10. Cappuccino Tour of Michigan

Caffeine is my drug of choice, usually consumed in the form of a Grande Cappuccino from the Starbucks five minutes from my house.  This summer, though, I got caps in Elks Rapids, Petoskey, Traverse City, Ann  Arbor, Eastpointe-- I got a cap in Saginaw, for cryin’ out loud.  Now if I could just get a decent cap in Fraser, I’d be all set for my drive home.  This is cool because it’s safe, legal, and inexpensive. 

9.  Finding Nemo

Yeah, I saw the feel-good hit of the summer with tens of millions others, helping to make it the most popular animated movie ever, topping The Lion King.  This was cool because it was funny, touching, and pretty to look at, all while exploring the same father-love theme as TLK.

8.  Cosmic Thing - The B-52s

If you’re gonna ride around in a little British sports car (see #6 below) with the windows down, you may as well listen to the one of the greatest summer CDs of all time while doing so.  From “Love Shack” to “Roam,” this is twangy, silly, sublime fun & therefore very cool. 

[Runners-up: Is This It - The Strokes; Hits - Pulp; Shootenanny – Eels; Welcome Interstate Managers – Fountains of Wayne; Artist’s Choice – Tony Bennett]

7.  Paul Has a Summer Job - Michael Rabagliati

This graphic novel by a Canadian writer/artist was a sweet coming-of-age tale of his job at a summer camp.  It was cool because out of a half-dozen worthwhile comics I read this summer, it nosed out the lot.

[Runners-up: After the Snooter – Eddie Campbell; Ethel & Ernest –  Raymond Briggs; La Perdita (#3) – Jessica Abel; Louis Reil (#1-10) – Chester Brown; Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi; Same Difference – Derek Kirk Kim]

6.  My MINI Cooper

Take my word for it, I’m about the least car guy imaginable, and while  my 2002 MINI Cooper (Indi Blue w/ a Union Jack on the roof) hasn’t changed that, it has given me more pleasure than any consumer product I’ve ever purchased.  This is cool because every single time I drive it, I have a really fun time, and how many cars can you say that about?

5.  Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome

I read this, the first of a series of books about the adventures of a group of British sea-going siblings, with my boys, Walter (6) and Jack (4) this summer.  I don’t know the first thing about sailing, but this made me want to learn.  This was cool because I’ve been trying to find adventure stories milder than Harry Potter to read to the boys till they become a bit older (& ready for Hogwarts) and this set of twelve 300-page novels ought to keep us busy for a while.

4.  Moby Dick – Herman Melville

Every summer I try to read this, and until now, every summer I’ve failed.  Now that I’ve actually gotten through all 600 pages of crackling-good-sea-yarn-natural-history-lesson-mystical-discourse-on-the meaning-of-life, I’m a better man for it.  This is cool because it should give me bragging rights at the first English Department meeting of the school year.  Isn’t that sad?

3.  Road Trip with Jack & Walter

The last week of summer, Walter, Jack, and I piled into the MINI and drove up to Traverse City.  We dinked around Glen Arbor, went out to the big lake, hung out in a motel and watched TV until late at night.  If you can’t see why this is cool, I can’t help you.

2.  Four Floors of Fun

Our house had been on the market for ten months when we finally sold it in July.  I guess the reason we had to wait so long was so we could buy the beautiful, charming, three-story home we’ll be moving into mid-September.  It has a finished basement for the boys’ toys, a spacious main floor, three bedrooms on the second floor, then a finished attic for my library.  To live in such a cool house is beyond my wildest dreams.

1.  Julie Boyer Hanley

Speaking of wildest dreams, did you hear the one about the guy who married the beautiful, smart, kind-hearted woman?  Everything good that’s come my way in last decade (and the list is long) can be traced back to my wife, Julie.  She made for quite the hip young suburban mother driving around in her MINI this summer, and without a doubt, she’s the coolest thing ever to happen to me.