The Good, Bad, and Ugly: What I’ve Learned in the First Two Weeks of Fatherhood Big smiles! Our identical twin boys, Axel and Anders turn two weeks old on Friday and in some ways, it feels much shorter, and in others, like sleeping, way way longer. The anxieties and fears of week one are mostly in the rearview now and have been replaced with new ones. With another pediatrician checkup this week, and weigh ins with it, we’re now way less worried about weight loss.

Things that Terrified me During the First Twenty Four Hours of Fatherhood At 8:00 am on Friday, June 17th, 2016, Axel and Anders Lund, our identical twins were delivered via cesarean section into the world. Now that we are nearly a week into this crazy thing called parenthood, we can largely look back on the numerous things that we freaked out about and smile. It’s been an eventful 5 days but the boys are in great health now thanks to the great nursing staff at St.

Why I’m Taking My Full Paternity Leave, and You Should Too You’ve seen the data; the United States is one of only a few countries that doesn’t mandate paternity leave. We’re in the illustrious company of Suriname, which I swear was never a country when I had to learn countries in middle school and Papua New Guinea. The tides are changing a bit with companies, largely in the tech sector, offering their own paid paternity leaves, but we still lag tremendously far behind all other world powers.

Marathoner. Home brewer. Dog lover. Runner. Foodie. Beer snob. Travel addict. These are the terms I would use to describe myself until about 8 months ago. After being told by a plus sign, doctor, blood test, ultrasound, and a tape measure around my wife’s stomach, I think I have to finally admit that father will be added to the list. After finally getting mentally ready for that, we found out it would be twins, and 6 months later I’m still coming to grips with that.

June 25 is fast approaching. Though National Catfish Day deserves plans of its own, you may want to put those plans on hold until next year, and spend the 25th in Ljubljana, Europe’s best kept secret instead. Ljubljana has the architecture of Spain, wine of Italy, politeness of Germany, and food of Greece while being affordable and still relatively uncrowded from tourists. This little gem of Slovenia deserves your time.

The South by Southwest of the Northeast. That’s how I once heard Propeller Festival, New Jersey’s first technology and media festival, described. The inaugural Propeller Festival took place this past Friday on Hoboken’s Pier A Park, a perfect setting for a beautiful day in the sun. With a few minor setbacks, the festival was a huge success and I can’t wait to see what they do next year. Here are some of my observations about the day and what I hope to see next year.

I love that spectators come out to cheer on runners in every race I’ve run. Some like New York are incredible in scale. How can 26.2 miles be covered in several people deep lines of cheering? Others like Belfast are memorable for the local support and willingness to help. However, I’m getting sick of the same signs at every race. The first time they were funny. The 8th time they get old.

They call it Hospital Hill for a reason. At mile 10 of the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon it rears up against the sky. With proper training, you won’t need the hospital that sits at the top, but it’s always good to have a plan b. Marine Corps drill sergeants yelling at you to run up it and conquer the pain help too. This is the Marine Corps historic half and only the tough survive.

There are times in one’s life when conditions are not as expected or less than perfect. In such times, it is often easy for one to give up or give in and bail. One may even throw one’s hands up in the air as if they just don’t care. Such is the tidal pull of life. However, sometimes, one reaches above the imperfection and attains greatness through adversity. Sometimes one takes that step toward immortality and becomes a hero.

Day Four - All Points West Today we hit all points west of where we’ve been so far, and essentially the remaining breweries (Well technically there are still about 95 others, but the big ones). We’re going to spend the day in the sun, by the surf, and even catch a famous sunset on the cliffs at the obviously named Sunset Cliffs. C’est apropos. Did I use that right? Let’s begin at Stone, the biggest name in San Diego craft brewing and the biggest brewery location as well.