Random Trivia

George Lucas thought that Star Wars would only make 16 million when it was first released.

Commercial Paper

AKA Consumer Transactions - my favorite.

From Barbri:

In General, An HDC can enforce an instrument subject only to real defenses (i.e., the HDC takes free of personal defenses and claims). Thus, whether an obligated party will be forced to pay depends on whether the holder is an HDC and the nature of the obligated party's defenses. If the holder is not an HDC, the obligated party may assert any of the ordinary contract defenses (e.g., failure of consideration). If the holder is an HDC, the obligated party is limited to so-called real defenses.

And don't you forget it.

He says what I have been constantly thinking

Jeffrey Goldberg from the New Yorker does, that is, with respect to the current administration. He does an excellent job of citing disaffected republicans and I think he does an excellent job of pointing out that this administration is painfully damaging to the Republican Party.

Wednesday is Haiku Day

I'm reading Contracts
For bar review. It's fun as
a fork in my eye.

As always, I look forward to your submissions.

Freaking Pistons

They're amazing when they focus, they suck when they don't.

Tired

I'm tired. I can't go to bed, because the Apple is still awake. He's a little concerned, because the moon went away. He has been standing at the door asking the moon to come back. Poor kid. He also said he wanted to go with the moon. He just had mom put on his cape (He's Super Apple now), and he's going to go away to be with the moon.

I love the boy. But I wish he'd sleep at bedtime.

Why Unions are Necessary

One of the Reasons is what happened at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York in 1911 (the link will take you to Professor Douglas Linder's website from UMKC - excellent collection of important/famous cases throughout history). I remember reading the words of Triangle Factory fire in history class in high school, but never really got what it was I was reading about - I knew it was bad - I didn't realize the purpose behind the story.

I believe in unions, but I believe unions need to be vocal only when necessary, and basically be a strong, silent enforcer outside that.

Bar reviewing

I did my last day of PMBR yesterday - I had to take last Saturday off due to graduation (I know, bad excuses are better than no excuses). Anyway, we did Con Law - my best subject, not just in law school, but on Bar Review. Would that I could be a Constitutional Law Attorney - but I don't think I'm going to find myself in a strong enough position to do that, unless I end up working for the government again - I'm not adverse to that idea, but I'm not sure how well the pay would go for something like that...

At any rate, I think my new plan is going to be:
Get the kids to daycare in the morning, go to Barbri, go home and do practice questions, pick up the kids and go to the Y (I'll work out while they're in the play area, then they will do swim lessons), then go home and cook dinner, then preview the next day's BarBri. Take Saturday light reviewing, and Sunday get together with my friend and review the previous week's work. I think that should be a good schedule, but we'll have to see.

I need to get some exercise - I'm too lethargic in the afternoons. I also need to quit drinking coca-cola, but that's going to have to wait until after the bar. I just wish the Y near our apartment had a racquetball court - that's what I most miss playing.

I'm so tired right now.

I want a boat

I want a boat so I can go fishing. Get me a boat. You want to buy me a boat. I want a boat. I need and deserve a boat. Get me a boat. You want to get me a boat.

Happy Birthday

On this day in 1738, the Methodist Church was established. Potlucks and Committees have never been the same.

Good job, John Wesley.

Have you ever gone fishing on a bright and sunny day?

We did, last Sunday. As my graduation gift, my pa chartered a trip for myself, him, my father in law, and the Boy. The Boy, being 8, was perhaps the most excited, yet he handled himself extremely well. He also managed to sleep about half the trip - I think he was a little seasick, and the dramamine warns that it can cause severe drowsiness. Still, when he was awake, he managed to reel in 3 fish - none of them were "keepers," though we did hold on to two of them for bait fish.

We also had a few pictures of him, including one of him holding a 30 inch mackerel, which is about 2/3 his size.

Our charter was with Captain Dan, who we used through Working Man Charters, out of Freeport, Texas. I highly recommend this charter; Captain Dan was outstanding as a captain, Captain Bill was quite personable (we were unable to use his boat, it had a necessary repair on the day we were going out, but he called me personally to explain and apologize - there was no need for the apology, they were really outstanding all around), and Lynn, Bill's wife and booking manager, was terrific in giving us information and letting us know the plans.

This was my second charter, and it was light years better than the first. Captain Dan and the deckhand, Jim, were terrific with the Boy, patient, kind, friendly, and took time to talk to him, not at him. They were both terrific with bait, location, advice, and help. I had a terrific time, the grandfathers had a great time, and the Boy couldn't have had more fun, I don't think, on a boat for 9 hours.

We took home the limit on Red Snapper (good eats), and one mackerel, though we had a couple more mackerel bites, that we couldn't reel in, and several more snapper that we had to toss back, with a few other fish thrown into the mix.

If you find yourself in the greater Houston/Galveston/Freeport area and want something to do to take up your day, Working Man Charters is the place to go.

Tears of a Clown

The Boy's favorite song for several years was "Tears of a Clown," by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. I can understand why - it's a catchy tune that is very well sung, vintage motown.

Tonight, we're watching the finale of American Idol (I know; it's my wife's fault). One of the guest singers was Smokey Robinson. I pointed him out to the Boy, who looks at the person who sang his favorite song, and says "He doesn't look like I thought he would. I expected him to look like a rock and roll singer."

He's still one of the singers whose songs I'll turn up to listen to.

Wednesday is Haiku Day

Things are settling down
From the hectic last weekend
Now, Barbri - and sleep.

As always, I look forward to your submissions.

The Cruelty of it All

I ordered a book with my last Lexis Points from Law school, about a week before I graduated. It was Scorched Earth, a novel by David L. Robbins, who wrote The War of the Rats (one of the best novels I've read). It arrived today, my second day of BarBri.

I won't be able to read Scorched Earth for another 2 months. It's going to sit on the bookshelf, taunting me. Mean old Book.

Pomp and Circumstance

I matriculated on Saturday. But I think with a quick shot and some good solder, I should be all right.

It was a nice graduation. My first. I have four degrees now, but I've just now attended a graduation. I kind of thought I'd be anxious at graduating, but I wasn't. I didn't really feel much relief, or anything else, but I was glad to be done. I did manage to lose my faux diploma.

The family came out to see the graduation; it was nice to see everyone again together. We then went to our celebratory graduation dinner at Logan's (because when you have kids, it's asking an awful lot of the three of them to maintain decorum at a fancier place for any amount of time), and we rather enjoy the place.

The next day, my dad, my father in law, my son and I went fishing out in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a great day - 10 fish to bring home, and another half dozen or so to throw back. My father in law declared that he would let my father and I cast first, since he was going to catch the first fish. So we cast, reeled back in the empty hooks, and he dropped his line - and pulled in a 16 inch Red Snapper.

The second drop brought me a 16.5 inch snapper, and so it continued until we hit our limit. They were biting all over yesterday for the first couple of hours, with the Boy bringing in a couple smaller Snappers (no keepers), and some bait fish. I can't wait to go out again, next year probably.

I'm not quite in a schooling way right now, so I won't be going in to BarBri today - I'll start tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Rewarding Behavior

When I was younger, I was a San Antonio Spurs fan. I thought David Robinson was one of the best role models in sports, and I thought the team always tried its best to do it the right way (forgetting that they took Rodman).

In the finals two years ago, the Spurs met my favorite NBA team, the Detroit Pistons. I remember this clearly, because my friend Red Hot Mamma, a Spurs fan, declared the Pistons "thuggish," and noted that her Spurs "have class." I actually felt that way for a long time, except for Manu Ginobli, who I think is a whiny flopper and has always been a whiny flopper.

This series with the Suns has pretty much destroyed that for me. Bruce Bowen, who I'd always admired for playing really good, tough defense, admitted to kicking Amare Stoudamire (if I remember the radio reports correctly), clearly kneed Steve Nash in the groin (I'll accept the gash in Nash's nose as incidental to the game, but the knee is over the line), and just has been really a bit of a thug in the series. Robert Horry, the person I always respected as cool under pressure (even with the crippling game 5 shot over Detroit in the aforementioned finals), lost all my respect with a painfully cheap battery of Nash with 18 seconds left in a lost game. There was absolutely no need for that whatsoever. Greg Poppovich had it in his authority to stop all this; he's the coach. His inaction led to the increase in violent behavior by his team, which culminated in Amare Stoudamire and Boris Diaw getting suspended for standing up and walking onto the court.

Understand this - it was wrong of Stoudamire and Diaw to do that. There's a rule, and they violated it. But, the punishment goes to the effect, not the cause, and that's where Commissioner Stern has really screwed up. He could have done something after game 1, but he didn't. He could have done something after the kick to Amare's leg, but he didn't. He could have suspended Bowen after kneeing Nash in the groin, but he didn't (well, he gave him a flagrant foul, that taught him). He waited until Horry hip checked the other team's franchise player (Nash) into the scorer's table in game four, then tried to throw an elbow at one of Nash's teammates before he did anything. He had the ability to nip this in the bud in many spots, yet he did nothing.

Then he has the audacity to blame the action he finally took, after four games of escalating violence by the Spurs against the Suns, on the Suns knowing the rules and breaking them. It's kind of like the little kid in school that would keep poking the big kid with the pencil. He would poke, and poke, and poke, and poke, and poke, and poke, and finally the big kid does something, and he gets in trouble, because he knew what he did was wrong and he did it anyway. That doesn't teach anybody anything, except that if you're the aggressor, you can keep needling away at the other team and end up egging them into getting themselves into trouble.

It was disingenuous of Stern to blame his actions on Stoudamire and Diaw. He needed to own up to what he didn't do for the first three games in response to thuggish behavior by a team that has lost all my respect. He was too slow in acting, and he did not act impartially - he could have suspended Duncan for leaving the bench, as well, because it was unclear at the time he left that there would be an altercation in the second period, but he chose not to - again, missing the opportunity to teach the lesson his actions imply he was trying to teach. And that hurts the league.

I'm now a Suns fan in the West, and have no respect for anyone on the Spurs except for Duncan. Parker released a french rap album, so I can't respect him anymore on general principle.

Blah

I've got the blahs. I've been cleaning up bit by bit over the last three days, but nothing seems to be any better. The house actually seems dirtier after I've cleaned. I don't get it.

I'm exhausted. I have to get the kids to clean their rooms tonight so that they are clean when the inlaws get here tomorrow. I also have to finish cleaning all the bathrooms. I've got another 2 loads of garbage I need to take out, plus I have to clean the dining room table, coffee table, my bedroom (though I can just shut the door there), and vacuum upstairs. I have to piick up in the living room again, because, well, the kids don't keep it tidy.

I have day 4 of PMBR tomorrow, and I get to stay for the whole thing for the first time. While I look forward to it, I also have reason to believe it's going to be as boring as whale dung. It's tough to listen to one topic for six and a half hours, especially when nobody from your school is there with you (out of 200+ students, only 5 were from our school, and two of them haven't been there since Monday).

But I did manage to buy some new trousers at the Galleria, which was great, because I got to be condescended to by a saleslady. After I sought her out to give her the commission. I guess I get the last laugh, though, since I'll be an attorney, and she'll still be folding men's trousers at the mall...

Time to get the kids. Have a great evening!

Wednesday is Haiku Day

Wife gets home tonight
I'll be happy to see her
I have missed her so.

PMBR me ASAP

I'm getting a lot out of the Multistate bar review. It kinda stinks that I have to miss the last 2.5 hours each day, but I'm getting a lot out of the time I'm putting in.

I'm also very glad I signed up for both the 3 day and 6 day reviews. I think in my particular case, it will be especially helpful.

The kids are doing well. Punkin got a bit of a shiner yesterday. They were spinning around on my recliner (which they know they're not supposed to do, lest they get hurt), and she flew off and somehow managed to land on her eye. She has a bit of a rug burn on the outside of her left eye. That girl. She knows how to injure herself in a way that looks far worse than it was. But, perhaps now she knows not to spin the chair around, and maybe, just maybe when I say "don't do that, you will get hurt," perhaps she'll believe me.

The other ones are doing well. The Boy is reading up for school; he has some goal to read 20 books before the end of the year. I wish him luck.

Back to the family. There's a rumblin's upstairs.

Things Only Dad Can Do

I was cooking dinner tonight for the kids, as I do often. We had dinner at home, because it's easier for me to keep tabs on them than when we go out.

While preparing dinner, I somehow managed to burn the Crunch Berries.

Don't ask.