Huh. When did my children get so old?

As well as tracking the blogs of my friends and family, I follow a few blogs just because I like them, even though I have never met the parties involved. There's one I like that I happened upon because the writer is apparently a friend of my aunt's niece. Seriously. A number of them are parenting blogs... there's one in particular that I really love; the writer is funny and sentimental and posts great pictures of her daughters. When I blundered onto it last year, I read about 20 posts in one evening. The thing is ... now I've been sucked in. I care about this woman and her family, and lately things have been looking a little scary and I'm worried about them. And then there's this other blog I got kind of hooked on lately, and the writer is grieving now after a miscarriage.

There should be a warning on my computer: The internet will suck away your time and connect you weirdly intimately with complete strangers.

I just don't know if it's good or bad... or just entirely different than previous social models. And while it's good, I think, to make connections with strangers, it's weird that my experience of the grief and joy of these strangers' lives is completely selfish - I am sad or happy for them, and they never know it.

Anyway, back to being selfish just about my own life. I've got a paper to write. Two papers to write, actually. If anybody knows anything about congestion pricing, please give me a call.