I'm totally going to get that email from our school's IT department telling me I've checked my email too many times today (and can I tell you how LAME it is that our school even does that? I mean, do they power their email servers by hamster? It's almost 2007--put some of our thousands of tuition dollars into your technical capabilities, for god's sake). But I can't help it--I'm squeeeeeaking through my comment, page after page, and I'm desperate for distractions. Not big distractions--I don't have time for that, especially if I want to see Jonathan Coulton/Paul & Storm tomorrow night at Schuba's (still a big "if" at this point, but I'm-a-hopin')--but a little something here or there would be nice. Sigh.
As a recap: Thanksgiving = great. Weather was beautiful, parents were fun, food was delicious, and desserts were plentiful. Plus I didn't have to cook or wash a single dish (thanks, Mom & Dad!). I just wish I hadn't left so much work on this paper till now, so I would've enjoyed my holiday with more impunity and less guilt (and more meerkats--Animal Planet, how I *heart* thee). Oh, well. I procrastinate because I suck, and I suck because I procrastinate. Which is what I'm doing now.
More soon, when I'm not feeling so emo. Blerg.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
have to have someone take the fall
So, I also accepted my job today. It was remarkably anticlimactic. I think the hiring partner figured I'd just call the recruiting coordinator, because he seemed genuinely taken aback that I was calling him directly. I mean, he did give me my job offer, even though we didn't have an extended interaction thereafter--it seemed like the right thing to do. Anyway. So, that's that. Now I just need, you know, a place to live. And money, dear god, I would like to make some money again.
But I also wanted to pop in here and say how stupid it is that Congress insists on naming their statutes ridiculous things just so that they can be cutely abbreviated for a "popular" name. I mean, who can take a journal comment seriously when the topic of discussion is The Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (yes, that would, in fact, make it the "PROTECT" Act)? Thanks, Congress. Thanks for NOTHING.
But I also wanted to pop in here and say how stupid it is that Congress insists on naming their statutes ridiculous things just so that they can be cutely abbreviated for a "popular" name. I mean, who can take a journal comment seriously when the topic of discussion is The Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act of 2003 (yes, that would, in fact, make it the "PROTECT" Act)? Thanks, Congress. Thanks for NOTHING.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
hold onto nothing as fast as you can
Something prompted me to check my archive, and sure enough, I started this blog a year ago today. It's not really my blog-iversary; I blogged on imeem for a little bit before migrating to Blogger. But I've kept with this one, and I kind of like it, and I think a couple others of you out there kind of like it, too, so I'm glad I stuck around for a whole year. I spoke with my mom tonight and she reminded me that I've had a pretty good year, stress and fear and frustration and exhaustion aside. And she's right, all told. It has been good. Hope I can say the same for next year.
I haven't talked much about my job search since the interviews ended over a month ago. I've been silently agonizing and going in circles, and I narrowed it to two firms that I really really like, and I think I'm going to accept with one of them tomorrow. I think. If I can make myself make the call. I keep reminding myself that even though it could (hopefully) lead to more, it really just is a summer job that I'm accepting, and if I don't like it, or if (god forbid) they decide they don't like me, I can fix things next fall. But, of course, it's hard to keep that perspective, and it's a bit disingenous. It's a mindset that's helped me to commit, though--a real job seems awfully final, but 3 months? 3 months is nothing. And with any luck I'll love it there, and they'll like me, and things will go fine.
But, yeah. Job. Check. Next up: finishing my journal comment, then my last US Supreme Court paper, then my only exam (while revising my journal comment for my prof). You know. Nothing much, really. Easy.
I haven't talked much about my job search since the interviews ended over a month ago. I've been silently agonizing and going in circles, and I narrowed it to two firms that I really really like, and I think I'm going to accept with one of them tomorrow. I think. If I can make myself make the call. I keep reminding myself that even though it could (hopefully) lead to more, it really just is a summer job that I'm accepting, and if I don't like it, or if (god forbid) they decide they don't like me, I can fix things next fall. But, of course, it's hard to keep that perspective, and it's a bit disingenous. It's a mindset that's helped me to commit, though--a real job seems awfully final, but 3 months? 3 months is nothing. And with any luck I'll love it there, and they'll like me, and things will go fine.
But, yeah. Job. Check. Next up: finishing my journal comment, then my last US Supreme Court paper, then my only exam (while revising my journal comment for my prof). You know. Nothing much, really. Easy.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
born with soil embedded in your hair
Wow. CHS's fall play, "13 Past Midnight" (what?), has a Facebook Group. And if I wanted to, I could subscribe to my high school's RSS Feed.
I don't feel that old. I'm not, actually, that old. In a month and a day I'll be nominally older, but it really wasn't that long ago that I was in a fall play or two (or three) myself. But shoot, we didn't have Facebook events. And we had to walk to the theater uphill, both ways, through the snow... right.
I guess my point is that I was taken aback when I read in a news clipping recently about Eileen Booher being principal of CHS for six years, and thinking, "Really? Nahh. McDaniel was still principal when I graduated... seven and a half years ago. Oh." I'm sure ten, twenty, fifty (God willing) years from now, I'll chuckle wryly at how taken aback I was at being already three-quarters of a decade out from high school, or how different things are now for students than they were for me, how technology progresses at lightning speed, and how they're finally putting in the new theater we needed fifteen years ago... but for now, I am astonished, and a little nostalgic. I had a fantastic time for (most of) high school, much of which was courtesy of my involvement in the drama department, and I have no doubt that I'd've been the one setting up the Facebook event if such a thing had existed back then.
This, coupled with Supermarj's comment about her belief that the first time you see a band is generally the best, is prompting me to transcribe one of my favorite Billy Collins poems rather than work more on my journal comment--because this is a public service, no?
Lines Composed Over Three Thousand Miles from Tintern Abbey
I was here before, a long time ago,
and now I am here again
is an observation that occurs in poetry
as frequently as rain occurs in life.
The fellow may be gazing
over an English landscape,
hillsides dotted with sheep,
a row of tall trees topping the downs,
or he could be moping through the shadows
of a dark Bavarian forest,
a wedge of cheese and a volume of fairy tales
tucked into his rucksack.
But the feeling is always the same.
It was better the first time.
This time is not nearly as good.
I'm not feeling as chipper as I did back then.
Something is always missing--
swans, a glint on the surface of a lake,
some minor but essential touch.
Or the quality of things has diminished.
The sky was a deeper, more dimensional blue,
clouds were more cathedral-like,
and water gushed over rock
with greater effervescence.
From our chairs we have watched
the poor author in his waistcoat
as he recalls the dizzying icebergs of childhood
and mills around in a field of weeds.
We have heard the poets long dead
declaim their dying
from a promontory, a riverbank,
next to a haycock, within a copse.
We have listened to their dismay,
the kind that issues from poems
the way water issues forth from hoses,
the way the match always gives its little speech on fire.
And when we put down the book at last,
lean back, close our eyes,
stinging with print,
and slip in the bookmark of sleep,
we will be schooled enough to know
that when we wake up
a little before dinner
things will not be nearly as good as they once were.
Something will be missing
from this long, coffin-shaped room,
the walls and windows now
only two different shades of gray,
the glossy gardenia drooping
in its chipped terra cotta pot.
And on the floor, shoes, socks
the browning core of an apple.
Nothing will be as it was
a few hours ago, back in the glorious past
before our naps, back in that Golden Age
that drew to a close sometime shortly after lunch.
I don't feel that old. I'm not, actually, that old. In a month and a day I'll be nominally older, but it really wasn't that long ago that I was in a fall play or two (or three) myself. But shoot, we didn't have Facebook events. And we had to walk to the theater uphill, both ways, through the snow... right.
I guess my point is that I was taken aback when I read in a news clipping recently about Eileen Booher being principal of CHS for six years, and thinking, "Really? Nahh. McDaniel was still principal when I graduated... seven and a half years ago. Oh." I'm sure ten, twenty, fifty (God willing) years from now, I'll chuckle wryly at how taken aback I was at being already three-quarters of a decade out from high school, or how different things are now for students than they were for me, how technology progresses at lightning speed, and how they're finally putting in the new theater we needed fifteen years ago... but for now, I am astonished, and a little nostalgic. I had a fantastic time for (most of) high school, much of which was courtesy of my involvement in the drama department, and I have no doubt that I'd've been the one setting up the Facebook event if such a thing had existed back then.
This, coupled with Supermarj's comment about her belief that the first time you see a band is generally the best, is prompting me to transcribe one of my favorite Billy Collins poems rather than work more on my journal comment--because this is a public service, no?
Lines Composed Over Three Thousand Miles from Tintern Abbey
I was here before, a long time ago,
and now I am here again
is an observation that occurs in poetry
as frequently as rain occurs in life.
The fellow may be gazing
over an English landscape,
hillsides dotted with sheep,
a row of tall trees topping the downs,
or he could be moping through the shadows
of a dark Bavarian forest,
a wedge of cheese and a volume of fairy tales
tucked into his rucksack.
But the feeling is always the same.
It was better the first time.
This time is not nearly as good.
I'm not feeling as chipper as I did back then.
Something is always missing--
swans, a glint on the surface of a lake,
some minor but essential touch.
Or the quality of things has diminished.
The sky was a deeper, more dimensional blue,
clouds were more cathedral-like,
and water gushed over rock
with greater effervescence.
From our chairs we have watched
the poor author in his waistcoat
as he recalls the dizzying icebergs of childhood
and mills around in a field of weeds.
We have heard the poets long dead
declaim their dying
from a promontory, a riverbank,
next to a haycock, within a copse.
We have listened to their dismay,
the kind that issues from poems
the way water issues forth from hoses,
the way the match always gives its little speech on fire.
And when we put down the book at last,
lean back, close our eyes,
stinging with print,
and slip in the bookmark of sleep,
we will be schooled enough to know
that when we wake up
a little before dinner
things will not be nearly as good as they once were.
Something will be missing
from this long, coffin-shaped room,
the walls and windows now
only two different shades of gray,
the glossy gardenia drooping
in its chipped terra cotta pot.
And on the floor, shoes, socks
the browning core of an apple.
Nothing will be as it was
a few hours ago, back in the glorious past
before our naps, back in that Golden Age
that drew to a close sometime shortly after lunch.
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
I wanna do right but not right now
Oh, for crying out loud.
Usually, I'm just finishing class right now, but our prof is otherwise occupied today so we were set free. So, of course, it makes total sense that today's the day they're jackhammering up the sidewalk right outside my window. GAH. Not like I need any kind of peace and/or quiet to study for tonight's Negotiations exam, no sirree...
I went to the gym with the Boy again today--fourth time now? He's helping me with weight training, because I never have had any kind of upper body strength (and I'm way intimidated by the machines, very few of which I knew how to use prior to this. Weight machines can only hurt you if you use them, after all--don't play their games). Plus, it's an especially good thing for women to do because it helps combat osteoporosis. Apparantly I'm already going up in the amount of weight I can lift, which is good, but I swear, my lower abdominal muscles are NEVER going to forgive me for the punishment I'm putting them through. I was lying on my stomach reading last night, and every time I moved they felt as though they were about to cramp up. I suppose once they get stronger this will be less of a problem, but it's a pretty damn steep learning curve at the moment.
Also, it's good I'm going to the gym because being a Lexis Rep? Means sitting next to an enormous bowl of candy for an hour or two every day and daring yourself not to eat any. I used to be pretty good, but anymore I just dig in, especially if I'm manning the lab right before lunch. Today, for instance: two funsize packs of gummi Life Savers, a mini Almond Joy, two funsize Twix and a mini midnight Milky Way. It's like every day is Halloween. I have got to start cutting back, no joke, or when I sit around the Lexis Lab, I'll really sit around... oh, nevermind.
Usually, I'm just finishing class right now, but our prof is otherwise occupied today so we were set free. So, of course, it makes total sense that today's the day they're jackhammering up the sidewalk right outside my window. GAH. Not like I need any kind of peace and/or quiet to study for tonight's Negotiations exam, no sirree...
I went to the gym with the Boy again today--fourth time now? He's helping me with weight training, because I never have had any kind of upper body strength (and I'm way intimidated by the machines, very few of which I knew how to use prior to this. Weight machines can only hurt you if you use them, after all--don't play their games). Plus, it's an especially good thing for women to do because it helps combat osteoporosis. Apparantly I'm already going up in the amount of weight I can lift, which is good, but I swear, my lower abdominal muscles are NEVER going to forgive me for the punishment I'm putting them through. I was lying on my stomach reading last night, and every time I moved they felt as though they were about to cramp up. I suppose once they get stronger this will be less of a problem, but it's a pretty damn steep learning curve at the moment.
Also, it's good I'm going to the gym because being a Lexis Rep? Means sitting next to an enormous bowl of candy for an hour or two every day and daring yourself not to eat any. I used to be pretty good, but anymore I just dig in, especially if I'm manning the lab right before lunch. Today, for instance: two funsize packs of gummi Life Savers, a mini Almond Joy, two funsize Twix and a mini midnight Milky Way. It's like every day is Halloween. I have got to start cutting back, no joke, or when I sit around the Lexis Lab, I'll really sit around... oh, nevermind.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
oh, bless your soul
MAN. Just when I think I'm totally over "Crazy," I hear Jude covering it for some French radio station and I'm totally taken in again. Not just the song, really, but that it's the perfect song for his crazy counter-tenor vocals. I miss that guy. Supermarj gets to see him all the freaking time and I've never seen a concert of his. Sigh. I wish King of Yesterday had gone places so he'd still be making major label (or at least major-indie label) releases. No One Is Really Beautiful remains one of my favorite albums, and not simply because I listened the hell out of it during a formative time in my life (my first semester, freshman year of college). (...though, aha! A quick trip to his website to provide a hyperlink for the uninitiated reveals he has a new album coming out via CD Baby on Nov. 16. O providence!)
Anyway, I wanted to blog about the Decemberists' show last night, which was fantastic, as usual. They are a must-see live act, honest to God. The Crane Wife's orchestral prog-rock translates really well into a live setting, though the Boy and I lamented that the new songs are so long that we were precluded from hearing others of our favorites (anything off of 5 Songs, for instance, or more than one song off of Her Majesty...). It was refreshing to hear "16 Military Wives" and "The Engine Driver" again--none of the songs on the new album quite reach the anthemic feel of each of those masterpieces from Picaresque. Still, I'm quite taken by the new backup vocalist/violinist/multi-instrumentalist Lisa--I've previously whined about how Petra's vocals overpowered Colin's when I saw them twice at Metro last year, whereas Lisa's voice blends quite nicely (though she was kind of hard to hear on the "Yankee Bayonet" duet). Chris Funk was playing a hurdy-gurdy (!) during "Sons and Daughters," the song that closed their set--but for an encore, Colin played "A Cautionary Song" while John, Lisa and Chris wandered through the throng of concertgoers and acted out "the final battle in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit," which I couldn't really see from the balcony but which was surely as entertaining as it sounded. Plus, we hit up Agami for sushi afterwards, which, yum. So, really, a pretty darn good night.
I have to admit, though, I'll probably never see a better Decemberists show than at the Southgate House in May '05, my first concert experience of theirs. They were SO on, and their immense talent and charm was SO delightful and unexpected--I expect a good show when I see them now, and I'm not disappointed, but I'll never be able to replace the novelty and whimsy of that first show. They're the best live band out there nowadays, I think--and trust me, I know a thing or two about good concerts.
Anyway, I wanted to blog about the Decemberists' show last night, which was fantastic, as usual. They are a must-see live act, honest to God. The Crane Wife's orchestral prog-rock translates really well into a live setting, though the Boy and I lamented that the new songs are so long that we were precluded from hearing others of our favorites (anything off of 5 Songs, for instance, or more than one song off of Her Majesty...). It was refreshing to hear "16 Military Wives" and "The Engine Driver" again--none of the songs on the new album quite reach the anthemic feel of each of those masterpieces from Picaresque. Still, I'm quite taken by the new backup vocalist/violinist/multi-instrumentalist Lisa--I've previously whined about how Petra's vocals overpowered Colin's when I saw them twice at Metro last year, whereas Lisa's voice blends quite nicely (though she was kind of hard to hear on the "Yankee Bayonet" duet). Chris Funk was playing a hurdy-gurdy (!) during "Sons and Daughters," the song that closed their set--but for an encore, Colin played "A Cautionary Song" while John, Lisa and Chris wandered through the throng of concertgoers and acted out "the final battle in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit," which I couldn't really see from the balcony but which was surely as entertaining as it sounded. Plus, we hit up Agami for sushi afterwards, which, yum. So, really, a pretty darn good night.
I have to admit, though, I'll probably never see a better Decemberists show than at the Southgate House in May '05, my first concert experience of theirs. They were SO on, and their immense talent and charm was SO delightful and unexpected--I expect a good show when I see them now, and I'm not disappointed, but I'll never be able to replace the novelty and whimsy of that first show. They're the best live band out there nowadays, I think--and trust me, I know a thing or two about good concerts.
Friday, November 10, 2006
all of our names on the marquee
Good news--I've got a class schedule!
This bidding stuff is nutty. Either that, or the classes I want nobody else does. The most I spent (well, the *only* points I spent, since none of my other classes filled) was on Employment Law, which is being taught by one of my best profs from last year. Everything else (Basic Fed Income Tax, Estates and Trusts, even my Music & Digital Copyright class) went for a point apiece. Huh. My worry now is that there might not be enough people in the music seminar for it to go forward & I'll have to find another class... well, I wouldn't *have* to, because I'm on track with my credits for graduation even without it--but it would be a bummer.
In other news, I persist in my established precedent of three professor hobnobbing events per public interest fellowship auction, which took place last night. I'll be going to dinner and a show with my academic counselor, brunch with my present business associations prof and future tax prof, and cocktails with last year's contracts prof and this year's supreme court prof. The problem with being in our school's a cappella group is that we're always rehearsing for our performance during the silent auction portion of the night, so I'm usually just told after the fact what I'm going to be spending money on. Heh. I'm pretty excited, though--these should be fun, and it didn't cost me all THAT much, plus it's for a good cause.
Things to look forward to this weekend: Borat/Indian food tonight, Decemberists/sushi tomorrow. high five!
This bidding stuff is nutty. Either that, or the classes I want nobody else does. The most I spent (well, the *only* points I spent, since none of my other classes filled) was on Employment Law, which is being taught by one of my best profs from last year. Everything else (Basic Fed Income Tax, Estates and Trusts, even my Music & Digital Copyright class) went for a point apiece. Huh. My worry now is that there might not be enough people in the music seminar for it to go forward & I'll have to find another class... well, I wouldn't *have* to, because I'm on track with my credits for graduation even without it--but it would be a bummer.
In other news, I persist in my established precedent of three professor hobnobbing events per public interest fellowship auction, which took place last night. I'll be going to dinner and a show with my academic counselor, brunch with my present business associations prof and future tax prof, and cocktails with last year's contracts prof and this year's supreme court prof. The problem with being in our school's a cappella group is that we're always rehearsing for our performance during the silent auction portion of the night, so I'm usually just told after the fact what I'm going to be spending money on. Heh. I'm pretty excited, though--these should be fun, and it didn't cost me all THAT much, plus it's for a good cause.
Things to look forward to this weekend: Borat/Indian food tonight, Decemberists/sushi tomorrow. high five!
Monday, November 06, 2006
so just give up
Hi, reader. I feel like I haven't said much lately that didn't concern Bob Barker or my kitty (she's doing better every day, btw), and I feel bad about that. But I'm also feeling pretty blah today for no good reason--I turned in my paper, but it only means I have to start work in earnest on my journal comment. I don't have negotiations class this week, but my graded, videotaped negotiation is Thursday, so I need to prepare for it. I wanted to take administrative law next semester, but I found out my ITP ("trip to Egypt") class conflicts with it so I've got to rethink things. I saw An Inconvenient Truth this afternoon and found it to be very impressive--and very depressing. So for every glimmer of positive I've got going on, there's a helping of negative alongside, and I'm finding it very draining on my spirit. The word I've used to describe this semester over and over again is "relentless," and it still absolutely applies. At least time is flying by, for better or worse--I simply cannot fathom the fact that it's solidly November right now.
I also need to pick a job. I think I know what I'm going to do, but I'm having a hard time committing to it. As usual.
Anyway. I'd like to go to bed early tonight. Likeright now after I read for my bright-and-early morning class.
Tentative class bids/ideal next semester schedule, for those who care:
Basic Federal Income Tax (another freaking 8:45 am MTW class)
Employment Law
Estates & Trusts
Music, Copyright & Digital Technology (I cannot express how excited I am for this--it had better not suck)
"Trip to Egypt"
That's 15 credits, 2 more than I need... but it means I only have to take 12 credits each semester next year, so I guess that's good. Except for that whole 8:45 am class thing. Grr.
I also need to pick a job. I think I know what I'm going to do, but I'm having a hard time committing to it. As usual.
Anyway. I'd like to go to bed early tonight. Like
Tentative class bids/ideal next semester schedule, for those who care:
Basic Federal Income Tax (another freaking 8:45 am MTW class)
Employment Law
Estates & Trusts
Music, Copyright & Digital Technology (I cannot express how excited I am for this--it had better not suck)
"Trip to Egypt"
That's 15 credits, 2 more than I need... but it means I only have to take 12 credits each semester next year, so I guess that's good. Except for that whole 8:45 am class thing. Grr.
Friday, November 03, 2006
c'mon and get in the boat, fish fish?
not the crabcakes! Fishing market faces collapse by 2048
In other news, I'm tired, I'm behind in my work, and I'm traveling tomorrow. I think I'm going to have to take my journal extension for our next deadline, which means I'll be working on it over Thanksgiving while my 'rents are here. I bought tix to go back to New Haven (I just can't stay away!) for new year's. And I'm trying to figure out which classes to take next semester, given that 4 of my credits are already pre-determined (and will take me to Egypt next spring break. woo!).
I can't believe it's November. I can't believe I'm seeing ads for holiday sales already. I'm just not ready for all this. Sigh.
In other news, I'm tired, I'm behind in my work, and I'm traveling tomorrow. I think I'm going to have to take my journal extension for our next deadline, which means I'll be working on it over Thanksgiving while my 'rents are here. I bought tix to go back to New Haven (I just can't stay away!) for new year's. And I'm trying to figure out which classes to take next semester, given that 4 of my credits are already pre-determined (and will take me to Egypt next spring break. woo!).
I can't believe it's November. I can't believe I'm seeing ads for holiday sales already. I'm just not ready for all this. Sigh.
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