Dreamworld of magic

Saw The Chronicles of Narnia yesterday; going in, we all agreed that we had memories of having read the books as children, but to a person, we couldn't remember a single specific detail. The movie is good: entertaining, escapist fun. The Christian imagery is certainly there, but not so overpowering or annoying that it gets in the way if you aren't looking for it to get in the way. And the CGI is actually pretty good, given that the characters are actual animals, rather than poorly drawn racial stereotypes. George, I'm looking at you.

My only regret? We got to the theater too late to go to the concessions stand, where I would have made a "Mr. Pibb and Red Vines equal crazy delicious" comment. That would have been gold!

Where's Meadowlark?

I am 98% sure I saw the Harlem Globetrotters this morning. Here is a list of my reasons why I think I saw the Harlem Globetrotters:

1) When I came up out of the subway, I saw three extremely tall men, all wearing Harlem Globetrotters warmups.

2) They were standing in front of a huge tour bus that was painted all over with the words "Harlem Globetrotters."

3) A young child walked up to the tall men and asked, "Are you the Harlem Globetrotters?" Two of the men said yes, and proceeded to give the kid their autographs on official Harlem Globetrotters team photos.

This is why I think I saw the Harlem Globetrotters this morning. Cool.

Roller Coaster Monday

Monday was a good day. I thought it was going to be just awful, but then things turned around, and partly due to my low expectations, it turned out great.

To start, I handled a trial that should not have been a trial: there were no real legal issues, but instead a parent wanted to take the stand and talk about what bad kid the minor was, and the minor wanted to take the stand and talk about what a bad person the parent was. I am not usually in the mood to allow families to waste court time and resources so they can act out their favorite scenes from The Jerry Springer Show, so I was dreading going in there and trying to settle it. I also ended up coming into the office on Sunday (a big government lawyer no-no) to prepare for Monday, doubling my displeasure. Not off to a good start.

But then things took a turn. I was able to talk the parent into settling, I got what the minor wanted/needed, and things only disintegrated into reality television in the hallway, not in the court room. Very nice.

Then, on the way back to the office, I spotted what looked like a dollar bill on the sidewalk. I looked around to see if anybody was walking by who may have dropped it, but I was alone. I bent down to pick it up, and that wasn't Washington looking at me, but Jackson giving me a little wink. Not wanting to offend the seventh president (he once killed a man for insulting his wife; the least I could do was spend him!), I offered him a ride...in my wallet.

When I got to the office, two lawyers I work with, but who work in another court (and therefore I don't know them as well as I'd like), asked me if I wanted to go to lunch. I had settled my case, had an extra 20 spot in my pocket, so absolutely! We had a nice chat, blew off some steam, and I was able to subsidize a large portion of our salads.

Like Ice Cube said...today was a good day...

Happy New Year to me!

How did I spend my New Year's day? Playing in an online poker tournament, of course...but this time, I actually "monied," coming in second place out of a field of 686. A very fun way to spend a rainy evening.

The tournament lasted about 3.5 hours, and for all of that, my share of the prize pool was...$6. That's not a typo: six bucks. It was a free tournament that only paid the top three places, and we split $20. So if you do the math, I earned approximately $1.72/hour yesterday. I think they pay better in prison.

The good part is that I had a lot of fun. The better part is that I won a couple bucks for free. But the best part is that now I can play a couple paid tournaments (emphasis on "couple") with their money. Game on!

The 2005 Esqys

Everyone else makes a list at the end of a year...why not me? The following is a list of awards I am presenting to myself, covering the best and worst of the closing year. I'm an odds-on favorite in most categories.

Best purchase of 2005 = my iPod shuffle. It has made commuting not only bearable, but downright funky at times.

Runner up = our new Apple computer (purchased shortly after we realized our old computer was three operating systems behind the minimum needed to work an iPod...geesh...)

Best trip of 2005 = our anniversary weekend in Calistoga (which, as of today, is under like 6 feet of water...guess we shouldn't have sacrificed all of those goats to Baal).

Best book I read this year = Beasts of No Nation, by Uzodinma Iweala. Powerful, horrifying, and fast-paced all at the same time; I could not put this book down, even though certain passages made me want to cry.

Best new habit = running (even though I haven't been going as often as I should)

Second best new habit = haircuts (even though I haven't been going as often as I should)

Most fun/potentially troubling new habit = online poker (so far, I am only playing the free tournaments...so far...)

What should probably be considered my best new habit = working again.

Lifetime Achievement Award = George Lucas. No series of movies has impacted my life more than the Star Wars saga, and by wrapping up the series in a (mostly) satisfactory fashion this past summer, I can now look forward to finding something else to occupy my downtime. TK421, why aren't you at your post?

Hope 2005 was a good year for you; it was a banner year for me. See you in 2006, and remember to nominate your favorites for next year's awards!

Hundreds of fools and their money...

If only the internet had been around when I was in undergrad, I could have done this to pay for college instead of all those pesky part-time jobs, grants, and student loans. Here's the page itself, if you want to take a look...I have to admit, pretty clever.

By the way, I am proud to report that, as 2005 comes to an end, so do those pesky undergrad student loans! With today's paycheck, I will make my final payment to Sallie Mae and officially close out my account with them for the loans that helped propel me through EKU (in conjunction with the aforementioned jobs and grants). I was on the ten year payment plan, and did it in a little over six, thus depriving SM of at least a little of their hoped-for interest. It couldn't have happened to nicer people.

Feliz Navidad!

Had a wonderful brunch this morning; all the fun of eating with good friends, and no one had to cook or clean up. Doesn't get much better than that.

While we were sitting there, laughing and talking, I was reminded of something that happened a few weeks ago coming home on the train. A woman was wondering where to get off to go to the new De Young, so she asks...the homeless guy. Not a lot of transit experience, I'm guessing. Anyway, this guy not only tells her (accurately) how to get to the De Young, but how to get to other SF museums, when they are open for free, how he has been going to them since he was a kid, and speaking of when he was a kid, how he raised a rooster as a young boy, and how it was a very pretty rooster, even though it liked to fight...you get the idea. This went on for an uncomfortable twenty minutes or so.

Eventually, the lady got off at her stop, and so the homeless guy's attention shifted...to me. It was tough to avoid him, so I nodded politely, throwing in an occasional small comment ("It liked to fight...you mentioned that, yes"), until he finally got to his stop. As he exited the train, he stopped, looked at me, and said, "Thank you for talking to me...most people just ignore me."

It was a good reminder to me of just how lucky I am; I have regular, meaningful human contact with people I love and care about, something I take for granted occasionally, but something a lot of people simply don't have.

I hope you had a nice holiday weekend, and I hope you had a chance to spend it with people you love.

You can't handle the truth!

I had my first full-blown trial yesterday: entering evidence, cross-examining witnesses, objections, the whole thing. Very cool. The judge ruled the way I wanted her to (in dependency law, I don't think there are usually "winners"), and I think I did a good job. Definitely learned a lot as well, not only about opposing counsel and the judge (both filed away for the future), but about my own style and areas I need to brush up on (my objections weren't as smooth as I would like them to be).

Unfortunatley, unlike my Moot Court experience, I did not have the opportunity to work Phil Hartman's Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer character into my closing argument. Maybe next time.

Not bad!

Yesterday morning I completed the Run to the Far Side 5K. I was pretty pleased with my results; my time wasn't great, but I wasn't really out to break any records, anyway. I was happy because I ran the first whole mile, walked the second, and then "ran" (read: jogged slightly faster than a walk) the third mile to the end. Considering my normal running routine is one mile, I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to run much past the first, but taking the second mile to catch my breath (and allow my shins to stop burning) was a good idea. Very cool.

There were photographers shooting everyone at the finish line; they email you based on your bib number and ask you to buy copies. I saw them as I approached the finish, and tried for an appropriate "determined but not in too much pain" look on my face. I think I pulled it off, but all the people walking in the background may give me away. If I get a picture, I will ask my friend Jen how to post it on this blog.

Three miles down...many more to go...

Torture, not dissent, is unAmerican

I don't put a lot of political thoughts on this site, but this article, written by John McCain and outlining his thoughts on why it goes against what America is supposed to stand for if we allow the use of torture on our prisoners, should be required reading for everyone, especially that handful of old men who temporarily run our country and dare to call dissent or political dialog unpatriotic. One of their own finally says something I can (mostly) agree with.

Three cavities! (alt. title: No sympathy, no doubt)

Went to the dentist today for the first time in [mumble], and I was shocked to learn I have THREE CAVITIES! For those of you in the real world, this may seem like nothing, but you have to know something about me: I am in my 30s now, and I have NEVER HAD A CAVITY BEFORE. When the doctor brought in my X-rays, he asked me, "Where are your fillings?" I took it as a note of pride that my teeth were au naturel in their little photos, but then after my cleaning (btw, the sonic thing they use is much better than I remember from my last visit to the dentist), he dropped the bomb on me. Damn.

Anyway, other than that, things look good in my mouth, in case you were wondering. If you see me soon, ask to take a look; showings are every hour on the hour.

Oooh...it arrived in Secaucus!

Is there a nerdier (and yet, for some reason for me right now, more satisfying) pleasure than my recent obsession with package tracking? Probably not, but if there is, let me know, because I'm a man who loves watching packages move across this humongous nation of ours.

Some men are born great...

Saw a fantastic version of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night last evening; the best part was that it was performed in American Sign Language. It really added a new dimension to the performance: the actors on stage signed the play, while voice actors off stage verbalized the dialog. The result was that Shakespeare, normally an oral experience with word play, also became a visual experience as the word play was both seen and heard. Truly amazing, and honestly made Shakespeare more exciting and accessible. Highly recommended!

One of the coolest parts was seeing the reaction of the deaf audience; they were enthralled, and it occurred to me that they probably don't have the chance to "see" Shakespeare that often. I loved applauding in ASL; it's a lot like jazz hands...and who doesn't love jazz hands?

Southwest Sychology

If you have flown Southwest Airlines, you know they do seating on a first-come-first-served basis...sort of. Actually, they break passengers into four groups: preboard, and then A, B, and C, and have handy "line markers" outside of every gate so you know where you will line up according to the letter on your boarding pass.

And that's where the fun begins. I have flown SWA a few times now, and I am always fascinated at the human nature on display when it comes to lines. There are always the Line Nazis, the people that want to line up as early as possible. These people annoy me because they start the whole problem of having to line up as early as possible, rather than getting to stay seated. Then there are the Line Breakers, people who line up, but intentionally do it in a non-linear fashion (say, off to the side, or stay seated but put their luggage in...not cool in today's airports). These people are even more annoying, because they are really Line Nazis in disguise, just not as honest: their place in line matters, but they go out of their way to make it look like they don't care. The final group, the Line Wanderers, actually fall into two sub-categories: the Confused, who either have never flown SWA before, or have never entered human society before and have therefore never stood in line, and so wait until the flight is called, then obliviously stroll to the front of the line, freaking out the Nazis and outing the Breakers, who get just as pissed. Then there's the Refusniks, who stay seated and pretend not to see the line, or make fun of the line, and just sigh, roll their eyes, and get at the end of the line when it's their turn.

The next time you fly, try Southwest...it's as close to a legal Skinner Box as you'll probably get these days.

Wow, that's...different...

So I got a letter in the interoffice mail yesterday from my boss boss (not my office boss, her boss); a little nerve wracking, I suppose. Still, I think I've been doing a good job, so no worries, right?

Inside, it says I'm getting a raise. Turns out that during my two-year probationary period, I get a performance review every six months. If I am doing poorly, they can fire me. If I am doing well, they say nice things to me and give me more money. Huh.

Being a former classroom teacher, I was completely unprepared for this. It's bad enough I still don't have the hang of taking vacation time, but now you're giving me more money?

Wow.

Netflix: My savior

I know that it is becoming cliche to talk about why people aren't going to the movies anymore, but I must add myself to that list. I don't want to lock myself up at home and avoid human contact, but I do want to avoid the humans I ran into at the movies yesterday.

We went to see A History of Violence (btw, good movie...not great, but good) at the Century 20 in Daly City. Maybe I should have expected it at a megaplex, maybe I should have expected it on a Sunday afternoon, maybe I should have expected it in Daly City, but the whole experience was just awful. People walking around, talking in normal volume, cell phones going off, and worst of all, people "theater hopping" (i.e. walking into various theaters, watching for 10-15 minutes, then moving on). I had no idea your ticket price allows you to be a nomad for the afternoon, watching a little bit of everything. I guess the high ticket prices reflect this movie-buffet-all-you-can-watch mentality.

So I move one step closer to hermitage. Time to update my queue.

Just a taste

I was alternately thrilled and disappointed with ESPN's decision to broadcast a portion of Midnight Madness last Friday: excited to see the Wildcats break the attendance record, disappointed that it was used by ESPN as an infomercial for their new ESPNU channel. Jerks.

Still, fun to see college basketball again, although when the commentators were talking about UK's big wins last season, I notice they didn't mention the first round squeaker against my beloved Colonels? They're scared, I tells ya! Scared!

I looked in the trap, Ray

Tried a new haircutter today (there are literally at least six different places within a few blocks of my house, so figured I shouldn't lock myself in at the beginning of my new hobby), and it was very nice. Nothing against the guy who sheared me last time, but there was something this time he couldn't offer, and it is best explained by paraphrasing from the movie Ghostbusters:

When the hot asian girl asks you if you want to go to the back for a "rinse off," you say, "Yes!"

Before you get concerned about my marriage, it was just that: she rinsed my head. Still, a nice touch, and one that will keep me going back. Just don't tell my wife.

In a world...

Tired of shmaltzy movie trailers? Tired of shmaltzy movie trailers that look exactly like every other shmaltzy movie trailer? So was whoever made this.

[since I got the link from one Alabama friend, I thought it only fitting to get the title of this post from another Alabama friend]

Feels like the first time

Last night, we went to the opera for the first time. It was an interesting choice for a first opera: the very modern, world-premiere production of Doctor Atomic. The site sums it up better than I can, but in short, it is set in 1945 New Mexico as scientists race to build, test, and possibly use the first atomic weapon. The plot centers around the moral issues involved in building the weapon, its use on other humans, and the genuine fear of simply not really knowing what it would actually do (the opera makes reference to a theory that it could have potentially ignited the atmosphere, literally killing the world).

We were invited as guests of the director (felt semi-important for a minute there!) to the final dress rehearsal, so there were producers scurrying around throughout the performance, checking light and sound levels, making copious notes, and generally taking me out of the moment. The music is amazing: it is beautiful and soft one moment, then discordant and angry the next. Many of the vocalists were clearly not going "full volume" for the final dress, so it was tough to understand them sometimes, but Gerald Finley, in the role of Robert Oppenheimer, was outstanding.

We are thinking that we now need to go see something a little more classical before we make our final judgment on whether we can be "opera people," but this was certainly a fascinating introduction.