THE MAN

Tacoma companion

The fans of Garrison Keillor are a fierce bunch whose radios have for years been tuned religiously on Saturday nights to public radio’s resurrected “A Prairie Home Companion.” And it’s no wonder: A deadpan exemplar of the word “wry,” Keillor has a singular way with the tall tale and an old-fashioned, provincial wit that borders on —and sometimes plunges into — sentimentality. All this serves as a sort of a warning: When Keillor appears Jan. 10 at the Pantages Theater, the staunch are certain to turn out in legions. If you count yourself among them, get your tickets NOW! — Suzy Stump



[Pantages Theater, Thursday, Jan. 10, 7:30 p.m., $48-$70, 901 Broadway, Tacoma, 253.591.5894]

THE CLASS

Stress Free Drawing

Ahhh, the holidays sure were fun, weren’t they? Fun and loving. And warm. And family filled. Wish they came more than once a year, don’t you? Or maybe, for some odd reason, you don’t. Either way, get all that stress out of your system by drawing. A Stress Free Drawing class will be held Saturday at hello, cupcake. Susan Massey will calmly lead classes on how to calmly draw a quail egg. Unfortunately, the class will be held in a shop full of delicious cupcakes. How on earth can people calmly concentrate when they really just want to wildly cram cupcake after cupcake into their mouths. Hmmm. — SS



[hello, cupcake, Saturday, Jan. 12, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., $90, drawing materials included, 1740 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.383.7772]

THE LECTURE

Michael Chabon

Holidays, shmolidays! They’re over, fartik! And what better way might there be to get past them completely than with an event as fresh as the year is new? While the Christian brothers and sisters drag out their half-dead trees and pack up the ornaments for another year, the Jews will turn the page with Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon Tuesday at Pierce College in Puyallup.



OK, I’m sure everyone can come: Drop your dried-up needles and join them. Chibon has lectured widely on topics including the art and craft of writing, the tradition of Jewish fiction, Vladimir Nabokov. He’s in the area Tuesday to discuss his latest book, “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union.” You don’t have to be Jewish to get down with that. — SS



[Pierce College, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m., $7-$15, 1601 39th Ave. S.E., Puyallup, 253.

840.8416]

THE BOOKS

Read alert

Reading fiction is a lot like eating out — there’s nothing wrong with occasionally indulging in tripe you can gulp down in a hurry, but the end result is almost always more satisfying when you can invest more time in savoring complicated flavors. Venturing into the literary world of fine dining can be bewildering, so it’s nice to find other people with whom you can compare your initial reactions. That’s what book clubs are all about, and there may be no better club to join than the Banned Book Club at the Tempest Lounge. Tuesday night, they’ll be discussing Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” the book Tacoma Reads Together chose as the citywide read for 2008.



Drop-in visitors are always welcome. — Brad Allen



[Tempest Lounge, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m., no cover, 913 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253.272.8801]

THE CLASSICAL

Strings attached

You say you’re a huge fan of Baroque music of Bach and late romanticism of Tansman? Who, for the love of the Weekly Volcano, isn’t? Get your fill Tuesday when classical guitarist David Isaacs takes listeners through a historical tour of classical guitar composition at the Tacoma Public Library Main Branch. Issacs has 20 years behind the guitar, a master’s degree in Classical Guitar Performance from California State University-Fullerton and a CDm Structures.  Good enough for me. — SS



[Tacoma Public Library Main Branch, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m., no cover, 1102 Tacoma Ave. S., Tacoma, 253.591.5666]

THE EVENT

Drinking Liberally

Though drinking liberally is nothing novel in the fine city of Tacoma, Drinking Liberally is. Conceived in 2003 by two friends in New York as a means for young Democrats to talk politics over a pint, the organization has flowed across the country ever since; some 230 DL chapters have fermented in 45 states. And thanks to the efforts of Melissa Thompson and Traci Kelly, Tacoma has bellied up to the bar.



Lefty libation lovers can drink and speak their fill again Wednesday, Jan. 16, at Meconi’s Pub in downtown Tacoma. This year’s DL meetings, which are held the first and third Wednesdays of the month at Meconi’s, should be lively with the presidential race. — BA



[Meconi’s Pub, Wednesday, Jan. 16, 7 p.m., no cover, 709 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, http://drinkingliberally.org]