La Familia Brophy

Yesterday my state representative, Liz Malia, testified against H 3190, a Constitutional Amendment that would ban any recognition of gay relationships as equal to heterosexual marriage (for the purposes of health insurace, etc). Here’s the email I sent her today:

“I heard you testified against H 3190 yesterday. Thank you for doing that. My dad’s gay and of course equal rights are very important to my family. Some people don’t seem to realize anti-gay initiatives are always anti-family as well, because gay people are real people in real families. It’s hard for me to understand why some people don’t get this simple idea, but I guess failing to see our common humanity is a definition of bigotry. Thanks for doing the right thing, it made me proud that you represent Roslindale!”

Nothing gets me as pissed off as homophobia. If I tried to talk about Sen. Santorum’s bullshit, I’d just start sputtering and cursing. It is just completely wrong.

Changing the subject a little, Lisa and Nathan met me at the train today, and we went to the park to give Nathan a swing. You could tell he really like the movement but he was just a little nervous. Look at how tightly he’s holding on! That was the highlight of my day.

• Ethiopia
• Egypt
• Tibet (after it’s free)
• Mongolia
• Highest point in each state in New England (1 down)
• Cuba
• New Zealand
• Japan
• The Amazon River (preferably in a canoe)
• Rural Colombia

Those aren’t in order, and there are many more. I just had to get that out. To see where I’ve been so far check here.

Lisa and I went to see A Mighty Wind with our Brookline homies Beth and Izzy. Nathan and his grandma had a relaxing evening in. Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy are behind this movie. They’re also the creators of Best in Show which won my #1 movie of the year the year it came out, and is Lisa’s #1 of all time. So we were both pretty excited to see it. Maybe I was TOO excited because although I was mostly enthralled, I caught myself thinking “this isn’t as good as Best in Show” even while watching it. I still look forward to seeing it again, because I think there are a lot of jokes that will ripen with age.

Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara did some excellent acting. They play a long seperated duo reunited for this folk concert and the way they look at each other is really complex, much deeper than you’d think from a movie with a fart joke as a title. The other stories barely developed because there were too many charachters and plot lines . I wish Parker Posey had been in it more.

Ah finally I caught a smile on film or rather a digital image of a smile. Nathan has refused to smile for the camera for the longest time. Since it was raining and we were stuck inside today I had lots of time to get one. I actually got a bunch but this one is just too cute. So yes, he really does smile. It was worth the wait don’t you think?

…how I feel:

posted by Mr. Jones

Nathan had a lovely day in the sunshine today. It is so nice to be able to spend time outside. We got to lie in the grass together and enjoy the warm sun. Nathan loves to look at flowers and trees and he had many opportunities to do that. Spring is a little more advanced down south here in Connecticut so there are many more flowering trees.

Nathan got to see a bunch of his extended family this weekend. Yesterday he saw his great grandmother, Yaya, met his great aunt, Sandi, and met his second cousin, Bart and his wife Leah. Today he saw his great grandma and grandpa, Mary and Fran.

Nathan got a lot of Easter loot this weekend –bunnies, ducks, and lots of toys from his Connecticut family. Ben’s favorite gift of Nathan’s is the John Deere hat that matches his own. Here is Nathan trying it on and helping out in the garden.

Finally got to drive the new car on the highway today, driving to Westport for a get together with the family. It was great, the Jetta performed really well and… I hit a car. Don’t worry, everybody is ok. It was a three car pile up and we were the third car. We were going about 65 mph in the middle lane of I-95. The drivers in the tri-state area are lunatics - a red tow truck cut across two lanes in front of me and then continuing to the right. Just after it passed I saw traffic was stopped in front of us and slammed the brake. We were breaking for what seemed like a minute, but was actually about half a second. Then we rear-ended the next car. The car behind me was slamming it’s breaks too, but stopped a couple of inches before hitting us. I am still not sure what happened. The car two cars ahead of us stopped, and then the next car hit them, and we hit that car. I’m still not sure why the first car stopped.

The drivers in the cars in front of me got out of their cars. I got out too, which was crazy considering we’re all in the middle of the interstate. The other two knew each other, one had been following the other. We looked and saw there was no damage and no one was hurt, and decided to just go rather than exchanging information. I just wanted to get the hell out of there, I had so much adrenaline going, and we were in the middle of the highway.

We drove for a while, I pulled into the next rest stop to breathe. I examined the front of the car. There are some tiny scratches - I am not convinced they weren’t there already. The license plate is a little dented. Obviously we weren’t going to fast when we impacted, since the airbags didn’t deploy and and there was no real damage. But it was so scary. My necks a little sore but Lisa’s theory is it’s because I was tensed up preparing my self for the impact. Nathan is absolutely fine, and didn’t even seem to notice anything happened.

Wowee! Nathan is already 7 months old. It is so incredible. Ben and I were just looking through our photos and trying to remember how little Nathan was way back in November. He was just a tiny little practically bald peanut.

Now he can do so many things. Today he rolled from his back to his front for the first time. He has been on the verge of doing this for weeks it seems. It is funny because he has come close to doing it for a while but today he did it once and then he did it over and over again. It is amazing to watch him learn.

He reaches for things, looks for toys he has dropped, remembers things (like the pull string for the light in the pantry). He has favorite toys (currently the rubber ducky), favorite songs (currently Hickory Dickory Dock), and favorite foods (sweet potatoes, apricots, peas, bananas, prunes).

He has also cut his first tooth. It is just poking through his little pink gum (bottom left). This major teething event happened fairly painlessly for all of us. There were a few grumpy days with limited napping and eating but they passed quickly.

Here is a picture of us today. Nathan is wearing the new bib I made him during his morning nap. I was so concerned about how I looked in the picture that I didn’t chose the picture that Nathan looked best in but he is still pretty darn cute.

James posted a link to this speech by Tim Robbins. Some context: Robbins was recently uninvited to attend an event devoted to the film Bull Durham at the Baseball Hall of Fame because of his political beliefs. I agree with Tim Robbins, that I felt like the country was united after 9/11, and some how that got all messed up and as a nation we’re now more divided than ever. I agree with James that Tim Robbins is not in the pantheon of great actors… Not a bad director though. And I am looking forward to seeing him in Mystic River.

Lisa and Nathan met me at the commuter rail this evening. I love it when that happens. I wish I could get off the train in a grey flannel suit, carrying a brief case with a newspaper folded under my arm. Lisa took Nathan to the park and pushed him in a baby swing for the first time, and she says he loved it. I’m sad to miss that stuff. However, I get to feed Nathan when I get home, spend the evening with him put him in his crib every night.