Snowed in ...

I am snowed in. Here we call it snowpocalypse. Except that I have not really called it anything until I just typed it, but other people say it all the time so I guess I am now part of we. This means I have loads of time to do whatever I want without leaving my house. Except that yesterday I had to leave my house. On a Friday. All day long. And this very rarely happens to me because I am still in my happy place where I have no worries or cares like actual adults. (OK, so according to the Ensign this month I am supposed to already consider myself an actual adult and behave accordingly. But that article did not seem to be entirely doctrinal, so I am going to take it more as helpful advice than actual commandment.) Anyway. So yesterday I had to be at school all day, which means 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. But I also got to meet and arrange dinner for two delightfully friendly federal appeals court judges and their spouses. And a bunch of other law-type people. So I guess I should not complain.

I should probably also not complain about how my school finds it helpful to post a graduation counter on the law school web page. Today it told me I officially graduate from law school in 99 days. I am down to double digits. I do not like to think about this fact. I suppose I should, since in the next 99 days I need to formally apply for the bar, decide where to study for the bar, potentially decide where to move should my old bedroom be otherwise occupied or should I remember my actual age, potentially decide how to transport all the belongings that have multiplied in the last three years, and so on. But none of those decisions seem particularly pleasant. I want to blissfully enjoy my last 99 days of my current life, sans decisions. Except that being me, even when I am being carefree, I am being careful too. I have a list on my wall reminding me what I want to do before I leave here. Which I like in theory, because it means I do fun things I really want to do, but then while I do them I remember I am leaving. And sometimes even when I try not to think about the impending end of life as I know it, I forget to forget. I worry. I forget I do not have to make the 99th-day decisions today. But I know that I have to make them soon. And I am not sure if "soon" will come before "I know" and "I am ready." I hate that.

So, moving on. Back to the snow. We have it. Lots of it. And today I left my house only to go outside and enjoy it. For now, I hope it never melts ...

I am so over thinking up titles ...

So, I actually do watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. And the food. Not so much the game. And this article will be all the Super Bowl coverage you will find on Capital C, so enjoy it. I have conveniently posted my favorite parts below:

From Sally Jenkins, in the Washington Post:

"Tebow's 30-second ad hasn't even run yet, but it already has provoked "The National Organization for Women Who Only Think Like Us" to reveal something important about themselves: They aren't actually "pro-choice" so much as they are pro-abortion. Pam Tebow has a genuine pro-choice story to tell. She got pregnant in 1987, post-Roe v. Wade, and while on a Christian mission in the Philippines, she contracted a tropical ailment. Doctors advised her the pregnancy could be dangerous, but she exercised her freedom of choice and now, 20-some years later, the outcome of that choice is her beauteous Heisman Trophy winner son, a chaste, proselytizing evangelical.

"Pam Tebow and her son feel good enough about that choice to want to tell people about it. Only, NOW says they shouldn't be allowed to. Apparently NOW feels this commercial is an inappropriate message for America to see for 30 seconds, but women in bikinis selling beer is the right one. I would like to meet the genius at NOW who made that decision. On second thought, no, I wouldn't."

Another letter ...

Dear Nordstrom:

I walk past your window with the swimsuits every day on my way to school. And your cruel publicity ploy really leaves me with only two options:

1. I imagine wearing one of those swimsuits in the current cold and snowy state of the world. And then I feel colder than I already am.

2. I imagine wearing one of those swimsuits on a beach somewhere in a non-snowy state of the world. And then I feel like I should be on that beach somewhere instead of in a sweater and gloves and scarf and on my way to school.

Both of these options leave me feeling hateful towards you. So even though I actually really love that ruffly yellow swimsuit, I would not buy it from you, even if I magically woke up one morning with hundreds of dollars to spend on skimpy swimwear and the swimwear coverage policy of my teenage self ...

Sincerely,

Callie

Here you go, Jennie ...

I smile at dogs. Mostly in elevators but occasionally on the street, too. Not in the "I am smiling because I love dogs and they make me happy and now that I am in the vicinity of a dog, I am happy" way. Also not quite in the smiling at random babies way, which is more of an "I am smiling because what else can I do to interact with you in this elevator" way. And importantly, with babies I am also trying to get them to smile back at me. When I smile at dogs I am not trying to get them to smile back at me, because, alas, I do not live in a Disney movie. Which just leaves me smiling at dogs for no reason at all ...

P.S. Jennie, maybe your dog is insulted by my smiling. This would explain why it hates me. Something to consider.

28 will be great ...

I turned 28. I am not super thrilled about this development in my life. I am now how old I will be when I graduate from law school. A very old age to my 25-year-old thinking-about-how-old-I-would-be-when-I-graduated-from-law-school self. The age I become an actual adult. Did I mention I am not super thrilled about this development in my life?! But I have decided to start being positive about it anyway.

So, I have two goals for the year. First, every morning when I wake up, I will repeat to myself: "28 will be great." (Note to those two readers enthused about the interactivity part of the blog: You can repeat that to yourself too. Although it probably helps if your age has an 8 in it. If you are 29, or 39, or 49, however, you could repeat the equally rhyming but not as powerful, "29 will be fine." If you are 50, you can say "50 will be nifty." Also: 27 will be heaven, 36 is full of tricks, 45 is so alive, 54 is so much more, 63 is full of glee, lots to do at 72, 81 is very fun, and so on. There, interactive!) Next, I am going to do scary things. And be brave while doing them. I should admit that I am not even going to attempt not to be scared of things. That would be impossible, and if I decided not to be scared of things, I would have no chance to be brave. And bravery is an important part of the plan. I should also report that I am going to be very generous in my definition of what constitutes a scary thing. This week for example, I went up to our attic. That was scary. In July, I will take the bar. That is scary too.

The yellow-wearers at my yellow birthday party

So far, 28 is great. So was celebrating the last days of being 27, since I actually celebrated for three days straight. Yes, I have a good life. And really good friends. One (of many) example: Meradyth made a yellow cake for me, with yellow frosting and candles spelling out (numbering out?!) 28. Unfortunately, the 2 candle broke in half. Mer and I tried to superglue it together. That did not work, although we did succeed in supergluing ourselves and our counter top. Then we tried to pin it together with a toothpick. That did not work. So we tried a needle. That did not work. So we put more scientific minds to work:

Our resident mathematical genius Carly attempted to melt the candle back together.

To no avail.

Brad, however, used his stellar dental skills and some frosting to cement the candle together.

Hooray! Sweet success ...

Last semester ...

I think my last semester of law school will be quite interesting. So far, I like my classes. One problem: literally every one of my professors wrote the textbook we use for the class. This means they expect us to do things like read all of the notes that follow the cases. And remember them. This could be problematic for my life. Other than that I have no complaints.

And now, remember how this blog has become interactive and fun in 2010?! Well, you should. Because I now give you a matching game. Match the class with the excerpt from a case. For an added bonus, you can consider whether the court would still agree with its statement in the case ...

1. Family Law
2. First Amendment Law
3. Trademark and Unfair Competition Law

a. "Those who won our independence ... valued liberty both as an end and as a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty. They believed ... that the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people. ... They knew the risks to which all human institutions are subject. But they knew that order cannot be secured merely through fear of punishment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that hate menaces stable government; that the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies; and that the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good ones." ~ Whitney v. California, 1927

b. "In 1985, Cosmair, Inc., concluded that young women craved pink and blue hair. ... Apparently the teenagers of the late 1980s had better taste than Cosmair's marketing staff thought." ~ Zazu Designs v. L'Oreal, 1992

c. "Marriage is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred. It is an association that promotes a way of life, not causes; a harmony in living, not political faiths; a bilateral loyalty, not commercial or social projects. Yet it is an association for as noble a purpose as any involved in our prior decisions." ~ Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965

Why I am not a photographer ...

I think my blog should be more interactive in 2010. You know, less about me and more fun for you, my faithful readers. So, for example, today I am showing you why I should never be a photographer. Actually, why I should never be a photo editor, to be precise. But to see this, you should click on the picture to enlarge it. The clicking is the interactivity part. Yes, you get to see my face even larger, which perhaps subtracts from the less about me part of the plan, but just focus on my eyes. I tried to use the red-eye reduction tool. I do not think I should be trusted with this tool ever again. Thus endeth my career as a photo editor.

Anyway, happy 2010 to all. I am back in D.C., for my last (gasp) semester of law school. Blast. In other news, I think my London friends will be very excited to learn that I received a new yellow hat for Christmas. This means I can finally, finally retire the other yellow hat. They know the one. All too well, unfortunately ...