Wanting Sumptuous Heavens
By Robert Bly
No one grumbles among the oyster clans,
And lobsters play their bone guitars all summer.
Only we, with our opposable thumbs, want
Heaven to be, and God to come, again.
There is no end to our grumbling; we want
Comfortable earth and sumptuous Heaven.
But the heron standing on one leg in the bog
Drinks his dark rum all day, and is content.
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The kids celebrated their first day out of school by sleeping late, eating blueberry bagels for breakfast, playing video games and going to the pool for several hours. In and around getting stuff for them, driving them, feeding them, etc., I wrote a review of "A Matter of Perspective" and returned a bunch of phone calls (my medical tests from last week were all fine, knock wood!).

1. Did you get an allowance as a kid, and if so, how much was it? I did, and I had to do chores for it, but I don't remember how much it was. Not a lot.
2. How old were you when you had your first job, and what was it? My very first paying job was as an actor/puppeteer at Adventure Theatre, a company that performs for children on the indoor stage at Glen Echo Park.
3. Which do you do better: save money or spend money? Spend. Much better.
4. Are people more likely to borrow money from you, or are you more likely to borrow from them? I frequently forget that I have no money with me because I gave it to someone else in my family, so then if I can't use a credit card, I either end up buying for everyone or borrowing to cover my own expenses. Hopefully it works out in the end.
5. What's the most expensive thing you've ever bought? My home. Well, the mortgage on it.

1. Warp Drive - to our current understanding, that kind of faster-than-light travel is impossible.
2. Inertial Dampers - and even if it was possible, everyone on the ship should be smushed dead the nanosecond that they go offline, as they do so often and make people...fall out of their seats.
3. Replicators - the amount of power necessary to transfigure matter would require more matter/energy than the ship could possibly transport.
4. Transporters - similar problem, the amount of energy required to turn a person to energy and then back into matter would be monumental.
5. The Holodeck - the principle is sound, but once the characters can program themselves, we're in William Gibson la-la land.
In the evening
Tim Russert: Much too young.