It’s hard to believe how much time it’s possible to spend just poking around the world of Flickr. It’s like once you start, it’s hard to stop. I just spent a couple of hours clicking through the photographic treasures to be had there, much of it at the Project 365 group. I continue to find the idea of a photo-a-day fascinating, but just too difficult to actually do. Sure, I posted a photo every day for a couple of years, but I didn’t take at least one photo every one of those days. That’s the hard part. Is my life really interesting enough for that? I wonder. And always answer no. But a catalog of a year like this or this (just as examples) would be supercool.

Studies have shown that listening to music during exercise can improve results, both in terms of being a motivator (people exercise longer and more vigorously to music) and as a distraction from negatives like fatigue. �

Big props to Scoplaw, who just won two jury trials in two days. Also congrats to MissTyrios, who just picked up her first outright win in a jury trial. The feeling is one I know not, but I do know it must be sweet!

Reading Scoplaw’s brief accounts of an office where 61 cases are set for trial (on the same day!?) and trials appear to be happening on a regular and daily basis ââ�¬â�� it really makes me question where I am and what I’m doing. My job is nothing like that. I might have 1-4 trials set on a single day, and none of them will go. That happens at least once each month, and in some months it happens once every week. But almost nothing goes to trial here; even in misdemeanor land, only the very rare case goes to trial. In felony land, our entire office of 9 felony attorneys will probably do less than two dozen trials the entire year. Meanwhile, our approximately 6 misdemeanor attorneys might do a few dozen jury trials and I have no clue how many bench trials. But of the thousands of cases that go through our office each year, that’s nothing. For a huge number of reasons, this just doesn’t seem to be a place where people go to trial.

And so while Scoplaw and others¹ spend their first years as PDs getting massive amounts² of trials under their belts (and building their confidence by collecting wins at least now and then), I’m spending my first years arguing felony probation violations, negotiating plea agreements, and honing my skills making sentencing arguments. Of course, these are vitally important skills, and these are services my clients require; however, who wants to be the pleading and sentencing attorney? And it’s one thing to become very good at these things over a career while at the same time learning to be a good trial lawyer. It’s another thing entirely if after a few years of practice you’re still no better at trials than when you started b/c you simply have done so few of them.

I know it’s not that simple. I’ve learned and continue to learn many many things in addition to how to negotiate plea agreements and make sentencing arguments. I’ve taken a handful of cases to the eve of trial, with all the preparation that entails, and each time I have learned a great deal about investigation, preparing cross and direct examinations, choosing, writing, and arguing jury instructions, writing motions in limine, etc. But there’s no substitute for actually going to trial if you ever hope to be good at it. And I do hope to be good at it. So what to do??

If you’re a PD and you’ve read this far, please tell me: How often do you go to trial in a year? Do you work mostly felony or misdemeanor cases? Inquiring minds want to know!

1. Audacity goes to trial (& wins) a lot, too. Frolics and Detours seemed to do a good number of trials (and win), but has not posted for months now. Ipse Dixit goes to trial, too. It goes on…. ↩
2. ”Massive amounts” might be an exaggeration; I really can’t tell, but it seems like they’re doing more trials than I am.↩

The GPS-CS1KA calculates when and where your pictures were taken and the included software can place them on a virtual map, for the entire world to see. � Entirely unnecessary, but kind of cool.

The superintendent of schools in rural Choteau, Mont. said the speech was canceled over concerns that it would be “anti-agriculture.” ââ�¡â�� It’s so great to live in such a progressive state! sigh

When I was in law school I somehow managed to take and/or post a photo nearly every day for a couple of years. It was a cool little side project and I had nearly endless amounts of fun with it. Nearly every time I left our apartment I made sure I had my camera and kept my eyes peeled for anything unusual or noteworthy to capture for that day.

However, since I moved to Montana and got a “real” job, that “every outing is an opportunity” feeling has pretty much come to an end. Somehow I can’t seem to find the time to take and post photos like I used to. But it’s not just time; I simply haven’t been that inspired by what I see every day. Something about living in D.C. just made everything seem photo-worthy. I suspect everything looked like a good photo because everything I saw was new and different and foreign to me. Here, I’m back in more or less the environment I grew up in, so it often doesn’t seem interesting enough to photograph. Added to that is the fact that often the things I see every day aren’t things that would be appropriate for public posting and/or they are in places where it probably wouldn’t be very cool for me to whip out a camera, e.g., court, jail, etc.

Yet, taking a few minutes to look around Flickr, I realize how silly I’m being. Just check out the All Montana group, Montana Scenes, or the Billings group, and it’s clear that there are many absolutely spectacular photos all around here, just waiting to be captured. If that’s not enough, these lists of additional Montana photo groups lead to even more great shots and ideas for pictures yet to be taken.

Isn’t there some cliche about taking the opportunities you have, rather than passing them up because they aren’t the opportunities you wish you had? I’m sure there is. I need to remember that one…

Anyway, if you’re at all interested in following the imbroglio’s renewed effort to snap more pics, check out the flickr imbroglio, where the most recent pics are/will be posted. And if you’d like to contribute to the success of the flickr imbroglio, give the gift of pro! ;-)

Steve Jobs put on his show yesterday and it was pretty cool. I admit, I watched the streamed version b/c what else is a Mac junky to do? The Macbook Air is freaking sweet�exactly what a laptop should be. Cool trick to introduce it in a standard manilla envelope. The multitouch trackpad looks fun, too. Imagine having this in your bag everywhere you go. Sweet. Two things it still needs: Ubiquitous wi-fi (e.g., built-in wireless broadband like the iPhone has) and half the price. Maybe in a year or two.

The new Apple TV, Take 2, is also neat. At $229, it comes close to being affordable, and since we’re never going to have any new televisual content again because of the greed of the studios and their refusal to actually pay their writers what they deserve, none of us are going to need to pay for cable tv anymore and we can just get out content off the internet through Apple TV. Cool.

Randy Newman got all political at the end. I bet Steve was cringing.

Absolutely furious w/the jail refusing to follow court orders to release my client. Yes, it’s more complicated, but that’s the bottom line.

Somehow 2007 ended and 2008 began without me getting the chance to do all the wistful looking back on the past year that I so enjoy. But there’s nothing saying that all year-end retrospectives must be done by year’s end, right? So, as we get going with 2008, the following is a list of songs I couldn’t stop listening to in 2007. These were songs that spent at least a week or more on either constant repeat or in very heavy rotation on the iPod. If we were still listening to cassettes, the little magnetic ribbon holding the bits for these tracks would be stretched and warped and on the verge of breakingââ�¬â��they’re just that good. And so, in no particular order, the 2007 Musical Imbroglio:

1. The Chills by Peter Bjorn and John
2. Music Is My Hot Sex by CSS (Hey, I was listening to it before it was an iPod ad, I swear.)
3. Alabama by Neil Young (After a conversation w/a guy at the bar I started listening to the prime years of Neil Young and it’s great stuff, although I also really love the Harvest Moon era…)
4. Invincible by OK Go (It’s sort of hard to choose one song. OK Go was just about all I listened to for about, oh, January and February.)
5. Misty Mountain Hop by Led Zeppelin (An old Ledzep track appeared on a mix from a friend at the beginning of the year so I started listening to “IV” quite a bit. It just doesn’t get old.)
6. The Diary of Horace Wimp by ELO (I’ve enjoyed ELO since I air-guitared to “Don’t Bring Me Down” for a “talent” show in 5th grade, so when a friend started talking about this song I didn’t need much persuading.)
7. Imitosis by Andrew Bird (A catchy tune from a great lyricist.)
8. Just Dropped In by Kenny Rogers (This is from the “Big Lebowski” soundtrack, most of which is quite recommendable.
9. The Future Freaks Me Out by Motion City Soundtrack (Found this via the Weekend America podcast and fell in love w/it immediately. How can you not love the 80s nostalgia packaged in such a poppy fun tune?)
10. Bowl of Oranges by Bright Eyes (The only show I saw this year and this is one the tracks they played. Great lyrics, great song.)
11. One Two Three Four by Feist (Again, I listened to it before it became an HBO ad or an iPod ad, thanks to my sister who tipped me to it.)
12. Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne (More 80s retropop nostalgia. Oh Mickey you’re so fine….)
13. Reeboks in Heaven by Fujiya & Miyagi
14. The Calendar Hung Itself by Bright Eyes (Just another great track I couldn’t stop listening to. Angry, angsty, awesome.)
15. Tits on the Radio by the Scissor Sisters
16. You Don’t Know What Love Is by the White Stripes (One of my faves from “Icky Thump.”)
17. Beginning to Get to Me by Snow Patrol (Snow Patrol was all I listened to for another two months in probably March and April. And when I say all I listened to, I mean all.)
18. Failsafe by New Pornographers (The only song I have from their latest; obviously I need to hear the rest.)
19. The Pills Won’t Help You Now by Chemical Brothers (One of many I listened to repeatedly; great for background while working on briefs, etc.)
20. If the Brakeman Turns My Way by Bright Eyes (Yes, I know, another Bright Eyes tune, but it’s my favorite from Casadaga and has to be on the list!))
21. Young Folks by Peter Bjorn & John

So it basically comes down to OK Go, Snow Patrol, Bright Eyes, and a random mix of old and new pop tunes that got me through 2007. This was the first in many years that I actually listened to a measurable amount of non-NPR radio, mostly while driving to and from the jail on a regular basis. That’s where all the top-40-ish stuff comes in. Even w/the poppy pablum, 2007 was a pretty great year, musically. Of course, if none of the above songs strike your fancy, NPR’s Songs of the Yearand Best CDs from All Songs Considered might offer something more to your liking.

So what were you listening to last year? What are you listening to now?

According to authorities the 20-year-old Moron was arrested after losing control of his white Chevrolet truck,, striking a mailbox, and continuing into a home. �