The Columnist Manifesto

What city was that again?

You have to sympathize with a university whose name is so geographically screwy that they have to build a clarification right into the name. Miami University is commonly known as "Miami of Ohio" and its url is "muohio." Washington University, bless their hearts, have the great misfortune of being located neither in Washington DC nor Washington State, and are thus Washington University in St. Louis.

Why am I again belaboring Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, you ask? Can't I leave those poor folks alone?

My pal Gordon at Conglomerate -- who has kindly and singlehandedly boosted my web traffic by 50% and raised me from a "lowly insect" to a "flippery fish" on the TTLB ecosystem, with two links to my recent posts -- reasonably and fair-mindedly explains why Wash U in St Loo Law Schoo is not engaging in "law porn" with its frequent glossy mailings. Not just glossy brochures, as I had previously reported, but also glossy postcards, one of which I received yesterday.

Well, explain this coincidence:

This very afternoon I was standing at my mailbox, wondering what law school might have sent me some fresh glossy materials, when I realized to my dismay: I had completely forgotten where Wash U was located. I was standing at my mailbox, dumbfounded, and wracking my brain -- Washington University of Ohio? Washington University in Miami? Or is it the same as Washington & Lee University? By pure dumb luck, right there in my mailbox was an envelope from -- guess who? Yup, Wash U in St Loo. Why think you? Perhaps, I thought, having read my blog, Wash U wished to tell me f**k U. But no, it turns out I hadn't a clue. It was Seasons Greetings from Dean Joel Seligman.

Happy New Year to you too -- and you can wash me, Wash U.