a few years ago, i was showing my daughter, liesl, my amazing ability to tie a knot in a maraschino cherry stem using only my tongue. i was pretty proud of my ability to complete this feat of strength and intelligence in about 20 or 30 seconds, on most attempts.

then liesl tried it, and my prowess was quickly lame.

she can consistently tie the knot in under 10 seconds. her record is 3 seconds. the other night, when my family surprised me with a birthday dinner at buca de beppo, liesl asked me to film her making an attempt. alas, she didn’t beat 3 seconds. but this video shows her doing it in 4.5 seconds.