Look, I’m a bit hesitant here, but Aardman’s take on Star Wars was great, so fingers crossed!!

Kiddo’s describing defeated Pokémon as “dying” is really forcing me to confront the premise of the series.

Turns out that explaining to kiddo how to pull off a victory against long odds in the Pokémon TCG scratches the same strategic itch as doing it myself, so she got to beat me, and I still had a satisfying game.

This morning, Mormon studies scholar Dr. Melissa Wei-Tsing Inouye passed away after a years-long struggle with cancer. Melissa was an amazing scholar, fantastic mentor, and just great person, and I think a lot of people—even just those who knew her professionally—are going to be spending time writing, thinking, and crying about her today and in the weeks to come. Other people will have more, and more important, things to say than I do, but I’m deeply grateful for Melissa, and I want to show that gratitude by sharing a few thoughts of my own.

“Dad, what’s a… lunch-ee-on?” “A Luncheon? It’s an evolution of Eevee. Lunch-type Pokémon.” “Dad! No, it’s not!”

Two minutes into her first experience with a main-series Pokémon game, kiddo realized she could name her rival “Chicken,” so I’d say we’re off too a good start.

Comme mon épouse se débrouille en français, on s’en sert pour parler des cadeaux devant notre fille exclusivement anglophone. Mais comme « Pokémon » serait quand-même reconnaissable, mon épouse a dû trouver une circonlocution : « le jeu vidéo de… pochette…. monstre ? »

Spouse and I have been using French to talk about Christmas presents in front of kiddo. Tonight, I got to hear spouse refer to “monsters of the pocket” so that kiddo wouldn’t recognize “Pokémon” in the middle of an otherwise incomprehensible-to-her sentence.

Kiddo, just now: “Are Pokémon even marsupials?”

When I was kiddo’s age, Pokémon didn’t exist yet, so there’s something that breaks my brain about her current enthusiasm for the franchise.

Kiddo’s uncle is teaching her the Pokémon TCG, which is pretty delightful.