Making stumbling progress with cell phones, internet, and cable tv plans for Portland.
The other day we stopped by Changing Hands, a local used bookstore because Saori wanted a book of baby names, something to read together, strike out names, and find inspiration. There some really awful, cloying books which included newborns staged in photos inside seashells, some books with names from all around the world, and then a book about the baby name wizard.
This book is fascinating to me because it gives you baby names, sure, but sorts the data on them, categorizing them by feel, popularity, trends, and breaks down naming trends on a state-level. It explains the implications of the cultural phenomena when everyone wants to have a unique baby name, and it talks about why all of our peers are "stealing" our baby names. It's a fascinating text on sociology, taste, branding, and generational culture- especially for someone who works in the business of sociology and culture. And it's quite funny too.
"Jett" and "Tate", for example, both came from a list of a 50 or so "light and breezy" names which are all currently in the top 200 names for boys. The website paired with the book is also fascinating: babynamewizard.com which has interactive graphs for first name popularity stretching back to the 1880's.
The second book is a baby guide for dads, a la the Boy Scout Handbook, titled "Be Prepared" and featuring retro style charcoal sketches, diagrams, and lists. The rounded corners and water-resistant cover also give nods to the Handbook. It's upbeat, "get it done" kind of attitude, and funny, but the kind of humor gives me a strange feeling that once I'm a father, I'm not going to find it so amusing. Especially after reading about Colic.
Actually, I feel very prepared to be a father. I just bought a pair of Columbia active sandals, and, consulting the family tree, it turns out that I come from a long line of fathers!
Anyway. Speaking of parenting, today we went to BuyBuy Baby, so named because Baby-Bed, -Bath, and -Beyond ran into copyright issues, and picked up a wedge shaped pillow for Saori's rounding form. Bite of lunch at KFC since it's been a few years, and then ran by Fry's Electronics for a check of cell phones.
Dinner of sauteed zucchini and eggplant over reheated rice. Then a fruit smoothie for dessert. Drove out to the Wal-Mart to search for an adapter to see if Saori's sim card would work in my phablet. No adapter, but bought some more fruits and veg. And soap and shampoo.
Saw two coyotes tonight.
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