First off Josh is going camping for four days and I need some playdates…what is everyone doing this weekend? (Mind if I tag along?)

A few great finds, one of them being the WalkScore. How does your neighborhood rate in walk compatibility? Do you live in a place where grocery stores, restaurants, and entertainment are just a few paces away from your front door? Or do you live in a neighborhood where you are required to get into a car and drive every time you want a gallon of milk? My neighborhood ranked 63 which translated as: Some Walkable Locations: Some stores and amenities are within walking distance, but many everyday trips still require a car. (Sam and Erin you live in the highest scored neighborhood I’ve checked; interestingly, my parents live in the lowest).
I also recently stumbled upon this really great local reading promo: The Seattle Public Library’s Adult Summer Reading Program! That’s right, you can get a $5 gift card at Starbucks for the first three books you read! I’ve been reading a lot lately and with the Rainier Beach Library a few blocks away I stop by constantly for kid’s books for Storybook Acting and adult books for myself. Here is a quick review of some great children’s reading:
1) I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean; A cocky squid brags to all the other fish about his immense size and is then eaten by a (much larger) whale. Only the oldest of my students got the moral: There is always someone bigger then you.

2) Dog Breath; A family’s pet dog, Hali Tosis, stinks! Luckily her bad breath helps capture a pair of robbers. Not much of a moral, but the kids enjoy acting out a stinky
dog.

3) The Story Of Ferdinand; You can’t deny the lovability of a bull who would rather sniff flowers then fight. To be honest: this is the book you pass to the fruity student who may have some bumps sniffing flowers along the way.

4) I Stink!; One of my new students brought this book in to share with the rest of the class. It is truly a work of art. In great detail it describes the day in the life of a rowdy garbage truck. This book describes the garbage he ‘eats’ in detail, from dog poo to dirty diapers. This isn’t a typical Storybook Acting book, but a great read-aloud.

5) Ugly Fish; I know, I know, again with the fish books. This has been the best Storybook Acting book EVER. An ugly fish rudely eats all the new fish in his tank. Eventually another big, ugly, fish shows up and eats him. The moral is not lost on any of these students: What goes around comes around! (And kids just love pretending to eat each other).

For adults, I’ve read the following:

1) Papa Married a Mormon is written by John D. Fitzgerald, author of the Great Brain series I read as a kid. His account of his parents meeting in Utah (mom a Mormon, dad a Catholic) in the late 1800’s is facinating. If you remember the Great Brain from childhood you’ll enjoy this book for adults.

2) The Road by Cormac McCarthy; Dear God, just SHOOT me, this book was so depressing. It takes place entirely in a post-apocalyptic world. Oprah swoons about how amazing the relationship between the father and his young son is; how they JUST KEEP GOING no matter what the obstacle. Crazy, half-alive, bandits eating babies because there’s no food left? Doesn’t matter, the love of a father and son will beat all odds…even though we don’t know WHY the earth is nothing but a burnt out shell and the bleakness never leaves this book…

3) At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon; The sweetest, slowest moving book ever. I read a few pages every night. It’s all about a tiny town in one of the Carolinas where there is no crime, no graffitti, no nothing…just a bunch of small town folk having random small town problems: Someone is breaking into the church and stealing the priest’s chicken sandwiches! Who should the widower, Doc Hoppy, marry? Will Barnabus, the dog, ever chill out other then when the priest shouts out random quotes from the bible? I have to admit, sometimes when I’m reading this book while listening to the sirens go by at night, I kinda wish I lived in Mitford.

4) Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie is extremely naughty. This is a graphic novel at its most sexually graphic. I had stumbled on a review of this book in the Stranger: Three women from fairytales (Alice in Wonderland, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, and Wendy from Peter Pan) are all grown up and have many a dirty story to tell. I checked this book out for the artwork…and the fifth. It’s pretty spectacular–but be prepared to be pretty damn shocked.