I asked Zoe a question tonight at dinner:

Me: “Zoe, what are you?” Zoe: “A human child!”

Needless to say, this was not the answer I expected. I almost cried from laughing. And that’s not a bad answer for a kid who’s still on the near side of two.

‘Nuff said.

That’s the new word we’ve been hearing a lot. As in “Would you like a cookie, Zoe?” Answer: “Yes, much.” It’s very cute.

And now, some Grandparent bait:

We’ve gone strawberry picking for the second week in a row. And I don’t think I’ve ever had such sweet, perfect little red delicacies as these!

Miss Z really seemed to enjoy getting out in the fields. She’s showing signs of having a real scientific mind already. She loves to observe and watch. I know that all kids do this and that it’s part of learning about the world, but I can already see that Z has the temperament. We found some little slugs, a millipede and other little crawlers, and she loved looking at them all.

We’ve been trying eat more local food and PYO. K and Z have been hitting farmer’s markets, we’ve begun buying meat from local farms, we split a CSA share with some friends and we’re talking about how to grow some stuff in the back postage stamp. I have to say that eating all this fresh stuff has been absolutely awesome. The flavors are just that much better. And there’s no denying the virtue one feels in eating “real” food.

BTW: Grandpa Jack was looking at some pictures of Z and he noticed that she was squinting. He got worried that she’s having some sort of vision issue. Nope: that’s just the way she smiles. :) Z’s vision seems to be as sharp as a tack. Of course, if my own eyes are any guide, that won’t last forever.

We were down at the recycling center yesterday, dropping off the compost, and K went over to check out the book exchange. She found a groovy old National Geographic birding title for me, Water, Prey, and Game Birds of North America. Printed in 1965, this edition covers waders, various raptors, and cute little guys like ptarmigans and quail.

But perhaps the coolest thing about the books was the insert I found in a sleeve at the back: Bird Sounds of Marsh Upland and Shore.

What’s really cool about this is that it’s a multipage album containing recordings made by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology over a 30 year period. And it’s one of the coolest pieces of “old” multimedia I’ve seen in a while. And there’s some great information design and typography!

Between each of the pages is a clear plastic disk containing the recorded birdsong. You fold over the book and place the whole thing on a turntable. The pages contain illustrations of the birds featured in the lead track of each album side, and a positioning guide to help you find a particular track on the album. Simply brilliant.

Another aspect of this booklet that I really enjoy is the type design. When I showed a couple of pictures of this to my co-worker Eliot, he remarked on how ragged the type is. And he’s right: there’s no real attempt to force the type into justification. And to me, that just makes it even more beautiful and reveals the hand the unknown designer.

Of course, in the digital age, something like this is completely obsolete. But it’s hard not to love the feel of the pebbled paper and marvel at the ingenuity that went into making this booklet. I think this is a real treasure.

Now all I need is a turntable so I can actually listen to the tracks.

That’s Z’s current favorite saying when thing go, err, wrong. The poor cat is so low on the roster that she’s even getting blamed for tossed mac’n’cheese and spilled milk.

A couple of other sayings Z has picked up from Momma and Daddy recently:

• “C’mon people!”
• “Hi-de-ho” (from the Blood, Sweat and Tears song of the same name)

It’s like living with a tape recorder sometimes.

Adam Rex is rapidly becoming one of my favorite writers EVAH. His illustrations are really something to behold, somewhere between a carnival, a comic book and the Dutch Masters (yeah, that’s a big patch of turf, but check it out). And it turns out he’s a pretty good writer, too.

The first exposure I got to Adam’s work was through Pssst!, which K picked up for Z. The illustrations are awesome, with plenty of great bizarro stuff that just makes me LOL. And this has become Z’s #1 potty-book. “PSSST!!!!” is the first thing she says when she jumps on the plastic commode.

His illustrated novel, The True Meaning of Smekday, is wonderfully weird. It’s absurdly surreal, very funny and has a true-blue American protagonist. At least that’s how I would describe Gratuity Tucci. What could be more American than a multiracial alien-fighting teenage girl with a cat named Pig and a Boov named J.Lo?

“What’s a Boov?”, you say. Read the book and find out. Or you can check out the book’s companion site.

This was one of the 2007 Nebula honors nominees and I highly recommend it.

Even though I don’t update T&P nearly as often as I should, I’ve started writing posts on the new Bit Group Blog, too. I have to hold up my end for the team, I guess. Besides, I got promoted to Principal Architect, so it’s in my best interest to spread the word about good ol’ Bit Group far and wide. ;-)

Check it out some time.

K is out at her book group tonight, Z is asleep, so I’m on the couch cuddling up to our soon-to-be-discarded Comcast cable. And I’m watching Stranger Than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell. And it’s great.

I don’t think I had any idea how much I would like this film. But it’s really sort of whimsical and fun. I don’t know who wrote this, but they knew what they were doing. I recommend this one.

Yesterday I pulled out my old Raleigh, hitched up the Burley trailer for Miss Z, plopped her in and biked down to the recycling center to drop off our compost. All because the weather has finally gotten warm enough to cut down a layer (bye-bye, wool sweater!).

This was a big deal for a couple of reasons. One, I actually got on my bike. This is not something that I’ve been doing a lot of the past couple of years, but I plan to change that because I really like riding. And for the amount of stuff that we do around town, it’s crazy to break out the car.

Two, this was Z’s first time in the Burley. I think she liked it well enough. She sure didn’t mind napping in it.

Three, this was a trip to drop off the compost. Cambridge has a new community composting program and I’m really into it. I’ve wanted to compost for a while, but our postage stamp yard isn’t the best place to do that. At least not yet. So I love that we can participate at the civic level. Sooo cool!