A quick and dirty update

YES, I keep dropping off the face of the Earth!

1)  It's hard when really the main thing going on is work.  Long, painful hours of work.  And I can't talk about work here, no matter how much I want to, because there's a strong possibility my butt would get the boot.  My butt does not like boots.

2)  Let's talk about Stat.  Remember a few postings ago when I said that I had three chapters left of Statistics and a week before the final?  When I came home from work Friday (5/11) I STILL had those three chapters to do before the final.  The final was Saturday (the testing center was only open from 9am-1pm and closed on Sunday). 

Yeah, so that was FUN.  Boyfriend and I stayed up until 4am working until my eyes became completely blurred and I started vomiting.  I was not made for "all-nighters," especially not all-nighters of MATH.  So I crashed at 4am with one chapter left, and boyfriend finally crashed at 4:30am.  We set the alarm for 6:30am and then got right back to work. 

We finished the third chapter and quiz around 9am, the same time that the distance learning center opened that day.  We called just to make sure that we absolutely had to take the final that day (the last day of the semester was Monday).  To our immense relief, the center told us that we could take it Monday.

After that we collapsed.

We took the final Monday after work.  It was irritating, the exam was multiple choice and several questions had you choosing between answers that were .01 apart.  It makes you second guess yourself; it becomes a question of whether you can outsmart the test, not whether you know the material.  I was thoroughly aggravated.  Stat really turned out pretty badly.  That being said, I still have high hopes for both PSY 231 - Lifespan Development and BIO 141 - Human Anatomy & Physiology.

3)  After an awful Friday night and Saturday morning, Saturday evening turned out great.  Boyfriend and I went to The Italian Store, a place he'd read many good things about.  The place lived up to its ratings - he had a great sub with salami and proscuitto and I had some incredible pizza with fresh garlic on top.

After the Italian Store we got some ice cream at The Dairy Godmother , another place he'd read wonderful things about.  This place was also exceptional.  Their 'ice cream of the day' was Maple Walnut, and let me tell you, I scarfed that DOWN! 

After loading up on delicious, fattening food, we saw Hot Fuzz at the movie theater.  I was prepared to dislike this movie, I thought it would be just too silly.  I actually really enjoyed it and it was a lot funnier than I'd thought.

So, a shitty day really can turn out wonderfully.

4)  The apartment.  You know how I feel about it: it's small, there's no room for a kitchen table (thus, no entertaining !), and the best feature (the girl who used to constantly walk around in her birthday suit) is gone, gone, gone. 

We visited a condo for rent that I found on Craigslist.  It was surprisingly nice, but it just didn't have that special something to make the whole hassle worthwhile.

We finally went to our leasing office to discuss renewal/termination options, and she told us about another unit in the same building that's a little bit bigger.  It wouldn't be that much more expensive at all AND there's room for a kitchen table!  It's a few floors above the one we're on now, but it still faces the courtyard.  There's a good chance that we could even be next to a new naked neighbor.

Boyfriend was pretty gung ho about it from the get-go.  I, of course, saw only the pitfalls and setbacks.  Just when he won me over, I'd gone and made him nervous too.  But we finally made a decision, and I shoved the paperwork to transfer to the new unit underneath the door of the leasing office this morning.  Woo.


I'll try to be more like Kant, okay?  Until then, I'm going to get a smoothie!

A Weekend to Remember

Friday night I was supposed to meet up with Jen, my friend from law school last year. After I got home from another fun 5pm meeting, I gave her a call. She was with another friend in the area, and that friend wanted to go get her nails done.

I felt a little dumped on. I thought it was my night to have Jen all to myself. And you know how I feel about getting nails done (or you can probably guess, based on my eyebrow rants). Two hours lately she was finally done watching her friend get her nails done, and the friend was now coming to dinner with us.

We met up at one of my favorite places for fun, Rock Bottom. Jen and I used to go to the one in Pittsburgh all the time, especially at key times such as during midterms or finals. We had some dinner, drinks and lots of laughs. But Jen's friend started losing her voice and getting sicker than apparently she had been the rest of the week. So they left; she didn't see my apt, and we didn't even get a picture or two together. I was bummed, and I was slightly intoxicated... not my favorite combination.

I know that she's living in South Carolina now and she doesn't get to see people often. She has to try to get in as many people as she can when she's around; that doesn't mean I have to like it. I had a great time with her. I forgot how easy she is to talk and joke with. I missed hearing her constant laugh. Any irritation at her friend is purely just jealously because I wanted more time.

Our friend Ray was supposed to come up for the weekend as well. He backed out because he said he had to finish working on his graduate level thesis. Boyfriend and I have a strong love and appreciation for academia, so of course we didn't balk when he started to waver. Also, I learned that I'm thanked on his acknowledgments page. That brings my number of thesis thank-yous to two graduate level theses and one undergraduate level thesis. I wouldn't hate being a professional muse, or at least a thesis muse... as long as it's nothing like Sharon Stone in that awful 1999 movie 'The Muse.' Turns out Ray just wanted to spend some quality time with his new girlfriend. Well, I guess that's forgivable too.

And it all worked out swimmingly, because I had one of the best weekends ever.

Saturday I convinced boyfriend to go to my favorite mall near us and finish up some Christmas shopping. Their holiday decorations were amazing, and I really enjoyed everything about being there. It was crowded, but not as bad as the mall we went to the weekend before. It was big, but not so big that it felt overwhelming.

Our friend Jeff happened to be in DC visiting some art shows he wanted to see. He metroed over to the mall and we all enjoyed a delicious Thai dinner. I got them to go to the Hallmark store outside with me, and I finally found the perfect gift for boyfriend's mother - A Very Merry Trio. It's a snowman and two penguins, and then dance to music and rattle bells.

Anyone remember Billy the Big-mouthed Bass? Most people bought him as a joke gift or for someone they really didn't like. My boyfriend's mother got it because she thought it was great. She also has singing stuffed dogs, a witch portrait that sticks out its tongue and makes fun of you when you walk buy, a talking/singing Frankenstein door knocker, and lots of other things I'm trying to forget. My only hope is that she doesn't buy A Very Merry Trio before I can give it to her.

Well if having my two favorite men as shopping buddies wasn't great enough, we also went to Cold Stone Creamery, watched my nudey neighbor for awhile, and played some XBOX. Truly a night to remember.

On Sunday we made a quick and decisive trip to the grocery store. Also, I got boyfriend to agree to take me to see 'The Holiday.' I was just in one of those romantic comedy moods. I didn't want anything that would shatter my world, just some mindless, fun entertainment at the theater. We race there to make it in time. The previews come on, the previews cut off. The previews come on, the previews cut off. Repeat cycle. Some guy comes in to pass out reimbursement tickets and assures us that the movie will begin shortly. Repeat previous cycle a few times. Forty-five minutes later another guy shrugs that the movie probably isn't going to work. "So, should we go?" we wonder. Who knows. It's a big mystery. We left, no movie.

That was a bummer. I was all hyped up to see a holiday romantic comedy. I went to the video store downstairs to try to satisfy my romantic comedy desires, and I rented 'The Break-up.' I know that I make other people sad when I crap all over things they like, but seriously, do you really like The Break-Up? A movie where two people scream for two hours and then don't even satisfy the classic cliche of reuniting in the end? This movie seriously pissed me off and didn't help my problem at all.

But, I decided to stop being lame, and I picked up a book I've been meaning to read that's been beckoning me from the bookshelf for a few weeks now - White Teeth. So far it's great, and I'm thrilled.

Other lovely news from the weekend is that I tried out the other trial pair of contacts I picked up since the O2 Optix weren't working out. These are Acuvue Oasys, worn by Olympic figure skater Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto! These contacts are really working out for me! I highly recommend them to anyone who spends long periods of time in front of the computer, gets frequent headaches or tired eyes, or works in any other environment that's not conducive to contacts. Also, I love Tanith & Ben... and figure skating... and the Olympics!

I could mention some crap about my Monday at work, but why tarnish such a great weekend? Hope you all had a good one as well! Don't let Monday get you down.

High Fives All Around

New Year's Eve is supposed to be one time out of the year where you just go nuts. Respectable people can get wasted and barf on their neighbor's shoe. You can sorta be drunk in public. You can stay out the entire night. Nothing is open, and the whole country is doing the same thing.

But every New Year's Eve I feel an incredible lameness wash over me. It's usually the one night of the year where the last thing I want to do is anything. Last year boyfriend and I had a good excuse not to go out; it was his first year of his hellish job and he basically freaked out. This year, humorously, he was also freaking out but it was because he bought a car. Most of the weekend was spent at car dealers playing the haggling game. He bought the car on New Year's Eve day, and I think as it grew closer towards evening "funtime" he was moving in and out of his "shit, I just wedded myself to an expensive car payment for the next X years" coma.

So he wasn't going to argue when I said that all I wanted to do that night was watch Ace of Cakes. But, obligations.... guilt... we went out.

First we played a few hours of wii in our favorite home theater to warm ourselves up. Then we made it over to a party where, in a truly sly plot, we helped our friend and his crush realize their feelings for one another. At around 2am, we went back (you guessed it) to play more wii until 4am.

Most New Year's Eves I find myself thinking about the future... where I'll be, what I'll be doing, etc. Usually I have a scene in my head for what the future looks like; I'm a big daydreamer. I really didn't have anything this time, though. I wasn't sad or anxious about it. It just was, if that makes any sense. So I'm not sure how I feel about 2007 yet, except that it feels rather freeing. I don't have a formula for this year yet, but I do have some tools to work with that I hope will make it great.

Happy '07

At Least It's Not Monday

Thanks for the information yesterday, Internet. If you come up with anything new please let me know. I want to get as much information as I can because, as I'm sure you can imagine, the last thing I want to do is jump into more graduate school without thinking. Even though if I choose to do this it will take me a while to get there (GREs, prerequisite classes), I'm still pretty good at making a plan without thinking and executing the plan without thinking.

A friend visited for the weekend. We went to the Hirshhorn Museum, an obscure band's show at a coffee shop, and saw my nudist neighbor partially naked. It's almost boring at this point!

I also took my second cooking course on Sunday: Artisan Bread Making. It wasn't nearly as good as the Chinese food class. The instructor for that class was lively and patient, and the students were pretty much on the same page as far as level of experience went. The bread making class was mostly older people who had been trying to make bread for some time. It made me nervous to even touch my dough (which I was mostly wearing by the end of the night because it was sticking to me so much).

We made rosemary focaccia, challah, french bread, and sticky buns. I don't remember focaccia I've ever had being salty, but this was super salty. Also we used big electric mixers to stir the dough (which I certainly don't have/can't afford). Guess I shouldn't switch to making my own bread any time soon.

My family is at the beach without me. I thought I'd be able to go, but that was earlier in the summer when I was still unemployed. Now I'm a working lady, so no week long vacations for me yet. How does my family comfort me even though I'm missing out? By sending me camera phone pictures of the beach and the house where they're staying, of course!

Happy Tuesday, because it's better than Monday.

A Saturday Night to Remember

I don't know what you did last night, Internet, but my night was pretty action packed.

I was about to go clean the bathroom, and I was shutting the blinds in the bedroom. I happened to glance over towards our exhibitionist neighbor. Sure enough, she was in a towel.

So, I'm only human. I had to watch. And I had to call my boyfriend to come see, as well. Time passed and she eventually started parading around naked. Of course, that was only after she had jumped up on the bathroom sink. I don't know what she was doing up there, but it sure was entertaining.

In other news, I figured out how to put pictures from my camera phone onto my computer. And my camera phone has all sorts of neat settings like black and white, negative, sepia, and solari. Now I can take melodramatic pictures anytime, anywhere. Top that for a Saturday night!

New Faces, New Places

drop out of law school - check
move to one location instead of three - check
finish temporary summer job - check
enter the full-time world - CHECK

Today was my first day of big kid work... the full-time job: no summer vacation, no "I don't feel like it today."

The first part of the day was hilarious. Everyone crowds on the metro not talking to one another and listening to their ipod or reading the paper.

My new workplace is nice. I have my own office, i.e. awesome. I have a nice view down to the bustling street below. It makes me want to submit it.

The people I work with are all very friendly and personable. It's a smaller office. I'll get to work on a lot of different projects and pick up a lot of information along the way. It's definitely an adjustment. I'm not used to being so tired at the end of the day. And the prospect of having no summer vacation anymore is a little daunting. We really do spend so much of our lives working; it's a little scary.

But it sure as shit beats attending law school and living the life of an attorney (at least, the life that I would have had with it... public service job, no money, assloads of loans, working 500,000 hours a day)! We've been down that road enough, don't you think?

Also, my new neighbor across the way needs to realize that it's not a good idea to pull down your pants and check yourself out in the mirror unless you close all the blinds. Leaving all your blinds open plus having all the lights on while hundreds of other people could be (and are, in my case) standing out on their balcony will only lead to embarrassment for you. Yikes.

Happy Purim

Yes, Happy Purim indeed!
Upon returning home today, I was greeted by a festive looking glass on my porch with some kind of bread, treats, jelly beans, and confetti stuff. A note across the top read,

'Happy Purim from the Barrocas family!
p.s. The challah is made in fleishig keilim'

I don't know what those things are, or who that family is... but I whole heartedly approve. The little children of the neighborhood are all dressed up today. I saw a girl in a princess dress before I left this morning, but I think I was so grumbley that I didn't even take the time to think 'gee, that's odd.' I've never seen the Hasidic Jews wear bright colors before, so this must be a momentous occassion. Wikipedia says,

Purim (Hebrew: פורים Pûrîm "Lots", from Akkadian pūru)
is a joyous Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of Persian Jews from the plot of the evil Haman to exterminate them, as recorded in the biblical Book of Esther. It is characterized by drinking of wine, feasting, wearing of masks and costumes, giving charity to the poor, and giving gifts of food to one's friends.

The Book of Esther prescribes "the sending of portions one to another, and gifts to the poor". Over time, this became one of the most prominent features of the celebration of Purim. Jews send gifts of food (called "mishloach manot"), especially wine and pastries, to one another, and Jews give charity to the poor. In the synagogue, regular collections are made on the festival and the money is distributed among the needy. No distinction was to be made among the poor; anyone who was willing to accept charity is allowed to participate. It is obligatory upon the poorest Jew, even one who is himself dependent on charity, to give to other poor people.

Maybe they think I'm poor... I guess the outside of the house is a little beat up. There was some crap on the deck and I couldn't figure out what it was. Of course, my first thought was that it was something poisonous or explosive. Upon closer examination, it's either pieces of my roof or my neighbor's roof. Neither would surprise me.


There was a time in my life when I really wanted to be Jewish. I know this sounds ridiculous, and probably even bordering on totally offensive for any Jews reading this (considering my reasoning for wanting to be Jewish was really the cultural draw rather than anything having to do with God). In fact, I even tricked myself into believing that I was half Jewish for a few months of my life. My best friend at the time was Jewish, and she always invited me over for the celebrations... leaving wine out for Elijah (I believe it was Elijah... because he was supposed to be out wandering around, please don't hold me to the factuality of this), building the Passover Seder, making chocolate covered matzah, fried matzah, dancing and singing (although I never knew the words), etc.

It really seemed great. Why wouldn't it? It sure beat what was going on in my house (ie nothing). Even if we had been a church-going family I am sure that I would have resisted it. Again, this clearly had nothing to do with religion.

Yet, it is probably true that I spent more time with Judaism growing up than any other religion...

So, thanks for the challah. Happy Purim to you, too.

Plenty of Scorn to go Around

The weather is beautiful for this time of year... the kids outside are yelping and playing, the neighbor is working on miscellaneous bizarre art projects on the porch, the smashed up car from Super Bowl XL is still next to the telephone pole. So why am I not out enjoying the day?

I'm in law school, staring at an appellate brief that needs to be completed.

Yes... and on this fine day it has incited my wrath.

Take these fine blogs for example: Shmooed Food and Vegan Lunch Box. Why do they get to be so awesome? I'll tell you why...

"I'm a stay-at-home mom with a work-at-home hubby and one groovy little shmoo. I'm a vegan activist who loves to cook (and eat!)."

I don't have a hubby or a groovy little shmoo. I am neither a vegan (although I love exploring it) or an activist (at least not in the proper use of the term). I am not going to rant about how unfair it is that 'some people get to stay at home and do whatever they want and others have to go to work and bust their butts to make a living and put food on the table and are unpaid, overworked, and unappreciated and life is a big machine and we're all slaves to the grind and just wanna make a better life for our kids....' blaaaaaaaaaa, ad nauseam.

Because when you get right down to it, I'm envious of this woman. I'm envious of her adorable vegan lunch box, her knitting, her staying-at-home, her little shmoo (whatever the hell that is, probably a kid, but it still sounds spectacular... I'm calling my hypothetical child a little shmoo as well), her work at home hubby, the whole shabang.

I'm also jealous of my boyfriend who is currently, as I type away, being hooked up with a new, totally sweet ass computer... all for the grand total of $530 (our friend is helping him build it).


And of my landlord, who today sent me in a postcard in the mail from Falcon State Park.

"This is one of our favorite parks for birding. We're seeing colorful orioles, jays and flycatchers. Sibley [their dog] enjoys the exotic smells of coyotes chavalina [wtf is this?]. We're eating lots of Texas oranges, avocados, and grapefruits!"

Yeah... you guys have a blast. I'll be fine in Snowsylvania.... Coldsylvania... ILoveToWhinesylvania.

Of course, I love seeing people that are really making the most of things. It's probably the most inspirational thing I can think of. It helps me see that life can be so many different things, and that I don't need to be scared of it.

Every day for approximately the last 4-5 months (wow, it seems so much longer than that) I have contemplated pulling the plug on this career path. And for the last week, I feel like I've finally climbed the mountain and I'm looking over the edge. Man, I'm just like Frodo and the Ring. I want to throw it into the fire, but I'm also scared. It's been with me for so long. Throwing it away means changing a part of me, losing something. Even though I know it's not what's best for me. Part of me wants to keep it, just to avoid the pain. Good thing Sam is there to give me a good kick in the ass!! ("Sam" knows who he is... although he probably either stopped reading this ridiculous extended metaphor or he hurt himself when smacking his forehead with embarrassed discomfort).

Don't worry, the Ring is about in the fire. I'm just saying some parting words. And I will dump the metaphor now as well.

Further, if you're thinking about law school, do not go right after college. Even if you've 'known it's what you've wanted to do since you were 5, have been working your entire undergraduate career to get there, have done menial tasks at a law firm before, have a family full of lawyers, everyone's telling you that you'd be so great at it'... again, ad nauseam.

These are not good reasons. If I could change your mind by getting on my knees and begging/pleading that you need to really get experience in a law firm (doing legal research and writing) AND nonlegal experience AND conduct informational interviews with lawyers to see what you might like to do (because you will not have time to figure it out when you get there... trust me, you lose) before you go, I would do it. Sure, everyone's experiences and goals are different, but having more experience if you do choose to go later will only help you and set you ahead. The older law students I know are all happy... it's us younguns who love to fuss.

Go buy this book by Deborah Schneider (JD holder) and Gary Belsky (dropped out). I wanted to post the introduction to the book (I scanned it and mailed it to my Peace Corps friend in Africa; this is how strongly I feel), but I'm scared of copyright death. It is really great because it helps you take an honest look at your ideas about law school. It guides you into making an informed decision that you will feel good about. And that, my friends, is the key.

Decisions you're dissatisfied with, yet you commit to for life, means no vegan lunch box or little shmoo, no sweet ass computer, no bird watching and coyote chavalinas at Falcon State Park. You don't get an award for making yourself miserable. Think about it.