I took a twenty mile bike ride along the trails and roads around our neighborhood. I found myself keeping track of all the birds I saw along the way and saw 21 different species. Better than a bird a mile.

Great Blue Heron… flying over the creek, slow and beautiful

Snowy Egret… trailing the heron by a few minutes

Great Egret… swooping over the lake and landing

Green Heron… hunting along the edges of the lake. I wasn’t sure what he was. I had to call and leave a description on the answering machine so I could ID him when I got home

Common Grackle, Great-tailed Grackle, European Starling… foraging in a field near a basketball court

Northern Mockingbird… everywhere; it is the state bird after all

Northern Cardinal… until today I had only seen these guys at feeders, but today they were everywhere along one trail

Inca Dove, Mourning Dove, White-winged Dove… they have a trail where they’re the only birds I see

Purple Martin, Barn Swallow… martins in the sky, swallows along the ground, all patrolling the same trail

Blue Jay, House Sparrow… everywhere

American Crow… small flock congregating in the middle of a country road, flew off when I approached… kaw-kaw

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher…. watching from the power lines

Mallard, Muscovy Duck, Swans… feral domestic breeds hanging around the local duck ponds

And that’s just what I could ID as I blazed by on my bike. I know I saw a few that I couldn’t place, particularly sparrows.

Damn, what a collection of catchy tunes and cool cuts the old ‘pod spit out this time.

*’s by the ones I’ve seen live…

1. “Kiss Off” - Violent Femmes* - Violent Femmes
2. “Bill and Ben” - Catherine Wheel* - Ferment
3. “Transmission” - Joy Division - Substance
4. “Vitamin K” - Scala - Slow Death in the Metronome Factory
5. “Sparkle” - Phish* - Rift
6. “She Sells Sanctuary” - The Cult - High Octane Cult
7. “Bookends” - Simon & Garfunkel - Simon & Garfunkel’s Greatest Hits
8. “Nightclub Jitters” - The Replacements - Pleased to Meet Me
9. “Flat Backin’” - Brother Jack McDuff* - Moon Rappin’
10. “Tohu Bohu” - The Slip* - Does

I don’t know how many times I saw the Violent Femmes back at Liberty Lunch before it became the Austin City Hall, but rockin’ shows was a far better use of the space.

I saw the Catherine Wheel at the Bomb Factory in Dallas back in ‘93. Matthew Sweet, The Lemonheads and Tony Bennett (yes, you read that right, Tony Bennett) were also on the bill. The Catherine Wheel opened with a very cool rendition of Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here.” Bennett did not cover the Floyd, but he was really good.

I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Phish, but I always loved them. The last few shows, though, they sounded like a reincarnation of Zappa and the Mothers. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing.

I had a chance to see The Replacements on the All Shook Down tour. I figured I’d catch them the next time. Stupid me. I learned my lesson, though. Perhaps that’s why I drove 2000 miles to see the Grateful Dead when I began to worry that Jerry wasn’t going to be around much longer.

Brother Jack McDuff’s Moon Rappin’ is one of the very best jazz funk organ albums ever. It’s up there with Jimmy Smith’s amazing Root Down. In ‘99 I knew that Hitler and Jesus were the ones cut from the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. That knowledge won me tickets to an organ summit where Brother McDuff, Smith and Jimmy McGriff were all playing. McDuff and Smith have since died.

The Slip was an ACL Fest discovery a few years back. They impressed me enough to buy three CDs.

Theories of Relativity by Barbara Haworth-Attard is another of the young adult books I took home from my classroom for the summer.

I have a lot of students pick up books, read a few pages, sometimes a few chapters, get bored and try another book. None of them get bored with this one. It’s about a kid named Dylan who lives on the street in a big northern city. The author is Canadian so I suspect it’s a Canadian city, although I kept imagining Cleveland. Never been there, so I don’t know why, but there it is.

Wherever it is, life is tough. Dylan is a smart kid - he likes to read about Einstein - and he doesn’t want to be on the street. Everyone from pimps to pushers wants to recruit him, and they offer him some deals, but Dylan wants to maintain his independence and his freedom, things tantamount to suicide in his world. Some adults want to help him, but his pride interferes. He’s a kid with no hope and no chance.

The characters are lively and believeable and the situations that Dylan finds himself in are downright disconcerting. Theories of Relativity falls into a category of books that I call “problem books” in that they attempt to educate young readers about very real problems for which there are no easy solutions. Perhaps reading this might give some kids hope and others compassion. Or, perhaps, a few hours of being entertained by a solid modern story. I guess it’s win-win.

George has memed me.

The Rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. (You’re not the boss of me!)
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

The Eight Facts:

1. Five years ago, I painted the entire interior of our old house (including trim) and even hung crown moulding. I’m painting the interior of the new house now. It hurts more this time.
2. I’m 113 pages into my next novel. It’s been called Right of Way and also A Short Time to Be There. I plan to have it finished by early July. It feels about a third of the way done.
3. I was born in Newport, Rhode Island. I did my first three years of high school there. Despite that, I really don’t care much for lobster. Of course, I don’t like cockroaches either. But I do like crabs despite the fact that I don’t like spiders. Go figure.
4. I’m not psychic, but one night in May 1995, I was listening to a Dead Hour and I knew Jerry Garcia wasn’t going to be around much longer. I convinced my girlfriend (now my wife) and two friends (who chickened out) to drive from Austin to Washington, DC to see the Dead at RFK Stadium that June. We went. It was awesome. Jerry died two months later.
5. I have a bachelor’s degree in film production and an MA in screenwriting. Despite that, I rarely watch movies anymore. Maybe it’s because for the life of me I can’t figure out why anyone still makes movies now that Lord of the Rings has been made. Perfection was achieved. Let’s move on.
6. The first rock concert I ever saw was a Cheap Trick show in Naples, Italy. I had no idea who they were, and I still don’t.
7. For the past three weeks U2’s Unforgettable Fire has been in my car. I’ve had it for years, I’ve always liked it, but for some reason all of a sudden, it’s all I want to listen to. Over and over again. I’ll do that until it gets old again.
8. My favorite snack is a tortilla with cheese melted on it (in the microwave) with some Vietnamese Túóng Ót Sriracha sauce (red sauce with a rooster on the bottle) slathered all over it. Side of peanuts and a glass of cold water.

The Eight Victims:

1. Heather
2. Jessica
3. Iowa Greyhound
4. Ironicus
5. Panthergirl
6. Mark
7. Danigirl 
8. Anyone who reads this post

Nyah-nyah-nayh

The pups are loving this whole summer vacation thing.

Out. In. Out. In. Out. Try to get heat exhaustion and win a trip to animal emergency. In. Out. In.

Fortunately, I keep them in so that doesn’t happen.

Of course, then it’s playplayplayplayplayBARKBARKplayplayplay.

And that’s just fine.

***

Want to make a fast friend by saving a greyhound in Central Texas? Check these pups out. Or go here to find a greyhound near you. You can also go here to find out why greyhounds are running for their lives.

If you have dogs who need proven leadership, go here to find a cat.

Everyone wanted to stay out of my way while I was taking this picture. I suppose they didn’t want to ruin it, but legs walking by was what I wanted. I probably shot 100 images of people walking by, but these two were the winners - if having your legs show up on some random blog can be called winning - for being where I wanted them in the frame. The little heart tattoo on the one woman’s ankle is pretty cool, too.

I haven’t actually been to the Elephant Room in a very long time, which is a shame because I really like it there. Good jazz, and lots of places to sit.

But the music plays forward. *’s by them what I’ve caught live…

1. “The Jury” - Morphine* - Yes
2. “Swamp Thing” - The Chameleons - Live at the Academy
3. “Inner City Life” - Goldie - Trainspotting #2
4. “Muzzle of Bees” - Wilco* - A Ghost is Born
5. “Youth Oriented” - Happy Apple - Youth Oriented
6. “New White Kross” - Sonic Youth* - Dirty (Deluxe Ed.)
7. “Gouge Away (Live)” - Pixies* - Death to the Pixies
8. “Have a Cigar” - Pink Floyd* - Wish You Were Here
9. “Once Upon a Time” - The Pogues - Waiting for Herb
10. “Walking in My Shoes” - Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion

So there you have it.

Walking around downtown last week, I found myself focusing on the details of things. The colors and shapes that when added together make up whole buildings and even a city.

Windows are full of mystery. Things happen behind them that we can only imagine. Of course imagination creates far more interesting scenarios than reality.

Not every window will have something exciting going on behind it.

Sometimes, the only thing behind the window is a piece of wood.

I have a whole set of Lois Lowry’s young adult novel Number the Stars in my classroom, which is why it’s one of the books I brought home for my summer reading.

The story takes place in Denmark in 1943. Word gets out that the Nazis will be relocating all of Denmark’s Jews, and ten-year-old Annemarie Johnsen and her family take in Annemarie’s best friend and neighbor, Ellen, who is a Jew.

During the Nazi occupation of Denmark the Danes helped nearly all of Denmark’s Jews escape to Sweden and Number the Stars is a fictional version of that larger story centered around one child on whom many people’s lives come to depend.

The best thing about the book is the way Lowry evokes place. I have never been to Denmark, but Lowry’s descriptions of the small fishing village across the water from Sweden became as vivid as my own memories.

I also get hung up on weird details such as the apparently true ruse the fishermen used to fool the Nazi dogs so they wouldn’t smell the human cargo. A powder made of dried blood and cocaine would be sprinkled on something the dogs would smell. The blood would attract the dogs, and the cocaine would temporarily destroy their sense of smell. I’m not sure what it says about me that that detail is what sticks out from a moving and well-written book about human courage, but there it is.

Since I already have a class set, I’ll probably use this one next year with my younger students. My high schoolers will stick with Elie Wiesel’s Night.

I’ve never read The Outsiders (but it is in the Summer Bucket) so Rumble Fish is my first SE Hinton novel. It’s one of the many in my classroom and it’s relatively popular among the kids, but it was recommended to me by one of the staff who read it as a kid growing up in the Bay Area. Turns out everyone at my school who grew up there in the seventies had to read it.

It’s about a junior high kid named Rusty-James, the toughest kid on a tough street, who loves to fight and wants to be in a gang like his older brother, The Motorcycle Boy, once was.

Rusty-James narrates, and he tells of a few days in which he gets in a knife fight and the Motorcycle Boy comes back to town. Rusty-James idolizes the Motorcycle Boy, an idealized older kid who has it all from street smarts to book smarts with good looks and a rep for being a seriously dangerous dude. The Motorcyle Boy can do anything with his life, but he doesn’t want to do anything. Naturally, Rusty-James only sees the Motorcycle Boy’s rep and wants to be just like him.

SE Hinton does a nice job evoking a rundown urban wasteland full of kids going nowhere fast whose only hope seems to be in maintaining a tough enough rep to stay alive. It’s a pretty bleak look at the all-too-real problem of kids growing up without dreams or any kind of vision of what life could be like, and in Rusty-James’s idealized view of the Motorcycle Boy we see the peril of choosing the wrong heroes.

This is one I’ll probably consider having my kids read next year. It has a very nice (perhaps I should say “nicely written” since it’s not really very ‘nice’) ending, which I won’t spoil, and besides it’s a really good character piece.

I think my students will be able to relate to this as well since so many of them are on the same dark road to nowhere as Rusty-James. Who knows maybe one or two will see in Rusty-James’s story a life they might themselves avoid.