exercises in record keeping

melusinehr @ 2009-11-12T11:42:00

2009-11-12T16:41:56Z

I dreamed last night that I had feloniously copied a DVD multiple times and my player had locked up and was broadcasting an alarm that wouldn't stop even once I'd unplugged it. I was trying to preemptively prove I hadn't had the purpose to commit a felony, but couldn't think of any good arguments. Thanks, law school, for making me feel guilty in my dreams.

scattered notes

2009-11-12T04:34:15Z

Writing bylaws for the organization I'm starting is no fun at all. I have not learned this legalese yet, darnit. I was hoping to be able to bring them in some completed form to a brainstorming session tomorrow, but that's clearly not going to happen.

But at least I went for my run! The view on the treadmill--a reflection of my ponytail swinging back and forth--is not nearly as nice as fall leaves, but I have a sneaking suspicion that treadmill running is slightly easier than sidewalk running. Or I'm just getting better at doing it, which I hope is the case anyway. The next run is the 20-minute one, which, frankly, terrifies me, but I've gotten this far without any signs that I'm about to keel over and die, so I should be able to handle it. I hope.

I am amused by my Thanksgiving plans, which involve dinner with my professor and his wife. On the one hand, I am mildly intimidated, as he is my professor, but on the other, I'm really looking forward to hanging out with people my age for an evening. I'm sure other people will be there as well, of course, but I don't think it's going to be very many. Heh. Well, I suppose if conversation stalls, I can always ask if he's picked up the new Hitchhiker's Guide book yet. (I have not. I've heard it's actually a very good continuation, but since I kind of feel like Mostly Harmless was Adams's attempt to head off all potential future sequels at the pass, I'm not sure I entirely approve. Though I'm sure I'll buy it eventually, once I have book money to justify doing so.) (Also, yes, I am prepping conversation topics. Because I am a dork.)

And I am surprised to discover that I'm mildly disappointed not to have an 8:30 class next semester; instead, I start at 10:00 four days a week. I haven't loved being up so early, but I do get more done this way. Oh, well, at least next semester will be more consistent.

The cat needs to do her job and kill the damned house fly buzzing around the bathroom. Get on it, cat.

melusinehr @ 2009-11-11T15:56:00

2009-11-11T21:06:53Z

I know I should put on my sneakers and go for my run, but this disgusting weather is sapping my will to live. Also, it's 4:00 and I've only just finished lunch, because I pretty much worked through what should have been lunchtime, aside from a brief break to honor Veteran's Day.

Sigh. Well, I clearly won't be running outside today. But I do have access to a treadmill (even if I have to go outside to get to it), and this run marks the exact halfway point in the program, and tomorrow's weather isn't going to be any better, so I really need to make myself do it anyway. But first I'm going to start some soup on the range, and maybe do some reading.

melusinehr @ 2009-11-09T14:57:00

2009-11-09T20:22:59Z

My sleep schedule still appears to be wonky; after sleeping half the day on Saturday, I couldn't fall asleep until late that night, when of course I was getting up early Sunday morning for the wine tour. (Sadly, this turned out to be a waste--the getting up, not the tour--as the bus was an hour and a half late.) And last night, I got home a little before nine and pretty much fell into bed and woke up at 5:30. Wonder what time I'll go to bed tonight, expecially since I think I'm going to take a little nap?

The tour was pretty fun; we only got to two of the three vineyards because of the bus delay, but really, I have no complaints in general with sitting outside in beautiful surroundings on a stunningly gorgeous sunny day sipping wine. My only two real complaints were the movies shown on the bus (I'm not saying I would never have watched I Love You, Man or Yes Man, but I hated being forced to watch because the sound was so loud I couldn't block it out) and stopping at BK on the way home, as I am fairly certain that the burger I ate was the direct cause of my feeling ill for the next two hours. (I had a few glasses of wine over the course of the afternoon. I did not have enough, or drink it quickly enough, to get sick.) I hadn't done my reading for Civ Pro this morning, but figured I'd do it when I woke up; in the morning, I realized that my book was in my locker at the school. So just as well I was up so early, really.

Cell phone photos from yesterday:

melusinehr @ 2009-11-07T17:04:00

2009-11-07T22:11:09Z

Four weeks of Couch to 5k complete. That's about two weeks longer than I've stuck with my last few exercise attempts, so go me! (It helps that I actually have free time, as in, I'm no longer working 10-12 hours a day, seven days a week. Still.)

I sense that I'm not going to accomplish much else this weekend--I slept very late and went back to sleep after breakfast, and tomorrow I'll be gone all day on a school-sponsored wine trip up to Charlottesville--but I can't bring myself to care too much.

melusinehr @ 2009-11-06T22:37:00

2009-11-07T03:45:04Z

So I was cleaning my keyboard and decided to clean under the keys, and while this worked fairly well for most of them, my "a", "s" and spacebar keys are now a bit... broken. Oh, they still work (obviously), but they're a bit cranky. Fortunately, I still have the keyboard from my last iBook, which was the same model (or will have once dad sends it to me), and even more fortunately, the memo I had due today is done and I don't have any more major writing for a few weeks. Still, since this one's no longer covered by Applecare, it may be time for a new computer. I was holding off because of the show I'm doing in February--I don't want to have to pay for sound software updates just yet--but I'm thinking it's bite the bullet time.

Oh, well, I didn't have anything else I wanted for Hanukah anyway. It's just annoying.

melusinehr @ 2009-11-04T16:14:00

2009-11-04T21:16:14Z

And in related news, I'm really starting to wish I had a t-shirt that says, "I know I'm a lefty liberal intellectual Democrat Jewish New Yorker-reading wine-sipping feminist artist, but you're still wrong."

melusinehr @ 2009-11-04T13:49:00

2009-11-04T18:59:04Z

You know it's time to leave a presentation nominally about sexism and racism in the workforce when the speaker says, "And now for the radical part of my talk. I know Larry Summers got in trouble for saying something similar a few years ago, but I'm going to go him one better." And then goes on to explain that the glass ceiling is biological, because women aren't good at hard sciences, as demonstrated by their proportional failure to win Nobel prizes, but that they're good at the soft sciences, like poetry. Despite a few outliers like "that Jewish woman, um, Golda Meir."

Holy shit, y'all. I mean, I was violently disagreeing with everything he was saying before that bit (women earn less because they have the extra burden of housework and childcare, and so they can't be as good at their jobs as men who don't have that burden), but at that point I just couldn't take any more. So I did not stay to hear his explanation of why blacks don't earn as much as whites, but judging by everything that had come before, I assume it's because they're different.

ETA: Talked to someone who stuck it out. Apparently black people just don't have the same work ethic. I really wish I'd made my walkout noisier.

melusinehr @ 2009-11-01T16:08:00

2009-11-01T21:39:31Z

How my day is going so far: A Play

Me: (semiconscious) Oh, how wonderful to get an extra hour of sleep.
Cat: I don't believe in time changes. Wake up and feed me.
Does so, goes back to bed.
Cat: Why are you lying there? Why are you lying there? Why? Why? Whyyyyyy?
Me: Shut up.
Cat: I'm going to keep yelling at you until you get up. Get up! Get up! Get up!
Me: Fine, I'll get up.
Cat: ...what did you get up for?

Later.

Me: Okay, time to go running! End of week three of C25K! Exercise! Weight loss! Sore muscles!
Five minutes later
Me: ...why am I outside in the cold and the drizzle again?
Woman on bicycle: You should be wearing a sweater, crazy girl!
Me: Ha ha, running keeps me warm! Crap, now it's actually raining.

Later.

Me: Okay, I guess I should start working now.
Reads two pages of Civil Procedure.
Brain: I'm sleepy. Yawns.
Me: No, no, it's only twenty pages, wake up.
Brain: I'm still sleepy. Yawns.
Me: Okay, this isn't the world's most interesting material, but it's not that boring.
Brain: Who cares, I'm sleepy. Yawns.
Me: Fine, I'll take a nap for an hour.
Brain: Actually, I'm wide awake, I just wanted to get you in bed. With fiction.

Later.

Me: Okay, tomorrow's homework is done, time to start on writing this memo.
Brain: Don't wanna.
Me: No, seriously, I want to get at least a few pages done tonight.
Brain: But it's not due until Friday!
Me: Yes, but it's going to take a while.
Brain: But I'm a procrastinator! Can't I procrastinate?
Me: No, because I'm busy all day long Thursday, and I don't want to end up staying up all night to get it done.
Brain: But look at all that extra time I have on Monday and Wednesday! I'll do it then! No one will know!
Me: Yes, I could push it back, but I'm actively trying to stop procrastinating, stop tempting me.
Brain: Ooh, what about those videos I'm supposed to watch for work study? That's work. And I could knit!
Me: No.
Brain: Short scenes about today?
Me: Fine. But then back to work.
Brain: Deal! Yawns. Gosh, I'm sleepy.

melusinehr @ 2009-10-31T23:57:00

2009-11-01T04:06:02Z

The only problem with going to a costume party in a steampunk costume is that nobody knows who you are. I had attached a compass to my waist--sort of pocketwatch style--so when people asked, I said I was the Golden Compass. Very few people had seen it, but they had at least heard of it. (Alternatively, I described myself as "Things from my closet that look like a costume," and did not try to explain just why I had a black velvet lace-up vest in my closet, or a fascinator with gears on it.)

I will say, though, that in general I was really impressed with the creativity of the costumes. Maybe I've been going to the wrong parties, but I think theatre people are way less interested in putting on costumes yet again, or something.

And now to bed, to thoroughly enjoy my extra hour of sleep.

melusinehr @ 2009-10-26T15:37:00

2009-10-26T19:55:53Z

I made my grandmother's kipfel (rugelach) for a bake sale this morning, and despite competition from some amazing-looking cupcakes, they disappeared pretty damn quickly, and I had three separate requests for the recipe. My grandmother has given me permission to share it, so I'll post it here as well! This was actually her grandmother's recipe, which is just really neat. Very flaky, very rich, a little bit of effort to make but so completely worth it.

1/2 lb butter
2 cups flour

Work together with a pastry cutter. Work in 1/2 pint sour cream and chill for 4 hours or overnight.

Roll out in 3 or 4 circles, slightly smaller than a pie crust. Cut into triangles. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and chopped nuts, and roll up from the fat end to the pointy end. Set on the sheet so the point is underneath. Bake at 375 degrees until brown. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

You can also roll out into a square shape, and make pinwheels, but the crescent shape is (I think) more traditional.

I also made Blueberry Muffins of Procrastination (really, most of the time I make muffins, they are Muffins of Procrastination), but used the blueberries from the blueberry liqueur I made last month, which means they'd been soaked in vodka for a month. Those went over pretty damn well also. :)

As a side note, the bake sale was to benefit the Jewish Law Students group, which I got sucked into because they are so small and and I felt sorry for them. Seriously, there are maybe 10 of us, 15 tops. There are more Jewish faculty than there are students. Sad but true. I mean, I'm used to being a minority, but I would have expected a slightly higher proportion...

melusinehr @ 2009-10-24T21:19:00

2009-10-25T01:23:53Z

Just discovered that a memo I thought was due this coming Friday is not actually due until next Friday. Sweet! And thank goodness, because I really wasn't sure I had time to work on that and outlining tomorrow, and this upcoming week will be a busy one. Now I can spend the rest of the evening feeling way less guilty.

melusinehr @ 2009-10-24T16:20:00

2009-10-24T20:32:31Z

My body seems to really have a beef with this weather--82 degrees, humid and cloudy and windy--because since my run this morning I have been sore, sore, sore. And briefly lightheaded, though that went away after a short nap, thank goodness. Still, it's left me uninterested in actual work (though I have done laundry, shopped for groceries, and gotten a recipe from my grandmother for kipfel) and seriously cranky. I mean, I feel a bit like Jay at the end of Dogma: why is it so hot? why am I so sore? why do I have all this work to do? what is this, a Grisham novel? what the hell is going on?

...just without all the swearing, obviously.

Sigh. I had hoped to go out and find apples and enjoy the fall scenery tomorrow, but that plan sort of depended on spending more time getting projects done today. Well, even if I can't motivate myself for the big things, I can work on the little ones.

melusinehr @ 2009-10-23T21:11:00

2009-10-24T01:16:55Z

Blog entry done, thank goodness. And I only had to rewrite the entire thing once, after realizing that I'd approached the subject (the EU and the Google settlement) from entirely the wrong angle (as in, if they just made an announcement that they're planning to change their laws a few days ago, that should go first). I'll post a link when it goes live in case any of y'all are interested. It hits all my sweet spots, I have to say: copyright, internet, Europe, I'm sold.

And now I'm going to watch crap tv the rest of the evening. Because I can.

melusinehr @ 2009-10-22T21:05:00

2009-10-23T01:10:31Z

Sigh. I am supposed to write a blog entry for tomorrow on some sort of progressive issue. Since I have spent the last number of years a) avoiding thinking about issues altogether (um, hel-LO, I'm an ARTIST, heh) and b) not actually writing, I have NO IDEA what to write about. (Which is not to say I haven't had ideas, but everything I've been able to think of requires me knowing way more information than I already do, and also the feeling that there's nothing I can add to the conversation that hasn't been said by thousands of people already.)

Also, it should be clear from this journal that I am not a person who writes about Important Things.

It won't be a huge deal if I bail, but I hate to quit without even trying. Suggestions, anyone?

melusinehr @ 2009-10-18T16:57:00

2009-10-18T21:15:02Z

Lordy. Considering today's study session, it is a really, really good thing that I have no interest in becoming a criminal lawyer. Because that subject now feels even more all over the map than it did before, and also I fail to understand how I didn't take notes on things that are clearly important. Argh. Oh well.

But I have four jars of homemade applesauce in my pantry, so life isn't too horrible. Mmm applesauce. And also weird flashbacks to my high school prom after going to the law school dance last night, with the added bonus of realizing that despite my huge music knowledge, I had never even heard of most of the songs that were being played. (This is probably because I pretty much stopped listening to the radio five or six years ago, and didn't listen to top 40 for a while before that.) I mean, it's a sad, sad day when I'm excited to hear Bell Biv Divoe.

On the other hand, there was a bizarre moment where everybody suddenly raced to the dance floor to participate in the Cupid Shuffle. I felt like I was watching a far less-well-choreographed version of this:

melusinehr @ 2009-10-16T18:49:00

2009-10-16T23:21:40Z

It's the little things. As in, I went to a trivia night last night, and a question came up about the Berlin Wall coming down, and I thought, yeah, I guess it's been twenty years, I remember celebrating that in my German class, hang on oh shit I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL TWENTY YEARS AGO. And my teammates had to tolerate me having my mind blown for a couple of minutes.

...Which is not to say that high school doesn't feel that long ago, because it does, and thank goodness, because the further away from high school I am the happier I will be. But that doesn't make it less bizarre to contemplate.

But speaking of trivia, I really wish I could retrain my mind to retain things better. I'm understanding the material in my classes, but don't remember details. Frex, the fact that I can remember Jean Valjean's prison number and not the number of the Federal Rule we just studied three weeks ago is slightly nerveracking. Clearly I need to come up with a catchy score for the Rules of Civil Procedure, and the Model Penal Code, etc. (That would be pretty hilarious, actually, but probably more effort than it's worth.)

Couch to 5k, day 1

2009-10-14T03:13:56Z

All new accessories all set: the new sports bra came in the mail Friday, I purchased new running shoes today (they were more than I'd hoped to pay, but they're far comfier than my last old and unlamented pair), and I downloaded the Couch to 5K app from iTunes. Lord knows I hate exercise, but I like walking and haven't hated treadmill jogging, plus it's exactly nine weeks until I go home for break, so the 5k seems like an achievable goal. I think. Anyway, the first day's workout was tiring (in a good way) and sweaty, but not outside my current ability, which is a good sign. Now I just have to stick to it! Finding time isn't an issue--I've been getting antsy doing too much sitting anyway--the problem is going to be making myself go outside when the weather turns, which is supposed to happen tomorrow. Well, I've walked in worse conditions.

What I did not do over the break was get any work done outside class prep for the next day or two. Oh, well, it was silly to think a procrastinator like me was going to work ahead during a vacation anyway.

melusinehr @ 2009-10-09T18:03:00

2009-10-09T22:06:27Z

Scholarship application submitted yay! I really don't think I have a snowball's chance in hell of winning this thing--it's a national competition open to both first and second year law students--but hey, nothing ventured, right? At the very least, it's good practice. (Plus, I'll be able to apply again next year.)

Now to figure out dinner, and perhaps go get some ice cream, and then enjoy the fact that I don't have classes again until Wednesday.

melusinehr @ 2009-10-07T19:48:00

2009-10-08T00:03:13Z

Today we had Random Sugar Morning in my Legal Skills class (the one with 13 students instead of 80)--without any planning, I brought in apple bread, another person brought homemade cookies, and another person brought a huge bag of candy corn. And then our professor showed up with doughnuts. It was a little terrifying, actually.

So between that and the gorgeous weather, I decided that I really, really needed a walk, and while checking out the Google maps of my neighborhood, I discovered a brochure of local walks, including one that runs right across the street from me. Whee! It's a bit more than 2 miles around and on excellently-maintained, mostly flat sidewalks, and is pretty much exactly the sort of thing I wished I had access to for the last five years in my previous apartment. Of course, it's not the most scenic route, as it runs along streets for most of the loop, but convenience is a bit more important to me at the moment; if I hold out for scenery I won't walk at all. Now I just need decent shoes so I can attempt the couch to 5K thing.

And this weekend? Raleigh, baby. Ooh yeah.

melusinehr @ 2009-10-05T20:52:00

2009-10-06T01:06:25Z

I didn't keep all that much of the packing paper from my boxes, but I'm discovering it's the best. cat toy. ever. And the best part is, when she tears up one sheet too badly, I can throw it away and give her a new one. It sounds silly to buy another box when I run out, but at $10 for 200 sheets, she'll be entertained for years.

In other news, the response to "Why don't we have an OWLS group?" was pretty much, "Most of us have significant others and so don't have the energy to start it, but there would definitely be interest." So I'm thinking, after fall break this weekend, I will start plotting. I'd do it before then, as I seem--weirdly--to be ahead on class work, but there's a scholarship I'm attempting to apply for, assuming I can get my act together to write the one-page statement on ethics, civility, and professionalism before it's due on Friday... (I'm not going to get the scholarship, but if nothing else it's good practice, and it's forcing me to get my resume in shape before I start job applications.)

melusinehr @ 2009-10-04T17:58:00

2009-10-04T22:02:10Z

If Marvin Hamlisch does not win an Oscar for his score for The Informant!, there is no justice in the world.

Really, really enjoyed the movie, and I am frightened to think how much more I enjoyed it with seven weeks worth of law school under my belt (as in, really? I've actually learned stuff? Go me!). The anthro grad student was amused by how much more the other law student and I were laughing than she was.

melusinehr @ 2009-10-02T21:38:00

2009-10-03T01:50:23Z

I am the least likely person imaginable to proactively start such a thing, but... I'm thinking about trying to start an Older Wiser Law Students group at the school. Even if it's just to do things like laugh about the "Knight Rider" reference my Torts professor made today in class (which no one else got). OWLS groups exist at quite a number of other schools, so it's not completely crazy of me. I don't know, it's not that I feel completely disassociated from the other students, because that is not in any way true, but there's a difference, you know?

Anyway, I'm having dinner with an older 2L on Monday, and I'll see whether he thinks it's likely to fly. (It's not in any way a date; he's married with a 6-week-old baby.) If nothing else, he said he'd introduce me to some of the other older 2- and 3Ls, which would be great.

And now I'm off to go drink cheap beer at a bar and then (possibly) go dancing, because I am nothing if not contradictory.

melusinehr @ 2009-10-02T18:03:00

2009-10-02T22:04:41Z

Pure awesome.

Good work, sycophants!

melusinehr @ 2009-09-26T20:19:00

2009-09-27T00:20:57Z

It is possible that the vintage hairdo on top of the vintage dress is just a step too far for a party that's supposed to be "dress-up" rather than "costume." Oh, well, I can't pull off the tall and skinny look anyway; with any luck people will think I'm more interesting than weird.

Yes, I'm bringing the camera, so with any luck, there will be pictures.