HE'S A MANIAC, MANIAC ON THE FLOOR...

And Nate's dancing like he's never danced before...

NAMING IDEAS

While we're still pretty much in denial, we've started batting around names for a baby girl. This is what we've got so far:

Penelope Cantaloupe (because it's fun to see it in writing and then pronounce it)

Mia Sharona (because that is self-evidently awesome)

We still probably have some work to do in this department.

STAGES OF THE BEARD

Now folks know I've been nothing but happy with ye olde beard....

But with springtime here, it was time to make some changes. So I decided to audition some new looks...

First up, some big sideburns and a Van Dyck? Not very professional. Perhaps I can go with...

Handlebars! Oh yeah! What's that line... any ladies want a ride on these handlebars?

Moustache? Well, it takes a special kind of straight guy to pull off a moustache. I'm not that guy

So I guess I'm stuck with my boring old stupid face again. Oh well.

FAROE FRIDAY: PRIME TIME

We're starting right with the photo for this week's Faroe Friday feature. It's a picture of the Prime Minister's office in Torshavn. (I'm told the bloom in the foreground is the national flower.)

I've chosen this image because I actually had a chance to interview the Faroese Prime Minister this week for the podcast I do about the Faroes.

Now I've tried not to make this blog a promotional arm of the podcast, but this will be an exception. I mean, I still post information about the Faroes here, and now I've spoken with that nation's most important elected leader. That seems like it merits a mention here.

The 30 minute conversation was fun. Prime Minister Kaj Leo Johannesen was once a soccer player and played on the national team before entering politics. He's well spoken and (not surprisingly) has a great affection for his home. He loves the Faroes so much that he would even agree to speak with a person such as me.

You can hear the interview by looking for the Faroe Islands Podcast on iTunes or you can download it directly here:

http://media.libsyn.com/media/faroepodcast/Podcast_14.mp3

This week's photos come from Arne List. He's got a great collection of images of the Faroes on Flickr. It is well worth checking out.

FAROE FRIDAY: SURF TIME

I've been out of town for the past several days, so this week's Faroe Friday post comes a little late. But I think you'll like this:

A short film about surfing on the Faroe Islands has just posted on YouTube. I'd embed the video here, but you'll be better off if see it in a slightly larger format by clicking the link below. Well worth checking out...

http://www.heinesen.fo/faroeislands/Surfing.htm

IT'S A GIRL!

I hope she likes dressing up in boy's clothes, because we've got crates of them.

THE GENDER QUESTION

So at 11:00 PDT today, we'll go to the doctor, and we'll find out what gender this new kid is.

There has been much speculation around the household and among the extended family as to how this will turn out. Almost everyone is hoping for a girl. I guess they're going for balance, and it's hard to blame them. We've already got two boys, so what do we need a third for? Furthermore, our parents have very few granddaughters and this kid may be the last train leaving the grandchild station.

So the pressure's on, and if it's not a girl, I'll likely be blamed, what with me being the one who determines whether the kid gets an "x" or "y" chromosome. So what do I hope it is? Well, I really don't care that much.

I can see the point of wanting a girl, but I'm pretty resistant to change, and I already know what having boys is all about. Nate and Will have already broken everything in our house, so there isn't much more a third boy could do. Plus, naming a boy is easier. Boys have sturdy names that don't change that much over time. Girls names can get trendy, and you have to make sure that you don't accidentally name the kid after someone you once made out with during the Clinton Administration.

I'm also told that girls mess with your mind. I'm resigned to the fact that everything I own will be eventually ruined by our boys, but I'd still like to retain some brain function for a while.

My opinion on the subject won't matter at all once we head into the doctor's office. I'll keep you updated once we know which way is up. It may take a few hours to update the blog, but I'll post the gender as soon as I can to my Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/matthewworkman as soon as I can. (My phone is pretty dumb, but it's just barely smart enough to post to Twitter.)

Take a deep breath... here we go...

THE WAY ADS SHOULD BE

This item comes via Flushed Face. It's an advertisement. An advertisement for perfume. I'm not the type to simply pass along ads in this space, but this one is pretty cool.

It's directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, the guy who directed Amelie and it features Audrey Tautou. Simply put, this ad is a beautiful thing. The photography is gorgeous, and the ending makes me wish we were back in Istanbul again. It is very much worth taking a look at.

click here to watch

MOTHER'S DAY MEMORIES

On this Mother's Day, I'll share a memory I have of my mom from a while back.

It's 1991 and I'm up watching Saturday Night Live with my mom. The musical guest is Vanilla Ice. He's singing "Ice, Ice, Baby." Between verses, the DJ would do some call-and-response rapping before Vanilla starts up again.

Mom turns to me and says, "that guy behind the record players is alright, but that white guy is not good."

That's right Mom, that white guy is not good.

Is it any wonder I love that woman so much?

As for the wonderful Julie, mother of two extremely active little boys, I can offer you the one thing every mother wants on this day: to be as far away from their children as possible. Enjoy your day off.

FAROE FRIDAY: LENGTHENING DAYS

Spring has come to the Faroe Islands, and that means, well, temperatures in the 40s this week. It has been cloudy and soggy lately, but things change quickly this time of year.

The biggest changes come in the length of the days. Today, the sun will rise in the Faroes at 4:55 AM and set at 9:54. Twilight starts at 3:49 AM and ends at 11:01 PM. But in just ten days, twilight will start at 3:06 AM and end at 11:44. (Once the sun is up, I know that's not twilight, but my point is there's some kind of light in the sky for that whole period of time.) That's an increase of about 90 minutes of light.

From the start of June until the middle of July, there's some light in the sky all day and all night. By July 22nd, twilight begins at 2:45 in the morning and ends around 12:15 the next morning. Sounds wonderful. Indeed, I wouldn't mind seeing that long, drawn out sunset on July 22nd. Hmmmmm.

This week's Faroe photo is of Fuglafjørður and was taken just a few days ago by Jenny Henkie, who's visiting the Faroes right now. Apart from some great pictures, her site has a feature that will tell you when the sun rises and sets in the Faroes on any given day. And as you can probably tell, I've already spent a lot of time playing around with it.

FACING 40

This is the last full week of my 30s. Next week, the 40s start.

I approached my 30s with a great deal of dread, but a few things helped ease the transition. My friends threw a surprisingly bawdy party (bawdy by Mormon standards) that seemed to attack the concept of 30 with the same ferocity that those bare-butt guys did in that one scene in Braveheart. A few weeks later, I met Julie and didn’t care if I was 30 because I was in love.

Now it’s time to deal with 40. I’ve been assured that this year’s celebration will be far more sedate than the one thrown a decade ago. We’ll be seeing Flight of the Conchords perform, so there certainly will be some excitement. But it seems like there should be some way to mark the passing of my 30s.

As the stereotypes go, the 20s are a decade of binge drinking and trying to find your place in the world and generally being surly. While the binge drinking never materialized (see: Mormon), I did spend quite a lot of my 20s moping and having many an identity crisis. So turning 30 was supposed to signal a new phase of life where things settle down a bit and some direction in life was found. The 30th birthday party was that last gasp of irresponsibility before adulthood set in.

But how to observe 40? More importantly, is there anything I should do during these last few days of my 30s?

That’s a tough question to answer. It doesn’t really feel like there’s any “30-ish” thing to do. I guess I could get a graduate degree in something. A lot of people in their 30s do that. Perhaps I could buy a Honda.

The changeover will happen next week whether I prepare for it or, not, so I’ll have to do some brainstorming over these next few days. If you have any ideas, do let me know.

THIS IS NOT A CRIME SCENE

Although it certainly looks like one... Instead, this is what naptime looks like to certain two-year-old boys (Will).

Apparently his destructive powers were exhausted right at that very spot.

Sleep well, Will. Try and cut back on your rock and roll lifestyle.

FAROE FRIDAY: GET YOUR JOLLY'S

I was reading an article in the Irish Times that took a rather dim view of Torshavn's nightlife when I stumbled upon an interesting tidbit:

"Alone among the nations of the world the Faroese have resisted the blandishments of the Coca Cola company and have stuck admirably to the fizzy delights of Jolly Cola."

At first, I thought this Dublin-based newspaper was suggesting that Coca Cola was not available on the Faroes. This would, indeed, have been an incredible fact. Of course, it's not true. I have it on good authority that both Coke and Pepsi can be acquired on the Faroe Islands. So much for my great scoop.

But the truth of the matter, as far as I can figure, is still pretty impressive. Jolly Cola is a Danish brand, and it appears the beverage is the market leader in the Faroe Islands. I've spent a lot of time trying to figure out if there's any other country where Coke and Pepsi were outsold by another brand. While I can't say definitively that this has happened nowhere else, it's safe to say it is pretty unusual.

I'm told by people who should know that Jolly Cola is "yummy." If this ad is to be believed, it also makes Danish women with spectacular breasts hate you, then become sexually attracted to you...




I don't know how accurate this ad is, but I think I'd like to try me some Jolly Cola. Not for the reason you might think. If I'm drinking some Jolly, it probably means I'm in the Faroe Islands.

This week's Faroe photo comes from Erik Christensen. It's an image of Klaksvik, the town where the Faroese version of Jolly Cola is made.

Bravo.