What I learned from Alex P. Keaton

I caught Michael J. Fox on "Inside the Actors Studio" the other day and realized that his portrayal of Alex P. Keaton in Family Ties had a more than minor impact on me when I was a kid.

I didn't just look up to Alex P. Keaton -- I wanted to be just like him. Good at money, good at Scrabble, good at loving Ronald Reagan.

But I suppose it wasn't just Alex P. Keaton I loved. I even followed his fictional footsteps when I tried a turn in politics briefly, though my guy was a little brighter than Barry Bostwick's portrayal of the vapid Randall M. Winston Jr. in Spin City.

And looking back on it, Fox is probably the reason I used my middle initial until I went to college. That's right -- way back then I was Natural J. Blog.