Solving the Mystery (with an assist from Steve Jobs)

Dear Laney,

I'm sure this won't mean much to you, but Apple founder Steve Jobs passed away this week. I've been a little shocked at the outpouring of emotion across the internet, but I guess to people of my generation who veer a little towards tech geekdom, he was sorta our Elvis. Obviously, I didn't know the man, and for all I know he was rude to children and dogs. But every day for 12 years, I have spent most of my waking hours using a machine he invented. Because I work in an industry that exists to cater to the lowest common denominator, I long admired him for refusing to use focus groups, and for creating what might be the world's most successful company sheerly by trusting his own instincts. I will remind you of this when you're in high school and want to do something stupid just because everyone else is. "Sure," I'll say, "You could wear those bike shorts to prom, or you could found a company that's someday worth a kabillion dollars. Up to you."

I was thinking this morning about how much Steve Jobs has already affected your daily routine, and you are only two. You Skype with your grandparents on my MacBook, we listen to Barney Songs on the iPod in the car, you love the Pixar movies, and you play all kinds of kids' apps on the iPod Touch. In fact, it was that same iPod Touch that just helped me solve two mysteries that had been frustrating your dad and me for weeks.

MYSTERY #1 - For several days in a row, you would walk around the house, randomly saying, "Oh no, Pegge." For the life of me, I couldn't figure out why. My best guess was that you'd had a secret conference call with your grandmother about how the Democrats were one day going to steal your inheritance, and as a result you'd been reduced to moping around the house, shaking your head and announcing, "Oh no, Pegge!"

MYSTERY #2 - When we'd leave the house, you'd yell, "How big dey are!" Your dad and I would always ask, "How big what is?" only to have you repeat - louder - "HOW BIG DEY ARE!" the way some people shout at folks who speak a foreign language, thinking that instead of being Swedish, the person across from them is actually hearing impaired. Your dad and I must have guessed every component of the car and every item in the front yard without ever discovering the "big" things you were referring to.

It turns out that the answers were waiting for me in my iPod Touch:

When I got the mysteries solved, I was so elated you would have thought I'd mastered The DaVinci Code. Actually, that's a bad comparison because I was so busy rolling my eyes through that movie that I've already forgotten what the big secret was at the end... although I remember it being something about how organized religion could stand to be a little nicer to girls.

Now, to celebrate my victory, why don't you sing us a little ditty for a grand finale?

Yeah, I've always thought those letters after "T" were just extraneous, too.

Love,

Mom