Top Ten, Again

Awhile back, certain implausible yet irrefutable data led me post up my Top Ten Signs of a Microcontent Obsession. More of the same now does more of the same, so without further ado, here is Round Two:

1. You have a Blog Family, which may or may not include the Holy Father.
2. You're beginning to think Utah is a really fascinating state.
3. It's not just a commute, it's intermittently a RageBoy adventure, and not just because you've downloaded all his stuff from Audible.
4. Your permalinks work (all hail Shelley).
5. You are on the verge of a site redesign. Again.
6. You have bookmarked an HTML cheat sheet. Or ten.
7. "Ask not what your computer can do for you, but what your computer can do for your weblog."
8. Your weblog has been to Japan and you're jealous.
9. You eagerly anticipate the musical and oenological musings of law professors you may never have met.
10. "We have met Frank Paynter, and he is us."

Your Reading List

Be sure to subscribe early and often to "Forbs" (Thanks Gary!) and to settle in with Installment I of Frank Paynter's interview with Mike Golby.
--New day, new installment: Golby Part II.
--And Part III.
--Parts IV and V.

*shucks*

Forgive me for waxing grateful and proud of these kind words from Halley Suitt, an admirable writer, thinker, mom and F.O.R.B. (friend of RageBoy; geez, sorry to learn about the blog-kids, Halley, but I hear they're doing miraculous things with reconstructive therapy these days), whose blog I have enjoyed for many months.

Some other right-column revisions: TPB and Morgan Wilson have new domains, and Claire Stewart [via Donna] joins my list of legal/organizational wizards.

School Clothes

It has been fun to check in with JCA and Nikki as they get ready to start law school, and to finally get down to reading a Dahlia Lithwick article, something I've been too remiss about in light of Howard's enthusiasm for her writing and flair. No surprise: he's right, she's a stitch, and her Kiplingesque advice -- in which she compares the ephemeral, illusory, yet all-consuming "needs" that can buffet a law student like cat in a washing machine* to a child's desire for a Tonka Backhoe or Malibu Skipper -- is right on. Dodd H. and Alice W. share yet more hard-won wisdom. With these, and a tiny bit of Xanax, ladies (hey! it throttles PMS, too), the next few years should be a breeze. (Professor Schwartz's advice strikes me as, well, something a professor who's had it up to here with unprepared students might write. Of course, it's useful she's taken you "through the looking glass" to where the professors dwell -- see her "mirror" suggestion and Alice's thoughts -- and you've got to admire a professor who does not let intimate familiarity with the course material restrain her thinking: "Even if I have taught a case for nine years, I find something new in it every time I read it, and often one student will interpret a case in a way that completely surprises me -- and the other students. There is no hard and fast meaning for cases and statutes; they are almost always subject to interpretation.")

So, march forth, friends! (But don't hesitate to bust out reasonable facsimiles of these from time to time, for perspective's sake.)

*["Fluff The Kitty," via Martin Sargent/The Screen Savers/Tech TV]

Anata wa haru ichiban no sakura no yoni utsukushii.

I had a difficult time selecting which of these phrases would help me most appropriately greet these Japanese visitors. Do feel free to submit alternate suggestions, while I consult the Tarot.