My New Boss-- The Fish

So, I have neglected to post for awhile, but I've been busy with the new job. So, you all probably know that I am working for the Yolo County Public Defender's Office. So who is the Yolo County Public Defender--well--he's Barry "The Fish" Melton.

Who is "The Fish?" He's the guitarist from Country Joe and the Fish, the very popular 60's and 70's band. They played at the Monterey Music Festival, Woodstock and elsewhere.

"The Fish" still plays, this summer, he has a tour in England, France and Russia. He also plays throughout the US.

This picture is from 1974.

Naked Guy

The famous Berkeley "Naked Guy," Andrew Martinez, has passed away. He became famous for attending classes and walking around Berkeley in the buff as a statement in support of the First Amendment. He was eventually kicked out of Berkeley (after several semesters) for his actions and was subsequently arrested on a series of public indecency charges. Each time he was arrested, he managed to defeat the charges. That is, until the town of Berkeley amended their laws specifically outlawing his conduct.

He was a civil rights activist (gay rights specifically). He also made public appearances to raise money for various charities. I met him when he went to Cambridge to speak about the importance of subverting the power structure by not conforming to societal expectations. Whether or not you approve of his methods, at least, he stood up for what he believed in.

Scott

This is Scott. He was a military brat. He was born in Turkey and lived in Venice until he finished high school. He placed fifth in the Nebraska Rodeo and loves nothing more than taking his dates out riding out on the windswept plains of western Nebraska.

He speaks Italian and loves to cook Italian food. His perfect woman knows how to line-dance and ride a horse.

Oh, and he has a Ph.D. from Yale.

He's currently single, but he's kind of busy until November of 2006, when he plans to move to D.C.

This picture was taken in 2003 at his family's ranch near Kearny, Nebraska.

Starry Night

I had the most wonderful night. I went to the supermarket with a friend and instead of heading straight back home, we took a drive into the countryside to see the stars. It's amazing how easily you forget that they are even up there when you live in a city.

Shocked and Appalled

As I posted early I have received many of pictures in my email box which to be included on my blog, I am happy to make a short post about all of my friends, but please remember that this is a family-friendly blog and try to send me pictures that I can actually post. So here are a few ground rules. No pictures of you, or anyone else for that matter, naked (Eric, Joe, Ben, Jenny and Mila, I'm talking to you). No highly suggestive photos (Heather and Jon, I'm talking to you). But, of course, artisitic photos without nudity are fine.

As a good rule of thumb, if the picture depicts you breaking three or more of the Ten Commandments its probably not okay. I realize that for some of you, this will drastically cut down on the number of pictures you can send me, but this rule had to be instituted.

Svetlana

In response to my Chris post many of my friends have flooded my email with pictures (I also sent out a mass-email asking for pictures). For your consideration is my ex-girlfriend Svetlana. She's currently living in Russia, in the town of Murmansk. She's a graduate of Brown University, with a major in chemical engineering. She enjoys art, plays the piano and the harp, and rules the tennis courts. She is also currently single, but not really looking. She is starting her pursuit of a doctoral degree at Moscow State University in August.

Chris

I have decided to profile a few of my friends on my blog. This is Chris. He's a recent graduate of the University of Nebraska, with a major in PoliSci/Russian. He's signed up for the Marines and wants to go to the Defense Language Institute. He hopes to one day become an embassy marine.

He's a really nice guy. A tad bit conservative (who am I kidding, he's actually a little to the right of the Kaiser), but he's got a good heart.

This picture was taken on the coast of the Baltic Sea while on our trip to St. Petersburg.

Immigration

Mr. Bush ruined my day by pre-empting my daily dose of local news in order to put forth his ideas about immigration. In honor of Mr. Bush, I have decided to put forth my viewpoint visually. Enjoy this editoral cartoon by J. Keppler, published the last time we decided to try to keep the "illegals" out.

DDR Rules My Life

I have let DDR start to rule my life. I have been doing it roughly 3-4 hours each day since I bought it. I think I need some help. Perhaps there are support groups for DDR. "Hi, my name is Brian and I'm addicted to DDR.

Knock, Knock

So I had just finished taking a shower, when I realized that I had negligently left my DDR on. So I decided to do a little dancing. After about twenty minutes, I heard a knock on the door. I was expecting a friend of mine (who had seen me in compromising positions before) so I hurried over to the door and whipped it open, fully expecting to see my friend (I had a towel in one hand and I was going to cover myself up after opening the door).

After opening the door, I looked out, totally expecting to see my friend, instead I saw the rather shocked face of the UPS guy. The edge of the door barely covered my package. He just handed me my box and mumbled something like "Just get out of the shower, huh?" I signed the tablet and closed the door.

First Post--Ever

It took less than three minutes of peer pressure to force me to start a blog of my own. So here it is.