Announcing My 529 College Savings Plan

A 529 Plan is an education savings plan operated by a state or educational institution designed to help families set aside funds for future college costs. In most plans, your choice of school is not affected by the state your 529 savings plan is from. Savings from these Plans can be used for tuition, books or housing both nationally and internationally.

With contributions from several family members, my Great Grandmother Virginia especially, I now have my own 529 Plan. If you would ever like to donate any amount to it, you can do so by clicking on the link in this post or at the bottom left of my website. The link will always be there and the contributions are directly deposited into my 529 Plan. Contributions are always deeply appreciated and have the wonderful benefit of being both a perfect gift for any occasion and an investment in my future.

That

Please allow me to apologize for what some people may see as an overtly rude gesture on my behalf. You see, ever since I have learned to communicate, albeit in a most substratal way, I feel the need to inquire as to what it is that I am seeing. What is the proper name, how it is used and why is paramount to my own communicative development. So if you see me coming your way, lacking all etiquette, pointing at an object and saying the word “that?,” please understand that I am simply caught up in a moment of educational fervor and in no way mean any disrespect.

Californiacation

Over the last couple of weeks my parent have drug me all over Southern California. We’ve been to Hollywood for a movie opening, fancy restaurants to meet celebrities, China Town, Olvera Street, the Los Angeles Arboretum, Alhambra’s Farmers Market, Sea World, the Sand Diego Zoo, Wild Animal Park, hiking in the Sierra Madres and to almost every beach and city in-between Los Angeles and San Diego. Yesterday we flew back into Atlanta where we will stay for a day visiting relatives before driving home and packing for next week trip to Holden Beach, NC for Easter.

While I really enjoyed California, I’m not sure that I could live there. The weather is too nice, the beaches are wonderful and there is always something to do. In short, what would I complain about? Traffic – too young to care. Earthquakes – getting shaken about it fun. Politics – I haven’t made up my mind about any of it. Nope, I just didn’t see anything in California that would make me cranky. But maybe, just maybe, if we go back to California this summer, I’ll find something.

Walk This Way

Anywhere is walking distance, if you have enough time and patience. That is why I am working as hard as I can to master the basics. So far I've been able to get myself up, walk several paces at a frantic pace and then look for somewhere to hold on to until I’m ready to take off again. In time I will learn to walk, run, stumble, drive and fly, but I will never lose sight of the reason for my journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way.

A Nut Case

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) November 7, 2008 - Contrary to widespread recommendations, the consumption of peanuts in infancy is associated with a low prevalence of peanut allergy, the results of a new study suggest.

"Our study findings raise the question of whether early introduction rather than avoidance of peanut in infancy is the better strategy for the prevention of peanut allergy," write researchers in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology… (read more here)

Over the last couple of months my parents have slowly introduced me to all kinds of new types of foods. I’ve had everything from cactus leaves to lobster and even an occasional peanut product. So when my parents gave me a small piece of bread with peanut butter for lunch today, they didn’t think much of it. Personally, I was delighted - so much so that I ended up with my face covered in yummy peanut butter.

About 15 minutes later, after my Dad drove like a madman to drug store to get a bottle of Benadryl, we were headed to the local emergency room. About an hour later, after the hospital staff had run a bunch of test and given me a steroid to suppress immune functions, we heading back home. About a couple hours later, I'm calmed down, feeling better and headed to bed for the night.

My sensitivity doesn’t seem to be too serious and Dad’s promised me that when I’m a little older I can go to an allergist to see if and how I’m allergic to peanuts. Until then, it’s probably best that I don’t eat or wear them.

Sharing Bread

Man evolved as a pack animal, living together in tight groups, knowing that his strength is greater when those around him are strong. Capuchin monkeys are inclined to share food with almost any individual who helped them obtain the food. Gorillas share food in return for grooming. Wolves share food at carcass locations based on a complex variety of ecological and social factors. Even ants share food, but probably based on quite different urges and motives than those that make chimpanzees or people share food.

It was with this in mind that, as soon as I learned the basics of feeding myself, I have tried to share whatever I am eating with whoever in my extended pack happens to be around me - most of the time they accept, even if just to thank me for my offer. In return, I have learned much about the fine art of sharing and the cultural norms associated with offering food. In order to help those who come behind me, I offer the following list of acceptable vs. not acceptable sharing.

Acceptable	Not Acceptable
Giving someone something off of my own plate	Giving someone something off of someone else's plate
Offering someone the first bite	Offering someone my pre-chewed first bite
Trying to help someone drink from my cup	Trying to help someone drink all of their own cup at one time
Dropping an occasional piece to the dog	Attempting to retrieve that piece from the dog

I hope that my short list helps those of you still trying to understand the proper sharing Do's and Don'ts. Good luck and happy sharing.

Object Falling from Rest

As an object falls from rest, its gravitational potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. So if an object is dropped from a height of 1 meter (about the height of the bed), then the velocity just before impact is 4.427 meters per second. If the mass is .2 kg (about the weight of Dad’s phone), then the kinetic energy just before impact is equal to 1.96 joules, which is of course equal to its initial potential energy. Of course the accuracy of this calculation depends upon the assumption that air friction is negligible and because the height of drop from the bed is small compared to the radius of the earth.

Thus you can see my never ending fascination with objects, such as Dad’s phone, being dropped off of the bed, table, chair, couch, crib… whatever. So if you see be dropping something from a height, please understand that it is not because I’m an incredible annoying brat who won’t allow his parents to enjoy a single meal without making them fetch and yell at the same time. Instead, try to remember that it’s because I’m fascinated by the complexities of Newton’s First Law.