Advice appreciated.

[Sorry for the lack of activity. Down with the misnamed "flu." As in that affliction where it makes more sense to take the entree to the toilet and flush it directly, avoiding the middleman. Meant to do much, accomplished little. That, and the morbid depression caused by the shocking non-appearance of the ODB on my doorstep has thrown me for a loop. Moving on.]

Heather has a post requesting book recommendations over here.

We have been giving the kids a dose of the classics lately, focusing on the Greek myths. Odysseus (his dad was Irish, don't you know?), Theseus and the Minotaur and Bellerophon are all favorites. If you can find them(very, very tough as they are inexplicably long out of print), the Troll Associates publications from the mid-80s are very high quality in presentation.

Theseus beheading the minotaur is a big hit. In fact, beheadings of any sort are popular with the kid set, I have discovered. In fact, I'm leery of reading Judith to the eldest on account of this.

In a mysterious development, Rachel can now say "Holy crap!" As I said, a puzzler. I suspect it's a toddler Tourrette's variant.

In the audiovisual department, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (the Chuck Jones version) is also wildly popular. I recommend the CJ version because it borrows heavily from the Kipling original. Kids love Kipling, too. I'll be reciting Tommy and The Recessional soon. Plus, it's part of their Michigan heritage, what with the UP sporting two towns called Rudyard and Kipling (which the delighted author referred to as his "sons in Michigan"). They'd be proper little British imperialists by now, but for that Irish streak, which The Wife is educating them about. Nevermind her even stronger Churrman strain, which manifests itself in the children attempting to annex Dad's seat whenever he gets up for thirty seconds.

Rest assured, Anglophiles and those who love them, I'm gradually administering the antidote.

The Tigers still sit atop Major League Baseball after a 7-9 streak against the better American League teams and after I risked the kiss of death by mentioning them positively.

More later, if the system allows.