10 Things Grateful, plus a stellar book to buy today

Who is your favorite writer?

More to the point: How did they get there? For most of us, it’s picking up a Jennie Ritz novel or Lee Smith masterpiece or sinking your literary teeth into some Pat Conroy while on a Carolina beach trip and you find something. Something that resonates.

See, I got it all ass-backward with my favorite writer.

Corey Wheeland was a writer before she was my friend. She became a published author just last night. This same friend with a similar heart and a marvelous daughter that shines like she ate the rings of Saturn for breakfast had a book released on Thursday.

Guest Post: Laura, of Riddle From the Middle, on books she likes as much as she does ice cream

It’s fitting that I post a guest blog from a middle child on the same day my middle child signs her letter of intent to play soccer in college.

Yes, that’s a stretch. (And a way to give Hayden a shoutout. She’s signing with Piedmont International. She’ll walk in with a brace but no crutches as her recovery from ACL surgery continues. So proud of you Hayd!)

Laura’s the middle child starring on this page today.

She’s a valued blogging friend and wonderful wordsmith. No one beats Laura, a fellow parent, and writer, at headlines. Every headline makes you want to click. Her page is like an open box of vanilla wafers you won’t be satisfied with until you’ve had all of them.

Go ask daddy about human formulation, matrimonial dissention and the state of American soccer

There’s a rock rolling around in my dashboard.

I plan to do nothing about it. I log tons of miles in my new (yet unnamed) Hyundai Elantra. Some days, more than five hours worth. Phone chargers, makeup, snack wrappers, and slides get left in my car every day.

One child picked up a rock recently.

I won’t say which one. It took me back to days when I had young children (and better hair.) Rocks and toilet-paper rolls with stickers and construction paper adorning it made for the best gifts a dad could get.

Who we’d go back in time to hug, in 6 words

photo credit: Kalexanderson The imperial reunion (square version) via photopin (license)

Behold, the hug.

Is anything in the universe as potentially awkward and comforting as the hug? Humans (or many mammals) have the innate ability to express love or like, congratulations or condolences by simply opening their arms and pressing together their bodies.

I compile a monthly post called 6 Words. Ernest Hemingway inspired it when he said any story can be told in six words. I ask bloggers, friends, strangers, and a few strange blogger friends to respond to a prompt.

Here’s the prompt for August:

Go Ask Daddy About Scholastic Schedules, Commemorative Symbols, and Picking Nits in Our Language

This week, it’s all academic.

Meaning, there’s some deep philosophical questions here. Well, one at least. And one about cheese, which to me is a sign of higher intelligence. Although, when I was in college, it didn’t really feel like a haven of higher learning.

Was it just me?

I once got an 8 – yes, e-i-g-h-t – on a science test. I stayed after to ask, “is there any mathematical reason I shouldn’t hit drop-add after this?” My prof, he of feathered hair and a beard before beards were cool, simply shook his head.

Guest Post: Katherine, of Welcome to the Nursery, on How Her Kids are Slowly Destroying Their House

photo credit: Chris Blakeley that’s some hat, stitch via photopin (license)

Want to know if a guy is a parent?

Take a look at his face, his car, or his home. All will have sustained some degree of damage in the process of fatherhood. Worry lines, spray stains on the ceiling of his car, and a host of tell-tales in his place of residence.

Busted furniture, chipped wall paint, crayon marks on … everything. Markers, too, and stray bits of strawberry, Goldfish crackers, and even beef jerky, in a man’s car, behind a man’s couch, and stuck in a man’s hair.  That’s just the beginning, as any of you who parent know.

Katherine writes a blog called Welcome to the Nursery.

I Didn’t Die From Writing a Post About a Book I’m in Called ‘But Did You Die?’

I’m just not good at some stuff.

Some stuff you know about. You know, portion control and getting my hair cut at regular intervals. Okay, and there’s that keeping-your-car-clean thing, too. I’m also not good at promoting a book that I have a small part in.

And it’s a book an author who knows her way around the New York Times best-seller list has compiled, with a ton of marquee names.

The book is But Did You Die: Setting the Parenting Bar Low, and it features names many of you know. Jen Mann of the blog People I Want to Punch in the Throat has compiled a series of New York Times Best Sellers in the series I Just Want to Pee Alone.

What an Invisible Civilization Would Learn About Us, in 6 Words

I’m the king of the assinine question.

“What if Jeeps cost a nickel?” I asked my college friend, Bobby Keith – while we both were still in college. “I’d buy many Jeeps,” he answered. “What if packs of gum were $5,000?” I followed with. “Then I wouldn’t chew any gu – where the hell do you come up with this??” he asked.

Fair enough question.

The six words question for March isn’t asinine – but it is unusual. It comes from a wonderful source of thought-provoking questions from #Q4KIDZ. Grace and I have both contributed to the question pot, which spits one out daily for you and your kids.

Guest Post: Tianna, of Storybook Apothecary, on Books She’d Share With the World

photo credit: DocChewbacca Waterbomb ! via photopin (license)

The beauty of Tianna’s blog is far more than skin deep.

Storybook Apothecary is a beauty blog, that goes far deeper than concealers and eye pencils (I might or might not have checked one of her posts to procure actual examples of makeup things. I’m a dad of three girls, but I’m no expert.)

Tianna’s words and wisdom extend to wellness and life at large.

We crossed paths on a blog linkup, ideal conditions for a Gen X dad blogger and a millennial beauty blogger to share some space. She’s a reader and a thinker and you’ll love the way she has about her writing, as I do.

Go Ask Daddy About Sponsorship Deals, Light-up Skyscrapers and the meaning of LMAO

photo credit: #61/366 Help Standing via photopin (license)

This post isn’t sponsored.

Endorsements find their way into every other bit of life, though. The girls cannot wear Adidas to practice because Nike sponsors our club. My former club went from Puma to Under Armor, and out went all that old gear. (Puma suited me better, by the way.)

In NASCAR, everything has sponsorship attached.

I’ve told the tales of my early days at Friday and Saturday night short tracks in North Carolina. I hoped the night’s sponsor made food. If they did, I ate. If not? Well, one Friday, I could have a free Wix filter if I wanted it.