For several weeks Suzanne and I have been trying to find an opportunity to have lunch together, and today was the latest chance. Either I've been too busy or she has, and then I got sick. But I willed myself to be well enough to make it today, and it worked. I'm still not sure I'm completely over my recent bout with swamp fever, but I'm on my way.

When I saw my hair in the mirror this morning, I almost decided to bail anyway. I have about one good hair day a week, and this wasn't it, but I worked on it until it was a little less ridiculous. Then when I was walking to the post office I noted another serious problem. My Levi's are just not comfortable any more. I should have realized sooner, because I've been walking around with this situation for a few weeks now.

So instead of coming straight home from the post office, I made a side trip to the mall and bought a larger pair. I've never worn a 36 waist in my life, until today, but the sense of relief was worth the extra stress of driving through noontime city traffic. My on again-off again diet has been too often off again. No absolute binges, just a slip here and there. But they add up. Literally.

Size, apparently, does matter. I never thought of myself as a 36, so even when I knew the 34s were strangling me in places I shouldn't have to be strangled, that's the size I bought last time. Something broke the cycle today and provided me with a little epiphany. It's just not worth it, for pride's sake or ancient habit or whatever possessed me to buy those 34s again, when I knew they'd be too small.

So I'm sort of a new man tonight. We had a wonderful lunch and I ate it all (without having to unbutton anything). I haven't given up on the diet, but I've given up on squeezing into the denims of some other person that I used to be. Maybe I'll be that person again some day, maybe not. I'm keeping the 34s, but they're going to the back of the closet for now.

Somebody has to say it, and I'm only sorry (and a little embarrassed) that it has to be me. 7th Heaven has become the most annoying show on television. Or maybe it's just the most annoying show that I can't keep myself from watching. The people on this show consistently act out of character and against their own best interests, with little or no apparent motivation.

The trouble is, I've watched this family grow up and I can't seem to turn away, even though I find myself wanting to reach through the screen and throttle them. Especially Lucy, poor, sweet, insecure Lucy, who used to be my favorite. How did she become so needy that she sabotages her relationship with Kevin every single week? And yet he keeps coming back for more.

I'm so annoyed I'm thinking of telling TiVo to stop recording it, but then how would I know what Simon's new job is going to be, or how Eric's spiritual crisis is going to be resolved? I wish I hated this show, but it's a little like my car. It doesn't run as well as it used to, but I've had it so long I can't stand to part with it. At least I have a good mechanic.

What do you want from a movie? A few laughs and a few tears, right? A bit of excitement, a touch of romance. Characters you care about. Acts of heroism and sacrifice, deep friendship and grace under fire. I found all this and some great Bryan Adams songs in Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. It also has some of the most incredible animation ever. The settings are breathtakingly real and the horses are complex, fully expressed characters. I didn't expect to like this movie as much as I did.