Eugenio's Blog!

Okay, so I have been away for some time. School isn’t exactly the most relaxing thing this time of year, but I must not neglect my blog, so I have figured that I will add quick blurbs every now and then until my life settles. My blog is the only thing I know that will not stab me in the back. [I have no reason to say that, but it sounds really dramatic, doesn't it?]

I’ll be up in Minneapolis Wednesday through the weekend for a conference, so if anyway wants to meet up in Minnesota, I’m game. I need an Iowa City break.

I cannot promise anything entertaining in terms of postings for my blog starting today and ending at Thanksgiving.

My attack on the far left today: I can understand organic foods, but organic cotton t-shirts? This is a bit too extreme. My prediction hot item for 2006: free-range leather belts . . . who is with me? That, and a 24 hour dry cleaners -- these marketing ideas I come up with, I swear!

Dude . . . I told you this wouldn’t be entertaining.

Do you ever just feel . . . displaced?

M is right: “Second year of law school is SO different from first year.” See generally, M’s August 31 Posting. I can’t believe I thought I was actually busy last year. I have completed my first full (5 day) week of class. I was at the library until close for three of those five nights, until 11:30 another night, and I decided to call it quits on Thursday: I left at 11:00. Rebellious, I know. It’s amazing how much of the same people you see at the library. We should get a title boost for all of our work, something along the lines of 2.085L student. I am definitely referring to myself as a 2.5L student over Winter Break, and definitely a πL student in October 2005.

Working throughout the week, I wasn't able to catch much of the RNC. Luckily, I was able to watch the tallying of all the voter delegates, and the nice prayer before it. The commentator said the prayer was for everyone, but I counted at least ten references to the Lord and His son, Christ Jesus. By everyone, do they mean Anglo Christian Whites? Are these people lying again? I thought “all men [excluding women, people of color, members of the working class] are . . . equal?”

After the library, I have continued in the tradition of getting McDonald’s. I started with getting the conventional double cheeseburger with McValue fries, all for $2.10. What a deal, right? I leaned towards the “premium” salads at the end of the week. The first night I ordered the Caesar salad, the dude asks, “What kind of dressing would you like with that?” I hesitated for a moment, but politely responded “Caesar.” Fine, I guess it is not completely foreign that people order Caesar-salad lettuce with a non-caesar dressing.

However, I think when I order a “Bacon Ranch salad,” the same logic does not hold up. In order to satisfy the two key requirements for a Bacon Ranch salad, you must have bacon and ranch. You cannot have a Bacon Ranch Salad with bacon and French dressing. Why does our society tolerate a Caesar salad with non-caesar dressing? I like to think that when we refer to a Caesar salad, many people simply refer to the Romaine lettuce, unique to Caesar Salads, as opposed to the dressing. Since there is nothing special about the lettuce in a Bacon Ranch salad, the distinguishing factor is the bacon and ranch. Thus, Caesar salads with non-caesar dressing is tolerable; Bacon Ranch salads with non-ranch dressing is unbearable. This discussion has been cc'd to the McDonald's Corporation, Oak Brook, Illinois.

D has come down with the chicken pox. I remember having a horrible case of the chicken pox sophomore year in high school, eons ago. I must admit it was not fun. I just crave academic nourishment. Our thoughts & secular prayers are with you, D.

I need to find a new Journal topic. I had my heart set on English Language Discrimination in the Workplace, but some dude from the Rutgers Law Review recently published an article in the Winter 2004 Edition. When I started my research a couple of weeks ago, the article was not available on Westlaw, but when I checked yesterday, a hit came up and the article is right on target with what I wanted to discuss. I was so upset – I even had a title for my piece: No Puedes Hablar: English Only Laws in the Workplace. If you know of a interesting contemporary legal issue, with some primary sources but with little or no secondary sources, affecting one of the following topics/populations, let me know: Mexican Americans, Southern Italian Americans, Colorism, Native American Mascots, and other topics along the lines of Immigration Law, Labor Law, Discrimination Law, Civil Rights Law, and Critical Race Theory. ¡Ayudame!

“With one eye on the missiles, and one on the obituaries,
Waiting for the children of the Cold War to die.”

Dan Bern, “Children of the Cold War”