Richard Cretan is a dear friend and one of the most talented writers I know. In his blog, Glebe Cow Drooled, he recently commented on my efforts to improve snacks at my daughter’s pre-school. Here is an excerpt, written in Richard’s inimitable style:

Against bureaucratic feet-dragging, I had earlier advised [Bill] to wage a campaign of surrealism and hijinks by staging an anti-junk food demo at the school: march the kids around holding giant self-portraits in which they’re transmogrified into the quivering jellied ovoids that are apt to rise from a diet of Pop-Tarts and doughnuts. Bill may have found this a bit much for Northfield, Minnesota.

Now comes news that shouldn’t be too surprising. Earlier this month, a new Florida State University study found Americans see being fat as normal. So maybe the pre-school has been onto something all along. Cheese puffs: gateway to cultural literacy!

I used to think I might write humor in the manner of heroes of mine such as Evelyn Waugh, Woody Allen, or Garrison Keillor. Well, somewhere along the way I read too many op-ed pieces and too much journalism and got way too serious.

However, Brendon Etter - a Northfield playwright and blogger - hasn’t forgotten how to be funny. See his blog post, If Suburbs Were Named Based on Reality.” My favorite: Dontwalkfield.