Actually, I really like the stories about his nieces too. He had one about watching his niece learn to cheat that was fantastic.

Re: snark, I wasn't talking about his own snark; that's great. I'm talking about the bits he adds labelled "Pre-emptive snark: [insert snarky thing a reader might say here, plus his response". Maybe I'm mis-reading his attitude towards those, but he seems a bit weary of them.