This evening, over dinner at Potstickers on SE Hawthorne, the_child asked what lasirenadolce and I would be doing later. (The evening's project in fact consisted of earthquake proofing bookshelves.) In an attempt to be jolly, I said, "We will doubtless engage in witty banter and clownish acts."

the_child looked confused a moment, then said, "I'd like to see a cloudy axe."

A day or so ago, when I showed her these pictures of my dad as a young man, I mentioned he looked very relaxed in the lower of the two photos. She said, "Kung Kung is always serious, but when I say hi to him, he always says something interesting."

Love that kid.