This evening is perfect weather, and everybody is taking a walk, and it makes me think of an Italian passeggiata, and so I’ve decided (I’ll come to my senses and/or forget about this by tomorrow) that when I retire from software I’ll open a combination espresso bar / nut-free gelateria up near the new bookstore.

The bambina is at a neighbor’s house watching The Goonies in the driveway with a bunch of other kids.

The dude is off to his senior prom.

Tried to fix a problem with Mom’s email, and ended up on a 45-minute call with her ISP. Eventually achieved victory.

Getting my first new suit in … decades? Today: consulting on fabric and details, and measurements.

The kids marched in Portland’s Starlight Parade, so Meghan and I brought our moms down to watch. We all had a good time.

We stayed in the Alberta Arts District, where I’d never been — a super cool neighborhood.

Walked down to Gas Works via Green Lake, then to the U District, visiting Mom along the way: 22k steps, 11 miles, about 3h20m. Good weather for walking.

Finished reading Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, and its accompanying novella “Ajax Penumbra 1969”. This was fun; it felt like a light Neal Stephenson novel, in length and intensity and depth, and earnest where Stephenson tends ironic.

The kids had their last band concert last night; Mom and Billie and Greg and one of his came along.

Meghan and the dude went shopping for his first suit: He chose a three-piece in plum.

The dude and the bambina marched in the Ballard parade this evening.

A coworker asked what season of Doctor Who they should start with, and I realized I’ve been training for this moment for my entire life.

Went to Bainbridge yesterday and visited Billie.

The aurora is barely visible to the naked eye, but the phone camera picks it up nicely.

Finished reading The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. A promising setup (what if people could step through an endless series of parallel Earths?) was let down by merely adequate writing and a very abrupt out-of-nowhere ending (that wasn’t really an ending at all but a setup for the next book). Glad I read this book; not sure if I’ll read the next.