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.

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.

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?

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.

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".

Maybe I should read the news more

While browsing on CNN, I came across this story. Turns out my criminal procedure final used this exact same story, right down to everyone's names, in our final. If only I read the news, I might have been more prepared. Either way, I think I made a fairly convincing argument that we need to go in and take the bullet from that mofo's head. I never stopped using mofo.

Sweet, sweet relief

Yesterday was my last final. Hooray! To celebrate, some of the old 4D crew went to Trudy's, where we met up with Vivek, the traitor. I call him that because he transferred to Stanford. Seriously, Stanford? He did say our Halloween party is way better than theirs, so I take that as proof that Texas is a superior law school. I also continued celebrating today by sleeping until noon. Delicious, uninterrupted sleep. Since you haven't heard of any vicious murders in the news, it's safe to say that my neighbors have behaved since Saturday. I think they may be gone.

I am officially half way done with law school! The hardest part is over... or so I hear. So now, I have practically a month until I have to think at all again. If anyone has movies or book recommendations, I'm going to have a lot of free time on my hands.

Is Wayne Brady gonna hafta choke a bitch?

I consider myself a pretty good neighbor. I don't leave trash outside my door (unlike some people in my apartment complex), don't make noise, yadda yadda yadda. And I can pretty much deal with other people that do. Last year I had a neighbor who cooked curry almost every night, and the smell seeped its way into my apartment nearly every night. There was nothing I could do about it. The curry smell was too powerful for my meager "Oust" sprays and Yankee candles. But, I didn't complain, because I'm not big into confrontation, and I pretty much don't care.

But lately, things are starting to push me over the edge.

Not the people in my complex - my complex is fine, even though the walls/ceilings are so thin, when the person who lives above me gets up to pee in the middle of the night, it sounds like he's peeing into the bowl directly above my head. No, the problem I am having is with the people who live in this pseudo house-apartment right next door to me. They've had a couple of parties during the semester - fine, whatever, we live near a college campus, so that's expected. But don't start to mess with my sleep during finals. Monday night they had a gathering. Thursday night they had some sort of party/singalong on their porch (which is directly across from my door), and I didn't complain even though I had an 8:30 final the next day. But last night - last night, they had an all-out fiesta with music and loud debauchery until 4am. 4AM. I don't get angry about many things, but if you mess with my sleep, especially during finals, you will feel the consequences. And now, as I'm trying to study the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility, they're having another hippie-campfire singalong. Sure, maybe the undergrads are done with finals, but this is law school. I hate you, and if you have another party, I will call the cops on you. Yes, I realize this makes me officially old. Grab me a can of Ensure, I need my sleep.

One down...

So, I had my first final yesterday. It was a little more time-pressured than I expected, but I think I did okay. I aim for the middle of the curve, so I think I'll fit in quite nicely there with how I did. Of course, as we all know, grades are pretty much completely random and arbitrary, so I guess it'll just be a mystery until February or so. Overall, I really liked Dix's class. He doesn't call on anyone, which seems like a good thing, but then it just turns into Dix having a conversation with himself. It can be fairly entertaining though, when he peppers his conversation with the phrases "chicken shit" and "dumbass".

So, how did I prepare for this final? By having my boyfriend come into town, of course. I actually did get a little studying done while we enjoyed season 3 of Arrested Development. I'm a multi-tasker. We also made a trip to the Home Depot, which is just as exciting as it sounds (very). There we found a new smoke alarm for my apartment, as I have been living without one for the past four months. I live in a great place, right? That's got to be an argument for warrant of habitability. Anyway, we also got cables to hook up my DVD player to my brand new HDTV. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, I am slowly but surely moving into the 21st century. I love my new TV, mainly because it's big and shiny, but I will probably love it more once I get an HD antenna, after which all non-HDTV will be ruined forever. My old TV is now sitting in the corner of my room, along with my original Nintendo, as there is no room for it with my new TV. Out with the old, and in with the new.



Also, I apologize for the crappiness of the pictures. My camera is old and eats batteries like a leech, and I was too lazy to put in new ones so the flash would work. Deal with it.

I think I can see the light

Today was my last day of professional responsibility. I love DZ. Even though he rambles and is kind of all over the place in his lectures, he's a really nice guy and does try to explain things as clearly as possible. Plus, he sponsored our National Intramural Co-Ed Law School Softball Champions of the World team. I felt okay giving him the obligatory round of applause at the end of class today. He's earned it.

I'm currently in my 3-hour class. Through a fortuitous planning by the University, we're having Monday classes twice this week. Which means double 3-hour class this week. I don't know if you've noticed, but I sort of despise this class. I've made a vow never to sign up for any class, no matter how great it souds if it is 3 hours long. I was really looking forward to this beforehand, what a letdown. All I know is that I really don't want to clap at the end of today. But, I probably will, just like that guy who doesn't really want to get up during a standing ovation. Part of the ritual, I suppose.

In a move that is either genius or complete and total insanity, Mal is coming this weekend. On the plus side, I can get in my cramming this week and just relax before finals. On the bad side... I won't be getting a whole ton of studying done this weekend. I was thinking about it, and this semester is in sharp contrast to last year, first semester. Last year I had a study group that met once a week all year, and stepped it up to 3-4 times a week in the last month of class. We started doing practice exams a month before, shared answers, reserved rooms in the library, looked up different study aids and outlines. Now, I can't really be bothered. Study groups don't really exist second year. I've gotten some outlines, so I guess that's a step up. I didn't do much of any of that stuff last semeter, and my grades pretty much came out the same. Which proves the widely held theory that grades are basically arbitrary, and nothing you do will really make a huge difference. First year, they scare you to death, second year they work you to death... Let's try and avoid that. Strive for mediocrity! Only two more weeks to go!

Knifewrench: For kids

I told myself this weekend that I would sit down and be a Good Law Student this week. So far, the plan has failed miserably, even though Kat explicitly invited me to the library to study. I decided to go see The Prestige instead. I figured if I didn't see it this week, I would never see it. It was suspensful and satisfying. There's a lot of movies coming out soon I would like to see, but I think I'm going to have to wait until the holiday season for a movie-going extravaganza.

And while typing the tag to this post, I realized this is the first post with the tag "school". Oh my.