Friday, November 02, 2007

The Parent Clock

If you're an NPR head, you've probably heard of the show Radio Lab. Recently, I was listening to an MP3 of the episode on Time (which originally aired in February 2005). In the episode, host Jad Abumrad and guest Robert Krulwich wax philosophical about the secrets of time. How to speed it up, slow it down, what time is made of, etc. There was one segment that affected me so much, I had to pull the car over.

They played a piece entitled "Nancy Grows Up" in which longtime radio producer
Tony Schwartz made a recording of his baby niece becoming a young woman. In the span of two minutes and twelve seconds, an hysterically crying infant quickly begins to coo, form simple sentences, sing "happy birthday," and ultimately, discuss "boys."

Then the realization punched me in the stomach. My own baby girl is growing up. Kiki is now sixteen weeks old, and has recently started cooing and laughing herself. In fact, Nakko and I can't go to work in the morning until she flashes us her wide, toothless grin. Gone are the blank expressions and uncontrollable limbs. Now, she looks up at us with those wide, expressive eyes and reaches out to stroke our faces with her delicate fingers.

It really doesn't get better than this, does it?




2 comments:

daddy in a strange land said...

No, it doesn't. :)

Great picture, btw. Good to see you're still alive and kicking!

Anonymous said...

http://www.angryasianman.com/2007/11/research-survey-on-asian-american.html

research survey on asian american masculinity
Over the last few years, I've gotten quite a few requests from Asian American grad students asking me to post online surveys for various research studies they're conducting... half of those seem to be some kind of study on issues of Asian American masculinity. It's a popular subject, I guess. Or rather, there's a need to explore the topic much further. Anyway, here's another one. Mark H. Chae, PhD, an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at Rutgers, is investigating the construct of masculinity among Asian American men. The hope is to learn more about the psychological factors related to gender role conflict, conformity to male norms, and ethnic identity. If you'd like to help Mark out, participate in the survey here. It'll take about 30 minutes of your time.

angrylink