Post-Turkey Procrastination

Activities that are better than typing a take-home final (translate: things that I have been doing instead of writing):

• Watching D2: The Mighty Ducks with my brother for the millionth time. I contend that the second movie is almost as good as the original. I think we are the only people with the DVD set of the triology.
• Concocting turkey leftover recipes. Although our turkey and sweet potato spring rolls are still the best idea that my mom and I have come up, our turkey burritos this year were not bad either.
  
• Decorating the Christmas tree. After watching my mom and I carefully place ornaments on the tree, and then rearrange everything so that there was proper color and ornament size balance, I realized that my obsessive compulsive tendencies come from both my parents.
• Watching, with my family, LSU v. Arkansas play through triple overtime. Interestingly enough, this was the second time I procrastinated by watching LSU's triple overtimes. They lost both times.
• Cooking my own meat with a stick. Yep, the family + my uncle and his lady headed over to the Melting Pot for my mom's birthday. Although cooking the meat was a little bit tedious, coating our dippers with gooey cheese and melted dark chocolate was a lot of fun.
  

As much as I actually love school (I am crazy, I know), I think I am finally ready to be done. Sheerly for the fact that I am so over having finals/outlining/papers/write-on competitions over my holidays and breaks.

Oh OC

I think that one of the reasons why the show “The Real Housewives of Orange County” works is because (1) people are fascinated with the lifestyles of the wealthy, and (2) people can feel better about themselves when they compare their lives with superficial, excessive, dysfunctional world that is exaggerated on television. Basically, the show is a modern-day equivalent of Dynasty.

Like many of my friends who have a secret addiction to the show, I watch it for the reasons stated above. However, I also find it entertaining because there is an element of truth in the show. The big cars, the overabundance of people with bleached blonde hair, the mothers who dress like their teenage daughters. It happens everywhere, just more here.

Sitting in my parent’s Orange County home, I can look out the window right now and see my neighbors in a rented crane put up Christmas lights. Although my neighbors are very nice people who are not nearly as bad as the people portrayed on the show, I think a giant crane at 10am the day after Thanksgiving pretty much embodies the wealth and flashiness that has been associated with Orange County folks.

Giving Thanks

Things I am thankful for...

A family that cooks and eats together on Thanksgiving. Each year my brother shows off another turkey cooking technique (this year it was brined overnight), my dad takes command of his famous pecan pie, and my mom and I reinvent classic sides (our gingered cranberry relish trumps canned cranberries any day). This year we were also joined with my beer-loving grandmother, my grandpa, and my uncle.

Technology, the boyfriend, and friends now scattered across the country. Thanks for the thanksgiving wishes via phone calls, text messages, instant messaging, and more. And thanks for all of the silly conversations, support after job rejections, and fun dinner parties throughout the year.

California Weather. Yesterday when I was in Santa Barbara, there was people at the beach in swimsuits playing volleyball. Today there is a 50 mph wind advisory in rainy DC. As much as I love DC, I am thankful to soak up a little sun and recharge for finals.

Law School. Even though I am in the middle of writing my take-home final, I am still thankful to be in law school. Reflecting back on what I have in my life, I realize how much this academic endeavor is such a big part of my life right now and how grateful I am for the opportunity. I could write a whole entry about this, but in short: incessant law school whiners really annoy me because there are a lot of people who wish they had the opportunity to go.

Public Transportation. After sitting through a great deal of Los Angeles traffic these past few days, I am even more thankful for the metro system in DC. Even if my little N8 bus is sometimes late, I thank cheap and stressfree transportation with generally friendly drivers.

Service men and women. Special thanks to the soldiers all around the world who are serving the country and cannot be home with their families for Thanksgiving.

Leftovers. Writing a higher education final tomorrow will be a little more bearable with leftover stuffing and turkey.

Sports Law

Had another interview today. I think it went really well but the decision will most likely come down to whether they will have enough work for me to do since it was a small firm. There was only one question that I struggled with a little bit...

Lawyer: So you went to UCLA. Do you know who won last night between UCLA and Michigan State.
Me: UCLA
Lawyer: What was the score?
Me: Well, I was on a plane during the game. However, I know the game was close and I think we ended up winning by 6.
Lawyer: Well, it was 5, but you were close enough.

Lesson #1 Learned- If you went to a big sports school, follow the games. I believe that this was at least the fourth interview that I have had that started off with UCLA athletics.

Lesson #2 Learned- If you went to a big sports school, be prepared for harassment. I got a lot of flack after Utah destroyed UCLA. My friend from Michigan, who also had an interview today, was taunted about her school's lackluster football season.

Turkey Travel

The Good: Not having to wait in long lines at security, getting into LA on time, the Asian Chicken Wrap on American Airlines, the two dogs and multiple small babies and children who were amazingly silent the whole trip, home sweet home.

The Bad: St. Louis's airport and their lack of food options, the valleygirl sitting behind me who was like talking loudly like the whole time omg, the jerk behind me on the flyaway bus who would not let anyone sit next to him even though the bus was full, gridlock from LAX to home.

The Ugly: Watching a woman pick the blackheads or hair (or both) off her husband's face for a good 10 minutes in the airport.

Cult of Domesticity

Despite all of the stereotypes of female lawyers being alpha female career women, many of us aspiring lawyers do have a "softer side." Many of us like to cook dinner each night, knit, bake, host dinner parties, etc.

Lately, I have had a particular desire to sew. With the return of Project Runway, I reminisce about how much fun it was to roam the aisles of the fabric store to pick out fabrics and accessories such as buttons and zippers. As a girl with engineering in her blood, I love making things. I loved watching a pattern become an outfit.

Perhaps during Winter Break I will take out my mom's sewing machine and make something. It has been a few years since I sewed my old duvet cover and a myriad pillows, but sewing comes back quickly. For now I guess I will just watch Project Runway.

And for my fellow Project Runway fans, here are some of my favorite sites about the show:
Project Rungay gives the funniest commentary on the show and has great screenshots of the outifts and Blogging Project Runway always has the latest insider news about the show.

Who Dunit?

When I campaigned for student government, I hated the immediate days preceding voting because that is when things would get dirty. Desperation and lack of accountability would lead to mudslinging and lies (apparently I was on the side of race-traitors and neocons).

Now with 53 days left until the Iowa caucus, vicious tactics seem to be increasing in frequency and scale. On the Democrats side, the Hillary campaign may or may not have damaging information that they may or may not be spreading around Democratic circles. (The column that started it all) Could be true but I do not trust Robert Novak.

Then there are the Republicans. As much as I hate dirty campaigning, I have to admit that I am amused when they use swift-boat tactics on one another. Apparently someone has been push polling (pretending to poll, but really trying to influence voters) in Iowa and New Hampshire. Eight years ago, President Bush's campaign allegedly used push polling to insinuate that John McCain had an illegitimate black daughter. Nowadays, someone is using push-polling to make bigoted remarks about Mitt Romney and Mormonism. (Politico article).

I would actually love to know who is behind all of this. Unlike 2000, there are so many different players with different motives. My favorite theory is that this is done by the Democrats because they are most afraid of Mitt Romney. Setting aside my hatred of Romney- that is just silly. I think Giuliani would be a tougher fight. I even think Huckabee would be a more serious challenge- and not just because he has Chuck Norris on his side...