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If there was really just half a year before the whole planet went kablooie, what would you do?

I am a coward. In my day to day life, I see so much rude behavior in the public sphere, but I don’t have the guts to say something. People do all sorts of little things that make someone else’s day just a little bit worse.

Who doesn’t love a good museum? In Philadelphia, where Quirk is located, we have a ton of ’em. Rocky even ran up the steps of one. We’re also proud to be the home of the Rosenbach Museum and Library, an incredible place full of rare texts. And that’s not the only museum that’s all books all the time. Here are some more.

Rosenbach Museum (Philadelphia, PA): The Rosenbach Museum and Library was founded in 1954 and is home to the collections of Philip Rosenbach and his younger brother A. S. W. Rosenbach. The museum currently boasts an exhibit on the illustrations of Maurice Sendak, offering a glimpse at three picture books by the Wild Things artist. Beginning May 30th, the museum will display an exhibit titled “Who Owns Ulysses? Joyce and Copyright.” If you can’t make it out to Philadelphia, the Rosenbach’s website alone is worth a visit. Past exhibits on Abe Lincoln, the Civil War, and the history of neckwear are archived and can be explored virtually.

Folger Shakespeare Library (Washington, DC): Founded in 1932, the Folger Shakespeare Library is a world-class research center and prides itself in being the premiere center for Shakespeare studies outside of England. The library is also home to the Folger Theatre, producing three plays a year.

An exhibit titled “Shakespeare’s Sisters: Voices of English and European Women Writers 1500-1700” is currently on display as part of the museum’s celebration of women writers. Visitors can also view one of Shakespeare’s First Folios, which is permanently on display. The Folger owns 82 copies of the First Folio, approximately one-third of those believed to still be in existence.

Photo by Walter Lim

It’s Wednesday again, and we’re approaching the big summer travel season. In honor of my own upcoming vacation, I’m going to share some advice from The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel.

Okay, I am unlikely to encounter this specific danger in Orlando, but you never know what’s coming.

Sit down, Ben. I’ve got some bad news for you.

I just looked at the Amazon page for The Last Policeman, and —

What? No no no. The bad news isn’t a one-star review. Are you kidding? A book by you? With that premise? What’s not to love? It’s just that —

I’m obsessed with my North American Green Tree Frog. His name is Abelard (as in Heloise and Abelard). I rescued him in Salt Lake City from a shipment of trees that came into a Lowe’s Home Improvement all the way from Oklahoma.

I didn’t bring him with me to Philadelphia when I moved here last fall, and I’ve been driving my family crazy asking them almost daily if they’ve remembered to check on him, water him, give him crickets. “Did you spray the frog?” I always ask. Which really means, “Did you use the reptile spray bottle filled with room temperature water and pump it 40 to 50 times into his terrarium to mist the air since he is from a humid climate and Utah is a desert?”

He’s a tough little guy. The people at the pet store said he’s never make it that first day when I bought the terrarium, a soaking pool, and a container of crickets. “He probably won’t last more than four or five days. Frogs just don’t do well transferring from the wild into captivity. Keep the receipt.” Keep the receipt? So I can return the terrarium when he croaks? Abelard has done just fine, going on three years now. Who would think you could be that attached to a frog? Go figure.

So for me, it’s in honor of Abelard, and not Mark Twain, that I’m celebrating National Frog Jumping Day. The roots of this holiday come from Mark Twain’s first short story, the famous “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” It was first published in 1865 as “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog” and has also been called “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” In honor of the holiday, you should read the short story.

It’ll take you five minutes flat and you’ll feel very literary. Barring that, I’d say go to your local pet shop and buy yourself a green tree frog. Call her Heloise.

Contents of a Toddler’s Backpack, Photo by Cathy Stanley-Erickson

Memorial Day is coming up soon, so the ceremonial beginning to summer is upon us. More importantly, for anyone under 18, it means that school is almost over!

If I remember correctly, that also means that the shiny new backpack you got last fall, and the promise you made to yourself not to be disorganized this year, are both destroyed. In these last few weeks of school, we deal with a very prevalent issue from The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Parenting.