Thursday, August 31, 2006

I Held My Tongue as She Told Me, "Son, Fear is the Heart of Love," so I Never Went Back

Have you ever woke up in the morning, turned on the radio, and heard exactly the song that you needed to hear? That happened this morning.

Usually, I try to keep the song lyrics from the post titles as a bit of a secret so that I can have some sort of bizarre little contest for people to guess the lyrics but not today. This morning as I woke up, I turned on my computer, opened up iTunes, and began listening to KPRI out of San Diego. The first song I heard was "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie. You can listen to it here.

I'm not really sure why, but the song stopped me in my tracks. I just sat there on the bed and listened to Ben Gibbard strumming away on his guitar. The song is one about devotion and transition in the face of that great question that we all face: death. Here are the lyrics:

Love of mine some day you will die
But I'll be close behind
I'll follow you into the dark

No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white
Just our hands clasped so tight
Waiting for the hint of a spark
If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule
I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black
And I held my toungue as she told me
"Son fear is the heart of love"
So I never went back

If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark

You and me have seen everything to see
From Bangkok to Calgary
And the soles of your shoes are all worn down
The time for sleep is now
It's nothing to cry about
Cause we'll hold each other soon
The blackest of rooms

If heaven and hell decide
That they both are satisfied
Illuminate the no's on their vacancy signs

If there's no one beside you
When your soul embarks
Then I'll follow you into the dark
Then I'll follow you into the dark

Again, I'm not really sure why the song meant so much this morning, but I wanted to share it with all of you. Don't worry, this is not a cry for help due to stress in law school.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

I Walk Through the Hallways Inside My Mind

It's probably because I spent three hours in the library yesterday morning before my first class, but I actually had time last night to watch Syriana with my cousin Andrew.

I've offered my thoughts on the film before, but last night I was struck again by the complexity of the film and what makes it different from so many current films. Part of the magic of Syriana is that it does not force feed you information or answers. There is so much of the movie that is speculative and implied. The appeal of this kind of writing and filmmaking is that it mirrors life. So much of our daily life is not filled with outright, bullhorn answers but the answers are found through subtle hints and messages.


It is probably an obvious choice, but my favorite character in the film is Bennett Holliday, played by Jeffrey Wright. Holliday is a young lawyer working for a large Washington, D.C. firm. Through his connection with senior partner Sydney Hewitt, Holliday is charged with looking into the merger of two American oil companies, Connex and Killen. The details of the merger and Holliday's work in that process are not significant. The reason that I connect with Wright's character is obvious because he is an attorney, but also because he embodies so much of the tension that is present in the film. The push and pull between the consumer and the corporation, the fine line between influence and corruption, and the question of loyalty versus justice.

Monday, August 28, 2006

I'm the Train They Call the City Of New Orleans

In a record-setting 3rd post in the same day, I am also proud to say that today's Song of the Day Contest has the most winners in the contest's long, illustrious history.

Congratulations to Kalum Tuggle, Tim Henderson, and my Dad for correctly naming "The City of New Orleans" by Arlo Guthrie as the Monday Song of the Day. Extra points (as if there is a scoreboard) to Tim for also identifying Steve Goodman as the song's author.

If you've never heard the song before, it is as my father said, "one of the great train songs in history." I'm sure that's a huge category, making that a significant statement, but right now all I can think of for train songs is that really annoying Quad City DJ's song on the Space Jam soundtrack.

The Graveyards of Rusted Automobiles

"You teach yourselves the law. I train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of mush, and if you survive, you'll leave thinking like a lawyer."--Professor Kingsfield, The Paper Chase.


Tonight, my contracts professor is showing us The Paper Chase. Don't worry, he's not nearly as intense as Kingsfield, but a week of experience has shown me that Kingsfield's quote might not be very far from the truth.

Good Morning America, How Are You? Don't You Know Me, I'm Your Native Son

More powerful words from MLK in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail:

"Things are different now. The contemporary church is often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the local community is consoled by the church's silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are. But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the 20th century. I am meeting young people every day whose disappointment with the church has risen to outright disgust. "

Sunday, August 27, 2006

I Feed Upon Morsels You Haven't Yet Dropped

Congratulations to Mr. Ben Grant for correctly naming "Theme from the Bottom" by Phish as the Sunday Song of the Day.

Well, here's the moment you've all been waiting for.....................my thoughts on Munich and V for Vendetta. If I were Dan Carlson, each movie would get its own separate review but guess what? I'm not, so you are getting two reviews/thoughts for the price of one. I'm pretty sure that none of you would pay for my reviews, but I felt the need to use a common cliche.

All in all, V and Munich were some of the more interesting movies that I have seen in the last year along with Syriana. Granted, I have not seen that many films in the past year but those three stand out. What made the films special? I was drawn to their ability to address difficult questions.

In Munich, I was struck by the transformation that Eric Bana undergoes throughout the film. As a viewer, it is hard to imagine how the mindset of constantly seeking others in order to bring about their deaths does not somehow harm a deep section of one's psyche. Even though many people around him lauded him as a hero for their nation, Bana's character could still not wonder if there was not something deeply and inherently wrong about solving their disputes with the Palestinians in the same way that the Palestinians sought to deal with them.

In V for Vendetta, the deep questions of what must a society do to deal with something as deeply ingrained as a corrupt government. In my class this quarter on "Law and the Legal Profession" we read an excerpt from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, Letter from a Birmingham Jail, which is one of the most stirring pieces on civil disobedience that I have ever read.

In the letter, King states that during the process of civil disobedience, the protester shows the highest respect for the law by breaking the law and then dealing with the consequences of their actions. This seems odd to our way of thinking that breaking the law somehow shows respect for the law, but King believes that those who selfishly break the law never intend to pay for the consequences of their unlawful actions, but the peaceful protester knows that their actions will lead to punishment and fully accepts that punishment.

How does this relate to V for Vendetta? Just as V justifies his actions by attempting to bring a just society through sometimes violent action, he understood that there comes a time when some societies have simply been led down the wrong path for so long that they must be shaken out of their slumber by outlandish acts. I do not mean to disrespect the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., by comparing him with the character V, but they both functioned as beacons in their societies to call attention to troubling practices that simply had to end.

Time in the Forest to Dig Under Rocks

Was it really a year ago when I was starting my senior year at ACU?

In some ways that seems as if it were such a long time ago, but in other memories it is as if that happened yesterday. This is not to be a lament for time gone by, but it is often startling to think about our lives passing so quickly without our notice.

What is the most enjoyable part about the Little League World Series? Some say the sportsmanship, some point to the raw emotion of the players, and some look at the cultural interchange (as if international disputes could be solved by Dubya throwing heat to Osama Bin Laden). In my opinion, you cannot beat the random facts that ESPN and ABC throw out about the players when they come up to bat.

Take this one. One of the young players from Mexico listed his favorite actress as Pamela Anderson. I'm sure his mother and father are thrilled at their 12 year old son choosing one of America's most notorious sex symbols, but in all reality, they should be much more upset about this young man's poor ability to understand acting.

Friday, August 25, 2006

Find a City, Find Yourself a City to Live In

Last night was the first time this week that I have been done with school work before 7 p.m., and it felt as though I was being granted some sort of reprieve. It is funny how your standards change from under-grad to law school. In under-grad, if I had more than 2-3 hours of homework/reading a night, I was surprised at the workload. Now, that is what I consider a light day. Welcome to the big leagues.

I watched Munich for the first time last night, and I want to comment on the movie, but I am going to save that discussion for sometime this weekend when I will also provide my thoughts on V for Vendetta (at long last).

Current Listening: "The World is Not a Cold, Dead Place"--Explosions in the Sky. Much thanks to Mr. Payton McCollum for introducing me to the music of Explosions in the Sky. They did a majority of the soundtrack for Friday Night Lights, and I have really enjoyed their music so far. I'm going to warn those of you who do not like solely instrumental music (this is not a C.O.C. call-out or anything), that Explosions might not be the most enjoyable sound to your ears.

I am by no means an expert on the genre, but they fall into the category known as post-rock, which implies that their music is entirely instrumental, with no vocals. For those of you who can't stand to ride in the car with me when I play Phish because of the long instrumental sections, Explosions in the Sky might make you want to rip out your eardrums, but for those of you who can take solely instrumental tracks, they might be the band for you.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Send You Off to College, Try to Gain a Little Knowledge

Sarah, I was actually looking for "Lucky" by Radiohead, but because of your incredible effort, I will name you the winner of the Song of the Day Contest.

Speaking of Saved By the Bell (if you are not following this line of thought, look at the comments from yesterday), I'm pretty sure that I am one of the few people from my generation who really can't handle Saved by the Bell. I'm not unique by the fact that I think the show is bad. Most people who like the show will acknowledge that it is bad, much like Dan recently wrote on his blog.

I just don't know like the show. Period. I never could enjoy the exploits of the gang at Bayside. Call me a communist. Call me out of touch with my roots as a child born in the 80's. Call me what you will, but I never saw the appeal.

One of the always enjoyable, but somehow troubling, conversations that always occurs among people in college or their early to mid-20's is about what was cool when we were growing up. This leads to the inevitable conversations about Carmen Sandiego, slap bracelets, the Ninja Turtles, and various and sundry other pop culture items. It always seems that SBTB (yes, I created an acronym. Deal with it.) was a big favorite among my generation. I guess there are some things you will never understand.

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

We are Standing on the Edge

Perhaps Tim was right after all. No, we are not in the state of free-fall that currently characterizes Red Sox Nation, but Ranger fans can probably feel it slipping away again. It may not be a complete truism, but you can probably not afford to lose games to the Devil Rays when the A's continue to reel off another August-September run.

As we sat in the classroom before Civil Procedure yesterday, one student noticed the American Airlines Center background of another student's computer and commented that it was the worst background he had ever seen. As you can probably guess, the student who made this comment is from the Alamo City. This comment ignited a sudden showing of loyalties from surrounding students who either pledged their allegiance to the Spurs or Mavs. It was as if we were standing on the set of West Side Story and suddenly had to figure out whether we were with the Sharks or the Jets.

My passing comment in favor of the Mavs was picked up by the San Antonio ringleader (who is really a nice guy). After class he asked me how it felt to support a perennial loser with occasional flashes of greatness. I informed him that I had grown up as a Rangers fan, and I knew what it was to root for a true loser without even a hint of greatness (Three division titles and no playoff series wins in franchise history is the aforesaid lack of greatness). Such is my lot.

Monday, August 21, 2006

We Might Live Like Never Before

Today was a big day. If you were looking in from the outside it may not have seemed that way. I didn't even get called on in class, but it was the beginning of a new portion of my life.

One of my professors said today that he is going to expect us to do what we think is our best and then a little more. All of my life I have made it through but there were not many times when I really had to press myself day in and day out to greater heights. That is what this is going to require of me and that is why I am excited. Am I a bit nervous? Yes, I think that any reasonable person would have some sort of apprehension as they begin such a momentous undertaking but that apprehension is not a total negative if it causes me to push myself.

It is beginning to sink in that my time at ACU has passed. It might sound odd for me to be saying that 3 months after I graduated, but the act of sitting in a classroom at a different school has cemented the reality in my mind. Part of life is learning to move on and adjust to new circumstances and I am so thankful for another learning opportunity.

Saturday, August 19, 2006

The Hand You Hold Is the Hand that Holds You Down

Blogger is acting very oddly right now so I will keep my comments brief this evening.
  1. This law school thing is going to be okay, but I am going to read more than I ever have in my life.
  2. I've told some this already, but I think this process is going to have some eerie similarities to pledging. Except this time there will be no watermelons. Or booty call. Well, there are probably many differences, but I will not discuss all of them here. Just go with me on this one.
  3. I'm going to visit Jake and Emily Wardell tomorrow. Yes, that was as odd for me to write as it was for you to read. It's hard to believe that I am old enough now to be visiting friends who are married. I think they are going to buy a dining table tomorrow. I'll provide front-line correspondence for the Single News Service, hereafter known as the SNS (pronounced Sness). This organization is not real by any scope of the imagination. Again, just go with me here.
  4. I'm going to bed.

Thursday, August 17, 2006

I Would Sell You Out in Heartbeat, 'Cause You Can Defend Yourself

Everyone, I'm sorry that I had to go back on my promise/proclamation to write more consistently but these last few days had been ones of adjustment and settling into my new life here in Waco.

I'll let any law students or lawyers who read the blog to add their own thoughts but I saw a t-shirt today that made me laugh and cringe. It said, "Baylor Law School: Where Fun Comes to Die." Law school, it's fannnnnnnnnnnnntastic. With the necessary amount of sarcasm out of the way, I know these next three years are going to be very trying for me, I am confident that I am going through this experience for a reason.

Yesterday, as I began orientation there was no Darwinian suggestion to look to my right and left and guess which one of us was not going to make it through the first year. Perhaps that is coming from the professor who teaches one of my classes this quarter but I suspect I will never hear those words in the halls of Baylor Law School.

Current Reading: The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe

Current Listening: "Z"--My Morning Jacket

Monday, August 14, 2006

It'll Be a Day Like This One When the World Caves In

Well, this is the last post from home for awhile. I am leaving for Waco tomorrow in order to move in with my Aunt and Uncle. Tomorrow night I will be coming to you from the Ingram Estate in the land of the Artist formerly known as David Koresh.

I just watched V for Vendetta for the first time tonight and I want to comment on the movie but I will save those thoughts for my post tomorrow. May God Bless all of you.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

We Were Born Before the Wind, Who Are We to Understand?

Congratulations to Mr. Dan Carlson for correctly naming "New York, New York" as the Friday Song of the Day. I was also like to commend Dan for his concise history of the tune in his comment. That is the kind of activity that I want the Song of the Day contest to generate. Dan, I salute you.

Disclaimer: This post might come across as a bit morbid. With that said, I'll move on.

Do you know what is one of the most sobering sights that you can see in life? The place where you will be buried one day. I'm not saying this because I think I'm going to die soon but I just know where it is. My mom's family comes from an small East Texas community called Arbala (pronounced R-Bay-la). The cemetery in Arbala is really one of the largest attractions in a community that, to put it kindly, has seen its better days.

The cemetery is located about 4 miles from where my grandmother lives in southern Hopkins County. Sometimes when we visit my grandmother we will go visit the cemetery to see the graves of our ancestors. This is where we buried my Aunt Sandy a few years ago. It is where my grandmother will be buried and it is where my parents will be buried. It is where my body will rest one day.

There are two ways to look at that kind of realization. I could probably approach much like you are as you read this seemingly depression filled essay with a sense of impending doom and bemoan the inevitability of it all. Or I could do something else....

I could take each day as it comes. To follow Mr. Keating and "suck the marrow out of life." We are all going to die. That's a nondebatable, nonnegotiable part of living in this mortal world. The question is what are we going to do with the time that we have been given.

Friday, August 11, 2006

Start Spreadin' the News, I'm Leaving Today

Congratulations to Mr. Tim Henderson for correctly naming "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel as the Thursday Song of the Day.

After just finishing up The Brethren by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong, I really enjoyed the book and the insight it provided into one of America's most venerable institutions but I am left with some questions. In the vein of most of Woodward's investigative work, sources are granted anonymity in exchange for their valuable information. In The Brethren, the vital sources for information on the inner workings of the Court are those who serve as clerks for the Justices.

  • Are the negative portrayals of Warren Burger in the book an accurate representation of the former Chief Justice or are they simple the opinions of clerks whose ideological opinions differ from Burger's?

  • For anyone who was alive while he was on the Court, was William Douglas really as outspoken and iconoclastic as he is depicted to be?

  • Is Byron R. White, who served as an Associate Justice on the Court and was once the NFL Rookie of the Year, the greatest combination of intellect and athletic ability that our country has ever seen?

Thursday, August 10, 2006

'Neath the Halo of a Street Lamp, I Turned My Collar to the Cold and Damp

Congratulations to Ms. Ashley Mize and Mr. Tim Henderson for correctly naming "Jumpin' Jack Flash" by the Rolling Stones as the Wednesday Song of the Day.

Thoughts for the Day
  • I get a huge kick out of singing along with "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel, or at least attempting to do so.
  • When are we all just going to be required to board planes nude due to safety restrictions. I can't wait. Well, maybe I can.
  • Perhaps the Rangers are not done yet. Or it might just be that they are playing the Mariners. The final judgment is being withheld at this point.

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

It's All Right Now, In Fact It's a Gas

Quick Thoughts on a Wednesday Night in Early August
  • As I told my Mom this afternoon, being a fan of the Texas Rangers is maddening. As a fan base our collective pathos comes nowhere near that of Red Sox nation pre-2004, but I am beginning to empathize with fans of the Miami Dolphins. Someone once compared the Dolphins' annual collapse to Hannukah, because they didn't always know when it happened, but it was sometime in December. The same thing could be said about the Rangers, except for the whole Hannukah thing. Someone needs to create an August holiday to complete the analogy.
  • I'm hiring Maurice Clarett as my personal bodyguard. Yes, his behavior might be a little erratic but at least he is well-armed.
  • As I watched Roy Oswalt homer off of Shawn Chacon tonight in Houston (although it was into the Crawford Boxes in the left-field corner of Minute Maid Park which is not exactly Death Valley in the original Yankee Stadium, but I digress) I began to think. Is there anything more demoralizing as a baseball pitcher than having your counterpart pitcher hit a homer off of you?

I Was Born In a Class Five Hurricane

There is only so much 24 news coverage that I can handle, but sometimes you find those diamonds in the rough as you are surfing through the cable universe. As my remote took me to the Fox News Channel, a reporter was standing outside of the UN Headquarters in New York talking about the Lebanese-Israeli ceasefire talks when this nugget of gold appeared.

"Rapper Jay-Z was also at the UN today to discuss the worldwide water crisis with Secretary General Kofi Annan."


Now, please do not hear me saying that I do not admire Jay-Z's efforts to raise awareness on a humanitarian issue, but I cannot help but laugh at potential conversations that would take place between the two during the day.

Annan: So, Mr. Z....
Jay-Z: It's only a stage name. My name is actually Shawn Carter.
Annan: So where does the Jay and Z come in?
Jay-Z: (Looking around for Beyonce')

Did Kofi tell him that he preferred the Black Album to the Blueprint?

These are things that we need to know. Cable news outlets, do your worst.

Tuesday, August 8, 2006

And the Good Girls are Home With Broken Hearts

Congratulations to Mr. Kalum Tuggle for naming "Fix You" by Coldplay as the Monday Song of the Day. I'll admit it. I saw a trailer for Oliver Stone's World Trade Center which uses "Fix You". Make whatever derisive comments you would like to, but at least I was honest with all of you.

Now that I have had some time to settle into living a normal, civilized life again after spending a summer in the mountains, I am ready to share some thoughts on what that kind of experience will do to you. Throughout the summer when people would ask me if it is difficult to return to living in the civlized world after spending two months sleeping on the ground and forsaking all toilets, I would respond to them with an analogy from a popular film.

I'm not sure how many of you have seen Castaway with Tom Hanks, but there is a scene in the film that communicates some of the feelings that I have after returning from a summer at Trek. After he leaves the island on a raft, Hanks is rescued and returns to civlization. After taking a shower and shaving for the first time in a number of years, he is ready to go sleep in a nondescript hotel room that has been provided for him.

There's only one problem. Hanks doesn't remember what it is like to sleep in such comfort. Instead of sleeping in the large bed, he instead lies down to sleep on the floor of the hotel room. I must interject at this point. Please do not think that when I return from the summer that I do not remember what it is like to sleep on a mattress and instead choose the berber carpet. My situation is not that extreme, but I understand the idea of not knowing what to do with such luxuries.

Monday, August 7, 2006

When You Get What You Want But Not What You Need

Congratulations to Ms. Ashley Mize for correctly naming "Rebellion (Lies)" by the Arcade Fire as the most recent Song of the Day.

Well, after a summer of intermittent writing on my part, I think that I am finally back in a position where I will be able to write on a day-to-day basis once again. Perhaps that is of no large importance to any of you. I certainly do not entertain fantasies that my writing is somehow eagerly anticipated by anyone out there in the so called "blogosphere", but as I have said before, this is somewhat a daily therapeutic enterprise for me.


Due to my newfound abundance of time to read, I was able to finish High Fidelity and The Plot Against America last week and I am currently working my way through The Brethren by Bob Woodward and Scott Armstrong. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing of both Nick Hornby and Philip Roth, but The Plot Against America particularly stood out in my mind because of Roth's ability to so completely craft a sense of alternate reality with his writing.

While I was on vacation in Galveston last weekend, I was able to make a few purchases at the local Galveston Hasting's. I know, I know. Hastings is not exactly a resident of the upper echelon of chic locations to purchase fine literature, but it sufficed. Anywho....my purchases were:
  • The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
  • My American Journey by Colin Powell with Joseph E. Persico
  • An Independent Man: The Adventures of a Public Servant by James M. Jeffords

I will be here at home in Whitehouse for about a week longer until it is time to move down to Waco with the honorable Aunt and Uncle. I'm feeling an outpouring of words in the next week, so get ready to read.....