Happy Halloween!

Quote of the Day:
“You’re having delusions of adequacy....” - Weird Al, “You’re Pitiful”

˚●˚ On this day in 1994, the Magic Kingdom hosted its first ever wedding!

Happy Halloween! I can’t believe I forgot to bring my Queen of Hearts costume... it’s absolutely awesome, with the wig and the little pink flamingo for playing cricket (that’s what it’s called, right? on grass, with the little hoops and the big multi-color balls? We used to have a set in the garage; it was quite enjoyable to set up a course behind the basketball hoop. Ahh, those were the days...). I would venture to say it’s the coolest costume I’ve ever worn. I realize my experience is rather limited, but still... I guess I could go to the costume party tonight as a jerk, because I wouldn’t need any accoutrements. Or a putz... loser... take your pick. In Evidence this morning, the guy that sits behind me walked in wearing a Mickey Mouse costume, all dolled out in Fantasia regalia. He even had the hands, and the yellow shoes! How awesome, huh? He was carrying a little Mickey stuffed animal that matched... I was so jealous... :)

I must be more annoying to people at home this year... not one Halloween card. Sigh. And we sent out these “Halloween Grams” at school. I sent three and of course when I checked my mailbox this morning it was utterly abandoned, with just a slight sheen of dust and faint hint of a cobweb in the back corner. All the surrounding ones were exploding with coiled black and orange ribbon, signaling a gram within. My fault, I know. Adding insult to injury, the Gilmore Girls are a rerun tonight. Blah!

Big day today. Because my Tax professor is going out of town to make a speech on taxes somewhere at t he end of the week, we have make-up classes today (and also had one yesterday), So basically I have three extended-length classes back-to-back with fifteen-minute intervals sufficient for me to hoof it to the bathroom and trade out my books. It is nice, though, because I can leave early on Friday.

I’ve been downing calming medicine every couple of hours. My pulse keeps racing and I keep breathing shallow. My stomach will not stop churning. I really, really, really do not want to deal with this moot court thing tomorrow night.

This morning I was watching the news and to my surprise my Yoga instructor appeared in a segment! Turns out she teaches yoga part-time and the other time she’s a Belly Dancing teacher. She was all dolled up in full spindly and clanking metal regalia, with little clattering circles of metal that chimed whenever she breathed, long dreadlocks with feathers in her hair... wild makeup that included raccoon-eyes eyeshadow with coils on the ends by her temples... wow. Quite a costume.

I can’t believe I forgot to bring the Queen of Hearts! Stupid idiot!

A lot of people came to class dressed up. One guy was that stupid hardware dude from that awful show Home Improvement (I had entertained the hope, for a moment, that he was the Lumberjack from Monty Python...) and then one guy was dressed all in black, with a mask of curly brown hair obscuring his ace but for two eye slits, and giant antlers protruding from the top. I mean, we’re talking five point buck. And he’s tall, so you can see him coming from across the law school. Awesome. Lots of vampires and witches this year... wonder why vampires are so big? Is there a movie out that I don’t know about that instigated this trend?

Sometimes I actually wonder how people got along without computers. Life would have been so irritating. Of course, it’s irritating with them as well, but it moves more quickly. I took my laptop out of my backpack this morning and boom, for whatever reason, overnight the CD-ROM drive decided it wanted to remain propped open. It will play a CD if I hold it shut, it just will not remain so of its own volition. I took it to the computer guys at school, and they said there’s a spring inside that just needs to be replaced. However, they only repair Dells, and since I acquired my computer through Best Buy I have to visit the Geek Squad. Great. Money and time wasted.... I guess I’ll just deal for the time being.

The new Killers song is great. Strange lyrics and I don’t like the love-song-generic-chorus, but I like the verses and the melody The video, too, is awesome. The first time I saw it, I couldn’t recall why the style seemed so familiar to me, even though it was so unique and different from any other video out there. Then, in the credits, I learned Tim Burton directed the video. He’s the guy behind the Nightmare Before Christmas! Talk about going straight to the best! I wonder how much he charged them for his services? Or maybe he’s just a fan and donated his talent? I also love that Weird Al song “You’re Pitiful,” particularly at the beginning when he mocks the false start in James Blunt’s actual song (“What? Too early? Should I start again? Just go for it? Okay...”)

I wonder how other people perceive me. There’s this girl I sit next to in Tax... she’s not friendly in the least, very composed and prim and proper and I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile. But she’s very self-contained and apparently organized and seems very composed and self-sufficient. I wish I could convey that image. Maybe some day.

Wonder if Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin will be on television tonight?

(And I wonder why I don’t project the right image?!)

°o° Always, Everywhere...

“The accountant is not interested in becoming a lawyer. The accountant has seen what becoming a lawyer has done to people..."
- Prof. Colombo in a hypothetical

°o° On this day in 1971 the beloved Electrical Water Pageant officially debuted at Disney World. °o°

Well, that was fun. I survived the oral argument... basically... more or less. They said I used the facts very well and pointed out two arguments I made that apparently no other student did - they claim they were very impressed by them, which was nice.

My Business professor today is wearing the prettiest suit. it’s this burgundy-wine color with a button-down shirt underneath, white with tiny burgundy-color checks that takes on the appearance of a low-resolution form of the suit color from a distance, and she caps the entire thing with black boots. Very stylish.

I ferreted out that Michael J. Fox ad online - it’s horrible. Talk about manipulative advertising. If the democrats win over this... I mean, I am in favor of stem cell research, but not at the expense of losing the majority. I would rather not be taxed until my pores bleed in agony. But I think everyone’s overreacting to Rusk Limbaugh’s response. The guy lives for controversy and it’s his job to be a jerk and stir things up. He says that kind of thing about all sorts of people - there’s nothing special about his treatment of Michael J. just because the guy has a horrible neurological disease. Rush is not heartless or whatever, he’s just being his typical abrasive self. Get over it, people.

There’s a fundraiser going on at the law school (isn’t there always, everywhere?) called the Candygram program, where for $1 you can send a friend a little piece of candy with a note. Believe it or not, I sent one, to a friend in Tax class who is about to be called on (her last name’s up next) wishing her luck. The little gram things go to the people’s mailboxes (we each have out own mailbox just like teachers do) on Halloween, so she probably won’t ever check her box and the thing will rot in there and cause it to smell horridly and she’ll hate me... I can see it coming. Sigh. I tried.

Here We Go . . .

On this Day in 1971, Roy O. Disney official dedicated Disney World with the words:
“Walt Disney World is a tribute to the philosophy and life of Walter Elias Disney, and to the talents, the dedication and the loyalty of the entire Disney organization that made Walt Disney’s dream come true. May Walt Disney World bring joy and inspiration and new knowledge to all who come to this happy place . . . a magic kingdom where the young heart of all ages can laugh and play and learn together.”

I have my practice round of the Moot Court oral argument this evening. Can’t wait. I’ve been sick to my stomach all morning and I feel ready to regurgitate in spectacular fashion.

Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe, the main character who can’t act to save his life, is starring in a London play that will feature him in a scene nude. He wants to shake up people’s perception of him and hopes that people will think he can “do things other than Potter.” Rather difficult, when he can’t do Potter in the first place. Man, is he awful in those films. The girl that plays Hermione is getting really good, and even though there’s not much to his part, the guy playing Ron has always been great. But Radcliffe just keeps getting smellier. So… is it wise for him to do this, when 90% of Potter’s draw is small people? Obviously, they’re going to flock to the play just to see him, the butthead. What a stupid thing to do. At the very least he should wait until he’s of age - the guy’s only 17! Come on! And don’t even get me started on the character he’s playing - “a troubled young man with a religious-erotic obsession with horses.” Are you KIDDING me? What a JERK. Leave my beloveds ALONE you sick wackos! All those people should be locked up, much less anyone bringing that kind of behavior into the mainstream. GEEZ.

Boy, the more I listen to H.I.M., the more I love them. They are official my favorite band, taking the place of Fuel (seeing as they split up). Of course, George Strait will always be Numero Uno, but in the non-country category, H.I.M.’s got the gold. The vocalist Ville Valo has a phenomenal voice. I don’t understand why “Killing Loneliness” hasn’t caught in our country, but I guess America is the toughest market for foreign acts to crack. Probably something to do with the atrocious state of our current music industry - all gross hip-hop and skanky R&B. I cannot wait for this trend to pass. At least the punk-rock movement wasn’t a source of endless aggravation - I didn’t like the stuff personally, but it certainly didn’t offend me or make me want to gouge out somebody’s eyeballs like Roy Batty in Blade Runner. Although My Chemical Romance and Panic! At the Disco are thrusting us with baby steps in the right direction. On that note, I love the current trend of “manliner” - eyeliner on male musicians. I don’ t know why I think it’s so cool. And I love the costumes lately, particularly Panic’s Moulin Rouge style. But the tattoo thing - getting them over every inch of unadulterated skin - is absolutely abhorrent. Yuck.

I noticed on CNN Headline News that the white house picked out their Christmas tree! Hooray... the season is upon us. I would much prefer it to be summer perpetually, but if we have to have crappy weather, it might as well be a holiday, right?

Just to make life really interesting, my cable is on the fritz. I attempted to interact intelligently with the customer service reps twice to no avail, so they have to send a dude out. He’s coming Thursday evening. Hopefully there’s nothing really wrong; I’ll take a stupid glitch, thank you.

Hope it won’t be too cold on Friday, although things are not looking up in that regard. It was 28 in Gurnee this morning when I checked on Weather.com. Yuck.

?

Quote of the Day:
“It’s just a party, Mr. Stratford.”
“And hell is just a sauna.”

On This Day in Disney History:
In 1941, Dumbo was released.

ALL RIGHT. This is RIDICULOUS.

I feel like Daffy Duck in that cartoon where Bugs Bunny takes the place of the animator and just keeps drawing random things into the scene to annoy Daffy to the point that he finally turns to the audience and demands an explanation (Bugs promptly draws an anvil careening down from the sky...)

It's October 23 and THIRTY-SEVEN DEGREES OUTSIDE. What in the WORLD?

Christmas/Birthday List

An addendum to my Christmas and Birthday list. Looking over it, I have reached the conclusion that I am a total pig. I will be absolutely ecstatic with anything I may or may not receive.

Dickblick.com:
- Kokuyo Kaddy Supply Tote (2 of them)
- ArtBin Art/Craft Box (Double Tray Version)
- Portable Sketch Folio (Red or Black)
- Martin Universal Design Pisarro Portfolio (14” x 18” version)
- Martin Universal Design Matisse Art Portfolio (Size: 17”× 22” × 1½”)
- Fresh Water Rinse Well

Amazon.com:
- Birnbaum's Walt Disney World 2007
- Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2007
- PassPorter 2007
- Walt Disney World Trivia Book, Volume 2
- 101 Things you Never Knew about Walt Disney World
- The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot
- Treasure Hunts
- More Mouse Tales
- Eddie Izzard DVD: Glorious
- Eddie Izzard DVD: Definite Article
- Bubble Bobble for Nintendo DS
- Harvest Moon for Nintendo DS
- DVD: Looney Tunes - Movie Collection (Bugs Bunny/Road-Runner Movie/1001 Rabbit Tales)
- DVD: Garfield Holiday Celebrations

CafePress.com:
- Dead Parrot Jr. Ringer T-Shirt
Size: Medium
Color: Mint/Avodaco
- Hamster Jr. Ringer T-Shirt
Size: Medium
Color: Pink
- Keep Left Sign Black T-Shirt
Size: Small
Color: Black

80stees.com:
- Pretty in Pink t-shirt
Size:large
- Breakfast Club t-shirt
size: large
- Spanish Inquisition t-shirt
size: small
- Sixteen Candles t-shirt
size: medium (or large if they have)

From Wherever (thenorthface.com?)
-W Banshee Triclimate Jacket (Color: Molten Red; Size: Medium)
- or -
- W Amplitude Triclimate Jacket (Color: Rock Coral Orange; Size: Medium)

Gift Cards:
- Borders
- Michael’s
- Mayfair or Brookfield Square
- Best Buy
- Kohl’s or Target
- Wet Seal or Delia's
- Express or Ann Taylor
- BlockBuster

LaughingPlace.com:
- #1 - Happiest Celebration on Earth Throw (Walt Disney World)
- Pirates of the Caribbean Musical Water Globe
- Fab Five To Do List Magenetic Notepad
- 101 Things You Never Knew About Walt Disney World
- DoomBuggies.com Presents the Secrets of Disney's Haunted Mansion
- More Mouse Tales: A Closer Peek Backstage at Disneyland
- The Imagineering Field Guide to Epcot
- Disney Resorts Fan DVD - Volume 3
- Wandering the World Fan DVD - Magic Kingdom
- Kilimanjaro Safari Characters Pin
- Disney Desktop Themes
- Cheshire Cat Balancing Tea Pin
- Beauty and the Beast Scene Pin
- Mickey Mouse Ice Cube Tray (Red)
- Mickey Ice Cube Tray (Blue)

Breyer:
- Autumn Shimmer
- Dapple Chestnut Quarter Horse Mare
- Bargain Barn Chubasco & Charavette Saddlebred Limited Edition Set
- Oberon
- Pony Family Set
- Spooky Stablemate Set
- Spooky Stablemate Set 2
- Grey Cigar Reflections
- Paddock Pal Unicorn 2006
- Hagen Renaker Border Collie
- Hagen Renaker Border Collie Pup
- Hagen-Renaker Platypus

Impending Frigidity

Something’s really wrong with me. I always fall asleep to either the Gilmore Girls or Monty Python, and last night was a Gilmore Girls episode where Lorelai and Rory visit the grandmother’s house on Thanksgiving. Out of nowhere the thought popped into my mind: it’ll be nice to have relatives over for the holiday. What? What was that? Come again? Am I suffering from temporary insanity?

On that news program… Ikus in the morning? That dude who wears the cowboy hat and speaks intelligently but in a very self-satisfied tone… they were discussing Wesley Snipes trying to swindle the government out of 12 million. I’m sure we’ll be mulling that in tax today. But, what is wrong with famous people? What makes them think they can get away with tax fraud? They make so much they’re under heightened scrutiny; they must realize that! It’s akin to a prisoner attempting to escape while the guard’s patrolling as opposed to when he’s nodding off. I mean, come on. I spoke to my tax professor before class and he said Wesley will probably not face criminal charges, but just have to cough up the owed money, plus interest and penalties, because it’s almost impossible to prove the mens rea for intent to defraud. But he did say there’s a possibility they’ll pull a Pete Rose or Willie Nelson and try to make an example out of Wesley. Guess we’ll see.

I feel bad for Sara Evans. How many years has she been married and the guy turns out to be a slimeball? But I suppose she should have seen it coming, what with him being a politician and all.

Have you seen the latest photos of Britney Spears? I feel bad for her, too; I hope she can pull herself together. And in the process, dump the dodo she for some unfathomable reason voluntarily attached herself to.

This is the last hurrah for the weather… it’s supposed to be about 70 today before the big, seemingly permanent temperature nosedive. Argh. I wish it would remain 70 or 80 year-round... or, at least never snow.

Cloudy with a Certainty of Silliness...

It’s really strange that so many people in law school are married. It’s like the pressure of keeping up with classes makes people realize how fleeting life is and they bound right from dating to the ceremony without constructing a viable pro-con list.

The e-mails are going out for the 1L job search and career services meetings. Makes me remember last year at this time, shaking in my boots. I guess the less things change, the more they never seem the same.

It’s supposed to rain with “considerable cloudiness” all day, but at least the forecast says 59... could be a lot worse. As long as the wind doesn’t parch the skin off my fingers when I walk outside, I’m happy.

I broke down and cranked my heat last night after I got out of the shower and felt about to shatter into a zillion pieces from the slab of frigid air that greeted me. I can’t wait to get my heating bill!

The whole myspace.com extravaganza creeps me out. What are these people thinking, putting their lives online like that? Particularly school-aged children... I realize the temptation to share things with your friends via the web is great, but there has to be a better way!

Looking forward to Fright Fest! And then both Marie Antoinette and Flicka come out on Friday. Yay! Finally, something worth watching!

I absolutely love the new Weird Al Yanjovic parody. He changes this positively horrid rap song about “riding dirty” (which, I gather, has something to do with driving around toting drugs in the car? But I’m not down with the lingo...) to “They think I’m so white and nerdy...” The music video is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. And he references Monty Python. What a change. The new Jimmy Buffet song is all right - not my cup of tea, but definitely better than anything else out there. It’s currently a music scene stuffed with crap. In other music news I downloaded the new Panic! song, and it makes me kind of nervous that their main draw is young, prepubescent girls. I’m not sure it’s in their best interest to be digesting those lyrics on a regular basis, although I suppose Paris Hilton is much more damaging.

Before I went to sleep last night, I spent about twenty minutes jumping Breyers. I made a double-oxer out of straws and my Lady and the Tramp salt- and pepper- shakers, a water jump out of junk mail, a plank with the TV changer and a sweedish oxer out of a Nike tennis shoe. They make me so happy. I couldn’t even really tell you why. I can’t wait to build a garage or a little room like my uncle has and just line them all up, arranged by their mold (position), each with their own little nametag that has a show name and a nick name. I guess everybody’s got their something...

Penguins with Law Books . . .

It is absolutely frigid in my Intellectual Property room. I mean, I’m losing circulation in my fingers. I said something to he administration and she said she’d pass the word along, but apparently the rooms are kept overly-cold to help thwart the proliferation of germs. I read in the Insider’s Guide to Law School that they do it to help students stay awake (it’s so easy to slep when it’s warm...), so who knows.

When I still lived in the attic, I used to love laying on my stomach in the closet with my feet in front of my giant space heater. I attempted to recreate that by purchasing a cheap space heater from Home Depot (literally - $16) and after a year the thing finally crapped out oh me. So now I have to track down a replacement. It’s always something, isn’t it?

I can't believe some people post their entire lives online. That whole MySpace thing is just a disaster for citizens experiencing a deficiency of common sense. Are you just begging to be killed, or what?

I'm so proud of myself, planning ahead for Christmas this year. I already have a few presents procurred and ready to distribute, and Halloween hasn't even arrived yet!

Whoops

For I think the second time in my law school career I slept thorough my alarm. I don’t even know if the things went off, but I certainly recall setting them Maybe I got up and then decided top lay back down for one more reason… although I do not recall doing that, which really frightens me. I hate not having total control over my mind! I guess the extra calming medicine was a bad idea, although I was told I could safely partake of it. I was just so scared about not bring able to sleep. But now I’m all groggy and I think tired would have been better. But, now I know. I can tell I’m going to be “off” all day because my routine was obscured. Blahhh. I hate when this happens! I hope there’s nothing wrong with me.

Can’t believe Holiday season is upon us already. There are Christmas Trees for sale at Sam’s Club already.

Hmm.

Not that anyone cares, but Gilmore Girls kind of stunk last night. The people who founded the show, produced it and composed the scripts for the show its first six years jumped ship due to a disintegration of contract negotiations this season, so I’m rather nervous that it will never get good again. It used to be 90% comedy, 10% drama, and the numbers have almost entirely inversed. Hmm. In other boob toob news, Lost premieres tonight... guess I might have to give it one last chance, considering it’s still booming in popularity with the remainder of the population.

At my Moot Court meeting yesterday, they gave us a run-down of everything that has to be in the final draft of our brief. Then, just before we were dismissed, the student supervisor said, “Right now, you’re probably sitting there shell-shocked, wondering what in the world you’ve gotten yourself into and whether it’s too late to drop out. Don’t worry; that’s perfectly normal.” Well. How encouraging.

It’s beautiful outside today - about 77 with a slight Florida breeze and crystal-clear skies. I walked outside this morning and it felt like summer wrapping a comforting breeze around me and ruffling my hair.

Just my two cents’ worth... someone needs to do away with Nelly Furtado. Between that awful song promoting irresponsible behavior and that awful remake of what was once a perfectly acceptable song, she needs to be eliminated. Ditto with Justin Timberlake. I like that Hinder song, but it’s being overplayed… I don’t understand why the HIM song “Killing Loneliness” and that one song “Mama’s Room” by Under the Influence of Giants haven’t caught on. I could hear the latter all over KISS FM and the former on 102.1, but they’re both relegated to MTV2. Hmm.

Against my best efforts, Breyers and horses are drawing me back in. Breyer is running this “Treasure Hunt” promotion where, if you buy four Lady Phase models, you send in the UPC codes and get a special, limited-edition Decorator model (the bright blue ones that every collector drools over). It’s sooooo tempting to get involved in that! Particularly because Lady Phase is one of the best molds, and they redesigned it to have a long, billowing tail, my favorite type. Hmm.

Thirty-one days till the Breeder’s Cup.

In Intellectual Property today we’re discussing a case regarding patent infringement cases involving super soakers and those lawn bags that look like pumpkins. Pretty cool stuff. Timely, too.