Firefox Rox My Sox... sort of...

I love Safari, but apparently everything else online hates it. This has forced me to download Firefox, which Jon talks about as if it's the net's personal Christ. It works better with non-Mac-loving sites, but my photos on blogger still turn up in code. So this could be a mass of indecipherable writing or it could be prompt you to think "and why is she in law school?"



Why, indeed. Um, probably because I really detest the hard sciences like biology, which would kind of interfere with becoming a veterinarian or anything of the kind. (Not entirely my fault - I have a long harangue about a certain 9th grade biology teacher who was not only a jerk but constantly taught us the wrong thing. When I pointed out that he was wrong, he could get quite irritated.) All that aside, aren't they just adorable? I found this during the file transfers. It's a couple years old, but I still miss those monkeys.

There's a sentence you don't hear every day.

Here ends the test to see if Firefox works with blogger.

The Dark and Depressing Past & Future

Because I'm avoiding my work (hey, it's worked for 2 weeks, why not 2 days more?) I'm going to mention 2 excellent movies that you should all see. I saw them on consecutive nights and I actually think that enhanced the experience.

The Good Shepherd was first. Given the marketing of this one, I'm sure you all know what it's about - the birth of the CIA. It was very well done, although you like the secondary characters far more than the main character (Edward, played by Matt Damon) because he essentially has no sense of humor. That's okay though, because we're not talking about a movie that's meant to be big on the laughs. I had moments of disbelief and the time periods got confusing (it switched from just after the Bay of Pigs disaster to a progressive look at his past) and the kid kind of annoyed me, but they always do, so that's just me I think. The movie tried to balance Edward's personal and work lives, but it tips towards making his personal life more important when you really want to know about the CIA. There's one scene reminscent of that really uncomfortable scene in Casino Royale, which even had ME crossing my legs. It's the most heartbreaking scene in my opinion, but also one of the most powerful for that reason as it involves the torture and interrogation of a Russian spy. (Hello, allusions to present day political life.) De Niro, who directed, is also my favorite character because he seems most comfortable with it. Probably because he's worked on this little pet project of his for 10 years. I wouldn't say it was worth that entire 10 years. Maybe 7?

The next night I saw Children of Men, which has just come to the US after being released months ago abroad. The premise is that in the future, women will have been unable to have children for about 20 years. Obviously, this kind of depresses the world and it descends into chaos. And then one girl gets pregnant. It has Clive Owen as the main character and although they tout Julianne Moore and Michael Caine, they have about 20 minutes screentime combined. Caine is excellent though and worth seeing the movie just for him. Kee, the girl who is pregnant, is played fairly well, although in the beginning the actress (an unknown) lays on the accent a bit thick and you can't always understand her. There's a lot of Christian symbolism here, but you can enjoy it without being conscious of that fact. Clive Owen's Theo is another not entirely likeable guy, but you do like him for some reason - probably because he's so pathetic. Kee is kind of headstrong but otherwise you don't know anything about her, so she comes across as kind of 2D. After watching TGS though, the dystopia of the future is even more believable and I have to say that the cinematics are beautiful. I hate gore but Cuaron keeps all the truly horrific images out of focus or in the back of the frame, which gives you the horribleness of war but doesn't set aside your appetite for 2 days.

So if you're feeling fatalistic or morbid or whatever and you want validation of why you should feel that way, that's what you should go see. Not that any of us have the time or money. But hey - at least these protagonsists have got it worse.

Business Casual???

So I managed to scoot in a last minute application for a summer internship at Locke Liddell in Dallas. (Last minute is kind of an understatement I think, but let's move on.) They must have received it yesterday, because today I got an email inviting me to a "holiday reception" at their office TOMORROW. We're to wear "business casual".

It's times like these that I wish I was a man.

Being a woman however, the whole dress code thing delivers such a headache that I'm ready to lie down and accept defeat even before I start picking out shoes. It doesn't help that half my wardrobe (including all of my nice winter clothing) is in Waco. I don't even have an appropriate jacket. My mother suggested one of my suit jackets. I own 2 - a camel colored one that looks like I'm wearing the fashion equivalent of a potato sack and a red (and I'm talking BRIGHT RED) 3/4 length sleeve jacket I've had since I was 14, when my mother foisted it upon me with the words "it was on sale!". I think it makes me look like Janet Reno.

After trying on about 30 different combinations with both jackets (all of which were worn with my "sullen look" which I dredged up from when - again - I was 14 and a sullen teenager) I came to the computer to find out exactly what "business casual" is. One of my first hits said, "The term business casual is one of the most misunderstood of all business terms." Well, great. Thanks, guys. Wikipedia failed me too - it has a picture of Bill Gates. Yes, that's EXACTLY what the fine people at Locke Liddell are looking for, I'm sure.

So if you have any ideas of what I could wear (yes, I'm willing to go shopping - I'd just rather not have to buy an expensive suit on the fly - I'll do that later when freaking out about what to wear on my first day at my fantabulous new job, I hope) please leave a nice comment. Keep in mind that it's going to be cold and wet in Dallas tomorrow. If you think I'm being a total girl, that's fine too.

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.)