I'm not all that keen on my new template. It is kind of depressing and oddly Packer-like in its colors. So I will be changing it in the near future. Perhaps back to the pretty bright orange that I enjoyed before. Plus I like having the formula of my title (Midwest + East Coast = ?) in one line instead of in two lines. That and the colors suck. If only I knew more about creating webpages -- or if I had Dreamweaver. Sigh.

Anyway, I read a book on my lunch break (a whole book! no way!). Defending Baltimore Against Enemy Attack: A Boyhood Year During World War II by Charles Osgood. It was short (only 135 pages I think) and there is lots of white space. But I am a fast reader. Regardless, it was an excellent book. Very funny. It's all about Charlie and his sister Mary Kate during 1942. He seems to have had an excellent childhood -- despite the fact that it's WWII, he still listens anxiously to the radio and goes to movies. I love the fact that Charlie and his sister quote movie and radio lines back and forth. It's so cute. It seems almost too cute to be true because I do not remember doing that with my sister in the late 1980s, but we were better once we got older about getting along. The book is great -- I'd recommend it for a Father's Day gift. It's a quick read, interesting and humorous. Just like Osgood is on Sunday Morning on CBS. And there are lots of interesting stories about his childhood -- my favorite one being when Charlie and Mary Kate run away from home and end up at the movies. They see Holiday Inn with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby before ending up at a church to spend the night. Of course their mother finds them pretty quick, but it's a pretty funny story. Can you imagine two people being able to run away now with only $2.25 between the two of them?

I really read the book because Osgood is going to be at the library on Friday and I'm planning to go with a friend. It's pretty bizarre time though -- 7 pm on a Friday night. And the library closes at 5 pm! Oh well, we're both working Friday night so we're going to get dinner after work. And then, depending on how long the event takes, we might go down to the Inner Harbor for the fireworks celebrating the Preakness. It's kind of weird to be in a town where racing means horses instead of cars. I'm just so used to going to the races to mean either stock cars or Road America. It's a whole new world here.