I’ve read statements on web design & usability blogs about users who always use Google to locate sites that they may visit frequently, or even daily. Usually, the reasons I’ve seen given to explain this behavior are that the user doesn’t know about certain browser features (bookmarks, history, etc.) or that they simply can’t be bothered to use those features.
So, tonight I was surprised to see my darling wife—one of the few people I know who maintains and really uses a large, well-organized library of bookmarks—using Google to get to a cutesy little Flash game that I’ve seen her playing at least a dozen times before.
Why hasn’t she bookmarked it, then? So she won’t go there as often, she explains—she feels like it’s a time-waster and doesn’t want to get sucked in more than a couple times a week. She’s actually forced herself not to memorize the URL, so she has to remember the name and search for it every time. The slight inconvenience actually keeps the number of visits down in her comfort zone.
I’m far too sleepy to draw any major conclusions from this, and I’m not sure there are any, but I felt compelled to write it down, so maybe it’ll come in handy later.
Um, it’s really almost two months since I last posted here? Yikes. A few things I feel obliged to point out:
So, uh, what’s new with you?
My great-uncle Mike Cutrone died peacefully in his sleep last night, having turned 94 back on April 20th… the same birthday as our newest family member, it just so happens. We’re already joking, as he certainly would have himself, that he decided to step aside so his new great-great-nephew could have that birthday all to himself.
We saw a lot of Uncle Mike when I was growing up because he lived with my grandparents (lived with them 51 years, in fact!). He never married or had kids, but he obviously loved spending time with me, my brother, and our cousins — he was just like an extra grandparent to all of us.
He had a little woodshop in the basement when they lived in Jamaica, Queens, and enjoyed tinkering with all sorts of projects down there. One of the standouts was a Christmas gift he gave me when I was little. I had a stuffed Snoopy doll at the time that accompanied me everywhere, and I’d recently been introduced to skiing, so he crafted up a set of skis and ski poles for Snoopy that you just had to see to believe. Perfectly planed tips on the skis, little rawhide wrist straps and bindings, cool racing stripes painted on, the whole nine yards. Even to a little kid, the attention to detail and the joy he’d put into the project were plain to see.
In he last few years, he was having a lot of the physical difficulties that you might expect to come with reaching one’s mid-nineties, and he told my mom and grandmother on several occasions that he was ready to go see what comes next. I’m really glad I got the chance to introduce Violet to him before he did.
I’ll be sure to tell her all about you, Uncle Mike — we love you, big guy!
Finally, a free moment to share some really, really super news… My brother and his wife have welcomed their third child to the world! On April 20th, their son Christopher William arrived at 5:48pm. Weighing in at 5lb 11oz, he’s not ready to wrestle his big brother and sister yet, but he’s a healthly little guy, and the whole family is thrilled to say welcome, Christopher!
Cheris and I can’t wait to introduce Violet to her new cousin.
I’ve been meaning to write a post for a while about Violet’s use of baby sign language, but Cheris has gone and beaten me to the punch. It’s a good’n.
Since Violet got her first tooth, she’s filled in some more: I believe she now has the front four on top, the front two on the bottom, and a few molars have come in a bit early. We realized recently it was high time to get her into the habit of brushing those teeth, so they’ll be nice and healthy until her adult set comes in someday.
I was pretty dubious about how the whole thing would go, but during her bathtime last night I brought in my tootbrush and gave her a little demo (with just water, no toothpaste yet). When I produced her cute little toddler toothbrush from the drawer and ran it under the water, she was so excited to see it that she squealed with glee, stuck it right in her mouth, and started imitating my brushing motions. Amazing.
So, as it turned out, the trick wasn’t getting her to start brushing her teeth, it was getting her to stop. She continued brushing for the rest of the bath, and all through her getting-pajamas-on routine. Good girl!
I wonder when a toddler is ready to floss…