So much to talk about . . .

I reckon the Schiavo case is on the minds of many. My position, for what it is worth, is that if she is really brain dead then she should become body dead asap. If she isn’t, and there is a genuine chance that she could improve, then let’s give it a shot. From what I have gleaned, it seems pretty clear that the former is the case.

In other news, Air America Radio has given the boot to Unfilitered in favor of Jerry Springer. I was among the first wave of Jerry fans, and so I can’t be too persnickety regarding his tv show, but I think it is fairly shabby of AAR to ditch a relatively serious and often quite cool show in favor of a ratings grabber. I know Jerry is to the left, but he’s Jerry. What’s next? The Asia Carrera show? The Carlos Delgado parade of sports? Rachel Maddow (of Unfiltered) has really moved into her gig (despite the unpleasant relative silence surrounding the departure of Lizz Winstead) and Chuck D (who has lots of irons in the fire) is just plain awesome. I figure replacing a capable white lesbian and capable black male radical (straighty) with a capable white male is a bad move politically, even if it gives a small boost in ratings. I figure folks who listen to AAR listen regardless, and that there aren’t very many folks who will tune in just to hear Springer. Maybe I’m wrong. It isn’t as if I know more than dick all about the radio business. In any event, I am agin.

BUT HERE IS THE POINT.

Those of you who know me know that I am less than keen on the idea of having a child. Those of you who don’t know me might assume that this is true based on the absence of any reference to “my kid” in a blog from a 33 year-old man. In short, I am not a kid person. But. If I had a preference . . .

Some friends of ours in Birgit’s hometown have two children. The friends are Fritz (German) and Graciela (Mexican). Their two sons are Sigfried (13) and Gottlieb (5). (Some names have been changed to protect the non me and B). Gottlieb was a spider monkey in a previous life, and carries on as if discipline was rare disease. Fritz and Graciela are the biggest pussies in the world when it comes to Gottlieb. We were over at their place Sunday night and I can offer two examples. One: Sigfried was playing with a gameboy and Gottlieb snatched it. A small fight ensued. Graciela’s solution was to ask Sigfried to let Gottlieb play with the gameboy a bit. I stepped in, and asked Gottlieb to let me play with it. He did (sucker!). I took it and immediately announced that I was giving my time to Sigfried, and then passed it back to him. Example two: Gottlieb had been put to bed but came back down anyway. His father, Fritz, ordered him to bed again. He insisted on more potato chips. Fritz said no, quite clearly. Gottlieb took some chips anyway and laughed as he ate them.

I would have been unable to pull such a stunt as a youth because it is hard to chew chips when your father has just knocked your teeth down your throat.

Siegfried is an altogether more interesting kid. First, he responds well to requests and commands (not true of his brother). Second, he is intelligent (the little’un is too young for one to be sure). Late last year, Graciela took Siegfried to an eye doctor because his grades had been falling and he had been complaining of headaches. At first they had chalked it up as puberty or stress (they were also building a house), but it seemed to be more than that. The eye doctor determined that he was showing symptoms of a brain tumor. This turned out to be spot on, and Siegfried has had several surgeries and is currently undergoing chemotherapy. He will, very likely, die within the next few years (he is the only kid in Europe with his kind of tumor, apparently).

So anyway, Siegfried is a nice, smart, funny, well-behaved kid. He is probably going to die soon, and Fritz and Graciela will be left with a monkey on their hands. If I had to choose a kid, I would take a Siegfried. I will miss him.