From the monthly archives:

February 2012

Don’t Forget to Take a Leap of Any Size Today

February 29, 2012

It’s Leap Day, which is an extra day to save if you sign up for summer camp or need jeans from Old Navy, according to my email, and extra day to craft, according to Craftzine, or a day that doesn’t count, providing a chance to do something radically out of the ordinary, according to 30 [...]

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San Francisco Symphony: Introducing Classical Music to a New Generation

February 28, 2012

These days, many kids grow up with the notion that classical music puts people to sleep.  It doesn’t have lyrics.  It doesn’t have a beat.  It’s played on clunky old instruments. And it was written by a bunch of white guys who have been dead for centuries. Fortunately for the kids in Silicon Valley, we’ve [...]

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Disney on Ice Toy Story 3

February 27, 2012

When my eldest son was three or four, my father and I took him to a Disney on Ice production.  We paid through the nose for front row seats then paid even more for cotton candy and a Buzz Lightyear light up toy.  My son had an okay time until the march of the Disney princesses [...]

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The Tech Challenge: Call for Earthquake Rescue Creativity

February 24, 2012

This Saturday is the final info clinic for The Tech Challenge 2012, bringing together teams of students in grades 5-12 to create a hands-on engineering plan to solve a real world problem. This year’s theme is Shake, Rattle, and Rescue, with the kids tasked to help save an earthquake survivor stranded on a collapsed bridge. [...]

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Heart Health Month Reminds Us that Hearts Are Amazing

February 23, 2012

It was 8:30 am.  My daughter, in preschool at the time, stood solemnly in front of the school flag with her tiny hand over her heart for the Pledge of Allegiance.  When it was over, she looked at me with big eyes and said very seriously: “Mom, my heart only beats during the Pledge of [...]

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Dora the Explorer’s Live Show: All Fun, Usually Painless

February 22, 2012

Many moons ago, I had a young child who was a huge Dora the Explorer fan. She cheered on Dora, would laugh at Boots, and got anxious at the sight of Swiper. All good stuff, so naturally, I took her to see a traveling production of Dora the Explorer when it came to the Bay [...]

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Speederia Pizzeria Brings Thin Slices to Redwood City

February 21, 2012

We’re lucky to have Sancho’s Taqueria down the hill from us, especially since several places came and quickly went under at the tiny shopping center, while Sancho’s stayed strong. A few weeks ago, workers began fixing up a little corner shop that had been used as a small office previously, leaving me to expect another [...]

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Family Fun During President’s Day Break

February 20, 2012

Many Bay Area schools are closed this week.  Some call it Ski Week.  Others call it Winter Break.  I call it “A Random Week in February Without Childcare.” Here’s a week’s worth activities to break you free from cabin fever. While your school, library, and bank are closed for President’s Day, the Exploratorium in San Fransisco [...]

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The Secret World of Arrietty

February 17, 2012

I read The Borrowers when I was a kid and loved it.  The idea of little people living quietly beneath the floorboards was fascinating.  I dreamed that I would be so lucky to find clues that there were Borrowers living in my house.  I promised that if I ever found one, I would treat the [...]

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Living Fruitfully with Jamba Juice

February 16, 2012

When I was in high school in the 90s, I worked at the Jamba Juice across the street from Oakridge Mall.  Then it was called Juice Club and it had only a dozen stores in California compared to the 750 stores nationwide today.  Back then most people didn’t know what a smoothie was and often [...]

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