The Blizzard: Tea Time

An odd day: in between grading papers, I made the transition from soda (bad carbon dioxide) to iced tea (good antioxidants), went to the Como Zoo with a sleeping baby (yes, even as a vegan I support zoos), and I even got to send some Jehovah's Witnesses away (we politely answered the fellow's questions, but when he pulled out a copy of "The Watchtower," it was time to say goodbye).

But enough about me; here are some links that you might be interested in.

Sportish
The Star Tribune tells us that Michael "Jordans' divorce is proving to be a very costly affair."

In The Start Tribune, Anne Aronson asks why girls play softball instead of baseball in "Girls deserve an equal shot at the great American pastime."

In "Baron von Footlights," Rohan Preston of The Star Tribune tells us about a play about the life of professional wrestler Baron von Raschke.

At Blue Viking Devil's Spinoff blog, he tell us why the 2003 draft was a key year for Viking WRs in "Fandom: 2003 The Year of the Viking WR."

Andrew Perloff of SI asks, "Will Ginn fall in draft?" How will you feel if Ted Ginn, Jr. ends up on the Vikings? I'll be confused. I will also devote a large portion of my life to creating new puns for "Ginn" and "gin."

Non-sportish
Harvey Wasserman reminds us that Kurt Vonnegut hated war in "Peace Be With You, Kurt Vonnegut" (if you've read Slaughterhouse Five, you probably knew that).

Serge Schmemann in the NY Times sends us his "Dispatches From the Front Line of the Great Vodka War."

Via Arts & Letters Daily and in The American Scholar, Morris Dickstein has some interesting things to say about American literature and the canon in "Going Native."