dot_warner

Tonight, tonight...

Thu, 15 May 2008 17:03:28 GMT

pynk_spyder and I have this fun (well, I call it "fun") tradition of having tv-watching parties. It's mostly for Heroes and Supernatural, but we'll sometimes extend it when a show deserves theme food (e.g., Torchwood).

We've invented two different types of punch: Petrelli Punch and Winchester Punch. They both involve adding a can of Juicy Juice (not frozen) concentrate to a bottle of pop (I'm from Nebraska, we say "pop" instead of "soda") and cutting up fruit. Petrelli Punch uses Sprite Zero, and Winchester Punch uses Diet Squirt. Both are delicious, but I ~~secretly~~ like Winchester Punch more - pynk_spyder
made a wise comment about how Petrelli Punch is fruitier and sweeter (and more likely to make you hyper), while Winchester Punch was more intense and the more delicious of the two.

We've also come up with other finger foods - it's kind of like having a Super Bowl party, but the food gets fun names.

So, what's on the menu for tonight? (Apparently planning my menu is the only way to keep from freaking out about tonight's show.)

Winchester Punch
?

I'm thinking about making some "Don't Die Dean!Cheese Dip," but I'm not sure what else...

I shall spend the rest of the day contemplating my menu. And writing cover letters. And Thank You notes.

*Sigh* PMBR classes start on Monday.

Let the studying begin!

Tue, 13 May 2008 22:46:28 GMT

I graduated from law school on Saturday! Now, this would be incredibly exciting and awesome if it didn't mean that I have to now turn around start studying FOR REAL now. In addition to my own crazy study schedule, I'm taking the PMBR (via those overcharging fools at Kaplan) and BarBri - both of which are courses to help you study for the bar exam (and together they cost about as much as a semester of tuition) as if three years of law school weren't enough (apparently it isn't).

Today was also my last day of work. I quit to spend my summer studying. It's frightening, actually, to be unemployed and have no idea (well, very little idea) of where I'll end up.

And now, for graduation fun...

Here I am getting hooded - would it be terribly confusing to start calling myself Doctor now?

(It's not so much a hood as it is a sort of cape. Academics are strange like that.)

Here's my cap (the eagle plume came from my sister) -- ignore the cake, but notice the pretty, pretty purple tassel.

Finally, here's me with my diploma. It's real (as far as I can tell).

Now that I'm done with school (except for that whole bar exam part), I can finally concentrate on getting through the stacks of comic books waiting for me, not to mention all the worrying about Dean Winchester that I can cram into the next few days!

I can see the light at the end of teh tunnel.

Tue, 06 May 2008 03:30:57 GMT

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

I took my last law school final today! I have to finish a take home final and a paper, and then? I am done! DONE!! I have no idea what I'll do with myself for that entire week that I have off before the studying begins. I think it'll involve lots of baseball, reading comic books, and catching up on TV. And SLEEP. (Oh, how I've missed you!)

I went for three days with no sleep last week (brutal), including the requisite all-nighter at Perkin's. I've finally perfected the best all-night-at-Perkin's study method in my last semester of law school. It took me a while to figure out how to get the wait staff to stop ignoring me once 2 a.m. hit. (The answer? Be aggressive and insistent that they pay attention to you. I feel silly now.) I've discovered that I actually really dislike Perkins and have no intention of going back there once I graduate. I mean, I don't even like the food...AND they serve Coke products and my school has ~~brainwashed~~ shown me the merits of Pepsi products.

What? That stuff matters to me. Apparently.

Perkins was quite the popular place during my 1L year. It's relatively close to the law school, it stays open all night, and it has free wi-fi. IHOP can't compete (despite having Pepsi products) because of the lack of wi-fi. Village Inn doesn't stay open all night, so Perkin's wins by default.

Whenever I have back-to-back finals I end up staying up all night for final #2. I'm impressed at how I've adapted to staying awake for days on end. It's funny how it became part of my normal study habits. All night studying? That's the Standard.

During my first year I was very mechanical about studying. There was a certain time and place that I studied for finals at, and I could only study with certain people, otherwise I'd be completely thrown off. I would also have to eat at the East Campus cafeteria (even though I didn't live on-campus) with the law students who lived on campus. I can't say that it was more effective that way, but it was certainly structured.

What the hell, here's a few memories:

Favorite study room: Judge's Chambers -- This is easily the nicest room in the whole building (and well-lit). It's off the side of the courtroom, so very few students study there. There's a large table, a private bathroom, and a cupboard with a mannequin in it.

Least favorite study room: Any room on the first floor of the library. They are tiny and annoying. I'm sorry, but it's true. I also get distracted whenever I see students walk by (this follows a bout of paranoia).

Favorite classroom: Room 113 -- This is also called "the hanging room" because, well, it hangs from the ceiling. Just take my word for it. It's large with stadium style seating and new technology (ooh, shiny). It was remodeled right before my first year, so the outlets on the desktop would spark when you plugged things in. That was exciting.

Least Favorite classroom: Any portion of the Pie Room -- There's a large auditorium that's shaped like half a circle when all the 'walls' are down. It gets split into three TERRIBLE classrooms most of the time. There was an attempt at updating the technology, but it was never quite finished. The biggest problem is that there are practically no power outlets in the room unless you sit in the front or the back. Then, the students in the middle rows would try to plug in to a power strip into an extension cord into an outlet, and it was battle to get to class earliest to fight your neighbor for the outlet. If you didn't know about the outlet problem on the first day, you were screwed. Law school is funny in a totally immature way in that we have ASSIGNED SEATING.

Favorite Subject (General): Native American Law -- The professor retired right before my 1L year, so I didn't have him for Legal Process or whatever class it was. But, he still comes back to teach Native American Law in the Fall semester each year. He is this old hippie who wears his hair in a ponytail and rides a motorcycle. He swears a lot and is known as an easy grader. In short, he is awesome. Aside from which, I'm planning on going into Federal Indian law, you know, for my career ~~if I can get a job~~.

Favorite Subject: (1L): Property -- I have no good explanation for this one. It was one subject that just clicked for me.

Least Favorite Subject (General): Family Law -- I made the terrible mistake of sitting in the back of the classroom. The professor doesn't speak loudly or clearly enough for the person in the second row to hear, let alone row 7 (or is it 8?). He would also talk with his eyes shut the entire time. Most of my row simply gave up and spent their time doing crossword puzzles.

Least Favorite Subject (1L): Criminal Law -- The prof has a teaching style that just isn't suited to large groups. He wants to have a conversation, but he won't get into the Socratic method. Instead, he'll just wait for someone to speak up...in awkward silence. It didn't help that he told us that he doesn't call on people -- this took away 90% of the class's motivation for reading. Whenever I came in late to class and sat in the back, 98% of the laptops were playing some Internet game (Bejeweled was pretty popular). It wasn't until I picked up the "Understanding Criminal Law" supplement that I realized that we were learning two different methods (Common Law and Model Penal Code).

What My Classmates Will Remember Me For: That Girl Who Didn't Talk -- When you get called on in class, you answer, whether you know it or not. That's just part of the method. On more than one occasion in my first and second years I would sit in silence. Now, this wasn't always on purpose. There were times when I just didn't realize that I was being called on. Then, there were times when I was trying to comprehend the question before answering it (sometimes, I simply could not understand what the actual question was). And, of course, there were the times when I too scared to speak up (I have a fear of public speaking and extreme shyness). Unfortunately, all of these happened to occur over the course of two classes: Torts (1L year) and Constitutional Law (2L year). These were the big required classes where at least half of my classmates were in the class with me in one and the other half in with me in the other. So, there's this belief that I just didn't talk as a way of not answering the questions and getting the professors to move on. Of course, nobody thinks about all those other classes I took throughout law school and when I answered when called on. Nope. It's those times when I was silent and the professor got annoyed and moved on to the next unsuspecting student. One of my classmates dubbed it, "The Jennifer Method."

Time to get back to work. I hope to get this paper and final done tonight even though I have until Wednesday.

procrastination..lalala

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:02:06 GMT

I am scheduled to graduate in less than two weeks. This is pretty awesome for a variety of reasons, especially when you consider that as of RIGHT NOW, there are no plans to pursue another degree. Hooray for finally putting an end to the whole racking-up-debt-while-pursuing-a-graduate-degree thing!

So, what's left before graduation? Well, I have a paper due on Thursday for my "Law & Literature" course. Yes, I decided to take one of those pointless and easy law courses in my last semester. I *could* have taken Employee Benefits Law and made myself all marketable and whatnot, but the inner-English major in me decided that I missed reading and TALKING ABOUT BOOKS entirely too much to pass up the opportunity.

My paper is such a mess of jumbled up nonsense at the moment. For some strange reason that I can't explain, I decided to write about Harry Potter. Yup, I said Harry Potter. While my colleagues chose heftier fare like Crime and Punishment and whatever else they're writing about, I decide that a series about magic is the way to go.

There was some logic behind it. The first book we read for class was Plato's "Gorgias," and I was absolutely struck with inspiration. I mean, how is it possible that I am the only one to see that Socrates = Dumbledore!?!

So, there's that paper to ~~write~~ finish. Then, I have a "real" final on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. -- Administrative Law. This scares the hell out of me. I feel as though I should "get" this class. I read every day, took notes, and studied my ass off (well, as much as can be expected for a 3L in their last semester of law school -- which, admittedly, isn't much, but at least I read and showed up). Yet, the moment I stepped into class and Prof. A.S. started talking, I had no idea what was going on.

She starts talking and suddenly everything I think that I understand is gone. I think it's only fair that she comes with a WARNING.

Warning: Be prepared to read massive amounts that you will NEVER get through in class. Professor A.S. will show slides that could potentially be helpful if she didn't SPEED through them and talk at a speed that doesn't allow any normal human being the chance to keep up. Most importantly, you will never understand what is going on in class. Ever.

So, right now? I have no idea how I'll do on that test. It's multiple choice, so there's always the LUCK factor. Of course, if Prof. A.S. isn't there to start talking, maybe I'll do fine. Honestly? I'm getting to the point where I just DON'T CARE. Just pass me.

My next final is Mediation on Friday. This is not something I'm concerned about. The most difficult part will be finishing up my Mediation journal. Now, I'm not entirely sure what the point of the journal is, but whatever. I can talk about my feelings for 100 pages.

The next week (law school finals are two weeks long -- I know, LAME!) I have a take-home final for Pre-Trial Litigation. I imagine that it'll be something like, draft a motion for summary judgment. I actually rather liked that class, and it sort of made wish that I had taken Trial Advocacy. I *almost* want to have some courtroom experience. Almost.

I also have a final for Legal Profession. I have no idea whether that'll be easy or difficult. The Professor who teaches it is leaving, so maybe she'll give us all 8s and 9s before she leaves. *Sigh* Wishful thinking.

Finally, I have to turn in an independent study paper for good ol' Prof. A.S. on the last day of finals. Luckily, that paper is nearly complete, so it's not a big deal. It's just annoying.

So, how much have I accomplished this weekend? Surprisingly little. I just can't find the words to express my Dumbledore is Socrates theory.

As a result, I procrastinate.

La la la...

...

How awesome is it that Supernatural is back? I missed you, show!

...

Anyone else bored with the NFL Draft this year?

...

So, how about that Husker baseball team?

...

Someone needs to kick me.

Know what I've noticed?

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:53:39 GMT

There appears to be a direct correlation between how busy I am with school and how much I post (and not in the responsible law student way you might think). Take now, for instance: I have hundreds of pages to write by the end of April, and what do I do? I post on LJ.

It's funny because I am so awful at updating this journal, it's a wonder that I have a paid account at all.

Creation Entertainment? Not my BFF...

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 05:13:16 GMT

Once upon a time, way back in the year 2007, my sister and I attended the Supernatural convention on a chilly November weekend in Chicago. It was a lovely weekend, full of adventure and celebrity sightings. Mark Lutz provided the LULZ, Jensen and Jared provided the SQUEE, and a few rude Jensen-fangirls provided the annoyance.

Part of our lovely weekend involved the incredibly overpriced photo ops. I ordered a Jensen, and my sister ordered a Jared. (Hee!) I ended up near the very end of the 700+ person line and waited patiently for my 3 seconds of bliss.

The line stretched from the small room where the photo equipment was set up to all the way past the front desk and around the lobby. It was like standing in line for your school picture if you went to a huge, unorganized (all-female) high school. I was giddy with excitement and wondering how badly the picture would turn out since Jensen is infinitely prettier than I am. When I finally reached the photo-op room, I was suddenly too scared to move.

There was a piece of tape on the carpet marking The Line Which The Fangirls Cannot Cross. You were supposed to stand behind the line until it was your turn to take a picture. When I finally reached the front of the line, I was too scared to stand at the line. I stood about three feet behind the line and kept apologizing. Jensen was a few feet away, but I was either (a) too blinded by The Pretty, or (b) too frightened to move my head -- in either case, I looked at the ground instead of Jensen. When I was called up to take a picture, I stumbled!

I recovered quickly and apologized, but it came out more like a squeak. Jensen was sitting in a chair, but he was still just as tall as I was standing up. When I approached him he turned to look at me, lifted his head, smiled the most amazing smile in the history of the universe, and spoke. "Hi there." Hi there! I was in heaven. The photo-op price no longer mattered. Not only did Jensen speak, but he did in his DEAN voice. Dean Winchester said hi! I was so dazed that I immediately grinned and had no clue that the photo had snapped. I was standing behind Jensen, and I wasn't sure what the picture etiquette was. Can I touch him? How close should I get?

At the last minute I decided to put my hand on his shoulder, but the photographer had already said, "NEXT!"

My sister was waiting for me outside the room, and we immediately ran to the back of the Jared photo-op line, which was already forming. When she came out of the photo-op room, she too had a dazed look on her face. Of course, she actually had been on the receiving end of a giant Jared-hug. ("He hugged ME with no provocation!" she tells me.) Well worth the cost of the photo-op, I say. (I also say, "why didn't I get a Jared photo-op?")

Due to several strange technical difficulties, the photos weren't available until late Sunday evening -- after we had to leave for the airport. Not wanting to leave without seeing the pictures, we purchased the jpegs (as evidenced by my lovely icon).

Several weeks went by as we anxiously awaited for the pictures to arrive in the mail. My FList alerted me to the fact that other people received their photos.

More time passed as we patiently waited. Tumbleweeds rolled by. Seasons changed. The Writer's Strike ended.

I emailed several people from the Creation website alerting them to the fact that I am still anxiously (and patiently) awaiting the arrival of the photos. As it turns out, there are several unclaimed photos, and by searching the site, you can find your picture conveniently numbered. I found our numbered photos and emailed "Chris."

This was several weeks ago, and I'm still waiting.

I'm sure there are several tumbleweeds outside, ready to roll. (Hey, this is Nebraska.)

Calling my sister out via LJ

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:49:00 GMT

You know, I'd be a much better LJ-er if I had a new layout and icons.

*pokes*

What? You don't ~~make~~ ask your talented siblings with ~~a copy of Photoshop~~ aforementioned talent to ~~do all the work~~ make pretty images for you?

meh.

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:26:18 GMT

This brutal honesty meme going around right now. I didn't post my name on it, so I'm not gonna link it. (Surely you've seen it by now.)

Sadly, I don't post enough in LJ for anyone to gain an actual opinion of me other than: "You suck because you never comment on my LJ." So, I wonder, what would happen if I go through my FList and comment on everyone's entries for the past month?

Hmmm...

See, the problem is that all of my hilarious commentary is *wasted* in RL on my sister. (Ask her, I'm amusing.)

Sarah got the better end of the deal...

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:50:32 GMT

I don't watch Jimmy Kimmel on a regular basis, but, damn it! This is funny.

Not as funny as the original:

Where's that Ben kissing Jimmy icon?

Nifty...

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 07:07:28 GMT

I know you're dying to see my interests in picture format. You type in your LJ username and a nifty collage shows up made up of your interests.

I was surprised to see a picture of Will Bolt actually show up. Will Bolt was my favorite Husker baseball player back in the day -- a pretty high honor, but it's not like he's playing pro ball these days. Trust me, he was awesome way back when. (As an added bonus, his name is practically a sentence.

I forgot that I listed "casinos" as an interest. Heh.

Create your own! By ga_woo using Web Services by Yahoo!

(FYI, I found this site via shannenb.)

First day of the last semester...

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 21:31:17 GMT

... I still have one more class to go. Why did I think taking this many classes in one day was a good idea?

In today's LEGAL PROFESSION (ooh, exciting), we were asked to list things like: our hometown, where do we want to practice law, and what superpower we wanted to have a why.

I was torn on the last one. The easy answer is the ability to fly, but I figured that would be the popular choice. Then I thought about super strength (you know, my affinity for Superman and Wonder Woman), but I wanted to be a little more creative. So I asked myself who the most awesome superhero was...

Clearly that would be Batman, but I thought it wouldn't be prudent to list BEING RICH as a superpower. So, my answer was super speed. Think about all the things that get accomplished by super speed -- it's clearly the most versatile power.

Of course, I couldn't put "OMG!FLASH!YAY!" as my reasoning (though I wish that I had). So, I made some lame attempt at explaining that I could be on time and go wherever I wanted.

Happy New Year!

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 19:07:27 GMT

It's 2008, and I need a job. I don't think I can put off finding one by getting another degree this time. For some reason I seem to think that I need to have a job lined up before I graduate. In fact, I'm already behind. I should have sent out copies of my resume and started interviewing already.

Why is it that I can't find a single job on the Career Services website that interests me? I realize that this is part of the problem with me not finding a job, but I really don't want to hate my career. I don't want to hate going into work every day. I don't want to feel like I wasted 3 years of my life in law school.

The biggest problem is that I already found my dream job. I had my dream job this summer. It was perfect and amazing and fulfilling and exciting and every other wonderful thing you can name. Unfortunately, they aren't hiring and won't be hiring until someone retires. They are a non-profit firm and can't quite afford to hire any new lawyers -- I guess that's one drawback (I'll never be rich).

Damn real life stuff.

Can't concentrate...

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:29:31 GMT

My seminar paper is due today. I should be editing. Instead? Here I am updating my journal.

Freakin' reality TV...

I blame The Boyfriend for this -- he watches some TERRIBLE television.

Sooo... here's where it gets embarrassing:

I was actually somewhat invested in who Tila Tequila picked in "A Shot at Love." I've seen a few episodes, but it's not like I was scheduling it to record on my DVR. Until the finale I had no idea that Tila was a "musical artist." Actually, I had no idea who she was until my sister told me that she was "MySpace Famous."

Riiiiiiiiiight.

I was rooting for Dani. Dammit - I was fooled by MTV into thinking that the show wasn't completely scripted. Is she even "a bisexual" (as she put it)? (WTF? Who says "a bisexual" instead of just "bisexual"?) I had my doubts, but I was rooting for Dani in spite of that. Dani seemed really sincere, so I was fooled into thinking that the whole dating reality show might have produced an actual relationship instead of showcasing aspiring entertainers.

Then there's the overarching issue: who goes on a reality show to find love? I mean, really? REALLY?

When I say that The Boyfriend watches some terrible television, I really do mean it. Case in point? The next embarrassing thing:

I watched the "I love New York 2" finale. New York shocked us all and picked "Tailor Made."

And... (man, this is difficult to admit)...

...

...

...

I actually believe that they have a real connection and will last. As long as I'm admitting this, I'm happy for them. What? Can't crazy people be happy if they find each other?

Gah! There goes my credibility.

Let's counterbalance that with something intelligent and impressive.

Hmmm....

This is difficult. Why did my brain decide to shut down when I clearly need it to finish my paper? (I blame my Evidence final --hey, Moberly? That was NOT COOL.)

"Old" news, but Amazon.com paid almost $4M USD for JK Rowling's "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." That's pretty cool. You know what would be even cooler? If my paper would magically write itself.

Yep.

studying at 5 a.m.

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 11:28:05 GMT

I just noticed that I haven't posted an entry in weeks! Weeks! AND, that last entry was only a sentence long. Heh.

I actually could do a Creation Con "report" complete with pictures and funny stories about Mark Lutz and the "moment" I shared with Jensen during the photo op. I could even throw in my two cents about all the drama that went down and how the fanboys were totally pissed about the lack of "Smallville" merchandise at this alleged Smallville Con.

Yeah.. that's all going to have to wait until December 19 (when I finish my last final). Right now I'm taking a break from working on Family Law - my first final. Since it's 5 a.m., I should probably go to sleep soon.

I vaguely remember making a statement back in April about how I didn't want to ever pull an all-nighter again. My finals start in a week and a half, so I actually have no excuse for being awake right now... other than to complain.

Note to everyone on my FList: Yes, I'm terrible at the LJ thing friend comment thing. I'll comment on your journal when I'm done with finals. I'm postponing my entire life for about three weeks. Serious. No TV. No Internet. No comic books (and I JUST started reading the new Justice League). No Husker basketball games (what? It's fun). No football, college or pro. No hockey. No TV. No books (other than the ones for class). No food -- no cooking, that is. (This is where I become REALLY broke and rely on Perkins to feed me. The food isn't actually good, but they stay open all night, provide free wi-fi, and are conveniently located.) NO PLAYING ON THE INTERNET AND READING HILARIOUS Fandom drama. No TV.

Aaaaand No TV. None. (That's why I pay the extra for DVR.) I'm even instituting a NO SUPERNATURAL rule. It can wait.

...

Ummm... I don't know if *I* can wait.

Adios Internet...until my finals are finished.

It's 5:30 a.m.

I can't breathe!!!

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 17:41:20 GMT

Jensen and Jared! On stage! Together! Jensen wore a Sam Winchester shirt!

In Schaumburg, Illinois...

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 05:23:53 GMT

...and I brought homework with me. Heh...

I ending up leaving Lincoln MUCH later than I meant to and actually arrived at the airport in Omaha about 10 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart. D'oh! Luckily, the flight had actually been delayed, so it didn't make much of a difference.

pynk_spyder and I were able to check in anyway. We ended up in Chicago almost an hour later than scheduled, but it's not like we had anything scheduled for tonight anyway.

On a side note, Southwest? Very, very cheap. It definitely shows in the service.

We have no need or desire to check your ID at the gate. We believe it's you (and we don't really care if it isn't). No first class? Whatever. Sit where you want. In fact, let's make it a cattle call. You don't *need* to actually sit next to your traveling companion anyway, right? Inappropriate "humor" by the flight attendants? Why not!? Not actually checking to see if anyone is buckled up or the trays are in any kind of upright position or any other "safety" measures? What-ever... as if that matters. Hee...

It was actually pretty hilarious. I am now convinced that I would have been allowed to board the plane even if it hadn't been delayed.

It was totally worth the price. I <3 saving money.

Speaking of saving money, my hotel room is surprisingly nice. I'm not staying at the Con hotel, but at one nearby for much, much less. Somehow I ended up with a suite for less than the cost of a normal room. I have no idea, but I'm sure that the Internet is somehow responsible. There's actually a pretty nice desk (and free wi-fi, obviously) where I can see myself actually doing the homework I brought.

13 minutes to go...

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:50:04 GMT

Thirteen minutes until Supernatural Season 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yay Rockies!

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:30:35 GMT

Someday I'll take advantage of LJ and to its full potential.

Today is not that day.

Hooray for the Colorado Rockies!

For the record, I totally believe that I somehow contributed to their post-season berth. I mean, the NEVER lost a game this summer that I attended. Hee.

Classes, already?

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 20:43:04 GMT

Classes started today. I KNOW! I can't believe that my summer has ended already and I'm starting my very last year of school. Ever.

If I decide to go get my PhD, throw something at me. I'm serious (nothing hard...maybe a pillow or some sort of Nerf ball).

I also started my new job today. Woohoo? It seems cool so far (though I haven't actually started any projects yet), and everyone is pretty chill. (See? That's a new Boulder thing that I apparently do now. I say "chill" as an adjective.)

I don't have Internet access at home yet, so I can't be too distracted by the Internet. I actually haven't been online for anything other than my email in over a week.

GASP!

(I am shocked as well.)

Serious business... no, seriously

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 23:14:55 GMT

Of all the things I could be doing right now (e.g., packing), I decided to post an entry. I'm sure that by the time I finish this, I'll feel all the more fulfilled and accomplished.

I have a sudden desire to start writing fiction again. It's been itching lately, and I honestly haven't felt very creative for the past few years - mostly due to the whole "law school" thing.

When I was in junior high and high school (oh, so many moons ago), I was constantly writing -- short stories, a never-ending novel, poems, letters, notes, song lyrics, anything I could possibly write. When I was at work (grocery store in a small town, just as exciting as you're imagining), I would think about my characters and see what would happen to them and consider their reactions to situations. Their universe was interesting, exciting, and fun -- I could picture it all...and sometimes, just sometimes, it wasn't like I was writing at all. I was merely a conduit for the story. Most of the time, even with my constant writing, only a fraction of what I thought up ever made it on a page. Those were days long before I ever had a laptop, a desktop, or even a word processor. Everything I wrote was by hand -- in fact, I still prefer to write that way.

Who knows? Maybe I'll (very timidly) wade into the land of fanfiction.

Thinking about it, I've decided that my second dream job, aside from voicing cartoon characters, is going to be creating and writing a sketch comedy series with my (hilarious) siblings. It'll be like "In Living Color" only it'll actually be more like "Robot Chicken" in the randomness. My family? Hilarious. But, we also tend to have a really quirky sense of humor -- although, the great thing is that we all have different types of humor. Some of us are more into physical comedy, some of us do funny voices, and some of us are simply random.

I think I'm on to something...

Magical Paley moments

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:41:18 GMT

I am overly excited about Supernatural season 2. It's pretty hilarious and inappropriate - particularly when I go around saying things like, "I cannot wait for September 11!"

Yeah... I imagine that a little alert goes off somewhere every time I say that on my cell phone. "No really, I'm NOT a terrorist...just excited about a TV show." Granted, I already have all of the episodes from iTunes, but there's all the wonderful EXTRAS to think about.

(I'm also excited about "Heroes" coming out, but that's because I can't wait for my sister to finally watch it.)

What I'd really like to know is this:

How many Paley discs are in existence? What's the total number of discs that were included in the Best Buy version? Are people still having trouble finding them?

I imagine with Best Buy having Season One on sale this week any remaining copies would be found. I've heard Internet stories of people traveling to multiple Best Buy locations seeking out the magical Paley disc...

This one is for you, pynk_spyder...

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 19:58:28 GMT

Tonight I'm going to my last Rockies game of the summer before I head back to Nebraska. It's been a FABULOUS summer, and I'll definitely miss my weekends in Denver. The Rockies have won every game I attended this summer, so they'd better win tonight against the Cubs... or else.... (Or else what, I'm not sure...)

The last game I attended,

pynk_spyder was with me. We had an awesome time doing our own play-by-play commentary, and (surprisingly) not one person in our section asked us to shut up. Our version of doing commentary was this weird hybrid or semi-seriousness, fangirl squeeing, and ESPN2's "Cheap Seats."

Surely there's some Matt Holliday/Troy Tulowitzski fic out there. Hee.

(Photo from the AP - no profit here.)

HP party...late to the party

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 04:41:38 GMT

At some point I'll post a whole review of DH... but, not today. This post is actually about the pre-release party.

I attended the Harry Potter party hosted by the Boulder Book Store, located on the Pearl Street Mall. So, there was also the usual Pearl Street Mall fun going on in addition to the Harry Potter madness. (Street performers, random Boulderites, etc...) I saw someone reading tarot cards on the mall who had NOTHING TO DO WITH HARRY POTTER. Also, I'm not certain that every "Professor Trelawney" that I saw was actually dressed up for the party. Hee.

The party started at 8 p.m. in a registration area designated "Platform 9 3/4" where I received a map to the bookstore (which was MAGICALLY transformed into Hogwarts). Yes, they used magic.

The first stop on the map was getting sorted. You weren't actually sorted into houses, but sorted into color-coded dots that represented the different lines you were to stand in to get your book at midnight. (This, of course, was only for those who had pre-ordered the book -- meaning everyone.) I was sorted into the "yellow" line. The map had a place for a stamp from each of the four houses - you would receive a stamp after completing the designated house activity. Hooray for activities!

I should note that the Boulder Book Store, for those not familiar, is quite large. It's three full levels of bookstore-goodness. They sell both new and used books, AND it's an independent bookstore (feel my moral superiority - it's how I comfort myself for having paid FULL PRICE for the book).

A live owl show was put on every hour over in Gryffindor. It was nice and educational, but I made the mistake of NOT shoving my way to a good seat. There were little kids everywhere, and I managed not to step on any of them. Umm... good job me?

Over in Hufflepuff all of the costumed attendees were able to pose for a picture in front of a giant sorting hat. (More on the attendees later...) The was also a gigantic roll of *parchment* (I'm talking about a jumbo-sized roll that your elementary school art teacher would have at the beginning of the school year) set up over a large table scattered with crayons. We were to draw pictures and write messages to J.K. Rowling on it, and it was going to be mailed to her the next week.

I wrote a lovely message thanking her for creating this amazing world (and avoided any reference to the crazy happenings in the Internet Harry Potter fandom) and basically being a total fangirl.

Slytherin was located in the basement (Hee!) and by far the weakest of the four. Our activity was creating a gigantic snake made of paper chain links. Weak. I drew a lightening bolt on my link.

Ravenclaw was actually my favorite house. We were given a two-sided worksheet to fill out. One side was a crossword puzzle, and the other was straight-up trivia. They were actually more difficult than you might think. Luckily, I've reread those books so many times that no minor detail has escaped me. (If only I could somehow profit from this...)

After visiting all of the houses and getting stamped, I graduated from Hogwarts! Yay! This actually meant returning to Platform 9 3/4 where I received a diploma.

Why yes, I do plan on framing it. It'll look lovely next to my law degree.

My co-worker were surprised to learn that the majority of the attendees were NOT small children. Teenagers and college-aged students along with *real* grown-ups were all in attendance (yes, small children were there as well).

There were around 1,000 people in line to buy the book that night at that particular bookstore, but there were many more who left early (i.e., the numerous small children didn't stay until midnight).

Also, the majority of the people in attendance were dressed up. I was quite crushed that I didn't dress up, as I didn't think to pack an appropriate HP outfit for the summer. Yes, it was all quite tragic. However, to compensate, I'm posting a picture of myself from last Halloween. I dressed up as Harry Potter. It was brilliant.

(This is a strange picture of me. For some reason I look incredibly pale here -- in reality, I'm not. Trust me. I blame the camera.)

Fun facts: The lightening bolt and glasses came from the HBP pre-release party. Yes, I put them to good use. The robe is what I wore to my undergrad graduation. The sweater... well, that came from being told by every other person I met that it reminded them of Harry Potter. (The other half of the people I met told me it reminded them of Freddy Kruger.)

So, anyway... the popular characters were Harry and Luna for the younger set. The teenage girls all dressed as Tonks (pink hair is VERY popular), and the adults were dressed as professors. Although, I saw a Professor Umbridge and a house elf!

On the even more creative side, I saw a few people dressed as paintings. Yes, paintings.

On the scary side, there was a pack of about six Death Eaters. Eee! Scary! Of course, I was totally fangirling them. I even snuck a picture with my crappy camera phone:

This isn't a great picture because these other witches were blocking the view, but trust me. It was friggin' awesome. The Death Eaters were tall and intimidating...but, they very kindly posed for pictures all evening. (I was far too shy to ask for a picture...mostly because I didn't have an actual camera, hence the sneaky stalkerazzi shot.)

I did take a short break to wander down to another part of Pearl Street to visit a totally awesome old-fashioned candy store (seriously, it's magical like Honeydukes) where I stocked up on Harry Potter candy. Even though I think Harry Potter candy is overpriced, I threw caution to the wind and bought one of everything (Harry Potter, that is...not the entire candy store... because, yeah, it's a lot of candy). My Chocolate Frog came with a Dumbledore card. Score!

At 11:30 p.m., the bookstore closed, so I walked over to the "yellow line." I was surprised to see that I was quite a way back. My line started at the side entrance to the bookstore, and the line went for several blocks behind me.

As midnight approached the line started counting down the seconds. Unfortunately, they were overly anxious, so we were counting down from 59 seconds.... 58...57...56...

Once midnight hit the line moved pretty quickly. I received my copy of DH at 12:01 a.m., and I did *not* flip to the end. Walking home, I had a goofy look on my faced and clutched the book tightly while gloating at the people still in line.

The "red" line at the front of the store actually went all the way down Pearl Street and AROUND a block and up a few more blocks. It was a crazy sight that called for pictures... but, yeah... the camera situation prevented me from taking any.

It was longer than the line for Episode I. There. I said it.

Outgeek that.

So, when I go back to school at the end of the month I have PLENTY to tell my classmates about how I spent my summer. They'll have all these stories about their exciting adventures with the evil, soulless law firm they worked for and how they "totally got wasted at *some lawyer's* cabin this one weekend..."

I'll be able to say that I reread HP, watched 5 seasons of Gilmore Girls, and used a chi machine.

It was only a matter of time...

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 04:02:32 GMT

While I briefly have access to the Internet

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 04:08:01 GMT

Here's my one-word review of The Simpsons Movie: uneven.

Also? I am soooo looking forward to this:

How will you be suspended from LJ? by Anonymous LJ User
Username
Years on LJ
Snape
Hours left until your suspension	13
Your crime	Uncut spoilers about Luke Skywalker's father.
Who reported you	damn_you_kripke
Your fate	Y HELLO THAR LOL_MEME