That time of year

It's cold and rainy. I've eaten way too much. I've seen old faces come and go. I've got a ton of work to do.

There's no place I'd rather be than Ann Arbor.

Go Blue

I've felt like a Republican this college football season; I've been opposed to changing the status quo. This started in week one when #5 Michigan lost to I-AA Appalachian State. I couldn't believe it. David slaying Goliath, etc. Wealth and power had been redistributed from the ruling class to the less fortunate. In the following weeks, non-traditionally dominant football teams like South Florida, Missouri, and Kansas played well and climbed high in the polls. I haven't liked seeing these teams where my team used to be--where I think my team should be. But I have to accept it. My team has not played well. My team has shown an unwillingness to change. Nobody on the coaching staff knows how to handle an opponent's spread offense, and nobody knows how to call offensive plays in the 21st century. Additionally, nobody knows how to improve blue chip recruits' strength/conditioningperformance beyond 2%. This is presumably Lloyd Carr's last regular season game as head coach at Michigan, and I am grateful for all he has done. However, I am ready for change.

Ohio State is a better football team but the intangibles are on Michigan's side: the end of the Carr era, Senior Day, Henne and Hart playing battered for the last time in the Big House, hate/blood/rivalry/better standardized test scores. This game has distracted me all week. At noon yesterday I considered getting in the car and driving eight hours to Ann Arbor but ultimately chose to be responsible. I haven't been able to get anything done the past two days. I've watched Game Day all morning. I wish I were freezing my butt off next to my sister in the stadium. I've been eager for this game to start, and I can't wait for it to be over. Take it away, boys. GO BLUE!

The Noblest Profession

Since August I have been reading the college football blog Every Day Should Be Saturday, which covers competitive performance and outlandish behavior in equal measure. Third year law student Dan Adams first pointed me to EDSBS, and I have nothing but thanks to him for the suggestion. Recently EDSBS posted about LSU's quarterback having a lawyer he can call at 2:45am. The author of EDSBS, who posts under the pseudonym "Orson Swindle," is in his mid to late twenties, and has a couple degrees, started the article with funny commentary that sums up my superficial perceptions of law school and interactions with law school friends.

We have a lawyer we can call at 2:45 a.m. in our cellphone. We have several, actually, mostly because everyone we knew went to law school, a sort of advanced youth camp for adolescents that only costs 20-30K a year and involves learning unlearning the English language and playing golf. The conversations usually run something like this:

O: dOOd.

Lawya: d00d.

O: I just watched Pathfinder. Vikings rool. Ahm drunk.

Lawya: Going back to bed now.

O: fuck you!

Lawya: (Click!)

Foxit Reader

PDF files are really commonplace these days, but in my experience the Adobe Acrobat Reader software is prone to taking up system resources and crashing. At the suggestion of a colleague, I tried Foxit Reader. It loads a ton quicker and doesn't bring my computer to a standstill while in use. The only drawback is printing. Printing with Foxit Reader is like playing Nintendo with a MadCatz controller: most of the time it works, but in rare, unpredictable circumstances it fails, usually when you need it most. Give Foxit Reader a try if you've been wanting to give Adobe Reader the boot.

Quote

"You can bring a dog to dinner, but you can't watch TV." - my dad on European dining habits, and his inability to watch the Colts-Patriots game due to a business engagement