What-What?! Week of February 26th

Nope, still not doing anything.  Work has been taking up a huge amount of my energy the last couple of weeks -- we don't have any projects in-process, but I've been working with another developer on something that's been very difficult to get right.

Other than that, not much.  The husband and I went out on a date last night -- we didn't really do anything then, either.  We had decided that we didn't want to drive very far, since last time we drove out to Edmonds, and the time spent driving wasn't worth what we did there.  We went and walked around the outlet stores and saw what was there -- it's very similar to the Gilroy outlets, but just a bit different.  The Hello Kitty outlet in Gilroy is way nicer than the Anime outlet up here.

After that, we went to a local Thai restaurant, which was just alright.  I had the Pad Thai -- unfortunately, it was way too sweet and didn't have enough vegetables.  The husband had Thai Basil Chicken, which was much better in terms of the balance of flavors and textures.  Overall, just okay.  There are a few other choices nearby, and next time we want Thai food, we'll probably try one of them instead.

What-What?! Week of February 19th

Somehow it's the middle of February now.  Actually, I guess since there's only 10 more days left, it's like two-thirds of the way through the month.

The Sad Tale of the Matchbox

Recently, I read an article about a famous children's book in Germany, Der Struwwelpeter (Slovenly Peter).  Apparently, Mark Twain translated the book for his children while he was stuck in Berlin in 1891.  The poems direct translation into English is fairly dry, but you add in the wit of Twain, and they become fantastic examples of dark humor.  My favorite right now is called "The Sad Tale of the Matchbox" -- available to read here, from Listen.org (pdf link) -- I strongly suggest reading it aloud.  Twain's use of rhyme and language turns a very serious, sad story into hilarity.  I need to dig up copies of the rest of the poems, but haven't made the time yet.

Otherwise, we're just goin' along...