I honestly can't tell you the last time I've had a better weekend.

Yesterday, I headed north to Ann Arbor, where I had a truly wonderful time. Among other things, I had the opportunity to get a guided tour of the Young Adults' section of Borders by a perfectly delightful sixth grade Language Arts teacher. Let me assure you, you have not lived until you have done this. In addition to inducing pleasant flashbacks of, "Oh, I read this/meant to read this/had a friend who read this," remember how your Language Arts teacher could make most ANY book sounded exciting? Turns out this talent does not work only on sixth graders, but on jaded 26-year-old lawyers as well. By the time we headed for the biography section, I was waxing poetic on the joys of Beverly Cleary.

After stopping at Noodles & Company (an institution which is regrettably not at all in evidence in Ohio) walking past the campus bookstore for the University of Michigan (an institution which is all too much in evidence in the otherwise excellent town of Ann Arbor), and bidding the sixth grade language arts teacher many thanks for an excellent afternoon, I wandered back across campus. (I didn't do this out of any sort of desire to just wander aimlessly; rather, I was parked all the way across campus. The University of Michigan's parking is so bad, I can only conclude they hired one of their own graduates to complete it.) Anyway, I did take a little time and settle on a bench and look through the two new books I purchased at Borders (no, they weren't from the Young Adult section; I bought The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope by Jonathan Alter, as well as President Reagan: The Triumph of Imagination by Richard Reeves.

After finally finding my parking garage (and considering the pleasant possibility maybe the University of Michigan's parking structure was designed by a Buckeye as some sort of elaborate joke), I decided to make a stop at the Barnes & Noble on Washtenaw Avenue. I truly believe it's the crown jewel of the Barnes & Noble empire, and possibly bookstore Nirvana. (Laura, I didn't check to see if they had any Todd Parr classics.) I keep missing the Shaman Drum Bookstore, which everyone says is awesome. Somehow I keep walking past it.

Anyway, while at Barnes & Noble, I heard a song I hadn't heard in years: Dan Tucker.

Old Dan Tucker was a fine old man,
Washed his face in a fryin' pan
Combed his hair with a wagon wheel

What? You've never heard this? Clearly, you didn't live through second grade at R.C. Waters Elementary School. Anywho, I found out that this song and multiple other old folk songs are contained on a new release by Bruce Springsteen called We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, and I am listening to it on my iPod as I type. (Yes, I heard a CD played by the Barnes & Noble music department and came home and got it from iTunes. Don't feel too bad for B&N, though. They were a few books lighter when I left.) I highly recommend it.

I finished the day off by getting carryout from the Beirut, which is Toledo's best restaurant and probably the best Lebanese restaurant in the world.

Today, I've spent time reading, listening to music, and generally smiling. Life is good.

***

I saw Bill Clinton on TV last night when I got home. It occurred to me that if we could just repeal the 22nd Amendment, this would make life better in two different ways. First, President Clinton could seek a third term.

Second, so could President Bartlett. (No, I'm not looking forward to the West Wing ending.)

(Oh, and before anyone brings it up: I'd probably submit to life without one of my big toes to see W try to stand on the same debate stage as Bill Clinton.)

***

PTSD alert: I recently received an email inviting me to the 2006 Ohio Democratic Party's annual dinner, where the featured speaker will be Senator Barak Obama.

Now, I'm a fan of Barak Obama. Not nearly as much as my mother, whose fondest hope would seem to be that I give up fighting for battered mothers and start working for the junior senator from Illinois, but still, I'm a fan. And I'm looking forward to seeing him.

There's just one thing: the dinner will be held at Veterans' Memorial Auditorium.

Those of you who have been reading this for a while will recall I spent two and a half days there last summer at the end of July. (Remember, when you watched me take the bar?) I really wasn't looking for a return engagement. (I even said this as early as last November 5.) Even though I passed, I'm in no hurry to revisit it.

Oh, and the other thing? Generally, when Anonymous and I go to these things, we find ourselves at the very back of the room. I mean, way way way back. (Last year was a rare exception; we were right next to the stage.) But, if form holds true, this year, we will find ourselves in the back corner of the room.

And that's where I sat last year. I believe my exact quote was: "I'm so far south, I'm applying Kentucky law."

Ah, well. There are worse ways one can return, you know.

***

I'm in a good mood. Can you tell?