One very small nod to pop culture

If there's one piece of advice I've heard more than any other during the past month, it's "sleep when the baby sleeps." And it's great advice. However, writing these posts tends to be one exception (it's hard to type and hold a wriggling 10-pounder at the same time).

Bedtime is another. Noah usually goes to bed around 10pm, and while we're both pretty tired at that point, Josh and I usually like to watch a little something before we call it a night. We don't have time for a whole movie and we don't want to be at the mercy of whatever happens to be on TV (especially since that's usually the local "news" - don't even get me started).

So we've discovered the world of TV on DVD, and we're officially fans of commercial-free 20- or 40-minute episodes that we've hand-selected and watch at our leisure. A few thoughts on our recent selections:

1. The Cosby Show - By far the best family sitcom we've seen in the past 30 years (not that we've seen all that many, but we're still confident it's gotta be better than any show called "Two-and-a-half Men"). It's also about as close as you can get to a parenting book on video (without actually being a parenting book on video - which doesn't really sound all that good).

2. Murder She Wrote - Another classic - and one that draws heavily on one of our favorite characters: Miss Marple. The photography is a bit cheesy at times, but Jessica Fletcher is just plucky enough not to be corny. Besides, I'm a sucker for mysteries without violence, and the 1980's wardrobe actually makes me feel good about the fairly non-descript clothes I wear now.

3. Numbers - This current mystery series has a great premise, though sometimes it gets too graphic for my taste. Week-after-week it demonstrates that math can be useful in real life (even though I was never very good at math myself -- and even though the show isn't exactly "real life"). And you can't help enjoying the dynamics between the brothers and their father.

4. Boston Legal - If only the writers would clean up their characters! Josh and I agree that this show has some great writing. The quick banter, creativity, and smart humor remind us of our favorite show of all time, The West Wing. The biggest problem: the characters mate like rabbits and show little-to-no remorse. We'd watch this one more if they could just get some self-control...

Finally, while this post's connection to Noah may be tenuous (or non-existent really), I just can't help including a photo of the little guy napping this afternoon...


And after he woke up...