workingdad's comments

Loss - Blog Entry

07 May 2006 04:30 PM

Andi and Catherine -- these are very moving stories. Thank you for sharing. It's nice to think of children as understanding the relationship of those they love and lose as being part of the universal firmament.

The Family Bed - Part 2: Sudden Infant Death Syndrome - Blog Entry

07 May 2006 04:27 PM

We did not give it much thought -- we wanted our babies in bed with us. It was easier to nurse that way. We just believed that our instincts would make sure that they were never at risk. We also had those bumpers to keep them rolling over onto their sides during naps.

Anectodally, I've heard that infants often breathe better when they are closer to the mother. I don't know if it's true of course, but it's an interesting thought.

Once in a Lifetime - Blog Entry

05 May 2006 10:27 PM

I remember very well the Cosmos. I never saw them play at Giants Stadium, but I watched on tv... a few of my older friends were totally into it, one of whom was the child if Italian immigrants and culturally more familiar with the game to begin with. Chinaglia was an idol. Pele was the world's most famous athlete, and probably that's true of all-time, even in the advent of massive tv coverage making superstars out of Jordan and Tiger and Gretsky. Pele was the greatest player in the most popular sport in the world, and he was a great ambassador for bringing more popularity to the game in America. At its peak, the NASL could count on huge sellout crowds when the Cosmos came to town or played in the playoffs. It crashed pretty quickly, but soccer has become very important in American culture.

A Parent's Guide to Music Sharing Laws - Blog Entry

28 Apr 2006 03:15 AM

oh boy... i come from a criminal background! My mother used to photocopy sheet music and give it to her students.... i started taping LPs to cassette when I was just 13... what chance do my children have of going straight?!!!

okay, I'm being somewhat tongue in cheek, but I would suggest that you can enter a debate with your kids as they hit that age of seriously consuming music, the debate over what it means to file share mp3s and debate not only the practices of consumers, but those of the record companies. As someone who is well aware of the horrible changes in copyright laws, which give control to owners of copyright almost in perpetuity, I want my children to be aware that they can change laws they believe are bad, and I certainly think that the way the Recording Industry Association of America has handled the technology, by suing children and the elderly among many others, is thuggish.

Myths About Marriage - Blog Entry

27 Apr 2006 10:05 PM

I think those happily-ever-after stories are potentially more dangerous than ones that are explicitly violent or negative. I remember Frank Zappa, when being asked about whether the usual suspects of negative music were promoting suicides, asked "what about all those love songs that promise so much happiness?" You grow up listening to songs that have all those promises and then reality does not deliver. That's depressing as all you-know-what.

Sometimes I Feel Like Bobo the Sperm Guy! - Blog Entry

25 Apr 2006 03:02 AM

Janet -- thanks. I did mean this as a piece of modest humor, but maybe I need to revise it. It's been a running joke in our household. we thought it was a funny line.

Internet Romance: More and More The Trend - Blog Entry

23 Apr 2006 12:18 PM

I was married before the rise of the Net, but computer-generated dating services go back a long way. I know at least one friend who met someone through such a service. But that was his first wife...

Review: The Backyardigans - Blog Entry

22 Apr 2006 05:51 AM

I totally agree, but i hate the fact that the CD is only about thirty minutes. I feel like it's a ripoff. Maybe they'll come out with more of the songs and put them on itunes.

Inger Stevens: Tragic Beauty Lost - Blog Entry

21 Apr 2006 02:58 AM

I remember that one, that's the adaptation of "The Hitchhiker," the great short story written by composer Bernard Herrmann's wife... Orson Welles did a radio adaptation of the story for his Mercury Theater of the Air series -- it's great. Have you heard it? Inger Stevens is great in this episode too.

Why do I have to go to Hebrew School? - Blog Entry

20 Apr 2006 05:19 AM

I think that there are many children who attend schools of their ethnic culture: my oldest has classmates who attend Greek school, Chinese school, Hebrew school, or receive other religious education. I sometimes wonder if she wishes she had another school to attend!