Entry 1:

Dear Harry,

I feel a strange mix of emotions in this new millennium. Like a lot of people, I suspect, I have a guilty secret: I wish something bad had happened. Not the Rapture. Not even a Deadly Act of Terrorism. But a little glitch would have been nice--kind of like a snow day when you were a kid (I'm assuming you haven't been in L.A. your whole life)--something to put a little dent in the manic optimism of the moment. A few hours without the power, or having the ATM jam would have been a useful cautionary note at a time when everyone feels like they deserve an IPO of their own.

I see from the papers that the Y2K consultants are already extremely defensive, insisting that the problem wasn't hyped and that their $100 billion price tag was worth it. I have my doubts. On New Year's Day, my wife raised a question that's already become cliché 48 hours later: If Y2K wasn't a problem in countries that spent a lot (e.g. us) and in those that spent little but still have a lot of computers (Italy, I gather), then didn't we get ripped off? I still haven't heard a good answer

For all my wishing for a mini-disaster, I also felt much more moved by the celebration than I thought I would. Watching the rolling party across the globe on ABC and CNN was strangely riveting--not least of all because Peter Jennings felt compelled to pull a Jerry Lewis telethon and anchor the whole thing himself. By the end he was babbling so much, I expected him to point to the tote board and ask Ed McMahon how much we'd raised. Still, the effect of seeing the Y2K date roll across the globe brought out the Kumbaya spirit in me. I feel the same way sometimes--I'm not kidding--watching the Weather Channel seeing a storm form over the West Coast of Africa and then roll east into a hurricaine. The same cloud pattern some Malawi tribesman gazed at eventually dumped water on a shriner at a casino in Biloxi, Miss. We are the world.

You think Clinton had a good time, or what? Standing at the Lincoln Memorial, reading Lincoln's words, with an audience of about a gazillion and a Steven Spielberg production behind him? Raised in a liberal home, it infuriated me as a kid that Nixon got to leave his signature on the Apollo 11 plaque left on the moon. It was Kennedy and Johnson that got us there, and here was Mr. House Un-American Activities getting to leave his name on the moon after just six months in office. I imagine there are gazillions of conservatives for whom it's incredibly painful that Monica's boyfriend got to be the one to usher in the Third Millennium. Did you see the Larry King column in USA Today? He says that Clinton told him he owns the original Harry Truman letter to the music critic, the one where he threatens to punch out the guy for criticizing his daughter's piano recital. Steve Forbes gave Clinton the letter, according to King. Weird ...

I see in the papers today that Clinton's proposing a modest but still sizable tax cut for next year. Can there be any doubt how this Kabuki ritual will play out yet again? The Repubs will push for bigger cuts. Clinton and the Dems will accuse them of endangering Medicare and Social Security. The public will back the Dems. The Republicans will bluster, losing popular support, but then they'll finally cave to Clinton and infuriate their base. They're like Wile E. Coyote going off the cliff every time.

Speaking of Republicans, I'm emceeing that Congressional Dinner that you hosted last year--1,200 Washington bigshots in a hotel ball room, done up in black tie. You're a comedy God. (Is Spinal Tap on DVD yet?) I do occasional stand up: Got any tips? I've got 30 days to come up with a bevy of Denny Hastert jokes and I'm getting edgy. As millennial anxiety goes, it's pretty small stuff, but I could still use a few tips.

Talk to you later.
--Matt