Rad Dads–Jason Avant

“They manufacture a product designed to hold piss and shit. You tell me.”

Jason Avant

Today I’m bringing you a guy that I “met” right after I started blogging back in December of 2009.  He gave me encouragement, support and most of all straight advice.  When I ask his opinion on something he tells me what he really thinks and I respect that.

Jason Avant is the Founder and Managing Editor at DadCentric where he leads a team of future Rad Dads.  These questions may seem completely random, but they all came from posts and info at DadCentric. When you finish here, click the DadCentric logo at the bottom and check out the great stuff they have going on.

I’m going to start this off in a way I never thought I would.  RuPaul has helpful advice for fathers?

Dads are nothing if not pragmatic. Any time a new asks me for advice, I tell them two things: sleep when the baby sleeps, and protect your nuts because as soon as they’re able, toddlers will do their best to kick and punch you in the junk. Andy (aka BetaDad) wrote that post and we received hundreds of letters from grateful dads thanking us for it. And by “hundreds”, I mean “zero”.

How did DadCentric come about?  Was alcohol involved in any way?

I started my personal blog several months after my son was born; this was way back in 2005, when you could count the number of dadbloggers on two hands. I became friends with a few guys whose blogs I really enjoyed reading, and we thought it would be fun to do a group blog. Six years later, it’s still a blast; we’ve gone through a few personnel changes, but the guys are still managing to keep things fresh and exciting. We save the alcohol for those rare occasions when we actually see each other in person, although from what I understand, Whit Honea has a meth lab in his basement. 

[I wasn’t able to verify the existence of a meth lab, however I did pass the tip on to people I know at Homeland Security.]

Who came up with the word “junta”? 

That was me. I did a redesign a few years back; the whole Commie Propaganda theme seemed like a good idea at the time, and literally popped into my head while I was listening to Phish’s Junta album. What we were doing at the time was sorta revolutionary, so the site’s theme seemed to fit. Gee, that sounds sorta egotistical and douchy, doesn’t it?

[Not egotistical and douchy but rather, “avant garde.”  *Fist bump*]

Referencing your Skittles And Iced Tea post, are there new ways to fight evil or do we take it on old school?

 One of my favorite quotes comes from the liner notes of Husker Dü’s album Warehouse: Songs and Stories: “Revolution starts at home, preferably in the bathroom mirror.” I’m definitely not shy about loudly and publicly calling bullshit on people and attitudes, but at the end of the day yelling for change in a blog post, a Facebook update or a tweet is really just shouting in a cave. Not that I’ll ever stop, mind you – I’ve developed a reputation among a few of my fellow dadbloggers as a surly contrarian, and I’m quite happy to reinforce it. What I try to do with my kids is have them think about how they want to move through the world; in the post you mention, I trusted that my son would be able to use his head and his heart to see the truth in that situation, knowing that he would. I’m not sure if I can change society, but I know I can influence my son and daughter.

[What he considers a “reputation” I think of as “street cred”]

Will the “Dad Blogging” community ever be as big and strong as the Mommy Bloggers?

 I don’t know. I do know that in the six years I’ve been blogging, I’ve seen a tremendous increase in both the amount of dads who are writing about their experiences and the people who are reading these stories. At Dad 2.0 Summit, I heard a surprising amount of negativity about the fact that the statistics show that the audience for dad blogs is roughly split between men and women. That’s always been the case with DadCentric’s readership, and to me it’s inspiring – it tells me that the stuff we’re talking about has universal appeal.

One of my biggest goals is to push the envelope and keep redefining what we think of when we think of “fatherhood”. Warren (aka Mr. Big Dubya) has been posting from Afghanistan, and I can’t tell you how proud I am of him and the fact that we’re sharing his stories of being a soldier in a war that frankly too many people have forgotten about. And Seth (Didactic Pirate) did an incredibly brave thing with his post about coming out of the closet; the guys have been incredibly supportive of him and we’re happy to be able to give him a place to share his stories about being a dad who  happens to be gay. This is what’s important to me.

[I’ve found that a large number of my followers are women as well.  It doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight because the cool people are cool no matter their sexual orientation.  Same with the douches.]

Should we care?

We should be focused on quality writing. If you have something original to say and you say it well, the rest will take care of itself.

Who makes the best fish taco in San Diego?

Rubio’s. The only people who think that this is up for debate are either tourists or transplants.

Why would anyone give a rat’s ass what Huggies thinks?

They manufacture a product designed to hold piss and shit. You tell me.

[Read this.  It’s hilarious.]

What’s new and cool on the horizon for Dad Centric?

This is going to be an interesting year for us. I’m working on what I’ve referred to at our secret meetings held on our hidden island fortress as “DadCentric 3.0”.  I can’t give away too much, but there’s an interview with Kim Jong-Il we did just before his death that will really blow people’s minds.

[To me, Kim Jong-Il will always be a puppet in Team America.]

If you want to catch Jason and he’s not at his local Rubios, try @PetCobra on Twitter, at his personal blog, Pet Cobra, or at DadCentric. 

Next week I’m sharing some coffee with the next Magnificent Mom, Amy the Coffee Lovin Mom.  Tomorrow I have another weekly special from Daddio’s Diner and Thursday’s guest bartender for Happy Hour is Lance from My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog.  This is good stuff, so don’t be afraid to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing.  Also, check out yesterday’s post on bullying.