i am, officially, a tool.

i have become a tool of the american consumerist, conformist community. i just bought an iPod [8 GB nano]. it was just too pretty; it made me want it.

sigh.

the draft

so, the fantasy baseball draft is over. we all got up at the crack of dawn and took over a seminar room in the law school, making our picks live over coffee and donuts. it was a good way to go, i think; better than an online draft or even a night time draft, where everybody's really tired and grumpy at the end.

my league has 6 categories for offense and 6 for pitching, though one of the pitching categories is IP, which is combined with a max IP of 1250, meaning that everyone should try to actually hit 1250 so that they can split that category. the other 5 pitching categories are W, S, ERA, WHIP, and K [total, not K/9] - pretty standard. the 6 offense categories are R, RBI, BA, OPS, HR, and SB - so, like pitching, 2 rate stats and 4 absolute.

here's my draft order, with my pick by round and overall, with by position and general notes:
1 (2) Johan Santana (SP) - the pujols of pitching
2 (23) Carlos Guillen (SS) - my most questionable pick; early, injury risk, high OPS
3 (26) Jason Bay (OF) - a solid hitter across the board, even a few SB's
4 (47) B.J. Ryan (RP) - joe nathan, k-rod, and mo rivera were all gone
5 (50) Ben Sheets (SP) - injury risk, but phenomenal pitcher - great K, WHIP
6 (71) Adam Dunn (OF) - perpetual 40-HR hitter; low BA but high OPS
7 (74) Howie Kendrick (2B) - weak last season, but on the verge of greatness
8 (95) Jered Weaver (SP) - amazing last season, great K/WHIP; but how many IP?
9 (98) Todd Helton (1B) - should be .900 OPS, may be even more
10 (119) Chris B. Young (OF) - stud prospect for D-backs; mini-Jason Bay with more SBs
11 (122) Jason Isringhausen (RP) - will still get plenty of S, but peripherals are ??
12 (143) Adam LaRoche (1B) - was last season's .915 OPS a fluke? he's at his peak age.
13 (146) Alex Gordon (3B) - often considered best '07 rookie in MLB; all-around hitter
14 (167) Anthony Reyes (SP) - another young SP who shined last year, with IP questions
15 (170) Russ Martin (C) - solid offensive catcher in a weaker LAD lineup
16 (191) Greg Maddux (SP) - amazing 5th SP; reliable, high IP, low K
17 (194) Brian Giles (OF/BN) - not what he used to be, but a strong 4th OF/trade bait
18 (215) Orlando Hudson (2B/BN) - backup MI; a pure PECOTA-driven pick, good #s
19 (218) B.J. Upton (3B/BN) - he will get playing time, and SB's
20 (239) Kevin Gregg (RP/BN) - unlikely candidate for eventual Marlins closer
21 (242) El Duque (SP/BN) - good WHIP, sporadic ERA/injury history

I am quite happy with this configuration. I admit Guillen is a question mark; I picked him because of the decent shot he has at getting a .900 OPS, because he will likely bat 4th in a potent Detroit Tigers lineup, and because (at the time of the draft) it was a contract year for him. Of course, later on draft day, he signed a 4 year extension, giving him license to slack off as much as he wants. Oh, well, such is life; he still has talent, if he stays healthy and stays motivated. I am psyched about Alex Gordon in the 13th rd; I wanted him (he's one of the reasons I picked Santana and not Alex Rodriguez), and was prepared to pick him 4 or 5 rounds earlier had I thought I might lose him. I also have a good feeling about Ben Sheets; in my preparations for this draft, the very first decision I made was to take him with my 5th pick, which I figured (correctly) would be in the middle of a run on ace SP's, after the more reliable Zambrano, Webb, Halladay, et al. I knew Sheets would fall to the 5th round, and I felt certain that he wouldn't fall further; and I think I was right about that.

fantasy baseball

I have been borderline obsessed with fantasy baseball for the last few days. The only thing that keeps me from blogging about it incessantly is that blogging is a distraction from reading and thinking about it incessantly. Our draft is tomorrow morning, and I still haven't decided what to do with the #2 pick. At first I was thinking of Ryan Howard, which I'm pretty sure would be a bad choice, because by the numbers Alex Rodriguez is superior. I leaned towards Jose Reyes for a while, but if he doesn't crack .350 OBP (which he probably won't), I don't know if I can take him. So now I'm thinking about taking Santana. Good friends of mine, whose opinions I trust, have said Santana. But at #2? Hrm. He rocks 5 of the 6 pitching categories, though...

just sent out the email

i just emailed the YJOLT body asking for interest in being an officer next year. sending it produced a very strong emotional reaction in me. i am pretty sure we're going to have a good crew of officers involved next year, but this organization is something that i've been running pretty hands-on for the last year, and i've put a lot of myself into it. i'll stay involved with the WPS, i'm sure. but still, it's kinda hard for me to think about transferring control. i feel sad and slightly worried - not that the next EIC won't be terrific, but that i've somehow messed things up in a way that hasn't been discovered yet, or that the changes i've made won't work out in the long run. the new website might not work out, the WPS might not get any submissions or might not get any comments, i might not have made the right publication offers at the right times, i might not have done enough recruiting and we might not get enough 1L's next year, etc. all the things that might go wrong... and i won't be there to help fix them... i can't just set it aside and not care any more, that's not who i am...

putting things in perspective

you know, people aren't everything. i'm not some big environmentalist or ASPCA junkie; i'm not cruel or deliberately harmful, but i don't exactly dedicate my life to protecting non-human living organisms. but once in a while, you see something in nature that makes you realize how small a part of the world we people are - whatever we might think. the ocean has always done that to me. my parents live very near the ocean, and i'm always awestruck at its sheer magnificence - in the "size" sense of the word, not so much the greatness, as i tend to avoid both the sun and swimming, and am thus not much of a beachgoer.

as with the ocean, i have often been struck by the beauty and majesty of trees. if you feel any sympathy, or if you just want to see some cool pictures, check out this link, on the ten most magnificent trees in the world.

whew

i just manually removed a 'trojan vundo' virus from my sister's computer. norton can't handle it, and neither can ad-aware, or even my usual advanced set of anti-spyware/anti-virus tools. had to go here:

http://www.aux.uwm.edu/compop/Vundo.php

it took well over an hour. probably would have been 15 minutes had i not tried all of the above options before discovering what exactly it was called and then googled it to find a virus-specific solution.

random thought

thought for the day:

what is the bible? is it history or just story? or perhaps it's His story? how does one's answer to this question shape one's religion, and how does one's religion shape one's answer?

or maybe i should go get another cup of coffee...

[edit: my early morning poignancy surpassed my early morning grammar. evening-time, more lawyer-like chris, less creative but more correct, stepped in to fix things.]

assorted thoughts of the last few days

for the first time in years, i'm starting to feel like i have a long-term career plan, one that i'm happy with. i'll work in my next job for as long as i'm enjoying it, spending some time on the side continuing the legal scholarship i've been doing in law school. and when i get tired of that, i'll go teach at a low-tier law school, continue the research, and try to start a clinic, one focused on writing amicus briefs for domestic appellate cases in technology law. my emphasis is slightly different from the EFF, Public Knowledge, the CDT, and similar groups, so i don't think it would be that redundant; i expect my techniques (which are influenced by my research) will be slightly different as well. anyway, i'm very excited about this. and it might even leave me time, down the road, to create my dream gourmet beer bar.

i've spent a lot of time over the last few days enjoying the warm florida air and reading 'Catch-22', but i've also spent a lot of time cleaning up footnotes for one of my papers (and, as soon as i finish with that, i have to clean up the other one for publication), and proselytizing for my journal. i'd have to say, if i were to rate the level of enjoyment of these activities on a scale of 1 to 10, the first be a 9, the third a 7.5 (yes, that high), and the second somewhere around -40.

why is it that, when i actually feel lonely and want company, i cannot stand to be active on instant messenger? i think it indicates that such forms of communication are, fundamentally, inadequate substitutes for actual human contact. and i think it taps into the ongoing debate concerning the formation of real lives and of virtual lives, and the extent to which it is healthy to develop the latter if it even slightly impacts the former. but that's a conversation for another day... with a human, and not with an unresponsive computer screen...

my new home, as of fall 2007

i just signed a lease on a 2-br/2-ba (w/ a close friend for a roommate) in arlington, VA in the new Quincy Plaza building, by the VA Square orange line metro stop. i'm very, very, very excited. if you look at the floorplans, we're going to be in a '14'. it has amazing appointments (both the building and the apartment), lots of closet space, and an open island kitchen with cabinets suspended from the ceiling for glasses. the space is smaller than either of our current apartments, but we will consciously shed furniture and design for it - i am confident it will work out well.

back from tour

i just returned from an amazing tour with the yale russki xor [pardon my weak transliteration]. 7 concerts in 7 days in the virginia/DC area, all of our concerts ranging in attendance from 75-150. the tour was amazing for two reasons. first, this is perhaps the greatest choir experience i've ever had. it's a small group, we do interesting and varied music (almost never in english), and i have a real, and important, role in this group - i'm the lowest of the low basses, and in a russian choir, that's pretty important. second, i got to bond with a lot of the other choir members, including a few who 2 weeks ago i would not have thought i could bond with. i actually stayed up all night last night hanging out with people - we chatted until the sun rose, and then went for breakfast at 7 when it started, and then i finally slept a couple hours from 8 to 10 am (and a couple more on the afternoon flight). spending a large chunk of time in close proximity with people really brings out who they are, in a way you can't perceive even after a year of occasional interactions.

one more post before break

In half an hour I leave for my extended spring break. Please leave lots of amusing off-color comments to delight me upon my return.

In the meantime, check out the following. This is a report on a high-class speed dating event in New York City. The rules? Men who wished to participate needed to make at least $500,000 per year in income. Women needed to submit 3 different photos of themselves. A (male) reporter snuck in to sit down at empty tables to hear the women's stories. Consider the elderly lawyer gentleman who claims women like him because he drives a Porsche. Or the (also lawyer) 75 year old who insisted on buying a new bottle of champagne for each of his 3 minute dates. The stories are funny, but the pictures are funnier.

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2007/02/natural-selection-1.php

Ah, the social opportunities I will miss, living the GS life. *a single tear trickles down Chris's cheek*

latest in the series of bizarre sentences

so, a supermodel assaults her housekeepers. it's apparently severe and frequent enough of a problem that, instead of merely leaving, one of them brings her to court for it. but, of course, she's a celebrity. so, instead of going to jail, she is sentenced so scrub floors for 5 days.

http://www.actressarchives.com/news.php?id=4435 (courtesy of Google News)

and they say that the rich and famous get off scott-free. ha! that'll teach you to assault a housekeeper. we'll make you do her work! for 5 whole days! what could better serve the purposes of the criminal justice system than that?? i bet that housekeeper feels so much better now.

continuing the series

you know you've been too long at YLS when...

#4: you laughed when you read #3.

[courtesy of zbs]

in the ongoing series...

you know you've been too long at YLS when...

#3: you insert a footnote into the paper you're writing that says "insert generic rule of lenity citation here". and this represents one of your more complete, thought-out footnotes. and the subject of the paper has nothing whatsoever to do with criminal law.

you know you've been at YLS too long when..., cont'd

#2: you manage to fill an entire, long day with law school activities, while still not spending any time reading for your classes. and then you repeat that for the next week and a half. [this has been me since last monday.]

you know you've been at YLS too long when...

#1: not only have you accepted the diet pepsi machine's bottle sticking problem, but you know exactly where to kick it to free the stuck soda on the first try. [hint: it's about 4 inches to the left of the leftmost opening where you reach in to get the drinks.]

karma

i found a $20 bill on the sidewalk on the way in to the law school today. i'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. maybe i'll donate it somewhere to forestall any karmic repercussions.

or maybe i'm just being pessimistic, and this is my lucky day.

fox's new show 'the winner'

oh, i get it - it's supposed to be ironic, because he's such a loser. ahhhhhhh. still not funny though. sorry.

one more week left of considerable work before spring break - tour in DC for a week and then florida for a week with the 'rents. you'll hear no complaints from me.

if, like me, you need a break - take a puppy break.

checking in

it's been a while, hasn't it? almost a year and a half now. nothing like imminent deadlines on a research project and a set of paper revisions to spur a man to inaction. that means it's time for a new image layout and some posting!

i'll save you all the monotony of a full recap. in short, things are going well. i finish law school in may, take the bar exam in california in july, and move to washington DC in late august or early september. i am looking forward to being a full time employee, for the first time in my life, after spending 11 straight years in the higher educational system. i will miss the friends i've made, though my addiction to IM and email will help keep the bonds from sundering completely. on a professional level, i am excited by the possibilities my job will offer to me, and i am optimistic that in the future i can forge for myself a rewarding policy- and/or academic-oriented career spanning the gap between law and computer science.

baseball's spring training has begun in earnest, and i am avidly following the media extravaganza that is daisuke matsuzaka. hopefully, with dice-k, schilling, beckett, papelbon, wakefield, and lester, the red sox will not have to start a single game this season with other teams' cast-offs. but, we shall see. expect more baseball related posts from me as the season progresses.

there are four things in this world that i truly love. technology law and baseball have been mentioned. as to the third, music: i heard mahler's 3rd last night, performed by the yale philharmonia. it's a very interesting symphony. stylistically, it's all over the map - it fluctuates between the light and the dark so often that i felt confused. i thought the performance was quite good; the woodwinds and the strings impressed me in particular. and while i enjoyed the choirs, they were singing from the balcony, which made them sound a lot more muddled than they should have.

can anyone who knows me guess what the fourth thing is? if you said 'beer', you're close; i'm actually referring to gourmet liquid beverages as a pantheon. coffee came first, then tea, and beer was third, though it is arguably the most active. recent highlights of my beer tasting include 'la rulles', a very yeasty unfiltered belgian golden ale, and the 1990 bottle of thomas hardy's ale that i consumed in washington last november.

well, that's my life in a nutshell. as the pathetic peripatetic calvin would say: more bulletins as events warrant.