"It's better to be a dog in a peaceful time than be a man in a chaotic period"

May you live in interesting times is reputed to be an ancient Chinese curse. It is said that it was the first of three curses of increasing severity, the other two being, may you come to the attention of those in authority and, may you find what you are looking for. This past week-end was interesting. Saturday was a pleasant day. Erin, Jack and I spent the day in Brooklyn, specifically in Prospect Park and environs since D-Train had a visit with his father in Bay Ridge and we wanted to be close by in case an intervention was needed. Fortunately, everything went smoothly and Jack got to run around in the park and see some small animals from very far away at the Prospect Park Zoo. He also took a turn around the Carousel which he decidedly did not like. We sat him on a horse that went up and down with the rotation of the ride and he had a complete freak-out when the thing started moving. I was alternating between feeling really bad for him and trying to stop laughing. The weather was perfect and I was playing my favorite Park Slope game of guessing which over-paid obnoxious yuppie had spent the most money on their stroller. Park Slope bashing is apparently a popular sport in New York according to this story that appeared the very next day in the Times.

For the record I do not own a Bug-A-Boo, or any of the other $1000 travesties that have become the status symbols du jour amongst the celebrity wanna-be set, but a rather ratty, formula stained McClaren which has given me not one iota of trouble since I bought it for $199 at Babies-R-Us six months ago. I should probably say that I *used* to own a rather ratty McClaren, since early Sunday morning some fucker stole it out of the back of my car while I was getting changed to go out running. At about 8am I went out to the car, unlocked the door, retrieved my I-pod from the armrest and went back into the house to change. When I came back out 10 minutes later, the trunk was popped and the stroller gone. The diaper bag was also dumped into the back seat. Now I live in a fairly suburban block so leaving one’s car unlocked in broad daylight on a Sunday morning is hardly “asking for it”. Unfortunately, the road I live on is the main thoroughfare from the housing projects on Jersey Street to the stores on Forest Avenue so there is always a sketchy figure or two lurking around. I usually give them the benefit of the doubt but no more. I also forget that Sunday mornings are when the crack heads start to get desperate and are on the prowl looking for something to sell. Oh well, lesson learned. I went right back to the store and bought the same model. So far Jack hasn’t noticed any difference.