Yesterday afternoon, I was getting ready to go for a run down the River Road in Emo, and, inspired, I asked Gareth if he wanted to come for a run. I really, really want to make sure that Gareth and Naomi both build a healthy, active lifestyle now, to make it easier to continue doing so as they get older.

In my head, I was frantically doing recalculations of distance and what route to take, so that Gareth could run a part of the distance with me, I could drop him off at home, and continue my run. He was a little hesitant to run with me, mostly because "I get out of breath when I run, Dad."

Then his eyes light up, and he says, "I could ride my bike with you, Dad!" *slap* Stupid dad. Great idea, Måno. Away we go, him helmeted up, and me running behind him, heart jumping into my throat every time a vehicle passes us (which, being a country road, is about one every three or four minutes).

It's important to realize that, once you get onto the River Road, it's not even a half-mile before you're in the country -- fields, fences, cows and few houses. As we head down the road, we pass a herd of about 60 head of cattle ("They stink, Dad."), and, a few minutes later, come upon a second group of about a half-dozen cows, placently munching grass. The following conversation takes place:

Gareth: Hi cows!
Cow: (lifts head, and bell rings)
Gareth: Dad, the cow rang its bell at me!
Cow: (stares)
Gareth: Hi cow! (Rings bell on bike in response)

I chuckled as we ran on. And, on the return leg, we got up to the cows, and he didn't even speak -- just rang his bell in acknowledgement, and kept going. Twas cool.

He also rung *my* bell when he said, "Dad, I'll ride slower, so that you can keep up with me."

Being as I'll be unemployed in two weeks, I'm scopin' for cheap stuff -- more so than usual, that is. I found this DIY mosquito trap that I'll definitely be trying out this summer. We have scads of mosquitos, and I apparently release copious amounts of CO2, since I'm always the litmus test for when the kids should go inside for the night.

From BoingBoing, there's a note from Michael Geist about the ham-handed efforts of Access Copyright, a Canadian copyright agency, to "educate" kids on copyright issues.

Michael Geist sez, "Access Copyright has launched a new site that borders on parody, but is apparently serious. Captain Copyright, is a new "superhero" that educates children about the virtues of copyright, rushing to the scene in the event that someone publishes research without proper credit. While my first reaction to the site was that it is just silly, as I dug deeper, I now find it shameful. These materials, targeting kids as young as six years old, mispresents many issues and proposes classroom activities that are offensive."

The best part, however, is the AUP on their site:

"...pages with the following exception: permission to link is explicitly withheld from any website the contents of which may, in the opinion of the Access Copyright, be damaging or cause harm to the reputation of, Access Copyright."

Hey, Access Copyright: your premise, your "educational materials" and your existence are offensive. And, your web site is so 2002.