The Dangerous Book For Boys

It's not really nice to read a book you've purchased as a gift for someone else, but "boys will be boys." And in that spirit, I just finished reading this new book before wrapping it up to give to Neville, my ten year old pen pal. Neville is finishing the fifth grade, and we've been exchanging letters in a composition book since last fall. The finale of this San Francisco Unified School District program is a party where the kids meet their grownup pen pals.

The Dangerous Book For Boys is a refreshingly non-PC guide to all sorts of things boys should know, but rarely get exposure to in these sedentary, electronic-toy overstimulating days. What's wrong with getting getting some scrapes and bruises? What's wrong with a little bit of risk? What's wrong with knowing more about bugs, constellations, poker, go-carts, knots, water bombs, and skinning a rabbit? This book has chapters covering these and many, many more facts, instructions, advice, and adventure stories; suited to "recapture Sunday afternoons and long summer days." Check out this "trailer" for the book:



Sorry, girls, but this book is for the boys. But not to worry. One chapter is named "Girls" and closes with this bit of wisdom: "They think and act rather differently to you, but without them, life would be one long football locker room. Treat them with respect."

I hope Neville enjoys The Dangerous Book For Boys as much as this big boy did!

Bay To Breakers 2007

Another third Sunday in May, another 70,000 runners/walkers/all-around partiers do the Bay to Breakers 12K. Last year, I took hundreds of photos during and after the race; alas, this year, I'm coming off a bad allergy/cold and walk the whole twelve kilometers. It turns out to be a good first (million) steps to get back into the groove.

Bay to Breakers is now using shoelace-held "timing chips" that start counting your time once you pass the start line (which often takes over 10-15 minutes or more because of the massive crowd). The artwork is quite nifty so these chips will be worthy collector's items.

No, I did not run naked or wear any wild outfits ... unless you consider a tie-dye and lime green shorts wild:



Enjoy the photos ... and remember, there's always some nudity at Bay to Breakers!

Atheist Blogroll

FreeThought By A FreeThinker has joined the Atheist Blogroll, a webring of blogs written from "an atheist, agnostic, freethinking, or skeptical point of view." So until I get back to posting more regularly (soon! soon!), check out some blogs of other infidels!