If a tree falls in the forest...

I have a full beard.  Well, I had one until last Saturday.  I trimmed it back down to a goatee.  Or van dyke.  Whatever.  I keep going back and forth.  I had one in my profile photo.  Then I grew it out when I got fired.  But the point is that no one noticed.  Not my in laws who are visiting this week.  Not my parents, who I saw a few days ago. Not my kids.  Not my wife.  

Sigh...

And The Fat Just Get Fatter

Much has been said about the obesity epidemic in the United States. And many fingers have been pointed in many directions.  Too much TV?  Not enough activity in schools?  Kids becoming more and more sedentary?  I don't know if it can really be called an epidemic, despite the numerous stock images of fat kids we see on the news all the time.  I see just as many fat kids today as I did when I was a kid.  I recently spend a couple of days at the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos, had a great time, and saw the standard number of boys with boobs and fat little girls with their fat parents.  Epidemic?  I don't know.

It has certainly driven some companies to jump into action.  Corporations have launched numerous programs designed to get kids more active and do some good in their communities. Kudos to Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network on that front.  Other corporations have caved to public and government pressure and decided to stop marketing junk foods to kids.  Perhaps the biggest boom has been seen by the publishing industry.  A search of the term "childhood obesity" on amazon.com reveals over 3300 books.  One of the most popular books is the 2007 "Dangerous Book for Boys".  This book was released to much acclaim as it sought to return boys to the active, adventurous little moppets they were before cable TV and 

handheld video games.  It was so popular that there are updated 

versions and kits for both boys and girls.  Has it worked?  Well, the book is still very popular but any gains it may have made are sure to be erased by something I saw the other day.  This book, designed to get kids out of the house and into the woods making 

their own fun is now available as a CD Audiobook.  So stay indoors, kids!  Put on your headphones and listen to people tell you about what you could be doing instead of reading about it, you fat, lazy bastards.

Don't Tease Me!

My new place has this great kitchen area which is always a great place to scavenge for food leftover from a meeting.  This morning, there was a box of Dunkin Donuts and a plate of some kind of sticky pastry available to everyone because some morning meeting was canceled.  By the time I got there, the donuts were gone so I went for the sticky pastry.

Stale.

Few things are as much of a letdown as free food that isn't prepared to your liking.  You ever see a tray of sandwiches but all that's left is the veggie wrap?  Or leftover pizza but the only thing available is the thing with ham and pineapple?  Man, this day had better improve fast!

I Love Stupid Signs

Spotted on a broken door at the Starbucks on 42nd Street, across from Grand Central:

I love stuff like this.

Maybe It's Not So Stupid After All

There are lots of things I used to sneer at as ridiculous.  But then I had kids and suddenly, stuff started to make more sense.  Oh I still sneer at them but they make more sense to me.  Giving kids trophies just for showing up was one of them.  It seemed silly and didn’t really teach the kid about working hard to achieve a goal.  But if you’ve ever seen the look of disappointment on the face a kid who tried his best but still failed, you realize that some lessons just don’t matter.  ADHD was another one.  Before becoming a parent, I thought ADHD was just something parents hid behind to explain away their inability to control their kids.  Then I experienced it first hand and praise the medication that’s out there.  And I’ve lost patience for any parent who says, “oh I’d never medicate my child.”  Yes you would if it would make his life easier.

The latest thing is the preschool graduation.  It’s taken me awhile to come around on this one because it just seemed silly and unnecessary.  Making parents to take time off for some totally invented occasion felt a little Hallmarkish, you know?  And Hallmark sells preschool graduation cards.  I know because we got one for my daughter.  I was right there in the middle of the throng of smiling parents and videocameras with a goofy grin on my face as my little girl walked down the aisle with her classmates, sat down and sang a song from “Seussical”.  And as I fought back the tears I felt coming on as the ceremony wrapped up, I realized that as ridiculous as the whole thing was, there was nowhere else I would rather have been.