Ups & Downs

This week has been a somewhat exhausting one. First, we got jonned this week. TOH's junior sibling was in town as my liver, wallet and expanded paunch know all too well. Still, mucho fun had by all, and I'm slowly starting to catch up on sleep, water and vegetables.

Second, the grind of school got to me a little, it must be said, particularly when TOH, TOH junior and various other friends were off having a simply marvellous time without me. So, it was apt that, to go with my somewhat changeable moods, on Thursday I went to an NJ institution known as "The Great Adventure" - the Garden State's version of Six Flags.* At Six Flags we went on many, many exciting rides, most of which were exhilarating (on the Superman they literally strap you in so you're lying horizontally facing the ground - awesome!), none of which quaked my guts beforehand like the Kingda Ka. If you've never had the fortune to see it, it's the world's tallest and fastest rollercoaster - and it's ridiculous. It's the equivalent of a 45 stories high; it gets up to 128 mph in a mere 3.5 seconds. Holy moly. I was absolutely bricking it beforehand. TOH junior wasn't much comfort, it must be said. We also had to be unsecured and secured three times, because the poor gentleman who must have waited about 45 minutes to get to the front seat was too large to fit under the secure harness. But once it got going - absolutely bloody brilliant. Wundebar. As you can see from the video below (you need to wait to about 53 seconds to see the real action).

* Why is it called Six Flags? Not because it's "more fun," as the adverts claim, but because there are "Six flags over Texas." Or some other such nonsense. But that's what DGC told me, and everything he says is true. And righteous. And awesome.

Now, back down to earth, to practice essays, and being at school at 8.30, and all the stuff I don't like. Still, saving myself up for another visit - and definitely sitting in the front row this time...

J to the Dizzle

I graduated.

Ulp.

Path to adulthood firmly in front of me with very little room for escape.

Ulp.

Hiatus

It's the Monday of the first week after law school finished.

It's weird. But good. But weird.

So here are my aims for this post-law-school-pre-graduation-and-bar-course limbo:

1. Go to the gym! Seriously, I need some getting in shape to be done.
2. Catch up on my crappy tv.
   
3. Spend time doing stuff I'm not going to be able to do for months - or, at least, without severe pangs of guilt - go to the movies in the afternoon, have a kickaround in the park, that sort of thing
4. READ! For pleasure!

Erm, that's about it, really. Still, not bad eh? That's literally all I have to do for the next couple of weeks.

Resolved in April

1. Done! Admittedly at the expense of my drafting assignment and law & lit revision, but whatever... I dinnae care! (that might also be because I am so close to being done with law school I can smell it, and because I had a margarita for lunch).
2. 28.4%, which I was surprised to discover is lower than last month (by a massive 0.3%!). Hurrah! It's been a pretty revolting month, healthy living wise, and the next few weeks does not bode well, either - cinco de mayo, Senior Week, graduation, etc. Ulp. However, the bar review starts fairly soon thereafter, and I think I'm going to have a much more regimented life, which leads to more gym time, which leads to less bodyfat. In theory. It's still lower than the 29% at the start of the year.
   
3. Big nights out... hmm... well, wine club was cancelled a couple of weeks ago, and we had a dance party. All four of us at a friend's place. I also went to Optimo, which was AWESOME (apart from the plan that to stay awake whiskey would be the only liquid to pass my lips). And danced my behind off at a wedding this weekend. So not too bad, although there's not much on the horizon. Rats.
   
4. Classic movies not really happening either, although TOH and I are off to see a Chaplin double bill tomorrow, which should be sahweet. I loved, loved, loved The Great Dictator - even though it took me three attempts to watch it (kept falling asleep - that doesn't sound good, I know, but the same happened with Dr. Strangelove and that's heaven). We also progressed on the Coens, having seen O Brother again. Mostly, we have been watching It's Always Sunny... sigh, love it SO.
5. Hmm, after Bleak House I've read almost nothing. Started Crime and Punishment, but really, have been having reading assignments for school and so nothing. That'll change next week, I swear... finish C&P, and then move on. Books for fun - I cannot wait!
6. Indeed, we have more flowers from yet more vases that I purloined. Oops.
7. Hmm, again, nothing new. I've really been feeble and not cooked much at all. I made pie again, but that's not new anymore. DAMMIT! I will try something next week when I can be a domestic goddess because I will have NO MORE LAW SCHOOL.
8. Nothing cultural. Nada. Except a transvestite brunch in DC. That counts, right? Going hopefully to the Brooklyn Museum of Art and/or the Botanical Gardens this weekend. That counts, definitely. Even if it's in May.

Four and counting...

I only have four classes left at law school. It's utterly terrifying. I really am almost done - I've even registered to take the bar. Ulp.

So, slowly, I am having my last ever last class of the semester. Tonight I had to say goodbye to my legislative drafting class. This has been absolutely fantastic - I've learned so, so, so much. Even more exciting has been sharing the class with politically active people who know so much about the inner workings of New York - both State and City. Several people in the class work for politicians, and one of our profs works for the judiciary. So tonight, in our last class, we talked a bit about the bill & statute we're drafting for our final project (on testing criminal defendants for HIV where there was a chance of transmission), but had a few glasses of wine, some pizza, and gossiped about what's going on in the government in NYS. I find my anger so often directed at the Bush Administration, I don't pay enough attention to what's going on around me, on a municipal level. This class was absolutely great, and I'm really going to miss it.

As for law school... yep, that too. I expect.

Lacuna

Well, I won't be blogging for a while. Mostly because, in theory, I am working my backside off. More honestly, I'd be moaning about my work, and enabling my self-pity and procrastination by distracting myself. So there you go.

The pressure is, somewhat, getting to me. But I will overcome. Oh yes.

Fitter. Happier. More Productive. Undoubtedly.

Well, I was hoist by my own petard, I really was. After going on about how "interesting" the internet was, the internet then cut out for the remaining two hours of my class. I was then left to ruminate* on the use of internet while at school and just how much academic learning culture has, consequently, changed.
I was at dinner a few weeks ago with people of my age or older and, so, ones who had been out of education for a long time - maybe not that many years, but a different world, thanks to changes in technology. When I turned up at college, a decade ago, I'd never had an email address. I didn't get my own computer until my Masters, three years later; I had to borrow the other half's PC to complete my dissertation while working in my room, rather than the computer room. Only one person I knew had a laptop.

Oh how it has all changed. My beloved mac is my companion, constantly with me, and I really cannot imagine studying without it; I cannot quite remember what it was like to not use one for work. I claimed, at the aforementioned dinner, that I could concentrate and yet mess around on the internet. I realise that this was slightly overblown, indeed (fuelled by some very nice Pinot**), but in fact, I do manage, sort of, to concentrate well. I am not blowing my own trumpet; it's always been the case that I somehow manage to get work done and get other people in trouble by distracting them (my nickname in secondary school Spanish classes was "desgracia.") Nonetheless, last night I DID concentrate, much better than usual - and I took good notes. However, I've always managed to get by with merely adequate notes and a healthy dose of webserving. But last night was a stark reminder of our ADD Generation - people actually LEFT because they couldn't cope without the internet.

* A word which I slightly resent, as I had the letters for it for scrabble, but the only potential R available - which would have landed me a triple word score, too - ran afoul of another word coming down from there. BUGGER.
** They also do a lovely vin gris, a rosé)

Misplaced Priorities

There's so much going on right now that I should be processing, mentally, and then blogging on, such as: the House bill that would bring criminal liability to contractors in Iraq; the speech by Harold Koh at my school yesterday, which was exciting, inspiring, funny and wonderful, and has prompted me to restart writing my international law thesis (that nearly KILLED me last year - so all things in moderation); and the birth of a daughter to one of my very best friends, which is a watershed in my life, let alone hers.

Instead, however, I am getting increasingly (and quite embarrasingly) overexcited about the prospect of seeing LCD Soundsystem tomorrow. I can't quite believe it's nearly here. All other thoughts are therefore blown from my brain and I can't think straight. Tragic, but true.

Are We There Yet?

I don't really want to head into the world just yet. Early mornings, responsibility for decisions, all that. Yet I think I'm itching to do it, subconsciously. I'm not sure I'm enjoying being at school that much - I think it's time to move on.

However, one of the things I will miss, beyond measure, is the exposure to the wonderful, wonderful people at my school. There are so many incredible people here, but one of the best is Professor Jennifer Gordon. I am working with her at the moment, providing research for a project on transnational labor citizenship. She is an extraordinarily bright, hard-working, inspiring person who looks for solutions, pragmatically, in order to make lives better for workers and immigrants. Read about the project in the editorial from the NY Times last weekend...

Yo Yo Moi

Recently, there's been this whole "tapping" for awards phenomenon, which has sadly passed me by. It made me twinge a little, then wonder why I blog. Or, just as importantly, the inapplicable reasons for my blogging.

I do it to share thoughts, to sadly share with friends that I really don't see frequently enough, particularly with my rather unpleasant schedule and resulting severe sleepiness. I don't want the pressure of a serious readership. I'd rather blog about contraception one day and my cats or my iPod the next, and not stress. I am constantly having to think about what it is that I want for me, and not what I think I should want, in comparison to other people.

This has possibly been one of the best things about law school, bizarrely. There is a great deal of competition, of assumptions that your path should take this route - and those pressures are there regardless of whether you go the corporate or public interest route. So I've sometimes applied for things I thought I wanted but, on retrospect, it turns out I don't desire for me. But recently, I've been making decisions and rationalising my choices and they have been the ones that are - shock, gasp - good for me. Whether they are not going to work where people think I should - for whatever reason - or being an activist in an unpopular field or choosing courses I find interesting and useful not just in the future career but in terms of how I think, what I think, and why. Now, and for life.

Anyway, instead of this being my telling you what a great person I now am, the point was, through this "tapping" I found out what people I read read themselves, and have some new and exciting suggestions. Plus some new ones that I should read more often, as they are rather hilarious, but don't, so they're not all earnest, honest guv. So I'm going to re-do my right-hand column, which is probably a big reason as to why I blog - because when I look on my site I see the list of all my favourites on the right, and read those. And they are blogs by friends, strangers, political, frivol, and downright genius (GFY, I love you). Here are the newbies in the meantime:

• Unsprung
• No snow here
• Radical Doula
• RH Reality Check
• TAN
• I Hate Duane Reade
• Yet more Fug Girls!

Restless

So, exams are officially over for me. I've already realised all the things I did wrong, of course, in my last one. But it's done.

Which means that now I am in that strange post-exam limbo. Feeling like I have something to do, but not sure what. Mind racing but to nothing in particular. Trying to ignore the gnawing feelings of guilt for doing nothing. Knowing I should feel happy, even relieved at a minimum, but really just experiencing exhaustion.

There's only one thing to do. Clearly. And yes, that is watch a lot of television.

I Can't Stands No More

Paper in. Only take-home exam to do.

I wish I could say that I was going out raging, getting myself ratted for celebratory drinks. However, tragically, there is only one thing that I can do right now, which is head for the sofa, a glass of wine and (despite its immense annoyance AND the fact that I read the recaplets on Television Without Pity) Grey's Anatomy.

Slammed

Today has been filled with my "Query - what is the normative theory of causation" studying for Anti-Discrimination Law, so I couldn't think of anything exciting, witty or vaguely interesting for my blog.

Fortunately, Xopo came to the rescue.

You Are a Caramel Crunch Donut

You're a complex creature, and you're guilty of complicating things for fun. You've been known to sit around pondering the meaning of life... Or at times, pondering the meaning of your doughnut. To frost or not to frost? To fill or not to fill? These are your eternal questions.

What Donut Are You?

Drooping

I am so tired this week that my eyelids feel heavy, constantly . This week I have been a bad partner - grumpy, home later than advised twice - and a crappy student - underprepared, missing class - and a bad intern - shocking memo written. All in all, it's not been the best of grace.

I have, however, hopefully, learned how to use my webcam. I have also tried very hard not to grumble about the sudden cold that has swept across New York, although as I'll be at South Ferry tomorrow which is at least 10F colder than the rest of the island (in my opinion, anyway) and windy, that may change. I have also paid all outstanding bills and spoken to friends in Costa Rica. And tonight I shall make txatka... yummy! (although, admittedly, it sounds utterly, utterly gross)

Have I mentioned how the German Chocolate Buttercup Bake Shop Cupcake is THE PERFECT CUPCAKE?

Well, it is.

Done and Dusted

The beast is slain!

It's been a bit of a rollercoaster of a week. Three finals (finished!); Paper that essentially became a behemoth (finished!); flat in NYC packed up, Christmas shopping done... all in the past seven days.

Plus, I had my teeth tightened yesterday. It's not every day you get to say that.

Oh, and my mum got two new kittens and kept it a secret! Hence the behemoth was somewhat interfered with by the hooligans that are Mabel and Stelling charging around the front room and knocking my laptop plug out of its socket, clambering up my legs and scratching the bejesus out of them, and generally treading on the keyboard and writing amusingly incoherent things. Much like my good self.

I also, along with my beloved other half, seem to have developed a weird manifestation of jetlag which involves me waking up at around five in the morning. Every morning thus far. Why I would normally wake up at midnight I don't know. Maybe it really is the witching hour...

AND IT'S FREEZING HERE. FOGGY.

Brilliant. I love being home...

This week in Grace

I have moaned incessantly about my exams.

I have started the second book in the very cheesily named The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson, which is sold horribly on its backcover, but is an interesting account of European politicks around the end of the 17th century, tying in the feud between Leibniz and Newton, which is a lethal combination as far as I'm concerned. It's silly, but I'm utterly loving it.

I have also taken to listening to a greal deal of John Legend, the Future Sound of London, and Underworld as it's exam time... the latter two because they are classic working music, the former because it's utterly soothing to my miserable brow.

That's about it, really.

Oh, I have watched the mighty Spurs try to reclaim some of their dignity after the thrashing at the hands of Arsenal last week. And I shall be watching the Arsenal-Chelsea game tomorrow with a great deal of interest.

And ignored the pain in my heart that comes from the cricket.

Happy!

Things making me happy in this miserable exam-obsessed time

1) Being able to slob and wear jeans and flats the entire time and not bother with the whole grooming business... not such a pleasant thing for everyone who has to look at me, but grand for me...

2) The new John Legend album - it is so utterly gorgeous, it makes me very very very happy.

3) The daily gofugyourself email - not that I'm necessarily going to stop checking the site... but still... lovely... my fill of genius scathing remarks...

4) The thought that very soon I can start assessing my albums/songs/films of the year - huzzah! And thank goodness for iTunes which has all those years in... fab.

5) The prospect of new Scrubs - I cannot cannot cannot cannot wait! It's been tivoed, and I will watch it before I go home, oh yes... am trucking my way through season 5 right now (thanks Comedy Central) and will get there by next week... yippeeeeeee!

Habit-Forming

It appears that I am a creature who likes things to remain the same. I just went to the can machine in the school cafeteria, and they had CHANGED ALL THE BUTTONS AROUND - the seltzer water no longer being bottom right, but bottom left. That messed with my head. And you can no longer get full sugar Dr. Pepper.

This is how tragic my life has become.

I am also now in full exams messing with my head and sleep mode. Getting paranoid and worried about everything possible - legitimately, perhaps, given that I seem to have messed up my computer registration for my exams... oops.

We'll see.

UPDATE: 9.02: Panic over. Just needed to find the right stuff online. Thank you to the guy at Fordham who happens to also have the same name as a turkey provider at home... booootiful!

Carámbanos

Today is the first day I've felt properly, fully cold - winter is here! I was coming back from the supermarket and my hands, gloveless, were ICY due to the holding of the bags...

I grumble about the cold a lot, but it was actually pretty exciting. Also exciting is the advent calendar - maltesers, yum! - and the general trying to keep warm. It's time to handwash the old longjohns...

And so begins two weeks of very liittle other than work and work and... oh yes, that's right, more work. I cannot believe that the semester has gone so very quickly. What have I done? Things, apparently, although I'm not sure what. Speaking of which - time to actually get up and get that work done...

Here Comes Johnny!

World AIDS Day today. We have a table giving out our WAD packs in the cafeteria. Which is great, except some people have asked what that pack would contain - and look surprised when we say condoms. Which is strange. What else would it contain? Anyway, we are giving away ten condoms; a guide to where to: get tested / get counselling / get more condoms; a red AIDS ribbon; and a chocolate kiss.

And in tribute to the NHS, I can report that regardless of whatever moaning people do at home about it, in terms of family planning it is amazing. Utterly amazing.