A year of AWESOME!

Once again I can't believe that it's almost the end of the year. Which makes me think back over the year and what I've done. Which mostly adds up to a whole lotta law reading, which I don't feel accurately encompasses the spirit of the year, which was, overall, awesome, and full of awesome things. Here, in no particular order, are several of the awesome things I discovered and/or did this year:

*Geek-out night. Wow. As many as 11 people, three TVs, two couches, one giant LoveSac, five game systems, tons of controllers and many many nerdular games all packed into our living/dining room. Best. Idea. Ever.
*Katamari. And again I say, Katamari. When I tell you that, with all the above paraphernalia available, most of the time we all just sat around watching in fascination as someone played Katamari, you'll begin to understand the sheer awesomeness thereof.
*The fact that we went out and got a PS2 within a few days after the first Geek-out night just so we could play Katamari.
*Duck Hunt. Yeah, I'd never played it before. Which is how Geek-out night got started.
*The Smiths. I can't believe we spent so much time in the same ward, not to mention all the law classes with Maret, before we all realized that we should be spending more time together.
*The Newells. See the above comment except for the part about being in the same ward.
*Also the Shills. Even though we already sort of knew you before.
*Arrested Development. Thanks, the Smiths. You have truly enriched our lives.
*Gilmore Girls. I can't believe I hadn't watched this show before -- I never knew just what a barren wasteland my life was until I was introduced to them in September by the amazing KEY.
*KEY. Wow. We're the same person. See above re: barren wasteland.
*The accordion player at Ottavio's.
*As always, Facebook.
*Many blogs, but especially Cake Wrecks and Seriously, So Blessed.
*Skype.
*Wall-E, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, and many other pretty cool movies I saw.
*Sitting outside at late-thirty with Kat, my cousins, and assorted sisters for the Breaking Dawn release. Yes; yes, I am a nerd.
*Kansas. Okay, not really as awesome as I might have hoped. But throw in Oklahoma, the wedding of Margo, her awesome family and also awesome now-husband, plus many, many, many hours of Kat-time = tres awesome. As in, three. Or very. (Yeah, I can speak a couple of extra languages. Can't you?)
*Cleanth and Trilling.
*Leopard. Ahhhh.
*Rooming with Ameeanne while Shallow Man was out of the country.
*So You Think You Can Dance: Season four.
*So You Think You Can Dance: The TOUR! See commentary above under Breaking Dawn. (I am approximately 13 years old. But at least I don't think Stephenie Meyer deserves a Nobel Literature prize, right?)
*Speaking of which, an increased familiarity with the Nobel Literature Laureates. And their photos. Seriously awesome. (Watch out for Lagerkvist-less Pars.)
*The Dutiful Existentialists.
*Campfires in Provo Canyon with the Hardmans.
*Redoing the backyard. And actually having flowers. And actually having said flowers live and bloom and FLOWER until the frost came and killed them all.
*Muse. Thank you, Kat, for your invaluable assistance in selecting some great CDs.
*Ingrid Michaelson. Thank you, KEY, for your invaluable assistance in selecting a great CD.
*IKEA. Several times.
*Three crazy primary kids. Class was many things, but never boring.
*The Best Day EVER.
*Professor Wood and his Muslim hat. Also his French and German hats and, occasionally, his Common Law hat. Even if he only brought his second- or third-rate mind in with them to show to the third- and fourth-rate minds in the class.
*Peach Pie ice cream.
*Peach Pie accompanied by ice cream.
*Interviewing in jeans.
*Trademark and patent law. Mostly this is awesome when you take into account the fact that I was an English major.
*Bocci with cats.
*Watching the two nephews get bigger and cuter and laugh/chortle a whole lot more.
*Smithsonian magazine. The problem is that now I have a whole lot of organizations sending me address labels with vaguely threatening (or at least calculated-to-induce-guilt) statements: "As you use these labels, think of the poor starving legless children in Ydgosriztsilaviastan and HOW THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE MONEY FOR ENVELOPES SO YOU NEED TO SEND THEM MONEY IN AN ENVELOPE WITH ONE OF THESE ADDRESS LABELS NOOOOOOWWWWW OR YOU WILL BURN!!!!! Because only a truly selfish person would use these address labels for non-money-containing post not destined for the poor starving legless children in Ydgosriztsilaviastan."
*Miter boxes. If that's how you spell that.
*Peru. Wait, no. I didn't do that one. But I did do Park City, which has to count for something, right?
*Chalice. Beautiful.
*Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog.
*Anything prepared by any member of the Smith household.
*Also stuffed mushrooms a la Newell.
*"YOU KILLED MY FATHER!" (Which, really, why were we the only ones who took the '80s part of it seriously?)
*The fact that I can, in fact, hold down two jobs, several classes, a Primary class, and a newly-found Arrested Development/Gilmore Girls/Katamari addiction at the same time and still get at least 6 hours of sleep a night, and sometimes more.
*Rich, Tess, and Jake. Also Dexter and Chris. And even Calla. And a few others I won't mention by name, but they know who they are.
*Tiffany's. (Thanks again, hon!)
*My new haircut.
*The Christmas tree skirt.
*My blog readership appears to have increased to maybe even as many as 11.
*A quarter of a century. Makes a girl think.

And last but not least, Keepon. Keep on dancing, little guy. You inspire us all.

Here's hoping your 2008 was also awesome. I can't wait to see how 2009 tops it (although Wicked tickets certainly aren't going to hurt -- thanks again, Liz; also an upcoming 5-year anniversary).

Much love to you all, and a very Happy New Year!


If for some reason you are an awesome person and I know you and didn't mention you on the list, I apologize. You are hereby included in this residuary clause.

You've got to be kidding me.

I hate popup ads on the internet. It's bad enough when the pop up in a separate window but it's even worse when they just pop up in the same window, covering what you're actually trying to look at. Especially the rollover ads. You innocently move your mouse and all of a sudden there's a huge ad for some ginormous pizza deal covering your screen and you can't find the x to close it.

But I have now officially seen the worst thing ever. An automatic popup of a guy appearing in the corner of the window and starting to talk. It talks at you until you can figure out how to close it.

To paraphrase, whoever was responsible for thinking up this thing ought to be drug out into the street and shot.

Aren't you glad you know someone so awesome?

They wanted to use my real name but I insisted on maintaining my anonymity. I think it adds to my mystique.

Now, if you can still manage to sing that song, I'll be impressed.


In other news, I am now officially halfway done with law school. Wahoo!

She's not dead yet!

Yes, I'm still alive. But also still in the middle of finals. The major ones will be done on Monday, though, and then all I have left is a take-home. And then I will officially be halfway done with law school.

And I might even have a chance to blog.

Till then, keep on tranglin, Larry Pat.



Yes, that final apostrophe has been purposely omitted to match original source formatting. And yes, it is hurting my soul.

Want.

So Daring Young Mom is doing a giveaway. And I would really like to win.

So I'm posting about it here to get an extra entry. And I suppose also to spread the new-found joy that is Keen.

But if one of my seven readers goes and wins DYM's giveaway after seeing it here, I get 10%.

And now, because, realistically speaking, I won't get another chance to post before Thursday, I would like to wish all of my readers (yes, even you crazy lurkers who sneak around stealthily) a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Now go forth and eat much turkey!

Do you believe in omens?

I'm beginning to wonder if maybe the universe (or at least the legal profession) is trying to tell me that I'm not supposed to be a lawyer.

Every bit of mail I have ever gotten from the Federalist society has been addressed "Mr." Now, in some cases I could understand an organization getting slightly confused about gender-neutral names. But has anyone here ever in their life known, met, or even heard vague urban legends about a man named Elizabeth?

Now, I've heard from other (more gender-neutrally-named) female friends who are also Mr. to the Federalists, so I wouldn't necessarily take that as a conclusive sign, but today I also got a letter from the American Bar Association. At least I think I did. It has my address and my middle initial and my last name on it, but they have my first name listed as Cristina. Which it isn't (see above point about my name, Elizabeth, not being a man's name).

If they can't even get my name right, why am I bothering with all this again?



Note: To be fair, I should point out that I'm not the only one whose name the ABA is confused about. Shallow Man's letter (which also had the correct middle initial, last name and address) was addressed to Richard. Which isn't his name, either. So maybe the ABA would just rather have our family choose a different field? You tell me. (Although the Federalists at least have gotten his gender right.)

And once I figured out how to spell...

110

The things you learn when you don't want to read for Professional Responsibility...

74

Also, I found out that I know more country names than I know how to spell.

Happy something; or, slightly unsettling

So, hey, last post was number 100 (woohoo for me, I kept a blog going this long and actually have slightly more than seven readers, who also get woohoos for sticking around this long) which makes this number 101 and since I didn't commemorate the last one, I'm commemorating this one. Um. Yeah, that was the commemoration right there. (We keep things pretty simple over here at the Scritchy Nib -- which, now that I think about it, sounds like some sort of Dickensian pub -- not to mention I HAVE NO TIME even though it's been freakin' PLACEMENT BREAK for goodness sake and I still didn't get a break. Stinkin' two jobs, gosh!)

But I digress.

Mostly what I wanted to say was that I managed somehow (no, I really don't know how) to get a paper cut on the tip of my right middle finger the other day. This happens to be my mouse/trackpad finger. It doesn't hurt at all now, but it's at that slight paper cut healing stage where there's still a definite groove or bump, so when I use the trackpad or, to a lesser extent, type, it feels like I've got a small piece of grit or a crumb or something stuck to my finger. Which is slightly unsettling. And when I try to get it off it doesn't come off (which also is slightly unsettling) because it's a convalescent paper cut. Am I the only one these kinds of things happen to? And if so, is it because I'm slightly more klutzy than the next person, or is it because my life is unentertaining enough that this sort of thing becomes fascinating in comparison (read: this is the most exciting thing that's happened to me for several days), making me more likely to notice it than someone who's got more excitement in their life anyway? Inquiring minds want to know. Well, I want to know at any rate.

Okay, so I lied a little bit. The gritty paper cut thing is NOT the most exciting thing. The most exciting thing is that I finally got my ring re-plated and cleaned and all that jazz for the first time in almost two years and it is SO SHINY. And we all know how much I like shiny stuff.

Oh, hey.

So apparently Carrie tagged me awhile back and I didn't notice until my husband pointed it out. Probably because, thinking back on it, I've never actually been tagged for one of these things before (at least that I can recall). So.

Six of my quirks (and if you're reading this, you probably already know me well enough to know all of them):

1. Lightswitches. If a room has more than one lightswitch connected to the same light, I will walk across the room, turn off the light, and then go back to the other switch and turn it on if that's what needs to be done in order for the switches to be turned in the right direction.

2. I hate washing loads of towels. I don't like doing laundry much anyway, but the towel/linen load just bugs me more than the rest. Which is dumb, really -- you don't really need to sort it and it's ridiculously easy to fold. But that's what makes it a quirk.

3. I quote stuff. Movies, commercials, TV, books, comic strips, radio shows, you name it. I can (along with most of my family) hold an entire conversation using nothing but Far Side captions. I can even quote some stuff I've never seen. This is probably due to the fact that....

4. I have a crazy-amazing memory for random and useless stuff, like where that carabiner with the Morgan Stanley logo on it that I got two years ago is, where Shallow Man left any given object at any particular time, what day I saw a given movie for the first time, what I did for Halloween 2001, movie trivia, etc. But not important stuff like what on earth was it I scheduled for Tuesday night and what is my name again?

5. I'm a serial snooze button hitter. The alarm needs to be set at least 30 minutes before when I actually want to wake up or I'll miss it from hitting snooze too many times. This is probably connected to my crazy procrastination skillz. I am a PROcrastinator. Or, as that crazy personality test I took in Mr. Ekberg's 9th grade biology class said, "You have a tendency to take on more than any one person could possibly handle and still somehow manage to get it all done." At great expense and at the last minute? Yes. But it still gets done.

6. If you're talking to me, chances are good I'm making up a story about you or the object of the conversation in my head. Okay, maybe you didn't know this one. But you do now. (Careful, you may end up in my novel.) Kind of like how I make up fake song titles for fake songs for my fake band in my head. (Which actually is now a real fake band, since there are three other people in it now. We're called the Dutiful Existentialists and I'm on lead vocals. You should totally check us out on Facebook. We're the best fake band I've ever been in.)

Um. So. Tagging. Uh... It's late and I'm feeling lazy so if you want to do this, you'll have to tag yourself. Or consider yourself tagged. Just let me know if you do it.

Weird.

Well, the Cold of the Century is returning. (My old nemesis, we meet again...) If it hasn't quite arrived in full force yet, it's at least sending out numerous scouts to check out the lay of the land. What this means is that I'm still able to (sort of) move around and I haven't had to miss class or work (yet), but I'm still feeling pretty darn crappy and am using up enough kleenex that in the last hour alone I have probably been responsible for an entire tree or so. They do make Kleenex out of trees, right? I forget. Anyway, you get the idea.

The weird thing is that these happen to be the nicer kind of facial tissue and are chock-full of lotion and mosturizers and stuff. And by chock-full I mean that my hands are markedly softer after the half-box I've gone through. I can actually feel the lotion residue on my hands just from handling the Kleenex. I don't want to complain too hard - after all, my nose is benefitting from this and is not red and scaly and falling off my face after all the blowing. But it's kind of weird still. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to get my hand lotion from a bottle.

And now I need to take my stuffed-up nose and soft, silky hands to bed. At this rate I'm pretty sure they won't make it to class tomorrow. Urgh.

Overstretched and at a loss

My candle's burning at both ends,
It will not last the night;
But, ah, my foes, and oh, my friends,
It gives a wondrous light!

I have definitely overbooked myself this semester. I feel like Bilbo -- butter scraped over too much bread. I really need to cut back on a lot of stuff but I have no idea how right now. How do you tell the people who are counting on you for help that you don't have enough to go around? And who do you cut out first? Because the truth is that right now the light is not all that wondrous -- the wick at both ends is starting to gutter and sputter and pretty soon it's going to just go out completely. (I've had this happen before. My body will, from time to time, just inform me that we've had enough, thank you very much, but since you're not taking breaks on your own it's time for some ENFORCED RESTING. You'd think I would learn eventually.)

It's gotten crazy enough that when my creative writing class (really probably the only thing keeping me from completely keeling over right now -- this is NOT an option for the what-do-I-drop list) assignment was to write a sonnet, the only thing I could come up with was a case brief from my Wills and Estates class. Unconventional and kind of fun, but still a bit too much of an indication that I need to spend more time doing not-law stuff.

Does anyone have a spare three or four hours a day they can lend me?



On the bright side, at least I get to go see SYTYCD in concert tomorrow with my sisters.

Yarrrr! It do be that time o' year...

I do apologize to all o' ye fer not gettin' this up arrrlier but I did be lootin' an' pillagin' all marnin'.

But now that yer cap'n is here, ye best step lively, swab the decks and give out yer best "Arrrrrr!" for 'tis the day o' days, the time all stout-hearted hearties have been awaitin' since 19th o' September last. Aye, it do be...

International Talk Like a Pirate Day!




Now shout "Avast!" and spread the pirate cheer, fer it's all hands on deck or I'll cleave ye to the brisket, ye scurvy lubbers!

Cap'n Ethel Bonney
o' the pirate ship
The Fearful Curse

The wounds obviously haven't healed yet.

xkcd.com

I think she was absolutely right on this one.

See? I do SO update my blog!

Not, you know, a LOT, but hey. Let's take what we can get here, right?

Just wanted to check in (albeit briefly) to let all (maybe) seven of you, my readers, know that I am in fact not dead. And I do still remember that I have this blog. And I even post to it occasionally. I'm hoping to make those occasions slightly more frequent, but since school just started back up again (for those of you keeping track, this is my second year of law school) I'm pretty much scheduled up to the gills so I can't make too many promises. Since blogging requires time and all that.

But, yeah, abi, I do still post here sometimes. :)


P.S. If anyone is actually reading this, would you mind leaving a comment? Because if nobody is actually reading this I don't have to feel quite so guilty about not posting, right? Right? Anyone? Bueller?

Aha!

Just wanted to smugly inform you all that the correct answer is blue.

And now I'm going to bed. Way too late (early?) to be up right now.

OCD much?

I'm glad to see that there is a new, rising generation of obsessive-compulsives out there. In Primary today they played a game with construction-paper stepping stones leading from the back of the room to the front to symbolize keeping the commandments. Each class got a turn to walk across, stepping on the stones.

And after each child had stomped, jumped or skipped on the paper stones, no less than three children ran up to the path to replace, straighten, and adjust.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who does stuff like that.

Wow.

Yup.

Just finished Breaking Dawn.

Way to go, Steph.

Not only did you do an amazing job of tying off the massive amounts of loose ends left over from the first three books, along with taking a HUGE step forward in bringing your writing skills closer up to the level of your storytelling capabilities, but you've also achieved what I thought was a complete impossibility.

You've finally made me like -- and maybe even love -- your main character.

And I loved every minute of it.

Thank you.

DUDE.

You MUST click here. Immediately. Because it will disappear on the 20th of July.

But it will be oh so worth your time.

Argh, or: L'il Orphan Ellie: the saga begins.

So Shallow Man is flying out tomorrow morning for Lima, where he'll be for the next two months. I get to go down on Aug. 8, but that's still six weeks that he'll be gone without me. Which is not really that big of a deal, I know, but when you take into account the fact that during the four years we've been married we've only spent one night apart, it seems like a long time. Grrr!

At least Lady Type and my Margot are going to come and stay with me for awhile during the summer, but I'm still going to miss my boy. *sniff*

Well, off to finish with packing, errands, etc. At least we found a theater with a midnight showing of Wall-E so we can see it together before he goes. :)

Classic

Quote of the day: Professor Higgins

Okay, okay, okay. For those with tender sensibilities, and due to circumstances beyond our control, this post will henceforward be performed by....

sock puppets? One moment, folks...

Hey, Merv, where's Rex Harrison? No, really, why is there not a copy of Rex Harrison's real version anywhere on the internet? This was the best we could get? Okay, whatever...

Ladies and gentlemen, Professor Higgins. Sort of.

HALLELUJAH! (insert full Handel choir here)

The AC is working again.

And it wasn't the compressor.

It was the cheap option.

Sing with me now.

Hallelujah!

Again I say, say what?

So first I have to express my impatience with the fact that the So You Think You Can Dance results show airs at 8:00 instead of 7:00. The performance show airs at 7:00. Why the difference in times? Is it so vitally important that Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader air right at 7:00? Why can't they put SYTYCD first and THEN air the 5th-grader at 8:00? Good grief, Fox. Good. Grief.

But I digress.

While watching TV in hopeful anticipation of my show, blissfully unaware that I was to be denied for another hour, I saw a commercial for the new Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Someone there has apparently had the bright idea to team up with The Dark Knight for movie tie-ins and they will therefore be releasing -- get it -- BAT-SHAPED REESE'S CUPS. As in, less Reese's because they've cut the cup into the shape of a bat. Say what? They dang well better cut the price accordingly.

Because as "cool" as a bat gimmick is, when I buy a Reese's, I want my full allotment of chocolatey peanut butter goodness.

Good grief, Reese's.

Good.

Grief.

The IAUWGPSN; or, Democracy in Action?

And now, bringing you the latest update on a subject dear to our collective heart:

Pluto is now called a plutoid. Plutoids, for those of you who don't know, are

"[...] celestial bodies in orbit around the sun at a distance greater than that of Neptune that have sufficient mass for their self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that they assume a hydrostatic equilibrium (near-spherical) shape, and that have not cleared the neighborhood around their orbit." In short: small round things beyond Neptune that orbit the sun and have lots of rocky neighbors.

I can tell you, I'm certainly breathing a sigh of relief here. Back in 2006 when the International Astronomical Union cruelly stripped Pluto of its planetary status, I was worried that Pluto would remain unclassified forever, wandering around its uncleared orbit forever just wondering what it was and where it came from. Now it only has to wonder where it came from. However,

it remains to be seen whether astronomers will use the new term.

"My guess is that no one is going to much use this term, though perhaps I'm wrong," said Caltech astronomer Mike Brown, who has led the discovery of several objects in the outer solar system, including Eris. "But I don't think that this will be because it is controversial, just not particularly necessary."

Brown was unaware of the new definition until the IAU announced it today.

"Back when the term 'pluton' was nixed they said they would come up with another one," Brown said. "So I guess they finally did."

Who do we have to thank for this amazing act of astronomical confidence boosting? Who is the new superhero in the galaxy, bringing justice and handles to abandoned ex-planetoids everywhere? Who ya gonna call?

The International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature, of course!

Say what?

Okay, okay, okay. It was really proposed by the IAUCSBN (International Astronomical Union Committee on Small Body Nomenclature). The IAUWGPSN only accepted it. Then the IAU Executive Committee approved it.

Say what?

You mean not only does it take them 2 years to come up with something "better" than "pluton", but they also have not one, not two, but three whole committees that it has to go through? Two of which appear to exist solely for the purpose of coming up with names for planet-type stuff? And "plutoid" is what they give us?

Puh-leeeeeze.

I guess they're only members of the IAU because they couldn't get an honest job as a real astronomer. You know it's bad when the people you're supposed to represent say outright that they're not going to pay attention to you anymore. At least the IAU has a good attitude about it, though.

"The IAU is a democratic organization, thus open to comments and criticism of any kind," IAU General Secretary Karel A. van der Hucht told SPACE.com by email today. "Given the history of the issue, we will probably never reach a complete consensus."

I think they've got that right. I don't see them agreeing with me anytime soon that they've messed this affair up from the get-go.

For a more scientific opinion, click here.

I. Am. Totally. Awesome.

In the interest of getting a happier post up...

So it's Lady Type's birthday tomorrow. I just want to take this opportunity to say that she is going to love what I'm giving her. I will officially be the coolest sister ever. That is all.

Okay, this seriously stinks.

So along with every other load of bricks that got dropped on us, metaphorically speaking, at the beginning of the summer break, our air conditioning broke. (Yup, two weeks after the home warranty expired.) Which hasn't been tooooo much of a problem yet because the weather here in Provo seems to be convinced that it's, say, March or October instead of May and June. So we've been all right while we're waiting until we can scrape up enough money to fix it as long as we leave some windows open.

Until now.

Our little townhouse faces west onto a fence, on the other side of which is a trainyard. So lots of trains going past and making a fair amount of noise, so we try to leave the windows on the front of the house closed. This is fine because downstairs we have a big kitchen window in the back which lets in a lot of fresh air, as well as two big office windows in the back upstairs. These three windows have been doing a good job of controlling the lack-of-AC situation, with help from the fan in our bedroom.

Until my next-door neighbor started sitting on the back step and smoking a few days ago. Since these are townhouses, their back step is approximately 7 feet away from our back step. We of course have a fence separating the backyards, but it doesn't keep smoke out of our backyard. Or, by extension, out of our back windows. Or, by further extension, out of my house and out of my lungs.

Our house is an end unit so we also have two large south-facing windows downstairs, but we try to leave these closed because 1) the air on that side is much warmer and doesn't help the cooling off so much and 2) a road runs right past them which also doesn't help as much with the noise. Aside from these, we have one other tiny window in the upstairs bathroom -- and I mean tiny -- which we keep open all the time but which can't do the job all by itself.

So now I'm faced with several unappealing options:

1. Keep the back windows open and poison my already-gimpy lungs with second-hand smoke.
2. Close the back windows, open the front ones and go deaf from passing train screeching.
3. Open the side windows and fry while letting in car noise and exhaust (best of both worlds, I guess).
4. Leave all windows closed and die in the ensuing stifling heat.

Unfortunately, 5. Fix the stinking AC is not an option at the moment unless some long-lost rich uncle dies and leaves us a lot of cash. (Thanks to the law school for making all the students not work during the school year, then do unpaid internships during the summer and then not providing us with access to any sort of financial aid. Also thanks to the stupid AC for procrastinating and missing that warranty deadline. Oh, and let's not forget the car breaking down, the mortgage company making unauthorized withdrawals from our account, or having our one source of income start bouncing the checks they send us.)

Murphy, you stink.

That which inspireth me to blog

So I've had a lot of great choices of stuff to blog about recently. Like the deep depression into which I was sunk upon visiting my old stomping grounds (the JKHB). Or the amazingness that is the fact that So You Think You Can Dance started up again today (WOOOHOOOO!!!!!!). Or how I got to jump on the tramp (the large springy thing on a frame, not the Lady-and-the- or the -ing-through-a-muddy-garden or drunken varieties). Or how the air conditioner broke but it's sort of okay because it's been freezing and rainy here. Or how I started my job and am going through waves of feeling amazing from my sheer coolitude and competence, alternating with waves of nausea about just how much I DON'T KNOW ABOUT HOW TO DO WHAT I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DOING.

All great things, and I haven't had the time or energy to blog about them until tonight.

But I'm not going to blog about any of those things right now.

Instead, I give you.... this:






Don't worry, though, I will blog about at least a few of the other topics at some point.

Resignation; or, A slight feeling of accomplishment

Well, I'm probably not going to actually make it onto ILMR. But dang it, I FINISHED THE TECH EDIT. EVERY SINGLE BIT OF IT.

So there.

Some verbs

So, this made me very happy. I hope it makes you very happy, too.

Finals are OVER!!!; or, Dancing Robot Posse: collect them all!

Yes, my friends and colleagues, finals are over. I am officially a 2L in law school. And I'm not dead. Or even severely mentally damaged. (Minorly mentally damaged, yes, but what can you do?)

So in this spirit of jubilation and fluffiness and sweetness, I now present to you (for anyone who may be keeping track):

What I Want for Christmas.

GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

Sorry. Just had to get that off my chest. My first final is in about 11 hours and I'm a little stressed. Prayers and good thoughts would be very much appreciated!!!

Thanks!

Epiphany

Well, I've just discovered why I've never risen to the level of concert pianist.

Triptych of tragicality

And in other sad news (and to make today's posts number an uneven three), I haven't received my book yet.

*sniffle*

P.S. Oh, and who decided it would be okay if it SNOWED in APRIL? Weather council, you're fired.

My life in a nutshell

*sob* It's so true! (Only for "Friday," substitute "every single stinkin'." )

Alas!; or, The Sad Seven-and-a-Half

Why oh why could my feet not have been a perfect 10?

Well, this stinks...

I swear someone cut out about three months of this semester. I haven't even had a chance to post the stories about finals from LAST semester and finals are almost upon us again. Seriously. Not. Cool.

Maybe I'll just do a compilation later with any stories from this round of finals... because I haven't got time to post them now; I'm supposed to be studying.

*whimper*

You know you've been in law school too long...

...when the funniest thing you've seen in several days has to do with the Supreme Court.

In other news, my oral argument for advocacy is tonight. Not looking forward to doing it, but it will be such a relief to have it OVER WITH. No more Kendricks! Woohoo!

That is, at least until next year when I TA.... D'oh!

Happy Birthday, Frederic! or, Better Late than Never

Note: So I wanted to get this up earlier but YouTube is blocked on campus... but it's up now and the dateline will still be right, so it'll have to do.

*ahem*
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday, Dear Frederic,
Happy Birthday to You!

You have finally reached the ripe old age of 38!

Now let's go get some ice cream while you sing...




P.S. If you can't catch what's going on, here's one with misspelled subtitles.

Squeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

I won I won I won! Robin McKinley liked my poem and I WON!!!! Robin McKinley liked my poem and I won an AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF DRAGONHAVEN JUST FOR ME BECAUSE SHE LIKED MY POEM!!!!!!!! SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!!

Check it out check it out check it out! Right here. (Mine is the one by "Ellie.")

Squeeeee!!!!!!


P.S. I also have a great, squee-inducing Valentine's day story, too, but I'm waiting until I get the pictures to post it here. Stay tuned for more details.

P.P.S. But in the meantime.... Squeeee!!!

Mirth, misery, and madness

Now conveniently combined here.

Mirth for obvious reasons.

Misery at seeing the horrible abuse some people commit.

And most of all, madness because it's driving me crazy that I had to stop reading the site because I was laughing too much and causing disruption in the library so I have to wait until I get home to see the rest.

I'm "blaming" you, R2!

New Year, New Haircut

So I got my hair cut yesterday and I'm going through the weird new haircut phase. I like the way it turned out (and my sister tells me it's super-cute, which is a relief because it's kind of different and new) but I'm having a hard time getting used to it not being there anymore, length-wise, and having a lot more of it fall into my face than usual. I keep doing the little head-shake thing to make it fall into place, and sometimes I forget that there's a new place it's supposed to be falling into than it used to do so I end up shaking my head over and over like I've got some sort of palsy. And I have no idea if I can actually keep it looking cute -- those of you who know me (and if you're actually reading this blog, chances are very good that you do) know that my hair and I have a standing feud and I tend to lose more skirmishes than I'd like. (Booo!) Plus the fact that you can never get it looking like the stylist did it. Oh well. Par for the course.

But in the meantime, it's way cute (palsy notwithstanding). Just ask Rachel.

(And Happy 2008, everybody!)