So anyway. Back to Dan Zanes. Last time, I promise. As it happens, I interviewed Zanes in his home last year. We had initially planned to interview a bunch of dads--famous and semi-famous and not-famous--to go along with this article I wrote last year about being a stay-at-home dad (for 9 months, which still counts. Right? Kinda?). In the end we didn't have enough room to include everyone we had wanted to include. This happens more than we would like it to.

I showed up on his doorstep--the very doorstep in the "Jump Up" video, my kid's fave--prepared (and kind of hoping) to find out that his whole I-am-a-down-to-earth-warm-and-thoughtful-guy-who-really-does-like-kids-despite-being- a-Grammy-winning-musician-with-excellent-suits-and-cool-hair shtick was all a ruse. Part of me wanted him to be ill-tempered and abusive -- bitter that he never had the success with his (frankly, excellent) '80s band the Del Fuegos that he's enjoying today. I wanted him to loathe children. I couldn't wait to explode the myth and write about what a freakin' jerk Dan Zanes is. But, alas, he was candid and charismatic to the core. Maybe he turned on the charm because he knew I'm a reporter and he's an image-crafting pro (that hair doesn't happen by accident, I'd wager). But, uh, I kind of doubt he was being insincere.