To the Classic City and back

Ahhh. A weekend in Athens. It's just what this boy needed. Almost 48 hours in my home town. With the people I care for most. A Georgia football game. It warms the soul.

But my weekend wasn't Athens alone. Friday was Family & Friends Day at the law school which meant Mom, Pops and my grandmother would all be in town for a while. With the clan arriving late on Thursday night, the obvious option was to take the 'rents out to Bar Review. It was a big hit... they loved the scene and the folks. Seeing Joe Gibson in a dark, smoky bar was a sight to behold. Trust me.

On Friday, the trio got to go to a mock class, sit in on a real class and get a good general feel for what law school is like. Even took them to lunch at Pancake Pantry, a Nashville institution. After all that jazz and the traditional Friday afternoon Blackacre, my mom and grandmother headed up to Indiana to see my sister while Pops and I drove back to Georgia. I dropped him off in Alpharetta late that night and headed out to Athens.

What can I say? Athens was just how I left it. People had often warned me that the first time I went back things would feel weird. I'd feel dated. I'd be out of place. I have no clue what they were talking about. It was like putting on an old pair of jeans on the first cool day of the year. They just feel right. Yup, that's Athens. The people, the scene, the football, all of the above. Well, the football game almost felt right. A one-point win over Colorado wasn't what I had in mind but hey, a W is a W. Capped the weekend off with Son's from about 2:00 'til 7:00 on Sunday afternoon with some of the most incredible people I've ever known in my life. It made for a late return to Nashville but it was quite worth it.

The week is off to a good start. Haven't done enough studying but that's okay. It's more fun that way. Tasty Torts, our co-ed softball team, got a big win today. Wrote a song for the first time in months tonight. K. Scott is coming into town on Thursday night. Things are shaping up nicely. Life is good, people... life is good.

Red seersucker

In less than three days I will be in Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. I'll be home. As much as I love Nashville and all the incredible new people I've met here, there is no way in the world this city could replace Athens in my mind. I can't freakin' wait to get back to Georgia and see all the people I miss so much and spend some time in the city that treated me so well for four incredible years. It finally set in that the weekend is right around the corner when I picked up my red seersucker gameday pants from the tailor. Gotta make sure I'm looking my best for the Bulldogs on Saturday. I wore them all last year and they were a size too big. Can't be looking sloppy for my triumphant return.

I'm also really looking forward to my parents and grandmother coming into town for Family and Friends Day at the law school on Friday. There's a full program of stuff for them to do and it'll be nice to have them around and let them get a glimpse into my law school life. My mom and grandmother are going to drive up to Indiana U. to see my sister after the program ends on Friday while Pops and I drive back to Georgia.

Played in my first ever softball game yesterday. Got beat 4-0. I played okay but it was really strange tossing around that big ol' ball. I'm used to a baseball and it felt bizarre. Had a lot of fun though, I think our team might be decent if we get it together a little bit. It'll be a blast win or lose, though. By the way, we're The Tasty Torts.

Bar Review is at The Flying Saucer tomorrow night. Good times are sure to follow. For now, I've gotta do some work. And daydream about Athens while doing it. Prediction: UGA 47, Colorado 3.

Law school is hard

Yup. It's true. Law school is really really tough. I've been doing a lot of work this week and, although I enjoy it, it's still a ton of stuff. I've got a rough draft of an office memo due tomorrow morning by 8 a.m. and lots of reading to do before Bar Review. With that in mind, Bar Review should be great, as always. A nice release, for sure.

I got a couple of cool opportunities this week that I'm excited about. First, I got elected as a 1L Representative for the Ambassadors program, the group that is responsible for making sure that prospective students think Vandy is the best law school around and that alumni know that it still is the best law school around. We give tours. We talk to students and parents. We hang out with alums. It's like the V.C. and O.L put together but for law school. Should be fun.

I also got selected for the Executive Board of the Entertainment and Sports Law Society (ESLS). The group brings in speakers a few times a month to talk to students who, like yours truly, are interested in those fields. I'm excited to work with people in that legal area and hopefully make some cool contacts with attorneys around Nashville. Next week we're having the legal counsel for the Nashville Predators (NHL) come and speak. A good start to the year I feel like.

Bar Review in five hours. Lots of work to do. Peace.

Party at my place?

Last night was a revolutionary experience. For the first time in my life as a UGA fan, I was going to be watching the game at a sports bar. During all four years of undergrad, I missed a total of eight Georgia games, all of them on the road. Not too shabby. Every single one of those games I watched in someone's home. Last night, with the OSU/Texas game on at the same time, all the other 1L's from UGA (along with all the folks that are trying to become Georgia fans) were planning on hitting a sports bar called The Longshot. Turns out The Longshot was the unofficial home of the Tennessee Volunteer nation and it was packed with orange and white. Sickening. We hopped from bar to bar, looking for a table for our big group, but nothing was to be found. So my roommate and I made the decision to move the party to our apartment.

Long story short, when I woke up this morning to clean up from last night, I counted boxes from about 15 twelve-packs and nine boxes of pizza. I think we probably had about 50 people over for the impromptu party. It was crazy. There were probably around 30 people in the living room watching UGA/USC on the big screen and then another twenty or so in my room to watch #1 vs. #2. Twenty people in my room! I can't believe how quickly it all came together. There were people waiting to get into our apartment when we got back from the sports bar. In total, huge success. UGA won 18-0. Oh yeah, and the party was fun, too.

NFL starts today. Falcons-Panthers in less than 3 hours. Can't wait. Gonna get to church before it gets started and then cheer on the Dirty Birds. Prediction: Atlanta 27, Carolina 21.

It's been a while

After an unplanned break, I'm back to the Blog. It's been quite a week, for sure. Lots and lots of work, a trip to the Vandy-Michigan game in Ann Arbor, planning for Bar Review #2, Labor Day, a Birthday party, all sorts of fun stuff. This week has been a little hectic because of all the school stuff we've had but I'm still digging it. And I've surely found plenty of time to play. There's no reason for anyone to worry about me taking things to seriously...

The regular Monday night poker game is going quite well. We've got a Tournament of Champions style thing set up where, in addition to weekly pots, we're earning points towards an end of the semester championship night which will probably have $300 or more in the kitty. That's nice. We've got a good group of guys (and a handful of girls) who are coming out every week to play so it's cool to have some consistent competition. I need to start paying more attention to how other people play if I wanna win that big money.

Tonight is Bar Review #2 with me at the helm. This week it's at On The Rocks on Demonbreun, one of the big streets for bars and clubs. More importantly perhaps, it's also opening night for the NFL. Get excited. Just a couple more days until the big Falcons-Panthers game. Oh yeah, and a football team I'd die for is playing a football team I hate passionately on Saturday. Georgia v. South Carolina. It's gonna be ugly. Final score: UGA 23, USC 10

Goin' on up the Big House

In about an hour I'll be getting on a bus and heading to Ann Arbor, Michigan. It'll be my first football game as a Vandy student. Vanderbilt at Michigan in the largest college football stadium in the nation. I'm really excited about it. It's a road trip set up by Vandy's Student Life department. We'll get on this bus (me, my roommate and about 200 other students), drive all night to Michigan, get off the bus, tailgate, go to the game, then get back on the bus and come back to Nashville (ETA: 3 a.m. Sunday). It's gonna be a blast. Hopefully there will be pictures. My prediction: Michigan 34, Vandy 21.

In other exciting news, I've officially taken over as a coordinator of Bar Review, the weekly law school social get together. For the rest of the year I'll be in charge (along with one other 1L) of getting a bar for all of the law students every Thursday night. I officially found out about this on Wednesday afternoon so that left me about 24 hours to get everything set up for last night. It worked out just fine and there were a TON of people out. We had probably around 30 people over at our apartment to pre-game and we made the short walk over to The Sportsman's Grill, a great bar in Hillsboro Village. It was a massive success and I feel really great about it.

It should be a fun weekend. I'll be exhausted by Sunday, but it'll be great. Go 'Dores.