Can PBS survive without a government subsidy? Considering that only about $1.35 per year of our tax dollars goes to fund PBS which allows PBS to avoid pandering to commercial interests -- against the $40, $80 or $120 dollars per month that most cable subscribers pay in order to be allowed to watch commercials -- I'd say us taxpayers are getting a hell of a bargain.

So my feline companion and all my things are safe and sound. I walked the length of the block and couldn't figure out where the fire was.

Glad the Chicagoistas and their felines are safe.

I have such a crush on the family that just came by for a consult! Baby is unbearably cute with face-splitting gummy grins alternating with deeply serious 50-yard stares, mom is weary and wry, dad is a giant moose with a wild man beard almost to his navel, and the parents are talking to each other with a very Buffista-ish combination of cryptic verbal shorthand and glorious polysyllabic portmanteaus and archaicisms. Plus, they talk to the baby exactly the way I talked to Matilda at that age:

Dad: So, how's your day been going? Any observations on how we've implemented the agenda so far?

Baby: Glah!

Mom: Oh, that's interesting. I never thought of it that way, but I see your point.

Baby: Beeh!

Dad: That raises a point I hadn't considered. It calls for a thorough, cogent rebuttal, but unfortunately you are too darn cute.

I seriously want to adopt them all, right now.

Aw!

Can PBS survive without a government subsidy?

That's a great post, and I don't know the author, ftr.

Although I do wish we could all stop talking about public media and get back to tax cuts and preexisting conditions.

I don't know the author, ftr

Hah, I was going to ask!

Damn, I need chocolate and I can't get any without leaving the office...

Damn. I can't believe someone just snipped at me for starting a new email thread. Look, if the old thread isn't in my current window (and it's usually not, because there's a lot of crap coming through), I'm not going to scroll down to find an old e-mail that's only tangentially related to what I want to talk about now.

And, if you don't like how I email, don't send me the email you wish I'd replied to as an attachment. That's rude.

I'm going to just delete that. Food molester guy was less bothersome today.

Some guy I barely know straightfaced me today. I feel...outdone. I feel like Abed, being punked by Troy. I sassed him, bigtime, but it was like pulling out of a steep uncontrolled dive. He's on my list now. He's being watched...

Oh, speaking of work, I was in the elevator with someone who had a guest, and she was saying, "Oh, because you're on radio, you have that anonymity," and he said, "Sometimes people do recognize my voice in public..." and I couldn't figure out who it was! And forgot to ask around, because clearly it was some NPR type in town for an event, so I'm sure I could figure it out, but I felt like a failure for not getting it.

Hah, Jesse. You fail at being an NPR groupie.

I swear, I would totally recognize the voices of Susan Stamburg, Scott Simon, Bob Edwards, or Robert J. Lurtzema anywhere. Oh, and Sylvia Pogiolli (sp?).

Robert J. Lurtzema

Aw, RIP.