Dadjunk. It seemed like a good name at the time.

When I embarked on my dad blogging adventure several months ago, I was pretty excited about landing the URL: dadjunk.com. Naturally, lots of other dad-related URLs had been snapped up years ago by clever dadbloggers. Dadjunk seemed fun, irreverant, and obviously dad-oriented.

Like most guys, I have referred to my junk as “junk”. I asked around and the junk connotation didn’t seem too top of mind to most people. So, I went ahead with my dadjunk adventure.

Heck, I even registered grandadjunk.com for my dad, encouraging him to post tidbits about his adventures as a grandfather.

100+ posts and some decent traffic later, I’ve noticed an increasing number of smirks when I talk about my dadjunk blog. Responses like the following became common:

“So, you gonna whip out your dadjunk?”
“Why don’t you just call it dadbaitandtackle?”
“Is that a gay porn site?”

Then my dad confessed that, when he told one of his friends about his blog, grandadjunk.com, that one of his friends said, “What is it? A bunch of pictures of old guys’ balls?”

That unfortunate image that has haunted me ever since was the last straw. I’ve moved everything over to Dadhoc.com.

Dadjunk will stay up (until some porn site wants to buy it from me), but all new posts (and the old ones) can be found at dadhoc.com.

Thanks for checking out my dadjunk… (eh-hem) and welcome to Dadhoc.

The Greenest Rocking Horse Ever

For now, just a concept, but what a great way to harness your kid’s energy while they play. Rocco the Energy Pal is an entry in the Greener Gadgets design competition. Rocco teaches children about energy generation and conservation by converting kinetic energy created through rocking into electricity. The removable handles are a flashlight or a nightlight to stay up extra late – except, with all that rocking, they won’t be able to. Rocco 2.0 should include an iPod/phone charging adaptor under the mane.

They have a lot of votes, but need more to get to the top. You can see some other cool entries and vote for Rocco here.

An Open Letter of Surrender to American Girl®

Dear American Girl,

I have grown to respect you as a worthy and wily foe.  But I have grown battle-weary and the events of last week have convinced me of the hopelessness of further resistance on my part in our four-year struggle

This war began shortly after my daughter’s first birthday, when I first encountered the phenomenon that is American Girl. I made an AG Oath of Resistance based on the following creed:

– No doll should cost $95+
– Dolls don’t need professional spa services.
– Girls shouldn’t dress in the same exact outfit as their doll.

I encountered your ever-expanding army everywhere: cute, bright-eyed little girls who proudly and lovingly carried their American Girl dolls. I knew this was not going to be an easy fight, but my resolve was deep and strong.

You had powerful weapons in your arsenal. Your dolls come with a book and a backstory that was historically accurate, educational, and peppered with positive messages. A brilliant stroke of strategy. Despite this, I stayed true to my AG Oath of Resistance.

Even the mini-controversy around homeless “Gwen” had little effect on your juggernaut.

To boot, your intelligence was unmatched. You seemed to have some kind of peephole into the mind of girls three and up. Your mission statement struck fear in my heart:

American Girl encourages girls to dream, to grow, to aspire, to create, and to imagine through a wide range of engaging and insightful books, age-appropriate and educational products, and unforgettable experiences.

Still, I could have resisted were it not for your latest and most brilliant stroke of tactical genius: the introduction of Lanie™ as the Girl of the Year.

From the moment your most recent catalog somehow landed  into my daughter’s hands, I knew this struggle was over and that you were the undeniable victor.

You see, my daughter’s name is Lane. And we call her Laney.

Your Lanie™ likes to explore the outdoors. My Laney likes to explore the outdoors. Lanie™ has a camper. We love campers, but don’t have room for a real one. Lanie™ has blond wavy hair. And so does mine.  Lanie™ likes to conduct scientific experiments. Of course, what parent wouldn’t want their child to appreciate the value of a good empirical study? Lanie™ even has a pet bunny rabbit – that she takes on walks! My Laney loves bunny rabbits. To top it off, you have teamed up with the National Wildlife Federation to support their Be Out There movement inspiring girls to connect with nature!

In the words of a great video game general, GAME OVER. I have officially been outsmarted, outmatched, and squarely defeated.

It is with a heavy heart that I offer my unconditional surrender and hearby declare my intention of rescinding my AG Oath of Resistance. To finalize the terms of my surrender, I will meet you on a weekend day in the near future at 5^th Avenue and 49^th Street.  I will bring my Laney, and, of course, my credit card.

Your former foe,

(The Real) Laney’s Dad

Art for Riding Waves: Beautiful Proenza Schouler Surfboard.

When fashion designers want to add some surf sensibility into their collection, they often just throw in a couple of Hawaiian prints and palm trees. But not Proenza Schouler. For their latest collection, the designing outfit collaborated with Ken Trinder, the surfboard specialist from the Shire Board Company, to create a surfboard that is also a work of art – and that’s before Proenza Schouler added their vibrant wave graphic. Shire boards are handcrafted in Virginia out of MARKO foam, carbon fiber, and epoxy resin. The result is not only a visually stunning board, but also one that is designed first and foremost with the surfer in mind.  This board was in the window of Kirna Zabete last week, and was quickly snatched up for $3500. Yes $3500 for a surfboard. Shire surfer/shaper Ken Trinder hopes that it was purchased by a surfer and not someone who’s just gonna hang it on their wall.  Yes, it’s art. But this is art you are supposed to ride.

$1 Kindle Camo Case for Hassle-Free Reading in Public

Let me just start with the fact that I really like my Kindle. But using it in public in New York City can sometimes be rather uncomfortable. Usually, my rare burst of “free reading” time gets sucked up by some curious passerby asking me if I like my Kindle. I’d like to reply, “Yes, I like my Kindle. As you can see, I’m using it quite actively right this moment.” But I don’t. I end up talking about the pros and cons of the little reader and having a conversation with some total stranger instead of finishing another breezy, if overwrought, chapter of The Lost Symbol.

Then there are the nasty looks. The embittered and recently unemployed NY publishing establishment (authors/editors/publishers) who seem to think that I’m single-handedly responsible for destroying the economics of their industry.

And there’s the older generation who roll their eyes, throw up their arms, and demand, “What, you don’t like books?” I try to answer in the nicest possible way, “I do. That is why I have a Kindle.”

And of course there’s the conspicuous consumption thing. Carrying a Kindle is like advertsing the fact that you have $259 of disposable income. Not exactly a recession-friendly message.

So I came up with a recession-friendly solution: A homemade $1 Kindle case that not only protects the device from the elements, but also its reader from the hazards of using it in public.  Here’s how I made it:

iPhone Photobooth Fun

One of my first memories of being photographed was when my sister and I were crammed into a booth by our dad and blinded by four bright consecutive flashes. Ten minutes later when I regained my sense of sight, I realized that we were standing outside of a strange booth with a curtain. We waited for what seemed like an hour, but was probably just ten minutes for a small and slightly damp strip of photos to be spat from the machine. I remember seeing my older sister smiling brightly above just the top of my head. Dad said I looked great. Sadly, those photobooths are thing of the past (minus the Gallery Bar on the Lower East Side and a few other hipster holdouts). Enter the “Original Mobile Photobooth iPhone App” (v 2.0). It takes four quick pictures and puts them into a classic four panel strip that is easy to share on FB/Twitter/email. You also have the option to make it b/w or color.  Here’s the Mobile Photobooth Website and here’s the iTunes App Store link.

Handy hands-free iPhoning with the Gorillamobile

I like this handy iPhone grip from Joby. I have been a fan of the Gorillapod for a while. My son loved to play with mine until he broke it with brute force. This seems like a clever way to use your phone while keeping both hands free. Just don’t let anyone see that you needed the GPS to make your way home from the playground. Because that would be embarrassing. Now, how about one for the Kindle guys?

Gorillamobile for 3G/3GS – Joby.

Long And Short Plaster » Yanko Design

For booboos short and long. This is a cool concept.

Long And Short Plaster by Miyeon Kim & Hoyoung Lee » Yanko Design.

Wake & Bake Dream Griddle – Dadvine

This is such a great idea. Rise and shine to the smell of a pancake and egg breakfast without any effort at all. Too bad its fake. The folks over at Prankpack.com have ideas that are simply too good for this world. We’re just not ready for the Beer Beard or the BirdieBelt or Coffee Talkies. For now, these ideas are only good enough to be printed on empty boxes to fool your friends. Someday, though, I will wake up to the smell of perfectly and automatically made pancakes and eggs. If I just keep believing…

Wake & Bake Dream Griddle – PrankPack

Appaman – Quilted Vest, Vintage Black – MilkShop

Sometimes, you wished that they made it in adult sizes too. Not saying that I would wear it at the same time as my kid (the father-son matching outfit thing is strongly discouraged). But this vest is great. I’m slightly embarrased to say that I saw this in People Magazine. Yes, the one with Oprah on the cover.  Aye.

Appaman – Quilted Vest, Vintage Black – MilkShop.com.