Christmas List...

What do I want for Christmas?

Glad you asked.

http://www.evernote.com/pub/ibarky/iwant

Now you know.

Off to more adventures.

Baby Barker's Bets...

Think that you have the crystal ball that knows all about Hudson?

Prove it.

Click here to be directed to the site.

Special Childhood Memories...

Growing up I use to love Jim Henson's creations. I was a fan of the Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, Sesame Street, Muppet's take Manhattan, etc.

Working for a kids and family marketing agency takes me back to all of those special moments I had as a kid. Researching hot trends, what every kid and mom are talking about, what will cause mom and kids to buy products, and what are the core values that are important to moms and families, let's me come across items that once played a role in my childhood. Above is a perfect example. I found myself watching this Muppet video laughing like a 6 year old again.

Amazing how some things never change. Animal (the character that said "Momma") was my favorite growning up because he was crazy, played the drums, and always made me laugh. I must have went back on his part 3 or 4 times to laugh like an idiot.

I am looking forward to rediscovering my childhood with my own kid come Feb. and sharing in laughs and making memories with new and old characters alike.

Off to more adventures...

Kan City - The Final Chapter...

The can collecting is over. I want to thank you all for your donations to Harvester's. We raised over $1,300 in a week. That will feed more than 6,000. I reached my goal and I appreciate all of your donations. I will send out more info as I get it.

Below you will find the "Can"structions that each team was challenged to build.




Ours is a Robot.


That is Tot. You may recognize him from Sonic's "Wacky Pack".


This one is called "walking the dogs," I thought that this was the most creative and was the ultimate winner of the "Can"struction contest.

Off to more adventures...

Small World…

While flying back from Dallas I sat next to a very nice woman named Stacy. Stacy is a mom of 2 teenagers, husband is head chef at an exclusive club in KC, and listener of country music.

While chatting with her we got on the subject of music which lead to talking about my DJ company. Interesting enough Stacy called to book an event for her daughters birthday party September 2008.

If that wasn't weird enough, she remembered my voice as did I hers. We only talked twice.

I have confirmed this before, and I'm sure it will happen again, but damn this is a small world.

Off to more adventures.

Bad Logo

So I was flying to Dallas this morning and was thumbing through the Sky Mall catalog and found these shoes.

Something struck me as odd.

You would think that this would have been caught by someone.

That logo makes more sense for swimwear.




- Posted using iPhone

Laughter is the best medicine...

"Laughing is the best medicine."

I think baby laughs are about the the closest thing to complete happiness. They are not worried about a thing. It isn't an adult laugh that is masking other thoughts that swirl around in the back of their heads.

I am a pretty funny guy. You have to be when life throws you curve balls. Life has thrown the ole Barker clan a lot of curves through my 30 years on the planet. I think that life is too damn short to go around without a smile on your face (or trying to make others smile.)



My grandfather, Warren Schmitt, wears a permanent smile. He wears his laugh-lines like a badge of honor, showing the world around him that he faces each day with smile and ends it the same way. This picture is my Nana and Granddad a long time ago.

I am curious if Hudson will think that I am funny. What kind of jokes do babies like? Witty humor? Play on words? Physical humor? Dirty jokes? Potty jokes?

No matter what life throws our way, if I can get a smile or a baby laugh from Hud, life is going to be good. I hope that when I am my Granddad's age I have laugh-lines that remind me of all the good times I was blessed with throughout life.

Like Bob Marley sang, "Don't worry about a thing. Cause every little thing is goin to be alright."

Off to more adventures.

Infant Care Class with Doppelganger Babies...

I had my first infant care class last night and learned all about caring for my new baby. Changing diapers, how to put them to sleep, burping, circumcision cleaning, car seat safety, and that is just the tip top of the soft spot (baby joke).

I named my baby Eduardo. He was a good baby. Didn't cry or act up once. I am not sure who the dad was because of his olive complexion but hell, he was the prettiest baby in the room. Notice Court's little one. He was a doppelganger baby. There were many babies that looked the same. Plus, his baby was dirty and very smelly. It appeared that his past parents had done a lot of dropping on his head.

I found this video that made me laugh. I am sure that laugh was in a funny way right now but as time with Hudson progresses that funny laugh will be replaced by one of horror and disgust.



Great part of it is, I am really looking forward to it.

Off to more adventures.

Economic Disaster Hits Kan City....

The newest chapter of Kan City.

I will be accepting donations of cans and $ until Monday. The competition ends Tuesday.

Tweet it!
Facebook it!
Blog it!

Get the word out. We can help many Kansas City families with your help.

If you would like to donate, post a comment or get in touch with me via twitter @ibarky.

"Can" You Help?

It's that time of year again where everyone and their dog starts asking for donations to help the (insert cause here). People are ringing bells at every store entrance, churches are looking for food, clothes and money, and on top of all that, the money sucking holidays are here.

Don't get me wrong, I love the holidays. I love seeing family, eating myself in to a coma, trading gifts, singing carols, watching the years top 100 of everything on almost every cable channel, and putting another year to bed while looking at the possibilities of what the next one has in store.

I am asking the readers of my blog for help. We are in a battle of EPIC proportions to raise CANS for Harvesters. I am the captain of team BACK PACK SNACK ATTACK. Most of the readers of this blog are friends and family, the ones I care about most of all in this world. I am asking for your donations. It can be cans or money. These donations will feed many hungry people around Kansas City.

The reason that we picked the name BACK PACK SNACK ATTACK is because of a program that Harvesters do to feed kids over the weekend with back packs full of food. Click here for more info on the program.

Most of you know that I work for a kid and family marketing firm. One of the many great things about working for C3 is the charity component of what we do. Our goal for 2009 was to have 2500 hours of community service as an entire company. I have no doubt that we will exceed that goal.

Did you know that every $1 donation will feed 5 people?

I need your help. I would like to raise $200 but I cannot do it alone. If you would like to help please send me a note and I will get in touch with you and work out the details. If you have cans that need to be picked up at your house tell me when and where I will drop by to grab them.

This healthy competition ends Tuesday, Nov 17th at noon.

What "CAN" you do to help?

Oh, and about the video. My leading style can take on many styles. (Some will compare it to Michael Scott of the office.) I am not a very serious guy. I believe that almost everything can be fun. Instead of boring team meetings, I have decided to communicate with my team in a very futuristic way. It is called ELECTRONIC MAIL. For those that don't know about it yet, it is going to be huge in 2010. Just wait and see. I am hoping to do videos about the happenings of KAN CITY throughout this week.

MacGruber's Complete a 24-2 Season...

I piss excellence.

Being amazing is second nature.

There is no "I" in team, but there is "ME."

Coming off a phenomenal and almost fairytale like season like the 2009 softball team has shown me what a true bad-ass I am and what astounding athletic ability god has given me.

I decided to give my team, the MacGruber's, some incentive to play above their natural abilities with a pizza party paid for by yours truly.

My team proved to me that they have it in them to beat mediocrity through out this past season. You deserved this pizza. It was the best $60.89 that I have spent this week.

I know that you are all honored that I DHed for your team this year. You are very welcome.

Just like all good things, this has to come to an end. I am demanding a trade to the team that threw the beat down on us twice. Not just a beat down, a run ruled beat down.

I will be signing my championship t-shirt and will sell it to charity. That's right, not sell it FOR charity. I want to make money on this. They didn't go out there on Sunday nights and win the league. Why should they profit for my sweet hitting ability?

From the words of pitcher great Kenny Powers, "You're f-ing out!"

Where Were You... LIAR!

I was just playing around on the internet and came across this contraption. This does not fare well for my children. Hell, even for my parents when they get old and start wandering away from the home.

This is a GPS unit that you can put in your kids backpack, lunchbox, pocket, etc. You then get online and you can track the device in real time to know where he/she is.

Hudson: "Mom and Dad, I'm going to the movies with Snyder and Jackson."
Mom and Dad: "Really, cause last time you said that you ended up at a strip club in Las Vegas drinking and selling small handguns and illegal marsupials."
Hudson: "How did you know that?"
Mom and Dad: "Little Buddy my sweet child. Little Buddy."

It probably wouldn't go down exactly like that but you get my point.

Can you imagine if they had these while we were growing up?

More info on this product can be found by clicking here.

Monchichi Barker...

I want to introduce you to my unborn son Stanton Hudson Barker. That is what Nicole thinks our baby will look like if he has my hair. That is not an actual picture of Hudson. That is a Monchichi. I have a slight hair problem. No, I am not going bald. Quite the opposite. If it was uttered in biblical time they would say my hair runneth over and poureth onto my forehead.

Can you believe that I am completely terrified of someone that weighs 1.5 lbs and is the size of a banana.

This is the little guy that is responsible for kicking my wife's ass for the last 5 months. I mean really wailing on her.

I am going to be responsible for another human. I have taken very good care of both of my dogs but i imagine that they were easy compared to a newborn. Do I feed, water, and walk little Hudson? That is what D and Daisy live for. How hard is it going to be to teach Hudson tricks? What kind of tricks do you teach a baby of your own? When I have a baby do I become a DILF? Does this make me more or less attractive? Isn't a baby the ultimate accessory? Who the hell answers these questions?

According to wife, there is to be no "that's what she said", comments during our baby class and the delivery. She obviously hasn't met me yet. How am I not going to giggle at the word vagina. What about all of the comedic genius lines that I have come up with for all the pregnant women in the room. Picture this, walking into the room with all the pregnant women and saying, "Wow, these girls are easy."

What makes this worse is that we are attending class with one of my best friends since we were in kindergarten. This is recipe for disaster. I will keep you updated and try to take very good notes on all of the "that's what she said" goodness.

Below are pictures from our last sonogram.

6 Months to Blog vs. 2 Weeks for...

Welcome to Barky's blog. I appreciate you taking time to visit. That cheesy picture above that looks like a bad sports newscaster photo is me. "And sports with Dan Barker."

For the last 6 months I have been thinking about writing a blog about the happenings in my life and the thoughts that play in my head. I have finally gotten around to making it happen. The last 6 months have been crazy. Why you ask? Well, let me list all the major events.

1. I was re-elected President of AAF-KC for a second term. For those that are not familiar with the American Advertising Federation, let me give you the highlights about the Kansas City chapter. Founded in 1902, AAF-KC (formerly the Advertising Club of Kansas City) is the largest communications organization in the metro with over 600 members. We have a very busy social calendar that includes educational programs, speakers, consultant tours, agency leadership round tables, charity events, happy hours, and a huge award show called ADDY's. I have a great board but at times this can be my second full time job. More info at www.aafkc.com.
   
2. My wife and I decided that we were going to try to make a baby Barker. We had no idea if it was going to take days, weeks, months, or years to get a Lil' Barky in our lives. (More on that later.)
3. I was approached by a company that does kid and family marketing about overseeing their new business efforts. I accepted the role of Director of Business Development in June and started the first week of August. The company is called Creative Consumer Concepts (C3) and can be found on the web at www.c3brandmarketing.com.
4. Above I mentioned that Nicole and I were "officially" working on a baby. Well it took all of 2 weeks to get that bun in the oven. From all the problems that I heard of fertility issues that ran in her family I was certain that it was going to take awhile. Maybe even a little help from a fertility doctor. Nope! This guy can make the impossible happen.
5. Now that the baby is on the way I have a crap load of work that I need to get done around the house to prepare for the grand arrival. Finish the basement, clear out the office, turn the guest room into the baby's room, move the guest room to the basement, and more I can't think of right now.
6. Nicole is 5 months along and we know the sex of the baby. If you know my wife and I, you know that we hate secrets. I would of paid to know what the baby was when we found out she was pregnant. We are having a boy. His name is Stanton Hudson Barker. Why Stanton you ask? Stanton is a family name. My dad is Stanton and my first name is Stanton. Time to pass the name down. He will go by Hudson or his nickname "Phog", after Phog Allen Fieldhouse where Nicole and I got engaged.
   

To recap - Re-elected, try to make a baby, take a new job, made the baby, lots of work to be done, baby boy named Hudson.

As MAX said in "Where the Wild Things Are," "LET THE WILD RUMPUS START!"