The games he played were how my husband showed me his true self, not long after we first met. But unlike most people, these were games I could live with. Card games, board games, imaginary games (despite being Jewish, he makes a first-rate pharaoh to my daughter’s delight), you name it. As a mother, I’d played many pretend games and for-kids-only games, of course, but he brought family gaming into our lives on a daily basis.

He doesn’t mind losing to me at Scrabble or Quiddler, although he might mind me posting about it here. He’s turned our daughter into a card shark to the point that her choice for “Show and Tell” this month was to bring him in and teach her class to play 500 Rummy, and our retirement strategy might just involve teaching her to count cards. He has our son designing complex game boards to make his own games, and anyone who sits at the dining room table for more than three minutes is subjected to a plea for Monopoly or Risk.

(Read more here.)

I meant to post this last night, but I was too worn out! Our family went to the Bay Area yesterday to the amazing Maker Faire. This two-day, annual event, held at the San Mateo fairgrounds, is a geek paradise. With offerings that range from kitschy Dumpster-diver crafts to a model warship battle to a clothing swap and fashion show to a life-size mousetrap, there truly is something for everyone.

For our family, which is comprised of engineering geeks and math/art geeks, it was like the mother ship: There were too many choices! Also, the traffic at the end was much worse than we had anticipated, with the last few miles taking close to an hour, likely because we were all using the same Google map directions. Tickets were $25 for adults, or free with a magazine subscription, and it was just $10 for kids. We definitely got our money's worth, but next year, we plan to make a family weekend out of it and stay nearby so we can attend both days. The event was open from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. on Saturday; we stayed until past 6 p.m. and still didn’t see more than 20 percent of what was there.

(Read more here.)

In my apparent quest to use YouTube as a parenting tool, my daughter, age 7, watched the "Needs more cowbell" SNL skit with Christopher Walken as a distraction during Passover's final hours. While adoration of Christopher Walken because of his movie roles is fairly common, she knew him only from Fatboy Slim's "Weapon of Choice" video, which is surprisingly family-friendly, although we did have to discourage replicating the flying scenes via household furniture. (That first link isn't from YouTube, as too many people have posted profane comments or bad quality videos. YouTube comments definitely disprove that six million monkeys idea.)

That was about a week ago, she only saw the skit once, and I hadn't given it much thought. Yesterday morning, we were getting ready for school, and my daughter came into my room looking concerned. I said, "Honey, what do you need?"

(Read more here.)

Putting aside the fact that I think Mother’s Day is a day meant for people to honor their own mothers (or help young children do so), I’m not an easy person for my husband to buy for. My idiosyncratic geek tendencies, minimalist outlook and low bling tolerance make surprise gifts a nightmare for my family.

My husband threw up his hands last night, admitting he had no idea what to get me for Mother’s Day. Seeing as how I had just managed to melt the cover of one of our brand new, BPA-free Klean Kanteens in the dishwasher, I suggested he buy me a replacement cover. Surprisingly, he was not satisfied with that $3 gift suggestion, and it’s unlikely he’ll be able to knit me an iPod Cozy.

(But that's not all...)

I've never hidden my love of most things Google, but this has to be the best idea they've had in awhile: Google Custom Time, which uses an "e-flux capacitor" to set the time of your email back.  Imagine the possibilities:  Always coming out ahead in those first come, first served scenarios (“I sent that email just after I received yours, see!”) and never being late for work without an excuse again ("You got my email at 4 a.m. explaining my family emergency, right?")  Google frees you from the shackles of responsibility, all from the comfort of your desk chair.  From one satisfied user: "This feature allows people to manipulate and mislead people with falsified time data."  No joke, Google always comes up with the best features at the beginning of April!

I’ve been meaning to post about Facebook for awhile now.  At first glance, it looked like MySpace without the auto-loading music and garish wallpaper, but it’s actually blog site meets high school reunion meets staff meeting meets Cheers.  After initially finding it hard to remember to log in, I’m now using it to network, keep in touch with friends, family and co-workers, and find people from my past.  And it has Scrabulous (at least for now), which is always a draw, although when copy editors play it’s more of a massacre. ;)   

In just the last few days, I’ve stumbled across people I went to high school with, and kids I used to teach who are now *in* high school.  There are groups to join, based on interests or geography, applications for people selling things, and silly memes.  (Also, people keep trying to send their zombies after me, although I’m not sure why.)  There’s even a Facebook version of Oregon Trail.  But beware if you log in during the work day: It’s a massive time-stealer.

(Read more here.)

Google greeted me this morning with an image of Alexander Graham Bell:

Why Bell, you ask? On this day in 1847, Alexander Graham Bell was born. My daughter and I have been reading about Helen Keller; Bell, once a teacher for the deaf, became a lifelong friend to Keller, who dedicated her autobiography to him.

His work on devices to help the deaf eventually led him to the invention of the telephone, which is something most of us learned in school. He also founded the National Geographic Society and is credited with the invention of the metal detector. He had myriad interests in areas such as aeronautics and hydrofoils, and became a U.S. citizen in his 30s. I think we can safely credit Bell as one of the reasons we have the Internet. But I won’t hold that against him. ;)