talbotlucas.org: a word to the wise is sufficient

++ Jon Katz on the possibility that holistic veterinary medicine might have a place alongside traditional treatments.
++ How long does that last? I love these kinds of lists: this one courtesy of Real Simple magazine.
++ Living in our area means that one lives near people who have Variety delivered to their homes or offices. (My dentist gets it delivered daily and always has the last seven issues in a tidy rack in the waiting room, to the exclusion of typical waiting room reading fare. So L.A., no?) Anyway, the point is that this is Variety's centennial year, and NPR had a nice little feature about Variety-speak, which is the vocabulary that makes reading the headlines and articles a little cryptic until you get the hang of it. The list of "slanguage" is available on the Variety web site, for those of you who'd like to pepper your speech with a few words from the Coast.
++ Why is there a "fertile octogenarian" rule in real property? Sure, men can become parents after their seventh decade, but the rule applies equally to women when assessing whether or not a future interest is valid. Perhaps this will be a reality some day, but in the meantime, it's the perfect example of those legal fictions that can make studying the law a counterintuitive process.
++ Among the Bar study additions to the iTunes music library:
1. Arlo Guthrie, "City of New Orleans": Love the way he sings "Kan-ka-kee." I was just telling Terrence about a very clear memory I have of Larry Lujack (WLS, AM 89 in Chicago) playing this repeatedly one morning on the way to school, just to hear the same thing. Uncle Lar' must've played it four times until my mom had enough.
2. Willie Nelson, "Georgia on My Mind": IMHO, to sing this song well, a singer needs to have a voice that reflects life's travels, and Willie Nelson's fits the bill.
3. Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow": For me, there's Judy Garland's version, and this one.
4. Yaz: a few tunes from Upstairs at Eric's: Yeah, I know, '80s flashback, but sometimes the music of our youth is a good tonic. This was a big album the summer I went to Greece and Italy, and I remember riding the bus on the way to Delphi, looking out at the craggy hills and olive trees, and this was playing on my Walkman.
5. Billy Squier, "In the Dark": We all have our guilty musical pleasures. This, plus a few Def Leppard songs and "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring are some of mine. Don't laugh: You have yours, I know you do.

Mr. Doody had pronounced the CD collection that Terrence and I have as uncategorizable. Or was that uncharacterizable? Or maybe he could categorize some of it, but the rest was too much for him (and that's saying something). We'll see what he says about my iTunes library on his next visit...in the meantime, back to Real Property and Con Law, this afternoon's subjects for review. Break over!