Mac Book Pro cover by Evan Hecox for Incase.

So I had this idea, something fun to do while we expectantly count down the days until Baby Girl's arrive: Fantasy Birth Date League! Basically, Bubby and Jenni's mom and I each get to pick the remaining days on the calendar left until Jenni's official due date, place a marker to represent which day was ours, and whoever gets the right date gets a sweet prize: a $20 iTunes card for me or Marmee, or a medium-sized LEGO™ set for Bubby. (Jenni doesn't get to play as she has a direct communication line with Baby Girl and thusly, would be tempted to cheat.)

Bubby seemed stoked about this idea, so we made ourselves a little calendar, then one-by-one placed our tokens, which we had hand-made out of construction paper and decorate with markers and stuff. Bubby decided to make snowmen, Marmee Christmas Trees, and I went with Dr. Suess' Star-Bellied Sneeches-inspired stars.

Marmee got to go first since she's Jenni's mommy and Jenni is about to be a mommy (again) to a baby girl (for the first time). Bubby was next, then mean, wash, rinse repeat. Marmee picked Christmas day first, then Bubby picked either Christmas Eve or Sunday the 20th.

All the days got picked, and we had pretty good spacing...let's see who wins! Either way, I get to pay and also get a beautiful baby girl out of the deal, so I'm thrilled!

Merry Christmas, Harry, and Happy Hanukkah, Marv! Totally unexpected, I just received a package in the mail from none other than Tony Hawk, and inside was a Tony Hawk Pterodactyl (complete) skateboard from Birdhouse, his skateboard company. It was a gift to say thanks for helping out with the Tony Hawk Twitter Hunt that happened a couple months back. (I was the hider for Austin, Texas.)

Thanks, Tony and Jerome and crew! It's been awesome getting to be involved, and I hope we can do again soon!

A little thing I work on called Gowalla keeps making a lot of buzz. One of the many nice things you can find about us online these days was a recent shout-out from the fine folks at O'Reilly Media, naming Gowalla the Best App for Urban Social Networking

This shot was taken on my iPhone 3G and enhanced with Tilt Shift Generator, a new camera app for iPhone, the fifth camera app in the Toy Camera family. I have most of them and usually skip using them in favor of Quad Camera and Camera Bag. This app, though, has changed all that, offering manual controls over blurring (including radial and linear), vingetting, saturation, contrast and more.

What do you think? Do you have Tilt Shift Gen? Link to some of your fave shots.

For more, go to artandmobile.com/tiltshift/.

(Shouldn't it have been 'glad' at then end, not happy?)

Baby Girl doesn't get here for a few more months, but it's never too early to start shopping for modern baby furniture, and we're close to finding a winner with the Cub 2.0 Sleeper crib, from cubkids by Netto. It's a beautiful modern crib with excellent lines and form, and we love it. Yes, it's a bit pricey, but it's a quality piece of furniture and I'm betting resale would be pretty high if we ever wanted to part with it. A conversion kit is available, though, so it also could be a useful and beautiful piece for many years past Baby Girl's crib stage. (And if we do go with this sleek piece, I may have to break down and get an Eames molded rocker to go with it...)

Our love for Alison Sudol (aka A Fine Frenzy) is no secret, and today she drops her 2nd album, Bomb in a Birdcage, which is amazing. For a limited time it's only $3.99 for all 12 songs (that's one bonus song!) on Amazon MP3, which means it's high bitrate and DRM free. Enjoy!

So I'm visiting Birds Barbershop on South Lamar in sweltering Austin, Texas, and the first thing I notice is the foosball table, right in the middle of the waiting room, and I think, I've come to the right place for a trim.

Okay, actually the first thing I noticed was the super-friendly girl behind the counter getting me checked off the call-ahead waiting list that Birds uses (no appointments, sorry) but right after that, I saw the foosball table and then immediately noticed the collection if barber stools and DWR furniture surrounding it which together make the coolest waiting area of any 'barbershop' you've ever been to. Couple that with an excellent collection of magazines you actually like and *want* to read (I.D., HOW, anyone?) and you may wish you'd gotten here with plenty of time to spare. Depending on what day (and which if Birds' four area locations you visit) you wait may also be augmented with fresh cookies or a fresh mojito, on the house.

The haircut name/types may be the best part, though, including the Girly Bird, the Mohawk, and the Rockstar. We'll see which one I go for today...

The Tony Hawk Skull 2 skateboard by Birdhouse arrived today, from the cool kids at WarehouseSkateboards.com.