Proud Papa Photo Collection

In a previous post I promised photos of yesterday's adoption finalization at Rutherford County Chancery Court in Murfreesboro. I have some of them below, along with other photos taken this week. If all this "Look at my cute kid" picture posting is too much for my unsentimental readers, I will fully understand if you go on to another post. For those willing to see the coolest kid in the Western Hemisphere (biased, Evans?), gaze on! I apologize in advance for the lighting and other photographic issues, but these are family snaps, not professional shots.


Family members (L to R) attending the court proceedings were my brother Jack, Ann, Katie, myself, my mother Anne and father Comer.


Family members with Chancellor Robert Corlew (standing to my right) and our attorney David Scott (next to my father).


This was taken moments after David came out of the Rutherford County Chancery Court Clerk's office with a copy of the final adoption decree (which I'm holding in my hand).


Katie with the official "Katie Adoption Cake"!


Katie with one of her friends at the skating rink!


A pair of skating pals!


"From Russia, now skating for the United States..."


"What grace, what form, as she glides around the rink..."


Katie with Miss Natchez, who appears to be doing an ad for Office Depot paper products...


Katie with the normally-not-so-unaware-of-the-camera Oreo...


Katie (modeling her Metro Schools Standard Attire) with Bentley, the Earl of Puppydom (who's in full bark mode here)...


That's our happy-go-lucky girl!

All We Are Saying...Is Give A.C. A Chance

Michael Silence details the blogosphere conversation about the role Adam Kleinheider should play in his Volunteer Voters posts here. It's worth a read because the issue of what he should or should not post is one I think we'll see many news organizations grapple with in the coming weeks, months and years.

Katherine Galina Donnell

After months of waiting, Ann and I are officially Katie's parents. Rutherford County Chancellor Robert Corlew granted our final adoption decree today.

To see our last name become hers through that decree, and know that now she is legally a full member of our family, brings us more joy than I can express here. We are finally a family in every way!

I hope to post a picture or two from today's court proceeding soon.

You Are Invited

Continue Progress, Blaze New Paths

My boss and friend Howard Gentry has an editorial in today's Tennessean with some suggestions for Mayor-Elect Karl Dean. Read it here.

Smokey's Sad

This was taken from the blog of Rob Huddleston. Smokey, I share your pain!

Bye Bye Birdie

Jackie Broyles waxes eloquently on the demise of Alex the Bird.

A Good Idea

I was told yesterday that Karl Dean's inauguration will be held at the Parthenon on Friday. If that's true I'm glad to hear it won't be at Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet where Bill Purcell was sworn in to start his first term in 1999. I remember how tough it was to find parking for that ceremony. And if the weather cooperates it will be a great setting for the start of Mr. Dean's administration.

UPDATE I: Adam Kleinheider's source says it's not true.

UPDATE II: Kay Brooks finds out the confirmed location of Friday's ceremony - the courthouse. Once again, I'm glad it's not at Hume-Fogg: the courthouse parking garage is a better option than the parking opportunities around that school.

Quite A Night

The votes have been cast and tallied. On Sept. 21 it will be Mayor Karl Dean joining Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors and a Metro Council that will be led by At-Large Members Tim Garrett, Megan Barry, Charlie Tygard, Ronnie Steine and Jerry Maynard.

While my first choice for mayor was my boss and friend Howard Gentry, I think Mr. Dean has the makings of a fine chief executive for Music City USA and I was glad to cast my runoff vote accordingly. And as a strong supporter of Barry and Maynard, I was very happy to see them come first and fourth in the at-large runoff tonight.

May all these folks, and the others elected tonight and in August, give their best to make a great city even greater. My observations of these candidates on the campaign trail makes me feel optimistic that they will serve Nashville well.

Working My Polling Place

I just got back from holding a sign and greeting voters for Council-At-Large candidate Megan Barry at St. Bernard Academy. The three boxes there are part of the 18th District, and our new councilman Keith Durbin showed up - wearing a Jason Holleman t-shirt in support of the latter's District 24 runoff today with Katherine Beasley.

I was there from 10:45 AM to 1:30 PM, and except for a brief appearance by a Bob Clement volunteer, the only other poll worker at my polling place was encourging folks to vote for Saletta Holloway.

Karl Dean took St. Bernard overwhelmingly in August, with Clement finishing a distant third behind Dean and David Briley. I guess that's why Dean's volunteers were elsewhere. And they didn't miss too many people - less than 300 had voted by noon in the three boxes at St. Bernard, according to election officials at the site. But visibility does matter - the fellow working for Holloway and I were both told by some who came to vote they were voting for our candidates because they saw us holding signs. In a race like this one, such small things make a difference.

Red State Update Talks TV

I can't get enough of these guys!

Interview? Moi?

Rob Robinson was kind enough to ask me for an interview which he posted on his thinktrain site last week. Here it is.

Hello!

My first post. What do I say? Well, not much, except that I have no illusions about setting the world on fire with my blog entries. I'll try to remember not to write just for writing's sake - if I feel it's really worth saying (or at least moderately interesting) I'll put it down here. And the rest is silence...