That's the point of a pop quiz, Brewster... to surprise you.

(I started this last night, but had to go to bed before I could add pics and publish...)

I am in the Hague! It is beautiful. Do not use Amex checks here. Or anywhere in the Netherlands. They do not take them. HAHAHAA, SURPRISE! Well, the airport exchanges them and I have a lead on 2 places that MIGHT. Sigh. Luckily my landlady is very understanding and my flatmate (who is here with me from home) is awesome and keeps offering to lend me money in the meantime, should I need it. (I changed $300 at the airport, out of necessity, but it was only 182 Euros. Awesome. NOT.) So I still have cash, but I didn't take out enough for the week AND rent, you know? So I'll pay rent when I get my $$.

But first things first...Iceland! First of all, soooooo glad I missed the volcanic explosion the day after I left! But overall, the place is very expensive and the people were going to get a B, but I have to give them a B+ in light of my last night. (That story comes at the end of the night I ate at Dill Restaurant--though certainly not due to the waitstaff...but still. Seven Courses. I had never done that before! Pics and descriptions to follow.)

So when I first got there, it was EARLY. Like, 7am. But I was met at the airport, no problems. I got dropped off at 1912 Guesthouse--and this was new for me--it was an unmanned guesthouse! However, it was a breeze and there were no snafus--I had the door code and the key was in my door, a dark little room with a single bed, wardrobe and I think maybe a tiny table. But you know what? That was one mother-fuckin' COMFY-ASS bed. (The duvet was mostly the star.)



Sexy red doors.



This is just the street name.

It's a three-story guesthouse, WC on each floor, maybe 3-4 rooms on each floor, and best of all? 95% of the time, it was just myself and one other girl, Alison from New York. I saw her briefly as I went in initially, and then again on my last night. (The morning I left at the ass-crack of dawn, two of the rooms next to mine had their keys missing--meaning new inhabitants.) But Alison and I agreed that while it was nice to feel as if we each had the place all to ourselves, in the backs of our minds we were also thinking, "Um, I guess it's safe?"

And certainly, for the most part, yes. Bad place/bad time can happen anywhere, but Reykjavik did strike me as quite safe and easygoing. It is, however, nut-wrenchingly expensive, "bad economy" or no.

I really liked staying at that guesthouse, but mostly because I always got the bathroom, I could set up my laptop in the main room and let Jon Stewart play while I sorted out my packing in my room...no one else to worry about. You can't always plan on that. :/ But it was a reasonable price for very basic accommodations in an ideal spot. It was secluded away from douchey-ness and yet one block away from good times.



This is the big Catholic church (not that big, actually) just outside my guesthouse. Makes for an excellent landmark. That and the House of Parliament, also one block away.



(The crown is leftover from Denmark. They didn't take it down/destroy it in an effort to maintain...good feelings, for lack of a better description?)

So when I got in, I got settled and checked my email, then took a 1.5 hour catnap in an effort to be in control of my jet-lag. (Which meant I woke up just before 11am when things were getting going anyway.) I walked around the city center, which was quiet and still mostly sleepy, and the main shopping street was about five minutes away.



This is the entry way to the long strip of foodie-clothing shops.



I did not go to Asia.



Pretty scenery while shopping!



Random.



Ok! Who wants to go to hell? :D Seriously, I was tempted to try whale. (It would have been for a nice dinner, not some whimsical lunch.) I am usually excited to try something daring, but I wasn't really feeling it. I pussed out, I'm sorry. I certainly didn't want puffin (but mostly because I hear they taste like liver, not because they're cute), but I was minorly intrigued by whale, I admit it. It's a huge dish here. I did not get to sample this time, and I am also okay with that.



I did not go in here, wishing to retain at least some of my cash.



I think what they mean to say is "Tea and Coffee." ;)



There was a lot of graffiti all around Reykjavik. (You have to click on the image, I think, to read the writing and to appreciate the glittery building top.) So much of it was fun and artistic, but there was also more than a fair share of "tagging"-type bullshit...





I did buy one of these, though. It was 990IS, which was basically like an $8.50 chocolate bar? But look at those tasty BITS all in it! I got the pistachio one. And nursed it for several days, well into The Netherlands. Worth it.

Afterwards, I hit a little gay bar/cafe for lunch, in an effort to support the local gayborhood.



(I was actually at the little place to the left--this pink place was called "Megan's" and is an evening joint.)

Oh my, I had the saddest "nachos" ever, I don't think the place was really intended for actual food. She even seemed a little surprised that I wanted food.



It was an interesting place...there was "queer literature," (see, off to the left) which she at one point let me know I was more than welcome to, but I never did get to peruse the offerings to see if it was in anything other than Icelandic.



Someone has very strong opinions about something. (This was written on a flyer for something (a music group?) on the wall next to me.)



My first vacation beer of the trip! :D

So it was a cute, quiet place. I had two Icelandic beers and caught up on my writing. Afterwards, I went in search of a good lazy-yet-informative tour for the afternoon in addition to Blue Lagoon tickets, both of which I found from the same place, for a decent price.

While waiting for my tour, I had about an hour to kill, but I had pretty much seen the area and was happy to seek out a nice spot to relax while reading my book. The tours tend to pick you up from your hotel, and I didn't want to walk all the way back, so they just picked me up at a hotel a block away. There was a cute little restaurant/bar, so I had second lunch, which consisted of:



A second type of Icelandic beer and...



...this. I think it was "French chocolate cake," but names really don't matter. I know that strawberry looks small and shy, but he was really quite tasty. (Wow, getting dangerously close to potential dialogue for the post-law-school bodice-ripper I plan on publishing in order to pay rent: "He didn't taste shy...").

Anyway, I took a bunch of pics on the tour, so I think I should start another post!

I want to go to there.

Today is a GOOD DAY. I tend to equate my relationships with cities with certain types of people relationships. (None of which I have ever had, really.) Tokyo is the occasionally abusive boyfriend I just can't stop loving. (We get along 95% of the time but occasionally Tokyo smacks me around to remind me who's in charge. And I will always come back.) Austin is the awesome college sweetheart you still fantasize about. Boston is the guy a work acquaintance set you up with; there's no chemistry, but you keep going on awkward dates anyway because it's company and there's nothing else to do.

And Den Haag was starting to feel like a bad Harvard boyfriend--all pretense and reputation but no actual substance. My supervisor (who in fairness has been here nearly 5 years) is just about done with the place and he described it as being expensive for no good reason...to which I said, "Hey! I know that! It's Boston!" (Unlike New York, for example, which one can understand being so pricey.)

But today is a good day. I got my money changed (the story of what a goddamn pain in the ass that was is so coming in a following post), which was phenomenally easy to get to--another story there--meaning I had time leftover to get a phone (YAY!), get a train/tram pass, go to Centraal Station and figure out how to use the bus to get near my house (2.50EU instead of 13EU taxi). It meant leaving work early today but that was (whew!) fine.

Now I can FINALLY update this thing. I started writing a couple days ago, but there were PICS to be managed. I am also listening to 2 of my new itunes albums courtesy of Veloute and fam. I haven't bought my 3rd one yet. ;) So right now it's Adele's 21 and the Mumford & Sons album. Add to that: red wine, my leftover choco almonds and pretzels and several open windows in my Dutch attic (insert Dutch Oven or Anne Frank joke here) and I am a lot less stressed than I have been.

The airport, my man. The airport.

Man. I hate night flights like I hate late afternoon/evening exams. Because you just sit there all day and frankly, you should already be totally studied up and should have already packed. So the day is just shot, a total waste.

I actually DID do most of my studying prior to the day of my last, late afternoon tax exam, but the day was still wasted with minor cram-studying or trying to convince myself IT'S COOL, YO.

But right now I kinda feel like barfing...it's not like I have much packing left to do, and quite frankly, I do still have 13 goddamn hours. It's just the stress of OHMYFUCKINGGOD. I will be gone for nearly 3 months and I hope I don't forget anything. Like seriously, this morning I woke up (at some ungodly hour) and it was the first time I actively thought hey, I should probably set my passport with my wallet. This is the sort of shit just now crossing my mind? We may have a problem.

I also think I get more high-strung and less flexible the older I get. Considering I totally cried on the first day of second grade because I missed the instruction about where to put my lunch box, you can imagine that these are the sort of days when you probably don't want to be around me.

And...scene.

Wow, sure glad I left the bar when I did yesterday evening (6pm--and mostly I was there for their cheese enchiladas, thank you) and not 20 minutes earlier, cause that's when this shit went down.

I had to drive past it and for once, I cannot slight anyone for slowing down to look.

On a much lighter note, FRIGHT NIGHT, BITCHES!

I have so many issues with this, I do. I want to love Colin Farrell but just not sure I can trust him to carry this (when) it sucks. Why is Evil Ed suddenly a nerd? Where the fuck is Mr. Vincent? AND WHO THE FUCK MADE CHARLIE COOL?!!

Sigh. Nothing about it seems right. I could get all upset that they're getting it wrong, but you could argue that if they're going to re-make it, they might as well try a new spin. After all, if they're just going to replicate it, why bother at all?

(To be fair, I mostly don't think they should have bothered at all.)

But I am looking forward to it anyway and will just try to go into it imagining it is a whole other movie.

Thor's a homo.

I am so grateful for Logan Airport's free wifi and the rule that you can totally buy alcohol as of 8am. FTW. Boston may have some shitty rules when it comes to alcohol, but every once in a while...

Bagel with cream cheese and a white wine, the breakfast of champions. So much for that diet...*cough*

(I take a Dramamine when I fly, so this ensures a fairly comatose flight.)

Well, I am done with half my classes, finals included. To be fair, one of those was trial team and one was a class that ended in March. But I turned in my professional responsibility take-home final yesterday. That was one goddamn joke of a class, it did FUCK ALL to prepare me for the MPRE. (That's the ethics exam I have to take prior to taking the bar.)

I may be taking my international law final at home if the registrar's office gets their shit together. I have never asked them a single question that didn't involve consultation with someone else who works there. Either they are all completely ignorant or always brand-new. Or both?

I also found out that the precious angel of a woman in the financial aid office who whimsically wrote off my remainder tuition for this past semester that wasn't covered by grant or federal loan *totally disappeared*. (For the record it wasn't much but it was to me!) :( God forbid they employee people who 1) know what they're doing 2) can see the bigger picture 3) go out of their way for students. That is SO not my school's MO most of the time... (though I do like my school mostly, promise).

ANYWAY. At the airport!!! :D Can't wait for Jazz Fest this weekend! I will be somewhat good and/or do some extra Jillian Michaels to go with. ;)

I did get a break to see a movie the other day--I saw Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. (Also known as the new Morgan Spurlock documentary--the guy who did SuperSize Me.)



I was worried it couldn't sustain 90 minutes. It's basically about transparency in the advertising world, specifically product placement. It's cute and funny and there's even some interesting "conflict," for lack of a better word. Basically, the movie is completely supported by product placement, but the point is to have transparency and have it be his own movie. But all the products (obviously) have their own contracts, so it gets a little blurry (in his mind) as to keeping a balance between his goal and accidentally becoming their bitch. So it's no SSM, but it was definitely fun and I enjoyed it.

Oh and I think I am going to LOVE The Killing. Only 30 minutes in (blame law school), but it's a very austere Twin Peaks so far. I know that's probably already a tired comparison, but it's true! It's the way the opening unfolds, cutting back and forth between the investigation and the kids at the high school and finding out she may not have been the most morally upstanding kids (judging by her acquaintances so far). Though I have yet to see an actual dead body, unlike TP. But whereas TP had a warm, swanky feel to it, this absolutely feels as stark as the new Wallander series--bleak as hell.

And I absolutely don't want it to be a "new Twin Peaks," I know it will be its own series, but I am enjoying the opening nonetheless.

Ok, nearly flight time!

Don't worry about that. I'm very maternal. And Albert's practically a breast.

I have spent most of today reading and writing about International Economic Law. My first draft was 25 pages without examples (it's a supplemental study aid chapter) and I'm working on the re-write and hope to finish it over the long weekend.

Long weekend, you ask, what's that? Well, in New England, Monday is Patriot's Day. I looked it up once and I've already forgotten. I think it has to do with a battle somewhere, but it is my finding that the natives don't know, either. To them, Monday is Marathon Monday. And it is Marathon Monday for everyone and you fall into only two categories--you either run the Boston Marathon (they were already fucking up Boylston Street last night, I noticed) or you drink all day long. As big a fan of day drinking as I may be, this paper isn't going to write itself. (Though I keep staring at it, in the hopes.)

I do have two new albums I've been listening to as I work: Paul Simon's So Beautiful or So What and Lia Ice's Grown Unknown.



Ok. The Paul Simon album. I mean, it's decent. I think The Afterlife (the single most people praise as being "humorous") is obvious. Hell, most of the album is obvious. And I also find the religious overtones--even if they are darker rather than praising or preachy--annoyingly bleed through more and more. Hell, they aren't really even "overtones" anymore.

Overall it lacks the sort of lyrical nuance and mystery his older albums have. And with each passing year since Graceland, the music itself seems to get out of hand. Like it's almost overbearing on occasion. After reading that he was going back to his old-school manner of song-writing from the 70s, I guess I had higher hopes that it would be a little more stripped-down musically? So overall it struck me as disappointing, but I'm working on it.

I may be in the minority here.

This one's not bad, Rewrite, and he's certainly still having fun.



(I want to give Jimmy Fallon shit for gushing at the end, but I would probably look just as idiotic. Oh! And more on Fallon in a second...)

I don't dislike the album. And I would still go see him in concert in a heartbeat and overpay like a motherfucker with a giant grin on my face. If only I were going to be in town! :(

Here's hoping the repeated listens make it grow on me.

Lia Ices is an artist I stumbled on completely by accident while surfing the interwebs. The cheap description would be "Cat Power and Sarah McLachlan mixed together but still different." I read something like that somewhere. I get the Cat Power thing, not so much the SM. But I like this artist more than Cat Power, who for some reason often annoys me.



Anyway, Lia Ices seems to be a fairly unknown artist from Brooklyn, and she played at this year's SXSW. But I'm really enjoying the album. I always buy myself a new album during the last couple weeks of the semester to abuse while I study. I aim for mellow, for obvious reasons. Past selections have been Carrie Newcomer and Frightened Rabbit. I was going to opt for Mumford and Sons, I'm really curious about that album and have heard nothing but good things, but I ended up favoring the obscure.



Ok, back to Jimmy Fallon, or rather, his Ben & Jerry's ice cream. It's not as gross as it sounds at all.



I only had a couple bites in order to be less chunky myself, but it was perfectly tasty. Since they're clusters, if you didn't already know while eating it, I don't think you would suspect "potato chips."

I love being a frog in the warm sunny summer...but mostly I’m happy because I have you.

I didn’t even really do anything complex today…but my brain gets fried exponentially faster when the things I study are out of my league. Like in tax law, I’ve been trying to catch up regarding depreciation and bad debts/losses. I get it when SHE talks about it but I can so tell that when left to my own devices I’ll be fucked. So I need to up my A game in the tax department. I’m delusionally desirous of an A in that class. Just cause I think the prof is awesome and it’s a 4 hour credit and I want to rock it.

And then I was proofing my study-aid chapter I have to write about international economic law. OH HAHAHAH. So this book series for which I'm writing normally reeks of personality and charm because the authors are so familiar with the material that there’s an offhanded je ne sais quoi about it...so then there’s me, with nooooooooooo fucking clue what’s going on. And you can TELL because the narrative is stale, distanced and sterile. I am working on it. I am also working on getting the SUBSTANCE right. Like I JUST REALIZED I kick off the “bilateral and free trade agreement” section by explaining what bilateral TRADE INVESTMENTS are. If you just glazed over, welcome to my world. I really do love working on this. I know more than I ever wanted to know about international trade law, including the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF. The Financial Times (always dutifully and mysteriously delivered daily at my doorstep but to which I have never subscribed), suddenly makes far more sense than I thought possible.

And! More interestingly, I also finally saw The Merchant of Venice! FMA had told me that they were actually doing student rush tickets (for some reason I thought they weren’t), which meant that I got a ticket in the orchestra section for $20 instead of $94. So I sent him a thank you and a tiny bunch of street roses (there is an awesome Korean vendor near my school and I selected the most antique-y looking pinkish ones). I had never seen the show and you know what, I have also never even read the play, sadcakes.



So I saw it for the very first time last week, and I was really intrigued by the story. First of all, it was hugely modernized (the pots of metals were each represented by a MacBook, wink), but obviously the little things didn't hinder the story. It was alarming at first to be confronted with such obvious anti-Semitic issues, but I can also see how it doesn’t matter that Shylock is Jewish; he easily represents any oppressed people. Especially important (and obvious) is the idea that it is his treatment in life (by these assholes) that forces him to act the way he does. It doesn’t justify his actions, but it’s one hell of a compelling reason. And who the hell wants to be the Christian assholes in this play, anyway? Everyone is pretty loathsome, although the women’s roles are mostly positive...but even they are rife with issues. The whole thing was just crazy interesting for me, as someone who didn't know anything upon going in.

Hell, I didn't even realize this was the play from which the “Hath not a Jew eyes? [...] If you prick us, do we not bleed?” speech is from. I think I knew this at one time, *cough*, but there it is.

And needless to say, FMA fuckin’ PWNED. Seriously, it was an awesome performance and, as appropriate, he got a standing ovation at the end.

But don't worry, I saw some awful stuff, too. Tonight I went to see Arthur. I have a thing for Helen Mirren and I think I want to like Russell Brand? I can't help it, who knows.



I never saw the original, and I went in with lowish expectations. But it was decently cute. To be fair, I was helpless before it. I mean, they had Helen Mirren and then they trotted out Frog and Toad references! I was defenseless...it was probably just the stress. (I mean, gads, I do know it wasn't actually GOOD, so there's that. It was just a guilty pleasure one-off, I don't actually recommend it and I certainly don't plan on telling anyone. Oh wait.)

Oh God, I pierced the toast!

So I got to see F. Murray Abraham introduce (an actual 35mm print of the director's cut) of Amadeus! It was a smallish theater (about 100 seats) near my school I never knew existed. It's not a "real" theater but one the theatre district seems to use for special screenings and obscure foreign films. (I've only been here nearly two years, wtf.)

Anyway, it was pretty much sold out, but I got a front-row seat. Abraham was a very good speaker, very entertaining and I think he could have gone on for quite a while! It was at 630pm, however, as they had to rush him off for the mainstage show--he is in town playing Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.



And then a few days later, I ran into Abraham at one of my regular bars in the theatre district! I chatted with him briefly--he is incredibly laid back, easygoing and fun to talk to. Apparently he was raised in TX as well, which I found surprising.

And apparently I have to go to Italy for these...



I had said I was pretty sure nothing will ever taste as good as they look in the film. (Although I read that in the film they were just marzipan, and Elizabeth Berridge didn't realize she could just spit them out. She ended up eating about 15 whole ones though they were totally disgusting...she finally had to go make herself sick. Huh, well they sure LOOK awesome!)

And COMPLETELY unrelated, I registered for my final fall semester this morning! Estate and gift tax, business planning, advanced legal writing in connection with the Innocence Project, laws of war and of course my clinic. The former two are an effort to be well rounded and employable. I am looking forward to BP far more than the tax class, I can assure you. The laws of war is part of finishing an international concentration and the writing is an effort to have more/better writing samples at the ready, plus I've already taken a writing class with the professor who teaches it.

First time I got all the classes I wanted, sheesh...

Watch my mouth? You gotta be shittin' me!

Slowly, things are coming together! I HAVE A SUIT! I wasn't even planning on getting a suit when I went out...I had a $50 Express gift card from xmas and was desperately in need of pants or a skirt, just in general. My most-often used pair of trousers has a bizarre and unfortunately-placed stain that won't seem to go away and my black skirt is slowly falling apart. I wanted to wait until I lost a little weight, but oh well. Easier to take stuff in than somehow make things bigger...

So! No pants or skirts, but I did get a suit and some shirts for it! It's a brownish-grey, so I like that it's different, and it's a skirt suit. Hooray! On the downside, my motivation to live close to work is doubly so now, since I don't really envision bicycling in a tight pencil skirt.

Also no place to live yet, but there are two potentially on the horizon. There is also potentially an attic involved in one of them. The rent is fabulous, but I asked for photos. I mean, fuck, does it have a WINDOW? :/

I also do not have a ticket yet. And prices seem to have gone up. :( Baby steps. SUIT!

And yes, it snowed bunches last night. It was very hard to get up this morning, Mouchette was curled up in my arms, purring LOUDLY as he does, and you can really hear the wind from the 8th floor. And I know I just have to spend the day researching and writing about foreign direct investment and the WTO. Who WOULDN'T spring out of bed?

(I would also like to note that while both cats did get up with me, ten minutes later they totally snuck back to the bed.)

I took a break from the research last night to hit my hipster Cambridge bar for a few beers and to read my defense clinic binder. So I haven't even REGISTERED for this clinic yet, but the guy in charge has already sent us enough emails in one week to yield about a 3-inch stack of paper. They are slip opinions of recent (relevant) criminal defense cases. I just stuck them in a binder and figured I'd have a go at it over beer soon.

Despite the workload, some of the emails do have messages like, "Read this! Extreme miscarriage of justice SUCKS!" So at least he seems like a cool dude.

But oh, let's take a moment to examine how sad *I* can be. So I was reading this one case last night and the charges seemed bizarre and made me giggle.

The defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree on theories of deliberate premeditation and extreme atrocity and cruelty, unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of a large capacity feeding device, and unlawful possession of ammunition.

A large capacity feeding device? It just seemed really out of place, it amused me. (And to be honest, some of these cases can get awfully weird.) I was on my first beer and I can only pathetically offer than I had been reading about economics all day and wasn't in a "criminal law" mental place yet...?

I was soon joined by my bartender friend BW who had worked the lunch shift and subsequently came over to hang out once he finished his shift. I didn't say anything, just showed him the line and even he (who is very bright) laughed and said, "What the hell, like a trough?" (Of course, he's 24, from Maine and probably most importantly, not studying criminal law!)

I blame growing up with a parent who writes for the USDA, that's one excuse. Being totally naive (the nice way to put it) is probably more apt...

And you know, when I retire and write my novels for millions, it will probably be more interesting to incorporate some (um, illegal?) agricultural mass-feeding instrument, but in the meantime? In REALITY? First of all, context is a big red flag. It's a gun thing.

A "large capacity feeding device" basically means being able to fire off huge amounts of ammunition in one go, be it with a giant magazine or some other thing I wouldn't know about, but you get the idea. I think there was recent-ish legislation banning their usage (obviously). (BW looked it up on his iphone while we were laughing about it, it even brought up pics.)

So uh, I felt kinda dumb. BUT! If you google "large capacity feeder device" instead of "feeding device," well, you mostly get pics of big bird feeders and um, xerox machines. Again, context is a pretty important thing, huh.

Actually, there's one theory that the environmental movement of our day was sparked by the re-release of Bambi in the late 1950s.

ACK! The materials for fall registration have been posted, meaning I have to choose my fall classes soon and I can also see what is and isn't available for spring. It's my FINAL YEAR! Which kinda makes me want to do this:



There are still a shit-ton of things I want/need to take, and especially if I'm on the defense clinic, it really limits my options since I have to devote an entire Monday or Tuesday to that. This might be stressful, we'll see.

And then there's the end of spring 2012. Bar review and a big wedding in D.C.! Whoa. But speaking of taking the bar...wow, let's talk about needing to get my shit together. As in, WHERE to go...

Ok, so you know how we all have that one (at least one) small talk question we hate getting? Like, what do you do? (Seriously, I usually hated that one.) Or if you're in undergrad--either "what's your major" or the always-awesome "what are you going to do when you graduate?" Lately, I have a new one. Most people know I'm not from here (alarmingly, I seem to bring it up as often as one might who was forced to live in Texas) so they ask me, "So, where are you going to take the bar?" Fucked if I know. I usually say, "Well, it kinda depends on who's going to hire me!" This is probably not the best way to plan where to take a $1,000 2- or 3-day exam, but there it is.

I do not want to practice in Massachusetts. For one thing, I'm pretty sure 1 in 4 people here is a lawyer. Also, I don't really like it. It's ok, but in a just-passing-through kinda way. If I were 24, I might feel differently, but I'm not, so I don't.

I hate saying "I don't want to practice in MA," because I'm afraid it will be like that time in undergrad that I said, "Well, I know I don't want to work in television." And we all know what happened there.

But I've been freaking myself out a little bit by reading up on the bar, mostly the Texas bar, and yeah, it scares the shit out of me. Take a look!

Day One Tuesday 20% (200 points) P&E and MPT (two sections)

Procedure & Evidence Exam (P&E 10%)
Multi‐state Performance Test (MPT 10 %)
3 hours total (90 min. each)

Day Two Wednesday 40% (400 points): The Multi‐state Bar Exam (MBE)

200 multiple‐choice questions
100 a.m., 100 p.m. – 6 hours (3hours each)

Day Three Thursday 40% (400 hundred points): 12 Texas Essays

6 essay a.m., 6 essays p.m.
6 hours total (30 minutes per essay)

About $700, $750 with laptop.

12 Essay Questions:
(2) Texas Real Property
(including Oil and Gas)
(2) Business Associations
(2) UCC
(2) Family Law
(including Marital Property)
(2) Wills & Estates
(1) Trusts or Guardianship
(1) Consumer Law

So let me also take a moment here to say um, oil and gas law? About the most I know about oil and gas law I got from There Will Be Blood. (Seriously, that milkshake line is all about the law of capture. Done.) And it's a BIG AREA.

Or I could practice 5 years somewhere else and then Texas will let me come practice there without the bar. I totally looked that up, too.

Sometimes I look at the morons around me who are Real Lawyers and go, well fuck, they managed to pass it. But then I remind myself I don't know how many times they took it.

Oh and I'm still trying to find a place in The Hague to live, my (hopefully) roommate is as well. Our luck is stalling a bit in this department. I wrote 14 emails yesterday, 5 nopes so far. :/

Ok, fingers crossed, off to go plan next year's courses!

It's aspirin with the "A" and the "S" scraped off.

So I have two shows I do not watch, just so we're straight. And I was NOT watching one of them last week, and on this show, people may or may not sing every week (again, I don't watch, so I wouldn't know). But maybe they had to sing a song from their birth year, and the oldest twats on there were 1984. So out of curiosity I looked up my birth year.



WOW. I was pleased to see I was born in what must at least be one of the top 5 gay-est years for music, complete with the anthem itself, I Will Survive. So it's kinda awesome. Check it out: (and they are ranked by their number in the top 100 for 1979). I snipped out the crap I don't know or don't care about.

1. My Sharona, The Knack
2. Bad Girls, Donna Summer
3. Le Freak, Chic
4. Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?, Rod Stewart

6. I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor
7. Hot Stuff, Donna Summer
8. Y.M.C.A., Village People

11. Too Much Heaven, Bee Gees
12. MacArthur Park, Donna Summer

16. Tragedy, Bee Gees
17. A Little More Love, Olivia Newton-John
18. Heart of Glass, Blondie
19. What a Fool Believes, Doobie Brothers
20. Good Times, Chic
21. You Don't Bring Me Flowers, Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond
22. Knock On Wood, Amii Stewart

25. Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground), Jacksons

28. My Life, Billy Joel

32. I'll Never Love This Way Again, Dionne Warwick
33. Love You Inside Out, Bee Gees
34. I Want You to Want Me, Cheap Trick
35. The Main Event (Fight), Barbra Streisand
36. Mama Can't Buy You Love, Elton John

39. Heaven Knows, Donna Summer and Brooklyn Dreams

45. He's the Greatest Dancer, Sister Sledge

47. She Believes In Me, Kenny Rogers
48. In the Navy, Village People

50. The Devil Went Down To Georgia, Charlie Daniels Band

53. We Are Family, Sister Sledge

55. Every 1's a Winner, Hot Chocolate
56. Take Me Home, Cher

62. I Want Your Love, Chic

69. Got to Be Real, Cheryl Lynn

76. Disco Nights, G.Q.
77. Ooh Baby Baby, Linda Ronstadt

91. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough,Michael Jackson
92. Bad Case of Lovin' You, Robert Palmer
93. Somewhere In the Night, Barry Manilow
94. We've Got Tonite, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band
95. Dance the Night Away, Van Halen
96. Dancing Shoes, Nigel Olsson
97. The Boss, Diana Ross

If I could even sing in the first place, I couldn't begin to choose one. But damn, Donna Summer had a good year, huh?

Completely unrelated to anything, I was accepted to my school's clinical program for criminal defense next year! Very excited. And then my second thought was how one of my litigation coaches explained to us once that criminal defense attorneys are, in the public's mind, a step above used car salesman but below new car salesman. Literally, there was a study.

Well wtf I guess we couldn't all grow up watching the same awesome movies.



Yeah, yeah, so real life may not be quite the same, I suspect not. But I just have zero desire to be a prosecutor. And I will totally go back and delete this when the only place I can get hired is the DA's office. Because guess what, I also love eating and staying dry.

OH! And my criminal defense attorney friend back home even offered to let me second chair for him when I'm back next month (I'm still a student, so I get special certification, fear not for the unsuspecting masses). I thought that was super cool (and totally scary), so I just have to see if the timing works out.

And who knows, maybe I'll end up being totally wrong about liking this. Guess I'll find out next year, misdemeanors and felonies here we come. (Theirs, not mine.)

Martha? Rubbing alcohol for you?

Very sad. In all honesty, I can't say I was a huge fan--not because I disliked her, I enjoyed her very much in her films when I saw them.



It may be quite safe to say, however, that she was more of an icon than an actress. And I get that, but I can't say I ever identified with or adored her. She seemed somewhat controversial in her personal life (ahem, I believe just last week I was talking about Carrie Fisher's autobiography...), but that never bothered me in the slightest.



At the end of the day, I was just never really too well acquainted with her filmography--I mean, can you believe I've never seen Butterfield 8? I feel like a failure as a cinephile, but I'm on it. Promise. And for the record, I still adore Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, that baby never gets old.

(Editor's Note: So I had this nagging feeling like I HAD seen Butterfield 8, and sure enough I went to Netfux to add it, and apparently I already gave it 3/5 stars. And honestly, even after reading the summary, I SO DO NOT RECALL THIS FILM. Maybe it says more about my brain than her performance, but ouch in any case.)

You know what? Fuck you! How about that?

I think I have the beginnings of an ulcer (not as bad as it sounds, really) and why YES, YES that IS snow outside! Coming down like a motherfucker, now that you mention it!

To be filed under: FML and Boston, too.

Hey. You guys made me ink.

So I only watched Limitless yesterday. I was hungry afterward, I couldn't help it. But it was a fun movie, I enjoyed it.



First of all, I don't think this is a very good film for the whole "just say no" drug campaign because I pretty much spent the next couple hours after the movie wanting that drug and being really jealous.

It's got a lot going on visually and for the most part, it's effective. There is one effect they do during the opening credits and then later in the movie that basically just made me want to punch someone, because it got old REAL. FAST. Shorter is (in this case, anyway) definitely sweeter, guys.

I also read a few reviews that said the visual effects and rapid pace seemed to be smoke and mirrors for the lack of structure. I disagree, but I do think the film occasionally buckled under the weight of trying to effectively tackle the book (which I have not read). I thought it did a pretty successful job, although I'm not sure about the ending. I typically love ambiguity, but I guess I just wasn't expecting it? But it was a fun movie with a couple squirm-worthy moments.

And I was glad to see that Bradley Cooper did a really great job carrying the movie.



This character, in the wrong hands, could have been really smarmy, weaselly or arrogant and unlikable, and BC kinda made it look effortless. He pulled off "charming motherfucker" quite well. I was getting a little tired of the smooth jerk type roles he kept landing (I guess The A-Team doesn't count, but I've tried to block that memory from my life), so hopefully variety is on the horizon.

That was a pre-emptive “sh!” Now, I have a whole bag of “sh!” with your name on it.

So last Thursday through this past Monday, I took the fantastic Megabus ($9 down, $13 back!) to NYC to catch up with my best friends, D & L in Manhattan and E in Brooklyn. I was especially glad to see E because she and her hubby are moving to LA this June (for his job). Apparently they were at the tail end of finally buying a condo when this offer came in. What a difficult decision that must have been. (Really, no sarcasm!) Personally I don't think I could ever live in LA, and I really love Brooklyn (at least the part they live in!) but on the other hand, we'd all just been through a pretty brutal winter, so that memory was still pretty fresh.

We really didn't do anything taxing (although I am counting all those stairs in the back of my mind...jesus, didn't I used to live in Tokyo?! What happened?) or pricey, mostly just hanging out, relaxing and eating/drinking (mostly at home). I also knocked out Carrie Fisher's autobiography, Wishful Drinking, in my downtime (L's copy I plucked off his shelf). It's something you could easily read in a single sitting, a nice light read, despite being about her struggle with addiction (haha, I accidentally left out the "c" at first, which would have been a far duller book) and being bipolar.



Anyway, I completely forgot she was married to Paul Simon for so long! And I never knew certain songs were about her (She Moves On) or at least heavily referenced her (Hearts and Bones, Graceland, Allergies, in fact a lot of the whole Graceland album). Anyway, it was an interesting read. (And she also turned it into a one-woman show.)

I also commented on L's copy of Alex & Me, which I really love. The first thing he said was the first thing that always comes to my mind when I hear about Alex--how absolutely gutting his last words to Dr. Pepperberg were. Man, I don't think I could read that book again. But I wouldn't mind owning it, just in case...

So I also mentioned Peter Gethers' The Cat Who Went to Paris. The first one is probably the best, but it's part of a trilogy. I own all three but if you want to talk about impossible-to-read-without-crying books, that third one is a bitch. Because despite the title of the third book and probably needless to say, Norton doesn't live forever (at least not literally). And I don't know if purebreeds have a shorter lifespan, but it wouldn't surprise me, and Norton I believe was 11 or so? I could be wrong. Anyway, LONG story short, L had never heard of these books. His birthday is just around the corner, so a copy is already on the way!

We mostly ate at home, delicious home cooked meals and lots of red wine, followed by trying to top each other with the worst things we've seen on the internet or really inappropriate jokes. There is one website I simply cannot bring myself to post here. It is not quite as bad as "Two Girls One Cup" infamy, but it definitely belongs in that category. This was also just incredible:



And I learned that Manhattan public access TV shows hardcore porn after midnight! I had no idea who Robin Byrd was, but oh I do now. And apparently before Comcast came to town, there were no restrictions whatsoever! (Now they can't show actual penetration (though apparently this does not mean you can't show fucking), nor can they show, um, you know. The finale, shall we say.) But holy crap!

But most of the time, it's just the Robin Byrd show from the late 80s, early 90s, and I swear to god this is filmed in someone's garage or something. And porn stars come on and do a little show and then all get interviewed at the end. Time (or more likely drugs and alcohol) has not been kind to this woman and she is slightly spazzy, to say the least. (There's nothing explicit in the video, it's just a train wreck.)



I love how she never actually explains wtf a "dental dam" is. Not that I wanted her to show us, on the other hand.

So I mostly just relaxed in NYC, but I also got to try on my bridesmaid dress for next June for D & L's wedding in D.C., and it was not horrible at all! It is also a forgiving thing, though I still plan on weighing less by that time, something in which bar review will no doubt play a large role. It is a black dress and I get a purple rose. I also have to give a speech. Yay. And my dress has pockets for my flask. Just kidding. Sort of.

And Sunday was spent in Brooklyn at a giant flea market (neat stuff but really pricey!) with brunch beforehand. Btw, guava mimosas? A VERY GOOD IDEA. And we wrapped up at Beer Table, which I think I've mentioned before. The guy who owns it is from Carrollton, TX, and they have yummy beers and snackies. We went through two bowls of "roasted almonds with cocoa nibs" nom nom nom.

Being back sucks. It means I have to get back to work now. :(

Vince, there is no cure for a bullet in the brain. It is very fatal.

It is very pretty out, I think I will go see a movie!

In my defense (ha ha), I found out I'm just witnessing on Sunday instead of advocating (that will be the following Sunday). So make it two movies, wouldja? Limitless and The Lincoln Lawyer, here I come. I read that the former is unexpectedly funny (in a good way) so I'm looking forward to it.

Kinda sucks that it IS so pretty out, but oh well. I choose movies!

Don’t knock masturbation. It’s sex with someone I love.

How about an old post? This was the day before I left for NYC, Wednesday...

I'm so glad to know I still have at least a modicum of self-control. I finished today at 3:30, and while that sounds pretty reasonable, you just don't know the beast I was dealing with. It was like, a lot of research. Like a lot. And while I didn't ALSO incorporate her "pull these if you have time" cases (I PULLED them, but no, I did not INCORPORATE them into my brief, hells no), I got it the hell done well before her "end of the week" deadline. (Prolly cause I'm outta this dump as of 8am tomorrow morning!) And I ALSO submitted my application for the clinical program for next year, against my better judgment. It's a combination of qualification and lottery, and I would probably really benefit from it. But the particular area I want requires my presence a week before school, meaning hopping straight back from Amsterdam with no fun or recovery. (Yeah yeah, WOE IS ME, I get it. But still.) So maybe they won't pick me. If they don't, I shall take it as a sign to travel. ;)

OH! But my self-control was not logging into facebook to write, "I'M OUT, BITCHES!"

Maybe I'm an adult after all...but probably not.

So I have a crazy amount of work to do on my REGULAR research project, but NOT TONIGHT. AND NOT FOR THE NEXT FIVE DAYS.

Oh, and this week? IS RESTAURANT WEEK. nomnomnomnomnom. I had no idea til yesterday, so I snuck off from school (I'm not sure why I "snuck off," it's not like I was ditching class or anything...) and went to Fleming's. It's in the theater district, so pretty close to school. I sat at the bar, had a really attentive and personable bartender and THE BEST GODDAMN DINNER I'VE HAD IN AGES. I had the fullest tummy without being so full as to instantly regret.

I kept working on my research (as much as you can in a dark-ass steakhouse, tbh. Even the bathrooms were dark...) and did the Restaurant Week 3-course dinner for $33. (Restaurant Week means you get a separate menu with 3 choices for each part.) I started with lobster bisque (it wasn't cream-based, but it was surprisingly even yummier), followed by a petit filet mignon (and my awesome bartender brought me bearnaise at my request, no extra charge!) and dessert? I opted for the cheesecake with blueberry sauce. I really had to slow down about 3/4 of the way into the steak...wanted to eat as much as possible without pushing it and yet be able to accommodate that cheesecake. Damn, yo. My only complaint was the stinginess with the blueberry sauce...wth! I nommed it all up, though...it had a crust on top that reminded me of my mom's apricot brandy cake. DELISH.

(And that was all I wrote.)

Now I'm back from NYC but I will have to have another post for that! (I did very little other than relax with D & L, eat good food and do more walking than I've done all year, which isn't saying much, really...Oh, and wake up to and continue to read all about the devastating never-ending parade of horrors in Japan. Jesus.)

A hard man is good to find.

I just sent my trial partner an email titled "hookers and motives" and it was totally relevant to my argument. Law school CAN be fun!

Napoleon, don’t be jealous that I’ve been chatting online with babes all day.

I may have laughed out loud several times, but Take Me Home Tonight still gets a straight-up C.



For one thing, those were cocktail-infused laughs. For another, I doubt I would laugh the second time.

Topher Grace was good as always, doing his Topher Grace thing. Anna Faris was criminally underused to the point I had to wonder why they bothered. The chick who played the love interest was so totally forgettable, uninteresting and vanilla that I refuse to bother looking up her name. And Grace's sidekick buddy was decent and probably the most humorous character in the film, but we're talking hardcore Poor Man's Oliver Platt. It would have been awkward, I suppose, for Grace to have a 48-year-old bff, so they couldn't actually hire Oliver Platt. But wow.

I do respect the movie's R rating, because this is the type of film that usually reeks of PG-13 desperation. There was an immense amount of swearing, one gratuitous boob scene, and plenty of cocaine. (Apparently the coke usage was controversial? Dude, you already have your R rating and you're pretending it's the 80s, go for it. Anyway.)

And not to nit-pick, but you know, it really felt more like 1991 somehow, not so mid-80s.

Overall, glad I saw it. But it just utterly lacked the sort of charm that made Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist surprisingly cute. I don't think the setting or decade matters as much as the characters and writing. If you get the latter two right, you can make it the 80s, present day or whatever, who cares. This one was basically a fail.

I'm not sure if I get to see The Adjustment Bureau tonight. I got an email this morning from the professor for whom I'm doing research, and she is in dire need of additional research on a completely different topic by the end of the week. HAHAHA. SURE WHY NOT.

Seriously, the email goes something like:

Can you look up [topic] and [topic] regarding [other issue, none of which I have any background in] and cite all this [crap I've listed below]? And prepare summaries on [this case] and [this case] and [this other case or 5] and relate it back to [that original topic you know nothing about]? kthxbai.

Only way longer.

And naturally, those are not case NAMES but more like "the case involving that thing with those people."

So that kinda woke me up this morning.

On the downside of completely unrelated things, I got an email today about an upcoming show for Paul Simon in Boston. Same week as the Katy Perry show, neither of which I get to see since I won't be in town. Seriously? Paul Simon, too? FML. Though my wallet is eternally grateful.

On the plus side, again, related to nothing, I had 3 inches of hair snipped off yesterday (at the stylist's suggestion...Boston and my hair are not getting along it would seem) and he made it a nice darker auburn color for spring. So I can be all pretty while I'm holed up in my hovel reading and shit.

But today is going to involve Indian buffet, that's all I know. Well, and lots of reading. LOTS.

I shall call him squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my squishy.

Whew, I did 90 minutes of Bikram yoga today! It's 104 degrees in there and then you do 26 postures, 2 sets each, and 2 breathing exercises at the beginning and end which kinda sorta make you dizzy. It kicks my ass Big. Time. I did it for a while in Fort Worth--and it was easier then!! That was 2008 but wow those 3 years made a (totally depressingly) big difference, it would appear.

I have a 10 day pass so I need to really make it work...this shit's expensive! :O But if I use my booze money that's a help. ;)

I hope I can stick with it, though, because once I finished, I swear to god I was thinking, "I DESERVE A DOZEN CUPCAKES AND A HUGE BOTTLE OF RED WINE." I think that idea may not be my best.

Ok, I gotta get back to my shamefest known as AI. That's right, I'm owning it to the extent that I will abbreviate the title but I refuse to actually use the full title. I've been reading tax and professional responsibility all day, this is just what I need. INSIPID, SHALLOW PERFECTION.

So tonight the top 12 guys sing, the top 12 girls sing tomorrow, then they announce the final 12 (6 of each, sadly) on Thursday. I say sadly because there are about 4 guys I really adore but I couldn't name you a single chick right now. They were just all MEH to me somehow. Probably cause I'm gettin' old, don't recognize the songs and I FUCKING CRINGE when someone (one of the girls) goes, "I've never heard a Beatles song in my life!" Honey, I assure you. You have. But when you do that, not only do I want you gone, I want to physically slap you. I'm not violent, but your dream is to sing? I give the fuck up.

Anyway, this dude is Casey Abrams and he is TOTALLY my favorite. He can play and sing anything and he's goofy:



(Not worth watching after he finishes playing, it was just the only clip I could find.)

AND HE PLAYS THE STAND-UP BASS. FTW. (Most girls go for a guy with a cool car...me? I go for a stand-up bass. Which may be why I hang out in jazz clubs when I can.) ANYWAY. I'm sold, he's got my vote! ;)

Also, some night I'll probably have way too much to drink and tell you about how I think this show has made me start to like J-Lo, I NEVER THOUGHT THAT WAS POSSIBLE. Even funnier is that D does, too, and for some reason she was always TOP on his uber-celebrity-shit-list. (You would probably have to microwave kittens to top Mariah Carey on MY list, but whatevs.)