Gradumation

ok, first off what i mean is congratulations, but more importantly, what? i thought you got cool hats when you got a master's or PhD? why is it the same stupid hat you wear when you get a BA? even all your professors are wearing the same stupid hat. when i got a BA, the professors all had these crazy weird hats and cowls and looked like magicians gone to seed. i was under the impression that you get a different hat, depending on where you graduate from, when you get a doctorate. why have you ruined my dream?!

Yes, I was hoping for the pillow hat. The square hat that I got was of higher quality than the undergrad version (which is probably why I didn't get to keep it). Dean Edley actually wore a puffier version of the square mortar board, which you can't really tell from the photos. Dean Ortiz wore a weird cross between a chef's hat and a beret, visible here. She's the diminutive woman standing between Gavin Newsom and Dean Edley (who is inexplicably wearing pink).

Hmm ... are you sure the reading of names wasn't halted by the *Taiwanese* first lady? Because I was talking to Lydia's (Taiwanese) grandmother, and although I accept that the first ladies of BOTH Taiwan and Thailand COULD have attended the Boalt graduation, I am doubtful.

But never mind that. A hearty congratulations, Matt. I will probably grow old and die without knowing how difficult law school is.

Ah. Well, they didn't actually tell is while it was happening. I just got the news second-hand after the ceremony from one of the students who was backstage when the delay hit. It's perfectly possible that she said "Thailand" when she meant "Taiwan."

The funny thing is that there was a woman graduating who's nine months pregnant, and she was backstage when the reading was interrupted. So a lot of us thought she had gone into labor, which would have made for a much better story.

So wait. Is lydia's grandmother actually a Taiwanese first lady or what? Or are you guys just being witty?

congratulations! hey, i was planning to hit the bar after i graduate too. though by the time i (under)graduate it'll probably have to be a soup bar or a parcheesi bar or something where the only way to pick up guys is to show them pictures of my hot granddaughters.

great pictures =) i like your robes better than the ones we got. and i wanted a funny beret hat thing, too. i was sad about that. i thought it was about time i got something cooler, but i guess we at least got those capes that choke you around the neck. congrats again!

better late than never: congrats! you and owly will make a great team!

Congraduations, Matt. I really like the photo of you in your nice robe and shades. It's a good look for you. Music PhDs get pillow hats. And they're velvety blue.

Tom, my grandmother is a first-rate Taiwanese lady, but she wasn't at Matt's graduation. However, I do believe the son of the president of Taiwan was graduating that day.

I was under the impression that the type of cap you got was a directly linked to the amount of money you were willing to shell out for the rental. The Ph.D. candidates in my departments all had different ones (cost of blue robe + blue puffy cap > cost of black robe + black mortarboard cap)...

Congratulations, and good luck on the Bar!