ZINNIA

The new office plant.

READ

This sticker was seen on the side of a newspaper box in Tacoma.

---

The Child: "What did that sticker say?"

TWT: "Move along."

The Child: "Yeah, but it said something about reading."

TWT: "It said, 'Read books all day long.'"

The Child: "Awesome."

TWT: "Indeed."

THE BEST FRIED SHRIMP YOU'VE EVER HAD

"I'm like, can't you just make one thing well instead of making all these mediocre things? I was always impressed with how you go to another kind of restaurant and the only thing they serve is fried shrimp, but they're the best fried shrimp you've ever had. And when you really feel like having fried shrimp, you go over there with your friend and it's a sublime experience every time."
—Ivan Orkin of Ivan Ramen, page 38, Lucky Peach, Issue 1: "Ramen," Summer 2011.

DORKY'S

After chalk art, it was off for some old school video games at Dorky's Barcade of Tacoma. (And kids are welcome until 9:00 p.m.)

The Child and I played some Tempest, Joust, Indy 500, and pinball machines.

It was awesome, except for (1) I never was very good at arcade video games or pinball; and (2) I stayed true to form. Nevertheless, it was a ton of fun. The Child wanted to return immediately.

FROST PARK CHALK OFF

TWT and The Child headed down to Tacoma's Frost Park for the Frost Park Chalk Off. It consisted primarily of members of the Cartoonists' League of Absurd Washingtonians (C.L.A.W.) but was open to the public. The Child went up against the heavyweights and fared rather well.

[1] Chalk artists stake out their area of sidewalk in Frost Park and get to work.

[2] The Child adds some details.

[3] "Octopus" by The Child. (The black is ink, released after being surprised.)

[4] RR_Anderson at work.

[5] "Adam Alien Bot" by RR_Anderson.

[6] James Stowe at work.

[7] "Portal" by James Stowe.

[8] Mark Monlux at work.

[9] "Groovy Tiki" by Mark Monlux.

ESCAPE into DEATH

"I invented perils for his trip home—horrors rising up from the deep sea, the endless asphodel fields of the dead, sweetly singing witches to gull and bind him—but I could never quite bring myself to finally close the sea over his head or the jaws on his throat. Always I pulled him back, unwilling to let him escape into death."
—Polyphemus (the storyteller) on Odysseus, page 131, The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason.

PAN DULCE

Various Mexican pan dulce pastries—conchas, chilindrina, ojos de toro, chocolate-glazed donut—from a local panaderia made for the best part of a Father's Day breakfast.

GRANGER

[1] Granger, Washington seems a place hit especially hard by the economic downturn. This automotive repair shop has been shuttered by the Great Recession.

[2] Granger has been building lifesize dinosaur replicas in its various parks and public places. Here, a brontosaurus reaches for a bite of tree.

[3] Park and lake near the Yakima River.

[4] Dinosaur stereotypes: a scarred Tyrannosaurus Rex and a volcano (which houses the park's restrooms).

[5] "Tacos tortas y burritos" sign in front of two local businesses: an "authentic Mexican" restaurante and a panaderia (bakery).

BOX CAR BURGERS

The wife, the child, and I took a little road trip to Eastern Washington. En route to our final destination, we stopped by Box Car Burgers of Ellensburg for dinner.

This trip, I made sure that I ordered the 1/3 pound of beef Train Master instead of the 2/3 pound of beef Locomotive.

A little bit of burger heaven—bun, 1/3 pound beef, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, Box Car Burger Sauce. The only thing missing, and it was my omission, was added bacon.

VALUE of an IMMORTALITY

"[Achilles] therefore intended to win what glory he could in his span of days. I questioned the value of an immortality that lasted exactly until one died but his fatalism was impregnable and he laughed at me and called me a sophist."
—Odysseus on Achilles, page 93, The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason.