John Hanley’s Summer 2008 Top Ten Cool Things
John Hanley’s Summer 2008 Top Ten Cool Things
#1: JBH
10. Getting A Milk Man
Early this summer we discovered that Calder Dairy made deliveries to our neighborhood. We signed up, and since June we have been receiving our milk in glass bottles every Monday morning. This is cool because it tastes better and takes me back to the world of my youth.
9. My Winnipeg
Guy Maddin’s cinematic meditation on his Canadian hometown was funny, scary, beautiful, often all the same time. Not as surreal as his previous film, The Saddest Music in the World, this more than made up for it in unforgettable imagery drawn from a lifetime in a place at once both bizarre and ordinary. This was cool because I, like many of you, come from one of those places.
[Runner-up: WALL-E]
8. Volume One – She and Him
Zooey Deschanel’s relentlessly eclectic debut CD spent most of the summer in heavy rotation on my iPod. Impossible to categorize, her music starts, but does not end, with the appeal of her tone. If you heard her singing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” in Elf, you know what I’m talking about. If not, buy a track or two-- starting with “I Was Made For You”-- and prepare to be blown away. This was cool because surprise is a good thing.
[Runners-up: Everything’s The Rush – Delays; Partie Traumatic – Black Kids; Reality Check – The Teenagers]
7. OED
The Oxford English Dictionary was my grown-up book for the summer. First I read its history in The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester; then I purchased my own copy of the deluxe edition of the shorter OED (only 250,000 words as opposed to one million in the 20 volume unabridged set). Best of all, I received a one-year subscription to the on-line OED, allowing me to look up the definition of “love” whenever I feel the urge. This was cool because the OED is, in the common expression, “the treasure house of the English language.”
[Runners-up: The Braindead Megaphone – George Saunders; The Craft of Cocktails – Dale DeGroff; The Mistress’s Daughter – A.M. Homes]
6. The Saturdays – Elizabeth Enright
This summer I read a lot of great books with my family at bedtime, but this charming evocation of 1940’s NYC topped them all. For sheer writing chops, Enright’s ability to conjure up a Manhattan snowstorm is without peer. When you have kids of your own (or just a little time on your hands), you can’t go wrong reading this or either of the runners-up: Half Magic by Edward Eager or The Penderwicks of Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall. This was cool because I love sharing a great story and these three surely qualified.
5. Walter, My IT Guy
My son, Walter, chose this past summer to become obsessed with computers. We’re Mac people (see #3 below) and Walt has spent much of the summer exploring the products of beautiful Cupertino, California. This was cool because whenever I needed updates downloaded or a home network set up or support creating my personal website, Walter was there for me.
4. Morning Walks with Jack
More often than not, I began my day this summer by walking downtown with my middle son, Jack. We had a lot of great talks, and during those times I felt more grateful than ever to have such a happy home and family. It’s a challenge being a dad, but a cool kid like Jack makes it all worthwhile.
3. Hanley Family Tech Upgrade
The summer started with countless replays of the YouTube video for “Hooray” by The Delays, my song of Summer 2008; this was followed by our purchase of a nifty white MacBook for my wife Julie, who’s in graduate school; on Father’s Day I received a sharp red Nikon Coolpix digital camera and was appointed chronicler of the family; in late August, we took the plunge and bought iPhones, signing up for AT&T U-Verse, thus receiving far more digital TV channels than we’ll ever need; and finally, sometime in the next couple of weeks, I’ll publish the personal website I spent most of the summer creating with iWeb. Look for it at johnhanley.net just as soon as I can resolve some thoroughly uncool formatting issues.
2. Family Camping at Interlochen
As you have discerned by now, I am a family man, and thankful to be such. This is never more true than during our annual trek north, this year to tent camp at Interlochen State Park. We gave Walter (11), Jack (9), and Charlie (6) their own tent this year, dubbed the Man Cave, and a stinky, stinky domicile it was. As for the BW (Beautiful Wife), Julie, and I, we were glad for the extra space, especially after lights out, when we spent many a companionable night reading by the glow of our lantern. I documented the trip with the Coolpix, from first campfire to dune climb to rainy afternoon at the mall, all proof of how utterly cool it is to have a happy family life.
1. Julie’s New MINI Cooper
Julie Boyer Hanley, aka the BW, aka the Beloved Spousal Unit, aka the love of my life, got to choose the package for the MINI Cooper we bought in July. She settled on Pepper White with black bonnet stripes and a sunroof, and to our delight the 2008 models had been updated from the version to which we’d become accustomed in our previous 3 Coopers: push-button starter, 6-speed transmission, and lots of electronics in keeping with #3 above. But finally, a car is just a car, no matter how cool, and it was the person driving this one who mattered most to me. I know it sounds corny, but I don’t care: I spent a fair amount of my first few decades lost in the world, and it’s not an exaggeration to say I was saved by the love of a good woman. I get to have this great job, and write these lists at least in part because I saw something of value in myself through the eyes of that good woman, and for that cool thing I will be eternally grateful.