TURKEY

The first Mexican Thanksgiving in Houston.

BAM!

Me with my new second cousin, Melissa (3 days old).

Wurstfest

It was the best of times, it was the... blurst of times?? You stupid monkey!

Mal and I went to Wurstfest yesterday, and the motto on the novelty cups says "The best of times are wurst times". Hence the Simpsons quote. Wurstfest was pretty fun. We got there after 3pm on the last day, so we got free admission, which was key since we spent so much cash on sausage and carnival games.

First, we had a sort of sausage-kebab which contained five different types of sausage. Sadly, the sausage went from most delicious to least delicious, so it was a disappointing ending. We also sampled a couple of beers, including Paulaner and... something that starts with a W. Dunkel version, which apparently just means dark. It was pretty tasty, but the Paulaner was just okay.

After the sausage overload, we decided to take a break and digest over some carnival games. Mal very nearly won me a giant useless stuffed animal on a shooting game, but the dude conned us. Never trust carnies, people. Thankfully, Mal did win me a slightly smaller useless stuffed animal by destroying the lives of about five six-year-olds and winning a sort of skee-ball type game where the further back your ball goes in, the further your guy goes. First to finish wins a Krusty doll. I chose a dog instead, and his name is Hervis. He destroys children's lives. Also, Swarley wants to eat him, but we don't let him.

After that, it was a little more beer, a lot more sausage and turkey legs, and a few German bands. There were lots of small children doing extremely cute and slightly uncoordinated dances in leiderhosen and... whatever the girls wear. Followed by a few beer anthems. There are only so many German songs, and apparently they're all about beer. I fell asleep on the way home. It was sooo worth it.

Today's game

We got our asses handed to us by Air Force. This is the first season ND has ever lost 9 games. My pee pee hurts.

How many X's do you think are on CW's sweatshirt tag? Three? Five?

On a more cheerful note, Mal and I will be going to Wurstfest tomorrow, the ten-day salute to sausage. Mmm, sausage!

Picking up some slack

I've gotten some comments from people about how much my blog sucks, and some revelations that more people read my blog than I once suspected. Never underestimate a bored law student, because they will find anything to read.

Things have been chugging along well recently. It's November - holy crap! Wedding planning is going fairly smoothly, but as always, there is still lots to do. No, Swarley will not be in the wedding. I don't know why everyone wants the dog to be a ring bearer or something, but I guarantee you that if Swarles is in any vicinity of people, he will just run around in circles, then roll on the ground, then probably poop on the priest.

We managed to find a Franciscan monk who will perform a Catholic ceremony outside. It sounds a little shady, but this dude is the real deal. He's even offered to wear his brown friar robe, complete with rope belt and hood. I told my mom, and she made a yuck face. Maybe we'll let him wear the more traditional clothes.

Stephen and I went to Houston last weekend to see my family, and we had a pretty good time. My cousin Mario and his wife Mayra are set to pop out a baby in about two weeks, so she has ridiculously fat belly for her tiny, tiny frame. Stephen and I went to the Museum of Natural Science and saw the remains of Lucy, a 3.2 million year old fossilized hominid of the species Australopithecus afarensis. Wow, we're nerds. We also saw a show about black holes in the planetarium! It really took me back to the days of elementary school, except now they charge like $20 an exhibit. Boo, museum, boo. Thank goodness for college discounts.

We lost to Navy. I'm so ashamed.

Get out the checkbook and pay Grandma for the rubdown

Get your cowboy boots ready and mark your calendars for Wedding 2.0 Electric Boogaloo. It's going to be wild. March 8, 2008 marks the day we will cease to be living in sin.

I cannot wait

Quality. Television.

Comedy Central late night viewings

Did they call?

My computer died, but is now back from the dead

Independence Day

Hello, my friends. Today is the day our country celebrates its freedom. In honor of our nation, let me enlighten you on my own tale of living the American dream.

As some of you may know, I like food. Like, really like food. And of course, ice cream is one of the finer foods that I enjoy. Ben and Jerry's in particular has always been a particularly big draw to me. It started out with Chocolate Fudge Brownie (AMAZING) and took off from there. Many a conversation has been had about the glory and the wonder of B&J's flavors. There is Black and Tan, a flavor that frightens and confuses me; and of course, Half Baked, with combinations such as Neapolitan Dynamite and Brownie Batter. Truly, B&J's has forged the landscape of ice cream. But Nation, when I first heard of Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream, I knew I had to have it. Vanilla ice cream with fudge covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl. Doesn't that sound glorious?


Alas, a quick search on benjerry.com revealed that Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream is only sold at 3 grocery stores in the greater Austin/Round Rock area, with the closest one at least a half hour drive away. My dream seemed further from reach. Then, one fateful Friday night at Super Target (that's right, I spend my Friday nights at Super Target), there it was! Glowing from the frozen food aisles was my dream. And it was every bit as delicious as I'd imagined. Tastes like America. And now, Nation, I can truly say that I am living the Americone Dream.

New desk + someone else taking out my trash

Somehow in the process of moving, our old FutureDesk exploded. Now, I wasn't here when this supposed "explosion" happened, but I'm assuming it's just a story Stephen made up so he won't have to admit he couldn't lift the desk. Apparently, while carrying out the glass desk top, it simply "shattered". So, last weekend we made the hike out to Round Rock to Ikea to find a new desk. We ended up getting the stainless steel desk, so now we have the ULTIMATE FutureDesk. It's so clean and futuristic, I don't even want to put anything on it.

In other news, our apartment complex just began Valet Trash Service. Meaning I no longer have to go down a flight of stairs in order for the filth of our apartment to be gone forever. Which helps when it's rained for eight days straight, with no end in sight.

Special delivery

So, it's officially been two weeks since I began working at the Travis County Attorney's Office, and the experience has been going rather well. I started off hired in the Transactions division, which, from what I could tell, would have involved sitting in a small room (which contains a small fan that actually takes about a half hour to start up) with three other law clerks and researching things on Lexis. On day 2 and a half, I was whisked down to the third floor to start working with the Family Violence division. Things there have been much more interesting, in that I've mostly been watching prosecutors strike deals with defense attorneys and sitting through most of a jury trial.




Today was a particularly exciting day in Court 4. Fridays are pre-trial days, in which the prosecutors either strike deals or give defense attorneys discovery on the cases. First, not one, but two male attorneys came in wearing seersucker suits. I guess it is officially summer in Texas! Second, and less exciting even, was that a woman in the lobby of the court room went into labor while waiting to... do something. Oh, it was quite the commotion. EMS was called, the sheriffs were attending to the lady in the bathroom, and one other prosecutor was set in charge of caring for the woman's 2 year old son. That's totally part of the job description. Anyway, this kid got a sticker in the shape of a sheriff's badge (AWESOME), and from what I am told, also got a balloon, a stuffed dalmatian and a ride on the fire engine, so I think he came out on top of the whole situation.

As far as my duties go, my main job has been to watch the prosecutors and nod my head every once in a while. Sometimes I look over the files and tell them "what I think", which I am sure they value greatly. Finally, I wrote up subpoenas for a couple of days, so I actually feel like I might be contributing something.

In other news, Crazy Mexicans from Upstairs are gone. The apartment manager ran into me and Stephen outside our apartment on Wednesday, and she sang "They're goooone" with great glee. Now, it's our turn to move to the other side of the apartment complex. It'll be a hassle, but our new place has a balcony that faces a field, as opposed to the parking lot. Apparently we're not supposed to grill on our balconies, but now that our apartment will face nothingness, they'll never know of our covert grilling practices! Mwahaha.

Ay, yi, yi! We're probably moving yet again!

First and foremost, thanks everyone for the support and kind words re: previous post. Don't worry, things are going better and no, Philip, I am not suicidal.

My friends, I have previously been on the side of the law that dispenses justice (albeit in very short, uneventful spurts at summer jobs, etc). But now, I come to you on the victim end. That's right, we've had a break-in! As scary as Century was, with its homeless men living in the laundry room and reading porn advertisements, at least no one attempted to break in at any point. I'll break down the scene for you, as best I can.

Friday night, around 7:30 I was hanging out in the bedroom while Stephen was in the living room watching TV. Suddenly, Crazy Loud Mexican Neighbor who lives above us unlocks our door and walks into the apartment and starts heading down the hallway towards the bedroom. At this point, Stephen, in shock and awe, gets up and makes some sort of "What the hell is going on" noise, our neighbor turns around and says "Oh, sorry man", and walks out. At this point, of course, we are pretty much freaking out, call the apartment management and first things first, got our locks changed the next morning ASAP. Throughout the course of the past few days, we've talked to the cops, who first said "Well, there's not much to be done yet, but report it anyway", and apartment management who is pretty much evicting them, and giving us a new place. You know, so they can't stalk and kill us for kicking them out. Apparently this guy is saying that his key somehow worked in our lock. No, now he's saying that the door was unlocked. Now he's telling apartment management that Stephen tried to hit his 3 year old son. Whaaaaat?

It's quite an adventure being on this side of the law, but it seems like apartment management is being pretty helpful and our new place may actually be cheaper than this one. So now all we have to do is worry about our safety for about two weeks! BONG.

Blarg

So, a lot of stuff has happened lately, and I've kind of dropped off the face of the earth, with no explanation. I know I owe it to all my friends for me to actually call them like I say I'm going to, but this seems like a more efficient method. Trust me, once I build up the cajones, I will actually call all of you individually and you can each give me your wag of the finger.

I suppose the main thing to talk about is that yes, Stephen and I are not only postponing the wedding, we are no longer engaged. Blarg. There's a lot of reasons behind that, but we both essentially decided we're not ready. I suppose the more accurate description is that I'm not ready. We're still living together, and working on things, so I guess we'll see how it goes, but I think the next couple of months are going to be pretty key.

Second, I've decided to stop drinking. Through law school, I sort of kept going with the college lifestyle, which got me into all sorts of problems, and the best thing to do is to completely stop drinking. This may make future social gatherings (tailgates, etc) a little awkward, but I know I make some horribly awful decisions when I'm drunk that I invariably regret, so the best course of action is prevention. So, there you have that.

Thirdly, I am not, in fact, working for the Big Firm I was supposed to be working for this summer. The job was in San Antonio, which was fine, but once Stephen moved, I decided to commute, and then, considering the above decision, I decided it probably wouldn't be wise to go to a job every day where there are scheduled happy hours, wine tasting events, etc. Blarg. So instead, I'm working for the county attorney's office and taking summer school. Law school summer school. At least this way, I'll get some hours out of the way, but also I won't be making fat cash and instead paying the school fat cash.

So that, in general, is what has been going on in my life lately. Blarg.

Whaaat's happening

Hey guys! What's... up. I realize it's been oh... a couple of months? Anyway, Stephen and I have moved. The new place is much, much better, except for our upstairs neighbors. They tend to stomp around a lot, which we recently discovered is caused by their 3-year-old child. You know, discovered since we went up to confront the man at around 11:30 at night, and the 3 year old answered the door with him. For a while, we felt bad because hey, he's got a child, but stomping around late at night has only caused our distate to grow for the family upstairs. They'd better watch out, or we'll start blasting Roger Miller through the vents straight into their apartment. Speaking of vents, we also seem to think that their vents are somehow connected to ours. I recently got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and was met by a most unpleasant odor. After confirming with Stephen that he had not, in fact, just been in the bathroom at 4:30 in the morning, the only conclusion is that their horrifying bathroom odors are somehow seeping into our apartment. It happened every once in a while over the weekend, and hasn't happened since, so maybe they had an incontinent grandpa from The Old Country over for a while or something.

Revelation

Sometime late last night, I had an idea.

Somehow, Stephen and I noticed that my alarm clock was set a half hour ahead of what it usually is. Then I remembered that we had just seen that episode of Battlestar in Season 2 where the cylons insert a virus into Galactica's computers and mess with all the programs. COINCIDENCE?

Knut fever

One more week of school, one week closer to finals. Yay! I had to drive to San Antonio on Wednesday to drop off the supporting documents for our immigration case, so that was a lovely jaunt down and back. I thought I was going to get a ticket because, you see, I made the mistake of going to the court house first (apparently you're supposed to drop it off with DHS first), so I had to make an extra trip and hope I made it to the court house in time. So, as I was speeding ever so slightly back to the court house, suddenly a cop turns his lights on behind me and speeds up so he's riding my ass. I was in the left lane of the freeway, so I just sort of panicked for a second, then turned on my blinker to go in the middle lane, and he waved me out of the way and sped by. Phew. As Laurie says, there are two types of people, those who always get speeding tickets and those who never get speeding tickets. I've been lucky enough to be the latter so far.


In other news, I've decided that getting a puppy would be good, but getting a Knut would be about ten times better. Knut is just about the cutest thing ever to exist. And to think that animal rights activists actually said that the Berlin Zoo should kill Knut because his mommy ignored him! More proof that animal rights people are just insane hippies that want to slaughter polar bears. I think Stephen Colbert had something to do with that campaign.

And finally, happy easter to everyone. For some reason, it got cold in TeXas again (happy now, Rocky?) so it doesn't quite feel like it, but most likely I'll be heading to Houston to see the folks and my cousins and finish up some wedding stuff.

House hunting

As you all know, shortly after Stephen's life-threatening move to Tejas, he moved in with me. He even signed the lease and everything so now it's all official-like. Now, don't get me wrong, our current apartment is just fine. But that's it - fine. It's fairly cheap considering what the normal apartment rate is in Austin, not a huge dump, and ridiculously close to the law school and Stephen's work. There are a few problems though:

#1 - I think I'm about to go all warrant of habitability on their ass. My building is only about 20 apartments or so, and it's owned and managed by one very tall old lady and her husband. They're very nice, but they're not, shall we say, efficient. My shower has been leaking for quite some time now, and the guy actually came to check it out, about, oh, 6 weeks ago. It was fixed on Thursday. Also, there has been some sort of strange funky mold growing on the ceiling of the bathroom, so if Stephen and I die of mold poisoning, feel free to sue them for me.

#2 - And this is the MAJOR problem - no pets allowed! I was okay with this at first - if you'll recall my poor kitty died about a year and a half ago, so I was cool with not getting another animal for a while. However, I've got the puppy fever. I want a dog! And alas, our building does not allow them. So we must persevere and search for a halfway decent place to live!

Apparantly, that's much harder than it seems. Any place we've looked at so far has gotten fairly crap-tastic reviews about management on apartmentratings.com or has reports about crazy drunken rich kids running throughout the halls at night. And I will be damned if I'm living in a dorm again! And if a place looks too good to be true, well, it is. We found a really nice apartment complex out by where I used to live last year, and besides the distance, there's also - surprise! We're selling off our apartments as condos. So, possibly someone will kick you out of your place. Suckaaa!

I think I might just resort to Craigslist.

SBA elections

Since I am still technically in law school, I am obliged to talk a little about SBA elections, mostly because people I actually like are running.

First, I'd like to recommend everyone to vote for Brad Domangue for SBA President. He's a cool guy, did a great job in SBA this year, and I'm sure he'll do a great job as Pres.

I actually don't know any of the people running for 2L or 3L rep... I guess I'm not as much of a social butterfly as I was in undergrad. Now I just sit at home eating cake and watching Lost (Mmm, Lost!).

Second, I want to encourage all you 3Ls to vote for Kellie Starr for one of those permanent class representatives or whatever the position is. I like her. She's funny, and super involved in everything she does (which is a lot), and I'm sure she'll actually do what she's supposed to.

There, that's the end of my PSA.

I guess I'm posting once a week now?

Hey guys! Yup, still here. Blog... still sucks. I'll try and work on that. But I'm not making any promises.

First of all, everyone should send some "get well soon" vibes to Philip, as he had an emergency appendectomy earlier this week. Happy St. Patty's Day, Philip! You're going to the hospital. Actually, I think he's back at home, milking the surgery for all it's worth. Well played, Phil. I did much the same last summer.

My own St. Patty's Day almost led me to the hospital as well. Not from drinking, though. I went to the rodeo with Stephen in Houston and we gorged ourselves on carnival food. Sausage on a stick (delicious, and I don't care about the jokes, I love sausage!), funnel cake, bratwurst, and even my first taste of deep fried oreos. The oreos were just okay. I think I prefer the regular funnel cake. Anyway, I'm surprised I didn't have a heart attack mid-bite. I'm sure I'll be paying for it way down the line.

Other than that, the weekend was pretty good. This week has been getting back into the school groove. I had a dinner last night with the incoming board of TRESL. I think I found the perfect journal. I don't know if it's helped at all in finding a job and all that stuff, but it is something to put on the resume with minimal effort. To give you an idea, I've been on the journal for a full year now, and just met pretty much everyone at the dinner last night. Not exactly the most social of journals, but at least we don't have mandatory library meetings like some other journals *cough* Oil and Gas *cough*.

Now, if all my non-law friends haven't passed out from boredom already, I present you with something to occupy your time. Which reminds me: I'm still on the lookout for a good bilingual DJ for the wedding. Someone who can appeal to all genres of people who will be in attendance. I want Dan and Todd to grind with my grandma - that's how crazy things are going to get! Unfortunately, it seems bands are very cost-prohibitive, but if we were going to get a band, we would probably get these guys. Texas Party Band! Stephen and I are going to check them out tonight. Oh, it's happening!

Finally, since a blog post is never quite complete without a picture, I present to you Exhibit A, What My Hair Does When It Gets Sort Of Rainy Outside, But Kind Of Just Drizzling Sometimes (As It Has Been In Austin These Past Few Days):

The break of spring

Hello! It's spring break at the University of Texas. I am currently in Houston, mainly doing wedding planning (which is tough - I think I'm working more now than I usually do in school).

I've been getting some comments lately:

"Have you abandoned your blog?"

"I thought you were dead."

"Your blog sucks."

And while the last one has always been true, I am here to remind you guys that yes, I am still alive, and yes, I still plan on posting in my blog. Things that have happened since the last post:

- Stephen and I made the drive down from Indiana to Tejas. Illinois was harrowing. Arkansas is boring and awful. Living together is pretty neat, and I like it a lot, except we're going out to eat like every day. Which is not good if I plan on, you know, fitting into all the clothes I currently own.

- As you may have read in Stephen's blog, I was insanely busy with Assault and Flattery, the law school musical/play. As always, it was a fun time and many inside jokes were made. If you'd like to hear a tale about a man named Tom Foetus, trust me, I've got plenty of material.

- Spring Break, wooooo! Actually, spring break has been fairly low-key with me running all over Houston looking at wedding stuff. It is most exciting to actually start the wedding preparations and all that. I even semi started a website.

- My cousin just told us (today) that he and his wife are having a kiddo! That makes for baby #2 in my cousins.

- I started watching Battlestar Galactica on DVD. So far, I think I'm enjoying it. Although, I did watch 4 hours of The Langoliers on The Sci-Fi Channel on Sunday, so my mind may be a little warped.

- Stephen and I had a $20 margarita. It was mildly delicious. I think I'll go for the cheap one next time.

That's What She Said

I'm busy, which means I'm blogging. Sort of. I don't have much to write about, except for my perpetual happy dance until Friday, when I fly to South Bend and accompany Stephen all the way back to Texas. Suck it, long distance! Never again.

Instead, I'll just point you to the blog That's What She Said, which takes situations from The Office and attaches real-life litigation costs to every stupid thing Michael does. So, if any of you ever thought of kissing your gay employee to prove you're tolerant, you probably shouldn't. Surprisingly, it doesn't work in real life.

Censorship

When did "douche" become an acceptable word on prime time TV? I've been wondering for a long time too, how come when they bleep out asshole, they bleep out the hole? And the God in goddammit. I don't get it.

Wacky things

Hoo boy, it has been one full day. I won't say I have a case of the Mondays, cuz you could get your ass kicked saying something like that.

Last night, I went to Blockbuster and pulled the old switcheroo - the one benefit Blockbuster has over Netflix. I also ran over an armadillo on the way there. Man, those suckers are everywhere. You'd think for an animal with an exterior shell, they'd be a little more resilient.

Then today, I had to turn in a paper and pick up an assignment from one of my professor's assistants. I stopped by his office twice, and he was never there. I should have known as soon as I saw him - he was probably outside toking up with some high schoolers. This guy looks exactly like Chong on That 70's Show. I had to wait for this guy for like 20 minutes, so when I finally got what I wanted from him, I kicked him in the nards and ran off.

Finally, I almost got run over when I was crossing the street to get home, but I stopped the car by punching it 50 feet in the air.

Movie Review #2

I think I may have to upgrade to the 2-DVDs-at-a-time plan for Blockbuster Online. The closest service center is in San Antonio, and it took like 4 days for my next DVD to come. Bastards.

Anyway, DVD #2 was The Da Vinci Code. You've already been warned by Goat that it sucked, and I have to say that it was meh. Not great, but not terrible either (see, Crank). It would've been a lot better if they didn't have a ton of annoying flashbacks. Anyway, I can't really write a full, comprehensive review of it because I was finishing up my journal cite check assignment.

I actually finished my Texas Review of Entertainment and Sports Law journal assignment a full 48 hours before it's due! I'm being... productive? What's next, I'll actually finish my ADR paper today, a full 24 hours before it's due? I don't even recognize myself anymore.

Finally, I will point everyone to Philip's personal fundraising website for Barack Obama. I already donated, and I'm a poor student, so take some time and donate for everyone's favorite (or at least the most likeable) candidate!

Or if you just want to send cash directy to me, I'll take it too. For my personal expenses.

Dahlia Lithwick is kind of my hero

Being the huge nerd that I am, I actually enjoy reading Dahlia Lithwick's Supreme Court updates and reports. Seeing as I originally started this blog to talk about law school, I guess I should point you to this very interesting article about the female Justices speaking out, and about women in the workplace in general.

I think I'll be Ruth Bader Ginsburg for Halloween. How do I get those glasses?

My head asplode

One of the lovely things I encountered in Austin is the prevalence of cedar. Apparently, I am allergic. I've never had seasonal allergies until I got to Austin, then all of a sudden, BAM. My head kind of exploded on the inside.

So the past couple of days have had ungodly amounts of cedar in the air, and I am out of the good non-drowsy allergy medicine, which means my fallback is the drowsy, make you want to pass out kind. Weeee!

Actually, I've spent most of the past two days asleep or on the couch. I guess I'll just suck it up and live with it, but it makes for a miserable existence. If you happen to hear of massive forest fires in central Texas, it wasn't me... and it was totally Nips' idea.

Be kind, return on time

Does anyone else find that little phrase totally off after the years and years of "Be kind, rewind"? I for one, always rewound my movies. I'm just a good citizen.

As part of my "Enter the 21st century" blitz, I finally joined a mail-order DVD program. I thought long and hard, weighed my options, and passed through many sleepless nights before finally settling on Blockbuster Online. Basically, the only benefit is that you can switch out DVDs in the store, which I think is pretty spiffy.

My inaugural rental is Superman Returns. Seeing as I'm the only person on the planet that hasn't seen it yet, I thought it would be fitting to rent and watch all alone in my living room. I feel ya, Superman.

Overall, I really liked it. Makes me feel like hitting up the Houston Museum of Natural Science. I remember a lot of geodes from elementary school field trips. Lois Lane is kind of a bitch, but I suppose I would be too if my man knocked me up and left for five years. Also, the whole thing looks very CGI-y. Not just the special effects, though. Like, Superman's face. No one has skin that good. And if he does, what is he using, because I need to get me some of that. Also, when did Superman become Titanic?

Next up on my list is another one of those "Movies everyone else has seen but me", The Da Vinci Code. Don't worry, I just added The Science of Sleep to my queue, so I'll be sure to get to some less mainstream fare as well. I think I'll make the Movie of the (Indetermined Amount of Time) Club reviews a regular, so check back for more wisdom.

Sartorialist rule

"Suits are full of joy. They're the sartorial equivalent of a baby's smile."

Big things are happening

Extreme makeover, blog edition! I needed some room to breathe. And this gives it to me. Philip is copying the re-imaging. But that is only the beginning!

Stephen got a job at UT, which is pretty much the most ideal situation we were hoping for. He gets to keep working in education, and in what seems to be a really laid-back atmosphere. They actually told him in the interview that the last guy with the job was in it for a solid two months before they realized he had done absolutely no work. They also said he doesn't have to come in all the time, as long as he gets his work done. Booyashaka.

In another brilliant twist of fate, it turns out one of my friends from law school is looking to rent out a room in his house for cheap, so it looks like he'll have a good place to live for cheap, with someone that is not in fact a serial killer. If only I could be so lucky.

I also went home this weekend to visit my family. My cousin Mario, his wife Mayra, and his mom came to visit for the weekend. Mario is moving to Houston as soon as all his papers go through, so that will be exciting to have him close by.

Finally, in my actual life, things are going well, although a little hectic. I realized this weekend my journal cite check assignment is due on Monday, and I had completely blown it off until now. Whoops. Assault and Flattery is also gearing up, which is going well, but is keeping my nights busy. Thankfully that won't be going on for too much longer. I'm also head-first into a few cases for the immigration clinic, so I've got qutie a bit going on right now.

Sorry this was not entertaining at all, but hopefully something amusing will happen soon. Maybe I'll slip and fall on a banana peel. Now that's comedy!

PS - Crank did in fact suck. But you can only feel the magnitude of the suckitude by seeing it yourself. Remember in Blues Brothers how they drove the car through the mall? There was a similar scene, only not as entertaining.

Quit doing the right thing

I kind of forgot that today was Wednesday. I still have yet to get into my law school routine. Maybe a month or so more in...

So, Stephen came in this weekend. It was a lovely long weekend, with a trip to Hula Hut, Scholz's Beer Garten for beer on the law school, and below-average steak at Houston's. AND, we totally did something this weekend! Stephen had two interviews, which seemed like they went really well, followed by a trip to Barton Creek mall. That's right, suited up for the mall! We also managed to get off the couch for long enough to go to Main Event for some bowling and glow in the dark putt-putt. I don't care how old you are, it's still awesome. I haven't been bowling in a couple of years, and let me tell you - I think this hiatus is exactly what I needed. I rolled the best game of bowling of my life - a cool 111, with a couple of strikes and a few spares. So I resolve to only bowl once every two years to keep up the streak.

We also rented Crank. You know, that movie with Jason Statham where he has to keep his adrenaline up or he'll die? Let me tell you brother, it was just as awesome, if not more so than in the commercials. If you can believe it. I'm sure you don't. But you should.

In another wacky plan, I bought a plane ticket for next weekend to South Bend out of San Antonio since it was ridiculously cheaper than flying out of Austin. It's so bold, it's like a zesty chimichanga filled with spicy Doritos and covered in taco sauce. What?

Freaking sweet

Today launches the first real week of the spring semester. Turns out signing up for morning office hours in the immigration clinic isn't my best idea. I am not what you might call a morning person. Also, I have no freaking clue what I'm doing, but I don't think I ruined anyone's life. Yet. On the first day of the clinic, I got four cases to work on. I'm actually going to court next Tuesday, in front of a real live judge, so chances are high that I either a) vomit or b) pee my pants. Should be a fun time!

But, on the freaking sweet side, Stephen is coming for an extra-long weekend, all the way from Thursday night until Monday mid-day. AND, he's got two interviews! Well, an interview and a "visit". Austin is all over it, baby. Let the bidding wars begin! And speaking of... something, we have a priest to officiate now, too. I guess it's about time we started one of those websites with pictures of us all over the place that makes you want to projectile vomit into your computer screen. I can't wait!

We decided that we might try actually doing something this weekend, as opposed to sitting like blobs, eating large amounts of food, and watching various television shows and movies, per usual. I'm thinking we should go to Scholz's on Friday night for some society social thing. Free beer and appetizers! Anyone else going? Come on Bradford, suit up and I'll see you there.

I've made a huge mistake

Regular Thursday night. Big TV night for me. Everything's going fine (thanks to DVR I can catch The Office and Ugly Betty, and Scrubs/30 Rock and Grey's Anatomy) and I decide to watch Grey's before I go to bed. I like to watch my comedies real time and save the dramedy for later. Big mistake. HUGE mistake. I am not one to get emotional during movies or TV shows for the most part. I was the only person in my family not weeping during The Notebook. But damn if tonight's Grey's didn't have me weeping like a little boy who just lost his dog. I guess it's a good thing I don't have class tomorrow or I might be screwed for the rest of the semester. I think I'm going to go punch myself in the gut, maybe that will toughen me up.

Rehab is the new baby

Well, classes finally resumed today, which means it's time for me to begin procrastinating. As many of you know, I'm kind of a gossip hound, so it's pretty Big News that Lindsay Lohan checked into rehab. Good job, Lindsay. You're 20 years old and your mom thinks she's your BFF. You're totally well-adjusted. One quote from SuperMom- "She's fine. She's amazingly fine." Yup, that's why she's in rehab!

Sadly, Lindsay Lohan is only the latest in a long line of rehab-ers - Nicole Richie (sort of? anorexia rehab?), Pete Doherty, Keith Urban. Lately, it seems like rehab is the new baby.

Last year, it was baby mania - Angelina Jolie adopting the world, Bennifer II, Matt Damon, Gwen Stefani, Madonna. In Hollywood, mommyhood is out - rehab is in. What's next - Quickie weddings? Oh wait...

First dance?

So one big thing Stephen and I have been thinking about is what song we're going to do our first dance to. I personally think we ought to do this:




Thoughts?

Good news, bad news

Good news: Date has been set for August 18, 2007 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Houston.

Bad news: I have NO grades in yet. None. But on the plus side, school will probably be cancelled due to the "inclement weather".

Engagement reactions, Lizett style

Since I am at home and on vacation and nothing is happening right now, I'll give you my version of the engagement reactions:

First, may I point out that while Megan commented on both mine and Stephen's blog, he stole her comment on mine to use on his. What a bastard.

Pretty much everyone: WHAT?? Congratulations!

Joe: Tell him to pick one thing about the wedding and disagree with you about it. That way it shows that he's interested.

Yesenia: Congratulations! Of course, my chismosa mother called me last night and told me. We are not even old enough! I feel like I should go over to your house and steal your Casper tape!

Greg: What did I tell you to say if anyone ever asked you that? "I'll think about it", followed by an awkward no via e-mail 2 weeks later.

Anglee: I will say to you what Samantha told Carrie when she got engaged: If you become one of those married assholes, I will kill you.

Philip: <-- Ring bearer. THINK ABOUT IT.

Anglee, part 2: I forgot to mention that if you need a wedding planner, I am ON IT. I have much wedding knowledge. Like for example, don't use an awkward sexual song for the father-daughter dance. Because seriously, so awkward.

Dana: Yes!! There is hope for aging Domers. (WTF does that mean, Dana?)

Vnak: Prewedding pub crawl. Do it!

Good news

"Good news" is the way all the falto e-mails used to begin when someone was announcing that they were engaged. I think. Anyway, good news! I'm engaged! For those of you who haven't seen it already on Facebook! Sorry, we're engaged. We. Whatever, it's all about the bling, as Stephen's mother calls it.

I apologize for the method of communication, but you see, Stephen/AniMal (as many of you may know him) insisted on making the engagement official as soon as possible, and we all know nothing is official until it's on Facebook. I promise I'll call all of you, devoted readers... eventually. Hey, maybe on your birthday!

I just got back from nearly a week in Columbus last night. The engagement itself occurred on campus at Notre Dame, through deception and trickery, but I think that's a good solid foundation for a marriage. After that, it was cold out and I was starving, so we went to Hooters. Yes, Hooters. Buffalo shrimp is probably the greatest thing ever, so lay off, okay? Besides, we went out that evening to Club LaSalle which was cool and classy and served big martini-style drinks and had an old Kenny Loggins-esque man on open mic night, or so it seems. Needless to say, the ring is pretty and shiny, and details of anything we decide on (such as a date) will be forthcoming. We're already looking for a tranny to object to our union, so if you'd like to volunteer, let us know ASAP because I'm sure that position will be highly coveted. For a recap of the events leading up to it, please see the corresponding story on Mal's blog, which I am too lazy to recount myself. I will say this, his crying was less like a little bitch and more like a schoolgirl.