The Santa Claus at Stanford Shopping Center has been our staple Santa over the years. The only other time we saw Santa Claus elsewhere was in Hawaii. This year we waited until the weekend before Christmas to visit Santa. It seemed like a lot of other people had the same idea, given the long line we encountered early that Saturday morning. But the girls were very patient waiting. And when it was their turn to sit on the jolly old fellow’s lap, the girls were well-behaved - for the most part.

It’s always tough getting the girls ready in the morning. Sometimes they place nice, like this morning. This gives mom and dad the opportunity to actually get ready for work instead of rushing to work.

I love the time Farrah and I spent in Bath, London, and Paris. This video covers areas in Bath. It makes me want to go back again. Click the image to play the video. Bath in Motion - A Hyperlapse of Bath from Jack Fisher on Vimeo.

Trying to calm Graecyn down, who is sitting in the back seat, with the iPhone camera. Of course I’m recording it.

General admission. Standing room only. A combination I do not look forward to in a concert. But if the artist and venue are right, I will endure. And Farrah and I did endure this combination, at The Fillmore, to see Lorde. I was lucky enough to snag two tickets back when they went on sale a few months ago, before Royals was getting regular mainstream radio play. I don’t know if I’d be lucky to get tickets now seeing how big Lorde has become.

Siri–the semi-intelligent virtual assistant feature–has been available on the iPhone since the iPhone 4S launched with iOS 5. However, Siri did not work with the iPad until the iPad 3 came out with iOS 6, and it still doesn’t work with earlier generation iPhones, iPads, or iPod Touch devices. That’s just one example of the subversive fragmentation within iOS. While almost every iOS device is running the latest and greatest version of Apple’s mobile OS, the available features and general experience vary widely from one device to the next.

Enjoy the Silence is one of my favorite Depeche Mode songs. This cover is great! Cover Version 4 from Kristof Luyckx on Vimeo.

I feel I don’t have enough time during any given day. At least not enough to do what I want, when I want to do it. This is why my blogging efforts have fallen by the wayside. Wife. Kids. Work. Eat. Commute. Sleep. These are the priorities in order. Wife. Kids. Work. Eat. Commute. Sleep. Sleep is nice if it can be had. When it is possible, it doesn’t come in consecutive hours, not since the kids were born.

Graecyn is watching sitting back and watching Justin Timberlake’s fifth appearance on Saturday Night Live. I think she’s commenting on his performance.

Mia follows Kaleb up a hill during Kaiden’s first birthday party. Mia and Kaleb were blowing bubbles outside during Kaiden’s first birthday party. Kaleb decided to walk from the playground and down the sidewalk trail. Mia followed. There was a little hill past an intersection path that Kaleb decided to walk up. Mia followed. Up the hill, they both went toward a house. Kaleb made it all the way to the top.

But rather than tell people they can’t shoot their food — the food they are so proud to eat that they need to share it immediately with everyone they know — he simply takes them back into his kitchen to shoot as the plates come out. “We’ll say, ‘That shot will look so much better on the marble table in our kitchen,’ ” Mr. Bouley said. “It’s like, here’s the sauce, here’s the plate.

Yes, it’s sexist, but it’s also just weird and sad. Why can a boy walk around with Yoda on his underwear, but a young female “Star Wars” fan can’t? It’s gender marketing at its very worst. Mia has a Darth Vader Star Wars shirt. If she wanted Star Wars underwear, I wouldn’t hesitate in buying them, even if they were boys underwear.