Multiply 13 times 28 and the result is 364. How many days in a year? 365. “Moonths”, as they were, indicated lunar cycles and made a perfect calendar: 13 moonths in a year + 1 extra day.

And then 13 became unlucky, or evil, or something strangely superstitious so we changed the whole calendar system to “months” which range from 28 days to 31 days and the only way to keep up with it is by counting knuckles or remembering some silly rhyme.

But what really is strange is that I work in a modern building in downtown Atlanta and there is no 13th floor. As a matter of fact, I have been looking for a 13th floor in ANY building for quite some time now. Why do buildings routinely skip the 13th floor? Are we really that superstitious?

Well, yes, we are.

I just got back from a vacation in Ocean City, NJ. Years ago I would not have dreamed of taking a vacation on the Jersey shore but my in-laws come from that area, so that was my introduction. It turns out that it is the perfect place for kids – the town is “dry” and there are two different parks with roller coaster and carousel rides on the boardwalk. There is also a giant water park and a couple of massive putt putt golf courses – and all of this is directly across from the beach.

But one of my personal favorites about vacationing there is the food. Aside from all the junk food, pizza and cookies, the sandwiches there were amazing. What I liked most about the sandwiches is the fact that they were not slathered with mustard or mayonnaise (which I like to refer to as “whipped bird embryos”).

I go to several search related conferences each year and even their “vegetarian” sandwiches come pre-slathered with mayo. And just about any restaurant in the South or West is quick to wipe on condiments. I haven’t eaten at McDonald’s in over 20 years but when I was a kid, I spent much time waiting for my special order that did not have loads of unwanted product.

But I was introduced to Primo’s in New Jersey (reluctantly) and it turns out that they have the best sandwiches I have ever tasted. And when I asked about mayo, they looked at me as if to ask, “why would we ruin a good sandwich with mayo?”. And I agreed.

It’s crazy to think back on the weird chance that I met my wife at a restaurant/club known for Salsa dancing. We met and the rest is history. Literally, we haven’t been dancing since.

I just met a local business owner who runs a couple of ballroom dance studios here in Atlanta and she sparked my interest for trying the ballroom style. It looks like we might take a few lessons and see if we can’t start being social again.

Yoga is great but I’m ready to do something with a little bit more cardio. If I ever get more than just a little interested, I’ll be sure to post more.

So I spent this past Saturday afternoon at a baby shower. The parents-to-be both happen to be female. And the dad? Well, the donor was present too. He is a gay man who lives in NYC. But I don’t believe he will be involved in the actual parenting.

Georgia is no “New England” state so the legitimacy of the union of these two women is not legally recognized. So until the progression of society evolves a bit more, they are going to experience plenty of road blocks and obstacles to health care and property rights, among other things. Yet they are going to raise a child together and I believe they are going to do a fantastic job.

From the outside, an uninvolved observer might find it easy to think, “gee, that’s a little weird.” And I’m sure the righteous among us would quickly condemn and think the whole thing beyond the scope of their acceptance. Thus the current laws. But having known these parents-to-be for many years (we happened to meet through yoga), I have much more confidence in their ability to raise a child in a loving atmosphere than most other couples I know. It would only be weird if there were a lack of love in the union. But love is love is love.

So I hope the new baby enjoys the baby blanket that I gave them. If I ever have a boy, he is going to get the same blanket. And it’s very appropriate for them because they live across the street from the zoo.

I can’t wait to meet the new baby and look forward to watching him grow up. He will have great parents.

Was it really people’s interest or was it spam? I think it was a little bit of both. But when Obama asked citizens for questions and gave them the ability to rank those questions, it appears there is a lot of interest in the decriminalization of drugs.

But no one really wants that, right? I know for a fact that drug lords, growers, pushers and gangs are certainly against the idea. So are the alcohol and pharmaceutical companies.

We incarcerate more citizens per capita than any other country. Most of those incarcerations are because of drugs. And, ironically, our prisons have tons of drugs in them. So we imprison people for using drugs and, while in prison, they have even greater access to them. And each person in jail can no longer contribute to society and each incarceration drains tens of thousands of dollars from taxpayers each year.

When I worked in the mental health field, I met lots of 12 and 13 year old drug vendors. That’s right. And these kids had ZERO motivation to stay in school because they were making more money than their parents. Under age children are used by bigger pushers simply because they are too young to go to real jail. And when they turn 18 their records are given a clean slate.

Just because these kids were into the selling didn’t mean that they were users. Most of them weren’t users, yet. They just got into the trade because it was easy money.

Easy money. That’s the problem. As long as drugs are illegal, the underground sale of them will be easy money for a group of people who typically arm themselves and are willing to kill to keep their power and money. This easy money will attract a lot of people the worse the economy gets.

Because of our laws, we spend billions of dollars trying to do the impossible – keep people from getting high. If it’s not pot, then it’s glue or gas or some other extremely harmful improvisation. If drugs were legal, would there be more drug users? Possibly. But I don’t think people will jump up and start using just because they can.

Legal or not, I won’t be using cocaine, smoking crack, shooting heroin or taking ecstasy. Even tequila is a bit much for me…and it’s still legal. And as far as my involvement in other people’s lives via the rules of society, I would much rather spend the tax money on prevention and treatment rather than incarceration and enforcement. And maybe these meth labs and drug gangs will disappear once and for all.

I never realized it until I was away from home for several years, but the area near my parents’ house in rural West Tennessee is full of skunks. I rarely see them alive but their smelly corpses frequently accompany the dashed lines on the windy roads.

And although they are somewhat shy and elusive, skunks are known to venture into yards where they startle, and subsequently spray, neighborhood dogs. My brother even got sprayed by a skunk once when he was camping out. Of course he brought himself inside and the whole house smelled like a skunk.

It turns out that some people can’t smell skunks at all. My wife is one of them. After several instances of running through some skunk stank while driving down the road, she kept saying she couldn’t smell that horrible funk that was pushing me to nausea. So she did some research and found out that one in one thousand people cannot smell a skunk. Go figure. I guess that explains a lot.

I am not a fan of Valentine’s Day for the most part. It has always seemed like a “Hallmark Holiday” that pressures us to do a bunch of goofy stuff to prove that we love the ones we love. I like birthdays, Christmas and surprises. Since my wife’s birthday is pretty close to Valentine’s, I get a bit of a pass. But I still need to at least get a card.

I recently went shopping for Valentines cards and, aparently, most of the husbands out there have a great need to apologize for coming up short, not always being there or somehow being a skrewup. I checked out about 10 cards and 8 of them started with, “I might not always be the most…” or “I’m sorry that I’m…” Really? Is Valentines really just “get out of the dog house day”?

Personally, I grow my own flowers and I think it’s much nicer to bring those in as frequent surprises rather than having a one-time day of over-priced roses. Chocolate is a regular treat in our household. And if I’m in the dog house, I’m sure not going to wait for a Hallmark holiday to make ammends.

After a few friendly gatherings, several trips to the proposed space, some donated time by professional landscapers and some good advice from a Dekalb County advocate, we finally turned in the proposal (thanks Susan!) for the Henderson Park Community Garden.

We should know something about the official granting of the park space in the next few weeks but in the meantime we will be planting some seeds and starting to accumulate supplies.

There are some 150+ gardens in the Atlanta area but none are currently in Tucker. So we will be the first. With any luck, we will be able to break ground for a spring planting and start building this community project.

Here is a picture of the proposed site:

Here is a picture of the lake and waterfall that are a part of Henderson Park:

Dang. I just looked up and realized I had not made a blog post in more than a month. Maybe that’s because my daughter has been super active during the day and not very sleepy at night. Maybe it’s because every night for the past few months has been interrupted by at least two crying episodes. Maybe today’s post is related to the fact that she slept 12 hours straight last night! After the initial panic (is she ok?! what could be wrong?), we realized that normalcy just paid us a visit. And it is long overdue.

Hopefully 2009 will bring more restful nights and productive days.

Molly started walking about a week ago and I have found it more terrifying than anything else. I am certainly proud to see her summon up the courage to take those un-supported steps. And the unrestrained glee she has can’t be denied.

But the part that scares me is that she is so fast and not very responsive to commands such as, “No, don’t (fill in the dangerous thing)!” She loves to throw her arms in the air and scream as she goose-steps out the door. She climbed the stairs so fast yesterday that it was all I could do to keep up. And she doesn’t really understand gravity.

The next few months are sure to keep me busy.