Yes, I have a journal.
Yes, it's very exciting.
Yes, I had to have Mikey hold my hand all the way through the process. Thanks again, Mikey.
And I have short hair.
That's about it for now.
9.4.05, 1:34 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Does anyone else think I look fat in the picture below?
Susan does.
And here I was feeling better about my self-image.
9.4.05, 11:52 AM, EDT Ada, Ohio
So, this evening I'm out about five miles north of Ada with some friends. Be advised that Ada is about 75 miles from Dayton and Toledo, the closest major cities.
Now, I've enjoyed the stars a great deal since moving here. They're great, but they've only been about as great as they were at home in PA. That is, only as great as the proximity of Philadelphia allowed them to be.
So tonight, I come out of these people's house, out there in the big empty between Ada and Bluffton, and every damn star in the world's up there. Only once before have I seen that many stars, all at once, all rockin' out like that. (Rural Maryland, far enough from Annapolis and Baltimore and DC for it to really get going.)
I highly recommend to my urban dwelling friends to drive 75 miles towards the nearest empty, wait for sunset, and look up.
9.5.05, 12:05 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
"Software development, like professional sports, has a way of making thirty-year old men feel decrepit."
--Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
9.5.05, 11:16 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
So, insomnia has taught me that it's really not that dangerous, having TV.
Last year, I specifically elected not to get cable, not to hook up rabbit ears, etc. I figured all it could do was distract me from school.
Now that I have the cable modem broadband hookup, there's a 20 channel bare minimum piped through to my apartment. It's awful. Some religious programming, the Bowling Green University educational public station, a snowy Oxygen with no sound, and some local sports network that features more Nascar than I like to think about.
If anything, I'd rather be reading about rules of evidence than watching most of that crap. Though, the news should be good once in a while. And there's TBS, which has Family Guy and (apparently) Mission Hill, sometime.
I'm going to try to sleep now.
9.6.05, 3:08 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
If you ever read or watched The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, or if you're interested in a writer's rights with regards to his own work, you might want to follow this link.
9.7.05, 1:20 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Character evidence exceptions, separation of powers among branches of the federal government, and the adjusted basis of gifts both above and below the fair market value.
Thank goodness for geeking out, Netflix, and dinner with pretty girls.
9.09.05, 12:13 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
The remainder of this page is available in archives. Heh. I've got archives.
So, I think I've complained to just about everyone about this, but just in case:
I got back from my summer in PA to find that something - heat, a power surge, voodoo - had murdered my computer, or at least my computer's OS. This was something of a blow to me, as this computer was relatively new. I bought another desktop against the recommendations of my laptop-using friends. It's nice. I have broadband now, and the flat-panel monitor I got for the old box, and all in all I feel like a representative of the 21st century computer user.
However, I'm slowly realizing how much stuff was on that old box. Mikey says he can fix it, but I won't be PA-bound for at least a few months. For instance, I kept a Word file of all the phone numbers and addresses I might need on there. All my auto-remember passwords for various websites were on there. All the music that Jill totally legally downloaded was on there. All the stuff I wrote when I was entertaining thoughts of having skill at writing was on there. (No, it wasn't any good, but it had sentimental value to me.)
So, periodically, I come over, fire up my computer, and search for something that just isn't there. And that's disturbing.
So, if you're reading this, you might send me an e-mail, at the usual address, with your phone number and address if you like, and by sending it by e-mail, I'll have the e-mail address. (Carrie, this includes you.) That would be good.
Also, if there's anyone who should be made aware of this page, please let them know, or let me know to let them know. Because I'm apparently dumb and forget these things.
I'm off to do homework. On a Saturday. In the middle of the day.
9.10.05, 1:53 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
I was all set to post something about how awful it was to have a headache all day.
At least, I was, until the vomiting started.
I'm sure I'll feel better in time for Fed Tax tomorrow morning, though. Because illness happens on illness's terms - not yours.
9.11.05, 8:15 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Pizza? Hot dogs? Pasta? Meatballs? Sausage?
Camus was right.
9.12.05, 8:11 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
2010 is a good year to die. Did you all know that? I thought it was weird, possibly a misphrasing in my Federal Income Taxation book, but no. It's true.
In 2010, the estate tax (the "death tax" to Republicans, who love a good over-the-top euphemism) will be abolished. The years leading up to 2010 will show a gradual erosion of the estate tax, improving the inheritors' adjusted bases more and more each year until 2010, when there will be no estate tax at all.
And then in 2011? They put it all back the way it was before all the erosion and repealing.
That seems odd. What would impel legislators to decide, "You know, we should totally pick a year, and make that a good year to die. That'll mess with people's heads, won't it? Dude!"
I don't get it, but that's the law on the books right now. I read an article by a CPA or tax attorney asserting that set of laws would be altered or repealed before they could take effect.
So, what I learned in class today: die in 2010 if you can help it, die before 2010 otherwise, and be married when you do so. (You can increase your net worth by $1.3 million for tax deduction purposes, and your spouse can claim $3 million in forced-share inheritance assets.) Oh, and every class is grim if you look at it right.
9.14.05, 8:25 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
News: this weekend I actually placed myself in a social situation with other people - of my own free will. Stranger-type people.
No, really.
It was kinda nice. I went to a barbecue. I tended the grill. I opened a 2-liter of soda that had been shaken up at some point. I met a bunch of people I didn't know before. I reassured many about the relative harmlessness of bees.
Good weekend, all in all. Played games, taught someone chess, drank coffee and studied the IRS codes and regulations that make it possible to write off business lunches. (They must be for a noncompensatory business-oriented reason, of course!)
Oh, and welcome to Sarah, who is Marilla's friend. Marilla herself isn't reading this, apparently, but her friend may be. Welcome!
9.18.05, 11:35 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
I'm hoping everyone had a good International Talk Like A Pirate Day.
Arrrrrrrr.
9.19.05, 11:58 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Which is worse - getting no mail, or only getting bills and credit card offers?
9.21.05, 7:46 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
NOTICE: Non-gamers may want to skip today's post. It's almost unintelligible to the uninitiated.
Good times in Columbus today. Drove down to play cards with Jay Kristoff and crew, who had a very nice turnout of 15 people - three tables of five. I didn't get to play Jay, or DJ Feng Shui, which was a little disappointing, but Dave Pennington and Mark Loughman were in attendance, and both traded bleeds and hand strikes with me in a couple of rounds.
Personal to the Waffle King: that guy who played the 60 Computer Hacking deck, with all Caitiff crypt, at the first Ann Arbor Qualifier, was there too. He's still crazy.
I played a Tremere THA deck with a good chunk of Create Gargoyles, all of whom I named Jennifer. It made it much more personal to tell someone I was blocking with Jennifer than "Gargoyle #2." Mark Loughman even took it a step further when blocking my Create actions in the final to say, "Jennifer was tearing up the place in the first round. I have to block her before she has a chance to wreck me."
He's a kind man, that Mark. My deck failed miserably first round, stumbled into 1.5 VPs in the second, and in the third round utterly unexpectedly took a game win and 3 VP out from under Will Kristoff's excellent Synesios deck. Will is now my hero, alongside his brother.
I made the final, but was outclassed by good decks to either side of me. Plus, my predator was playing Tremere as well, getting my Martin Franckel, my Ivory Bow and my Arcane Library before I had a chance to play them. So, I was patient and appeared helpless as per the Legbiter Wounded Wing strategy for about ninety minutes, then lunged for Mark's throat. Couldn't seal the deal, though, and Will Kristoff's demise heralded my own as Mark ousted him, and David Barrish (hope I'm spelling that right) ousted me. Good times, good times.
Decklist posted to R.G.T-C.J. for those who are interested. Next tournament, November in Milwaukee. Thanks to the Milwaukee folks for helping me build my deck for today. Audio posts from the tournament posted by DJ Feng Shui at his site.
9.24.05, 11:23 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Honestly, I didn't know Ohio had any art, much less art within an hour's drive of here.
Saw some Picasso, some Degas, some Rembrandt. Toledo Museum of Art. Good times.
Also, Tim Horton's. I had been under the impression that Tim's was a Canadian donut joint-- I guess it turns out it's an international donut joint. I was unaware that you could get donut holes / Munchkins / "Timbits" with filling. Like, a very small jelly donut. Or lemon. (But not... the legendary Boston Creme.)
Now, homework for Federal Taxation. Did you know that if you pay for your own health insurance, the proceeds are entirely tax-deductible, but if your employer pays the premiums, you may have to report some of any proceeds as gross income. It's true, check section 104-106 of the IRC.
9.26.05, 12:07 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Inexplicably fell asleep today for about seven hours. Possible causes: insufficient sleep this weekend, which is my traditional "catch up on sleep" time; diabetic coma; depression; voodoo; an invisible gas permeating residences which lulls people to sleep for extended periods. I'm leaning toward voodoo.
(Don't worry, I went to class before losing consciousness, and did all my studying afterward.)
Now I just have to worry about getting some more sleep before class in seven hours.
9.27.05, 1:17 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
It's been a good week.
10.02.05, 12:27 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
I was kinda sick today. I only use the term "kinda" because it didn't involve nearly the amount of cranial agony and vomiting as the last time. Regardless, I... I missed a class.
Mea culpa!
It's cool, though - I have people I can cadge notes from, and my professor doesn't mind me bothering her after class. We discussed the history of Supreme Court Chief Justices who had not previously sat on the Court.
Also, that Mentos commercial with the chirping birds, and the parrot saying "THERE'S NO SUGAR" really creeps me out.
10.04.05, 5:42 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Man, what better way to feel better after a sick day than losing a pint of blood!
(No, not that way.)
My temperature was within reasonable standards, I felt fairly well, and I had been hydrating myself since the night before, so I donated blood today.
Things I learned, or should have learned before and was reminded of today:
Now, of course, I have a quiz tomorrow. It's not quite a midterm, but I think it's pretty important. So, my laundry, my minus-one-pint bloodstream and I are going to go study. And probably treat myself to dinner. You know, because of the loss of blood. (See!? It's a multipurpose excuse! I could probably rob a liquor store as long as I had my little sticker on!)
10.05.05, 4:33 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
I got a B+ on a quiz today in Evidence. And that pisses me off.
10.06.05, 11:01 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
by special request, this one's for the ladies.
Ladies. I have some bad news.
You'll have to pine for some other distant, handsome law student with short hair. This one's taken. Yep, I'm off the market. Spoken for. Staked, like a claim is staked? (When it gets you here, and right here?)
Of course, this only makes me sexier. You know you want what you cannot have. Rrrrowwr.
10.07.05, 12:40 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
You can buy Pocky at the Lima Wal-Mart. I did not know that.
10.07.05, 8:25 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Frankenberry and Boo-Berry are available in stores again. Randy Milholland says its because of Halloween and I'm not inclined to disbelieve him.
You have to be in a certain state of mind to enjoy a bad kung-fu movie. If you lack that state of mind, see a Stephen Chow kung-fu movie.
10.08.05, 3:19 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
I need to loose my sorrow somehow, and here you find the Internet. The Ada community has lost someone special - I've lost someone special.
The Hardee's on Main Street closed this weekend.
You can laugh, but I feel a true loss. I don't know if anyone's been to a Hardee's in the last three years or so, but they apparently went through some kind of reorganization that closed down more than half of their burger joints, but left the remainder with good burgers at good prices, curly fries, late hours for hard-studying college students, and a student ID deal on food that almost made buying groceries impractical from an economic standpoint.
I know I've said some harsh things about Hardee's in the past - my practice of going to a Hardee's about once every two years to remind myself of how bad they are, and why I don't go more frequently - I won't deny saying those things. But Hardee's... you know all was forgiven. You were there for me on a number of occasions, whether it was for a $2.88 burger, fries and Coke meal; for hours of studying made more feasible by unlimited self-serve refills; or for the option of hand-scooped Breyer's or Hershey's ice cream. You were there, Hardee's, and I appreciate it.
But they're gone now. I hear the lot's going to be developed for a Walgreen's. They're going to knock down the Hardee's and Carol Slane's Florist so the Walgreen's can have enough parking. Never mind the two locally-owned and -operated drug stores already present in Ada. And never mind the fact that no other restaurant in town offers Coca-Cola products for fountain drinks - everywhere else, from cafeteria to Taco Bell / Pizza Hut (shudder), hawks Pepsi products. And never mind my needs. Oh, no.
There's just nothing good about this development. Nothing good. My "meals I don't have to cook myself" options just limited themselves to KFC, Subway, and East of Chicago Pizza buffet. Not entirely appealing.
Oh, and I have a midterm on Friday. It's reputed to be hard as hell. I'm expecting nothing less. But I'm prepped, and continue to prep this week - be advised I may be harder to get ahold of, accordingly.
That's what's up here. And with you?
10.10.05, 10:44 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Studying. Much studying.
10.11.05, 11:22 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
STUDYING.
10.13.05, 8:11 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Okay, that sucked.
I'm going to go drown my sorrows in fast food and geeking out.
Damn confidence. I'll probably be a bit surly until I hear specifically how poorly I did on my midterm.
Dammit.
10.14.05, 1:43 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
To recap - midterm was wicked hard, but I guess it was supposed to be. I don't think anyone came out of that room feeling altogether happy. So, I'll try and put it out of my mind until I know how I did.
Still... man, I'd like to do well. I really feel like I get a lot of this stuff, and it's not inconceivable that this is an area I could find work in. I don't know. We'll see.
Played games tonight, had fun. Drank caffiene after 8pm (ooooh, rebel). All set for cooking dinner for someone special tomorrow evening.
And I just remembered I'm supposed to go to a lecture tomorrow morning at 9:30. Heh. I better go fall down.
10.15.05, 12:55 AM, EDT, Ada, O-hi-o-hi-o
My hair's doing a kinda Heatmiser thing lately.
At least I think it's Heatmiser. It might be Coldmiser. I really don't recall all that clearly.
Okay, I totally took it easy for a whole day and a half. Clix, awful Burger King food, shooting the shit with fellow geeks in the parking lot after a game, free tailgate party, a lecture on eminent domain, dinner and a movie with a sweet girl...
Now, back to Fed Tax and BusOrg. (shudder) It feels like you should get a longer reprieve after a midterm. But it really was a great day and a half, so I'm not complaining.
10.16.05, 12:41 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio, the American Midwest
Steal my dog, key my truck
Beat me with a rubber duck
But you can't take the sky from me
Since I got back from a second showing of Serenity at the $3 Ada theater.
Since I got back from a second showing of Serenity at the $3 Ada theater.
(steel guitar solo)
(reprise)
10.19.05, 11:27 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio, Earth-that-was
Went to Cleveland this weekend, saw the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Met the very nice Mrs. Shoemaker, who sprang for lunch for Marilla and myself. Lovely time had by all, and thanks to Carol for the meal - decent food hard to come by in Ada, especially when you don't cook much.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame seems to believe there wasn't much in the way of good music in the 1980s. While I'm not sure I disagree, there's a lot of music in that era that I feel deserves recognition. Perhaps not by the Hall of Fame's standards, sure, but still...
Congrats to my buddy Dave, who is now the law clerk and judicial commissioner for Oneida County, Wisconsin. So, he gets to clerk for the judges up there, and on weekends he gets to stand in for them while they're doing non-judicial things. I think that's awesome. I should be so lucky to get work like that myself in a year. Dave stuck it out for a good while waiting for a job like this - I hope it turns out to be a great position, well worth the wait.
All right, I have studying to do, and someone attractive offered to make me dinner tonight too.
10.23.05, 3:53 PM, EDT, Ada, Ohio, Where The Food's Not Really That Interesting
Frost today. 39 degrees, give or take. Wore my gloves. Very exciting. I hear second-hand (by way of Langhorne, PA) that Bellefontaine, OH, a few miles south of here, got snow already. That's awesome.
All sorts of class rescheduling lately. Con Law cancelled, postponed to tomorrow - no BusOrg at all next week. Extra Evidence class to catch up with a cancelled class from last week, which was fall break anyway, so even less work then, even more now.
Gave up on my Two-Face Hallowe'en costume. I know, I'm a lazy slacker. But the stitching would have revealed just how little of my tailoring skills survived from Home Ec in junior high and needlepoint I picked up from my grandma.
(Oh, I was going to make a Two-Face costume for Halloween - buy two suits at a thrift store, of wildly different colors and styles, cut them in half, and sew the odd halves together.)
Marilla is cross with nature, since in her (Floridian) experience, nature should provide sun, breezes and pleasant humidity. Nature providing freezing temperatures, cold north winds and dry crisp air is not in her portfolio. Anyone wishing to advocate on behalf of "northern" weather in the fall may send statements c/o myself, and I'll forward them. Me, I love me some winter. I even love to modify nouns and verbs with the adjective "wintry."
10.27.05, 9:45 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio, Snow Country
"Term of Art."
Any term that indicates that the person using the term has gone to some kind of school and is trying to make you feel inferior, inasmuch as he has "terms of art" at his disposal, where you have none. See also, "ego punch."
Very important in the law school curriculum.
10.28.05, 11:35 AM, EDT, Ada, Ohio
Morgan Spurlock was right. Eating a lot of McDonald's food is bad for you. Keith once pointed out that when people go to eat at McDonald's, they don't call it "food" - they call it "McDonald's." As in, "Do you want to go get some McDonalds?" I think there's something to that.
I was just trying to get some more of those Monopoly pieces. I wasn't making a documentary to reveal to America that McDonald's food is bad for you. (Shocking.) Which, coincidentally, is why I hate all those "Truth" and "Stand Against Tobacco" campaigns. We know, all right? Tobacco is bad for you. Shut up now.
Sorry. The last few days have been typified by fast food, some gaming, Saturday Night Live - which I don't watch much for the usual reason* - and snapping at people. I don't know.
Did you know the songs on REM's "Life's Rich Pageant" are listed out of order on the CD cover? It's true. I just put it on iTunes and realized I had to go through and listen to every track and make sure. Those crazy kids in REM.
I have all this Halloween candy to hand out today, and I don't think anyone's coming to collect it.
Does anyone think that dressing up as Zombie William Rehnquist would be in bad taste? "Braaaains! Overturn Roe v. Wade!"
I have a green lantern, oddly enough. I had it for about a month before realizing what it is. (It's not a cosmically powerful item, though, it's a Target home decor accent.) Someone just left it in the law school. Weird.
I think that's about it. Oh, I made a mediocre showing on my Fed Tax midterm, so that's a bitch. I thought I was really prepped and confident going in - I should have known better.
Sigh.
10.31.05, 1:34 PM, EST, Ada, Ohio, Where the veil between the world of the living and the dead is thin
Oh, Morgan Spurlock's show "30 Days" (on one of those cable channels I don't have) is pretty good.
The uncompleted * reference from the last post should have been followed by a footnote reading, "It's not as funny as it used to be." That may be a fallacious or simply impractical argument, since if I wanted to, I could judge the last 25 years of SNL on the standard set by Radner, Belushi, Chase, Ackroyd. And is that really fair? I ask you.
I wasn't Zombie William Rehnquist for Halloween. I was Local Student With Candy Whose House All The Trick Or Treaters Ignore Out Of A Mistaken Belief That All College Students (Undergrad and Graduate) Don't Participate In The Giving Part Of American Halloween Tradition. I'm told it was a fairly believeable costume. I think it was pretty original, m'self.
Anyone wishing to see additional content here at the Heslin.org page should e-mail the webministrator. (Me.) For example, I'm listening to Belle and Sebastian, "The State That I Am In," right now. It's from Tigermilk. Do you care? Do you want to know what I had for lunch? Your feedback is an important part of our operations here at Heslin.org.
Not really. Fine. You got me. But I'm interested anyway.
Happy All Souls Day, y'all.
11.02.05, 1:07 PM, EST, Ada, Ohio, Did you think I was going to miss the switch from Daylight to Standard Time? You did, didn't you?
Aiiieee! I'm old!
11.03.05, 12:00 midnight, EST, Ada, Ohio
I've discovered how dangerous it can be to have Deeee-lite's "Groove Is In The Heart" playing while shaving.
I recall learning how dangerous it can be to have Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" playing while operating a meat cutter.
11.03.05, 8:46 AM, EST, Ada, Ohio, Land of Lessons
Example of stuff I might include in my webjournal.
Upcoming films in my Netflix queue:
Embarrassing admission: the two films in shipping right now from Netflix are "High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story" and "Tenchi Forever: Tenchi Muyo in Love 2." There's a little contrast for you.
11.03.05, 9:31 AM, EST, Ada, Ohio, Home of the $3 Theather
I really like the new nickel.
11.03.05, 10:06 AM, EST, Ada, Ohio
Thanks to everyone who sent well-wishes. They were warmly received and made for a very busy day, communications-wise.
Good birthday! Didn't skip class, wasted a lot of time writing a lot of journal entries that I won't be posting. Putting unreasonable expectations on oneself to have something noteworthy to say every half-hour or so is really impractical. I'm still not entirely over the needlessly self-important feeling that having a webjournal inflicts on me.
Eh. Anyway, on the to good stuff:
Whew. Lots of fun last night, and thanks to everyone that came out. Actually, those people are all local, and I think the readership of the page here is all extralocal. I'll thank them in person.
The 30s aim to be an exciting decade in the life.
11.04.05, 12:15 PM, EST, Ada, Ohio, Dire Straits' "Heavy Fuel"
Be kind to me, or treat me mean
I'll make the most of it, I'm an extraordinary machine
--Fiona Apple
11.07.05, mid-day, EST, the Midwest
Added entries from last Thursday that were left on my iBook.
11.07.05, 12:24 PM, EST, Ada, Ohio
The best part of the movie The Matrix: Reloaded is the bit from Keanu Reeves fighting half a dozen other superhuman martial artists with archaic weapons, through Carrie-Anne Moss and Laurence Fishburne fighting the twin wraiths, through the big extended chase scene / fight scene on the freeway, ending with Fishburne killing an SUV with a katana. The subsequent superhuman fistfight on the back of the tractor-trailer is good too, but as an ending image, it's got to be Katana 1, SUV 0. The rest of the movie: ehhh.
That's totally not what I intended to put down for this entry. I wonder what it was? Hmm. If I think of it, I'll try and get it next time. It may have had something to do with those lists I posted in the last couple days. I had to figure that out in HTML. Didn't really work a few times.
11.07.05, 12:34 PM, EST, Ada, Ohio, The Matrix
Oh, so I cut off the bottom of the journal and put it in a different file - then forgot to make that file available. Down at the bottom of the page is a link to all the past journal entries. Thanks to Mikey for pointing out my inadequacies.
So, I think I cause the Eagles to lose when I watch them. I watched the Dallas game. I saw some of the Broncos game. Tonight I watched part of the game - the part where they went from a 7-0 lead to a 10-7 deficit. Then, I IM'ed Mikey for a bit, and when I looked back up, they had tied it 10-10. The Redskins were heading for the end zone when I made a conscious decision to change the channel, for the good of the team.
Does anyone know if they won?
Saw Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown tonight. It was good, as I've come to expect from him, but I wonder if it's too hard to live up to his own legend sometimes. There were points in the movie where I had trouble suspending my disbelief... either he's losing some of his magic or I'm getting jaded. Good film overall, though. Recommended.
Apparently good will is worth money. I hope this is made more clear in Bus Org tomorrow. I understand good will being an asset, and good will being transferable (I think), but I have trouble putting a dollar value on it, particularly from a decedent to an heir. We'll see.
Time to drink water and get some sleep. Must study and do laundry tomorrow. Make dinner. Get on a productive kick to take me through the end of the year. Fascinating fact - less than one month remains before finals begin.
Oh, Saturday Night Live should not run clip shows in the usual SNL timeslot.
11.07.05, 12:46 AM, EST, Ada, Ohio
Intellectual Property was closed out when I tried to register. Stupid third-years getting preferential treatment. "Oh, I'm graduating! I'm special! Waaaa!"
That's fine, I didn't want to take it anyway! Jerks! (barely restrained weeping)
But now I have to find 2 hours of something to fill my schedule to meet an ABA standard for third-year law student practical experience, or I can't work at the law clinic this summer. Law and Economics? Con Law would be interesting, but I'd rather have both Con Law I and II under my belt before moving on. Insurance Bad Faith Litigation sounds interesting, but probably not in my future.
Sigh.
11.08.05, 10:41 AM, EST, Ada, Ohio, Home of the regionally-well-regarded Ohio Northern University
Forgot me a header rulin' down yonder!
Naw, don't check it now, I done fixed it.
Anyway, I'm going to get the hell out of Dodge and head up to the land where cold winds, Great Lakes, and professional sports teams with losing records are the order of the day. Yes, folks, I'm going to go on up to Milwaukee for the weekend, see some good people, get some cheap drinks, play some new cards.
You're all dismissed for the weekend. Feel free to work on your outlines while I'm gone. Remember exams are about three weeks away. Good luck, and I'll see you on Monday.
11.11.05, 2:43 PM, EST, Dodge, Ohio. Happy Armistice Day!
Not dead. Tired, but not dead. Just got home.
5:27 AM, 11.14.05, yikes
Okay, recovery mainly complete. Now catching up.
Weekend was great. Long drives both ways, but a new route from south of Chicago to Milwaukee has been discovered, which involves paying no tolls to the Evil State of Illinois. The Wisconsinites have a term, "F.I.B.s," which refers to Illinoisians. Their oppressive practices of taxing travelers through their stupid state is a major reason for this term, in my opinion.
Great weather. Warm, breezy, still autumnal, but not unnecessarily biting or chilly.
Much love to all the good people in the Good Land, and the greater metropolitan Good Land region. Especially those lovable purveyors of all things game-related, Fortress Games in Menonomee Falls. I guess they read this page, which was kind-of shocking to me - I thought there were about six people reading at any given time, and one of them was always asking him- or herself, "Man, I should really be reading something more worthwhile." Thanks for the gamespace, Mike and Company. Great to see all y'all again.
Cards - fun. Saturday was an exercise in "just how badly can I perform" and I think I did quite well under that standard. Big Setites with DOM didn't serve me as well as they've served Buerger in the past. So be it. Sunday was the pre-release, so we all got to see new cards, clans and vampires. I played Guruhi because I liked the sound of the name. I spent a lot of time enjoying the African nomenclature, and periodically would bust out into African song. Also, I won. Yay me! Really, it was a matter of table seating. I chose the other Guruhi deck as my prey, and then contested 2 of his 3 vampires. After that, I made a deal with Jill to get her a VP and get me the table. Lately, I don't perform that well at final tables, so I was pretty pleased.
Cosmic Nexus: Landmark! Good to see all the good people at Landmark. Someone tell Sarah I'm sorry I missed her Saturday night on my way out. It was getting a little bit crowded, a little bit hipster, a little bit Marquette in there, if you know what I'm saying. Also, had to go hit Checkers for the excellent french fries on the drive home.
Thanks again to Bear and Jill for the hospitality. I'd offer mine in return, but no one in their right minds wants to come to Ada, OH, and even fewer want to stay for any length of time.
I have to go open a bunch of cards now, read Evidence, and think about dinner. Oh, also, think about getting my body back to a diurnal schedule.
11.14.05, 5:55 PM, EST, Ada, Ohio, Home to no game stores or comic shops or Checkers
In response to popular request:
Some attractive woman agreed to have her picture taken with me.
Twice.
11.15.05, 8:31 PM, EST, Ada, OH
Slept a long time this afternoon. Ideally, that's just my body still recovering from the weekend, and not something to do with the minor cold I seem to have, or having anything to do with astral parasites leeching the strength of my soul. (Oh, no, wait, that's Bus Org.)
11.16.05, 6:43 PM, EST, Ada, OH, Home of the colorless odorless gas
It snowed today.
Y'all know I dig that. I dig it the most.
11.16.05, 7:51 PM, EST, Ada, OH, good thoughts to the NE folks getting the remains of the tornado-spawning windstorm
I paid $1.92 / gallon for gas yesterday. That's encouraging.
(it can't last)
11.19.05, 6:39 PM, EST, Ada, OH
Buckaroo Banzai Across the Fifth Dimension was on TV last night. I didn't watch it because I was trying to work on my Evidence take-home final, but I'm enthused that BB is popular enough to run on fairly-prime-time time slots in the very mainstream TV channels I get.
Star Wars watches now available at Burger King. Consumer slave that I am, I admit, I got one. It has Yoda and Christopher Lee on it. (I prefer to say Christopher Lee because "Count Dooku" sounds scatological.) It came in a "collector's tin" which I usually could care less about, but it appeals to me in that "cool looking container for whatever you want to put in it" way that usually strikes me when I'm at The Bombay Company.
Back to Evidence. Hearsay is much trickier than any of you think.
11.21.05, 9:20 PM, EST, Ada, OH
First substantial snowfall of the winter. It was snowing when I went to class today at 8am, and is still snowing now. I'd be utterly pleased if I didn't have to drive 15 miles to Lima to shop for Thanksgiving-type items. As is, I'm still pretty pleased.
11.23.05, 4:32 PM, EST, Ada, OH, Wintertime
"First substantial snowfall of the winter" didn't turn out the way I had imagined, and as such that title is still waiting to be claimed. Snow yesterday, snow on the 23 as noted below, all of it miserable ornamental stuff not worth putting on different footwear. Bah.
Long weekend. Bring on the not-going-to-class and the working-at-home-because-the-library's-closed-so-employees-can-get-a-break-too-dammit.
And I just put up plastic sheeting on my windows to help with the insulation of my apartment. Y'ever have to do that? Dammit. Let me reiterate. Dammit. It's done now though.
Who needs a drink?
11.25.05, 5:14 PM, EST, Ada, OH, Black Friday (ha ha, you sorry jerks who left the house today! ha ha!)
Continuation of a theme: complaining about the weather never did anyone any good.
Nevertheless: the forecast for the next couple of days looks like: Saturday, 40 F. Sunday, 51 F. Monday, 63 F!?? What the F? (That's Fahrenheit, people.) Sure, it drops back to 46 F on Tuesday, and then to reasonable temperatures the following week, but still.
Right. Off to review stuff so my weekend isn't wholly loungey.
11.26.05, 3:14 PM, EST, Ada, OH, Listening to XPN