Somewhere over Cape Town

Baby has always been an adventurous traveler, which is the perfect foil to Herman's cautious nature.  In South Africa, his most recent trip, he went paragliding. A GoPro video captures his infectious delight as the guide suddenly increases the speed by harnessing the wind over Cape Town. Casual observers will interpret his squeals as adorable joy. Herman knows better the near-mania that lies beneath.

Give me a monkey scarf!

Tonight, Baby interrupted his Sonicare tooth brushing to demand a pocket-sized Hermes scarf with a "whimsical design of monkeys playing." He pointed his finger roughly on the table to drive the point home: the monkeys must be playful, not serious. Unrelated, but indicative of his mood, he insisted that Herman's slippers were fluffier than his and ought to be traded.

Fortunately, he has moved on from such challenging topics and is asking his puppy if he needs to go potty. Though Herman hasn't posted on this blog in a few years, Baby's antics are remarkably consistent.

Gossip Baby

This morning, Joseph was watching a re-run of Gossip Girl and learned that a character once performed sex work in Prague.

"Frosty the prosty!" exclaimed Joseph to Herman, who has never seen the TV series but was nonetheless amused by the expression.

When asked to explain the nickname, he said,"She provided love in a cold climate."

Joseph: The Prudent Five-Year-Old

Baby, with ghosts.

While unpacking Halloween decorations, Herman was surprised to learn that his favorite ornaments -- two ceramic ghosts -- were originally purchased by a five-year-old Joseph.

At an age when many children were thinking about candy and playtime, young Joseph was earning an inflation-adjusted $5/month  in allowance. This news was surprising enough, as Herman is not aware of many toddlers with bank accounts.

Even more surprising, young Joseph saved two months' allowance to buy these two Halloween decorations for his bedroom. Doing the math, this means he identified the purchase in August in order to have the darlings by October. One imagines the midget Joseph flipping through a catalog at the kitchen table while his pre-school peers played outside, earning no money whatsoever.

The ghosts are cute, for sure, but more appropriate for a suburban housewife to perch on the window ledge above the kitchen sink. In classic Joseph style, the small phantoms were nurtured, cleaned, carefully stored and proudly displayed for 33 years -- long after the clumsy housewife would have broken them in the sink.

This Halloween, our Joseph deserves praise for his youthful prudence.

Pane in the Czech

During their vacation of 2011, Baby and Herman were delighted by the male statues of Prague - called telamons - which uphold many of the doorways, ledges and windows in the city's Old Town.

Today the Prague telamons are upholding another heavy object - Baby's good taste - on the east wall of his San Francisco apartment.

"I arranged black-and-white photographs of the statues like a window pane," he said, "evoking a sense of pathos and balance."

Always one for surprises, he broke form on the upper right-hand corner of the wall display with an image of demons in hell.

"After all," he asked, "What is an Eastern European city without images of suffering?"

Baby speaks most fondly, however, of the violent scene taking place in the upper left-hand corner, which he thoughtfully calls "the beat-down."

Five Chrysanthemums

Baby pays attention to wedding cleanup. When the music is over, the tablecloths whisked to boxes, and the candles extinguished, he moves in for the kill.

"What are you going to do with all these beautiful flowers?" he asks, innocently. "My stars, those will be heavy to move."


Usually by this time the newlyweds or cleanup crew have suggested that Baby take some flowers home.

"Oh, I don't deserve such a display of generosity," he exclaims, plunking the pots into a suddenly available tray. "But I'll be happy to give these away as gifts to friends and neighbors."

Featured in this post are three of the five Chrysanthemums obtained from a wedding today, and re-potted by Baby for his home.

This particular score was especially impressive, since he wasn't even a guest of the wedding.

Staging Crimes

Baby has been staging crime scenes in the car to deter a new band of local thieves.

"If I ransack the Honda myself, these hooligans will move on to other cars," he explained.

The strategy has worked. A string of car thefts on the block have repeatedly omitted the Honda.

Unfortunately, the car looks like a crime scene at all times. An open glove compartment, flipped ash tray, and strewn papers are now part of the driving experience.

*Note: the three boxes of Arm and Hammer are not part of the ruse. Baby has long used baking soda to absorb smells baked into the '95 Honda.