Changes and Such...

Alright, a couple notes here for you...

First, this whole Google Friend Connect business. You may have already noticed the little module in the left sidebar in which there is a number of weird thumbnail pictures and some links that say things like "Join" and "Beer Me." Ok, there's no "Beer Me" link, try as I might. But in case you hadn't figured it out - OFTOT is now a "social" site thanks to the internet geniuses over at Google.

What this means is that now, in addition to commenting on posts, you can become a "member" of OFTOT and make "friends" with other members. Plus, they've got that nifty wall thing that I also copped. So once you become a member you can, you know, speak your mind freely about how much you hate me and my writing, over there, rather than feeling confined to commenting on the subject matter of a given post (Vern).

I think this is pretty cool stuff, myself. But I'm also a giant nerd. Nevertheless, I urge you to become a member so we can "connect" on another level and move one step closer to becoming actual friends, like in real life. Remember what that's like?

Second, and more importantly, it's that time in my semester. The time that all students, law school or otherwise, just adore. Finals, my friends.

Today is my last day of classes and for the next two weeks, I'll be in full fledged, lock myself in a room with a shitload of coffee and other study enhancers, crouched over a book that rivals the thickness of a Tolstoy novel, but does not have any of the literary appeal, mode (after work, that is).

It shouldn't really mean a whole lot for OFTOT, other than the fact that I may seem just a tad angrier than normal, and there may be days on which I don't get a morning post up until mid morning. That said, I have no idea if that will be the case or not. I'm just giving you fair warning.

And now that we've got that out of the way, I saw something this morning that kind of made me laugh and think at the same time. It was a family with a little girl, who was tethered to her Mother by a leash. Now, I've seen this before. I think right around the early to mid 90's this was kind of a "fad" for a little bit, maybe. Seeing this, I just can't help but think - what is that teaching the kid?

I mean, obviously, as a parent you want to make sure your kid doesn't wander off to get snatched up by some crazy child molester (see R Kelly/Random Asshole) or something. But you're not really teaching them what to do. You're just restricting their movement. I'm just thinking that by teaching them to stay by you on their own, they'll learn to just do it, without the need for a leash, as if they're some wild animal or something.

Then again, I'm not a parent, nor do I plan to be anytime in the foreseeable future. I love kids, but at my ripe young-ish age, I've still got a few years of idiocy left in me before I stop spending three hours a night playing Rock Band and start spending three hours a night feeding and coddling a small lifeform. Plus, this was on the busy streets of lower Manhattan (Canal St, no less). So maybe it was necessary.

Either way, I'll bet if these things were popular when I was a kid, my parents would've been first in line for one. I think I can still hear my Mom...

"CHRISTOPHER, GET! OVER! HERE! NO! LEAVE THAT DISPLAY ALONE! Shit, we better get outta here. I can't take you anywhere..."

/storms out of store angrily pulling young Christopher firmly by his left arm