January 7

Now people are saying the strike won't end until after what would've been pilot season (March-May), so we're looking at June until we can all "get back to work." Wait a second, though. Traditionally, production people are off for a "summer" hiatus that goes from mid-May through early July (I tend to "get back to work" after July 4). But if there's no pilot season what are we supposed to start working on in July that would end up airing in September? Nothing, I guess. I'm also a bit sour because my contacts in the world of reality TV revealed what I guess I've been ignoring all along -- most reality shows are at least shot outside of LA, so my trying to land a gig on one of them would probably result in divorce and my child forgetting who I am. I'd rather stay home and think about selling my comic book collection on eBay. On to more important matters...

Today I took Baby on some errands. At the bank, obviously inspired by her Elmo-goes-to-the-potty video, she revealed with a big grin that there was poo poo and flung herself on a comfy bench and demanded I change her diaper right there. I demurred, deposited a handful of holiday gift checks, and spirited her off to the car, where she announced, "It's a pancake, Dada" and allowed me to make the switch without too much trouble. After that we headed to Costco, where I ordered a combo slice only to have some guy next to me get ten yogurt swirls, which Baby spotted, inspiring a series of ever more demanding calls for "ice cweam." Fearing an afternoon of crankiness, I got Baby the "ice cweam" and we found a table where she ate some yogurt, had a couple of bites of pizza, then decided it was fun to dump yogurt on the pizza and not eat anything. A huge pee pee in Costco led to another harrowing diaper change in the car. However, she did fall asleep after eating three clementines on the way home, enabling me to spend three hours reading Sunday's paper in the driveway. She woke up famished, devoured two yogurts and a dozen giant strawberries, and watched Zoboomafoo. Wife came home and rescued me. All had a nice dinner - salad with pickled beets and grilled chicken. Now I'm going to have some tea and fall asleep in front of the TV.