More Will Be Revealed

• I have failed to document an important milestone for Lindsay: babbling. On Sept. 30, her random coos and gurgles turned into slightly less-random sounds with consonants and vowels combined: "da-da-da-da" (not what I wish it was) and "yoy-yoy-yoy-yoy" etc. Incredibly cute to listen to and we still chuckle at it, even when she's doing it in the middle of the night.
• I heard part of a "Fresh Air" interview last night with Jason Christopher Hartley, who has just come out with a book based on his "just another soldier" blog. Sounds like a fascinating read...and it made me think of January 1991 when we first invaded Iraq. I was a senior in college and The Independent, the weekly paper I'd interned for, asked me to write a first-person piece on the campus reaction. The draft seemed like a possibility at the time, considering it was the country's first "war" since Vietnam. I don't recall the details of what I wrote, other than me saying that I personally would go if drafted. At the time I was wearing my grandfather's hefty paratrooper ring in his memory, and to suggest that I would not serve my country seemed...disloyal? To him, not my country. Anyway, it probably wasn't what my editor (the wonderful Gillian Floren, who 10 years later I ran into on the streets of Portland) was looking for exactly, but she ran it, to her credit.
• Last Friday was a cool day at the office, as they opened up the roof for us to watch the Blue Angels practicing along the SF waterfront. Impressive, and it made me actually consider going to an airshow, something that has never intrigued me before. I sense a military theme here...hmm.
• "My Name is Earl" was strong again last night -- it's probably my favorite new show of the season. Great line about paper mache: "She'd found a way to make newspapers even more boring."
• Speaking of TV: I hope "Arrested Development" hangs on. Where else can you laugh out loud to dialogue like: "Eww. I think I'm going to run it through the dishwasher again -- on pots and pans." It's sad to say that this show is likely to die and Jim Belushi still has a sitcom.
• Final TV thought: I finally watched the season finale of "Rescue Me" (thanks to KT and Pete for sending the DVD). A gripping, grim episode that left most every character reeling and beaten down. Same complaint as earlier -- a bit predictable (I saw the "hooker" scam coming, as a lot of people probably did) -- but still fine (if gloomy) TV.
• The wounds of friendships lost are slow to heal. The details are for another time, or perhaps not at all. But I am still puzzled by the actions of a particular person who stopped speaking to me after nearly 20 years of friendship. I know there were some rough moments during the aftermath of my divorce, and perhaps I was a bit self-absorbed as I licked my emotional wounds and figured out what the hell was going with my life. But how about cutting me a little slack for that? I'd like to think I'd do the same for you if the tables were turned. I suppose I should use this as a wake-up call: make the effort with people who are important to you, and don't take anything or anyone for granted. Sometimes, the little gestures do matter.

Off to Chicago. Back at ya next week.

// posted by Bill @ 8:24 AM