I just read New York Times reporter Linda Greenhouse's book, "Becoming Justice Blackmun," about Harry Blackmun's time on the Supreme Court, based mostly on the archive of notes and memos he left behind after he died. It's a terrific book. Really quite terrific. It focuses a great deal on Blackmun's lifelong friendship with Warren Burger -- they knew each other from grade school, became friends, stayed in close touch as their careers headed on different tracks, and were then reunited on the Supreme Court. But as their judicial rulings started to diverge, the friendship dissipated. There are three main themes to the book -- the Burger friendship, Roe v. Wade, and Blackmun's struggle with the death penalty. All three themes are treated so well in the book -- I really couldn't put it down. Gives a portrait of life inside the Supreme Court -- the relationships between justices, the role of the clerks, the loneliness of the job -- that few other books I've seen do. Definitely worth reading, especially in light of all the recent Supreme Court stuff.

Tonight I went to see some sketch comedy. I saw a group perform called Olde English, made up of students and recent graduates from Bard College. They were solid. The website has a whole bunch of video clips. "The Fridgedom" is a funny one.