Sunday, April 26

It's hard to imagine a weekend being much better than this one. The weather was beautiful. The kids were wonderful. My parents watched them Saturday evening so my wife and I could enjoy a dinner with just one another. And on the way back, we spotted a Dairy Queen (so we could enjoy ice cream that wasn't pretentious Maggie Moos).

I think if I did not have my wife I would be one half as happy. That's a sad thing to contemplate. But I'm so glad I've had these ten years with her. This weekend would have been only half as good without her.

More quick hits . . .

Again, the news leaves me bewildered. I can't figure out why the federal government extended a lifeline to GM and Chrysler only to shepherd them to bankruptcy. And now it would seem that Chrysler's government-authored bankruptcy plan will protect the UAW employed by Chrysler. What use is a bankruptcy reorganization if one can't clearly tackle labor costs? Either it's conflicting government priorities or it's making sure the costs of this faltering company is felt by the creditors (capitalists) rather than labor.

I'm going to stop with this line of commentary. George Will could finish it so much better than I.

Since my wife and I can't seem to finish a conversation without interruption, we've decided to park the kids with grandparents and enjoy a dinner this weekend. Good.

I can't believe how quickly I got over being without a print newspaper. I like the e-edition I'm getting from the Inquirer but wonder if even that is something I truly need. I'm getting used to navigating Yahoo! news and Google News, yet I miss the analysis and op-ed where I expect it to be. I can see a gradual, painful, bankruptcy-judges-as-copilot slide into oblivion for print daily press over the next few years. What I wish, however, is for some newspaper to make the jump boldly. To be blunt, the money spent on paper, printing, and distribution would be more wisely used on quality reporting which we sorely need and which we can't completely source out to the wire services.

Is the NFL draft this weekend? I can remember a time when I would have known even who the Eagles were likely to predict. But life is so much richer now, and angst over the draft nothing more than energy displaced. Moreover, it's all so damned predictable. I'm seeing some journalism on the bursting sports bubble. I think my bubble has popped. Not that I don't care. I just know enough about the teams for whom I care that I can drop in and fly out with the rhythm of their success.

Getting back up on the horse . . .

Boy, it's tough to restart something like this after a three-and-a-half-month hiatus. so, let me offer some quick thoughts to prime the pump:

I'm disappointed at my president's contrition to friends and foes overseas. I'm all for owning up to past mistakes, acknowledging errors of one's ways, yet diplomacy is about nuance after nuance after nuance. Our president is appearing too much the eager newcomer trying to win over people's hearts. I'm too much a realist to think they'll respond in the way he hopes.

I'm disappointed at the Republicans' two-dimensional criticism of Obama as a socialist. The party needs to start forming a positive identity and set of core, distinct values that Americans can associate with them. Right now, they're only an entity that opposes the commander-in-chief of the United States.

I'm not at all missing my newspaper. The switch to the Inquirer's e-edition has been splendid. A subscription to The Week along with The Economist is keeping me up on top of the issues I need to see. I'm finding the links to opinion at Washington Post on Yahoo! most satisfying.

I miss Battlestar Galactica tremendously. Bill Adama's last line to Lee, "I don't have much time left, son," still echoes in my ear.

I am astonished at how little interest I have in the Flyers' post-season. Is it parenthood, or is it the hangover of the Phillies' campaign in 2008.

God bless Harry Kalas for how wonderful he made baseball sound.

My children are beautiful.