Another Milestone

Five months ago, you decided to show up early, and holy crap, what a surprise you were. Two months early and tiny, but healthy. Thirty-five days in the NICU, then home. And what a ride it’s been since. Trying at times, sure, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re a great kid, I’m … Read more

Random Ramblings

I have a headache that feels like someone dropped a box of loose hammers inside my skull and then shook me like a like an alcoholic waiting on payday. It ain’t pleasant and at the same time, I can’t really find any leftover fucks to give. The inner ear bullshit seems mostly resolved. Mostly. I … Read more

5 Things I’d Do If I Won the Lottery

Fully fund the most absolutely ridiculous Kickstarter projects I could find. I want to see socially awkward geeks on stage reading terrible poetry while swinging razor sharp swords to a smoke-and-lasers show.  Build a monument to Schadenfreude. This would probably be a beautifully ornate granite statue of a soaking-wet Goth falling down a flight of … Read more

A Lesson in Communication

Backstory: when I was a tiny Dan, I was living in West Berlin, Germany. Dad was in the army, mom was a stay-at-home mom. There wasn’t a “base” per se, we lived in apartments not far from the Berlin Wall, and as such, were exposed to German language and terms all the time, though almost … Read more

Going Back

This is a decision that I’ve come to after many hours of deep thinking on the subject, several long conversations with my wife, and ultimately, the choice was pretty easy.

You see, I’m going back into the Army — and I still can, as I get credit against the maximum age for my time already spent in uniform. Since I left active duty in 1993, I’ve always felt at loose ends, and what I’ve come to learn is that I not only need the structure that the military provides, but I crave it. So I’m going back to it. I’ll be enlisted, but only temporarily, as I’ve got the college credits required and ASVAB scores where getting into O.C.S. won’t be a problem. Additionally, I will probably select combat arms — the infantry — once I leave O.C.S.

As far as communications goes — I don’t know. I have to go through boot camp again, and I’m pretty sure that that’ll be several weeks without internet connectivity. After that, things should settle down a bit and I’ll start blogging here again regularly. I’ll pre-schedule some stuff for those of you that follow me, and I’ll have Kate (who is fully supportive of this, by the way) publish my mailing address here. For those of you that want postcards or letters, feel free to send me your address.

I’ve farmed out my backlist of frames to a few local builders who will be completing the orders.

I leave two weeks from today — check your calendars — there’ll be a send-off party at our place this week. More details after the cut.

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The Story of Your Birth

Dear Son, Well, you gave us a good scare. I want to document this as much as possible before the details get too jumbled in my head. By now, you know you were born eight weeks early, but the story does a great job of illustrating the moments of humor and joy even when things … Read more

Newest Addition

So for those of you that don’t keep up with me on Facebook or Twitter, I’m happy (and nervous) to announce that Edwin Cooper Bailey joined the world 8 weeks early — at 4:19 a.m. on Friday, January 13th. He tipped the scales at 4 pounds, 12 ounces, and was 18″ long. His Apgars score … Read more

What I’ve Learned in 2011

• I have the weirdest combinations of shit luck/good luck, as evidenced by the disasters on my road trip to Michigan back in February. • Be more careful around hot steel. Burns leave nasty scars and the lesson was no exception. On the plus side, as a friend pointed out, there’s positives in putting yourself … Read more

About Your World

Dear Son, Your mom can feel you moving around a lot right now. It’s not noticeable to me yet, but I’m told that’s only a few more weeks off. I’m a little envious of her right now, but still very excited about everything. I got asked the inevitable question, one I’m sure everyone hears at … Read more

The Tale So Far…

So I left Tuesday at noon-ish, in order to avoid the worst of the shit in/around Chicago. Things were fine through the first 240 or so miles of Wisconsin, and then just west of Madison, the weather went to shit. There was a lot of blowing snow, but not so much that the roads were unpassable. In fact, the pavement was generally pretty dry. The closer I got to Chicago, however, the worse it got. All in all, the trip to Chitown took about nine hours.

I arrived at Dave and Kristin’s around 9:30pm, unloaded my stuff and we hung out and talked and had some wine and such. Always good to hang out with them and chat. I woke up the next morning way earlier than them — they’re both full-time students (she’s a Ph.D. candidate, he’s in the MBA program at Kellogg), and looked out the window and said, “Aw, hell, that doesn’t look too bad.”

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