Note: this is a letter that I wrote to my unborn son (due early August) last week.  It’s my sole contribution to Keturah’s baby shower.

Hey Jude,

You’re going to hear those two words A LOT.  I’m not kidding, either.  So many people are going to say lines to you such as “Hey Jude, don’t make it bad” or “Hey Jude, take a sad song and make it better.”  They’ll do so thinking that they are being witty and original.  In fact, as this letter is read to you for the first time, some of those people may be in the room right now.

But rest assured, there are couple good things about this future trend in your life. As your father, I am confident that there are two positive outcomes from your Mom and I deciding to name you Jude, thus sticking you with an eternity of “Hey Jude” references. 

First, there’s a very good chance it will spare you from a lifetime of people finding out what your last name is and asking “are you a dentist?”  From personal experience, I can tell you that I am simply stunned beyond belief when people say that to me and think that they are the first person to ever come up with that.  To be succinctly blunt…those people are dumb-asses.  There, I said it.

Second – and perhaps most importantly – “Hey Jude” by The Beatles is a really, really, REALLY good song.  It’s spectacular and that is not an exaggeration. When people hear that song on the radio, they turn it up so they can sing along.  They smile.  They laugh.  “Hey Jude” makes people feel wonderful.  There is no way you can listen to the song “Hey Jude” and not be filled with feelings of extreme joy and happiness.  Similarly, those same feelings of joy and happiness are what your mother, I, and countless others will feel when you are born and every time we think of you.  A simple song by The Beatles has brought so much joy to so many lives and your life will do the same thing.  

It is very important for you to know that you aren’t being named after a Beatles song.  I can’t stress that enough.  I only bring it up to prepare you for what’s ahead.  Don’t worry they’ll be plenty of other Beatles songs in your life, too.  I’ll make sure of that.  And they’ll be plenty of music beyond the Beatles.  Like I did with your older brother Mason, I’ll fill your early years with Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, and Beethoven.  By the time you’re walking, we’ll add in Dylan, Wilco, The Grateful Dead, and Motown soul. 

Your life will also be filled with is sports.  There is a lot of sports watching in our household.  In the winter, we’ll huddle inside watching college basketball.  March is especially a fun time for that.  When that season ends, we’ll fill the spring and summer with Red Sox baseball.  In the fall, you and your Mom can enjoy college football Saturdays. 

We’re a family that likes to get outdoors so they’ll be time play plenty of sports, too.  Building sandcastles on the beach, playing catch in the yard, and hiking up a mountain are all activities we look forward to sharing with you. 

There’s so many good times ahead.  I can’t wait to get started.  Neither can your mother.  And neither can your older brother Mason – whether he knows it or not. 

So let it out and let it in.  Hey Jude, begin.

Love Always,
Daddy

Yes, this post is about travel plans I have after the summer and in the early part of 2009.  Life with a one year old – and soon to be a life with two kids – means you plan trips way in advance.  It’s the ultimate example of how life with little children can so very calculated.

Nevertheless, my enthusiasm and anticipation for these trips is hardly muted.  I definitely could use a long vacation. 

Boston – September 26 to 30

First up is a 4 day trip to Boston for a family wedding in late September.  This is the hardest trip we’ve got planned.  Not only are Keturah and I taking the redeye from San Francisco to Boston, we’ll be doing it with 2 kids.  Jude will be 8 weeks then and Mason will have turned two.  To say that our hands will be full is completely understating it.  But we’re determined.  If we can fly with Mason from San Francisco to Italy, then anything is possible.

We’ll be out there primarily for a wedding, but also hoping to catch up with some of the UVM crew. 

New York City – December 4 to 7

Another weekend trip east for a wedding.  Really excited to tear it up in Manhattan. The big difference being Keturah and I won’t have our kids in tow.  As I’ve been telling my friends in NYC, That means I’ll be drinking tons of bourbon, I’ll want a cigar after dinner, and Keturah will bust out her loud “I’m kinda drunk and I can’t keep my voice down” tonal range.

Costa Rica – January 30 to February 9, 2009

OMG…yet another trip centered around a friends wedding.  Amazing how these types of events always come in waves.  This is the big enchilada for us.  For two years now, Keturah and I have been pointing ourselves at milestones centered around our children. Before that, our milestones were always the big trip that we had on the horizon.  Costa Rica early next year is a return to that line of thinking.  Incredibly excited to be getting out of the country again and doubly excited that it’s not to Europe – where the crummy dollar exchange rate means a cappuccino costs you $10.

The Costa Rica trip will be our first extended vacation that’s just for the two of us since before Mason was born.  Since we traveled to Kauai in October 2005.  Looking forward to exploring a new country with minimal itinerary, a jeep, and not much more than a good pair of sandals.

After recently exchanging tweets with Richard McInnis , I found out it’s going to be his first time in SF.  So was thinking about some stuff he should do and came up with a short list of things to consider doing.  Especially if it’s your first time to SF and you want to escape the Web2.0Expo chaos.  All of them are within walking distance or a very short cab ride from the Moscone Center area.

Hang out at Tunnel Top

It’s my favorite bar in the city.  Has that beat up neighborhood bar feel.  Great art on the walls.  If you’re staying at a hotel in Union Square, you have no excuse to hit this place up on the way back to your room late at night. 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/tunnel-top-san-francisco

Ask for “The Hong Kong Stuff” at Buddha Lounge

http://www.yelp.com/biz/buddha-lounge-san-francisco

Think you’re tough?  Hit Buddha Lounge in Chinatown and have a shot of the “Hong Kong Stuff”.  You may have to talk the bartended into giving it to you.  I’ve seen grown men have half of this shot, then start running like mad, like they are trying to escape something they can’t. 

Bourbon and Branch

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bourbon-and-branch-san-francisco

Get your brown liquor fix at this speakeasy styled bar. This no place to order a chardonnay.  This place can be a challenge to find (as speakeasy’s are supposed to be) so make sure you have the address handy.

Climb the Filbert Steps

Oh man, these are all bars.  So how about a good urban hike?  Sneakers preferred.  Sandals will work too.  Dress shoes?  Forget it.  When you get to the top of the stairs, you’ll be at Coit Tower and rewarded with killer views of Alcatraz and Golden Gate Bridge

http://www.yelp.com/biz/filbert-steps-san-francisco

Go to the View Lounge at the top of the Marriott and pretend to be the emperor

“Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!”

This one is pretty easy since it’s right across the street from Moscone at the top of the Marriott Hotel. Great view of the galaxy, I mean downtown San Francisco.  Be warned – drinks here aren’t dirt cheap and you probably won’t be escaping the Web2.0Expo chaos.  But you’ll feel like you’re in the Death Star.  Isn’t that worth a $9 vodka tonic?

http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-view-san-francisco-2

I know I said there would be a pause in new Mason photos, but videos don’t count. Especially since Flickr just started supporting video and I acquired a new JVC hard disk camcorder and I want to play with both.

Honestly, I take a lot of pictures and I take pictures of things other than Mason.  Though you would never know it by looking at my Flickr photostream. So, for the next month, I’m going to focus on going back through my recent photos and posting pictures to Flickr of subjects other than Mason.

Of course, taking pics of Mason is tons of fun.  He’s just so freakin’ cute.