I'm going to be tempted to steal my own Sunday paper tomorrow morning. I won't do it, but it'll take an act of will to resist. Last week I got a call from the Chronicle, and they promised to tell the carrier to bring the paper all the way down the long driveway to my door every morning. Otherwise, I wouldn't pay. I wouldn't even give them a credit card number, so that I'd be in control.

Does it surprise you to learn that the paper has been dropped at the end of the drive for the last four mornings? It doesn't surprise me a bit, since I've been down this road before. Those four papers are still sitting there, too, getting weathered but not getting read. I've been buying the Chronicle at the newsstand all week, just as I always do.

But Sunday, that's another story. Big paper, lots of ads and magazine sections and color comics. And it costs $1.50 at the newsstand, not 25 cents as it does on weekdays. And, more to the point, I'd have to go somewhere and get it. Every other day I pick it up at the post office, but with no mail delivery on Sundays, I have no excuse to go there, or anywhere else that sells the paper.

So I'll be tested tomorrow morning. Will I let myself pick up a newspaper I don't intend to pay for? Of course not. You know me better than that. I think.

There's not much news going on these days anyway, right?

I managed to watch some of the Concert for New York tonight on VH-1. I couldn't watch the whole thing, because I had a prior commitment (baseball), but what I saw was a wonderfully diverse and slightly messy tribute to the spirit of the city. As has almost become the norm since September 11, the egos of the stars gave way to the heroes from the police and fire departments.

Although I was happy to see Bill Clinton appear, he was there basically to introduce James Taylor. More rousing speeches were given by George Pataki and (of all unlikely people) Tom Daschle. The music was outstanding, and just as eclectic as the city itself. Woody Allen even contributed a typically quirky but charming short film.

I'm not sure I could have sat through all six hours, but what I saw I liked. It was emotional and exciting and inspiring. (They didn't have to boo Richard Gere for promoting peace and compassion, though.)