Blue, Yellow, Clear

Second semester is getting into full swing now, and we’ve begun to ease into the new routine. The week now works up to a Wednesday peak, with all five classes meeting that day. As grades have trickled in, I have been re-evaluating my standing as a student and a person and everyone else around me, too. My observations:
1. My grades have been good. I am a perfectionist in such matters, so I would have liked straight 16s, but that doesn’t typically happen. Nonetheless, I think that 90% of students would be happy with what I have received so I can’t complain. (A brief note: the U of M grades on a 1-16 scale, with 16 being equivalent to an A+ on a normal grade scale)
2. I am fat. I have been steadily gaining weight since the end of last summer (canoeing season) and I feel out of shape and tubby. I carry my weight well so it doesn’t look it, but I am on the road to significant obesity and need to correct it.
3. Humility is not overrated. Law students are competitive, but if you are nice people root for you and congratulate you when you do well. I have observed other students that are not humble and have made some enemies by flaunting excellent grades and being obviously dismissive of those that they don’t consider smart.
4. The cold, not the snow, is why Minnesota winters are nasty.
5. It’s good to do things that aren’t law school related.

I’m sure I have more observations, but I can’t think of any right now. To deal with problem number 2, I have begun a program of swimming at the U recreation center. The natatorium there is a first-class facility, and since it is free to me as a student, I would be a serious moron to not take advantage of it. Back in high school, I was (the worst swimmer) on the swim team and thus I know how to do the strokes and how to construct a workout. After only a few sessions I already feel better about myself.

To deal with problem number 5, I cooked up a batch of beer today. Before Jerry died, I brewed several rounds of homebrew and got fairly good at making the yeasty beverage. This beer will be a dunkelweizen, or a Weiß bier dunkel, as it is sometimes known. A dark wheat beer, this should be fairly malty, lightly hopped, and with a thick, deep flavor. At an original gravity of 1.052, it will pack a wallop when done sometime around my birthday (March 19, since you asked).

As for today’s title, my new goggles are a deep blue shade. My sunglasses, given to me by Mom, are yellow, and my glasses are clear. Thus I feel that my current routine consists of moving from the outside (yellow) world to the indoor (clear) world and then to the pool (blue).

Links

I like Anil, but his mean spirited attack on those who like LOTR made me lose some respect for him. For those who, like me, loved it: a list of deleted scenes to look for when it hits DVD.

This was kicked around a few months ago and I never blogged it: still pictures from the never-aired Justice League of America pilot from the 70s. That’s right. The super friends. Live action. You know you want to see it.


You may recall that I linked old photographs several times last year. Here are some more in the same vein: galleries from the American Daguerreotype society. An example (warning: very large file).