The Blog Formerly Known As "The Bunty and Buck Belly Blog"

That Ain't Marker!

The woman at left, Kari Smith of Bountiful, Utah, auctioned off the rights to her forehead for $10,000.  GoldenPalace.com, an online casino, won.  What you see here is a real deal tattoo.  I'm not kidding.

"To everyone else, it seems like a stupid thing to do.  To me, $10,000 is like $1 million.  I only live once, and I'm doing it for my son," she said.  Kari maintains that she needs the ten grand to pay for her son's private education as he's been having problems at his current school.

I don't know what compelled me to post this but I had to share it with you.

He's Gonna Be A Soccer Player

M.'s been able to feel our little guy move around for a few weeks but up until now no such luck for me.  Then, tonight, Junior decided to give mom a few swift kicks in the belly while we were sitting together on the couch and I finally got to feel him move.  Exciting stuff, at least for me.

I figured this was as good a time as any to try the old headphones on the belly routine.  Christoper O'Riley playing a classical version of Radiohead's Everything In Its Right Place elicited a couple more kicks from the lad.

A Real Site

FYI - I've finally registered a "real" domain for this blog: bucksmith.org.  Go ahead, try it.

Also, in addition to any other email addresses of mine that you may have, you can now send messages to buck[at]bucksmith[dot]org.

Week 27

Sorry to everyone for the lack of a belly profile shot last week.  Here's Week 27.

M. has suggested that we move to full profile shots but I'm worried about maintaining consistency.  Plus, my good buddy Nick A. said that he'd help me put together an animation at the end of the pregnancy showing M.'s belly "growing" - kind of like one of those picture flip books.  That being said, I'm all about compromise, so look for full profile shots soon.

And for those of you who don't know, I've begun taking drum lessons.  Yep, that's right.  Can you say "early mid-life crisis?"

Actually, I had a cathartic experience fooling around behind a drum set a few months back down at my buddy Nate's studio and figured that I could use a new hobby.  (Blogs are only so interesting, after all.)  Since I don't have a drum set yet I have to improvise - see the phone book and drill box at left.

I'm very much looking forward to introducing our little guy to music.  Who knows, maybe he'll pick up one of my guitars and we'll become the first, world famous, father-son rock band - Jackass & Son sounds about right.

What's In A Name?

Who could possibly resist reading an article with the headline Daft Names of the Stars' Kids?*  Not me, that's for sure.  After all, M. and I have been thinking about names for a while now.  Why not see what the celebs have come up with, even if it's just to know what to avoid?

Let's see.  We can cross out Junior, Brooklyn, Romeo, Cruz, Harvey, Kirby, Ocean, Dweezil, and Elijah Bob Patricius Guggi Q.  Damn it, Bono.  I was really leaning towards Elijah B. P. G. Q.

For those of you who are curious, yes, we've pretty much decided on a name and, no, I'm not telling you.  The last thing I'm interested in hearing is how you knew some teacher, priest, roommate, ex-boyfriend, dog, imaginary friend, etc. who left a bad taste in your mouth and ruined the name for you and, hence, why you'd like to ruin it for me.  Sorry, Charlie.  Not this time.  The die has been cast.

In an unrelated development, I'm pleased to announce that my little brother, Brian, has stepped up and accepted the role of Godfather.  Way to go, B.!  And if his hairline continues to retreat faster than the French, he may soon look the part as well.  Zing!

(Oh, B. - just jokes, buddy.  And hey, I've blazed this trail for you.  It's all about solar power these days, baby!  Who doesn't like solar power?)

M., the belly, and I are very much looking forward to Uncle/Godfather Brian's visit to SF this week.

*Via BloggingBaby

Father's Day Belly

Here we see proud, granddad-to-be, Papa Alan, posing proudly with the belly following a wonderful Father's Day dinner courtesy of M., Lauren, and Marcy.

Papa Alan obviously couldn't contain his enthusiasm for the home-cooked meal as evidenced by the gravy stain on his sweater.  Lobster bib for you next time, big guy.  ; )

Week 25

So here we are at week 25.  School let out last week and M.'s got a month off from teaching before heading back for the summer session in July.  (For those of you who don't know, she teaches at a year-round school.)  She's keeping up with pre-natal yoga on Sundays and will likely take some additional classes during the week.

You'll all be happy to know that we've been accepted to Birth University.  Apparently my long criminal record had little effect on the admissions committee.  Kegger at my house!

We're also in the process of investigating doulas.  (Yeah, I didn't know either.  Here's a definition.)  Apparently we men, besides knowing nothing about women, also know nothing about the birthing process, hence the need for another woman to be there.  Sorta of like having your buddy over to watch the Super Bowl with you.  Both activities just really require the presence of someone of the same gender to be done correctly.

(Hey, hey, hey.  Easy folks. Just jokes.)

All fooling aside, the doula thing seems like a good idea to me and I'm all for it.  I'll be the first to admit that I have no idea what to expect (what's that degree from Birth U. get me again?) and support from a doula will undoubtedly be a comfort to both M. and me.

Speaking of comfort, have you heard that men's nipples make great pacifiers?  Somehow I think I'd get some odd looks with that maneuver, even here in San Francisco.

Baby Slinger

What do you think?  Baby Bjorn or Chic Papoose?

Gays Hating Gays With Kids?

My favorite daddy blog, Daddy Types, has got an amusing post and link to another blog with a link (hey, this is blogging, people - it's all about blogs and links) to a Gay City News columnist bemoaning the apparent kiddiefication of Fire Island.

And there are too many blasted kids! Toddlers seem to have now replaced Vuitton and King Charles spaniels as the perfect accessory, and I was horrified to see two little girls enjoying their Shirley Temples, or whatever, at the bar of the Sip & Twirl.  Strollers threatened to turn Fire Island Boulevard into Columbus Avenue.

I wonder what GCCT's take would be...

Week 24 (Picture!)

As promised.