Backpacking Haiku

Written By AndrewFatherfolk                           While I have a small (and diminishing) hole in the firewall of this great, great country I thought I'd post a haiku I wrote while traveling from Mongolia to Beijing on the Trans-Mongolian Express. I'm not sure on the last line and would appreciate feedback from the community. namaste




I am a turtle
With my home upon the back
Smells like laundry time


I am a turtle
With my home upon the back
Travel heals my soul

An Open Letter to the Dad Revolution (dot com)

I originally posted this the evening of 8/29. The initial responses I got in the comments section made me so concerned that I may have not conveyed the respect I feel for Dad Revolution that I removed the post immediately. Since then, the feedback that I have received from several members of the Dad Revolution has convinced me to repost it as it was written. For a response to this letter, please check out Dad Revolution member Portland Dad's response on his blog.
how-do-you-respond-when-challenged
And another from DaddyYoDude:
http://bit.ly/8YcI7p

Dear Dad Revolution,

You have chosen to take on the imagery of revolution. This has meaning. It has meaning to people all over the world who struggle for human rights, dignity, equal access to education, and the means to meet the most basic fundamental needs of their families.

Let me say first that I deeply respect your commitment both as father's and as bloggers. Please read this challenge as an act of friendship.  Unless I am mistaken, the revolution that you identify with is the shift in the daddy paradigm from absent and silent to one that is engaged and nurturing. Dads used to think that just showing up was good enough, not anymore.

While that is a worthy and important change, the time when we could be satisfied with "change yourself; change the world" is past. Regrettably, that ship has sailed. The world we are handing down to our children is dangerous and tired. Access to the most important natural resources is limited and there are few places in the world that are free of violence.

In that context, blogging about your personal experience without tying it in to some greater cause is the new just showing up. It's important, but a revolution it does not make. As you move forward in the daddy blogosphere, please consider using your influence to leave the world better for our little ones by sharing your experiences as fathers within the context of a broader social agenda. Whatever your cause is, social justice, equal education, mindful consumption, sustainable living, your faith community, literacy... don't be afraid to make a little noise.

There's never been a revolution without it.

respectfully,
Aaron

Putting the “I” in “Family”

Written by Stefan Lanfer 
http://www.dadtoday.com/

There is no “I” in “team,” sure, but if there isn’t one in “family,” it’s time to run spellcheck.

Are there passions and pursuits you put on hold when you became a parent?  You’re not alone. Your family certainly needs your time, attentions, and affections right NOW.  Yet, over the long haul - for marital bliss, for showing (not just telling) your kids what it means to follow their dreams, and for yourself  - you have got to figure out how to take those passions off ice.

My passion is for writing - especially writing plays. Literally hours before I became a dad, I finished a draft of my last play.  After that, my writing went into a kind of hibernation. But a little over a year later, it started to come awake again. I launched a blog (dadtoday.com).  Two years (and a second child) later, I published a book for new dads.  Now, I am climbing back on the playwriting horse too. The going is slow, the path unclear, and my arrival at a place where I actually make a living from my writing very uncertain.  And yet, I am making forward progress again. Here’s how:

Selling at a Farmer's Market, part 2: The Sell

"White Tees. One for three, two for five." - Bubbles

courtesy SweetHomeOrganics.com

In our first part of my year of lessons learned selling at a farmers market we went over the basics of getting a table, who to contact, and figuring out what we could sell as non farmers. Now we're going to talk about the most important aspect of putting together an eye catching booth and how to track our expenses and, if any, profit.


First, Where Are We? Doing well. We're covering all of our costs and on a weekly pay out of profit. The rest is going in the market coffer and building slowly.

Fatherfolk on Band of SAHD

Tonight I had the great pleasure of joining Chris and James from Band of SAHD to talk beer on their radio show live. We talked both THC and family friendly beers.
Give a listen....

Listen to internet radio with Band_Of_SAHD on Blog Talk Radio

Digital Breadcrumbs: Check-ins and Geotagging.

Guest post from Adam of betafam, original available here.
Adam can be found on twitter @betafam

Do You Know Where Your Kids Are? Someone Else Might…

As a parent I always know where my daughter is, she’s only 8 months and can’t go very far without us. But as she grows up and becomes independent her location won’t be as obvious. With all the technology at our disposal, there are plenty of GPS enabled gadgets to keep track of your kids – wrist bands, car modules, etc. Whether or not I venture down that road is yet to be determined and a topic to be discussed at a further date. But who else knows where your kids are? And do you want them to? Here are a couple of ways technology has enabled us to share our location, knowingly and unknowingly.

The Bike du Solei (Cargo Bike & Kid-Sled)

Written by Ruzter, cross post from Ruzter Tales. Head there for full construction pictures.


It’s not what you can buy, it’s what you can build

I have amalgamated the pictures related to the construction of my cargo bike in one blog post for those interested in its construction.  Since picture are worth 1000 words, I won’t put too much text, but include as many pics as I have. The name evolved as we originally called it the circus bike after the kid’s car seat were added, then it became the Bike du Solei from the famous Cirque du Solei.

I Want to Believe

Written By Gretchen Harwell

Thank God for Netflix. Specifically, instant streaming. Thanks to this incredible service, I’m finally seeing what a deprived childhood I had. Without Netflix, I wouldn’t know what the Truffle Shuffle is. I can’t really blame my parents for all of it, because much of what I missed was there for the taking and I failed to notice it. What was I doing when all of my friends watched Friends and E.R.? Practicing, I guess, but that really can’t account for the wealth of stuff that passed by me with hardly a glance on my part. I remember sitting in a classroom before math class, listening to my friends talk about Friends and thinking “I should pay attention to that show,” and then going back to my home under a rock and not watching the show. 

I Saw Piranha 3D, and It Blew My Mind

Written by Gretchen Harwell

WARNING: There will be A LOT of what some will consider spoilers in this review. I prefer to think of it as an extremely detailed list of reasons you should see this movie. I promise not to give away any of the plot points to this super deep and thought provoking piece of cinema (think of it as Inception: Lake Edition), but I’m going to give away tons of awesome parts because they need to be shared. Don’t like it? You probably wouldn’t like this movie anyway, so suck it. 

Dispatches From Mongolia: A week away at Lake Khovsgol (part 1)

Written by Andrew Rosenstock
Cross posted from herenow-nowhere

I went away for a week to visit Lake Khovsgol, located in the north western part of Mongolia. I've decided to break this week into three parts so as not to bore my readers with too many pictures.
I ventured up with 2 Aussie guy friends of Jocelyn's (Pete and Carl) and an Aussie girl who was friends with one of the guys. Jane, the girl, left on tuesday but another Aussie girl, Rebekah came in on that day. We also picked up a Japanese girl, Mai, who was traveling by herself, rounding up a nice group of 5 traveling fools.
The lake is one of seventeen ancient lakes worldwide more than 2 million years old and is the most significant drinking water reserve of Mongolia. Its water is potable without any treatment. That said, I didn't brave trying to drink it from the source. I did however jump in to the freezing cold water very briefly, (and very naked) and then walked quickly to my ger to warm up. brr.... 

What's that your eating?

One of the fun parts of travel is getting to try new or just different spins on culinary delights. I'm heading to China shortly and I've heard of all the crazy things you can eat there, and this excites me greatly. However, don't overlook Mongolia as a place where food is exciting. Most of my ex-pat friends here are sick of the food as it's predominately mutton based foods, but you can still get creative or exciting within this realm of food.

Yesterday I went out to lunch with a friend of a friend who is Mongolian. I wanted to have some traditional Mongolian dishes. Don't get me wrong, I love buuz (mutton dumplings) and Khuushuur (deep fried mutton patties) but surely there has to be more to Mongolian cooking than this, right? Well there is.

Bayarmaa is eating a mixed organ dish containing stomach, liver, tripe, kidney, and heart. There were a few vegetables mixed in as well, which seemed highly unmongolian. I ordered the fried liver and onions with sheeps tail. Honestly, I ordered this partly in honor of my mother and grandmother. As a child my mom and bubbie would make liver and onions and the house would reek of this horrible smell. I hated that smell, and the taste was worse. I remember coming in one night from playing with a friend and my mom was making liver and onions. I walked in the door, got a whiff and immediately felt sick.  But I've grown up so much since those days. And now I somewhat like the taste of liver, at least in moderation.  The addition of sheeps tail is to add the fattyness to it.  In other countries bacon is commonly added to this dish, but pig is not very common to Mongolia, while sheep are plentiful.  The dish was quite tasty, but again in moderation.  Halfway through, i hit a point of not wanting to eat anymore liver. But being a good eater, I did finish the plate.  Bayarmaa kept offering her food up to me, so how could I refuse. Organs are something that have really grown on me in the last few years.  I can't always taste the difference between stomach, tripe or other innards as to me they all have a similar taste but the tecture and shape/color allow me to distinguish which is which. But really, why does it matter what organ your eating when you're cramming your face down with sweet, sweet, sweetbreads.  If you haven't tried eating organ dishes, I would start slowly. heart and liver are a bit stronger tasting so try stomach or tripe first. Make sure they are cooked properly, as sometimes tripe can be to chewy and personally, I'm not a fan of this. But be adventurous with your food, don't just stick to meat and potatoes (or tofu and potatoes for the vegetarians reading this).

Speaking of being adventurous in eating, and of eating organs...

Dispatches from Japan: Toying With the Gods

Written by Casey

Cross-posted from: http://thesoybean.wordpress.com

I’ve been invited to contribute to a blog called Fatherfolk, where I’ll endeavor to provide the perspective of fatherhood in Japan.  This is my first contribution.  So if you’re a regular reader, go check out Fatherfolk, and if you’re reading via Fatherfolk, thanks!  And thanks to Aaron for giving me the chance to contribute.  Without further ado…

A few years ago I bought myself a Daruma doll.  Daruma is a little, wobbly red guy who is meant to make your dreams come true.

When you buy a Daruma doll its eyes are blank.  You fill in one eye, set your goal, and once it’s achieved you fill in the other eye Throw the sucker into the local New Year’s pyre for proper appeasement.  Traditionally, Daruma has some Buddhist significance, but I would just be copying from Wikipedia if I said anything more than that.

Building a Birth Plan: the post in which we stray dangerously close to daddy blogging territory

Fatherfolk is not a daddy blog. I don't mean any derision. I think that there is a brave and growing chorus of dads out there talking about their experience as father's openly. One great example of this is the guys over at dadrevolution.com who I admire very much. Fatherfolk is something different. We believe without a trace of irony that in order to be a good father, you need to live a rich and interesting life. You need to be able to accurately describe the sensation of eating a sheep's head and list several items in great detail that vet tech's have removed from insides animals intestines. You need to know how to brew your own beer. We are a lifestyle resource. That being said, we will from time to time indulge in some navel gazing of our own when it feels important.

A Profile in Courage: Stranded on the High Seas

Remember that video from the early 90's where Biggie Smalls and Puff Daddy rode around on a boat wearing all white and rapping about how much money they have? Well, this was the opposite of that.

This past weekend the Fatherfolk crew took a vacation with the families out to Smith Mountain Lake. If you've never been to Smith Mountain Lake, picture Miami Beach, now picture the opposite of that. It's a beautiful lake in central Virginia that is a vacation home spot for folks from Roanoke, Lynchburg, and points south. It is also where the film, What About Bob was filmed. 

Creating Block Prints: Where Your Next Scar is Coming From

Want to teach your children about the folk art of block prints AND get a chance to show them the emergency room? Consider Lino-block printing as your next art activity. I first got interested in block prints because of this old book that my mother had on the shelf when I was growing up about an artist that sells his soul to the devil. It had no words and totally fascinated me.

The Little One's Art

Guess What I Found Inside Your Pet!

Written By Gretchen Harwell

I work in surgery at a veterinary hospital. I love surgery, I love blood and guts, I like the pace of surgery, and I like the surprises we sometimes get. There are very few procedures as rewarding as draining an abscess. You start with an animal, usually a cat, that is in a lot of pain and has one markedly swollen area. Most often this area is on its face or rump, because those are the areas that get bitten most in cat fights. 

Abscesses are not for the faint of heart, though. 

It's a Girl!

We've just birthed the newest member of the Fatherfolk Collective! Would you like to cut the cord? We're calling her Gretchen Harwell. She lives in Asheville and looks better in a sweater than you do.

Gretchen was born the late 1980s in New York City, originally as a band called Trucking Company, which included Canadian guitarist Eric Schenkman, John Popper, and later Chris Barron, who was John Popper's Princeton, NJ high school friend.  Gretchen was signed to Epic Records/Sony Music by A&R executive Frankie LaRocka in 1991. Gretchen's Epic debut EP Up for Grabs...Live was recorded live at The Wetlands Preserve in Lower Manhattan, and released in January 1991.

Actually, those are just facts about the band Spin Doctors. Gretchen was born in Vermont. In high school, which was the last time I saw her, she played the oboe. For those of you who don't know what the oboe is, lets just say it's something sexual and leave it at that. Gretchen works as a vet tech and has gin instead of blood. We are super excited that she will be writing a "Things I Found in Your Dog" column, and a Retro Review Column. Please join us in welcoming Gretchen to the Fatherfolk family.

Home brew is easy and good, Part 2 - The Bottling

In the first part of our how to brew we brewed up a 5 gallon batch of Peach and Cardamom Cream Ale, tweaking a brewing kit from Northern Brewer available here: NB Cream Ale. It's been about two weeks and our air lock stopped bubbling a few days ago. A quick peak in our fermenting bucket shows the foam that rises from yeast gas has fallen back down onto the peaches, time to bottle!

Book Review – Sugar Milk: What One Dad Drinks When He Can’t Afford Vodka

Guest post from dadofdivas, originally available here: Book Dads

(posted originally on April 9, 2010 on Dad of Divas)

About the Author – Ron Mattocks is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to Houston Family Magazine. His work has been read on public radio and can be found in various parenting-related publications. He lives in Houston, Texas.

About the Book
The rigid family roles when “mad men” ruled supreme fifty years ago seem almost ludicrous by today’s standards where mothers now direct boardrooms and fathers manage playrooms. While many families have consciously made this choice, many more were forced to do so as a result of the economy. In his book, SUGAR MILK: What One Dad Drinks When He Can’t Afford Vodka (March 30, 2010), writer Ron Mattocks shows that he understands the personal impact of this situation as well as any man in the same position—and there are many:

Amazon Music Deals

Good music at a better price


Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix - $4 - For the money you can just buy Phoenix's latest sight unheard, seriously.


Palomino - $5 Trampled by Turtles has been playing on The Current for a while now, and with good reason. A little Mumford and Sons, a little Avett Brothers, all good.


O.C.M.S. - $5 Old school Old Crow Medicine Show, festival and live favorite.


The Ultimate Blue Train - $5 john coltrane was and always will be, the man.


Heaven Is Whenever - $5 I'm just now getting into The Hold Steady. Good ride so far.

Cloth Diapering - One year in

rockin' the cloth

We decided about mid through my wife's pregnancy (I'll never say OUR pregnancy, I didn't have to push the kid out) that we were going to cloth diaper. You tell someone who had to cloth diaper back in the day that you're thinking about doing it and they'll probably look at you like you're a complete idiot from then on. 

In which we open a window into our editorial process and slam it down accidentally onto our sons' penises.

So you have probably been asking yourself, "how do Blake and Aaron run such a great blog, and still manage to hold down their mediocre low paying jobs?" Well, the answer is that we have a super efficient editorial process based on cutting edge technology and the moments between soccer practice and diaper changes. We have decided to open a window into this process, so that you can learn from it. Below is an actual conversation, which for tax purposes will be referred to as a  business meeting from this point forward.  In it, we discuss geopolitics, world religion, and the difference between fatherfolking and daddy blogging.

"Wearing a beard is like getting punched in the face with a soft hug, all day long."

posted via http://mckinleybryson.tumblr.com/

As the countdown to the homebirth closes in (7 weeks as of this post until the little one arrives!) In addition to all of the other decisions that need to be made along with an impending homebirth, I am trying to decide whether to commit to being a beardo. I say commit, because I would never want to put my son what I went through when I saw my fathers shaved face for the first time after 24 years of beardome.

His reasoning for shaving was that, at 55, he felt the gray in his beard made him look older. I guess that's a forgivable vanity, and one that's existence is indicative of the growing parity of grooming pressures between men and women.

It's a Boy!

We've just given birth to a hairy, six foot baby boy and we couldn't be more proud! Please join us in welcoming Andrew Rosenstock as the newest member of the Fatherfolk Collective. I've known Andy since before he even started college and he is one of the most entertaining, interesting, and thoughtful dudes I know. Andy made Burlington mellow, made Brooklyn hip, turned San Fransisco gay and is currently traveling the world in an attempt to make America likable.

Andy surfs, ferments, cooks, writes, is a yogi, and prior to embarking on his adventure, worked some vague businessy job in San Fran. Andy has eaten a sheep's head, ridden in a tank, dated Bettie White, and was mentioned by name as many as eight times in Mel Gibson's recorded telephone rants.  He has contrubuted several of his travel pieces to fatherfolk already, which can be found here: http://www.fatherfolk.com/search/label/travel%20Andy Andy blogs at http://herenow-nowhere.blogspot.com/ and tweets @astock and @andyfatherfolk. We are absolutely tickled that Andy has agreed to join us as a regular contributor. Please join us in giving him a big Fatherfolk welcome!

Dispatches From Mongolia Part 4: Hiking the Gobi

by Andrew Rosenstock Cross posted from herenow-nowhere

This post is part 4 of a series of posts from Andy's travels in Mongolia. If you've already been to Mongolia, and hiked the Gobi. and eaten a sheep's head, and driven a damn tank than by all means go read Gawker.

Chances Our

fertility goddess via wikimedia commons

Through the magic of twitter I just discovered Chances Our, a blog about one woman's process of dealing with the challenges of trying to conceive.  The author is a long ago friend who is also the creative mind behind www.kidslikeike.com, a site dedicated to inspiring entertainment for children, launching later this month.

Chances Our is a collection of very personal essays. If you read through the posts like you would chapters in a book, there is an arc of pain, confusion, joy, and acceptance. The first post begins with the author's personal experience coming to terms wth infertility as a part of her life and marriage. 

Home brew is easy and good, Part 1 - The Brew

We're going to show just how easy it is to brew up a great batch of craft beer, right in your own kitchen. For this round we are using a Cream Ale kit from Northern Brewer, available here. We've used a few Northern Brewer kits, including St. Paul Porter and American Wheat with excellent results. Each kit brews 5 gallons of beer which usually yields 54 12oz bottles. For the Cream Ale Kit we're using that works out to just under $.50 a bottle, you can't beat that!

Book Review: Tales from the Trips

This post is written by one of our favorite dad bloggers, Chris aka @tessasdad/@bookdads and cross posted from bookdads.com.




About the author: John Cave Osborne spent ten successful years in the financial services industry before leaving the white-collar world to pursue his dream of being a writer. In 2003, that dream was put on hold when he started a stone countertop company with his sister-in-law. Now, with the business up and running, John has been able to once again focus on writing – this time by authoring a memoir of his lightning-quick journey from bachelorhood to a married father of four. Tales from the Trips is his first book.

Trading Places & Daddy Takes Over: Day 2

Written by guest daddy blogger DaddyYoDude

Cross posted from http://www.thedaddyyoblog.com

So many words come to mind when I think about how Day 2 of being the at home parent went. But only one word will suffice as the lead off to this post: TRYING! If there was ever a specific day that I could say my highest and total respect for at home parents was given, it was today. I'm just going to say it: I don't think I could ever be the at home parent (unless absolutely had to) and I really have to give it up for my wife and the incredible job she does as a SAHM. Couldn't ask for a better mommy for my kiddos. Now, to continue, here is the recap of Day 2.

Amazon Music Deals

Great music at a better price for a hot summer weekend -


Infinite Arms - $3.99 The latest from Band of Horses doesn't eclipse their first two efforts, but for 4 bucks who is complaining?


11:11 - $5 Rodrigo y Gabrielo, if you don't know this Mexican guitar duo with metal roots you've been missing out.


A New Tide - $5 Gomez keep putting out solid work, you might recognize Airstream Driver as it got some air play, but that's just scratching the surface of this album. Their 2006 release How We Operate is just as good.


King Me - $5 I know the band, but not the album! Last year's Message To Garcia was a stand out, let's see if there 2003 release holds up.

That's it for this week, enjoy!