post-Thanksgiving accounting

Yes, I’ve been gone for a while. No, I am still here and still alive. Between traveling to the Angst-in-laws’ for Thanksgiving and working on plowing through journal stuff and reading for class and contemplating beginning outlining and hounding relatives to send me pictures for my grandmother’s Christmas letter which I design, it’s been a little busy.

Here’s what I’ve done over the last two weeks:

• Drove 6 hours, each way, in nasty rainy stuff, to Thanskgiving.
• Played fetch with the dog in the backyard, which he loved.
• Ate turkey three four times.
• Made sides to go with leftover turkey once.
• Saw Dan in Real Life and wished the filmmakers had been brave enough not to give it a happy ending.
• Watched The Incredibles and remembered what a totally kick-ass movie it is. Too bad it’s Disney and I bet I can’t get it on DVD for another twenty years.
• Finished editing the most boring article ever. Maybe second-most boring. It’s hard to say.
• Slogged through some administrative responsibilities that were unpleasant.
• Decided I needed better backup, so bought an external hard drive. Might arrive tomorrow.
• Woke up with swollen tonsils. Afraid am getting sick. Fighting through it.
• Wrote this post.

I think that actually only covers about a week and a half, maybe even just a week, but I think it’s a fair assessment of what my life is like right now—editing, some reading for class, eating, sleeping, trying not to die, that sort of thing.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. For all my complaining, I have many things to be thankful for, not least of which is realizing I have many things to be thankful for. Heaven help me if I ever forget to acknowledge how incredibly blessed I am.

holiday crazy

I don’t usually walk through the lobby of our apartment building, preferring instead to go out a side door. But today as I headed for that side door, I noticed some plants from the lobby had been relocated to the area near the side door. Curious, I went through the lobby and discovered our building is holiday crazy. We have a giant gold and white-decorated tree, white (fake?) poinsettias, and white drippy lights all over the lobby. It’s kind of nice, but it also makes me a little insane because it means I’ll now be reminded every time I walk downstairs how UNdecorated my own apartment is.

Holiday mania, here I come.

Law School Roundup #96

Welcome to the In-Their-Own-Words Edition of the weekly law school roundup, featuring posts by law students, future, present, and past. Enjoy!

• “perfect, beautiful snowflakes”: Ostranenie
• “perhaps I’m just stressed”: the law according to [josh]
• “peeling off your skin and rolling in salt”: law and floss
• “this may be the first year he gets really, truly excited about the season”: PT-LawMom
• “the library is starting to smell like unwashed law student”: Thanks, But No Thanks
• “I am not cooking“: Butterflyfish
• “I may actually have to fake premature labor during finals”: Knocked Up (and in Law School)
• “biting sarcasm in a tax case”: Frequent Citations
• “Such an agreeable fellow”: Lag Liv ((OK, the quote is from another post, but it fits, yes?))
• “‘This is what it feels like to not be tired.’”: Magic Cookie
• “The only appropriate response is silence”: Mel Woods
• “It’s like being secret agents together”: Peanut Butter Burrito
• “‘you’ll need to repeat that experience with a heterosexual’”: Think Like a Woman. Act Like a Man.
• “Bad Stevens! Bad!”: De Novo
• “I didn’t have to go back to the green vinyl chair”: The Merits of the Case
• “Maybe my kids don’t like the Democrats?”: Amicus Curiae

And that’s it for this week’s Roundup. Look for it next week at Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground and then, in two weeks, right back here. You can also peruse some older Roundups in the archives.

Happy Thanksgiving!

TVblogging

YAY! Project Runway!

dog = too cute

Still really busy. This isn’t a real update. I just wanted to say that we lit a fire in our fireplace this afternoon (because our apartment is COLD) and the dog has found his new best friend. He LOVES sitting in front of that fire. He’s all stretched out on the hearth, soaking up the warm. I keep wanting to watch him instead of working.

Update:

Per request, here’s a pic. He got cuter later, when he flopped over on his side and stretched out.

sorry.

Sometimes things just get a little overwhelming. Right now is one of those times. Back later.

Law School Roundup #94

Welcome to this week’s Law School Roundup, full of interesting thoughts about law student life from law students! Enjoy!

• Education Face it, folks, this is my life now. 1L Elle
• Competition The ‘E’ word looms on the horizon and people aren’t nice anymore. 2Lwannabe
• Comparing If I know what other people are doing, I know what to do myself. the law according to [josh]
• Speaking Not that it’s bad, but it’s good to think first. Law and Floss
• Kindness Yes, Virginia, law students have souls. Legally numb
• Confidence It’s good to get a little. PT-LawMom
• Ethics I hope everyone who took the MPRE was better than this. Improvilaw
• Distraction Yeah, 3L sucks. Cella Bellum
• Ambition Do women and men really approach it all differently, or do women have inherently differing goals? It’s thought-provoking. Frequent Citations
• Timing It seems pretty piss poor in your third year. Mel Woods
• Reality It can’t be all books and stuff. Peanut Butter Burrito
• Gumption Sometimes, you just have to suck it up and do it. There’s No Competition in Law School
• Expansion But not the good kind. The Merits of the Case

And that’s it for this week. Look for next week’s Roundup at Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground. It’ll be back here in two weeks.

the death of literature

I don’t know whether to laugh hysterically or cry: LOLcat Wasteland

a meme!

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, and unblague tagged me, so I thought I’d comply.

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night.
My brother, telling me about how he’d trekked to a not-so-good part of town for the sole reason of getting The Best Fried Chicken in his town.

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Sleeping.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Washing my face, brushing my teeth, getting ready for the day.

4. What happened to you in 2006?
I finished my first year of law school, started my second year of law school, wrote a 65-page paper (holy moly), and got a dog.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
“I guess they lost it, and we’ll have to get you a new one.” To Himself, after discovering the vet (where he was boarded last weekend) lost his new Kong bone.

6. How many beverages did you have today?
So far, two cups of coffee.

7. What color is your hairbrush?
Red.

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
A pack of Guinness cans (for Guinness lamb stew), a bottle of wine, an appliance light bulb for our refrigerator, and a tube of facial cleanser.

9. Where were you last night?
Home.

10. What color is your front door?
White. Well, sort of cream-white.

11. Where do you keep your change?
In my wallet. I used to keep it in this cute beaded change purse I have, but that got to be a pain, switching between my wallet and the change purse. I don’t know how people use change purses.

12. What’s the weather like today?
Beautiful, if a little cold. Sunny, no clouds, a little breezy (I’m guessing; I haven’t been outside), and under 50°.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Um, I can’t answer this. All the other flavors might get upset.

14. What excites you?
Right now, putting the pieces together to create an outline for The Task. Getting to a place where I could start putting together an outline has been hard, but now that I’m there, it’s really exciting to see it all falling into place.

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
I really need to. It’s not a bad length right now, it’s just a little too long and is starting to scream “soccer mom.” I just need a trim.

16. Are you over the age of 25?
:::whimper::: yes.

17. Do you talk a lot?
Depends on the day, my mood, and who I am around.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
No. I think I watched five minutes of one episode once while I was trying to find something else to watch.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
More than one.

20. Do you make up your own words?
Yes. I have used my own made-up words in class, even.

21. Are you a jealous person?
Like, romantically? No. In other senses, though, yes; I am jealous of other people’s success sometimes, I am jealous of other people’s social ease, things like that.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
I have a lot of friends whose names start with the letter ‘A.’

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
My name starts with a ‘K,’ does that count?

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
My brother. (See #1, supra)

25. What does the last text message you received say?
“He loves it!”

26. Do you chew on your straw?
No.

27. Do you have curly hair?
My hair is wavy enough to be curly if I work at it, but otherwise, no. I usually blow it out straight anyway.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
A meeting with a professor. Well, before that, I have to walk my dog, but that’s not going anywhere; we just walk around in a big circle through the neighborhood.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
I have known some really rude people. And rude in different ways. So this is hard to answer.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Toast with butter.

31. Will you get married in the future?
Um, am. So, I hope not.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
I am not sure I’ve seen a movie in the last two weeks. I think I watched part of Independence Day on TV last Thursday. It’s not a GREAT movie, but I like disaster-type movies, so I was enjoying it.

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
That’s a strange question. I’m going to say no. I’m in a misanthropic phase. (Of course, I love Mr. Angst, always, but that’s not what this question is about, I don’t think.)

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
This morning—I rinsed last night’s dishes, loaded the dishwasher, and ran it.

35. Are you currently depressed?
Stressed, yes. Overwhelmed, yes. Depressed, no. The first two can often send me spiraling towards the third, but I’m keeping it in check.

36. Did you cry today?
No.

37. Why did you answer and post this?
I like memes, it’s been a while since I’ve done one, and I didn’t have anything else to post today.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
I think everyone else has already done it. Pick it up if you want to!

overheard on the bus

I don’t know if this conversation is more depressing because of its sheer inanity or because of the complete lack of broader social view among the average commuter on the bus.

Background: My Metro Area is about to experience some public transit cutbacks because the Transit Agency in our area has been historically mismanaged as well as chronically underfunded by the state. People are starting to get worried and concerned about what this will mean for their commutes. I don’t want to make it seem as though I am making light of those concerns. Instead, I am commenting on how little people know about the actual circumstances that are leading to the transit cutback, leading to their concerns.

Scene: Three women get on my bus, headed to a commuter rail station, heading home at the end of the day. After some conversation about increasing costs of everything and the looming inconvenience of transit cutbacks, the following exchange occurs:

Woman 1: You know, I think all these downtown businesses should move out of the city, into the suburbs, and stick it to [Transit Agency].

Woman 2: Yeah! Stick it to [the mayor] and [Transit Agency].

Woman 3: If they’d just all move out to the suburbs, we could just drive to work.

There are so many things wrong with all of these statements. The first just doesn’t make sense. Businesses moving out of downtown won’t affect [Transit Agency] at all, except to relieve some of the congestion on buses and trains. That could actually have a net positive effect on [Transit Agency].

The second statement—the part about the mayor—is accurate. Businesses moving out of downtown would hurt the mayor, or the city government, by depriving him/it of tax revenue. So, OK. I’m not sure why sticking it to the mayor is the way to go, though, since the big funding problem here is at the state, not municipal, level.

The third statement I just find ridiculous. Yes, all the businesses downtown could move out to the suburbs and everyone could drive. That’s absolutely true. Except, of course, that those of us without cars wouldn’t have a way to get to work. And, of course, that would have its own repercussions—quicker degradation of highways, increased wear and tear on individual vehicles and more money spent on gasoline, and, of course, massively increased congestion on all the highways circling the city.

As I listened to their conversation—the part of it preceding this little bit—I was mentally shaking my head. They seemed so much like my family, complaining (as we all do) about all kinds of rising costs, about cumulative inconveniences that make our lives more difficult, every day. ((One interesting thing, though: they were talking about increased phone bills, and one insisted to the others that they should never cancel the add-on line-protection service on their home telephones. She had just had a problem with her line, and the telephone company came out and fixed it for free, when it would have cost $350. She’s been paying that fee for 15 years, and it’s $4 a month. Guess what? She’s paid for that repair twice over! I couldn’t help but do the quick math in my head right then and there.)) But that final snippet of conversation was different. It really drove home that people will blame whoever is most visible—in this case, [Transit Agency] and, I suppose, the mayor. And that is the crux of this particular problem. [Transit Agency] has been encouraging people to contact their state legislators, but that message is apparently not sinking in. This is not something [Transit Agency] can fix on its own. It doesn’t have the money and it needs more from the state. There’s a trade-off there, of course: if you don’t want higher taxes, don’t push the state to give [Transit Agency] more money. But accept that the consequence is that your bus service will probably get cancelled.