Parenthood summed up in four weeks

This amazing video shows a family of Robins over the course of four weeks, from egg onward. Wait for the ending. My heart breaks for the Mama Bird.

Our Perceived Ideals

Conan’s Dartmouth Commencement Address is good for a chuckle or two, but worth it just to hear him finally impart his wisdom gleamed from watching his predecessors and colleagues strive to become their ideal:
> It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. Its not easy, but if you accept your misfortune and handle it right, your perceived failure can become a catalyst for profound reinvention.
Almost three years ago I was laid off from what I considered a dream job. While a rational person will explain that getting laid off is not exactly a “failure,” try telling that to the person getting laid off, who like myself, couldn’t help but think that if they had done things differently, if they were somehow a better employee, a better person that they wouldn’t now be jobless. My getting laid off was made even more bitter by the fact that it happened just two weeks after learning my wife was pregnant with our second child. So not only had I failed as an employee, it felt as if I had failed as a husband and father as well.
Now three years later I am proud to say that my daughter has never known a day in her life where her father was not home during the day to greet her, hug her, or to pick her up when she wakes up from a nap. That my family has dinner every night *together*.
I hope I am never done reinventing myself, but this most recent incarnation is something I am very proud of.

Cousins

We just got back from Austin giving Harper (and Daisy too of course) a chance to spend time with his cousin Delia. It never ceases to amaze me that even though they are separated by thousands of miles, and the fact that they see each other only a couple of times a year for a couple of days at a time, that the intangible bond of family brings a closeness between the two which is honestly beautiful.
Harper and Delia in 2011:

And one of my favorites from [a previous visit almost three years ago](http://www.majordojo.com/2008/11/missing-each-other-already.php):

Garden Gnome, Harp-o-Bots and My Crafty Wife

Thanks to my wife, Halloween is a holiday I really enjoy because every year Arin works to out-do herself from the year before. Let’s review:
* Harper Year 1: [Spider](http://www.hairyalien.com/craftalicious/martha_modified.html)
* Harper Year 2: [Wild Thing](http://www.hairyalien.com/craftalicious/let_the_wild_rumpus_start.html)
* Harper Year 3: [Cowboy](http://www.hairyalien.com/the_good_life/happy_halloween_yall.html) and [Daisy](http://www.majordojo.com/photos/2009/10/daisy.php)
This year was an extra challenge because she had two kids to plan and create costumes for. And she didn’t disappoint. Best. Halloween. Ever. Photos after the jump.

Life’s a Beach

Some of my friends consider me to be a pretty good photographer (they obviously don’t know any better), but my favorite photographer is my wife. This photo is why:

It’s my new favorite.

Danny & Annie

Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

Danny Perasa and his wife, Annie, came to StoryCorps to recount their twenty-seven-year romance. As they remember their life together from their first date to Danny’s final days with terminal cancer, these remarkable Brooklynites personify the eloquence, grace, and poetry that can be found in the voices of everyday people when we take the time to listen.

Two quotes grab me the most:
> I could write on and on about her. She lights up the room in the morning when she tells me to put my hands on her shoulders so she can support me. She lights up my life when she says to me at night, “would you like a little ice cream?” or “would you please drink more water?” Those are not very romantic things to say, but they stir my heart. In my mind, in my heart, there has never been, there is not now, or never will be another Annie.
> To me, marriage is like color television. Once you have it you never want to go back to black and white.
Arin, if you are reading this, I love you.