Just got back from a five day trip with the family to the Internetless wilds of Door County, Wisconsin, which, in case you didn’t know, is where doors come from.  I did my best to relax rest and recuperate — honest to God, or as Texas would prefer I say, honest to Pete — but those who know me could have guessed that it’s not the easiest thing for me to adjust to being less than well. Turns out: breaking two bones in your lower back really slows you down, whether you want to or not.

Turns out it was a pretty bad week to check out,  blog-topics wise. There’s much to discuss, and what I was going to do with that money from Texas, and why I won’t be getting that money from Texas,  and why the place I was going to send the money is going to get money anyway, and I’ll get to that, I swear, but first, thank you all, all hundred plus of you, strangers and listeners and friends new and old and near and far (How’s Gitmo, Jackie?) for all your well wishes and kind words and cheerful imprecations aimed at the person who hit me. (Let us cease with that, and instead agree that nobody involved had a very good day.)  There is some debate in the comment threads below as to how “lucky” I am — we agree it would have been truly lucky not to have been injured — but let us agree I am blessed,  to have so many people tell me how happy they are I’m still around.  Can I say “blessed” in Texas?

More, soon.

Last night, on the very evening of my oldest daughter’s 12 birthday, I finished reading the last book in the Harry Potter series out loud to her and her younger sister, aged 9.   This is not  an uncommon feat — as Nick Kristof once said, “Look, the chance to read these books aloud is by itself a great reason to have kids.”  But other than the radio show,  reading every word of those seven books aloud — in kid’s bedrooms and hotel rooms and airports and airplanes and inside a tent in the Colorado Rockies one summer — was the single most sustained creative effort I’ve put in over the last few years, so maybe it’s worth some reflection, which begins after the jump.

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Right now, my kids are all happily trying to navigate Super Mario Galaxy — I’m hearing cries of “Spin into him!” from upstairs — so I have a moment or to to try to bring things up to date….

No way in the world could I summarize all the doings of the year so far, nor would you want me to (is there anybody out there who loses sleep because they didn’t know what I was doing on or around January 4th?) so instead, some Lessons Learned, as the management consultants say.

1) There are, I think, Beach People, who are happy to spend endless days sitting on a beach, not doing much of anything. I, it turns out, am not one of them. (Conversely, I think I could spend all day happily riding a horse, in no particular direction.)

2) It is possible to visit other countries without ever seeing them. In fact, it’s getting to the point, with some countries (or parts thereof) that you have to put in some effort to realize you’re there at all.

3) Everybody should study hard in Spanish language classes in high school and college, even if you never get to the point where you can say something interesting. If you worry a little more about Juan working in the biblioteca, and a little less about being able to express the subtle humorous ironies you’re known for, then maybe years later you won’t refer to your father in law, while speaking to a fishing guide, as a “horse.”

4) If you go running on a long, deserted beach at twilight, with the sand cushioning your footfalls, and the light slowly fading so that you can’t really see anything except a vague horizon far ahead of you, it really does feel like flying.

5) Natilla de tres leches is really quite good.

6) When dealing with an angry customer, responding with anger in return really doesn’t work. A little sympathy can go a long way, even if along the way you are careful never to admit responsibility for the customer’s problem. And despite what somebody may think, saying “So you’re telling me I’m screwed?” is not particularly vulgar and doesn’t require you to stomp away and call your supervisor. Although it’s a good thing you did, because the supervisor is good at expressing sympathy without taking blame.

7) In the grand scheme of things, getting stuck in an hotel near Minneapolis St. Paul Airport for an extra night of vacation, watching “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” on pay per view with your kids while they eat chocolatey desserts from room service really isn’t so bad, especially when compared with the experience of the contingent of Air National Guard troops from Reno, who were also in the same hotel, coming home after a year in Iraq, one of whom, a very nice 8th grade teacher, hadn’t seen his two year old daughter in a year.

Eight) Just because a movie is really saccharine and awful and derivative doesn’t mean your kids won’t love it.

9) Setting off fireworks is really, surprisingly, fun.

I’m off again for another excursion but will be back later in the week. In the meantime, don’t just read these lessons… live them.

I know I promised more posts this week — who in the heck am I apologizing to, anyway? — but it was a busy week, and some technical difficulties prevented me from posting from work, which, of course, is where I spend most of my time staring at computers. Today is a rather busy day — my daughter Rose’s tenth birthday. That it is also the tenth anniversary (duh) of my becoming a parent, a transformation on par with that of a slime mold transitioning from slug to fruiting body, and also coincides with the tenth anniversary of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, made for an existentially fraught week. I’ve got little time now — I’ve got to go prepare the treasure hunt for Rosie’s birthday party — but in the meantime, two blegs (do I have that right? a blog posting asking for information on anything is a bleg, right?):

For Christmas, thanks to my lovely and indulgent wife, I got an iPhone and a Wii. I love both, but wondered what your thoughts would be on the best (web-based) apps for the first, and games for the second.