The Editor’s Pick honor is well-deserved. Josh presents She’s leaving home. Bye, bye. posted at Raging Dad.

Since my posting schedule is very relaxed, you have no excuse. Visit the Discovering Dad October 2008 Carnival now.

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“It’s never goodbye. It’s just later babe!”

How someone signed my yearbook in 12th grade.

I have been experiencing things that I’m not comfortable sharing in a public forum such as this. These things are in the forefront of my mind, and it has made writing difficult. You can only write about what you’re thinking about.

My choice since day one of this blog has been to be open and transparent, while maintaining a fuzzy and invisible line. In most cases, I am withholding for the sake of others in my social sphere and not solely motivated by my own natural desire for some privacy.

Longtime readers know that I write quality content and that requires a significant investment of time. That is time that I cannot spend on higher priorities such as putting solutions in place.

I cannot responsibly spend time on activities that do not serve my family’s needs. I enjoy writing for this blog and interacting with my readers. Traffic has steadily grown since its inception. Ad revenue has not grown at the pace anticipated.

This blog has been a labor of love and inspired by love. With so much invested, it would be a shame to abandon it. Often, a blog’s breaking point comes shortly after times like these. With resources stretched thin, something has to give.

I am electing to go on a significantly reduced posting schedule instead of saying goodbye. You have to be steadfast in pursuit of your goals, but you also have to stop to smell the roses. You’ll hear from me, but not nearly as often.

This offer is subject to change. Void where prohibited by law. 21st Century Dad reserves the right to come back with quality content, a more frequent posting schedule, and do some butt-kicking of extraordinary magnitude.

Last night’s triple overtime thriller of a game meant a late night. My friend Greg was able to fly up to Detroit and get a couple tickets to the game. It would’ve been cool to see the RedWings win it all. Greg is a RedWings fan, and I would’ve loved for him to see his team win the Cup. I’m a little fried today between a late night and an early morning meeting with a client. I’m going to make this quick.

JustDaddys.net is a new forum for dads. Jason, the site administrator extended me a personal invitation to join. It’s still in the early stages, but this is where it can be fun. As an early adopter, you have a chance to shape the tone and feel of the forums.

The user base is growing every day. Jason already has tons of great discussion forums already in place. Everything is covered – you can get advice on dealing with an unruly teen or how to calm a colicky baby. Not only is this a place for dads to be dads, but it’s a place for dads to be men. There are discussion forums about plenty of guy things, like sports, cars, and gaming. It’s not a total sausage fest. Moms are welcome too.

When you sign up, please be sure to put “Elliott” (spell it with two T’s please) as the user who referred you. I’ll be totally transparent here. Jason is running a contest and awarding a prize to the top referrer of new users. Don’t let me have all the fun. Spread the word and you’ll get a chance to win too.

If you want to get in on the fun, here are the rules:
1. All referrals must sign up with the site by 11:59PM July 3rd 2008 to be considered a complete referral.
2. All referrals must have a minimum of ten (10) posts before July 13th 2008 to be considered a complete referral.
3. Both Referrer and Referral need to PM me the below items in order to be considered a complete referral.
a. Referrals PM me the name of the Referrer
b. Referrers PM me the name of the Referral
4. For each referral that is completed correctly the referrer will earn a chance to win the prize.
5. Prize will be a $30 dollar gift certificate to the store of your choice (limited to what is in my area to purchase, PM me with requests)
6. Decision of winners and prizes is completely up to me and names will be drawn from a hat randomly at the conclusion of the contest.

Please visit JustDaddys.net and take a look around. You’ll be glad you did.

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Photo: dbking

We have a 3 day weekend courtesy of the United States government. There’s nothing wrong with barbecues, picnics, or a trip to the beach. Just don’t forget why we have this occasion on our calendars. Regardless of your feelings about the current conflict in Iraq, the US military has done many great things.

I’ve been covering some heavy topics lately, so it’s time to take a little break.

Twilli Pie

It started as my daughter’s online moniker. Now we call her Twilli, Twill, or Twilli Pie all the time. Somehow, it stuck and it just fits.

When it was time to start thinking of names, we came up with Ariana pretty quickly. I didn’t want to feel like a slacker, so I made a sizable list. The trendy names and more pedestrian names were conspicuously absent. Renee and I both liked Ariana just fine. Sometimes the first choice is the best.

Here she is, sportin’ a faux-hawk.

The Accidental Freelancer

“Let’s start you off on a 1099 for now.” really means, “I don’t think we’ll need you for more than a month or two.”

I don’t get enough visitors and clicks to live off AdSense (yet). Employment from outside the home is definitely a high priority right now. However, a number of factors are influencing me to explore free agency.

The thought of living contract to contract is scary. Just like any endeavor with high risk, the potential reward is much greater.

Oh wait, I said we were taking a break from heavy topics. Oops!

Spending Less Time With Stanley This Year

Watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs is much less of a priority these days. Maybe it would jump the queue if the Panthers could get their butts in gear next season. I kept up with the scores online, but I haven’t watched a game until this past Saturday. I love hockey, but being a dad is priority #1. With my jam-packed schedule, something’s gotta give.

What The Blogosphere Looks Like From Here

I promised more lighthearted fare here today. I already tripped up. I’m outsourcing to Jim for the laughs today.

I’ve recently become a fan of The Baglady. I used to think there were only FOB’s (Fresh off the Boat) Asians and me, as the lone twinkie pariah. Xin’s personal accounts tell me that you can be socially well-adjusted as an Asian-American.

Ron at The Wisdom Journal just plain rocks. You can find insightful articles on personal finance, career advice, and killer guacamole. If that doesn’t entice you to visit, he can tell you how to get out of a speeding ticket.

Boogiemum has done the legwork on finding free or cheap activities for your children this summer.

This one is long overdue, but the topic is timeless. Laurel at Parenting Diva presents us with 20 Things to Consider Before Having Children.

This one is even more overdue. GTA4 is flying off the shelves. I promised to share. Tom Hanson from Open Education gives us a Q&A with Lawrence Kutner, author of Grand Theft Childhood.

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Making The Shift To Vegetarianism

Growing up in the United States means you were told that meat is an essential source of protein and other nutrients. The livestock industry is subsidized by our government. Vegetarians are seen as weirdos. It’s all about the beef here in the land that brought you the golden arches and hardened arteries.

Eating meat has become less appealing. I still enjoy the taste and texture of many meats, but it takes a toll on my conscience. Stories about factory-farm raised chickens and the treatment at cattle feedlots are almost enough to make me want to swear off meat. I’ve already stopped eating veal. These calves are kept in the worst conditions and slaughtered within days of being born.

Being a better steward of our Earth and vegetarianism go hand-in-hand. There are environmental reasons for going vegetarian. Did you know that:

• Eating a vegan diet reduces more carbon emissions than replacing your conventional car with a hybrid.
• Approximately 55 square feet of forest is destroyed for each hamburger that originated from animals raised on rainforest land.
• One pound of beef requires an input of approximately 2500 gallons of water.
• One pound of soy requires 250 gallons.
• One pound of wheat requires only 25 gallons.
• With the water used to produce a single hamburger, you could take a luxurious shower every day for two and a half weeks.

Activism isn’t going to turn us all vegetarian overnight. However, we can all do a little to reduce the demand for meat. A decrease in demand will not go unnoticed by the livestock and poultry industries. Fish farms do their share of damage to mother Earth too. There’s wild-caught fish, but are we fishing faster than the supply replenishes? One has to wonder.

Quitting Cold Turkey Cold Turkey

I’m not prepared to go full-time vegetarian, despite the benefits. Special dietary needs and travel don’t mix well. It really puts a damper on “souvenir dining.” I still know people in Philadelphia. There’s nothing quite like a steak from Rick’s in Reading Terminal. Mmm mmm. And what about sushi? Butter makes everything taste better. As of today, going 100% vegan is out of the question. There’s a little thing called feta cheese that’s near and dear to me.

I continue to unsubscribe from long-held beliefs on my personal development journey. Everything is on the table. What I decide to eat is also under the scrutiny of this audit and subject to change. I truly believe there is a better way.

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I’m encouraging you to think about Father’s Day a month early. Time seems to speed up when we become parents. A month will be over before you know it. Start thinking. Start shopping.

When I started writing this blog, I somehow knew that a lot of moms would read it. Take a look at the comments here. Many moms stop by.

Au-Teen had a sleepover on Friday night. His best friend T came over. I swear, the two of them are like star-crossed lovers. (I’ll tell you more later. The relationship dynamics between Au-Teen and his friends is entertaining.) T lives 20 miles away in Au-Teen and mom’s old stomping grounds. That might as well be 100 miles to two boys without easy transportation at their disposal. We dropped T off at his house this morning so we could all continue with Mother’s Day plans.

Mom wanted to find a nice place to eat and enjoy being out and about. We indulged her in some window shopping at the Shops at Midtown Miami. Strolling through Target would break down our frugal defenses far too easily. Furniture is not, and should never be, an impulse buy. We were safe at the West Elm showroom.

The Shops at Midtown Miami is yet another micro-mecca of American consumerism. Despite the debt-bloating potential of this place, it’s a great outdoor setting for spending leisure time. If a courtyard has art by Romero Britto, it has some cred with me.

We took advantage of some gorgeous north light in our bedroom to take some photos. Taking photos in front of a large window with sheers is some of the most gorgeous natural light to photograph in. Such a large diffuse light source can make anyone look good. You do not need a fancy camera to get great photos in this setting. With a little help from a Nikon SB600 flash unit, I supplemented the natural light with some diffuse fill light bounced off the ceiling.

Priceless Moment #807,200,730,801,112,873

Sometimes a picture falls 1000 words short of the old proverb. I’m speechless.

Finally, I baked a cake for Renee. The shortest path to her heart is through the pastry section. I called upon some seldom-used skills and baked a cake. Most of my work in the kitchen has more nutritional density, but hey, it’s mom’s special day. GeekMom, are you paying attention? 21st Century Dad can bake cakes too.

This mother’s day tribute cannot be complete without a nod to my own mother. She raised 3 children and ran a business. I have no idea where she stored all the energy in that 5-foot-nothing-90-pounds-soaking-wet body. I think I turned out OK, and so did my sisters. Without moms, none of this would be possible. Happy Mother’s Day.

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It’s about time I tapped in to blog carnivals. I just discovered Discovering Dad. I’ve read about them and finally decided to submit one of my articles to the one of my articles to the carnival.

Fellow Entre Card Users, Parenting Squad, Building Camelot, and DadThing are also featured.

Take a look. There are some other great blogs too!

The eco-warrior within was nurtured from an early age. Private schools did things like that, instead of just teaching kids how to pass standardized tests. I bugged my parents to turn off lights in unocupied rooms and start recycling. My choices are often motivated by this consciousness, however, the seduction of convenience puts up a good fight too.

I had written an article about my spotty track record on going green, waiting for the right time to release it. Today is as good a day as any other. This was originally one long article, but I have split it up into smaller chunks. Installments will come out weekly.

Hit the jump to read the first installment of Crunchy on The Inside With a Soft Suburban Outer Coating.

I Love Plastic Bags

They are a marvel of modern chemical engineering. Target and Whole Foods have the best bags – strong, roomy and stylish. Wal-Mart bags have a nice balance between roominess and strength. Publix (local grocery chain) bags are a plain ugly brown, but they get the job done. Perhaps it was my mother’s influence. She saved everything. She even had a system where she would separate the bags without holes from the bags that had holes. She used every free plastic bag she could.

Re-using the plastic shopping bag once is a start. Cost-conscious store owners may even hoard bags to reuse when customers request one. I’ve been to more than one dollar store that engages in this practice. The path to the landfill is prolonged for a few more days, or weeks. It’s incredibly convenient to stash a few in the diaper bag. I even fold them up like a triangle to show off mad origami skills. The Target bags are nice and big. They handle a full load from the Diaper Genie very well.

The Not Quite Crunchy Parent wrote a little piece on how she reuses plastic bags. I can knot them up really small and tight. They make great projectiles to launch at unsuspecting teenage boys. I’m sure you’ve found some clever uses of your own. Leave a comment below.

Plastic bags accumulate faster than we can use them. We recently purchased 5 reuseable cloth bags for grocery shopping. I’ve managed to leave them at the house 2 out of the 3 times I go to the store. New habits take time to develop. I like the idea of these bags. They are much sturdier and can hold a good deal more than each plastic bag.

When I do remember to take the cloth bags, I bring those plastic bags I accumulated (because I forgot to bring my cloth totes) with me so I can deposit them in the recycling bin.

Ziploc bags totally rock too. So do their store-brand brethren. You probably use these resealable plastic bags for dozens of other things besides food. I keep some in my camera bag to keep small accessories organized and to use as emergency rain covers.

Plastic for Future Generations

I wonder what happens to the trash we stash inside these bags. When these pesky parasites on Mother Earth are finally gone, will their polyethylene legacy live on? Will some future archaeologists be greeted with the foul stench of 200 million year old garbage when they accidentally puncture one of these bags?

What about breast implants? They can’t be biodegradable either. Imagine the field day that future archaeologists will have when they encounter ancient human burial sites. Why are there plastic bags filled with salt water resting on the rib cages of the females, especially in the area once known as Southern California?

We put a lot of plastic into our landfills. When humans are finally extinct, what will remain? Just as the dinosaurs died off and created deposits of petroleum, will we leave behind deposits of plastic that future miners will dig up, refine, and fashion into consumer goods?

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