Joanne Jacobs will be speaking and signing books on Thursday, May 11 at 5:30 pm at William E. Doar Jr. (WEDJ) Public Charter School for the Performing Arts, 705 Edgewood St. NE, Washington, DC (near the Rhode Island and Brookland-CUA metro stops). Then, on Wednesday, May 17 at 5:30 pm, she’ll be speaking at Russell Byers Charter School, 1911 Arch St., in downtown Philadelphia. If you’re in the area, stop by and experience Joanne. When it comes to education, she knows her stuff.

If the people next door would pick up all the toys from their lawn, I would go over there and mow it for them. I know their mower is not working right now, but I don’t want to be responsible for relocating property. I can not find anything in “The Handbook of Social Correspondence” about telling the neighbors you’ll mow their lawn if they’ll first get all those toys out of it. (I didn’t really look it up in a book.) (It’s probably not there anyway.) (In which case, what good is it?) (I don’t need a book that tells me which fork to use or how to bend my pinky when lifting a demitasse cup.) (I need a book that tells me how to ask my neighbors to pick up all those damn toys so I can mow their lawn for them.) (I learned about forks from “Pretty Woman.”) (And some other useful things, too.) (None of your business.)

Tomorrow the Honda has an appointment for regular maintenance. The car goes to the doctor more than any of us. I will turn in my final exams and post my grades while I’m waiting for the Honda Doctor to keep my baby running.

Then I will take my son to lunch. Got to keep all my babies running.

Then I will kill some more time, and meet my friend Frau for an early supper, to which I will also invite my daughter. Frau was her favorite teacher of all time. This, if Frau’s car is running.

Running, running, running. Keep the cars running. Keep the mowers running. Keep the kids running.

It’s enough to give a person the trots. Speaking of running. . . . .