Things are good in Baton Rouge

You know those parts in the movie Airplane! where Ted Striker goes into a story, and then when we return to the present tense, the person being told the story has committed suicide in a particularly painful or grotesque way?

I got to be on the receiving end of such story telling on Thursday night. I met Heather and a coworker for a drink, and guy talked on and on and on. It was mostly his business plans, which I really couldn't have followed had I wanted to.

At one point, Heather went to the can, and when I went back there 15 minutes later, I found her still in the ladies room, talking on the cell phone. What a testament to the conversation back at the bar.

The worst part of it was that I was missing several games on the first day of the NCAA tournament. You know, this really is probably the best time of year in Louisiana. Consider all of this:

• Hoops on TV. My bracket is actually looking okay after the first full weekend of play. I don't remember that happening before.

• LSU baseball going on. I haven't been to the park this year, but the team sounds fantastic on the radio. You think LSU would give theskinnyonbenny.com a press pass to cover a game? I think it's a worthwhile objective.

• Streets are full of color as everything blooms.

• The sky is actually sky blue -- not the gray of winter, or the hazy white/blue of summer.

• Crawfish are in season. I've had them every week for a month. I know some of my readers are from out of town and can't appreciate what this means. Maybe I'll write an article just about eating crawfish pretty soon. Or maybe not.

• Strawberries are in season too. Love those fresh strawberries.

• I haven't had to put up the top on the Jeep in more than a week.

Why would anyone leave Louisiana now? It's a good question, but sure enough, I am leaving for a couple of weeks. I'm going to visit Mom and Dad in Thailand, where it is 97 degrees and 90 percent humidity every day. White/blue hazy skies are a given. This is their hottest time of the year, and their cool season was miserably hot when we went there 2 years ago.

On the other hand, that trip will almost certainly provide some good stories to share on this site. I expect to have pretty steady access to the internet, and plenty of time to spend on it.