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More spooky (and some note so spooky) reads for October.

Photo 276/365 what we're reading...

Photo 260/365 The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death

Sometimes discovering the things your parents loved as children is mind bendingly rewarding. Other times it borders somewhere between hilarious and downright disappointing. It's hard to tell which of the above is going on here, but Calvin's introduction to his one of his dad's favorite books from going on thirty years ago now was a true combination of all of the above. The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death is not a something I discovered at that age, and is probably the strangest book I have ever read. It's a relatively dark absurdist comedy, one of those that is deep enough to keep the adult mind busy with things that one hopes are going at least a little ways over a child's head. To call it entertaining is probably actually shorting it on praise. Still, rediscovering one's childhood loves is a double-edged sword. I can't even describe the depth of my disappointment at discovering the misogynist date-rape scene in Ghostbusters, and I think Jon was slightly surprised by the prevalence of questionable habits in The Snarkout Boys. Smoking, for instance, is a rather nonchalant occurrence in book. Still, the writing is so outlandish it easily couches such offenses in its well developed satire (and maybe that was the point all along, although I doubt, it given the 1982 publishing date).

Also, it makes a great read aloud, which is how we experienced it. Five stars, at least as a family experience.  

Photo 62/365 (series: Harry Potter with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra)

At the Holiday Pops Christmas Concert last December we noticed an ad in the program for a Night with The Music of Harry Potter, a concert offering from the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra. It sounded good to us so I made a mental note to look into tickets. Thankfully, I forgot to put that task in my journal, because a month or so later we were told that the Boychoir would be performing in said Harry Potter concert, no ticket for the singer necessary. So while Jon and I procured tickets, Calvin procured music and a magical frog (you can't sing in the Hogwarts Frog Choir with one, after all).

The night started with fun in the lobby, which Calvin got to participate in (including his very first selfie as part of the baffling Horcrux search) before ducking backstage for his Frog Choir debut. We were able to keep him away from the prying eyes of the Ministry and out of Azcaban, so I think we did a good job of wizarding.