SUMMERITIS? . . . It is no secret that Palo Alto is home to hundreds of high-achieving high-school students. But for all their love of scholastics, there are limits. A recent poll by Palo Alto High School's online newspaper, the Paly Voice, reveals that some of these same students can't wait for June to roll around. When asked what they are most looking forward to this school year, 34 percent responded "next summer." "Spirit week" was close behind with 23 percent, followed by "football victories" and "senior cut day." Coming in last were "exciting new classes" with a lowly 11 percent. Could students be padding their enthusiasm?

STROLLING INTO FALL FASHION . . . Members of the fast-growing Silicon Valley Moms' Blog — which largely consists of mommy bloggers from Palo Alto — have been busy interviewing experts from Nordstrom for tips on this fall's latest fashions. The tips, which will be posted to the blog Thursday, will be geared toward a mom's busy lifestyle, meaning, of course, "no leggings allowed." The mom leading the charge has already asked moms to pose questions for the Nordstrom fashionistas. One mom is wondering what to do with all the brown items she bought when brown was the new black, while another mom wants to know if boots will still be worn with skirts this winter. The latter mom also posed a problem surely universal to moms everywhere: "I need new ideas for the boring trouser." To read results from the Nordstrom inquiry, check out the mommy blog at http://svmomblog.typepad.com/silicon_valley_moms_blog.

WHO NEEDS YOUTUBE? . . . Making and posting digital videos on the Internet may be the new new thing, but some local youth are going the "old fashioned" way: They're producing shows for TV. And this week, the Midpeninsula Community Media Center in Palo Alto is hosting a virtual (no, not literally) lollapalooza of TV shows. Titled "Youth Video Week," 15 hours of programs made by local youth are being broadcast on Cable Access Channel 28. Cooking shows, comedy programs, a call-in advice show, interviews, performances, video shorts and social commentary are all part of the mix. Programs are being shown nightly from 7 to 11 p.m. They include all the youth submissions from the 2006 Greenlight Earthday Video festival in Palo Alto as well. The fest began Sunday and runs through Saturday, so would-be watchers have four more days to tune in and turn on. A complete schedule can be found at www.communitymediacenter.net.

PATENTLY APPOINTED . . . Palo Alto businessman, author and former patent attorney Kevin Rivette knows his stuff. So much so that he has been named to the federal Patent Public Advisory Committee by U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez. Rivette will serve a three-year term on the nine-member committee, created in 1999 to advise the undersecretary of commerce and the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on patent and trademark operations. Rivette is the vice president for intellectual property strategy for IBM. He is also the author of a book showing how CEOs and managers could better use their patent portfolios, titled "Rembrandts in the Attic."