The bad news first

Written at 6 a.m.
Back in the good old days, we thought we handled everything. We were in bands of friends that sometimes numbered in the teens, and we were determined to succeed and help each other succeed. And we succeeded.

But I can tell a difference now. I drank white zin, ate chicken enchiladas laced with cinnamon and listened to Elliott Smith to understand that our place is now smaller and, strangely, less controllable. Someone released us from the factories of thought and privilege. Now the luckiest ones make it in a place that our friends might stumble through, and the certainty on which we unknowingly depended is gone.

Written at 10 a.m.
Now I feel better since discovering that Duke lost a second straight game. After the first, Coach K threw a sucker punch at Carolina to make himself feel better. In the words of Roy, K should worry about his own team. He didn't take the good advice and dropped another one last night. Too bad. I hope he takes it like a grown man and stops embarrassing himself. http://www.charlotte.com/129/story/501256.html.