The blog has been fairly active today in my first day back in front of the blog since I took break a week and a half ago to get married. Jessica and I buzzed out to Napa Valley for a trip that ended way too soon. If you’ve never been out there, go. Some of you have asked for thoughts, etc., so here goes:

Stay here. Eat here and here. Call these guys to drive you around. Taste/buy wine from here, here and here. Picnic here. Try to get in here. Avoid this. Play this. Walk these streets. Hang out with these people. Don’t bring this, this or this. Buy this.

Re: the marriage thing, well, you’re not going to get much out me in this space except that I took the advice of the novelist Richard Russo when he said this to the graduating class of Colby College in 2004,

Find a loving mate to share what life has in store, because the world can be a lonely place, and people who aren’t lonely don’t want to hear about it if you are. At some point you’re going to tire of yourself, of the sound of your own voice (if you haven’t already), and you’re going to need someone whose voice you never tire of, someone who’ll know you better, in some ways, than you know yourself and who’ll remind you who you are when you forget and why things matter.

Until tomorrow . . .