Blowing Your Top

I'll have pics up later. Maybe. For now, you can link to them through the WishTV website. Right across the street from the library, an underground transformer, in an attempt to celebrate New Year's Eve early, decided to blow. The streets are blocked off, and they might shut off power to our building. They've already done some of the surrounding buildings in the area. I was already taking a half day. If they shut off the power and make us go home, does that mean I still have to take vacation time? I'm betting yes. Anyway, Happy New Year everyone.

Does everyone get this horoscope on NYE?

You've been thinking about making this life change for quite a while. Now it's time to stop rationalizing and start doing. You have the strength of will to overcome a bad habit and the resolution to set off in a new direction. Procrastination is a thing of the past. Action and decisiveness are your new operative descriptors. Take this newfound determination and use it to your advantage

There are certain people

who can make me smile at 8 in the morning. This was today's exchange:

JR: What time did Michael say brunch was?
ME: 11
JR: Oh good. I should be out of church by then. Unless they ask me to testify, then I might not be done til Monday.

FUNNY! Maybe you just had to be there. There are few things better than coming to work and starting it with a laugh, especially on New Years Eve. Sometimes, I focus so much on the a**holes that I work with, I forget that the majority fo the people are good people. The a**holes are but a few.

Just because I said I was short?!

How not surprising...

Hmpf!

Hey!

Huh?

At Year's End

The Chicago Tribune has a nice photo tribute to everyone who passed away this year. When I frst saw there were 93 photos I was sure there must be multiple pictures of some of the people. I couldn't believe that many people died over this past year. I guess, in the grand scheme of things, 93 isn't a hell of a lot.

Rick Bragg and Reggie White

Sunday morning, before my sister and aunt headed to church and I headed back to Hoosier-ville, Rick Bragg was on C-Span's book tv. It was from the Louisiana Book Festival that happened in November. I am a big fan of Rick's and I think I was introduced to him through something else that was on Book TV. It was some kind of panel discussion if I'm not mistaken. I found him to be incredibly engaging and funny and checked out one of his books the next day. All Over But the Shoutin' It became one of my favorite books and made me think a little more about expanding into the Non-Fiction realm. I certainly have read more NF books because of him, and then I kind of just forgot he was out there until Sunday. He did the Jessica Lynch bio, but I didn't read it. I will have to pay a little more attention to him from now on so I don't lose touch again. He was just as funny on Sunday as he was the first time I saw him. My sister really enjoyed listening to him too, which was a surprise. She's even more fiction-centric than I am. And even my aunt, who didn't even know what channel C-Span was on her tv, thought he was pretty good.

After watching him, I flipped the channel over to ESPN and saw the news about Reggie White. I screamed so loud everyone thought something was wrong with me and came running back into the room. That is not the kind of shock I needed at ten on a Sunday morning! I have never been a Green Bay fan (obviously) but I have almost always been a Reggie White fan. Both when he was with the Eagles, and once he left GB, retired, pulled a Jordan and came back in the form of a Carolina Panther. It was just a shock. The day after Christmas. Its hard to get more horrible than that for his family. It seems like the world has lost a lot of good people this year. I know it happens every year, but it just seems particularly noticeable this year. Maybe that says more about me than the way of the world.

One thing I've learned

People just don't understand about law school. I guess I didn't really understand about it either, before I got here, so I can't really blame them. Can I? I suppose not. Its just ANNOYING when people say things like:
"I'm sure you aced that exam." Uh....probably not. Are you even listening to me when I talk?
"You studied didn't you? Then you got an A." Well, I assume everyone studied. Did we all get A's?
"It can't be that hard. You just read a lot. You like to read." Well, this is partly true. I do read a lot....

So, they kind of just dismissed it, which was ok because I really didn't want to talk about it anymore after all of that. Its nice that they have such confidence in me, but false confidence isn't really all that helpful. At least I only heard "You're gonna be rich" a few times. After I went through all the denials about how I'm not going to be rich, and blah blah blah over Labor Day, now I just say "Yeah, I am. I already have my Mercedes on order." It shuts them up. Its what they wanted to hear, I guess.

Well.....

Christmas was good. Christmas dinner was ESPECIALLY good. Hey, I know all about priorities! I kept one step ahead of or behind the snow at all times. It was nice being in a car that I didn't have to worry about. I got presents, I gave presents. I got two see my two cousins who just moved back to Illinois from Maryland. These are the two closest to me in age and we kind of grew up as siblings since we lived a few streets over from each other growing up.

I had to listen to my aunt complain about how I'm "ALL the way over there in Indiana." Give me a break, huh? If you can drive there and back in one day, its not that far.

Even with that complaining, though, it was still good. After all, she's only complaining because she wants to see more of me, right? I suppose that's a good thing.

Oh yeah, it was some kind of torture watching the Raiders/Chiefs with all those people rooting against the Raiders simply because I was rooting FOR them. That Dante Hall.

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all enjoy your holiday! The shopping and hustle and bustle is over (temporarily) and its time to sit back and reflect on the joy and the meaning of the day. For me its a day with a little traveling, a little eating and then a big party at the end. However you plan to spend the day, enjoy it.

Welcome from the Land of Lincoln

So, I had pretty much decided I wasn't going to come home to Illinois today because Indianapolis was supposed to be hit with a mega snow storm. I woke up this morning, flipped on the news, and saw all the icky highways and snuggled back under my covers. It was going to be a day of Farscape for me, thank you very much.

Around 9, I get up, look out the window expecting to see pretty white snow. Nothing. Nada. I rub my eyes (honestly) and look again. Dry. Dry. Dry. I turn on the tv, the news is just going off, and the weather man is marveling at how different the weather was around the 50 mile I-465 loop. On the southeast side, they had 4 inches of snow already. On my side, the northwest side, not a flake. Well, I knew the snow wasn't coming from the way I was headed, so I decided I might as well get while the getting was good. I was amazed that it wasn't snowing yet, but figured this was my teeny tiny window of opportunity, so I hastily packed everything and hopped in the car. I didn't see a bit of snow the entire way, but when I got here I was amazed at how COLD it was. Living in Indiana has made me a wuss when it comes to real winter. Temp is 11 and, with the wind chill, its -4. It feels like -4 period.

I'm not celebrating the end of finals in Puerto Rico because........

The Great Civ Pro Final

Well, its over. As expected, I didn't remember everything that we had learned over the semester. But, know what? Everything we learned over the semester wasn't on there. So, last night I was sure my short (and undistinguished) law school career was over. It was the first time in any exam situation where I was left writing until the bitter end. On the other hand, someone got up and walked out after only 45 minutes. So, in light of that, I'm not feeling so bad anymore. I'm feeling much more positive this morning. Do I think I aced it? Well, I certainly hope so, but I doubt it. Do I think I passed it with a reasonably good grade? Yeah, I do. Do I still want that A? Yeah. I do. That's just how I am.

In other news....we're supposed to get 5-7 inches of snow tomorrow?! Instead of going home on Wednesday like I'd planned, I believe the trip is going to be delayed by a few days, and I'm going to be watching Farscape instead! I hope we're on the five end of that and not the other, icky, end. I mean, I like snow and all, but not when I have to drive in it! In some weird, freakish, Day After Tomorrow type weather pattern, we're getting snow and upper Illinois isn't. So, once I leave this part of town, it should be smooth sailing.

And, come visit over at Law school and other neurosis inducing endeavors where I've signed on to be part of a blogging tag team. Neurosis is great (and if you haven't been visiting his blog already you should have been.) But, this post was all I needed to see to know we were going to get along juuuuuust fine.

Hope Springs Eternal...

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Very interesting

Today's horoscope:

There's a difference between having a positive attitude and having your head in the clouds. You may have difficulty telling the difference between possible and impossible. Take on whatever comes your way, but don't go looking for more of the same. Your eyes have a tendency to be bigger than your stomach right now -- do what you can to make sure you don't take more than you can eat. Tonight, turning the other cheek requires more strength than you think.

Go with God

There comes a point when you know what you know, and its all a matter of remembering to write it down once the test starts. When you feel really comfortable that no matter what grade you get, you know that you studied as much, and as effectively, as possible.


I have not hit that point yet.


This Civ Pro exam has me FREAKED OUT! I mean, I was calm all weekend, just studying away, and then this morning I woke up in this completely panicked mode. I don't usually suffer test anxiety, so its all the more unnerving. I think because this is the class that I liked the most, I expect myself to do better on the test. Now, of course I know there is no possible way I can remember everything we learned in Civ Pro over the course of this semester. I know this. There was just too much we covered. BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I DON'T WANT TO!!

All I can say is that I'm glad I decided not to take today off. Otherwise, I would be even more freaked out than I am right now.

Why Does Bill Kristol Hate America?

Neo-cons (h) ate their young......and their old.

Preview

One of my favorite authors, Robert Crais, has a new book coming out in February. There is a preview of the book out and I'm trying to decide whether or not I should read it. I want to, of course, because I'm craving it. Truly. Its like a drug. But, after I read it, I won't get to read anymore until February! Feb. 15 to be exact. Seems like cruel and unusual punishment to read the preview now. We'll see how long I last.

The Great Torts Final is Over!

Whew! Its over. I'm sooooo glad. I don't think I hit it out of the park, but I'm hoping I scooped up a lot of points here and there so that I can make a good grade. I definitely think that I would have gotten a MUCH worse grade without the study group. And, the prayer I said before I started probably helped too. :o) I'm pretty confident that I did as well as I could do. Now, I guess it just depends on how well everyone else did in comparison to me.

Catching Up

A little premiership news: Everton (bastards) made the leap over Arsenal for 2nd place in the Premier League table. What was once a 2 team race (Chelsea & Arsenal) then a 1 team race (Arsenal) is now a 3.5 team race. Man U is 10 points off the lead, but I wouldn't count them out just yet. I watched a little bit of the Arsenal-Chelsea match on gamecast while I was at the law school in my study group. I'm not surprised that it was a 2-2 draw, but I am a little disappointed. If Arsenal had won all three points, that would have made the table a little more interesting.
Liverpool lost 1-0 to Everton in their Merseyside derby on Saturday. They were inches away from a goal towards the end of the match, but just couldn't get it done. We play again tomorrow at home against Portsmouth. Hopefully, we can get it done there. If Portsmouth win, they would jump from 10th to 6th, leapfrogging Liverpool at #7. Not good.

In non-premiership news: Who knew we had our own law school soccer team?! Not only do we have one, but they're good! Congrats, guys. If I would have known that, I would have come out to see them.

The Great Torts Final

We've been studying our little hearts out and the great torts final is tomorrow evening. I really think its going to be okay. There was a point, last week, when I had just decided to write the exam off completely. I didn't understand it, I wasn't ever going to understand it, and I could live with a B- or a C. I thought. But, a sympathetic study group took me in, and torts has actually become much easier. I knew more than I thought I did, and I actually know more now than I did before we started studying. It isn't hard, you just need to put a little effort into it.

All that said, I am not a last minute studier. Tonight, I will be watching The Wire, and maybe an episode or two of Farscape. We studied for the week, for about 5-6 hours each night after work. Special thanks to Bose, McKinney & Evans for allowing us a place to study. They have been great and very generous with their space (and their leftover fruit....)

I'm ready for the torts test and, amazingly, not nervous. Securexam has been tested. As long as I make sure I have everything packed up and in the bag, I should be good.

Daily Horoscopes

Are turning out to be better than my real life these days!

Overview: You're definitely strutting your stuff -- and it's definitely going to be noticed. You sexy thang, you! Just try to contain yourself if the object of your attention isn't quite ready to date just yet.

My horoscope must not know

that I have finals coming up.


Overview: You'll be especially passionate and affectionate now -- which, granted, is really saying something. But since you'll be feeling so amorous, you really should let your partner know in advance. After all, a day off might be in order, right?

Any takers?

Whew! & Why I'm moving to England

Despite being diagnosed with Bronchitis (those who know me know this is far from rare) I have been on the go these past few days. From study sessions, to car shopping; from work to hair dressers, I think I am going to be wiped out at the end of today. I have been drinking orange juice by the gallons, taking my Amoxicillin like a good girl, and still coughing like the dickens. Ugh. But, I did manage to get all my unwrapped presents wrapped and I'm ready to buy the next round.

A lovely Brit came into the library today and looked bewilderedly at our Fiction collection. He was looking for a SF book, which of course isn't in with the regular fiction, and he just could not understand why they were pulled out. I explained that not only were SF books pulled out, but so were the Westerns and the Mysteries. He said it made no sense, and I absolutely agree. Many librarians disagree with me (obviously) but I was glad to hear someone else say it was completely idiotic and confusing. We also chatted a little bit about Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series. He's going through the books right now, and I have seen all the movies. (love that Sean Bean.) It made an incredibly boring day a little brighter.

And, I ran into a former colleague of mine from Indiana State. She walked by and I thought "I think I know her." She was thinking the same thing, and came back to the desk. Kind of funny. Anyway, she was looking for the Marriage of Figaro score (K. 492) and I was pleased as punch to do music reference for the first time in TWO years! Boy, I was a little rusty, but we found her what she needed. I miss the old Arts division. It was complete lunacy to dismantle it.

I need a nap. This has been way too much work for me today.

Buyer Beware

One of my horoscopes for today. I think this one is from Yahoo.

Overview: If you're out on a date, better be sure they're really emotionally available before you reach across the table to touch their hand. You might be inadvertently drawn into a no-win relationship situation

I Do Realize That Its the Busy Season

And probably every one of your patients has the croup, or whatever it is we have that involves coughing and hacking and all kinds of unpleasantness. But, if you say you're going to call in a prescription, and to check the pharmacy after 3, and your office closes at 12:30.....I do expect the prescription to be there after 3. What I don't expect to is to be told that you never called. That makes me very grouchy, which, in turn, makes me cough more. Do you see the problem? Maybe its time for a new doctor.....