Not as dumb as I thought I was

SO it turns out I did pretty well last semester. Especially when you consider how I rarely kept up with the reading for one of my classes and literally studied for 2 days for Con law II. Obviously, I learned something from 1L about what and how to study. Phew.

I'm up to date on my Business Association reading for tomorrow and started reading the E&E today on Agency. Figured it couldn't hurt to have some back-up info for class tomorrw.

I spent the nite with Ian last nite and am still wavering about how I feel about him. I've written about this ad nauseum on my other blog, so I won't bore the 2 "Injustice" readers with the details. But I still don't know how I feel...and am trying to figure out if it's him...me...or the fact that I haven't had a boyfriend in a long time. Hmmm.

We watched Garden State last nite and I was excited to see my friend Michael Weston as the cop. I didn't realize he was in the movie, so that was a nice surprise. I wrote my friend Cary a little text message when his song came on in the movie. I wish it wouldn't have been so far in the background, but still cool.

Cary is actually playing a show at Sundance on the 27th, so if any of y'all happen to be trekking out there, go to Suede on the 27th and see Cary along with Jason Mraz, Joe Purdy, Ian Ball of Gomez, Jim Bianco, Butch Walker, Alexi Murdoch and more...More info available HERE.

I'm really proud of Cary. He put out his record by himself and was able to capitalize on the reach of the Garden State soundtrack to get fans. Now, playing at Sundance, hopefully some new converts to the CB fan base. I miss him. We never hang out any more...probably mostly my fauly thanks to law school getting in the way of my LIFE.
::sigh::

Do I think the reason I'm not sure about Ian is because I'm somehow carrying around my crush on Cary??? Even tho I think we are just destined to be great friends and nothing more? Or is it deeper than that? Comparisons to boyfriends past?

In other news, when Liz was out here, she played me M.I.A's new record on XL. It's so awesome. That girl has a great sound. She's originally from Sri Lanka so she is doing a benefit show here in LA at the Knitting Factory on the 3rd for the Tsunami Relief Fund. I might try to go...I'd like to see how she is live.

My friend Jen sent me an hilarious cd called Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Lounge Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath. AWESOME. Kitschy and the joke wears out fast...but I love the Salsa version of "Ironman."

Well...back to E&E Agency and then into my new 400 TC sheets. Yum.

God speaks thru the Lanham Act

So I finally got my IP grade (Con Law is still somewhere out there in the ether). I got a freakin "A!"

I still can't believe it. LIke they might have accidentally given me someone else's grade. Truly. Remember, this is the exam I thought I FAILED. And I wasn't saying that in a "Oh, no you didn't, Spicy." kind of way. As in, I walked out of that exam feeling like I'd been beaten about the head and shoulders with a canned ham. And not in a good way.

There was an entire essay question that I never even studied and didn't realize we needed to know for the final...so I GUESSED and used a bunch of crap from the rest of the class. Oddly, I think it was half-right.

I hafta say, I feel pretty good right now. Though, now I'm worried about Con law because, I felt great coming out of that one...maybe it's an inverse relationship! But my prof is now on sabbatical, so who knows when that grade will even be posted. I wrote the Registrar and their one line answer was "Why don't you write your professor and ask him when he's posting them?"
Uh...because that's your JOB and I'm paying $30K/yr for your salary to take of this sort of thing.

In other news, I believe I saw Matt Damon at my gym today. Funnily enough, I had to brush by him in order to get a band-aid from the front desk since I had somehow sliced open my finger in the locker room. Hot.

Reasonable person?

I'm slightly freaked out about dating someone in law school. Especially someone who is 12 years my junior.

But we have had 3 great dates. And he's a pretty wonderful guy.
But there is still something really "90210" about the whole thing when we are on campus.
And I'm trying really hard NOT to feel like "Mrs. Robinson Goes to Law School."

I know...I should just shut up and enjoy it.

Flailing, but not failing...yet

Entertainment Law grade finally posted. I did OK. I was just below the mean which is, honestly, FINE with me since I thought I might have flunked -- considering how I felt when I walked out of that exam. I'm grateful for the grade and with my nice Evidence grade, actually evens out to an OK GPA thus far.

I still have IP to break my high, tho. Not posted yet. Nor Con Law. I feel OK about Con Law (tho maybe I shouldn't), but IP sucked so much ass...I just can't imagine I did well. Additionally, with only 13 people in the class, I'm always worried about how the curve works. 1 raw point is suddenly the difference between an A and a B or a C and a D. I really hope that I, at LEAST was within the "standard deviation" from the mean. Otherwise, I might cry.

And on the second day...

I've made it thru the first two days of class and have to say, I'm liking this semester better than last ALREADY! While Business Associations is a bit dry, it's being taught by my faculty advisor for OutLaw, so I went in knowing she was cool. She actually had us read an article on the Disney-Ovitz disaster as well as an article on the Dalkon Shield and the plea from the judge to the principals of that company. Coulda been a lot worse. She also let us out early as she said until people get settled into their classes (after add/drop), it's difficult to do too much crazy stuff. That will start on Thursday!

I was done with class by 10 and then mailed some books out that I sold on Half.com. Was going to go to the gym, but it was still pouring and pouring yesterday and I just decided to stay in and read.
Today, I had Crim Pro and Ethical Lawyering. I like my Crim Pro prof so far -- she's an ex-Federal Defense attorney which is pretty cool and has some vehement opinions about the U.S. criminal justice system. I have a 3 hour break between classes, so I picked up my loan check, went to Staples and mailed out another Half.com book. I'm quite pleased with how many books I've sold in 1 week. Gets them out of my house at least.

I got all professional and bought book boxes, bubble wrap and invoice envelopes. I also learned that I should be sending with delivery confirmation so someone doesn't shaft me by saying they never got my shipment! I have another book to ship out tomorrow. Whee.

Ethical Lawyering was pretty good. We watched clips from The Practice, Anatomy of a Murder and a couple of news shows abou lawyers. She seems cool. I hope she ends up being so.
A friend from 1L is in my class and mentioned he would like to do the partner assignment with me because I'm a "great communicator." Wow. That was a really nice thing to say. It's possible this blog doesn't reflect this...or that he's just easily impressed. But it still made me feel good.

In other funny news, my friend Brian yelled in the middle of Crim Pro (after I told him I date on Thursday nite with someone from school) "You're dating Prof Evidence!"
Note: Prof Evidence is MARRIED with Children. While I have a crush on him, yes, it is a harmless schoolgirl crush that I would never act on and doubt he would either. Despite our emailing about music and books. All very platonic and harmless. Anyway, I had to yell back "I am NOT dating Professor Evidence!!!!' I really don't want that getting around. Just awful. So now, of course, all of my friends are dying to know who it is I am dating. Let them wonder. In the mean time, date boy and I spent several hours text messaging while I was running errands = DORKS.

My mom told me she watched this thing on the Biography channel last nite on Leonard Peltier. I know quite a bit about him actually, since my friend Tom was very involved in trying to get him released and Rage even had a song about him. In addition, I took Native American Studies in college (yes, in the late 80's, early 90's -- oof) and we watched Incident at Oglala. Talking to my mom reminded me about that, so I recommended she get that DVD. My mom can be pretty cool for a 66 year old gal from Marion, Indiana.

Can't believe it's starting again...

Class starts up again on Monday. I finally got the books I ordered from Barrister, so I can actually do my Bus Assoc. assignment (phew!).

I still need to go to school tomorrow and buy a couple of books that were unavailable on barrister or Amazon. And drop off the Tony Hawk - Simpsons photo I got for Prof Evidence to use as a visual aid in his future skateboard hypos.

So far, the only grade which has been posted is Evidence and I did pretty well. Not top 10% of the class or anything, but pretty good -- above the mean, at least. Since it's a 4 unit class, I'm happy about the grade and hope it will offset the truly shitty grades I'm certain to get in IP and Entertainment Law.

I also sold my IP book and supplement today on Half.com -- YAY! And have learned that people will buy even your grossly highlighted note-ridden book if the price is right. So I'm off to the post office tomorrow to ship them.

I'm exausted from my "date" last nite which went all night. Not in that way, you dirty prevert. We were chatting about books, law school, music, life until 5 a.m. No, really, we were. He's in my Bus. Assoc. class, so I wanna make sure I don't rush things and then have an awkward semester. He's a great guy -- even if he's 12 years younger than me. Yep, you read that correctly. 12 years. I was seeing Star Wars at the drive-in with my parents 3 years before he was even born. But he's wonderfully tall. Like 6'5." I love that. I'm 5'2" so it feels like I'm dating a GIANT. I feel tiny and slim next to him. Awesome.

And now for something completely different....

Sorry, was watching a lot of Monty Python yesterday.

Well, I know you all have been horribly depressed awaiting the release of my annual top ten records list.
Cry no more.
Here it be.

I will also preface by saying that I know there were plenty of fine records released this year that did not make my list. Because I limit my list to only those records (yep, I'm going to continue to call them "records" even tho they are, technically, CDs) to those I've PURCHASED and as a law student I have little to no $$ for mass purchasing, this represents only those records I loved enough to buy or someone forced down my throat and I ended up embracing like a favorite son.
Agree...don't agree...but if you go to Amoeba to stock up on any of these, please drop some ducats into the Tsunami Relief fund. Amoeba will supposedly match all funds collected and send them on.
Or you can donate to CARE directly through the Amoeba website at:
http://www.amoebamusic.com/html/

Now...on with the list. In no order other than how I thought to write them down:
1. Patty Griffin - IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
While not as strong as prior Patty records (in my opinion), there is some wonderful diversity on this one and a couple of trademark Patty songs to send you into tears. Bonus track of Ma and Pa Griffin singing "Impossible Dream" which is too cute for words.

2. Loretta Lynn - VAN LEAR ROSE
Loretta has a voice like no other. I grew up listening to her duets with Conway Twitty, but this here record is a whole different dance hall for sweet Loretta. Jack White has added some lovely geetar and grit-rock touches that give a little dogged rust to the old gal's gorgeous candy country vocals.

3. Cary Brothers - ALL THE RAGE
Cary is a friend, first. Sometimes friends make terrible records. Sometimes they make amazing ones. This is one of those amazing times (thankfully). When Cary gave me this over the summer, I literally played it on "endless" loop for 6 straight days. And it's only 4 songs. The deep production and swirling guitars are icing on the already lovely lyrical cake.

4. Various/Soundtrack - GARDEN STATE
Ok...so Cary is on this, too. And I first listened because he's friends with Zach and told me the soundtrack was too too awesome. And you know what? It is. Most of the songs are available elsewhere, but this soundtrack is like a truly brilliant mix tape your best friend made for you before you went on a cross-country trip. I recommend it for the elliptical trainer at the gym. Perfect timing.

5. Iron & Wine - OUR ENDLESS NUMBERED DAYS
You may be seeing a pattern here. I heard this man on the Garden State soundtrack doing a cover of the Postal Service. And it was beautiful. And hauntingly lovely. And I had to know more. The entire record is just as gorgeous. Sam Beam sings softly and darkly and at times, reminds me of a fitter, happier Nick Drake.

6. Grant Lee Phillips - VIRGINIA CREEPER
I saw Grant play a song at Bring the Rock and I knew I needed to go buy this record. I've loved Grant's voice since Grant Lee Buffalo, but hadn't picked up any solo work. Never hurts that I hear him often in combination with Sam Phillips on the Gilmore Girls. Just a sweet and sparkly record.

7. Tom Waits - REAL GONE
Tom does it again. I own everything he's ever done. I'm still a sucker for albums like Raindogs and Frank's Wild Years, but I am continually amazed at what Tom continues to come up with. Interesting, weird, complicated, brilliant, stunning.

8. Terry Reid - SUPER LUNGS: THE COMPLETE STUDIO RECORDINGS
My friend, Nick, discovered this guy on the loudspeakers of a NYC record store. He aptly described him as equal parts Nina Simone and Pet Sounds-era Beach Boys. Or if he didn't describe it that way, he should have. His cover of Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang My Baby Shot Me Down" should be the theme song for something. Get on that, people! And, apparently, this cat still shows up at The Mint and plays a set occasionally. Unsung and unstrung hero.

9. Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter -- OH MY GIRL
Basically, my new Mazzy Star. This record is shoegazing country with Jesse's incredible voice rising through the lush and jangly soundscapes. It's perfect for driving around in all this rain we've been having.

10. The Postal Service - GIVE UP
Being a fan of Death Cab for Cutie meant I had to buy this the day it came out. I got tired of it more quickly than I wanted to...but every time I pop it back in, I really like it. It's a solid cd...and the idea that Ben & Jimmy will be shilling for the USPS at some point thanks to a Trademark settlement is just too funny.

Bonus Track:
11. William Shatner - HASBEEN
Yep. You read that correctly. That says "William Shatner." And to be honest, I don't own this record. I just heard a bunch of stuff off of it and was literally blown away. It's partially thanks to Ben Folds who plays behind Shatner's wordjazz (Bill actually reminds me of Ken Nordine on this record quite a bit!). Track guests include Aimee Mann, Joe Jackson, Brad Paisley, Lemon Jelly and Henry Rollins. The track, "What Have you Done" literally made me cry. Get this record. NOW.

And that, my friends, is my 2004 listening devices.

Slow Moving Vehicle

I am a sloth in 2005.
No, that's not my New Year's Resolution...it's just the state of affairs of the past two days.

I had finals (as you know) right up until 10 p.m. on the 21st. Went out to dinner with my friend Bridgette and her friend, Jon, and then ran some errands on the 22nd. Went for yummy steaks with Bridge and Sheridan at Taylor's -- my fave beef in La La. I convinced the valet to park our vehicle in the overflowing lot because we were "3 girls in heels who didn't want to brave the streets of Koreatown at night." He was so sweet and wedged us in there somehow and even brought our keys to our table. The parking is free, so I tipped him $5.

The dinner was AMAZING (as always) and I really love hanging out with my girlfriends. We decided we really need to have a slumber party at Bridge's new apt -- Dave Gibbs suggests a web cam.

I woke up on the 23rd and packed up my car (including the cat) & drove up to Sacramento. I stopped by Vons and got a sandwich and put it in my little thermal lunchbox, so I could stop along the way and eat something more healthy than a Big Mac. I also discovered the rad Drive-Thru Starbucks on I-5 just past the Grapevine. I took advantage of the extra caffeine and listened to Patty Griffin. Wait...did I just say, "RAD???" I did, didn't I??? Well...it was. Rad, that is. This is also about the time I realized that I forgotten a coat OR scarf. It had been 75 degrees when I left LA. Not so in Sacramento...uh oh.

I made pretty good time -- about 6 hours -- and my mom had made these pretty yummy homemade enchiladas with a blackbean sauce. I chowed, talked with my mom and we watched some TV. My mom took me to her fave thrift store "run by the Mormons" and I found this amazing 1940's vintage grey wool coat from Lord & Taylor for $6. It fit me like a glove. And I bought it. Also bought a cute camel-colored wool blazer that just needed cooler buttons for $3. Then we stopped by Joann fabrics and I bought some yarn for my mom to knit scarves for my friends and one for me. The one for me we made out of this super soft baby chenille. I think it's the softest scarf I ever owned. My mom is totally awesome and can knit a scarf in like 2 hours.

On Christmas Eve, I carried my guitar over to Dave Puketza's for our annual Xmas Eve carrolling. We play guitars and sing Xmas and non-Xmas songs and tell stories and jokes. I love it there. He has a great family. I made them an hilarious novena candle featuring his family and me and our friend Blu as "angels." Blaspheme, for certain. They loved the candle and promise it will be a part of the holiday decorations every year.

My mom told me she would let me sleep, but didn't realize I would stay up making her a birthday card. She woke me up at 9. yawn. We had a big breakfast and opened our gifts. All of us are a bit strapped for cash and my poor parents have been amazing about helping with my finances during school. But I did get a new digital camera, which was super great! I got the Canon PowerShot A75 and I already LOVE IT! I have been using this old Kodak warhorse from 5 years ago. At the time, it was a really good camera...and still takes great photos, but it's only 2 megapixels and is like carrying around a small anvil. The new cam is fairly lightweight and fits in an evening handbag!

I had gotten my mom a velour hoodie cuz she's always coveting mine. Also some smelly soap and candles. Because Xmas is also my mom's birthday, I made her a homemade Coconut cake with pineapple filling and made dinner -- grilled filet mignon with rosemary garlic potatoes. MMmmm. Meat.

The 26th, we did our usual after-Xmas sale shopping, arriving at Arden Fair Mall by 9 a.m. and mostly beating the crowds. I was looking for sales on "career wear" and picked up a nice pair of grey flannel trousers at Banana Republic and an Anne Klein jacket for 50% off at Nordstrom.

On the 27th, I drove to San Francisco in the pouring rain (while listening to David Sedaris at Carnegie Hall -- BRILLIANT and so funny, I almost had to pull over to laugh & pee). I met up with my friend Suzanne who was out for the holidays from Ohio and we went to Citizen Cake for tea and cookies. Then I headed to Therapeia for my hot stone massage, which I think is quite possibly the most amazing thing someone has ever done to my body. Almost. or that I paid for.

Unfortunately, Sarah's cat died and she ended up having to drive all the way back to L.A. Her lovely dad, Dr. Lum, still invited me to stay in the guest room and he took Suzanne and I out to chinese food in SF. There is just NOT good chinese in La La. bleah. Dr. Lum grew up in SF's chinatown and knew the owner of the place and ordered in Mandarin. The food was INCREDIBLE. I ate and ate and ate until I thought I might explode. Then we all went back to Dr. Lum's and watched House of Flying Daggers on DVD (Dr. Lum has friends in Hong Kong!) which is one of the most beautiful martial arts movies ever made. I'm a huge fan of HK films -- used to go see them first run at the Chinese movie theatres when I lived in SF. But I just loved this movie. I can't wait for it to be released in the US on DVD. A definitely buy.

Woke up and went to Green Apple Books -- one of the best used bookstores in America. I spent $100 on used books, including a couple of gifts. My mom used to work for Edward Teller when she first moved to California, so I got her his Memoirs for $5. I also got Dave a book called The Hidden Book in the Bible, because he loves stuff like that. The rest were for me. Books ranging from Don DeLillo to Jonathan Littman to Thomas Pynchon to a book about the Cathars. Not sure when I think I'm going to read all this. But at least I have books for a while.

I was supposed to have dinner with my college boyfriend and his new girlfriend in Oakland, but he called and had the stomach flu, so I just drove back to Sacramento. I ended up getting a drink with my friend Jerry Perry who i've known since I was 16. I used to have a radio show in high school that broadcast thru all of Sacramento (KYDS). It was 1985 and we were the coolest radio station in Sac because we played Bauhaus, the Cure, Black Flag, Nina Hagen and all kinds of stuff no one else was playing back then. Jerry ran a club downtown called The Vortex which was a teenage dance club that played all that same music. Being the born marketer, I approached Jerry and offered to advertise The Vortex on our show and give away passes, as long as Tanya and I could always get in free. We all became local celebs. Once I moved away, Jerry stayed and opened the Cattle Club where bands like Pearl Jam and the Deftones played before their stadium days. Jerry is still a music promoter and publishes a music mag called Alive and Kicking. Even tho he's married and the father of a 10 year old, he hasn't really changed. He just looks a bit more like Kyle MacLachlan than he used to.

I spent most of my Sac break hand-crafting gifts for my friends. I made eye pillows with flax seed and lavender. I made dream pillows with camomile, lavender, roses, mugwort, spearmint and lemon grass. And I made sachets with roses, lavender and rose oil. I hand made them all, including sewing tiny roses on the velvet strings to the sachets.

The nite before I left, we went out to the Olive Garden for a "nice meal." That place is always packed in Sac. Oh, I forgot to mention I also ate at an Applebee's, which is the first time I've ever eaten at one of those. Sacramento = chain restaurant heaven. Both experiences left my stomach feeling unwell.

I drove home on the 30th, listening to an audiobook I purchased called RUNNING WITH SCISSORS. Yep, you read that correctly. And AudioBook. I gotta tell ya: I find them incredibly relaxing while driving. I'm such an NPR nut, that I listen to a lot of jabbering in the car, but there t'aint but mariachi and/or Christian radio in some of the rural areas of I-5. It's really pretty interesting and made the trip go pretty fast. But it's somewhat strange to be listening to someone describe basically being raped while you're driving. It's not all that bleak. But...wow. It was 7 cds and much longer than the car trip, so now I need to finish listening. But without a long car trip, it seems weird to just be driving around L.A. listening to it in tiny pieces. Hmmm.

New Years eve was at Dave & Peter's. I spent the day with Bridgette and Lou after my power went out at around 11. We got breakfast at Fred 62 and then walked around Vermont St, shopping. I bought a cute corduroy jacket which I will wear as soon as it stops raining. Bridge and I paid for and provided the appetizers and wine for the evening and it was a small group of us, having a good time.

Since then, I have barely left the house and my greatest accomplishment is putting away my clean laundry and uploading my photos from the new digicam. I really need to clean my house, but I just can't seem to get motivated. And it has been raining so much, I'm thinking of building an ark.

Tomorrow, however, is a new day and I plan on going to the gym and cleaning my bathroom (if nothing else). I love having nothing to do. It will all start again in one week, so I gotta be slow moving while I can.