Who doesn't love a good 2-by-4?

I think it must be because we moved several times when I grew up. My parents were what we now call "flippers," and they were damn good at it too, though I can't even imagine where they got the money for it. Hard to see how they/we even got by with my mom at home with me (a premie) and my dad in school and working at the lumber yard, let alone flipping houses. There's one famous story where I wandered off at two years old carrying a hammer and wandering the neighborhood because I wanted to help. They found me two streets over, frightened and still carrying that hammer, asking, "Mommy? Mommy?"

But back to the lumber. I love a good 2-by-four: weathered in a ditch on the side of the road, splintered by the median on the freeway emergency lane, their new smell and stickiness in the lumber yard, the sound of "2-by-four," the sound of one hitting the ground. I could go on and on. I've even got a 2-by-four in a couple poems now.

Maybe this is why I'm starting to like the Biden Veep pick now. I know it's a stretched association, but if it gets me enthusiastic about my candidate, well, that's a good thing.

Via the Politico:

ABC’s George STEPHANOPOULOS, to Kate SNOW on “Good Morning America Weekend”: “I have never seen a vice-presidential candidate, in the announcement, come out with THAT KIND of ferocity. Usually, you see it a little bit later in the campaign – not at the announcement. But Joe Biden showed one of the main reasons that Barack Obama picked him. They WANTED a scrapper out there. They WANT a fighter out there. They know Senator Biden will be able to get UNDER Senator McCain’s skin. They’ve known each other for an AWFUL long time – more than 35 years. As one Obama aide told me yesterday: We know that Joe Biden can go out there with a 2-BY-4 if he has to.”

Question: are you going to watch the convention?