Mishmash Musings

Philip Markoff, the 24-year-old former medical student thought to be the so-called “Craigslist killer”, was found dead in his jail cell yesterday. He had been awaiting trial for the murder of Julissa Brisman and the robbery of two other women whom he allegedly met on Craigslist.

Though reports are still a bit sketchy, some news outlets are reporting that Markoff slit his wrists and then bound his neck with a shoelace or something similar. And today, there were further reports that he scrawled his ex-fiancee’s name — Megan — in blood on his cell wall, as well as the word “pocket”, which no one can attach any meaning to at this point.

I would have liked to see Markoff go to trial, but I guess his suicide serves a purpose. At least there’s one less scumbag on the face of this earth now.

Have you read about how a member of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is trying to ban Happy Meals? He’s not specifically targeting McDonald’s; instead, he’s going after any fast food joint that offers kids toys with “unhealthy” meals. The idea behind this is to take a step towards preventing obesity or whatever.

I don’t know about you, but I think this kind of legislation goes a bit too far. Why don’t we just leave it to parents to make food choices for their kids? If parents want to let their children eat one too many Happy Meals, whose business is it? If these same parents then have to scramble to read Lipovox reviews as their kids turn into overweight teens, then so be it, ya know?

I guess I don’t understand why the government feels it has a right to tell people what they can and cannot eat. My 7-year-old loves McDonald’s — and it’s not just for the stupid toy. He’ll eat there even if I specifically tell him he can’t have a Happy Meal. It’s the burgers and fries themselves that attract kids, not the toys. Yes, some of the toys are a real draw; I can’t deny that. But don’t tell me that kids will suddenly start eating salads if there’s no toy in the Happy Meal.

So I just read that Denny’s is putting this Fried Cheese Melt sandwich on their $4 budget menu. What is a Fried Cheese Melt? It’s four fried mozzarella sticks jammed into a grilled cheese sandwich and served with a side of marinara sauce. Call me crazy, but I think this thing actually looks pretty good!!! Yeah, I know it’s a heart attack waiting to happen; I’m not talking about its utter lack of nutritional content. I’m not saying I would eat this for lunch on a daily (or even a weekly or monthly) basis. I’m just saying I would definitely try it — and I bet it would be pretty damn tasty!

I really need more desk space here in my home office. Right now I just have a simple computer hutch that is only wide enough for my keyboard and mouse pad. So when I want to do something else, like eat lunch while watching YouTube or read textbooks for my grad school classes, I have to move my keyboard and mouse out of the way — which is kind of a PITA.

After browsing online a bit, I think U shaped office desks would be much better for me. I could line the desks along three walls (which I do have available), thereby giving me lots more surface area to work with.

This is something I’ve got to make happen so I no longer have to stack books and papers on the floor, constantly shuffle stuff around, spill drinks on my keyboard, etc. I have to do a little saving first, though, so I’m shooting for the first of next year!

I love rookie hazing in the NFL, so screw Dez Bryant for being such a prima donna crybaby about it!!! Here’s Tim Tebow’s new haircut, courtesy of his Denver Broncos teammates. The pic was snapped by LenDale White, who then promptly posted it to Twitter with the words, “Looks good, ROOK!” Ha ha ha — awesome!!!

Elena Kagan has been confirmed as the 112th justice of the Supreme Court. The Senate voted 63-37 for confirmation, and it was really no surprise to anyone that she got in. In all honesty, I don’t even see why we go through the friggin’ charade of confirmation hearings. In this day and age, candidates are thoroughly vetted well ahead of time, and any skeletons in their closets will be unearthed by someone and posted on the Internet somewhere. I mean, when’s the last time a Supreme Court nominee hasn’t been confirmed?? You have to go all the way back to Reagan’s administration for that.

Well, let’s see if Kagan ends up being as liberal as everyone thinks she is. Most justices tend to take a middle ground once confirmed, except for a notable few (*cough* Ginsberg *cough*), so hopefully Kagan follows suit.

Since I’m never going to have enough space to create a full home library like I’ve always dreamed of, I’m going to have to content myself with a small reading nook in the corner of the guest bedroom (which we use mostly for storage).

By moving some stuff down to the basement, I’ll have just enough space to work with, so I’ve started to sketch a few ideas. I want to bring my leather recliner up from the living room because that’s my comfiest reading chair by far. There’s a window in the proposed nook, which will give me plenty of natural light during the daytime, but I’ll also need some artificial light in there for nighttime. I really like some of the decorative Hinkley lighting fixtures I’ve seen online, so I’ll probably end up buying one of those. And finally, I’ll need a few accessories, like a blanket for the winter, and a little side table to rest my Kindle and Diet Coke on.

I can fully imagine this reading nook in my head. I just need to make it become a reality now!

I’m not sure how many prospective students choose schools based on party reputation, but Princeton Review deems it necessary to put out rankings anyway. This year, the nation’s top party school is the University of Georgia — despite the school administration’s efforts to “tone down the party atmosphere.”

Of course, these rankings are completely unscientific and are merely based on answers received in anonymous surveys, so take the list with a grain of salt. I guess it might make students or recent alums “proud” to see their school on the list, but other than that, it’s no biggie.

Here are the top 10 party schools for this year:

1. UGA — Athens
2. Ohio University
3. Penn State
4. West Virginia
5. Ole Miss
6. UT — Austin
7. University of Florida — Gainesville
8. UC Santa Barbara
9. University of Iowa — Iowa City
10. DePauw

What, no UW–Madison?? You’ve got to be kidding me. I spent 6 weeks in Madison for a training program near the campus and practically got a contact high on a daily basis!