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Mind the gap…

31 Mar

Being a parent is hard.

Putting aside all the stuff you experience once you join the club, the stuff people sugar-coat for you before you join the club, and then you realize everyone was lying—ready to say. “ha, gotcha!”, or they were too tired to remember the truth.

I just want to focus on the changes parents need to make when they are infront of their children.

Two things happened today, that made me realize that there are probably things I am teaching Owen that I shouldn’t be.

1) Tickling

Tickling Owen is awesome. Mostly because his laugh is awesome, and everyone is happy (and a little tired afterwards).

Today, Owen tried to tickle me.

Owen doesn’t understanding tickling.

Owen’s version is like having a baby try to torture you.

While getting dressed this morning, before putting on my pants, Owen runs up to me, and starts to pinch. My bare legs. With both hands.

All while giggling and smiling.

Each time I removed one of his pinchers, he used the other to replace it.

It was painful.

He loved it.

2) Frustration

While trying to get him dressed this morning, he wasn’t having it. He wanted to do anything other than get dressed.

I’m not a morning person, and I tend to breathe deep (and loudly) when I am frustrated.

So there I am, with an uncooperative baby, running late, consoling dog in the way.

I turn away and smack the floor to get everyones attention.

Finally, we get dressed, hugs, smiles, although we are running late, we are moving along.

Owen runs out of his room, and takes a deep breath and croutches towards the floor a smacks the floor.

Great, so now he pinching and smacking floors… can’t wait till he shows his mother.

 
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Posted in Parenting

 

Learning Annex

15 Mar

TV shows and movies always refer to someone taking classes at the “Learning Annex.”

This got me thinking, what kind of class would I take if there was a Learning Annex in Cleveland (if there is one, please tell me)?

 

Photography.

Before my son Owen was born, I bought a Nikon D60 DSLR camera (Thanks Coldplay!). For me, this was a big-boy camera. A Huge upgrade from my Sony Cybershot.

The camera is amazing. I feel like the photos are just so much better than the point-and-shoot.

People have always said the lens makes the difference. Now, I am a believer, the lens really does make a difference.

So, 1800 photos and 16 months later, I am still basically a newbie behind the viewfinder.

I don’t know what I am doing.

Zoom. Focus. Click.

I would love to take a class on basic photography so I can learn how to take better pictures of my little guy as he grows (quickly).

 

Cooking.

Now that we have a baby, we do more cooking at home. There is a lot less going out, and ordering-in.

I know some of the basics on how to cook. Since my wife is addicted to Food related TV programs and cookbooks, I have picked up a couple of tips and skills along the way.

But, it would be nice to take a class that covers the 101-type stuff. The class you have to take during your first semester at culinary school. That would be helpful.

At a minimum, my knife skills need improvement.

 

Painting / Drawing.

I like to think I am a creative person. I preferred art classes in High School. Originally intended on majoring in Graphic Design at Ohio University. And currently work in marketing. But, every-so-often, I feel a need for a creative outlet.

A drawing class, or a painting class could be a nice way to get the creative juices flowing again.

Maybe when Owen gets old enough, we can find a Father-Son version at the Art Museum.

 

What are something thing you would want to learn at a Learning Annex?

Is there one in Cleveland that I am not aware of?

Check out the online Learning Annex

Let me know!

 
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Posted in Personal

 

Getting Things Done…

04 Mar

I have become very focused lately on getting my to do list organized and getting things done on that list (almost obsessed).

The first step was to break my habit of downloading every To Do List manager I find. I have deleted every to do list on my iPhone and my Mac—except one.

For years, my to do list has transformed many times over. From pen and paper to some application, then back to pen and paper, then to a spread sheet, then back to pen and paper, then to some new web service, then back to pen and paper, and again back to another application.

For the longest time, I had invested time with Cultured Code‘s application Things. I used it while it was in Beta. I bought the 1.0 version at a discount. I bought the iPhone app, and eventually bought the iPad app. It is a beautiful app. Well done. Easy to use.

But I was finding that there were a couple limitations that I kept banging up against.

I haven’t read David Allen‘s book on Getting Things Done, but it is on my list. Most of these Task Managers, from what I understand, try to espouse the principles David Allen presents in his book.

Theory and principles aside, Task Managers, in my opinion, should make it easy to collect tasks, organize tasks and projects, and to set yourself up for more successful completion of those tasks.

With Things, I felt like I was spending more time organizing tasks than I was completing them.

The more I read about GTD, and the more I heard podcasts tak about GTD, there is one application that was mentioned over and over as the consensus best in the field: OmniFocus.

I tried to stay away from it purely because of the cost. Who pays $80 for a Task Manager (I think I paid $30 for Things)? But I just couldn’t get away from hearing about how OmniFocus was the best solution for GTD.

The breaking point was when I was listening to the Minimal Mac podcast. Patrick, the man behind Minimal Mac, prefers to use pen and paper for task management. But there are times when he need something with some power for more complicated projects, and hand-down OmniFocus is his choice.

So I went to the OmniFocus site, I watched the intro videos, and immediately bought it from the Mac App Store.

Quickly, I found the app to be intuitive and easy to use. Immediately I wanted to explore more. How can I use this to the fullest? How other people use it? And of course, I had a lot of questions.

The learning curve is more steep than any other task manager I have tried, but I am finding that after a couple of weeks, I am collecting more task, I am on top of more projects, and I am completing more tasks.

Of course, I bought the iPhone and iPad apps shortly after getting started.

And as of right now, I feel organized, and I am getting things done.

What do you use to keep track of your tasks?

Now on to that book…

 
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Posted in Tech + Gadgets

 

Breaking News…Read all about it…

15 Feb

How do you get your news?

Do you read the paper in the morning? Do you watch SportsCenter on ESPN? Do you log on to CNN.com 10 times a day?

I get my news from the local paper, the internet. some iOS apps. and from Twitter.

But the majority of my news comes from RSS (really simple syndication) feeds.

185 feeds (and counting).

Some professional news sources like MSNBC and ESPN. Some local bloggers like the Cleveland Foodie and Cleveland Frowns. Some web designers like Chris Coyier and Trevor Davis. Photographers. Fantasy sports analysts. Apple fanatics. Blogger Dads. Book Publishers. etc., etc., etc.

I feel like I have tried every app on the market to help manage RSS feeds. but I know I haven’t even scratched the surface.

I started with Safari, and quickly hated it. I moved on the NetNewsWire for the Mac and the iPhone, which later required a Google Reader account to sync, so I ditched NetNewsWire for the simple web page interface of Google Reader, and the Google Reader interface for the iPhone was simple and easy to use. I tried FlipBoard. I tried Pulse.

But I think I have found my favorite.

Reeder.

For Mac. For iPhone. For iPad.

Reeder is simple. Clean. Easy to use. Syncs quickly with Google Reader. And allows for easy selection of all unread feeds, or a specific site’s feed. And, when I email myself articles, my email address is pre-loaded. A great app, highly recommended.

How do you get your news?

 
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Posted in Tech + Gadgets

 

I am an Apple fanboy . . .

27 Jan

AppleHello my name is Chris, and I am addicted to Apple.

I am sure there is a support group somewhere, but at times, that is how I feel.

I am not a switcher, I’ve never really used a Windows PC much. I’ve been a Apple user since day one.

I bought my first Apple Macintosh in the early 90s. It was an SE 30 with a 40MB (that’s megabyte) hard drive and a 3.5 in floppy disk drive, and color monitor.

I bought it from a friend for about $300.

I was hooked.

Since then, I’ve owned a Performa, a Powerbook, the original Bondi Blue iMac, the white iMac, two iBooks, a MacBook Pro, a 3rd generation iPod, all four iPhones, an iPad, an Airport Express, the original Apple TV, and a Time Capsule.

I am glued to RSS Feeds about Apple. I watch the keynote announcements. I follow the rumor blogs.

If there is a question about an Apple product, there is a decent chance I know the answer, or I am happy to go find it.

I have helped dozens of people switch from Windows to Mac, and I have even been hired to consult or troubleshoot a person’s Mac.

I’m not sure what it is, how Apple was able to take hold of my interests and turn it into an addiction (who really gets excited about the release of an Operating System?).

Perhaps it is the secrecy of their corporate workings? Or the surprise when they unveil unimaginable innovation? Or the experience of using an Apple product.

Sure, it isn’t perfect, but there is a definite experience, and for that, I am addicted.

 
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Posted in Tech + Gadgets

 

Hello 2011

18 Jan

Well 2010 is in the books, and we begin the journey of 2011.

Although 2010 was a blur, having a kid will do that to you, it was littered with milestones and achievements.

Of course there are many things I resolve to accomplish in 2011, but I embark on the new year with a sense of understanding that I might not accomplish all of them, or any of them, but at least I am going to give it a try:

- I would like to spend as much time as I can with my family;
- I would like to lose some weight;
- I would like to be more active;
- I would like to read more;
- I would like to learn more;
- I would like to complete a house project;
- I would like to maintain a blog;

That should be enough to keep me busy for the next 12 months.

I know that personal blogs don’t tend to have much traffic or interest from outside parties, I mean who really wants to hear me rant about Cleveland politics, or gush over some new Apple toy. Who really cares about my experience as a new father at Babies R Us, or my review of a really cool iOS app?

I do.

This blog is going to be my project, my attempt to get myself to write more, to photograph more, to debate more, to reason more, to praise more, and to better myself as a person.

So, if you find yourself reading this page, and you want to read more, cool. Comment. Let’s get a dialogue going. If not, then thanks for stopping by, I hope we run into each other another time.

So, with all that said, bring it on 2011. Time to work out those writing muscles.

 
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Posted in Personal