Happy Easter!

... or as Rosa said this week, HOPPY Easter. So gross.

This past weekend was Easter, of course, and it turned out to be a very nice one for me. The morning started out with a surprise Easter basket on my doorstep! I was ding-dong-ditched, except it wasn't a ding-dong since I don't have a doorbell. A knock-knock-ditch. That expression doesn't have the same feel to it. It needs to be alliterative. A rap-rap-runaway?

Anyway, this is the beautiful sight I saw when I opened my door. It's also the same beautiful basket that has kept my caloric intake a little higher than I'd like this week. But Cadbury cream eggs?! Come on! So good!


After a lovely Church service, I was invited to the Forbes' home for a delicious Easter potluck dinner. And the second annual EGG BASH! That's right, egg bash. Everyone shows up with all their beautifully decorated Easter eggs, like these that the Olsons brought:


Then we're all seeded into a very complicated bracket system. For each round, one of us brings his or her eggs to the gladiator ring (in common circles, this may be referred to as a disposable plastic table cloth). You line up against your competitor with eggs in hand.


Then you roll them at top speed toward one another.


And WHAM-O. Whoever has a dented egg loses that round. Each person brings six eggs to the competition, and the last one with an egg still standing (not literally, though we are close to equinox) wins.

Here are my lovely eggs before the contest. They didn't want to be decorated. Instead they spend the past several months training for this event. Jersey numbers only. BEFORE:

Little did they know what awaited them. AFTER:

It was a slaughter. My last egg held out for several rounds. But she went out in a blaze of glory, getting the shell actually knocked off her. Ouch.

We did this at the Forbes' place last year (apparently it's a tradition in Steph's family), and I'd forgotten how fun it is. I recommend it to everyone - what else are you going to do with those decorated eggs?

Despite a scary losing streak in the middle of the contest, Josh pulled out as the winner, actually finishing with TWO intact eggs. Here he is in a scandalous shot with the egg that brought him all that glory.

I hope everyone had a... hoppy Easter.

Law Firms Rank UVA #4 in Nation

The publication Vault, highly influential in the world of law firm rankings, has just published its first set of law school rankings. They surveyed a huge batch of large law firms, asking them which law school produces the most employable grads. UVA is #4, baby. My father must be proud.

Check out the story.

UVA ranks somewhere in the top 10 law schools on basically every survey out there. But I think this is the first one to put them in the top 5. Booyah.

Big Day

Spring is here! Woohoo!





[editor's note: Okay, it's also my birthday.]

Busy weekend

A couple weekends ago, I had a whirlwind of a time up in Northern Virginia. I attended the East Coast A cappella Summit, full of the best pro groups and music experts around. I got to attend a bunch of workshops, and I had the great opportunity of working with a whole batch of high schoolers and semi-pro groups, trying to help them improve. The weekend was really fantastic.

I actually wrote a review for the CASA website. Check it out here.

My debut on NBC Sports

I never thought I'd be interviewed extensively by a writer for a major sports website. Dork as I am, the article is about collegiate a cappella competitions. For those who don't know, these competitions are fiercely competitive. It's a lot like March Madness!

Since I work for the company that produces the competition (Varsity Vocals), and since I have a history with both of the last two ICCA winning groups (Vocal Point and Noteworthy), the sports writer gave me an extensive interview a couple days ago. He had been to a couple of these competitions and was just fascinated by the precision and the rivalries. He's really on to something - many of these groups take this competition very seriously.

Anyway, so here's the product: an article about a cappella competitions and then a follow-up article purely about the rivalry between Vocal Point and Noteworthy. So exciting!

How cool is this?!

This is my new favorite product. When I move to New York and have virtually no closet space, I've gotta get me one of these.


Rakku makes some beautiful products. Check them out here.

Noteworthy News Nod

A nice little piece in the Deseret News, published yesterday, about the group I helped found back in 2004:

"Tight harmonies and a preponderance of vocal percussion mark the performances of Noteworthy, a nine-member a cappella group of coeds from Brigham Young University.

"Performing in the group is considered an outside activity and not a part of BYU, although 'everyone knows' they represent the school and its owner, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, co-founder Esther Yoder said.

"Yoder recruited Dave Brown and Dan Dunn of the male vocal group Vocal Point to help her launch the all-female group in 2004.

"It wasn't long before Noteworthy picked its first..." [continue reading]

Craig Jessop Resigns!

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Director Craig Jessop suddenly resigned last night. I am totally and utterly shocked. He just took over in 1999! The Deseret News has a good report:

"Mormon Tabernacle Choir music director Craig Jessop resigned Tuesday night during a meeting with members of the choir, leaving the group stunned and emotional, according to one source.

"He made the announcement to choir members following a regular rehearsal. Associate music director Mack Wilberg will serve as interim choir director.

"Jessop apparently read a letter to choir members..."

Continue reading the Deseret News article here.

Torture in Provo

A supervisor at a local Provo, UT business is accused of using waterboarding as a demonstrational technique. What kind of business do they do? Motivational coaching! Check out the Salt Lake Tribune story here.