Hello. Welcome to my website. It started while I was in Europe for a semester, and I've kept it up since then. I'm now at the University of Chicago Law School, living in Hyde Park, and the story continues. If you want to say hi or visit me, email cfloyd at uchicago dot edu.
"Life is nothing if not the sum of your anecdotes." -Scotty The Body, on storytelling "But it ain't that bad, man. Just figure out the system before the system figures out you." -T. Matthew Smith, on the 1L year "The beer just doesn't taste as good when you're not drinking it with your buddies." -Anon., on being away from good friends "Somebody has to pay the rent around here. Why the hell not us?" -Cotton, on studying for exams
8/28/2004
I had a lot to post about, but I never got around to doing so. So here's one of those long posts that comes after I haven't done it for a week or so.
Last Saturday I lived the dream: I finally got promoted to Beer Man. Most of the regular beer men were across town working the Talons arena football game, so I was next in seniority. It was hard, glorious work. I popped open and poured about 170 tall boy beer cans over the course of the night, with nary a spill. I was hindered for the first few innings by a caffeine overdose, though. I had taken a Benadryl because of pollen allergies, and attempted to compensate for the drowsiness by chugging two Donkey Kick energy drinks from Quik Trip before the game. One would have sufficed. As it was, I was shaking as I poured my first fifty beers, and I must have appeared nervous or low on insulin. Oh well. Besides the stature, there's another great reason to want to be Beer Man: I made over a hundred bucks. Good times.
Sunday I saw Garden State. I suggest you do the same. It's a really good movie. After the film we also went to a great coffee shop in Tulsa: Double Shot at 18th and Boston. If you're a Tulsan or are visiting I highly recommend this place. They roast their own beans, and they have coffee-making down to an exact science. If you like espresso, this is the place: I haven't seen this kind of crema on a shot since I got back from Graz. I talked to the owner, and he really knows what he's doing: nine bars of pressure on the machine, temperature just right, even knows that it's 30 pounds of tamp on the grind to get the perfect espresso. Honestly, I give it my highest rating.
A political sign war has developed on my corner at 29th and Evanston. In a preemptive strike to start the conflict, some Kerry-Edwards signs sprouted in two yards, inflaming Jjakester (the dad) as well as other neighbors. I went Monday to the Republican HQ and picked up several. We put two in the yard and distributed them to sympathetic neighbors. We also live next door to a rare bird in 2004: a true swing voter. She allowed us to place a Bush sign on the property line, and once she decides who she's supporting she'll move it either onto our side or hers. I feel like the final location of that sign will be just like whatever county that is in Missouri that's always gone with the winner - a real election bellweather. Jjakester (the dad) will have to keep us posted on where that Bush sign ends up.
Wednesday was my last day at the federal courthouse. It was a good time seeing the inner workings of the federal justice system in progress.
I went to Norman on Thursday. Campus Corner continues to develop. Al Eschbach (sp?) opened his sports bar, and there's a new ice creamery open. Delightful.
Last night I played poker and won $50. But the winner of this particular game is obligated to do the buying at the Gray Snail, so there went most of that.
This morning Bessy (the sister) had a garage sale. She tried to sell my dresser, but I got up in time to stop the transaction. Garage sales are really awesome observational venues. As people came and went, so many questions entered my mind: I wonder what the shoplifting rate is for garage sales? How many garage salers does the average garage saler visit, and how much does he or she spend? What in the world is that man with the cane going to do with our old non-functioning computer, and will he somehow pull all of our financial information off of the dead harddrive and steal the Floyds' identities? From an econometric standpoint, just how much wealth is created in the United States from garage sales? What I mean is, the old lawn mower was worth little to us perhaps $5, per but rebuilt it was worth probably $40 to the guy who paid $15 for it. So we created $10 of value and he created $25 through that transaction. Could there be a time when garage sales end because an efficient Pareto distribution of junk has been reached?
I leave tomorrow for Chicago. I have on-campus interviewing for several days, and classes don't start until September 27. More news when I get there.
8/20/2004
Someone buy me this hat. Please. If you get it before September 1, send it to me at my parents' address, 2909 E 29 St, Tulsa, OK 74114. If it's after then, say closer to my Sept. 18 birthday (hint, hint), send it to me in Chicago at 2651 N. Burling St. 60614. That would be great.
8/19/2004
Annoying things happen recently. Yesterday I got pulled over on the Broken Arrow expressway. I had no idea what for, but apparently I was speeding. It wasn't until after the guy left that I realized he had marked the "Pursuit" box instead of "Radar." So apparently the dude just saw me passing somebody and assumed I was going too fast. He gave me a 1-10 mph over the limit citation, for a smooth $120 fine. Way to ruin my week, Tulsa Police Department
So I figure I need a good run at the AA stadium to try to make some of the lost funding up. Tonight is $1 beer and Elvis Impersonator night. It would have been sweet, but no, there was a rain delay and everyone left. Do you realize how easy it is to hawk peanuts, popcorn and cracker jacks in a minor league stadium half-full of half-drunks? Very. But not so much when everyone leaves.
Justin Lantz is in town, though. So the silver lining here is that I have time to hit the town with JBL, maybe cause some trouble. More likely we'll just sit at Borders. Man I'm cool.
8/16/2004
I haven't posted about food in a while, but I have to mention a sandwich I had today. The judge's chambers went to a place called Impressions in downtown Tulsa. I considered the prime rib sandwich but decided on the turkey club. Decided on the turkey club, that is, until I passed the huge steaming prime rib roast sitting out so all could see. Juicy, marbled, bloody rare prime rib, just waiting to be cut into thick slices. Screw the turkey club, I had to have beef. The sandwich was simple: just slabs of the prime rib on toasted french bread, and fresh horseradish on the side. Gorgeous. This sandwich was to an Arby's roast beef as Arnold Schwarzenegger is to Jean Claude Van Dame: a beacon of truth in a world of pale shadows. I covered it in horseradish, to complement but not overpower the beef, and dug in. It was the sort of sandwich you wish would go on forever, much like Heidi Klum's turn on the runway at the Victoria's Secret "fashion" shows.
Speaking of fashion, I had a little slip today passing through Utica Square. The metrosexual marketing our culture bombards us 18-30-yr-old males with, finally broke through for just a bit. Rolling by the store, I couldn't help but drop into Banana Republic to try on a blazer. Yeah, the brown pin-striped one in the window. I don't watch Queer Eye but it's the sort of thing I imagine they like to drape web designers in. I got some little dude who I guess manages the place to help me out with it. I started with the 42R. Tight in the shoulders. No good. Went to the 44R. Good on the shoulders, but big in the middle. No good. And no 43R on the rack. "Well," said the little dude I guess manages the place, "maybe you should check out a specialty store with other sizes." And it occurred to me, I'm the newest victim in our fashion society: Thick Guy. In a day when Leonardo DiCaprio and Jude Law are Hollywood's latest leading men, Thick Guy has no home at Banana Republic or Armani. Thick Guy is more Mark McGwire than Toby Maguire. He has to shop at JC Penney or Men's Warehouse. But hey, I can deal. Thick Guy also orders and demolishes prime rib sandwiches with ease.
I thought I was in trouble in Utica Square when a security guard rolled up next to me, honked and signaled to roll down the window. I figured my AC/DC was up too loud. Turns out he just wanted to compliment my latest bumper sticker, which declares "WHO WOULD AL QAEDA VOTE FOR!" This fellow Thick Guy and his partner were enthusiastic about my choice of voting issue and wanted to know where to get the same sticker. It was sweet. Now I just need to get my "Sportsmen for Bush" decal up. And I want to make a t-shirt: "Bush-Cheney '04: The Ass-Whooping Ticket!" (It's important that these slogans end with exclamations, no matter the sentence structure.)
I got some more Drillers games to work at the ballpark this week. Drop by any night but Wednesday. On Wednesday, I think I might go bowling. Let me know if you're in.
8/13/2004
Chicago was enjoyable. I got in around 8pm on Tuesday. Coming around the bend on I-290 to see the skyline from about 10 miles off was really awesome. I love the aggressive, muscular architecture of the town. It really made my adrenaline pump. I think that's because last year when I saw the skyline I was usually on my way up north from Hyde Park, on my way to fun and excitement. Seeing the Sears Tower sticking up like a big middle finger made my heart skip a beat.
The weather was really chilly for August, like in the 50s. It felt like fall, and I got that familiar October angst two months early. The smell of the cool air had something to it, maybe the vague fried-food-on-the-lakeshore smell of Chicago You know the autumn feeling, where you can't shake the nagging feeling that you're behind on an assignment, or you have something due or some reading to finish? The feeling that summer is really gone? That's the feeling I got in Chicago. Thank God it's only August and I'm not really in the thick of school. I'm not quite ready.
Speaking of the OK, I've got about two weeks left here. Shout me a holler before August 29th if you want to hang out. I'll be around.
My quest for new friends with a high cool factor has failed. They either aren't out there, or want nothing to do with me. Probably a combination of the two. And Purnell has a point. Even though he's not that cool, three levels of cool above him is probably wishful thinking. I might find one or two friends with an RP+3 level, but building a crew of such folk would just make me look bad.
I'm going to Chicago in the morning. Maybe I'll catch a Cubs game while I'm there. Who knows.
8/07/2004
Right, so I'm back from Camp New Hope. It's a fillup at the Good Karma Station. Although after a year of law school I have a feeling that my week of service only got me up to even. That's because, in my core, I'm a terrible person.
So on this website I'm building I had 86'ed the messageboard idea. Until I saw what you wired ruffians did to my last post. So the messageboard will be included in the new website. Yes, that website, the one that will never actually exist.
As few of you know, I was working on a book. Unfortunately, I just found out that my book already exists, with the additional advantage of having been spun off of a surprising popular television show on cable. Once I get the go-ahead from my co-author I will tell you all about what would have been and get your advice on whether it might still be.
To avoid any further confusion this coming week, I should mention that I am going to Chicago this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday I will attempt to update from the law school, if the wireless network accepts my janky bug-infested excuse for a laptop. No, just kidding Dell Inspiron 4000. I was only kidding. Please do not eat all my files.
I gotta tell you, going bald isn't sweet. You ever sunburn your scalp? I have to assume not. Let me just say there are certain areas of your body that don't see the sun, unless are a pervert and fake-bake in the nude. There is a reason for this... these areas are very senstive. Including the upper-forehead-receding-toward-the-back region. We'll see what it looks like when I tan my hairline. Perhaps it will be sweet. Perhaps I will now go to the pool and try. Have a sweet Saturday and may Allah bless you with awesomeness.
