didn't the 'sphere check my calendar first?

Um, OK, guys, the next time I’m going to be out of town for four days and will find myself unexpectedly without internet access, can you all please not post? At all? I’m sitting on my couch dying to go to bed, but I still have to dig through, like 300 more posts, and I’d like to get some sleep but I’m so behind, and damn you Larry and E. Spat and E. McPan, and THL, and Amber because I’m also digging through the 800 pages of clothes on the candy bar doll website?

*help*

I'm BACK!

OK, four days in the Windy Second City are done and we are home, no worse for the wear.

I honestly meant to post from Chi-town, but our hotel room didn’t have wireless access! Or, rather, it was supposed to have access, but we were too far down the hall for the signal to reach us.

So I have lots of updates coming soon:

• My first book review of the 50 Book Challenge. (Shortly forthcoming, my second book review, which is proving a much more enjoyable and therefore faster read.)
• Campus Reviews part III and IV
• A report on my first, real, live in-person blogger meet!
• Other honorable mentions, many of which actually have something to do with law school!

So, you’re all going to get a readful this week. Fewer post of mindless filler and more meaty substance.

Congratulations!

LawMom has been accepted to law school!

She’s joined the ranks of 1Ls–to–be.

Next up: stag and Sui Generis. Send them law-school-acceptance vibes and speedy-mail wishes

the timing couldn't be worse

I have managed to go nearly 18 months without getting sick. Oh, I’ve had some allergy issues in that time—sniffling and sneezing from molds and whatnot—but I haven’t had a real, live, green-snot-blowing cold in forever.

Until now.

Monday night, after Mr. Angst and I had downed a $40 bottle of Veuve, I felt my throat start to get a little itchy and sore. I figured it was the champagne and thought nothing of it. Yesterday morning, though, it was worse, and I had one clogged nostril. By the end of the day yesterday, I was in the throes of a full-blown cold, sans only the coughing. (That will come next week, I’m sure.)

I may jinx myself by saying this, but I just don’t get sick very often! I’ve never had the flu, strep throat, or mono; I get max one cold a year, and the most regular illness I ever had was chronic laryngitis in college. So I hate being sick.

And now I’m sick right before we’re to head to cold, snowy Chicago. I am not pleased.

(I’m not the only one, apparently—Denise has a cold, too. Denise, I tried to comment but TypePad is acting up, so I’ll just share my advice here: DayQuil. It is the gift of the gods to sick people who can’t stay in bed all day.)

I’m hoping I nip this sucker in the bud tonight or tomorrow. Being sick for our anniversary trip would be awful.

damn guest celebrities

I am saddened to see that Scrubs, the only sitcom I bother watching, actually allowed Colin Farrell to guest on tonight’s show. Even worse, they not only allowed but actually appear to have encouraged him to babble on in his ridiculously exaggerated Irish brogue.

Meh. I can’t stand Colin Farrell.

torts everywhere!

take the WHAT INTENTIONAL TORT ARE YOU test.
and go to mewing.net. because law school made laura do this.

This makes me sort of sad.

via Heidi

'splain it to me, please

When the Steve Miller Band sings in The Joker, “Some people call me Maurice,” what do they mean?

The more I think about it, the happier I am

…that I only applied to five schools.

With all the pre-law surfing I do, I keep running into blogs or discussion board posts by people who have applied to loads of schools. (“Loads” is a technical term referring to an amount greater than fourteen. Or thereabouts.)

I admit that my list had thirteen schools on it at one point, when we were considering Boston and Raleigh as possible locations. Once those two extra cities were ruled out, I crossed off six schools. Once I got into GW, I removed a safety school in DC; ditto for Northwestern in Chicago. If my application process were more “normal,” I could see myself going nuts and applying everywhere; thankfully, the geographic restrictions on us helped me not to get caught up in the frenzy and apply to more schools than I needed to.

I’ve mentioned this before, I think, but I only applied to three schools for undergrad (well, four if you count the school that seems to have thrown my application away). One of those was the big state school that offered me beaucoups of scholarship money, and the other two were the schools I actually wanted to go to. (Well, one of those was the school I actually wanted to go to; the other was similar in size and reputation, and close to home.)

And I was happy with those choices. I was glad that I didn’t sit around for months waiting for all my acceptances to trickle in and I was thrilled to apply to two schools that I was pretty sure I’d get into and that I’d be happy attending.

I guess that’s the kind of person I am—I don’t tend to cast a wide net when I’m looking for fish, hoping to catch anything. I’d rather focus on one pool where I know there are yummy fish I want to eat. This is true in most of my life. For instance, when I’m looking for a new job (which I’ve done a few times), I don’t tend to blanket the city with my resume. I do a lot of research and apply to jobs that I think I’ll enjoy, not just jobs that pay more. Quality of life is important to me, and that usually means I have to narrow the field.

I’m glad my law school application process ended up being narrow: I’m less stressed than I might have been otherwise, and I’m not stretching myself too thin in my where-to-go research. Juggling the pros and cons of two cities and four schools is just about enough for me. The next few months look to be exciting instead of frustrating, manageable instead of manic, and I’m glad for that.

Q: How productive can a Monday night be?

A: Very.

One year ago today, I married Mr. Angst. In celebration, we had a special meal, created by yours truly: wine and chili oil marinated salmon, egg noodles with a beurre blanc sauce, asparagus, and spinach salad with homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Then, we did the least (or close to least) practical thing two future graduate students should do: we went to Best Buy and bought an HDTV. OK, to be fair, we’ve been saving for this purchase and it was on sale (pre-Super Bowl and all) so it wasn’t too impractical. And it’s pretty damn exciting—we’re getting a new TV! It has to be delivered from another store so we can’t get it till we return from Chicago.

And after our buying spree, we came home and popped open the bottle of Veuve Cliquot that didn’t get consumed on New Year’s Eve, brought out the year-old top tier of our wedding cake (it’s been in the freezer for the past year, very traditional), and are now watching a taped rerun of the series premiere of NUM3ERS. (I think that’s the alpha-numeric combination they use.) It’s not as good as I hoped. Ah well.

By the way, my new boots are snug on my feet and I. Love. Them.

Quick! Advice needed!

Mr. Angst and I are headed to Chicago Thursday night for a long weekend campus visit-slash-anniversary trip.

I hear it’s kind of chilly up there right now.

I’m set for a coat and hat, and I have scarves coming out the ying-yang. I’ve got three pairs of gloves and I’ll take all of them with me.

But I don’t have the right kind of shoes.

I’m planning a superfast-whirlwind-boot-shopping trek today at lunch, so I need someone to tell me what kind of boots to look for. What is the most important quality to look for? Can I still be fashionable? I’m going to one of those big shoe warehouse “we’ve got it all” places, so I should have lots of options (or, at least as many options as would be available in this southern clime). Give me advice!

(BTW, I am only willing to go out and buy new boots for a weekend trip because I figure I’ll need them no matter where we end up. I know DC doesn’t get nearly as cold as Chicago, but I know it gets cold sometimes. Also, if they’re cute, I’ll wear them here, too, even if my feet get warm.)

Update: I have purchased a boot. Well, two. They have a nice grippy-ness to the tread, but are a smooth black leather, thus combining the most critical weather need (traction) with a mildly fashionable material. They are also roomy enough to accomodate a warm sock. Tonight I’ll take them home, put them on with my other winter gear and see how I like them. Should I hate them, they’ll go back and I’ll buy some insulated galoshes. Or duck shoes.