In which I ramble from the air

Two things are happening right now.

First, we're on a plane to Minneapolis to spend a long weekend with Beth's brother and sister-in-law (which is to say, Will and Alice, or my brother-in-law and sister-outlaw). The plane was delayed, because that's what happens to Northwest Airlines planes, and apparently during the delay I misplaced my ability to focus on anything I'm reading. Since this isn't Virgin America, I can't explore back episodes of Eureka from my seat, so here I sit. I've decided to try writing a full-on blog post on my iPhone. So far it's going pretty well, dontcha think? You didn't even know, did you? Be honest -- I'm no more concise than usual, am I?

See?

The second thing that's happening is that the sprout is on his last full-on vacation before being born. (Beth can only travel for another month and a half, and these are the last two flights we have planned.)

It's becoming clear that, as much as we're anticipating his arrival, we're both a little bit freaked about having Primary Caregiver Responsibility over this little person who is, as of today, about five and a half months from saying a great big hello to this here world. And by "we're both a little freaked," of course, I mean "Beth knows exactly what's up, and I'm a little freaked." While on the one hand, I've got the standard new hypotheti-father jitters, I have to say that what's really getting to me is that I don't know if I'll be a sufficiently good storyteller.

This morning on the way to work, I was listening to an audiobook of "What Do You Care What Other People Think", which is a collection of stories and other writings by the kick-ass physicist Richard Feynman. In said book, he told a story about his father's amazing ability to make science, any science, accessible and interesting. (If you haven't read it, it's brilliant, and you should check it out.). The way he was able to do it was to link everything to the real world. The size of a tyrannosaurus wasn't just some numbers; it meant that if he were standing on the lawn, he'd be tall enough to reach the bedroom window, but his head would be too big to fit inside. That sort of skill is something I've always aspired to, and I just don't know how well I'll be able to break down something as complex and multifaceted as, well, everything, into bits and pieces that somebody who can barely get his or her pants on facing the right way will find engaging and interesting. See, when I imagine my bonding time with little sprout, it's almost always teaching 'em -- having a conversation about why stars twinkle, or where dreams come from -- that come to mind. So I suppose what I'm really saying is that I have a lot of thinking to do over the next few months, so I have a little bit of a head start when the sprout asks me something really insightful, and I don't just want to bullshit him/her. Which, of course, sometimes I will. Just for funsies.

(As an appendix to this post, I'm also going to say that I think the iPhone's keyboard is spectacular, and that people who say "oh, but it doesn't have a physical keyboard" are completely missing the point. I've been able to knock out this entire post at something approaching full typing speed. Having used MANY small physical keyboards over the last ten years or so, I can tell you that I've never gotten anywhere close to this before, even when the keyboard was substantially larger than this one is. Smart keyboards are the only way we've got right now to solve the fact that, if it's the right size for you pocket, it's the wrong size to type on! Ok, that is all. Thanks for your support.)