Because I, like an idiot, didn't file the story right after yesterday's press conference, over fifty papers beat me to the latest story about the ozone layer.

We sent my version out today in case anyone still wanted it (another editor, perhaps unbeknowst to Hargrove, sent out the official Scripps version yesterday) but, as happy as I am to finish another story, I'm still kicking myself for not filing yesterday. I had everything ready, I just wanted some better quotes.

My first and longest assignment is almost finished: I interviewed former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson today.

He's a Republican and adventurer who's for school vouchers and against the war on drugs. He kept his state out of debt and out of Washington (excepting elected officials, of course). He's climbed Everest and, for the past week, could not return my calls because he was kayaking. He's… hilarious.

Between the politicos who don't want to talk to me and the scientificos who can't speak plain English, I think I was going crazy from lack of human contact. Talking to someone who was brutually honest about his own views (he has no political ambitions and not much of an agenda) was absolutely invigorating.

I have pages upon pages of great quotes. I think it would be unethical to quote anything Scripps is going to use, but at one point he complained that "the American dream nowadays is to slip in Walmart and sue for millions."

Maybe he didn't say nowadays; I can't remember. But he said "It's a laugher" a lot. I had to go to dictionary.com, a site I won't link to because I secretly despise it, in order to confirm the spelling/meaning of that last word.

I kept my cool on the phone, but once I hung up I actually had to laugh out loud; all that manic, strangely idealistic energy had been focused on me for about fifteen minutes, and it was infectious.