I’m a father! I’ve known for the last nine months that this was going to happen but it was still ridiculously surprising because nothing — no book, no experienced father’s words of wisdom, no romantic comedy where a bumblingly dashing british man comes to terms with being a father — can prepare you for what it feels like. I have been walking around for days with this crazy high (is the high overcoming or being aided by not sleeping more than 3 hours at a time?).

On December 13th, Isabella Grace Nabicht was born. I really couldn’t do anything during the process but be comforting; Simone did all the heavy lifting. Normally when a child is born it goes straight to the hands of the mother. However, Isabella was stubborn and put her arms above her head, trying to come out waving her hands in the air like she just don’t care. This means Simone had to have a C-Section. So when Isabella was born she was put into my arms. I was able to feed her and hold her and that amazing feeling of this tiny (6lbs, 10oz) human staring at you wide-eyed and sticking her tongue out will stay with me forever.

There will be more later, but for now I’ll just leave you with video I posted from the recovery room, about 40 minutes after she was born:

This year I’m doing NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the first time. Here is what it is all about. But the basics are that I have to write a 50,000 word novel in the month of November.  I start at the stroke of midnight November 1st and it is pen down, fingers off the keyboard and tally up those words as the last seconds tick away on November 30th.

50,000 words in one month.  That’s roughly 1667 words a day. I’m usually pretty busy during the week but I have 9 weekend days in November so that should help. Plus I have Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday and even though I’m traveling it is relaxed traveling so that should help some. Plus, it doesn’t have to be good.  I don’t want to write “All work and no play makes Peter a something something” 5000 times but at the same time words on a page are words on a page and gets the writing started.

I’m going to try to actually do it but I have a pretty busy November without the writing and a lot of other things that don’t have hard deadlines but I need to do, such as build a changing table for the nursery and hang chair railing, and rake leaves. But I would like to write and hopefully this will get me going.

Hey! The above is 256 words, or approximately 15% of what I’ll need to write every day and that didn’t take too long to do.  Now I just need something to write about…

What did I just say? Did I say I’m using a 27″ iMac as a TV near the workout equipment?

I did. And you are thinking it is complete overkill. Well, you’d be right. It is utterly ridiculous overkill in all of its glory! But hey, the wife wanted to be able to watch Hulu while working out and I like to give the wife what she wants.

(Okay, so she didn’t really have that request until after I bought the iMac, mounted it on a pivot arm, installed Hulu desktop, and showed her how it worked but I’m using revisionist history for my justifications now, which makes everything a bit easier in the end.)

The Hulu desktop client is fantastic! Full screen streaming video with hundreds of professionally produced shows at our finger tips. When I’m watching my Teleputer Vision I see the future. TVs and computers are blending and eventually there won’t be a need for a cable box/receiver/DVD player/BluRay/whathaveyou. Eventually it will just be a computer with a big ass screen that connects to the interwebs and gets you what you want.

All that is left to make this happen is a successful business model and I think Hulu might be close. I’m sure it isn’t being monetized properly yet but I’m also sure that isn’t far off (or at least as sure as a hunch allows me to be).

Oh, and speaking of Hulu… Just watched the pilot of White Collar and I very much enjoyed it. I have a new show to watch on my workout TV overkill!

So, some quick catchup.

• Simone is pregnant! Come the end of December I’ll be a daddy. It’s gonna be a girl!
• I moved into a house this summer (with a yard!) and even though it is new construction I like working on it
• The Cubs broke my heart yet again.
• I got a Big Green Egg for my second wedding anniversary (BBQ posts to come)

I love it when a coach says “No more!” and says it loud and clear and with a conviction that cannot be doubted.

So, for your viewing pleasure, I present the new Iron Mike:

There was a push to open it up to more grapes than the old school 100% sangiovese grapes.  But these whipper-snappers were put squarely in their place.  Huzah!

I’m going to have to open a bottle of the before mentioned nectar of the Tuscan hillsides and do a bit of imbibing in celebration.
(By the way, this ruling also applies to Rosso di Montalcino — again: Huzah!)

This sideline angle clearly shows the ref tracking the QB and then moving forward to initiate contact. And the shameful thing for college football? The ref hasn’t been punished or publicly reprimanded in any way.

Brokers with hands on their face

The name says it all and the photos are a great alternative way of documenting our economic issues.