Friday, April 27, 2007

Giving your all

I’ve been reading up on success strategies for law school in my spare time. The following from Wentworth Miller may not be helpful in a class where your entire grade is based on your performance in ONE anonymous exam, but it is certainly relevant in the rest of the world:

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? Here’s a little math that might prove helpful:

If “A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z” is reprented as “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26”

Then:

HARD WORK (8+1+18_4_23_15_18+11) = 98%
KNOWLEDGE (11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5) = 96%
BULLSHIT (2+21+12+12+19+8+9+2-) = 103% ... which, of course, is literally impossible, as the bullshit artist always fails to deliver.

Further:

ASS KISSING (1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7) = 118%

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Tiptoes in the tulips

Last weekend, we met Ken and Lessli in the northern shopping mall of La Conner. They were supposed to join us on Ken’s purple Harley for a ride through the tulips, but a mountain biking accident forced them to take the Jeep instead. They took the top off out of solidarity, though. (Don’t tell them, but I imagine we were more comfortable bundled up on the bikes, especially with heated clothing.)

After a walk around town and a quick lunch at the patio of the La Conner Tavern, we hopped in the Jeep and drove out to Roozengaarde. It’s a little known fact that even without the seats in the back of a Jeep, you can still buckle the seatbelts adequately. At Roozengaarde, we oohhed and aahhed over the flowers and snapped a few pictures before heading back to La Conner to pick up the bikes.

The tight corners just outside of La Conner made for fun riding.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Now it’s official

It’s not really official until you send in your tuition deposit. This nice postcard arrived in the mail today, declaring that I am officially part of the 2010 class of Seattle University’s School of Law. Wow! Can you believe it? I’m sure the reality of this decision will become crystal clear on June 18th when classes start.

Friday, April 20, 2007

Spring Voodoo

How I start the Ducati Monster:

Push the start button.

How Nick coaxes the Ducati 900 Supersport to life:

Charge battery.
Fill tank with fresh fuel.
Wire brush spark plugs.
Become Catholic.
Confess.
Kneel facing Bologna.
Drink three espressos, heavily sugared.
Say three Hail Marys.
Hold breath.
Hit the start button.
Listen carefully for signs of bogging down or flooding while on the choke.
Switch off choke and finesse the throttle for a minute until it holds a steady idle.
Ride, ride, ride and get seriously depressed when it’s time to stop!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Back from vacation with big news

As my dad pointed recently, my blog has been seriously neglected over the last three weeks. A trip to England and Italy will do that, I suppose!

In the mean time, happy events were transpiring at home that will lead to big life changes for me in the very near future. All things in their time, however. I have a few things to wrap up before I feel comfortable announcing anything here. For those in the know, I will leave you with a hint about my current state of mind:

“There is a certain relief in change even though it be from bad to worse; as I have found in traveling in a stagecoach that it is often a comfort to shift one’s position and be bruised in a new place.”
- Washington Irving