For the SLG

I just finished Monsoon Wedding and I have decided that I am not going to date another girl until I find a cute Indian girl like these:


The first girl only has about 5 seconds of airtime, but she is, literally, the exact girl I think of when I talk about cute Indian girls. My obsession with Indian girls is no secret but I think it's worth going over again.

Roomie asked me what it is about them, I told him that I have no idea. He also asked me if I prefer them over white girls, I said yes. Call me crazy, but that's my bag, baby. Like Kim Kardashian and black dudes, and Britney Spears and losers, I just have a thing for the Indian persuasion. Now if only I could meet one...

Not Sure How to Feel

I just made my first political donation today. $50 to Dr. Paul. I know this only perpetuates the problem of money dominating politics, but I can't think of any better way to help Dr. Paul (aside from being a campaign worker, which I clearly have no time to do).

Turns out that my roommate donated today as well (also to Dr. Paul), we talked about how our generation may be the one that changes this 2-party bull. I think people are getting fed up with "DEMOCRAT V REPUBLICAN" every single election. There really is no way that the political views of the whole country can be adequately represented as a choice between 2 candidates. I know that every time I vote I feel like I am picking between hanging and drowning (i.e., this guy offends me least).

This is why I hate labels like DEMOCRAT, LIBERAL, CONSERVATIVE, REPUBLICAN, ANTI-this, PRO-that. I have a manifesto in the works that will discuss how labels are so damaging. Stay tuned.

An Open Letter to the Utah Jazz Organization

You guys are an embarrassment.

After going winning over 50 games and going to the Western Conference Finals last year, people were starting to fear the Jazz. They were prohibitive favorites to win the division and given a fair shot at returning to the Conference Finals.

The first in a long line of mistakes was letting Dee Brown go. This kid had speed and talent but you let him go anyway. You also released Rafael Arraujo, the only guy on the team with the attitude to play hard-nosed defense. Then you signed Jason Hart, a nobody from the Clippers who has been nothing short of terrible. We were excited when you picked up Ronnie Price, we thought he was a baller, but he pretty much never plays. You kept Gordan Giracek, who hasn't played 3 good games since Deron Williams arrived.

Even with those moves people thought we could still play. We still had Booz, Deron, AK, Memo, and Sapp on the roster and these guys can play. But, even with these guys the Jazz have managed only 2 quality wins in 24 games and are now in a 6-game losing streak. The players are really sucking quite badly. No player should be proud of anything that has happened in the last 9 days. Every player should be ashamed of their performance.

The one thing that is absolutely maddening is our lack of defensive energy. It's like nobody wants to play defense and there's a sense that no one has any confidence in their own defense. That wouldn't be AS bad if our offense was up to the task, but we haven't been scoring at all lately. After starting out leading the league in scoring at 107 ppg, the Jazz have scored 100 points in only 1 of their last 5 games (all losses) and also managed to give up a 43 point quarter last week in a loss.

Tonight was the last straw. We had a 4 point lead going into the final quarter and ended up losing by 8. And it's not like we lost to the Spurs (again) this was the BLAZERS, who 10-12 before tonight and 8-12 before they played the Jazz on Tue. The Jazz are not executing, not playing defense, not scoring, and generally not caring at all. To all the Jazz players: YOU ARE AN EMBARRASSMENT TO YOURSELVES AND TO ALL JAZZ FANS. HAVE SOME PRIDE AND PLAY WITH THE ATTITUDE THAT YOU ARE THE BETTER TEAM.

I am so beyond frustrated and annoyed at how my beloved Jazz are pissing away one of their best chances to win the championship in 10 years. At this point, I say Sloan needs to go. I love him and I think he's one of the top 5 coaches ever, but he is not the best coach for this team. He's an old school coach but the game has evolved and left him behind. If the Jazz lose at home to the Sonics tomorrow, I might just lose it and picket the stadium. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.

PHEW!

Click the picture for the big version

Oh Mitt...

You couldn't be MORE wrong:

Freedom requires religion, just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.

So so so wrong. I never felt MORE free than when I renounced religion.

Let's Get Political

I support Ron Paul. Those of you who know who he is probably know that he's a Republican candidate. Forget about that for now, I'll get to that in a second. First let me give you a little rundown of what he stands for:

• He has never voted to raise taxes.

• He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.

• He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.

• He has never voted to raise congressional pay.

• He has never taken a government-paid junket.

• He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.

• He voted against the Patriot Act.

• He voted against regulating the Internet.

• He voted against the Iraq war.

• He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.

• He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

Paul is forced to run as a Republican because he wouldn't receive any press if he didn't. He clearly doesn't follow lock-step with the more conservative wing of the GOP. He ran as a Libertarian candidate a few years back and no one really knew, as a Republican he's burning up the news. He is a true small government conservative which means he believes in a non-interventionist foreign policy (i.e., anti-war).

He doesn't sound like the other candidates with canned answers that are designed to not really say anything. He sounds like a guy who has just had enough of the bullshit and wants to see a real change.

It would be worth your time to spare the 7 or so minutes to watch the youtube video and check out his website.




RON PAUL 2008

I. AM. A. GENIUS.

Perfect study break snack.

Ugh...You Should Know Better

Marc Stein just said "more better" on ESPN's NBA Coast to Coast.

[update: Tim Legler, Rick Carlisle, and Greg Anthony all agreed that if they had to pick a point guard to start a team, they'd pick Deron Williams. WOOT!]

Stephen A Smith Doesn't Believe in Freedom of Speech

In post today by SPORTSbyBROOKS, Stephen A Smith apparently doesn't think that bloggers should be allowed to reach a big audience. He goes on to say that

someone with no training should not be allowed to have any kind of format whatsoever to disseminate to the masses to the level which they can. They are not trained. Not experts.

I suppose that only obnoxious blowhards like Smith can "disseminate to the masses." I've talked before about how big of an idiot he is, but seriously, he's basically saying that no one should be able to blog about sports unless they are "professionals" or, more likely, have their own show (even if it was canceled because it sucked so bad...ring a bell?)

Context

After reading through the cases on the establishment clause, I get really sick of all the dissenting (read: LOSING) justices trying to make their case by quoting President Washington ("...with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God") and any other litany of practices and quotes from the Revolutionary Period. Can we please also note that they wanted to count black people as 3/5 of a person? The Framers were not infallible paragons of virtue.

Grammar Nazi Strikes Again

Special thanks to the AP.

Dear Arizona State Punter...

You owe me $30 after your amazing 30 yard punt. I expect a check in the mail ASAP.

Don't Take it so Personally...

The Jazz were on ESPN last night against the Lakers and dominated them by 24 points. Derek Fisher, formerly of the Jazz and currently with the Lakers, was booed all night. Let me give you a brief rundown on why this is significant:

• Fisher played with the Lakers before joining the Jazz
• Jazz fans, for the most part, really really hate the Lakers
• When Fish signed with the Jazz, we were all excited because he's pretty good and is a good leader
• Fish came up HUGE against the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs
• We also found out that his daughter has a rare form of eye cancer during the first round

Those are the basic facts. Now, after the season ended he asked to be released from his contract with the Jazz (this NEVER happens...) so that he could move his family closer to a treatment facility and the Jazz were more than happy to comply (family stuff trumps all with the Jazz, and they didn't want to be heartless bastards). Here comes the nasty part...HE SIGNS BACK WITH THE LAKERS! To Jazz fans (myself included) it was like he saw a chance to get outta Dodge and he took it.

Look at it this way, during the off-season the players scatter like cockroaches, going back to their home cities. During basketball season they're on the road half the time and don't get to spend much time at home anyway. How hard would it have been to move the family to LA and come "home" when there's an extended break of 3-5 days (or 10 days during All-star Weekend)? It's a 90 min flight from SLC to LAX! If he had signed with the Knicks (NY HAS to have a good treatment center) then everyone would understand.

Seriously, he only got booed because he signed with the Lakers. He wants to think that we're pissed that he left, WRONG, we're pissed he's wearing yellow.

Ummm.......what?

So I noticed a new trailer on Apple.com yesterday and, after watching it, I sent the link to Roomie since it seems right up his alley. This is the response I got:

Ahhh interesting. Oh wait!

MAJOR PLOT FLAW ALERT!!!!!!

For a site to be ‘untraceable’ it would require an insane amount of hops (bounces) around the world along with a TOR like configuration which significantly reduces ping time and throughput speed. This would render a site like that (particularly streaming media) utterly useless and even a minimal amount of hits would bring it to its knees!

CASE CLOSED – STRAIGHT TO DVD.

Uhh...ok, sure! Sounds right....I guess...

I might be a little obssessed

As I was blogging earlier, I happened to glance down and notice my Jazz notepad and coffee mug sitting right by each other. This doesn't mean much except that my desktop is Jazz, and so are my keys, and my license plate, and, well, here are the pictures to prove my insanity...

(Just got the plate and frame last Friday at the Jazz game)

I didn't bother to post pics of my Jazz apparel, I don't have that much time.

Some Good Comes from the NFL / Cable Disupute

So, as I'm sure everyone has heard by now, there was a big game on TV tonight. My beloved Packers vs the hated and ugly Cowboys. I would have LOVED to watch this game from my couch, where I have easy access to the fridge, bathroom, and remote; BUT, this game was on the NFL Network and due to some disputes with the big cable companies, less than 40% of the country can even GET the NFL Network. I live in part of that 60% that can't get the game, so I had to venture out of my apartment to the local watering hole to see the game. Turns out I'm not the only Pack fan in this town (SURPRISE!), the place was totally PACKED (pun intended) including about 20 other 2Ls /3Ls and even some 1Ls. This meant that I could yell and scream as if it were a big college game. I talked some trash, gave multiple high-fives, and drank about a dozen Cokes. It was the most fun I have had since the big karaoke bash and probably a top five-er for the year. It would have been perfect, though, had the Pack pulled out a victory...

The More Things Change...

I'm seriously surprised that it has taken me so long to get this way, but for the first time in my life, I really feel like I just want to be alone (as in, no significant other) and be especially selfish. I want to be myself and play Xbox when I want, go out when I want, talk to anyone that I want, eat what I want when I want (more on this later) and just be the guy that I wanted to be in college but never felt the significance of how much it would change my lifestyle.

The "relationship that almost was" is over and I couldn't feel better about it. Not because I don't like her (she's way fun) but because even in the early stages of the BF/GF thing that it almost was, I still felt trapped in a cage. I needed me time to do, literally, nothing.

Now that I am focused on me being me, I really want to spend some time improving myself. I'd like to shed some needed poundage and find out what the hell I want to do after I graduate. I've spent a lot of time being concerned with how I am perceived by others, but at this point I think that ship has sailed. However people view me now isn't likely to change, and even if it did, I'm not going to worry about that anymore.

I could ramble on about all the ways I am wasting away both physically and mentally, but that would be too depressing. Instead of eating fast food on a whim 4-5 times a week, I can have a tuna sandwich at home. Instead of spending my Friday nights on the computer, I can go out and enjoy the company of my friends. Instead of playing Xbox during the afternoons, I can work on outlines and my reading.

I know this sounds a little contradictory to the first paragraph, but when I say "I want to play Xbox when I want," I mean that I don't want to feel guilty about it or feel like I need to "grow up." And when I say that I want to eat what I want when I want, I mean that eating a salad doesn't make me less of a man! (especially the greek salad at Panera).

I think at this point the hate that I have for myself has finally been faced with an ultimatum: keep doing what you've been doing, and you'll keep getting what you've been getting (which is fatter, mediocre grades, and no self-worth).

So here it is folks, mark it down. I'm going to start being the guy I wanted to be when I moved to law school over a year ago.

[update: I just realized that all this was a very round-about way of saying that I am having an identity crisis and I need to figure out "who I am."]

Redemption

This is a public thank you to all those that I apologized to previously. Last night was karaoke night and we TORE. IT. UP.

We got stirring renditions of "Sweet Child of Mine," "Jessie's Girl," "I've Got You Under my Skin," and "Stay (I Missed You)." There was singing and dancing and copious amounts of alcohol.

Just like old times...

Important safety tip

more penetrating insight from CNN.

Bad friend

This is a public apology. I have been a bad friend lately. I want to apologize to Jewel, SLLS, and Jordan. I have been spending time with the new babe and basically been ignoring all other human beings. I am throwing myself on the mercy of the court...

update: upon further examination, I have been a bad friend for most of the semester so far. In attempting to "make up for lost time," as it were, I have neglected you all. Consider this my admission that I have a problem.

Stephen A Smith is officially crazy

He is ADAMANTLY picking the rich and creamy Nuggets to go to the NBA Finals. There is a REALLY good chance that they aren't even the best team in their division, but Stephen is really smart crazy eccentric loud so he might be right.

I'd say the Nugs are 40:1 underdogs to get to the Finals. And just because I'm making odds, I'd put the Jazz at 20:1. I love my Jazz, but the Spurs are just too damn good.

Here are my picks:

MVP
Heart says: Carlos Boozer
Brain says: Steve Nash

6th Man
Heart says: Paul Millsap
Brain says: Manu Ginobli

Most Improved
Heart says: Ronnie Brewer
Brain says: Ronnie Brewer

Coach of the Year
Heart says: Jerry Sloan
Brain says: Anyone except Sloan

Defensive Player
Heart says: AK
Brain says: pick 'em (Bowen or Wallace, as usual)

Finals
Spurs over whatever crap team comes out of the East

Me Gusta

I'm not going to call this a "relationship," at least not yet. But this girl that I met on Friday, she is such a breath of fresh air. Talk about no drama and low maintenance...

She's into me, this I know for sure. I am into her too, and she knows this for sure. But we are confident enough in ourselves that a) we don't have to do ANYTHING in a hurry, and b) I'm not going to be upset if she puts studying ahead of hanging out and vice versa. This is the level of maturity I was expecting when I came to law school.

And she's hot, so that helps too :-P

That was Tasty

Jazz win by 21 IN Oakland. Brewer and Millsap looked AWESOME, seriously. AK was in good (not great) form and DWill and Booz, they were at their normal best, combining for 56 points. I love beating teams that think playing fast and loose will win. We play slow and methodically and we DOMINATED. Damn it feels good to be a Jazz fan.

Hell yeah

"NBA.com posed these questions and more to the league's general managers, and nearly all of the GM's responded to our survey. Here's what the guys who call the shots think will transpire this season."


Game on in 27 hrs and 35 min.

Yeah...

Convo at local sandwich eatery today:

Fellow 2L Bowler: Didn't you bowl, like, a 190-something last week?
Me: 182 actually.
Bowler: Nice, maybe if I sit next to you some of that will rub off on me.
Me: I hope I can rub off on myself!
Bowler: ...that sounded weird.
Me: ...uhh...yeah, probably shouldn't ever say that again.

SANTA!

Due to popular demand, I am posting my Halloween costume.

here it is:
This is not a picture of me

It says a lot...

...when former President Clinton and Bill Maher are defending the position that Sept. 11 wasn't an inside job. There's crazy, then there's "9/11-conspiracy-theory" crazy.

What's so funny about conspiracy theorists is that a lack of evidence is used to strengthen their position, rather than weaken it. In all reality, 9/11 WAS a conspiracy; a group of terrorists conspired to crash planes into the World Trade Center. All of the arguments that advance the idea that the US Government was in on it or covered something up are weak and feeble arguments. It's as if they are looking at a duck and saying, "if that's a duck then why hasn't it quacked? It must not really be a duck," or, "sure it looks like a duck, but if you stand over there and squint your eyes, it'll look exactly like a goose!"

Perception is reality; if you want to see a conspiracy, you'll find one.

Cell Phone Photography

All of these pictures were taken on a cell phone camera. Most were right outside my front door and are simply of the sky (and looked much cooler in person). Enjoy!

Everything's coming up Milhouse*

Tonight was bowling night. It did NOT start well for me, I bowled a disgustingly bad 85. Game 2, on the other hand, was quite different...

I managed to beat my game 1 score by 97 pins.

But wait, it gets better...
I decided to buy my celebratory meal at the one place that that doesn't make me feel dirty, Taco Bell. I order my meal, roll up to the window, total: $8.18, I have $7. But wait! I get a 10% discount there (not because I am cool, but because I am a student). New total = $7.37. I reach into my coin tray and pull out a small handful of coins. As I examine the coins, I see 2 dimes, 2 nickels, and, you guessed it, 7 pennies. $7.37 right on the money.

Believe it or not, this is probably the best thing that's happened to me in the last couple weeks.

*Link

Up next, Con Law casebook

A fantasy all law students have envisioned.

Start the countdown

202 hrs 49 min until the first Jazz game tips off...

I wasn't aware that it left

I am 0% surprised...

According to today's USA Today:

At Chicago O'Hare International Airport, screeners missed about 60% of hidden bomb materials that were packed in everyday carry-ons

O'Hare's screeners are TSA employees. BUT...

San Francisco International Airport screeners...missed about 20% of the bombs

San Francisco screeners work for a private company.

Abort mission

So....Tuesdays are 25 cent wing days at the local Buffalo Wild Wings. I went in to do the Blazin Challenge but the stupid waitress said I couldn't because they were short staffed and busy and couldn't have someone stand there for 6 minutes to watch me. GRRRRRRRRRR. Sorry to get everyones' hopes up. This challenge WILL happen, it's only a matter of time.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Game on, tonight. Stay tuned for details and results.

Funny on so many levels

Better late than never

A while back I was having trouble grasping an important part of legal writing. I wasn't sure what it was, only that I wasn't getting it. For some reason, I think I have finally gotten it. I have been rewriting parts of a memo from last year to use as a writing sample and I am reading it thinking, "what was I doing!?" I can see where I was making mistakes, and Prof.'s comments make sense to me. Sections that I thought were important are quite UNimportant and the overall structure is so much more logical to me now. I am almost embarrassed I turned this paper in! If I had to do another paper like this one, I'd likely do about 10-15% better, which would put me at a low A.


"Did that blow your mind? Because that...just...happened."

RE - LAX

I've been researching the new LG Voyager lately. It's similar to the Apple iPhone in that it has a touch screen interface. Apparently, any time a product comes out that in any way resembles any feature of an Apple product, there is mass hysteria that it is a rip-off. The reader comments on the articles I've read sound like this:

• "Looks like a total rip of the iPhone interface down to theft of the icons." As if there's some other intuitive icon for messaging or calendar
  
• "This is ridiculous ... another lame rip off of the iPhone." See below
  
• "All these pretenders to the crown always compare themselves to iPhone. We know who's really the King of the Hill. It begins with 'i' and ends with 'Phone'." Like arguing religion, no way to convince him otherwise
  
• "another phone made to look externally somewhat like Apple's iPhone is free marketing for Apple. Why buy a fake when you can buy the real deal?" I guess only the iPhone can exist in the multimedia phone market
  

Do all Apple fanatics have a superiority complex? Being the "first" to release something doesn't mean that everything else is a rip-off. Is a Camry a rip-off of an Accord? Is a Sony TV a rip-off of a Magnavox? I get the feeling that these Apple freaks are scared that their toys won't be the coolest thing around. The "hip" non-mainstream/non-conformist fanbase that is Apple, has become the conformist crowd, "MUST GET IPOD...MUST USE ITUNES..." Believe it or not, there are a lot of MP3 players that are just as good, if not better, than the iPod. This new phone looks cool and it's on my network, maybe the iPhone is "cooler," but for the love of all things holy, can the Apple fanbase just RELAX and accept the fact that their toys are NOT the end-all, be-all pinnacle of all human technology? It's not like LG said, "Hey, the iPhone just came out, let's make our own version!" This phone has been in development for a LONG time, if it had been released before July then, using the Apple fanbase logic, the iPhone would be copying the Voyager (I have a feeling that they'd still say it copied the iPhone even if it was released earlier).

Gist of my rant: A lot of Apple stuff is cool, some features and aspects are/were innovative; BUT, don't act like it's the greatest stuff in the world and everything else just aspires to be like Apple.

A N G R Y

8 Simple Rules on Being a Fan

Recently I went with some friends to see the local baseball team play. While we were sitting around having burgers and beer, I started talking with Keith about being a "fan." Before I get into the rules we discussed, it's important that I clarify some terms. Being a fan is different from simply rooting for a team. There are other NBA teams that I root for, but I don't ever claim to be a fan. As a fan, you can publicly mourn/cheer/complain about the team's performance; this is prohibited unless you can meet the following criteria:

1. You were born in the state/city/immediate regional locality of the team (i.e., those born in northern Kentucky can be fans of the Bengals and those born in Delaware can be fans of the '76ers or the Nets.)
2. You have lived in the state/city/immediate regional locality of the team for at least 6 years
3. If you jump on a team's bandwagon, you must stay on the bandwagon for at least 6 years or 2 consecutive losing seasons before claiming "fan" status.
   
4. If your team just won a championship, there will be no complaining about their performance for 2 full seasons.
5. As a fan, you must be able to name no less than 2/3 of the team on sight, or know the team's record, position in the standings, upcoming schedule and how many games ahead/back they are.
6. As a fan, you cannot be neutral towards the team's biggest rival. (i.e., as a Cubs fan you cannot be neutral towards the White Sox, or, as a Lakers fan, you cannot be neutral towards the Celtics). You must hate them.
   
7. Even if you meet #1-3, you cannot simply "remember" that you're a fan once the playoffs come around. Fans give their support throughout the season. Especially if attempting to establish status under #3.
   
8. Once fan status is established, that does not immediately give one "expert" status. (i.e., you do not suddenly become an expert on the dangers of a weak side corner blitz in 3rd and long situations, and you do not immediately get to question coaching moves. These things take time, usually around 10 years, to develop)

Brief examples:
1) You moved to Boston from Seattle to go to grad school. You do not get to become a fan of any Boston team unless you live there for 6 consecutive years or you stay with the team through 2 straight losing seasons.
2) You're from Phoenix but you don't watch any of the Suns' games until the playoffs, and you can't name anyone other than Steve Nash and Amare Stoudamire. Not a fan.
3) You were born in Chicago but have only followed the Bears for the last 3 seasons. This does not entitle you to pontificate on the the best lineup/coaching strategy for this Sunday's game.
4) You are from Salt Lake City and followed the Jazz during the Finals in '97 and '98 but haven't paid much attention since. You are not allowed to pretend to be some superfan once they reach the conference finals.

I hope this clears some things up. If you'd like me to analyze a potential violation, please email me or post it here. Or, if you feel these rules are inaccurate or lacking, please feel free to send your comments into the trash, because that's where I'll put them.

It's October

It should NOT be this warm:

Dear CBS News...

...hire a new proofreader
[link]

If only it were that easy

It's not an "interest," it's a lifestyle.

NOT a daycare

Why is there a screaming baby outside the classroom in the common area? This is wrong on at least 2 levels.

[update: Writing/ADR Prof was holding the screaming child 15 feet from our door, thanks a bunch!]

Dear Andy Reid

You got sacked about 130 times last night and your running back was averaging 6 yards per carry, why did he only get 17 attempts? I sense your job will be on the line very soon, perhaps throwing the ball 50 times a game isn't the best strategy anymore.

Tickets to Elysium

text message from Dad:

just bought 4 tickets to Jazz v Hornets Nov 23

Start the countdown...

Bill Simmons agrees with me

Bill Simmons also thinks Andrei for Marion is a good idea.

Really, the only logical move for the Suns is Kirilenko. He solves their chemistry issues, replaces Marion's rebounding/shot-blocking/defense and gives them a ton of flexibility with lineups.

Color me surprised

I'm willing to bet that more than half of the students here are liberal, which is fine. But even in Constitutional Law, when talking about abortion and freedom of speech, the only ones speaking out are conservatives (one in particular really, but he knows his stuff and isn't an idiot). I would have expected a burning at the stake if anyone mentioned that talking about abortion should be controlled...

Classic...

I do NOT regret this decision

Westbrook scores on a 25-yd touchdown run on the Eagles' first drive. I went with my gut and it has already paid off.

[update: he just scored another touchdown!]
[update2: another TD for Westbrook]

Low Point

I have almost no confidence in my fantasy team this week. I have 3 minutes to decide if I want to start Maroney over Westbrook, this would be easy if Westbrook was 100% and had a full week of practice. I also benched Cotchery at the last minute because of his shoulder and because Pennington is playing hurt. And just for good measure, LJ is playing against the Minnesota defense and he hasn't done jack squat this year.

Decisions, decisions...

An open letter

Dear Andrei Kirilenko:

As a Salt Lake native and die-hard Jazz fan, let me first tell you that I have really enjoyed watching you play over the last 4 seasons. I realize you've been in the league for 5 seasons, but your injuries and your disappearance last year make it seem like it's only been 4. You have an incredible knack for finding the ball and making big defensive plays. You also have a knack for taking ill-advised shots, letting players beat you off the dribble with the hopes of blocking the shot from the backside, dribbling too much, driving into traffic with nowhere to go, and just generally disrupting the team's offense.

You were "the man" on the '03-'04 squad that managed to win 42 games and you thought that you deserved Pau Gasol type money. Larry Miller eventually agreed and you got a max contract, so what happened next season? You only played in half the games and the Jazz struggled to 26 wins. The next season, despite playing 5 more minutes per game, your shooting percentage went down, followed by your free throw percentage, blocks, and points while your turnovers went up. That squad won 41 games while you sat out 13 games.

Which brings us to this last season. Your minutes fell from 38 to 29, a significant but not life-altering amount. The Jazz finally got to realize their investment in Carlos Boozer and discovered that he was much more reliable as an offensive player, which cost you shots (falling from 10 to 6). How did you react? You withdrew and played with lackluster effort. Quite a change from "the man" we saw on the 2004 team.

This all culminated with your infamous crying episode during the Houston series, which was an embarrassing series for a player with your skill (5 ppg, 3 rpg, and 57% ft). You seemed to regain much of your form during the series against Golden State, and all of us thought we had our man back. Of course it was too little too late as your roller-coaster off season ended in a trough. In 17 playoff games you averaged 9.6 ppg and 5.2 rpg, not any better than Matt Harpring (9.3 and 4.8) who played 6 less minutes per game than you.

My point is this: if anyone should be complaining, it is us, the fans. You negotiated a max contract and you have not lived up to the expectations of such a hefty salary. Blaming your performance on minutes played is a loser's argument, if your play was worthy of your contract you would have had more minutes to play. If this frustration hadn't gotten the best of you, you might have taken fewer bad shots or not driven wildly to the hoop in search of a foul. The millions that the Jazz have spent on you over the last 2 seasons could have gone towards players who weren't concerned about their minutes.

I will cherish many memories of you in the Delta Center, especially the first 4 games of the '04-'05 season when you averaged 17.5 points and 6.5 blocks, I was at 2 of those games and I won't forget them. I wish you well in your future basketball endeavors (except against the Jazz) and I hope that you don't carry the same sense of entitlement wherever you go and won't shrug your shoulders when people ask what's happened to your game. It vanished when you started caring more about your role than your team.

sincerely,
Me

Marriage, what a crock...

After today, I don't know if I ever want to get married. I have seen WAY too many people's marriages fall apart after only a couple years, including some family members. We all have this idealistic view of the perfect spouse and the perfect life, but that is a giant pile of shit. The truth is that you'll probably only get married because you want to feel loved and you'll be worried that this is your best chance of a happy life. You'll resent your spouse because they aren't the perfect person you want them to be, they'll resent you for not understanding/not loving them/not being perfect yourself. You'll trudge through years of marriage, and probably some kids, then after 4 or 5 years you'll realize it was a huge mistake and you'll want out.

"It all seems so perfect. You've dated for months or even years. You've shared both the good times and the bad times. You've endured commitment. You love each other unconditionally. Marriage seems like the only logical next step right? After all, it was meant to be...

The next thing you know, you're a bitter, romantically deprived, sexless, emotional disaster. That ring on your finger feels like a garrote around your neck. You feel as though you've been herded into mental slavery. You think back to your wedding day and that walk down the isle doesn't seem so pristine anymore. In fact, it feels as though that walk was like that of a deathrow inmate on his way down the prison corridor for the last time. That's right. Your married and half the time you're wishing you were dead , the other half wishing it was your spouse. What happened to all the rhetoric about the everlasting bond and life-long joy of married life?

The greatest myth ever to deceive humanity is the myth of marriage. We've all been duped into believing that marriage is the end-all remedy to our loneliness; that tying the knot is a mandatory function we all must seek during our brief tenure on earth. Wake up people! It's time to face the chilling reality. Marriage isn't a cure for our want of companionship, it's the disease of imprisonment. You'll be pleading to be euthanized in no time at all as millions upon millions have already found out. Look at the marriage world around you. Divorce is at an all-time high and while the "experts" toil over the tedious statistics, trying to psycho-analyze and negotiate a solution to the crisis, those of us who've been to hell and back are frantically trying to warn the oh-so-envied singles of the impending doom that awaits them if they elect to tie the noose...er, the knot." (link)

"Marriage is like putting your hand into a bag of snakes in the hope of pulling out an eel."
Leonardo Di Vinci

This is a little shocking...

Does anyone else think 34% is way too high? He's coming to NY to speak to the UN, I am immediately reminded of a West Wing episode, Posse Comitatus.

Things I do during class

Play chess (and win):


and read up on the Jazz

Reinforcing the title of my blog

I was debating whether or not to start Chris Brown in my fantasy league yesterday. There are 2 slots and Westbrook was an easy choice, but the second slot had Larry Johnson in it. About 10 minutes before the Titans/Colts kickoff, ESPN informed me that 2 starting linebackers were out for Indy, add that to the stellar performance by Brown last week (175 yards) and the fact that Johnson was facing the Bears defense, and I HAD to start Brown. What did he give me? 4.6 points. For those of you who don't speak fantasy language, this is really, really bad. Like, pathetic. Like, I should apologize to all the other team owners in my league for giving fantasy owners a bad name.

[Johnson would have given me 11.7 in a fairly craptacular performance, and 2:09 into the second quarter tonight, Westbrook has given me 7.8]
[update: Westbrook pulled through for me and scored just enough points to send me to victory in week 2. I won by one point.]

Cases like this...

...bug the crap out of me:

NY Times Co. v United States 403 U.S. 713 (1971).

• Black, with whom Douglas joins, concurring
• Douglas, with whom Black joins, concurring
• Brennan, concurring
• Stewart, with whom White joins, concurring
• White, with whom Stewart joins, concurring
• Marshall, concurring
• Burger, dissenting
• Harlan, with whom Chief Justice and Blackmun join, dissenting
• Blackmun, dissenting

I really hope Prof doesn't start getting into, "now what would White say about that?"

TGIF

My brain has officially shut off. I'm in Con Law and we're discussing freedom of speech, but all I can think about is how comfortable my socks are.

Corn Joke

One night, a trader gets home from work, late as usual. As he’s getting undressed in the bedroom, for some reason he is overcome by curiosity and decides to go snooping in his wife’s dresser. In the very first drawer he opens, he discovers something truly strange: $12 in cash and three loose kernels of corn.

Downstairs, he admits to his wife that he went snooping.

“Oh, so you found it,” she says.

“Yes,” he says, “but what is it?”

The husband and wife have not been close for years, and now the wife admits that she has had affairs, and that in remembrance of each affair, she stashed a kernel of corn in her drawer. The husband is taken aback, but also relieved. He, too, has had affairs — and so he says, quite slickly: “Well, look, I’m willing to forget about all this if you are.” After all, he has had far more than three lovers on the side.

“Fine,” she says.

There is an awkward silence. Then he asks: “But what about the $12 in the drawer along with the corn?”

“Oh, that,” she says. “When corn hit $4 a bushel a month ago, I decided to cash in.”

(HT: Freakonomics)

Sound Familiar?

Yoda, from Star Wars Episode I:

Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering.

Justice Brandeis, Whitney v California 274 US 357, 375 (1927):

Fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government.

Ozzie Would be Proud

May, 2008

Can you spell hypocrite?

The NFL has been running a commercial featuring Shawne Merriman running around hitting guys and generally being destructive. Why is this hypocritical? Merriman was suspended for 4 games last year for...wait for it...violating the league's steroids and related substances policy. I understand that he's "done his time," so to speak, but this guy shouldn't be promoted as a role model. I think he's awesome as a football player, but why couldn't the NFL promote someone who HASN'T been busted for 'roids? Like, maybe, Zach Thomas or DeMeco Ryans?

[Update: I've seen this commercial about 5 more times since Sunday and the first half (the half with Shawne) is missing, it's only the second half with Stephen Jackson running around and through people]

Follow Up

Now that I've had a good night's sleep and talked with the roomie, let me follow up to yesterday's post:

Roomie feels almost exactly the same way about parties like that and about the forced and contrived conversations. He gets through it, though, by getting drunk and using the social lubricant to feel comfortable. I can't do this when there's only beer around; I find beer to be mostly repulsive, except in small amounts and only right out of the bottle.

It feels better that Roomie feels the same way about those people, that they aren't really relied upon in social situations as friends, but acquaintances who we see often. And I don't want anyone to get the impression that I think less of these people, I'm sure a lot of them were raised (so to speak) on that kind of partying, so I don't hold that against them.

All in all, it appears to have been a one-night "cool kids" rejection thing that I am 97% over at this point.

Revelations

I don't know if it's because I got into the game too late or if it's fallout from the really awesome rumor that my ex started about me after we broke up, but for some reason the "cool" kids still can't seem to accept me. I figure this is for 1 of several reasons, or a combination:

1. Possible lingering (false) rumor about my sexual orientation
2. I don't drink beer until I pass out
3. I don't have a hot bod
4. I'm not one of the "smart kids" (i.e. top 25%/law review)
5. I'm not wild and crazy
6. I'm not an asshole

I just got back from a party where I could literally stand in the same spot for 15 minutes and nobody would say more than, "hi," to me. I tried to be sociable, I walked around and chatted with people, but once they see that other person that's really cool, the convo ends. I'm like the guy who knows a lot of people but isn't really friends with anyone. Clearly there are exceptions to this and they have set themselves apart from the rest, but, as stated in previous posts, I need more guy friends. This is also for several reasons, one of which is, again, that really cool rumor from spring semester, the other is that I would like to be able to talk to other guys about guy stuff, i.e., girls, sports, girls, douchebags from class, and girls. Guys' minds work much different from girls' and I need more of that kind of stimulation. There are some guys that I hang out with occasionally but it's always through my roommate and it's clear that I am the "tag-along." My roommate is my closest friend here and we get along great and he likes to hang out with me, so when he's going out I get invited to go out with the guys who seem to have already passed on anointing me as a "cool" kid.

I'd like to have more friends in general and more guy friends specifically. I'd like if just once, someone would say, "hey, where's _________ ?" And hope that I showed up. I'd like if any of those people (who seem to be good people with high school clique mentalities) would take a step back from their beer pong and flirting and take a look at the big picture.

I don't want to sound desperate to join the "cool" kids. I just want to feel like an equal, rather than the guy who sometimes comes out and sometimes is fun but we really don't talk to him that much. I'd really like to leave this place with better memories than sitting by myself for 15 minutes before anyone even noticed I was there; why was I sitting there all by myself? Because every conversation I try to join feels so forced and contrived that it's painful. But again, I imagine that the people who read this are NOT the ones I'm talking about, the people who read this are real friends who understand me and DO call me to hang out. There doesn't seem to be a happy medium anywhere; I enjoy hanging with my friends, but it never feels complete, like someone is missing. I'm sure there's a part of me that is only concerned about not looking like the gay friend (again, enhanced by the really classy rumor), but if I'm with my friends I shouldn't care, right? Cripes, what a night...

Gee...ya think?

Thanks CNN

Nerd Overload

For some strange reason tonight, after doing my Constitutional Law reading, I felt inspired to watch a particular episode of The West Wing. This episode, "The Supremes," deals with the appointment of Supreme Court justices. In order for the White House to nominate who they really want they have to agree to also nominate who the Republicans want, as there are 2 seats open. Obviously these 2 candidates are as far apart politically as 2 people can get, one is a liberal woman who has actually had an abortion and the other is a conservative man who basically calls liberalism "the new socialism." Yet they get along like 2 fans of opposing teams, chiding each other and "arguing" as if debating who to draft with the 7th pick in a fantasy football league. Here's why I am blogging this at midnight: as they were discussing, I was understanding. They talked about the Commerce Clause, Lopez, Casey, suspect classes, substantive due process, the 14th Amendment, affirmative action, and DOMA. As often as I joke about blocking out the last year to save my sanity, one would think that I am not learning much. Clearly that is inaccurate.

This just in...

Apparently the Red Sox' pitching is on CNN's breaking news priority list...

Finally...

A select few of you knew this story was coming, so here it is:

I recently drove almost 1500 miles to come back to school. Along the way I stopped in a tiny town in Iowa. I had to stop for gas but figured I'd grab a little grub while I was there since it was around 6:30 pm. I walked in and immediately started looking for something to eat, although at this point I was craving something WITHOUT high-fructose corn syrup. Before I decided on something I realized that I REALLY needed to use the little boys' room. I found it around the corner and had to force the door open because it weighed 200 lbs. It was then I felt like I walked into a Tarantino movie. As I walked in I noticed that the fluorescent light above the sink was flickering, adding an ominous glow to the semi-dark room. Above me, through the cheap, treble-enhanced speakers, "Willy and the Hand Jive" was playing (if you don't know this song, look it up, it makes the whole story better). I made my way past 2 non-functioning stalls to a questionable urinal. Then, as if directed by Tarantino himself, the door swung open with a loud creak. A generally unsavory character came in and, in my mind, queued by the music, he looked me up and down and cracked a smile while my palms started to sweat and I began shaking with fear and started searching for my happy place. (OK, that last part was all in my head). But he came in as I finished up so I made my way to the sink, which, not surprisingly, didn't work. I used sink #2, washed my hands, took one last look at the movie set I just walked in on and made my way back through the 200 lb door. But wait, there's more. I still have a craving to address so I ask the cashier lady if they have any fruit. Her response, "not fresh." Remember that this is a truck stop. My immediate response, again, in my head, is "well, how old? Like 2 days?" Of course I don't say this and the mere thought of 2-day old truck stop fruit is enough to make anyone spew. Cashier lady leads me to an aisle with, duh, fruit cups. I sigh with relief, grab some peaches and a diet pepsi and get out of there ASAP. The End.

New Addition to Webster's

ad nau·se·am, adv: 1. Latin term used to describe something that has been continuing "to the point of nausea." 2. To a disgusting or ridiculous degree. 3. Discussion of Michael Vick during tonight's Monday Night Football game.

Vindication

Finally...

The former head of the NBA referees union and a league official for 26 years, Mike Mathis:

Remember when Jordan hit that winning shot? I'm going to give you exactly what the commentators said: 'What a great move by Michael.' Was that a great move or was that an offensive foul? There was no question it was a push-off. No buts about it. The only buts you can have is, 'Well, it was Michael Jordan.' That was a defining moment.

This was in reference to Jordan's game winning shot in game 6 of the 1998 finals. My soul was crushed that day.

This is too much...

OK, this is verbatim, 100% from the complaint itself and I am not making this up:

Jonathan Lee Riches A/K/A
"secured party,"
Plaintiff

v

Barry Bonds;
Alan H. "Bud" Selig;
Hank Aaron's Bat
Defendants

Complaint

"Fraud Against Mankind"
"Batman and Identity Robbin"

This is a complaint under Bivens, civil rights violations by the Constitution and the laws of the United States; and Federal tort claims inflicted by that include, but not limited to; Bat assault, HGH violations, Treason, Major Fraud, Skimming the books, illegal moonshine, Terrorism, social security Fraud, Treason, stalking, Identity theft, copyright Infringement, false information, Illegal electronics wiretapping, Bad Debt.

Comes now the Plaintiff Jonathan Lee Riches A/K/A "Secured Party" D/B/A "The White Suge Knight," in Pro-Se, moves this Honorable Court to issue an order for all DEFENDANT'S named in this suit to give a response. Plaintiff requests a Jury trial.

I am not going to type the rest because it's just too much work, but here are the rest of the high points:

• Requests injunction against defendants and their pets
• Claims his federal, state, local, and underground constitutional rights are being violated
• Requests $42,000,000 in Swiss Francs (certified money order) to be deposited into a lock-box in Des Moines
• His claims are
• Selig gave Bonds steroids at booth #11 at the Steak and Shake in I-70 and Robert Novak and Judith Miller have the transcripts
• Bonds uses Aaron's corked bat during games because it has secret compartments for the HGH
• Bonds was responsible for getting him federally indicted in Houston for attempting to expose Selig's steroid/cocaine abuse
• Bonds bench-pressed him to show off for his ballpark buddies
• Selig sold steroids to nuns
• (this is my fav) Bonds used Aaron's bat to crack the Liberty Bell
• Bonds stole his identity, got a mortgage from lendingtree.com, then burned the house down and took the insurance money
• Plaintiff won Aaron's bat at an auction at Sotheby's. Bonds sent hitmen to his house to get it and stole things from the "refrig." (attached exhibit has a list of food items)
• Bond's has a gambling debt with the Gambino's and fixed games 5, 6, and 7 of the World Series
• Bonds sold mustard gas to Saddam Hussein

In case you're wondering, this IS the same guy suing Mike Vick for stealing his pit-bulls, selling them on Ebay and using the money to buy missiles from Iran. He is suing Vick for $63,000,000,000 (that Billion, with a B).

I would LOVE to see this go to trial, "Mr. Bonds, isn't it true that you stole a ham sandwich from my fridge and then sold mustard gas to Saddam Hussein?" This is the kind of guy that would question himself on the stand.

Headline we will soon see...

DEMOCRATS BLAME BUSH ADMINISTRATION FOR FALL OF ROMAN EMPIRE, KENNEDY ASSASSINATION, STONEHENGE, AND BATTLEFIELD EARTH

Say what?

Each of the following 2 phrases/reactions have been offered to me TWICE in the last week:

• "Are you taller?"
• "Really?" (in response to me giving them my weight, as in "you don't look it"...in a good way)

I is forgetting

I found an Econ paper I wrote in undergrad and I have no idea what it means:

Whenever the demand curves are linear the output changes in both markets are equal but in opposite directions, so the actual output doesn't change (Viscusi 288). The loss is attributed to the reallocation from those who put a high value on the product to those who put a low value on the product.

When examining case law, there are two categories of violation, primary and secondary line discrimination. The first is when a firm prices to lessen competition by harming its rivals. Secondary line is accomplished by injuring competition in the buyers' market. The two cases to be examined are Utah Pie, (386 U.S. 685) for the primary line and Morton Salt, (334 U.S. 37) for secondary line.

Maybe it's because it's late and my brain is already in stand-by mode, but I wish I could re-write this paper with my newly acquired legal brain.

I shouldn't have to tell you

but it's not wise to accept the word of a politician (especially one running for office) as fact.

Words Cannot Describe...

...how excited I get for football. I seriously can't wait any longer, my head might explode. This is the WORST time of year because training camps have started (but no real games), fantasy football is being coordinated (but I can only look at the rankings so many times), there's no NBA, and baseball has lost a lot of excitement (aside from Barry's HR tonight). We are SO close, SO SO close...

here are some videos to help you understand why I am excited:



Just LISTENING to this gives me chills:






And just for good measure:



This is why fall is the best season of all. But if I had to list the ONE thing that sends chills down my spine every time, it would be the Monday Night Football song by Hank Williams, Jr. When he starts saying, "c'mon get ready...I MEAN get ready..." I start thinking, "I'M READY, I'M READY!!" "ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!?" Ahhhhhhhhhh, and my day is complete.

Step 1:

In order to prepare for my impending hot wing challenge, I went to Winger's tonight and had a dozen wings with their "Too-Hot-to-Handle" sauce. The sauce itself was pretty weak...DELICIOUS, but weak, so I had to supplement it with some DAVE'S INSANITY SAUCE. This sauce rates a 51,000 on the scoville scale. That sounds like a lot until you realize that the sauce I will be experiencing rates between 200,000-350,000 (depending on the season). Additionally, it appears that my biggest hurdle will actually be the time limit. 12 wings in under 6 minutes is harder than it sounds, ESPECIALLY when your brain is telling you, in a not so subtle way, that any minute steam will be coming out of your ears. I need to get my eat time down to 5:30, then I need to up the sauce temperature. GAME ON!

No more whining

For all of those who bitch and moan about the President wanting to spy on citizens and generally be a dictator, let me remind you that the DEMOCRATIC Congress just passed a bill that expanded electronic surveillance. Granted they have only a slight margin, but the bill passed by MUCH more than a slight margin, 60-28 and 227-183. So it's not like a couple Dems decided to cross the aisle, turns out it was more than a couple. Maybe we ought to start paying a little closer attention to Congress than the Pres right now; after all, he can't pass legislation all by himself.

I CAN SEE!!

I had my LASIK today, here's the video. The first one is when the laser creates a whole bunch of tiny bubbles that separates the tissue and essentially creates the flap. Video #2 is the actual lasik procedure, kinda gross, but not bad. It was all totally painless. Now I have to spend the next month dumping gallons of chemicals in my eyes.
(check out the 2:42 mark in the first vid)





Cool, huh?

I like Jazz

So the Jazz just signed Ronnie Price. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ronnie Price, the Jazz, or the West Wing, let me clear this up...

THIS is Ronnie Price:

Yes, that is Ronnie posterizing my boy Carlos Boozer. (For the record, the Jazz won that game, went to the playoffs and made it to the conference finals, the same cannot be said for the Kings). This is the guy the Jazz just signed. This is akin to the episode where Sam gets PWNT by Ainsley then they hire her afterwards. If I were in the Jazz locker room, I would be teasing Booz relentlessly. Until, of course, Boozer stood next to me (he's 9 inches taller than me) and subsequently snapped my neck like a pretzel.

I love true office confessions

I found this site on Monday and I love it. When I checked today I saw this one:

These get posted throughout the day but not immediately after they're submitted. So the next one could not have been a response even though it is the NEXT comment:

Priceless...

What will they think of next?

Advertising on the yellow lines between parking spaces...

I saw this at Carl's* and thought it was just at Carl's. I was wrong:

Someone is making a lot of money off of this and they're laughing all the way to the bank.

*I had the pineapple teriyaki burger. VERY good, although I HATE the stupid radio commercials

I loves me some Homer

thanks to Jake at work for this

I have been inspired

My dad loves the Food Network (and let's be serious, who doesn't?). Last week we were watching the top 10 best places to pig out* and they featured a buffalo wing joint with a hot wing challenge. It made me crave hot wings, BADLY. This isn't a typical 30-wings in 30 minutes type challenge, this is a HOT wing challenge. "Finish six Wingers drenched in 911 sauce in five minutes without quenching your thirst or eating other food." Then today I found this and now I must try it. I am going to challenge Jordan, Cox, Janitor, and, well, anyone else who'll get in the ring. GAME ON! Check back in 3 1/2 weeks to see the results.

*apparantly it was on the Travel Channel, although I don't think I've ever watched the Travel Channel

4-eyes no more

I'm getting LASIK sugery in approximately 72 hours. I know I'll look different without my glasses but the benefits FAR outweigh the drawbacks.

benefits:

• I can actually see
• My head won't ache from wearing my glasses
• No squinting at the computer screen
• No worrying about where to put them when engaged in a marathon make-out session (or similar scenario)
• No jamming my finger into my glasses because I forgot they're on and needed to rub my eye
• I can wear my sunglasses and not lose my eyesight at the same time

drawbacks:

• $4000
• Don't look as smart or sophisticated

Yeah, this is a no-brainer

Very proud of this one

I was white and pretty much kicked his trash in the corner, even though my king is out in the open and naked as the day he was born. It was only about 12 or 13 moves too (I think).

After 2 minutes of the Youtube dem. debate

I have 1 question: Why do Democrats hate rich people so much? I heard more than 1 candidate talk about how they're going to raise taxes for the top 1%. That's awesome, let's simply tax them because they can afford it, wonderful logic there. Forget about the fact that the top 1% of wage earners already pay more than a THIRD of all federal income tax. I suppose they just want to tax the top 1% until they're not in the top 1% anymore. Let's tax people for being successful, bravo idiots.

Attention Whore

hat tip: You Been Blinded


OK, ump, we get it, you're the big man in charge.

W - O - W

Here we go...

This is bad bad bad bad bad. More to come later...

Am I being punished?

So this lady I've never seen comes over to my area and asks me, "Is this your cubicle?" My first thought was, "No, I live down the street, I just wanted to use the internet." Of course I didn't SAY that and responded with a confused affirmative. She asks me if there's anything in my metal cabinet that is attached to the wall, to which I repond, "just some papers." She nods and leaves.

Thirty seconds later a bald guy with a goatee and a dirty Cardinals jersey comes over and starts disassembling my cabinet, reaches underneath and takes the whole thing off. Previous lady comes over and unplugs the light that attached underneath and takes it. My only reaction is a stunned, "huh?" look. So just like that my cubicle has been pillaged and I'm left with no place to store my porno mags and boxes of Snickers.

Can I change my major?

I always wonder what will be the next big thing. In the past 10 years or so we've seen Google, Youtube, Myspace, Amazon, Facebook, Yahoo!, and the like, spring up out of pretty much nowhere. What's more is that these projects are now worth billions of dollars. I often think to myself, "maybe I'll have that one idea that leads to something as big as Youtube, sell it (or not), and be worth a hundred million dollars. But all the cool ideas have already been thought of." This reasoning is, of course, flawed. Look at the beginnings of each of my examples:

Google: "Google was co-founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin while they were students at Stanford University." (emphasis added). Value: $160+ billion.

Youtube: "YouTube was founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, who were all early employees of PayPal." Three guys all under 30. Sold for $1.65 billion.

Myspace: This story is a little different since it was a corporate side-project to begin with, but its rise to the top of the internet is no less impressive. Sold for $580 million.

Facebook: "Harvard University and Phillips Exeter Academy graduate Mark Zuckerberg [who just turned 23] founded 'The Facebook' in February 2004 with support from Andrew McCollum and Eduardo Saverin" (both later returned to Harvard). Value: between $2 and $8 billion.

Yahoo!: "Founded by Stanford University graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo." Value: $35 billion.

Amazon: Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1995 after quitting a lucrative job at a NYC investment firm. He just wanted to sell books online and now he's worth $4.4 billion. Amazon reported annual sales of $10.7 billion in 2006.

Almost all of these sites (now companies) were started by non-professionals with very little financial backing. They had a good idea that they were committed to and can now spend their summers golfing in Hawaii or cruising the autobahn. Obviously this list is limited to INTERNET success, but lately that's where all the money's been.

Google really is quite mind-boggling. 2 guys who just wanted to see if their hypothesis about search results was correct, basically changed the entire internet. "Google" is now in the dictionary as a verb. Page and Brin are now worth $14 billion a piece. I can't even fathom this, it's like saying they're worth a gagillion dollars. 14 billion is 14,000 million, they could each give $700,000 dollars to everyone who went to the last Jazz game in Salt Lake and STILL have $63 million left over.

I should have gone into computer programming...