#nancy stewart

[mercerislandbooks]

50 Years of Island Books: Nancy Stewart

If a bookstore could have a house band for kids, Nancy Stewart would be it! Nancy has been an Island resident and children's singer-songwriter for nearly forty years and over that time has become a fixture at Island Books storytimes. Her passion for the connection between early literacy and singing is infectious, and at times makes Saturday mornings noisy and happily disruptive.

Miriam: Can you tell me about how you first came to Island Books, Nancy? What was the Mercer Island community like at the time?

Nancy: We moved to Mercer Island in 1981, and even then, Island Books was the hub of the community. I was still performing in nightclubs at the time (among other things I was the house entertainment for an elegant little restaurant called Klahowyan, located in a little one-story mall across from the QFC). I began singing for children and when I made my first children's recording in 1989, I took it to Island Books. When I asked Fam Bayless, the owner at that time, if she would sell it, she said, "Well, I'll listen to it and if it's good, I will." It was that simple, and that began the wonderful relationship I have had with Island Books for the last forty years. In those days bookstores were the main retailer of children's music. The bookstore hand-sold our cassette recording for many years, and then the CD, along with many of my other titles, although Goodnight, Sleep Tight was always the best seller. Mercer Island looked quite different then, of course, but it always had a reputation for being a great place to raise kids, and a beautiful place to live. 

(An off-topic random piece of Island Books trivia I'm sure you know, the inside of the playhouse is decorated with sweet little drawings done by local artist and art teacher, Poo Putsch. I featured them as part of my sing-along scavenger hunt when I started Sing With Our Kids in 2012. Most adults have never been inside, so don't know).

Miriam: I didn't know that! There are so many personal touches and hidden stories in the store. Can you tell me about the most memorable events you participated in at the bookstore? We'd love to hear if you have any special anecdotes or mishaps to share.

Nancy: Ooo. So many events over almost forty years! The only mishap I can remember happened early on in my time at the bookstore, and it wasn’t exactly my mishap. Roger and Nancy were big fans of my Goodnight, Sleep Tight Lullaby recording and had the great idea of hosting pajama concerts at the store. What could go wrong? We got great crowds that could fill up the entire children's area. Barney (The Purple Dinosaur) and Friends was a very popular children's show at the time, and I had commented on how children often said, “Barney wrote that,” when I sang a traditional or even my own songs! Roger was very proud of the fact that he didn’t own a television and his kids wouldn't even know who Barney was. The “mishap” occurred one evening when Roger’s young son, Lewis, was in the front row. I asked for requests, and he began loudly chanting, “Barney! Barney! Barney!” Roger feigned total mortification and I, of course, never let him forget it! 

In 2012 when I launched my Sing With Our Kids Community Project, I knew I wanted Island Books to be an active partner. I scheduled a formal meeting with Roger to pitch my plan, and he immediately and enthusiastically got onboard. And that led to the next memorable event. 

Flash mobs were popular then, and I thought it would be amazing to have a flash mob with young children and their families at Island Books. I asked my fans to arrive at the store on a certain date and time, and simply browse in the children’s area. I would ask Roger if he had a copy of the Wheels on the Bus, and when he handed it to me, I would begin reading and singing. Families were to join in singing and make their way towards me as we all gravitated to the game area in a small mob. I’d even enlisted my friend, Charlie Williams, aka “The NoiseGuy,” a sound impressionist and comedian to perform his Noisy Alphabet after we sang. I had told everyone in advance we would video the whole thing and post it on YouTube. The excitement and silliness in the store that morning was incredible, and it was one of my favorite events ever. Roger was over the top in his impromptu role, and the parents and grandparents were dressed up and ready for the camera. Everyone sang along and it was an absolute blast! You can see video here https://youtu.be/DnFA4DOIwdc . It’s not great, but it is fun!

Miriam: That is awesome. Tell me about how Covid affected your relationship with the bookstore.

Nancy: I can’t reflect on Island Books without including Covid times. When Laurie bought the store, she asked the customers what changes they would like to see, and one of them was having a weekday storytime. She asked me to do it and we agreed on Wednesday mornings. It was very popular, and we had large groups of regular attendees. I had also just revamped the Saturday Evening Storytelling series and had scheduled some great guests. Then came March 23rd, 2020. I remember finishing what became my last storytime on the 18th, and it was eerily quiet in the bookstore. We all knew things were going downhill quickly, and sure enough, on March 23rd Governor Inslee issued the stay-at-home order. 

It was heartbreaking and surreal, but Laurie didn’t skip a beat. She asked if I could video and post Wednesday storytimes to keep them going. I knew nothing about how to do it and had only my phone and some lighting I borrowed from my son. For the next few months, I would let myself into the store through the back door and set up in the back of the children’s area. I won’t lie, it felt a bit dangerous. Laurie was working at her desk, but most of the time I didn’t even see her. I’ll never forget sitting by myself in this familiar beautiful space, now seemingly frozen in time. Although publishers had issued emergency permission to read and video their books, the first time I tried it my video was taken down within an hour. After that I only sang my own songs, and used my own visuals, sometimes just holding up a favorite book. It was surreal. You can still find those storytimes here https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyQQLjelm7Rt-0bLnkwZ6QDjsJxIULP3m

But we made it through, thanks to Laurie’s tireless work and ingenuity, and of course, dedicated staff. Our sweet, sweet families are back, and Island Books is once again filled with all the community sights and sounds that help make this such a magical place. The old ceiling fan once again works its magic calming fussy babies and customers once again must take the alternate path through the store as we spill into the main aisle on Saturday mornings. It’s the most joyful full-of-possibilities place I know, and it’s enough to make me want to sing (and read, of course)!

Miriam: Me too. I have the best memories of bringing my kids to your storytimes when they were little.

To our Island Books community: In the next 50 Years of Island Books installment, I’ll be talking to our key sales reps from the big publishing houses. They all have long-standing relationships with Island Books, and play an important role in our history.

—Miriam

[battybiologist]

I find it really fascinating that when RTD wants to make callbacks to old Earthling friends of the Doctor, he either picks female companions or, like, K-9, but when Moffat does it, it's always the Brigadier.

Oh well, I'm sure there's nothing to be gleaned here

[princessmo]

ok. i wanna hear everyone's beavis and butthead/king of the hill crossover ideas. go

[oldschoolteenflicks]

Nancy Allen as Allison Hayes in The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) dir. by Stewart Raffill - for @aokayalright​

[bringthesauerkraut]

Seeing as there was no new Daily Show segment this week, its time to bring this back.

[eighties-o-rama]

The Philadelphia Experiment - Stewart Raffill (1984)

[no-side-us]

Letters From Watson Liveblog - May 23

The Crooked Man, Part 1 of 2

Holmes really has come a long way from the very earliest days after Watson's marriage, where they rarely saw each other. Now look at him, he's called on Watson in the morning, during the work day, and now in the middle of the night.

Foreshadowing, perhaps? Is Mrs. Barclay possibly having an affair? Or more likely her husband believes she's having an affair? As Holmes said, even after 30 years of marriage, she is evidently still quite striking.

Also, just because the people around them have never heard of any issues in the marriage, doesn't mean there aren't any. Some folks are very good at keeping stuff like that hidden.

A violent husband, a beautiful wife, and decades of a seemingly perfect marriage. I am so far unsurprised that a tragedy is about to occur.

That's odd, and probably important, though it's not necessarily indicative of a bad person. He's a soldier after all, perhaps it's some form of trauma from all the battles he's fought.

Very dramatic. I'm guessing there was an altercation with the wife, accusations and insults were thrown, and she was forced to defend herself in some way. Although if it was as simple as that then Holmes wouldn't be involved, so let's see.

"Our bosses were fighting, so naturally I gathered all my coworkers so we could listen in on all that hot drama."

Honestly, I can't blame them for listening in. This is probably the most exciting thing to happen in this house in a long time.

Now that's an interesting line. It implies she hates a lot more than just her husband, but this whole life they've built here. The insults about him being a coward are so general they could be referring to anything though.

And that's where Holmes comes in. Where's the key? If the key wasn't there, then how was the door locked? Ergo, the key was there. But if the key was there, then where has it gone since?

The obvious conclusion to draw is that David is who she was having an affair with. But is that too obvious? It was only heard twice, and you'd think if they were arguing over an affair the name would come up more often. Considering some other possibilities, it might be anything from a biblical reference to the name of a street.

That's one explanation for the missing key. I considered they might have thrown the key out the window in the heat of their argument, but I guess then they would have found it. So there must have been a third individual.

A dramatic close to the first letter. And I just realized that so far there has not been any sign of a "crooked man" in any way. It might be the mysterious third individual, or his even more mysterious companion. The husband's face was contorted in horror, but that's just his face. I guess I'll have to see.

Part 1 - Part 2

[letterboxd-loggd]

The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) Stewart Raffill

December 19th 2023

[unreleased-gta-vi-npc]

the problem with society today is they dont make movies for 7-10 year olds anymore what happened to the Hoots and the Nancy Drew (2007)s? agent cody banks? catch that kid? kristen stewart was in that

now a days kids only have jake paul and youtube short twerking videos so sad

[ometochtli2rabbit]

13.0.12.0.14

b'olon[9] IX/B'ALAM[jaguar] wuklajun[17] ZAC

galactic tone: patience/ cyclic periodicity

sun sign: jaguar/white/north

commune & give thanks to Mother Nature- MAYA

chicunahui[9] - OCELOTL [jaguar]

Quetzalcoatl | Tlazolteotl

totolin[turkey] | warriors of Tezcatlipoca

lord of the night: Itztli

trecena[9]: Tonatiuh

x: mahtlactli-once[11]- cuahuitlehua - NAHUA

today's MAYA Mnemonic: "to withdraw, remove, to be free"(www.mayan-calendar.com). again, some songs with FREE in them:

Queen: I Want to Break Free

Lana Del Rey: Get Free

Patti Smith Group: Privilege (Set Me Free) & Free Money

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Free Fallin'

M.I.A.: Born Free

Chicago: Free

Depeche Mode: (Set Me Free) Remotivate Me

Sia: Bird Set Free

Iron Maiden: Running Free

Joni Mitchell: Free Man in Paris

Lynyrd Skynyrd: Free Bird

Nancy Wilson: Born Free

Carlos Santana: Let the Music Set You Free

Los Lobos: Free Up

Frank Zappa: Absolutely Free

Iggy And The Stooges: Free

Candi Staton: Young Hearts Run Free

Rod Stewart: Young Turks

Al Green: Free At Last

The Soup Dragons: I'm Free

The Rolling Stones: I'm Free

Mariah Carey: I Am Free

Metallica: Free Speech for the Dumb

En Vogue: Free Your Mind

George Michael: Freedom 90

Rage Against the Machine: Freedom

X-Ray Spex: Oh Bondage, Up Yours

The Kinks: Set Me Free

The Beatles: Free As a Bird

Jimi Hendrix: Stone Free

Prince Rogers Nelson: Free

[thebutcher-5]

Tremors 3 - Ritorno a Perfection

Benvenuti o bentornati sul nostro blog. Nello scorso articolo siamo passati all’animazione, cercando di fare alternanza, e per cambiare abbiamo deciso di prendere in esame la Sony Animation Pictures con una delle loro commedie che trovo interessante, Hotel Transylvania. Il Conte Dracula, per proteggere sua figlia Mavis dagli umani, decide di costruire un hotel dedicato ai soli mostri e che possa…

[rites-of-spring]

I'm sorry but can Kristen Stewart play Nancy Wilson pls ?? 🙏

[roseunspindle]

Books by Women

[indiesee]

Reader's Forum - Sadie Stewart and Nancy Hanks on POVERTY, BY AMERICA

The Fear of Poverty: Moral panic and other psychological mind games in latent capitalism By Nancy Hanks Some years ago, I asked my dad (who was born in 1929, at the beginning of the Great Depression and grew up marginally poor in Arkansas) for some money to see me through a particularly rough patch of joblessness when my unemployment benefits ran out.  The infusion helped but didn’t outlast the…

[cultfaction]

Cult Faction Podcast Ep. 92: The Philadelphia Experiment (1984)

Stewart Raffill’s The Philadelphia Experiment (1984) goes under the spotlight this week alongside our chat about everything that has been happening down our endz…. https://cultfaction.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Episode-92.mp3

[xinganhao]

🃏 svt detective x thief au.

@purple-eustoma → "imagine ot13 detective! member x thief! reader or thief! member x detective! reader (however you like) being in a secret relationship and having to pretend to not catch each other."

⌗ ┆HELLO. this prompt??? SO GOOD. my jaw dropped to the floor. just to make things easier: hyung line are detective!svt x thief!reader and maknae line are thief!svt x detective!reader

‧₊˚✩彡 includes: detective/thief!svt, detective/thief!reader, established/secret relationship, angst -ish (mingyu), pet names, cussing, tw for mentions of criminal activities (theft/arson/murder), suggestive jokes, headcanons + playlist (!) under the cut.

🃏 headcanons .ᐟ

↺ |◁ II ▷ feeling good, michael buble ⋆ bang bang (my baby shot me down), nancy sinatra ⋆ no time to die, billie eilish ⋆ dark red, steve lacy ⋆ sweet dreams (are made of this), eurythmics, annie lennox, dave stewart ⋆ you don't own me, lesley gore ⋆ cherry bomb, the runaways ⋆ paper planes, m.i.a.

— said i stole your heart, you called me a thief ✩ detective!hyung line x thief!reader.

"detective choi?" seungcheol looks up at the mention of his name, that easy smile on his face still in place. he'll never admit it, but this is one of his guilty pleasures— the way you dance around each other. within reach but out of sight. both of you should be more careful, but he knows you're skilled in the art of evasion, and he's just a good enough actor to make things discreet. he enjoys the slight thrill that comes with the prospect of being caught. this is a game and he likes to know he's winning. seungcheol flashes the rest of his team his usual grin. "no sign of them here," he says. "let's call it a day, gentlemen."

really, detective yoon knows he should have had it coming. you don't like being taunted. more than that, you don't like your date nights being derailed by pesky partners. jeonghan keeps a critical eye as he pads in to his apartment, though he immediately spots what you've left for him. the corner of a polaroid is sticking out from one of his coffee table books. he saunters over and casually snatches it up, managing to keep a blank expression at the faceless, provocative photo staring up at him. he tucks it in to his back pocket and goes to get his unsuspecting guest a beer. it didn't matter if jeonghan teased you; you would always do it right back.

detective hong's message is a warning. the new shoes are a precaution for your future escapades because, this time around, he's getting closer and closer to a positive id. joshua lets out a low tsk of disapproval. "think we can get them with this?" one of the rookie detectives dares to ask, and joshua only gives a half-hearted shrug. "we can only hope," he says blankly, even though he's going to be the one making sure it won't be so. he'll buy you the new shoes you want and an extra one to boot, and whatever else you need to keep the team off your trail. as much as he wants to deny it, the truth is plain as day: you have joshua wrapped around your finger.

the camera flashes from the media would blind detective wen if he wasn't so used to these press conferences. it's becoming a more recurring thing, especially as your heists get bolder. junhui has half the mind to beg you to just be a petty thief so he doesn't have to keep turning some other criminals in to scapegoats. as it stands, though, he can only face the press as they grill him. when will you find this thief, detective? "we're doing everything that we can to locate them," he says through his teeth. (junhui knows exactly where you are— in his bed, back at home— but he's not about to say that.) "the arm of justice is long and they will be held accountable for their crimes."

an 'accessory' is being generous. detective kwon is practically your partner in crime at this point. soonyoung maintains an air of plausible deniability, but you both see it for what it is. "i can't believe they got away again!" his partner cries as they review the cctv footage. there's no sign of you at all. no indication of you sneaking in and out to bag the highly coveted jewels. "they're good," his partner grumbles, and soonyoung almost scoffs. you're more than good. you're the goddamn best and he helped you get there.

detective jeon knows he should feel some guilt about this. some days, wonwoo thinks he's betraying all his years at the police academy— getting tied up with the very type of person he's supposed to be apprehending. as he buttons up his polo for yet another sting operation, he can only hope for three things. 1) that you have enough sense to stay out of his way, 2) that you know him well enough to know that it's him, whatever setting it may be, and 3) that people believe him when he says he might not have spotted you. wonwoo will blame his bad eyesight as long as you play your cards right.

everyone in the precinct knows detective lee is meticulous and careful. jihoon leaves no room for mistakes and his coordinated (literally) bread crumbs are proof of that. as he all but drags you in to a deserted alleyway, he resists the urge to smirk. the flash of nervousness on your expression doesn't go amiss to him. "what? you don't trust me?" he goads, one eyebrow arched upward. he's done his research. he's pulled all the stops. he knows no one is about to spot either of you here. jihoon makes it clear that if anyone's ever going to catch you for real, it will only ever be him.

— well, i hope i was your favorite crime ✩ detective!reader x thief!maknae line.

when mingyu finds you at your covert meetup spot, his legs nearly give out underneath him. the sheer relief is enough to almost bowl him over. "i'm sorry, i'm sorry," he breathes as he takes you in his arms. you're upset— of course you are, your apartment is up in flames!— but he's just glad he got to warn you in time. there's only so much he can protect you against. mingyu's not about to tell you to stop being a detective, so he promises you the next best thing. "i'll get them," he mumbles in to your hair as he holds you close. "i'll make them pay, baby."

seokmin could be a perfectly normal guy, the world's most ideal boyfriend, if it weren't for his little hobby. at least that's what he calls his robin hood escapades of stealing from the corporate elite and distributing it to the impoverished. he'll come home tired after his little 'trips', but when you cautiously ask him how it went, he lights up like a christmas tree. "helped so many people today, love," seokmin tells you as he presses kiss after kiss all over your faces. "and it's all 'cause the world's best detective gave me hella luck!"

it's one of minghao's simple joys— your reactions to the spoils in your flat. he never leaves you his loot for extended periods of time. just long enough for you to get antsy, for him to tease you about the monet in your bedroom or the matisse by the entry way. "why don't you keep this one, hm?" he hums as he hugs you from behind. you're staring disapprovingly at the amorsolo he recently nabbed, and minghao resists the urge to take a photo of your face. all of the art he steals pales in comparison to the piece of art in his arms, honestly.

there's a petulant pout on seungkwan's face as he tugs his baseball cap a little more snugly atop his head. this was getting ridiculous! he had needed to change your designated date spot at least thrice in the past month. "wish your team would stop doing their job so well," he grumbles as he plays with his paper straw. a part of him knows you're right. maybe he's getting sloppy. maybe he's better off giving up his thievery and living a regular civilian life. but, unfortunately, there's two things seungkwan can't quite quit— the urge to have more, and you.

the cat and dog chase is vernon's favorite part. he likes to pretend that there are stakes. he revels in throwing you off, in having you think. at least it makes your supposed inability to 'find' him a little more convincing. he's right about one thing, though. at the end of it all, he's going to be sitting cross-legged on your arm chair when you last expect it. or maybe you had expected it, because you were smart that way. "took you long enough," he'll say with a lazy sort of grin. all of the clues and diversions in the world don't change the fact that every single one of vernon's roads lead to you.

chan doesn't like his integrity being questioned. even if it is not a lot of integrity to begin with, he likes to think you know him a lot more than that. he thieves out of necessity, after all, and he has his rule of 'do no harm'. as you grovel for his forgiveness, he feels his pride chipping at the edges. despite his annoyance, he reaches out to hold your hand. he's uncharacteristically quiet for only a moment more before he finds his voice. "i need you to still think i'm a good person," he eventually manages to choke out. chan may live in a life of vices— but you're his one virtue.