I recently discovered the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. If you're into antique southern furniture (and why wouldn't you be?), they have a really great collection here from across the eastern half of the South: mesda.org/lp/collectio....
Well, there was a once-in-a-century pandemic. Followed by the biggest land war in Europe since the 1940s. Oh, and we keep electing a money-grubbing con-artist whose view of economics is rooted in the Gilded Age. Is it one of those? www.axios.com/2026/04/12/i...
Well, they're beginning to look like cabinets--even if i will have to shim my way toward the finish line. To the right I'll have another set and a miter bench in the middle. If you look close enough, you can probably see my blood on some of those panels.
I've got 1 working paper on the federal courts right now, but it's the districts. Aside from that, I'm basically a 100% state politics scholar now. State politics are just vastly more interesting. It's where weird stuff happens, requiring us to come up with novel explanations.
Guess we'll be doing appointment politics soon. I don't know if other courts scholars feel the same as I do, but I just find SCOTUS deeply uninteresting as an institution these days and have no interest in writing about them at this point in my career.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/u...
It's been a heck of a run, and she proved to be more politically astute than a lot of folks expected her to be. Her first political campaign was for Lurleen Wallace 60 years ago. Many thought she was through after the collapse of PACT. And a lot of folks didn't think she'd make it 10 years as gov.
Had some spare cherry lying around the shop, so made this little chest. I messed the hinge up pretty good, but a decent learning experience. And a place to put collar stays, cufflinks, etc.
It's a brew day.
Check out my new piece in SPPQ with fabulous coauthors, Brent Boyea, Marcy Shieh, and Kayla Canelo. In it, we review the state courts literature.
Decided to purchase a Claude subscription. Let me tell you how much I love this thing. You know that DOJ rule on accessibility all of us are trying to deal with? I have it currently remaking all my lecture videos, slides, syllabi, and assignments automatically--HUGE time-saver.
Watched One Battle after Another. It really is a great flick. HBO has it to stream. Hoping to screen Project Hail Mary this weekend. The book was fantastic and the trailers make the movie seem pretty faithful to the source content.
R&R! Let's go!
Well, I finally bit the bullet and bought a mortising machine. I've tried mortising with the router, drill press, etc. Just can't get dead-on accuracy. So now we break out the big guns!
Working on a plant stand in the English country cottage tradition this weekend. Plans called for pine, but I opted to up it a bit and went for ash. First time milling it. I think it'll look good. Just gotta figure out the finishing. Woodworking really is therapeutic. Relaxing.
I used this research as a job market paper for a few universities. I guess I'll have to get a new one now. I think I can speak for Teena insofar as we think this was one of the best things we've ever written.
It's an exciting day, y'all. Teena Wilhelm and I started this project many years ago, and today it's in print. Main takeaway: Judicial elections can empower courts in the separation of powers game by giving them a direct line to their popular legitimacy. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
Okay, but who made this x-axis?
Apparently the boys had a party at boarding, lol. It is cute.
My assumption at the time was that Reed was looking down-ballot where rolloff is heaviest. Without straight-tickets, voters leave those blank, and in places like Montgomery, sufficient rolloff could swing a circuit judgeship, say, to a Republican.
It's a beautiful day to sit outside and read a book.
Mr Wilson decided he needed to climb in my lap for a spell.
Re: Article I powers: Yes, the critics are right. But also, no, Congress abdicated those powers generations ago. On the applicability of Iraq/Afghanistan: I think the 12 Day War is a more apt comparison. And indeed, a lot of these arguments were aired then too. And were wrong.
It's been nothing short of stunning to see the rapid decline of Iranian power over the last few years. Leadership made some epic gambles with its regional proxies that might just cost them everything.
Used to live a block from there. It's a special place, as is the neighborhood. Get yourself a Tropicalia from the Creature Comforts brewery if you can.
The talking filibuster idea is really silly for Republicans. You essentially hand Democrats control of the chamber, so I don't know why certain Republicans are obsessed with it. I mean, *I* would enjoy watching that clown-show, but I doubt many would. rollcall.com/2026/02/25/p...
AI is great at coding. And I suspect it could turn the formal modeling lit on its head. But it can't access most of the data my subdiscipline needs, is so ignorant of the most pressing research questions, and virtually oblivious of recent scholarship. It would fail a lit review.
I'm not freaking out yet about AI's ability to replace my research agenda. I asked Claude about what the most important pressing issues are in my subfield are, what kinds of data can be automated, and whose work is at the forefront of the field. I wasn't impressed. At all.
Beginning to improve my furniture finishing skills. Two coats on top of the stain, and we've achieved see your reflection in the wood status. Might do a 3rd coat, but I'm reasonably happy with it as is.
