Brief Travesty

The weather today in D.C. is arguably the nicest it has been in months -- sunny, clear, and around 60 degrees. All that sunshiny spring goodness is just begging for people of sound mind and body to get out for a hike or a bike ride or a stroll along the shore of the Potomac. But the weather is mocking me, because instead of going out and enjoying this first great taste of spring, I'm sitting inside, hunched over this damned machine, in a death match with my final legal writing/moot court competition brief.

Law school, I curse you.

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Posted while listening to: Holdin' On - High On Hope from the album "Tuff Jams - Speed Garage" by Various Artists - Ultra Records

Posted 11:15 AM | Comments (1) | law school

Where Are They Now?

Does anyone know where Liable has gone? She was keeping us delighted and updated on her law school progress last summer and early fall in a fairly regular way, and then just stopped. I've left her on the blogroll in hopes she'd return, but alas, it doesn't seem to be happening. Does anyone know if she's doing ok?

And much more recently, what happened to Sue? Did she take the blog down, or what? I didn't comment too often, but I've been visiting her nearly every day for months now, and my daily surf just isn't the same without her updates about classes, papers, and the follies of her peers.

So Sue or Elle, if you're reading this, I hope you're doing well, and I'd love to hear from you...

It's hard to track the blogs that come and go, such as Think, Inc., which was fun for a short while, and Cicero's Ghost, which I thought was gone, but now seems back? Both are (or were?) part of the Michigan law blogs thing, of which there are a growing number -- a short list is available on the links list over at Letters of Marque, which is a definite must-read (and not just because she recently linked to ai, although what more reason do you need?).

Posted 07:20 AM | Comments (2) | meta-blogging

New Wheels

Everyone's getting new cars these days, it seems. Sherry was looking and looking, looking, and thinking and looking and trying to choose between practicality and seduction, and then she bought and loved. You might sift through the comments to some of those posts if you're shopping for a car -- there's some good advice in there, including a link to the Confessions of a Car Salesman. Gotta know what you're getting into.

I was surprised to see that no one recommended the Prius. (Review, specs.)If that's not a dream car, I don't know what is. Wouldn't you just feel great driving a car like that? And isn't that what cars are for? To make you feel good? But ok, even if cars are for transportation and practicality, what's more practical than 60 mpg and super low emissions? Good for your wallet, good for the planet, just plain good.

But perhaps a good (or any) used Prius is hard to come by. They're still pretty new and there just aren't that many of them around, especially out in the wild wild west, where my sister and mother also just got new cars. Sis got a little red wagon, and mom got a little red toy (the 1999 Import Car of the Year!) Both got great deals on cars I would love to have. I've wanted an Outback since I first saw one; it's the perfect vehicle for throwing your bike in the back and going anywhere. And, of course, who wouldn't want a Beetle? And this one's a diesel, so mom's looking at 40-45 mpg. That's not quite Prius-level and there's still the emissions issue, but it's a definite step in the right direction.

Finally, someone else I know is shopping for a new new car, but she has to buy a GM, and maybe specifically a Chevrolet. So if you were shopping for a new car and you were forced to buy GM, what would you buy? If I could get any GM make, I'd probably look closely at the Saturn ION in rain forest green (roomy, cheap, fairly economical at 26/35 mpg w/manual trans.) . If the choices were limited to Chevrolets, I'd have to go for the 5-door Aveo in spicy orange (small, cheap, but sporty; good economy at 26/34 mpg), or maybe the Venture van (roomy and peppy, although it doesn't get great gas mileage at 19/26 mpg).

Of course, I'm not buying a new car or a new used car, which makes me think of the Dead Milkmen song, "Everybody's Got Nice Stuff But Me" (scroll down a bit):

People in nice cars how'd they get em? I close my eyes try to forget em Went out swimming got hit by a jet-ski Everybody's got nice stuff but me I wanna car I wanna jet-ski

Ok, so it's not true. I have lots of nice stuff, but I'm thinking of the song, anyway. It's a fun song.

And but so: Congratulations to all these new car owners (and the future new car owner). Good luck with those wheels, and may they roll long and trouble-free.

Posted 07:08 AM | Comments (5) | life generally