10. Hickory Cane
I got a hickory walking cane this summer. This was cool because I actually need it. Nothing’s worse than some phony baloney faker walking around with a cane he doesn’t actually need, and I’m hoping there is something relatively dignified in a gray-haired English teacher walking around with one he actually does.

9. Topinabee Weekend
The second-to-last weekend of summer, I went up to my best pal’s cottage at Topinabee on Mullett Lake, about a half hour south of the Mackinaw Bridge. We all had a great time, playing Apples To Apples, watching videos, and even staying an extra night because the Beloved Spousal Unit, Julie, had Monday off. Sadly, one extra morning was all it took for me to fall on the staircase just as we were about to leave and break my right leg in two places. For why this was cool, see #1.

8. Barnaby – Crockett Johnson
This collection of WWII era strips by the artist best known for his Harold and the Purple Crayon children’s books is truly the last great comic not to undergo the full-blown reprint treatment as yet. That it finally is, and that my boys got me Volume One for my birthday, is cause for significant celebration and thus, very cool.

(Runners-up: The Worst Hard Time – Timothy Egan, To Have and Have Another: A Hemingway Cocktail Companion – Philip Greene)

7. Lost in America
This hilariously cynical-sweet movie written and directed by and starring Albert Brooks held up fairly well when I pulled it off the library shelves for viewing with Walter, Jack, and Charlie as part of Dad’s Summer Film series. Favorite moment: the dim fast food manager blithely correcting Brooks’s character’s wife when she introduces him as “Skip.” “Skippy,” he says, clueless as to exactly how much more lightweight that makes him seem. Cool because there’s nothing like finding out your first impressions were correct, thirty years later.

(Runners-up: Sons of the Desert, Unfaithfully Yours)

6. Camera Obscura @ Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor
I don’t know what they put in the water in Glasgow, Scotland, but whatever it is makes for some Grade A, guitar fueled indie rock bands. This crew, who were once managed by the drummer of one of my very favorite bands, Teenage Fanclub, opened for She & Him at Hill in early July, and I have to say that I much preferred them to the movie star glamour of Zooey Deschanel’s outfit, which proved to be strident, if not absolutely shrill for much of their set. Tracyanne Campbell, on the other hand, fronted a group of grown-up rockers that cruised through their songs with the power and grace of a 1958 Cadillac, classy, indomitable, and timeless. This was cool because I love songs that make me feel like this.

5. Camping @ Interlochen
In mid-July, the entire Hanley clan (minus Argos, our beautiful Brittany, who stayed home with our dog-sitter) took off for Interlochen State Park for our usual summer vacation. Being tent campers did not work to our advantage on one of the hottest weeks of the year, but we took that as a hint to spend most of our time at Lake Michigan. This was cool because we avoided any storms like those that blew down our tent last year and just had a good, old-fashioned time at the shore.

4. Hanging With My Boys
Most summer days around the Hanley household began with the Morning Meeting, during which Dad reviewed the tasks for the day, typically including laundry, cleaning the kitchen, making beds, walking the dog, and making lunches if Walter (16) and Jack (14) had marching band practice that day. Depending on schedules, we filled the remainder of our time with road trips near and far in Dad’s MINI Countryman, jaunts downtown for brunch with just Dad & Charlie, or the two of us hitting the grocery store for senior discount Tuesday. This was especially cool because while I love being Dad to all my boys, this was Charlie’s last summer before middle school and you’ve got to love em up while they’re still little.

3. Birthday in A2: The Northside, Literati Books
As per usual, I had breakfast at The Northside Grill on my birthday this year. After polishing off an exemplary plate of free food, I took the boys to Ann Arbor’s new independent bookstore, Literati. It is no exaggeration to say that I had a tear in my eye when I walked through the door of this place during my first visit with Julie about a week before. And to be able to return to my birthday tradition of a power browse at a truly good bookstore, a custom that had fallen by the wayside since the demise of Borders, made it the coolest birthday in a while.

2. The Sardine Room with the BSU
This restaurant on Main Street in our cute little downtown became the default summertime destination for me and Julie on those weekend nights when we could afford a cocktail or two and a selection of their appetizers (sardines, please) and small plates (fish tacos, yum). But it was less the food and drink that made these nights special than the company. Everything I love about my life began when I met Julie, and times like these made it clear all over again how lucky I am to spend such lovely (and cool) nights with her.

1. BEST. FAMILY. EVER.
Ever since I broke this leg of mine I’ve been ordering these people around like The Shah of Iran, and they have never once complained. I mean, I always say please and thank you, but Julie, Walter, Jack, and Charlie have been so kind, understanding, and helpful that I can scarcely believe it. I suppose it’s just what you do when a family member goes down and needs your help, but I have to say to actually see it in practice, well, that’s just about the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced.

THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS! I LOVE YOU ALL FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!!!