Looking for those free efile options? Here's the link to the NYS ones:

You can do it!

I need a new laptop, again! Already! It's been two years. It's not a crisis yet and I could probably get away with waiting another 3-4 months but I dislike this laptop, it's getting cranky, and I'm going to be even more intimate with it as I study for the bar. (Actually, the bar review course is android/ipad accessible... hmmm....) It has a shiny finish and gets sticky. It also is starting to overheat, the speakers are twinging and the battery doesn't hold a charge for more than 30 min. It's too heavy. The keys are noisy.

So of course I'm checking all the toshiba and sony reviews. I want a sony and i think i'm just going to get one this time, probably a 13.3", 4.4 lb S series. i love the chicklet keyboard - the one thing i love about macs is the keyboard. (Have I mentioned that I played with a big ass mac with a touchscreen? very cool altho QuickBooks doesn't really like being touched. It shies away.) I know that I'm ultimately paying an extra $150 for the pretty name, but if the hardware is even 6 months better, it would be worth it. Is this silly? Also, Sony is shutting down some production lines because of the disaster trio. The model I want doesn't come in the cute colors that Jill & Kelly have. Kelly has a brown alligator-skin shell and Jill's is a seashell peachy pink. I was hoping for an iridescent blue. They don't really take theirs anywhere so 14"/5.2 lb is okay.

I'm in such an awkward place with my technology right now. I love my phone but I find I usually don't type a lot or reply to many emails unless I *really* want to say something. I probably carry my laptop more than I need to, but I find myself frustrated if I can't reference all the info I need or write something substantial on the go. I also use my laptop for recreational media consumption which doesn't help the wearing-out problem. I guess I'm still looking forward to buying a tablet in the next year.

referencing (e:heidi,48581)

Some jerk removed one of the bags of tube sand from my truck and left it on the ground. I can't lift the damned thing. Sorry, neighbor :-(

um... whatever i just ate from Lucky Dogs on Allen... omg. it's awesomely yum. it's veggie, it's spicy, it's amazingly yum. do it.

One of my favorite bloggers, Archdruid John Michael Green wrote about the catastrophes in Japan this week. His conclusory statement, "...there are good reasons why Japanese culture so insistently stresses the impermanence of life and the transience of worldly things." intrigued me - is Japan particularly known for stressing impermanence? So the magic google lead me to the the magic Wikipedia. Why, yes indeed, Japan has its own section of references in the article on Impermanence. Anicca, anitya, mujo.

Ceaselessly the river flows, and yet the water is never the same, while in the still pools the shifting foam gathers and is gone, never staying for a moment...

The lecture I gave at UBLaw about the impact of gas drilling on home made me very very sad. Bloss has been pretty much the same my entire life and I had forgotten its true impermanence and transience.

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This week is the first time I've missed having a TV in quite a while. It's hard to understand the scope and scale of the natural disaster and the unfolding technological disaster without the visuals and constant updating of the news. However, this crazy video came to my attention via a salon.com post. I already posted it in chat but it's still on my mind so I'm sharing it again. A little background on the artist along with an entertaining and kinda informative video.