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• Big weekend for me and Max. We finished our first computer game together. (The lovely Machinarium) Also, he bit me on the face. Ow! #SMAtuS #
• @liampdx That almost seems like more work… But then I had a data entry job typing ISBNs. I'm pretty fast. in reply to liampdx #
• @PaulTobin Yes. According to the 1970s NEW ADVENTURES OF BATMAN cartoon… in reply to PaulTobin #
• @zahgurim That's when the real fun starts! in reply to zahgurim #
• Max is so much fun to watch at his swim class that he has his own fan club. #nojoke #SMAtuS #
• Max, of Scrabble: "The blank pieces are too magic." He won't use them. #SMAtuS #
• Words Max spelled in Scrabble: Bend, out, ski, don. #hesonlythree #SMAtuS #
• @liampdx Don't forget the Man with the Concave Face! in reply to liampdx #
• THE LAST BROTHER by Nathacha Appanah & THE TOWER OF MIDNIGHT by R. Jordan & B. Sanderson #fridayreads #
• @Tuphlos I don't understand why libraries don't host & lend 100K+ Project Gutenberg DRM-free ebooks themselves to get in the ebook game. in reply to Tuphlos #
• @Tuphlos Indeed. My local library does too. But why go through Overdrive to get them? Too much cataloging work to add a record for those? in reply to Tuphlos #
• @Tuphlos Ha! I'm not one to talk. I hated my cataloging class! No one can take those ebooks away, though. No need for 21 steps to DL either. in reply to Tuphlos #
• @HillaryJacques Speaking of mullets, Max has requested that his next haircut be short in front and long in the back… #wheredidIgowrong in reply to HillaryJacques #
• @HillaryJacques Won't be the last time! in reply to HillaryJacques #
• @librarythingtim Am still waiting for someone–libraries?–to take advantage of ebook potential in public domain. Show what DRM prevents. in reply to librarythingtim #
• Highlight of the day: Alice calling me on the phone, saying hi, and wishing me a good day. #SMAtuS #
• @shadalicious Nah. She hasn't figured that out. She is only 1.5 years old. :) She also thinks I can see her waving. #bussheswrong in reply to shadalicious #
• @shadalicious Technology has very nearly caught up to what children expect it to do… This *means* something. #ormaybenot in reply to shadalicious #

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• Read this 400+ page book in two days. I don't have a problem. No, really. I could stop anytime. Anytime I want to. #selfdelusion #
• @MarsGirl75 Well… ok. Let's go with that theory! in reply to MarsGirl75 #
• @HillaryJacques Maybe it's a Klein bottle building? If so, don't get stuck in/outside! in reply to HillaryJacques #
• @MarsGirl75 Depends on what you mean by "good". :) I enjoyed it. (THE WARDED MAN) Some interesting ideas. Some troubling plot points. in reply to MarsGirl75 #
• @HillaryJacques Oh, you wacky Alaskans, you. With your shantytown bunkhouses and gold panning prospectors! Also, stacks of caps? in reply to HillaryJacques #
• @bvanderveen Oh boy, have you ever just tried to open a can of worms! In short: it makes no sense. Never has, but even less so now. in reply to bvanderveen #
• @bvanderveen I think that's some of it, but let me break down the madness for you: in reply to bvanderveen #
• @bvanderveen 1) Faculty and grad students submit research to peer reviewed articles; 2) Those articles are peer-reviewed by other faculty in reply to bvanderveen #
• @bvanderveen 3) The university (pays faculty salaries as well as funding research) then pays for the privilege to access those articles in reply to bvanderveen #
• @bvanderveen 4) Most research comes from publicly funded universities 5) Who pays for publicly funded universities? in reply to bvanderveen #
• @bvanderveen But there are things like DOAJ, moving things in the right direction: http://www.doaj.org/ in reply to bvanderveen #
• @mayormcginn Thank you! in reply to mayormcginn #
• @cruickshank Finally, some sanity on this whole tunnel fiasco! in reply to cruickshank #
• Alice fell asleep leaning on Max, while they watched Toy Story 2. He: "I thought she was just hugging me." #SMAtuS #
• Max: It's silly when she (Alice) doesn't nap, because I'm used to my break with you (Sarah). #SMAtuS #
• Max: "I thought Alice would never go to sleep." #SMAtuS #
• PUMP SIX AND OTHER STORIES by Paolo Bacigalupi: Post ecological catastrophe SF. Not exactly heart-warming, but good. #fridayreads #
• Times are tough, when people are breaking into *our* car. I hope they enjoyed those soggy crackers on the floor. #SMAtuS #
• @HillaryJacques The car? Oh yeah. We don't lock the doors. There's nothing of value in there… They couldn't be bothered to take cd deck. in reply to HillaryJacques #
• @HillaryJacques In case you're wondering: we leave it unlocked because we'd rather not have broken windows. in reply to HillaryJacques #
• Sam Lipsyte – “The Dungeon Master” http://instapaper.com/zkullpo1U // man, what a great D&D game #
• The Transformation as Sandbox Syndrome http://instapaper.com/zv7x9exX // sometimes it's helpful to get perspective from the past #

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• Once, putting pants on Max, Alice tickled my feet. I laughed; she laughed; he laughed. Made pants-putting-on tough. No one minded. #SMAtuS #
• I guess Alice really likes popcorn. She grabbed a 1 pound* bag of popcorn, ran off with it, and then pigged out. *popcorn is light! #SMAtuS #
• According to Max, a "monger moon" is when the moon is full of worms. He talked about other moons, but sadly I don't remember them. #SMAtuS #
• Max: "Mom, I love myself… Well, um, is it okay to love myself?" Sarah: "Yes." Max: "Okay." #SMAtuS #
• @nfarina Oh, you know we all want you to. :) in reply to nfarina #
• Marvel at the Solar System's motion (FLASHy): http://dd.dynamicdiagrams.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/orrery_2006.swf #
• Max just called me from a rocket. He had to go; he was landing on a planet. #SMAtuS #TheFutureIsNOW #
• @3liza If you prick me, do I not bleed? in reply to 3liza #
• "Do robots not be born?" –Max #SMAtuS #
• @MarsGirl75 Oh man, there are so many good books that he doesn't know anything about it all! What delights he has in store! in reply to MarsGirl75 #
• Alice picked out her own outfit this morning: airplane PJ shirt, halloween candy corn pants, polka dot smart wool socks. #SMAtuS Love it! #
• It's official: Max is reading. #SMAtuS #
• THE LOST GOSPEL OF JUDAS ISCARIOT by Bart Ehrman: Fascinating. Once a Bible geek, always a Bible geek, I suppose. #fridayreads #
• Not content with simply blowing our minds, Max likes spelling words forward and backward. For fun, I guess. (EG, KOOB/BOOK) #SMAtuS #
• Done your taxes yet? I hired an accountant and it changed my life! http://on.fb.me/i7GASn #
• @anankaf Oh yeah. I used to do that, too. I've been using an accountant for the last 2-3 years. It's a huge difference. in reply to anankaf #
• Max and I went out for hot cocoa. We compared mustaches. He got excited about Art, knocked his cocoa on the floor. I love this kid! #SMAtuS #
• RT: @tordotcom: In Memory of REDWALL author Brian Jacques: http://bit.ly/dVZXLd He will be missed. // I loved his books as a kid. #
• @dloitz Your link doesn't appear to work. Otherwise, I'm so there! :) in reply to dloitz #
• Max: How about you give me some grownup clothes and a beard so I can pretend to be a grownup? Please please please? #SMAtuS #
• I've effectively been without my idea pipe (iPhone) for ~3 weeks now and I don't really miss it. Not as important to me as I thought? #
• @shadalicious I've done that too. :) The difference is that this time it was a deliberate choice on my part. Funny how that works. in reply to shadalicious #
• @nfarina Really? Perhaps that's what's been causing the heinous slowdowns on my 3G… Or maybe it's just that it's a 3G… in reply to nfarina #
• Max: "4 and 4 and 5 are 13." #SMAtuS All I can say is WOW. I mean, I have trouble adding three numbers together… #
• Max (to woman at a bus stop): "I'm Max. It's spelled M-A-X and I'm almost four years old." #SMAtuS #

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One Night at the Call Center by Chetan Bhagat

God shows up in this one. At least twice.

The title’s pretty descriptive. The story concerns one night at a call center in India. Provides an alternate view on Americans, and it’s not pretty. Reveals that we and they are not so very different in terms of hopes/dreams/fears, except that we, perhaps, take a bit more for granted.

The protagonist is painfully unaware of himself, but the book’s main payoff comes from his growing self-realization.

Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

I’ve had this one sitting by my bed for six months or so. (Thanks, Katherine!) I finally managed to getting around to reading it, and I’m glad I did.

I first read Mieville’s stripped bare The City & The City, followed by Un Lun Dun. Where The City & The City was cold and restrained, Perdido Street Station is a wild, hot, thrashing of a novel. The story sometimes flails around sometimes in a seemingly uncontrolled fashion, but whatever rough edges it has are smoothed over by the sheer exuberance of his language.

Reading it was like visiting a dream. Not a completely pleasant one at that.

Shuddertown by Nick Spencer

A graphic novel collection. I don’t remember much about this one.

Johnny Hiro by Fred Chao

A fun little comic about a fella who rescues his girlfriend from Godzilla, among other things. (I think there are ninjas at the opera…)

There’s a lot of great visual humor in this one.

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson

I’ve read every one of Johnson’s books, except his first, and they’re all worthwhile.

In this one, Johnson makes a compelling case for the way innovation can be encouraged through sharing knowledge. Innovation thrives when human beings shine their pattern recognition engines at facts, ideas, and whimsies from all over the place.

There’s a lot of callbacks to topics in his previous books, but this one is impressive for the breadth of research gathering that it must have required.

As I read it, I imagined Johnson hunched over a library table heaping with books. In actuality, he probably did much of it on a laptop computer.

Aurorarama by Jean-Christophe Valtat

This one’s up there with Perdido Street Station for sheer strangeness.

It’s the story of heroes who foiled the ultimate badness, and then lived on. (Or so I gather.) Thirty years later, and they’re unaccountably bored.

The tone is wavery and the diction odd. The narrator intrudes at times to protect his characters or the reader.

It’s a sleepy, dreamy book, and I often almost fell asleep to it.

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

Well, that tears it. I’m done eating animals.

Read it if you dare.

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

You might think that this is about time travel. And you’d be right. But not as right as if you thought it was a book about a son reconciling to the memory of his father.

One of the better time travel novels I’ve read.

• Huh. Somehow managed to read 150 books this year… Wacky! #
• Started 2011 right with a lovely Carey pancake breakfast. 18th c. punch. Had a nap. Sunset stroll with my charming daughter. Tops! #SMAtuS #

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• “@mikecane: Tooth Decay to Be a Thing of the Past? http://t.co/PlTV0Fv” // please let it be so! #
• @L_Hoff Methinks you have been reading too much of la Batman. in reply to L_Hoff #
• Brighten a needy kid's Christmas: Phinney Neighborhood Center Giving Tree. 65th/Phinney. Gifts due by 9pm on Friday, wrapped. #heartbreaking #
• @FuckItLibrarian Hi. #bareminimum in reply to FuckItLibrarian #
• It occurs to me now that maybe I lost my voice because I spent 1.5 hours in the cold at the park screeching like a pterodactyl. #SMAtuS #
• A delightful little comic (just follow the roller coaster) http://www.odiariodevirginia.com/ing/chap4.html #
• Max, of our old apt: "We don't live there now. We lived there a long time ago. Rain drops came in the window so we had to leave." #SMAtuS #
• Amazing color photos from ~1940s USA: http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/07/26/captured-america-in-color-from-1939-1943/2363/ #
• 13 Writing Tips – Chuck Pahlahniuk http://instapaper.com/zina8na1e // there's some good suggestions there #
• @theriverfed I'm getting it too. in reply to theriverfed #
• Alice loves pesto so much she put it in her hair. She could be a Dapper Dan Man. Were she a man. And in O Brother Where Art Thou. #SMAtuS #
• Max: "Do reindeers love the rain?" #SMAtuS #
• I've been reading NO NAME IN THE STREET by James Baldwin this week. At a loss for words. #fridayreads #
• Max at bookstore, liking a book. Sarah bought it for him while he wasn't looking. Later, he: "Gosh, it was just here somewhere." #SMAtuS #
• For Max, the person who says "ready, set, go" is called "the go-er". #SMAtuS #

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• Max took an epic nap from 3pm to 6am (17 hours!). Weeeird. I think Alice was confused by his absence. #SMAtuS #
• I meant 15 hours, because I cannot do basic math functions in my brain. #
• GUNNERKRIGG COURT v1 by Thomas Siddell: Someone wanted some robots with their Harry Potter! All over the place, but in a fun way. #
• For lunch today, Max wants "an egg with the yolk sticking out, not cooked bread and butter, and a grapefruit!" #SMAtuS #
• @antelopelovefan Not to him. He means not toasted. For him, somehow, toast is the default bread option. in reply to antelopelovefan #
• Max kills me. "I so love dad being at the pool for me! I'm going to run inside and find him." #SMAtuS #
• ZERO HISTORY by William Gibson: What can I say? I loved it. Esp. the micro-blimps. (Mini-zepps?) #
• What an excellent website for my movie watching (and obsessing) friends: http://tinyurl.com/25v5stf #
• Max: "Y'know, Mom, some dinosaurs are meat…for other dinosaurs. Is this egg meat or vegetables, because I don't like vegetables." #SMAtuS #
• Max got to knead and punch pizza dough. As you might expect, this made him VERY happy. #SMAtuS #
• @Strabd I wasn't writing about the ekranoplan, which I also think is pretty sweet. Also, I still prefer to think of them as mini-zeppelins. in reply to Strabd #
• @mikecane You'll be lucky to get a human being. Google doesn't do customer support… in reply to mikecane #
• Alice can now take apart and put together Lego Duplo bricks. #majormilestone #SMAtuS #
• Today, Max showed Alice how to dip a "butter dia" (a whole wheat tortilla with butter, rolled up) into yogurt. They both liked it. #SMAtuS #
• Max: "I very want to eat a big lunch with daddy at a restaurant. Like a big man. Does daddy restaurant eat every day at lunch?" #SMAtuS #
• Max: "This amial doesn't eat soup. I call this amial picky. Picky Bo Bicky. Soup. Blech!" #SMAtuS Max is sometimes also a Picky Bo Bicky. #
• Holy cow!!? The flying penguins, they are real! http://www.festo.com/cms/en-us_us/10296_10352.htm#id_10352 #zerohistory #Imlivinginthefuture #
• @sherrardewing I agree. It certainly feels more relevant. I miss my search-based RSS feeds though… in reply to sherrardewing #
• RT: @lalitree: PT Anderson wants to film Pynchon's 'Inherent Vice'? [deleted] http://bit.ly/fAuRKU // Wonderful! #
• Max somehow remembers the red star he picked out for our christmas tree last year. Uncanny! #SMAtuS #
• I just started OPERATION MINCEMEAT by Ben Macintyre. Inspiration for WWII CRYPTONOMICON sections? Fun! #fridayreads #
• Max has Netflix as "Netfleex". Also, self-describes as "Picky Bo-Bicky". Use case: "Not that Netfleex! I am being a Picky Bo-Bicky!" #SMAtuS #
• About Sarah's cookies, Max: I don't just like these. I LOVE THEM. #SMAtuS Me too, Max, me too. #
• @L_Hoff do you use the cup-to-door technique for eavesdropping? in reply to L_Hoff #

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• Max: look at me mom! I'm not holding on tight with no hands. #SMAtuS #
• @HillaryJacques the third negative is only implied. in reply to HillaryJacques #
• NEW AVENGERS: SIEGE by Brian Michael Bendis: I can't say I had much idea what was going on, but it was pretty entertaining nonetheless. #
• UZUMAKI v2&3 by Junji Ito: Not as horrifying as the first, but still. You'll never look at a cinnamon roll the same way! Also, snails. #
• A LANGUAGE OF NON-VIOLENT COMMUNICATION by M. Rosenberg: It's not all fun and games over here, readingwise. I found it worthwhile. #
• THE UNWRITTEN v2: INSIDE MAN by Mike Cary: A la Nazis, well-played Mr. Carey, well-played indeed. Loved the rabbit. #
• Max: Norman (our car) doesn't take a nap because it has no eyeballs, no mouth, no nose, no claws… #SMAtuS #
• Just got my copy of SUPER by Aaron Dietz! Sweet! (If you want your own copy, find out where to get one here: http://bit.ly/aYz9qs) #
• Tonight, Max told me a story of a mean mountain (blue?) that he won over through his "stinky smell". Then he was nice. #SMAtuS #
• Max: People that have no bones can't walk. I have bones so I can walk. I can also crawl. I can crawl many different ways. #SMAtuS #
• LOLITA by Vladimir Nabokov: Ridiculous, revolting, harrowing, but with moments of startling beauty. Like finding butterflies in the trash. #
• THE ORANGE EATS CREEPS by Grace Krilanovich: A ten-story prose poem. Well-nigh indescribable. Like waking from a dream. Also, vampires. #
• Max found a leaf on the sidewalk this morning and named it "Leafa Blakeney". A girl. #SMAtuS #
• Alice stole some kid's chocolate milk; drank it. Probably made them cry. #SMAtuS #
• @MarsGirl75 Nah. The chocolate milk was child's play. (ho ho ho) No Malice required. in reply to MarsGirl75 #
• Max's nails are wicked long, apparently. And no, I didn't get him "press ons". #SMAtuS #
• KILL THE DEAD by Richard Kadrey: Sandman Slim 2. Zombies, vampires, magical hoodoo. Read it up, yum. Stands alone, but read #1 first. #
• BEHEMOTH by Scott Westerfeld: LEVIATHAN #2 Liked it better than the first: Istanbul! (@scottblanc, I think H would like this series.) #
• Paris Review – The Art of Fiction No. 40, Vladimir Nabokov http://instapaper.com/z93su8w1k // Perfect follow up to LOLITA. #
• Max and Alice were sharing juice in the car. After getting it back, Max: "Oh my. She drank a lot of it…" #SMAtuS #
• Alice wanted to see a salmon in the stream. She said, "dat!" pointed, and then fell in the mud. Covered in mud, head to toe. #SMAtuS #
• Anytime I want my mind blown, I simply visit: http://www.wolframalpha.com/gallery.html #
• @dloitz I wasn't there. I think she was pretty upset about it at the time, so even if I had been there with a camera…. in reply to dloitz #
• @dloitz She wants to be a part of things so much. I think you'd be amazed at how much she's changed since you were here! in reply to dloitz #
• When Sarah and Alice got home, Alice said, "No dadda?" and walked all around the apartment. Twice. Looking for cookies, probably. #SMAtuS #
• @HillaryJacques I've heard tell of parents who named their kid Kiddo. Poor guy. in reply to HillaryJacques #
• LIFE, INC by Douglas Rushkoff: Just started. It's interesting to read Rushkoff's evolution of thought over time. #fridayreads #
• Some things you should know about the TSA: http://blog.izs.me/post/1591805056/tsa-success-story #
• Alice's lunch: Thai leftovers incl. CALAMARI, green beans, rice, rice noodles, PB&H sandwich, orange, prune, graham crcker, milk. #SMAtuS #
• @HillaryJacques I didnt make the lunch… The magic H ingredient is honey. in reply to HillaryJacques #
• @HillaryJacques At least you weren't punching yourself in the face WHILE watching it… #coldcomfort in reply to HillaryJacques #
• @HillaryJacques Waaaait. Do you have personal experience here? in reply to HillaryJacques #

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• @paulrbrown That's one crazy looking bug! in reply to paulrbrown #
• [while driving] Max: "The car door is open!" Us: "What!?!?" Max: "I was joking! hee hee." Touche, Max, touche. #SMAtuS #
• INCORRUPTIBLE v1 by Mark Waid: I think I should've read IRREDEEMABLE first. Fun book. But "Jailbait"? Really? I guess that IS pretty evil. #
• Max: (Patting my leg) "These are some nice pants here." What can I say? The kid likes houndstooth. Or "polka dots". #SMAtuS #
• @dloitz I love Bookmooch! I've been using it for years. It's a good place to get kids books. in reply to dloitz #
• @ouiserprl Whoah! Did you have Alissa as a doula too!? She's awesome! in reply to ouiserprl #
• BATGIRL v1: BATGIRL RISING by Bryan Q. Miller: Who can keep up with all of these "bat" comics? Let alone the trade paperbacks… #
• UN LUN DUN by China Mieville: The giraffes are a nice touch. A nice twist on the fated hero genre. Sweet illustrations. #
• Max: "All the leaves are changing colors. Then they will fall off the tree. Brown and yellow and red! Let's do red frosting on our cookies." #
• @ouiserprl She rocks! She was there for the birth of both of our children. We recommend her to everyone planning on having a baby. in reply to ouiserprl #
• @zahgurim I vaguely recall that from our very first meeting with her, oh, about a million years ago. in reply to zahgurim #
• SPIDER-MAN: RETURN OF THE BLACK CAT by Joe Kelly: What…? Peter Parker's single? He has clones? J. Jonah Jamison is mayor? So confused. #
• B.P.R.D. v. 13: 1947 by Mike Mignola: I think I should've read 1946 first… Also, volume *13*!? Wow! Still fun, though very little Hellboy. #
• Remember that Diaspora project from the Spring? You can join me in kicking the tires here: http://openspora.com Pretty rough edges yet. #
• @sherrardewing I got some weirdness when I signed up, but it still let me log in anyway. in reply to sherrardewing #
• Max knows the letter O, S, Z, T, G, X, W, M and C! Now what can you spell with that? Max better learn some more vowels! #SMAtuS #
• THE PLAYWRIGHT by Daren White: Portrait of an artist, crumbling. With spicy images by Eddie Campbell. #
• DAD PUTS KIDS TO BED II: THE REVENGE – Dad puts kids to bed: both asleep in 5 minutes. [Best movie ever. Have I got the touch or what?] #
• BATWOMAN ELEGY by Greg Rucka: A superhero comic book really shouldn't be this beautiful. #
• Max is digging on VOLTRON. Aw man, nostalgia alert! #SMAtuS #

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