i have looked like this for two thousand, eight hundred and one days. after thursday, i’ll look different than i ever have before.

this week i’m headed off to orlando to the cardiology 2010 conference. i’ll be speaking and signing books there saturday night (2.13.10) at the disney contemporary resort. if you’re in the neighborhood please stop by and say hello!

as part of my presentation to the conference i made this short film. this conference is mostly a medical one, with 26 of us (out of 900 attendees) being classified as “miscellaneous.” a long while ago i met a CHD researcher who told me that one thing doctors and scientists often miss out on is information on the emotional lives of their patients. given that, i wanted to show how some of the subjects from the book are doing now, as young adults out in the world. they’re dealing with the same things we all have to contend with – school, the future, family, love, fear. and they’re all a whole lot more interesting than listening to me speak!

my recommendation: watch it HERE, full screen, in HD for best results.

on september 23rd at 12:36pm my niece, willamina, was born. so i’m now officially the coolest uncle in the room. (okay, the only uncle in the room.) here are pictures from her first day of life – 7 lbs, 13 oz, chubby and healthy and beautiful! happy birthday, guppy!

congratulations to my brother, james, and my sister-in-law, emiko!

norma is my mother’s neighbor. she walked by while i was setting up in the alley to film my brother and his wife on father’s day. many people who walk by photo sets jokingly say “hey, you gonna take my picture, too?” i always answer yes to this question, and find that when you actually do it they become much less brave. i think the photo above is norma’s feeling on the picture-taking process. i can’t say i blame her. actually, these days, that expression sums up quite a bit for me.

(music by merle travis, available here.)