"I wish you'd stay in Brooklyn, as Madison is such a PC backwater."

Wrote commenter Kirby Olson in my post with the photograph of a small protest march, taken from my 9th floor window at Brooklyn Law School. He says there are "real events" in New York City and "history is being made. Whereas Madison is from the 80s." He asks the provocative question: "How can you stand to go back?"

By the way, Kirby has a blog called Lutheran Surrealism, and his blogger profile lists his favorite music as Bach and Captain Beefheart, and if you know me, you should know that these things make me more willing to answer his question.

My answer will be a numbered list.

1. What's the difference between looking at an event through a dusty 9th story window and watching it on television? I am able to monitor the news of everywhere from anywhere. The question is what place keeps me alert and attentive and in a state of mind where I can think and write something worthwhile about what I'm seeing.

2. I am constantly encountering protest marches and other sorts of incidents in Madison, and I can photograph them and talk about them in a way that brings more value because: a. So few of you are in Madison, and b. My Madison readers don't normally get the perspective this blog and its commenters bring to the city. It's a plus that Madison is whatever it is that makes Kirby say "PC backwater."

3. Maybe you are concerned that the pleasures of life do not flow to me in Madison and that New York City is, by contrast, a glorious playground. There is suffering and pleasure anywhere. You need life skills, luck, and perspective to enjoy living where you live. I can not only "stand to go back" to Madison, I eagerly anticipate it.

4. ...