Is It Bad That She Already Has Her Own Computer?

We are a family of three and one dog. We have four computers. It only makes sense that we each have our own computer. However, Nanook really doesn't care much for technology. Lucy, on the other hand, is crazy for it. Bell and I tried to keep her away from too many of this techno stuff-- "Go play with your wooden toys, little girl! Be a Luddite while you still can." But she was born with an innate techno-savviness that all the babes of this day and age seem to possess. When she began to talk she didn't ask for a doll. She said, "Where's my 'puter, papa? I need to check my email." We considered buying her one of those plastic toy laptops or some Leap Frog junk but she would know the difference. And inevitably it will be tossed onto the big pile of unwanted pseudo-real "made in China" toys with an air of disdain that only a child who's intelligence had been insulted would.

So we have a rarely used Dell laptop lying around the house. The only PC in a Mac house. It is now Lucy's 'puter. Some may say this is a bit much. No 3 year-old needs their own laptop before they can even read. It's not like we are handing life to her on a silver platter. She will be using a PC and the trials and tribulations that she will be exposed to under Windows tutelage is enough of an initiation into the complexities of the real world. Our job is done.

Lucy is already quite adept at using her laptop. She can point and click with the best of them. She loves her preschool games. If Dora and Mickey can teach her to read, so be it. But when it's time to stop, --she does have a time limit--we have to rip her tiny clutching fingers off the keyboard while she screams. "I need to do more work! Nooooo!!!" Lately we've had to resort to telling her our harrowing tales of a time without email, iphoto and wikipedia. When dial-up service was the only way to get onto the internet. This last detail usually scares her straight.

There Are Worse Ways To Pass The Time

My family has returned to Florida and I have exactly 5 days to get all the stuff I needed/wanted to get done done before the start of the fall semester. The list is tremendous. The weather is uncooperative. And Lucy has been attached to my hip since June. I love my girl but it is extremely difficult to get anything done when you have a toddler mimicking everything you do, asking you a thousand questions, and stealing your laptop and hiding it in her closet so that she can check her email.

Once the semester starts no one will be home. Lucy will be at preschool all day, Bell will be at work or on field projects and I will return to the studio and live the hermetical life of an architecture student. I am going to miss languishing in boredom while Lucy watches Peter Pan for the twentieth time. I am going to miss choosing from a myriad of activities. Activities that were fun for me, too. I am going to miss coloring with Lucy in her coloring books, painting and drawing, reading and napping, singing and dancing. The closing of summer days always leaves me with a tinge of the meloncholy.

Not a day has passed since we returned that Lucy has not requested to go to the aquarium. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is an amazing place. Sadly it is maddeningly packed in the summer. Fortunately for us, Bell has a friend who gave us guest passes that Lucy and I thoroughly wore out. We went every other day. Because the place was so packed we would limit our visits to one to two hours focusing on only a few things. Believe me when I say that you could completely lose your mind trying to see everything in such a claustrophobic environment in one day. After so many visits Lucy has become a junior marine biologist.


Sea otters are so cute. They are a lot larger than I expected.


The Outer Bay tank.


One of Lucy's favorites, the Mola Mola or ocean sunfish.


Feeding time in the Kelp Forest.


Sea anemones


My favorites were the jellies. I could sit for hours and just stare at these beauties.




When I win the lottery I won't go crazy and build a solid gold house. But I will want a room with floor to ceiling glass walls filled with moon jellies.



If Lucy decides to give up on the marine biology thing she can always fall back on her sardine canning experience.

We really miss the aquarium.


Here is the Album with a ridiculous amount of photos but you have to understand we went so many times and I never tired of photographing the jellies.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Home Sweet Home!

Well, we are back! August sneaked up on us and it seems as though we are now playing catch up. Catch up on a lot of well thought out posts that never came into fruition. Catch up on a lot of photos. Catch up on a lot of California observations--the highs and the lows. Catch up on a lot of sleep (we drove for 24 hours straight to get back home). All these will have to wait. Family is coming to visit to celebrate Lucy turning 3. I hope they are ready for the hot weather and no AC. Sweaty fun!

Go away Harry...

I cannot wait to see this movie.




The books are sooooo good. Even Bell read them and he was impressed. Philip Pullman is such a fabulous writer--so much more superior than JK.

As for Harry, I read it. I'm done with it. It's on the bookshelf gathering dust. Goodbye--until Lucy decides to take the series on.
I cannot deny I enjoyed the story well enough. I have been a reader since the book first entered my bookstore. But it just got harder and harder to get through JK's poor literary abilities. The characters were ridiculously two-dimensional. The plot was typically black and white. She left little to the imagination. Everything was explained. This is probably why the series is so popular.

I implore anyone who has not read His Dark Materials Trilogy to go out and do so. Or at least go watch the movie. Let your imagination soar.
Check out the awesome site.

He Has Spoken...

See Bell, God is on my side.



Happy Anniversary! 8 years of marriage and 14 years of being together--a mere drop in the bucket.