MP3 file of the week.

For moM.

The best $50 I will ever spend.

I just wish they'd quit doing local TV reports about it, because the fewer people who know about it, the better my chances of being one of the first thousand.

We don't know nothin' about birthin' no babies.

Which is why Kim and I have taken or will be taking all of the following classes prior to little Lorelai Elizabeth's birth:

* Baby Basics -- four hours
* Baby Sign (teaching your child to communicate before she can speak) -- two hours
* Breastfeeding -- two hours
* Childbirth/Lamaze Class -- eight hours
* For Baby's Sake (babyproofing, etc.) -- two hours
* Hospital Tour -- two hours
* Labor Basics -- four hours
* Pediatric CPR -- two hours
* Safe Ride (car seats) -- two hours

Plus, Kim took a two hour early-bird class without me, and Kim's parents are taking a grandparenting class when they're visiting us in two weeks. (I'm not quite sure what one learns in the latter -- how to spoil the baby rotten, maybe?) Eight of the 11 classes listed above are free through either our hospital or one of its two sister hospitals in the area, thank goodness. Bonus points to anyone other than Kim who guesses the three that aren't.

Finally, the child doesn't need to be named Baby Prins anymore.

One of the two or three most difficult about this pregnancy, from my don't-have-to-carry-the-child-in-my-belly perspective, is coming up with a name. Partially because Kim's and my naming philosophies are so different -- she tends toward ordinary, I tend toward umlauts -- deciding on mutually acceptable boy and girl names for our massively active little baby has been less than fruitful.

However, on Friday night, while eating pizza a block away from a big Harry Potter dress-up bash, we made the decision to buckle down and pick a boy's name and a girl's name. After much, much deliberation, we finally came up with two compromise names that we are both very happy with, and after even more deliberation, we decided to post these names online for you to look at. Let me just state this one caveat: As stated before, it took us a very long time to come up with our future child's names, and because of that, we would really appreciate you being supportive of our choices. Thanks in advance.

If it's a boy, Meridith Dexter Prins.

If it's a girl, Eunice Eugenia Prins.

When will I ever learn that Kim is always right?

About two dozen times now, Kim and I have seen the Jason Alexander Chrysler commercial where...oh, you've seen at least two dozen times, too, so I don't need to explain it. Anyway, neither Kim or knew who the older guy in the commercial was, but she guessed it was Lee Iacocca, and I guessed that it was someone who wasn't Lee Iacocca. But despite her picking one person and me picking several billion people, well, Kim is always right.

Baby name trivia questions of the day.

During lunch today, I took a whole bunch of SSA baby name data since 1880 and merged it all into the database software that we use. (I've only had the chance to do boys so far.) From this, three questions:

a) Of the most popular 100 baby boy names in the 1880s, how many are still on the top 100 list for the 2000s?

b) Of the most popular 100 baby boy names in the 1950s, how many are still on the top 100 list for the 2000s?

c) How many baby boy names were in the top 50 list for some decade between the 1880s and the 1990s, yet aren't on the top 1000 list for the 2000s?

The greatest title for a movie ever.

Thank you, David Mamet.

An unexpected delivery.

I am now the proud owner of 10 printed copies of "Cumulonumbus" and nine printed copies of "Fantasie on There is a Balm in Gilead." (No, do not ask me why I have fewer copies of one than the other.) Apparently, if I had read the contract I signed more carefully, I probably would have expected to receive this. If your last name is Prins and you play handbells, I will send you over a copy of each in the next few days.

What is the most acclaimed album released so far this year?

If you believe Metacritic, I am so a music-trend leader.

From now on, I am checking everyone's blog three times daily.

So I don't again end up behind the curve on something like this.

Olerud watch.

Record for the Red Sox since Olerud got called up: 21-14.
Record for the Red Sox in those games where Olerud was not used: 1-5.
Record for the Red Sox in those games where Olerud was used as a defensive substitute or as a late-inning pinch hitter: 13-6
Record for the Red Sox in those games where Olreud started or otherwise had multiple plate appearances: 7-2

I do believe the numbers speak for themselves.

Why it is always best to order CDs extra early.

So that way you have a collectors item when someone files a cease-and-desist.