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Looking for a recommendation of a good diaper bag for daddy.  I currently have a messenger bag style bag but it is a little too small and I really want a backpack.  I am hoping to find something big enough to hold my macbook as well.  I would appreciate any recommendations.  Thanks!

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. You can comment here or there.

Wordpress – Bloging app -Covered previously.  Nice but still on the buggy side. At least for me, has limited use until Apple adds spell check. Would like to see an approve comments function in a future version.

NowLocal – News -Nice concept, gives local news based iPhone location data.  I only used it a couple of times, but seems to work fairly well.  It is a quick way to get some local news

Blip Solitaire – Game – Boring, reminds me of a bad old Atari game. You drag your finger along the screen, moving the paddle to bounce a little ball from side to side.  Blahhh

Cube Runner – Game – You navigate a boomerang plane type thing though a series of cube type structures.  The ship is controlled by turning the iPhone like a steering wheel activating the tilt sensors.  Fun game but to easy to waste time on…

Shakespeare – E-book - Easy way to carry around the complete works of Shakespeare.  Unfortunately, this is pretty barebones.  I would love to see a notes function, or commentary, modern translations etc.  But it is free.

eReader – E-book – nice to finally have an e-book reader for the iPhone, without having to jailbreak.  You can buy books or at eReader.com or Fictionwise.  Features are still pretty limited.  Bookmarks work by remembering the last page you were on.   Still pretty barebones, but no real complaints.  I would be willing to pay for a decent reader that handled multiple formats, could reflow PDF text and had support for notes. 

AOL Radio – Music – Stream AOL music channels, same ones available through AIM/AOL. Since I haven’t yet upgraded to a 3G phone, this is really only useful when wifi is available.  Most stations won’t stream or won’t stream well over edge.  Hopefully will run well over 3G.  I will let you know next month!

AIM – IM – Not bad if you need to ping someone while out and about.  Not sure if this is a function of being on a first Gen edge phone, but service disconnects if AIM is not open and active.  I am rarely so engaged in an IM conversation that I would want to have it as the only app I am using.  For me AIM is for quick responses and multitasking,  without it working the background, I find it pretty useless. 

Twitterific –IM/miniblog – There is a pay version of this program, but the free version is ad supported.  I like this app a lot, might be the one I use most.  You can update location (works better on 3g phone I am told), load twitterpics from library or direct from camera, and of course tweet to your hearts content.  Biggest drawback is there isn’t a view reply button.

Google App – I tend to forget about this one.  It basically consolidates all of the Google services built into other areas of the iPhone.  I could see using it more if I didn’t have an year of iPhone information gathering habits already established.

Facebook-bloggish thing – Nice way to easily update status.  You can snap pictures and upload to your status and mobile pictures.  Access your facebook inbox, even chat with online friends.  Fun little app, very useful to facebook addicts. 

_____________

Update

Left off one of my favorites.  NYTimes – great way to read the morning paper!  Would love a Washington Post version.

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. You can comment here or there.

Trying out the Wordpress App for the iPhone. It was easy to setup. Creating new post adding tags and catagories seems intutive. This is actually my second attempt at posting. The save button was missing first go round and I lost the post. It is a nice little app but given my challenges with spelling I doubt I will use it regularly. Apple, I need me some spell check!

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Joss Whedon rocks.  Neil Patrick Harris brilliant.  Nathan Fillion hilarious.  Felicia Day totally geeky hot.

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Melissa and I, well mostly Melissa, had our sonogram last week.  There was a beautiful heartbeat and everything appears to be on track for baby number two come February.   I’m really glad we are settled into our new place. The desire for baby number two was one of our primary motivations for moving in the first place and we found such a wonderful neighborhood.  I always wanted children, but the actual experience is so far above my expectations that I truly don’t have the words to describe.  In some ways I think I am more excited this time around.  Well that isn’t actually fair to say.  It is a very different experience on multiple levels.   Since we have been through this before, the fear factor is kept in check.  I am doing a much better job of finding a work/life balance and I am really just more present on so many levels that I can’t get into without completely over sharing.  Suffice it to say, I am in a much better place emotionally then I have been in sometime. 

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Ok going to work today smells, feel, practically tastes like the summer school*.  I shouldn’t be inside.   My day should start off with swim practice, followed by a tennis match.  Head over to the driving range to smack the crap out of some gold balls.  Play with my friends.  Grab some lunch.  Kick back with a book poolside.  Dive practice.  More play time with friends.  Meet my parents for an early dinner at the mixed grill.  Play with the neighborhood kids and chase fireflies.  Book and/or TV. Sleep and repeat. 

Don’t get me wrong, regardless of how pampered my childhood seems from this sketch of a better but not completely atypical summer day, I saw my share of dark and crappy things.  We all have our scars.

*I was a semi regular summer school attendee.   I went to a prep school pre ADA which couldn’t seem to grasp the fact that with even basic accommodations for my dyslexia I would have been a phenomenal student. 

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While I typically prefer fiction, I could not put this book down.  Bryson takes us through his childhood growing up in the Midwest during the 50’s.  He did an amazing job of channeling the child/boy he was. It was a more innocent time, shown through the eyes of a child.  As the Memoir (yeah I know dirty word these days) progresses, Bryson is able to parallel his own loss of innocence with that of the times.  While I was born in the East some 20 years later, the world he recreated reminded me very much of my own early childhood.  In many ways the 70’s were the dying embers of the 50’s.  I remember with vivid detail my first crush and my curiosity/obsession with the opposite sex. TV before cable with it’s morning/late night test patterns, constant stream of old re-runs, limited selection and far less sophisticated content - it was an all together different medium.  Parents still thought it was safe for kids play outside.  Globalization had yet to flatten the earth.  Most nightmares were still on the news, not your backyard.  Even DC was safe as long as you stayed out of South East. It was a wonderful reminder of my early childhood; I hope I can provide even a fraction of that for my own children. 

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Originally published at Corey J Feldman. You can comment here or there.

For those of you who have had or have been a child in the last 60 years, you may be familiar with Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.  While on a hunt for our latest book club read we happened across Goodnight Bush: A Parody By Gan Golan (Author), Erich Origen (Author), an absolutely hilarious parody of Goodnight Moon framing the stupidity of the Bush Administration.  Melissa vetoed the purchase, but I could not stop laughing so I will definitely be picking myself up a copy in the not to distant future. 

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Had a wonderful weekend.  I didn’t do any writing, but you know what, that is OK.  I don’t think I spent more then 15 minutes at my computer all weekend.  Not to say I embraced a luddite way of life, I had my trusty iPhone, even made a couple Joshua related blog post straight from the Jesus phone.   I did not think about work until I hit the gym this morning – work related reading material in hand.  While the pregnant 4pm Friday before a holiday weekend phone call did indeed come, I had left at 2 and no one bothered my cell.  What I did do this weekend was spent quality time with my wife and son.  We read, gardened, shopped, hung photos on previously barren walls, played with Joshua, rode the CJ Park train and went for walks.  Actually Melissa walked and pushed the jogging stroller and I strapped on the roller blades and entertained Joshua with my wheeling around.  It was a wonderful weekend filled with family, love and joy.  It was a beautiful reminder of why I get up every morning; battle the demons (traffic, work and personal) happily and without reservation. 

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Looks like we can skip the housekeeper this week.

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Joshua.jpg

Originally uploaded by coreyjf

Joshua doing his chores…

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Does anyone in the DC area know where I can reliably get some high quality freshly roasted coffee beans?  Potomac/Bethesda/Rockville would be ideal; I will venture into DC in necessary.  Most of the boutique coffee shops I have been hitting seem to be hit and miss in terms of quality and freshness.  I would appreciate any suggestions, feel free to comment or email corey@coreyjf.com    

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. You can comment here or there.

Joshua is going through a mommy only stage.  If Melissa is home, he wants nothing to do with me.  We are fine if it is just the two of us, but if he knows Melissa is anywhere around, he will have a fit until she picks him up.  I know I am not around as much I would like.  But it is not like he doesn’t know who I am, he sees me every morning. I try to give him his bottle.  And at least once or twice a week I get home in time to see him before bed.  While I may not be so good at the work life balance during the week, I am home most weekends.  My two working theories are 1) he remembers that I am the one who held him down when he got his shots. 2) He associates me with Melissa leaving e.g. she will need some down time on the weekend, or is teaching toga class at night, and he he knows he is getting the B team.  Of course there is also the third possibility that it is just a phase and he will be back to Daddy Daddy Daddy in no time,  well Dada was his first word.   

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I would like to say happy mothers day to my beautiful wife Melissa and tell the world how lucky Joshua and I are to have her.

I would also like to wish a happy mothers day to all the wonderful mothers in my life. 

My good friend Deanna Hoak, shares her views on motherhood.  Deanna is a talented copyeditor and mother, please check out her post and site.

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. You can comment here or there.

The GINA is almost law.  The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) has cleared congress after 13 years of debate.  In one of the only positive moves to come out of this Administration/ Near Hollywood style parody of unfathomable incompetence, President George (too stupid for Words) Bush is expected to sign it into law.  Why is this a good thing?  Because knowledge is power and power is to often abused.  A few years ago I sat with my wife at a conference on Crohn’s & Colitis, one of the speakers was urging suffers to participate in genetic testing.  I urged her to wait.  While I know I was doing a disservice to other with this disease, there is a very real danger with allowing the wrong people to get a hold of the code, that in-part, makes us who we are.  I am strong believer in the progress of science, but the fear that she or our children*could be discriminated against based on this Mitzvah** could – well, as they say, no good deed goes unpunished.  GINA, once it becomes law will help allay those concerns.  GINA has the opportunity to help shape the future of humanity, create a world were we can reap the rewards medical progress without the fear of personal reprisal for the gift of sharing our fundamental nature.   This may yet prove to be the one positive legacy that Bush leaves to humanity. 

*currently one - at the time none

** I do believe that understanding our nature through science is a Mitzvah

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Looks like I am going to have to make another trip to Home Depot, the new vegetation is attracting rabbits.  They seem to be coming in under the fence door which has about a 6 inch clearance.  I will have to rig something up to block access this weekend. Fortunately the door swings inwards towards the patio, so it shouldn’t be to difficult. 

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Real Life

Saturday was gardening day.   Took a trip to Lowe’s and the Potomac Gardening Center and came away with lots of plants, flowers, herbs and vegetables.  I never thought I would get into gardening but I found it relaxing, rejuvenating and was filled with a sense of accomplishment.  I think I did a pretty good job and I am really looking forward to the veggies and herbs coming up.  I have a few pictures on Flicker if you want to check out the fruits of my labor.   Saturday evening, I helped my brother load up a U-haul to help with their impending move.  Between the gardening and the packing I was expecting to be pretty sore but I am actually feeling OK. 

Sunday morning Melissa taught a Yoga class so I babysat* Joshua.  Anyways, we drove to downtown Bethesda, walked around and grabbed some breakfast.   We ate in the courtyard in front of Barnes & Nobles and it was good bonding time.  Joshua went wild for all of the dogs on show.  He really loves animals. 

Joshua is now officially a toddler, I wish we caught it on video…  He has been cruising and walking with push toys since he was 7 months but refused to take a step without a toy, hand or piece of furniture for assistance.  That is until yesterday.   Well a couple weeks ago he started to take a few “unassisted” steps. Basically he had to already be walking with a decent amount of forward momentum, and we would have to pull our hand away.  We would take a few steps and sit down or dive into the couch.  Yesterday was different; I actually got him to take about 19 steps from a standing position.  It was pretty amazing to actually get to be there for such a huge first.    

Fiction

I got some writing done this weekend and even had a little break through on one of my projects.**  My protagonist has a mentor whose motivation for helping I have never quite been able to pin down.  Basically I had him call her on it.  Hey - why are you helping me…  I am not planning on keeping any of it, or at least not most of it.  It was more an exercise in understanding.  Biggest thing I realized, she is lying and my protag is too damn trusting - going to have to toughen him up. 

*Although I don’t think babysitting is the appropriate term when it’s your kid. 

**Maybe I would get one done if I actually worked on them one at a time.

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. You can comment here or there.

PodCastle is live (well sorta, it is a podcast).  As with it’s sister casts EscapePod and PsuedoPod,  PodCastle is a short audio magazine; it’s particular genre is fantasy.  I am a big fan of EscapePod which focuses on Science Fiction.  You have good stories and the host, Steve Eley is usually funny, occasionally thought provoking and always likeable.  I have to say I don’t regularly listen to PsuedoPod (horror).  This is not due to the quality of the stories or production, it just a little too gritty for my tastes.  With EscapePod I can only think of one or two stories were I hit the skip button, with PsuedoPod I have had a couple stories I loved, but they have been the exception.  I think part of this is timing.  I tend to listen to Podcasts on the commute and 495 is horror enough.  But back to PodCastle, their focus is fantasy and it is a welcome addition to my audio library.  All three magazines are free to download and share.  They do pay their authors, so if you like the stories make a donation.    

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Kidville is coming to Rockville.  My sister in-law and fellow blogger just posted some exciting news on the ways to entertain, education, exercise and socialize your child front.  I briefly looked through some of the classes, they do look fun.  To bad they don’t seem to offer any weekend programs; I would love to do something like this with Joshua.