In love with the world once again

Should we need to be reminded why we love the place where we live, there is usually a sign. I remember on the coldest of cold nights in Boston becoming giddy upon entering a particularly warm bar packed with all my friends, so happy that we'd all braved the cold (there was no choice, it was always cold) to socialize. As a child growing up in D.C., it was a trip to the National Mall to ride the carousel, and when I got a little bit older, a trip to the same grand stretch of city to stare at the Capitol Building, which I still say is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. And in North Carolina, it's this time of year. The weather starts to turn warm again - even before it's really appropriate people jump the gun and have got their flip flops on and as night falls, get really, really cold, because let's face it, it's not summer YET, but the season is on it's way and we can't wait.

I'm always amazed how excited I get - how everyone seems to get - when the warm weather returns because it never really gets that cold in North Carolina so it's not like we've been that hard up. I think that down here it's not so much that we've been braving a harsh winter per se, and need a break - it's more that when even the most subtle hint of the new season (the birds, the girls in flowered dresses, the lone daffodil) appears, we feel we are returning to the norm. Snow in Chapel Hill is like a nationally sanctioned day of rest. Nobody knows what to do so they cower indoors. But in the warm weather, these people, they flourish.

In addition, there's all the basketball, and with North Carolina's men's team winning the ACC championship game this weekend, well, everyone is in a very good mood.

If anyone would like to share some thoughts about they place they live, or the warmer season approaching, please do so in the comments, because I'd love to hear what's going on with my friends (and some strangers) all over the country.

Telling the truth as a regular feature, "Hotel California," and more

When I started out on this adventure - just saying what I feel - I didn't intend to launch a campaign against everything I hate. I just wanted to stop being so sensitive to everyone's feelings (individuals and entire groups of people) and remark upon some things I thought were funny without worrying what people would think of me. Like, initially, I thought a great entry would be to talk about how my father, as of late, kind of seems to think he's a black person. I mean, he's not speaking or acting differently or anything like that. He is just really, really into black people, and black history and black art. I mean, my parents have got African American art piling up in the bathtubs at their house (I'm totally serious) because there is no room for it, and don't think my mother has anything to do with this - the truly amazing amount of African American art that's in the house -because, if anything, she's getting annoyed. Not that she doesn't like it, she does, it's just the sheer obsession. My dad, he's got sculptures, and paintings and just, you know, stuff, EVERYWHERE, and not only that, he's got about 50 really large books on African American history and then, well, then there's the fact that he wore head-to-toe Ethiopian gear on Christmas Day (he's got an Ethiopian friend, of course, who sends him this stuff) - oh, and by the way, here's a link to a picture of him with his Ethiopian clothes on standing in front of one of those millions of paintings I mentioned. That's the kind of thing I originally thought I'd write about, but it turned out getting stuff off my chest - railing against the things I dislike - was a lot more fun. Plus, I loved all the comments you guys wrote. And I think, as Tom commented on my last post, I should do it more regularly. Once a week. So stay tuned. Maybe every Wednesday, because honestly, Wednesdays aren't good for much else.

And while I'm still on a roll, I can't stand the song "Hotel California" by the Eagles, I didn't enjoy the movie "Garden State," and that's right, J, Jeff Buckley's music makes me want to puke, especially "Lilac Wine." WHO WRITES A TERRIBLE BALLAD CALLED "LILAC WINE" FOR CHRIST'S SAKE? And I don't care that he drowned in the ocean. Get over it.