"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."

i am up way too late for many reasons. life reasons i suppose.

but, because i am and because i happened to have the tv on, even though it was muted, but because i happened to have it on CBS, i was given the gift of a little segment about tom snyder on the late late show as it signed off tonight.

i used to watch him in college when i lived alone in my little apartment. i would stay up way too late and study or read or talk on the phone, and then i would curl up on the couch with daniel the cat and watch tom snyder interview someone in his smart and funny way. i loved how it was just him and the guest and the audience consisting of the crew and the producer. when someone said something funny, you would sometimes hear the cameraman crack up.

even though i might have been one of the only 20 year olds watching him, tom snyder invited me to feel just a little less lonely in the middle of the night.

i think it was because he would talk right to the screen, right to the audience through the television during the first few minutes of the show. just like mr. rogers. yes, i think that must have been why i felt such a kinship with him. he was my college-years version of mr. rogers.

he died sunday.

many blessings to him and those he left behind.