Nikki is about ready to burst. Ripe, man. Ripe. And I too am changing in odd but predictable ways. For the first time in my life I don't wince when I hear gobbledygook babytalk. Now I listen eagerly, smiling. The mysterious program that forces high-pitched nonsense out of the mouths of otherwise mature, intelligent adults, which typically installs itself shortly after the birth of one's first child, has been installed in me ahead of time and is calibrating my vocal settings on the dog.

"Is Abby hungwy? Are you hungwy? Yyyyyyeees you ARE!"
(rub rub rub)
"Yyyyyyeeeeeeeeeeaaa....I'm a happy puppy dawg...."

I never used to talk to the dog that way. It's happening automatically.

Famous For Being Famous

Scanning through some news sites today I was stopped, as I often am, at CNN.com. I like CNN's presentational attributes and a few of their anchors and pundits, but that's about it. Today, looking at their front page, I was reminded of a skit from Sesame Street. No, not Near......FAR!, or Yupyupyupyupyupyup.... Nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope.... Yupyupyupyupyupyup.... BBBBbbbbbwwwiinngggg! (one of the very best, by the way)...no, I'm talking about that little game with the ditty that goes:

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Sing this while looking at their headline box from 1-5-06, 5:00 p.m.:

It's not just that this fascinating find was listed below an article on Paris Hilton's lifestyle, it's that Paris Hilton got yet another headline. Hey CNN: You're part of the problem. Stop propping up Paris Hilton into the category of important, and maybe...just maybe, society will too in time.

Indeed

"If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well."

- Martin Luther King Jr.

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