And so it starts

Having a kid one week of age is the perfect occasion to also give birth to a blog. For one thing: Google's generous paternal leave policy gives me seven weeks to idly muse during the times Dario is not to be attended to.

The title of the blog is directly linked to the location I am starting it: I am on my dining room table, facing the kitchen -- "une cuisine à l'américaine". On the counter top is a toaster.

I was about to call the blog "don't shoot the kid", a reference to Karen Pryor's famous "Don't shoot the dog", a giveaway on my main interest today: how to apply animal training techniques to babies.

Yet, today's interests are not tomorrow's. When Dario turns forty, the meaning of "toasted on both sides" will be as crisp and current as it is today: it means nothing. Until then, Elisa and I have acquired this infant that we are ready to be trained by.