I haven’t posted much lately, for obvious reasons: Jack continues to eat, sleep, smile, coo and otherwise grow into an even cuter chip-off-the-old-blocks. He’s especially fascinated with being outside and the purr of a washing machine from the Infant Calm CD someone gave us. I’ve been finishing up a demo CD of new music at the request of an old friend who has pledged to get it to some prominent listeners. My focus is on shorter, stripped-down pieces and reworked past compositions. Drop me a line if you would like a copy (at a discount price, no less!). I posted some favorite tracks which didn’t make the cut as well as a forgotten mix of tracks from 2001. My reading list has been very heavy with non-fiction of late, so I have a short list of fiction titles waiting to buy. This weekend, we participated in our first wine-tasting for a local newspaper column. I quite enjoyed having a host introduce each wine and then being able to discuss our impressions. I wrote and then scrapped a long post of my first impressions about being a new parent. Long story short: I highly recommend it. Cheers,

You will find your priorities rearranged upon delivery of your new ‘bundle of joy,’ with taking care of your kid’s every need in the top spot. Your own sleeping and eating will fall in rank somewhere below washing bottles, doing laundry and buying groceries. ‘Buying groceries’ will come to mean diapers, baby wipes, infant formula, your caffeinated drink of choice and anything else you can grab for a quick snack. The most complicated thing you’ll have time to make is spaghetti and/or a high ball cocktail. Let take-out food become your friend, but avoid fast food (except as a guilty-treat). Don’t worry about that weight you gained during the pregnancy (dads included); you’ll use-up those ‘reserves’ quickly by staying up all night and not eating. That nervous energy you may feel is part total fear of doing something wrong, part hunger, part sleep-deprivation, and part depression at the loss of your ability to do whatever you darn well please for the forseeable future. If it gets too bad, get some samples of an anti-depressant from your doctor (that’s what they’re for). Also, invest in a good multi-vitamin and take it every day. If you can, use your saved-up vacation days to be around the house for as long as possible the first month (there’s no such thing as ‘maternity leave’ anymore, it seems). Get a loan to pay-off your credit cards and consolidate your debt; you’ll need the extra money in your monthly budget for child care. Forget buying that next-big-thing and spend it on the coolest stroller you can find that’s worth every penny. Speaking of child care, you should start calling around shortly after you find out you’re expecting, as most waiting lists are nine to twelve months out. Otherwise, you’ll be left on the ‘wanting list’ and have to make a mad scramble to find somewhere that’s licensed and trustworthy. Take lots of pictures of your new baby, because in a few short months you’ll never believe he or she used to be so tiny (or quiet). Plus, friends and family can keep up on how the baby is growing (and send gifts). Plan for someone to watch the baby at least once a week so you and your spouse can go out to lunch or have dinner and a movie; you will need it. Lastly, remember The Golden Rule on the Ins and Outs of a newborn baby: Food goes in, poop comes out. :)

About a week ago, my old LG mobile phone finally gave up the ghost. After years of being dropped, kicked and banged-about, it wouldn’t stay powered-on.

I had long used Verizon Wireless as my service provider, but they’ve been leaving me cold for quite a while: I find their former “Can you hear me now?” and the current “It’s the Network” ads to be annoying; I have no use for the flagship V CAST features which they’re hawking to The Kids; the phones they offer are either overpriced (Palm Treo 700p), limited, unacceptable (Windows Mobile), and/or lackluster to me. On top of all that, I don’t care for their logo, identity and that signature red — hey, I’m a designer, and these things matter. I had similar opinions of T-Mobile, US Cellular, Sprint and the minor carriers in my area.

So, I switched to Cingular. Their ads are on-target (”Raising the bar”); their plans seem flexible and straight-forward (I can add the features I want and pay for others as needed); they had the phone I wanted (Motorola SLVR L7 with iTunes); even their logo and identity feels contemporary and concise to me — great design is about identification as well as features, benefits and experience, after all. Before switching, I read some of the negative reviews, but they seem like the standard complaints every company has to handle. Ordering and transfering my number, activation and adding features were all quick and easy. Their service is great and highly recommended.