The song had it right; it really is a small world. I was just reading Matt Yglesias’ blog post about Liz Fowler, Senator Max Baucus’ chief health care counsel who likely played a major role in drafting the latest proposal to other members of the Senate Finance Committee. Politico named her as one of the five faces to watch in the health care debate. Liz is getting some flak on other liberal blogs because, before returning for a second stint as a Baucus staffer, she was a vice president for mega-insurer Wellpoint.

For what it’s worth, Liz and I were classmates in law school. We didn’t know each other well, but I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that she was one of the smartest people in our class. I’m not surprised in the least that she’s become an influential voice at the national level. And while I can’t speak to Liz’s politics, it strikes me as unfair to criticize her for holding a previous job for an insurance company. Plenty of talented attorneys enter the private sector before returning to the public sector. We shouldn’t begrudge anyone for making a living or make baseless accusations of guilt by association.

Like a lot of progressives, I’m disappointed that Baucus’ proposal doesn’t include a public option. But let’s remember that the other House and Senate bills also provide substantial premium subsidies that would be paid to private insurers. What’s more, the President himself has negotiated with insurers to hold down costs. It’s perfectly legitimate to be wary of the insurers’ role in the process, but I don’t think Liz is whispering their bidding into her boss’s ear.

I was circling around Lake Calhoun yesterday when an older guy in a wheelchair passed me going the opposite direction. He raised his hand in greeting and I gave him a friendly flutter of the eyebrows. Afterwards, I glanced sideways at my nurse and said, “We all know each other, you know.” She laughed. As if she thought I was kidding.

Seriously, guys, you need to be more careful about acknowledging me in public. Planning for the revolution proceeds apace, but the authorities are beginning to suspect something is up. This blog is receiving a suspiciously high number of hits from government domains, which means I either suddenly have a lot of fans in the civil service or I’m being watched. Guess which theory I’m going with. So until Operation Poster Children is in full effect, the safest thing you can do is pretend you don’t me. And if you need to get me a message, use the usual drop point. And under the trash can, not in it. My nurses get really annoyed when they have to rummage through garbage. I don’t know how many times I have to say that.

It’s been a while since we’ve paid a visit to my Library of Tunes. Let’s say hello to the new arrivals.

“Nashville” by Gospel Gossip. This local band deserves all the airplay they’ve been getting on college radio over the summer months. They excel at infusing their with the experimentalism of punk and the tunefulness of pop. This song is awash in guitars and feedback, but it has a power pop sensibility that reminds me The New Pornographers. If there’s any justice in the musical world, Gospel Gossip will be playing on David Letterman within a year.

“Black Magic” by Magic Wands. This male-female duo somehow manages to sound bigger than the sum of their parts. That could be clever editing, but I have no problem using clever editing in the service of darkly atmospheric songs like this. I have no idea what they’re going on about when they sing “White light, my time has come”, but I don’t care.

“Dreaming” by Blondie. I know, I know, this song is almost as old as me. But Debbie Harry has one of the sexist voices ever, even when she’s singing about traffic and cups of tea. It’s a song so brimming with hope, but touched with a bit of world-weariness. I can’t help but smile whenever I hear it.

I had a momentary brush with mortality last week. It was nothing serious and I’m fine, but it did cause me to become temporarily hyperaware of everything I was doing whether it watching television, brushing my teeth, or riding to work. And so this short film entitled “Moments” came to my attention just when I was thinking about life, the universe, and everything. It’s a lovely montage of ordinary moments with some surprising visual juxtapositions. I’m a sucker for sweetly melancholy reminders of our fleeting existence and this video fits the bill nicely.

For the longest time, my weekday evening routine has been numbingly predictable. Come home, go straight to computer, check e-mail, check work e-mail, think about blogging, surf web, think about blogging again, surf some more, promise myself to start blogging after checking one more site, realize I wanted to add a couple things to my Amazon wishlist before forgetting, stare at screen, think for the nth time that I should find another hobby that requires less concentration, write first sentence, rewrite first sentence two or three times, glance out window at night sky, finish blogging, berate myself for not getting any project writing done, turn away from computer bleary-eyed, eye my growing stack of unread New Yorkers, berate myself again, turn on television.

And all this occurs after spending much of each day in front of another computer. I think the collective dose of gamma radiation is starting to dehydrate my brain, so I’m going to conduct a little experiment on myself. Rather than make a beeline for the computer when I return home, I will instead read a few pages from a book, leaf through a magazine, go for a walk. Anything that doesn’t involve a screen. Lemon sorbet for the mind, if you will. I make no promises that this will improve the quality of the blog. The surest way to improve quality is to bring in new management. But it might spare you from having to read three or four rambling posts on health care policy each week. Oh, who am I kidding? At best, my experiment will make those posts a little more readable.

Now, what was I going to add to my Amazon wishlist…?