Consistent with my practice, for this Thanksgiving, in no particular order, a list of sorts.
1. Family
2. Friends
3. Homebrewing (and being successful at it!)
4. Making my own pumpkin pie
5. Summit Winter Ale
6. Khaki pants
7. Khaki shorts
8. Summer afternoons at Target Field
9. Having a job
10. Having a job that I like
11. The colour blue
12. The number 12
13. Twins baseball - even if you can't beat the Yankees
14. The dog
15. Red wine
16. England
17. Getting through all my podcasts on my way to Glencoe
18. Diesel cars
19. Baja tacos
20. Public Art
21. Walking the dog
22. My new glasses
23. Nightcaps with a glass of scotch
24. Being honest
25. Loyalty
26. Seeing old friends
27. Jim Thome's walkoff home run against the White Sox on August 17, 2010
28. Coffee
29. International Commercial Arbitration
30. My blue pullover thing that I'm wearing in every single photo
31. The Beatles
32. Cheez-Its
33. Jazz
34. This American Life
35. Argyle socks
36. Carl Pavano's mustache
37. Daily flossing
38. Walking to my car after school on a fall day
39. Irish car bombs at La Rana - hell, everything at La Rana
40. Responding to text messages in French
25 November 2010
22 November 2010
The News
Folks, in honor of my very favourite local news anchor, Don Shelby, who signed off tonight after 32 years as anchor at WCCO TV here in Minnepolis.
People may know my penchant for loyalty, and I'm happy to say that in my entire life, I think I've watched a non-WCCO newscast less than five times. Why is that? Well, first off, it's important to be loyal. And second, I liked Don Shelby. Don was loyal, he was a good newsman, and he dressed snappily. Plus, he's a Twins fan. What's not to like?
It's important to recognize that in the minutia of life, in the mundane things you experience day after day, you end up taking some things for granted. You don't think about the little things, even those impersonal things, that make life intensely personal, and intensely valuable.
So, in that vein, and in the spirit of recognizing someone who's done a lot for our community, thanks Don. For you, I'd put a gopher in my pants any day.
People may know my penchant for loyalty, and I'm happy to say that in my entire life, I think I've watched a non-WCCO newscast less than five times. Why is that? Well, first off, it's important to be loyal. And second, I liked Don Shelby. Don was loyal, he was a good newsman, and he dressed snappily. Plus, he's a Twins fan. What's not to like?
It's important to recognize that in the minutia of life, in the mundane things you experience day after day, you end up taking some things for granted. You don't think about the little things, even those impersonal things, that make life intensely personal, and intensely valuable.
So, in that vein, and in the spirit of recognizing someone who's done a lot for our community, thanks Don. For you, I'd put a gopher in my pants any day.
18 November 2010
Winning
Well folks, in my super-secret government job, I had my first legal win today. A brief that I wrote, nay, crafted in its entirety, prevailed over the Defendant in court. Granted, it was pretty much a slam dunk argument, but that's besides the point.
The attorney I was working with was going to let me go on the record and give the oral argument in support of the State's motion, if the judge wanted it. However, since my legal arguments were so brilliant, that turned out to be unnecessary. But, just to be prepared, yesterday I went out and purchased a powerful red tie, in order to intimidate and subdue my adversary. Obviously, it worked.
Plus, the judge's law clerk came up to me and told me how well written she thought the State's brief was. So, score one for the evil government on that one, and I'm set up quite nicely to get taken down a few notches next time around.
You know, I like to think that I'm not a competitive person. I like to think that my super-chill demeanor usually extends to being above the pettiness of silly disputes...
But, that would be a lie. I can't tell you how pissed off I got playing Risk on family game night in college. I was playing with friends, but I genuinely think I was ready to turn to physical violence. Especially after some backstabbing "roommate" broke our alliance and invaded North America. Don't think I don't remember that.
In any event, my office-mate/coworker and I were having this discussion today, what we thought made a good trial attorney. We both agreed that being a super-competitive, nasty, killer bitch/asshole was not a good strategy. So, in effect, we both agreed you didn't have to be a TV lawyer to be effective.
But, at work and in my upcoming fake litigation practice trial, it's apparent that having a competitive streak is a good thing. In the fake case I have for my fake trial, I'm representing the plaintiff in a Title VII sex discrimination suit. And in all reality, the likelihood of us winning is very, very slim. It's a flawed case, and not enough good facts to prove the things we need to prove. But I'm definitely convincing myself that I can overcome that and win this case, as slim as that may be.
We had a fake motion hearing on Monday, and I made motions to admit certain evidence against the Defendant at trial. And, there is really no way this evidence would ever come in. But I convinced myself I could get it in, and I argued as well as I could to do so. When it inevitably was denied, I left the law school feeling quite distressed. Well, that's a misnomer. I was pretty pissed off.
I don't think I have any anger management issues, but if nothing else, the past few years have taught me that as much as I don't like to admit it, losing sucks. I'd rather not lose. Don't like losing when it comes to law school, don't like losing when it comes to relationships, don't like losing when it comes to Risk.
And especially, above nearly everything else, I don't like losing to the Yankees.
The attorney I was working with was going to let me go on the record and give the oral argument in support of the State's motion, if the judge wanted it. However, since my legal arguments were so brilliant, that turned out to be unnecessary. But, just to be prepared, yesterday I went out and purchased a powerful red tie, in order to intimidate and subdue my adversary. Obviously, it worked.
Plus, the judge's law clerk came up to me and told me how well written she thought the State's brief was. So, score one for the evil government on that one, and I'm set up quite nicely to get taken down a few notches next time around.
You know, I like to think that I'm not a competitive person. I like to think that my super-chill demeanor usually extends to being above the pettiness of silly disputes...
But, that would be a lie. I can't tell you how pissed off I got playing Risk on family game night in college. I was playing with friends, but I genuinely think I was ready to turn to physical violence. Especially after some backstabbing "roommate" broke our alliance and invaded North America. Don't think I don't remember that.
In any event, my office-mate/coworker and I were having this discussion today, what we thought made a good trial attorney. We both agreed that being a super-competitive, nasty, killer bitch/asshole was not a good strategy. So, in effect, we both agreed you didn't have to be a TV lawyer to be effective.
But, at work and in my upcoming fake litigation practice trial, it's apparent that having a competitive streak is a good thing. In the fake case I have for my fake trial, I'm representing the plaintiff in a Title VII sex discrimination suit. And in all reality, the likelihood of us winning is very, very slim. It's a flawed case, and not enough good facts to prove the things we need to prove. But I'm definitely convincing myself that I can overcome that and win this case, as slim as that may be.
We had a fake motion hearing on Monday, and I made motions to admit certain evidence against the Defendant at trial. And, there is really no way this evidence would ever come in. But I convinced myself I could get it in, and I argued as well as I could to do so. When it inevitably was denied, I left the law school feeling quite distressed. Well, that's a misnomer. I was pretty pissed off.
I don't think I have any anger management issues, but if nothing else, the past few years have taught me that as much as I don't like to admit it, losing sucks. I'd rather not lose. Don't like losing when it comes to law school, don't like losing when it comes to relationships, don't like losing when it comes to Risk.
And especially, above nearly everything else, I don't like losing to the Yankees.
15 November 2010
Sucky News o' The Day
As a lover of public transit, and trains especially, this is disheartening.
Oh Republicans. You wanted small government, you got it. Now don't bitch when you don't get what you want.
I can understand the criticism of rail, I really can. I can understand why folks would be frustrated at money going to rail, rather than to highway infrastructure or the like. Hell, you use the roads, I use the roads, we all use the roads.
I disagree with that prioritization though. It seems to me, as someone who has had the opportunity to live in environments with plentiful mass transit options and rail connections, that we should encourage the development of mass transit and rail here in Minnesota. It's more environmentally friendly, more efficient, helps reduce congestion, and maybe best of all, you don't need to scrape off the windshield of a train after it snows.
Bottom line, if all we ever do is throw our tax dollars at roads and road infrastructure, we'll never develop a more sustainable mass transit infrastructure. Especially in the Twin Cities, I think that should be a major priority.
Oh Republicans. You wanted small government, you got it. Now don't bitch when you don't get what you want.
I can understand the criticism of rail, I really can. I can understand why folks would be frustrated at money going to rail, rather than to highway infrastructure or the like. Hell, you use the roads, I use the roads, we all use the roads.
I disagree with that prioritization though. It seems to me, as someone who has had the opportunity to live in environments with plentiful mass transit options and rail connections, that we should encourage the development of mass transit and rail here in Minnesota. It's more environmentally friendly, more efficient, helps reduce congestion, and maybe best of all, you don't need to scrape off the windshield of a train after it snows.
Bottom line, if all we ever do is throw our tax dollars at roads and road infrastructure, we'll never develop a more sustainable mass transit infrastructure. Especially in the Twin Cities, I think that should be a major priority.
10 November 2010
Destination: Hong Kong. Object: World Domination
Come the end of April, this is where you can find me. World arbitrators - you are hereby put on notice.
Team Hamline/Viper/Awesome, away!
02 November 2010
Framing Debate, or My Progressive Crisis
As a good Minnesota progressive, I'm finding the results of this year's midterm elections to be rather disappointing. Disappointing, but not entirely unsurprising. That's just part of the game for Democrats.
I think the part that bothers me the most, is the Democratic Party's unwillingness to frame issues in any way other than that of their Republican opponents. For example, let's take the most incendiary topic, maybe one of the linchpins of "tea party" rage: the health care reform bill. Now, as I sit here as a reasonable adult, I saw a lot of good things. It let folks stay on their parent's insurance until age 26 (that helps me). It creates markets whereby folks can go online and compare quotes from different (private) insurance options. It prevents insurance companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, and eliminates caps on coverage.
But you don't hear about those things. You hear about how Democrats nationalized our health care. You hear about death panels, and evil bureaucrats. You hear about how the government can't force its citizens into doing things.
Well of course, that's bullshit. Nothing got nationalized. The Federal government is already the nation's largest health care provider. There's no public option, there's no universal-payor system, there's nothing like that. The government can't force me to do things I don't want to do? I don't want to join the military, but they can force me to do that. Of course the government can force us to do things - it's called the Commerce Clause.
You do have to hand it to conservatives; they have an uncanny knack for spin. It's incredible that a party that drove the country into the ground starting in 2000 can now, after two years of being out of effective power, claim that they can solve our problems (which they helped create) by the same tactics that didn't work previously. Because let's not kid ourselves, there are no "new ideas." The current Republican party apparently prides itself on its refusal to compromise on anything, and has pretty well played the part the past few years. I think that's shameful, be it coming from liberal or conservative.
I could write all night, but I won't, because I have homework to do. I think progressives in this country, especially those in public office, need to grow a pair and start setting the record straight. This notion that Obama and his liberal machine is destroying America; why, that's ridiculous. Why are we feeling ashamed of reforming health care, or regulating securities transactions, or spending money that the private sector doesn't?
It goes back to framing the conversation. It's hard to frame when you constantly think you need to be on the defensive. I suppose everything is cyclical, but it's difficult to be optimistic when you can't seem to defeat Michele Bachmann...
I think the part that bothers me the most, is the Democratic Party's unwillingness to frame issues in any way other than that of their Republican opponents. For example, let's take the most incendiary topic, maybe one of the linchpins of "tea party" rage: the health care reform bill. Now, as I sit here as a reasonable adult, I saw a lot of good things. It let folks stay on their parent's insurance until age 26 (that helps me). It creates markets whereby folks can go online and compare quotes from different (private) insurance options. It prevents insurance companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions, and eliminates caps on coverage.
But you don't hear about those things. You hear about how Democrats nationalized our health care. You hear about death panels, and evil bureaucrats. You hear about how the government can't force its citizens into doing things.
Well of course, that's bullshit. Nothing got nationalized. The Federal government is already the nation's largest health care provider. There's no public option, there's no universal-payor system, there's nothing like that. The government can't force me to do things I don't want to do? I don't want to join the military, but they can force me to do that. Of course the government can force us to do things - it's called the Commerce Clause.
You do have to hand it to conservatives; they have an uncanny knack for spin. It's incredible that a party that drove the country into the ground starting in 2000 can now, after two years of being out of effective power, claim that they can solve our problems (which they helped create) by the same tactics that didn't work previously. Because let's not kid ourselves, there are no "new ideas." The current Republican party apparently prides itself on its refusal to compromise on anything, and has pretty well played the part the past few years. I think that's shameful, be it coming from liberal or conservative.
I could write all night, but I won't, because I have homework to do. I think progressives in this country, especially those in public office, need to grow a pair and start setting the record straight. This notion that Obama and his liberal machine is destroying America; why, that's ridiculous. Why are we feeling ashamed of reforming health care, or regulating securities transactions, or spending money that the private sector doesn't?
It goes back to framing the conversation. It's hard to frame when you constantly think you need to be on the defensive. I suppose everything is cyclical, but it's difficult to be optimistic when you can't seem to defeat Michele Bachmann...
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