• Watching Oprah. Probably time for me to catch up on all the work email I’ve missed. You know, before I get sucked into The View. #
• @ScooterGirl LOL yeah if this whole Internet thing can’t get a federal bailout ala scamming mortgage brokers, it’s The View for me. #
• @ScooterGirl OH and The Critter is awesome. New pic in a CUTE froggy towel over on zee blog. #

In which I bitch and moan for a minute and then ask a question at the end.  Love to know what you think.

I’ve been sucked into the Oprahverse a little bit.  Maybe you have, too.  Her “Oprah’s Big Give” was number one in her time slot, so I can’t be the only one watching it.

Last night’s episode was about two public schools in Texas that serve primarily disadvantaged populations.  The one that really got me was the school that Andrew Agassi was supporting.  Per his speech, “…they don’t have computers, they don’t have books…”

Wait a minute.  “They don’t have books”???? How do you have a school without books?   Isn’t that basically not a school?  That ought to be a crime.

So I’m trying to take a step back think about what Oprah is up to.

It used to be, back in the day, that we Americans looked at situations like this and said, hmmmm, let’s throw little public funding at it and see what we can do.  Now raising a measly $500k (which will no doubt be pretty useful to the school) is up to celebrities and corporations. The rest of us have stepped back and said screw it.

So here’s my question.  Is Oprah attempting to highlight issues that we should all care about and push us (kicking and screaming) into a giving mindset?  Or is she further conditioning us that if a cause is really worthwhile some celebrity will tell us?  

IMHO, it is that some celebrity will guide us to the right charitable choices.  Why do I think that?  That’s where her money comes from.  Without Simon Cowell or Andre Agassi or Tony Hawk (interestingly, his banner was “Tony Hawk’s The Big Give” and not Oprah’s–that was a trick) or Celebrity X, she doesn’t have a show and without her show she doesn’t have much (except the occasional appearance on South Park by her VaJayJay).

I would LOVE IT if she was more the former — encouraging a giving mindset, an attitude of plenty, contribution to common good without resentment.  But I’m skeptical.

And I suddenly want to go buy a Ford.

Froggy, originally uploaded by ReidCarlberg.

I have never been so obsessed with poop.

This is saying something. You probably know that I have two dogs and I am at least as obsessed with their production as any other dog owner. Moreover, sometime in my past, a friend bought me Everybody Poops as a birthday gift (thanks, Aunt L).

But all that is near meaningless as I watch The Critter’s output turn from black to green to yellow, hoping that he’s getting enough to eat, that his liver kicks in and that the bilirubin induced jaundice goes away. (BTW, the answer to all those hopes has been a resounding “yes”.)

And that’s just one of my new obsessions. I’ve been working on laundry (Dreft, anyone?), burping, changing diapers (and avoiding the odd arc of urine), soothing (special thanks here to Crazy Aunt T, Certified Evil Genius in the baby soothing department), washing, keeping warm, dressing, swaddling, etc etc etc.

In short, it has been a pretty darn cool week.

A quick side note: to all the guys I know who have kids: sorry I wasn’t more excited for you when you started your adventure. I didn’t get it. I’m sure you’ve figured that out by now. That’s JDA, BS, Nufftin, and Dr. Dean to name just a few. I’m sure it was just as obvious to you then as when I look at my big brother today. (Full disclosure on the BB: when this kid turns like 4, I’m betting the uncle instincts will totally kick in.)

But on to the important part: thanking people for all their help.

Thanks to my parents and BB for catching a flight THAT DAY and being the first non-parent to meet him.

Thanks to the FIL, BIL (who has promised to someday explain the “MVP” t-shirt — apparently it’s some sports thing) & SIL for being so supportive the day of, even though you didn’t get to meet him until the next day.

Special thanks to the team at Rush that took such good care of The Critter, The Lovely J and me. You guys are awesome. And to Auntie Denise–thanks for going the extra mile for us when it counted. If you’re having a baby, look at Rush–the TV’s aren’t as nice as NWH’s but every person we met there was solid gold. Even if you don’t deliver there, you should still take Auntie Denise’s childbirth prep class. Totally worth it.

And a huge thanks to Grandma P who has been with us since Wednesday. You’re awesome. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself these last few days. It has made a huge difference to us.

The Lovely J and I have received so many kind words and well-wishes — thanks to everyone. It’s great to know that The Critter is coming into such a large extended family.