*Don’t worry, we haven’t gone all environmental on you or anything.  It’s just that non-hippie diapers all come emblazoned with Disney or Sesame Street characters, and as you know, we’re a Veggietales family.  If they strapped Archibald Asparagus on a diaper, I’d buy it, even if it were coated in strychnine and made from baby harbor seal pelts.

By the way, if you’ve never seen Idiocracy, you’re cheating yourself, and should be ashamed. I know I’m ashamed of you for you.

Please be aware that both the Brawndo ad and Idiocracy contain some strong language and are at least potentially not safe for work. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

In the meantime, we took in Noah Baumbach’s latest, Margot at the Wedding, at the Angelika. We thought it was well acted and the dialog was good, but that the plot was a little slack (if they’d jettisoned a couple scenes and at least one plot thread, it would have worked a lot better). It was nice and bleak, though.

Also, I’d like to retract all prior statements critical of the new Wendy’s Baconator. It’s actually a pretty tasty sandwich.

In other news, today is my last day at work until mid-January. Yay, generous paternity leave policies and prudent use of vacation days!

 Calvin Coolidge, the Cat

Matt.  And, yes, the shirt was awesome.  The minutes of the fanclub meeting were missing one crucial event, though.  Matt travels with an entourage just like old Phil Two in the movie.  Want proof?  Here’s the picture:

Pictured (from left):  Matt, Cardinal I and Cardinal II
Yes, Matt does make the cardinal on the left carry his architecture sketches.  That’s just the way he rolls.

However, we are a bit behind in some very important matters.  In other words, yes, Campagna crew, you are due an e-mail.  And, yes, blog-reading world at-large, you are all missing on your recommended dose of pointers to penguin cookie cutters because of our neglect of Dwyeropolis.  Please accept our sincere and heart-felt apologies.  It’s only temporarily slow here.  Promise.

*Well, that and also asking ourselves “what would Ron Paul do?” a dozen or so times a day.

ANGUS ADDS: Don’t forget about this, our latest in-the-theaters movie.  There was some dispute as to whether the, umm, overzealous use of voice-over was effective or not.  (I was fur it, Sarah was agin it.)  The way I see it, the charitable interpretation is that it was an interesting but not wholly successful attempt to make the movie as novel-like as possible.  (Ms. Zacharek, you say “watch a book on tape” like it’s a bad thing….)  The uncharitable interpretation is that it was the cinematic equivalent of a college paper that just consists of extensive block quotes from the secondary sources … you don’t really understand the subject and lack confidence in your ability to say anything interesting about it, so you just string together the words of people who do and hope it adds up to something in the end.*  Being, or at least desiring to be, a charitable person, I opt for the former.  Also, the movie’s extremely strong visuals left me generally favorably disposed to the whole enterprise, and more willing to give the benefit of the doubt.   (I can’t help it!  I’m a man, I’m visual by nature!)

* Not that I ever wrote a paper like that, of course.

Anyway, our anniversary was very nice. First off, I didn’t have to work, which was nice (and, lately, unusual). After Mass, we went to the South Street Seaport (now a mall, rather than a mob-run fish market) where we had delicious Nathans Famous hot dogs for lunch (never let it be said I don’t buy her nice things).

On our way back, we passed a little tchotchke cart where they were selling pencils with little wooden animals instead of erasers. I spied, with my little eye, a penguin pencil, and since it was our “paper” anniversary, and my bride is dangerously obsessed with penguins, I leapt at the chance. (Also, the anniversary gift I’d gotten her hadn’t arrived yet [indeed, it still hasn't ... ]) So, we got the penguin pencil, and since there was a price break at three we got a monkey and an elephant, too. (Ahh, Zoidberg, at last you’re becoming a crafty consumer!)

After that, we went back home and watched that classic paean to marital love, Woyzeck. We were on a bit of a Klaus Kinski kick for a while, but that’s thankfully cleared up. I’d planned that we would have a big steak dinner at Harry’s (our friendly neighborhood steakhouse), but had neglected to make reservations, or even make sure they were open on Sundays. And, indeed, they were not. (Have I mentioned that I’m the world’s greatest husband?) So, after some hemming and hawing, we went to our old standby, Jackson Hole, where we had a colossal hamburger and a ginormous chicken sandwich, respectively. Then, on a whim, we caught Superbad at a nearby theater. (Sarah is almost penguin-level obsessed with Michael Cera; I just wanted to see the movie so I could say stupid things like “It was good, but it needed more Korsmo.”) Then, tired but flush with cash from having not spent $100 on steaks, we took a cab home. And that’s all I’m going to say about the rest of our evening, this being a family-oriented blog.

Well, there you have it: this blog’s first genuine, substantive post. I promise this space will eventually be mostly cute baby photos (and maybe some recipes). In the meantime, I’ll try to avoid inflicting too many solipsistic blow-by-blows of my days on you. Not that hard, mind you, but I’ll try.