Darkest December

So much is afoot these days that I thought I might throw up a post. First off, congrats to Jake and Kay for the birth of their baby son, David. He is a strapping lad who weighed in at an impressive nine pounds.

Last month I jumped into uncharted waters (for me anyway) by finally opened an investment account. I went with TD Ameritrade for no other reason than it was unrecommended by a friend and coworker who's opinion I respect in these matters. My timing could not have been worse, or better for those that subscribe to the school-of-hard-knocks approach to learning about investing. I purchased four ETFs about 24 hours before the markets took their huge early November plunge. For the sake of full disclosure I'll reveal the names of the funds I bought, but as I just said, I'm a novice. Only a moron would take this as a recommendation (my lawyers told me to say that).

I was lured in the seductive promise of emerging markets and started things off with two of BRIC countries--Brazil and China. I put about 40 percent of my October investment allowance in the iShares FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (FXI) ETF. Another 20 percent went into the iShares MSCI Free Brazil Index Fund (EWZ). The remaining 40 percent of my portfolio was split between two US-centered funds--the PowerShares QQQ (QQQQ) ETF that tracks the Nasdaq and the Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT).

Suffice it to say that my first lessons were hard ones, mostly thanks to the subprime mortgage crisis and its effect on our skittish friends across the Taiwan Strait--not to mention my own unbridled greed. I've been inching my way back up from the abyss, battered but not broken. Have I had enough? Pulling out and Running? Not a chance. Lessons learned. Ouch. Updates to follow.

Low Center of Gravity

Josh has been going through a real spurt of changes lately. Not only is he physically getting bigger (at an almost alarming rate), his coordination is improving. He's figured out that the buttons in his crib control the music on his mobile. He does quite have the strength or dexterity to push the buttons, but that hasn't stopped him from trying. He also seems determined to sit up on his own. He still has a long way to go in this department, but it's amusing to watch on his back doing "stomach crunches" as he tries to sit up like his parents.

Here he tries to keep himself upright in a sitting position. Alas, it wasn't to be. I love his expression of exasperation when he flops onto his back. He immediately seeks solace in something he does well, toe sucking.

Powerful Music, Serious Rock 'n' Roll

Reading Hunter S. Thompson's Kingdom of Fear and enjoying it immensely. It's a fitting swansong to his storied career. I have always admired Thompson's taste in music, which runs roughly parallel to my own at times--particularly his appreciation of Lyle Lovette. He got me thinking on Bob Dylan and Warren Zevon, two of his favorite artists. The latter never really registered for me simply for lack of exposure. Feeling inspired and needing what the Doctor regularly refers to as "Powerful Music" and "Serious Rock 'n' Roll", I picked up a bit of both Dylan (Love and Theft) and Zevon (the entire discography) today.

Josh is thoroughly enjoying both his jumper and the new swing seat we acquired over the last 48 hours. He wears himself ragged in the jumper and then snoozes away in the swing seat. The swing seat plays a variety of soothing music and sounds, including breaking waves and what approximates the sound of a mothers heart beat as heard in the womb. This was all it took to send him into a near comatose state for nearly an hour.

Today was Josh's 4-month "birthday." Chinese tradition called for him being festooned with a string of cookies around the neck and paraded to the homes of various neighbors in his grandmother's community to be praised and admired. I had never heard of this, but as with most similar situations, I played along like the happy ignorant foreign husband that I am.

Back in the 'hood

I have been somewhat remiss in my holiday postings. I tried to make a post yesterday upon your return to Taiwan through Picasa, the Google photo program, but nothing showed up on the blog. I didn't have the energy to recompose my entire post until today.

The flight back from California went off relatively well. Unlike the trip over, we got a bassinet for Josh so he didn't have to sleep on the seat. Aside for a few brief crying spells, which always seem to last an eternity when you are the parent of the crying child, the kid behaved like a trooper.

Our final days in California were marked by unexpected wind storms which played havoc with trees in the Ojai area. Several of the large oaks and elms at our family's apartment complexes fell victim. I've posted a few photos over on the Picasa site.

I've also put up a few photos of our completely overhauled front garden. Much of the credit goes to our South African neighbor, Gary, who handled everything while we are gone to the U.S. An amateur gardening enthusiast in his own right, Gary contacted a pair of Filipino workers to put down a new lawn of Korean grass. It has yet to be seen how this new ground cover survives, especially will the excrement attacks being waged by a certain neighborhood dog. Katie and I were immediately caught up in a gardening fervor and headed strait to the nursery on New Year's Eve to buy some flowers, mint and a little lemon tree to plant around the perimeter of the yard.

Last night we rang in the New Year on the hill behind our neighborhood, which affords an excellent view of the city including the fireworks display at Taipei 101. It seems that about 100 other people had the same idea, but the crowds made the scene all the more festive. I shot the even on my new Canon ZR600 DV camera, only to realize today that I will need a firewire connector and cable (not included) before I can edit the video and post it here. Stay tuned.

Fat of the Land

My friend Dennis called it "sympathy fat." It's the weight a husband piles on during the months of his wife's pregnancy. Perhaps it's a convenient excuse we husbands like to fall back on, but there does seem to be something to the idea. During the latter months of Katie's pregnancy this summer, my visits to the Swamisalami Yoga Studio (great place for yoga with an excellent American instructor) became less frequent and then non-existent. As a result, I began to balloon. Now before you start saying that I'm passing the blame for my own laziness on to my wife and child...I'll say, yeah, you are probably right and this whole "sympathy fat" thing is a sham.

I have tried alternate forms of exercise--the Pinot Noir cork-pull and the seated baby press, to name just two--with mixed results. Tonight, tired of hearing me complain about the lack of exercise for which I had only myself to blame, my wife shuttled me over to the Energym (get it? that's "energy" and "gym" working together) fitness center in the Xindian Carrefour building and signed me up. It's about as far as the incense and chanting of my last workout experience as one can get, but it is conveniently close to home. So no excuses. It's back to the treadmill and weight bench for me. Reports to follow.