Waves

Jumping Monkeys Episode 31: Bill Kendrick of Tux Paint

Today we sit down with Bill Kendrick, father of 1 year old William, and creator of Tux Paint, an awesome free art program for kids and adults. Bill says that they are always looking for volunteers to contribute translations and new artwork.

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SPEND: Make Your Own Monster Custom Design Kit - $249

Found on Mighty Junior

SAVE: Recycle your old greeting cards and make holiday placemats for next year

GIVE: 'Tis Best Charity Gift Cards

AUDIBLE BOOK PICK:
The Keep by Jennifer Egan

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra

(found on Boing Boing)

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:

LISTENER FEEDBACK

Bill's Battery Problem: Leo says it's OK to charge three empty batteries with a full battery, as long as you're using nickel-metal hydride batteries. Leo recommends Thomas Distributing for your rechargeable batteries and reminds you to recycle them.

Review: The Baby Lottery

Please don't call this book chick lit.

In The Baby Lottery, by Kathryn Trueblood, the problems of the characters are real --messy, uncomfortable, profoundly sad, and often just plain mundane.

The story follows five friends from college who are facing down their late thirties. Nan, formerly a single mom is now comfortably married. Virginia, working mother of a 5 year old, has just separated from her husband. Jean and her husband have divorced after years of unsuccessful fertility treatments lead him to an affair. Tasi is happily single. Charlotte is married and is considering a late-term abortion.

The Baby Lottery is filled with sentiments that are as universal as they are direct.

"Here's the funny part about forgiveness: you never know if you mean it or not."

"'Brothers and sisters are the main social unit. They never marry or move away. Lovers come and go, kids come and go...'"

It also uses metaphors that although hilarious and right on target to me, might not be as universal.

"She's like those people with a live-in nanny who tell you they never let their children watch TV."

Trueblood's characters show that while there's both joy and security in child-rearing and marriage, there are perks to being unattached in your late thirties too. But then there are the obstacles. And for the first time, friends you've had for fifteen years or more may be facing entirely different problems and might not be able to help guide you through your own maze. The conflicts between their decisions and yours could easily destroy the friendships forever. If you this rings true to you, then find yourself a copy of The Baby Lottery . You won't be sorry.

Disclosure: Kathryn found my blog and sent me a review copy of her book. We'll be interviewing her on an upcoming podcast about how to promote your book online. Kathryn is also an assistant professor at Western Washington University. If you have questions you'd like me to ask during the interview, e-mail me at megan@twit.tv.

Something only an identical twin would say

Milo: Huck, look! (pointing at a display case of fossils at the public library.) That's what we were dreaming about last night while we were sleeping.

Jumping Monkeys Episode 30: Live from MacWorld

We recorded this week's episode live from the Podcast Auditorium at MacWorld San Francisco. Thanks to our guests Jean-Paul Bonjour of Apple, John Skidgel of Google and Jean MacArthur of the Tessy and Tab Reading Club, Smile on My Mac and The Favorite Aunt.

Also, thanks to everyone who took the time to stop by to watch or ask questions. And thanks to Harley for recommending OpenDNS.

And special thanks to Alex Lindsay of Pixel Corps for making all this audio magic happen.

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Review: Zen Shorts

A few weeks ago I randomly grabbed a book off the shelf of the kids' section at the public library. The title intrigued me as did the cover illustration. Why would a panda be wearing shorts?

Zen Shorts is the story of two brothers and a sister who meet a panda named Stillwater. He tells them simple stories that are interesting to kids and based Zen principles (as I learned from reading the author's note at the end of the book.)

The illustrations are also fantastic. Geeks will appreciate that Muth has worked on several graphic novels, including Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.

We had to return this book before the due date and not for the usual reason we return books before their due date, which is because if I have to read them one more time my head will explode. We had to return it because we were reading it so much that the pages started to pull out from the binding. So, we returned it and I bought my own copy and several extra copies to give as gifts.

I am not a particularly Zen person, but I aspire to be. And I have no idea if the kids understand the principles in this book, but I've always believed that at every stage my kids understand way more than I think they do.

Jumping Monkeys at MacWorld

Today we're recording the show live from MacWorld. We'll be at the Moscone Center West Hall at 4pm. Join us if you can and check back here for show notes.

I wonder if Steve Jobs will be serving me lunch on this cute little silver platter he's holding?

(AP Photo)

The Benefits of Having a Big Sister

Annabella: Huck, are you listening to me? I'm going to teach you something. Now say "I see London..."

Jumping Monkeys Episode 29: Martha Stewart's Tech Geek

We're back after holiday break and we're happy to be joined by Suzanne Kantra, Martha Stewart Living's tech expert and former writer for Popular Science. Suzanne talks about science and kids and the benefit of science competitions like ExploraVision.

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SPEND: Emotional Armor

SAVE: New York KiDs club offers free playdate for bloggers in NYC.

GIVE: BookMooch

AUDIBLE BOOK PICK: Peter Pan


VIDEO OF THE WEEK:
5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Children Do by Gever Tulley (founder of the Tinkering School).

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