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I'm back from a couple of days in Austin, where I visited friends and attended Danny Young's memorial service.  The downtown church filled with the friends of a life more than well-spent. A couple of Danny's favorite songs (Dylan's "When The Deal Goes Down" and Ernest Tubb's "Waltz Across Texas") opened and closed the service, which also included singings of "Danny Boy" and "I'll Fly Away." Neighbors, colleagues, ministers, and his grand children read moving tributes, and we all sang "Amazing Grace." Readings included two of Danny's favorites, Matthew 25: 34-40 and Matthew 5: 14-16. If anything could sum up the man, it's these: The light of the world giving to the least of his brothers with a huge smile and a bear hug. The reception at Antone's overflowed, exceeding fire marshall limits. Today, Michael Corcoran of the Austin American-Statesman selected lines and phrases from the on-line tributes and reminiscences and assembled this poem...

Not only did I reunite with old friends, I met a new one: PWALLY (a.k.a. Hrrmph!) met Cafe Nita Lou and I for lunch. We had a great time. It's terrific to think of this skein of blog friendships being formed and forged...

Otherwise, I ate at some good old Austin restaurants -- Guero's, Artz Rib House, and Threadgill's (meat loaf, spinach casserole, yam fries, and pecan pie for lunch) -- and picked up Fonda San Miguel's beautiful new cookbook for Premium T....

I will try to blog during the speech tonight. So far, it's been a good convention. Hillary Clinton really came through. Her recital of the people she's met on the campaign followed by the challenge to her supporters -- "Were you voting for me or for them?" -- has been the rhetorical highlight of the convention. Plus, her "keep it going" mantra was a diplomatic and effective way of delivering the "move on" message. For all of the talk about tensions on the floor and Hillary's most dedicated supporters voting for McCain, neither are actually much in evidence...

Let's face it, this is the real problem facing not only Obama, but the whole country: "Race is a tool that is used to divide working people." It has been since the cursed introduction of slavery to American shores, and there's no reason to think it will stop now...