Ambidextrous

I know some folks who wouldn't touch The National Review unless it was to move it out of the way while they grabbed a copy of Mother Jones, and who wouldn't read an article by a guy who helps run Americans United for Life if you taped it to the inside of their eyelids -- I'm kind of leery of anything Mike Huckabee endorses myself.

But those folks might miss this neat appreciation of two recently-passed giants in their respective fields, jazz master Dave Brubeck and St. Louis Cardinals baseball great Stan "The Man" Musial. More's the pity, and I hope that Musial forgives me for using "giant" to describe him; I meant it strictly in the generic and not the New York/San Francisco sense.

I try to keep my eyes open for great writing when it shows up in Mother Jones (it does) and The Nation (it does there too, sometimes) or other opinion outlets whose politics I consider misguided at best. I'm sure I could do better (I could), but I try. Why, some days I even believe that Noam Chomsky has a good article in him somewhere.

Yes, the glass is indeed half-full. Why do you ask?

PS -- Pitchers and catchers report in nine days. Time begins March 31. Avoid the rush, start hating the Yankees today!