Me.

1. Woke up late because morning class had been canceled.
2. Late getting out.
3. Missed bus.
4. Hung out at home until time to go catch next bus.
5. Got to bus stop and realized I didn’t have bus pass.
6. Drove to school.
7. Upon very late arrival at school, was reminded that second class had been moved into first class’ time slot, and thus I missed the only class I had today, making my 20 mile trek to Boulder completely wasteful and pointless.

%!@#$!^!

Dear Public Safety Professional,

If, in the course of performing your duties, you happen upon a briefcase marked “A-Bomb,” you do not need to lock down the block. Real bombs do not come in consumer-friendly, labeled packages.

Sincerely,

Common Sense

Link

Meme’s are so, like, 2 years ago. But I haven’t done one yet, and my friend Alwen tagged me with one. So here goes.

7 random things about me you may not know…

1. I crave hot dogs. I put them in soup. I role them up in tortillas with a little cheese. I eat them cold. I will eat them until I feel like barfing

2. I hold a white belt in at least three martial arts. No kidding.

i. Kun Tao - A variety of Kung Fu practiced in Indonesia. (The teacher told me I’d earned a green belt in this one, but I couldn’t have fought my way out of an angry preschool with these techniques: so, I still think of myself as a white belt.)
ii. Muay Thai - Our school didn’t have belts. So my belt is still white.
iii. YMCA Karate - I have no idea how long I was actually in these classes, but somehow I missed all the belt tests. I was like totally the most fearsome white belt in the class.

3. I hate doing things I suck at. I grew up with modest talents in a number of areas, and got accustomed to being good at things without putting in much effort. It’s a curse, because later in life I have a hard time staying the course when things get hard. And everything gets hard, sooner or later.

4. I pierced my own ear once. It didn’t hurt at all, but I suspect that’s because I was more than a little drunk at the time. Sadly, I didn’t have an earring to put in the hole, so it was rather pointless.

5. I take one heck of a long time to finish a meme. Seriously. What’s my problem?

6. Pet peeve: People who keep large, aggressive dogs in their front yards. I’m running along, minding my own business, enjoying the peace and quiet of my neighborhood, when suddenly 100+ pounds of bad doggie charges out of nowhere and throws itself at me. Yes, I realize afterward that I’m perfectly safe on my side of the fence. But why should I have to wear two pairs of super hero underwear when I go running?

What really pisses me off are the people who only have four foot fences. Are you telling me that a 100 pound Rottie, moving at 25 mph, can’t clear a four foot fence? And don’t even get me started about the a__hole who uses some invisible sonic collar thing instead of a fence. The next time his wife decides to run her hair dryer and the toaster at the same time, some little kid is going to be puppy chow.

7. I used to play a pretty mean blues harp (harmonica).

—————————————————————-
Rules:
A. List 7 random things about yourself that people may not know.
B. Link the person who sent this to you, and leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours.
C. Post the rules on your blog.
D. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, linking their blog. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

The Constitution was intended to limit the Federal government power so that the State governments could, with a few exceptions, do whatever they wanted. Two hundred years later, thanks to the Supreme Court, the same Constitution is used to limit the State governments so that the Federal government can, with a few exceptions, do whatever it wants.

… that said, of course, I don’t think the answer to “what do we do about it now” is altogether clear. Perception is reality, and the vast majority of people perceive that the present Federalist order is the way things are supposed to be. Going back would require a revolution, and those tend to be very messy. We were unbelievably lucky the first time: I wouldn’t want to roll the dice again.

Fooled By Randomness, by Nassim, Nicholas, Taleb

Seriously.

Link

I gotta give a plug to di.fm, an internet radio site which streams techno of various varieties free of charge. I love it.

Thanks for all the feedback, both in comments to this post and in meat-space. (Ie., the real world, First Life, etc.) I’m pleasantly surprised that so many people actually read this blog.

The votes were generally 50-50. Friends who had the misfortune of observing the years of navel-gazing which ultimately led to my decision to go to law school favored staying. (Reading between the lines, I think they were begging me not to put them through it again.) Those who were more acquainted with my current grumbling favored quitting.

I have made up my mind, I think, to stay. I wasn’t satisfied with what I was doing before law school, and there was some gut-level reason I decided to go to law school. If nothing else, it will open up a wider range of life experiences. The adventure lies ahead, not behind.

Thanks for all the thoughts. Sorry for all the belly-aching.

Seriously. I’m thinking about quitting law school. Nobody I’ve so far talked to thinks quitting is a good idea, which is funny, since almost nobody thought going was a good idea, in the first place. People just don’t like quitters.

There are a lot of small issues involved in making this decision, which don’t need elaboration here. The main issue is that I thought I would really enjoy both law school and its subject material, and I don’t. Law school is unpleasant, and the Law can be tedious. I worry that the practice of the law will be even more so. I am also surprised by how much I miss being a system administrator. I certainly did not appreciate it enough, when I was doing it. I also miss the people. Lawyers seem to be a very serious bunch. Professional techies have much better senses of humor.

In favor of staying the course, however, is the fact that a background in law can take a person to a greater variety of places and fields than a background in unix administration. Law school is a long term bet on a more interesting life. Equally important, a law degree can lead to work on behalf of the poor, the oppressed, and others who haven’t gotten a fair shake out of life. A varied life, and a life of service, are both possible as a unix administrator, but getting there would take a lot more creativity.

Thoughts?

Votes so far from the comments and other sources:

Bail: 3
Stay: 3

Guess I’m overdue to update this thing.

1. Christmas. Flew the family to San Diego and spent time with parents. The highlight: a quiet hour at the beach with my son, introducing him to ocean sunsets, pelicans, and seagull poo. Most of the rest of the time was spent around the dining room table discussing the latest and greatest diseases acquired by extended friends and family, while trying to avoid discussing my latest religious heresy. (Which one? Oh, there are sooo many. Yet I remain a mostly-orthodox Christian.)

2. New Year. This year I resolved to use my time more efficiently so that I will be able to spend more time playing Xbox. Also to lose weight. And lower taxes.

3. Law School. Back at it. Got grades back. Didn’t like them. They weren’t bad enough to make me quit, but that’s about all I can say about them. Can I figure out how to do better? Will Batman survive the Joker’s deadly trap? Am I wearing underwear?
(Answers: Hopefully; Of Course; Not so much)

Law school has turned out to be somewhat … uh … different than I hoped. In my fantasy version of law school, I imagined that I would quickly rise to the top of my class due to my natural legal genius, and spend my time out of class wearing a tweed jacket, smoking a pipe, and hobnobbing with my professors about the various ways in which the American legal system could be improved. Obviously, more realistic expectations lay bound, gagged, and whimpering in a dark corner of my head. The reality of law school turned out to be a desperate race to shove as much legal information down my mental throat as possible, so that it could be violently vomited up, in a concise and organized fashion, on the final exam. I did not vomit particularly well.