Who's bado anyway?
When I was "on the way" my sister (who had already been around for two years) explained excitedly to her mother about when "my babos comes, I'm gonna wash him and rock him and..." You get the idea. To her, I was basically a dolly being promised.

Later she would be caught "riding" me in the crib--I think it was an attempt to regain her position as the only child. No charges were filed and I am happy to report no permanent scars resulted... My big sister went on to become the Homecoming Queen and I got to ride to school as a freshman with her friends, the hotties of the senior class. So thanks for that T.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. bado. I think I had a speech impediment. To hear my parents, I had "special" words for things. I still check the dictionary. So it shouldn't strain credulity to imagine I translated "babos" into"bado." Stuff happens. I think I see the world differently, like the view into the Riddler's liar, skewed and disjointed, out of kilter--crazy and stuff. In any event, the name stuck.

One big advantage about having this nickname is with children, not my child of course. The two syllable name is easily captured by little mouths. I was quickly identified by my nieces and nephews...bado. I still am.

All in all, it's a good trade-off. I'm the clown uncle, the monkey, the tick-tick clock swinger ( a move wherein you secure the feet of the child in question, invert him or her, and count off "ticks" as they swing back and forth). The kids love it. Even now, my little booglet has grown to love it, swinging back and forth, her wild hair flying just a touch behind the rest of her.

I'd like to think of it as astronaut training. At least, that's how I describe it to my little one. Reach for the stars kids; experience zero "G" with uncle bado.

And this is my world, badosworld. Here, it's a vision of the universe unfiltered by mass media, other than the obvious influence TV had on me. Notice in both of these pictures I'm apparently watching TV. That may be a problem. I miss Gilligan. And certainly this universe is viewed through my filters, my experiences, my ghosts and my demons.

So that's who bado is. It's more a caricature than anything else.



But it's me.