Stuff I've learned in Denver

• I can now knit without using my right-hand fingers to pull the thread through -- in other words, I really can "pick" continental-style. I practiced it all the way here. Then I noticed that my "picked" rows were looser than my usual gauge. After a little more practice I learned to keep my tension up. Such experimentation made the endless rows of stockingette on the foot of B2B sock #2 seem downright adventurous.
• After weeks of not much A.V. Club writing, I've suddenly got a bunch of stuff up on the site. I guess it was inevitable that my review of Stephen Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You!) would get a bunch of comments. But 118 (at the time of this writing) somewhat exceeded my expectations. I'm the sole proprietor of the Words section this week, since the other review is my two-week's-delayed writeup of A.J. Jacobs' The Year of Living Biblically.
• Maybe it's the upscale margaritas from tonight's awesome Tamayo dinner talking, but I have a modest proposal to increase retention among high-ability college freshmen. Number one: Abolish the pre-med program. Number two: Ban dating. (Or as Rick put it more philosophically: Avoid attachment.) Number three: Well, it's not my idea, but Phil suggested not allowing prayer. Not sure what he was going for there. But three rules are better than two, so I'll go along with it, although I'm not sure it's going to have a measurable or positive effect.
• My roommate Whit is reading Chuck Klosterman IV. Can I pick 'em, or what?