Triumph

No, I have not mastered the MBE practice questions, I've been procrastinating. But the fruits of my procrastination are amazing - I made a skirt. That's right, I sewed a piece of clothing that actually looks normal - like it came from a store even. [Ok, so not once you look at the waistband, that's a little messy, but not bad for my first time, and I can just wear a long shirt.] And it fits! I'm so proud of myself right now. I brought my mom's old (1970s) Singer back to Chicago with me - What should I sew next?

Summertime...

...and the livin' is easy. OK, so not that easy. The bar exam is just over a week away - it's crunch time. Fortunately, I'm at home [home-home, mom and dad's house], where the air conditioner works reliably and there's always food in the kitchen. Speaking of food, we had the most perfect summer meal tonight - grilled bratwurst with sauerkraut, pasta salad, and sweet corn. MMMMM! The sweet corn is a little early yet - it had been picked too long ago so it wasn't very sweet. But the first of the season is always special. And I'm waiting to have dessert in a bit - fresh vanilla ice cream from a local micro-dairy, Hansen's Farm-Fresh Dairy. Wait, is there any such thing as a micro-dairy? Well, like a micro-brewery, but for milk, ice cream, and cheese.

My sister took me to a free movie Thursday night too. She works at the local theater, so she has a pass to take a guest to movies. This was an employee screening of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I loved the book when Mrs. Guenther read it to us in second grade, I loved the Gene Wilder movie when I first saw that, and I'm a big fan of Tim Burton's interpretation. It's just such a good story. A number of reviewers and commentators have said it's too dark for a children's movie, but I disagree. First, it's not that dark or scary. I thought there were parts of the old version that were much worse - like the creepy tinker guy outside the factory and the crazy boat ride. I think a lot of people just think 'oh, Tim Burton, must be dark.' Anyway, it was really good - you should see it.

Ok, back to an Illinois equity outline and practice essay.

UPDATE... (7/18)
We had better sweet corn for dinner tonight. And we ate outside on the deck. Fabulous!

Happy (belated) Bastille Day

I was on the road yesterday, but I couldn't let this holiday go by without some observation.


Cheese-eating Surrender Monkey

limbo

Is there anything more frustrating than having every aspect of your life up in the air all at once? At least if you're unhappy with some aspect of your life, you can identify the problem and plan a course of action to fix it. Not knowing is the worst.

The cranky old cat lady

You remember that old spinster lady that lived down the street when you were a kid? You know, the one with all the cats who was always yelling at kids for walking on her grass or being too loud on their way home from school. I have become her. I don't have any cats (nor will I ever), and I'm still not that old, but boy do I hate my neighbors. More importantly I hate the people that are not my neighbors but are always coming into my neighborhood.

It first started last March when, right after taking my last winter quarter final. I hollered out the window at a guy who was walking away after letting his dog leave little brown surprises on the sidewalk right outside our front door. Keep in mind, not only is this incredibly rude, inconsiderate, and disgusting, it is also against the law. Just the night before a lovely evening had been ruined by having to dodge sidewalk piles on the walk home from a nice romantic dinner. I felt justified and blamed it on the release of finals stress.

But then this morning it happened again. I got up bright and early to be productive and went out to my car to bring some things in from the trunk. I noticed a big parking spot right in front of the apartment and was going to move my car closer to carry things in, but by the time I got outside, there was a little car parked right in the middle of this giant spot that could have easily held two sedans. Parking is always tight in my neighborhood, so this really ticks me off. I understand not wanting your car to get bumped as people parallel park, but this is Chicago, get over. I stared down this woman the whole way to my car and we met on the sidewalk as she was leaving to go to the shops around the corner and I was headed back to my apartment. She's staring back now, even as she's past me, so I say, "did you really need both of those parking spots?" She asked why, did I need one. I said no, but parking is always difficult on this street. She starts to cop attitude with me - "Well, you don't need to tell me that, I've worked on this street for 19 years. And YOU need to mind your own business." I offered that, as I live on this street [and I am the one that will have to walk an unreasonable distance to my car after dark when the armed muggers are out], it is my business. She attempted to make an obscene gesture at me and I came into my apartment building.

What is wrong with people? She didn't even have a nice car that she needed to protect. Oh, I hate when people park straddling a line in parking lots too. It's just a car - not your child! Fortunately Mythbusters was just starting and I've been able to relax while watching them lift a 4 year old off the ground with helium balloons (it only takes 3500) and raise a sunken sailboat with pingpong balls. Ok, now I'm off to begin my day again. I think I'll just try to avoid people, things always seem to go better that way.

Is there a comedy Steve Carell isn't in?

I went to see Bewitched with a friend today and loved it! It was completely vacuous and utterly charming. Yes, I know the critics have universally panned it, but I think Will Ferrell is one of the funniest men alive. He did not disappoint. There was nothing surprising or terribly artistic about it, but did anyone really expect that? I do so enjoy a romantic comedy...now if only I could get my boyfriend to go to them with me. Oh, and to explain the title of the post - Steve Carell makes an appearance toward the end as Uncle Arthur and he was also the star of one of the previews, The 40 Year Old Virgin.

Now on to more important things...
I'll save my take on the recent Supreme Court vacancy for another day, but there is a current event I feel I need to address. Obviously, the terror attacks in London today were horrible, and all our prayers should be with the victims and their families. It just makes me even more mad, though, about the people I see around town everyday with posters and bumperstickers and t-shirts criticizing the war in Iraq. During the 2004 election when a protester stopped me on the sidewalk and asked who I was voting for I said Bush. He responded by asking me why I liked war so much. War is not good or fun - no one enjoys it - but sometimes it is necessary. There is evil in the world and it needs to be stopped. American (or British or Spanish) troops leaving Iraq will not change that. There would still be people who hate us and want to kill us and our way of life. The more we can do to spread freedom in the world, the less likely they are to succeed. It is not easy work but, fortunately, that's not going to stop the United States of America.

Welcome to my blog

Well, my friends jca and The Law Fairy finally got me to start a blog. If I have to have a blog to get credit for my timewasters then so be it.

I've recently become addicted to playing old Nintendo games on my laptop. http://www.freeroms.com/ I'm a little disturbed by how much I remember about where to find the free lives and other goodies in Super Mario Brothers 3. And in case you were wondering, no, this is not particularly compatible with studying for the Bar Exam...which is now less than three weeks away. Que sera! Hmmm, I'm actually not really a "que sera" kinda gal, but you get the point.

There it is - my first blog post. I promise I'll try to come up with something better tomorrow.