I may be just an intellectual elitist, but...

The idea that Ivy League graduates are somehow "dumber" than regular people is an idea that really only makes sense to dumb people.

If you were my wife and you'd just bought $20 worth of Halloween candy...

...where would you hide it?

DeLorean Fall Foliage Tour

This weekend we paricipated in the DeLorean Mid-Atlantic Club's fall foliage tour. We stayed overnight at a hotel in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, then drove the next morning with the DeLoreans to an abandoned town called Centralia. It was condemned due to a massive underground coal mine fire that emitted dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, melted roads, and opened up annoying 150-foot sinkholes.

Bummer.

Samuel rode in one of the DeLoreans, while Jen, Ethan, and I formed the caboose of the caravan in our lovely Toyota Camry rental car. Taco Bell and Wendy's on the way home. A good road trip.

"Dad, how much would you pay for an unlimited amount of cheese?"

Who says New Yorkers can't go to the Empire State Building?

Back in my NYU days I used to go to the Empire State Building several times a year, usually at night, usually spontaneously, just to look down at the lights of the city and feel awed, and humbled, and inspired, and overwhelmed, and so thankful that I had actually managed to get here.

Tonight we had dinner near Union Square--fun to get out of our own neighborhood--and when we walked outside we saw the lights of the Empire State Building, twenty blocks north, and I said to Samuel, "We should go there."

And Jennifer and Ethan said okay. And so we did.

We bought our $20 tickets (didn't they used to be, like, $5?), waited in line behind the entire population of Uzbekistan, and endured the annoying upsells (buy the SkyRide for an extra $10, audio tour for an extra $10, photo for an extra $20, go to the 102nd floor for an extra $15, avoid the lines for an extra $25).

And let me just say that if Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan had ever actually tried to find each other on the observation deck, they never would've gotten together, and that movie would've ended unhappily.

But when we got to the 86th floor and walked outside, Ethan exhaled a "Wow," and I was glad we came.

It's still the greatest city on earth, and I'm still awed and humbled and inspired and overwhelmed by it. And it's nice to be reminded of that every now and then.

"Dad, how much does it cost to rent a flamingo?"

Todd: I have no idea. Why?

Ethan: No reason.

Best Friends at 9

This is what's it's like on a fall afternoon that still seems a little bit like summer, with your best friend whom you've known since you both wore diapers; too old for superhero costumes, not yet old enough for girls, and enjoying a tire swing probably more than you ever will again until you have kids of your own.