Can any of you outside of California guess why the courts and libraries are closed today?  Correct answer after the jump.

(more…)

It’s officially spring now, and young not-too-old attorney’s fancies are turning toward frolicking in the sand and shore.  Unfortunately, winds described by the L.A. Times as gale force and approaching 60 mph (inland) are blowing allergens deep into my sinuses and causing the sky to alternate between a beautifully sunny blue and a dark rainy grey. 

I’m supposed to be working toward the deadline on an article.  I’m trying to chase down a client who was supposed to be paying for my spring break.  One of the pools I frequent is closed this week, and the other will close next week, both for seasonal maintenance.  A certain teacher is spending his spring break miserable, watching lousy TV amidst the empty keenex boxes in the living room and cursing the same allergens that are torturing me.

But on the other hand, I have the weekend alumni Spring Break bash known as Crew Classic to look forward to.  The local alumni boosted by ego a bit by using one of my photos from last year’s event to promote this year’s tent.  Some comments originating from one of the other sites also pumped up the ego a bit too, making think that I might even know what I’m talking about on some of this legal stuff. Even the strawberries are cooperating – we might have a shot of daquiri’s worth sometime soon here.

Gotta have a light at the end of the tunnel.

Completing his slide to the darkside, Senator’s McCain campaign was caught using hotlinked images (i.e., stealing bandwidth) in his MySpace page, and his would-be victim substituted the image he was using for something more tantalizing.  Personally, he got off easy when the image was only altered to voice his support of gay marriage – I would have done much worse.  [via Towleroad]

Spring should be spent lying about outside working on the tanlines, not trying to put the best spin on a hayfever sneezing fit by calling it an abs workout.

You are capable of extremely hard work and dedication [in bed].

Thus spaketh last night’s representative of the Ancient Order of the Chinese Busboys and Frycooks. 

Spent some time today contemplating one of the little flowers on the deck that will eventually become a strawberry.  Not sure if it’s future involves a daquiri or maybe being smothered in whipped cream atop a waffle, but one way or another it will die so that we can sense pleasure.  It will have a good, if short, life, and we will be the richer having known it.

For coming to class at a Napa middle school wearing hosiery that portrayed the Winnie the Pooh character — in violation of the school’s solid-colors-only, no-pictures, no-logos dress code — the seventh-grader landed in the principal’s office, and then in a detention program called Students With Attitude Problems.

Now Redwood Middle School and the Napa Valley Unified School District, which approved the code, have landed in court.

The school’s “unconstitutionally vague, overbroad and restrictive uniform dress code policy” flouts state law, violates freedom of expression, and wastes teachers’ and students’ time and attention that would be better spent on education, the American Civil Liberties Union said in a suit filed Monday on behalf of six students and their parents.

Actually, the banning of Tigger-wear is probably among the least offensive results of their dress code, despite local affection at Howling Point for Tigger and other tigers.  According to the S.F. Gate article, one student was cited for wearing a shirt with the words “Jesus Freak” and another for wearing a pink Breast Cancer Awareness Ribbon.   Even if you accept that schools should be teaching appropriate expression by banning poor choices (like gang colors), there’s no way that banning all expression is an appropriate solution.

Go wish a Happy Birthday to Nala.

Spring is here!  Spring is here!  Not that anything’s going to change much, but, Spring is here!

Some punk selling used rowing gear on eBay hotlinked one of my photographs of last year’s Crew Classic* to do something or other.  It wasn’t to show the merchandise, because the image shows different but similar gear.  I think it was just to make the point that used rowing gear makes one look cool.  Regardless, I shot him a note with the law firm e-mail addy, mentioning things like eBay’s terms of service, hotlinking and copyright violations.  He was too cool to answer me, but when I checked a few hours later it appeared that he’d taken my image down and stolen someone elses (hotlinked, and probably without permission too).  So, the question: Do I walk away or do I warn his new “host”?

(more…)