I have no words for this.

The pleasure of twit-yer-parent

So Jane is showing me around her new iCarly for
Nintendo DS. I do like both the DS and iCarly, but I'm not saying much while Jane runs her demo. I suspect much of the appeal of these games is just lost on me. I mean, I remember playing Pac-Man on a pizza parlor tabletop. I guess it must have seemed miraculous, but I was eight years old and everything that wasn't deadly dull was miraculous. Especially if it involved flashing lights and little yellow gluttons going waca-waca-waca all around the screen.

This stuff looks and sounds a lot better, but the basic idea seems the same. Stereotyped actions, repetitive sounds, the opportunity to collect little symbols of one's expertise or endurance or whatever in the world of the game, an occasional Easter egg. Is there more?

"LOOK!!! MOM!!! THIS GAME HAS ABSOLUTELY NO EDUCATIONAL VALUE!!!"

No. There's no more. This is it. What I forgot: At this age, it is enough. More than. Funny.

Limnology!

My new favorite word: limnology, or "the study of inland waters."

Apparently has nothing to do with the much-maligned limn: "'Limn' is the phoniest word in the critic's vocabulary, aside from luminous to describe a writer's prose (and usually rather gushy prose at that). [...] Most of the time journalists resort to limn because they want something fancier than describe. " So sez Michael Dirda.

"Luminous writing" has been patented, by the way.

Why You Should Always Keep a Pork Chop Handy

Earlier this week, Jane came home with the following story. The teacher had written the bones of it, but left blank spaces for the kids to fill in.

I was walking in the jungle one day. Suddenly I saw seven tigers. When I saw them, I...screamed for hlep.

I knew I had to do something so I... spraed peper sprae in there eyes.

Finally I... gave them a pork chop and ran away.

Interestingly, Jane seems to believe that tense situations may be improved by screaming, noxious environmental stimuli, and, if all else fails, a distracting bribe. Hmm.

Sea Monkey Poetry

Just found some songs of innocence & experience, inspired by Sea Monkeys.

Sea Monkeys on toast
Not quite the Sunday roast.