Public transportation

So this morning, I finally decide that yes, it is a good idea to drive to school. I've had my car for about two months now, and I've taken it to school about thrice. And each time, I've parked in the garage, which is very convenient, but also, quite expensive. So last week I went out and got myself a C parking permit, which lets me park in some of the further-away parking lots, but hey, it cost me $50 for the rest of the semester, so it's a pretty good deal, right?

This morning, I admit, I leave my house a bit rushed. That's what happens when you are as much of a fan of the snooze button as I am. So I think "Okay, I'll go park in the lot by the LBJ library". I parked there just last week. Granted, I came to school in the afternoon, but hey, should be about the same right? Not a single spot was open. I circled around about three times before I realized that no one is coming to leave, so I go to the only other lot I know I can park in - the one by Disch-Falk field, on the other side of 35. So I finally head over there, park in the LAST row, and head back to the - wait for it - bus stop to take me back to campus. If you have to take a bus to get from your car to campus, that is just TOO FAR. And of course, this bus does not drop me off at the law school. It drops me off at the PAC, which is another five-minute walk or so to the actual law school. So, by the time I actually get to the building itself, I am half an hour late for Property. Oh, well, at least it gave me time to sit in the library and write this entry - a much better use of my time, I think.

Chimpmonaut

This week was the sad end to The Ricky Gervais Show podcast. For those of you pitiful fools who haven't heard it, I think the whole thing will be available for free download on that website. Ricky Gervais is the man who brought you The Office and Extras, along with his co-writer Stephen Merchant. Karl Pilkington, their producer when he was on XM radio, joins them as the star of the show. Now, I don't know if you're really into podcasting. I certainly am not. However, this is more than a podcast. It's a way of life. Karl Pilkington is either a genius or an idiot, and I'm not quite sure which one right now.

One of the things that has been many a topic is the roundness of Karl's head and his resemblance to old British cartoon, Bod.

Read all about Karl here.

Some of Karl's musings include:

Gay people go out too late at the weekend. In reference to the Rod Stewart song 'The Killing of Georgie', they wouldn't have as much trouble if they were in bed by ten.

Gay people should have their own public toilets.

Issac Newton did not contribute much to human civilization as discovering gravity did not affect us as it had always been there. Had everyone been floating about then he would rightfully deserve the amount of credit he receives. Einstein's contribution to humanity is similarly unimpressive as Pilkington has never had to use the theory of relativity, whereas, in contrast, whoever invented the video recorder has received no recognition despite the fact that he watches one a week.

An infinite number of monkeys using an infinite number of typewriters for an infinite amount of time, could not produce the complete work of Shakespeare, unless they have read it.

Chinese people age badly in comparison to other races.

You never see old men eating Twix bars.

He thought the diaries of Anne Frank were "an Adrian Mole sort of thing"

If that doesn't convince you to listen in, I don't know what will. Other than the fact that in every episode, they relay some Monkey News and have had a few about chimps going into space.

Mazel Tov

LA weekend extravaganza! Okay, here is the breakdown.

Thursday night, my flight was delayed an hour getting out of Austin. Also, when I checked in, the Southwest guy said "Oh, you know we're stopping in El Paso, right?" Ummm, no I didn't. But thanks for the update. After a long and annoying flight, I finally make it to LA, where I am picked up by Goat. Looking forward to The Office night, right? And then we realize... the Olympics are on. And Goat is still sick. So instead, we did some other crazy shit, and despite what Goat says, it's totally true. The thing about going to the west coast is the time change - so I was exhausted by midnight and awake by 7am. Crap-tastic.

Friday, Greg found his way over to the Sheldon Chateau and we went to the Warner Brothers studio lot to putz around and not look like tourists. You know how they do those tours in the golf carts? We waved at them like we were important people when they walked by. We had lunch at this restaurant on the lot, and Greg pointed out the women in nurses uniforms. So what, they're nurses! Oh wait, no they're not. They're extras on ER.

After that, we went to Disney Studios, where Greg had a meeting and it proceeded to rain. Thanks a lot, LA. I hate you. After that, we decided that since it was raining, we would drive around and see the LA sights. So we drove through Hollywood, Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, and attempted to make it Santa Monica. At some point on the way to Santa Monica, we started getting stuck in traffic. And were in traffic for, oh, about TWO HOURS. God, I hate you, Los Angeles! So finally, we did make it to Santa Monica, and met up with Goat, Ben Merello, Booter, Matthias, and about 5 of Matthias' girl friends for dinner at a pretty good Mexican place. We ended up leaving there around 11, and instead of continuing the rocking, I proceeded to fall asleep after a couple of episodes of Entourage.

Saturday, Greg and I picked up Anglee at the airport and went to Manhattan Beach for lunch and finally getting in the Pacific Ocean. This part of LA, I don't mind so much. We then proceeded to Toys R Us to get Alison's wedding presents. That's right - we went off registery and got Alison and Dan a huge stack of board games. Because, we love board games! And let's face it, we're her wacky high school friends, so we couldn't get her traditional gifts - come on! We made it to our hotel after that, and went to dinner with Alison and her family at The Cheesecake Factory. How is that still in business? There's always, always a giant wait, so you're frustrated by the time you sit down, something always goes wrong with the service, and the food is never as great as you expect after all your trouble.

Sunday was wedding day! We heard a rumor from Alison's mom that the hotel was going to shut down all the power and water between 11pm and 5am. Ummm, what? How are you doing business? We called the front desk to see if it was true, and they said, "Oh, didn't you get the notice?" No, we didn't, you fuckers. Now, we're checking out because I don't want to spend my night worrying about if I have to use the bathroom, am I going to waste the one flush our room gets tonight? Or, you know, using the lamps past 11pm. "No, it's okay because it's after eleven." Not all of us go to bed at 5pm. Needless to say, we checked out and packed our stuff and got a hotel near LAX for Sunday night.

The wedding itself was fantastic - everyone looked great, and the rabbi seemed to know a lot about Ali and Dan, and interspersed some stories about them, and he smashed the glass on the first try. I'd never been to a Jewish wedding before, so it was interesting to see the differences between most weddings I've been to and this one. Also, the reception - so much fun. The circle dancing - I don't know what it's called, but it's awesome. Everyone from the 11-year-old-cousin who is too young to have fun but too old to run around and be crazy to the 90-something year old grandpas were in the circle, and I somehow made it into the family circle at one point. Ali and Dan sucessfully joined hands in the chair-lifting part of the dance, and Dan nearly fell out, which would have made for an awesome wipe-out. I know I'm Catholic, but can I have a Jewish reception? Please?Finally, one last pictures of the tower of gifts. Because we're proud of the construction and the presentation of it.

Sunday night was finding a hotel, and then driving around the LAX area for like AN HOUR trying to find a restaurant that didn't have a drive-through. Turns out, it doesn't exist! LA does not follow the rule of strip malls, that every time there is a Lowe's, Starbucks, Sprint, there needs to be a Chili's, Applebee's or Bennigan's. Goat, you need to move. Or talk to the Chili's people. Please.

Lizett will be out of the office

Lizett will be out of the office from Thursday through Monday. She will not be responding to e-mails or IMs, but expects many drunk dials from the pub crawl.

Sunday is Alison's wedding. What? SUNDAY? Oh my. I've never been to a Jewish wedding, so it should be a fun new experience. And I've never been to Los Angeles, so I'm looking forward to gawking at celebrities (because I'm sure they're on every corner, just waiting to take pictures with me, right? Right??)

So I realized yesterday that my bundt cake plan will have to wait until I get home to Houston because I lack a bundt cake pan. I can't even celebrate the opposite of Martin Luther King Day, because while I have the Diet Coke (and was fully prepared to make the bundt cake), there is no pan and therefore no proper receptacle.

Hopefully lots of ridiculous pictures from this weekend, first with my adventures with Goat and the men of Sheldon Chateau and then wedding craziness.

My name is Gertrude

This weekend was the epitome of old lady-ness. I was in bed before midnight every night this weekend - better than I usually do during the week! What the hell?

Friday I at least had some social interaction by going to Happy Hour at Trudy's with Kat, Sheila, and Della. Tim stopped by for a bit, too, so that was fairly cool. It was a good time, and Trudy's margaritas are pretty glorious. Seeing as I drove, I stayed away from the Mexican Martini, but the Mexican Martini is probably the best drink ever invented. They only allow you to order two and then you're done drinking for the night - they're that strong. Granted, you get the entire shaker, but that justifies the price. After that, I went to Sheila's house to play with her puppy! Double awesomeness.

Dinorah and I realized that we have watched six rented movies and one on TV in the last two weekends. Flightplan, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The Upside of Anger, Alfie, I Heart Huckabees, and In Her Shoes. Plus, Say Anything was on TV. Glooorious. At this rate, we would put Netflix out of business. Hopefully this never happens again, though, because it is sort of sad, and I'm a little embarassed to admit it.

In other news, I made it on the staff of the Texas Review of Entertainment and Sports Law - huzzah! What does that mean? I'm not sure yet, but it seems like they'll be shoving some shit work my way, editing and de-italicizing periods, that sort of thing.

Apologies to those of you waiting on my Diet Coke cake... I spent most of this weekend (the part where I wasn't watching movies) researching about river otters and home owner's associations for an oral report I have to give a couple of hours. Hopefully I can do it this week, and the world will finally know what happens when you use Diet Coke instead of regular.

Hearsay exception

Just a fun little video if you happen to be taking Evidence... or you know, enjoy videos made with Leggo men.