Goose Egg

Come on, people. In a post, a few days ago, I asked for ideas for baby names... and received ZERO response. Nada. Zilch. Jack squat.

Alright. This baby is not going to name himself. If we don't get some feedback, he's going to be called Gandalf and Rachel's mom is going to kill us.

In other bairn-related news...

This weekend, we visited the clinic for a check-up and found out all is well with mother and child. Another sonogram for the baby book! If any of the Western community here in town has a scanner, we'd love to scan and post some of the in-utero pics of our pride and joy. Or if any of you know of a Korean version of Kinko's, that would be great. Until I get these pics scanned, let me just tell you, we have a 3D shot of the kid and he's a cutie! (In lieu of a baby pic, here's a picture of Mokpo Harbor that Rachel snapped last year.)

Thanks to the few of you who have used the Plugoo chat box over there to the left of this post. I've enjoyed talking to you! It's nice to know this humble little 'blog has a dedicated reader or two.



----------------
Listening to: Beck - [Stray Blues #05] Lemonade [foobar2000 v0.9.3.1]
via FoxyTunes

Ill Communication

For those of you who cannot get enough Dave in your diet...

Look over there in the sidebar for the box that says, "Talk to Dave!" See it? Okay: now enter a nickname and type something in the appropriate fields. Good. Now hit enter and and the magic of the intranets will transport the words right into my brain (assuming said brain is awake and logged in). I'll just as magically respond with words of wisdom and/or despair. Voila!

It's like television, only you can see much further!

If you want to add this neat little widget to your blog, be sure to visit the folks at Plugoo.

What, Me Worry?

At my core, I am an optimist.

In a month, I will be thirty-six years old. In two months, I will be a father. Sometime this summer, Rachel and I have to decide if we will remain in Korea for a third year, move to another country where she teaches ESL and I play stay-at-home dad, or return to the U.S. It's a lot to consider in a short span of time.

Maybe we'll stay in Korea and watch as the Republicans steal another election and the United States begins continues to disintegrate under the heel of corporate political influence. Maybe the Democrats will win and, emboldened by a perception of weakness in America, terrorists will strike again and again within our borders. Maybe a third-party candidate will rise from the stink of Nader's failure to... ha-ha, just kidding.

At my core, I am an optimist. I have read too much science fiction to be anything else. Asimov's Foundation and the 30,000 year sweep of psychohistory, Roddenberry's Federation of Planets, Heinlein's long-lived residents of Tertius led by Lazarus Long: these are the shining examples of mankind's destiny where the only problems are The Mule, the Trouble with Tribbles, and finding Time Enough for Love.

The smudge on my rose-colored glasses can be found in other science-fiction: 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 are the two best known examples of Dystopian futures. There are thousands more in short story and novel forms. All carry a central message: man will destroy himself. For all the invasions from Mars, killer comets, solar events, for every galactic calamity to befall the Earth, there is always a character who sells out the human race on some scale, large or small, for personal and usual temporary gain.

I say again: at my core, I am an optimist. But, I am disappointed in people. I see the potential in our human race. I see the wonder-filled futures our greatest minds have imagined. And I see us pissing it all away... just in time for my boy to grow up in a world that has failed.

The Difference a Day Makes

After several days of snow and sleet, Mokpo is finally seeing some sunshine. Though we're happy the sun is out (seen below, it is actually setting over Mt. Yudal), Rachel really wanted to see a foot of snow on the ground so she could have a day off.

All is well with us here in southern South Korea. Last year was among the strangest of my life, full of both joy and grief. Here's hoping 2008 is twice as happy and only half as sad.

In other news, Rachel and I have finally reached our wit's ends trying to come up with a name for Baby St. John. Leave a comment (click "Comments" below) if you have any suggestions. Remember these few guidelines:

1. The baby's middle name will be "Allen", so the first name must work with that.
2. The first name must have at least two syllables so we can effectively yell it across the neighborhood at dinner time.
3. No made-up, yuppie, ghetto or hippie names. For example: Soda, Skyler, Synomius, and Starshine are all out of the running.

That's it. If you have an idea, please feel free to share. If you suggest the name we choose, there might even be a cash award.