Fraternal Youth

<h2><strong>Doom's overdone so Darby shares hope and hard laughs.</strong></h2><p><strong><em>Fraternal Youth</em></strong><em> is </em>an experimental memoir with QR codes to videos and cultural artifacts such as:</p><p>- their<strong> dog fetching beer from the fridge</strong> (a COVID project)</p><p>- gladiator funboard challenges</p><p>- family performances</p><p>- mom pranks</p><p>- gag reels</p><p></p><h2><strong>Fraternal Youth Cocktail:</strong></h2><p><strong>5 parts</strong> fatherhood fails + the absurdity of life</p><p><strong>4 parts</strong> goofy boy-girl twins + their crazy pets</p><p><strong>3 parts</strong> adventure (Bonnaroo Greece hitchhiking)</p><p><strong>2 parts</strong> peaceful parenting + simple discipline systems</p><p><strong>1 part</strong> Headlines of Hope: <span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0)>a six-year hunt for tech medical and energy breakthroughs + my comical spin</span></p><p></p><p></p><h2><strong>Praise for <em>Fraternal Youth</em></strong></h2><p>⭐ Mix Jim Gaffigan Erma Bombeck and Pee Wee Herman into a Darby Smoothie. Add a dash of nonsense that makes perfect sense and you've got a compilation that spans from raising kids to raising hell. I'm an avid fan.</p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(10 10 10 1)>-</strong><strong> Wendy Parker satirist for Overdrive Magazine</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p>⭐ Darby stunned me with this book. It's happy funny sad and weird - all the things that make up a life well lived and he tells it with such beauty and momentum. So many chapters swept me away.</p><p><strong style=color: rgba(10 10 10 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)>-</strong><strong> Ginger Cook Substack Humorist</strong></p><p></p><p></p><h2><strong>Early Excerpts</strong></h2><p>I changed my first diaper on August 27 2007. It smelled like fermented mothballs with a touch of failed dreams. I don't know where those subtle notes came from but they were good reminders to use birth control.</p><p></p><h4><strong>2 years 8 months old</strong></h4><p>Kids got in trouble at the store. Finn dropped a can of tinned pork on Melina's middle toe. The SPAM survived but Momma no longer has a piggy that eats roast beef. The toe's still there but it's a scarred vegetarian now.</p><p></p><h4><strong>3 years 8 months</strong></h4><p>Finn didn't you say you'd drink your juice after dinner?</p><p>I didn't hear me say that.</p><p></p><h4><strong>4 years 10 months</strong></h4><p>Shhhh! I heard a sound make a noise. - Fiona</p><p></p><h4><strong>5 years 11 months</strong></h4><p>Every time you go into war you should go potty first. - Finn</p>