Excuses, Excuses, and Edutainment (free, of course)

Wow, can't believe I've already past the 100-post mark! I don't post much during the school year, but I guess I made up for it over holidays. Unfortunately, I've spent the past few weeks grading papers on criminal procedure and constitutional law, and I'm not doing it fast enough. Since I've got another 30 papers to go (which amounts to about 300 pages) and have a few more days left to finish, I've reverted to my usual one-post-a-week funk. Hopefully I'll step it up after next week.

This whole staying busy thing does have its benefits. Instead of using my free time to go shopping, I occupy myself with activities that are free and actually matter--get organized, clean, cook, watch the World Cup, etc. I don't have cable for English-language broadcasts of the games, but who needs it when I've got Univision? Granted that I only understand about 20% of what's being said, and I have to Google for some English-Spanish dictionaries, Univision is still the greatest thing since sliced bread. It helps me refresh what little Spanish I learned in high school and college, and the commentary is so much more exciting. To make up for what I missed due to the language barrier, I log onto the NYT World Cup play-by-play blog (which is hilarious) and IM my fellow soccer nut, who is living overseas but speaks my language and hears TV commentary that she can understand. Modern technology is great. It's almost like we're watching in the same room, but we won't interrupt each other's enjoyment of the game with small talk because we choose when to read each other's comment. Besides, there's no need to spend money on international phone calls, and our own in-game commentary is a whole other form of entertainment.

For those stuck at work during gametime, you can catch the play-by-play action either on the NYT blog or through live streams from ESPN360. I haven't tried it myself, but it's an option touted by many a soccer fan. If neither option is viable, you can always catch the post-game highlights on Univision's website, which are also excitingly narrated. You have to register, but it's easy to do and it's free.

Back to grading papers. Yay for me. I've had to whip out quite a few proverbial red and yellow cards, and I don't like it.