Tuesday, the 1st of September, 2026
Editorial Note: For your listening enjoyment.
As I write this, the clock has almost hit quarter-to-two in the afternoon. I’m in the LRC. This has happened before, months ago. This conversation, this seat, the position of the sun in the sky, briefly bright blue between the rains.
One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn’t belong.
I haven’t talked much about my inner life, I mean the real deep stuff. What’s the point, really? It’s not like it makes a lick of difference. Someone wise once told me that what matters is what we do, not what we intend, or think, or feel. People are coming and going; the scene shifts, stagehands move props and sets around as extras exit stage left. I remain in the spotlight.
Wednesday, the 2nd of September, 2026
Yesterday afternoon, the storms were kept at bay longer than I had anticipated, and the air had become like an overly watery bowl of soup left to cool for a few minutes. The sun was heavy, so I avoided the alley and walked back to Anova in the relative shade offered by the buildings along Lancaster Ave. Because I attended the inaugural Con Law DS at noon yesterday, I sent my friend Nikki an abridged version of my notes. It was more of a strategy session than one dealing with the subject matter, tips and tricks needed to succeed in the class.
I will be kvetching about Con Law later on, just you wait.
Later that evening, my friends and I had a watch party for the EDP documentary. Since I doubt those professors I suspect read this blog are unfamiliar with infamous online personalities, EDP445 is the screen name of one Bryant Moreland, a YouTuber who in 2021 was caught in an amateur sting operation that exposed him as a child predator. When confronted on camera attempting to meet up with what he believed to be a little girl, he gave the literally unbelievable excuse that he was there for cupcakes.
In spite of the damning receipts dredged up, the sting was carried out by clout-chasing amateurs, and all the evidence they collected was fruit from a poisoned tree. Mr. Moreland got away with it. Technically. He was free, sure, but universally loathed and all but devoid of income.
As I write this, it is now around 6:30 PM on the 2nd. I have much to abridge.
Anyway, documentarian Mike Clum made a somewhat sensationalist (but still kino) documentary about Moreland, available in its entirety on YouTube. Finding the documentary will be left as an exercise for the reader, but I’ll link to a bonus feature: a dialogue between Moreland and the other infamous internet personality, Steven “Boogie2988” Williams. This is Stalin and Hitler meeting to discuss the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact for the terminally online. Enjoy.
Wednesday is a repeat of Monday, schedule-wise. I cannot recall my dreams, but maybe I will later. I didn’t feel they were worth writing down when I woke up. My sleep was restful, despite falling asleep early in the morning. As usual, I had that fit on: white shirt (reflects in a slightly warmer tone than my other white shirts), khaki slacks, glossy loafers. The last gasps of summer, perhaps. Teal teashades, obviously; I swear they’re magic in how flattering they are. Hair curled right until my walk home, and even so it wasn’t too bad. Usually I just need a little water, and I’m good.
Evidence was a joy, as usual; I’ve said it before, I’ll keep saying it: Dean Oates is an incredibly engaging presenter, and I enjoy the references he makes; listen to the accompanying soundtrack of this section for an example. Among them, one was surprisingly pertinent to last night’s documentary. But in the interest of brevity, we’ll hop, skip, and jump straight into the Con Law Thunderdome. I try to participate; I have plenty to say; I engage with the readings, with the material, with the subject matter, but Prof. Abu El-Haj routinely calls on the same five people during lectures and discussions. Many people are saying this, mind; I’m not on the crazy train about this. I worry I was too vehement in my early contributions, such as on the group project, and thus she doesn’t want to hear what I have to say. I’ve routinely held my hand up for five to ten minutes waiting for a chance to contribute, and she just keeps talking as if I’m not even there, or she calls on one of her favorites. Again, some of my 3L friends who had her described similar issues, so…
I hope I don’t get points docked for “lack of participation”. I shudder at the thought.
On the subject of my yapping, I’ve found myself tongue-tied at times in ways I wasn’t last semester; it’s harder to precisely modulate my voice, and I occasionally slip up, my speech like mush. I think that’s from my new med, especially its interactions with my ADHD meds; I noticed that when I took it in the evenings, I had similar issues while playing RPGs (in person or virtual). Maybe that mush-mouth is partly why Abu El-Haj doesn’t like me, apparently. I’ve found that if I take the as-needed med (not extended release) before Con Law, the issue is mitigated; it was easier to speak properly in IP (and would have been in Con Law had I been able to get a word in). Specifically, the thing I most wanted to say (among many others) related to Fed. 10 and 51; “ambition checks ambition” in the separation of powers, but gridlock in the legislature results in an expansion of executive authority- especially within the past twenty-odd years since Dubya, but going back to Jackson- which makes it easier for special interests (e.g. Thiel, Altman) to pull the levers of power since they only have to sway whoever’s in the Oval Office.
In another surprisingly relevant twist of fate, one of my favorite YouTubers, Tim “Hello Future Me” Hickson, released a two-hour video essay dealing with many of the same topics we’re covering in class as relates to a galaxy far, far away. Yet another coincidence in a week or two chock full of them.
Also, maybe this is the residual history major in me, but whenever the Prof. oversimplifies historical context, it irks me. One thing which stuck out was when she said that the last Republic prior to the United States was Rome; the framers idealized the Roman model as they understood it, but there were plenty of others in the time between Augustus and Washington: the Haudenosaunee and Dutch Republic coming to mind as examples that would be familiar to the framers. Again, not the end of the world, not worth making a fuss about, but still the mental equivalent of a pebble in my shoe.
As an aside, we briefly discussed near the start the sources of what the framers were saying in the CC, and Abu El-Haj pointed out that James Madison took extremely detailed notes. Considering I’ve already burned through a notebook’s worth of paper, all I could think was “when is Ryan Gosling gonna be cast as Madison, because he’s literally me fr” (Ed. Note: the preceding sentence is not to be interpreted literally)
Essentials of IP was fine. No notes, no complaints, more trade secrets cases. I need to be better at my readings in that course; my participation is fine, so maybe I’m being overly critical.
I stayed on campus after class let out, waiting for the rains to let up; I chatted with a few of my friends, but everyone’s busy all the time. The sky was grey, not like slate but like imitation marble. The air was damp (and smelled as such) and surprisingly brisk; the ground was slick. As I walked, it was quiet, the ambient hum of the city intermingling with the sound of the wind, my footsteps synchronizing with the patter of rain falling from waterspouts. I had a lighter dinner than last night, with the caffeine I drank today likely suppressing my appetite. I straightened a few things up in my apartment.
As I write this, it is just before 8 PM. The sun has set, although it was barely out today.
Sierpinski Tetrahedron 