So ... what's going on?

Me? Oh, I haven't got much. There was the two months of Bar exam preparation, then the three-day bludgeoning at the hands of the examiners, then one day "off," and then .... yes, the rumors are true: I got hitched. This "get it all hammered out in a few days" thing seemed like a good idea (sort of), and in practice I suppose it worked out (I did get out of a decent chunk of wedding preparation), but ... man, was I worn out a week ago. Just the kind of thing that can be remedied with a week on the beach. So now, I am back where I have a computer and internet access and everything else, relatively refreshed and quite frankly bruised and juicy that the college football season is a scant 24 days away. Things kick off on a Thursday night with Boston College travelling to Kelly-Shorts Stadium to take in the mighty Chippewas of Central Michigan. Al will undoubtedly be there, and I think the odds of us arriving at the Cliffside sometime that night are somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-5. Can you wait? I can't.

So, some lingering thoughts on stuff and things that have transpired in the not-so-recent past:

The Bar
I've probably already discussed this with anyone who gives a crap, but the Bar totally kicked my ass. I studied like a motherfucker for 2 months and still left that auditorium after three days of intense cogitation feeling like I had been headbutted in the chest. The lone thing that helps me sleep at night is that the passage rate is relatively high, so I just had to sneak into, like, the 35th percentile of test-takers. I am not quite "confident," and am keeping my fingers crossed. Most of my fear stems from the fact that the 3rd, 4th, and 9th essay questions absolutely bent me over the table (and were manifestly unfair, as, for example, the real property essay was about a subtopic which -- yes, I checked my outline -- was NOT EVEN COVERED in our BarBri class; Ian mentioned something like this before, and I concur: the examiners must send moles into the bar review classes to see what the professors tell us, so they can do the exact opposite. It's quad-furiating.), and to be perfectly honest, I'm not too thrilled with how I did on the MPT or Multiple Guess portions either. Other than that, though, I totally kicked its ass.

The Wedding
I thought things went well. It happened, and we haven't killed each other yet, so married life is great so far. At the reception, we got approximately twice as many compliments on the extremely short nature of our ceremony as we did on anything decoration- or attire-related. Hour-long ceremonies are for the birds -- keep that shit under 15 minutes, and everyone walks away happy. And I hope you all had fun at the reception and afterwards at whatever bar you went to. I am looking forward to your impressions of the reception and some stories about you guys going out afterward. Also, thanks for the gifts, if you gave us one, or the money, if you gave us some (I think Jeff gave us the best card I've ever given, received, or probably even seen. It's on our fridge). We are deeply appreciative. We have a ton of wine left over, but I'll be sending out an email about that soon.

And speaking of Jeff, the first email I opened last night after a week on the Gulf of Mexico was from Nipsey, and it was bloodninja-tastic. It was just a link to an article about how the kid from Harry Potter is gonna be appearing nude on stage in some play, but it was accompanied by the lone sentence, "I TAKE OFF my robe and wizard hat." I cast Level 3,000 Eroticism and went to bed satisfied.

Sports Things
Christ, I don't know. I watched as much of the World Cup out of the corner of my eye as I could. I watched the hilariously fixed NBA Finals, sort of, until I became disgusted and swore off the NBA for the foreseeable OMG D-WADE IS T3H PWNZ0RZ future. I continue to be disheartened and angry at ESPN for myriad reasons, not the least of which is ESPN Classic's complete de-evolution into the Triple-B channel (Billiards, Bowling, and Boxing). Seriously, with the amount of time that channel wastes on this crap, you would think that those three sports WEREN'T COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT TO 90% OF ALL AMERICANS. And cut the "SportsCentury" and "Cheap Seats" bullshit, too: your audience is SPORTS FANS, and we want to see OLD GAMES. GAMES, dammit!!

Unlike Jeffy, I didn't watch a single second of the Tour de France. I've been vaguely aware of the fact that my Tigers continue to inexplicably dominate the rest of the majors, but since I moved to Columbus I haven't been able to watch more than 2 or so of their games (not that I had time to watch any more of them, anyway). I noticed last week that the idiot coaches -- or their secretaries or SIDs or whoever the hell else fills out those ballots -- dropped the Buckeyes into the accursed "Preseason #1" perch. Because people are stupid. As you can tell, regarding the "blessing or albatross" query, I come down firmly in the camp of the latter. Also, since Jeff started a list (of the rare "top 4" variety, it should be noted), I say we each put together a reasonably well thought-out preseason top 10, for no good reason.

Feels pretty good to be back.

GEET IT AWN!!!