See King Tut for Free This Weekend, Courtesy of Target
King Tut is in the news again this week. While it seems he had some pretty miserable health problems, he also had a lot of really beautiful and amazing stuff, much of which is on view through March 28, 2010 at San Francisco's de Young Museum. If you haven't seen the show yet, this weekend may be the time to do so, because it's free! That's right, this Saturday and Sunday, February 20 and 21, admission to Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs will be absolutely free, courtesy of the generous folks at Target
The only catch is that the free tickets to see Tut are handed out on a first-come, first-served basis, and a limited number of people can go through the exhibition each day. Expect the free tickets to be gone early in the day. There's a limit of four tickets per adult, and tickets will be timed and dated. The museum box office will open at 8:30 am on Saturday and Sunday; the first exhibition entry is at 9 am.
Stark Ravens Historical Players present Panto! The Musical Fairy Tale Adventure on February 13, 14, 20, and 21, at the Little Theater on the Drake High School campus, 1327 Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in San Anselmo. Matinee show times are 11:30 am and 2:30 pm Saturdays and Sundays.
After over a month of happily swimming around his little tank—and eating all his fellow tankmates in the process—our lone surviving Aquasaur has finally shuffled off this mortal coil to the great vernal pool in the sky. He had a pretty good run, I guess. Most triops have a lifespan of between 14 and 50 days, so our guy was pretty much smack in the middle. Some Methuselahs of the triops world have been known to kick around for up to 90 days or so, but this one wasn't one of them. Regardless, they're not exactly the pets for those who get overly attached. They are, however, ideal for those who are afraid of long-term pet committment.
Our advertiser Stephanie Mohan of Creative Portraiture is offering an annual Spring Portrait Special for 2010! Between Sunday, February 28 and Saturday, March 6, she's offering a special $50 sitting fee and 50% off print prices (if ordered by March 20).
Marin mom and entrepreneur Marjun Biernath looked back to her native Germany when trying to find a business niche here in the US. She imports unique, handmade, and educational Kumquats puppets from Europe to sell to lucky families in both the Bay Area and throughout the country.
(134 pages, $10.95), by Marin County father and author Gary Kleiman, is exactly the parenting book I wish would have written. It's funny, comforting, useful, and profound, and if you're a hands-on, inquisitive dad or a dad to be, it should be required reading. (I only wish that Gary published it six years ago so I had it when my first child was born.)
When last we checked in our formerly dehydrated Devonian friends, 
, a large number of them were swimming merrily around their small plastic tank. They were all either larvae—almost invisible to the naked eye—or babies back then, in what was to be in hindsight a better time. You can see (barely) three of the baby aquasaurs in the photo to the left. OK, it's an extremely craptacular photo, but the lighting and reflections from the tank make focusing and metering hard. And I guess a good 
San Francisco's 
One of the things I take great pride in is our daily habit of settling down at the end of the day and reading for at least a half hour. This is something I've done with both my children since they were old enough to sit up and look like they were paying attention. I think it's partly responsible for the fact that my son is a pretty advanced reader for his age, too. It's also responsible for helping to instill the idea that reading is a fun form of entertainment, as well as a necessary life skill. It also gives my wife a priceless daily moment of "me time" after being around two small kids all day.
series of books by 