The State of Israel

So, after taking a class on the History of the Jews, I feel like I am able to have a civilized, intelligent discussion on the State of Israel. Anyone burning to discuss it with me?

Application Aggrivation

So, Lisa and I have narrowed the schools we want to apply to to Stanford, Chicago, and BYU. I have done all of the applications and am now....

Waiting for my letters of recommendation. It's kind of annoying, especially because the last thing I want to do is be rude to the professors who are very nicely writing them for me, but I really need them in soon. I don't know what to do.

Sigh.

So, how about dem Cougs?

So, as a BYU student, I would just like to acknowledge that the BYU Basketball Team is currently ranked #10 in the Coaches' Poll, which is pretty dang good. My favorite BYU player, Jackson Emery, has also set the school record for steals. Jimmer Fredette, the star of the team, was named ESPN's Player of the Week. That being said... how well do people think they'll do in March?

Law School?

I began getting Fee Waivers from law schools today. The University of Virginia (thus far) has offered to let me apply for free. It was interesting, because I got it as I was looking at this article that Glenn sent me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html?pagewanted=all

I still plan on going to law school, but it's given me some pause in going to the kind of place where my law school debt is going to be this big- especially considering that it's not just 3rd tier or even 2nd tier JDs that are posting angry blogs or selling their law degrees on Ebay.

Any thoughts?

Wow. So, Long time, no write...

Time sure changes things. The last time I wrote on this blog, I was a single philosophy TA living right next to campus. I didn't have a girlfriend, I'd been off my mission for a little over a year, and I was comfortably inert.

A little less than a year later, I'm a married man living in Springville, filling out Law School applications and shoveling the driveway (I'd NEVER done that before!)... and I'm very, very happy.

:)

My inability to play

I have always been a loser in the literal sense (as to the general sense, I can't comment). I lose at basically any game I play. In fact, I can't think of the last time I played a game I was better at than those around me. I don't win at card games, I don't win at computer games, I don't win at sports- in general, I just don't win.

I think that is why I react differently than my brother Glade. He really wants to win, and he usually does, because he is very driven and talented; when he doesn't, he can become angry and then will try harder the next time. I don't have the drive he has, and so even though I want to win, I tend to be more embittered and disgruntled than angry and demand a rematch. I find more and more that I don't really enjoy playing with other people, because every time, I lose. Sadly, I find that I am not mature enough to handle that, even though I thought by this time I would be able to.

Reflections on Adam

So I was thinking about Adam, and it occurred to me that, in reality, I've been thinking about it all wrong.

Adam had the easiest life ever.

Think about it. He didn't have to grow stuff for a long time. God personally set him up with the perfect woman (no dating problems! No wondering if she was the right one! No having to play the game!). He never worried about what to wear. He was given one rule to follow, which he proceeded to break- and it turned out to be fine, even great and necessary, that he did so. Even after he left the garden, what was he tempted to do? Steal? From who? Sleep around? With who? Envy? Envy who?

Say what you will- Adam got a lot of slack.