I was forced to enjoy a bowl of healthy snacks

This has been an interesting week of highs and lows.  Less than an hour after finishing two fantastic performances of a multimedia program for 3-5 year old children, I sliced my head on a low-hanging duct and spent the rest of the day at urgent care, getting 7 staples in my scalp.

I was lucky to receive great care–starting with help from colleagues who were with me at the time of the accident (my employee sat with me in the waiting room at the doctor’s office), progressing to the free healthy snacks at the urgent care office and a bowl full of birth control pills in a rainbow of bright colors like Skittles.  Wait, what?  Obama forced me to use contraception?!?

That just happened

Late last week, I spent 24 hours in Peoria, Illinois for the annual Illinois Music Educators Association conference.  Usually, the conference is blighted by a late-January snowstorm, making transportation from Chicago no better than miserable.  This year, unseasonably warm temps had me feeling optimistic. Aside from the gridlock of exiting the Loop, the trip was easy.  Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t an indicator that things were looking up in central IL.

Who needs Herman Cain when we’ve got these guys?

Herman Cain was the most fascinating (read disastrous) GOP candidate since Sarah Palin’s run at the Vice Presidency. But along with the likes of John Stewart and Stephen Colbert, I was really, really sorry to see him drop out of the campaign, especially after the incredible Libya interview. Well done, Herman. It’s no surprise that Colbert is still getting mileage out of your material. (Aside: The first time I heard about Cain’s 9-9-9 economic plan, I thought about this other 9-9-9 plan.)  But after watching portions of the most recent debates, I’m starting to think we’re doing just fine without Herman. In fact, he might just have been the opening act to a spectacular main event: Newt, Ron, and Rick.*