Yoda cool (five things on a Wednesday).

They’re still expected to learn basic programming skills before lunch.

Note : I designed the prototype for these machines myself. Take that, Tim Berners-Lee.

Then and now

When I was a kid - and actually, up until not that long ago - I was excited and happy for the arrival of snow.

It feels so shallow to not have the excitement. I’ve fought for so long the decline into ‘I’m not excited about this or that because I have responsibilities.’

I’m still excited for the kids’ excitement. And I’m trying to be excited again. It’s hard sometimes to not be overwhelmed by things such as snow that will increase any given day’s complexity. And what it could potentially mean in terms of having to fix parts of a house, inside and out, that may be affected.

This might be one of the lamest grumbles I’ve written this year. I get it. I like snow, conceptually, I do. And once I get out in it, playing, sledding, getting hit in the face with a snowball or ice-rock, it’ll be fun again and memories will be made. Just right now, my immediate reaction is not total excitement. That makes me sad. It want to have total visceral and primal excitement about these things again. Maybe owning up to not having it now is a decent first step?

Hans Zimmer

We talked of and listened to Hans Zimmer, the film composer who delights in combining the electronic with the orchestral and has spawned a thousand soundtracks since with that thudding low-end brpaaaaam that sounds like ethereal horns invading slowly from an oceanic planet far away but not that far. I appreciate how he’s developed a style that is often recognizable, but found so many ways to make it fit to the film he’s scoring without being overwhelming. This mix of raw, cut-down soundscape that is also capable of exploding and surprising suddenly.

Cool

I admit I felt a little cool showing our 2- and 4-four year olds some old stop motion pieces I did, and hearing their reaction; reactions that are not faked well, so if they’re impressed, I feel like I have a right to feel cool for a microsecond. It’s not feeling I feel on a regular basis.

See above

These same characters were up before 6am telling stories in the crib. Even in the early-morning grog, it’s hard not to feel a little charmed.

Binary

The choice,
I told him,
is not between having a nap or not having a nap. You need a nap.

He shook his head, which I correctly interpreted to be a challenge to the latter of these non-options.

The choice,
I continued,
is between me leaving you by yourself to fall asleep, or me holding you. Which one would you prefer?

Post script: one of my favorite parts about certain ages is that even in the throes of anger or rage or irritation directly at you, they cling their little arms around.

Yes, it was the latter, and yes, he really did need a nap, and no, I do not regret having this time with him and those clingy little arms.