6 mouths and 1 chocolate sundae

For one of my last meals in the Bay Area, the Boy and I had dinner with some of his family at the Elephant Bar (the website is not very informative, I must add).

The Boy had the Chicken Tenders meal. His father and step-mom had the Steak Tips. His sister and nephew shared a chicken dish and I had no idea what kind of meat was on his sister's boyfriend's plate but it looked like beef. I had the ribs, of course, and only half a rack this time. Plus you have to throw in a few drinks in there. The drinks arrived before the food so I immediately got tipsy after drinking half of my Tropitini (the Boy's sister had to finish the rest for me).

Anyhow, dinner was really good, and everyone was too full for dessert. Everyone but the Boy's father. So he ordered a Chocolate Sundae, which kinda looks like the picture below but you have to add a giant brownie slice to get the full effect. And someone at the table told the waitress to bring "lots of spoons" with the dessert order.

The ice-cream came and it's only natural that that a grandfather would share his ice-cream sundae with his grandson. But when the grandson starts going "Oh, yummy, ice-cream sundae, yummy," others at the table would want to make use fo those extra spoons and have a little taste test of the sundae too.

So, there we were, one Chocolate Brownie Ice-Cream Sundae, and six people with spoons scooping ice-cream into his/her mouth. Since no one at the table likes brownies (the horror of that!), I had the pleasure of eating the entire brownie slice, and of course had to wash that down with a few spoons of ice-cream. I tell you, that sundae was gone in about three seconds flat.

The only one who didn't take part in this testing madness was the Boy's sister's boyfriend. I wonder if it's because he doesn't feel like he's that close to "The Family" yet. Or maybe he knew better and that he didn't want to risk catching any disease that either one of the six mouths were carrying.

Well, I'm still alive and kicking over here.

I love Chinatown

Cingular charges me $29.99 for a new phone charger.

I find a phone charger in Chinatown for $4.99. And I got to see a Lion Dance show.

Whoo hoo. How can anyone not love Chinatown?

dinner

What my friend and I had for dinner while catching up on the events in our separate lives:

--Marinated, braised short ribs.
--Chili style crab
--Whole lobster with shrimp pad thai
--Expresso Creme Brulee

Courtesy of the new Straits Restaurant at the newly opened Bloomingdales Shopping Center.



What The Boy had for dinner while I was out with my friend:

-Pad Thai

Courtesy of Lean Cuisine



yeah, absolutely no equality there, but hey, I enjoyed the free dinner.

colorful commentary

"Three teenage boys are going to be living in that house? Your virgin house is going to be f**ked over backwards."

-------

"Well, that's a f**king miracle."

-------

"I got a big fat f**king nothing for Christmas."

-------

"I f**king hate Christmas. The kids nowadays get too f**king much."

"My girls got another f**king Barbie Doll for Christmas. They have about 30 different Barbie dolls! There's like a f**king Barbie convention going on at my house. And that's not including all the other f**king dolls, like the American Girl dolls, or the Dolls of the World, or the Doll dolls. And weirdest of all, each f**king Barbie has a different name and they know it all by heart. 'Don't let Sarah go into the corner.' How the hell can you tell that one is Sarah and the other one isn't when all the f**king Barbie dolls look the same?"

"Tomorrow is my favorite day of the year. It's the day that I get to get rid of the f**king Christmas Tree."

-------

ah yes, the Scrooges of San Francisco.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
Merry Monday

Merry Christmas to Me

Meet the new baby that is my laptop. It's so shiny and new, and best of all, it's only three pounds.

Must go play with the new baby.

O Christmas Tree, Part Duex

Here is The Boy's Christmas tree.

(I can't say "Our" Christmas Tree because it would totally freak out The Boy and I would rather not spend the rest of my winter vacation with him being all weirded out by a single word)

It doesn't amount to Macy's $2,000 trees, but it was decorated with lots of tender loving care. The tender coming from The Boy and the loving care coming from me. hee hee

And below is our attempt at decorating the mantel over the fireplace.

See the stocking? I made that. From scratch. It took hours and hours of painstaking stitching. In the dark. Okay, that last bit was a little overkill on the exaggeration department.

O Christmas Tree

I love decorating Christmas trees. I love looking at other people's decorated trees.

Above, is the giant tree in the middle of Union Square.

This picture is just to show you how big the tree really is.

I really love how Macys decorate its trees.

The pretty "Fairy Tale Tree"

The "Let's Stick As Many Toys On Here As We Can" Tree. Not one of the better ones, but a fun one nonetheless.

"March of the Penguins" Tree.

One of two "Upside Down Tree." Yes, it's really upside down. I did not flip it over in photoshop. See, there's a guy standing right side up.

I don't understand these upside down trees. It's weird looking. Who started this fad? I bet everyone will have an upside Christmas tree in fifty years.

The Macys trees are gorgeous, and quite pricy. If the normal person attempted to duplicate one of these trees, it could easily cost $1,500...and that's a low estimate.

Q and I were wondering when Macys starts hiring people to decorate their trees. We'd totally be happy to decorate trees for $10 an hour.

tearjerker

If you go watch The Pursuit of Happyness anytime soon, bring a box of kleenex with you. Trust me, you will need it.

Well, unless you're a heartless soul like someone I know (ahem, yes, I mean you), then you will probably not need the kleenex.

Good movie, people. And the scenery of San Francisco was so pretty too.

How to get a free dessert

Step 1: Order the "Classic Cheeseburger" cooked MEDIUM WELL.

Step 2: Sit back, munch on potato skins and converse with your fellow dinner guests while waiting for your order to arrive at the table.

Step 3: When the waiter drops off your Classic Cheeseburger at your table, grab the burger with both hands and take two big bites. Chew. Wrinkle your eyebrows. Take a look at the remaining burger in your hand and raise an eyebrow while asking your friends, "Does this look like medium well to you?" Listen to each friend's shocking reply:

"That is NOT medium well."

"That looks rare."

"Really rare."

"Eww. That burger is still mooing."

"Did they even cook that?"

Step 4: Flag down waiter and show him the bleeding piece of burger. Look at the shock on waiter's face as he takes away your burger and promises you a new one.

Step 5: Look at your friends enjoying their dinner while you sit and wait for your new burger, but also thinking that you just swallowed raw meat and could possibly contract mad cow disease.

Step 6: Be surprised when the restaurant manager comes out and personally apologizes for the bleeding/mooing burger and again promises you a fully cooked burger is on its way.

Step 7: Pick off fries and chicken tenders off your friends plate while waiting for your replacement burger.

Step 8: Exclaim that you're too full to eat the new burger when the manager finally delivers the replacement burger. But take a bite of it anyway to make sure that the meat isn't mooing. Happily show everyone the burger that it is not red inside.

Step 9: Be extra surprised when the manager keeps coming back to check your happiness scale on the replacement burger. Be even more in shock when manager offers to give the table a free dessert. Browse the dessert menu and pick the most expensive one, then wait for the manager to deliver your free dessert.

Step 10: Be prepared to binge and purge after joining in with your four other friends in trying to conquer the massive "Brownie Finale" (6x6 inch block of brownie with tons of ice cream and whip cream piled on top). But also be disappointed at the same time that five full grown adults with healthy appetities could not finish the brownie madness.

Step 11: Drive home and fall into a food coma as soon as your head hits a soft spot on the friend's sofa.



Editor's Note: No, I did not eat the mooing burger. I just witnessed this event. For those of you who know me, I rarely eat hamburgers and when I do, they have to be nuked all the way through. I did, however, try really really hard to eat all of the brownie dessert but had to throw in the towel with half the giant brownie on the plate.

karma

Remember how in my last post I dared my current laptop to "go ahead and die" because I had a new laptop waiting for me in San Francisco?

Well, I received a LEMON from the stupid computer company and am currently awaiting a replacement.

Let's just say that I am currently making love to my old laptop in hopes that it won't be angered and break down on me again. I will never again wish any more ill will towards it. I am going to be on my best laptop user behavior until the new baby laptop arrives and is in good working condition.

DONE! DONE! DONE!

I AM DONE WITH FIRST SEMESTER! WHOO HOO!

I finished my last final exam exactly 1.6 hours ago. I even finished early, just so I can make it to the airport on time to check in my luggage. But of course, the flight is delayed and so here I sit, blogging about the end of the semester. I should have learned from experience. I have yet to see a Southwest flight depart on time.

So, my year end thoughts about the complete of my first semester of law school:

--Yes, first year of law school is hard, but not hard as in "what the f are they talking about?" but hard as in "I have so many things to do and not enough time to do it." Well, the most "work" I did was for my legal writing class, which involved a lot of research, writing and re-writing towards the middle of the semester. I guess I put a lot of work into my outlines for my finals too, but most of that started after Thanksgiving, which really counts towards studying for finals and not really work throughout the semester.

--Now that I'm done with finals, there's nothing else to worry about for the rest of the year. Well, nothing to worry about but how I did on the exams. I still can't come to grasp the concept that my entire semester grade comes down to the moment of how the professor is feeling while he/she is grading my final exam. I say this because I seriously think my Contracts grade will depend on whether my professor is in a good mood because no one has any idea how he came up with the points he gave us on our "practice" midterm (where if you did well, it will count towards your final grade, but if you bombed the practice midterm, then it won't hurt your final grade). Yes, it's just an odd feeling to have to sit around and just wait and see if my destiny will definitely be in the legal profession (because for all I know, I could have flunked all my exams and they'll kick me out of law school next semester and that's that).

--I have to go through five more semesters of this???

--I think the majority of my classmates are out drinking right now, as I sit here in the airport waiting for a plane to arrive and take me away. I kinda want to join my classmates in celebratory drinks, but I have eager to get on that plane and finally see The Boy. I thought maybe the icky feeling in my stomach was due to being nervous about the Contracts final, but now I think I'm actually nervous about seeing my boyfriend again. I mean, it's been FOUR months since I last kissed him goodbye. Would it be weird if I gave him a running hug as soon as I see him at the airport, while at the same time knocking him to the ground that might cause him to suffer a concussion and then not realize who the hell I was??? Okay, imagination gone wild there. The Boy is having the onset of a cold, therefore I will refrain myself from causing any injuries due to my happiness of seeing him.

Okay, I think I'm blabbing and there is no point to this blog. I am done. End of story. And plus, the battery on my laptop is dying so I must turn it off in order to avoid this disaster again (but I have a brand new slimmer laptop waiting for me in SF, so go ahead and die, you old heavy piece of metal/plastic/whatever the heck you're made of!).

the curse of the hiccups

I just bought a bottle of Mr. Pibb, opened it and took a quick chug when my phone rang and showed that The Boy was calling.

(An aside: I don't know why the vending machines are not stocked with Dr. Pepper, this is the midwest, home of Dr. Pepper is it not?)

Me: **hiccup** Hi Honey.

BF: Hi there....did you just hiccup?

Me: **hiccup** um yeah, **giggling** I just took **hiccup** a swig of **hiccup** Dr. Pepper **giggle, hiccup hiccup** and now I have the **hiccup** hiccups.

BF: Oh gosh, are you drinking already?

Me: Nooo **hiccup hiccup hiccup** I'm **hiccup** studying. **hiccup**

BF: Yeah right. You can't handle the pressure anymore so you're downing vodka. I know. It's okay honey, drink your stress away.

Me: **hiccup hiccup** I'm not drinking! **giggles, hiccup hiccup**

BF: How cute, my drunken little mouse hiccuping her way through law school finals.

Me: **hiccup hiccup hiccup** okay, go away now **hiccup hiccup** can't talk **hiccup hiccup** must stop **hiccup** this **hiccup**



And what do you know? As soon as I hang up with The Boy, the hiccups go away.

playing hooky

9am this Friday morning

Friend: Are you sure you want to go see a movie? I don't want to cut into your study time.

Me: Sure, no problem. I'll study until noon, go to the movies and then study afterwards.

-----

Eight hours later after a round at Oak Park Mall and watching The Holiday...

Friend: I don't want to take up any more of your time, but do you want to go to Old Navy real quick?

Me: Sure, what the hell. If I'm going to be at play today, might as well make the most of it. I'll punish myself later.

-----

And now I'm punishing myself with a dinner and then possibly a nap. I still have two days until my Property final. PLENTY of time to study...

halfway there

Two finals down, two more to go.

But first, some much needed sleep.

Good night y'all.

Bitch of the Day

"I'm sorry to kick you out, but you all need to leave this study room because your time is up and I have to study."

Yeah, and like we don't?!

Look at the pretty pictures while I prepare for my Torts final.

Day 1: Ice Storm

Day Two: Snow

Day Three: Sun on snow.

The football field. I really wanted to jump the fence to roll in the fresh snow and build a snowman.

The lights at the Plaza.

Standing in the middle of traffic.

crisis avoided

I just nearly had a heart attack and seriously thought my life was over.

I was quite productive today. I started the morning with a half hour run on the treadmill, followed by several hours of studying at the library. Then, I dropped off my books and laptop at home, grabbed the yummy food my mommy prepared and froze for me over turkey break and went over to CC's place for dinner and walk around the Plaza.

Dinner was good. Outing at plaza was fun. Then I got home and decided to upload the pictures to my laptop. I took the laptop out of my bag and placed it on my desk. Plugged it in. Hooked up the wireless mouse. Pressed the "ON" button and nothing happened. I thought it was odd, so I pushed the button again. And again. And again. And again. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED.

ohmygod what the hell ohmygod what the hell why isn't this turning on ohmygod my laptop is dead ohmygod all of my notes ohmygod my outlines ohmygod how the hell am i supposed to take my finals? ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod don't panic don't panic maybe the battery is dead and just needs charging ohmygod my notes my outlines ohmygod I have to handwrite my exam? what the hell goodness why me ohmygod laptop, please just turn on for mommy please please please mommy is sorry that she is looking at buying another laptop please just turn on I don't know what I did but I'm sorry if I angered you but pretty please just turn on OH SHIT MY LIFE IS OVER!!!

So after the panic attack and some sense took over, I hoped that the reason my laptop wouldn't turn on was because I drained the battery by leaving the laptop on standby without plugging it in when I dropped it off at home. So I left the laptop plugged into the wall and just let the battery recharge while I watched a couple of hours of TV and prayed really hard that that would be the solution. After what I thought would be enough time for the battery to be charged, I pushed the "ON" button and nothing happened. I pushed it again and again and again, and still nothing happened.

OH
SHIT
LAPTOP
IS
DEAD
AND
I
HAVE
FINAL
EXAMS
IN
TWO
DAYS
WHAT
THE
FUCK

Yes. Panic was so bad I didn't bother censoring any of that. I was almost in tears trying to figure out why the laptop wouldn't turn on. The battery had two hours to charge, so why is it not showing any signs of life? I even noticed that the little green light next to the picture of the battery wasn't even on. As a final effort to resolve this problem without completely losing my mind and calling the Boy to start crying about how my laptop has failed me, I searched for the reset button on my laptop and pushed it about a gazillion times. Then I pushed the "ON" button again and IT FINALLY TURNED ON! OH MY GOD IT WAS THE HAPPIEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE!

I opened every program to make sure it still worked. I opened up every document to make sure it was still there. I really did shed tears of happiness to finally have the laptop breathing life again.

Thank goodness my laptop is not dead. I seriously would not have been able to go to sleep tonight if that were the case. My hand is still cramping from the thought that I might have had to hand write all of my final exams.

ice ice baby

It went from being really really warm yesterday to really really cold, wet and icy today. No snow yet, but lots and lots of ice.

The view from my balcony. That's ice on to of the cover of the swimming pool.

Cars belonging to people who are smart enough to stay inside and not go anywhere.

Classes after 4pm were cancelled today. Too bad I was already sitting in class when I got that email. And the law school may cancel class tomorrow, which won't make a difference to me because I just finished my last class today.

If this was Wellesley, they'd never cancel classes just because of a little ice. I remember when I had to trek through three feet of snow from one end of the campus to the other, carefully scale icy stairs and climb uphill against the freezing wind to get to my classes.

Midwestern wimps! (Please don't shoot me!)

=)

let it snow let it snow let it snow

Just checked weather.com and it predicts that by Thursday night, the temperature will be 22 degrees with a chance of snow or really really cold rain.

I'm a bit excited at seeing fresh snow fall again, but am sooooooo not looking forward to this bitter coldness.

Brr. Gotta go dig out the down jacket.

chickens

First, it was the question of "Is a burrito a sandwich?"

And now, it's the question of "What is a chicken?"

Who knew such simple things could result in thousands of dollars in legal fees trying to find a legal answer?

the week in food

Saturday: Szchuan Hot Pot; Korean Tofu

Sunday: Chinese Dim Sum; McDonalds (hey, it was a break stop on the drive back to Boston)

Monday: Korean Barbeque

Tuesday: Mom's special tomato seafood gumbo

Wednesday: My favorite meal of all time -- make your own spring rolls!

Thursday: Click here for a description.

Friday: Sushi and fried ice-cream

Saturday: airplane pretzels and chocolate chip cookies.

Note: Any airline that serves warm chocolate cookies has my patronage for life!

Black Friday Madness

The Goal:
--Get to Circuit City at 5 a.m., go in and buy the $2.99 1GB Sandisk Memory Card and then get out by 5:30 a.m. to browse the Black Friday sales at the mall.
--Be done with shopping by 9:00 a.m. in order to return the car to the parents so they can go to work. Then nap until noon.

The Reality:
--Get to Circuit City at 5 a.m.
--Discover a line of people that goes all the way around the Circuit City building. Rationalize that the line will move quickly once the doors are open.
--Continue standing in line for an hour with the cold wind blowing without mercy to freeze the fingers, the ears and eventually the body.
--Comtemplate whether or not the $2.99 1GB memory card is really worth the waiting in the coldness and that a comfy futon with a blanket would be much better at the moment.
--Coldly walk through the doors once the security finally let my part of the line enter.
--Spend five minutes looking for the memory card, and since I was still cold, spend another thirty minutes trying to warm up by looking for a memory card for my dad's camera and browsed through the collection of DVDs on sale for $2.99.
--Spend 45 minutes waiting in line to pay for the four items that I bought.
--Drove over to the mall to quickly browse the sales for sweaters that Mom wanted.
--Made purchases and drove back home at 7:45 a.m.
--Entered the parents bedroom and continued to make a ruckus by jumping up and down on the bed yelling "wake up! it's cold! too many people! I'm awake so you should be too!" because I really wanted to sleep on a bed instead of the futon so the parents needed to get out of bed.
--Be yelled at for causing a ruckus and the parents refused to get out of bed.
--Entered the brother's bedroom and caused the same ruckus hoping to get his bed to sleep in.
--No such luck.
--Admitted defeat and got cozy on the futon and tried to doze off while watching TV.
--As soon as I felt the slumber course through my body, the parents and the brother left for work. I now had two beds to choose from but yet I was too freaking tired to move.

The goal for next year: No more Black Friday shopping.

Thanksgiving Dinner, the Asian way

Last year, I had my first traditional American Thanksgiving Dinner, courtesy of The Boy's family.

And this year, I had the usual Asian Thanksgiving Dinner -- going out to an Asian restuarant and paying others to cook for you and clean up afterwards. This year, I had two meals on Thanksgiving. The first was brunch with a friend's family at a Japanese hot pot place and it was my first experience at shabu shabu (Japanese hot pot).

Yes, that's right, the food on the plate is raw. For those inexperienced eaters, this is similar to fondue but instead of dipping your food in cheese or chocolate, you're literally cooking your food in the soup. It's really yummy. Trust me. I ate a lot. And I don't eat anything that tastes yucky.

Then, for meal #2, it was the usual "duck and chicken in the window" meal, complete with a birthday cake for mom, because you know, it was her birthday.

DONE!

One outline down, three more to go!

But first, must eat for more brain power.

gameboy addiction

My brother gave me his Gameboy DS to try out. He gave it to me before he left for work this morning. He also gave me a bunch of games to try out, two of which are my favorites: Super Mario Brothers and Tetris.

I played Super Mario Brothers all day today. When my brother came home from work at 6pm, he found me sitting in the dark, in my PJs, with my eyes glued to the game boy.

Brother: Good lord, how long have you been playing with that thing?

Me: Death to you brother. Because of you, I haven't done any studying because of this thing.

Brother: Put it down.

Me: If you take it away from me, I will hurt you.

Brother: Put. The. Gameboy. Down.

Me: Get away from me. It's my gameboy. Pretty gameboy. Mario must finish level 6.

Brother: Crazy Gollum.

Me: OH NO. I JUST DIED! NOOOOO!

Brother: Okay, now put the gameboy down.

Me: I can't feel my fingers. You better take this thing away from me and hide it or else I will never get any homework done.

Brother: And you said I have an addiction to video games. I give this thing to you for a day and look at you. No discipline at all.

Me: Gimme that thing back. I'll start outlining tomorrow.

Brother: No hope for the ones that have fallen so far.

The Underground Purse Network

So, you all heard of knock-offs of designer purses right? Well, my friend was telling me about this underground purse network in NYC and I just didn't believe her until I experienced it myself. It was like I was trying to buy drugs from a dealer. This was an experience I just had to share, but I hope no one gets in trouble.

It started out with us walking down a street in NYC's Chinatown. There was a ton of people there and already I was getting claustrophobic (and we were still outside!). As we were walking along, looking at the wares, there would be people whispering "LV LV? Gucci Gucci? Coach? We have lots. Wanna look?" If one person peeks your interest, then you'd follow that person to the location of their stash of knock-off designer stash.

Most of the time, the "Gucci, Coach, LV? I have it" person will take you to the back of the store and let you into a hidden, locked door that leads to a tiny room of about 5' x 5' PACKED with purses. Then there's another person telling you how much each purse costs, with a walkie talkie to transmit the price to the cashier up front. And in this tiny room are about 20 people trying to look at purses. Claustrophobia at a high! And if you try to bargain on the price of the purse, they'll just grab the purse from you and kick you out.

And when you get kicked out of one place, you go back on the streets and look for the next person whispering "Gucci? LV? Coach? PRada? I got it" guy who will take you to another hidden room in the back of the store. However, one lady lead us across three blocks, through an alley way, down a basement, through some more alley ways and into a locked storage room. I was fearing that she would just robb us and take our money, but she had the loot of knock-offs and she also kicked us out for trying to bargain with her on the prices.

Then we hit the motherload of the vendors: an indoor mall where every store has a stash of purses. On the outside, the store windows are covered with "Accupuncture," "Taxes filed here," Alterations for men and women available" signs. But when you walk through the door, there is an abundance of purses to choose from. And once you leave one store, the owner of another will ask you, "Want more purses? Come through here!"

I am never ever going through that again. Too many people. Too little rooms. And it takes too much freaking energy just to get a cheap LV knock-off. I'll wait until I make my millions and just buy the real thing, thank you very much.

Conversation of the Day

A little background: As we were driving to Queens, my friends and I were discussing people we knew from high school when somehow the conversation turned towards toilet humor. We were joking about using the john (one of the friends is named John) and then the Vietnamese equivalent of using the john, which resulted in the following conversation between me and my girl friend:

MM: My co-worker was in the Army, and he said that whenever someone had to go to the toilet, they would announce "I have to go see my head."

Me: Why would you want to go see your supervisor if you have to go pee?

MM: I don't know, but that's what he told me.

Me, with the lightbulb turning on: Um, you said that they always say that to let someone know that they're going to the toilet?

MM: Yeah.

Me: Oh my gosh. You know what "head" is slang for?

MM: Um, no? Should I?

Me: "I need to go see my head" means that he has to go see his penis.

MM: WHAT? Why the F would my co-worker tell me that?

Me: Head = penis. Get it?

MM: WTF? Why would he tell me something perverted like that?

Me: Boys will be boys.



The weirdest thing about the conversation? That the other three guys in the car didn't make the connection.

Is a burrito a sandwich?

That is the question of the day. Instead of discussing the holding of cases involving leases and subleases, landlord, tenant and subtenant, our Property Professor decided to use our class time to discuss the how one can argue that a burrito is or is not a sandwich.

"How does this question apply to property law?" you ask?

Well, it all started with a burrito making restaurant wanting to rent space inside a shopping center. BUT a sandwich making place does not want the burrito makers to get a lease because they fear competition. Fun huh? Read the entire article here.

The gist of the article is that a Judge ruled that a burrito is not a sandwich because Webster's dictionary said so. And from that ruling, the people of Worcester, Massachusetts can look forward to having a choice of burritos or sandwiches for lunch.

In class, however, we went one step further and the professor provided other sources to find the definitions of certain terms. For instance, according to the USDA, there is a difference between an open-faced sandwich and a closed sandwich. And there is even a definition for a burrito (a Mexican style sandwich-like product), but strangely there is not a definition for bread.

And through the entire class, I kept wondering why both companies spent probably thousands of dollars litigating this issue. Now I wonder how many burritoes and sandwiches must be sold to recoup the dollars spent on litigation. There's a problem for you to do.

Okay, if that just bored you to death, you can play the "Sandwich or no Sandwich?" game. Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------

BF Quote of the Day: Law and Food? You're in heaven!

48 more hours...

...until I am on a plane en route to Boston!!!

I can't wait.

I don't want to go to classes tomorrow.

I really don't want to go to class on Friday.

I just want to hug my mommy and ask her to make my favorite dinner so I can eat like a pig and fall into a food coma in front of the TV.

Ha, eating like a pig and falling into a food coma. What else is new?

motivational speaker

*ring ring*

BF: Hello?

Me: Hi honey.

BF: What's going on?

Me: I have no motivation right now.

BF: Go to the gym.

Me: How'd you know I was talking about the gym?

BF: Because I know you. Go to the gym.

Me: But I don't want to. It's cold outside...

BF: Go.

Me: ...and I'm gaining momentum on my memo...

BF: Moo.

Me: ...and I just want to crawl under the blankets...

BF: Moo.

Me: Moo? I am not a cow!!

BF: I didn't say you were a cow. I just mooed. That should be your motivation.

Me: I'm not a cow!

BF: You're not a cow!

Me: But I should go to the gym, especially since I will not be doing any form of exercise whatsoever when I'm in Boston next week.

BF: Tough it out and go to the gym every day this week, then you can award yourself by eating to your heart's content next week.

Me: Oh yeah, I'll be eating lots in Boston. I've already got a menu for my mom to follow.

BF: Oh gosh, you're going to end up with an 8-month pregnant belly after all that eating.

Me: Hey! I may have a little jelly belly but it's not to the point where people think I'm pregnant!!

BF: Go change into your gym clothes because once you have your gym clothes on, you'll have to go to the gym because you've changed for nothing if you don't.

Me: ummm...

BF: And you can do a lazy workout, half hour on the elliptical. Doing a lazy workout is better than nothing at all.

Me: Alright. Fine. I'll go change.

BF: Moo.

Me: I'm going to moo you until the cows come home.

death to the Bluebook

I guess I should start forming a very close relationship with the Bluebook if I ever want to get the grade I would have gotten if not for the stupid citation mistakes. I will probably never make Law Review either, for I am a person who does not care whether the comma is italicized or not.

But really, does correct citation really matter in real life? Is opposing counsel going to tell the Judge that I forgot a period after Id? Is the Judge going to send me to the corner for not having an extra period at the end of a string quote? Is the partner of the firm going to dock my pay if he finds an extra space after the citation? He will?

Alright, if it's that important, I'll go make love to my Bluebook now.

I WON!! I FINALLY WON!!

I finally won a game of badminton!!

11 to 9, YEAH BABY!!!

Yes, I only won one game out of four, but still, I finally won a game. Let me savor the moment.

I WON!!!

I need to go ice my knees now.

spam on cell phones

Technology is getting more advanced these days, especially with cell phones. Nowadays, you can get a teeny tiny cell phone that plays music, connects to the internet, takes pictures, takes video images, and of course text messaging.

I appreciate the opportunity to use my cellphone as a camera, telephone and an mp3 player at the same time, but I do not appreciate the SPAM "text messages".

For instance:

"We are interested in buying your house. Come to our meeting tomorrow night for more information. Call 888-888-1234."

Hello! I don't even own a home! And that spam message just cost me $0.10 on my cell phone bill. Thanks mister.

BUT, what I don't understand is getting forwarded messages from people you KNOW. And these messages aren't personally specific to you, like "Hi, wanna go out to lunch today?" Oh no, these messages look something like this:

"FWD: A PHONE TOAST! *2 US* 4 THE MEN WHO HAVE US, THE LOSERS WHO HAD US, N THE LUCKY BASTARDS WHO WILL MARRY US! SEND THIS TO ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS YOU KNOW!"

And this is coming from someone I know! Although I don't think she realizes she keeps sending me these annoying and randem text messages. Why? Because I used to be old school in thinking that you have to send each person a separate text message and if you wanted to send the same message to another person, you'd have to type it all over again and enter in the other person's number. But, you don't have to do that anymore. If you want to send the same message to 100 of your friends, you can just enter in some combination of commands on your cell phone that is the equivalent of "SEND ALL" on an email program.

I can buy a piece of chocolate for ten cents, which is much more enjoyable than getting spam messages on any kind of communication tool.

writing a resume

What I learned from the Career Services' Panel on building and writing your resume:

"...and if you highlight your name, and then click on 'Format', then 'Font', then click on the 'Small Caps' button, it will change the way your name looks on your resume."



All I have to say is, if you don't know how to change the font in a word document, then you shouldn't be in law school at all.

counting the days

2.5 hours until Thursday turns into Friday, the special Friday where both classes are canceled and I can sleep in for a change! WHOOPIE!!

5 days until Election Day...GO OUT AND VOTE!

6 days until I get my second writing assignment returned with a grade...not sure if that's going to be a YAY or $*%&*&#^%&*$#.

9 days until Veterans Day.

14 days until the last class of Torts for the semester...WHEEE!!

15 days until I get the hell of out of Dodge to see The Parents and The Brother in Boston, and stuff my guts to the gills with Mom's home cooking. Plus, a whole week off for Thanksgiving break! DOUBLE YAY!!

21 days until Thanksgiving. GOBBLE GOBBLE!

23 days until I have to get back on a plane from Boston and return to "Dodge".

27 days until the last class for Contracts and Criminal Law...WHOO HOO!

28 days until the last class of Property...YIPEE!

32 days until the first final of the semester--Torts (YIKES)

34 days until the Criminal Law final exam (ACK)

39 days until the Property final exam (EEK)

41 days until the Contracts final (HELP), which is the last exam of the semester...YAY!!!

41 days until I get to see The Boy...YAY!!!

ohmygosh, time sure flies when you're having fun

lost in interpretation

A line from my Torts casebook:

"In this case the plaintiff had left his ass fettered in the road eating grass." Davies v. Mann, 10 M. & W. 546, 152 Eng. Rep. 588 (Exch. 1842)

My initial thoughts after reading that line: Why would the plaintiff tie his butt to the ground to eat grass? Couldn't he just sit and eat the grass? Why is he even eating grass on the side of the road? Were they that poor in England back then? I still don't understand why he felt the need to tie his butt to the ground....how do you tie your butt to the ground?

Upon reading the next sentence did I realize that "ass" meant "donkey" and not the plaintiff's butt, which totally makes so much more sense.

It's been a long day...

It's official, I hate law school.

Well, that's a bit hasty of me. I don't hate all things law school, I just really hate my Contracts class, more specifically I hate the professor's teaching methods, which is no method at all.

The professor is great in person. But, in the classroom, he is the flakiest professor I know. Not only does he like to go on tangents about random things that has nothing to do with contracts, but he likes to spend three class periods talking (not lecturing, just talking) about the same theory.

Since we spend so much time talking about consideration in contracts, it's ironic how he has absolutely no consideration in giving us sufficient notice about important things like midterms and make-up classes. Remember this about the surprise midterm? Well, this was the professor's notice about a make-up class as half the students were leaving the classroom:

... ~~~ ... ~~~ ... ~~~ ...

Professor: So, I'm thinking about doing the make-up class tomorrow at noon. You all fine with that?

Student: Um, we have a property class at 12:40.

Prof: Property? With who?

Student: Professor Y.

Prof: Professor Y? Who's that?

Student: Professor Y is the property professor.

Prof: Oh, her! Yeah, I'll talk to her, she won't mind if you're 10 minutes late to class.

Student: Um, I think she will.

Prof: Okay, how about doing the make-up class today at noon?

Student: We have a class..... (in reality, we didn't have a class, but who wants to go to a make-up class two hours after being given notice of it?)

Prof: Well, just keep an eye out for an email about the make-up class then.

... ~~~ ... ~~~ ... ~~~ ...

Yes, and two hours later, we receive an email telling us that the make-up class is tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., allowing us 20 minutes to stuff food down our mouths before going to Property class. Fun times it will be.

The worst part about all this is that I have this same professor for Contracts next semester. Someone just shoot me now.

my addiction to chips and salsa

Okay, The Boy would really say that I'm addicted to all things food, but we're going to limit the category to chips and salsa for the purpose of today's story...

Lunch during the weekdays usually consist of a turkey sandwich and a handful of chips. Normally, I would take a handful of some Doritoes or Pringles and be done with it. However, on days that I like to spice things up with salsa, I get into the problem of the vicious chips-n-salsa cycle: continuous eating of chips and salsa until either the chips run out or the salsa runs out -- whichever comes first.

You would think I'd have more control over this vicious cycle, but sadly, I do not have any control when it comes to spicy salsa and salty, crunchy chips (I have noticed that my chip consumption increases significantly according to the saltiness of the chip). If I had a new jar of salsa in front of me with a new bag of chips, I'd probably sit there and eat it all if permitted to do so. Fortunately (or unfortunately?), I am never presented with a new jar of salsa or a new bag of chips at the same time, therefore when one jar or bag is empty, I am forced to stop eating the combo. And The Boy will usually take the platter of chips and salsa away from me whenever we're at a Mexican restaurant that serves never ending chips and salsa because he knows I will never leave the table.

Well, okay, today I decided to have chips and salsa with my turkey sandwich. I only had half a jar of salsa and 1/4 bag of chips left but I wanted to be good about my portion today. I took a handful of chips and put it next to my sandwich, and poured only a tiny bit of salsa into a bowl for dipping.

I ate the turkey sandwich. I ate the portioned amount of chips and salsa. I had my glass of cranberry juice. I was full and satisfied.

But we all know I can't just stop at satisfied. I poured some more salsa into the bowl, took another handful of chips and continued chomping as I was watching Michelle use her hands to make a peanut butter sandwich on Full House. And when that ran out, I took another handful of chips and poured some more salsa into the dipping bowl.

And the only reason I stopped eating the chips and salsa was because I finished the 1/4 bag of chips I had left, leaving me with no more chips to dip. Which was good because now I have to finish the reading for criminal law.

Quote of the Day

Criminal Law Professor:

Today, we learned about excuses for criminal liability and one of those excuses being self-defense, specifically the "battered spouse syndrome" and the admission of expert testimony in regards to the same. One can only hope that we will not have to deal with "pre-menstrual cycle syndrome" in the near future. That would be really bad for us guys.

Dogtoberfest

Nope, that's not a mispelling on my part. It's not the festival of beer for humans. It's the festival of doggie treats for dogs. It's Dogtoberfest.

This greyhound's outfit just looked weird to me. But, he was a lot warmer than I was.

These chiquaquas were really pampered, being pushed around in a baby stroller. The white one on the left is two years old, and the one on the right is 17 years old and also won the "Oldest Dog" contest.

Dogs were not allowed in the garden.

Because they would jump in after the fishies.

You can dye your poodle orange!

Yes, those are Great Danes kissing a buffalo.

You're probably wondering why there were buffalo at a dog festival. We were in some nature reserve park in the middle of no where Missouri, and I guess the dogs had to share the grass with the buffalo. All I can say is that I am glad there is a fence between me and that buffalo.

weird conversation of the day

On my walk to school this morning, I was approached by a couple inquiring about the Cashier's Office. Note that it was raining cats and dogs and we were each under an umbrella trying to stay dry.

Woman: Excuse me.

Me: Yes?

Woman: Why is the cashier's officer not open today?

Me: Um, I don't know.

Woman: Do you go to school here?

Me: Yes, but I still don't know why the cashier's office is not open today.

Woman: Are you sure?

Me: Um, I didn't even realize the cashier's office is open on Saturdays.

Woman: Yeah, they are. But why is it closed today?

Man: Honey, she said she doesn't know. Let's go.

Woman: I was here last Saturday and the Cashier's Office was open.

Me: I don't know what to tell you. Obviously, it's not open today.

Man drags the woman away as she mutters: Stupid people.

Me continuing on my way: Okay then...

I'm not sure if that "stupid people" comment was meant for me or for the Cashier's office.

dare to be proud

I was extra proud of myself today. For these two specific reasons:

1. It was freezing cold outside today and normally if I had to make a choice between getting under the covers or braving the cold, I'd choose the covers. And yet I forced my freezing little toes into my sneakers and dragged my freezing butt to the gym in order to meet my 4-days-a-week-at-the-gym quota. (got three days this week, one more to go, whoo hoo!)

2. After my hard run on the treadmill, I managed to contain my dinner to just a small portion of lasagna and just a small slice of garlic bread. I felt full and satisfied. For the moment anyway.

About thirty minutes after my dinner, I managed to:
--eat the remaining 2 slices of garlic bread that was sitting on the cookie sheet
--eat a couple of pumpkin shaped candy corn because the Roommate left a note that said "Eat some!"
--eat a slice of pumpkin bread because I couldn't resist
--eat half a mango because I needed to add fruit to my diet
--eat a couple of Dove caramel chocolate squares because I needed something sweet.

As The Boy would say, I should be ashamed of myself. And I do feel a bit of shame for falling off the wagon, but just for a little bit. Then the moment passes and I go back to popping another piece of chocolate into my mouth.

Food is good. Enjoy the moment and savor the taste. Don't listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.

just my luck

Oh. My. Goodness.

The day that I get called on in Criminal Law for the first time this semester is the day that I accidentally grabbed my Contracts book for class.

Yeah, that was fun.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Five good things about The Original:
1. Giant geese laying golden eggs.
2. No flashbacks to Wonka's childhood days.
3. Using actual "little people" as the Oompa Loompas.
4. Tim Burton didn't direct it.
5. Willy Wonka is less creepy looking.

Five good things about The Remake:
1. Johnny Depp
2. Johnny Depp
3. Johnny Depp uses Nut-Cracking-Squirrels which are cuter than the Golden-Egg-Laying-Geese.
4. Tim Burton directed it, and was smart enough to cast Johnny Depp.
5. Johnny Depp, although the way he portrays "loopy Wonka" would totally scare a child. Heck, it kinda creeped me out and I'm not four years old.

How can you not love the image of Johnny Depp?

the baking bug

I was craving some pumpkin bread and even got hold of a recipe which seems simple to execute. The following is a picture of what the pumpkin bred is supposed to look like, according to Martha Stewart:

What you'll need to make Martha's recipe for pumpkin bread:

- 12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

- 2 1/2 cups flour

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 2 tsp ground ginger

- 1 tsp salt

- 1 cup packed light-brown sugar

- 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree (1 3/4 cups)

- 3 large eggs

- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

..........

What you do with the ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour two loaf pans (8 1/2" x 4 1/2"); set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, pumpkin, melted butter, and eggs; add flour misture, and stir until just combined.

2. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of loaves comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes; invert pans and transfer loaves to wire rack to cool completely.

3. For the glaze, in a small bowl, mix 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar with 2 to 3 tablespoons water until mixture is smooth but thick. Place waxed paper under rack for quick cleanup. For easy pouring, transfer glaze to a liquid measuring cup and drizzle over loaves. Let dry 15 minutes before serving. Makes enough for 2 loaves.

..........

Two hours and forty minutes later, this is how my loaves of pumpkin bread turned out:

Doesn't look like Martha Stewart's but it sure was delicious! I gave one loaf away; my roommate and I quickly devoured the second loaf; and I'm hoping the remaining loaf will be my breakfast for the next week. I have a feeling the third loaf of pumpkin bread will all be in my tummy by the end of the day.

yummy donuts

Above picture taken at 10:30am this morning.

Below picture is the aftermath.

And no, I did not consume 10 donuts in half an hour. It took me three hours to do so. hee hee

Quote of the Day

Contracts Professor: when is the offer effective?

Student 1: as soon as it is communicated.

Prof: what else?

Student 2: never or later

Prof: that sounds like a rap song

*Class laughs*

Prof starts miming rapping movements. Class laughs even harder.

Prof: Please clarify "never or later".

Student 2: the offer is not effective until a later time, or it may never be effective at all.

Prof: like a time limitation?

Student 2: yes!

Prof: Did you notice, class, how I saved him? I said "time limitation" and he said yes like he thought he was the bomb, but really he don't know a damn thing. But don't tell him that.

coldness

It is COLD here. COLD, I tell you, COLD!!

It's so cold that I had to break out the new down comforter I had stashed away in the closet. (Trust me, I did not pay that price. Summer sales are cool.) Oh, it's so warm and fluffy. King-size comforter stuffed into a queen size cover equals lots of poofiness on a full size bed.** My bed looks like a giant marshmellow now. I'm sure that I disappear as soon as I get under the poofy covers. It's so floofy, nobody would probably notice that I was warming up under the blankets.

Okay, enough about the fluffy covers. Back to the coldness outside. I had to wear gloves this morning. People thought I was weird, but I don't care because my fingers were cold!! And I'm sure the only reason my contracts professor honked the horn on his car was because he was wondering why I was walking down the street in a light down jacket with gloves and a scarf on.

The weatherman said there may be frost tonight. FROST. It's only October people! This is the mid-west, not the east coast! Winter weather isn't supposed to come until Halloween is over. The reason trick-or-treating isn't popular on the east coast is because it's too freaking cold to dress in cool costumes while trekking in the snow, going from house to house begging for candy. All the kiddies are either snowmen, marshmellows, or different colored versions of the Michelin Tire Man because you have to wear puffy down coats in order to go trick-or-treating.

Good gosh, I'm already complaining about how cold it is and it's really only about 60 degrees outside. Imagine how much whining this blog will hold once there is actual snow on the ground.

Don't say I didn't warn you.



**If you're wondering why I don't have matching size bed accessories, it's because I purchased each at different times of my life. During my working days in San Francisco, I used to have a queen size bed, therefore all bedsheets and duvet covers were sized queen. When I bought the down comforter, it was a better purchase to get the king size and plus Macys didn't have any other sizes. Once I got to Kansas City, I had to buy a bed and my new apartment only had enough space for of a full sized mattress and box set (also because I refuse to sleep on a twin size bed anymore--I'm a big girl now). And there you have it. The history behind the king size down comforter stuffed into a queen size duvet and set upon a full size bed.

the anticipation of Krispy Kreme donuts

telephone conversation with The Boy:

Me: Hi Honey! Guess where we're gonna go this weekend?

BF: You sound really excited, must have to do with food.

Me: It isn't ALWAYS about food!

BF: No?

Me: Well, okay, it's about food.

BF: I know my little piggy well.

Me: HEY!

BF: Did you hear piggy? I meant "sweetheart". You heard me wrong.

Me: That's Miss Piggy to you, mister. Anyway, guess where we're going?

BF: Is there a chocolate festival going on?

Me: No, that was last weekend.

BF: Okay, where are you going?

Me: Krispy Kreme!

BF: Oh boy.

Me: That's right. I'm getting my glazed donut fix.

BF: Now I know that you're going to be good...

Me *with sarcasm*: Of course, I am going to be good.

BF: ...because you're just going to look at the process of how those donuts are made and you're not going to eat any donuts, right? You're just going to look and not touch, right?

Me: Of course, honey. I just want to learn how they make their donuts, and see the donuts go under the waterfall of icing.

BF: Oh stop it, you know you're going to eat a dozen the minute you get there.

Me: Yeah, who am I kidding? Do you want me to eat a dozen for you too?

BF: Knock yourself out. I can't stop you anyway.

Me: That's right. It's going to be an eating free for all!

BF: I'm so lucky to have an champion eater like you.

another law school blog

I don't have a collection of law blogs like Q does, but here's another blog for you procrastinators, blogsters, bloggers, etc.

Introducing to you...Woodslaw, the latest victim of blogmania.

the wheels on the bus go round and round

I finally did it. I finally used the bus to get myself downtown to the DMV office in order to relinquish my California driver's license for a Missouri one. Yes, folks, I'm a Missourian now. The things I do for in-state tuition.

Anyway, back to the bus story, it wasn't too bad. There's even a trip planner online similar to the one I use back in the Bay Area. Plot in the addresses and then voila, you have instructions on which bus to use to get there.

Fortunately for me, there is just one bus, called The Max, that goes from my apartment straight to the downtown area. The Max came at the exact time it was supposed to come, and it cost $1.25 to get on. I didn't know where to put the money, so the driver probably thought I was some country bumpkin trying to make it big in the city. He had to tell me take the transfer from the machine because I didn't know the machine had the transfers, I thought the bus drivers would hand out the transfers manually, like they do in San Francisco.

The bus was really CLEAN and not packed at all. Of course, I was on the bus at three in the afternoon, but still, it was close enough to peak travel hours, no? Anyhow, it was a pleasant thirty minute ride downtown and the computer lady announced each stop along the way. And there were no crazy, stinky, weirdoes or homeless riding on the bus either. The majority of the riders were elderly people, so they were just slow in getting off the bus, which is not a problem when there's no rush to get anywhere.

And since it took an exceptionally quick forty minutes at the DMV office to change my license, I was able to still use the bus transfer to take the bus back home without paying another $1.25. Score!

And I realized on the bus ride back home that we would pass by a Burger King. If it wasn't raining, I probably would have gotten off to make a fast food stop.

the dim sum of all things

Craving some authentic dim sum, CC* and I tried out Bo Ling's this morning because it seems to be the only Chinese restaurant that serves dim sum (and only on weekends!).

Although there was no uniformity in the waitstaff clothing, the food was served the way it's supposed to be served--with the staff pushing the food around on a cart instead of carrying it around on trays. They were even annoying us by constantly asking us if we wanted the shrimp dumplings when we already had two plates of it on our table. Ah, the authenticity was comparable to San Francisco or New York dim sum dining.

And the food...ohmygosh the food was DELICIOUS. Above are the requisite cup of tea, hot mustard and hot chili sauce for dipping, and the vegetable dumplings.

Here we have the sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf and Chinese broccolli in oyster sauce.

Shrimp dumplings in the bottom left corner, along with shrimp rolls on the left side and another serving of sticky rice in lotus leaf at the top.

These crab claws were to die for! Just enough crispiness on the outside that leads to juicy crabmeat on the inside. Yummmmmy!

And to top it all off, we had coconut red bean cakes. Just enough sweetness to end the meal.

Yes, all that food was eaten by just two people with very healthy appetites. CC and I were not disappointed with the food or the service. I think we made friends with the waiter, who will probably see us stuffing our faces with dim sum every Saturday from now on.

*CC is a fellow 1L who loves food just as much as I do!! And that's her hand modeling the coconut read bean cakes in the last picture.


The Dim Sum of All Things is also a great read by Kim Wong Keltner which you can buy here.