"For Milo, who knows the way."

The Onion AV Club does a feature called Q&A where the various writers answer a question posed by either a staff member or a reader. The most recent installment of Q&A, "Families and Art," had the writers listing the works of art and culture that their parents passed onto them, and what they're going to make sure to pass onto their children. I liked the discussion and want to try it here; so here is the list of stuff my family made sure I appreciated, and some of the stuff I'm going to make sure my kids are introduced to.

Thanks, Family, for these Things:

1. The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster. I just... it's so... the English language does not contain the words to accurately describe how much I love this book. I can't remember how old I was when I first read it, or even if my mom read it to me first, but I can remember my mom handing it to me and saying that it had been one of my dad's favorite books. It's just so amazing - Tock, Digitopolis, Dictionopolis, the princesses, and Milo, surly unhappy disaffected Milo who ends up saving the day in spite of himself.


2. Full Moon Fever, by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Part of my Sunday morning ritual growing up, I'd wake up to the sound of Tom Petty wailing about not backing down and the murmur of my mom's voice as she puttered around the kitchen. Later in the afternoon my best friend would come over and we'd put on the CD again, jumping off the sofa whenever Tom cried out "and I'm free, free fallin'!" No one broke any bones, surprisingly.

3. Mozart's Requiem. My grandmother used to play this for me. Not necessarily the happiest of music choices for a young girl, but amazing nonetheless.

4. Sound of Music. Another grandmother speciality - we'd watch it whenever I'd stay over at her house. My bedtime usually came and passed during the intermission (when you put in the second VHS, 'natch) and she'd forget to make me go to bed because she was caught up in the drama of Maria and Captain Von Trapp. And what about the teenage Nazi?!


5. The Never-Ending Story. I actually hated the book, but my brother bribed me into reading it, which taught me the importance of bargaining. And I later put those skills to good use with my grandmother and a copy of Gone with the Wind, so hey, good lesson.

6. Star Trek: The Next Generation. Thanks, Isaac, for preparing me for a life-time of geekery by getting me hooked on the deep space adventures of a bald man and his devoted crew. I had the biggest crush on Wesley Crusher EVER. I'm blushing just thinking about it.


Get Ready, Hypothetical Future Children, Here's What's Coming:

1. Illinois, by Sufjan Stevens. It's about America! And Illinois! And Lincoln! And he plays a million instruments! My future hypothetical children are going to be forced to listen to the entire Sufjan Stevens discography but Illinois will get an extra few rotations.


2. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon. I used to re-read this book once a year, until I lost my copy. I need to get a new one, but I'm putting it off because it won't be dog-eared in all the right places like my old copy. I'm very resistant to change.

3. Singin' in the Rain. I actually didn't see this classic musical until the end of high school, but now whenever I'm feeling blue I know that I can just pop the DVD in to my computer and instantly feel better. Debbie Reynolds is adorable, Gene Kelly is gorgeous (of course) but my favorite actor in the whole movie will always be Donald O'Connor. The faces he makes? Priceless.


4. The Ordinary Princess, by M.M. Kaye. A book about the seventh daughter of the King and Queen of a fantastical kingdom who, upon birth, is given the "gift" or ordinariness by her ornery fairy godmother. Probably the best book out there for an awkward, nerdy young girl (with the obvious exception of Catherine Called Birdy, another fabulous children's book starring a forthright heroine in an unlikely setting.)

5. All seven of the Harry Potter books. This is obvious, so I think no further explanation is needed.

6. Veronica Mars, Seasons 1 -3. This will obviously be introduced to my hypothetical future children once they are old enough to appreciate a) the perils of high school, and b) the beauty of detective noir. Veronica is just like Nancy Drew, if Nancy had to deal with dead best friends, roofies, and a Ned Nickerson who might have date-raped her or started a gang-war. Not to mention, of course, class warfare and a dizzying high school hierarchy.



What say you? Anything passed onto you that you're thankful for, or something that you're going to make sure your kids get? Share it with the class!

Like two ships passing in the night

I was home in California last week celebrating the time-honored holiday of "No Bread For You, Jews", and while in transit on the way back I had some time to kill in the Oakland airport. Figuring "hey, a bit of food-torture wouldn't go amiss," I wandered over to an airport bookstore/newsstand/thing and meandered around all the candy bars and Cokes that I couldn't buy (because they have corn syrup, which is made from corn, which can be used like flour, which makes it an ersatz bread product, which makes it a banned substance on Passover, and sometimes I think my religion is actively trying to make me a neurotic mess).

But anyway, I'm lurking around the magazines when suddenly a guy walks into my range of vision who I vaguely recognize. But from where? I'm scouring my mind, trying to think of everyone I went to high school with. Maybe he was the guy with the locker next to mine? Or copied off me in Calculus? (Which was a stupid idea, Guy who Copied off Me in Calculus... after the C you got on the first test it should have become clear that despite my nerdy glasses and general know-it-all attitude, numbers and I obviously do not get along.) And suddenly it hit me - I'm pretty sure I'd seen him on TV!



My first brush with fame: the guy who plays Morgan Grimes on Chuck! A show that very few people watch. And the character is a lame slacker who works at a Best Buy-esque electronics store. But I refuse to let the details of this encounter ruin it for me!

There is also the possibility that this person wasn't the guy who plays Morgan, but rather a regular Joe who just happens to look a lot like him. I'm also choosing to ignore that potential situation. I suppose I could have asked, but a) if it wasn't him, that would have ruined the experience for me, and b) I was at that very moment salivating over cheetos and clutching an US Weekly in my hand, so it might have been an awkward encounter.

Be still my heart

That is indeed the President of the United States of America reading "Where the Wild Things Are." And look, the book isn't upside down! This is major progress, folks.

Image via Jezebel, who got it from Getty.

Nobody knows the troubles I've seen

The problem with working in a costume collection filled with gorgeous designer clothes, antique ball gowns and avant-garde cutting edge fashion? I'm totally broke, and all I want to do is shop. I think I was sort of hoping that this internship would have the ice cream shop effect: you know, when you work at an ice cream parlor and get so sick of it that you never want to eat it again? Yeah, not so much. Why did nobody warn me about this?