A couple of Saturdays ago we told my 14-year-old daughter she could only stay out at a local shopping and theatre area until 10 pm. The curfew didn’t go over too well:

Daughter: I’m in high school now. You can’t keep me locked up.
Me: I think 10 pm is late enough.
Daughter: If you and mom keep this up I’ll rebel. And teens that rebel end up in trouble. I’ll be on the streets, using drugs, addicted to crack, and knocked up by the time I’m 18!
Me: I think 10 pm is fine.

(I will say this, I am impressed by how strong my daughter brings it when we argue.)

After a week hiatus, your recommended reading from your friends at Blogenberg is back…

• Business Weeks takes a look at how websites like cafepress.com have provided the means of designing materials to support our candidates and causes.
• The Freakonomics blog asks an interesting question: What’s an insitution you admire and why?
• Edelman’s recent conversation with Wall Street Journal Editor Robert Thomson offers an interesting view into how the paper is changing and adapting with the times.
• Guy Kawasaki points to a perfect example of seizing a news story and turning into an opporunity for your own message or company.
• After more than 100 years in the newspaper business, The Christian Science Monitor announced this week that they will abandon their print edition in favor of online news delivery and a weekend magazine.
• We continue to ponder online brands and particularly personal branding online. Here are two good articles if you’re just starting to think this through: Chris Brogan, Barry Hurd.
• John Jantsch points to new ways you can use LinkedIn as a business tool.

From a policy perspective, I’m not sure what I think of an Obama presidency. But watching and listening to two of my kids, both 14, one of whom identifies himself as black, the other who identifies herself as bi-racial, I can tell that the impact is significant. The fact that a black man is on the verge of becoming president is speaking to them. It’s expanding what the future looks like in a country I’ve always loved. It’s talking to them about their place in the United States — their place in what came before them, their place in what is before them.

Though they are young, they understand the movement of time, from a country that once bred and tolerated evil in its race relations, to today, when a black man will, barring an electoral earthquake, become president. (If you think I am too loosely using the word evil, read Diane McWhorter’s Carry Me Home – mandatory reading for all Americans.)

As a father, whatever an Obama presidency may or may not do to my taxes, may or may not do to healthcare, I can say this: it will change how at least two of my children view where and how they fit in this country.

My wife and I were at a local micro-brewery/restaurant a while back and overhead this exchange between a man at the table next to ours and the waitress. (The waitress brought the man a can of Coors Light, which he has just opened and sipped.)

Customer: Excuse me, miss.
Waitress (Returning to his table): Yes?
Customer: I thought you were known for unusual, very good beers.
Waitress: Uh, yes.
Customer: Well, this Coors Light tastes like every other Coors Light I’ve ever ordered — anywhere.
Waitress (incredibly, not laughing): That’s a can of Coors Light that we buy like every other restaurant. See those large vats in there. We brew our own beer.

I’m an idiot. I just read my last posting, in which I whine about succeeding at business.

I can take a break from the office at 3:30, which I will do today so that I can do a few things with my kids, and return to a very nice office that is mine later tonight to work. Why? Because I’m succeeding at business.

I can sign a contract to do landscaping at our house in the middle of a recession because I’m succeeding at business.

Yes I’m tired. Yes it’s overwhelming.

Yes I’m a whining idiot. And quite self-absorbed at that, if you ask me.

Regular Blogenberg readers (an astounding number, if you ask me!) know that I’ve experienced serious success lately: Inc. 500 and three federal contracting wins.

It sucks.

That’s my biggest frustration. The more successful I become the less I enjoy it. It breeds more pressure — two discrete forms of pressure that seem to mate and multiply like bunnies. One, is the pressure to ensure that we continue to deliver quality work, even as we have more to do. The second is the pressure to continue to build and move forward, to bring in more business.

Yesterday, I started in the office at 6 in the morning. Early in the evening, I took a nap. It felt great, until I woke up, at which point I felt guilty.

So I’ve figured this much out. There are two ways to enjoy success: philanthropy and materialism. I understand why rich people do both. Giving money away and buying stuff for myself and my family are, at least day in and day out, the only things I get to enjoy about success.

I’m just careful not to give too much away or buy too much stuff. I can only afford so much fun — rich, Blogenberg is not.

My definition of manliness has certainly changed over the years. This morning I actually said, “I get a tea in the morning and latte in the afternoon.” It’s been a long time since I’ve watched any of the Dirty Harry movies, but I don’t think Clint ever uttered those words.

It means a lot to me that I can get mad at my two boys (one now a man, one getting closer and closer). Men should be able to yell at each other, simmer a bit, and then move on. Yesterday, I told my youngest son, in no uncertain terms, that I was not happy with his endeavor on a lacrosse field. I had no concerns about performance — I felt he wasn’t taking it seriously while others were working hard. He disagreed, angrily. Within 30 minutes we were good. That’s Blogenmasculinity.

My wife and I are discussing various long-term care insurance plans. I pointed out that I want the high-end insurance because that will guarantee I would be at a nursing home with hot nurses. Blogenberg’s Blogenmasculinity is so adorable it’s intolerable, don’t you think?

This week’s recommended reading from your friends at Blogenberg…

• Integrated Media Measurement is trying to solve a confounding problem for communications pros: tracking ratings across media.
• CDC’s “viral” marketing of the flu shot.
• Jim Durbin discusses e-mail etiquette. (Should I have put his link first?)
• John Jantsch suggests some ways that Facebook can be used by professionals.
• Gary Vaynerchuk discusses word of mouth on steroids.
• Chris Brogan suggests letting Twitter do the legwork for you on your next social media project.
• We’re not sure if this new feature from Gmail is brilliant or a bit overboard or a little of both, but it could help you the next time you’re tempted to fire off a late night Jerry Maguire-esque missive to co-workers or a bitter message to an ex.
• iMedia Connection recently posted this excellent interview with Steve Rubel on the changing face of media.

When I was a kid, one of my favorite shows was F-Troop, about a wacky cavalry troop based in a fort in the middle of Indian country. (Really.) The opening credits showed one of the main characters getting busted, his stripes ripped from the shoulder of his uniform. I want to F-Troop two parents I heard about yesterday, and rip the “P” from their uniforms.

The occasion was the annual luncheon honoring recipients of the Yoshiyama Awards for Exemplary Service to the Community, presented by The Hitachi Foundation, a client of ours. One of the recipients is a young gay man who is an advocate on behalf of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) youth in a community where hate violence has resulted in two deaths. He spoke about how his parents rejected him when he came out as a high school freshman because they don’t like “people like me.” He talked, with pain, about how he had no idea if his parents are proud of him for receiving this prestigious award, which includes a no-strings check for $5,000 — because they don’t like “people like me.”

Those “people like me” include their son. I’d like to F-Troop these parents. Maybe hit them upside the head.

I don’t care what my children “are” or “become.” I just care that they do become.

One of the most interesting things I’m finding as a father — as my children get older, I care less and less about how they do, and more and more about how they are.

My 14-year-old twins are very good athletes. My 20-year-old son is a very talented pianist, talented enough that he could become a pianist of significance.

But I’m caring less about how well they play in a given game, or how well the oldest performs at a recital. I used to “hang” on their performances, and would enjoy bragging (though the reality is I only bragged to my staff — I pay them and they have to listen — since I know how annoying it can be).

Don’t get me wrong. I root for my children. I love their success. I hope that they are able to take their talents as far as God wants them to. But more and more I’m interested in who they are and what they are becoming, rather than so tied up in what they are doing.