Opportunity Missed.

I was on my way to the library to study this Sunday, when I learned that I needed to take a detour as the Seattle Marathon was bifurcated my normal route. I was bummed.

It wasn't the needed detour that had soured my mood, but the fact that I wasn't in the race. Despite being super cold (by Seattle standards, I know I've become a weather wuss since leaving Idaho) and wet, I still wanted to be among the thousands soggily plodding along for those 26 miles.

I had made it a goal to complete a marathon before I turned 30. I had even told people early on in the year that I was training in the hopes that my oral statement would give some sort of internal pressure on me to run a marathon, and thereby, I would not appear to be fool. But, alas, despite the pressures I put on myself, I wasn't ready this year.

I have excuses. We bought a house and all the work it needed cut into my training time. I started law school and the new academic rigors didn't lend themselves to freeing up the time to train. And, my wife hates the idea. She doesn't want me to leave her for hours to pound pavement by myself, she doesn't want me to become addicted and divert our vacations so that they coincide with various marathons around the country. Regardless, those are just excuses and they shouldn't have gotten in my way (well, despite the wife’s disapproval, for those of you who are married, you know how difficult it is to do something your significant other is really against, right?).

To top it off, I'm the only one in my family who hasn't done a marathon. My Dad ran them when he was younger. One of my brothers has, despite an aversion to any athletic endeavor as a teen, has turned into an Ironman (this year's Ironman in Cd'A will be his fourth) and runs ultra marathons for kicks. My other brother and sister have caught the bug as well, and have each done at least one marathon so far. So, besides my mom, I'm the only one who hasn't done one and I feel the typical pressure that the baby of the family feels, I have to do one to!!!

So, I'm making the promise again. This year I will run a marathon. This is a goal I want to keep.

Odds and Ends

I'm currently on the 3rd floor of the law library sitting at a study carrel and doing an outline of my Torts class. From my location, I can see the flag flying atop Swedish Hospital on First Hill. The flag is looking slightly ragged; the ends are starting pull apart as the alternating stripes of red and white are coming undone. They really should take her down and give the flag a proper burial; it's shameful to let her get to that point. If anyone is reading this who works at Swedish, please let those in charge know. (Or, it could all be an optical illusion based upon the mere force of the wind, I don't know for sure)

Also, they are starting to decorate for Christmas on campus. The grounds crew, in thier rain gear, is out hanging lights on the trees and there is a large Christmas tree lying outside the law school entrance. It's nice. I don't remember the U of Idaho decorating; we decorated on Greek row, but I don't remember the school itself doing anything. Then again, it probably couldn't given that it was a gov't entity. I imagine here, at SU, a Catholic school, that Christmas is a big deal. Anyway, it's nice to see.

Rhyme & Reason

Despite being a happily married fellow, I am guilty of occasionally letting my mind wander down the dusty paths in my memory to the places where I keep old girlfriends. Therefore, my interest we peaked when I found reference to a girl I had once dated on a myspace page that referenced her recent marriage. After some myspace stalking and internet searching, I was able to ascertain who she married, where she lives/works, and a photo of her new husband. Beyond the fact that it is more than a little scary that I could gather so much info about someone so quickly, it has given birthed a few random thoughts about what might have been.

If I had stayed with this girl, if we had been meant for one another (whatever that means), what would have happened? Where would we have lived? Would I have ever made it to law school, would I have made it here faster? Would I have ever relocated to Seattle? How would her life be different, how would mine be changed? Questions, Questions. One could drive themselves nuts looking backwards and second guessing.

The experience has reaffirmed something, though, when I look at where this girl is living and what she is doing: I'm happy and satisfied with the choices I’ve made regarding my wife and would not trade our lives together for anything. I would not be happy where this old girlfriend is, and I doubt she would be happy where I am, I guess this is why the relationship never worked out in the first place.

Finally, Sun!!!

The sun is out today and the sky is clear!! It won't last, the weather reports indicate we have an endless string of clouds and rain that will follow today. If you don't like clouds and rain, Seattle is not for you! But, on days like this, Seattle is well worth the price of soggy socks. All this rains greens up everything, even though we are approaching late November, the grass lawns are still vibrant shade of green and against a dark green backdrop of evegreens. When the sun is out, the we do shine like the emerald jewel the city uses as a moniker.

Along the theme of light chasing away the shadows, the lead story in the Seattletimes.com this morning is about a prositituion ring on Craigslist. No shit. The police are a little slow on the uptake with this one, didn't they see the bust that some bloggers did on some hapless, Seattle horn-dogs a couple months ago? It's a little to sad to think about the families of these men caught up in this, it's the men's fault, no doubt, for trolling the internet pervert current, but still you have to feel for the families.

Anyway, back to my studies. Only two and a half weeks until finals start!!!

Melancholoy

come and gone. I am a child of the 90's, the decade where I came of age. The 90's were a good time to bee a teen. The nation was just coming out of the cold war and 9-11 couldn't even be imagined. The future held only promise; not the fear of terrorism or the threat of global meltdown we face now. Furthermore, the music was so good then as we had; Peal Jam, NWA, Nirvana, Dr. Dre, STP, Sound garden, and the Dave Matthews Band who were still relevant, etc… The kids today have The Fray, geez. I wouldn't want to be 19 now, not in 2006, but if only I could go back in time. Anyway...

Mick McGavick, Democrats, and Fox News

Just a few observations on last night elections...

Mike McGavick gave a superb concession speech; it was an example that he is a good guy and could have been a good senator. However, he had no real chance of winning as he lost the Senate race the minute he opened his mouth in E. Washington to bad mouth Seattle. You can't win a state election by alienating the largest city in the State, especially when E. Washington just doesn't have the population to back up it's republican bravado. Mike is a good guy, he had some good ideas, and now he has something to think about for next time.

I don't know what to think of the democratic control of the US House (and possibly Senate). I think the election night results are just another sign that Americans, at our core, hate absolute power in a single party. We were willing to give George this power for a while because we were scared and still had faith that he could do something with it, but he turned out to be a terrible despot who hasn't taken any apparent positive strides forward despite the power he had been given. Now, the people have taken that power back.

I'm a little ashamed of my home state, between passing the gay marriage ban and electing a man who correlates Abortions with cancer and was call an idiot by the head of his own party to the house, my state appears to be a mindless drone following the red flag where it takes them. I might not wear any of my Idaho sweatshirts for a few days. Utah and Idaho have proved decisively that they are the "reddest" state in the nation.

Hopefully now, Cantwell can get Washington’s State sales tax exemption back now that republicans who hijacked the issue in order to get their minimum wage cut passed (which they didn’t so they lost and the citizens of 13 other state has increases in taxes thank to R’s) are out of power. I’m hoping Maria Cantwell picks up the banner again and get this done. Other than that, I’m not getting too excited about much happening, maybe the D can get some education reform passed and do something to heal the nation after 12 years of divisive R control, but I doubt it. I’ve become rather pessimistic about politics and hope deep down I’m wrong and it won’t be more of the same.

I watched the returns on Fox News, which was hilarious. Some of the commentors actually seemed like they were on the verge of tears, fair and balanced my ass! The look on Sean Hannity's face all night was priceless.

Anyway, despite being national blog posting month my posts might trickle down to nothing soon. Finals are approaching fast (beginning of next month) so my thought will soon be narrowed to Torts, Contracts, Property Law, Civil Procedure, and that will probably leave blogging as past time best left for late December.

Wisdom for the day.

Today, in my Civil Procedure class, we had a surprise. Our teacher introduced us to Lt. Cmdr Charles Swift, famous now for his defense and win in front of the Sumpreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfel. It was facinating to get an inside look at such an important and influential case and into the tactics that won. He also shared a few stories of his experience as a law student at Seattle U and a few stories about our professor who was his Civil Procedure professor as well. Overall, pretty cool experience and quite the surprise.

Upon a question from one of my classmates about how he balanced defending a terroist with the knowledge of how dire the threat of terroism is, he used this quote from Thomas Paine to explain himself:
"He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.

I have struggled morally with how would one defend person's they knew were guilty, such as the defense of Duncan back in Cd'a or how the ACLU can stand up for organization like NAMBLA. I think this quote helps.

Why one should never go to school in Spokane.

This guy's post actually makes fun of both Gonzaga Law School and Idaho's bar at the same time...it's pretty funny. A bit scary for those of us in law school, but funny nonetheless.

Lifestyles of the not so rich and famous...

I actually have a relative featured in a Forbes article, how about that? This article features an interview with my brother-in-law and his startup, Pluggd.com.

I haven't given any mention of pluggd.com in this blog so far, namely becuase I haven't really checked it out. (I know, I know, I'm a bad relative) Anyway, the low down is that it's a search engine and tool for listening to Podcasts (like Odeo). They also have a new visual search tool for audio podcasts, which will be cool once it unveils, and my impression is that the site is put together alright. I haven't used the site yet, per se, as I tend to download podcasts onto my Ipod and take them with me rather than stream them off the net, but if you do the later you might want to check them out. (Besides, if you help this company get off the ground you help me avoid having my sister-in-law live in my basement*!)

*Disclaimer: actually the company is doing okay, they've already gotten some offers for purchase which they've declined, and they have some more investments coming in the door soon...

Ugh

It's beautiful fall day outside today and I'm trapped inside the library drafting a property complaint. To amplify matters, I have a cold. The subject of my complaint is supposed to be based upon Nuisance law, but what is really a nuisance is the gallon size blob of mucous occupying the sinus cavity right behind my eye balls that slowly drips down my throat, drip, drip, drip.

To top it off I have an oral argument Monday morning on the Family Purpose doctrine and I haven’t read any of my cases because I just can’t bring my diseased eyelids to open long enough to read…

Enough complaining…time to drag my sick arse back to work!

Youth, where have you gone?

I think I'm fairly recovered from this weekend. The late nights, a beer or two in excess, the excitement of the Idaho v. BSU game, and 10 hours of driving to and from Moscow left me exhausted and feeling a little old.

When we were in Moscow, my friends and I spent time at the old fraternity house telling stories and bullshiting about our college days. Those memories seem like only yesterday and it didn't seem possible that we've had enough time to built families and careers between then and now. Yet, we have. Even the seniors in the fraternity house seeme so young to me, I guess this my first incline of the fact that I am truly an adult.

On the flip side of aging though is an excitement. For the first time I spend time with some older alumni at various college events. You know the type with silver gray hair, who talk in confident voices, talk about their multi million dollar homes, and write checks to the school have have more zero's in them then my donations do. I'm looking forward to becoming one of them; aged, seasoned, and happy.

In conclusion, the late 20's and early 30's is a good time in my life. I'm old enough to no longer consider myself a kid and still have a long life ahead of me to look forward to. Yes, it's a great time in deed.

PS. I didn't take any pic of the Idaho Campus this time around, although I should have, it was gorgeous and dressed in fall colors. Despite BSU prowess on the field, they don't have our campus (the BSU campus is basically an office complex down by the river - it isn't the traditonal, ivy covered retreat like ours). So, I've pulled some pic from the internet to give my readers an idea if you've never been to Moscow before.

The Rec Center built after I graduated, I paid for it but never got to use it.

A snowy admin building, brings back a lot of memories of trudging up the hill to class through the snow.

The Memorial Gym in the background with the Swim Center in the fore.

The Library Clock Tower.

Get me off this sinking ship!!!

The Seattle schools superindent has called it quits. Not to say that I blame him, what a thankless, difficult job. The school district has over 40,000 students, which alone would make the task of managing the district difficult, but futhermore; enrollment is declining drastically, the budget will be 20M in the red next year, there is a huge gap between the rich schools (mostly white) and the poor schools (mostly black/latino), and the parents and teaches won't compromise anything. If this was in the job posting would anyone take the job? With such important work at risk, the education of our city's future, the need for a qualified leader is paramount. I'm about 3-4 year out from having a kid, and so 8-9 years away from needing the use of public school myself, so I'm hoping that the next candidate can work a miracle over the next decade.

I'm rule 8(a)

Which Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Are You?

YOU ARE RULE 8(a)!You are Rule 8, the most laid back of all the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. While your forefather in the Federal Rules may have been a stickler for details and particularity, you have clearly rebelled by being pleasant and easy-going. Rule 8 only requires that a plaintiff provide a short and plain statement of a claim on which a court can grant relief. While there is much to be lauded in your approach, your good nature sometimes gets you in trouble, and you often have to rely on your good friend, Rule 56, to bail you out.
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I-D-A-H-O, Idaho, Idaho, GO, GO ,GO!!!

It's almost the weekend!! This afternoon I'm headed back to Moscow for a weekend of friends, football, food, and maybe a beer or two ;)!!! Should be a great time and perhaps I'll have a couple pics to post as well of game and the beautiful Idaho campus. It'll be even better if we give the Boise State Junior College a run for their money. Anyway, hope everyone has as good a weekend as I will.

Why I love USA...

My love for our country isn't the sort of jingoistic drivel that you hear on most country music station, ie. love our country because it our country and other circular logic crap. No, I realize that there is a lot lacking in this great nation of ours.

For starters, our politicians must be the lowest form of human being on the planet. Most are unethical, sleazy, and rather ineffectual (see public parasites) and creating any sort of positive change (see rising deficits, lack of peace, crumbling infrastructure, etc..) Furthermore, for all our boasting, we are not number 1 in several important areas. Our vaunted education system is falling down around us and our students are falling behind the rest of the world in math, sciences, and, I would guess, even the classic humanities. We don't have the healthiest nation anymore; our medicinal complex is no longer the envy of the rest of the world. Furthermore, healthcare is becoming terribly expensive in the country, so much so that many don't ever (I mean ever) see a doctor. We are no longer respected in the world. I have many friends who pretend to be Canadian while traveling abroad. I had a girl from Ireland ask me if I was ashamed to admit that I was an American when we were in a sauna in Sydney. Finally, we aren't even feared anymore. North Korea flaunts their disregard of our might because deep down they know that we are spread too thin with war in Iraq (in both troop count and moral support for violence). I realize that in order to be the best nation on earth again we need to see that we aren't doing a lot of thing very well right now, and that other nations seem to have figured it out some things better than we have. We shouldn't be too proud to learn from others.

That said, I still love this nation because deep down in its core is an essential freedom that other nations simply lack. I was listening to the radio to a discussion about the Christian Armenian holocaust at the turn of the last century. What was left of the Ottoman Empire, or Turkey as we now know it, killed thousands of Armenian and Kurds. Some historians have labeled it the first holocaust in a century of holocausts. Anyway, this 100+ year old event is still causing tension in Europe and the new EU.

Recently, a Turkish author has been prosecuted in Turkey for discussing the holocaust in his book. It appears that it is against the law for someone to mention it in Turkey under some law that defends Turkey’s reputation from its own citizens. In response, France has passed a law making it illegal to deny the Armenian holocaust.

I love America because we would never do this. I could not imagine USA ever passing a law that would punish someone for writing about a horrible, shameful event in our past. Can you imagine the USA sending someone who wrote about Wounded Knee or the Trail of Tears going to prison because we as a nation were ashamed of our treatment of the native Americans and didn't want it discussed. Furthermore, could you ever imagine us doing as France did and making it illegal to deny a holocaust? Sure, we shun people who deny the Jewish holocaust and we get angry at those who are currently denying Dafur, but we would never make it illegal. Furthermore, we couldn't pass these laws even if we wanted to, they would be blatantly unconstitutional.

Our freedom of speech and freedom of expression are the bedrock of this nation. It is this freedom that separates of from all others, it is our commitment to the principal that will preserve America forever. There have been attacks and movements against the first amendment within our own boarders. Ever so often (normally when the Republicans are in trouble at the polls, so I’m surprised it hasn’t come up yet) some politicians bring up the concept of illegalizing Flag burning. I put these people as cohorts with the French and Turks, people who don't really understand what means to be an American is and what our freedom entails. But these people are few and far between. I don't think a flag burning amendment would pass because our love of free speech runs to deep in this nation and would prevent people from voting for it despite their respect for the symbol itself (love of freedom > love of symbols).

And that is why I love America. (Or just one of the reasons...more to be posted later)

00-Dud

Just saw the preview for the new James Bond movie. The movie itself looks pretty good but something about the new guy just doesn't sit right with me. Perhaps it was because Pierce Brosnan was such a tight fit into the skin of 007 that's it's difficult to move on...but it casn't be any worse the Roger Moore following Sean Connery? Can it?

All is not well in the heartland.

My sister was in Seattle this weekend, up from Pocatello, Idaho, where she lives. I was surprised when I asked her what was going on in Idaho to learn of a recent gruesome murder in the city deep in the heart of Idaho's potato growing region. It appears that a teenage girl was brutally killed in her cousin's home, and the buzz in the city is that the killers, two other teens, filmed it. My sister has heard that the teens told the girl that they wanted to film a horror movie and she played along, thinking it would be a fun diversion, instead it was a horrible snuff film they wound up shooting instead.

Furthermore, according to a classmate of mine in law school who is from Pocatello, there might have been evidence that these two teens were just warming up. The rumor is that they were planning to bring guns to the Pocatello High homecoming came and let loose a volley of ammo onto the unsuspecting crowd. The homecoming game this year was played against cross town rival Highland, and was played in the Idaho State University’s football stadium. This deep seeded high school rivalry had sold out the football field (something that ISU games never do) and the thought of the horror they could have unleashed sends a shiver down most local’s spine. There is also some speculation that another gruesome unsolved murder might be attributed to one of the killers.

I was surprised that I didn't learn of this earlier, this is normally the type of event that gets plastered across the national news. The town might be trying to avoid the media spotlight as is not the type of place that would welcome this attention. Furthermore, it happened in the same period as the school shootings in Colorado and in the Amish country back east, so in may just have been buried. But some news magazines have been poking around and we might hear more details soon.

Nevertheless of the exposure, it's still tragic. I lived in Pocatello for some time and did all my elementary education in that small town; it's difficult for me to imagine that type of horror happening on a sun bleached fall afternoon there.

Furthermore, one question I keep asking myself while thinking about the new child on child killings is why is it happening in the heartland. Think about all these incidents. They happen in Colorado, rural Idaho, rural Washington, in rural Pennsylvania, etc... What is going on in our nation's interior that is driving these kids to do this? Perhaps it’s just perception that this in only going on in the heartland, perhaps it’s a universal phenomenon, but it does beg the question.

I've been absent this week, sorry...

I haven’t' been posting much, and for that, I apologize to my one or two regular readers. It's been a busy week due to a large assignment in school, trying to get my kitchen ready to have the countertops installed, and preparing for my sister and brother who will be visiting me this weekend. Thus, there hasn’t been time for posting.

I'm excited for the weekend, not just for the rest, but also to see my family. My sister is coming up from Pocatello, Idaho and my brother is driving over from Sandpoint, Idaho. Both of them have yet to see our new home in Seattle, and despite not having the remodel completed, I'm excited to show off what I've done thus far. I'll be posting some pics of the remodel, before and after, when I can get a chance to get back to the laptop where I store my photos.

Beyond showing off my home, I don't know exactly what to do with them when they are here. I've looked in the paper and there doesn't seem to be much going on in Seattle this weekend and being a poor law student, I don't have a lot of money to take them out on the town. So dear reader(s), I turn to you for help, if you were in the Seattle region, what would you like to do this fall weekend?

(P.S. - my postings might be a little lack next week as well as there is another assignment in school due and I'm headed back for Moscow for the Idaho v. BSU game on Saturday. On the upside, there will probably be some photos for those of you who are more visually inclined...)

Thanks for reading.

Rachel Ray Must Be Banished To Where She Came From..

I've been giving a lot of thought to cooking lately. As the primary chef in the family, my wife will put a frozen pizza in the oven but that's about it, I haven't had to cook since we gutted our kitchen a couple months ago. But, as the project completion date grows near with our granite counter being installed next week, my thoughts have returned to cooking and to wondering if I still remember how.

I am a fan of the food network and have been watching in more than usual in anticipation of the return of my cooking duties. I will turn it on during the day as background noise as I do other stuff around the house. On personality that I've always liked is Rachel Ray , but only in the small doses that the food network parcels her out in. On the Food Network she gets a half an hour here talking about traveling on $40/day, a half an hour there for her to cook a 30 minute meal, and in these small, focused morsels she was easy to swallow. Her cooking, if not gourmet, is practical and most of the time results in something vaguely edible if not gastronomically superb, and for that I’ve always given her somewhat positive credence. That said, who in their right mind thought to give her an hour long syndicated talk show?

I tried to watch it the other day and it was excruciating. She can't, and I emphasize can't, hold a conversation that long, it is just not that entertaining to watch her move from segment to segment and still be engaged in what she's doing. Her strength is, apparently, in short quips about various shortcuts you can take in technique or how much she likes marshmellow fluff or a tip on a good restaurant. These short packets of bubbly perky knowledge are enough to fill a half hour show, these strengths, however, do not transfer to her being entertaining enough for a whole hour that isn't focused narrowly on food.

I wish they would give an hour long show, however, to Alton Brown. I'd watch him talk about the behavior of negative ions in a spaghetti sauce for an entire day.

Inner Tiger

I keep my consciousness in a cage.
I feed it tasks, goals and objectives.
Endlessly it feeds.
If I were to stop feeding it, would it become aware that is caged?
Would it turn in on itself, devouring, ravishing away at notions of myself, stripping away all that is me until nothing is left aside from the bloody remnants of me in it teeth.
Is this insanity?
Or, if it knew that is was caged, would it break free?
Would it throw itself against the bars, bending them with the force of it’s will until they snap?
My consciousness finally free, would it run away to places unseen and devour things not yet tasted?
I keep my consciousness in a cage and endlessly it feeds.



God, I can't believe I'm actually writing poety now. Seriously, will my procrastination stoop to no low, what else will I do to avoid briefing cases for property law?!