Marc Tyler Nobleman's Blog, page 140

Great ideas for schools #12: Book club and grub

On Guam, I learned of a program that ran for several years. I don't know what they called it, but I'd call it Book Club Plus.

The idea was this: every month, the Guam chapter of the International Reading Association chose a book club book that included a meal of some kind. The meal would not have be a big part of the book, just enough to be noticeable.

The monthly get-together would take place at the Hard Rock Cafe. The kids would not only discuss the book but share a meal—the meal from the book they'd just read, specially prepared by the restaurant.

Linking reading and eating is but one way such a book club could go. The club could vary the Plus part every month. It could be read a book about baseball, then play baseball before discussing. Or read a book about someone who gets sick, then volunteer reading to kids at a hospital before discussing. The possibilities are as vast as book choices themselves.

Baskin-Robbins' 31 Favors

1. Surely the Health Commission doesn't want to be bothered about one little rat.

2. We can escort you to your car if you find another customer to watch the register.

3. Swing by in winter, too. We do have heating, you know.

4. Try our new B-r-r-reakfast B-r-r-rurito. Maybe you'll disagree with the focus groups.

5. When slipping on spilled malts, throw up your arms to protect your head on impact.

6. The tip cup is for tipping, not spitting. It may seem obvious but you'd be surprised.

7. Refrain from bringing your own meat-based toppings.

8. Not another sundae. They're such a pain.

9. Be patient. We're still reviewing your suggestion to add rum to non-raisin flavors.

10. If we accidentally sell you one of the fake cakes, return it after your practical joke.

11. Understand that because we provide them gloves, our staff isn't required to wash their hands.

12. We'll stay open a half-hour later than Starbucks as long as you don't trash the place.

13. Shirts and shoes are required for service, meaning you must be wearing them.

14. Yes, pants too.

15. Before holding us up, consider that fudge sauce binds most of our bills together.

16. Have pity on our Deuce Bigelow-fat Sweet Cream. We never get the good licenses.

17. Note that ice cream samples are still free but we now charge $0.99 per taster spoon.

18. Remember that we're closer than select Häagen-Dazs.

19. Wipe off sticky fingers before touching restroom door handles and toilet seats.

20. When deciding where to get your RDA of trans fats, keep us in mind.

21. Enough with the "Does the ice cream cost only 31 cents? Har har!"

22. Order Rainbow Sherbet every once in a while. We always make too much.

23. Don't ask again about vanilla and French vanilla. We also don't know the difference.

24. Don't ask to speak with Mr. Baskin or Mr. Robbins. One or both may be deceased.

25. Don't flick ice cream when in the store. Parking lot is okay.

26. You didn't see anything unusual in the Dumpster out back, right?

27. Ask us about our month-old ice cream specials.

28. Excuse the blinding pink.

29. Don't forget the hyphen.

30. Enter our contest to come up with the 31st favor!

Less cool

Because it's become so trendy to admit you're a geek—and because you can now be a geek of things that were formally "too cool" (a sports geek, an organic food geek, etc.)—the word has lost a lot of its meaning.



So there's an opening for a word to describe people with south-of-mainstream taste. (Nerd doesn't qualify.)



While you mull over that, mull over this: over the years I've come to notice that, whatever else I am, I am also a certain subset of geek—someone who tends to prefer the weaker, lamer, less edgy, or simply less cool member of a famous pair.



It started, appropriately, with me preferring vanilla to chocolate. But in pop culture terms:



Superman vs. Batman – I like Superman better

DC Comics vs. Marvel Comics – DC

Beatles vs. Rolling Stones – Beatles

John Lennon vs. Paul McCartney – McCartney

Fonzie vs. Richie – Richie

Simpsons vs. South Park – Simpsons

Brandon vs. Dylan (90210) – Dylan

Seinfeld vs. Friends – Friends

Bruce Springsteen vs. Billy Joel – Joel (I don't think many actually size up these two together but at least once I did read a comparison)

The Empire Strikes Back vs. Return of the Jedi – Jedi



This brings me to one pair in which I do prefer the cooler of the two:



Luke Skywalker vs. Han Solo



I trust you can guess which is which.



If you can add any such pairs to the list, please do so in the Comments.

Going, going, Guam, part 4 of 4

Part 3.

Snorkeling with one of my kind hosts Vickie and (not pictured) her husband Richard:


[image error] Walking out to the island:

Once there, a paddleboarder who passed by took a few photos for me, one with the (pink) hotel I walked from in the distance and another with part of the (very small) island in the background. In both, my shirt shows how high the low tide was.

[image error]
Halfway back:

Robin three times...twice for Halloween

The character I dressed up as the most for Halloween was Superman (three times); Robin comes in second, at two; I do have a third image of me as Robin, but from summer. (I was Robin this often in part because I delusionally thought I resembled him; hence Batman didn't even place.)



circa 1980; note the inventive color choices



[image error] 1988



last night; just kidding—today; just kidding—1995

Candy sequels

[image error] © Nickelodeon; no reuse without permission.

Creepy labels

© Nickelodeon; no reuse without permission.

Second two weeks of October

Strange.

Like many authors, my travel schedule is erratic. I go weeks or sometimes a month or more without having to get on a plane or even a car for school visits or conferences.

Yet three times in the past four years, I've been away for work for two weeks straight.

And all three times, for no discernible reason, have been the second two weeks of October (which so happen to be my favorite two weeks of the year to be in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic).

In 2008, I was in San Francisco and Ohio (mostly Cleveland).

In 2010, I was in Houston.

In 2011, I was in Guam.

The second two trips were similar in a way beyond the heat. Both were completely organized for me by my kind hosts, from scheduling each school to arranging volunteers to pick me up for and drop me off after each engagement. All I had to remember to do was set my alarm and bring my flash drive.

Being away on speaking tours for fourteen days is both a rush and a challenge for obvious reasons, but in each case, my hosts have made the experience as rewarding as possible.

Going, going, Guam, part 3 of 4

Part 2.

I just completed my second week, 26th and final school, and 30th hour of talking on Guam. Below are glimpses. I ship out obscenely early tomorrow. But first, I want to share glimpses of a Guam I do not know—Guam after a typhoon.

The weather during my time was mostly fine—always humid and regularly sunny with brief, often intense jags of rain each day. Often, when coming out of an hourlong school presentation, I found that the precipitation situation was the opposite of what it had been when I'd gone in.

Nicole, one of the kind souls who volunteered to drive me from school to school, told me of Super Typhoon Pamela (1976), when she was seven years old. Its high winds knocked out power...and it was not restored for six months.

After the storm passed, people islandwide barbecued so as not to let meat go to waste. With charcoal sold out, Nicole's mother asked Nicole's brother if she could burn his Lincoln Logs; he said yes. Nicole's father would bring back buckets of water from the ocean to flush their toilets.

I'm told the people of Guam experience a super-sized storm roughly every 10-12 years, but the infrastructure has improved since Pamela, so the situations Nicole's family encountered may not be as prevalent going forward.

I did experience one weather-related incident. At one of the three schools on my last day, an unusual circumstance caused one presentation to start slightly late. It had begun to lightning shortly before I arrived. Because some of the classroom doors at this school were metal and because they opened to the outside, the administration waited till the storm passed to let the students out of the classrooms.

Somewhat randomly: There is no AC on Guam. There is only "air con." (To clarify, they don't use the abbreviation "AC" for "air conditioning.")

I love this note so much. Especially the cryptic "octopus."

Many of the kids wore headbands with this custom logo
they designed for me. They also sang for me!

Just your above-average tie weaved out of leaves.

[image error]
Each member of this class displayed her/his favorite activity from
365 Things to Do Before You Grow Up on a small placard.

[image error]
[image error] The above two images show cartoons kids made in response to
my two books called Vocabulary Cartoon of the Day.

"Hafa Adai" is "hello" in the language of the native Chamorros.
This banner incorporates three of my books and a portrait of me.
The kids (and educators) of Guam go above and beyond
in welcoming guests. Here are more:

Illustration based on an image from Boys of Steel:
The Creators of Superman.





[image error] Goals inspired by 365 Things to Do Before You Grow Up.

[image error] At one school, the principal gets on a mic and hosts
something like a pep rally every morning; the kids line the
outdoor halls surrounding the courtyard where she stands.
Due to this formation and their enthusiasm, it reminded me of
a gladiatorial spectacle, but without all the mauling.

What an inventive way to reinforce math.

For a relatively small island, Guam is hugely generous.
The schools showered me with gifts including dozens of necklaces,
numerous boxes of traditional chocolates, sixteen T-shirts,
four wooden latte stone carvings, and many other
honors, trinkets, and treats.
The above shot captures only part of the booty!

Part 4.

Pre-dawn interview on ABC

In Eastern Maryland for several speaking engagements on 10/3/11, I gave a short interview on ABC affiliate WMDT. It was all over by 6:20 a.m., so you will get a full serving of my morning voice.