Idol chatter...

I don't have a lot worth talking about right now, so I'll prattle on for a minute about American Idol just to keep the diatribe going. My first introduction to American Idol was during the first season. I used to watch it over at Wendy, April, and Pam's place. I watched more for the car accident factor than anything else...

I have always claimed to be a people watcher. Some of the most interesting people to watch are not the talented or beautiful people. People with talent like dancers, musician, and singers are a pleasure to enjoy, but not as fascinating. Therefore I have always found the first rounds of American Idol to be the best...

For those of you not familiar with the show, I will explain briefly. 3 judges go around the country holding singing auditions. They then invite about 4 dozen of the best to Hollywood and send half of them home the following week. The remaining 24 are voted off in 1s and 2s every week by telephone voting open to the public...

This week will be the last week that I really watch until the end. Once they get down to the last dozen they all have a fair amount of talent but aren't good enough to blow me away and aren't bad enough to have car wreck value...

Still trying to pull things together for a Spring Break in Amsterdam...

Hofstra basketball lost to UNC Willmington in the CAA championship game tonight. This means our current record is 24-6 and we have an RPI ranking of 25. Given all of this we will have to wait till this weekend to see if it earns us an at large bid to the big dance...

Spring Fling is later this week...

Just Another Manic Monday...

listening to my 80's playlist on iTunes while writing this hence the title
It has been another busy Monday. I feel like a cat trying to bury shit on a cement sidewalk. There is no rest for the wicked and the righteous don't need any. If that's the case I must be wicked because I am getting no rest and I sure could use some...

But I'm getting sidetracked back to an old post. This past week has been a decent one. The semester is finally starting to get into full swing, mainly thanks to the Criminal Justice Clinic. Today we had arraignments again at the Queens County Courthouse. One of the best things I get out of doing arraignments is getting to interact with other practicing lawyers...

Some cases are easier than others. One client that I have, has been with the clinic for about 3-4 years and will likely be with us after I leave. Some people live for the fight. Then there are cases like today where I had to convince my client to plead guilty. He was concerned about getting a violation (lower than a misdemeanor) added to his long list of felony convictions...

The DA was offering to accept "time served" in exchange for a guilty plea and was willing to consent to ROR (Released on Own Recognizance) if he wanted to fight the charge. If found guilty though he could face up to 10 days in jail and $265 in fines and fees. I still had to convince him to follow the one course of action that would ensure he would be released immediately and not have to return to court over the incident...

Also today we initiated new members into Phi Alpha Delta. Being a chapter Marshal I had to be there and played a part in the proceedings. We also have Spring Fling (a semi-formal) coming up in about a week and a half, so preparations and ticket sales have begun. So when all was said and done it was a long day...

The next 2 weeks are jam packed for me. I have court dates, client meetings, classes, letters to write, and Spring Fling ticket sales to keep me busy. Probably not much worth writing about on the blog but we'll see...

There was a girl, who I was talking to, that I was thinking about asking to Spring Fling. After paying my tuition this week though I was faced with the harsh reality of a finite bank balance. I certainly have enough to live on for the rest of the school year assuming I can stick to a reasonable budget. But I have no real prospects of income till some time in August...

I didn't get much rest this past weekend either. Sunday I had a meeting with a client and had to get ready for court today. Saturday was not that bad with only a minimal amount of reading. Friday was spent running errands and paying tuition, stuff that I can't get to on class days. I also had to recover from Thursday night...

Thursday night I went to the Hofstra basketball game we were 20-5(good) going into the game and playing against the 25th ranked team. It was fun to get out to a live college basketball game, which I hadn't done in a while. The sounds of the game, the energy of the crowd, and the smell of the student section...

We won the game 77-66, which was our first ever win against a ranked team and gave us a realistic shot at getting an "at large" bid for the NCAA tournament (big dance) even if we don't win the CAA tournament(conference tourney). The arena holds about 5,000 people and the fans rushed the court after the game. I showed self restraint and stayed in the stands and snapped off a picture of the action...

The last time I was at a court-rushing after a game was back at ASU. It was January 23rd, 2002 and we beat the UofA 88-72, the only win in our past 23 games against them. The University Activities Center holds almost 15,000 people and I took part in rushing the court that day. At one point I was actually able to pick myself out of the picture below...


The Hofstra Flying Dutchmen rush the court after a big win...


I'm in that crush somewhere...

Random thoughts and old pics...

Friends for long and long...

I just got emailed a link to some pictures that my good friend Brooke took a while back. Two sets as a matter of fact; one from a party 6 months ago when I got back from Australia and another from a year ago when I went home for winter break after my first semester of law school...

Wendelicious, Brooklyn, Yours Truly, and Pam-Pam...

Catchin’ up with my friend Brooke thanks for the pictures...

A handful of friends showed up to celebrate my return...

Blown up on Myspace...

Getting on Myspace again recently has been kinda cool. I have managed to find some old friends that I have been out of touch with for a while. The internet has truly made it a much smaller world...

Internet social networking has created a new cultural phenomenon "Cyber Drama". In the past week a couple of people I know who shall remain nameless have fallen victim to this insipid evil...

The first unfortunate victim had an innocent message they left for someone misinterpreted. Sadly for them it's not the intent of the message that matters, but the meaning each reader takes from it that counts...

Another misfortunate friend of mine made the mistake of misjudging other peoples’ level of discretion. In any small community everyone knows what everyone else doing. This downtrodden soul’s solution was to commit cyber-hari-kari...

I guess there are a few lessons to be learned here about cyberspace and small communities. First don’t believe everything you read/hear or jump to conclusions. Second be careful of what you do and who you do it with. Lastly always beware of the cyber-stalker...

Can I be real son? Be really real son...

This clip Black Bush is from the Chappelle Show, it makes me laugh...

Dimo's birthday bash in The City...

Празднование дня рождения моего хорошего друга Dmitri

Whoever said women can't be intelligent and beautiful...(Tyng Tsuei, Dmitri Smidovich, Susan Lowe, Tara Dennis, and NAME OMITTED)

...never met the women of Hofstra Law School. (Elene Michaels, Kim Connick, NAME OMITTED again, Amy Scheiner, and Ann Marie Diaz)

The Birthday Boy is having a good time...
("Cali" Mike Castrillo, Dmitri Smidovich, and Will Kang)

Diddy in rare form...
(Brian "B-Diddy" O'Donnell, Cali Mike, Lene, Krissy, and Dave Jensen)

Makin' out in the corner...
(Dimo tries to carry on a conversation while Tara and Ann Marie wrestle behind him and Diddy makes out with Cali Mike in the corner)

Don't let the smooth taste fool you...
(Sue and the Guest of Honor)

Catchin' up with Jess...
(Funny enough she was there the very first time I went into The City)

Dmirti's 26th Birthday Party at 49 Grove St in NYC...

As you may have gathered by now I survived another night of partying in The City. This makes 3 out of the last 4 weekends that I have gone into The City for a friend's birthday. I once again parked at Mineola figuring I'd make it back before the parking meters go back into effect at 6AM. Boy was I wrong on that one...

I caught the 10:11PM LIRR train to Penn Station and hopped the "1" subway line downtown. I made it to the Christopher St/Sheridan Sq subway stop about 11PM and 49 Grove St was literally just around the corner. As I walked up to the club Dimo had just stepped outside to have a smoke, which made it really easy to get in...

I hadn't planned on drinking but birthdays only come once a year, and they had my drink of choice. So a couple handfuls of Patron shots and $100 bar tab later, that plan went out the window. Most of the people who showed up were from Hofstra Law(as the pictures will attest to)...

Law students work hard and party twice as hard. I think in part it's because most of us know we won't have time for it near future. It's good to be able to get out and cut loose, I even got out on the dance floor. Amused by my enthusiasm one sista in tight jeans decided to pop it like its hot. I haven't gotten a treat like that since Fifi back in my ASU days...

I decided early in the night that I was gonna be there to shut the party down. Around 4AM they started to move us along. Determined not to let the revelry end about half a dozen of us decided to head over to Cali Mike's place. In true NYC fashion we stopped at a deli around the corner from his place and picked up delectable grub...

We hung out at Mike's place till well after the sun came up, at which point I decided to head home. Getting home was a breeze thanks to the MTA. The nicest surprise was getting back to my Jeep to find no ticket despite being parked at an expired meter for over 3 1/2 hours. I'll slip in a picture of my Jeep below just for fun...

It is now Sunday and I am just starting to feel fully recovered from the night of debauchery that was Dmitri's birthday bash. Thank goodness it only comes once a year...

I had fun playing in what was left of the snow...

Rules to live by...

In life I have heard a number of maxims by which people live. Some are humorous, but even in the funny ones there is a kernel of truth. Sometimes there are even lessons to be learned...

The “golden rule”, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, is a nice one. It’s pretty general guideline and in most situations it works. A variation on that is “he who has the gold makes the rules”, which is supposed to be funny and has a ring of truth...

One that I really like is about your state of mind when striving to achieve goals. Whether you think you can or you can’t you’re right. It speaks to determination, perseverance, and self confidence. My folks always told me I could do anything I want, so the key is figuring out what I want...

Be careful what you wish for you just might get it. This is kind of a Buddhist thing, it’s about being thankful for what you have. The whole grass is greener on the other side of the fence thing...

Another oft used expression is the “rule of thumb”, which is actually a bad thing. The expression stems from the fact that it used to be acceptable to beat your wife and child as long as the switch you used was not larger around than your thumb...

I have a personal anti-stalking rule regarding phone calls. I won’t call someone more than 3 times without a return phone call. Of course this does not apply to business calls only personal calls. After the 3rd call it's more than just a hint...

One rule that I feel is worthy of living by is Kant’s 2nd moral imperative. Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end.

Of course there are exceptions to every rule and rules were made to be broken...

They're about the same around here...

Before I go to sleep I want to relate a story that was told to me when I was younger. I think the first time I heard it was from my dad. It's a story that's pretty easy to understand...

A farmer was out by the road side working on a piece of equipment one day when a traveling salesman happened by. The salesman stopped to talk to the farmer, after a while the salesman asked how the people are in this town. The farmer replied by asking how were they in the town the salesman just came from. The salesman replied that they were mean, nasty, and generally unpleasant. The farmer said you'll find they're about the same here...

The salesman went on his way, a little later on the farmer saw another salesman coming down the same road on his way from the same town as the first salesman had come from. The conversation which ensued followed pretty much the same direction as the first. In reply to how the people were in the previous town the salesman replied that they were nice, friendly, and fairly pleasant. The farmer said you'll find they're about the same here...

The point(s) of the story is many fold, but I think the main point is that things are what you make of them. Some people might call me a spin doctor but I prefer to look at myself as someone who tries to look on the bright side of life and people...