The above is a line from the much loved (by me) television show Dawson's Creek. Why am I so lame? Mostly because that quote has come to describe the way that I feel about this blog. I love you, but I don't need you anymore. When I first moved to a new city and started law school this blog was a way to get some feelings out and feel like I was connecting with someone out there. But now, in my last semester of law school, I just don't need this blog anymore. Which, trust me, is a very good thing.
That is why it has been a long time since I've written, and why it may be a long time before I write again.
Showing posts with label In my head. Show all posts
Showing posts with label In my head. Show all posts
Monday, January 21, 2008
Monday, July 23, 2007
I read Harry Potter in 11 hours and all I got was this stupid depression.
Unless you're mental do not continue if you have not read all seven Harry Potter books, there are loads of SPOILERS! below.
Look, I know this book was great. I REALLY enjoyed reading it while I was in the act of reading. I have never set a book down to take a deep breath so many times. I had to tell myself, "It's okay, Ron's not dead...he has to make it to the part with the treasure," about thirteen times before I could pick it up again at one point. I know that there are some moments that will make me squee upon every re-read and that I just haven't had the time to take in yet. Irregardless, finishing Deathly Hallows was rather hallow after all. I'm very glad Harry didn't die, but what stopped me in my tracks was that last title- NINETEEN YEARS LATER.
We have followed Harry step-by-step through seven years, and in a page turn we lost nineteen years. Even though I cried heavily when he was standing in that white mist and I thought Jo might actually have killed him, in a way it seems impossible that Harry will live on without us. Better than the alternative, but impossible and sad.
It's sad that we didnt' find out that much about how the trio ended up. It could be that Dumbledore's words about power forshadowed Harry would become Minister of Magic, but it was very subtle. All we really know is that they all finally became family for real, Harry forgave Snape and no one found a better way to get to Hogwarts than a train in nineteen years. In the end Harry got what we all get...a life.
In addition to the loss of leaving Harry his life beyond the page, this book held the loss of a mentor. Harry- probably inevitably- reached the point where the student surpasses the teacher. He became a better man than Dumbledore, stronger and more selfless. While it was nice to find out more about our mysterious headmaster, it also made him rather less mysterious. While in time the real Dumbledore with all of his faults will likely hold more value than the infallible man we knew before, it's hard to take him down from that pedestal. He used the wand that Harry gave up, he sought power over more than just evil and he allowed himself to die when Harry needed him because of desire to wield power over death. Believing that Dumbledore selflessly planned his death preserved his invincibility. It takes some getting used to...this flawed Dumbledore. Harry, on the other hand, seemed to be able to handle this news well. All he wanted was the truth, he didn't care if it was a duller truth. Perhaps because he's always felt so flawed himself.
Ron and Hermione were amazing in this book. From the moment that they revealed the lengths they were willing to go to for Harry. Putting not only themselves, but their families in danger and wisking Harry to safety at the wedding. It is easy to say that they had to do it, as Harry did, to save the world, but I always felt they cared more about saving Harry than anything. Harry wanted to save everyone. Ron and Hermione wanted to save him. I've found that amazing. Yeah, Ron was a prat there in the middle, but not because he realized he was giving up too much for Harry.
You know, I have officially talked myself out of my funk regarding this book. I'm going home to start my re-read. Only one thing left to do...
Thanks Jo for writing and for Harry Potter. Cheers.
Look, I know this book was great. I REALLY enjoyed reading it while I was in the act of reading. I have never set a book down to take a deep breath so many times. I had to tell myself, "It's okay, Ron's not dead...he has to make it to the part with the treasure," about thirteen times before I could pick it up again at one point. I know that there are some moments that will make me squee upon every re-read and that I just haven't had the time to take in yet. Irregardless, finishing Deathly Hallows was rather hallow after all. I'm very glad Harry didn't die, but what stopped me in my tracks was that last title- NINETEEN YEARS LATER.
We have followed Harry step-by-step through seven years, and in a page turn we lost nineteen years. Even though I cried heavily when he was standing in that white mist and I thought Jo might actually have killed him, in a way it seems impossible that Harry will live on without us. Better than the alternative, but impossible and sad.
It's sad that we didnt' find out that much about how the trio ended up. It could be that Dumbledore's words about power forshadowed Harry would become Minister of Magic, but it was very subtle. All we really know is that they all finally became family for real, Harry forgave Snape and no one found a better way to get to Hogwarts than a train in nineteen years. In the end Harry got what we all get...a life.
In addition to the loss of leaving Harry his life beyond the page, this book held the loss of a mentor. Harry- probably inevitably- reached the point where the student surpasses the teacher. He became a better man than Dumbledore, stronger and more selfless. While it was nice to find out more about our mysterious headmaster, it also made him rather less mysterious. While in time the real Dumbledore with all of his faults will likely hold more value than the infallible man we knew before, it's hard to take him down from that pedestal. He used the wand that Harry gave up, he sought power over more than just evil and he allowed himself to die when Harry needed him because of desire to wield power over death. Believing that Dumbledore selflessly planned his death preserved his invincibility. It takes some getting used to...this flawed Dumbledore. Harry, on the other hand, seemed to be able to handle this news well. All he wanted was the truth, he didn't care if it was a duller truth. Perhaps because he's always felt so flawed himself.
Ron and Hermione were amazing in this book. From the moment that they revealed the lengths they were willing to go to for Harry. Putting not only themselves, but their families in danger and wisking Harry to safety at the wedding. It is easy to say that they had to do it, as Harry did, to save the world, but I always felt they cared more about saving Harry than anything. Harry wanted to save everyone. Ron and Hermione wanted to save him. I've found that amazing. Yeah, Ron was a prat there in the middle, but not because he realized he was giving up too much for Harry.
You know, I have officially talked myself out of my funk regarding this book. I'm going home to start my re-read. Only one thing left to do...
Thanks Jo for writing and for Harry Potter. Cheers.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Sometimes you feel like a hick, sometimes you don't.
If you live in Missouri and you are a reasonably articulate law student who doesn't like boots, trucks or animals, you can pretty much throw a rock and hit someone who is more of a hillbilly than you are. There are many days that i can look around and feel pretty sophisticated in comparison to the general population, but there are always those times that remind you that you ain't no city-slicker yet and that you will invertibley be asked if you are from Arkansas when you travel (which by-the-way even people from Missouri are offended by).
Some of these times might be when you have a long conversation with a friend about how you aren't sure you like living in the "big city" of St. Louis only to have her end up laughing at you b/c St. Louis so isn't a "big" city. Or when you find yourself looking around at the trees and the hills and and realize that you don't know how people live in a place like New York City where there is no space to just breathe.
And when it hits you that maybe you aren't so different from the people who think that flannel is still in style, Toby Keith is a god walking on earth and TGI Fridays makes a mean steak. And maybe you don't mind too much after all. You don't mind because you have a special place in your heart for the good ole' boys, you really do love trees and fresh air and it really is nice to see someone wave at you with all the nice fingers and smile when you walk by.
Some of these times might be when you have a long conversation with a friend about how you aren't sure you like living in the "big city" of St. Louis only to have her end up laughing at you b/c St. Louis so isn't a "big" city. Or when you find yourself looking around at the trees and the hills and and realize that you don't know how people live in a place like New York City where there is no space to just breathe.
And when it hits you that maybe you aren't so different from the people who think that flannel is still in style, Toby Keith is a god walking on earth and TGI Fridays makes a mean steak. And maybe you don't mind too much after all. You don't mind because you have a special place in your heart for the good ole' boys, you really do love trees and fresh air and it really is nice to see someone wave at you with all the nice fingers and smile when you walk by.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Never break in a new job and new shoes in the same week.
The above is good sound advice that I am currently learning the hard way.
Other things that have occured to me today include the vast economies of scale on Starbucks coffee. A tall latte at starbucks is $3.30 and a venti is $4.45. For about 25% of the cost, you can get a coffee that is well over 50% bigger. Either way it's a rip-off and as soon as they quit putting cocaine in it I will surely realize that.
Other things that have occured to me today include the vast economies of scale on Starbucks coffee. A tall latte at starbucks is $3.30 and a venti is $4.45. For about 25% of the cost, you can get a coffee that is well over 50% bigger. Either way it's a rip-off and as soon as they quit putting cocaine in it I will surely realize that.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Shifting the Burden
In law one party always bears the burden of proof. For example, in most criminal cases the prosecution has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the person accused of the crime is guilty. In some circumstances the burden of proof can be shifted from the orginal party who bore it to the opposing party. When this occurs we generally say that the burden has been shifted.
It occurs to me that some people get through life only by shifting their burdens to other parties. I'm referring to tangible burdens such as duties or tasks, but also intangibles such as blame and responsiblity. What about emotional burdens? Did it ever occur to you that some people try to shift their emotional burdens onto others? Burdens such as pain, sorrow, worry, stress, ect.
I refer to those people who must constantly lament their troubles. Those who are forever complaining to others. Aren't these people trying to shift their burdens? Aren't they also those most likely to be shifting their duties on another occasion?
There is certainly nothing wrong with utilizing the shoulder of a friend or seeking advice. However, there is a line between lending a shoulder and lending a back. Some people want us to carry them. They want us to take on burdens we have no ownership over and, worse, they see it as our duty. Building up oneself by breaking down others is unacceptable. And doesn't it just break us down to be the recipient of a neverending diatribe of someone else's misfortunes? So if you bear a burden, bear it yourself and do not shift it to others. We are your friends, not your trash receptacles.
It occurs to me that some people get through life only by shifting their burdens to other parties. I'm referring to tangible burdens such as duties or tasks, but also intangibles such as blame and responsiblity. What about emotional burdens? Did it ever occur to you that some people try to shift their emotional burdens onto others? Burdens such as pain, sorrow, worry, stress, ect.
I refer to those people who must constantly lament their troubles. Those who are forever complaining to others. Aren't these people trying to shift their burdens? Aren't they also those most likely to be shifting their duties on another occasion?
There is certainly nothing wrong with utilizing the shoulder of a friend or seeking advice. However, there is a line between lending a shoulder and lending a back. Some people want us to carry them. They want us to take on burdens we have no ownership over and, worse, they see it as our duty. Building up oneself by breaking down others is unacceptable. And doesn't it just break us down to be the recipient of a neverending diatribe of someone else's misfortunes? So if you bear a burden, bear it yourself and do not shift it to others. We are your friends, not your trash receptacles.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
It's weird how people have dreams...
Ever see the celebrity telling kids that *my dreams came true so can yours*? Ignoring the obvious fallacy in logic, is this not the biggest bunch of bullshit you have ever heard? The thing is...people tell you that you can do whatever you want when you are a kid. When I was a kid I thought I was going to go to Harvard. I went to a small private university with less students than my high school that my dad had attended roughly 25 years earlier. I was going to be #1 in my lawschool class, I'm not even #100. Life is damn disappointing people.
Maybe it's important to tell kids they can reach their dreams so they will be confident and happy and they will actually try to accomplish things. However I do think that when we all turn 25 and realize we are not, in fact, going to be the next Britney Spears that she should personally apologise for misleading us. We can't all be famous, influential and "great." Not even most of us can be these things. We can be good at something. We can be influential to someone. We can make a small mark on our part of the world, but most will not become infamous.
It's kind of hard to realize early in life that you are not where you pictured when you were 10 years old. Still, it's easier than continuing to believe you can make all your dreams come true and figuring out at forty that you can't. But back to the first point. In the beginning we believe that we can make it because others have before us. Those few that do, and tell others they can too, are true dreamers. They are the dreamers that still believe at forty when everything told them to quit at twenty-five. So we are left with this: 1% of true dreamers reach their own personal stars, but 99% don't. Therein lies the problem. For the chance to be part of the great 1%, you must risk being one of the disappointed 99%.
Maybe it's important to tell kids they can reach their dreams so they will be confident and happy and they will actually try to accomplish things. However I do think that when we all turn 25 and realize we are not, in fact, going to be the next Britney Spears that she should personally apologise for misleading us. We can't all be famous, influential and "great." Not even most of us can be these things. We can be good at something. We can be influential to someone. We can make a small mark on our part of the world, but most will not become infamous.
It's kind of hard to realize early in life that you are not where you pictured when you were 10 years old. Still, it's easier than continuing to believe you can make all your dreams come true and figuring out at forty that you can't. But back to the first point. In the beginning we believe that we can make it because others have before us. Those few that do, and tell others they can too, are true dreamers. They are the dreamers that still believe at forty when everything told them to quit at twenty-five. So we are left with this: 1% of true dreamers reach their own personal stars, but 99% don't. Therein lies the problem. For the chance to be part of the great 1%, you must risk being one of the disappointed 99%.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
I'm all out of magic beans...
Reality. School. Jobs. Papers. Tests looming. What I wouldn't give for a giant beanstalk to climb the hell outta here. My giant would have a golden hen that laid jobs and a harp that played all the answers to my final exams. He probably wouldn't even chase after me. Giants are afraid of lawyers.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Things I am tired of...
(In no particular order.)
1) The Fray song 'How to Save a Life' If you really know how to save a life then quit singing about it and do it. You are not the Rembrants. You ARE actually a good band, you don't have to ride the coatails of Grey's Anatomy.
2) The RAZR. No explanation really, I'm just sick of it.
3) Memoirs. To be honest it kind of freaks me out that this shit happens to people.
4) Tyra Banks. I am so over Tyra's "I am woman hear me roar" bit. She's worse than Oprah these days.
5) Jessica Simpson. Brit is back honey, we don't need you anymore!
6) Talking about race and sexual preference. Life's too short and the world is too big.
7) Bashing George Bush. It's just gotten too easy people.
8) The color pink.
9) The Real World. Lets face it, nothing new is going to happen on that show. Call me when someone gets shot.
10) Birthdays. Did you know you have to get older every year?
1) The Fray song 'How to Save a Life' If you really know how to save a life then quit singing about it and do it. You are not the Rembrants. You ARE actually a good band, you don't have to ride the coatails of Grey's Anatomy.
2) The RAZR. No explanation really, I'm just sick of it.
3) Memoirs. To be honest it kind of freaks me out that this shit happens to people.
4) Tyra Banks. I am so over Tyra's "I am woman hear me roar" bit. She's worse than Oprah these days.
5) Jessica Simpson. Brit is back honey, we don't need you anymore!
6) Talking about race and sexual preference. Life's too short and the world is too big.
7) Bashing George Bush. It's just gotten too easy people.
8) The color pink.
9) The Real World. Lets face it, nothing new is going to happen on that show. Call me when someone gets shot.
10) Birthdays. Did you know you have to get older every year?
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Slipping, slipping, slipping into the future
Time is no man's friend.
It is not within your control. You do not employ time it employes you, and it is quite the bastard boss.
It seems that time is always making fools of us. There is always too much or too little time. Never just enough. Never the perfect amount of time.
The Bible says that there is a time for everything but note that it doesn't say there is enough time. It may be time to reap, but that doesn't mean that you will be able to finish the reaping before its time to sow.
Time sucks because it always makes us feel like we are laboring through life. If we waste it we feel guilty. If we lose it we feel sad. If we enjoy it we wish for more. Time is insufficent. It leaves us wanting.
See we are fools. Fools for living life under the perameters of a concept with we created only so that it could torment us. Fools for letting things we can't control dictate our lives. Fools for putting stock in minutes instead of relative quality of life.
From where I am sitting I can see three clocks. Twelve numbers all telling me what I should be doing and what I no longer have time to do and how long I have before there is something new I have to do. Numbers telling me how long I've wasted writing this blog entry.
There are so many ways to mark the passage of life and yet we are just sadistic enough to pick the one that's laughing its ass off at us.
It is not within your control. You do not employ time it employes you, and it is quite the bastard boss.
It seems that time is always making fools of us. There is always too much or too little time. Never just enough. Never the perfect amount of time.
The Bible says that there is a time for everything but note that it doesn't say there is enough time. It may be time to reap, but that doesn't mean that you will be able to finish the reaping before its time to sow.
Time sucks because it always makes us feel like we are laboring through life. If we waste it we feel guilty. If we lose it we feel sad. If we enjoy it we wish for more. Time is insufficent. It leaves us wanting.
See we are fools. Fools for living life under the perameters of a concept with we created only so that it could torment us. Fools for letting things we can't control dictate our lives. Fools for putting stock in minutes instead of relative quality of life.
From where I am sitting I can see three clocks. Twelve numbers all telling me what I should be doing and what I no longer have time to do and how long I have before there is something new I have to do. Numbers telling me how long I've wasted writing this blog entry.
There are so many ways to mark the passage of life and yet we are just sadistic enough to pick the one that's laughing its ass off at us.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Every coin has two sides...
The title to this post makes it sound like it's going to be deep. It's not...
So my grandma is a phenomenal cook (like most people's grandmas). She's German and she cooks awesome German food and also really good Italian (which is kinda wierd) but anyway. My mom and I have this little joke about her cooking. See my mom has all her recipes and will make her stuff from time to time but it's never quite as good (this is consensus I'm not busting on my mom). Anyway we always blame it on the pot. My grandma has this cast iron pot that she cooks pretty much everything in and we say that it has "the taste of 1000 meals." That is, every dish my grandma cooks has just a little bit of every other wonderful thing she's ever cooked in that pot. That's the extra ingrediant. That's why no one else can ever get it quite right. Even though I say it's a joke don't misunderstand me, we acutally believe it. When my grandma comes to help cook for Christmas she brings the pot...the pot is magic.
Now for the other side of the coin.
I don't like to heat beverages up in the microwave. I have a teapot and I use it to boil water even if I just need a cup. Why? The microwave has the taste of 1000 meals too. Everything you cook in the microwave tastes like everything else you've cooked in the microwave...in a bad way. Everything you cook in the microwave tastes vaguely like hot dogs. Even if you've never cooked hot dogs in your microwave. Anyway I think beverages tend to soak the microwave taste up especially well. It's gross seriously. I'm not one of those microwave lovers. How long has it been since we invented a better way to heat up food anyway? Isn't it about time for the next thing? I'm ready.
So my grandma is a phenomenal cook (like most people's grandmas). She's German and she cooks awesome German food and also really good Italian (which is kinda wierd) but anyway. My mom and I have this little joke about her cooking. See my mom has all her recipes and will make her stuff from time to time but it's never quite as good (this is consensus I'm not busting on my mom). Anyway we always blame it on the pot. My grandma has this cast iron pot that she cooks pretty much everything in and we say that it has "the taste of 1000 meals." That is, every dish my grandma cooks has just a little bit of every other wonderful thing she's ever cooked in that pot. That's the extra ingrediant. That's why no one else can ever get it quite right. Even though I say it's a joke don't misunderstand me, we acutally believe it. When my grandma comes to help cook for Christmas she brings the pot...the pot is magic.
Now for the other side of the coin.
I don't like to heat beverages up in the microwave. I have a teapot and I use it to boil water even if I just need a cup. Why? The microwave has the taste of 1000 meals too. Everything you cook in the microwave tastes like everything else you've cooked in the microwave...in a bad way. Everything you cook in the microwave tastes vaguely like hot dogs. Even if you've never cooked hot dogs in your microwave. Anyway I think beverages tend to soak the microwave taste up especially well. It's gross seriously. I'm not one of those microwave lovers. How long has it been since we invented a better way to heat up food anyway? Isn't it about time for the next thing? I'm ready.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
OMG could you be more...generic?
So do you like the makeover? And when I say you I have no idea who I am talking to.
Writing in this blog is comparable to talking to an infant or a pet. It's scary what you will say when you have a seemingly captive audience. Every so often I have to will myself not to go back and erase everything I've written on here, because I know at least half of it is complete shit. Hopefully we'll be looking forward to higher quality postings in the future. And by we'll I have no idea who I mean. I promise the inimitable collective "you" that I will try to be more sharp, witty and insightful in the future.
(The phrase "inimitable collective" is from a movie.) Does everyone feel like a tool when they quote movies or is it just me? I want to quote movies all the time, but I restrain myself. I think it might push me over the edge from "pretending to be normal" to "no one in their right mind would find this person normal." That line is my friend and if I ever lose my balance and fall to the other side I'm not sure I have the password to get back into Normal-Person's-Land.
I think my problem is I always feel the need to confess when I quote a movie. I just feel to guilty when I try to claim someone else's wit as my own. For the most part I could be getting away with it. It's not like I walk around shouting "you had me at hello!" Clearly I'm my own worst enemy.
Speaking of quotes I read one in a law book recently (shut up law books are all I have time to read). George Bernard Shaw said, "Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn." So quit scorning me people and leave me some comments. I've enabled anonymous posting so you don't have to worry about being in the witness protection program or revealing your secret identity. A girl needs some feedback.
p.s. The title is from Clueless. See!
Writing in this blog is comparable to talking to an infant or a pet. It's scary what you will say when you have a seemingly captive audience. Every so often I have to will myself not to go back and erase everything I've written on here, because I know at least half of it is complete shit. Hopefully we'll be looking forward to higher quality postings in the future. And by we'll I have no idea who I mean. I promise the inimitable collective "you" that I will try to be more sharp, witty and insightful in the future.
(The phrase "inimitable collective" is from a movie.) Does everyone feel like a tool when they quote movies or is it just me? I want to quote movies all the time, but I restrain myself. I think it might push me over the edge from "pretending to be normal" to "no one in their right mind would find this person normal." That line is my friend and if I ever lose my balance and fall to the other side I'm not sure I have the password to get back into Normal-Person's-Land.
I think my problem is I always feel the need to confess when I quote a movie. I just feel to guilty when I try to claim someone else's wit as my own. For the most part I could be getting away with it. It's not like I walk around shouting "you had me at hello!" Clearly I'm my own worst enemy.
Speaking of quotes I read one in a law book recently (shut up law books are all I have time to read). George Bernard Shaw said, "Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn." So quit scorning me people and leave me some comments. I've enabled anonymous posting so you don't have to worry about being in the witness protection program or revealing your secret identity. A girl needs some feedback.
p.s. The title is from Clueless. See!
Thursday, September 07, 2006
On my own
So I've been living alone for over a year now and I've been single for roughly 1000 years (or maybe it only seems like it). When you are single and living alone you begin to develop a lot of routines in your life. Everyone has a routine but it's very different when you live alone, because your routine is never really interrupted. You can always watch what you want on TV, eat when you want, sleep when you want, be as quiet or loud as you want, and you don't have to accommodate anyone else.
The line between alone and lonely has a lot to do with what you do with your time and how you keep yourself entertained and happy (especially in a new place with less friends and no family). So not only do you develop a largely uninterrupted routine, but it also becomes pretty important to you.
Sooner or later you are in danger of becoming massively self-absorbed. That's probably about the point when you finally meet someone and have to re-learn how to accommodate another person's needs and preferences into your life. It's pretty much life's sick joke.
I mention this because most of us probably don't picture ourselves alone for any significant portion of our lives, and then all of a sudden we are. You don't even notice that you are becoming totally ingrained in your specific way of doing things until someone comes over and folds a towel wrong or something. Then you are forced to realize that you are deeply, deeply single and that is very, very depressing.
Just try to remember all this the next time you are alphabitizing pop tabs from third grade by type of soda. Someday you might have to throw them away to make room for that special someone's collection of mint condition Pogs.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Do I know you?
Sometimes I feel like I've met the same person a hundred times. Everyone reminds me a bit of someone else. It's kind of like--no two snowflakes are the same, but don't they all look pretty much alike when you look at them. It's good b/c maybe you can take a little bit about what you like in a lot of people and find it all in one person. It's bad b/c what if you find yourself liking someone for who they remind you of, but then they aren't that person.
Worse, sometimes I feel like I have been and am at least ten different people. Some people want a person that I'm not anymore, and that sucks because they won't get it. Some people want someone else's Girl Friday and they won't get that either.
It takes a very long time to see the whole of anyone but, in the end, that's what sets sets them apart from the pieces of everyone else.
Worse, sometimes I feel like I have been and am at least ten different people. Some people want a person that I'm not anymore, and that sucks because they won't get it. Some people want someone else's Girl Friday and they won't get that either.
It takes a very long time to see the whole of anyone but, in the end, that's what sets sets them apart from the pieces of everyone else.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
The Brotherly Man-Love
Girls love the brotherly man-love. We love brothers who love each other. Almost all the shows I watch regularly have brotherly affection as one of the main elements. One Tree Hill, The OC, Supernatural, and Prison Break...there is nothing better than a pair of hot and sexy brothers who get all choked up over how much they love each other. Prison Break is the king of this. I just finished watching the first season on DVD so I could be caught up for the Season Premiere and this show makes me say "awwww" for the brotherly love like no other. What makes it above the cut is that it has the bad boy brotherly love. Girls love us some hard asses that get all smushy over their brother. Now Supernatural is second in this b/c Dean is a pretty big hardass, but the problem with that show's "awwww" factor is that all the lovely man-love takes place in the middle of a little something called the corn factor of killing demons, ghosts and monsters. Doesn't keep my mom from asking me if that show with the hot brothers is coming back on this fall. Mom, watch out I'm coming for you over Christmas Break with the Prison Break Season One DVD. Now One Tree Hill and The OC come in distantly behind these two b/c they have the "new" brothers. New brothers are sweet, but they just don't love each other like the ones who hunted monsters together thier whole life. They don't have that break your brother out of prison love. I don't know what is about two beautiful brothers running across the prison quad during a violent riot, covered in blood and bruises, to embrace each other that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside, but I'll take it.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
The Victimization of America
Hold onto your butts people, I'm going to attempt to write something worthwhile.
America repeat after me, "It is my fault. The choices I make, dictate the life I will have."
Trust me I'm in law school and I know all about EXCEPTIONS. I'm sure a few exist, but quit being difficult.
There is an episode of 'Friends' where Joey bets Pheobe that there is no such thing as a truly charitable act. By the end of the episode she isn't able to find one. In the same way, nothing will ever happen to YOU in YOUR life that YOU have no ownership in. Even if you walk out the front door and get hit by an asteroid, YOU chose to walk out the front door. You controlled that action, if not the consequences. Now that doesn't make being hit by an asteroid your fault, yet it also doesn't mean that you are WITHOUT fault in the act of being hit by an asteroid.
Working in the law field you learn that people love to be VICTIMS and hate to be RESPONSIBLE. I got fired because I'm a woman, I got carpal tunnel from the repetative movement at my job, and your reckless driving caused my whiplash. Which fine, I'm going to be a lawyer, I believe people deserve to be compensated for a legitimate injury. The problem is that people don't want to be COMPENSATED they want to PROFIT. They are not participants in the acts of their life, they are VICTIMS.
Law practice cultivated the beginnings of the victimization of America, but in the way of Dr. Frankenstien it has created a monster. A VICTIM with a sense of entitlement not only to be COMPENSATED, but to be MADE WHOLE. The man who's life path led him to a job that involves manual labor, can expect to be compensated for an injury sustained within the course of that job, but cannot be made whole for what that job has taken away from him. This man CHOSE to perform this work that is extremely hard on a person physically and emotionally. If a box wrongfully falls on his head then he can be compensated for that, but his employer CANNOT give him back the years of emotional and physical wear and tear that the job has caused.
We see this victimization and sense of entitlement seeping into all parts of society. Some Americans now believe that they DESERVE certain things such as a job, a home, or free healthcare. Yet all Americans have ever really been guarenteed is the FREEDOM to PURSUE these things. If mechanisms are put into place that allow all Americans to have these things, it is not because they are ENTITLED to them, but because society has been able to advance itself to the point that it provides for those that do not provide for themselves.
Make no mistake, there is no such thing as a VICTIM. What we term a victim is just someone who's choices have lead them to an undesireable outcome. A person who turned to the wrong page in the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book.
America repeat after me, "It is my fault. The choices I make, dictate the life I will have."
Trust me I'm in law school and I know all about EXCEPTIONS. I'm sure a few exist, but quit being difficult.
There is an episode of 'Friends' where Joey bets Pheobe that there is no such thing as a truly charitable act. By the end of the episode she isn't able to find one. In the same way, nothing will ever happen to YOU in YOUR life that YOU have no ownership in. Even if you walk out the front door and get hit by an asteroid, YOU chose to walk out the front door. You controlled that action, if not the consequences. Now that doesn't make being hit by an asteroid your fault, yet it also doesn't mean that you are WITHOUT fault in the act of being hit by an asteroid.
Working in the law field you learn that people love to be VICTIMS and hate to be RESPONSIBLE. I got fired because I'm a woman, I got carpal tunnel from the repetative movement at my job, and your reckless driving caused my whiplash. Which fine, I'm going to be a lawyer, I believe people deserve to be compensated for a legitimate injury. The problem is that people don't want to be COMPENSATED they want to PROFIT. They are not participants in the acts of their life, they are VICTIMS.
Law practice cultivated the beginnings of the victimization of America, but in the way of Dr. Frankenstien it has created a monster. A VICTIM with a sense of entitlement not only to be COMPENSATED, but to be MADE WHOLE. The man who's life path led him to a job that involves manual labor, can expect to be compensated for an injury sustained within the course of that job, but cannot be made whole for what that job has taken away from him. This man CHOSE to perform this work that is extremely hard on a person physically and emotionally. If a box wrongfully falls on his head then he can be compensated for that, but his employer CANNOT give him back the years of emotional and physical wear and tear that the job has caused.
We see this victimization and sense of entitlement seeping into all parts of society. Some Americans now believe that they DESERVE certain things such as a job, a home, or free healthcare. Yet all Americans have ever really been guarenteed is the FREEDOM to PURSUE these things. If mechanisms are put into place that allow all Americans to have these things, it is not because they are ENTITLED to them, but because society has been able to advance itself to the point that it provides for those that do not provide for themselves.
Make no mistake, there is no such thing as a VICTIM. What we term a victim is just someone who's choices have lead them to an undesireable outcome. A person who turned to the wrong page in the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Thoughts
The best way to fool others is to fool yourself first.
Maybe everyone thinks they are smarter than most people. Maybe that doesn't mean I'm not.
If karma is for real then a lot of people owe me a lot of Saturday afternoons.
Introspection is a bitch, but people who can't acknowlege thier own faults should have their own island to live on. That way they can drive each other crazy, not me.
I probably shouldn't read What to Expect When You Are Expecting when I'm pregnant. I'm too much of a hypochondriac. Then again, I wonder if anyone has ever had all the symptoms possible before.
Am I the only one who finds the term 'Chick-Lit' demeaning?
I think there should at least be 'Dick-Lit' also. We all know women aren't keeping Tom Clancy in business.
If I decided to live in a cave for the next year could I avoid Harry Potter spoilers?
Does everybody feel like they were meant to do something important, or is it just me?
If someone believes thier own bull-shit is it still bull-shit?
Toes are wierd.
Maybe everyone thinks they are smarter than most people. Maybe that doesn't mean I'm not.
If karma is for real then a lot of people owe me a lot of Saturday afternoons.
Introspection is a bitch, but people who can't acknowlege thier own faults should have their own island to live on. That way they can drive each other crazy, not me.
I probably shouldn't read What to Expect When You Are Expecting when I'm pregnant. I'm too much of a hypochondriac. Then again, I wonder if anyone has ever had all the symptoms possible before.
Am I the only one who finds the term 'Chick-Lit' demeaning?
I think there should at least be 'Dick-Lit' also. We all know women aren't keeping Tom Clancy in business.
If I decided to live in a cave for the next year could I avoid Harry Potter spoilers?
Does everybody feel like they were meant to do something important, or is it just me?
If someone believes thier own bull-shit is it still bull-shit?
Toes are wierd.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Eye on the Prize
Lately I've been thinking a lot about the wonderful moment when I finally have a law degree, a job, and am freshly sanctioned to practice law by the Missouri Bar Association. I've been thinking about that golden age when I will be able to start real life. Real life = preparation is over and living has commenced. I'll save my musings on how weird it is that it takes roughly 1/4 of one's life to prepare for 2/4 s of one's life for a later time and for now will just say that I have been thinking about how I want a dog.
This is an odd thing, because I have always been particularly unfond of pets in general and dogs in particular. Lately, however, I've thought I might enjoy a very small dog. Small dogs have the benefit of making small messes and having small smells (two major pet deterrents in my opinion), and while I have always thought small dogs were generally extremely hyper, I have recently come to believe that temperment of the owner may have a lot to do with temperment of the dog. I am about as un-hyper as they come so this bodes well for pet ownership.
More peculiar perhaps is this sudden inclination to become a dog person. It is perhaps a sign that I am a bit lonley. A sign that, for the time being, I chose to ignore. I read somewhere that all single people should have a dog, because a dog makes you get up in the morning and no matter how you feel you have to take care of and be available for the dog. This rings pretty true for me nowadays. It's interesting to me that we often need others (human or animal) to keep us at our best. Many individuals are unwilling, unable or unmotivated to be at optimal levels only for themselves. As if we needed more proof that humans are social (political) animals.
Whatever the underlying reasons, I now find myself adding to the picture of my life in a way I never thought I would. Scary how these things sneak up on us.
This is an odd thing, because I have always been particularly unfond of pets in general and dogs in particular. Lately, however, I've thought I might enjoy a very small dog. Small dogs have the benefit of making small messes and having small smells (two major pet deterrents in my opinion), and while I have always thought small dogs were generally extremely hyper, I have recently come to believe that temperment of the owner may have a lot to do with temperment of the dog. I am about as un-hyper as they come so this bodes well for pet ownership.
More peculiar perhaps is this sudden inclination to become a dog person. It is perhaps a sign that I am a bit lonley. A sign that, for the time being, I chose to ignore. I read somewhere that all single people should have a dog, because a dog makes you get up in the morning and no matter how you feel you have to take care of and be available for the dog. This rings pretty true for me nowadays. It's interesting to me that we often need others (human or animal) to keep us at our best. Many individuals are unwilling, unable or unmotivated to be at optimal levels only for themselves. As if we needed more proof that humans are social (political) animals.
Whatever the underlying reasons, I now find myself adding to the picture of my life in a way I never thought I would. Scary how these things sneak up on us.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
You are welcome!
A fellow blogger presents a question: What is the most important thing you've ever learned and how did you learn it?
Once you begin to think about it, this is clearly the hardest question that has ever been posed by man. Okay I may be exaggerating, but I think to answer the question in its current form is much too difficult or possibly much too simple. You can choose. Really, without any parameters to the question, the most important thing you've ever learned is probably something like how to speak, or walk, or read. So, in true lawyer form, I'm going to change the question to one I like better before I answer it.
What is the most important thing you've learned ABOUT LIFE and how did you learn it?
It's not quite as profound but it is far more managable. The most important thing i've learned about life I learned from my mother at a very young age and it is: LIFE IS NOT FAIR.
Now before you start crying like I did when I was five, I must insist you suck it up and accept this. It's true and it will help you. First of all it will help you not to be one of those damn whiners that everybody hates. Secondly, I have to tell you that becoming a hopelessly jaded pessimist now really saves time and disapointment in the future. Also, if you expect to get screwed over in life then you may be more willing to take responsibility for your mistakes. This will keep you from becoming one of those damn excuse-makers that everybody hates. Finally this knowledge may help you someday when you, as I have, decide to become part of the problem. I expect the knowledge that I'm manipulating a flawed legal system instead of corupting a good one will really help me sleep at night.
Now you all can say the most important thing you learned about life you learned from me.
Once you begin to think about it, this is clearly the hardest question that has ever been posed by man. Okay I may be exaggerating, but I think to answer the question in its current form is much too difficult or possibly much too simple. You can choose. Really, without any parameters to the question, the most important thing you've ever learned is probably something like how to speak, or walk, or read. So, in true lawyer form, I'm going to change the question to one I like better before I answer it.
What is the most important thing you've learned ABOUT LIFE and how did you learn it?
It's not quite as profound but it is far more managable. The most important thing i've learned about life I learned from my mother at a very young age and it is: LIFE IS NOT FAIR.
Now before you start crying like I did when I was five, I must insist you suck it up and accept this. It's true and it will help you. First of all it will help you not to be one of those damn whiners that everybody hates. Secondly, I have to tell you that becoming a hopelessly jaded pessimist now really saves time and disapointment in the future. Also, if you expect to get screwed over in life then you may be more willing to take responsibility for your mistakes. This will keep you from becoming one of those damn excuse-makers that everybody hates. Finally this knowledge may help you someday when you, as I have, decide to become part of the problem. I expect the knowledge that I'm manipulating a flawed legal system instead of corupting a good one will really help me sleep at night.
Now you all can say the most important thing you learned about life you learned from me.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Two steps forward...
Tomorrow is the last day (last exam) of my first year of law school. Taken alone it's quite an accomplishment. A year of a professional degree is something that not a lot of people accomplish, and, of course, it makes me that much closer to being a lawyer. This year, however, gives new meaning to the phrase "two steps forward, one step back."
While I've certainly accomplished something this year, I feel several steps further away from knowing what I want from this "accomplishment" than I did in August. Age has been like this for me. When I graduated from high school I had a clear plan for my life, but over time real life seeps into dreams. No dream lives up to its potential in execution.
In life, as the years have passed, I have gained a lot. Yet the time is approaching when I will have to decide what to do with the spoils. Really, that's what this latest accomplishment means. I draw ever closer to that moment where I have nothing left to do in preparation for life and I actually have to live it.
While I've certainly accomplished something this year, I feel several steps further away from knowing what I want from this "accomplishment" than I did in August. Age has been like this for me. When I graduated from high school I had a clear plan for my life, but over time real life seeps into dreams. No dream lives up to its potential in execution.
In life, as the years have passed, I have gained a lot. Yet the time is approaching when I will have to decide what to do with the spoils. Really, that's what this latest accomplishment means. I draw ever closer to that moment where I have nothing left to do in preparation for life and I actually have to live it.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
"Life is short, but wide."
A quote from Rebecca Wells in Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which, despite what the butchered movie version might convey, is an immensley thought provoking, touch you down to your toes kind of book. What do the words mean? To me: you may not have a lot of time, but you have a lot of room to experiment. A kind of "stay the course" philosophy on life, if you will.
You can't read this book without thinking about your mother and thinking about what it really means to be a mother. If you never truly appreciated how much children can suck every last ounce of life and energy from a women then you will. Also as a child you will be forced to examine how what your parents did to you, with you, to each other, to themselves made you who you are today. Nurture over nature anyone?
This is territory I have already traveled. I had a pretty perfect childhood so mostly its, "thank God I have my parents and not someone elses (really doesn't make sense does it?)." Don't worry though if you don't have much to blame your parent's for...its extremely fun to turn this introspection onto others (for you, I mean, not them).
You can't read this book without thinking about your mother and thinking about what it really means to be a mother. If you never truly appreciated how much children can suck every last ounce of life and energy from a women then you will. Also as a child you will be forced to examine how what your parents did to you, with you, to each other, to themselves made you who you are today. Nurture over nature anyone?
This is territory I have already traveled. I had a pretty perfect childhood so mostly its, "thank God I have my parents and not someone elses (really doesn't make sense does it?)." Don't worry though if you don't have much to blame your parent's for...its extremely fun to turn this introspection onto others (for you, I mean, not them).
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