There are a lot of things I could post about this morning: lauren_myracle's photo-riffic description of this weekend's tropical hijinx (including a rather embarrassing picture of yours truly), or the fact that Obama is finally, and awesomely, hitting back against McCain (money quote: "It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant.")

I could discuss American Teen, the Breakfast Club-style documentary I saw last night which was okay but (and I know you won't believe me on this) not nearly as interesting or incisive a commentary on high school life as MTV's The Paper.

I could point you to this very cool test to see if you have synethsia (which it turns out is a much less rare condition than everyone assumed, and you might not even know you have it), or we could discuss the fact that Joss Whedon's newest show is starting to sound as doomed as Firefly. (And while we're at it, why isn't there any buzz about JJ Abrams' Fringe, starring the ever delightful Joshua Jackson?)

We could, of course, always discuss Neil Patrick Harris.

But today, I choose to relay to you this sad news: PBS is cancelling Mr. Rogers. (Yes, arguably the universe cancelled Mr. Rogers back in 2003, but even after his death, the show has been airing in reruns.) What do you think? Is this an outdated show that holds no appeal to today's children and -- unlike Sesame Street -- can no longer adjust to fit wtih the times? Is it a piece of our own childhood that, out of misguided nostalgia, we're all determined to cram down the next generation's throats? Or is Mr. Rogers the only sane man in an insane world, giving our children the fundamental building blocks they need on issues like personal responsibility, lying, and cardigan sweaters?

Personally, Mr. Rogers himself always bored me, but ahhh...how I loved the Land of Make Believe.

Because I automatically assume that all culture from my childhood is superior to anything created after 1990 (and yes, I understand the irony here, given that I myself have become a post-90s culture-creator), it's hard for me to be objective on this one. I'm willing to accept that maybe Mr. Rogers and Mr. McFeely's time has passed. (Seriously, McFeely? Who's his boss down at the post office, Mo Lester?)  Still, it seems like a sad moment of passing.

Moment of silence . . .

. . .

Now, two questions:
1. Which show of your childhood do you wish could run forever in syndication?

2. Does anyone remember the opera episode of Mr. Rogers, which featured characters like Fork and Spoon, singing about how evil Mr. Knife was? Because this one's printed indelibly on my brain, yet I've never found anyone else who actually remembers it, and am beginning to think I'm insane.

I don't quite understand how it got to be Friday, since last time I poked my head up to check, it was Monday, but here we are.  A few end of week remainders:

1. Screech (aka Dustin Diamond, although it's best not to think of him like that, because then you have to confront the skeeziness factor) is writing a Saved By the Bell tell-all! I want it now.

2. I've been posting a million youtube videos this week, so I'll spare you another one, but if you know what's good for you,  you'll follow this link to Neil Patrick Harris playing the Shoe Fairy on Sesame Street. He SINGS!

3. My life can be characterized as a determined search for the perfect mentor. And whenever I find someone who temporarily fits the bill, I'm not shy about pouring on the gratitude. (Suffice it to say that in much the same way television can be considered just a delivery system for ads, my books may just be delivery systems for dedications.) Which is why I so enjoyed this post about what happens when you're confronted with the reality that your mentor looms rather larger in your imagination than you do in his.

4. Speaking of blogs, I'm not going to link to this random kid I came across (thanks, google alerts!) who's reading Cat's Cradle for the first time, but I will quote him: "I read about Kurt Vonnegut in a book called Hacking Harvard, and I think I'll like this book." Forget what I said above. This is why I write.

5. Apparently Joss Whedon's getting a lot of flack for Act III of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. I can't defend it in detail without giving away crucial plot points. But I will just say that I think it's brilliant, and that people who think he's repeating himself are ignoring the meaning of the ending. Yes, the plot twists are reminiscent of old shows, but their context and import are completely different. (Sorry to be so vague. But it's your own fault for not watching it yet -- what are you waiting for?)

Updated to add:

6. I almost forgot -- have you guys seen the new JC Penney's commercial that pays (let me pause to throw up before writing this word) "homage" to the Breakfast Club? Could there be anything more repulsive -- at least to those of us lucky enough to grow up in the John Hughes era -- than recreating the pivotal scenes of this movie with a bunch of moronically grinning teenagers moronically delighted to start their school day? (With a disgustingly jaunty cover of "Don't You Forget About Me" playing in the background.) I'm not even going to link to it, because I don't want to contribute to any kind of buzz campaign. But know this, JC Penney: you have incurred my WRATH.

Some Friday miscellany for you:

1. Since Justine nicely composed this excellent post to save me from writing a far more intemperate one, the least I can do is send you toward it.  (Actually the least I can do is reward her with a delicious treat, but that's more of an offline endeavor.)

2. Who loves Joss Whedon? Meeeeeeeeeeeee! If you're raising your hand (or making a similarly undignified squealing sound), you will want to click here immediately to watch the first trailer for his new show, Dollhouse. Starring Faith. Er, I mean, Eliza Dushku.

3. Via Bookshelves of Doom, the greatest Harry Potter rapping puppet show you've ever seen. (I dare you to resist the lure of that description.)

4. A column by an English professor confessing that he cheated his way into grad school (along with numerous other acts of plagiarism before or since). This is somewhat riveting, and the big question now is: What next? Does this torpedo his career, or will it just be taken as I suspect he intends, a string of humorous anecdotes that can garner him a bookdeal?

5. Maybe it's the former debate geek in me -- defining the terms generally being the key to victory -- but I came across this today and it really struck me: "Yet does not this curious right [to define one's terms], which we have come to grant as soon as we deal with matters of importance -- as though it were actually the same as the right to one's own opinion -- already indicate that such terms as 'tyranny,' 'authority,' 'totalitarianism' have simply lost their common meaning, or that we have ceased to live in a common world where the words we have in common possess an unquestionable meaningfulness." (Hannah Arendt)

6. In my continuing -- if often floundering -- attempt to forestall the turning-30 freakout (see subject heading), I was quite cheered to encounter this thought: "Attractive women of nineteen and twenty-nine are alike in their breezy confidence; on the contrary, the exigent womb of the twenties does not pull the outside world centripetally around itself. The former are ages of insolence, comparable the one to a young cadet, the other to a fighter strutting after combat. But whereas a girl of nineteen draws her confidence from a surfeit of attention, a woman of twenty-nine is nourished by subtler stuff. Desirous, she chooses her appertifs wisely, or, content, she enjoys the caviare of potential power." (Fitzgerald) 

For the next 15 days, I think perhaps I will sign all my emails "insolently yours, Robin."

(Although certain people would suggest that my entire life has been an Age of Insolence.)