ooh yeah, I'm bad.

Lazarus and I finally made it outside today, after four (five?) days of being housebound. It was a beautiful 55-ish degree day, perfectly clear and bright, and even though he and I are both still coughing, I knew better than to squander this opportunity to get some air and light. Laz and I just went over to 32nd Avenue and walked around for a bit; I got a monstrous burrito, walked and window-shopped (and did some market research for my soon-to-be-born biz), and stopped for a decaf mocha before heading home. Lots of moms and dads and babes were out, it seemed -- I wanted to rush at them and beg for friendship, but I learned back in 4th grade that that move doesn't yield the hoped-for results.

We need to get out more.

First, the good stuff: Lazarus is doing much better after a week or so with a cold and ear/throat infection and then a sudden, scary allergic reaction to amoxicillin. His beautiful baby face, bright red and splotchy yesterday, is back to just rosy and healthy today. And he's happy again, too:



Now for some bad stuff: Justice Dept. Drafts Sweeping Expansion of Anti-Terrorism Act. Although the DoJ has denied its existence, "Patriot II" will, according to the Center for Public Integrity, "give the government broad, sweeping new powers to increase domestic intelligence-gathering, surveillance and law enforcement prerogatives, and simultaneously decrease judicial review and public access to information." Some people think this is entirely appropriate. Terrorism and the axis of evil and all. No, we the people don't need access to infomation -- "Let them have duct tape!" cries King George II.

It has come to this -- Code Orange Alert and duct tape. Years from now, how will I explain to Lazarus the state of things during his first year of life? It seems like the grim opener to one of those early, un-Disney-fied fairy tales that scared the crap out of kids but also gave them a glimpse of true evil as well as life happily ever after. Heroes and heroines of yore, however, had more compelling advisors than Don Rumsfeld and John Ashcroft, and certainly more effective implements than duct tape to ward off evil and slay dragons.

It's snowing here on the Front Range, and I can actually be glad both because Denver needs it so desperately and (on a more selfish note) we had some really nice days since I got back last week. We keep getting funky little power flickers, though... reminds me of the good ol' days of rolling blackouts back in California, '00-'01, when Enron and friends decided it would be great sport (and money) to manipulate power supplies. So we poor schmucks, chastened to not be so profligate, had to turn off Christmas lights and wait till nighttime to do laundry and inch our hazardous way through darkened traffic lights, and Ken Lay's money-meter spinned faster than ever.

ANYhoo, just before the snow came today, we spent the day with Keri's sister and family out in the beautiful rolling hills. Laz (who at this moment refuses to nap and is trying to cajole me into playing who-can-blow-the-messiest-spit-bubbles with him) got to watch two beautiful horses gallop around a ring, and the sight amused him mightily:



Then he got his first taste of the cowboy's way:

Oh, ma, I want one of these... So do I, lil' guy. Soon, baby, soon, somehow.