I saw Phantom of the Opera last night with my mom and sister. I sat in the Orpheum’s balcony this time, which I think I prefer to being on the main floor. The performances were quite good and the house was sold out, which shows that there’s still an appetite for extravagant musicals here in the Midwest. The lyrics to the music are undeniably hokey; Andrew Lloyd Webber is no great lyricist, but the man can craft a tune that sticks in your head with a stubborn tenacity.
I had to go over to my sister’s apartment this morning because she needed my nurse’s help assembling furniture that she bought from Ikea. Yes, the Twin Cities is finally civilized: we have an Ikea. The Siegel clan isn’t terribly adept with tools and assembling things, which makes the Ikea Experience all that more interesting. However, I am tempted to go there and get a new bookshelf. After all, I have an excuse for getting other people to put things together for me.

It’s going to be a busy fall for me. I received a letter yesterday informing me that I’ve been accepted as a Humphrey Institute Policy Fellow. I and about thirty other young professionals will be meeting once or twice a month to solve the world’s problems and create the perfect meritocracy. I expect that it will be a little like being back in school, which actually sounds like fun. There’s also a study trip to Washington DC in February. I’ll finally make it to the East Coast, which I’ve been wanting to do for a while. As long as the city doesn’t get hit by some freak snowstorm while I’m out there. And I can only hope that the Forces of Good occupy the White House by that time. I have no idea what our schedule will be like, but I hope I have time to check out the Smithsonian and the Supreme Court. Big shout-out to my friend Adam and my boss MaryAlice for convincing the good people at the Humphrey that I’m more than just a pretty face.
My buddy Michael Drivas, proprietor and Chief Geek at Best Brains Comics, has a great write-up in the Minneapolis paper today. He just moved to a new location (1027 Washington Avenue, in case you’re interested) near the site for the new Guthrie Theater, which the article uses as a springboard for a discussion of old prejudices about comics and how comics have now attained a certain chic quality. Here’s my favorite quote from the article:
“Everybody is a geek about something,” Drivas, 38, said. “You can’t tell me that a guy who’s so into fantasy football that he buys specific publications and subscribes to particular Web sites to get information is any less geeky than a guy who goes to comic-book message boards and writes about what he thinks Marvel and DC should do.”
I’ve been a customer of Best Brains for about a year and it’s nice to see Michael get the attention. Can’t wait to see the new digs, Michael.

I thought about getting a few shares of Google during its IPO, but no way am I dropping a C-note and change for one measly share. Didn’t we learn our lesson from the dot com bust a few years ago? I’m a big fan of Google, but all this manufactured hype and outrageously priced stocks smells suspiciously like 1999.
I’m back in my old wheelchair again. The ventilator tray on the new chair is screwing up the chair’s balance, causing it to tip whenever I turn and the wheels to spin in place when I try to go backwards. Not cool. I’m a little frustrated with the supply company for not doing a better job of addressing these problems before I took the chair home and discovered them on my own. They’re promising to fix it next week, but they don’t sound too confident. The chair is a very new model and nobody has ever tried to put a vent tray on it before now. Which makes me the proverbial guinea pig, which in turn is a proverbial pain in the ass.
One advantage of having an All-In-Wonder card is that I can throw up a see-through window that doesn’t cover up the underlying workspace. I have CNN right now and Kennedy just finished speaking. I think that’s the first time I’ve heard Bush’s name mentioned during the convention. The best speech I’ve heard so far is Bill Clinton’s. He illustrated the differences between the Democratic and Republican agendas with shrewdness and panache. You want tax breaks for the wealthy and more debt burden on your kids? Vote Republican. You want better health care coverage for your kids and budget surpluses? Vote Democratic.

I like the title of the next Star Wars sequel: Revenge of the Sith. It has a sort of old school ring to it. I wasn’t a big fan of the first title’s obscurity and the second’s B-movie cheesiness. Let’s just hope the actual film doesn’t suck.
Back to work tomorrow. It’s been a good week off and the upcoming week looks to be busy as well, with a few Kerry-related events and my mom and sister coming to visit Wednesday. And I need to get back to the book. The summer is slipping away much faster than I would like.

Ack! I’m officially over 30. I woke up feeling decidedly less cool than I did yesterday. Before you know it, I’ll be watching the Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and wearing cardigan sweaters. I think my friend has some birthday mischief planned, so we’ll be departing soon. And I also have to spend the iTunes gift certificate my sister so generously provided me. And last night my nursing staff threw a little party for me, which was quite nice. Who knows what the year will hold for me. The readership for the blog has been inching up steadily and it would be great if that continues. Work is going very well and finally feel like I’m doing the kind of stuff I always wanted to do. A little romance would be welcome, but I’m in no rush. And the book is slowly but surely moving towards completion. In other words, life is good.
While I’m out, take a look at this spoof on “This Land.” It’s been circulating on the Net for some time, but it’s brilliant and I had to give it a plug here.