Bryan Strawser

I, too, sing America.

I, too, am America.

- Langston Hughes

I can only hope that I can live my life with the same amount of courage in which you faced the end of your own….

Other coverage: TechMeme, CMU News.

CNN is reporting that John Spencer has died:

John Spencer, who played a dedicated politico on “The West Wing” who survived a serious illness to run for vice president, died of a heart attack Friday, his publicist said.

Spencer, 58, died at a Los Angeles hospital, said publicist Ron Hofmann. He would have been 59 next week.

Leo, his West Wing character, has in my mind always been the character that made the show what it was. Spencer played a perfectly believable politician and a great leader who managed to keep the White House on track week after week.. and through some particularly nasty situations - all made for TV of course.

My two favorite scenes with Leo both happened around the same time. First, the episode “Bartlett for America” where Leo is put on the stand before Congress to talk about what he knew about the President’s illness. It told a wonderful backstory and outlined more about Leo’s alcoholism.. and it ended with Leo crying in his office after receiving a Christmas gift from the President….

The best scene with Leo though was the one following Josh’s session with a psychologist.. where Leo waited for hours to make sure Josh was ok.. and this ending is perhaps the best epitaph for Spencer, who was an alcoholic in real-life as well as on television:

This guy’s walking down a street, when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep, he can’t get out.

A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, “Hey you! Can you help me out?” The doctor writes him a prescription, throws it down the hole, and moves on.

Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up, “Father, I’m down in this hole! Can you help me out?” The priest writes out a prayer, throws it down in the hole, and moves on.

Then a friend walks by. “Hey Joe, it’s me, can you help me out?” And the friend jumps in the hole! Our guy says “Are you stupid? Now we’re both down here!” And the friend says, “Yeah, but I’ve been down here before, and I know the way out.”

A good friend of mine quit her job a few weeks ago - today was her last day.

She’s had a shitty experience the last few years. Working for an asshat of a supervisor, she finally amassed enough clientele in the graphic design and web business to walk away. And walk away she has.

So tonight, it’s a virtual toast. Corona for her. Sam Adams Octoberfest for me.

Here’s to new beginnings.. and world domination!

Eighteen months ago, my team, celebrating my 30th birthday at my house, gave me a bottle of Johnny Walker Gold.

Tonight, having a quiet get-together with four friends, I finished it while listening to a bit of Norah Jones.

Happy 30th! Eighteen months later!

Well, I’m completely back to being addicted to Counter-Strike again.

I’m not convinced that’s a bad thing - it’s amazing to me though that a game as old as Counter-Strike keeps my attention for so long. It makes me long for the days of the the old 24×7 Assault Server I used to run.

Ahh, the good old days.

the big question - what do we as citizens want from presidential blogging?

Dave Winer asks: “Is a campaign really journalism now”

betsy devine is going a great job of blogging the key comments as we go along - she’s hiding in her somewhere, but i’ve no idea what she looks like so that’s hard to pinpoint, but she’s typing like crazy.

Dan Bricklin: “I want to be able to choice particular voices”.

Dan G: “Should your blog point to attacks on Bush?”

Dick Bell: “New section.. the debunker.. takes a republican framing argument and turns it inside out..”

Dan G: “Bloggers gain alot of authority by pointing at people who criticize them… It’s not a tragic event to change one’s mind..”

Lenn is also blogging this session.

More in a sec…