First off, I would like to sent a big shoutout to Netflix, who has yet to make the third season of Breaking Bad available. I saw it on Amazon and other places, but for whatever reason, you all have yet to add it to your list of DVDs, and I am not pleased about that at all. The wife and I zoomed through the first two seasons, and we are captivated and hooked on the series--not quite as hooked as we were when watched The Wire last year around this time, but close enough. Now we have to resort to catching it when it comes on AMC (oh and f**k you AMC for delaying the start of Mad Men), and frankly that is not good enough. Do the right thing and make it happen please.

Second, have you ever been walking down the street with your headphnes on and your favorite song is blaring through your earbuds? You know all the words, background vocals, instruments, etc, and you are feeling invicible and happy, and you may even throw in some emphatic hand gestures for effect, because you're feeling that good. Then you see someone you know. This isn't someone you've gone ages without seeing, but this is someone you see about 5 or 6 times a year and you may even trade emails with them every now and then. For a quick second you think about doing a stop and chat, but then you think about how much of a nuisance it is to stop your song, remove your earbuds, put them in your pockets, pause your ipod, and then listen to the bullshit that will inevitably come out of this person's mouth in the two or three minutes of their time you may or may not choose to give them? So what do you do? Do you

a)Just keep walking like CeCe Peniston and hope they don't see you?
b)Take one earbud out, say hi, all without stopping
c)Stop and chat

My new tried and true method to avoid these situations is to pull out my ipod and start changing the song, adjusting the volume, playing with imaginary buttons..anything that will allow me to fake getting distracted and walk by people. I'm not rude or mean, I just want to be left alone on the mean streets of DC. If you see me, just don't bother me, but send me a creepy email saying you saw me, and then we can converse online like normal dysfunctional people.

And lastly, my son tried out for the basketball team yesterday (youth basketball in the Spring seems odd to me too), and I asked him to assess his chances of making the team. He said there were 6 people better than him and 12 total will make the team, so he likes his chances. I like that kind of athletic honesty. I hope he makes it though, so I sit in the stands and quietly give him confidence, the way my father did for me. I always respected the quiet, confident parents over the loud, boisterous ones. Kids need encouragement, not embarassment.