Some things that make me happy:

* hot coffee
* good paper
* dealing with a problem heap
* meatloaf for breakfast yesterday (*waves at Saz and Erac*)
* leftover spicy eggplant and rice (the pho tai doesn't age as well, sadly)
* hearing the BYM's voice
* finding out that Debi Gliori, one of my favorite writer-illustrators for children, has a blog. Something for the after-this-week's-deadlines list...

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In unhappy news, this morning's WSJ included an article about Park Dae-sung, aka Minerva, a South Korean blogger "who for months had been criticizing the government's economic policy, charging him with spreading false rumors that led to a drop in the country's currency."

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Two recent race-related essays that caught and held my attention:

* Elizabeth Bear on "Writing The Other without being a dick."

* American Girl, a discussion about Michelle Obama -- and a love letter to Chicago's South Side. [Discovering Coates's blog probably also belongs on the happiness list above - I didn't have time to do more than a quick skim this morning, but I saw plenty to come back for.]