Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-08-14

  • Thinking, I'll let Max run off: what could happen? Max found the bubble machine. Bubbles everywhere as bride & groom exchanged vows. #SMAtuS #

  • Looks like it's time to learn how to build stuff! I'd love to see something like this in my neighborhood. http://t.co/JOyL0MZ #

  • Alice's lunch: popcorn, turkey, string cheese, "stinky" cheese, hummus, chocolate milk, crackers. Where does it go? To her muscles. #SMAtuS #

  • Alice to Sarah, when being dropped off at a local playgroup: "Bye Mom! Go now!" Guess she's ready for preschool… #SMAtuS #

  • Alice's complex sentences exceed her ability to pronounce them. Also, she talks really fast. Also, very loudly. Like the Bellman. #SMAtuS #

  • Alice is STRONG. She was doing chin-ups today. Don't let the small size fool you! #SMAtuS #

  • Instead of napping, Alice says: "Go go dancer! Ah ha ha ha ha! {Shriek!} {Giggle} Go go Alice! Hee hee heeeee." #SMAtuS #

  • Max had a huge breakthrough with something that's been bedeviling him for years! (I'd say what, but I'd rather not immortalize it.) #SMAtuS #

  • @nfarina Shackling him to the mainframe terminal might've been excessive, but. Results! Just being cruel to be kind. in reply to nfarina #

  • @HillaryJacques I wish I could say I was sending you this message from a bookstore… in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • For Alice, it appears the orange superhero mask may have replaced the red and blue baseball hat. Super cute! #SMAtuS #

  • Chortling my way through THE AFFECTED PROVINCIAL'S COMPANION by Breaulove Swells Whimsy. #fridayreads #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-08-07

  • It was pretty cute/scary when Max and Alice thought it would make a fun game for her to jump off the couch into his arms. #SMAtuS #

  • I absolutely LOVE it that Alice can and does! talk to me on the phone now. #SMAtuS #

  • @nfarina You hit the big leagues, fella! I enjoyed reading your article. It was highly technical (to me), but I love solid writing. Cheers! in reply to nfarina #

  • @nfarina Well, I am subscribed to your blog's RSS feed (I'm one of 3 still using RSS, right?). Pretty sure I read it before @gruber did. :) in reply to nfarina #

  • Max would like us to have another baby. A boy. He would like it to be named Mac Shawn (MacShawn?). Too funny! #SMAtuS #

  • Max's description of my job: "He writes stuff that people tell him to write about." That pretty much sums it up. :) #SMAtuS #

  • @L_Hoff Shhhhhh. I've got to leave him *some* surprises. in reply to L_Hoff #

  • @HillaryJacques Also, I bet you simultaneously move REALLY slow while moving REALLY fast, confusing cats and small children (me 30 yrs ago) in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • @HillaryJacques I haven't. But that's when this cat first got confused by the slowest running fast man in the world! Hotcha! in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • I just finished the third volume of LOCKE & KEY by Joe Hill. Unusually, it's getting *more* interesting the further it goes. Recommended! #

  • Milestone achieved! Alice "breaks and enters" for the first time. Max: Nice work, Alice! #SMAtuS #

  • Alice, after an hour of fussing in the dark, "No nap. I need Maxee. Max! Max! Maxeeeeee! Max no nap. Alice no nap! No way!" #SMAtuS #

  • As Alice walked into the living room, Max said "Oh hi, Alice. Are you not sleeping today?" Alice: "No way! Sit with you!" #SMAtuS #

  • Alice vacuumed. Max said: Look at me! I'm dizzy, but I'm standing still. That's one of my skills. (skillz?) #SMAtuS #

  • Max and Alice's current favorite song: "Go Go Dancer" by the Pizzicato Five. They request it at least once daily. (Thanks Linsel!) #SMAtuS #

  • Max: "I don't like the sun. It's too hot for me. When is it fall time?" Soon, my son, soon our Sunless days will return! #SMAtuS #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-07-31

  • Poor Max is so sad and anxious about being a big kid that he cried himself to sleep this morning. #SMAtuS #

  • Max was so excited to look at the green beetle outside our apartment building with his magnifying glass, he was dancing with glee. #SMAtuS #

  • According to this: http://t.co/T7ACz54 I know ~39,400 words. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself! #

  • Max says, "Alice is my favorite girl and I want to be with her all of every day." Walked around park, holding hands. #SMAtuS #

  • Alice burst into tears today because she had to wait a couple minutes for me to read a book to her. That's my girl! Max hugged her. #SMAtuS #

  • Sarah: Alice, do you want a bottle? Alice: No! S: It's time to lay down for a nap. A: No way! Alice runs off to find Max. #SMAtuS #

  • @HillaryJacques That's beautiful. Now if only my library would let *me* do that! in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • @HillaryJacques I wish my student loans would let me read down my debt! I'd have repaid them long since… in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • When we use the word "little" around Alice, she frowns. When we say "big", she smiles. Okay! She's "Big" Alice from now on! #SMAtuS #

  • Max at school. Alice "napping", says: Brother Max! Are you school? Max Max! (Cried all the way home after dropping him off.) #SMAtuS #

  • Finishing Jonathan L. Howard's JOHANNES CABAL THE DETECTIVE. Necromantic detective, that is. Made me laugh aloud at least 2x. #fridayreads #

  • From her ThinkTank, Alice said, happily, "Max, I missed you!" over and over again. #SMAtuS #

  • Max to Sarah: I call you sir because I want you to be a professor. #SMAtuS #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-07-24

  • Max likes playing computer games with me, I think, because "when we play games you have to do everything I tell you!" #SMAtuS #

  • Just found out that Sarah's nickname for Alice's crib is "think tank". Appropriate! Also, Alice calls it "tink tank". #SMAtuS #

  • @HillaryJacques Ha! That's fucking brilliant. in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • @HillaryJacques It's more effective when used sparingly, I find. Also, we're not running a PG twitter stream over here! in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • @HillaryJacques I think it's safe to say I've loosened up a bit since college. Also, Sarah swears like a sailor. in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • @tmbg That was a ridiculously good deal and a ridiculously good album! in reply to tmbg #

  • Max, after taking a too-big-bite of ice cream: "It's touching my mind!" #SMAtuS #

  • @HillaryJacques Well, no, because he likes it. He says it makes him think faster. Which. Well, let's just say he thinks plenty fast already! in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • Apparently, I am no longer Shawn, but instead Liam the Fairy. #

  • The first thing that Amelia said to Linsel was: "Where's your son? Where's the Max?" #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-07-17

  • @HillaryJacques It's… a trap? in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • Max: I want to wear lipstick when I'm a man. That's five, right? Just like Alicia has! #SMAtuS #

  • Alice may be a mechanical genius. She unscrewed and took apart the Jelly Bean Dispensing Machine alone, all by herself. #SMAtuS #

  • Together, Max and I came up with the superheroes Powerbelt (A Belt with 99 Power Buttons) and Powerhat (A Hat with 99 Buttons). #SMAtuS #

  • Also: Alice = Hulk strength. Using her whole body + digger handles, she lifted the digger off the ground about twenty times in row. #SMAtuS #

  • @HillaryJacques Oh, oh! I know this one! A bit too long too get into in 140 characters. I'll email you soon with exciting ISBN info! in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • @shadalicious So that's why I felt so *@#&! up after that midnight showing of Transformers 1 with Lion that one time. #itwasn #039;tmyidea! in reply to shadalicious #

  • Alice's new favorite word: yuck. Max taught it to her. Boy does she have fun saying it! (Not sure she knows what it means.) #SMAtuS #

  • Max, after telling us about a too short dream about Christmas. "Some dreams are as long as Alice." #SMAtuS #

  • My good friend @aarondietzwrite writes of Facebook: "With Facebook, you get to relive the dark ages…online!" Read! http://t.co/N3zu4MJ #

  • Max to Sarah: "I'm giving your nurser a kiss." I'll let you figure out what a "nurser" is. #SMAtuS #

  • Still reading Roberto Bolano's 2666. Quite possibly the best book I've read in 2011. #fridayreads #

  • Max and Alice wanted to be twins today, so they both wore robot shirts, ate the same lunch, and want to make dumplings. Mason? #SMAtuS #

  • @HillaryJacques Are you going in to the mountains covered in honey? Because that's great bear repellent! #orsoihaveread in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • Max and I are doing interpretive dance to RADIOACTIVE, a graphic novel about Marie Curie. #SMAtuS #

  • My favorite word today: mingle-mangle #

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Books Read May 2011

The Gone-Away World by Nick Harakway

Thoroughly enjoyable. With ninjas. Recommended.

Secret Six: Danse Macabre by Gail Simone

Solid. Read them in order to get the most out of them.

20th Century Boys v. 11-13 by Naoki Urasawa

My favorite manga series? Probably.

Limitless by Alan Glynn

Using brain boosting drugs to simply do more of what you already do, only better and faster. That drug really helped him clean his apartment, boy! The novel really reveals the hollowness inside the Capitalism ideal.

The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

A ripping page turner, but when I think back on it, I’m not sure that anything actually happened. Maybe it’s the quality of the writing, but I couldn’t tell you why I enjoyed this book.

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

Grim meathook future. The original?

The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht

Children, I mean, people this young shouldn’t be able to write this well…

Tiassa by Steven Brust

The latest in a most excellent series.

Justice League: Generation Lost v1 by Keith Giffen

I remember nearly nothing of this.

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson

They live among us! Also, crazy Canadian psychiatric experiments from the 1970s.

Secret Six: The Reptile Brain by Gail Simone

See above.

Eating the Dinosaur by Chuck Klosterman

Read for the articles on time travel, basketball, and Koresh/Cobain.

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-07-10

  • Max has good taste in movies: he hated CARS 2. We walked out. #SMAtuS #

  • Alice's favorite game right now: Counting down FIVE…FOUR…THREE…TWO…ONE… and then: BLAST OFF! Max counts with her. Cute! #SMAtuS #

  • Max: a natural teacher? This morning at breakfast he said real and made-up words, encouraging Alice to say them too. Which she did! #SMAtuS #

  • Max got the first bad sunburn of his life. We've discovered: he HATES aloe. (He calls it "logo".) Shares my loathing of lotions. #SMAtuS #

  • When it's time to eat, Alice rips her binky out of her mouth, throws it on the floor, and runs to the table. #SMAtuS #

  • Max is very concerned about the fact that Jonathan Coulton hates California. #SMAtuS #

  • Max asked for "tv". By the time I rolled out of bed, he already had Netflix.com going. Me: !? Him: "I just went to where it was." #SMAtuS #

  • Anyone want some Google+ invites? I've got 8 of them. (Gmail flashbacks!) #

  • @HillaryJacques I may be wrong, but I think they come with a Golden Ticket. in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • @HillaryJacques I haven't been able to find the Oompa Loompas yet. I have been hearing an awful lot of scurrying about, though. in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • @HillaryJacques I haven't seen any Oompa Loompas yet. I have been hearing an awful lot of scurrying about, though. in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • @HillaryJacques Weren't they purple? Or was that only the blueberry girl? in reply to HillaryJacques #

  • @HillaryJacques It's becoming more and more clear to me that Oompa Loompas reside in the feverdreams of my childhood. in reply to HillaryJacques #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-07-03

  • This is perfect and so funny: http://t.co/Q0h4jBd (Thanks, @jkottke!) #

  • @nfarina So, what do you think? Should I buy the iPhone 4 or push my creaky 3G to the Fall? #

  • @briandorsey Oh man, you should really consider adjourning to Tugboat Brewery across the street at some point. Best bartender/beer in town! in reply to briandorsey #

  • @nfarina It's tough. This 3G is super long in the tooth! I think it's made entirely from teeth at this point. in reply to nfarina #

  • @nfarina @shoesmith81 Indeed! I guess the real question is whether "Fall" means September or November. :) in reply to nfarina #

  • Alice has named her first imaginary friend: A white "soft animal" bear she's named Lacklee. He LOVES talking on the cell phone. #SMAtuS #

  • Max's Grandpa sent a hand-drawn comic about superhero Maxman. Max was so excited he drew a response right then. Comic's in the mail! #SMAtuS #

  • What I learned today: The | symbol is sometimes called 'think colon' and 'poley', among other less whimsical names. #

  • @L_Hoff Well…. I can't prove it, but I can say with gusto that was a mean boubou, chacabana, dhoti, and fustanella costume! in reply to L_Hoff #

  • Started reading THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH to Max this morning. He seemed to like it. I forget that he can handle more complicated fare. #SMAtuS #

  • @shadalicious Interesting. Are all of those deliberate parenting choices? It's funny, I have no problem with any of those things. in reply to shadalicious #

  • One reason to be a mathematician: You get to talk about things like Zorn's Lemma and Vector of Darboux with a straight face. #

  • @scottgagon Max was enthralled. We read the first two and a half chapters. I was surprised at how long he sat still for it. in reply to scottgagon #

  • @shadalicious Dash of lazy = the spice of life? in reply to shadalicious #

  • @shadalicious Oregano or maybe cumin? No, Mrs. Dash! in reply to shadalicious #

  • In the middle of The Part about Fate in Roberto Bolano's 2666. I am in awe of this book. And I can barely say why. Sinister. #SMAtuS #

  • In the middle of The Part about Fate in Roberto Bolano's 2666. I am in awe of this book. And I can barely say why. Sinister. #fridayreads #

  • @shadalicious Heh heh. in reply to shadalicious #

  • @beatitudes Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. It is simply astounding. My only regret is that I didn't read it sooner! in reply to beatitudes #

  • Alice Jump Skill Level Up: COMPLETE! #SMAtuS #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-06-26

  • @chowderino Thanks! And thanks for letting me take some time to myself. It was lovely! in reply to chowderino #

  • Max: "Mom, you know what? Meatballs kind of look like poop. That's kind of funny. Tee hee hee. Can I have meatballs for dinner?" #SMAtuS #

  • Max: "I know from my dream that I don't want to be as strong as the Hulk so that I can lift up the ground." #SMAtuS #

  • @shadalicious Really? Only boys? :p in reply to shadalicious #

  • Alice is dancing to Primus. I guess she's feeling better! #SMAtuS #

  • Geeze, Stalin was a real jerk! (Insight courtesy of Simon Montefiore's STALIN: COURT OF THE RED TSAR.) #

  • Without ever seeing a movie, Max has drawn Luke Skywalker. With face! And lightsaber! Star Wars is ubiquitous. #SMAtuS #

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-06-19

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