Suddenly this afternoon I found myself with a new appreciation for the twenty-first century. That revelation occurred when I was sitting in my recliner, watching the Giants game on my big screen HDTV while the iPad was playing a live soccer game from Barcelona. That's Chicago and Spain, both at my fingertips, and it hit me that I'm a pretty lucky guy. Some people don't have any of these things that I take for granted.

Whoa, wait a minute. I don't take any of this stuff for granted. I realize every day that I have access to information and sources of mindless fun that most of the world doesn't know exists and wouldn't have time to make use of even if they did. I have so much stuff that even I, with my low impact lifestyle, don't have time to make full use of it all. I should be ashamed, but I'm not. I'm not proud, either, just grateful.

Do I owe something to the world for my advantages? This isn't the first time I've wrestled with this question, and it always comes back to the same thing. I can't change the world. I can only make my little corner of it as decent a place as it can be. And even with that modest goal, I can only try. I can't guarantee that I won't fail, but I will try. Mostly what that means is that I won't be mean. Kindness is in rare supply in this world, and it's the one personal attribute I strive for most.

With that said, I should probably stay off Twitter any time the Giants are losing, because it's too easy to fall into the general tenor of snark and cynicism. I'm so naturally cynical that it takes everything I have not to fall into that swamp. That's the reason I wear "Life is Good" shirts every day -- to remind myself to make it so, as much as I can.

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The Giants pulled out a win today, so all was well in the Twittersphere, until the Dodgers also won. My good will doesn't extend to the Dodgers. I watched the end of that game, by the way, on my phone.