Tap This: Dystopian Fantasies and a Buddhist Escape from SF

Welcome back to the weekly column “Tap This,”where our editors and staff report on their picks for the week.

What I am Reading: The Windup Girl (2009) by Paolo Bacigalupi, a dystopic fantasy for right now.

What I am listening to: Tobolowsky Files, a podcast produced by /films.com. Each of the 53 free episodes features actor Stephen Tobolowsky-and only Stephen Tobolowsky-telling stories about his life in and out of Hollywood. You would think it would get boring. But he’s very smart, very funny, very moving. I can’t get enough. I’m crossing my fingers for at least 53 more.

The Most Untapped thing I did this week: Drove 45 minutes NW of San Francisco to Spirit Rock for Family Day. Spirit Rock Meditation Center sits about two miles past the end of suburbs, just into the beginning of cows. Here the sounds of city life evaporate into the deep quiet of Buddhist meditation. Usually. On Family Day, that “deep quiet” is replaced with crying, laughing, singing, shouting, whining and the general whir of life with children. Pandemonium reigns-and yet, thanks in part to teachers Rebekkah LaDyne, Betsy Rose and James Baraz, it’s a pandemonium filled with peace, brimming with joy.