talentless windbag!
My German American ancestors hail from Detroit originally. I love reading all of your posts, I like the variety but my very most favorite are the ones about Belle Isle, where my grandfather courted my grandmother in the early to mid parts of the 1930's.
Oh, and "talentless windbag"!
Right now in Illinois it is prime Black Raspberry picking season. I have been doing it since I was a kid, and have a knack for hunting down the bushes (identified by large sucker stems that are easily identified once you know what to look for).
I have enjoyed posts about you and your kids finding apple trees, etc. With so much of Detroit returning to nature how about some posts about other nature food finds you have discovered?
Feel free to email me at msdoran@hotmail.com for black raspberry info.
Michael, I had a backyard full of black raspberries as a kid and this past weekend there was a guy selling tons of them at the market.
the first one I tasted really brought me back.
Just looking back at your archives from August 2008 which has one of my favorite pics of your kids--Juney in pink cowboy hat & boots and Gram in his yellow LL Cool J outfit. Precious!
I love whenver you post about your kids. I found your blog when my son was a couple months old and you just seemed to really sum up how I was feeling about being a new parent. My personal favorite line "If you are doing it right, being a parent has to be the most heart-wrenching, soul-stripping, self-sacrificing pursuit." Kudos to all the parents out there who are doing it right!
I enjoy all of your posts, though I imagine being the "post-er" can be a bit much at times. I specifically enjoy the random dog pictures even though they make me feel sad for the dogs.
and now i am in the running...... 
LOVE the site. Not looking for any changes. But something about this time of year makes my head wander and I am unable to truly concentrate on anything I usually do. So, I understand the "in a rut" comment. ---- Can't even jokingly call you a talentless windbag.
i enjoy posts about the practice of law: your former practice of law, your wife's current practice of law, your daughter's future practice of law, etc.
Personally, I love your posts about the beauty you find in urban decay. And I really enjoy Woodcraft too! Last time I was only two names away from the winner. Here's hoping I have better luck this time!
I stay at home with my kids too- and enjoy your take on it. Also your commitment to finding the beautiful in the ordinary and unconventional. I'm into Woodcraft (as a crafty type myself). Those Nixon Era stories creep me out.
LOVE pictures/stories of your kids!
I like your site just the way it is
I love stories of your kids...and miss those posts/pics where you share with us the treasures you find at the Farmer's Market, usually with juniper and gram, and the someitmes the dog in the pic. :D
heena, I've been doing those a lot lately. they're all right here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/swe...57605732075534/
As someone who recently moved to the area after reading your blog for a couple of years, I truly appreciate the inside look at Detroit that I haven't found anywhere else. Your pictures are hauntingly beautiful. Don't change a thing. And me want!
Even though I read your blog regularly, I especially enjoy the SAHD posts about your adventures with Juniper and Gram. That being said, I've learned more about Detroit than I am exposed to in my small town media. So, keep it all coming, the photos, the sweet posts, the exposure of your Detroit, and the WoodCraft. She almost makes me want to put down my crochet hook and get a sewing machine.
I hope to one day have kids and be as kick ass a parent as you are. Oh, and Juniper's recitation of The Birth of Pegasus might be the best thing I have witnessed in recent history!
really enjoy your posts.. I honestly do think you write very well.
I enjoy your posts about parenting best, especially how you intentionally try to parent differently. inspirational.
hey jim,
fyi i have some more illustration ideas based off sweet juniper postings laying around and when i get around to finishing them up, i'll send them over.
oh yeah, free stuff rocks. you can't be a sell out if you are all about the saving money man. cheers...
-xenos
Awesome. My favorite bits of the blog are Woodcraft and your storytelling abilities (you could write a story about your laundry and I'd probably enjoy it!).
Our vacation plans are for a long weekend in Ashville, N.C. in August. We will be visiting an old friend (old in age and old in years known) of my husbands. It will be the first long car ride for our baby. I hope we survive.
No vacation for us the rest of this summer. Instead, we completed finishing our basement. The end of a 2 year project. And we built our kid a playset ... which involved renting a little Excavator and pushing dirt around our back yard until it was level. Mama, you drive me on the tractor?! The wrens and robins loved the worm/beetle buffet.
We listen to our iPod while we work - would love some new tunes! Thanks, Jim!
Love the blog. And although I have no vacation plans (unless billable hours into the night counts), I will recommend to you a movie: Let the Right One In. Be sure that the DVD you rent is in Swedish. All the chilly Swedish imagery is bound to be cooling in the midste of July.
Thanks for holding these contests.
As a long-time Baltimore resident and parent, I've always appreciated your insight into the best of city-living, combined with the heart-breaking beauty depicted in abandoned buildings, bewildered dogs and residents, and ghosts from the city's past.
Plus as a working, crafty mama myself, Wood is a total inspiration for me!
Love your blog. You make life on the urban frontier (where it's not civilization creeping in on the wilderness, but the wilderness creeping in on civilization) seem magical.
One of your most memorable series of posts is the series about the backlash after you posted that pic of Juniper having a meltdown in the Walmart parking lot. The sheer nosiness of some people!
And I like the "princesses are NOT good role models" thing, too. I think you are going to raise kids you can be VERY proud of. Keep on parenting differently.
I saw that Eminem's new video features old Tiger Stadium and the depot. Looking forward to seeing the full video.
My guy grew up in Detroit and went to school in Ann Arbor. We live in San Diego now but love reading your stories and looking at your photos!
ok, so here's the shameless semi-self promotion(boyfriend's band)...listen to this http://www.mp3.com/albums/201297...02/
summary.html
ooooh a shiny thing!
Hello and keep doing what you do... I think your writing is grand as it is!
You are an awesome writer with a beautiful wife and two gorgeous kids!
In need of rejuvenation?? Head to the U.P. for a week!
Just got back from my honeymoon (btw, our wedding took place entirely within the Detroit city limits) and despite the weather, the sights seen in the forgotten-great-white-north-of-Michigan were second to none...strongly recommend the often mentioned Tahquamenon Falls and Pictured Rocks, with the city of Houghton and Copper Harbor added into the mix if you're willing to add 4 more hours of driving.
I'll look for you and the fam at the market on Saturday.
Cheers.
oh yea, me want, too.
i'm always curious reading your posts the level of security you feel or the level of danger you're in when taking photos/observing the abandoned or shady-looking places you go. you seem street-smart and can probably talk your way out of any situation, but i am curious. do you have places you WON'T go or places that scare the crap out of you?
Hello, My wife and I found your blog after searching for info on getting our son to sleep better. I've really enjoyed your writing and look forward to seeing "Sweet Juniper! has new posts" on my RSS reader. Thanks and keep on keeping on.
I've enjoyed your site for years now. I do miss the photos of Juniper but also understand why you aren't posting as many any more. I enjoy your stories about Detroit and Wood Craft was a great addition. I realize that Wood is busy but still miss hearing from her every once in a while. Also, who isn't a sell out? One needs to be in order to make ends meet now-a-days.
I enjoy the Eastern Market photos - would love your recipe for half sours and other stuff. I tried the half sours last summer but....
I heart Woodcraft a. lot.
Would like to hear more about your journeys to Cincinnati. I am originally from Dayton and have lots of family there. Like: Have you BEEN to Skyline yet?
anyway - me want.
Ah, not even sure what a slotRadio is. I never win anything anyway, so thought I'd comment. Might as well call me Debbie Downer. Sorry, it's been a rough week.
I love your blog and love hearing about Michigan since I live here too! I just got back from a long weekend of camping in Grayling with my husband's family. Seven children covered from head to toe in dirt really calms the soul.
Me Want!
Your writing perfectly captures so many of my feelings as a parent; I look forward to every post.
sorry you had to be the mac to crash. our pc crashed thursday and as I explored options at the local big box, the pc support guy said "everyone thinks mac's don't crash, but they do." either way, turns out I am definitely not cool enough (or flush with cash enough) for a mac. a pc girl I remain.
I don’t recall how I found your blog years ago (Melissa’s maybe) but I have loved it ever since. Love the photos, posts, Woodcraft and especially your views on Detroit’s decay. I’ve gotten people all over Wake County, NC riled up by sending them links to your photos. Just don’t stop what you are doing…
I was going to say I especially love when you write about Detroit and urban decay. And then I saw other comments about your SAHD and kid posts and I thought, "aw, but I love those too!" So...really no thoughts here on getting out of a rut because apparently I like the rut.
Album recommendation--Sunparlour Players, Hymns for the Happy!
We'll be on the Maine coast for vacation in a few weeks - we're pretty stoked about that as we live on the face of the sun (Texas) and need a break from 105 degrees.
Really love the site the way it is. My favorite parts are your photos and stories about Detroit, and of course your kids. More of that, please.
Oh, and me want!
I love your site, but wish it would show full posts in my reader. Because I am lazy.
Not that Salt Lake is anywhere close to Detroit but we have a couple of vacant houses around us and have been scavenging from the gardens. I was inspired by a few of your posts. Also, I love free stuff.
me want!!
I love your site and really enjoy anything you and Wood post- it's the epitome of a great blog, giving snippets of everyday life that may seem boring or rote to you, but are fascinating to people who live in other places or are in other stages of life. We all understand the tough decisions behind posting stories and pictures about the kids, but as a former nanny/current office drone, I love whatever you post about fatherhood and your situation-specific trials and tribulations. I adore Woodcraft too, and I second a commenter above's suggestion for posts about recipes(even if they're not written down) that you use with your farmer's market hauls.
On August 14, my husband, 4 year old son and I are heading out for a year long vacation in our '71 camper van. A few months in the US and Canada, then heading south.
I have the oldest iPod made, and the battery only lasts 10 minutes. We need music for this trip!!!
Love your site, and would appreciate any blogging advice. Ours will launch next week, mostly to keep family updated, but it be great if we could make enough to get a hotel with a shower every once in a while!
Next week -
Chicago for a few days
then camping back home in CANADA!
Come to Toronto sometime - We'll show you around!!!
just found your blog - and I suppose at just the right time. Have been reading the archives. Great stuff.
Our summer? Camping, eating, hanging out in the backyard kiddie pool. All while drinking lots of beer.
I have a brother who wins all kinds of contests but I have never won a drawing of any kind- not even the one on my sister in law's blog with 3 prizes and 5 entrants. My luck has got to change one of these days!
Vacation- No plans. Lots of studying.
Music- I'm currently listening to the Eames Era and Generationals.
My favorite posts are about your kids. I also love Wood's sewing projects on the other blog.
I love Juniper & Gram dressed Sweet Juniper style. I guess that's been sort of moved to Wood's craft page but I still like the every day outfits that I see in pictures. Adorable.
No vacation this summer, since I moved to the Yukon and we're actually havin a great summer, I feel like I'm on holiday already. No leaving during the sunny season!
You better believe I'm on a plane to Hawaii this winter though!
I love the storybooks you find, and also the mythology stories.
My son opened his sippy cup and is splashing in the water he poured out. I am entering this contest so I don't have to clean it up right away.
Eh, the odds here are still better than the lottery! I just moved to Puerto Rico, so I'm busy exploring the island. And in a couple weeks, I'm meeting my boyfriend in Europe for his mid-deployment leave. We're hitting up 4 countries and I am beyond excited!
Oooh, do want!
You're a windbag, but you're not talentless!
Talented windbag! Enjoy the posts about the unique experiences you've had (Ireland stay) and also the special things that happen with the kids. Keep up the good work.
I drive a 98 Ford Contour that is missing a radio antennae.
Me want, please.
I love the posts that demonstrate how differently you're raising your kids, and not letting them get caught up in all the commercial stuff out there. I don't have kids yet, and if I do have them I know I'm going to be a lasy parent who uses the TV as a babysitter. Still, it's inspiring to see how you do things a little differently and the great bond you have with your kids.
I am not doing anything for my vacation because I had the audacity to have a child blowing all my vacation and sick time. Now, my vacations are when my child is ill. I can't complain though. I have a job, a nice house, and two beautiful children.
I would like to see more stories about your kids on the site either being funny, naughty, or being a general pain in the ass.
I want to win the prize! I like your posts about your neighborhood and the people and critters you find in your explorations.
I would love to win this radio. My biggest issue with music is that I am still listening to the same stuff I listened to in college (when I was cool). I would love to hear some new stuff.
Summer plans? A road trip to DC and VA with my husband. Otherwise, we are sticking around Michigan.
I would love to see more of your fantastic photographs - and the stories behind them
Also, me want!
I love the posts about the dynamic Detroit landscape. Pictures of buildings scrappers have hit, "Cattle Trails" that pop up through neighborhood properties, and I love hearing about how you and your family adapt to these scenarios.
Just wanted to pipe in and say that I've been loving sweet juniper crafts. I'm kind of a beginner crafter, and Wood sets a really nice example of someone who is teaching themselves and taking on really original, beautiful projects.
I love your site..I am becoming obsessed with your pictures of Detroit....amazed that a po gal like me could buy a mansion for under 10K. I am also loving Wood - I am working on that men's shirt goes cute dress project. I like you just as you are - wish I had your bike.
I don't remember how I found your blog but I enjoy checking it to see if you have new posts. You have a way with words that makes me want to move to or visit Detroit.
i love the range of your posts.
bands i love lately: josh ritter, blind pilot, and the avett brothers are a great band......if you like a little blue grass in your diet.
I like your posts about the background story of you and your wife and also the posts about the adventures you have with your kids.
first of all, me want! we're going to be moving from California to Ohio at the end of this month, and boy could i use some new tunes for the road trip.
second... don't be so hard on yourself. i've enjoyed reading your site off and on for several years now, and i sort of love the schizophrenic nature of it. it's a parenting blog! it's a craft blog! it's an architecture/urban decay/photography blog! all of the things that i love rolled into one, and with thoughtful writing to boot. i can sympathize if you're feeling bored or in need of a change, but don't worry about us. we'll keep reading either way.
Let's hear more about this kids! It seems like you backed away from talking about them a lot after the babble incident. Really I'm just here for them, who cares about the guy behind the keyboard.
My son turns 7 on Friday. Happy Birthday Julian!
I would love to win this! I have found so many more musical interests since reading your blog. I am pregnant and need some new tunes for this first baby - Music helps me relax!!!
I'd love to win this so that I can listen to it while on maternity leave for my summer vacation!
Thank you for not doing any MJ posts this week. Good golly! Yes, he could sing but isn't this coverage a bit much?
I love the Market day posts - I have hit up half a dozen different markets in the San Diego area and have yet to find the amazing deals you score weekly! But, I shouldn't complain since my markets are year round.
Somehow I lucked out in finding this blog through Babycenter.com. I have a 6yr old and 2 yr old so I can relate to your stories in some sense. I have to commend you on your parenting style.
Our summer plans are to move to Finland for 6 months.
I love reading your blog! I'm so amazed at all the beauty you find in the decay of Detroit. It's nice to see that there are good things happening and that there is a glimmer of hope for the city. You're able to capture it all with a sense of pride and most importantly, a sense of humor. Keep up the good work!
Oh, and the Popcycle rocks!!
hi jim! more Wendell!
I also enjoy your photos of Detroit--I have one of your prints hanging in my living room and get frequent compliments on it. When people ask who the photographer is, I tell them "this guy from the Internet..."
ooo! me want!
and friday is my birthday too! what fun. i'm spending my summer vacation studying for the LSAT... I do know how to party.
I love your blog! We just got back from the beach.
Love all of the Detroit pics and commentary, plus hearing your adventures around the city. Would love to read more adventures around the state of MI.
Vacation plans? First real "vacation" since our honeymoon in 1999! We're taking a cruise to Grand Turk and the Bahamas. We bought a lake house so we go there every weekend instead of going somewhere exotic for a single week or two each year. We have taken some work-related trips and tied in some fun and games so we haven't really been housebound all these years, but...
Improve this site? Your words draw vivid pictures, your pictures offer visuals of incredible sites - how can you improve on that?!?
I get no summer vacation. Instead, I get to study for the Michigan Bar Exam. Go me.
i saw a plastic pegasus in a toy store the other day and thought of your blog - i hope that when i have kids they are as interested in mythology as juniper is!!
We took our vacation already! Went to NYC to stay with friends, museum-hop, shop in Brooklyn and Chinatown, then we got engaged in Central Park! Good trip.
your blog rocks, i'd love this player, and i'm hoping to go see jason mrazthis summer... but maybe that won't be happening since i have a six week old kiddo.
Me want. Couldn't resist. More photography. Talk about Detroit more, and that neighborhood in Cincinnati. I've been to Cincy three times since that post and I can't find a single person who knows where it is.
A windbag? Perhaps. But not talentless. And not that there's anything wrong with being a windbag.
I've been reading Sweet Juniper since you first moved to Detroit, and I think it's just fine the way it is. I'm amazed with two kids that you continue to update as regularly as you do!
Yay, thanks for another contest. We have no summer plans because we just bought our first house, but we're so happy it's like a summer vacation every day. Album recommendation: the new Circulatory System is amazing. *Technically,* it isn't released until September, but is totally worth finding now, and buying then. Because it's amazing. Write about: I like it when you write about your family history, because I always think if I had to do one of those "pick anyone to come to dinner," I'd invite my ancestors and ask them what they thought of Lincoln and how they got so much work done and why they came to the US, etc. Family histories are just neat. Also, I'm a classical geek, too, and am always aflutter when you mention Bellerophon. Easy to please here. Thanks again.
It's your blog. Do what you want. Tell the haters to suck it.
I dig keeping up on the story of Detroit thru your blog. We moved from Pontiac to rural KY about 2 years ago. Your blog reminds me of all the things I loved and hated about living up there.
Ugh. My summer plans are to continue half-assedly studying for my retake of the California bar exam, while wishing I could just go back to full-time instead of half-time in my newish job as a paralegal for a solo practitioner. I know I have to pay the loans off somehow, but it took three years of law school to make me realize I wish I'd stuck at the legal support level, even if I don't love the more secretarial aspects. Anything not to have a job like my classmates do.
I was just reading through the comments realizing how many people... like me... are reading this from work pretending to get important things done. ah, the life.
This summer is spending time de-wallpapering the house. Listening to Florence and the Machine, especially Dog Days on repeat. And pretending to work. clearly.
Going to Rhode Island for vacation.
I love your insight on your city, the stories about your kids, Woods last post moved me to tears..... over all just continue to do what you do. We all love the ride. My summer vacation is going to consist of spending time w/ my family enjoying my kids and soaking in the sun.. earoman1011@gmail.com
I'd love it! I can probably count the number of songs I own in digital format on my own two hands, and I would seriously love more for the long indoor stationary rides coming this winter.
Looks like I might be comment 100, too. Special! lol
I like your blog as is, also. That is why I am still reading it after finding it from boingboing, however long ago that was.
ummm...."me want!"
thanks.
As an attorney mom who also leaves her kids home with their pop, I like to see how another dad passes the hours till "the return". Plus, makes me see my guy's not the only one who finds "creative" things to entertain, and enlighten, the youngsters.
love the site as is really. pretty fucking excited about going to see my brother in Huntington Beach in about a month.
Summer plans... working at a local ren faire to help pay the bills. Nothing says summer like really overweight girls wearing skimpy chain-mail bikinis and gross old dudes asking me if I like their cod piece while staring at my chest. Oh yeah, good times.
No summer vacation for our family as we run a BBQ catering business. Am looking forward to spending some time on a beach faraway in an exotic place sometime in October though!
Any chance of your making the alphabet books available again?
And don't be afraid to write about the bike!
Heading to my grandma's 90th birthday party this weekend...
If I had any extra cash I would be going to Puerto Rico and NYC but instead I'm hanging out at the pool which is pretty great too.
I've been really like Camera Obscura's music lately. They're very relaxed and a little weird.
I know it's an old cd now however I love Six AM the heroin diaries. I also have the book. Great read.... well it's like a crash your shocked and grossed out but have to keep reading to find out what happens next.
As far as the blog. Your one of the first blogs I read each day. I love to read your stories of when you and Wood were dating or just got married. Your traveling stories are great. I don't see as many post about the kids. I noticed the change right after Juniper's picture was stolen. I would love to know if you are still happy as a stay at home dad. How did your books do?
Although I enjoy your current Detroit stories and photos, I love when you tell stories from your past, like working next to the cathouse and the one about the 5 kids in the duplex. Your stories stick with me, no matter what you write about. Your way with words is amazing.
My summer vacation so far includes being pulled over for speeding in Winebago county Il. Mandatory court appearance if you are speeding in a work zone. I live in Boston, so this is difficult. So, 1000 songs would help ease the pain of the trip back to Winabago County. Thanks!
super excited about heading to the "saltbox" cabin we rent for a long weekend every summer. four days, lots of friends, many brews, and bocce!
I check your site several times a week just to lift my spirits.
A new ipdod would help muffle the sound of my four children all yelling for me at the same time!
Some of my favorite posts here are about "urban parenting"...discovering playgrounds time forgot, biking adventures...just knowing what you do with your kids all day when escaping to a "Little Gym" or aren't on the agenda.
Also, I'm immensely curious about what you are going to do when J&G reach school-age. Are you going to send them to the neighborhood public school? Private? parochial? As a former inner-city urban dweller & employee of a private school I fretted about that decision a lot, but since we moved it’s not a source of stress anymore. I’m still fascinated by how families like yours make those choices.
Protect your joints. Nothing will make you feel older quicker than achy joints. That's what I've got.
From a 34 year old with elbow tendonitis.
If there's any way you could make your feed show completely in my RSS reader, I will be your new biggest fan. I have redefined lazy, so it pains me to open a new window to view your bloggy goodness.
Ok--so I will go for the album recommendation: Dark was the Night. I can't stop listening to it and even my 3 year old has his favorite songs on it.
PS--I really liked your post about the elitist record shop owner.
Sounds like fun to me. Alas, my blog is in a total rut so I have no extra ideas to pass along. I do love reading your posts about Detroit, though.
We're staying close to home this summer, but will get in a long canoe trip by Labor Day.
Oh yes, me want bad. Enjoy reading about your adventures on the bike, am amazed you can keep your balance with everyone riding with you.
Everything you guys are doing now, I read with a lot of interest and enjoyment. And, learning something too! Keep up the good work.
As a mom of a 2 year old, I love taking her to the playground where she is just all over the place. I have been a bit perplexed however, in how to handle the older kids who constantly cut in line in front of her and in general, disregard all manners and safety. Am I asking too much? Should I be the one to point out that they need to share, watch out for the little kids, wait in line for your turn while their parents are completely ignoring the situation? Or am I just helicopter parenting and need to let kids be and let my daughter fend for herself? Would love to hear your (you and/or Wood) thoughts.
Oh, and me want.
Summer vacation plans: two weeks in Vermont (our family's annual tradition)
Album: "A Year with Frog and Toad" (original Broadway cast recording). If you get a chance to see this show, DO SO--it is hands-down one of the best (in terms of writing, pacing, staging, dialogue, music--you name it) shows I've ever seen for either adults or children.
I really enjoy reading your blog. Love your writing style! As for summer, i'm going to iceland...=)
I like the stories about how you and Juniper and Gram make you reflect on you and your dad. How life is always different and the same. I love my Midwest and am always inspired by the stories of peole that dig in and save the bits that are worth saving, letting the city reinvent itself.
Four wedding and doing a documentary in Detroit on urban gardens. Me want!
Thanks, Jim!
As a new mom, I am totally partial to the stories about the kiddos. Love them. Also, I love crafting, and I am constantly inspired by Wood. My husband and I both love to hear what you've got to say, it always starts great conversations.
A friend of yours (Amy O in SH) turned me onto your blog. I love your posts about your kids (I have a 4.5 yr old and a 16 month old myself) and especially your photos of detroit architecture...
I'd also like to thank your wife for the wonderful idea of making a quilt out of old baby clothes....I've started collecting my favorite pieces.
And I really don't know what Slot Radio is but it'd be super cool to win one (I think) b/c I'm very behind in the technology dept. Even my 10 year old nephew has an i-pod and I don't.
My Summer Plans by: Cristina Arroyo
Buy a house. The end.
Mission accomplished! We close escrow Friday, July 10th. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Thanks for the chance!
Cristina
I've burried myself in Todd Sinder's music this past week. It's been good.
I love the parenting stories and the pictures/stories of Detroit. I'm typing this one-handed with my newborn on my lap so your pictures will be all the travel I do this summer! I'd love some new tunes too to help pass the hours nursing!
I'm longing for the return of the stories of your adventures in Ireland. Jabs at the Dutch are also always welcome.
Thinking of going to Boston, perhaps. Undecided. Funny, the guys in my office just went on and on the other day about how awesome Macs were and how they don't crash. hmmmmm. Thanks for the chance to win!
haha, yea, we have a MAC too and it has crashed (albeit not often) at the most INOPPORTUNE of times...bastard.
Summer will be regularly scheduled programming in these parts...but September....September holds great promise:
Northern Ontario to drop off Felix, Ottawa, Kyoto, Tokyo and Chicago, then back to Ottawa to pickup the Felix...all in that order. Wondering how much caffeine it is going to take me to get to September.
What's not to love- me want.
I just booked a flight back to the states- took hours of freaky systems not working together as I scrabled miles and had tp fit them into the cheapest tickets I could get- but now I look forward to three weeks of NY and Canada and seeing the family.
Me want
Love reading your blog... Love free stuff, a combo would be perfection!
I love the blog. I have been a reader for years. I especially love the nixon-era children's books. I also purchased your graffiti ABC book and can't wait to share it with my new baby girl due 8/31!
Oooh! I ADORE giveaways!
You totally rock! My favorite posts of yours are always your well-crafted stories about your life, which read like a novel (traveling in Greece, Haunted House, et al). I've also recommended your photos of Detroit to various friends interested in such things. Your kids are wonderful, and lucky to have such creative and cool parents.
I would love to see some more music posts, as I still listen to Wood's summer mix that you posted a couple of years ago and I've discovered some excellent music through your blog.
i really like the posts about gram and juniper growing up. hope your mac gets well soon!
I'm in a rut too. Not that the player would help, but it might be nice.
Going back to reading college theater textbooks to get out of my rut. Don't know if that will help.
I hate that Mac guy, but I love my Mac. But I use Windows Vista for my Media Center; I think the Mac guy appeals to those Apple zealots that would never admit to having a Windows PC.
Sorry about the Mac crash. I would love to win.
I am, until recently, a Detroit area resident. Now I live in North Carolina, working with Teach For America as a teacher in a rural poverty school. Your blog serves as a connection to Detroit for me. Thank you.
whee...!
I enjoy everything about your blog. I think the first entry I read was the one about working at the haunted house.
Our summer plans just involve painting and finishing up the many half-done projects around the house!
Your blog is offically my favorite online. Whatever your misgivings about it, I find it to be multi-layered in a way that most are not. And that makes my interaction with your site a bit like a treasure hunt. I died of joy even at your last posting when Juniper's look was translated as "Fuck that, dude." To see her and Gram and Detroit and Wood and the World from your lens is nothing short of life-affirming. And to anyone who says otherwise, I say, "Fuck that, dude."
Going to the Teton Mountains....correction - DRIVING to the Teton Mountatins from Dallas, Texas in two weeks. Check out anything Bob Wills, and me definitely want!
My summer plans now involve finding a decent farmer's market around these parts.
I love your blog. More please.
Now gimmie.
Love your writing, your photos, your humor and your recrafting of old kids' books. "OOOH OOOOH! Pick me! Pick ME!" (think Donkey in "Shrek").
I always enjoy your posts. I really can't give any ideas for improvement...though i was never a fan of the Friday Street urchin pics...though accompanying posts NOT about street urchins were always good. I do miss Wood's occasional posts though i have enjoyed her Woodcraft section. Oh and...ME WANT. Thanks.
summer plans? staying the heck home. we tried a 2 day/1 nite stay at a friend's lakehouse and it was so fucking much work with the twins (14 months old) that we left at 8am after having arrived at 4pm the day before. Maybe we'll travel when they're 2.
I love your writing, and, like many others, I love how you're documenting the city of Detroit. I find it very interesting to read your take and look at the photographs.
Also: me want
I'll recommend an album!
Band: The Weather Machines
Album: The Sound of Pseudoscience
One of my favorites.
i love the posts of the horrifying children's books. they're hilarious. i can't make any suggestions to you for this site because its your blog and i've enjoyed your choices so far. keep up the good work. oh, and loved the photo of you and the kids loaded up on the bike.
HEY!
The new series on HBO called "Hung" is set in Detroit, a lot of the locations I recognized from your photos, I geeked out when I watched it recently.
Because of you, I have an aching desire to visit Detroit. I love the pictures of your abandoned city.
Hello, love the site. I'd love to hear about your summer adventures in Detroit and how the city is doing this summer. Or anything else that strikes your fancy.
Love the blog!
I really appreciate what you're doing and the pizzaz with which you do it. Writing ruts come and go, but you have a great story to tell.
I'm always happy to see you post a story about your past travels and youth. It would be great to read more about Wood's youthful adventures too.
I also enjoy it when you tell us about the somewhat unusual media you share with Juniper and Gram. Like the Chaplin movies and odd youtube clips. It's always a nice reminder that kids can be entertained by things you might not expect them to like.
My summer plans were curtailed due to money issues. My sweetheart and I were going to go get a marriage license in Massachusetts and have a wedding on the Cape on 7/14. Now we're postponing that to next summer, and will go get our Oregon Domestic Partnership next week instead. The big family/friends celebration will be in July 2011. Yeah - two years from now. Since we're not waiting for the wedding to have sex, we see no problem with a long engagement, unlike my many Mormon cousins who get married after dating someone for 3 months, tops.
As for an album recommendation, I recently re-listened to my not-yet-wife's second solo album, and you know what? It's really pretty good. Trace Wiren - Johnny's Cafe. (We really need to work out her royalties since she hasn't seen anything from iTunes, though they've been selling it for a few years. Yeah - procrastination. But CDBaby sends her proceeds, so that's preferred. And there are sites giving it away for free - so there you go.)
Happy summer.
Someone gave my daughter a Cinderella book a few months ago and she is obsessed and I am appalled. I think she would love some mythology, but I just don't know where to begin. Any suggestions?
Ever since I stumbled onto your blog a few years ago I have really enjoyed it, but recently I have been inspired by Wood's craftiness. I'm not a great crafter, but she has projects that don't intimidate me, for the most part. One idea you might consider is posting some of your families favorite recipes or the meals that you find yourself making over and over again, especially with your farmer's market loot. I know I get bored with my own standbys sometimes, so it'd be nice to give yours a try.
I love this blog...thank you so much.
We finally made friends with various and sundry neighbors so we can really socialize at the pool. We have seen these people there all summer long for several years. I am not sure what the difference is now, but I am happy about it. My husband is happy, and our 3 yr old loves the attention from everyone. We will be spending lots of time there this summer I am sure.
I really enjoy that you write about such a large variety of topics. I never considered Detroit to be a very interesting place until I started reading your blog. And I love reading about the craft/sewing projects that your wife does.
I'm from a town an hour and a half outside of Detroit but live in Los Angeles now. It both saddens and fascinates me to read about/see the decaying of Detroit ... thank you for your awesome blog!
Music recommendations--personally I've been enjoying Blind Pilot, and also Neko Case's 'Middle Cyclone'.
I love the street urchins and the street dogs. That little one in Puerto Rico was my favorite.
"Mine" as my 2 year old would say.
My summer plans include watching my squash grow and swimming with my son in a kiddie pool! It's been great so far.
My big summer plans include keeping my German Shorthaired Pointer out of the garbage. It's a full time job. Also camping, hanging out with friends on the lake and reading a Marshall Karp book.
Of course I love the stories about your family, including the dog. Also I would love to hear what your plans are for when Junie and Gram go to school. I can't imagine you going back to the grind. Photography? Writing?
I love the stories about Detroit. Wonderful pictures, great writing, makes me feel like I have a connection to a significant time in the city's history.
Love this blog and weirdly enough (or least that's what my friends think), I love heading out to MI and Detroit on business trips. I hang mostly in Southfield, Wixom and Warren.
I have a Mac and a PC and the PC crashes way more than the Mac. But in the PC's defense, as frustrating as the crash is, I get a charge out of the "Blue Screen of Death."
What would Capt. Kirk do if that popped up during a battle with a Klingon?
I want to know how you cook and eat that enormous amount of greens you buy every week!
Summer, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, cantalope.....
I have no idea about a Summer vacation -- but I'm considering buying a house soon!
Also, "me want!"
Debbie at twentycarlo dot com !
I'm interested in the chance to win the slotRadio, but I'm more interested in telling you how much I enjoy your blog. I'm a canning teacher/writer, and am a big fan of urban gleaning, and so love reading about your adventures picking fruit from your neighborhood (and I adore the weekly shots of your farmers market hauls).
Do you ever can some of your gleaned produce?
Me want, please!
I've been reading your blog for who knows how long, and its one of my faves. And for some reason or other its one of my few bookmarked sites that is actually written by a man.
I enjoy your farmer's market posts.
And Wood's craft posts.
And of course all the Juniper and Gram.
I grew up in the Detroit area and love reading about your experiences living in that complex, beautiful, often heartbreaking city. I especially appreciate the photographs and narratives you have to share--and for the defiant sense of optimism on behalf of the city that comes through many of them.
I've been reading for a long time and I keep coming back because of the quality of the writing. I love the variety, too--Detroit, SAHP, the rants, the mushy, nostalgia, politics. All good.
You haven't written about your pre-children days much lately. I'm thinking of that great series about your adventures in Ireland. You and Wood have travelled a lot. You could mine that for some fresh writing, if you're so inclined.
And I always love your movies suggestions. But I'll keep coming back even if you only post once a month. You write well, so I'll keep reading.
And I forgot to add my email. Here it is on this one. I hope it doesn't disqualify me!
After you posted about cutting Gram's mullet off, i had a dream that i had the same mullet as him.
me wantie wantie.
Summer:
Job hunting, Eastern Market, speaking Spanish, dancing, eating avocados.
Summer Album:
Hissing Fauna; Are You The Destroyer? (Of Montreal)
& me want.
i love your blog. my favorites are when you tell the long thoughtful stories. the ones that get me all choked up. i'll take more of those please.
also pics of the kids are nice. i keep looking at that one of all of you on the pop-cycle. really lovely.
I love your blog, this just gave me an excuse to comment.
sooo ...
"me want"! =)
Me want.
I love your site, you are a great writer, and your children are beautiful. Summer plans, spending time with friends and family locally, not enough money to travel these days. Oh yeah, Me want...pretty please?
This is you in a rut? I love the blog & have recommended it to a few people talking smack about Detroit. So can I have the radio, you taintless windbag?
I love Dave Matthews? 
As for summer adventures - sticking close to home since another babe is on the way at the end of summer. Road trips on the Beartooth Highway (including sledding in the snow in June!) and probably the Folk Festival in Butte this weekend. How awesome will that be?
Summer plans: Nothing that costs money, since we are both unemployed. Finding a job for one or both of us would be a good way to celebrate summer...
P.S. Are you ever afraid your kids will grow up to be super-argumentative, since they are they children of two lawyers? We live in fear of the day our two-year-old unleashes her combined genetic arsenal of smart-assery and stubbornness.
I dearly love your blog. It means so much to a midwestern (Toledo) girl in Alaska. Have you been to the Toledo Museum of Art? - gorgeous glass work. The Toledo Zoo is fabulous as well. The new Mud Hens Stadium is in down town, not in the burbs like it used to be.
I'm probably doing my family's traditional voyage out to Prince Edward Island (Canada). To laze about on the beach, swim in the -cold- water and read many many books.
No plans. Just wingin' it all summer long. ME.WANT.SLOT
Since I am the last living sole not to own an Ipod, let me win!!!!
We've been watching "Hung" on HBO. And it made me think of you all (um, it's set in Detroit).
Just one episode in, though I did watch it twice. Wondering if it's gonna grow on me (yeah, yeah, that's what she said).
Weeds is winging its way via Netflix to us, and I'll confess that I don't yet know how I feel about the show. M-L Parker is lovely, as always. And it makes great commentary about suburbia, but... *shrug*
My wife sends me links to your blog from time to time, mostly the mythology stuff or things relating to how you stand apart as a dad. You're doing good work.
Love the painting you had commissioned and Juney's retelling of the myth.
The fact that you mentioned Andrew WK & law school in a single post throws out the "talentless windbag" claim.
I love all your posts about Detroit, especially anything with a building in it. I am a building junkie. Weird.
Just keep doing what you're doing ... I especially love all the posts about how you're raising Juniper with bloody mythology and silent films. Really, they're a point of reference for me when I'm choosing what to put into my 2-yr-old daughter's head.
Arkansas Ozarks
Big Smith - From Hay to Zzzzzzzzzz
Remembering Denny by Calvin Trillin
Me want -- but I like all your stories. Your stories about Detroit make me look at my little big town, Portland, in a different light.
Keep it up, Jim. You've been an inspiration for many and maybe I'll actually get off my duff and restart my blog about Cleveland... kids make the city all the more interesting...
I don't think I'm eligible for the radio, being a foreigner and all, but I did want to tell you that my favourite posts have been about your childhood and your dog
My summer vacation will sadly last 3 days this year. I'll probably be sleeping and become a vegetable.
I think you should not worry too much- your posts are eloquent and thoughtful and I wouldn't want them any other way- even if that means they are infrequent!
I absolutey love your portrayal of our city, and look forward to seeing more.
The stuff about your kids is great too.
Oh, and I want.
How to improve the site: just write more! Love it all.
Thus far my summer involved a trip back to my hometown and a reunion with my best friend from high school who I hadn't seen in 23 years. So much fun that we're headed to Las Vegas in September to celebrate our 40th birthdays together.
Did you ever watch the movie Zach and Miri make a porno? Since seeing that, I can't think of the Mac guy any other way.
I don't think there's anything you can do to improve the site except to write more. I really look forward to reading your posts.
I love reading the adventures of the papa bike and of course, the pictures. I always feel so happy and a little bit sad seeing knee high weeds and empty streets. It's beautiful but then I just think of all. those. books. (And I would like to win the radio thingie for my daughter Ramona)
Album recommendation: Le Pop by Katzenjammer. Saw them this weekend at Summerfest in Milwaukee and they blew me away. Now I can't stop listening to their CD!
John Hodgman (the PC) owns and uses an IPhone. Little known fact.
I love all of the post abt a decaying Detroit, and how you are raising your kids w/o tv, going to farmers markets, riding your bike, etc.
and I want a radio....
My plans for this summer are being a guest at 9 weddings.
Wow, the internet is all Michael Jackson and slot radios today.
I enjoy the posts you write about Detroit, and show pictures of how the city has changed. Thanks.
My favorite things are the pictures of Juniper and Gram. I like the pictures and stories about Wendell, too. Oh, and Woodcraft is awesome. I'm a stressed out grad student and sometimes I read through your archives during all-nighters, when I need to a break from writing papers or exams.
I am totally digging M. Ward and thanks to you, my husband is obsessed with Fleet Foxes. Thanks. Start with Transistor Radio, come up strong with Post War and finish with Hold Time. Or not. Whatever floats your boat.
Don't want to brown nose, but I love your blogs and Woodcraft when she's able to post something. Keep on keeping on there in Detroit, you have definitely set a strong standard for those who love to bitch yet do nothing about their communities.
me want
But really, I could use to get out of the rut too. No posts for ages.
i just like hearing about what's going on in your lives... what it's like to raise your kids, what it's like to live in detroit, etc.
as for summer vacation, everyone is coming to see us because we live in nyc. my husband and i have our 5th anniversary in august and we haven't figured out where we're going yet, but somewhere in the northeast b/c we're new to this region.
cheers!
samantha
I like seeing and hearing about the kids. And the bike. And I, too, am pissed at Mac. Mine died a few weeks ago and I hadn't backed things up. My fault but I foolishly had more trust in them...
I'm not dutch but I like free things. You know, cause they don't cost anything.
Love the stories about Detroit, makes me feel homesick for Michigan (didn't grow up there, but I lived there for 10 years).
Also love the stray dog pictures, I always think that one day you'll post a picture of my dog you took from when she was a stray there.
Summer Plans - considering Legoland with the kids...but am wondering if a 2-yr-old and a 3-yr-old are old enough to appreciate it. We very well may end up just hanging out at home with the wading pool, juice boxes and beers...
The Website - love any and all D.I.Y. postings and am really inspired by the Woodcraft postings. It's all good though...
Three down, one more chamber music festival to go. I plan to quickly throw together some of the greatest works of the classical repertoire with colleagues I'll get to know for a total of a week or less. I could really use some other noises for a while.
me me me want!
Also, I enjoy a lot the stories with your kids, they're so cute.
Can i call you a talented windbag?
On your worst sell-out days, you still manage to provide a distinct and alternative way of doing some of the most basic things. How many people can say that?
I’d love to learn more about how you use all those weekly veggies. Maybe a random monthly recipe post?
Keep parenting differently. You inspire more people each day than your realize.
need.musical.motivation.for.running.
keep up the beautiful documentation of detroit, i can't believe i'm an actual blog reader but yours is worth coming back to. thanks.
your writing rocks... found you through duece...keep on doin what yuo re doin
Yeah,so,I want it because I never win anything. Maybe you'll break the losing streak.
I've loved Detroit since I was raised here in the 80s and I'm now an intern at the Russell Industrial Center. I love hearing your stories and I am SO impressed by your photography! I'd love to win the slot radio!
holy f*ck... (music recc for the band from my hometown, not random cursing at your blog). love the blog!
It's winter here so no holidays for me.
I've been enjoying Silversun Pickups.
I like your posts reminiscing about the past, like how you met Wood.
Love the blog. Love the photos. Love the occasional classics references. Volo! Cupio! ("me want")
today sucked. please pick me.
I'd like to see more pictures of the family bike. They have inspired me to get my kid riding with me.
Ha! Justin Long is a douche, but that Dodgeball kinda grows on you. I mean, c'mon, it's got Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris.
yay!
I love your blog. My friend told me about it a few years ago, and I've been reading since. I love your photography, and the stories about the kids. Thanks!
Macs totally crash. Those commercials are a lie.
i found this blog when you guest posted on dooce. i spent the next two days reading back through the archives, and laughed so hard i busted blood vessels in my face.
I've been enjoying listening to Beirut this summer. His/their videos are very fun as well.
I agree with whoever commented on flickr that you should take more pictures of the market (the people, etc)- there's a post idea! Now, I'd call you a talentless windbag but that's just now true
Sounds like a fun little give away... me want.
To quote Captain Hook: I want, I want, I want. I need, I need, I need!
wantee!!
Um I meant that's just NOT true. Der.
Since I'm back, I'll chime in that I don't have summer vacation plans. We may go camping if we decide camping with three three year old's isn't an insane idea. I wish we could buy an RV, pull the older kid out of school for a year and visit every National Park in the country.
This year, I am forced by our company to take vacation. Weird but true, people here don't take vacation often, including me. We plan to go to Montreal for a family wedding anyway.
ok one more- what happened to the merry go round you used to visit with the kids every day last summer?
I also wish your feed had the full post. I do like that you made all the posts show up in the feed. (I used to get just the posts on your main page).
But really, I'll keep clicking through no matter what. Your view of the world makes me think and I appreciate that.
Thank you.
For summer vacation I am going to Detroit. Not really, but I think your posts about the city are beautiful; even though I've never been there, and have no reason to ever go there.
I really love the way you document the lonely, abandoned buildings on your site. Great writing and beautiful photos. Your kids are awfully cute, too!
I have been out of the D for ten years now, and reading all your posts makes me want to come back.
I love reading about the abandoned buildings of Detroit. I'm a history major in Grand Rapids, and took a class on Michigan History, and plan on taking Urban History with an emphasis on Detroit in the fall. I think it's really interesting to have learned about what made Detroit the way it is now, and how you are able to show everyone what it looks like from the perspective of someone living it. Awesome!
Well first off, ME WANT. Lets just get that out of the way. I check here early and often looking for new posts. I'm especially tickled by your photography, shots of the kiddos and the ever surprising Detroit landscape captivate me like nothing else. All I have ever heard of your city has been bad, seeing and reading your stories of growth have inspired me. Detroit has made my "someday see" list, thank you!
I enjoy reading your blog very much - my husband is going to be the at-home parent when we have kids, and I think it's fascinating to get a peek at that perspective.
I like your blog the way it is.
Hey, you're Dutch right? You'll have to like this Flash site;
http://producten.hema.nl/
Everyone loves Hema, right? Takes a minute to load, but worth the wait.
Wood inspired me to start sewing clothes for my baby, so that's why I'm doing a lot this summer. That and biking along the Mosel when the weather is nice, a rarity in Germany apparently.
Please
Microcastles by Deerhunter is really good
I was going to recommend my summer vacation but then you wrote "Never trust anyone who would consider marrying Drew Barrymore" and it made me laugh. Aloud. Nice work.
me me ME WANT
hand it over you talentless windbag!
Pffft!
I don't think the site needs improving....keep doing what yer doin'!
Suggestion for improvement: more posts. Love the deep ones, but some fluff would be just fine.
Question 1: what do mulberries taste like?
Question 2: studying for the bar, wrestling with future interests (though I'm pretty sure the 'f' in 'future' actually stands for another f word...) and I cannot tell the difference between a contingent remainder and an executory interest. Can you or Wood HELP ME? I beg you.
Summer vacation plans: I am taking the kids to my father-in-law's house in a tiny mountain town for a month! My husband will only be around on weekends. I could sure use some new music to listen to while we are up there.
Born, raised and still living in Michigan. Grew up in Warren then moved a little more toward Lansing for my job. We still go back to your side of town for things like TasteFest and Orchestra Hall and such. We're getting ready to leave for Mackinac this weekend (husband, myself, 9 y.o. and 6 y.o.), followed by a jaunt to Muskegon the following weekend. I really enjoy your blog. I love your style of writing and admire your way of living. Keep up the great work, Dutch!
Off to see San Fransico for the first time this summer. There is no way I could say you are a talentless windbag. I am always looking forward to hearing about the city of Detroit. Love hearing about your family, and the pictures you take are my favorite.
Just got back from 10 days in Boyne City with good friends. Had a good time despite the mostly cold and rainy weather.
Love the site.
I love it when you come to Cincinnati and show me things about my city I have never seen before!
Well, our summer plans are already done...we went to Portland, OR last week, and it was a fantastic experience. It was our first vacation with our two girls. My parents went to Detroit last week, instead. Everything they were describing to me on the phone is something that I have read about through your writings. I feel so much more "in the know" about the real Detroit. The really sad thing is that whenever someone asks me where my parents went for vacation, they end up with a quizzical look on their face and ask "Why?". No city should ever be so dismissed. Thanks for caring.
Good music or crappy music I wonder?
I want to take my chances.
me. want.
and i like your site fine as is, and the other two juniper sites (photos and woodcraft).
and we plan to go local for our summer vacation plans, local amusement park if we can fit it in, local waterpark, our backyard pool.
did I win?
Quilting! And more quilting! Wood inspired me to start my own project -- commemorating my first wedding anniversary with my husband. I didn't think ahead, and now I've got an ENORMOUS sandwich of backing, batting, and fabric to contend with. I suppose I will have to tie it although I really wanted to quilt the heck out of it.
Love the blog! Can't think of any improvements except: More posts! More pix! My summer plans are to finish re-painting my daughter's room and clean out my garage. Yeah, I'm exciting that way. Also broke.
I'd recommend anything by The Wood Brothers. They're a two-man blues/bluegrass band, and my four-year-old can't get enough of them. The bassist is the bassist for Medeski Martin and Wood; that's how I learned about them.
The only suggestion I'd make is that your RSS feed seems to be updating irregularly. I don't get any updates for days and then get a bunch of posts at once. For example, this post hasn't yet hit your RSS feed. I only found out about it because my wife told me to enter the contest. (Maybe this has already been mentioned above; I didn't read all 270+ comments that came before me.)
Oh, and I'd like to win. Thanks!
This summer I'm writing a book on international fisheries policies, and writing some more songs for my second CD. So I could, perhaps, recommend to you my first CD:
Beth DeSombre, Crooked Highways (2007), which you can find on iTunes or in a variety of electronic places, like here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/bethdesombre
Beth
I love your posts about abandoned buildings & neighborhoods. Keep it up!
Okay, I'm in.
As always, I love reading your writing.
droppin' my name in the hat.
i read for the similarities i see between the way you see detroit and the way we see philadelphia, the adventures in parenting, and in general, the thoughtfulness you put into your writing.
I like both Detroit & fatherhood posts. thank you
Me want gizmo.
but also, Me Want more pictures... perhaps of your designer chairs, the abandoned neighbourhoods of Detroit...
and Me Want say Nice Blog - a jewel of the internets!
just got home from summer vacation . . . am now covered in poison oak.
I would love to go to some deserted island and just relax for about a month...however since i'm broke...i'll probably just go upstate for a weekend.
Are we going to get a summer in Michigan this year? It was only 70 degrees yesterday! IF we were to get some actual heat, my summer plans would include swimming in our new pool, but that's looking unlikely.
I never comment, but always read, and always love what you write! Thanks for that!
me want. but i also really like your blog. being from the burbs of detroit, but feeling always attached to the urban center, i love hearing about it from your perspective. we now live in philly and hope that urban renewal will continue (or start) everywhere.
Your best stuff is when you write about things you're passionate about. (never heard that before, right).
But personally I enjoy hearing about your spend thriftiness and how your kids respond. You and my other half could trade notes.
Hang in there, ruts serve their own purpose sometimes.
PS-Winning is good, winning is freebies, my husband would so approve.
I love the kid posts! Also, it's fun to see what you do with June's hair and outfits. Because it's so sweet.
Also love Wood's day-in-the-life posts.
Love all of your photos, especially the ones of your kids on your awesome bike! Keep up the good work.
My husband and I are also both lawyers, like you and Wood, but way down here in Texas. I just told my boss that I am pregnant, again . . . found out I was pregnant with the first about a month after I started this job. "Oh Lord", he said.
On another subject, I really love your farmer's market posts, and get so jealous because we don't have any good farmer's markets here. I would love to be able to get fresh herbs and fruit, not the packaged and shipped from long distance stuff we have to buy at the grocery store.
Keep up the good work!
Your blog has given me an appreciation for Detroit that I can honestly say I've never had. Your love for it has really lifted it up in my estimation. Living in Lansing, I think I'm naturally prejudiced against the heavyweight in the corner!
Now, after all that (true) buttering up, can I win the little goodie? :D
You can't really blame Justin Long for being paid a lot to be the nerdy mac in the commercials.
I'd be the nerdy mac for the $$ they gotta be paying him too.
And you think YOU'RE a sell out.
me want.
Now that that's out of the way, my favorite things on the site are Wood craft and your stories and pics about the kids. There really isn't much I would change, quite frankly, except maybe to highlight on the mainpage when a new Wood craft goes up on the as I've missed them sometimes in the past.
Keep up the great work!
Love the stories and photos of your kids the most (but not in a creepy way).
THAT kid is going to marry Drew Barrymore? Awww MAN! Disappointment abounds.
Anyway, love this site. My favorite moments on it, however, are when Wood chimes in, with her WoodCraft posts, or here, in the main. Something about this "outside voice from the inside" gives your weekly commentary a very rounded-out sort of feel...That makes absolutely no sense, I know, but just means that I appreciate the whole feel of the blog you guys have created here. It's nice and homey.
Being new parents of the indie variety we enjoy your subtle sarcasm and your depictions of the clash between being hip and being a wonderfully cheesy parent. I also hope to be a professional man of leisure one day. Your posts give me umm... inspiration. I am very close to my goal; I am a mathematician. My wife and I, also, really enjoy your accounts of the conversations between you and your wife. Often after reading them we look at each other and say that sounds just like us (minus lavish blogger live style). Please continue mocking societal norms, especially the norms of those who have the mistaken idea that they are unique (indie kids I'm talkin' to you). Yes you are a sell out!!! But you being a sell out is giving us the chance to win this sweet music player. We really want the music player. We are sell outs too. Since you spend your time entertaining our family and don't have time to research new music here are some albums. Thurston Moore, Trees Outside the Academy; My Brightest Diamond, Bring Me the Work Horse; The Decemberists, The Hazards of Love; The Bird and The Bee, The Bird and the Bee.
I would love to buy more of your photos - will that be an option any time soon?
M
I love your blog!! Don't change a thing.
Sure, I want!
I should have also addressed your blog question. I like it the way it is. It's a nice variety of family stuff as well as you geekin out on random stuff. I'm just interested in your family dynamic with you being a stay at home dad while Wood is out working as well as the knowledge you're passing along to your kids. I wonder what they're going to turn out like. I don't know a whole lot about mythology, but after reading all this great stuff, I can see myself learning more and sharing some with my kids.
Personally, I identify more with your fatherhood stories and always appreciate them. And your photos of decaying Detroit has basically put a face to the name for me since I've never been there.
I guess you're just another person for me to learn from. I take what I like, disregard what I don't, but enjoy it all for what it's worth.
I have no summer vacation plans because I'm saving every hour of time off for a trip to visit family in England in the fall. Meanwhile, we'll spend the next 2 months trying not to spontaneously burst into flames due to the Memphis heat!
Not much in the way of suggestions to improve ... I do love the day-to-day anecdotes about Juney and Gram, as I have kids about the same age and it seems like we're in the same place, although our adventures pale in comparison with yours. You regularly make me laugh aloud ...
Vacation plans: Heading back to the Mitt (like you care about me, anonymous reader No. 300, hehe) to visit with fam and friends. Driving cross country with two small children ... good times. Can't wait to splash around in fresh water and smell the northern air, though. Cheers!
I would love to win the music player. I am 62 years old and I am not to techy but I would love to hear music when I walk.
Judy
what we're doing this summer: working in the new veg. garden (picked a laundry basket full of basil last night and made pesto to freeze, made squash casserole the night before to freeze, and need to pickle some cucumbers today since there's a stack of 7 on the counter), trying to sell some magazine ads from my home office and having a damn hard time at it, and just found out my 7 yr old who is at sailing camp staying with my aunt on the coast 6 hrs away is home sick throwing up. poor both of them.
as for improving the site, can't think if anything really! love everything you write, whether it be about the kids or Detroit. And i especially love Wood's sewing updates.
enter me!
My husband and I just bought a record store in Minneapolis, and among the gems buried in the basement, we found "An Open Letter to My Teenage Son". Search the thrift stores for this one, it is hilarious.
I am home this week because of an accident that I was in and have had more web surfing time. I found your site and really love it. You are both great writers and you make me want to visit Detroit. I don't think anything needs to be changed about the site. Thanks for giving away your swag. Have fun. Austin, Texas is 104 degrees today. Stay cool.
Summer plans? As a teacher, doing nothing for much of the summer is always my goal!
ohh, pick me!
Being a new parent, my favorite posts are the ones about your kids because I can relate to them. I also love your Detroit posts - it is difficult to grasp that a situation like that could be happening in a major US city. Your photographs and words give me insight into something that really doesn't make sense.
As a child, I never went on a vacation that didn't involve my whole family in a station wagon (with the faux-wood panels on the side), driving somewhere in Michigan. I try to do this with my kids, and they are still young enough that this is fun for them. I just finished trying to super-glue the (now broken) plastic backscratcher my kid got at Deer Acres in Linwood last summer. Ahh, Michigan in the summer.
I look forward to all of your new posts....so cheer up u..and keep up the good work.
As a part-time lawyer (it can be done, sort of) and mother of two young boys I've been reading your site with interest for a while now. Usually from work, where I am right now (reading your site rather than reviewing a statutory right of way). I was happy to hear you on CBC. Come on up to Canada more often.
"I'll just tell him I was being a fairy."
This is one of the greatest kid lines ever.
I love free stuff!
I've been reading your site for a couple of years now, and recently joined the world of parenthood. I've always loved the posts about parenting the most, and while I enjoy woodcraft, I do miss her reflections on motherhood. It seems a lot of working mom blogs out there are moms who work at home, have flex jobs... and I connected with Wood as a mom who worked outside of the home full time. So I would love to see her chime in from time to time again.
I love your posts about parenting and how you find such fun adventures with your kids in not your typical kid-friendly environment.
Me want! Me in rut too ...
Listen, you can rustle up some amazing posts with the best of 'em. Your documenting of Detroit is incredible. But! Just because you don't necessarily have something that huge or potentially community-changing to post every time you sit down to write doesn't mean we won't be interested. We like hearing about you, your lovely wife, and your precocious kids.
With that being said, I will like you a lot less if I don't win this time.
My summer vacation was brief. A roadtrip to Wisconsin - Spring Green, Madison. Lovely weather. Lazy days...just what I needed. Would love a more exotic getaway, but appreciated getting to see a new (to me), lovely slice of the good ol' US of A.
Love your site. Would like to see more of your photo stories from a walk. Last summer you posted several of the walks with your children and all the mundane and cool things you came across.
thanks
oh...and yeah I totally would love to win.
wanty want!
I have thoroughly enjoyed your site for a few years now. I respect the rawness of your feelings and how you try to get across the reality of any situation. There isn't enough of that. And I appreciate when you feel you are running dry, so some thoughts to tumble around. I love knowing how different people have gotten to the family situation they have now. Who works? How often? Why do you work (some obvious answers to that, and maybe some less obvious)? What have you changed or done differently in your lives that have let you live the life you do today? How do you stay present in those mundane day-to-day moments with your children? How do you fight boredom? How do you build a family committed to the same values? I obviously really like the "hows" of life. Thanks for continuing to bring us glimpses into your life even though it can be one of the hardest things to believe is "glimpse worthy."
I'm from Alabama and have never even visited Detroit, although I have a few relatives who lived there years ago because they found better jobs there. I'm amazed by your photos that show nature reclaiming once-vital areas of the city. They remind me of the ravages of hurricanes and tornadoes in poor areas of the South.
Winning would be great, but I really do enjoy your blog.
me, pick me...
love your stories, love your stories of parenthood.
We are going to the beach soon and I cannot wait. I need a vacation in the worst way!
I would love to hear about where you go and what you do on that cool new bike you have.
me want.
there.
also, is there a way to get to your archives from when you were at sweetjuniper.org?
Jim,
It's all good!! I wouldn't say it's selling out. I would say it's buying American. Keep going your fine.
Wood,
Love the quilt, great idea. Lost my Dad 8 months ago and wish we would have thought of it before we gave them away. Mom quilts and I sent her your post. She saved his ties??
Just wanted to comment on stuff. Thanks.
Hi - I'm married to a stay-at-home dad so I always enjoy hearing about your escapades and insight. I love your take on parenting and the way you write about your kids.
The weather sucks up here this summer (Toronto) and there's a city worker strike for us, so that means our garbage isn't getting picked up, our parks have been turned into temporary dumps (can you believe the city did that?!) and no public swimming pools are operating. Also any kind of publicly run thing (like the ferries to the islands or historical houses) are running. So so far my family is keeping busy doing things like watching the Spykids DVD for the 5th time because there's no where to go, and anyways the weathers so crappy they don't feel like going outside.
So my tip for you this summer is "I hope you weren't thinking of driving to Toronto".
Aside from that, I will have to put a plug in for my awesome city which normally I love...but hey, pick up the garbage, dudes. Please!
me want, please.
Hmmm...I really enjoyed the posts you had about going bicycling with your kids.
Thanks for writing!
First of all, I was sure the brand was named Scandisk, what kind of name is Sandisk???
Second, The Empyrean by John Frusciante is to die for. Especially the song Dark/Light. Go get it, man!
I always like to read about your kiddies. When I read about them, it reminds me of my magical childhood.
me want!
please?
Musical suggestion: Silverspun (melodic prog rock)
And please do what you do best with your writing; authentically transferring your thoughts and awareness of relationships (with partners, children, cities, one's self) from your own perspective --- that's why I read…
Hope you'll write more about your experiences with your kids.
The experiences you share with your children are priceless. I was a stay at home mom, now my oldest is off to college this fall and taking her ipod with her! SlotRadio with pre-loaded songs is just up my alley. Please and thank you...
I enjoy your Detroit and family adventures. It sounds like your daughter is following in your footsteps of telling a good tale. My vacation plans are to drive down to Arkansas (from CO) to visit my brother's family. My niece and nephew are worth the heat and buggy critters!
Just jealous of your energy for going to the market!
Love your website!
You can totally give the SanDisk to someone else but I have to comment about Mac. My 18 month old iMac died over the weekend (logic board, $600+ repair) and I said the same thing. I thought we paid more because these computers are supposed to WORK. Hubby was joking that some sort of conspiracy killed all the Macs, I'll let him know your computer was in on it. Anyway, sorry about the computer failure, I feel your pain all too personally.
more farmers market updates, please! it was totally inspiring to read that post.
I really enjoy your website. I've never been to Detroit but as much as I'd like to win a contest, a real prize would be getting to hang out with you for a day seeing a changing city through your lense.
341 comments! You are probably not even reading these anymore! Oh well - I think there should be some kind of frequent flyer bonus for those of us who read daily, not just enter the contests.
When I opened your daily photo my 4 y.o. and I had the following conversation:
"Is that our new house?" (we are moving).
"No, that is Detroit".
"Oh, I've heard of Detroit - it's in my Greek Myths and Legends book".
"No, that's Troy".
You, talentless windbag? Do you read any of the other schlock out there in blogland? Suffice it to say that I really enjoy your posts. Having two young kids, I can relate to a lot of what you're experiencing. I also feel like I've learned more about Detroit from your writing and pictures than from anyplace else. Looking for ideas? How about more on your adventures exploring the city? Belle Isle, Eastern Market, DIA, interesting neighborhoods, interesting neighbors? Hope you are all having a great summer.
me want the music thing. now, while you have me here with the other jillions of people... re: the rut... i think you are supremely talented. hardly a windbag. i love the detroit photography and commentary, especially. If you're looking to do something totally new, you could do a music feature (tell us about a great song or artist once a week) or you could do more about food... love the eastern market photos, but what do you make with all of those veggies? or you could talk about all things spiritual and faith related... (of course the Reverend suggests such things. I am too predictable.)
It is always great to see new content up on your site. I enjoy the glimpses into your family, your neighborhood, and the trials and tribulations of staying grounded amidst all of the surrounding turmoil. More of the same, please.
Me want.
As for the site, personally I like what you write - keep it up!
jim **dot** lehmer **at** gmail **dot** com
Hm, # 333, the odds don't look good. But, hey, they are better than the odds for the M Jackson memorial, I suppose.
More pop-cycle stories. And I'm still wanting to learn more about Gram and what it's like to be a father to a boy after so many years of fathering a girl. And I want to hear about your old family home that you guys considered buying last year. Where did that tale end?
And the rain turned into tears upon your face
I hardly recognized the girl you are today
And god I hope it's not too late
It's not too late
'Cause you are not alone
I'm always there with you
And we'll get lost together
Till the light comes pouring through
I'm moving in a few weeks. First time on my own, in a new city, at a new job, at a new school, with a new roommate. I've never felt so afraid.
Hey, I bought one of your amazing photographs and I love your blog so why not pick me! The fact that you're in a rut only makes the rest of us slackers feel a little less guilty.
Our summer plans included moving from North Carolina all the way to San Diego. Your site was one of the few I bothered to check with limited internet access during the 4 weeks we were in transition. I bet that slot radio would've come in handy during the trip!
Love the blog!- Sidewalk story was great, urban planning internet buddies liked it too!
Summer plans? Escape boring East Lansing to ride bikes in the D. Took a greyhound to New York, trying to figure out if it's possible to travel to San Francisco for 2 weeks for under $500
I hope I win!
Daniel
I have no criticism, constructive or otherwise, so I'll just say, "Pick me!"
Yes Please!
I love your photography, and all the crazy, trippy, pre-apocolyptic things that are happening around Detroit.
My only comment is that I wish your Flicker (and any other) photos had captions telling where they were taken -- at least city info.
May the gods of the interwebs allow me to win this prize.
Hello,
I love your blog, and the sections too. I would like more captions to the photos.
A technical issue: your blog appears on my screen with lots of white space on wither side - it is a strip down the middle. Considering how lovely your pics are - it seems a waste.
We are in the depths of winter down here in oz, but I thought I would recommend a bands. Stuff that makes you want to dance: PSAPP
Evocative and lovely: TUNNG
keep up the good work!
I love reading the conversations you have with your wife. They make me smile and, often, laugh out loud.
Love the site, especially the Detroit pics.
I'm in a rut too.
i heart Dtroit.
I love reading your blog, I'm learning about Detroit through it I also really like your bike, very innovative!
I like your reflections/stories about when you were growing up.
Oh, my odds are poor.
Better odds? I'm thinking not. Love your pictures and comments...we used to live in a big city but moved to the 'sticks' so I enjoy reading your blog. Don't change a thing!
If you are looking for a new album to check out, try anything by Stan Ridgway, my favorite 80s survivor (he was the lead singer of Wall of Voodoo). He has a new album coming out this year, but any of his back catalog are great!
www.stanridgway.com
The slot player would be cool!
Not much planned for "summer vacation" this year, as we have a 4-mo old. We're first time parents, in our late twenties, and the bearers of two fabulous mortgage payments in addition to our new little Leta(bug). We now have mini-vacations in our backyard. My sweet husband will pull out a cooler of beers, we'll set up the hammock, set up the ipod and speakers, pop open the sun umbrella and fill up the kiddie pool for me and Leta. Insta-summer-vacation.
me want..
Love the stuff, especially the terrifying books, the fathering talk, and your wife's great sewing projects.
We're mainly gestating our third this summer, but will do a bit o' camping and some time with extended family.
And I would love this! It would save me from having to buy my 12 year old an ipod and learning how to manage iTunes for more than one user.
Can you fix the reader on bloglines so I can get the whole post? It used to come up that way, but then it changed to just the first few lines, and won't let me click through the banner to see the rest of the post.
That said: me want!
I love your writing and I miss the frequency with which you used to lay your soul bare regarding your feelings for Juniper. As a parent with my children about the same ages as yours, you so eloquently articulated so many things I was feeling yet could not speak.
My youngest is one now, and I understand that you must be so much busier now but the wonder has not lessened. I would like to hear more about Gram and Juniper and how they relate.
However if you stopped in order to respect the privacy of your kids and your own feelings about them, I totally understand that, too.
I don't have an mp3 player or iPod, so I think that device looks right up my alley. I have no time to browse and buy songs off iTunes...thanks for the opportunity!
Love your blog, thanks for writing!
never say no to a contest...unless it involves milk and a merry-go-round.
Love the site and would love to read more about your child-rearing ideals and also always enjoy stories about the kids...love your writing!
D.C. and Roanoke!
More posts on Monica Conyers??
Besides the photos of Detroit, I especially appreciate hearing about how you maintain your own interests and integrate them into your role as a father, and how that's received (e.g. "I'll just tell him I was being a fairy"). Thanks!
I love the posts about the kiddies and how you wile away the hours riding your popcycle, eating wild fruit, in the land of milk and honey. The pictures of Juney and Gram are few and far between.
me want!
my new favorite album (not new, but still my favorite) is the avett brothers emotionalism.
love this site. you are my connection to michigan! and cooler than the michigan I knew.
vacay: 2 weeks on Strong Island with my parents. I left LI long ago and never looked back, but the summers there with my own 2 kids are delish.
music: dirty projectors...try stillness is the move....
i heart: urban archeology & anthropology posts.
my want. I love the way that you write about your experiences with urban living. I'm raising my kids (ages 3 & 5) on a rural island in the Puget Sound..our life is different and yet..so similar.
My kids and I love listening to Elizabeth Mitchell.
Would love to win, but will keep reading my favorite blog regardless!
ooh! i want it!
i've taken to listening to music at work all day, to drown out coworkers and my supervisor and, you know, actually get some work done.
problem is, i'm finding itunes to be just too much to handle. because of laziness, not the actual challenge.
stay in the rut, if you'd like. i think it's pretty cool here anyway. (especially since woodcraft has been around. thanks, wood!).
Don't really care about the music player...but thought I should thank you (and your lovely wife) for what you share. I come here every few days for a dose of beauty and inspiration and always find it.
i know you're considering randomly picking someone else, but you should pick ME. still. you should.
I've always wanted more, been curious, about your visits to your parents homes. You've talked about your dad and his love of old cars, but nothing I can remember about your mom or Woods family. The piece Wood wrote about her mom and stepdad was really beautiful. Maybe something about their own histories and having families....? You said you'de run out of idea and maybe they are off limits for blog fodder....but otherwise, dish.
I would say that you are not in a rut at all but rather experiencing a shift change. Sucks in the beginning but presents more places, not so ordinary ordinary things, joyful noise, hard work, fear, beautiful words....I hope you continue to share the journey....really is a delight to read your blog.
Just keep writing. Love hearing about your life, past and present, and seeing the street urchins.
me want! but also, i enjoy your blog a great deal, and these are my summer vacation plans:
take my young'uns to canada to search for a bear-shaped novelty peanut butter jar, and put some miles on our new westy. hope you have a great summer too!
I originally found your site a couple of years ago when I was looking for kid-related stuff. Our daughter is a few months younger than yours and especially in those newest years, it was nice to get some foreshadowing of what could come our way. Now I just enjoy it all, regardless of topic.
I keep intending to send you guys an email about legally challenging someone who is posting photos of kids online without parental consent. The whole Babble/Juney thing makes me think you'd have some solid feedback about this issue.
Thanks for the great writing.
Me want!
And my Macbook has been through 3 chargers & I now have to replace my battery.. it does not work AT ALL unless I have it plugged in. Isn't that the point of a laptop? To be able to carry it around? UGH The smug self-important Apple commercials just make me want to shoot the TV.
Taintless windbag, ha. Surely our fave typo (or intentional typing) of late. We're expecting no. 2 any day now (a boy), having tuned in when pregnant in '06 with no. 1 (a girl--and not a princess), back when you were still in SF. Rest assured, the Mission still smells like pee. But, mmm, the burritos.
My only plan is to go to New York one week this summer and spend some money to help out the economy. I'm patriotic like that.
Oh, and me want.
Thank you for what you write. Sometimes I scratch my head at it, but I always find it thought-provoking and enjoyable.
More stories about life on the bike, please. Also, more stories about the boy, it feels like we hardly know him.
I would love to have such a wonderful piece of equipment. I don't have any summer vacation plans because it has rained for the last 6 weeks and I can't even believe it is actually summer when school starts in 4 weeks. Thank you for writing and sharing your beautiful photographs with us.
I'm spending the summer trying not to get fired. Which means I probably shouldn't be using the computer at work to enter this contest.
Sometimes you get stuck in a rut and all you can see is the car in front of you in construction traffic on your way to work in the mornings. Sometimes you blink just so during that drive and all of the sudden you see the entire world around you: the clouds sitting low in the sky, the green of the grass and the trees so neatly manicured, the slight rising of dust as the construction workers shovel gravel into huge trucks. At that point, your effort and time and hard determination is all worth it.
Thank you for your stories about Detroit. I have never been there except for the airport, and I don't know that I ever want to visit. But I see a world where some might see only the car in front of them and others can't help but see all of the other beautiful details.
I love hearing about your children - more stories!
Dutch! We want more playlists. One a month or at least one per season. It's been ages and I always love your pics.
Me want!
I'd recommend a record but my husband has me working on his heavy metal website. If you are curious it's called hellbound and it's
Canadian. I don't want to leave the link, that's sort of cheezy.
I really love seeing your stuff with the kids out in the city. I loved the urban foraging pics from last fall.
You can email me with the good news about the contest at momcast at gmail dot com.
"me want!"
Actually, I have a question. Why is it my browser (firefox) crashes almost every time I look at the various sweet-juniper websites?!?!?!
I don't get crashes at any other time, but almost every time here...
Oh sure, I'll take that off their hands!
Hmm . . . your site . . . well I guess I've never really commented on it, but though I'm still a wedding and about five years away from having kids, I really enjoy reading your perspective on it, which is refreshing, non-cutesy and um, masculine. There are way too many mommies who want to tell anyone who will listen about their beautiful babies, but it's nice to hear how men think about it--it's a voice I feel is underrepresented. Is that sexist? Here's hoping not.
Also, the Nixon Era Children's Books series is a neverending source of glee in my life.
I do want. I've only recently started reading your blog. I think I like all of it.
As for summer vacations, I'll spend mine moving, shelving books and mothering, though probably not in that order, as my lazy goodfornothing is six months into her princessing career.
I am going on vacation with 50 in-laws next month. I need this to drown them out.
tibbaR tibbaR
What's a slotRadio? Kidding...I followed the link.
The only suggestion I have about the site relates to links embedded within your posts. When I click on one, they navigate away from SJ and to the linked site. Is there a way to make them open in a new tab so I can keep reading here and then check out the link afterwards?
Thanks! Love your musings! And maybe next time I see you at the market I'll say hello!
I have a 6 month old little boy and I love to read about you and your children. I'm not able to stay at home with him, but I wish I could and then we would go on adventures inside and outside the house.
I am going to Disney World with my 4 and 2 year olds. My son brags to strangers on the street that we're going to Cinderella's castle IN THE DARK.
I found you when someone linked to "terrifying Nixon-era children's books". I have no discernible artistic talent, but am drawn to people who do like mushrooms to fallen trees, and I enjoy your attitude most of the time.
I love reading your blog. How far do ride everyday?
Hey,
I'm a scientist, doing cell biology research. Most of my friends are scientists, and since I live in a city full of universities and biotech companies, a lot of my neighbors are scientists too. I read you blog to get a change in scenery now and again. I particularly like the adventures with your kids.
Thanks,
defne
Enjoy lots of things about this blog - been reading since San Fran.- This summer trying to live life and enjoy every minute - my last break for a while.
Just thinking it would be nice to have some free music in the background while I attempt to entertain my kids for one more day.
Enjoy your posts, been reading for years!
Though I had a garden many years ago, this summer my husband and I are gardening together for the first time. I am happy to report that we've enjoyed buckets of strawberries, spotted some very promising-looking lettuce and are about to whack some over-eager pumpkins.
My summer plans include nursing my husband through major back surgery in the hopes the vacation cruise we planned over a year ago can still sail with us on it. Because after the surgery I am going not only need to keep a drink of some sort in my hand but drown out the anxiety of the this surgery. A preloaded SanDisk might do the trick.
Hopefully your random chooser chooses me.
Of course, one of the kids will end up with it, because that's how things work in my house.
you (& your family) rock...me want!
Well, my birthday is on Friday, and this would be a pretty good gift! And I'm pretty in love with Sufjan Stevens, especially the Youtube video "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" with the black and white pictures of animals. My 1 year old (on Monday!!!) son Sebastian is mesmerized by it.
I don't think you're a talentless windbag. Me want!
no big summer vacation plans. No kids that are on vacation, and its the 'busy season' for the hubby's company, so mostly a lot of treading water to survive the next few months.
I'm having a crap week, but this would be a fun way to end it. Feel free to enter me, please! Me want, talentless windbag!
(Love this site though, seriously).
Love the site and please tell Wood that the WoodCraft about her stepfather's quilt was just beautiful.
I've been meaning to comment for a while, now I just have extra motivation. Have you ever thought of a book? I'm spending my mat leave reading your archives and I'm in love with the site.
my odds are slim, but I couldn't pass up the chance to be #420.
pick me, pick me
I am able to enter this contest because I am one of those parents letting the (beautiful) HD TV "watch" my children. How else would I ever be able to watch Dr Phil, read blogs, or enter contests? Do you think there will be any Dave Matthews Band on there? I love to list to DMB while driving my mini-van to McDonalds.
To counter-act the hours of tv watching, we are taking our 3 and 1 year-olds on a trip from Missouri to Yellowstone. We hope to camp for a few days, but have no fear, we have a DVD player in the mini-van.
I enjoy reading your blog, even if you are a talentless hack.
Please tell Wood that her post about the quilt had me in tears. I lost my father 3 years ago, and feel a lot of the same emotion, but without the talent or patience to put my energies in something so lovely.
For fun this summer, my family will be spending the last week of July in Missouri with a gaggle of relatives. Ah, the joy and the pain.
Thanks for this contest opportunity.
Best to you.
Enjoy your writing!
I think you should include more allusions to Justin Long being beaten.
My summer plans are to take care of my pregnant wife and enjoy the last days of being sans kid. Thanks for the blog. It makes me think.
Hey,
I would dig that- thanks for the generosity!
Me Wants!
More: Woodcraft, Market Bounty Produce-Photo-Pron, inspirations that I can buy, Music suggestions.
How about thrift store finds?
(sell out all you want Jim, I'll still be a fan)
I have a friend whose mac just crashed a couple of days ago. Maybe you guys can get together and film a PC commercial and get some free new computers...
p.s. would love the pre-loaded music gadget
I've been catching up on reading material on the internet while in the hospital for the baby's chemo. It's been great to catch up on your blog!
Since I am newly single again, I am going to 2 music festivals this summer! Lollapalooza in Chicago and Beach Ball in Kansas City.
me
More crafty goodness. I love the Woodcraft posts.
My husband is fron Detroit, although I have never lived there. I love reading your posts on the city because it gives me a different perspective on hy husband. And I love reading about your kids because my daughter is just a little younger than Juniper & I can imagine all the daughter-daddy time that is coming.
This is a shameless contest entry. Would love to win. Have nothing clever to say.
Pick me and I won't publish embarassing stories about your knee slung pants falling down in the cafeteria
Album/Youtube video recommendations:
Mayer Hawthorne's "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out"; "The Good Feeling Music of Dent May and His Magnificent Ukulele" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB36ETTlOSM)
Also, I discovered your site when I googled Weissbluth vs. Sears and I thought that post was hysterical (especially as I listened to my 7 month old scream to sleep for the first time). As a fan of Thomas Sugrue, I keep coming back for the unique (and funny) combination of urban analysis and parenting commentary.
Thanks,
SE
Oy. Not having a great day myself -- surrounded by the gray cloud that's following me around for no god blessed reason. So I've got nothing clever here, sorry.
I second the more crafty-goodness, although I realize that takes time, which is hard to come by with 2 kids, so second up would be more reflections on living in detroit.
My new favorite song: L.E.S. Artistes - Santigold. Found via the Sasquatch Festival website after watching the guy who starts a dance party on youtube.
As a fellow lawyer and killjoy, I'm curious as to whether the giveaway radio has to be declared on one's taxes?
Eminem just did a valentine to Detroit video, please discuss.
I don't think you're in a rut. I always look forward to your posts and your pics. Happy summer!
Wednesday's post (07-08-09) is the type I keep coming back to read. Detroit is good every once in a while, but I'm here to read about Juniper and Gram and you and Wood and your life. You so eloquently express the awesomeness of parenthood...as well as the mundane. Thank you. May I please have a slot radio now?
This is one of my daily website visits, as I always find something interesting to read or see everytime I go here.
I started following your blog at Juniper's birth, back when i was toiling in grad school, in Indy. Life has taken me to kalamazoo since. When I moved here, the little town felt vaguely familiar because of your blog.
Thanks for sharing your lives with the rest of the world. We are starting to think about having kids and I went through all your pregnancy archives (both gram and juney) the other day to get motivation because I am a little nervous. They really gave me a different perspective. Thank you.
I love this site and everything about it. But what I want to know is....how much do you think your home life is affected by the idea of an audience? I mean that in a postive way. If I had an audience, I think I would make more of an effort with our interior design, with my children's clothes, and with the ideas of things to do with them. Because it's just "behind closed doors", I think I secretly (and I don't like to admit this), just let it all go a bit in a way that I'm not proud of. Also is maybe the occasional banality of domestic life always enlivened by the fact that it can be re-used as material? I aspire to "parent differently" as you do, but to make the effort I think I would recquire some observers. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, since you asked!
Helen from London
I recently saw, at the Smithsonian, an exhibit based on Robert Frank's "The Americans" with pictures of Belle Isle in the 1950s. Quite diffent from now.
Also, (you doubtless have seen this, and my laziness prevents me from checking your archives) the May/June 2009 issue of "Preservation" has a nice article on the rebirth of Detroit.
Please enter me for the SlotRadio. I would establish some cred with my granddaughter. Thank you.
did i win?
Dissertation writing requires music! (And more patience than I fear I may have, but at the very least, music.)
I appreciate the break your blog gives me, and the chance to peek into another life without feeling like a chump. Reading your blog is better than doing a Hollywood romance quiz on people.com, you know? Not ... a-hrm ... that I would know what that's like.
pick me, please!
when all else fails, rent The Last Waltz.
All I can say is more, more, more.
me want!
I love your site and visit every single day. Favorites are posts about the kids and also all of the wonderful photographs that you take. The picture of the hundred Gatorade bottles of pee was truly awesome. Keep the entertaining posts coming
I heart the posts about the popscycle. Our household aspires to build one similar(ly). Talentless windbag? My goodness.
winner, winner, chicken dinne
me want
I love the street urchins. I work with kids - many of them bedraggled and too saucy for their own good - and the street urchins always soften me up a little bit at the end of a long week.
I'm looking forward to a summer vacation (postponed until fall) where I wear pajamas all day for at least a day and sleep in the grass somewhere in the sun on another. maybe take my dog to the beach...
Cool.
me want!
too late. darn it.
thanks for your writing.
I'm making my way through your archives and loving your writing. As a newer parent myself, I find myself laughing out loud (in my cubicle) at some of your older stuff when you guys first had Juniper. I would give you a book deal if I was a publisher.
i love to read about your observations of your children. my son is near the age of yours and i love to read your perspective. there is much joy and sadness in your words that any parent can relate to.
Maybe it's self-explanatory but where do you put the slotRadio??
always enjoy reading
heading up north for August.
I enjoy seeing the way the land is retaking the urban areas.
hi!
Great to see this..Thank you..
Thank you..
___________________
Andrew
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