The Committee of Seventy, an indispensible non-partisan guide to Philadelphia politics, has the details on a ballot measure we'll be seeing on the May 16, 2006 Primary Election ballot.
As you may recall, there's been some suggestion of corruption in Philadelphia.
If enacted, this measure directs the Mayor to appoint, subject to Council's approval, a 5 member Board of Ethics, with guaranteed funding of at least $1,000,000 for the first two years.
I'm also curious as to whether the local ward committee members have any plans for fundraisers before the primary.
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Friday, April 28, 2006
I blame the Bee Gees
Tonight I wanted to go to Johnny Rockets for dinner. I picked up a newspaper around the corner ($1.25 for the Wall Street Journal?) and then stood at the front waiting to be seated.
Unfortunately, "Stayin' Alive" was playing. At Johnny Rockets, there are some songs that, alas, the waitstaff must dance to.
The problem was that appearantly I showed up just as the song was starting.
You may not recall this, but "Stayin' Alive" runs for about 8 minutes. When you're standing there, waiting for someone to take you to a seat, eight minutes is a long time.
Long enough, in fact, that I gave up.
So now I'm walking down South Street again, thinking about where to eat.
I take a fateful right turn, and wind up at The Famous 4th Street Deli.
I'd seen the place for many years, but appearantly they've only begun serving in the evenings in the last year--hence I'd never eaten there.
The food, the decor, and the service were all swell. But if you feel guilty about leaving food on your plate, be advised that the brobdingnagian portions mean that you'll be carrying a lot of food home.
For the Philadelphia Inquirer's restauarant critic Craig LaBan's review, here.
Unfortunately, "Stayin' Alive" was playing. At Johnny Rockets, there are some songs that, alas, the waitstaff must dance to.
The problem was that appearantly I showed up just as the song was starting.
You may not recall this, but "Stayin' Alive" runs for about 8 minutes. When you're standing there, waiting for someone to take you to a seat, eight minutes is a long time.
Long enough, in fact, that I gave up.
So now I'm walking down South Street again, thinking about where to eat.
I take a fateful right turn, and wind up at The Famous 4th Street Deli.
I'd seen the place for many years, but appearantly they've only begun serving in the evenings in the last year--hence I'd never eaten there.
The food, the decor, and the service were all swell. But if you feel guilty about leaving food on your plate, be advised that the brobdingnagian portions mean that you'll be carrying a lot of food home.
For the Philadelphia Inquirer's restauarant critic Craig LaBan's review, here.
Circadian...
...just one of the many forms of rhythm I don't have.
Scanning my links, the U&PU Blawg pointed me off to a cool blog on sleep research. (Or, perhaps more properly, chronobiology.)
Scanning my links, the U&PU Blawg pointed me off to a cool blog on sleep research. (Or, perhaps more properly, chronobiology.)
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Psst. The next big thing will be...
High Dynamic Range Displays.
Instead of one big backlight, lots of smaller, white LED backlights that are controlled as a matrix along with the LCD panel. Result is a huge jump in the contrast ratio between black and white on the image.
Looks cool as all get out.
Instead of one big backlight, lots of smaller, white LED backlights that are controlled as a matrix along with the LCD panel. Result is a huge jump in the contrast ratio between black and white on the image.
Looks cool as all get out.
International Law Programs at Temple Recognized
It's one of the reasons I came to Temple in the first place. Nice to see that they got to issue a press release and crow a little about the international law curriculum.
Hedging Real Estate Risk
Tuesday, as I was wandering around in an exam-prep haze, I picked up a copy of the Financial Times ($) to read with my meal at the South Street Diner.
I read the article on the dearth of LBOs, and the one about the developing a taste for the stock of super high calorie burger purveyers. But it took until today for me to read the article on Housing Options "Hedge around your home" written by Doug Cameron.
My parents have had to move frequently. And yet, because they have had to move according to the dictates of the Department of Defense, they had little opportunity to hold on to a particular piece of real estate in order to get the best price. That is, frequently they had to sell into a soft market, and frequently had to buy at a premium.
One problem with selling a house is that the price will eventually swing along nicely with the long-term-average for the area, but any particular house, being sold at any particular time, could go for more or for less. The real estate market suffers from an information defect relative to, say stock, because every combination of house and land is considered unique in the whole world. With a stock, you know that if someone, anywhere, just bought it for price x, then you can probably sell it for price x yourself: the individual shares are identical in the bundle of rights they convey to the holder. This leads to excellent reliability in reported prices for shares, while estimates for "how much is my house worth" will vary wildly.
Now, what I've always wanted is the ability to purchase a contract to protect yourself against declines in the price of your home. Say that, for instance, you bought your house for $100,000 dollars. Wouldn't it be nice to get someone to promise that, if you sell your house two years from now, if you sell it for less than $100,000, that they will pay the difference. In other words, if you wound up selling your house in two years in a soft market for $93,000 the holder of the contract would send you a check for $7000 dollars.
Now, you might ask, why would anyone take the trade? Simple, because you would have to give them money for the protection today. (In my example, let's call that fee $1,000--real financial types could estimate the real amount.) And, if the house isn't sold, or is sold at anything above $100,000, the homeowner doesn't get a single cent from the contract.
Now, as it turns out, the system announced in the FT Article is going to be more complex (and frankly, I don't have the time right now to figure out all the details.) From what I can tell, it will use an index based off of housing sales for particular markets, but the underlying idea is the same.
Quoting FT:
A similar shorting strategy would allow homeowners planning to move within a limited time to lock in the current value of their property, with the contract paying out the difference, or at least part of the difference, if house prices decline before their planned move.
Trading should start next month, and here's the link and the brochure (pdf) from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
I read the article on the dearth of LBOs, and the one about the developing a taste for the stock of super high calorie burger purveyers. But it took until today for me to read the article on Housing Options "Hedge around your home" written by Doug Cameron.
My parents have had to move frequently. And yet, because they have had to move according to the dictates of the Department of Defense, they had little opportunity to hold on to a particular piece of real estate in order to get the best price. That is, frequently they had to sell into a soft market, and frequently had to buy at a premium.
One problem with selling a house is that the price will eventually swing along nicely with the long-term-average for the area, but any particular house, being sold at any particular time, could go for more or for less. The real estate market suffers from an information defect relative to, say stock, because every combination of house and land is considered unique in the whole world. With a stock, you know that if someone, anywhere, just bought it for price x, then you can probably sell it for price x yourself: the individual shares are identical in the bundle of rights they convey to the holder. This leads to excellent reliability in reported prices for shares, while estimates for "how much is my house worth" will vary wildly.
Now, what I've always wanted is the ability to purchase a contract to protect yourself against declines in the price of your home. Say that, for instance, you bought your house for $100,000 dollars. Wouldn't it be nice to get someone to promise that, if you sell your house two years from now, if you sell it for less than $100,000, that they will pay the difference. In other words, if you wound up selling your house in two years in a soft market for $93,000 the holder of the contract would send you a check for $7000 dollars.
Now, you might ask, why would anyone take the trade? Simple, because you would have to give them money for the protection today. (In my example, let's call that fee $1,000--real financial types could estimate the real amount.) And, if the house isn't sold, or is sold at anything above $100,000, the homeowner doesn't get a single cent from the contract.
Now, as it turns out, the system announced in the FT Article is going to be more complex (and frankly, I don't have the time right now to figure out all the details.) From what I can tell, it will use an index based off of housing sales for particular markets, but the underlying idea is the same.
Quoting FT:
A similar shorting strategy would allow homeowners planning to move within a limited time to lock in the current value of their property, with the contract paying out the difference, or at least part of the difference, if house prices decline before their planned move.
Trading should start next month, and here's the link and the brochure (pdf) from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Outlining
Outlining Criminal Procedure. Mmm.
Is this exam material easy, or am I just so completely clueless it just seems straightforward?
Is this exam material easy, or am I just so completely clueless it just seems straightforward?
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Honor Code Violations
For virtually the entire time I've been at law school, we've had no reported honor code violations. It's made being an Honor Code representative very easy. But in the past 3 weeks we've gotten 2 notices from the Dean of violators.
We aren't given the names, but these folks have done stupid stuff: one person spent too much time in a free-slot exam. Three folks found an electronic copy of a paper, and then submitted it as their own (i.e. they stole someone's paper.)
Just in case anyone ever reads this who is thinking of going to law school, know this: cheating in law school is exceptionally serious business.
Because so much depends upon the trustworthiness of lawyers, the profession is extremely sensitive about anything in your past suggesting dishonesty.
Forget your grade for the course, that'll be an F: four months of hard work, gone.
The problem is that to be a lawyer, you must pass the bar, and the bar requires both the skills of being a lawyer (the stuff tested on the bar exam) AND good character.
While I can understand the pressure of law school, and it's possible to make a mistake and still be a good person, academic dishonesty makes me especially angry for a more personal reason.
Cheaters all harbor a common rationalization: everybody does it.
Well, you know what, not everybody does it.
I haven't.
Indeed, almost all of students do what they're supposed to, and accept that sometimes that means getting a worse grade, or working harder than they'd like to get the grades they're hoping for.
Law school grading is competitive: everyone is on a curve.
Cheaters are filthy little thieves of honest students' grades.
We aren't given the names, but these folks have done stupid stuff: one person spent too much time in a free-slot exam. Three folks found an electronic copy of a paper, and then submitted it as their own (i.e. they stole someone's paper.)
Just in case anyone ever reads this who is thinking of going to law school, know this: cheating in law school is exceptionally serious business.
Because so much depends upon the trustworthiness of lawyers, the profession is extremely sensitive about anything in your past suggesting dishonesty.
Forget your grade for the course, that'll be an F: four months of hard work, gone.
The problem is that to be a lawyer, you must pass the bar, and the bar requires both the skills of being a lawyer (the stuff tested on the bar exam) AND good character.
While I can understand the pressure of law school, and it's possible to make a mistake and still be a good person, academic dishonesty makes me especially angry for a more personal reason.
Cheaters all harbor a common rationalization: everybody does it.
Well, you know what, not everybody does it.
I haven't.
Indeed, almost all of students do what they're supposed to, and accept that sometimes that means getting a worse grade, or working harder than they'd like to get the grades they're hoping for.
Law school grading is competitive: everyone is on a curve.
Cheaters are filthy little thieves of honest students' grades.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Strawberry
When the strawberry plant grows a bit, I may yank the nasturtiums from the borders (or I may simply make sure they grow over the sides.) That bloom is the promise of fruit to come.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
How to Procrastinate
The last programming course I had was based on Pascal back in 1994 at CMU. Prior to that were two high school programming courses (interpreted BASIC on Apple IIs), and a crash introduction to C at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Sciences in the summer of 1990.
Friday I bought Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies (2nd. Ed.)
Since it's an introductory book, most of the examples are focused on using text input and output. And guess what, using text input and output it all looks suspiciously like C from 1990.
The biggest difference I've seen so far is the depth of the API and the huge jump in power in the development tools. I just downloaded a copy of NetBeans IDE 5.0, after watching a demo, and it looks really cool.
There are just times in life when only an "if" statement will do.
Friday I bought Beginning Programming with Java For Dummies (2nd. Ed.)
Since it's an introductory book, most of the examples are focused on using text input and output. And guess what, using text input and output it all looks suspiciously like C from 1990.
The biggest difference I've seen so far is the depth of the API and the huge jump in power in the development tools. I just downloaded a copy of NetBeans IDE 5.0, after watching a demo, and it looks really cool.
There are just times in life when only an "if" statement will do.
I wish I had a macro lens
Because if I did have a macro lens, this picture would be much clearer. And you could see all the cool frilly bits. As it is, you can get a sense of the color, and that's about it.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
The Sacrifices of Law School
When I read Bill's post about watching the buggy races at Carnegie Mellon's Spring Carnival, I was remained yet again of one of the non-obvious sacrifices that law school requires from me.
The only reason I'm not in Pittsburgh this weekend, visiting all the wonderful people there, is because of law school.
But that sacrifice, though painful, is fairly straightforward. I don't get to see my friends or watch the races, but its part of the work necessary to obtain a law degree.
But there's another sacrifice, too. After all, my friends have to miss me, too. And if my presence could have brought them even a little joy, then that sacrifice is one they have made without any say in the matter.
And, worse, they don't get a JD out of it.
I've been thinking about how to say all this at Commencement.
Our family, and our friends, have given up a part of us, a natural and perfectly right claim to our time and attention, so that we students may pursue our dreams.
The only reason I'm not in Pittsburgh this weekend, visiting all the wonderful people there, is because of law school.
But that sacrifice, though painful, is fairly straightforward. I don't get to see my friends or watch the races, but its part of the work necessary to obtain a law degree.
But there's another sacrifice, too. After all, my friends have to miss me, too. And if my presence could have brought them even a little joy, then that sacrifice is one they have made without any say in the matter.
And, worse, they don't get a JD out of it.
I've been thinking about how to say all this at Commencement.
Our family, and our friends, have given up a part of us, a natural and perfectly right claim to our time and attention, so that we students may pursue our dreams.
The End of School
Most of the time, as I zip through my daily routine, my mind is elsewhere.
I'll be reading, or contemplating problems, or praying, or just talking on a cell-phone. But this Thursday I tried to take special care to be aware of the day, since it was the last like it I may ever have.
First, when I woke up, I didn't rush. I didn't have to, I couldn't sleep past 7:30 anyway. I reckon it was the excitement: the last day of school. It's only been four years, but I don't remember what my last day at Pitt was like. I can't remember which classes ended the final day.
You know, it occurs to me, the University of Pittsburgh has a much earlier graduation than most other schools. I wonder-I just checked my diploma-the diploma date for Pitt, and thus the graduation was April 27, 2002. So the night of my first exam (Criminal procedure) will be the same day that I graduated from Pitt.
My last day of school was a gorgeous spring day, with the cherry trees doubled-over with blooms, flowers everywhere poked up, and abundant sunshine.
After work, I drank my usual iced coffee and read the New York Times at the bookstore.
And then the classes. First antitrust, in K2B (that's Klein Hall, room 2b.) And then Securities Regulation.
Not much fanfare. For the most part I guess the need to prepare for exams, and the bar, takes some of the enthusiasm out of celebrating.
But at 7:30, Professor Porrata-Doria took a moment to note if there were any graduating students in the class. It's a smaller class, but I think four folks raised their hands. (It's the last scheduled class hour for an evening student-we don't have friday classes.)
After that, a trip to the Draught Horse, and then the subway back home.
I'll be reading, or contemplating problems, or praying, or just talking on a cell-phone. But this Thursday I tried to take special care to be aware of the day, since it was the last like it I may ever have.
First, when I woke up, I didn't rush. I didn't have to, I couldn't sleep past 7:30 anyway. I reckon it was the excitement: the last day of school. It's only been four years, but I don't remember what my last day at Pitt was like. I can't remember which classes ended the final day.
You know, it occurs to me, the University of Pittsburgh has a much earlier graduation than most other schools. I wonder-I just checked my diploma-the diploma date for Pitt, and thus the graduation was April 27, 2002. So the night of my first exam (Criminal procedure) will be the same day that I graduated from Pitt.
My last day of school was a gorgeous spring day, with the cherry trees doubled-over with blooms, flowers everywhere poked up, and abundant sunshine.
After work, I drank my usual iced coffee and read the New York Times at the bookstore.
And then the classes. First antitrust, in K2B (that's Klein Hall, room 2b.) And then Securities Regulation.
Not much fanfare. For the most part I guess the need to prepare for exams, and the bar, takes some of the enthusiasm out of celebrating.
But at 7:30, Professor Porrata-Doria took a moment to note if there were any graduating students in the class. It's a smaller class, but I think four folks raised their hands. (It's the last scheduled class hour for an evening student-we don't have friday classes.)
After that, a trip to the Draught Horse, and then the subway back home.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Graduation Note
Today I won the run-off election for Evening Class Speaker.
On May 18th I will have the opportunity to speak on behalf of the 4L class at Commencement.
I'll have a chance to thank my fellow students so much for their friendship and hard work. To thank the faculty and staff for their dedication, and for their friendship.
And it will be my honor to speak to our friends and family assembled, to recognize the sacrifices they have made so that their loved ones could engage the difficult work of study of the law.
On May 18th I will have the opportunity to speak on behalf of the 4L class at Commencement.
I'll have a chance to thank my fellow students so much for their friendship and hard work. To thank the faculty and staff for their dedication, and for their friendship.
And it will be my honor to speak to our friends and family assembled, to recognize the sacrifices they have made so that their loved ones could engage the difficult work of study of the law.
Window Pot of Nasturtiums Ready to Bloom
The first flowers from my spring pot of nasturtiums are preparing to pop out. I just noticed them this evening. For what its worth, the effect of the red popping out against the dark green leaves is even better in person.
Hopefully it'll be in bloom by tomorrow afternoon!
Monday, April 17, 2006
Problem in the IE Address Bar
Microsoft released a patch tuesday to address a number of software vulnerabilites (and some IP rights issues.)
Afterwards something odd happened: the IE address bar stopped working normally. I know a lot of folks don't manually type in URLs, but I do. After the patches installed there was a change in the system: when I typed in google.com in the taskbar and hit return (or enter) nothing happened. IE just sat there, looking at me. If I typed it in as http://google.com it would go just as it normally would. I checked in firefox and netscape and they hadn't been affected.
Turns out it was an incompatability with an HP driver. And, happily, MS published a fix: it takes a little registry editing, but I just did it, and the repair took.
Afterwards something odd happened: the IE address bar stopped working normally. I know a lot of folks don't manually type in URLs, but I do. After the patches installed there was a change in the system: when I typed in google.com in the taskbar and hit return (or enter) nothing happened. IE just sat there, looking at me. If I typed it in as http://google.com it would go just as it normally would. I checked in firefox and netscape and they hadn't been affected.
Turns out it was an incompatability with an HP driver. And, happily, MS published a fix: it takes a little registry editing, but I just did it, and the repair took.
Gambling
Could it be that Donald Trump has chosen the best site for the coming Philadelphia casino?
Inga Saffron suggests that the city may be best served by keeping the slots away from the river.
Inga Saffron suggests that the city may be best served by keeping the slots away from the river.
Make Bella Vista Prettier
I live in Bella Vista, which is the home to the Italian Market.
I walk around a lot, too, and something has bugged me almost as soon as I noticed it.
Wires.
Cable, telephone, electrical. Look up and there's a rats' nest of cables everywhere. Now, I don't know how long this part of town has been electrified, but let's imagine that it happened back in the 1930s. That means that these neighborhoods have had 60+ years of ugly wires and cables overhead. At the very least its been 30 or 40 years...look at all of the huge trees with 'v' cuts in them to protect the wires.
This strikes me as the kind of thing that new construction ought to be paying for. Just like speculative money helped lay down a lot of dark fiber during the boom of the 90s, why not nab the speculators who are bidding up condominium rates here in Philadelphia to bury all of these cables. The benefits will accrue to both the old housing stock and to the new. The city could even sell bonds if it needed to--surely there's some bond outfit at a bank that could use some fees.
Certainly it'll be expensive, but otherwise inertia may lead to leaving these blasted poles in place for another 70 years.
I walk around a lot, too, and something has bugged me almost as soon as I noticed it.
Wires.
Cable, telephone, electrical. Look up and there's a rats' nest of cables everywhere. Now, I don't know how long this part of town has been electrified, but let's imagine that it happened back in the 1930s. That means that these neighborhoods have had 60+ years of ugly wires and cables overhead. At the very least its been 30 or 40 years...look at all of the huge trees with 'v' cuts in them to protect the wires.
This strikes me as the kind of thing that new construction ought to be paying for. Just like speculative money helped lay down a lot of dark fiber during the boom of the 90s, why not nab the speculators who are bidding up condominium rates here in Philadelphia to bury all of these cables. The benefits will accrue to both the old housing stock and to the new. The city could even sell bonds if it needed to--surely there's some bond outfit at a bank that could use some fees.
Certainly it'll be expensive, but otherwise inertia may lead to leaving these blasted poles in place for another 70 years.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
The Last Week of Class...Ever
This is the last week of law school classes, then the exams start on April 27. Sometime this week the stress will start becoming ridiculous, and I'll be just generally a more miserable human being until pen has lifted from the last blue-book.
Since I'm graduating, everything has to be in by May 10, but I'd really like to be finished by the 8th or 9th.
Since Law School doesn't teach you the law of any particular state, most folks will attend bar prep courses. To be a lawyer, I must pass the bar. I'm optimistic I'll pass, but because the consequences of not passing are so bad (9 months of limbo as a JD who cannot practice, paying for the bar again, even harder to find jobs) I went ahead and am going to Bar Bri.
Bar Bri classes start May 16 and 17, with the 18, 19, 20, and 21 off for graduation. And then it's back to class monday-friday, mornings from 9 to 1, with occasional afternoons, from May 22 until about a week and a half before the bar. The Bar Exam is on July 25 and 26, out at the Valley Forge Convention Center. (I'll probably rent a hotel room out there, because it would be ridiculously nerve racking to take public transportation out in the morning.)
Since I'm graduating, everything has to be in by May 10, but I'd really like to be finished by the 8th or 9th.
Since Law School doesn't teach you the law of any particular state, most folks will attend bar prep courses. To be a lawyer, I must pass the bar. I'm optimistic I'll pass, but because the consequences of not passing are so bad (9 months of limbo as a JD who cannot practice, paying for the bar again, even harder to find jobs) I went ahead and am going to Bar Bri.
Bar Bri classes start May 16 and 17, with the 18, 19, 20, and 21 off for graduation. And then it's back to class monday-friday, mornings from 9 to 1, with occasional afternoons, from May 22 until about a week and a half before the bar. The Bar Exam is on July 25 and 26, out at the Valley Forge Convention Center. (I'll probably rent a hotel room out there, because it would be ridiculously nerve racking to take public transportation out in the morning.)
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Nooks and Crannies
I realized when I was writing the prior entry that I wasn't sure where the term "nooks and crannies" comes from.
Fortunately, the Word Detective has the answer.
Fortunately, the Word Detective has the answer.
Invaders on the Sedum Matrona
Today when I went out for class I checked the plants and noticed something new.
The Sedum at this point has lots of nooks and crannies where the new leaves connect to the stems. Hiding among the leaves were little black specks that resembled big pepper flakes (about 2x or 3x regular pepper.)
Since the Sedum isn't edible, my first instinct is to douse the whole thing in insecticide (recall that last year I had quite a bit of caterpiller damage.)
Yet I may wait a bit. While I never catch them doing it, I know that birds do visit my pots from the feathers they leave behind. Songbirds would be quite happy to eat caterpillars, once they get big enough to be noticable. If the black specks are aphids, then ladybugs will be happy to eat the interlopers.
I've also noticed a little damage to the lavender plant. Only a little, but a few leaves appear to have been cleanly snapped off. I like to think it was from a parent explaining that some plants smell nice, and that the least damaging way to take a leaf from a plant is to snip it off (rather than rip it.) Lavender doesn't grow especially quickly, particularly right now since it's still cool. But hopefully with the day-time temperatures in the lower 70s (and probably 5 to 10 degrees warmer with the southern exposure on my front porch) the lavender will start getting the signal to grow.
And finally, no seedlings have popped up yet in the white planter (the one I used last year to grow beets in). I put 8 nasturtium seeds in there, the vining type, which should poke through the earth by the end of this week, assuming no freak winter weather.
While nasturtiums are among the easiest of flowers to grow, they bloom best in poor soil. Potting soil, by design, is actually a great growing medium. So as it is I'm hoping that the beets last year sucked all the nutrients from the soil. Otherwise I'll get lots of leaves, and very few blooms. Still, the leaves are attractive, which will look nicer than the empty black dirt I've got hanging out on my windowsil right now.
The Sedum at this point has lots of nooks and crannies where the new leaves connect to the stems. Hiding among the leaves were little black specks that resembled big pepper flakes (about 2x or 3x regular pepper.)
Since the Sedum isn't edible, my first instinct is to douse the whole thing in insecticide (recall that last year I had quite a bit of caterpiller damage.)
Yet I may wait a bit. While I never catch them doing it, I know that birds do visit my pots from the feathers they leave behind. Songbirds would be quite happy to eat caterpillars, once they get big enough to be noticable. If the black specks are aphids, then ladybugs will be happy to eat the interlopers.
I've also noticed a little damage to the lavender plant. Only a little, but a few leaves appear to have been cleanly snapped off. I like to think it was from a parent explaining that some plants smell nice, and that the least damaging way to take a leaf from a plant is to snip it off (rather than rip it.) Lavender doesn't grow especially quickly, particularly right now since it's still cool. But hopefully with the day-time temperatures in the lower 70s (and probably 5 to 10 degrees warmer with the southern exposure on my front porch) the lavender will start getting the signal to grow.
And finally, no seedlings have popped up yet in the white planter (the one I used last year to grow beets in). I put 8 nasturtium seeds in there, the vining type, which should poke through the earth by the end of this week, assuming no freak winter weather.
While nasturtiums are among the easiest of flowers to grow, they bloom best in poor soil. Potting soil, by design, is actually a great growing medium. So as it is I'm hoping that the beets last year sucked all the nutrients from the soil. Otherwise I'll get lots of leaves, and very few blooms. Still, the leaves are attractive, which will look nicer than the empty black dirt I've got hanging out on my windowsil right now.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Weather Report
Today it is finally sunny again, after several gray days of chilly winds.
Rather than go outside, I've been cooped up here at home, finishing off my bar application. Sadly, my printer is being a bit balky at the moment, so I'll have to fill out some of the forms at work tomorrow. And pick up a $500 cashiers check from my bank to send with the final paperwork.
I may take a picture outside later of how the plants are doing, but as of yesterday nothing looked terribly exciting. There looked to be a little new growth on the strawberries, which was heartening.
All but one of the zinnia seedlings looks dead; one in the corner might pull through. Replacement seeds are on the way from Burpee and should be here in the next week. If the trooper seedling makes it until the sunshine it'll have the pot all to itself, otherwise the new seeds will go in.
If I were smarter, I would have tried to get two or more of my classes as pass/fail, because I have no enthusiasm for studying for the exams. In the last semester of the last year of law school the bar exam, and hunting down a job, have much greater purchase on my attention.
But, in 39 days I graduate.
Rather than go outside, I've been cooped up here at home, finishing off my bar application. Sadly, my printer is being a bit balky at the moment, so I'll have to fill out some of the forms at work tomorrow. And pick up a $500 cashiers check from my bank to send with the final paperwork.
I may take a picture outside later of how the plants are doing, but as of yesterday nothing looked terribly exciting. There looked to be a little new growth on the strawberries, which was heartening.
All but one of the zinnia seedlings looks dead; one in the corner might pull through. Replacement seeds are on the way from Burpee and should be here in the next week. If the trooper seedling makes it until the sunshine it'll have the pot all to itself, otherwise the new seeds will go in.
If I were smarter, I would have tried to get two or more of my classes as pass/fail, because I have no enthusiasm for studying for the exams. In the last semester of the last year of law school the bar exam, and hunting down a job, have much greater purchase on my attention.
But, in 39 days I graduate.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Leaping Forward
As it turned out, I went to sleep last night at about 8, and stayed that way until about 7 this morning. So I was blissfully unaffected by the change in the clocks.
Except that I had to figure out what to do at 7 in the morning on a Sunday (a day I generally sleep in on when I don't wind up having to work at the store.)
So, it being the Italian Market, and my green thumbiness activated by the warmer weather, I went out and got omelette fixings in addition to supplements to my growing medium stockpiles.
Above, from left to right are pots of lavender, the large pot of stonecrop (Sedum 'Matrona'), a pot with strawberries in it, and a pot with Zinnia seedlings (var. Zowie.)
The Sedum did a great job surviving the winter, and has responded to the warmer temperatures with strong growth.
The growth is too small to see clearly in photographs with my camera, but when I was checking my pot that I placed the cactus seeds in I noticed a little pink nub poking out of the center of the pot. This is the first sign I've seen that the cactus seeds really were viable.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Law School Prom (AKA Barristers' Ball)
Tonight (March 31) was Temple Law School's Barristers' Ball. An occasion for over three hundred people to eat, drink, dance, talk, and flirt. Semi-formal, women were generally more adventurous than the men, who mostly wore suits. In my case, with a nicely orange tie.
This year I went dateless, but ran into lots of folks I knew (although I was saddened that more of my year didn't make it out. 4Ls Represent.) And Joe came, looking suspiciously like a lawyer.
This year the ball was held at the Ballroom at the Ben, on Chestnut between 8th and 9th streets. Appearently also popular for weddings. A beautiful space, well organized food service, and a cool little bar balcony for people-watching.
This year I went dateless, but ran into lots of folks I knew (although I was saddened that more of my year didn't make it out. 4Ls Represent.) And Joe came, looking suspiciously like a lawyer.
This year the ball was held at the Ballroom at the Ben, on Chestnut between 8th and 9th streets. Appearently also popular for weddings. A beautiful space, well organized food service, and a cool little bar balcony for people-watching.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)