open letter to isiah thomas

if you trade david lee, nate robinson, or jamal crawford before the trade deadline, i will have a meltdown. please don't.

thank you,
concerned knicks fan

p.s. to clarify, this applies even if you are trading them for kevin garnett. just don't do it.

packing it in

so we got our apartment, officially, which i am so unbelievably psyched about. t-11 days until the move!

but what this means is that, especially since we have to paint two rooms back to their original white, and especially since the week we move i have a huge school project and a conference i am helping to organize all occurring at one time (not to mention i have tickets to the knicks two nights before the move, which we all know i am NOT missing), we have to pack now, while we have the long weekend.

packing is such an intense process. every time i have packed all my belongings i have started off with a minimalist attitude, thinking that it would be a great opportunity to weed out all the things i don't need, organize my essential remaining belongings into easy categories delineated by different boxes. and yet, three or five boxes into the process, i end up just letting it go. i try to keep on throwing out stuff i don't need or use (or giving it away or recycling it), but i just pile the stuff into boxes as quickly as possible, and wind up flabbergasted by how much stuff i actually own. so this time i'm trying to accept that i'm no longer a college student (not like this was true when i was in college), that i can't think of everything i own just by putting my mind to it; no matter how hard i try, i will forget stuff. so i need to just pack whatever i find, and accept that there are always more boxes if i can't fit it into the one i'm working on.

tune every heart and every voice

as a pton grad, i take a special pleasure in the following most-emailed list from the times:
1. Questions Couples Should Ask (Or Wish They Had) Before Marrying
2. Health Plans: A Chance to Pick Hospice, and Still Hope to Live
3. Editorial: The Build-a-War Workshop
4. Day Out: Time-Traveling in Oxford, England
5. State of the Art: Breaking the Myth of Megapixels
6. A Princeton Lab on ESP Plans to Close Its Doors
7. Harvard Plans to Name Its First Female President
8. Down and Dirty
9. 36 Hours: Sedona, Ariz.
10. Your Money: Figuring Out Gift Giving in the Age of $2,000-a-Pound Chocolate

though to be fair, we've had a woman president for four years now.

see? i write on this blog!

one day later, and here i am again, loyally typing on the blogger. today i was reading about google and how they are scanning books onto the internet and its raising many copyright issues. i can't decide what i think about this; i mean it seems great to be able to do a web search of the text of EVERY BOOK IN THE WORLD, but on the other hand--is nothing sacred? i spend waaaay too much time on the interweb as it is.

the article also alluded to something i've noticed, which is that, even though google is clearly an enormous juggernaut with the capacity to buy out any startup it thinks is worthy (i.e. youtube, that writer program), it maintains its down-home, grassroots feel. i feel like i'm doing something happy and non-corporate by buying into every program they create (love that blogger software!), but really i'm probably selling my soul to the devil. maybe they'll eventually turn evil (in direct contravention of their unofficial motto "don't be evil") and start making all the information stored on any of their programs publicly searchable in a meta effort to make "all the world's information searchable." food for thought.

wisdom...tooth

my top right wisdom tooth is hurting. i don't think this bodes well for my Plan to Never Have My Wisdom Teeth Out.

hello world, there's a song that we're singin

hellooooooo blogworld. i'm not going to bother going into how long it's been, since i seem to consistently stop writing for long stretches at a time. however, i recently noted that julia posted on my blog, which means i may have not one but TWO readers, and even though one of them only saw fit to announce that they were bored, i'm still going to write--just for them.

it is second semester already, and i'm well into several classes, including one on tax, which is far less boring than it sounds, at least to me, though i may be unique in my capacity to find the tax code interesting. recently i was at a firm reception, during which a partner told me that the vast majority of tax lawyers are "really boring." so that was an inspiring piece of advice that i will carry close to my heart as i move forward in my law career. not that i especially want to be a tax lawyer, just that to me it seems more interesting than mergers and acquisitions. or AT LEAST as interesting.

another reason for coming back to the blog is an excuse to post pictures of my beautiful new apartment, once they arrive. tom and i are moving march 1 (actually, hopefully feb. 28th) to an upper east side hi-rise (at least, 95% certain that we are--i won't get into the nasty ny real estate details), and i am very thrilled. it will be beauteous. i will post many pictures, in fact this blog may become an homage to my view.

and now i will end this freeform exercise in procrastination. next time i will have an actual topic to write about, fret not.

straw poll

the holidays are coming up! so i'm taking a poll.

what should i get tom?

because he is the only one who reads this blog, i am optimistic that the results will be very illuminating.

an ode to walt "clyde" frazier

tragically enough, i am a huge knicks fan. right now, in an effort not to confront the painful amount of work i desperately need to be doing even though it's 9:30 on a friday night, i would just like to take some time to sing the praises of walt clyde. he has been a knicks announcer for as long as i can remember, always ready with a choice phrase like "swishin' and dishin'" or "he's the knick with the knack right now." anyone who's watched a knicks game on msg knows the sound of his voice, and i must say that over the past year and a half, as the knicks have struggled mightily to win even 25% of their games, his voice has been one of reassurance, managing to voice fan frustration in a way that still allows for some optimism that, one day, the knicks may actually be decent again. dare to dream.

(being the eternal optimist, i actually think they're getting better by the day...we'll see how my new theory pans out.)

the other reason i love clyde:

his impeccable sense of fashion.
there is surprisingly little evidence of this on the web, but watch just one halftime show and you'll know what i'm talking about.

tom is traveling

and the nelves are very sad about it. it is stressful when other people travel on planes, i think.

highlighter carnage

so since i've started law school, i've been going through a lot of highlighters. conveniently, i had about 10 highlighters left over from college, when i bought a lot of highlighters but rarely, if ever, used them. nowadays, that is not the case. i'm not positive how many highlighters i've gone through since early september, but if the numbers coloring my books are any indication, it's at least five. not only that, but their rate of decline has been increasing; i started a new highlighter (yellow) just a week and a half ago, and already it's making that squeaking noise that indicates it is running low on lighter fluid. some might argue that this means i'm highlighting too much in my books, but i say it means that i'm completing far too much of my homework.

all i have left in my package of highlighters is a blue, a yellow, and two oranges, and nobody likes orange highlighter.

update: i am thinking of ordering several dozen green highlighters from staples. green is definitely my favorite highlighter color. i can't decide whether this is a good use of money or not.

what is it about football?

when i was younger, i used to think that football was really confusing and really boring and way too violent. i'm not sure when it happened--probably some time when i was 12 or 13 and i finally bothered to learn what all these words like "down" and "quarterback" meant--i started to be somewhat tolerant of the game. and then somewhere down the line, possibly when i realized how much fun superbowl parties were, i started to really enjoy it. now it's pretty much a staple of my weekend, and this fall i actually found myself extremely excited to find that football season was starting again. i've always been a huge sports fan--basketball was and will remain my number 1 sport to watch--but i didn't think i was a football fan until i suddenly was. now i love it, which may have something to do with the analogies between the passing game and ultimate frisbee. though i'm sitting here trying to do some homework while the giants lose their lead. it makes me unhappy, and it really makes tom unhappy. then he yells at the tv.

victory!

well since my reader demanded more blog posts, i have decided to comply, however insufficiently. there is a lot of schoolwork piling up around me and the stress level seems to have ramped up a notch, but it is all not so bad largely because of tuesday's overwhelming sweep of the midterm elections by the democrats. we took back the house and the senate and then rummy retired, and i have to say, it feels totally awesome.

now we just have to make sure we don't f everything up over the next two years so we can hold onto our advantage and (*fingers crossed*) take back the presidency. though on tuesday when i was doing election protection with the law democrats, many of them were so pessimistic about our chances of beating mccain in a presidential race that they were proposing we run a crazy leftist who will at least contribute positively to the national discussion and highlight some of mccain's inconsistencies. i'm not quite ready to make such a concession yet--seems like we've got more of a shot than that given how wimpy and kow-tow-y mccain has been recently, but maybe i am hopelessly naive.

legal research may actually be all i have to talk about anymore

the theme of my recent posts have been, i'll admit, pretty boring. i think the truth of the matter is, my life is somewhat boring at the moment. i mean, it's interspersed with fun things for sure, but i have to work so much all the time! and as a result, instead of witty, amusing stories regarding all the crazy things that happen to me when i'm out and about (i think we can all agree i'm usually full of those), all i have is stories about this ridiculous legal point i read about in a 1973 supreme court case.

though, today being halloween, it was a marginally more fun day than normal; my wacky, infamous professor of civil procedure comes in each day dressed in a three piece suit with a red tie and red handkerchief in the pocket, so naturally a number of my classmates celebrated by dressing like him, which of course amused him to no end. this was made even funnier because for whatever reason (veins being full exclusively of coffee, for example) a ta comes in half way through every class with two mugs of coffee for him because apparently the two he started with were not enough (or alternatively, he has knocked them on the rug). so, once the fake professors had walked in, a bunch of fake ta's walked in carrying mugs of coffee. rest assured, it was hilarious.

in reviewing this post, it seems like i don't like my civil procedure professor. in fact, he is my favorite professor. he is quite excellent at teaching.

legal research

ok i know i said i was back, and i intended that to be the truth. i think i may have to work my way towards actually writing on the blog reasonably often.
in any case, i have been mostly working, although i had a nice relaxing weekend that tom wrote about. on monday i started an exercise we're doing for my lawyering (i.e. legal research and writing) class, in which we are "attorneys" and we interview an actor playing our "client" on video, then critique the interview while also researching the legal issues that emerge from the interview and preparing a memo. the whole exercise does not feel quite as foolish as it sounds, but i'll admit it is fairly foolish. right now i am sitting with the world series on mute trying to do some research on the area and, though i actually have come to love legal research, it is a challenge to stay focused. admittedly if i turned off the television that might be better, but if i did it seems probable that i would just fall asleep. though i may fall asleep with the tv on as well--that may have happened to me a few times before.

hey blog, how's it going?! long time no see! given how long i've been away from you, i'm quite certain no one is reading you anymore, but i've decided to revivify you anyhow, since i think it will be a nice release from the stress of doing schoolwork all the time. that, and i've started to allow myself to procrastinate a little more, even though the flexibility i have to procrastinate is getting less and less.

so, i've started law school. it's actually going pretty well--i am glad that i went to law school, and i think that's saying a lot given what you typically hear from 1Ls. i am taking torts, civil procedure, contracts, and lawyering, which is a sort of legal research/writing course that involves some goofy role playing but actually seems like it will be quite valuable when i actually go out and work at a job. all of my courses involve some interesting material, but i've found my level of focus on the subject and ability to pay attention in class is entirely dependent upon the quality of professor in my classroom. for example, my civpro professor used to have his own tv show, and was the good morning america legal correspondent for decades, and you can really tell--the man tells a story about jurisdictional disputes in the 19th century and has you laughing along like he's a freaking stand up comic. my other professors are not quite so dynamic, but the classes can be fun...or mind-numbing, depending on what day it is and how much energy i have.

on top of school, which has actually created a vortex from which i can barely escape to notify friends and family that i'm alive, i have been playing ultimate lately with a team called crafty. last weekend was regionals, and we rocked out. actually all we really did was hold seed, but we played some tight games and i personally was very proud of us.

so in any case, i've been busy. but i'm back, loyal blog, and i promise to post to you more faithfully. for now i really have to go read about negligence. and watch grey's anatomy.

the countdown begins

well, the time has almost come. i start school on sunday. i'm definitely excited, and also a little bit in denial. i've gotten my student id and everything, so i feel pretty ready, though i'm sure i'll feel a lot less ready as soon as i get in to the classroom for the first time. only one of my professors has actually given out an assigment for the first class, so that is nice--i just hope it doesn't change at the last minute.

i'm back! (i was away)

hey! i'm back! i just had one of the more relaxing weeks ever. i went to pawley's island with tom to join my dad's side of the family for our annual trip down to a house on the beach in south carolina. the weather was great--sunny but not too hot, warm ocean water, oooof it was great! i got to hang out with my two cousins, their spouses, and their five blond sons. plus i read some good books. always good to be home, but i did NOT want to leave.

(these pictures came from the creek that sits behind the house. somehow i have a shortage of actual beach photos but as you can see the creek is pretty beautiful.)

i got nothin to say

i'm on vacation, and i have to say, it's as slow-moving as i had hoped. i'm doing practically nothing all day, and while you'd think that would make me excited for the few things i do have scheduled, in reality it makes it difficult for me to motivate even as far as the shower. it feels good to be on vacation, and i am really hoping that i get legitimately bored by the time i actually have to get up and do stuff.

in other news, i bought a new backpack yesterday, and i am unhealthily excited about it. i feel like i'm in middle school again and this backpack represents all my hopes and dreams for the upcoming school year. here's what it looks like: ain't it pretty?

we'll have fun fun fun till her daddy takes the t-bird away

i'm on vacation!!! friday i finished my job of two years, doing education policy analysis/research/other miscellaneous stuff. i loved the job, and it inspired me to do what's coming next (law school), but i'll admit i was also very excited to be done friday and to have three weeks of doing absolutely nothing to look forward to.

today, for example, i've been in my pjs all day and am currently watching west wing reruns. though to my credit i have cleaned the whole house except the floors. those are next.

abajo el fascismo

well i keep trying to post pictures from my trip but blogger doesn't seem to want me to, so i'm giving up and moving on. rest assured, it was a very pretty trip to san diego.

the news i really want to talk about is fidel castro's temporary cession of power to his brother, raul. i've studied cuba a lot: it was the topic of several research papers, including my thesis, in college, and i spent a month there in the summer of 2003. i have to say, there is a lot about cuba and its government that has been successful: its health and education systems are absolutely first rate, and its fierce determination to resist the american hegemony that has paralyzed many other tiny caribbean nations is extremely respectable. but what i saw in cuba is a country that is struggling, unnecessarily, in order to cater to the every whim of its leader. fidel castro earned the respect of the cuban people in 1959 but has failed them in many ways since.

cuba is in so many ways a wonderful country with a proud history. the opportunity to move forward without castro is a great one, and the enthusiasm of the cuban exiles is understandable. my high school spanish teacher was herself an exile, and though she has been in the united states since 1960, she continues to count the days until she can return. my only hope is that the united states stays the hell out of it, though it sure doesn't seem likely.