1) Martin Luther King's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech.

My son has to recite a part of this for a class presentation on Flag Day. He came to the line, "I accept this award with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind," and I have to admit, I got a little catch in my throat. "No, no," I said. "It's okay. You're doing great. Keep going."

2) Cormac McCarthy on Oprah Winfrey.

I'm not a big fan, could barely get through "All the Pretty Horses," but "The Road" gave me that same catch in my throat as in #1. Oprah asked about why he wanted to meet in this science library where the interview was being held, whether he preferred the company of scientists to writers. "Well," he answered, with a disgusted emphasis on the last word, "I don't really know any writers."

3) "A Strong West Wind," Gail Caldwell.

A memoir of growing up in the sixties. Given that I've spent a great deal of my writing time surveying difficult father/son relationships, fascinating to read an account of a father/daughter version of the same. Not entirely sure about some of the organizational choices, but wow, the aphoristic, impressionistic writing, wise and gorgeous: "You can't go back: to unboarded trains, to pristine battlefields before dawn, to love that ended yesterday in Texas. Instead, what you have, if you're lucky, is the next round...What we get is the lead weight of understanding, which we have the grace to call gravitas."

4) "Friday Night Lights," NBC television.

My favorite TV show of the past year, the one that gave me the most smiles and goosebumps and helped pick up the slack for a hit-and-miss season of "Veronica Mars" (RIP). I liked it even when it became a little too trauma of the week ("Wait, have we done rape yet?"), mostly for moments like in the season finale, when, after the team's won the big game, we see the coach and his wife quietly dancing in their hotel room, her feet on top of his.

5) "Bleeding Diamonds," Nicole Atkins.

Moody, low-fi, David-Lynch-ready ballads from New Jersey. I heard someone on the radio discussing what the final song on the "Sopranos" season finale should be. I'll nominate "Neptune City." (6/08/07: You heard it here first!)

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