Here is an interview I did Monday on ThisWeekLive—The Show, with Jeff Achen of This Week Newspapers. Topics included growth of social media, my work with nonprofits, my service on the school board and other scintillating issues. I know only Bill Roehl will make it to the end (to see if I said anything about LazyLightning.org or his mad Mario Karts skills).

So what do you think? Were my answers really as rambling as they sound to me? Did the video add 10 pounds to my weight (or was it more like 25)? Should This Week continue the show after Jeff’s departure, or did my appearance take away your appetite for such local public affairs programming?

This was the scene outside my office today after the anti-war march at the Republican National Convention turned a bit ugly. “Ohio” from CSN&Y kept running through my mind as I watched the National Guard guys put on their gas masks and grab their riot shields. They were actually standing three deep in the photo above to keep the protesters from advancing down the street a block to the convention site. I got a pretty good whiff of pepper spray as the cops and National Guard sprayed a steady stream of the stuff to disperse the crowd. I’ll tell you: It’s not as good without the tacos….

After some minor damage, a few skirmishes and temporary blocking of streets, the excitement settled down about 9 this evening. I’ll bring you more tomorrow, if we have any more mayhem to report.

Well, the scooter Art bought a couple of months ago was a bit too small to make the daily commute into St. Paul, so he bought a bigger one (a 200 cc bike). That’s Art above, astride his new blue Vespa Granturismo. It scoots right along and has cut about 15 minutes off Art’s commute time. He still parks it right on the sidewalk outside his office door. So far, he’s getting 73 mpg. Not bad. He has to fill up every two weeks, which costs him about 7 bucks. Beats the $60 a week he was spending in the car. Now, if he can just shake the urge to shout “Ciao, bella!” at all the pretty girls he passes….

I left the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Friday. I’m looking for a new job in the Twin Cities and hope to have news on that front fairly soon. Here is a link to my last column in the Pioneer Press. Read it fast — who knows how long the link will be good…