Let me preface this post with a disclaimer that this is, indeed, my last favorite holiday of the year.  Sure it’s great to see all the little kids dress up, and it’s fun to steal candy, children, and/or a combination of the two (I just saw a chicken walk through the law school…cutest chicken I’ve ever seen), but this guy does not like to dress up in costumes.  Another reason why Feb Club is not as exciting to me as it should be - I simply don’t like costumes.

Alright, so Saturday night was basically Halloween observed for the law school.  That was a good time, I suppose.  Pictures should be up in the next few hours (after all, Admin is coming up…perhaps I’ll do it then).  But this is also a money time to say that, for future reference, people should avoid wearing masks to halloween party.  Now, I understand that it has the potential of making your costume pretty money.  But the problem is that people just don’t know who you are.  If you must wear a mask, wear it upon entry and just hold onto it for the rest of the night.  Sure, if someone wants to see your full costume, go ahead and put it on and let them see your full costume.  Otherwise, keep that crap off.

Anyway, I don’t have all too much to say about the hallween parties.  Everyone looked fantastic and drunk …ergo, it was a good time.  I feel like I had more to say, but I’m sitting in the middle of Scott Commons right now and I keep getting distracted by people walking around me.  I know.  I’m easily distracted.  A simpleton, if you will.

I forgot to say that Roger and everyone else who celebrated with me got together and got me a delightful bottle of Jack plus a FLASK. Woohoo! Thanks guys! So, in case you were looking for a belated birthday present, cross that off the list. The Sony Aibo is still on the registry.

Also thanks to Selina, Brooks, Rico, and McKenzie for their gifts!

Well it appears that I am long overdue in my journal posting, as evidenced by the fact that one of my close friends reminded me this morning; one of my 1Ls reminded me last night, and a random dude I saw at Saturday night’s party commented on that.  Hm.  As I reread that sentence, I’m not sure it actually makes sense.  But unfortunately, I am entirely too lazy to grammatize it.  Yeah that’s right.  Grammatize.

Just to provide you with a general update, I accidentally celebrated my birthday on Thursday evening at Bar Review.  I went out to dinner with some of my 1Ls at Starr Hill, where Bar Review was.  When we were done with dinner, we began drinking a little harder, and then the next thing I knew, there Audra was, trying to get the entire bar to sing Happy Birthday to me.  Craziness.   Thanks to everyone who was out there celebrating with me that night.  I made it home somehow and woke up at 5:30 a.m. sleeping in the middle of my hallway floor.  Haha.  Good times.

So the next morning (Friday, my actual birthday morning), I had to meet with a prospective student for lunch, a tour, that sort of thing.  She saw me in the morning and laughed and said Happy Birthday…did you make it home okay?  Great.  I’m glad I’m giving such a great impression of this fine institution (Sorry, Susan, Jason, and Bill).  Anyway, she loved her visit is what she told me - she commented on how incredibly nice everyone at the school was.

Later that evening I went to Flaming Wok with a bunch of good friends.  We also watched the UVA-WF game on tv (I am angry.  Please don’t make me relive experience.), and then stayed in at Jane’s (upon whom I imposed to host, because she has Fox Soccer Channel and we with Adelphia do not) while we watched the Cards trample Detroit and their incompetent pitcher.  All in all I had a great time for my birthday.  I have lots of pictures, thanks to Ericka, but I’ll post that online whenever Jane gets me my adaptor back.  Jane, give me my adaptor back / I hope you find it.

I’ll post tomorrow on Halloween festivities!

OK, so most of you who know me know that my birthday is coming up on Friday, the 27th. Still don’t know what to get me? Here’s help. I’m wasting time before I head home for the day and thought I’d help everyone out by making this little wishlist.
Sean Singletary Basketball Jersey. I like this for a number of reason. First, Sean is first-team all ACC. So he’s destined for great things, right? Second, I realized that despite my die-hard basketball addiction, I don’t actually OWN a basketball jersey! Third, it’s orange. This justification usually works with anything orange, but I like it because I can use it to cover up the ugly Hoo Crew t-shirt that I’ll be forced to wear come basketball season. Blech. Gross.

Silver Stainless Steel Flask. I don’t even understand how it’s possible that I am turning 23 and still do not own a flask. Especially since I go to so many football and basketball games! What’s great about this gift is that (a) it can be customizable via engraving, and (b) it brings back Redfaced Brian, who as we all know, is a ton of fun.  I mean um, I would use it primarily for the purpose of transporting water into the football stadium, as I am easily dehydrated.
North Face Denali Jacket. This is one of those things that’s just too expensive for me to buy for myself. So this is why it’s on the birthday wish list. I currently have a ghetto JCPenney fleece jacket, and while it gets the job done, it doesn’t really scream “I’m fashionable at UVA!” like I want it to. Also, the collar has issues with being popped, and I think when it comes to fleece jackets, a popped collar is WAY better than the unpopped collar. The warm fuzzy fleece material just does wonders in keeping your neck warm, the way it should be.

Set of 12 ACC Shotglasses. Those who know me well know that I collect shotglasses and have amassed quite the collection (though they are all sitting at my house in Virginia Beach). And, of course, you all know simply from reading the Journal that I’m an ACC / UVA junkie. I have a good number of UVA shotglasses already, but having a complete set of shot glasses would just be great. You can find this set by Googling something like “ACC Shotglass ceramic” or something.

Sony Aibo. OH MAN! I’ve been wanting one of these for SO LONG now! They’re just like real dogs…but um, robotic. But they take on personalities, could read your email (that’s a little weird), can be taught tricks, and you don’t have to put up with the burden of taking care of a real puppy! i.e., if you kill it, you can just press the reset button all over again. WHAT FUN! They had one of these bad boys on Real World: New Orleans, but I wanted one from even before then. If you get me one of these, I will probably have your baby, whenever that became biologically possible. Or I would allow you to have my baby. Although, I suppose that doesn’t have the same appeal (it should).

Alright, well those are five things that I could think of off the top of my head. Remember, it’s not too late to get your presents in the mail and to my apartment on time. My address is 2401 Arlington Blvd, #69; Charlottesville, VA 22903. You’re welcome!

Somebody told me the most delightful thing today that just made my day. I just got into the law school and someone (not one of my 1Ls) said, “Brian, I just talked to Grace and Beth [the Head Peer Advisors], and I told them that if we could vote for next year’s Head PAs, I would vote for you. Seriously, consider it for next year. I’ll even write your application.” I may just be a sucker, but that made me feel good inside. It was reinforced when the guy next to her, whom I don’t speak to all that often, said, “Yeah dude…you’d be kickass at it.” So that made my day. Thanks
That said, while i’ll consider it, I probably wouldn’t do it. I am having too much fun this year with my kids to be a Head PA and not have any kids of my own. It’s just not the same. But yes. I just thought I’d share that with you all.

Wow. You don’t even KNOW how awesome today has been. I woke up at 6:15 this morning to get to the law school to write on chalkboards about the general counsel panel Virginia Law and Business Society was co-sponsoring. It was a pretty good event in terms of speakers - general counsels of Nortel, Nextel, BET, and The Carlyle Group. The three of us who did the chalking for the event ended up getting tickets to go to a suite for the UVA-UNC football game. But wait. Not just any ol’ seat. The PRESIDENT’S BOX! We also go to tailgate at Carr’s Hill (President Casteen’s house) beforehand! It was amazing!

Before I get into too much detail, let me just say that today’s VICTORY over the Tar Heels places Virginia second in the Coastal division of the ACC.   That’s right.  Above Miami, even.  As far as ACC standings go, UVA has the same conference record as Virginia Tech and florida State (well, FSU has one less loss).  Of course, both have a better overall record than we do.  But let’s enjoy our victory and of this image, posted 10/20/06 at 1:56 a.m.
The food at Carr’s Hill was outstanding. Rice, dumplings, lo mein, coconut green beans, and salmon…just to get things started. Of course, there was alcohol as well. There was also a nice caramalized banana tart kind of dessert. Mmmm. From there we get escorted by motorcade into the stadium! We took a bus and had two police motorcycles in front and behind us. I felt important, until I quickly realized that the security was not really for me. It was for the University’s chief financial officer, vice president of student affairs, director of alumni affairs, and a whole slew of other people with fancy titles and nametags. What an experience!

Alright. Into the box we go. While other people are being silly and doing things like mingling, checking out the food, etc., I go straight for the seats and grab the one right in the middle, so that I was at the 50-yardline. I basically had one of the best two seats in the box - the other one being Casteen’s seat (directly to my right). It was SO AWESOME.

I know what you’re wondering. Great, Brian. But what food was there?? Come on, you know I took note of this! OK, we had hot dogs and chili, shrimp empanadas, chicken drumettes, chips and salsas, and a ton of desserts (blue and orange M&Ms, cupcakes, mousse). Yum. My only gripe? No alcohol. Booo.

Haha, so I went to pee in one of the restrooms (nothing too exciting there), but the old dude (65+) next to me was having pee problems and was saying, “Man, it burns when I pee. I wonder what’s causing that.” All I could think of was, “Oh my gosh dude. You have gonorrhea!!” But obviously, I couldn’t do that. Haha.

They also introduced the new basketball team. As they were heading back to wherever they were sitting, Josh (the kid next to me) and I were cheering for Sean Singletary. We were about 20 feet away from him, and were the only ones cheering (everyone else was watching a game or something). He definitely heard us, looked our way, laughed/smiled, and gave us the nod. I am such a groupie. Yes McKenzie. I’m admitting it.

My other great story of the night? After the second field goal, I went over and swayed/sang the Good Ol’ Song with President Casteen! How awesome is that? I had met him a few times as an undergrad via 2005 Vice President sort of duties, but that was always sort of formal and stiff. How many people can say they’ve hugged Casteen and sang the Good Ol’ Song with him?! Few, is my guess. I wish I had gotten a picture of it

Throughout the night, I also ran into Wayne Cozart, Pat Lampkins, and Penny Rue. That was cool.

I’m sure I have tons of other things to say, but I can’t think of it right now. Wheeee! SO AWESOME!

Oh, and VIRGINIA 23, North Carolina 0. We don’t get many ACC wins, but when we do, we shut them out (never mind that they are undisputably the worst and second-worst of the ACC this year).

Pictures up in the photo gallery! Check it out!

That’s right folks.  Virginia Football may be on the rapid decline (seriously…who blows a 20-0 lead that quickly?), but the great thing is that Virginia Basketball is right around the corner!  To celebrate, here’s a poem I devised.  Indeed, I am now officially published in TheSabre.

Victory is Ours

All throughout C-ville, questions were made:
What happened to football? Why did we fade?
“Worry not,” said many a fans.
For in less than a month, we’ll be in Leitao Land.

First we meet ‘Zona - we’ll have some good laughs,
We’ll double their score at the end of both halves.
Then come Morgan State and UNC-A,
Give me a break - we’ll put em away.

In comes Maryland of the Eastern Shore.
That game’s a snoozer so you I won’t bore.
But in the ACC Challenge we go to Purdue
Who are the Big 10?? Do they EVER come through?

We begin ACC play against NC State.
The Wolfpack are weak - we’ll be sure to dominate.
Hampton is easy, it’s like they’re in high school.
And at the San Juan Shootout, we’ll take the crown jewel.

We should be patriotic against American U,
but we’ll show them no mercy - we’ll do what we do.
We’ll zip past the Zags and Stanford’s no match.
Then Hoos versus Heels - a win we will snatch.

We’ll travel to Boston where we’ll be the boss.
We’ll come home against Maryland to avenge last year’s loss.
Demons and Wolfpack and Tigers oh my!
So many big wins, we’ll be feeling so high!

In the come the Dookies, they deserve their own stanza.
But nothing will save them from the HOOStravaganza!
Here come the ‘Canes, acting all beast,
But we’ll send them back crying to the Big East.

The Terps lose again, just like they did prior.
They’ll probably light College Park all on fire.
Then it’s the Hokies in their home town.
We’ll demolish them to pieces - they’re going down.

Oh and then poor Longwood, caught in the action.
The win we get there, is hardly satisfaction.
Florida State and those rowdy Seminoles,
We’ll lock em up, much like we do criminals.

The Canes once more …man I love winning!
The bees from G-Tech…we’ll send em home spinning.
The Hokies come back to the new JPJ.
We’ll eat em alive, like a Thanksgiving buffet.

We’ll end regular season out on the road
Exorcising the Demons, we’ll watch them explode.
Though we’re down about football, we’re different from Tech.
There are other sports out there; other teams whom we’ll wreck.

Sean and the boys show a promising year.
Fear not, Hoos fans…for March Madness is near.
We’ll make the big dance, and we’ll win the whole thing.
In Leitao I trust to take us all dancing.

Autographs will be given during the next post-game report.

I got the following from Ashley’s profile and thought it was funny, so I’m sharing it with you all:

Investment Tip:

If you had purchased $1000.00 of Nortel stock three years go, it would now be worth $49.00.

With Enron, you would have had $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00.

With WorldCom, you would have had less than $5.00 left.

But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer three years ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have $614.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle.

It’s called the 401-Keg Plan.

Ingenious.

Man.  My stupid HP computer and its stupid power cord.  The rubber surrounding the wiring has somehow worn off and now there are wires hanging out of my power cable.  If it’s positioned incorrectly, it won’t feed power into my hungry computer.  So when my screen blanked out, I was like, WTF?  So I pick up the cable to see what the problem is, and of course I’m holding the exposed part for a while.  Apparently, humans are conductors of electricity (yes, I know we all knew that already).  But for future reference, your power cable doesn’t feed all that much power into your computer.  It felt like someone was burning a hole through my hand after 10 seconds or so, and so that’s when I realized what was going on.  But it wasn’t anything major.  And despite being shocked, I can’t tell the future, unfortunately.  Oh well.  A guy can dream.  Anyway, I called Sam’s Club (that’s where I bought the computer and that’s where my 4-year warranty is) and they’re going to send me a new cable, but it’ll take 7-10 days.  Until then, I’m just negligently using this cable.  Here’s to hoping nothing lights on fire.

Oh, and in case you were wondering - duct tape doesn’t help the situation.  In fact, the electricity/heat just started burning through the tape.  Oops.  Stupid Harris Teeter not carrying electrical tape.  Boo.

Also, I turned on the light in my room and noticed one of the ceiling bulbs were out.  So I turned off the light and replaced it.  As my luck would have it, just as I turned it back on again, the other one blows out.  Grrr.

Everything was made better today when I saw the Chokies lose 22-3 to BC.  Yay.  (Don’t mention UVA’s record - it’s the little things that get me through the season.)

I finally made it out to a UVA football (I mean the fake football…where you actually use your feet. Non-American Football. Yes, I’m only kidding about my ignorance.) game tonight. The #4 Hoos took on the #2 Terds Terps. For a good bit throughout the first half, Maryland seemed to be controlling the game. Time of Possession-wise (do they calculate that in soccer?), Maryland I’m sure had us beat. But their strong offense was met by our strong defense. Unfortunately for them, our strong offense was met by a merely mediocre defense. As such, the Cavs posted another shutout this season, and hopefully this will bring us even closer to the top of the rankings (I’m hoping for a #2 spot at least here). It’s nice to see a winning Virginia team again, and it reaffirms to me how great of an overall athletics program we’re building.