History of the J Man

To have it all and realize that it is still not enough is the lesson offered by “Lightning McQueen,” Frank Berrios’s take on William Blake’s famous maxim: “The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.”  At first, it’s tempting to brush off this work as yet another picaresque morality tale, but to do so would be to deprive oneself of a truly transcendental reading experience.  

The tale is told in retrospect, as McQueen looks back upon his life addicted to speed.  McQueen is a racecar, you see, a young fool whose heart is set solely on winning the race, any race, anywhere, at any cost.  Berrios’s prose leads us to envision the late night excesses of the young car, tasting the fruits of fame and riches, guzzling oil by the barrel, burning rubber on nameless, abandoned parking lots, constantly proving himself against some nameless foe.

“I used to think racing was everything,” says McQueen, as he cuts a swath of devastation in his wake during one particular race.  What is it that motivates him?  What is it that causes this self-destructive behavior?  In his genius, Berrios never reveals it.  Instead, we are left to ponder the internal machinations of a tortured soul who can find no other light in his life than the glare of the winner’s podium and all the accoutrements it engenders. 

It is not until he arrives in Radiator Springs that perspective is gained and he begins to take stock of the decisions he’s made and where those decisions have taken him.  “I made new friends [in Radiator Springs],” McQueen admits, and we believe him.  The grandeur and beauty of the landscape and a special bond formed with a nameless female car who lives in the town causes McQueen to rethink everything about his former lifestyle. 

“I still like winning,” McQueen tells us in the book’s final page, “but I also love going for a drive with my friends!”  Berrios wants us to believe that through balance, success is attainable, that one can discover a winning formula without an extra edge.  Ultimately, the admission seems too neat and trite in a work of such pulsating introspection.  As readers, we are left wanting.  But it’s a minor stumble for Berrios in a work of exquisite prose, and after all of the tribulations and redemptions that he has guided us through from the opening scene, perhaps we can forgive him. 

Through the eyes of a simple racecar, Berrios examines the drama of choice, the rearrangement of values and how the bonds of friendship can leave an impression that can change a life’s course.  It is his strongest work to date, a tour-de-force of devastating literary consequence.

“Lightning McQueen” is one of four other works in the “Let’s Cruise!” set.

Jonah has started to get the hang of using his fork, which is very exciting for everyone.  Right now, he is able to spear some food with the tines of the fork and carefully place it in his mouth.  He seems to have an easier time with the fork than with a spoon; if his hands move around, the food doesn’t fall off of the fork the way it does with the spoon.

These days, if he doesn’t seem interested in food, giving him a chance to feed himself usually gets his interest up and he ends up eating whatever we’re trying to feed him.  That’s good news, considering he seems to be getting picky lately about what he eats.

The other cool development we noticed today was that he is into stacking things.  This is quite a shift, considering all he used to do was destroy, destroy, destroy.  Today we had some old canisters of baby cereal that he stacked three high.  We thought perhaps he got lucky, but he did it several times.  He wouldn’t simply knock them all over either, but would take them off the top to start another stack.  I’m no doctor, but it seems like his fine motor skills have hit a new highwater mark if he’s doing things like that. 

Other than that, not much other news to report.  He’s running around like crazy and is really into repeating your actions.  He’s also starting to wave goodbye here and there, but doesn’t always do it consistently.

One other note: Today was the funeral for my great aunt Hertha Bertha Kurth, affectionately known to our family as Aunt Petey.  She was 98 years old.  Rest in peace, Petey.  We all love you very much!

Jonah, Julie and I attended a music class today. We wanted to test it out and see if he’d like it, and he certainly seemed to have a great time banging sticks, shaking maracas and watching the other kids do their thing.

The instructor’s name was Jennifer and she did a nice job of leading everyone through the songs, cleverly opening with a number where she introduced everyone’s name. I was unfamiliar with a lot of songs they played, and I’d like to name some of them for you, but alas, we weren’t supplied with a songlist, so I’ll just have to wing it.

As I recall, there was a song about a frog who ingested soap bubbles, though for what reason the song did not explain. At the end of each verse, everyone tossed a handkerchief into the air and said “Pop!” I think it was representative of the frog belching or possibly exploding, I can’t remember which, though if I had to guess, I would say belching. Another tune involved each child naming their favorite animal, which got worked into the song, which was about the daily activities of said animal. Monkeys swung, penguins swam and cows stomped their hooves. The class was encouraged to make the appropriate hand motions for each creature. For the last few songs, each child got to select a few noisemakers and smash them together in unison. Pretty much good times all around.

Jonah seemed to take in the entire spectacle with aplomb. At several junctures during the class, he made for the door and reached for the handle and then would look back longingly at Julie and I and wonder why we kept waving him back. I think this was only an attempt to continue the party in another room rather than an attempt to get the hell out of there. He started to crab during the quite lullaby song (of course), but by the time we got to the noisemaker song, he was once again in his element.

So now we need to decide whether to spend the $200+ for a 12-week session. One part of me really wants to go and belt out songs about exploding frogs every week, yet another part of me wants to spend $5 on a children’s song book, haul out a couple of pots and pans and call it a day. I think the ultimate decision on this one is TBD, though I suppose in the interest of giving my child every opportunity, it would behoove us to kick out the dough and learn a few songs from someone with actual musical talent. I know this, and yet I also know the pots and pans will come to me in a dream tonight and sing me a lullaby of my own: “The best things in life are free.”

It was a really nice day last Thursday when I was working from home so I set my computer up ouside on the back porch.  My wireless works out there and I had my cell phone so I was all set.  I set up the gate to keep Bianca and Jonah from being able to reach anyone else’s deck space and keep them off the stairs. 

Then, since is was a warm day. I pulled out Jonah’s bucket and shovels and let him play.  I thought some water in his bucket would keep him entertained while I worked.  I was right.  He loved it.  He played and splashed and chased the dog (who did not love that) and then finally picked up the whole bucket and poured it down his front.  It was pretty funny and kept him occupied for a while.  Two buckets worth of water in fact. 

The only problem is now he seems to think any water he sees is for him to play in…the dog’s water bowl…the toilet…I may have created a monster.

(The photo isn’t the greatest quality since I took it from my phone but you get the idea.)

There’s already a post about the haircut I gave Jonah when I realized that his bangs were in his eyes all the time but last weekend Jonah got his first REAL haircut.  The kid inherited his dad’s internal temprature system that makes him run hot all the time.  It was a hot week and I felt bad that he was always so sweaty.  I thought maybe cutting his hair would keep him cooler. 

He was already spending the afternoon at Nana and Pappa’s house so before I went to meet him there I called the place where they go to get their haircut.  The owner Avenue Hair just told me to bring him by any time before closing.  We walked in and they litterally knew my dad by first name, that was nice. 

Jonah did really well.  He sat on my lap and didn’t cry at all.  He didn’t love spritzer but he only made a few weird faces for it.  Otherwise he sat there just fine as they snipped away.  I couldn’t believe how much hair came off.  The hair salon even gave him a “my first haircut” certificate and showed us a photo of a kid around Jonah’s age on their wall.  That kid apparently just graduated from college! 

I don’t know if Jonah cooler now but the new haircut does make him look like a real little boy - my little baby isn’t so much of a baby these days. 

As you can see.  Jonah and Bianca have always been the best of friends.  After all they are siblings and only a year apart in age.  Almost to the day in fact.  Bianca was born April 9, 2006, Jonah was born June 9, 2007.

They like to play and share their toys.  Things Bianca would never even pay attention to on her own she runs around the house with now if Jonah gives it to her.  One of Jonah’s favorite games is to hand Bianca her toy then take it out of her mouth, repeat and the game goes on forever. 

This morning I was literally playing fetch with my son and my dog, at the same time.  It was hilarious and a great workout for the two of them.  It started when Jonah bought me his ball and wanted to play catch.  Not wanting to be left out of the action Bianca grabed a toy and brought it to me too.  Before too long I was throwing one dog toy one way down the hall and another one the other way saying, “Bianca go get it!”  “Jonah go get it!”  Bianca loved it and Jonah was giggling the whole time. 

Dog toys and baby toys look a lot alike these days.  In our house apparently they are used interchangeably.

I don’t have a photo of this because we’re waiting on the delivery of our new digital camera but Jonah has discovered how to drink from a straw. 

When I started the blender yesterday for my smoothie Jonah came running!  I think he was thrown off by the noise but then he was curious about my drink, of course.  I threw a straw in my mug, picked him up and took a swig. 

Normally, Jonah likes to drink out of anything that anyone else is drinking: mama’s cup, daddy’s beer bottle, you name it.  Today the only difference is that I didn’t think it would be wise to tip my thick smoothie up to his lips so I fed the straw into his mouth. 

At first he didn’t seem to know what to do so I took it and slurped up some smoothie.  After watching me he had no problem drinking through the straw when I put it back in his mouth.  I thought that was pretty cool.  If you’ve ever tried, it’s a difficult concept to teach, especially to someone who thinks smelling something and kissing something both just consist of touching your mouth to it. 

Seems like he’s learning things so fast these days.