Friday 5: Top 5 Books with Dogs

I got a puppy! What does this have to do with Friday Five? Well, it means all I can think about (when not thinking, Oh no no no no do not chew/devour/excavate/urinate/defecate/mutilate that/there!) is the sheer adorability of puppies. Lucky you!

Here is my Top 5, then, of books with dogs:

Top Five Books with Dogs

1. Eloise by Kay Thompson (Disclaimer: the puppy in my home is a pug puppy – therefore, this must be #1.)

2. White Fang by Jack London

3. Flush by Virginia Woolf

4. Pack of Two: The Intricate Bond Between People and Dogs by Caroline Knapp

5. Travels with Charlie: In Search of America by John Steinbeck

I’d write more, but I have to run. Love Bug the Pug has decided to explore the world underneath the living room sofa. Pray for us, America. And enjoy the weekend, all!

Friday 5: Top 5 Films for Summer

Summer is awesome, right? There’s all this sun and nearly naked people and ice cream is an acceptable form of nourishment for every single meal. Yup, summer rocks. Until you’re about a week into a heatwave and the sweat is creating its own lap pool in the small of your back and you can’t imagine leaving the confines of your elaborately barricaded A/C-ed environ (as if hot air molecules were the zombies in Day of the Dead). What to do?

You could cast off the whole clime with a reverse-season Bah Humbug denying undersized crippled children named Tim not only their summer vacation but their Mister Softee, too, or…

You could embrace summer secondhand with a Summer Movie Marathon! So leave Tiny Tim and his dipped cone alone, and enjoy this week’s top five in the comfort of your own climate-controlled vicarious-living victory den:

Top Five Films for Summer

1. Wet Hot American Summer

2. Do the Right Thing

3. The Parent Trap (the 1961 original, pleeeease)

4. Now and Then

5. Jaws

After watching racial discord, fighting tweens and sharks on the loose, you’ll definitely feel lucky you had the sense to stay cool (not to mention socially conscious, tween-less and limb-ful) indoors. Well done, summer champion!

What films do you hole up with when the temperature climbs? Share your favs and help us all be proactive winners against Summer Saturation this season. Only you can prevent it’s-soooo-hot cranky pants outbursts. Please. You’ll be helping us all.

Friday 5: Top 5 Ways to Celebrate NYWC Day

That’s right, kids – it’s NYWC Day and it’s official because Aaron Zimmerman, Nancy Weber and Marty Markowitz say so. So there.

Now, what are you going to do about it? I’ll tell you what you’re going to do about it. One of these awesome Top 5 Friday 5 things. Or none, and then simply we won’t be friends ever again.

Top Five Ways to Celebrate NYWC Day

1. Join the crowd. Hop on the 7 train, the Staten Island Ferry, the Coney Island Boardwalk or the steps of Borough Hall for one of the ten totally free workshops going on today around the city. We’ll provide the pen and paper; all you gotta do is show up!

2. Lead a workshop of one. That’s right. Be as kind, supportive and snark-free as an NYWC leader as you set aside 10 minutes today to give one of these great Narrator prompts a go. Then, when you’re done, only focus on what you like and what works. Then you can go back to kicking puppies or whatever it it is you do.

3. Tweet us. We like that. You’ll find us on the Tweetscape as @NYWriters. Just be warned: we will tweet back.

4. Talk about us to your coffee guy. I do this all the time. Also to the apple man. He seems to dig it.You know, even if you’re not talking about us, talk about something. In fact…:

5. Talk about anything to anyone. It’s incredible how the world opens when you welcome it. You’ll be gathering material, too, for your next writing session. So yes, talk to people. Strangers. Like those crazies you’re bound to see, notebooks in hand, all over the city today. Talk to them. Grab a pen. Jump in. And have fun.

How are you celebrating NYWC today? Chime in with a comment and share, you beautiful unique snowflakes of time management, you!

Friday 5: Top 5 Pretty Darn Horrible Mothers

Sunday’s Mother’s Day; do you know where your greeting card is? If it’s not in the plane/truck/old-timey-carriage/stranger’s-mailpouch by now, good luck. Hell hath no fury like a Mothers Day Card delivered next Wednesday. (“I delivered you on time, you know,” Mommy Dearest might say.)

No matter what Mama Drama you have in your past, present or future, here are five fictional (one hopes) mothers that could make any parent look good.

Top Five Pretty Darn Horrible Mothers

1. Margaret in Carrie by Stephen King
2. Caroline in The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
3. Mary in Push by Sapphire
4. Ingrid in White Oleander by Janet Fitch
5. Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

The above range from downright horrific to extremely annoying. But maybe you disagree? Maybe you secretly want one of these lovely ladies as your progenitor? Then be sure to chime in below and speak up. Just be sure to put on your clean underwear and use your indoor comment voice, please – let’s make our mamas proud. Happy Mothers Day, all!

Friday 5: Top 5 Musicals for May Day

This has been a big week: the Tony nominations came out, as did (at least some of) the masses for Occupy Wall Street, part II. Obviously a Friday 5 mash-up’s in order!

Here’s a list of my top suggestions for budget-busting Broadway productions tackling social issues from a populist bent. Book your tickets now, kids, because if you can’t beat the Man, you might as well deeply unnerve him with an eleventh-hour tap number. (Side note: is it just me, or does Occupy already deploy jazz hands more than the Rockettes? Just sayin’.)

Top Five Musicals for May Day

1. Ragtime

2. The Scottsboro Boys

3. Caroline, or Change

4. Evita

5. Les Miserables

What else would you toss in? And do you think Broadway has any place in a post-1% world? God I hope so. I’ve been practicing this time step for ages…

To share your thoughts, just chime in in the comments section below. Hope to hear from you!