A fairly big deal

The first Monday in April is a big deal in the newspaper biz, our own version of the Oscars except without fancy clothes or attractive people. It's the day they announce the Pulitzers, and today if you visit the right website -- say this one right here -- and follow the links to the explanatory reporting winner, you might notice this down at the bottom of the page:

Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Beth Daley of The Boston Globe for her evocative exploration of how global warming affects New Englanders, from ice fishermen to blueberry farmers, and the Staff of the Oregonian, Portland, for its richly illustrated reports on a breakthrough in producing the microprocessors that are a technological cornerstone of modern life.

It's the second part there that's important. It refers in part to this. And it means something pretty stupendous:

My little Judybat was a finalist for a Pulitzer.

Stop reading this

And go read this. Our North Carolina friends -- actually, they're friends of the world -- Lisa and Jacob are in China adopting their second beautiful not-quite baby girl. It's much more interesting, funny and heart-warming than anything I can tell you on this, our national day of NCAA mourning.

Congrats, guys. Two is so much harder than one, which it sounds like you're discovering already. But worth it. Most of the time. Except for that moment last night before dinner when both children decided it was time for a meltdown. That just sucked. Have fun!

the numbers game

I turned 39 a little while ago, and it was cause for celebration, because I keep thinking I'm in my 40s, and this was a reminder that I'm not quite there yet. It was not unlike last year, when I learned to my great delight that I was not, in fact, 38 going on 39, but 37 going on 38. It was like daylight savings, except instead of an hour, I got a whole extra year!

Actually, I'm kind of looking forward to 40. Clearly I don't have to worry about my memory going, since I don't seem to have one, and thanks to long-term back problems and ms, I'm used to feeling decrepit. Sure the added wrinkles are freaking me out a little bit, but the rewards of aging far outweigh the loss of elasticity.

Turning 30 was a great, because along with the big three-oh came more confidence in myself than I ever felt in my twenties, And now as I approach 40, I feel like I'm much better at recognizing what's important and what's bu!!$#*t. I can't wait to find out what added bonus 50 brings!

A friend of mine once told me a story about an old man. He said, "When I was young, I thought a tree was just a tree and a rock was just a rock. Then I got a little older and and saw that a tree was much more than just a tree, and a rock was much more than just a rock. Now I am older still, and I know that a tree is just a tree, and a rock is just a rock."

I feel like I know what that dude was talking about.