to go so the child can run wild:
Educational, Columbus Library (.org): We have the best library anywhere. Any branch will do but the downtown location has coffee and food just outside the door.

Runner up, Polaris Mall: Those creepy large objects with a zillion children climbing is a good place for the parents to lay comatose and drink coffee while the kids play and acquire disease from the surfaces of the equipment.

Dinner:
Hometown Buffet, 2449 Brice Rd. Yes, there are regional differences in this world-size place to eat mildly flavored, but good meat and potatoes. The Brice road location is huge, the food good and plenty of space for the kid to run wild between bites.

Lunch:
Despite their enigmatic use of those stupid trays-as-plates, Panera (any location) is good. Since kids graze throughout the day, they can get a quick snack (bagel or something) without costing you a bundle for a sit down meal. We all hate wasting cash when the Tigger-like
little ones don't still.

French Toast:
Giving a kid their favorite food is the best way for parents to be able to relax while eating. All kids seem to like French Toast. Sunflower Cafe on Indianola is a great bet and the leftovers are good too.

Best incentive to force your child to go potty before leaving the house:
Giant Eagle bathrooms! I think we've been infected more than once breathing the atmosphere in these dens of Hell. If you tend to the permissive side of parenting, suck it up and force the kid to go before leaving the house - trust me!

Best outdoor place to go walk a dog and let the kid run around crazy:
Glen Echo ravine. Lots of well socialized dogs, plenty of room to run and close to the Dairy Queen on Hudson. The sugar will get your child back on track after running around.

Best place to let the kid run crazy on a Saturday morning:
Barnes and Noble Olentangy River Road. Stories and crafts in the morning and coffee available for the parents.

Best Membership to have (indoor):
COSI. Toddlers to young children, plenty of room between exhibits to run. Neat activities all over to participate in. Good mac 'n cheese in their cafeteria. Not overpriced. Clean bathrooms.

Best Membership to have (outdoor):
Columbus Zoo (.org). Pricey, but worth every penny - pack a lunch though. Clean and abundant bathrooms - walk anywhere with no fear of not having a potty nearby.

Best "zoo" on a rainy day because you're losing patience:
Petco Lennox Plaza. Employees are 20-somethings that don't really care about the business or realize there is a recession - but they dress well, so you can browse as long as you want and not feel pressured to buy anything. Bring your own coffee (or get it free next door at World Market before going in).

Best dinner and a movie:
Studio 35 (.com). Parents / Parents and kids. Children hate going to more than one place in the car. Here you can watch a movie, get a pizza delivered to your seat and when the child is with a sitter (every two months and you're too tired for sex and the babysitter is getting a million of your dollars so you have to get home in 2.5 hours), you can crash in comfort for food and a 2nd run movie. Awesome. Next beer tasting event, January 18th paired with The Big Lebowski. See you there.

**Please add your choices in the comments.

Walking Poles, I'm serious.

Wow! Google walking poles and you'll find a plethora of results extolling the fitness virtues of these devices. "Burn 45% more energy!" Compared to not walking?

Kidding aside, do these actually help?

Also handy to discipline your kids!

My barrista is mad at me now

I'm hooked. I need a personal experience as much as I need my coffee. I'm back on the Starbucks wagon and I'm giving in to the fact I'm an addict.

I've been patronizing the N. Broadway and N. High location most often. Most of the barristas have warmed up since my last whiny post; they're pretty talkative and friendly. Except one.

Before xmas, they had a fundraiser for a family in need. The mother needed a new printer, the father a GPS or some shit and the daughter an ipod nano. I asked the guy at the register if they were in need? He said yes. I studied his face to see if he was joking. He wasn't. I asked again. He stuck to his guns. At this point in the conversation, the young woman (who now will not acknowledge my existence) sprang from the back and declared the girl was "like, 16 and wanted her Christmas to be special." Fine, I said, but it's not need is it? If I were in need, I think food and a job would top my list, I argued. "Well, I think they're getting, like, clothes and stuff from somewhere else." Hmmm. I started a fight I couldn't possibly win. I took my coffee to my table without another word. She returned to her corner.

When I reflect on my privileged childhood and xmas, I can think of one or two specific material gifts my parents bought for me (sorry for all that wasted money Ma and Dad). The gifts I remember is their attention and care. I'm not posting to start an online grouphug, I was studying this young woman's reaction to see what's down the road for my daughter and I. Will she pine so badly for a Holographic Kindle (or whatever is the big thing of her adolesence is) she explodes with rage if she doesn't get it? It gives me a chill. I do know all she wants to do this break is find Waldo, do science experiments in the kitchen with me, stay cuddled with Mom, play with friends, etc. Most of the activities place a high priority on a personal experience - the same reason I steal away to Starbucks every morning around 6. I guess we'll just take things as they come and hope for the best.

Oh, and before the stampede of people hit me with all the "it just gets worse," advice - back off. I figured out the substance of those warnings when I was in 3rd grade. That 4th grader trying to scare me with dramatic warnings was a liar.

Most people don't care what you're doing, so keep it short: Facebook v. Twitter

Facebook
• lots of privacy (private stuff shouldn't be on the web)
• clunky photo uploads
• excessive loads of self-promotion
• lots of approval junkies
• fun (albeit clunky) apps
• no "Dave and Aun Jemima and are now friends," "Dave updated his profile to like cheese," "Pia Zadora is now following Dave" ... just agonizing
...

Twitter (I'm seligmansdog)
• brief updates, breaking news sometimes
• no babbling
• occasional stupid updates
• easy to turn on and off tweets
• fun search capability
• no pics of others' children
• trivial registration
• all kinds of apps (twitterlocal.net, thanks Bob)
• Tweets from Science Friday, https://twitter.com/scifri are pretty cool
• ...

Your preference?

Caution: Low Flying Dogs

Caution: Low Flying Dogs, originally uploaded by Mark Strozier.

Merry Xmas.

The joys of surfing Flickr.

Pannetone

Wow, mom has a new cameraphone. I sent this to my blog from it.

Here are 8 pannetone. This is for me when:
a. I decide no one is worth giving a present to
b. The day comes when I start to think twice about that decision
c. "no one" hands me a gift
d. I feel like crap so I toss 'em a pannetone in a retreat from my bitterness