Dedicated to my friend Bill Stuart, who recently became a dad

Spent a wonderful stretch with 1001 Rules For My Unborn Son, the other night. I like the lede mightily: "Let's get some things straight before I get old and uncool." As I was reading the whole damn thing, I became increasingly convinced that the author and I are very nearly the same person. The advice about white Oxford shirts and facial hair, aside, pretty much every line got me nodding or laughing. Every musical reference was a touchstone. And then it struck me that my old friend Bill Stuart is pretty much the one man in my life who actually lives by all these rules, rather than just aspiring to them. He may not like the New York Dolls, but that's forgivable. Here's to young Keane Stuart growing up to be just as fine a man as his daddy. A tall order. ..