It’s Labor Day, and that means summer is officially ending. And what a great one it has been.

Unlike last summer, when Miles was so young he was barely moving on his own, this summer has been filled with all kinds of activities. Family bike rides, trips to the beach, the pool, the playground – Miles has loved it.

And we’ve loved seeing him grow up before our eyes. Literally. At the start of the summer, he could barely walk. Now he’s chasing us around the apartment and taking entire flights of stairs by himself. It’s crazy what a few months can do at this age.

In honor of Miles’ first real summer, and in honor of the great single parent experiment coming to an end later today, I put together this highlights reel from some of my favorite summer moments with him. Enjoy.

PS, The background music is “Beach Baby” by Bon Iver. Seemed appropriate.

PPS, I think this pushed me over the edge to get the new iPhone. I’m craving that HD camera. Our little Flip has worked thus far, but I want to capture some crisper memories.

This week Caroline headed back to France for her cousin’s wedding, and Miles and I have gotten to have some quality time just the two of us. It’s been really great so far. That kid is a handful, but he’s so much fun.

But I have noticed something interesting. I’ve enjoyed Miles depending on me for a change. When Caroline’s around, she’s his default – which makes sense for his age, but can get frustrating when I want to spend time with him. But when she’s not around, I become the default. I become the most familiar person in the room. I become the one who he knows is going to take care of him. And I like it.

Sure, it can be tiring. This week so far has given me a glimpse of what it would be like to be a single parent, and although I think I could do it, I don’t know if I could do much else. I would be tired. All the time. So to all the single parents out there: much respect.

But there’s also something strangely comforting about knowing that there’s someone that you love more than life itself that depends on you for everything. And I like to think he’s comforted by knowing that I’m going to give him everything he needs (but not, unfortunately, everything he wants).

There’s a bond that forms between a parent and his or her child at this age, when providing for, entertaining and enjoying your child all meld into one, that makes me understand why it’s so hard for parents to watch their children grow up. Which is why I plan to soak up as much of him as I can – especially while I’m the default.

More non-words on Flickr.

Let’s face it: most children’s music makes parents want to put their heads through a wall after about the third listen. Luckily Ryan of Pacing the Panic Room and friends have put together this fantastic compilation album meant to please children and parents alike.

But Do Fun Stuff is much more than a children’s album that doesn’t suck. 100% of the proceeds of this album go towards fighting Smith-Magenis Syndrome, the details of which you can read about below. Ryan is personally invested in this fight, as his step-son was diagnosed with SMS in March 2009.

So there you have it. Great album, and for a good cause. Why wouldn’t you buy it?

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Why go to the Modern Media Man Summit? Because it’s going to be a bunch of really great guys hanging out for three days, talking about how to promote dads and men online. Need more reason than that? I give you plenty over at the Edelman Digital blog.

Seriously — Atlanta. Two weeks. Let’s chat in real life.

This post is dedicated to my wife, who constantly goes to bed without me while I stay up to write stuff like this.

As this blog approaches its one year anniversary, I’ve been making little tweaks here and there – to the design, the text, and the purpose (actually, that probably evolved naturally anyway). What do you think? I’m pretty happy with how it’s turned out.

One change I made recently: the tagline.

Do you know how hard it is to sum up a project like this in a sentence? I can tell you I went through several variations before arriving at a simple phrase: “Stories about trying to be a better man.” This pretty much sums up this blog, but in the process of writing it I realized: since this blog is mostly about my life, this phrase also sums up a good chunk of my life as well.

And that got me wondering if there were other phrases I could use would sum up the purpose of my life in a sentence. It’s not an easy exercise, but here are some of the phrases I could come up with.

• Trying to turn down the noise of life to hear my son laughing.
• Stories of a restless search for beauty and truth.
• Trying to stop myself from getting in the way of myself.
• Being driven, without being driven insane.
• Living in the now so I can tell stories in the future.
• Fail, try again, sometimes succeed, repeat.

Like I said, not easy but a worthwhile exercise. So you know what’s coming: what would be your tagline? Can you state your life purpose in a sentence? I’d love to hear it.

Photo credit: Stéfan

I don’t know about you, but I’m as blind as a bat. My eyes have been bad since I was in 2nd grade, and I’ve gone through more than my fair share of ugly glasses. Which could be a reason why I think it’s so important to take your eyewear seriously.

141 Eyewear takes a lot of the stress out of that process. In addition to having some stylish frames in stock (like the one above), for every purchase you make, they’ll donate a new pair of prescription glasses to a person in need. Yes, this is a page straight out of the business model of TOMS. But I like TOMS, so I’m OK with that.

Couldn’t your eyes stand to do some good?

PS, How are your eyes? My wife has perfect vision, and tends to rub it in. We’re hoping Miles gets her sight and not mine.

Obviously I haven’t been active here in a little while. The last month has been nothing if not insane, so I figured I would just give you some quick updates:

• I don’t know about you, but for me the summer is going faster than I could have anticipated – for many reasons. I’ve loved watching Miles actually enjoy his first summer. There have been hours playing on the beach, splashing, getting dirty – all of which I cherish. Someone once told me that you only get 18 summers with your children before they’re gone, and I’m already seeing that as too few.
• I’ve started redesigning this blog, so look for a few changes here and there over the next week or so. I’ve been blogging here for almost a year, and it seems appropriate. I’ve also been taking serious stock of what I have to say here. I’ve gone back and forth about it over the last year. I’ll let you know when (if) I land somewhere.
• I’ve got a few projects in the works that I’m really excited to share with you guys when (if) they materialize.
• I really love this woman. She and Miles were recently gone for two weeks visiting family in France, and having them gone was really hard. I like the little life we’ve carved out together.

More soon, I promise.

[Photos by Horizon Photography]

More non-words on Flickr.

One good thing has come out of tax day. Free coffee.

Many businesses are giving away freebies today to allay the pain of tax day. Not to be left out, Starbucks is giving away free coffee. But there’s a really great catch. You’ve got to bring your own cup.

We love when corporations do this sort of thing.

Cupsters have a love-hate relationship with both Starbucks and the government. On the one hand, we get hot tasty beverages and free health care. (In theory.) On the other, we see a lot of paper cups go to waste…and then there’s tax season. It’s nice to get back something you’re owed, but giving back is grander. While many businesses are softening the blow of April 15th by offering free massages or treats, we like Starbucks’ stipulation to their consolatory offer the best. You have to bring your own cup.

Starbucks must’ve heard about all you brave cup savers.

All right cupsters, here’s your mission. Go into your local Starbucks armed with your premium portable beverage containment unit, and show ‘em how it’s done. Tell your new friends in line about how awesome it is to save cups, and how you use SaveTheCups.com to keep track of your daily impact. I wonder for how many people this will be their first ‘Saved Cup’?

Today, cheer yourself and others with a heaping brim full of positive cup karma. After all, it’s free.

Congratulations, Leah Pogliano! She’s the winner of our Ugly Mug contest.

Leah placed her mug on our Facebook wall, and our community deemed her mug the ugliest. So Leah, we’ll be sending you a free travel mug on us.

PS, Please don’t retire your mug. We’re afraid it may put an ancient Aztec curse on us for calling it ugly.

For a limited time only, you can get 25% off any $25 or more purchase of Save the Cups swag using the coupon code 4PFBDAY.

So visit our store today and get that hooded sweatshirt you had your eye on, or those clever coasters, or finally claim your travel mug.

But hurry! Offer ends tomorrow, February 17.

Sometimes we feel like being generous. This is one of those times.

So we’d like to give out a free mug to one of our Facebook fans. How do you earn this symbol of our generosity?

1. Have an old, worn-down, or ugly coffee mug or travel mug that you’d like replaced.
2. Post a photo of that mug to our Facebook wall (your other “ugly mug” optional).
3. Have your friends “like” the mug.

Simple, eh?

We’ll count those “likes” as votes, and at the end of the February, the fan with the ugly mug with the most “likes” will get a free replacement Save the Cups travel mug on us.

(PS, Thanks to The Ocean Agency for providing the first ugly mug photo.)

At Save the Cups, we’re big on fun, and we’re big on community. But we’re not big on guilting you into joining or saving cups. Here’s why:

Guilt doesn’t work. It may motivate someone in the short term, but it’s not enough to keep them around for the long haul.

Guilt feels bad. Why would you want to make someone feel bad? We’d rather you feel good about something you’ve accomplished than feel bad about something you didn’t accomplish.

Guilt creates bitterness. If someone’s constantly telling me how much I suck, I’m not going want to be around that person. Or be a part of their community, for that matter.

Guilt is self-righteous. Pointing the finger at someone means that you think you’re better than them. And that probably isn’t true. Unless you’re Chuck Norris.

At Save the Cups, we want to focus on community building through a common experience and common goals. Sure, we could throw out tons of statistics about how much waste comes from the coffee industry on a daily basis, but you probably already know that. So why keep bashing you over the head with it?

Instead, I’d like you to know this: I’m one of the biggest offenders out there. I don’t always remember to bring my own cup. I’m not the crunchiest person in the world, by a long shot.

But I’m trying to make a difference, little by little. And with a great community, it’s a lot easier.

I think a lot of green movements focus too much on the guilt. It’s too much of You’re doing this wrong and THE WORLD WILL BURN and not enough of Let’s make this simple change together and make a huge difference.

What do you think?

Photo credit: Lori Greig

So far you’ve gotten the chance to meet the three “main” players, if you will, from Save the Cups–the people that make it run on a daily basis. But there are others on our team that joined the cause to help us out in their areas of expertise. We’d like to introduce you to some of those people.

Meet Seraphina Lin. Seraphina joined Save the Cups because of her passion for documenting the plight of paper cups. As a reformed paper cup user, she is using her journalism degree to spread the message about reusable cups (and make killer video for us in the meantime).

Seraphina lives in Chicago’s north suburbs and freelances for different production companies. A foodie at heart, you’ll probably see her at many of Chicago’s fantastic restaurants. Her love of the city has also made her a volunteer tour guide for any visitors to Chicago.

Favorite Coffee Drink: Gingerbread Latte (no foam, unless it’s from Peet’s)
Trips to the Coffee Shop: 2 times per week
New Years Resolution: Move
Favorite Dish to Make: Pecan pie

Introducing Leah Pogliano. Leah’s an advertising and marketing copywriter living, working, cooking, shoe buying, and karaoke-ing, in Chicago. She likes attempting DIY projects, and finding creative ways to spend the least amount of money, while having the most amount of fun.

Leah decided to bring her copywriting expertise to Save the Cups because she believes in the cause. If we don’t save the cups, who will?

Favorite Coffee Drink: I don’t drink coffee, but I do love a good Teappuccino.
Trips to the Coffee Shop: Whenever I happen to walk past an Argo tea.
New Years Resolution: Save money. Bringing my own cup is a start!
Favorite breakfast dish: Mexican quiche. I’ll give you the recipe if you ask nicely.

We’ve been live now going on our fifth day, and so far we’ve logged 82 cups that have been saved. An impressive achievement if you ask me. And you should. Because I would tell you it’s an impressive achievement. Our community should be proud!

Over the next month, we expect to roll out a few different features around the site that you can look forward to. Our next big projects are integration with Twitter and Facebook, and a mobile-friendly version of the site. Soon logging in at your favorite coffee establishment will be even easier.

In the meantime, you can check out our IdeaScale page to begin giving us feedback about what you’d like to see (or just leave it in the comments, of course). What would make SavetheCups.com the best site for you?

UPDATE: Just changed something that I think you’ll be interested in. Now instead of each coffee house’s leaderboard showing the overall counts of users who have saved cups at that location, now it only shows how many cups you’ve saved at that location only. Of course you can still see your running total when you log in, but this way we can compete to be the biggest cup saver at our preferred coffee house!

Welcome to a New Year. Welcome to Save the Cups.

The final piece of the Save the Cups puzzle comes in the form of Caleb Gardner, Community Manager and Chief Ambassador to the Cups.

The idea for Save the Cups came to Caleb one day when he was walking back to the office from his local coffee house with his billionth paper cup that he was soon to throw away. Being rather connected to the social Web, Caleb thought there had to be a way to get people together to save paper coffee cups. Because Chris and Melissa didn’t think he was completely crazy, Save the Cups was born. Later they changed their minds about the crazy part.

Caleb works in Chicago doing social media and traditional marketing and PR for small businesses and nonprofits. He’s also a Chicago Guy, and in his very little free time, blogs at The Exceptional Man and occasionally plays guitar.

He also the father of the greatest kid in the world.

Favorite Coffee Drink: French-pressed Intelligentsia
Trips to the Coffee Shop: So many I lost count
New Years Resolution: Save three cups a week… then learn to play the banjo
Favorite Mario Character: Luigi. Poor guy never got any respect.