shame on them.

this is frightening. how is it ok to think that we need to indoctrinate youth in america like they are in pakistan? really? this is really what our nation is coming to? seriously.

these people are exploiting their children for their political beliefs and it's disguisting.

shame on them.

how many years of college does it take to change a lightbulb? is 15 enough? UPDATED

i'm afraid of my car. on a few levels. sometimes on bridges, i have images of being thrown off the side like that yugo that sailed off the mackinac bridge when i was a kid. but more than that, i'm scared of taking care of my car. i can get the oil changed, but whenever something comes up that requires a [gulp] mechanic, it tends to turn me from a confident, educated modern woman to a bumbling, frightened, shaking sucker. and i'm pretty sure they have some kind of sensor at garages that sense fear. i must send it off the chart.

my check engine light has been for years. years. after about six traumatizing visits to the mechanic, i stopped going. now, i get scared when the check engine light turns off. lately, the driver's side headlight has been on the fritz. for a while, just pounding the light a few times would jolt it back to life, like those shock paddles they have in the emergency room. but it stopped working. this morning, out of nowhere after breakfast, B and i had a gust of bravery and stopped at the auto supply store to buy our own headlight. we're smart, educated, clever people. surely we can change a simple headlight, right?

make sure not to touch that glass with your finger, the cashier said. otherwise, it will probably explode. m'kay. B had read the owner's manual, and it looked pretty straightforward. this cashier was probably just trying to freak us out.

so we came home and lugged all our tools down to the parking garage. B was excited to prove his testosterone levels. the excitement quickly turned to cursing those crazy south koreans that built my car. not his car, of course. my car. (note: any of you that have ever enjoyed even one beer with B knows all too well his disdain for foreign cars. he, of course, will only own an american car. he refuses to put his name on the title of the kia. no joke. so, obviously, if this were an american car, the headlight wouldn't have even burned out, according to B. and if it did, changing it would be nothing short of a delight.)

ninety minutes, a brief moment where B thought he should remove the side panel of the car, and a google consultation later, we decided to discard the stupid owner's manual's directions and just took out the battery. from there, it was a quick job to get that old bulb out and shove the new one in. (B touched it quickly, but it didn't explode. nice.) and there was only one little spark when B was rehooking the battery. mission accomplished.

but imagine my surprise when i hopped in the car to run to the grocery store. (B needed celery - he's making homemade chicken soup for dinner. DAMN i love this man.) it wasn't until i was pulling out of the parage garage that i noticed it.

the check engine light.

it isn't on anymore. gulp.

UPDATE: the check engine light is back. phew.

a new, remarkable low

six law student volunteers pretending they are lawyers, one socially awkward professor, lights too low, illegible fake jury directions. a crowd of blank, dull eyes stare back as crazy t states her case.

two in front of me: myspace.
one in front and to the right: paying verizon bill.
even H checked her email.
one in front and to the left: solitaire.
a few over: shopping.
it's an accurate representation.

and me? reading an entire script from an episode of the office. from season 2.

today, ladies and gentleman, we have reached a truly remarkable low.

sigh.

UPDATE: in the front, to the left: reading the maryland poison center website. wtf. maybe brain poisoning. from boredom.

wrest from the cold hands of a right-wing conspiracy

it's a beautiful thing to see lady justice twart the vast right-wing conspiracy that brought down the most popular politician in macomb county, michigan for 20 years ... thank god it took only his political career, not his freedom.

B and i couldn't be happier.

seriously.

i know i've been a little obsessed with my two favorite television shows lately. sorry. the thing is, i only get to watch those two shows these days (plus a little daily show if i can stay up that late, and also football on the weekends, because i can usually do homework at the same time) and so i must embrace them.

right now, i'm listening to the grey's anatomy podcast, which i have missed sorely. (obsessed, see?) i so appreciate the writing that shonda rhimes does, i just love her. but now i love her even more. she was talking about how much of a fool she made of herself when she met the cast of the office, which is her favorite show. seriously. i could be this woman's best friend. we would get along so well. and then she could tell me secrets about mcdreamy and meredith and finn, and it'd be great. for example, she could tell me if that rumor i read that there is going to be a threesome on grey's this season is true. because i really need to know.

at some point i'll maybe try to stop writing only about television. but while i'm on the topic, let me just say that i bought this for A for her birthday. and it got to her before her birthday. this has NEVER happened. usually i'm a couple months late. and so is she. it's our thang. but not this year, oh no.

sunday morning

orient beach, st. martin, the french west indies

my head didn't explode

though i was really scared about it for a while.

i totally skipped class to watch tv last night. i admit it. and you know what? i'm not sorry.

i won't list all the reasons why, because i'm not sure how people will react to my total obsession with grey's anatomy and the office. but there are so many reasons. i think i'll re-watch them both this weekend. a couple times.

but briefly, thank you pam so much for not marrying roy. and also i cried twice during grey's anatomy. again, i admit it.



this actually makes me feel bad for roy. but then i remember that he is a jerk and left pam at a hockey game on their first date. oh, and that jim is awesome. then i don't feel so sorry anymore. (plus there's the fact that this is all fiction, which i realize. seriously.

my head might explode

i can't believe the premiers for the office and grey's anatomy are on the same night.

seriously.

i'm so excited i think my head might explode.

spicy jesus roll

i think it's no secret that i enjoy a little celeb trash from time to time. ah, escapism.

from msn's gossip page:

Stephen Baldwin has a message for Tom Cruise: Let's do lunch, with a little scripture on the side.
"On the Hollywood list of people I pray for often, Tom Cruise is probably No. 1," the born-again "Bio-Dome" D-lister tells Radar. "All I have to say to Tom is, God bless ya, I hope you're having fun. But I'd love through Radar magazine to throw a gauntlet down to Mr. Cruise. I'd love to break bread with him and pray with him, and I'd love for the Holy Spirit of God to reveal the truth to him. That would be an awesome thing."

Baldwin, who describes himself as one of the "new breed of Christians" who "are gettin' ready to kick ass in the name of the Kingdom," then beseeches, "Seriously though, can you put us together? Can we get a little sushi together? I'd like to give him a spicy Jesus roll."

ok, ok. i'll try not to be too snarky here. it's killing me, it really is. with every insulting comment i think of, i can see B shaking his head at me.

but seriously - spicy jesus roll has got to be my new favorite phrase. kick ass in the name of the kingdom - also a gem. (note: i've enjoyed many a spicy roll in my day, but usually ... uh ... tuna. what the hell is this guy talking about?!)

yes, mr. baldwin. your religious fanaticism is superior to mr. cruise's.

it's a sad day when the leaders of the free world engage in such deception and trickery. ~ Major R. Owens

today is one of those days that i just can't think of anything clever to blog about. so i'm going to entrust that to the onion, the home of all things clever and not-too-far-from-being-true.

New Bill Would Defend Marriage From Sharks

WASHINGTON, DC—Congressional Republicans cited the saw-edged teeth of the shark community as a direct threat to married couples everywhere.

all the clever has been sucked out of my brain lately - i've been trying to morph myself into a fake lawyer for this fake case i'm working on that believes it's actually a brilliant idea for the government to spy on people's internet activity with no just cause and no warrant. i've even been quoting W and cheney. people, that's not a good day. when you're using W logic to make a legal argument, it's like standing on the edge of a intellectual cliff.

i love ya, H, but this project sucks. please don't ask me to do it again next year.

my very strong feelings about radishes

prior to our august vacation to michigan, i had never eaten a radish. Not One. Ever. i’d thought i had expunged myself of all those things i learned from my parents that i probably wouldn’t like … including, but not limited to, grapefruits, cauliflower, artichokes, spinach, pretty much all raw vegetables - and radishes. once i realized during high school that my parents abhorred trying new foods, i set out to try (and like) them all, which i pretty much do - except lima beans and peas, both of which my dad loves and – strangely – B is allergic to so i don’t ever have to eat.

i don’t mean to insult my parents because they didn’t expose me to the joy of spicy freshness that is embodied in a radish – i understand that most americans are content with pre-packaged or fast food. that’s fine. my point with all this is to highlight how completely parents can decide that their children’s world view will be limited – politically, socially, economically, culinary-ily … to think my parents had the ability to keep me away from radishes. it's shocking.

i heart tv

i've just gotten my paws on the soundtrack for the second season of grey's anatomy. (thanks, A.) it's the kind of cd that i find makes me romaticize my daily routine. it makes the two blocks from the metro to my office a little sexy somehow. the music is so good that it makes even my dull routine feel cool. subtly cool, but cool nonetheless. and i can't wait for the season to start on thursday.

and while i'm on tv and thursday ... go team halpert! i've said before (though not on this blog) that i was so glad jim stepped up before it was too late...

that's my tv musings for the week. grab that soundtrack. it's great.

sunday

the stadium at UVa in charlottesville, virginia. yesterday, the mighty western michigan university broncos handed it to the cavaliers, much to the delight of yours truly, and the other 100 or so bronco fans that somehow made it to charlottesville.

ha ha.

the view from this stadium was beautiful.

find a job you like and you add five days to every week. ~h. jackson browne

it's a good day to be me. even dull con law can't get me down!

weeks of pounding the pavement in my too-pointy-for-comfort heels have finally paid off.

today's interview with my favorite, favorite law firm must have gone alright (to quote the lawyer with whom i interviewed a few weeks back, i really hit it out of the park today) ... they called me a few short hours later without even waiting for the hiring committee to meet in order to extend to me one of the two summer positions for next year.

i know it's cheesy, but this is me. on cloud nine. :)



UPDATE: kudos to the usually crazy parents. they were appropriately interested and thrilled when i called with the big news this evening. it was the first time in a long time that they've wanted to know what's going on with me, and have engaged in a conversation with me about my future. although, my dad kept saying "they are paying you a lot of money, right?!" over and over. but, damn, at least he was paying attention. thanks, mom and dad.

the 11th

i was in nyc november 2001. the friend with whom i was staying and i walked across the brooklyn bridge and down to lower manhattan. the buildings, the streets, cars, windows, handrails to the subway - all were covered in the ash. i remember being struck by the silence, and that the air seemed terribly heavy. we spent some time there, and i took a few photos of the remains of the building, thinking someday it would be powerful to show the photos to my children.

all the other photos i took on that visit to new york turned out - except the photos of ground zero. true story.

sunday morning

i'm going to copy cbs sunday morning and post a happy quiet thoughts photo.

fishtown. leland michigan.

failing stand-up career? try cnn. i think they're hiring.

i'm fairly certain cnn.com has hired a new headline writer. i mentioned the headline about the polygamist warren jeffs that read: "Polygamist 'prophet' flies from Sin City to Purgatory" ... because the name of the jail was Purgatory Correctional Facility. hardy har har.

but today, there's also: Lamborghini drive costs 50 Cent ... not 50 cents. no. 50 Cent. oi.

yesterday, we had Nanny pays high price for backdoor beauty.

the only thing i can make from all this is that we are venturing further and further from actual news. infotainment is here. and i'm only getting my news from here or here from now on.

show yourself!

who are you, 888-341-6575?! and why do you keep calling me?

stop it. seriously.

i'm not the only one.....

my new favorite blog

please read about juniper.

i'm finding this blog so charming - but more than that ... it's interesting to see a young professional couple moving back to detroit (downtown detroit, where we too want to buy a big house despite being told we're crazy to live there) with their young child. this may very well be our story in seven, eight, nine years. i'm thrilled to see that we aren't the only ones who are drawn there. it gives me hope - for the city, for the state.

ah, silly girl

i got a somehow normalish voice mail from my mom yesterday evening. a funny story to tell, she said. call me after class. topics of conversation have been more rare than phone calls of late, so i bit. the funny story turned out to be that she found a box of my high school paraphanalia in the attic (which is neither funny nor odd, since i have refused for years to haul that crap to dc and she refuses to throw it out).

but then i realized why she had really called. my dad had emailed me for my opinion on a lawsuit they are contemplating (my novice advice was, of course, i don't know. if you don't trust your lawyer, go talk to another one). basically, my mom wants to sue and my dad doesn't. she had called, i realized, not an hour after i emailed my dad back to find out what i had told him. because somehow that's easier than just asking him. (sadly, i think it is.)

how is it that they can still manage to put me in the middle of things when i am 600 miles away and we barely talk? it's not that i minded repeating myself, nor giving the advice in the first place. i was happy she called. but i've forgotten what it's like to get a phone call just because they want to talk to me.

i said i was going to keep my crazy family out of this blog, but i lied.

oh, cnn ....

...how clever your play on words...

time for a change in scenery

today's adventures in interviewing began ever so pleasantly - rushing out the door having only gulped down half a cup of coffee, uncomfortable in my suit, hose and heels as always, and lugging forty-five pounds of law school paraphanalia a little before 8am .... into a rainstorm. i mean, it was coming down in sheets. it wasn't actually the walk to the metro (just across the street) that was awful so much as the six blocks to the hotel where interviews are held, running a tad later than i'd have preferred, that really got to me. luckily, the first interview of the day was with the firm for whom i've already been gainfully employed, so the pressure was off to remember the names, summer associate class size and distinguishing features right off the bat. but i was flustered, and the time spent with the flat-iron for naught, because my hair reacted poorly to the wind and the rain.

i have gotten into the habit of debriefing B after every interview, or cluster of interviews. i'm markedly less escatic these days, not because the firms aren't impressive, but mostly because the adrenelin rush i had enjoyed with those early interviews has largely vanished. after a dozen of these bad boys, it seems very pedantic.

thankfully, for my interest level, the last of four interviews today was at an office not in the neighborhood where i've been working and learning for these past years. the view out the window was of this building (but from the 11th floor), and the beautiful roman style museums along the mall in the background. it was worth the four metro stops each way (and the meager ten minutes i was left with to switch to class mode) for the change in scenery.

i would feel terribly important working in an office with a view like that.

this is what friends do .....

rk helped me pick out my wedding dress - and i sat there for two hours while she got this done. i was just hoping that my mom would call me on saturday so i could say "sorry mom - can't talk - at the tattoo parlor!" click. he he he.

i think it's fantastic! it makes me and my tattoo feel woefully inadequate.

iraq today