They (Both!) Have Senses of Humor

I tried to post this a couple days ago, but it went all crazy. Apparently, I shouldn't have dared to link to McCain's lead-in to this speech. So go find it yourself. Needless to say, McCain wasn't as funny, but I appreciate the effort.

What's better than politicians telling jokes? Part awkward, part witty and part "a little too awesome".

The Long and Winding Road

I have the schedule for the last mini-trial exercise. I have a case. I have a witness (well, 95% sure I do). I have a weekend to do some serious outlining. The end of this quarter is in sight.

And I am ready to just give up, curl up and go to sleep for a year.

According to others, I'm long overdue for a nervous breakdown. Apparently, I'll feel better. But who has the time?

Officially Broken

Broken or old. I'm not sure. Either way, I'd been noticing my shoulder acting up lately. I don't exactly play sports, and I'm pretty sure my joints aren't predicting the upcoming weather patterns, so it was a mystery. When I sat down to work a couple nights ago, I leaned over my notes, felt the tell-tale twinge and said to myself, "Oh, duh." Yes, I've been writing too much. Or writing the wrong way. Or I'm just addicted to my computer to the point that hand-writing is physically strenuous.

Anyway, those little disposable heating pads that you stick on your body for 8 hours are *awesome*. When I went to get some from Target yesterday though, I was in the aisle with 3 women all over the age of 65. I managed to avoid feeling excessively old and frail before my time by remembering that I was buying Finding Nemo fruit snacks too, as if I'm 12. Still, I hope it's not a look into the future, and that I won't be buying those heating pads in bulk for my arthritis.

Of course, I'll take that in a second rather than being in the next aisle over in the incontinence section.

Only Sorta About PC

I caught the ending of "The Usual Suspects" today, as I actually don't have so much reading that it'll make my eyes bleed (although I do still have to do *something* about my big direct/cross this Thursday - but yay! I have a witness!). Kevin Spacey always reminds me of that weird category of actor that both interests and repels me. Of course, so far he's the only one in that category. Most actors/actresses either repel me - i.e. Jeremy Piven or Teri Hatcher (nowadays - she was so cute in the 90s! What the eff happened to her???). Or they interest me, even if they are so very odd - i.e. Angelina Jolie making me wonder what she'll say when her kids start hearing about her pre-Pitt life or Tim Burton because I watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas"* over the weekend for the first time in 10 years and just have to wonder what's up with his brain.

I'm sure all these people are probably dull as dishwater in real life. Or, ironically, maybe the ones I find interesting are dull while Jeremy Piven and Teri Hatcher would gain my rapt attention. (I highly doubt this.) All I know is that I enjoy judging them by what they wear to awards shows. Which probably goes to show that I'm just as shallow as they are. Or maybe I'm the only shallow one. (I doubt that too - I can't be the only shallow one.)

If you thought there was a point to this, there's not. I just wanted to avoid reading for an extra few minutes and decided to ramble after reading about fashion mistakes at the Emmys. Although the shallow bit made me think of one of my favorite Futurama quotes, which makes me even happier. So there was a point. For me.

*I got it for my birthday and felt that I could stand to take 2 hours out of my weekend to finally watch it. Sheesh. Gimme a break.

Witness Needed

Hey all you non-PC people, it's that time of year again. I am sadly lacking 1Ls and 2Ls that I know who are willing to surrender an afternoon or so in order to get a glimpse of what PC is really like. Oh, you know you're curious.

So here's the deal. For now, I need a witness for big direct/cross for Thursday, September 25. I'm going last (supposedly from 3:40 to 5:00) - I'm uncertain if you have to be there, as I do, from 1:00. Probably not?

Anyway, I'm willing to buy you lunch or bring snacks or whatever while we go over your deposition. Anything else that you want is negotiable. If you have to stay the entire time, I'm obviously more amenable to bigger rewards.

Or you could just do it out of the kindness of your heart. Ha.

EDIT: If you don't want to leave a comment and volunteer, you can email me - my first name is Sarah and I hope you know my last name by now. And just to clarify, when I said "negotiable", that means that yes, I am willing to pay you.

So Much More Time To Go

My mom called last night and asked what I was up to these days. I said that at the moment, I was reading. "It's Saturday night!" she replied. Oh, yes, I know.

You know, I'm finding that I don't really mind the constant reading. Well, I do, but it's not like I can say that it's surprising in any way. What I do mind is the other side of the coin - having no time to do anything else whatsoever. I have to plan grocery store trips days in advance and when I go to Office Depot for more highlighters, my heart gets all fluttery because I'm not at home studying. Blech on that, I say. Blech.

Riiiight. Okay, I'm going to try not to whine for a few minutes here... Ummm... Oh! I know! Here's some pathetic news - Jon has already outlasted 2 other new teachers. They were science teachers in front of roughly 40 students per period (as opposed to Jon's 25, or 30 in one class), but good grief. Two down already. This news came on the same day that Jon had to call security because a fist fight broke out in his classroom, so perhaps this shouldn't be surprising. Isn't 17 years old a little too old for making fun of the dorky guy in the class? I guess not...

It all makes us feel a bit old. We were in Pre-AP classes in high school, and that's a whole different animal from regulars classes, but it still seems that kids are expecting less and less responsibility these days.* Jon's kids were actually complaining that he gave them homework every night. As a general rule, we're not talking about kids involved in a lot of after-school activities here. I'm not sure what they want the extra free time for... I'm not sure I want to know.

*I know, that statement alone makes me sound old. I'm having a flashback to that scene in "The Breakfast Club" where the janitor is telling the principal that "Kids haven't changed. You have!"

Another's First Week

I thought I'd mention that Jon is doing increasingly better with his first days of teaching. The first day was chaos (not just his classes - the entire school, because of various administrative mess-ups). The second day had several students still stuck in summer mode. Yesterday was infinitely better and he came home with an actual smile - the first I'd seen since Sunday. He has students that actually want to learn and that seem to understand what he has started to teach to them. I'm particularly proud of him for helping out a student of his that came to the US 2 weeks ago and doesn't know English - the ESL teacher didn't even know she existed until Jon brought it to her attention and now the girl is going to get help learning the language.

But he did inform me of the latest fad to hit high school fashion (as much as "fashion" can be applied to such a place) - leaving the tags on your clothes so that people will know how much you've spent on them. (Also for the sake of possibly returning them after wearing - something that greatly offends the former retail sales worker in me.)

I think this might beat out clear heels for tackiest fad ever.

(They light up! Even better!)