DEC. 9: ANNE MCNAMEE CORBETT'S POLITICS OF THE POSSIBLE

We admit it - there are lots of reasons floating around to be depressed and hopeless. At the most important of times it's not hard to feel like our national political dialogue is fucked beyond repair. And with every wing of government - from city municipalities on up to the very top of the federal government - facing the reality of sever budget cuts, it's more than likely that things will only get more rancorous ... unless, of course, we steal back this moment in history from the madness and name calling. With this in mind, Anne McNamee Corbett will present "Politics of the Possible" Friday night at Orca Books in Olympia, drawing on the book by the same name (co-written by Mary Ellen McCaffree) that details her fight in the 1960s to secure better funding of her children's schools. According to hype, "(w)ith the state legislature convened in a special session, and with so much of our politics seeming at times to be irreparably broken, it's helpful to look at a time in our state's history when people found a way to make things work." Sounds nice, no?

[Orca Books, 7 p.m., free, 509 Fourth Ave., Olympia, 360.352.0123]