Vintage book: The First Book of Words

I love vintage stuff in general, but I think my favorite vintage thing to collect is children's books. The First Book of Words: Their Family Histories is vintage at its anachronistic best, a window to its publication year of 1954. But a lot of this information is still relevant and is a great introduction to word history, covering English's Indo-European roots, the Norman conquest, Latin and Greek roots, the history of writing and printing, names and surnames, word evolution in the U.S. and words borrowed from other languages, and words formed from brand names, onomatopeia, prefixes and suffixes and slang. It's written in a very engaging way and I expect kids would learn a lot from it. I especially love the two-color art by Hungarian artist Laszlo Roth.

There's always stuff in old children's books that would never fly today, and this book is no exception.

Gotta love the '50s, when women were always pictured cooking, talking on the phone, or being a nurse.

I can just see the letters to the publisher about this entry for assassin.

My kid's elementary school in Oakland, California was always discarding books like this to make room for more politically correct and modern fare, so I "rescued" a lot of them. But this book is from Alphabet Soup in Wallingford.

First Date: A New Musical

I just learned that Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre is a significant developer of new musicals. It's produced 14 in the past ten years, five of which went to Broadway and two of which won Tony Awards for Best Musical, including Memphis, which is currently on Broadway. Huh.

This past weekend I saw the premiere of a new musical, First Date, which was a collaboration between the 5th Avenue Theatre and ACT-A Contemporary Theatre. It's a 90-minute, one-act, seven-actor piece about modern-day dating. I was initially skeptical, unwowed by the bland opening number and stereotypes, but I was won over in the end -- in large part because of the outstanding male lead, Eric Ankrim (who, incidentally, just played Curly in Okalahoma!). He plays Aaron, a Jewish Wall Street trader set up on a blind date with Casey, a Soho artist. He's an open, optimistic BDV (blind date virgin) who is still trying to get over being jilted by his ex; she's a jaded BDS (blind date slut) with a codependent gay boyfriend. They seem opposite in almost every way, and yet, somehow you end up believing that they'll be great for each other.

Unfortunately, none of the music sticks in my head, but the numbers -- such as "The World Wide Web is Forever," about how Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. can ruin your chances with someone before you even meet -- are heavy on dating humor. There are no spectacular, over-the-top dance or vocal numbers, which is in keeping with the more intimate storyline. (Again, Eric Ankrim has a lovely voice, though!) In short, this play isn't gonna go down in history like Oklahoma! and it's not the next Wicked, but single people and those of us who remember well what it's like to be single, will find it amusing. It's at Falls Theatre until May 20.

Happy Pi Day!

Today is Pi Day -- 3.14! If you're thinking "We never had Pi Day when I was a kid," you're right, because it was created in 1988 by a San Francisco Exploratorium physicist and was recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives as a holiday in 2009. Last year, Oscar's 5th grade class celebrated by eating a bunch of parent-supplied pies.

I'm gonna take this opportunity to mention my favorite Wallingford cafe, Irwin's, which has couches and armchairs to curl up on on this cold, rainy day, as well as great sandwiches, pizza, and quiche, but above all else, amazing pie. Specifically, marionberry pie, served warm with fresh whipped cream. It's heavenly. There are three Irwin's locations in Seattle, so if you live near one, I suggest you celebrate Pi Day there.

Blue C Sushi

Blue C Sushi is the McDonald's of sushi. Just like a McDonald's hamburger satisfies a different craving than a handmade burger grilled on a barbecue does, Blue C Sushi fulfills a different niche than a fine sushi house. Like McDonald's, it is a 5-star destination for children, young and old. They have some crazy sushi, such as the St. Patrick's Day rolls on green pedestals that are currently offered. Besides a daily happy hour, happy hour goes from 4 to close on Thursdays and Sundays, at least at the two locations I've been to in U-Village and Fremont (there are six restaurants in the Seattle area).

The big appeal at Blue C is the conveyor belt, snaking around the entire restaurant, by booths and counter seats, covered in America's version of sushi. It's truly mesmerizing and irresistible, even to me. If you do need a server, say to order mochi or drinks, you just push a button that lights up.

After dragging Oscar shoe shopping this weekend, he was in such a foul mood he was barely speaking to me. But Blue C Sushi instantly dissolved his disagreeableness. He loved surveying his options, and selecting the colorful plates of his favorite dishes: shrimp nigiri, kappa maki, pork gyoza, sesame noodles, spring rolls... It was such fun that we selected a lot more plates than I intended. This brings me to how Blue C is not like McDonald's at all. Each color plate has a different price point; the green are $1.50, yellow are $2.75, all the way up to purple, which are $5.50. It all sounds so cheap, but they quickly add up. Sushi is definitely not inexpensive, especially when you're eating with Oscar. But turning your kid's frown upside down is priceless, right?

Hunger Games hype

I know I'm not the only adult who reads young adult fiction. It's often so much more imaginative and fun than "adult" books! I still haven't read Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games, but I will! Oscar has had the first book in the series for about a year (his friends had recommended it), but he didn't like it. Now that the movie is coming out, he's found it impossible to resist the hype.

I have no idea how the decision came about, but the entire 6th grade class at Oscar's middle school is now headed on a field trip for a noon showing of the film three days after its release. The letter I received from the school explains:

"Many, if not most, of our 6th grade students have read the book The Hunger Games and wish to see one of their favorite books come to life on the big screen. They have been anticipating the release of the film for several months. Students who have not read the book seem to be motivated to read it before the film is released to compare and contrast the book and movie."

I am still flabbergasted that these middle school kids get to go see a movie -- which most could have gone to see with their families anyway -- during school time! But I'm not about to relegate my kid to sit in the library while everyone else gets to go on one of the most anticipated events of the entire school year. After all, friendships and bonding experiences are a huge part of adolescence, so...whatever.

I'm also highly in favor of this sort of hype surrounding book releases (I really miss the anticipation of the new Harry Potter volumes), so this is possibly the next best thing. And just like the letter said, the anticipation of the movie inspired Oscar to reread the book. And this time, he liked it. Now he wants to read the sequels, and I'm happy about that.

Oklahoma! at the 5th Avenue Theater

I'm not ashamed to admit it: I like musical theater. Almost everyone I know hates (or claims to hate) musicals, but occasionally I drag Chris and Oscar to one. Last night we went to see Oklahoma! -- the first musical written by the legendary team of Roger and Hammerstein and first performed on Broadway in 1943 -- at the 5th Avenue Theater. It's a classic, but I don't remember ever seeing it before. Is that possible?

I might have seen it as a child, because I definitely recognized a lot of the songs, including "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top," "I Cain't Say No," "People Will Say We're in Love," and of course the title song. The plot was really corny and old-timey: Essentially, cowboy Curly wants to take a farm girl to the box social but she's irritated that he asked her at the last minute, so instead agrees to go with Jud, a farmhand she's afraid of. You can absolutely imagine how this all ends up.

The Seattle version of Oklahoma! has been controversial because a black man plays Jud, a bad guy. There's a scene in the play where Curly holds up a noose and basically tells Jed to hang himself, and there's a dream sequence where Jed forces himself on his would-be girlfriend. I bought the tickets before reading about the uproar in the paper, so I can't say whether I would have noticed the actor's race. I'm used to seeing all races in theatrical productions, and the casting director claimed that he meant the casting to be colorblind and was not trying to be provocative. In any event, the actor playing Jud had an amazing voice.

Production aside, the 5th Avenue Theater itself is worth checking out. Modeled after China's Temple of Heavenly Peace, the Summer Palace, and the Forbidden City, the interior is unlike any I've seen before. The center chandelier is held in the teeth of a coiled dragon, and dragons feature prominently in the design elements. It's very striking. It's also really comfortable, and even though we were way up in the balcony, we could see and hear fine. I'd definitely like to see another show here.

Modern tuna noodle casserole

Confession: I've always struggled with making dinner. For most of my adult life, I either ate out or made a box of Rice-a-Roni or something equally a) easy and b) not nutritious. Once Oscar came along, I definitely became more health-conscious in my food choices, but not necessarily ambitious. (For example, a microwaved bag of frozen organic brown rice plus a can of black beans is a standard meal for us.) Add devoted carnivore Chris into the mix and it's very rare to find a dish that we all like and will eat together. But occasionally I hit upon a success. This healthy version of tuna noodle casserole is so easy, adaptable, and best of all, tasty that we all like it. It's now in frequent rotation at our house.

Cook 4 cups of whole wheat pasta, such as penne or fusilli
Chop an onion, mix with 2 or 3 cans of drained tuna fish and the cooked pasta
Heat 2 cans of cream of celery or cream of mushroom soup and 1 cup of fat free milk
until smooth, add a cup or so of frozen peas (or whatever you have on hand), 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 TB Mrs. Dash (or other seasoning).

Mix everything together and put in a 13 x 9 casserole dish, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Melt some shredded cheese on top (2-4 more minutes), and it's done.

The Sneakery

Chris and Oscar were positively gleeful in The Sneakery, an emporium carrying casual footwear -- but more importantly the most awesome array of socks I've ever seen. Besides his standard Converse low-tops, Chris ended up buying three pairs of socks. Can you guess which ones? So many cute socks in one place -- and lots of kids' shoes and socks as well!

Book I love: Haiku Baby

When Oscar was a baby, he had dozens of all types of board books -- classics by Dr. Seuss, Sandra Boynton, Eric Carle, Byron Barton, Margaret Wise Brown, DK Touch and Feel, and of course many I had never heard of but bought just because they were so beautiful. Oscar learned his first shape words (triangle! square! arch!) from a set of board books that were so tiny he could manipulate them himself. I remember all those books like old friends. I loved reading to Oscar, and he loved being read to.

Anyway, I found a wonderful board book yesterday that he would have loved: Haiku Baby by Betsy Snyder. I was attracted to it because of the wonderful illustrations, but the whole thing is lovely. The haiku form (three unrhymed verses of five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables) is just the sort of soothing, rhythmic pace that babies enjoy; the 17 syllables paint word images illustrating nature elements such as snow, rain, leaf, and moon. Tabs on the side make it easy to get to each haiku. I'm sorry that this book was created too late for Oscar's babyhood, but if you have a baby in your life, it's not too late for you!

Bakery Nouveau

You might be getting the idea that all I do is eat croissants, but I have to tell you about yet another great French bakery, Bakery Nouveau in West Seattle. It has the best baguettes I've tasted since moving here! But as the saying goes, man does not live by bread alone: Lunch options include quiche, sandwiches such as veggie (kalamata olives, pickles, carrots, cucumber, cream cheese, Italian herbs and provolone cheese on a chibatta roll); turkey and havarti on a croissant; roasted duck on baguette; or a BLT on baguette. Our friend Karen, who first recommended Bakery Nouveau to us, said her favorite is the ham and cheese croissant. I love the Sicilian pizza. Today Chris and Oscar opted for stromboli; it had just come out of the oven when we arrived.

There is a vast array of handmade chocolates on display, and dozens -- maybe hundreds! -- of beautiful tarts, cakes, eclairs, and pastries, and the requisite colorful macarons. Alas, I didn't try any of those, but we did share a twice-baked almond croissant, because many of the tips on foursquare recommended them. It was yummy, but I could've done without all the powdered sugar on top. I saw so many things I'd love to taste! I'll probably never go to West Seattle without stopping here.

Seattle Home Show Top 10

I was a little surprised that Chris wanted to go to the Seattle Home Show, but I think he was hoping for a mega cache of "miracle products," like the ones he always get suckered into buying at state fairs. I wasn't sure what to expect since I've never been to a home show, but I do like nice homes!

The event is at the CenturyLink Field Event Center, a huge space near the baseball park. Inside are vendors of everything from hot tubs to lawn care services, and since we don't have a definite remodeling project in mind, we just wandered around to see what caught our eyes. Here are 10 things that intrigued me.

There are a lot of pest-removal services with scary displays like this. God, I hope our house doesn't get rats!

I looked at about a million door handles. If I didn't restrain myself, my whole house would probably have whimsical handles like this woodpecker.

I really love the colored appliances. But will orange become the avocado green of the future?

We found a place that makes the original wood-framed windows in old houses functional and easy to open. And they had this cool twiggy window on display!

This CargoCottage by ShelterKraft Werks is so cute! It has a kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom in one tiny 20' space, and it actually looks pretty cool too. This one's just $35,000. Perfect guest house?

I love these giant refrigerators. There were so many cool ones! Guess there's no way it would fit into the CargoCottage, though.

I am strangely attracted to these tile murals. Too tacky?

Unfortunately, this display of astroturf got Chris and Oscar set on finishing the basement in pseudo-backyard style. They were also intrigued by the faux stone grotto shower display.

This is the coolest idea! A solar-powered roof vent fan. Hey, I just made a pun.

The highlight for me was an "Antiques Roadshow"-like event called Dr. Lori's Trinket or Treasure. Each show attendee can bring one object for Dr. Lori to appraise. Before we left our house I couldn't think of anything I own that I thought was valuable, but now that I've seen the show I wish I brought something after all. The show was educational, but Dr. Lori is also extremely funny. She's very sarcastic (or mean, depending on how sensitive you are), so if you don't have a thick skin, maybe stay away. Anyway, here she is, and a cookie jar that turned out to be a treasure! If you like antiques and/or vintage stuff, check out Dr. Lori if she comes to your area. She even hosts vacation cruises.

Finally, I really like this sign encouraging everyone to pay top dollar. Ha ha!

All in all, the Seattle Home Show is a great place to go to get ideas for your home, so if you're into home improvement, I'd recommend it. There are also seminars every day, from maximizing your closets to working with an architect to improving energy efficiency. If you buy tickets online, you get free parking, a free subscription to Better Homes and Gardens, and can even use an online coupon code to get $5 off each ticket, so it's not expensive at all to get in (it ended being about $13 for two adults and one child), but the food prices are outrageous ($3.75 for small bottle of water, $9 for chicken nuggets, $7 for a slice of pizza, $3 for one doughnut), so eat before you go! The show ends February 26.

Issian: Japanese stone grill

It's hard to believe, but I think it's true: I hadn't had sushi since I moved from San Francisco in JUNE. This past weekend, one of Chris's friends told him that the very best and most authentic izakaya in Seattle was right in our own neighborhood, so last night we tried it for ourselves. Issian is now Chris's favorite Seattle restaurant thus far.

We got there during Happy Hour (4:30-6:30), when you can order yakitori (grilled chicken) and yakiton (grilled pork) for $1 a skewer, gyoza for $3, edamame for $2 -- which is what we started with -- but they also have a bunch of other small plates (seaweed salad, fries with wasabi mayo, crispy chicken wings, agedashi tofu, korokke (croquettes) ...). Obviously you could make a whole meal out of these appetizers, but I really wanted sushi, so we also had some of that (sadly, not at Happy Hour prices). The stone grill method of cooking kept the meat juicy and tender. Yum!

There's a big menu of saki and beer, but I wanted to try something new, so I ordered Takara Plum Wine. It comes on the rocks, and I LOVE it -- and truthfully, I was actually expecting to hate it. The taste reminded me of a Shirley Temple (though it's not fizzy), and while it's definitely sweet, I didn't think it was overly sweet. Oscar had a Ramune, a lemon-lime soft drink that comes in a glass bottle stopped with a marble. Anyway, every scrap of food was consumed. Oishii -- delicious! We will definitely be back!