Clemens fails again. What was Torre thinking taking him out? Well anyway, now, go Cubs!

Sorry for all the doom and gloom (below). I didn’t expect to stumble upon two blog-worthy tragedies just before going to bed. I expected, in fact, to have my latest life update at the top of the homepage overnight. But, that’s not how it worked out. Anyway, this space should be a bit less depressing later today, what with all the sports-blogging I’ll probably be doing. Go Funny Cide!

A small plane crashed into an apartment building in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles yesterday afternoon, killing two people and injuring seven.

“No obvious terror connection,” Glenn Reynolds states, and the authorities apparently agree. Although, I can’t help but notice that it happened in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood, according to the L.A. Times, which would make it an appealing target for Islamist terrorists.

But probably not. It probably was “just” an accident. Still, another appalling human tragedy. (Read below to see why I say “another.”)

A fellow member of the USC Class of 2003, Tania Trepanier, was killed in a bus accident last Saturday.

Trepanier, who graduated along with me, Becky, and several thousand other Trojans three weeks ago yesterday, was hit by an M.T.A. bus at the corner of Adams and Figueroa, and died at the scene, according to the Daily Trojan.

She had just earned her M.F.A. from the School of Cinema-Television, and was expected to have an “extraordinary” future in filmmaking, the DT reports.

I didn’t know her personally (at least, I don’t think I did), but I am an acquaintance of at least one of her friends. Regardless, what a tragic, senseless, and untimely loss.

UPDATE: Here is a photo of the School of Cinema-Television graduates marching at the beginning of the commencement ceremony. I have no idea if Trepanier is visible; I don’t know what she looks like except from the mug shot above, so I doubt I could pick her out in this picture even if she was there. If anyone knows better, let me know.

A few hours ago, I was fully planning to hop on an evening Greyhound bus to New York, with the intention of getting to Belmont Park early Saturday morning and buying a general-admission pass ($2) to watch Funny Cide compete for the Triple Crown. I was literally two or three minutes away from walking out the door — my bags were packed and I was ready to go, as the song says — when I suddenly decided I didn’t want to go. I’ll be out of town the next two weekends (Becky’s birthday next weekend, my friend Josh’s wedding the weekend after that), and I have some good friends in Newington whom I haven’t yet touched base with since arriving home roughly a week and a half ago. I decided they’re a higher priority than a horse race, so I stayed here. I’ll watch the Belmont from the comfort of my living room. The view will be better anyway. :)

Regarding my present and future plans, which I promised to keep y’all updated on: I am now almost certain that I will not start law school until Fall 2004. I have come to really like the idea of working for a year; making some money appeals to me, of course, but more importantly, I’d like to beef up my résumé a bit, and virtually everybody who’s anybody says it’s better to take a year off before starting law school. So, that’s my plan. Notre Dame, as you know, already admitted me for Fall 2004, and Cardozo told me last week that I can definitely get a deferral if I apply for it. I am also going to apply for a deferral at Boston U. — and, if possible, at Fordham too (I just found out on Thursday that I was admitted there, from the waiting list). George Washington is off my list of options now, by the way, as I chose not to make a deposit there. (Their financial-aid policy is rather explicitly ungenerous.)

Delaying my entrance to law school by a year also means delaying my final decision about where to go for at least a while longer — and that means I can take more time to assess all my options and make a better-informed decision, which is a good thing. For starters, I am planning to sit in on a Cardozo class on Tuesday. I hope to eventually do the same at the other schools I’m considering. I also plan to apply for admission to a couple of schools whose deadlines I missed this year — Columbia and NYU, in particular — and maybe take a shot at a few I didn’t consider, like Northwestern and, hell, Yale. (Who knows?)

As for the present: I don’t have a job yet, but that’s partly because now that I’m thinking about a year-long position instead of just a summer job, my standards are a bit higher. Whereas I previously just wanted any 9-to-5 weekday office job, now I want something that looks good on a résumé, too. I’ve applied to some New York law firms that are seeking college grads, since that would be a great foot-in-the-door, and I will also probably apply to some journalism jobs as well. (I hear the New York Times has a couple of openings. Heh.) I hope to have something, or at least some interviews, by the end of next week. Of course, I hoped that last week too. But we shall see. :)

My hope is to work in the city, living (at least for now) in my family’s northern Manhattan apartment. (I might eventually get a place of my own, but as long as my parents are letting me stay in their place rent-free, it has a distinct financial edge. And it’s not like they’re there very often, so it’s almost like having my own place.) I’ve already moved some of my stuff (microwave, posters, lots of electronic equipment, some clothes) down to the apartment, and I’m almost ready to begin using it, instead of the Newington house, as my primary base of operations. Unfortunately, my always temperamental Dell laptop died again on Tuesday, and looks to be (probably) beyond repair this time, so the one thing I don’t have in New York is a functioning computer. This makes job-hunting rather more difficult, since it becomes impossible to e-mail out résumés or surf online job boards without going to Kinko’s and spending a fortune.

But I was planning to get a new computer anyway — partially funded with graduation gift money, partially with my own savings — so that plan now has merely taken on greater urgency. I’m trying to decide between an iBook and a PowerBook. (Yup, that’s right, I’m going over to the dark side. Nothing serves as a better advertisement for Macintosh than owning a Dell with Windows 98.) I am hoping to buy possibly as soon as late next week, or perhaps early the following week.

What else is happening in my life? Well, I’m missing Becky and Toby a lot, for one thing. (They’re in Buffalo now; Becky and her dad are flying to Arizona later today to spend a week house-hunting.) Becky and I, by the way, have redefined our relationship as a friendship instead of a romance — and, yes, that’s a fancy way of saying we broke up, but somehow “broke up” implies more of a sudden, abrupt, and bitter split than ours is, so I think the euphemism works better in this case. Anyway, all of that aside, I miss Becky a lot. I can’t wait to see her… and Toby!… when I go visit next weekend.

My neverending love and affection for Becky notwithstanding, I am now officially single, which is frankly a bit disconcerting. It strikes me that I know absolutely nothing about the dating scene, since Becky is the only girlfriend I’ve ever had, and we never really “dated” per se — we just sort of coalesced into a monogamous unit. :) Not that I’m averse to dating. I’m just not entirely confident that I know how to do it. And I’m not sure New York City is the easiest place to learn, though perhaps that impression comes from watching too many “Sex and the City” reruns with Becky. Anyway, I suppose I will learn the ropes at some point. But, uh, I don’t necessarily promise to keep y’all fully updated on that. Blogging has its limits. :)

Other news… well, you know about my new cell phone with its nifty camera. That’s been a pretty exciting development. Less exciting, but also important, is that I’m in the process of switching my banking from B of A to Fleet (which has branches in Newington and New York… as well as Boston, in case that becomes relevant).

And then of course there is my parents’ retirement from state service, the ramifications of which are still emerging. My mom has a job interview at Yale on Tuesday for a one-year position in the library there. My dad plans to do some serious fishing and relaxing, I think, before considering re-entering the employment market. (Note to self: Consider whether “serious fishing and relaxing” is a contradiction in terms.)

Well, there you have it… the update on my life. It’s not the most exciting, but hey, it’s what I got. I’ll try to keep you informed as the situation warrants.

My dad just bought me today’s New York Post. The front page includes this fake “ad”:

The New York Times
HELP WANTED
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
For Manhattan-based newspaper of record. Lefty francophile with diversity obsession and knack for plugging circulation leaks. Allergic to Republicans okay. Tolerance for high taxes a must. America-basher a plus. Respect for facts optional. Ask for “Pinch.”

Har-dee-har-har. Gotta love the Post.

The awful RAVE Act, snuck unethically through Congress a few months ago as an amendment to the irrelevant but enormously popular Amber Alert bill (thanks, Joe Biden), is now being used — predictably — to curtail the lawful activities of legal political groups who happen to support marijuana legalization:

An agent of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) used threats of RAVE Act prosecutions to intimidate the owners of a Billings, Montana, venue into a canceling a combined benefit for the Montana chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and Students for Sensible Drug Policy last week. …

“He freaked me out,” Kelly told DRCNet. “He didn’t tell us we couldn’t have the event, but he showed me the law and told us what could happen if we did. I talked to our trustees, they talked to our lawyers, and our lawyers said not to risk it, so we canceled,” she said. “I felt bad. I knew the guys in the bands.”

Hmm… can you say “chilling effect”?

“The right of the people peaceably to assemble,” anyone? And how about the right “to petition the government for a redress of grievances”?

InstaPundit is right. Shame on everyone who has a hand in this outrageous debacle, both on the legislative end and the enforcement end.

Let’s hope the outrage will build in the blogosphere. If blogs are really the Mice that Roared, we should be able to make a difference on this issue, too.

Tomorrow could be quite a day in sports. If all goes according to plan, Funny Cide will win the Triple Crown, the New Jersey Devils will win the Stanley Cup, and Roger Clemens will win his 300th game.

Or, perhaps Clemens will fail to win #300 for a third straight time, the Mighty Ducks will beat the Devils to set up a decisive Game 7, and Funny Cide will become the fifth Triple Crown threat in seven years to be denied at Belmont Park.

We shall see.

(For the record, I’m rooting for the Ducks and Funny Cide. And I guess I’ll root for Clemens, what the heck?)

Another premature obituary, this time for Strom Thurmond. Trent Lott could not be reached for comment. :)

The New York Post and Daily News are not exactly being shy about this story, are they?

Not that I’d expect anything different, of course.

I’ll have to go on a newspaper-buying spree tomorrow. Some of these are going to be keepers. :)

That clever formulation (see title, above) is an Andrew Sullivan reader’s play on words, posted on Sullivan’s site under the title “Anagram as Epitaph.”

Referring to the New York Times publisher’s decision to accept (demand?) his top editors’ resignations, Sullivan writes, “It may have come down to Arthur Sulzberger Jr’s recognition that if he didn’t despatch Raines and Boyd, the board might think of despatching him.”

(But Andrew, you misspelled “dispatch.” Where are your editors? Heads must roll! :) Not that I should talk. What “hypocracy” on my part!)

(UPDATE: Actually, Mirriam-Webster says “despatch” is a variant of “dispatch.” So I guess I’m the only, uh, hypocratical idiot out here.)

Sullivan adds:

The critical issue wasn’t the Jayson Blair debacle. It was the fact that Raines couldn’t win back the confidence of the news room afterwards. “Howell ruled by fear,” said one source to the [New York] Observer. “And when he wasn’t strong enough to rule by fear anymore, he couldn’t rule.” Like all dictators, his fall was sudden, swift and complete.

First Saddam, then Howell. Those darned neocons just keep winning. :)

The latest report from TheOneRing.net suggests that I may not be forced to subject myself to Dumb and Dumberer after all:

The [Return of the King] trailer will not be attached to the end of [The Two Towers] anywhere. It WILL be seen as a regular trailer (the type before a film starts) sometime soon but NOT IN JUNE. The last I heard it will NOT be attached to ‘Dumb and Dumberer’, but of course things are fluid and could possibly change.

An editorial in tomorrow’s New York Times states:

Before he became executive editor, Mr. Raines was in charge of this page. Under his tenure, and perhaps under the tenure of every Times editorial page editor in history, there were occasions when the editorial board called for a public or corporate official to resign. Sometimes the officials were men and women of distinguished prior achievements, and sometimes the storms that came down on their heads were not primarily of their own making. But a leader’s fight to reclaim control of a job gone sour can sap energy away from the institution he or she is trying to lead. The welfare of a great institution is always more important than the careers of the people who run it. Mr. Raines and Mr. Boyd understood that, and that was the reason they chose to leave.

It also says:

The forced introspection The Times has been going through since the Jayson Blair story surfaced will, in the long run, be healthy. A string of rather spectacular successes might have made us too cocky, too sure that the future would simply bring more of the same. Now, we are re-examining some of our internal rules and structures. The recent weeks have not been particularly enjoyable for those of us on the inside, but even in the moments of greatest internal stress the reporters and editors have done their jobs. That comes from the strength of the institution. Mr. Raines and Mr. Boyd quit to protect that strength, and their sacrifice simply gives the rest of us one more reason to work toward that perpetual goal of the perfect report.

In an attempt to diversify my blog reading list, Sean suggested that I check out This Modern World, a liberal blog. So I did. And I have to admit that this comment on the Raines scandal is entirely true:

[T]he right half of the blogosphere…will now be well and truly convinced that it is The Mouse That Roared.

Too true. (Except that it’s more than half, I’d say.) (UPDATE: Certainly Andrew Sullivan falls into this camp:

The blogosphere in general created a growing chorus of criticism that helped create public awareness of exactly what Raines was up to. We forced transparency on one of the most secretive and self-protective of institutions. We pulled the curtain back on the man behind the curtain. We did what journalists are supposed to do - and we did it to journalism itself.

Not that he’s necessarily wrong. But it does sound a bit pompous, doesn’t it?)

(more…)

Toby has posted! She explains her recent blog silence:

I’ve had trouble getting to computers because the older humans from my kittenhood tsk at me whenever I try to walk into the nicer rooms in the house. It’s like those rooms are somehow off-limits…as if they must be filled with mountains of kitty treats. I’ll keep you posted on any new discoveries I make.

Sounds reasonable to me. Anyway, read the whole thing and, if the spirit strikes you, leave a comment. Welcome Toby back to the blogosphere!

Becky, meanwhile, left this very funny comment on my photo post (below) about my dad’s retirement:

Fight on Joe! Now you can read all the great fiction in the world…so long as you subscribe to the NY Times. :)

Hehe.