(The Washington Post story is here. The performance was a year and a half ago, but I missed hearing about it. And almost everyone else just plain missed it.)

“I have learned this at least by my experiment: if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.“ — Thoreau

(BOLDLY STOLEN from Mrs. Flinger. Thanks, Leslie. I’m keeping that one in mind as I head back to school.)

* You made a really nice new friend today, and her kid is nice, too. Chances are her husband is cool as well and dang, that’s the whole family, not one psycho killer in sight. Plus you have the whole Melrose Place connection and that is pretty alright. Now remember to call them.

* Try not to forget to go back to work next week.

* The kids don’t go back to school as early as you do, though, so don’t forget to put them somewhere.

* Somewhere safe.

* Not the tavern.

* Feed the cats.

* And the fish.

* Not to each other, fun as that might be.

* Cook dinner.

* Pick beans.

* Hang out the laundry.

* And maybe iron a blouse? For work? Which starts next week?

* Yeah.

OK, I’ll give it a go… Steve did his according to Thelonious Monk.

Pick an artist, try not to repeat any titles, go! Do one, if you’d like, and leave me the link in comments.

Pick your Artist:
Kelly Willis

Are you a male or female:
That’ll Be Me

Describe yourself:
Get Real

How do you feel:
Bang, Bang

Describe where you currently live:
Cradle of Love

If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
That’s How I Got To Memphis

Your favorite form of transportation:
River of Love

Your best friend is:
Little Honey

You and your best friends are:
Up All Night

What’s the weather like:
Whatever Way The Wind Blows

If your life was a TV show, what would it be called:
Heaven’s Just A Sin Away

What is life to you:
Sincerely (Too Late To Turn Back Now)

Your relationship:
Reason To Believe

Your fear:
Fading Fast

What is the best advice you have to give:
Wait Until Dark

Thought for the Day:
Wrapped

How I would like to die:
One More Night

My soul’s present condition:
Happy With That

My motto:
You Can’t Take It With You

Reviewed today:

It’s happened. I’ve finally found a book by Marge Piercy that I like even more than “Woman on the Edge of Time” and “Gone to Soldiers.” And I loved those books — they’re both on my top 15 list of my favorite books of all time. In “Sex Wars, A Novel of Gilded Age New York” (Harper Perennial, $14.95, 411 pages), Piercy gives us a novel set, roughly, from 1862-1916. I’ve always been fascinated by the period around and between the Civil War and the First World War. Must be all those readings of “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn,” or my mom’s family’s obsession (and my unwillingness to get on board) with the Civil War. Piercy did a slam-bang job with historical accuracy, and has gifted us with a novel that features Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Victoria Woodhull and her sister, Tennessee “Tennie” Claflin and their clan, Susan B. Anthony, Anthony Comstock, and my new favorite fictional heroine, Freydeh Levin, who refuses to let life’s circumstances kick her ass.

Such a good book, I loved it. It’s sexy, it’s funny, it makes you understand the era in a whole new way. It’s as if Piercy time-traveled back to those days and let you sneak along, too. (Those of you who are fans of “Woman on the Edge of Time” know how well she handles a time-travel.) Great book, read it.

Dewey, Dewey, Dewey Readmore Books — awesome cat, awesome name. Who hasn’t heard the story of the fluffy orange kitty who was discovered in the library bookdrop one cold freezy morning in Spencer, Iowa, and went on to get local, national and international attention? Dewey’s story has now been committed to print in “Dewey, the Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World” (Grand Central Publishing, $19.99, 277 pages.) He lived in the library his whole life, bringing joy to the patrons and staff, but especially to the library director, Vicki Myron. Hers is an amazing success story, and this librarian was inspired by her no-nonsense approach, her chutzpah and her wisdom. (You will find the library’s website here.)

Ms. Myron’s motto:

“Find your place. Be happy with what you have. Treat everyone well. Live a good life. It isn’t about material things; it’s about love. And you can never anticipate love.”

Perfect. I love a good animal story, I must be honest here. This one was extra-satisfying.

I was hoping they’d do this, and they did! A young readers’ version of Dewey’s story will be released soon. (That’s what you get when you have a librarian in charge of things. Smiles.)

You’ve got yer “Daring Book for Girls,” yer “Wisdom and Wonder Pocket Daring Book for Girls,” yer “Pocket Daring Book for Girls, Things to Do,” and now comes the “Double-Daring Book for Girls” (Andrea J. Buchanan & Miriam Peskowitz, Collins Books, $18, 277 pages). Wacky Girl sez: “I like these ‘Daring’ books, they’re very good. Especially for when you’re bored.” And that, my friends, is high praise for a 10-year-old. Her favorite sections were the ones on jokes, art, and “making stuff,” like Japanese lanterns, sand castles, scarecrows and all kinds of cool projects. Here is their homepage.

“There’s fun stuff, uh-huh. It’s just fun.”

We took the book out in the yard with us when we were star-gazing last week — pretty cool.

Happy Thursday, and adieu.

— WM

Sideshow Bob: “Homer, think carefully. Of all the people you have known, who might have reason to do you ill?”
Homer: “Hmm, well there’s Mr. Burns, Fat Tony, the emperor of Japan, ex-president Bush…”
Marge: “…the late Frank Grimes…”
Homer: “…PBS, Stephen Hawking, the fat little Dixie Chick…”
Marge: “…and the state of Florida.”

— from Episode 297, “The Great Louse Detective”

For real. An Arnold Palmer consists of the following three items:

1) ice
2) lemonade
3) iced tea

The busgirl at lunch brought me a refill, only she just brought iced tea, not with lemonade. That’s fine, I’m cool with that, too. I handed it to my daughter (we always share, unlike my son, who doesn’t want any girl germs, no returns). She started to squeeze the lemon in, then looked at me suspiciously. I’m all, what?

The waiter panics, tells the busgirl it was an Arnold Palmer, oh my God she brought me the wrong drink! and swaps it out. (I didn’t even say anything, okay? Damn. Good service.) Wacky Girl gives me a sideways look, again.

What?

“Is there vodka in this?”

“Honey, it’s an Arnold Palmer, no.”

My mom, “What’s an ‘Arnold Palmer,’ anyway?” She’s all, Sister from Another Planet, my mom. What is this iced tea/lemonade of which you speak? What are capers? What is marinara, exactly? You’re leaving for the beach right now? When did you plan this, anyway? Just now? What?

Etc.

“Iced tea and lemonade.”

My daughter: “And vodka.”

“There is no vodka in there!” (I shove the drink at my mom.) “Here, try it!”

“Uh-uh, not if there’s vodka in it.” She and my daughter look at each other, knowingly.

“Baby. Would I give you vodka?”

My baby: “No. Yes. Maybe?”

It’s enough to make you mix a drink.

Reviewed today:

Sophie Kinsella is good. Good plotting, good characters, good reading. (And not just summer reading, either. She gets a rep for that because of her popular “Shopaholic” series, but I like to read her year round.) I loved “Remember Me?” even though I just dug through my archives and it looks like I forgot to review it. Whoops.

Her new one, “Twenties Girl,” (Dial Press) is a lot of fun. The set-up: a 20s-something woman, Lara Lington, who is in work and love trouble, is required to attend the funeral of her 105-year-old great-auntie, Sadie. Sadie, you would think, would be occupied. Being dead and all. But no — she is at the funeral (but seen only by Lara) and demanding to know the whereabouts of her necklace. Good reading.

Judy Blume’s latest, “Friend or Fiend?” (Delacorte Press, $12.99, 109 pages) stars two of my favorite Blume characters, the Pain and the Great One, aka first-grade Jake and third-grade Abigail. They still aren’t getting along that well, but they’re having a lot of fun, anyway. Blume also gives us the backstory of one Fluzzy, the cat the siblings fight over. What happened on that dark and stormy night? We enjoyed this one a lot at our house, especially the New York scenes with the Pain and the Great Ones hideous cousins. Perfect for readers up to fourth- or fifth-grade.

“Monsterology” (by Dr. Ernest Drake, edited by Dugald A. Steer, Candlewick Press, $19.99)… where do I start with the “‘Ology” books? We have several of them at our house, and enjoy them all. They’re big, they’re fancy, they’re not too expensive, and they’re not too precious. By that I mean — even with the fold-out maps, the “samples” of amber, hippogriff feathers, the “scrap of spell-casting parchment for attracting mermaids” and all the other oodles of goodies — they’re still usable. You can play with them, pore over them, really use and learn from them and they don’t (easily) fall apart at the seams. I like that in a book, especially a fancy one.

This one features several of Wacky Boy’s favorites: the Loch Ness Monster, the Hippogriff, the Mermaids and Mermen. We like the Griffins. We appreciate the “challenges to the charlatans.” And the map of “Fabulous Creatures of the World”? Fabulous. Nice work, team.

“I struggle with enormous discrepancies: between the reality of motherhood and the image of it, between my love for my home and the need to travel, between the varied and seductive paths of the heart. The lessons of impermanence, the occasional despair and the muse, so tenuously moored, all visit their needs upon me and I dig deeply for the spiritual utilities that restore me: my love for the place, for the one man left, for my children and friends and the great green pulse of spring.” – photographer Sally Mann – “Still Time” catalogue

(Got this off Facebook, my new muse… wm)

OK, you know I love Dooce and Jon, and I think they are really hilarious almost every day. The other days they just break my heart, or, alternately, show me cute baby pix. But this is the funniest ever, of Chuck-Chuck-Bo-Buck and his forbidden lover.