Catching up with Keegan

Several posts back I promised some photos from Keegan's first haircut. One of the drawbacks to using 35mm film instead of a digital camera is that it takes a while to finish a roll of film, get it developed and upload the pictures on the not-free CD that Wolf Camera provides with the pictures. The upside of 35mm film is that you usually capture pictures from a number of events. And I get to pass on that bounty to you today.

Here we are outside Bob's Barber Shop:

Uhh, what exactly are you planning to do with that thing?

Check out that fro!!

My future's so bright, I got to wear shades!

Keegan is constantly on the move. And he has a full mouth of teeth -- the better to smile with.

A few weeks ago, Keegan started school. He goes to Jen's-free-Wednesday-morning preschool at a nearby church. He really seems to enjoy it. He's been three weeks now, and we have three pieces of art to show for it. By Christmas, we should be able to wallpaper the guest room with his original works. Fine by me. Here's K-Man on his first day of school with the bag the school made us buy to carry all of his artwork.

You may recall my previous posts about playing softball. Well, the pants must have worked. Our firm team won the league playoffs. It's got to be the pants. Here's Keegan with the trophy.

How to write a song

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a roadmap to good song writing? This video may help you in your quest. That is, if your quest is to write a song for a 98 Degrees cover band.

The video is a student production that was entered in the Highbridge Film Festival earlier this year in Wilmore. And it is hilarious! I ate lunch today with the lead "singer" in the video. Funny guy. He is also one of the class sponsors for Marie-Claire's freshmen class at AC. (NOTE: the song is by a band that is no longer performing and has a number of other "not-so-clean" tunes, so I am not including their web address for you. The guys in the video are not in that band. Just clarifying.)

Headed to Wilmore

I am writing from the relatively comfortable seats outside Gate D-35 at the Atlanta airport waiting for my flight to Lexington. For some crazy reason, the powers that be at our alma mater, nominated me to the Alumni Board. The board's fall meeting starts today. What this means is that tomorrow I get to wear a suit around campus and sit in the back at chapel in Hughes Auditorium. The board will be recognized and several hundred students will gaze our way and wonder what they'll be doing when they're as old as that group of people. And I am old because when we were at AC, the women had to wear skirts to class and the men had to wear collared shirts (ah, the days when mock turtlenecks caused a certain level of consternation. Is that a collar or a t-shirt? Do I want to have an argument with this student about the presence or absence of a collar or just lecture about the War of 1812?). Now the kids can wear shorts to dinner in the cafeteria. Shorts people!! In the center of campus! REM was right.

Before I left today, I got to watch Keegan eat his oatmeal. He gave me this cute look. That kid is awesome.

Cadbury's Gorilla Ad

Some friends sent me this ad recently. They wanted me to share it with you.



The timing is curious as well because Jen and I were having a discussion in the last couple of weeks about how any guy I know who listens to this song does that same exact thing at that moment in the song no matter where they are. Well, I know I do.

Clips from the Original

Many have caught on to the NBC version of The Office. However, the original British series remains the standard by which Michael Scott and company will be measured. This first clip is a bit of practical joking between Tim and Gareth (counterparts to Jim and Dwight).



Later on the stapler saga continues.



And a little wisdom from David Brent, Regional Manager.



I am headed to Gainesville tomorrow to watch the Gators take on the Men of Troy. Uh, Troy, Alabama, that is. For you UGA fans, look out for the Ole Ball Coach. He'll be in Athens tomorrow with some of his ball plays.

Summer Vacation at The Office

As we go into the unofficial last weekend of summer, here's a dose of funny to kick start the weekend. In case you were wondering, Michael Scott and company enjoyed a busy summer as well. Here's what they've been up to.

The Fist Pound

One of the great things about having a child is getting the kid to do funny or cute things. Any parent will tell you they've taught their kid something to do to make the parent's friends laugh or ooh and ahh about how adorable the kid is. Any parent who denies training their kid to do cute stuff is lying to you. We've taught Keegan to do the high five, but what kid doesn't do that? It's almost cliché at this point.

The other night. Jen brought Keegan to my softball game and left him with me so she and a friend could go watch the Cincinnati Bengals secondary make Joey Harrington look like Dan Marino. We went for the proverbial post-game pizza at a nearby Mellow Mushroom. I sat K-Man in between me and a fellow attorney I work with, Josh. Josh was kind enough to share the crackers that came with his salad with Keegan to help tie him over until the pizza arrived. I think the gesture endeared Josh to Keegan because a little while later, Keegan was giving Josh a little pat on the back like "Thanks for the crackers old man. That was very cool of you because I was a little hungry and the pizza isn't coming for a while." That evolved into me getting Keegan to give Josh five. Everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed on cue. Josh though decided to shake things up a bit and tried to teach K-Man the fist pound. Josh would put his fist out there waiting for Keegan to pound back. Keegan recognized that Josh was extending the fist as a friendly gesture, but the only way Keegan knew to reply was with the high five. So the fist got high-fived. Looked a little awkward like when one guy goes to shake hands with someone he kind of knows, and the other guy comes in with the full-on hug. Whoa dude, that was awkward.

Josh was very patient with K-Man though. He curled up Kee's fingers to make a tiny, Kiwi-sized fist and then gently tapped his fist to Kee's. Then the lesson continued. Kee kept trying to high five Josh's fist. And each time, Josh would patiently ball up Kee's hand and show him again. It didn't look like Keegan was catching on. So I gave Kee a sip of his lemonade, and the table conversation moved on. Then seemingly out of nowhere, Keegan held out his fist to Josh. And Josh responded in kind. Then Kee held out his fist to me. I pounded back. Then he extended the fist across the table. Methodically moving around until everyone had the chance to pound it out (as the kids like to say). Then he started over. And around and around we went. I took a picture of one of the many fist pounds with my cell phone. Here's the result of that:

It was great to watch Keegan figure out what was going on. To process what Josh was teaching him and what his response was supposed to be. To learn that what he knew (the high five) was not what was needed here. There was something else to use in this situation. Fist = fist. Open hand = high five. Got it. Not only had he learned what to do in the situation, but he figured out that he could initiate this ritual. So the next time you see this 20-month-old boy, pound it out.