Typical Day on the Road

July 2007

< - June 07 - July - August 07 - >

July 1

Not to be outdone by his younger wife, Dennis pedalled nearly 65 miles on his first leg of the bike tour -- 59 on the trail itself, and a few more in detours. He even arrived at the designated rendezvous site of Meyersdale, PA. more than an hour before the scheduled meetup time of 8:00. When he called Kimberly, she was still doing online work in Uniontown, but she arrived soon enough, while the Independence Day celebration was still going strong in the park (and we thought Sunday night was a rather odd time for it). A community band played a concert of patriotic songs, and they sounded quite sharp -- not sharp as in off-key, but sharp as in not dull. A military copter was on exhibit most of the evening, and it finally wowed spectators by doing a takeoff. Later, we had a front row seat for the fireworks, not a bad display -- although it came when we were in the middle of watching "Bad Manners", an interesting but decidedly noncommercial dialogue-driven movie. We were able to park for the night in a lot right by the trail (which used to be a train track), near the museum that used to be a depot.

July 2

Kimberly took her second bike jaunt, with a relatively light route of only 37 miles. Good thing, because she was having the sniffles and feeling a bit drained. Meanwhile, Dennis drove on to Cumberland, MD and did some computer work at the library. They met at the YMCA, where they grabbed showers (no need for a workout) and stayed parked in the lot for the night.

Sites Along
the C&O Canal
Towpath

July 3

While Kimberly spent the day battling the bug she's been trying to come down with (the sauna at the YMCA didn't hurt), Dennis began at the beginning of the C & O Canal (or the end, as it's usually reckoned -- most folks seem to go in the other direction). He put in another 60 miles, to Hancock, MD. Along the way, he had to deal with a flat tire, and discovered that the hand pump we've been carrying was not functioning properly -- which is to say, not at all. So he had to walk the bike to a gas station in Paw Paw, WV -- fortunately, he was less than 2 miles away at the time; many parts of the path are miles away from anything resembling a town. In one such section, he encountered a bar/store called Bill's Place, a favorite hangout for hunters (since there's nothing else around). The interesting thing about this establishment is that folks who come in often leave a dollar bill pinned to the ceiling, and perhaps write a message on it -- the ceiling is covered with them.

July 4

Kimberly was feeling all better today, and headed out for another 50 miles on the trail, despite the threat of thunderstorms that never quite materialized. Dennis was surprised by the number of businesses open today; after doing laundry in Hancock, he drove to the nearest Panera in Hagerstown, and discovered that it was open until 8:00, so he was able to get quite bit of work done before driving on past Antietam Battlefield, to the very historic town of Shepherdstown, WV -- where he encountered Kimberly on the street, having just biked into town. And she got inside the RV just as the heavy rain was hitting.

July 5

From Shepherdstown, Dennis headed out on his last leg of the tour -- only 36 miles this time, but the most interesting segment of all. The path passed across the river from Harpers Ferry, WV, so he couldn't resist lugging his bike (heavily loaded) up the strenuous steps of the bridge over the Potomac so he could get a glimpse of the place where John Brown staged his famous raid in 1859. (He was captured after a standoff and executed a few weeks later, but it may have been his daring raid that in fact ignited the fuse of the Civil War.) The old firehouse where Brown holed up before being captured is still there, 150 feet from its original site, after having been moved 4 times -- once to Chicago!

Back on the trail, Dennis took a little detour into Brunswick, MD. to look for a cup of coffee, and struck black gold: a coffeehouse called Beans in the Belfry, which is in a former church building (built in 1910), and is quite a sight to behold. There are stained glass windows, and knick-knacks everywhere, and if you're a person who drinks coffee religiously, having it served from the "altar" seems entirely fitting.

Then on past the best rafting waters yet, and also the training facility for the US kayak team -- not in the river, but in an isolated, artificially created channel designed to have strong, plentiful rapids.

The end of this portion of the trail was White's Ferry, where the privately-owned ferry is still in operation. Bicyclists can get themselves and their vehicles across to Virginia for a measly buck. From there, it's only about 5 miles into Leesburg, where we were supposed to rendezvous. But after Dennis rode to the edge of town and called Kimberly, he learned that she'd just left the Internet coffee shop where she'd been ensconced, and was waiting for him at the ferry -- we'd somehow missed each other on the road, unbelievable as it seems! So she came back to pick him up and we went back into town. There we saw a bike shop and took in Zephyr's bike to get the derailleur worked on, and also to replace three broken spokes -- which were there because Dennis had switched wheels with him, having started the day Tuesday with one broken spoke and ended up with two more by the end of the day. (Don't try this at home!)

July 6

From Leesburg, Kimberly lit out on the grand finale, the last 38 miles. The end of the trail (or beginning, for most people) was in the Georgetown district of Washington DC. This end of the canal has a swinging gate that was designed to control the flow of water; and many years after the towpath ceased operations, developers building a luxury apartment/office complex nearby apparently wanted a picturesque name for the structure that evoked its surroundings, so they thought of the canal. But Kimberly didn't stop pedaling at the "watergate", knowing it would be difficult for Dennis to drive, and impossible to park, the RV and trailer in Georgetown, so she rode an additional 15 miles to Greenbelt, MD., for a rendezvous at Greenbelt National Park. Greenbelt is home to the Goddard Space Flight Museum, where several years ago we took Zephyr to a model rocket day, at which kids from all over the country, including Zephyr, were able to launch their model rockets. The park has a campground at which we always stay when we're in the area -- though it's usually in the fall, and both Kimberly and Zephyr have experienced birthdays there.

Dennis, after doing some computer work in Leesburg, drove down, detouring in Reston to shop at Trader Joe's and then detouring onto surface roads when the Beltway became unendurably jammed, and on to the campground where he registered in space 123, where we almost always stay.

Kimberly arrived at 5:52 p.m., and we high-fived as we wrapped up our long-anticipated bicycle adventure. And the final tally: Dennis, 16o miles in 3 days (average 53.3) and Kimberly, 190 miles in 4 days (average 47.5). Hey, it's only the beginning -- we have longer tours up our sleeves.

July 7

We'd planned to bike into DC today, a distance of about 15 miles each way, and do some sightseeing. But we slept in so late, and the day was so excruciatingly hot, that we elected to save that experience for a future visit. Instead, we biked into Greenbelt, a distance of only 3 miles or so, to do some online work at the New Deal Cafe. which is in a plaza featuring the library, a community center, a grocery co-op, and an "art cinema" (i.e., a theatre that shows films without car chases in them). At the latter, there was a 5:00 showing of "Evening", and we decided to attend. The cast was what lured us: Vanessa Redgrave amd her daughter Natasha Richardson; Meryl Streep and her daughter Mamie Gummer, making her film debut with Redgrave just as her mom did 30 years ago (Incredibly, the director cast her without realizing she was Streep's daughter!); Glenn Close, and Barry Bostwick. It was definitely thin on the plotline, but very well done, with remarkable period realism and outstanding acting.

July 8

Today the family was reunited; Kimberly dropped Dennis off at the New Deal Cafe again, where he enjoyed the music of a jazz combo and singers, more performers than there were people in the audience at times. Then she drove to Baltimore-Washington airport to pick up Zephyr, returning from North Carolina. Then the two of them came back to New Deal for a while as well.

Then we drove south to Mechanicsville, MD. for tomorrow's first show.

July 9

Three performances in Maryland: the Charlotte Hall, Leonardtown and Lexington Park Libraries. The latter two were attended by an RV family with whom we've been in touch online. They invited us to join them for the night at the place where their RV is parked -- in Joppatown, on the north side of Baltimore. They've been tending a roadside fireworks booth, a job which has just concluded after the Independence Day "boom", and are preparing to move on. After we met them for dinner at Cici's Pizza, we continued following them, but we were delayed in Baltimore when two police stopped us at the toll plaza just before the tunnel. (They asked, "What's happening?", which we were really hoping they'd explain to us.) Turns out that we're not supposed to take an RV through the tunnel, because propane is considered hazmat (in quantities of over 10 pounds), which is news to us. So we had to take a detour via the Francis Scott Key Bridge, but fortunately they issued us a slip so we didn't have to pay another toll.

July 10

Said goodbye to our friends and left Joppatown, heading farther north. Stopped in Elkton at a Flying J for propane (hey, our tank was almost empty last night, so we weren't in violation after all), and to dump and fill waste and water tanks respectively. Then on to Wilmington, DE, where we patronized a Panera and a Trader Joe's, and Dennis finally got the haircut that Kimberly has been suggesting he obtain.

July 11

On to Philadelphia, where we did our first performance ever in the city itself (we've done many in the suburbs). This one was at the Central Library, at which we'd stopped back in March while riding on our bikes, and worked out the parking arrangements. But since then, some construction has begun in the alley behind the building, and that complicated the situation a bit. A very helpful and friendly security guard, however, helped us resolve the issue.

The performance was in an actual theatre, with dressing rooms backstage, and the show went extremely well, even though we did the two stories that we don't do nearly as often ("The Fourth Question" and "Luck and Money"). There was an audience of about 300, mostly kids from daycare groups, and they were quite appreciative. One of the adult supervisors told us that many of them had never been exposed to live theatre before; this is often not the case with audiences in large urban areas, and therefore they tend to be not quite as responsive. But this group was incredible!

And so, after doing our first-ever shows in Pittsburgh a couple of years ago, we add Philadelphia to our list of major city libraries performed at -- a list that includes San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Las Vegas, Reno, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, St. Louis, Oklahoma City and Little Rock.

After the show, we headed to the suburb of Audobon to do more office work, then to a nearby YMCA. After our brief workout there, we were in the parking lot having dinner and getting our bearings when an employee came out and told us that we couldn't spend the night there (we weren't planning on it). It brought back memories of our first year on the East Coast, when we got that kind of welcome at a great many places we visited. It must be the California license plates.

July 12

Office work this morning, then this afternoon we saw the new Harry Potter movie "Order of the Phoenix". Not bad, but also not as engaging as the others in the series. Perhaps it's because the book itself is the weakest in the series thus far.

July 13

Yes, it's Friday, but all went well. Spent the day in Lancaster, taking care of business and then working out at the YMCA. Then at night we drove on to Hershey.

July 14

Ah, Hershey -- the chocolate center of the world. But we spent virtually the entire day in Panera taking care of computer work. Then in the evening we went to a Blockbuster and rented a couple of movies, and ended up watching "Running with Scissors", which had us in stitches.

July 15

A very hot day. We began by doing laundry, and between cycles we watched "The Bourne Identity", which we also rented last night.

Took our mandatory tour of Chocolate World, the kitschy, Disneyesque simulated ride through the Hershey chocolate factory, with a free sample of chocolate at the end. (In this case, a mini pack of the relatively new product Kissables.) The whole complex, including Hersheypark, was extremely corwded (this being a Sunday in the middle of summer), more packed than we'd ever seen it before, so we quickly nixed any plans to do a stint at Hersheypark ourselves.

Instead, we went to an Internet cafe for about an hour, then on to the public swimming pool, as there is no YMCA in town. Dennis also took a bike ride, ending up at Milton Hershey School, where we performed in the cavernous Founders Hall 15 years ago. (The stage was so big that we closed the curtains and had plenty of room to perform on the lip of the stage, while Zephyr used the rest of the stage as an ample riding field for his tricycle.) We were, and are, most impressed by the facilities and by the lifestyle these students enjoy; they are children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and receive a free education, medical care and other benefits, thanks to the philanthropy of Mr. and Mrs. Hershey. (Hopefully, they also receive free dental care to make up for the effects of the candy.)

July 16

Performed at the Palmyra and Annville libraries, then on to Lebanon, where we hit the YMCA.

July 17

Performed at the Lebanon Library, then picked up our mail at the post office, then went to Fredericksburg to perform at the library there. Afterward drove to Hazleton.

July 18

Performed at Hazleton Library, then on to Wilkes-Barre, where we did a show for the library at Kings College. After spending a frustrating hour at office Depot trying to get some printing done, we headed on to Pocono Pines, where we tried to find the same campground we stayed at last time. Didn't see it, but did find another one that was quite satisfactory. On the way to it, we saw the aftermath of an accident -- a motorcycle and its rider pinned under a car.

July 19

Our third appearance at Pocono Pines Library, and had a very good turnout. Then we drove on to New Jersey, which has lower gas prices and full service only at the pumps.

July 20

Hackettstown, NJ. We spent much of the day doing office work at our usual office, Panera. Then on to the library for a return engagement. And then we drove to Wayne, where we found a Barnes & Noble. Like just about every other bookstore in the world, this one was celebrating the midnight release of the latest (and last) Harry Potter novel, and of course we had to be here to snag ours, so we could hurry up and get it read before someone blurts out secrets that will spoil the plot. We went inside as soon as we arrived, and were issued a purple wristband (the last in line among about 7 colors, most of which represented people who'd reserved their copies in advance) and were assured that there would be a copy available for us.

While we were waiting in the parking lot and preparing to have some dinner, three pre-teen boys came along, throwing rocks at each other in the parking lot. This was unacceptable in itself, but what made us even more concerned was that two of them were using our RV as a shield, and at least one rock struck us. Dennis went out to reprimand them, and they ran away. So he and Zephyr chased after them -- not so much intent on catching them as just giving them a scare. Then two policemen patroling the mall lot on bicycles came along and asked why we were chasing them, so we explained; whereupon they and three other policemen corralled the boys and REALLY gave them a scare. Maybe it was overkill, but on the other hand we hope it prevented these kids from getting into some serious trouble in the future.

Later we went inside the bookstore, where the festivities went on all evening as the crowd continued to swell. Then the lines formed, the countdown to midnight began, the jubilant cheers went up, and the cash registers began chiming. Despite the long lines, we had our book in hand in less than half an hour.

July 21

Zephyr gets first dibs on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", so he spent most of the day with the volume in his greedy clutches. Kimberly is next in line, leaving Dennis with what precious little reading time is left over.

We made our way north to Massachusetts, stopping in Connecticut to shop at Trader Joe's and do some banking. We passed through Stamford, where our nephew lives, but we were unable to see him because he and his girlfriend are leaving to visit her folks in Croatio right about now.

By late afternoon we arrived in Norton, MA., which we visited a couple of times years ago when one of Zephyr's friends that he knew from years before in California was living here. Now, he's here to visit his friend Cassia (pronounced KAY-sha), whom he met last year at a homeschoolers' camp in Oregon. And Cassia knew his other friend, Kiaya, when she lived here. Small world, when you get around as much as we do.

July 22

Left the home of Cassia and her parents, where we'd spent the night, and headed to Providence, RI (just a few miles away) to take care of business. Meanwhile, Cassia and her parents went on a Cape Cod cruise; and when they returned, Zephyr called them and arranged for them to pick him up and take him to their house for a couple of nights. The mysterious rash that he picked up yesterday seems to be clearing up, but we're concerned he might be allergic to something at their place -- we just can't imagine what.

July 23

Stopped at Arlington RV Super Center near Providence, to pick up a new cover for our air conditioner that blew off onto the freeway. (A gentlemen working in the store commented that he had seen it on the side of the road, and figured that someone would be coming in to buy a new one!) Total cost 149 bucks for a piece of plastic. Ouch. We also bought a few other things, and ordered a glass shelf for our refrigerator that's been missing ever since we bought the RV over a year ago. Absolutely NO dealer anywhere has it in stock, and it's been difficult for us to be in one location long enough to order it. But we'll be in the area off and on for a couple of weeks, so this is our opportunity.

Then we spent the afternoon at Panera computerizing, after which we stopped in at Kinko's to order three banners we've designed to hang onstage when we fly to California, as we'll be unable to take along our set, the famous oversized book.

July 24

First order of business was laundry, then we picked up our banners at Kinko's. They do look fetching but the price tag was as big as the banners. Then we returned across the border to Massachusetts to pick up Zephyr and Cassia -- yes Cassia, who'll be spending a couple of days with us, getting a taste of the glamorous life of a touring thespian. Then we headed north through Boston to Revere, site of tomorrow's first show. And using Cassia as our guest voice, we recorded this week's podcast.

July 25

Three performances today. We began at 10:00 at the Revere Rec. Dept., for whom we've performed before. A worker at the center was wearing a T-shirt that said "CSI Las Vegas" which is a TV show that Zephyr really loves. So the guy literally offered to give Zephyr the shirt off his back! Zephyr, by the way, began the day with an upset stomach, but was feeling better by noon.

In the afternoon we had a repeat engagement at the Belmont Library, and tried mounting one of our new banners on a microphone stand. It worked out quite well, and is definitely a feasible option for shows where we don't have our set and can't hang the banners from the ceiling.

We finished the day with a return (3rd or 4th time) to the library in Wellesley.

July 26

A light day --"only" 2 shows. But we first did some last-minute shopping in preparation for our trip to San Francisco tomorrow.

Then we headed to the Wareham library early to get in some computer time before the show.

In the evening, we had the first of two performances this summer at the library in Cohasset (and if you guessed that we've been there a few times before, you get a star) after which we took Cassia home and did our packing for tomorrow's trip.

July 27

Cassia's father drove us this morning to T.E. Green airport in Providence, where we caught a plane to Chicago where we'd catch a plane to San Francisco. Check-in went smoothly, although we were concerned about our cumbersome bag of props, which the security agent scrutinized for a long time on the x-ray machine. Our banners were rolled into three mailing tubes, which did (as we saw ourselves) create a curious image, somewhat suggesting weapons or explosives. But in the end, the bag was waved on through without having to be openend the way some other people's bags were. We were relieved, because it was such a tight packing job that we weren't sure we could duplicate it in a million attempts, unless Kimberly did it again.

The layover at O'Hare was supposed to be 2 hours, but once we boarded our next plane, we had to wait an additional hour while, according to the pilot, a scratch on the door was sanded and painted. Since we can't imagine even in the current age of surrealism that passengers would actually be left to sit at the gate for an hour waiting for paint to dry, we assumed that something more serious was really going on. This was borne out by the wry sense of humor the pilot demonstrated later; he commented, for instance, that he thought perhaps the airline's motto ought to be "We're not unhappy until you're not unhappy."

After touching down at SFO (Having started out in the Bay Area in those ancient days before the state became a leader in the drive to give breathing priority over smoking, we felt like applauding when the flight attendant announced "Please refrain from smoking until out of California.") and being greeted by the very welcome cool air coming off the bay, we were picked up by a City of Walnut Creek van and driven across the bay. As we passed through downtown San Francisco, there was a heavy, picturesque fog draped about the shoulders of the skyscrapers, just for our benefit. And about the time we passed AT&T Park, Barry Bonds clobbered (ho-hum) yet another homer just for us, putting him one shy of Hank Aaron.

When we arrived in Walnut Creek and checked in at the Marriott, we were joined by Zephyr's friend Libby, who lives not far away. She brought us a hula hoop and a "tombstone" to augment the props we'll be using in tomorrow's shows. We had two such items "at home", but they were too big and awkward to lug along in our luggage, so we'd asked Libby and her mom to provide us with substitutes. It was rather ironic that Libby brought us the second item, since her dad is a coroner.

Meanwhile, Kimberly had rushed off on the hotel shuttle in a dash to the local Trader Joe's, hoping to secure us some food for the weekend -- we had neither the budget nor the stomach to eat out at every meal during our stay. She made it there just before closing time, and brought back several sacks of provisions, some of which we stored in the refrigerator which the hotel had brought up to us, free of charge, at our request.

July 28

The hotel shuttle took us and our props to the Lesher Center, where we had a 90-minute tech rehearsal and setup so we could solidify sound and lighting cues. It's great to be appearing in an actual theatre again; We had our own dressing room, free refreshments, and the works. Quite a switch from performing in school gyms! The theatre's tech person, a young man named Ian who moved here fairly recently from, of all places, Massachusetts, was really sharp and a pleasure to work with. Libby served as our stage manager and general factotum.

We had three performances, at 11:00, 1:00 and 2:30, and all were well attended. In fact, we understand that at least two of them were technically sellouts, although there were a few empty seats left. During the chase through the audience in the Russian story "Simple Ivan", Zephyr couldn't resist leaping over the 5-foot wall on the stage left side, and of course Dennis went after him. It was a nice surprise touch that really caught the audience off guard, but afterward Ian asked us not to do it again, because he could have been reprimanded if his boss found out about it. (Shhhh!!)

The festival was a smashing success, as were our shows, and it appears quite possible that we'll be back next year. We were one of the 5 acts appearing in the theatres inside the center (including Leslie Cararra, a Sesame Street puppeteer) in addition to several other acts performing outside. Among the latter was Clank, a percussion group playing on some rather creative instruments, somewhat akin to "Stomp", except that they were all dressed in white hazmat suits, complete with masks. We didn't envy them on such a hot day.

Our second performance was attended by our old friends Craig and Ann -- well they're not all that old, we just mean that we've known them for about 20 years -- who live in Walnut Creek. (Their son, now a grown man, was ring-bearer at our wedding when he was 3.) This evening, we went out to dinner with them at an excellent Thai restaurant.

July 29

We're adjusting to West Coast time just in time to return to the East Coast. Today Kimberly met up with old high school chums (well, they're not really that old, either) Tania and Carol -- the latter she had not seen in years.

July 30

Early this morning we checked out of the hotel and again caught the City van back to the airport. The freeways were again amazingly unbusy, even more so than last time -- we even breezed right through the Caldecott Tunnel, which is unheard of during rush hour. So we arrived at SFO in plenty of time, and our flight to Chicago went quite smoothly -- except that we could swear the plane shrank since we came out. But there are at least two things that haven't changed: they still showed the same mediocre movie ("Premonition") and they still served us pretzels, which Kimberly detests so much that even the smell of them turns her stomach. How we miss the good ole days when passengers were treated to a sumptuous luxury feast of peanuts.

Once we arrived in Chicago, things of course were far more hectic; O'Hare seems to have been modeled after Bedlam. The gate where we were waiting for our flight to Providence had two other flights boarding there ahead of us (one to Sacramento and one to New York), so it was quite jammed with hardly even a place to sit in the vicinity. Meanwhile, Kimberly found a place to plug in her computer and get some work done, but it was directly in the sun, and the day was quite hot.

Our flight out of O'Hare was delayed even more than our flight out the last time, nearly two hours in fact. The problem this time was that the radio had to be repaired/replaced in the cockpit (we don't know if they sanded and painted it) so the pilot would not lose contact and end up taking us to Bangkok. Finally we were off, but there was no doubt about it -- this was definitely the most cramped plane we'd ever been on in our lives. You almost had to store your legs in the overhead bin.

Dennis used his flying time today to consume "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", now that K & Z are finished with it. And he wasn't alone; on the planes and in the airports we spotted dozens of people eagerly devouring the same volume. And guess what? They were all adults: business men and women, grandmas and grandpas, college students, people of all ages and backgrounds.

We arrived in Providence about 11:00, and were back "home" by about midnight.

July 31

Exhausted from our long transcontinental weekend, we slept in until almost noon. But we don't feel so guilty, because that's only 9:00 AM in San Francisco.

After we finally stirred, we left Zephyr behind to visit with Cassia and friend Daniel, who's visiting from North Carolina (Daniel is the drummer in Zephyr's band) and went to the Norton Library to get online. This was the first time we'd been to this library since we performed here shortly after 9-11; we remember that there was a big scroll placed out on a table, on which people could write their condolences and best wishes to be sent to the FDNY -- and we added our own.

When Zephyr's friends dropped him off at library closing time, we noted people arriving in the parking lot and carrying lawn chairs to some nearby location. Upon investigation, we saw that there was an outdoor performance by an entertaining duo of men singing songs accompanied by a variety of folk instruments. This apparently was one of the library's summer reading program performances for young audiences. Hey, they could have had us!

Needing badly to catch up on laundry, we managed to find a laundromat that was open until 10:00, which was just late enough for us to sneak under the wire. And it had machines that still accept good old fashioned coins, unlike many of the machines in Massachusetts that require purchase of a plastic card. And, wonder of wonders, just across the street (at, of all places, and of all possible combinations, an "ice and oil" company) there was a water vending machine at which we could fill our plastic jugs. This is how we normally acquire our drinking water, but for some reason, water machines are scarce as hen's teeth in New England; this is in fact the only one we can recall seeing at the moment. Lately, we've been having to just buy new jugs full of water, which is more expensive and of course uses more plastic.

By now we've all finished the Harry Potter epic, so we finally can discuss it among ourselves. Our overall comment is...WOW!!! The final installment seemed a bit slow getting started, but it picked up steam and delivered a brilliant, bittersweet conclusion. (And we smugly report that we were on the winning side, all along, in the heated debate about Snape's true loyalties. So there!) We have no doubt that J.K. Rowling is one of the all-time great writers for young (and not so young) readers, on a par with Lewis Carroll and Frank Baum. So is Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket); and this generation is supremely blessed to have both of them at once.

< - June 07 - July - August 07 - >