WHAT I'VE BEEN READING OF LATE: Seems like I've spent most of my writing energy on other people's blogs of late, writing comments and advice and whatnot. I am the king of unsolicited guidance...

I've been especially entertained and engaged by the writing on The Phone Rang and Infidelity Bites. On the first, a whimsical man channels his inner child *and* his wise old man while dealing with the aftermath of his wife's infidelity. On the second, a very grounded-sounding woman alternates between her inner lawyer and her magnanimous lover, sifting through the rubble after her husband's infidelity. I read both regularly, and I can't help myself from weighing in on their complementary plights, perhaps far too often.

I also make regular visits to Do Over, The Least of My Worries, Nobody Knows It, and Just Procrastinating. (They feature, respectively: more post-infidelity blues; child-rearing and self-actualization blues; still more post-infidelity blues; and light musing about most anything.)

Finally, I've enjoyed keeping up on my brother and his wife, on their dual (and every once in a while, dueling) blogs. He writes Mission From Dog; she hammers out Phaneromania.

For whatever reason, I've spent far less time on the political blogs of late, although I do still go for a fairly regular dose of Andrew Sullivan.

When I'm really bored, I dig into Perez Hilton, perhaps my faoorite guilty pleasure of '06.

So what are y'all reading, when you have the chance?

TOP SECRET SKUNK: You gotta love this.

Also, this will be fun: Laurel, Mom...where do you think his nickname comes from? What do you think it means?

MY TWO CENTS ON TOOKIE: I'm against the death penalty. I believe in the sanctity of life, that a society must make laws and endorse practices that celebrate and embrace and protect life, even the life of a murderer. That said, if we're going to have a death penalty (which, again, I'm against), it certainly seems like Tookie Williams is the kind of guy that should receive it.

WHO ASKED ME ABOUT THE OSCARS? Look, I'm usually terrifically shy about expressing my opinions...but the subject of who hosts the Academy Awards is simply too juicy for me to leave alone. I must be heard.

Apparently it won't be Chris Rock. Fine. I think he's overrated, and his stint last year wasn't particularly funny. (I know I'm in the minority when I say that David Letterman was, for me, by far the funniest host since Johnny Carson. Loved him.)

According to this article, the candidates look to be: Steve Martin, Jay Leno, Whoopi Goldberg, and Conan O'Brien.

C'mon. There's only one person in that list who deserves consideration.

Steve Martin's career over the past ten years has been an embarassment. That CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN franchise is actually beyond embarassing. Horrifying. And that thing with Queen Latifah? Steve is out.

Jay Leno? Not funny. Not. Funny. Not even a little bit. Sure, he seems like a nice guy. But. He. Is. Not. Funny. The word 'painful' comes to mind, actually.

Whoopi? The most loathsome possibility of all. Big fat overrated sanctimonious loudmouth who must be the luckiet person alive. Host? Nost.

So...it's Conan. I mean, I'd watch that. (I'd at least Tivo it.) I'm counting the days 'til Conan takes over the Leno debacle. Let's give the carrot-topped nutball a shot at primetime.

Here's hoping he gets the gig and does running gags about Sean Penn and Tim Robbins.

TAKES AFTER HIS GRANDFATHER: We got like a zillion gallons of snow dumped on us last night, as you no doubt know, given the horrible tragedy at one of our airports.

Anyway, after my no-shit three-hour-plus commute home last night, I had a fun exchange with CJ while watching a TV show on Disney World:

"Daddy, where is Disney World?"

"It's in Florida."

"Is it summer in Florida?"

"It's always summer in Florida."

"Can we go to Florida right now?"

"No, we can't. It's far away from Chicago."

"Daddy, I don't like Chicago anymore."

WHO LOVES KANYE? KANYE! It's offical: Kanye West is an arrogant twit. As evidence I give you Kanye's comments about the upcoming Grammy awards, plucked from a recent MTV interview:

"If I don't win Album of the Year, I'm gonna really have a problem with that," said West. "I can never talk myself out of [winning], you know why? Because I put in the work. I don't care if I jumped up and down right now on the couch like Tom Cruise. I don't care what I do, I don't care how much I stunt — you can never take away from the amount of work I put into it. So I don't wanna hear all of that politically correct stuff. You put the camera in front of me, I'm gonna tell you like this. I worked hard to get here. I put my love, I put my heart, I put my money [into Late Registration]. I'm $600,000 in the hole right now on that album and you tell me about being politically incorrect?

He goes on to suggest that the song "Gold Digger" -- the one where Jayme Foxx yells "tell me, mama" using a retarded accent -- is the clear-cut song of the year.

What the fuck is he talking about?

First off, who cares who wins the Grammy, any Grammy? Since when has the Grammy ever been a true measure of merit? Next, can he really believe that his work -- the product and the effort that went into it -- so far exceeds everyone else's that awarding him Album of the Year should be a foregone conclusion?

Is it just me, or is this guy so far up his own shorts that he's hanging from his uvula?

Given all the hype, I've tried repeatedly to find even one Kanye song that appeals to me. No dice. Uck. Sucks. Sucks. He's a lame performer, a mediocre MC, and a boor. Rumor has it he's a good producer, but if that's the case I wish he'd just park his ignorant ass behind the board and shut the fuck up.

THE WORD POTBOILER COMES TO MIND: Just finished BLACK, a none-too-literary but fairly enjoyable debut novel by former FBI Hostage Rescue Team member Christopher Whitcomb. Lots of fun, breezy, etc., but unfortunately stuck with a stupid, tie-up-all-loose-ends-cheaply ending. Was totally planning on reading WHITE, the sequel, until about the last 15 pages or so. We'll see. Will definitely wait for the paperback. In the meantime, to cleanse my literary palate, am contemplating picking up the new Coetzee. (His DISGRACE is one of my fave books of all time.)

SAY HI TO HELMULLET MANIA: Please don't forget to visit my other site. I'm convinced I'm doing some of my best work there.