2025 Summer Update

 Hi Public Diary, it's been awhile. Yeah. Sure has. Yeah. Moved into a new rental last summer, a year ago. Bigger. 3 bathrooms. Enuff room. Fudge yeah. Working at School of Rock and teaching kids and adults how to play guitar and bass, since a little before the move. Was working another PT job in West Seattle but now transitioning to working at 2 SOR locations. Got a yard with grass. Been mowing the lawn and weed whacking and weeding. Life is so good.

As usual, everything I wrote before this is ass. This is me at my most mature.

Dad stuff. My kids are something like 14 and 16, i guess. Haha. I love them very much and am very proud of them also. They rule. They're gonna be better people than me when they're my age. I mean, heck they are now. "Better" is relative. I have high hopes for them. They have such a great relationship with their mom. Me, they feel weird talking to, idk. Maybe I give off a don't-talk-to-me vibe. Maybe they're bored of me. idk. Teens. Females.

Lucy was Leviathan/He/Him and is now back to Lucy. Beatrix is Boris/genderfluid. Life flows like a river, the only constant being change. 

I realize, in my professional life, I've always wished I could get by being a joker, not taking anything too seriously, and focusing on appearing to others to be a guy who's approachable. But when I interviewed recently for a promotion, and didn't get it, and received very good feedback from my boss, it's clear I have room to tighten up. One thing--focus. Don't get distracted. Don't be a high-on. Be clear, concise, and also allow myself to think things through, as long as I don't lose sight of the immediate concern.

Slothrider's going great, new instrumental track coming out soon, Lucy did art for the last release, and hopefully Boris will get some art to me in the next 3 days for the new one. Tryina put together a new band of SOR teachers called Class Dismissed, lol. Other band members are so busy we can only practice like once every 2 weeks but man that's the way it is with band people. We never wanna turn down an opportunity and then end up filling our lives up so that no one thing can get the attention it deserves. ... in a very basic way of putting it.

Love you, --The Glennster

p.s. I'm finally a full director of a band at SOR, starting tomorrow, 90s Rock (Kids). Just finished my first casting. I like my job. They like me. I found a good place for me.

p.p.s. ugh I hate the housing market but it is a stark wake-up call to get my finances in order before ownership can really happen

p.p.s.s. Juneuary in Seattle: it's a thing

It Takes a Lifetime of Doubt to Become a Real Man

 I was always falling into these traps with writing these Dadblog posts, where I'd be exploring negative feelings, basically. But this was all part of what made me who I am today. A cynical bastard. See, people are basically dumb till they're my age, cuz now I'm really smart. Well, not really. But all that exploration of how I feel and seeing how I wrote and then almost arguing with myself, taught me not to do that, to avoid the negative stuff, and just be a person.

I was a young, dumb dad, learning by the seat of my pants, thankfully with good parenting in my past that provided great groundwork. I was putting a lot of negative energy into the world. Now I think maybe I'm paying for that, as life is, in some ways, harder than it's ever been, while I try to be a positive force in the world. I don't wanna put negativity out there anymore. I wanna spread love and enthusiasm. It's tough though, cuz I have a dumb human mind, that does dumb stuff that I still can't figure out. But gosh, do I ever feel more in control than I ever have--WHICH IS NICE.

Nowadays when negative feelings crop up, it's more controllable. Sometimes it's barely containable, but it always fades, when I let it, when I let go. And when I'm on the other side of it, I feel I'm able to look back at myself, and see what I was doing, and figure out where that was coming from, the root of it, and learn a trick or two about not letting it happen again--issue, by issue. New issues are tough to cope with, cuz I haven't learnt how to do it yet. Sometimes an old problem will rear its ugly head again and I have to learn how to deal with annoyance and repetition frustration while trying to be reasonable to people around me.

Lots of times there will be no problem but I make one in my head, stew about it, let it drive me crazy, and then blow up about it.

But hey, look at me doing it again. Describing my faults. I mean this is part of the process of becoming the best man I can be. It takes a lifetime of doing this--of self-criticism and -doubt--to make yourself a whole person. For me, I'm a man. I identify as such. But gender isn't important here. Learning is. It's what makes us complete, whole adults, and it grows out of mistakes, like the lotus blossom, growing in the worst, filthy conditions, and blossoming into a thing of absolute beauty. That's me! haha

SOOOOooooo, looks like about one post per year for me these days huh? There was a long gap in my posting between 2018 - 2022. I am laying here in bed, and thought, this is a good idea for a post, this lifetime of self-criticism making me a man idea. Pulling up the old blog is really fun, it's been a while. Meditative and therapeutic for me to journal like this. Helps me to keep feelin good bro. Dudeman. I can write whatever the dang I want

I mean I have to become very invested in self-improvement--I'm a husband, and a dad. I'm a family man! And that means displaying the best self I can be--leading by example, and not scaring my wife and kids. Or making them lose trust in me. The point is to lift them up--like Swayze did to Baby at the end of Dirty Dancing!

So last March I got fired from the catering company job. It taught me a LOT about running a warehouse, and about catering in general. It was a betrayal that they fired me, but it was one person's decision, and it was made out of emotion--she told me as much. Kind of a weird thing to admit if ya ask me. There was no HR dept to investigate what happened, and I believe I did nothing wrong. But that's neither here nor there. Making money again is the order of the day.

Got some interviews lined up. More warehouse/driver stuff. Got a line on another potentially better-paying job but with less career experience available, serving at a busy restaurant downtown. Got a guy I'm giving guitar lessons to. Got a sweet band called Slothrider and we've got a show a few Fridays from now at Central Saloon, a venue I'm massaging a relationship with. See, it's all about reputation. When I got fired, it threw my reputation somewhat into the toilet. Now it's about doing it all over again, but better, and not repeating what got me in trouble in the first place. They didn't pay me enough anyway, and I was not proactive about asking for raises. Probably wouldn't have gotten them anyway.

Got a sweet wife. We're trying to make a new routine of walking after dinner--here's hoping it sticks! Got a couple of moooody kids, one identifying as male, as Leviathan, and one as a lesbian, as Boris. They chose new names for themselves. 

........ fine. It hurts our feelings as parents, but that's not something kids 12 and 14 think about, nor should they. Not time yet. Too soon. Their brains aren't there yet to fully comprehend how they make people around them feel. They're still asleep.

Megan and I are letting them dive in to this new identity stuff, we don't wanna hold them back. It's important for their personality and character development. I'm not about stifling my kids. If it's not hurting anyone, let em do it. Fuck it man. We're all gonna die someday. The bond is still there with me and my kids, and we all love one another. I can guarantee you if I stood in the way of them trying on new identities, it would be worse--for all of us--than letting them go for it full gusto.

All my life I've been observing myself, critically. Trying to shed all the bad parts and become a shining example. It has yet to happen but I'm closer than ever, and I'm gonna keep working at it, cuz I like the results.

stay phresh fuckers, Glenny out, 2023 wtf

School Year Begins 2022

 From 2018 to 2022! 

My posts suck. Reading my past work here is embarrassing. Anyway.

I work at a catering company now. No more stay at home dad-ness. 

Lucy is now Leviathan and going by he/him. Beatrix is genderfluid and will accept most pronouns. We had been trying to buy a house in Seattle for the past few years and realizing we don't have the $. So now we're saving money. And the plan is to move closer to our families in Michigan after this school year ends. Megan's and my parents are getting older and we miss the extended family.

I'm really proud of us Smeglishes.

Trusting my 9yo to shower and clean herself--by herself

It's 6:41 a.m. Just had my older daughter take her first before-school shower. She's 9, so it hasn't been that long since she graduated from baths, and as such she's not that learned or thorough in self-cleaning. But, she's definitely good enough, and where she needs to be.

So I get the water going for her, a nice warm temp, got the shower head adjusted so you get those warm, thicker jets in the middle, combined with the outer ring of smaller jets, of water, you silly, not actual fighter jets, jets is a word that loses meaning the more you say it, jet, jet, jets, jets, jet, and she gets in there and says she's fine so I leave the bathroom, go to the kitchen, and finish making my coffee. Didn't have any coffee yesterday; today's the day I treat myself to that sweet, sweet morning buzz.

It takes me all of 3 minutes. I come back to check on her. Water's off, she's out and drying off. 😂😆😂😆 Now I know she didn't fully clean herself! But she says she used conditioner, so I'm assuming she used shampoo beforehand. And I don't wanna ask, but now I gotta be like, "Lucy, did you clean your nether regions?" And I don't wanna be that guy! She's gonna remember me saying that as she gets older, it'll replay over and over in her head, and she'll start to despise me!

Actually it'll probably be something I say off the cuff sometime that I won't think twice about that she'll latch onto. I'll have no idea. ANYWAY

How do you handle letting your kids clean themselves? It's difficult for me to be the disciplinarian. I don't wanna be a buzzkill, or a bummer of a dad. I never want to make my girls mad. It's difficult for me to say those difficult things, like, "Why didn't you do this?" or whatever. Cuz when someone says that to me, esp a person like a manager, or someone who rules my life like a parent does, I immediately feel more guilt that I oughtta. But I don't want to be super nice and forgiving of bad stuff, cuz that doesn't give the world responsible people coming out of my household when they're old enough to set out on their own. We gotta teach our kids to do stuff for themselves, but it takes discipline along the way--from us, and them.

Photo from 5 seconds ago. note the wet hair on the kid on the left. Note also two instances of Creepers.

Laser Chickens

(this is an old post that I found as a draft and decided to post w/o editing--Beatrix is 6.5 now)

Photo from literally 1 minute ago

My younger daughter asked me today, "Are there laser chickens?"

She'll be five next month. She probably saw laser chickens on a tv show, SheZow most likely—a show that's almost too mature for them.

Megan got a promotion and all I do is complain

Today was a special day.

Let me back up.

My wife was recently promoted at work—which has meant many things, all of them good. We’re very happy at home now. The change from hourly to salary work has brought in more money, and all four of us have undergone positive lifestyle changes since. The only downside is that she travels for work now, and is home less. Currently she's in Los Angeles, learning a brand new system for a planned rollout of new stores under a new name, and a new ground-up internal approach. Saying too much about it here might not be good for the company, so let me approximate by saying it's an ambitious idea, and I personally hope it gets off the ground, because it sounds like it's going to be beneficial for not only the public, but the employees. That's just an example of the kind of stuff Megan's been doing in her new position. It’s all been new, and really good for her, our kids, and I.

Don't We Want to Know Why We're All Here and Having Babies and Stuff?

Prejudices impede us as not only a society, but an entire human race. Societies are temporary and fickle, yet the human race survives. Are we built on upon a system of stacking fickle systems? Are we improving our systems as we move along? That would be ideal. Because I want to know why we're all here, and we're still busy kicking dead horses.

Delete all pictures of your kids on social media to protect them

Saw this today. I think it's legit. Thoughts? Feelings?



Privacy and security for my family are always in the front of my mind. To which dangers am I exposing my kids by #sharenting? Predicting potential postponed problems appears problematic, but a parsing of paring on my part would perhaps potentially predominantly protect my poffspring, per their paternal... pater.

Second Parent-Teacher Conference (1st Grade, Lucy)

So Megan and I had our second parent-teacher conference ever. This time, it was 1st grade—Lucy, Ms. Merlin, Megan, and I. Beatrix played on the toy rug. Picture a half-circle table, very rounded, Ms. Merlin sitting on the inside, and Lucy between Megan and I, directly across from Ms. Merlin.

The format of this thing was a surprise to us, as it mostly consisted of Ms. Merlin talking directly to Lucy. Megan and I weren’t addressed much at all. Not that I have anything against it, even looking back—Ms. Merlin’s message was one of support and understanding, as well as some genuine affection for Lucy—but it was a surprise.

Cross-Post, Sound Revue: Ghost, acoustic in seattle, family-friendly

What follows is a re-post from my music blog, Sound Revue. It's so family-focused, I figured it would fit here on my parenting blog really well. Original link. Enjoy.

Ghost—acoustic in Seattle, family-friendly

Papa, the Ghouls, and my girls

15.28.10

The Ghost show at Silver Platters was hot, stuffy, harder for my wife and I than possibly anyone else there—and totally worth it.

r/Parenting post posits potential parental wordplay problems

Hey fam, I wanted to share some Reddit shiz that I found, and found funny.

Below is a link to a post on r/parenting that made the front page today.

7 Reasons to Click This Link

  1.  It could have been good.
  2.  My beat is correct.
  3.  My dadhood is the rockest.
  4.  Star, and bucks, mixed together, yield so much more than pure market value.
  5.  Do you click clickbait like this with frequency? If so, tell me more.

  6.
       
  7.  What if I did outline seven reasons to click the link you clicked? Would you have been more satisfied with the outcome of this blog entry?

Please screw your entry thoughts into the comment bard.

Back-from-vacation update

Pious Mighigan defiled by Seattle Grease

I was looking forward to writing, "Earlier today, I was in Michigan. Tomorrow I won't be able to say the same thing," and throwing it out on the internet.

But getting off a plane, having a booster seat lost by the airline, having my wife and kids wait on one side of the airport while I dealt with a customer service guy on the other, Megan's feet burning from bug bites, and my kids just wanting to get the eff out of the airport and go home, and then the unpacking and making of food really quick, and having to do a quick grocery shop, eeeeehhhh I was just a liiiiittle bit tired. So a simple social media update was not going to happen.

Anyway, yesterday I was in Michigan. It had been five years. Lucy's first birthday was so long ago!

First Parent-Teacher Conference, Sixth Birthday Surprise School Visit

I know, right? Talk about traumatic. It was a earlier in the year, but I never blogged about it, and I'm going to tie it in to a birthday story.

"Diamonds in the Sky"—notes

Lucy's been talking about writing a song called "Diamonds in the Sky" for about a week. Megan came to me last night and requested help writing the song, given my area of expertise. So I whipped out MSWord to take some notes, give Lucy a short typing tutorial, and take down whatever lyrics she hopefully had in mind. The following is what emerged from last night's brainstorming session.

Colloquialisms and Kids

Colloquialisms kids won’t understand:

At what age is it appropriate for humans to watch South Park?

Megan owns a sizeable collection of South Park seasons on DVD, and Beatrix loves to look at them. They look kid-friendly if you judge them by their covers, right? (Marketing—sell it to the kids' money-having parents.)

We don't let Bibi watch South Park. She'll be four years old in less than a month, and her tastes are still child-specific. She loves to play Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and watch Curious George, Daniel Tiger, and My Little Pony. And Pingu, Busytown Mysteries, Dora, and Diego before Netflix removed them. Funding, rights, revenue, Nickelodeon, whatever.

Sharing a Black Voice: Phil Bouie

I'm Facebook friends with a guy named Phil, and he posted the following today. He gave me permission to share it, so without further ado, I give you Phil Bouie:

If people just took the time to listen, we wouldn't be in this situation as a country right now.

Ya'll can say what you want, but the point is: You're not black. You don't know.

You don't know what it's like for folks like me in this country. You don't. Instead you hypothesize, you use conjecture, you try and relate your own experiences (as non-black people) to folks like me and you can't. When women talk to me about the hardships they face strictly because of their gender, I don't counter their remarks by saying, "This is what's it like for me as a black guy." No, that's not how dialogue works. And if you think that's the way to have a productive conversation, you're a total [something].

Being black in America is like a being in a quasi abusive relationship. On an almost daily basis we have to process messaging that reinforces the idea that we're less than. In the Information Age, I would argue this is a daily thing. And that's something most of you can't understand. We're constantly told what's wrong with us. It can be large, meaningful things or it can be trivial nonsense. 

For instance, I ask people all the time, what do think of when you see a fire hydrant? For most of you, it's the fire department or a firefighter. Do you know what I think of first? Black people getting sprayed with firehoses during the civil rights movement...and I fucking wasn't even alive then! That's imagery I internalized as a kid and have carried with me into adulthood. That's not taught. My parents didn't do that. Other black people have different triggers. We all have them though, and if you think we don't, you're naive. The first time I saw Emmett Till's battered face in an open casket, I wasn't even his age. You don't forget shit like that. You don't. You can't even if you tried. And if you're like, "That was over fifty years ago!" What, you think a black man in 2015 can't end up at the bottom of a lake for being attracted to someone outside of his race? You're naive as hell.

And the media only reinforces these images and messages on a 24-hour loop. People that look like me and express themselves in a childish, violent manner are "thugs." Fair enough. Looting is stupid. I don't agree with it at all. The problem is, people don't limit that perspective to 50-100 black people in inner city Baltimore. Nope, suddenly those handful of people become the entire representation of my race! What the fuck is that!? And then some talking head on the news will ask Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg or other prominent black person who isn't even educated, "What the hell is up with your people?" Those motherfuckers don't speak for us. Why didn't anyone ask Toby Keith or Rush Limbaugh what "white people" are going to do after the Aurora movie Mass Shooting? Nobody asked Courtney Love what to do in response to the elementary school shooting in Newtown. People who aren't black listen to the thoughts and words of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson more than we do. I can't tell you how many times I see a sarcastic article like, "Black teens film kid getting beat down. WHERE'S AL SHARPTON!?"

Fuck Al Sharpton. He's an opportunist parasite. Who cares.

And once again, peaceful protests would be ideal but it's not realistic. Pop quiz hotshot, name one modern black leader who hasn't been killed or smeared by the federal government or American culture? You can't. 

1) Because you don't know any (thanks education system).
2) Many of them were killed or put in prison. 

Obama isn't a "black leader," he's the "leader of this country." Everyone wants to talk about MLK Jr. The truth is, if we had another MLK Jr., that guy would end up dead. Someone would kill that guy. True story. 

Others have different solutions outside of peaceful protests. "Well, if they had a two parent household..." Last time I checked, America has a divorce rate of approximately 50% regardless of race. Second, because we house roughly 1/5 of the WORLD'S INCARCERATED POPULATION in our own prisons, you can guess where dear old dad is at. And it isn't as simple as saying, "Well, if they obeyed the law, it wouldn't happen." Black folks can get harassed and locked up just for being around. True story. All it takes is a phone call from "a concerned citizens" (read: someone who is scared or unwilling to communicate with a black person) and that's it, you're done. Either you're cuffed or your shot. Maybe both. Whatever. 

You attend school, many of your teachers think you're stupid or lazy. You play sports, people assume that's your sole purpose on this Earth. You walk into just about any department store, everyone thinks you're there to steal. You speak correct English, people wonder why you're "acting white." 

Obviously people like me are just here to rap, tell jokes and provide ya'll with drugs. That's mostly what I've internalized my 32 years on this Earth. 

Something as small as crossing the street is more difficult for people like me than it is for most of you. Don't believe me? Look it up. Black folks have known this for years, but they had to conduct a "study" on it anyway. 

People like me have to prove we're not something (insert hundreds of years of stereotyping) before we get the opportunity to prove we are something. We get no benefit of the doubt. Zero. 

People like to speak on the power of the individual in America. You know, work hard and make something of yourself. The American Dream. That's fine and dandy. But when you have outside forces constantly telling you that you are shit, that's not so easy to do. Have you ever been verbally abused by someone on a regular basis? How productive are you in situations like that? As a young black boy, you have no worries (if you're lucky). As soon as you get to adolescence, that shit is over. You're now a potential threat to society and it happens almost overnight. 

I'm an exception. I've had it better than 99% of the Black Americans in this country. And if this is how I feel, you can't even imagine how black people in Baltimore and other impoverished areas feel. You won't find a word intense enough in the English language. 

Stop pretending that you know and just listen for once. 

(And yeah, I know black folks have a lot fucked up issues that "we" don't address. Glorifying the wrong things, materialism, misogyny, homophobia, blinded by religion, a lack of self-respect, not enough of an emphasis on becoming better educated, etc. If you want a rant on all that bullshit, I'd be happy to give you one...next week or something.)

I found this poignant. This is an important piece. Phil kind of encapsulates the entire black experience. You can feel his rage and the years of punishment coming through to the surface, but he keeps it in check. I know not everyone will agree with him, but as a white man, I feel it's important to recognize and share black experiences.

I know I've never done that on this blog before, but Phil inspired me today. He did the majority of the work, too.

Phil's one of the more expressive guys on my FB feed, and his posts are usually defiantly lengthy, and somehow both passionate, and measured. This one I thought was particularly good. It inspires me.

I guess now's the time for me to make some grande statement about what it's like to be white, but that's not interesting. That doesn't help anybody. Being white is way too easy. Refusing to conform to norms, however—that's difficult for everyone.

Someday I'm going to have to cut my hair off. I know. But I'm a rock star, you're all just going to have to accept that. And the harder minorities have to fight for equality, the easier it is for me to pipe in, from my hiding place over in the corner of the room, my little mouse voice going, "Yeah! And I don't have to be like all the other white men with short hair!"

Handwritten Note, Subsequent Criticism, Further Unpacking

I already hate what I've written. It seems like it comes from someone with real anger issues, about to burst at the seams, and trying to rationalize bad behavior. It seems like I'm writing about a specific person. Really, I was trying to generalize! In my mind, I was an advice columnist, helping people.

And I think it's cool to write stuff down and then look at it with a critical eye, as if it was written by someone else, because that's how cool and comfortable with myself I am: I can switch personalities at the push of a button, and I can write something down which came from my brain, but then, unlike a typewriter writer tearing out the page, crumpling and tossing it trashward, I can take a picture of it, and look at it. Pure, unedited me. But then, it's out on paper, and it's not me! I'm me, I'm right here. That thing, that's there, and that's all it is, it's a thing, it's not me. I made it, but it's not me, it's outside of me now, but it's a reflection of what's inside of me, and now I can look at it, and scan it, and be like, that sucks, mmm, that sucks, that's good, and boy, am I glad no one else is going to be able to read this, but then I take pictures of it and post it anyway, BECAUSE THAT'S HOW COOL I AM!

I would change the "anything" in the first sentence to "something," because what if you're both, like in the kitchen together, cooking and drinking and listening to music? Life is good! 

You shouldn't be afraid to ask your partner anything at any time!

Well, that's not true, either. One must judge the target of one's question's mood before asking. It's a way to sort of sail smoothly through life, but it's hard to get right. And that's why I ended with the balance concept.

Sometimes though, I have to admit, I'm playing a video game, and Megan comes in, perfectly expecting to ask me something, because fuck video games, she's a person with flesh, blood and a brain and I love her, but I'm also frustrated at the game, and I don't respond like an adult, and that's a generous appraisal of my reactions sometimes. But men yell and scream. It's what we do. We're supposed to be macho and make loud noises to scare away other predators from our flock/herd/murder/pride/gaggle.

So I need work, I always need work, and I always want to recognize that in myself, because I never want to stop improving (and the more I work with 20-year-olds, the more I realize how much I have improved myself already). But also, relationships are work. You know how I know? Because the importance given to doing some kind of work every day around the house has risen exponentially since I had kids. I'm the stay-at-home dad, ya know? I'm the one who's at home more, so it stands to reason that I should not only share the workload, but do more chores than Megan. Because kids add a little bit to the overall everything—dishloads, laundry loads, messes on the floor and the furniture, the overall noise level, and that kind of covers the basis. Smells, as well. Germs. Illnesses. It all rises a little bit, and it adds up at the end of the day. For example, right now I have one pair of clean comfortable socks in my drawer, and I haven't done laundry yet today, because I had to wash myself, feed my children, sweep our floors, and look the other way from the disgusting interior of our microwave just be be able to do all that. Soon, microwave, you will be clean, bastard!

I was thinking to myself, as I was trying to think of a list of things to do today, as I was feeling good about my positive, forward thinking at my decision to make a list, as I was getting out of the shower and feeling clean, that when Beatrix is in school in less than two years, I'll be more free. Right now, I feel like I'm on the tail end of a very definitive phase of parenthood—that of pre-kindergarten-kid-care. When that day comes, I'll have more time to do things during the day.

Today, what I must do is put some of the recordings Andrew and I worked on for Freeze up on our Bandcamp page, and update the thing. Next, do some calendar outreach for Startup Weekend Bothell. But before that, publish my interview with a WBBA dude. That was fun. Then practice guitar because it's been a few days. 

Hey, did you guys know that Megan and I have been working hard on a cheesy pop cover?

#LucysZeldaDrawings

Lucy made these seven sketches of Link yesterday like it was nothing, and I'm still impressed. The process took her half an hour. They were drawn with marker and some crayon.

Lucy is never without support on this at home. Grandma Smith mailed her a box of oil pastels and a sketchbook for her birthday last week, adding to the crayons, markers, and watercolors in her collection. Her mom brings blank and scrap sheets of paper home from work whenever we're running low, keeping us in full supply of sketch paper. So we're going to see more great work from her in the future, I'm sure of it. There's already a backlog of drawings I could capture and post here.

On Instagram I've got a hashtag going called #LZD. It's an acronym for Lucy's Zelda Drawings. She loves "The Legend of Zelda" game series, and is an avid player. Since she started drawing Link sometime around the time she was three, she never stopped. Link defines her, in a way. He's her model, her muse—and not just in art, but in imitation. Lucy wears her Link hat, sword and shield at almost all times that she's at home. It's like her security blanket. She's always in costume, so much so that I often tell her to take her sword and shield off before she hugs or sits next to me.

Alas, my hope of an easy, space-saving acronym for the categorization of Lucy's many drawings was dashed—for if you search #LZD on Instagram, you get mostly fashion shots. So I think I need to change it to #LucysZeldaDrawings. It's not bad.

#SocialMediaProblems #InstagramProblems #Hashtag

If only anyone ever made money creating visual art, amirite? If Lucy ever wanted to pursue graphic design, it might be right in her wheelhouse. But she just turned six. Easy dad, she's got a ton of development through which to go.

Here's my two girls when Lucy was making those aforepictured sketches.

And here she is on her birthday, last week. They made her a crown at school and sang to her, and she kept it on all day, all thru the school day, too! I know, because her sister and I came to her school for a visit—more on that later.