Over at Female Science Professor's blog, some of the all-time "best" exam excuses.

The blog's here, and the post is here.

A little reminder about the power of law.

See this Wall Street Journal story (here) about a prisoner who was able to help himself out of prison.

For potential law students who are spending the holidays trying to figure out where to apply.

You might want to read this story, from today's New York Times (here) and, of course, Bill Henderson's/Andy Morriss's classic (here).

During winter break, you might want to read something inspirational.

Did exams get you down?  Are you wondering if law is really for you?  There are all sorts of things that you might want to read during break to rev up your excitement about law school.

Some of our favorites:

• The Autobiography of an Execution, David Dow (here):   yes, we're friends with David and Katya, but we'd like this book even if we didn't know them.
• Gideon's Trumpet, Anthony Lewis (here):  a classic, and Gideon spent a week in Orange, Texas (NBR's home town).
• A Civil Action, Jonathan Harr (here):  the movie (here) is good, too.
• We don't agree with everyone on this list of lawyers to study (here), but it's certainly a nice start.
• We haven't seen every movie on this list (here), but NBR likes The Thin Blue Line.
• And, for fun, there's nothing quite like the movie My Cousin Vinny (here).