Dear Mr. Postman

Today I received two very important items in the mail.

The first is the first season of The Wire, which is the best television show in the history of television. This should be old news to everyone by now, as the show is currently filming its fifth and final season. Other people have described the show's brilliance with much more eloquence than I can, so I will just leave things at that and urge you to watch the show if you have not already.

The second is the Not For Tourists Guide to Philadelphia, a handy little book that is quite valuable. I am very excited about my impending move to Philly, but the fact that I have never been to the city is a bit intimidating to say the least. It is basically exactly what it sounds like - a guidebook aimed at residents of the city - so it has information on pharmacies, banks, and grocery stores as well as restaurants, bars, and pretty much everything else one could ever want to know about living in a brand new place.

Someday, I really will write about politics or something else important here. Baby steps, you know.

the cyclist and the motorist can be friends

I should start keeping a running tally of how many times cars almost hit me while I am on my bike, obeying every traffic law that applies to cyclists. Is it that hard to look out for people on bikes and to give at least three feet of clearance space when you pass them?