I think the physical presence of scratchable vinyl or unspoolable tapes, or the extremely kitten-vulnerable compact disc, is what gave us — particularly Metallica — the idea that sounds are something you can hold in your hand. I think that’s why kids don’t get intellectual property fighting, because songs don’t exist in three dimensions again, which means the argument takes place across a line that’s impossible to explain, and results in the parties talking about two different things entirely. As ever, I side with the kids.

–Jacob, in Television Without Pity’s American Idol 6: Top 4 Performances Recap

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Bjork is music for people who think they’re supposed to like hip, trendy stuff but don’t know the first thing about quality music.

– Dan Carlson

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Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) was asked about what he thought about the President [George W. Bush]. "Well," he said, "I really think he shatters the myth of white supremacy once and for all."

– Rep. Charles Rangel

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The first question I ask myself when something doesn’t seem to be beautiful is why do I think it’s not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.

– John Cage

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I’m not sure about people anymore. They’re responsible for some pretty nutty stuff. Individuals I’m crazy about though.

– Berkeley Breathed, cartoonist and creater of Opus (Starbucks "The Way I See It" #199)

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I’ve heard all the whining, okay? What I haven’t heard are results. And until I hear ‘em, I’m just talking to a well-connected joke in an Armani suit.

– Sebastian "Shark" Stark (James Woods), Shark

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Suddenly I see, this is what I want to be
Suddenly I see, why the hell it means so much to me…

– KT Tunstall, "Suddenly I See"

Just goes to show you that there’s little correlation between IQ and success in lemonade sales.

–David Gould, contestant from The Apprentice Season 1

To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worthwhile. The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter.

– Aleister Crowley

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You can run, but hiding is a crowding problem unless you get there early.

– The Dissassociate

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I found the following entry on a relatively new lawyer’s blog, and it made me remember how I felt last summer when I was working at The Firm, and why I was so, so, SO excited to get the offer of employment. And I thought it sort of nicely sums up an answer to the question I get asked alot: "Why do you want to litigate, especially in a big firm?"

Can you tell that right now I am really happy to be a lawyer? And at this point in my career, all I get to do for big cases is the motions, but I still get all worked up trying to exclude an expert or win some procedural issue. Oh, and when I get some ridiculous motion (or notice of appeal!) filed by the other side, I love the way it makes my heart start to race. I feel my jaw clench and my eyes narrow, but at the same time I can’t stop grinning. I love it. I guess the ups and downs are why some people don’t want to litigate or don’t do it for long. But I would guess for those people it is more that they don’t like the highs. I feel like a drug addict saying I just want to be high all the time. I think I just need more practice managing the emotional toll and other outlets so my intensity level can remain more consistently high.

– Law v. Life

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A series of quotes and links I’ve gathered over the past week or so…

• "Thirty-five years ago, while I was in the midst of moving, my car and all my belongings were stolen. I took it as a sign to get out of town. I put a map of the United States on the wall and threw a dart at it. It landed on Carson City, Nevada, and I bought a one-way ticket there from Boston. Much to everyone’s surprise, I started a new life in a new place without a friend or a job and with just the $600 the insurance company gave me for my car. I spent 12 years there and got a teaching job, my master’s, and a husband. It was scary–but one of the best moves I’ve ever made."
  – Pamela Pierson, Spokane, Washington
• For a whole slew of tips on de-cluttering your living space, check out Marla Ciley, known on the web as FlyLady.
• "I’m an office-supply nerd. I hyperventilate in Staples."
  – actress Debra Messing (expressing the very thing I too feel about office supply stores!)
• It was the middle of a busy day, in the middle of the atrium, when I was walking briskly from one class to another, when my water bottle tilted just slightly, and wound up dumping water all over the place. It was embarrassing and messy. Is the Camelbak water bottle, purportedly leakproof even when totally upsidedown, the answer to my water bottle woes?
• "I would rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my books, my family, and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post, which any human power can give."
  –Thomas Jefferson, letter of February 1788
• Ever wondered how bugs mate? (Oh come now, I know you have…) Check out this oddly engrossing site that depicts their mating rituals, and so much more.
• "I wish I could be that size, but I can’t be. I enjoy food too much. In the end, I’m too hedonistic. I enjoy pleasures."
  – Elizabeth Taylor, on why she couldn’t remain Hollywood’s ideal beauty
• Any of you fellow yoga-ers out there have trouble, as I do, maintaining a downward dog position for the requisite three to five breath cycles because your hands refuse to stay put on the mat? I can’t wait to add the Skidless Yoga Towel to my holiday wish-list. It’s kinda pricey, but if it works, it’d be completely worth it!
• "I don’t like going to clubs because the music is too loud. I sometimes feel like my grandfather–asing them to turn the music down!"
  –hot young actor Brandon Routh, speakin’ the truth about the nightlife

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