Guess Who's Back

First my apologies for the absense, but I'm sure that everyone knows how it goes with family and Christmas (and parents' sucky dial up internet).

Being home is wonderful and horrible and fun and tiring and annoying and a little sad. I can't really elaborate futher than that (or I don't want to), but there is always a little tension between moving on in life and remembering to cherish the old times.

There is nothing more sad to me then friends who let life take them away from those they love. It's especially hurtful to realize (or think you realize) that what you had meant more to you then to them. Having grown up in one town and moved away when I was 14 and having gradually lost touch with friends that I have had since pre-school, I know how it feels to try and maintain a one-sided relationship and its frustrating but mostly its just hurtful to realize that friends will let time dull your importance.

Maybe I'm just pathetic to try and hold on to things that are so obviously past their time. Even so, I can't ever seem to quit letting it make me sad.

On the bright side, there aren't too many times when you can say, "Tomorrow's a new year."

Twelve Days of Finals

On the FIRST day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the SECOND day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...two felony murders and a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the THIRD day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...three concurrant tortfeasors, two felony murders and a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the FOURTH day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...four pretrial motions, three concurrant tortfeasors, two felony murders and a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the FIFTH day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...five officious volunteers, four pretrial motions, three concurrant tortfeasors, two felony murders, and a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the SIXTH day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...six drunks A-driving, five officious volunteers, four pretrial motions, three concurrant tortfeasors, two felony murders, and a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the SEVENTH day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...seven theifs A-larcening, six drunks A-driving, five officious volunteers, four pretrial motions, three concurrant tortfeasors, two felony murders and a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the EIGHTH day of Finals my lawschool gave to me..eight offerees A-bargaining, seven thiefs A-larcening, six drunks A-driving, five officious volunteers, four pretrial motions, three concurrant tortfeasors, two felony murders and a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the NINTH day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...nine uncollapsed jurisdictions, eight offerees A-bargaining, seven thiefs A-larcening, six drunks A-driving, five officious volunteers, four pretrial motions, three concurrant torteasors, two felony murders and a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the TENTH day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...ten chattels A-converting, nine uncollpased jurisdictions, eight offerees A-bargaining, seven theifs A-larcening, six drunks A-driving, five officious volunteers, four pretrial motions, three concurrant tortfeasors, two felony murders and a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the ELEVENTH day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...elevens promisors promising, ten chattels A-converting, nine uncollpased jurisdictions, eight offerees A-bargaining, seven theifs A-larcening, six drunks A-driving, five officious volunteers, four pretrial motions, three concurrant tortfeasors, two felony murders and a breach of an implied in law contract.
On the TWELFTH day of Finals my lawschool gave to me...twelve conspirators conspirating, eleven promisors promising, ten chattels A-converting, nine uncollapsed jurisdictions, eight offerees A-bargaining, seven thiefs A-larcening, six drunks A-driving, five officious volunteers, four pretrial motions, three concurrant tortfeasors, two felony murders, and a breach of an implied in law contract.

O Christmas Tree

Ode to a fake Christmas tree:

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so flame retardent;
O Chirstmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so flame retardment;
Not only lean just to the right,
But also burn with electric light.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so flame retardent.

My beautiful Christmas tree, aesthetically pleasing and compliant with all fire and building codes. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (oh no I could redo that song too...another day)!

Loot!

First of all let me apologize to my loyal readers (yeah right). I have been remiss in my updates but I have good excuses. Number one, I caught a virus (a computer virus). Stupid me actually thought I got an email from the FBI and opened an attachment with a virus in it. A word of advice, the FBI doesn't send emails with questionnaires...they just come for your ass. Secondly I went home (to Springfield) for the Holiday weekend.

Now, good news! I got a new computer, which effectively eliminates the virus issue and I'M BAAAAACK in St. Louis...just ahead of some pretty nasty weather including a tornado (eeek!). Also, very exciting news, I got an IPOD...already so awesome. I spent much of today studing Contracts and uploading my CD's into I-Tunes. Which I am still doing.

I saw Walk the Line (Sheena!) on Saturday night. It was very good. I couldn't believe how well they sang and Reese Witherspoon was adorable. I was also interested to find out that Tyler Hilton played Elivis Presley. A realitively minor part but still. I doubt the first Mrs. Cash appreciates how she was protrayed, but it was based on Johnny's two autobiographies and his (and June's) son John Carter Cash was an executive producer so you know it was at least true to his point of view. Note to self: Ask Sheena if Johnny really did propose to June on stage.

Sucks to be back at school, but only three weeks left.

Seriously stressed!

It occurs to me that my posts have become a bit opinioned lately and the tone has become, dare I say...a bit superior. This, of course, is not my intent. I may or may not have mentioned before that I love discussion (lawyer anyone?); however, I also have a tendency to think I'm right. As a consequence of that tendency, I may, from time to time express my opinions as fact. For me, being opinionated is something i try to rein in whenever possible. Lately I may have been lax in that duty.

That being said I'd like to talk about a more objective subject today...stress.

It's coming up on finals time here in "law school land" and everyone is getting a bit stressed, even me. I am not a very "stressed" person, but I think the volume of work combined with the time constraints around here could get to anyone. For me, stress manifests itself in a constant nagging feeling that reminds me of the huge mountain of things to accomplish in such a short amout of time. This impedes any relaxation I may try to accomplish. Furthermore it results in fitful sleep, because I dream about schoolwork, and makes it harder to get to sleep, because my head is buzzing.

I remember when I was younger math would give me fits (not literally). Around test time I would have dreams about having to do math problems all night long. I'd wake up more tired than when I went to sleep. Maybe my stresses show up in my dreams, because i attempt to supress stressful feeling in everyday life. I don't know, I'm a law student not a psychology student.

I'm looking forward of that feeling of all the weight of finals being lifted off my shoulders Countdown to last final exam (December 16) = exactly one month from today. Wow thats a long time and a really short time too. I dread and look forward to that day in equal measure at this point.

Forever 22

It has been a long time since I had a birthday that wasn't a big deal...

At sixteen you get to drive.
At seventeen you are that perfect "not a girl, not yet a woman" age.
At eighteen you become an adult and get to vote.
At nineteen you become more of an adult and first birthday away from home.
At twenty you leave the "teens" behind.
At twenty-one you get to drink.
Twenty-two is the perfect age...young but not a child.

Twenty three is the beginning of REAL adulthood. No more fun birthdays, only wrinkles to look forward to. I want to stay twenty-two.

p.s. My birthday is is 13 days. I plan to turn twenty-two for the second time.

How the Grinch stole Thanksgiving

Every Who Down in Who-ville Liked Thanksgiving a lot...

But the Grinch,Who lived in the company accounting department, Did NOT!
The Grinch hated Thanksgiving! The whole Thanksgiving season! Now, you ask why?
No one quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his pocketbook was two sizes too small.

But,
Whatever the reason, His pocketbook or his shoes, He stood there on November 1st, hating the Whos, Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grinchy frown At the decoration less windows below in their town. For he knew every Who down in Who-ville beneath should be busy now hanging a mistletoe wreath.

"They’re not hanging their stockings!" he snarled with a sneer, "Not until after Thanksgiving! No Christmas shopping here!" Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming, "I MUST find some way to stop Thanksgiving from coming!"

So, the Grinch stood there, with his fingers drumming awhile,
And then the Grinch, began to smile.
For the Grinch had an idea.
An awful idea!
THE GRINCH
GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!

And so Christmas started right after Halloween. Thanksgiving was never again to be seen!

….I had the pleasure of partially viewing the season’s very first showing of How the Grinch Stole Christmas at approximately 6:30 p.m. tonight. It’s November 12th and Christmas is here! Lord help us all.

I'm allergic to Mondays

In undergraduate I had Spanish at 9:00 on Monday mornings for a whole year. I hate Spanish (I suck at languages). I hate getting up early and I hate Mondays. I missed A LOT of Monday Spanish classes. My Spanish teacher used to say I was allergic to Monday's. Her diagnosis is probably the only thing I remember from that class.
Now I have Torts at 8:00 on Monday mornings. I make it, but after two cups of coffee I'm barely coherant and by right about now I feel like I've been hit by a train. I wish they made a Claratin for Monday allergies.
Next semester my first Monday class is Civil Procedure at 10:00 a.m. Civil procedure is ten times more boring than Torts, but with an extra two hours and the same two cups of coffee, I think it will play out about the same...coma.

I miss my mommy

I often wonder how old you have to get to quit missing your mommy.

I'll let you know if I ever get there.

Put 'em up!

So here's the thing, I LOVE Real Time with Bill Maher. This is contradictory because 1) I'm a Republican 2) I'm a Christian. For all intents and purposes I am part of the "religious right" and Bill Maher hates the religious right. The day after the last election he said, "the religious right is hijacking this country." While I see this statement is deeply flawed, it is extremely telling as to how Mr. Maher views religious conservatives. How so? Consider that someone cannot hijack something that belongs to himself. For instance, the owner of a plane cannot hijack his own plane. According to everything we know about the United States, it is owned by the people. Therefore by saying that a specific group could hijack the U.S. you are in effect saying that group has no claim on the country. They are not part of the ownership.
To me, this viewpoint is deeply similar to that held by the Democratic party and is the reason they are losing the battle against conservatives. Liberals discount entire groups of people that they do not feel are worthy of representation. In many ways I feel that the parties are not willing to ask the hard questions. How does one govenment fulfil the needs of groups of people as diverse as say homosexuals and Southern Baptists. Conservatives don't ask the question becuase they don't have to, they're winning. Liberals don't ask the question because... Well, that's the question isn't it?
I like Real Time because Mr. Maher is funny and he's right. President Bush is a bit of an idoit, Iraq has been a bit of a fiasco, and it is ridiculous to deprive any group of people of rights afforded to others. Any conservatives who refuse to acknowledge these things are delusional. However, under the Bush administration since 9/11 the market is up and unemployment is below what the economically savvy call the "natural rate" and all in all the country has recovered remarkably from a devistating terrorist attack. Iraq has, most likely, helped the middle east move closer toward free societies, and, while everyone is entitled to the rights afforded to them by this country's laws, no one is promised that anyone will make their way for them. America is the land of opportunities, not handouts. Any liberals who do not realize this are delusional.
In law, the burden of proof generally falls upon the party bringing the lawsuit. Why? In this country we don't suppose to attack people on the street, call them guilty, and dare them to defend themselves. Politically the burden of proof is on the Democratic party. You have accused conservatives of many things, but can you prove it? Furthermore can you prove that, given the chance, you can do things better? So far America says no, after all we elected Bush to a second term did we not? So, while liberals like Bill Maher may be right and they may be funny, are they really showing us how Democrats can make things better? Or are they simply focusing on what a horse's ass George W. Bush can be? Come on people we know he chokes on big pretzels and falls off his bike, but seriously Bill Clinton got little willy serviced in the oval office and everybody loved him. Plus, lest we forget, he's a Democrat.

Seriously flawed

I got the idea from another blogger, Pamie (must see sites on right), to make a list of my flaws. In my view this serves two main purposes: 1) something for me to look back on and see if I've improved 2) something to make other people feel good about their flaws. So, without further ado...

i eat too much

i don't exercise enough

i watch too much meaningless tv

i only read the news i'm interested in, and skimp on the international issues

when walking down the street a "certain type" of person will make me feel uneasy

i think i'm smarter than most people

i procrastinate on schoolwork, housework, and everything else

i wear holey socks and holey underwear on laundry day

i think mostly that people's lives are their own fault and I don't think society owes them any help

i don't want to help people as much as i should

i can be a real huge bitch

i like being a bitch because i think people who let others take advatage of them are pathetic

i'm a republican

i don't trust most of my friends

i pretend to handle everything better than i actually do

i think people who allow their emotions to rule their life and who are too dependant on others are weak

i feel better when i spread my bad mood around

i like hilary duff and ashlee simpson music and i believe ashlee really has acid reflux

i've read every Harry Potter book at least 4 times, some more like 10

i stay up too late and then oversleep

i don't really like regular coffee, but i drink it because i think i'll develop a tolerance

i talk to myself

i sing out loud, even in crowds

i hate pets, i think they smell and they are more trouble than they are worth

i think rap music is detrimental to our society

i am deathly afraid of storms

i have a horrible sense of direction and i panic when i get lost

i totally think im right almost all the time

sometimes i like it when a big strong man can open a can that poor weak little me can't manage

i don't like men who are too emotional, i find it to be a turnoff

i have impossibly high standards

i make corny jokes

i make jokes at other's expense

i like some of the flaws on this list

Trick or Treat?

So we all know how Halloween used to be known as all hollows eve and that it was believed to be the night when the boundry between the world of the dead and the living was opened. Did you ever wonder though, how that became trick or treating? A quick visit to The History Channel website and you'll have your answer. You can read up, but the jist of it is that the community decided to give children "treats" so the children didn't given them "tricks". A bribe, in effect, to make children behave like better citizens. Hmmm, much like Christmas if you think about it. Wow, is every holidy just about lulling children into complacency? I feel I may have given up my immortal child soul for a miniature Snickers bar. How very sad. In my next life you're all getting the trick!

A little nappy-poo

Okay, first the title. My dad calls it that...really he does. He'll go lay down on the coach, turn on golf, and say, "I'm going to take a little nappy-poo." Now, who can blame him, because he is watching golf. Although slightly less boring than baseball, but I digress. Still, it's kinda wierd that he says that because he's actually a very masculine man. He's the GM of a manufacturing plant. He's the authority guy. I can only imagine what his employees would say if they heard him expounding on his nappy-poos. Anyway I took a little nappy-poo today. Although I should know better, because now I won't be able to fall asleep unitl late. Then I'll be tired tomorrow. Then I'll need another nappy-poo. Yes mom, I know! That's what you get. Anyway, it's all very interesting because I technically stopped taking naps when I was three. Which is pretty early for a little kid. When I was little I could never sleep during the day. I was the only kid at the babysitter's who didn't take a nap, and I never could fall asleep during nap time in Kindergarten. Up until high school I could never take a nap at all. Maybe all that lack of sleep caught up with me all of a sudden and I just got REALLY tired. Now though, naps are no problem, except that they are incredibly unproductive and they make it hard to sleep at night. So they aren't a problem to take, but they cause problems. Do other people have these problems?

Procrastination

I have a torts paper due tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Originally I wanted to have it done before fall break started...last Friday. By that time I had barely started. New goal: really hit it hard on Monday. On Monday I worked on it for about an hour and a half. New goal: get up at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday and get started early. I didn't get up until after 10:30 a.m. It is now 10:35 p.m. and I only have a page written. It isn't even a particulary good page. It is going to be a long night. So consider Myth #1 invalidated. Law students are not superachievers. They are pulling the same all-nighters as everyone else. Incidentally I have worked for several attorneys and they were always pulling things together at the last minute. Everyone hates to do what they hate to do and everyone puts it off until the last possible minute. We all put our pants on one leg at a time...well when we have to that is.

Welcome to my World

So everyone has their little idiosyncrasies. On the surface I am very normal (as much as anyone can be "normal" as we say, but thats a different topic for a different day), but as I said we all have our little "quirks" if you will. Mine include liking Harry Potter more than the ordinary person, an unhealthy addiction to teenage agnst based television (Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill, The O.C. anyone?), an extremely corny sense of humor, and a tendency to make little references in conversation that others tend not to understand, e.g. A friend says, "Look what that woman is wearing." I reply, "Fashion victim for 400 Alex." It is obvious to me and select others that this is a jepordy reference, but many find these comments confusing, abrupt, and generally out of context.
In addition to all this I am hopelessly boring. I don't party, in the sense that I don't like clubs and I rarely enjoy getting drunk. My idea of a fun Friday night is catching a movie with a friend or hanging out, drinking beer and playing a good game of Texas Hold 'Em. Ocassionally I like to hit a bar, but only to hear a band that doesn't require me to dance and only if the crowd isn't "nut to butt" is my friend Josh is fond of saying, i.e. not too crowded.
Okay folks, heres where I come to the point (in case you were beginning to wonder if there was one). Sometimes I can be a little "different". Friends have been tempted to call me a word that I absolutley despise...wierd. I hate the word wierd. Wierd is for serial killers. I am quirky...not wierd. Hence the name of this blog. I am very firm on this.
To clear up any confusion, a classic example of the difference between wierd and quirky. Quirky is anyone over the age of thirteen going to Barnes and Noble at midnight on July 16 to wait in line for the new Harry Potter book. Wierd is anyone over the age of thirteen going to Barnes and Noble at midnight on July 16 to wait in line for the new Harry Potter book dressed as Dumbledore, complete with robes, flowing white hair and beard, and wand. Quirky is "a little off", wierd is extreme. Now that we are all clear on that, enjoy my world.