Final Reflections

I know that the last day of the year isn't until tomorrow, but eh...

So, a big year for me. I'm both sorry and happy to see it go. My wedding, the birth of a niece, starting law school all go into the "good" category. Losing my grandfather, losing my darling little hedgehog and starting law school all go into the "bad" category. There were good movies/books/tv shows (Casino Royale/Thursday Next/House) and bad movies/books/tv shows (toss up between Ultraviolet and Eragon *shudder*/too many to name/too many to name). You get the idea. So what's up for next year? No idea really, but I do actually make resolutions and I do actually try to keep them. I'm batting a pretty poor average, but you always hope that you'll improve, right?

My resolutions:
1. Stop staring at my books and actually read them. And study. And look over my notes. You know, actually do my WORK.
2. Stop spending frivolously.
3. Actually do my yoga when I think of it instead of saying "oh, but this was such a GOOD episode of Law & Order".
4. Think before I speak, damn it. I've had this problem since I was 3. Let's not insult people inadvertantly.

There are more sadly, but some are just vague ideas of what I should do, instead of true plans. Be nicer, for instance. I'm pretty nice when I want to be though, except in certain circumstances. Like when I'm around Chicago.

Happy New Year.

Tournament of Champions

So I was social for the SECOND time in the space of a week. And this time, I didn't fall down or anything. Although, I must say, Crickets doesn't water down the drinks nearly as much (or at all) as Fox & Hound or Sherlock's in Dallas. (I must start going to better bars there...)

Prof Contracts is quite a force on the foosball table. Of course, I've played all of one game in my entire life (if that) so I think that a chimp could have impressed me. But considering that he (and Osler) had only lost a few games and had been playing constantly since 9, I think that speaks to his skill. He was even playing "front", when he usually plays "back" (goalie, basically - he explained it to me, but it was very loud in there). I wasn't sure who I was rooting for, but it's nice to see professors show that they can kick ass at something other than law. And I think we all knew that he wasn't going to cancel Friday's class if he lost. Especially since he told us as much.

Cursed

I have been subjected to not just traffic jams, but the strangest traffic jams in the world lately. Apparently, I can't be on the road without some horrific accident happening, usually about 20 miles and 3 hours of crawling traffic ahead of me. I think everyone got caught in the chemical spill if you were on I-35 South from Dallas to Waco coming back from Thanksgiving weekend. When I went home this past weekend, more strangeness ensued.

On the way, there was a sizeable slowdown because a horse carrier had been in a 3 car accident. The horse was (I think) alive - I thought I saw it move - but it was lying down on the side of the road with a blanket over it. Probably broke a leg or two. Not good.

Then, on the way back, I took 2 1/2 hours to go 3 miles as a semi had apparently burst into flame. It was still smoking as I went by. (Needless to say, I spent a large portion of these 2 1/2 hours calling Jon and bugging him about everything under the sun. It's my way of coping with impatience - making someone else impatient.)

I'm praying to the traffic gods that it doesn't happen again this weekend. More importantly, that I'm not the cause of it.

Boys Are Impossible To Shop For

I was told that I had my settings so that only members could comment. I corrected it so that all you desperate anonymous people out there can comment too.

Update on the neighbor issue - they're definitely not there, but the management company took our complaint. We expect it to be fixed any month now.

My haiku for Haiku Friday, in honor of my shopping trip yesterday:

Christmas shopping hell
So much choice and no money
Father getting socks.

Pushy shop lady,
I know Jon better than you!
Won't wear yellow plaid.

My dad isn't actually getting socks... yet. Anybody have an idea for gifts for a software engineer who doesn't watch much TV or sports, but is pretty much a big geek whose main interest is hiking in rain forests looking for exotic birds? (And remember, the "no money" part IS true.)

More Proof that Undergrads are Morons

As if we needed any more proof! First, I must explain that I live very close to campus with a few other law students and several dozen undergrads. I'm personally surrounded on all sides by them. This isn't usually a problem, except when my downstairs neighbor Lindsay decides to make her presence known. Oh, I don't know her... but I know her name because in September, Jon and I were awoken at 4 am by a screaming match between her and her tool of a boyfriend:

Whiny Boyfriend: Come on, Lindsay! Don't be like that.
Lindsay: SHUT UP! Oh my GOD! My hand!*
WB: Come on, Lindsay! Look, my dogs are running away and I don't even care! Come on, Lindsay! I love you!

And on and on. Meanwhile, me and Jon have given up on sleep and are watching the fight through the blinds. The dogs were watching too, as they frollicked in the grass.

But that was months ago. My other neighbor, with whom we share a wall, I only hear from when I'm in the bathroom, especially in the morning because we have similar schedules. We hear them every time they run their water. Last night, my shower was going crazy, hot one minute and freezing the next. I couldn't figure it out. Our water heater is in our closet. I didn't think we shared it.

Tonight, I realized that these neighbors were running their water every few minutes or so. I also realized that that had been going on since last night. It took me a minute, but I realized their toilet is running. They haven't fixed it for 24 hours or more! I wouldn't care (we don't pay for water here) but it will continue to ruin my showers until fixed!

Here's a notice to all you undergrads out there - daddy isn't around to fix a running toilet for you. Suck it up and fix it yourself - it's not that hard! Even I can do it. Or, if you're really a pansy, call the landlord. IT WON'T FIX ITSELF! You can't just leave for Christmas and hope it gets better. It's a toilet, not a cat with a hairball.

I detest undergrads more and more with each passing day. Tomorrow, as I call the landlord to get them to go over and fix my neighbor's toilet so that I can have a decent shower, I will hate them even more.

* Ed. note - We're still not sure what was wrong with her hand. But boy, did she complain about it.

I was a witness for Client Counseling today. It was fun, although exhausting. I called myself Greta Garbo and went the pathetic bimbo route. Pathetic, but conniving and tricksy. I hope that when I'm on the other side of the table, I don't have someone like Nina as my client - who apparently plays psycho extremely well. I would be too busy laughing, I think. Or crying.

It did make me think though, and realize that sometimes, you just don't get the full story. For example, my mother was flipping through the channels the other day, when she passes CourtTV. Not a station she normally watches, but she had to stop - her childhood best friend was on the screen! Turns out that Judy Brown is being sued by NBC Studios (although the stories have focused particularly on plaintiff Jay Leno) for stealing jokes to put into her joke books. Those of you who are celebrity gossip buffs, might recognize the story.

Now, I don't know Judy very well, but she is simply NOT a person you sue. (I realize of course, that they're going after the publishers mainly, but it's her name going first.) She's single and she lives alone in a small apartment. She's been a writer for years, but her money comes from these joke books that she compiles. You know, the things you buy when you have no idea what to get your second-cousin-twice-removed for Christmas. She's written 19 of these things for Barnes & Noble (or Borders? I can never get them straight). TMZ.com actually says that Judy sends "representatives" to comedy clubs to record this stuff. Other versions of the story have her "filching" jokes, like she wears a big handlebar moustache and cackles as she sneaks away into the night.

I know that this might be how I make my living and if NBC was suing a major publisher, I would like 40% of that too, but I guess the whole thing reminded me of the fact that people are affected by this and every lawsuit. Especially the "little people". As my mom said, "What is she going to do now?"

Not so funny, Leno.

Cheer Up, Emo Kid

I've been really irritable the last couple of days, hence the non-posting. I don't like ranting (although I do it often) so I try to limit my access to places I would rant. This makes it very hard for Jon, who can't avoid me. Poor Jon. Anyway, if anyone is having a bad day like me, I've decided to post this picture because it makes me feel better. You can't look at it and not feel warm and fuzzy. So for all those people in midweek doldrums/madness/exhaustion, this is for you:

I Heard 'Idiot' Is In This Year

I think I've been duped. During finals (my first law school finals, as I'm a fall starter) a girl knocked on my door and offered me magazine subscriptions. It was some school scholarship thing - I think we all had those annoying drives that we forced into for band, choir or (in my case) orchestra. I had visions of Office Space in my head, but I tried to be nice. I'm not normally nice to solicitors, but she was exceptionally good at seeming genuine and I wasn't keen on getting back to studying.

I signed up for Vogue. It might be a shock to all those who have actually seen me, as I tend to dress in Tshirts and jeans, but I did once dress well. I adore high fashion and probably know more about it than is healthy for a girl of my age and financial status. Plus, Jon makes this noise in his throat like a dying animal every time I pay newsstand price for the newest issue. He can spend $400 on a new video card (and did once - I nearly killed him) but paying $60/year for newsstand prices instead of a $20 subscription floors him.

But here it is, more than a month later, and I've seen neither hide nor hair of a fashion mag in my mailbox. I blame it on my complete lack of common sense during finals. Or at any other time for that matter.

In other fashion news, CBS is airing the Victoria's Secret fashion show on Dec. 5th. Featured guest is Justin Timberlake. (I suppose this is to pretend that this is for the benefit of women instead of men? I'm not sold. His sexy is not back. Nor was it ever here.) I suspect it'll be more popular than competitive cheerleading.

In honor of my fashion-themed post, I'm going to submit my first haiku for Haiku Friday:

Victoria's bras
Turning unkempt, dirty boys
Into fashion fans

Foosball

Prof Contracts played professional foosball for 3 years in the '70s? I think my brain just broke. Although if there was one professor that I would have to choose as a former professional foosball player, it would be Prof Contracts. Talk about a niche market though.

I wonder what my strange-yet-profitable skill would be?

A Bond by Another Name

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend, as I did. I also hope you got more work done than I did. If you got less done, you probably weren't conscious.

I did see Casino Royale with my friends. Daniel Craig is great, but no one will ever live up to my beloved Sean Connery. It's a strange but true fact that both my mother and I fell in love with James Bond in his Connery form at the same moment - when he takes off that wetsuit to reveal a tuxedo underneath in Goldfinger. Of course, we had that same moment about 35 years apart. Sorry, Mom.

I also watched a lot of football, which is unusual for me this season. I'm understanding why I've been avoiding Texas football ever since Vince left us. That was painful. McCoy is a good kid (and I do mean 'kid'! Now I feel old!) and he'll be great soon enough. Not yet though. Watching OU and USC win their respective games just drove another nail into the coffin. On the plus side, watching them win made me vicious enough to con my friends out of their money in poker. Ace, six on suit, getting the flush AND the straight, baby! (Not a straight flush though.)

This morning I remembered where I belonged though, as Prof Torts decided to tease me about my married name, which brought up the fun of my maiden name all over again. I don't think my classmates will ever get sick of seeing me stutter and turn red and make little pained expressions over that. Oi.

Ground Cloves

Marriage law: You can rightfully distrust your husband to successfully obtain ground cloves based upon previous failures to get simple items like "English muffins", but you cannot tell him so. For some reason, he'll be offended.

Law school note: By the end of the day, you would rather just switch seats with your neighbor between Contracts and Crim Law than face the alternative - staying after class to ask the professor to please change the seating chart because you don't like having to get your lazy ass out of the chair unless you absolutely have to.

Pre-Thanksgiving annoyance: Invariably, the moment you force yourself to go to the grocery store to find those ground cloves is the moment that they've run out. Of every kind. Even the expensive stuff, that you were willing to pay $10 for. Then you go to the HEB next to the school and realize that you must do your spice shopping there and munchies shopping at the first HEB. Supply and demand, baby.

New week, new blog

Apparently, I can't go 6 months without adding a new little web obsession. Facebook, MySpace, a short-lived foray into Xanga which bored me... The list goes on. And here I am. Apparently, I'm an addictive personality. Explains a lot.

I hope that this blog will become an accurate account of my life as a Baylor law student and as a newlywed. Nick and Jessica managed to be newlyweds for 3 years. I think I can too.

This is all assuming that in 6 months I don't get distracted again. But Jon and I have been married 6 months (or nearly) and I haven't gotten distracted from that yet. So I have hope that I'm getting better.

For the moment though, I must return to my work. I was out of the Property loop until today. Side note - I have no interest in this Coyote Ugly thing. It was a dumb movie and it's a dumb group. Any derogatory comments about Baylor that are left on my blog will be promptly fed to my grumpy hedgehog, Sonic for breakfast. *insert obligatory old-school video game joke here*