Daddy Diary: The Beginning

Alexandra

Alexandra or Norah?

I sit in the darkened post-partum room, my exhausted wife gently snoring two feet to my left.

My feet rest on an extra chair, my laptop warming the former part of the word’s nomenclature.

I am a father. A Dad. A Papa. (You get the idea.)

My daughters are a few hundred feet away in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where highly skilled caregivers are trying to help them learn to breathe in this strange new world of air. After their breathing regulates, they’ll be able to feed normally and gain enough weight to get out of here.

Sorry, thought this would be a longer blog…but I’m on three hours of sleep. Must get some more…after the rest of this Frasier rerun.

(Even though I’m a dad, some things are unlikely to change. Especially my love of well-written sitcoms in syndication. Only now, my viewing will be between feedings and diaperings and burpings.)

Quick. Random. Notes.

Flyers win in a major upset, taking out Les Habitantes (the Montreal Canadiens) in a 4-1 series. Next up, most likely, the Pittsburgh Penguins. They have that Sidney Crosby dude, who’s allegedly awesome. But the Fly-airs have a whole lot of momentum, reminiscent of the Colorado Rockies last baseball season.

I might have single-handedly jinxed the heck out of the Dallas Stars by attending their game this past Wednesday. They were up 3-0 in their series and looked to sweep with a victory at home in Game 4. I was there. They lost. And now they lost another one. Could it be that the hometown team wherever I go will lose?

Started watching Clerks II tonight, finally. I’m like what, six years behind on that one? Some laugh-out loud stuff, although I’m saving the second half for tomorrow.

Wish I had my Grandpop Morey’s ability to fall asleep at will. I always considered that a superhero-level power, and if I could do that it would probably change a lot about my daily routine.

In my interview this past week, I was asked about who inspires me when it comes to writing. And honestly, I was stumped. Not because I’m not inspired, but because I haven’t interviewed that much and was out of practice. I babbled on about pop culture and all my influences, but with some more time to think about it, I might have mentioned:

Music = Ben Folds, Cake, Bad Religion

TV = the writers of Seinfeld, Cheers, Frasier, The Office (both versions), 30 Rock

Movies = Tarantino, Kevin Smith (actually did mention these guys)

Fiction = David Sedaris, Mark Leyner (whose books include: My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist; Tooth Imprints on a Corn Dog; I Smell Esther Williams; and The Tetherballs of Bougainville)

That’s all for now. Good night.