Slave to Technology

I'm listening to an opera on the radio -- while I study, of course. (From now on, I will probably think of the best evidence rule whenever I hear Eugene Onegin.) I just realized that there's no way to pause it if I need to go to the bathroom or go out and get lunch or whatever. I'm so used to Tivo-ing everything and pausing TV shows whenever I want that I'm lost without that technology. Why isn't there a Tivo for radio? I wonder if there's an intermission long enough for me to go get some takeout.

Study Weekend

I decided to have a hard-core study weekend -- pajamas, diet coke, and a big stack of law books -- and no leaving the house. (Because I'm not changing out of my jammies.) But I forgot to stock up on food. All I have to eat is frozen vegetables and half a box of girl scout cookies. And I feel kind of pathetic when I call the pizza place on a Saturday night and have them deliver only enough food for one person. I know that's kind of stupid. I have friends who won't go to the movies by themselves, but I do it all the time, that doesn't bother me. But ordering takeout delivered when I'm the only one home bothers me. Oh well, eventually I'll get hungry enough to stop caring.

UPDATE, 10:24 p.m.: I found some bread and cheese in the fridge and made a grilled cheese sandwitch, so I didn't have to leave the house OR order takeout. And I'm still in my pajamas.

Legal Research

I'm taking lots of "practical" classes this semester, where we learn actual legal skills, like how to write a complaint. That's our assignment for one class next week - write a complaint. Except that the last class was cancelled (snow day), so we haven't gotten any actual instructions on what to do or how to do it. It seemed like the best way to figure it out was to just look at some real-life complaints and do what they did. So I went straight to the best source on the Web for actual examples of wrongful-death and negligence complaints: The Smoking Gun.

Study Update: IRAC

Issue: Should I have potato chips for dinner?
Rule: Potato chips will make me fat.
Analysis: Mmm, crunchy AND salty!
Conclusion: Diet starts tomorrow. Seriously. I mean it this time.

UPDATE, 7:17 p.m.: I feel sick.

Snow

Some people look out the window at the snow and think "ooh, pretty." Today I looked out my window and thought, "Whose fucking idea was it to have frozen water falling out of the fucking sky all day long? Shit. This is proof that if there is a god, he hates us."

Anna Nicole Smith, continued

As a law student, I find that the most interesting part of the Anna Nicole Smith story is the dispute over the ownership of her mansion.

I am the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby.

I am OLD

I think I've been aging a lot more rapidly since I started law school. Today I was browsing on apple.com, because I'm thinking of getting an external hard drive for my iBook. It only has a 30 GB hard drive in it, and I've got 25GB of iTunes songs, and I've only ripped a small percentage of my CDs, so if I had an external hard drive I could put all my songs on it and I would only need to hook it up when I wanted to reload my iPod.

So anyway, I looked at the hard drives in the Apple store and they have 500 GB hard drives. 500 GB! Back in the day, when I was a young whippersnapper and I walked 10 miles to school in the snow, uphill both ways, we were lucky to have 500 MB hard drives. Now they're up to 500 GB and I never even noticed. Jesus H. Christ, that's a lot of space. I guess that's what all the kids are into these days, I wouldn't know.

UPDATE: What the hell is "FireWire"? I should have planned ahead -- if I'd started having children 16 years ago, then I would have a teenager on hand right now to explain these things to me.

CRON

I've been reading a lot recently about the calorie restriction diet that is supposed to make you live longer. I would love to have enough self-control to restrict my calorie intake -- but only so that I'll be skinny and can wear cuter clothes. I don't know why I would want to live longer.

For example, suppose I lived to be 100 years old. If I retired at age 65, I would need enough money in my retirement account to support myself for 35 years. That sure isn't going to happen with my current savings habits. So in addition to starving myself for the next 30 years, I'd be working my ass off to earn money that I won't get to enjoy because I have to save it for retirement. And then once I retire, I won't have work to distract me from how fucking hungry I am.

So I wouldn't retire when I'm 65 -- I'd keep working until I was 75 or something. And what fun is that? I honestly don't see what's so great about living a long time. I want to have fun NOW, and then die when my money runs out.

Why Students Love the Super Bowl

I have enough chips, dip, wings and beer left over from my party to eat for the next 3 days without cooking or ordering takeout.

Lists

Things I've learned to like since I started law school:
(1) Large corporations
(2) Really big TVs
(3) Footnotes
(4) Prescription painkillers