Just wanted to post a brief memorial to my dad's uncle and my great uncle, John Clancy, who died earlier this week. He recently got diagnosed with cancer, it spread, and the chemo was not helping. From what I understand, he spent his final day in good spirits, continuing to tell his stories and give people advice. Yet he was also in significant pain, so he is in a better place today.

Uncle John has always been one of my most thoughtful and generous relatives, somehow able to get a birthday card to arrive precisely on one's birthday. He also loved to talk and share stories to any captive audience. He cared a lot about family and I always got a sense he was proud of each of us. Birthdays, holidays, and other family gatherings will be a little emptier without him.

I had a new appreciation of what my mother goes through on a daily basis this Mother's Day. That's because Friday I got another long-term babysitting assignment while my mom took my sister up to Penn State for scheduling. I spent just a little over 12 hours as "Mr. Mom" and it was exhausting. My to-do list included getting kids off to school, picking up at kindergarten, making lunch, straightening up the house, providing amusement for "bored" children, and getting dinner on the table. That was an easy day too. 

In general, the biggest challenge is keeping the younger ones happy without giving into them all the time. Jack, the kindergartner, has developed a tendency to eat and watch Cartoon Network whenever possible. I tried to institute a no-TV policy and succeeded for about 4 hours, but it ultimately meant more work for me. It's easy to complain about kids watching too much TV, its much harder to occupy them without it.

Another thing is kids seem to have a constant need for instant gratification and you can rarely satisfy them. For example, I played a video game with Jack for a half an hour and he cried when I left the game. He has continued to bug me about playing it again for the last 3 days. Kevin, a 3rd grader, is always begging people to play outside with him. I routinely got told I was "hated" and "being mean", which wouldn't bother me except that my mom is often met with the same remarks. 

Despite all that, it was a pretty successful day. When my mom returned, the children seemed to remember better the nice things I did for them than my shortcomings. Still, its one of the toughest jobs out there. So in sharing my experiences, I hope I've conveyed what a miracle-worker my mom is. Happy Mother's Day Mom!

I've been having trouble describing my excitement about the season finale of The Office Thursday night. This show quickly matured from a quirky comedy into a television masterpiece, matching and perhaps surpassing its British counterpart. Few shows have guys this excited about a kiss. The workplace humor works because its something everyone can relate to. Similarly, the Jim-Pam relationship encompasses a lot of universal feelings. Everyone has been one of these characters before and that's why we love them.

Another great thing about the show is that is truly an ensemble. Not only did the "Casino Night" finale include a number of great returning guest stars, nearly every cast member had their own story climax. Steve Carell didn't just act, he wrote this great episode that expertly blended humor and romance. John Krasinski and Jenna Fischer also deserve extra credit for their natural performances in the show's climax.

If you don't watch the show, none of this makes a lot of sense to you. I recommend you watch the show on rerun if you get a chance this summer. I think The Office is the best comedy since Arrested Development, with Seinfeld before that. It is that good. (On a side note, several of the cast members have MySpace accounts including Jenna Fischer, who blogs from time to time)

About a week ago Neil Young streamed his new protest album Living With War on his website and I enjoyed the early preview enough to want to buy the album. I typically find political songs to be tiresome, but the music is really strong and the lyrics hit their target. Young wanted the album out as quickly as possible, releasing the downloadable version before the CD version. I didn't see it on iTunes till Monday though and not in their new releases till Tuesday. At that point I decided to wait for the CD.

That's where things seem fishy. First of all, BestBuy.com has no record of this album on their site. It is on CircuitCity.com, but not featured at all. Living With War, by the way, is currently the No. 2 album on iTunes and No. 3 on Amazon.com – its not a niche thing. When I went to Circuit City to buy it today, I didn't find it on the new releases rack. I asked a salesperson if they had it and he said its not in new relases and directed me to the Neil Young section, hidden with the rest of the catalog. I wonder whether these big box stores were instructed not to feature the album because of its political content. It seems pretty unusual to me, perhaps that is because of the unusual nature of the release. Let me know if you bought the album and whether you had trouble finding it.