So many gifts. Flowers, food, blankets, clothing, and the aforementioned wine and cigar. You don't know how many generous friends you have until you have a child. If you become a world-famous rap star, as I have done in the past, you find a lot of unknown cousins and homies. But when you have a child, you literally have nothing to offer - the house is packed, we don't have food or even adequate beverage, but still many people come to visit. They bring gifts, and love, and are really in a generous mood. It's wonderful, not just as a recipient, but also as an observer. It's a beautiful time, and one I hope every person can enjoy at some time.

The baby is really interesting, herself. Each day, even hour to hour, she changes. She looks much different today than she did Friday night, when we came home. Mostly subsided swelling, I suppose, but fascinating nonetheless. I haven't been around an infant since my sister was born, and I have no real memory of that time (I was 5 at the time). Maybe that's why it is so amazing for me - in any case, I plan to enjoy it. I have another 10 days or so at home, and baby duty is high on my list of responsibilities.

I'm also taking control of the kitchen for the first time in a long time. My wife is quite the accomplished cook, so I tend to stay out of the kitchen. But I am an adequate cook, and this is a golden opportunity to exert my influence again. While I'm not as talented as Yin, I do keep an organized kitchen, with a set menu and meals that are quick to table. Tonight was a great example - broiled scallops with a side of succotash and some broccoli. Woops, moms can't eat broccoli, unless they want a very gassy baby. Oh well.

One thing we've been able to do, with some appreciation (I think), is produce quality pictures for just about everyone that visited us. We have an older digital camera, but we just got a new printer and some nice photo paper. Digital photography is definitely where it's going - we can give a lap-quality print to anyone who visits, while keeping a copy for ourselves (see photos above for examples). Our new printer, a Canon i950, produces amazing images - without a loop, you can't see any pixelation on a 4x6 glossy of an 1600x1200 image. New cameras have higher resolution, so the images are even better, I suppose. It's fun, printing photo lab-quality stuff on demand, that's for sure.

OK. That may seem short, but the wine is gone and the cigar is smoked. Alice in Chains will be finished soon. Life is good, and hopefully I'll have some more links and news tomorrow. I'm planning a deck, and of course baby stuff continues to amaze. Have a great day, and I'll talk at you soon. And, feel free to visit in the afternoon, anytime, with a call beforehand.