It's good to be a nice person--to say nice things, to do nice things, to write nice things--but I declare an end to the use of the word nice. Nice is what you say when you can't think of any other adjective. Someone shows you a picture of their back yard--that's nice. Someone tells you about their afternoon adventure--that's nice. Or someone describes their childhood in great detail and sometimes with painstaking effort--that's nice. It's a lazy word, and it's non-descriptive. Nice is like mashed potatoes with noodles and chicken gravy all in a big pile on one plate with some canned corn for garnish. Everything is the same color and texture and base substance--starch (this is a favorite Amish dish). Nice is like a partly cloudy day in April when outside feels like inside, and you can't tell a difference between the lighting and the temperature of your living room and the lighting and temperature of your front yard. Nice is a glass of lukewarm water. ...

Comments
I love that photo.
other notable march 14th birthdays:
georg phillip telemann (if it's not baroque...)
johann strauss (the elder)
lucy hobbs taylor (1st US female dentist)
les brown (and his band of renown)
quincy jones ('we are the world')
michael caine (such a great actor)
billy crystal (a very witty fellow)
megan follows (anne with an 'e')
and i'll toss this one on for dive, since albert stole his hair...
olive netta parsons (co-founder of the radical british 'collet's bookshop') :)