how i spent my spring break
Some people write briefs, journal articles, or outlines.Others spend all day lounging around on the beach.Me? I make cake. Or, rather, I create an homage to one of my all-time favorite cartoons, using cake as my medium rather than paint or clay:
All in all, it was a good vacation. Twelve days was definitely too short.
Labels: austin, cooking, vacation
nightmare
It's spring break.So why am I dreaming about Evidence class? Labels: evidence, vacation
here we go again
So some of my more loyal readers may remember my spring break adventure from last year. Good news, my friends: this year did not disappoint. Since Prosecution is at the crack of dawn and T&E is a mind-sucking vortex, I got an early flight out of Madison to start the spring break revelry on Thursday afternoon. I should've known I was in for a real doozy of a trip this year when my laptop (which had been acting up lately) just stopped working on Thursday morning. (It stopped responding to the battery, so it just lost charge. Basically, this resulted in me not being able to watch stuff on the plane.) And, because it's spring, it was storming in Texas. (You know, big Texas-style storms.) So when I got to the airport, this is how it went down:11:38 - walk up to self-service ticket thingy.11:39 - roll eyes at evil glare from other spring breaker using the other self-service ticket thingy. scan credit card.11:41 - scan credit card again after first transaction canceled.11:43 - flag down ticket counter lady. credit card scanner not working.11:44 - somewhere, the theme to "The Office" starts playing. oh! that's my cell phone.11:45 - Dangerous Dad tells me that my 4:45pm Dallas-Austin flight has already been canceled. (note the current time.) 11:47 - ticket counter lady issues me first-class tickets for the only open flights from Dallas-Austin remaining: one for an early flight (in case my Madison flight is early), and one if it's not.11:48 - call back Dangerous Dad to tell him that I'll be in Texas tonight, and won't be stuck overnight in Dallas.11:49 - triple-check with ticket counter lady that I can take cheese curds through security screening.11:54 - still on cell phone. Hang up, then toss it into security bin with laptop.11:55 - phone starts ringing while it's in the middle of the scanner. Yes, apparently I am that guy. So the plane gets to Dallas about five minutes late. Fortunately, the early flight for which I was ticketed was delayed about an hour, so I had plenty of time to make the flight without sprinting the length of the Dallas airport. So we board the plane about 4:15...and then sit on the runway in Dallas for about 20 minutes because of "storms in Austin". When we finally take off, I see lightening bolts out the window (always a good sign). Then our hour-long flight takes longer because we have to go "around the storms" - namely, from Dallas to Austin via El Paso.I get to Austin about 6:15 that night - only 20 minutes later than originally scheduled. As I'm explaining this to my parents and grandparents, they tell me that there were never any storms in Austin, so that couldn't be the reason for the extra delay. But at that point, it really didn't matter, because the evil magic powers of Howie do not hold a candle to the evil magic powers of Cliff, so I was able to make it to my destination that day (instead of being stuck overnight in Denver).My luggage, on the other hand, was still ticketed for the canceled flight - consequently, it didn't arrive until 11:15 the next morning.Labels: airports suck, austin, vacation
seriously, who scheduled spring break this late?
About 2 hours before T&E today, my computer screen started blinking randomly. I soon figured out that this is because my computer didn't think it was connected to the power source, so kept going back into power save mode, then re-connected itself.Now, I'm no computer whiz, but I'm pretty sure that this is a motherboard problem. (Yes, I've already had 3 different motherboards in this piece of crap.) At the same time, I think this is a sign. Even my laptop (an inanimate object without a mind of it's own - no matter what Orwellians think) knows that spring break should've been two weeks ago....and I'm pretty sure this whole motherboard thing is just a cry for help.Labels: laptop, vacation
exasperated
I'd like to know who the genius was that decided that UW's spring break this year would be scheduled for the first week of April. (For those of you doing the math, that's after Week 10 of the semester...leaving us (law students, at least) with 3.5 weeks of class before exams.) I want to find that person, and I want to stab that person in the jaw.Because I realized today that I'm crabbier than usual. I've started snapping at almost every person I come in contact with (instead of just saying the nasty comments inside my head). The dark spots under my eyes have become darker and circley-er. I'm tired all the time - despite the fact that I sleep nearly 12 hours a night thanks to my friend, Mr. Over-The-Counter, No-Prescription-Needed Sleeping Pill. And, well, my gnat-like attention span has decreased dramatically over the last two weeks.And then I sat down, thought about it, and came to a conclusion: I need a vacation. Preferably last week. Which...if the UW calendar-creator wasn't completely demented (or didn't have a death wish), it probably would've been.Labels: insomnia, vacation
tales from the couch
I know that I haven't been posting (much) of late. That's mostly because I'm bloody exhausted after two weeks of school, and the only thoughts that seem to come to my mind are about how I really, really abhor law school. Since that's pretty much the theme of every post I've posted since I started this blog, I figured that you're all pretty much tired of hearing me ramble on and on about how law school was the biggest mistake of my life.
I also realized that, through not posting, I also didn't tell some of my awesome vacation stories. (For those of you that don't know, I spent a week at Disney World, two weeks in Florida, and a week in Richmond.) (Side note: how obvious is it that I want nothing to do with Madison?)
So now, I give you Volume One of my Tales from the Couch: Me vs. the TSA Setting: Orlando International AirportActors: Me, Mom, Dad, Sister, TSA WorkerSo we're at the airport on our way home from Disney World. Mom has all the breakable items in her carry-on bag, mostly because anything you actually want to keep should not be touched by the baggage handlers. (Especially if you're traveling through O'Hare, as I've now learned.)One of these items is my sister's cup that sort of doubles as a snow globe. (The sides of the cup have little pieces of glitter and plastic stars floating in liquid inside.) I wish I could explain it better than that, but whatever.TSA Worker lady starts searching my mom's bag, mostly because it's a bunch of large objects wrapped in several layers of paper. The Worker asks Mom if she has any liquid, and Mom mentions the liquid in the sides of the cup. Worker then tells Mom that, if she wanted to keep the cup, she shouldn't have mentioned it - since it's liquid, it can't go through security.At this point, I'm just stepping through the metal detector and hearing the tail end of this conversation. So I hear the TSA Worker telling my mother that because the sides of the cup could freeze and burst, it can't be taken on a plane. I ask about the 3-ounces-of-liquid rule, but the Worker brushes me off. So then I (not so politely) tell her that, if they're going to pull this crap on tourists, that they need to do a better job of explaining that vacation souvenirs need to be shipped home via the postal service (because baggage handlers suck). She snottily replies that they "tell the theme parks" that, but it obviously didn't work because there's obviously no one at the park who's concerned with anything other than getting their $20 for a sparkly plastic cup. At this point, my mother pretty much drags me away, because she apparently didn't want to have to worry about me getting arrested in Florida.We take the tram over to the other terminal, still angry at these people (except my sister, who is crying because (a) we're all mad, and (b) it was about the only souvenir she actually wanted). So I mention the 3-ounces rule again, and that basic physics would mean that an 8-ounce cup with barely-quarter-inch sides probably didn't contain over 3 ounces of liquid. So my parents decide to go back to the TSA Worker to get a better explanation of why this cup was problematic.Fast-forward twenty minutes of my sister and I talking about how we're going to make it home if Mom and Dad end up arrested. Parents come back with the cup. TSA Worker, instead of asking us to wait at the security checkpoint, waited until we left to actually talk to her supervisor about the cup with very little liquid. She then explains to the Parents that, well, if we had put the cup in a plastic bag before running it through security, there would be no problem.Why they couldn't just re-run the cup through security while we were still there, I don't know. Why people think that terrorists are more likely to put liquid bombs in souvenir cups from Disney World than they are into cell phones, laptops, PSPs, PDAs, or iPods, I don't know. All I know is that I managed to tell off a TSA Worker without getting arrested. I win.
Labels: airports suck, vacation
begone vile thoughts
You know how Sunday nights are often ruined by the consistent mental reminders that you have to get up and go to work/class the next morning?Yeah. That's how I feel right about now...except that "Sunday nights" is actually "my vacation", and "the next morning" translates to "in two and a half weeks". When I got an e-mail last night about some student org planning for next semester, I almost cried. Whatever. Back to watching Andrew Shue's complete failure to exercise his acting chops on "Melrose" reruns.Labels: vacation
this may seriously cut into my sitting-around time
There's a lot on the agenda, now that the "Eating Mexican Food Cooked by Real Mexicans that Came Over the Border Illegally Last Week" countdown is at 4 days, 15 hours, and about 10 minutes.-Take Biz Orgs final (hopefully I'll get more than 2.5 hours' sleep before this one)-Buy birthday card for grandmother-Write out Christmas Cards-Mail birthday and Christmas Cards-Kill Germans any way I can (by shooting Nazis in Call of Duty 2. Come to think of it, the fact that I find this game ridiculously therapeutic is probably a problem requiring serious psychiatric help.) -Put away laundry that I did last Monday while studying for Con Law final-Buy cheese curds to take to Texas-Do dishes that have been sitting in sink since...well, let's just say that carbon dating may be involved to answer that one.-Clean out moldy food in fridge-Pay as many January bills as possible-Watch entire first seasons of "Heroes" and "Friday Night Lights" that I have TiVoed-Study for International Law final-Take (and probably fail) International Law final (why, oh why, did I take this class?!?!)-Shred the dozen piles of mail lying around my living room so they don't catch fire while I'm away-Turn off TiVo season passes for "General Hospital" and "Angel" so that my TiVo doesn't fill up while I'm gone-Pack for month-long vacation-Clean bathroom so that I don't return to find a sink full of spiders this year.-Find flip flops to wear (1) to the airport in defiance of stupid "take shoes off" regulations that people seem to think really stop terrorism, and (2) for the first three weeks of vacation, until I make it to Richmond...and even then, I can't promise that I'll wear shoes.*-Pick out DVDs to watch on the plane - preferably ones that will lead to the most disapproving stares from fellow passengers.But before I get to all that...I think I'm gonna go take a nap.*Now that I think about it...does anyone know if those airline liquid restrictions are still in place? I'd like to know if I need to somehow become a camel between now and Thursday morning, since I consume about 70oz of liquid during any one flight in order to avoid airsickness.Labels: finals, mexican food, vacation
captain oblivious at your service
So I got back from vacation yesterday afternoon. I go into the bedroom, turn on the light, and look up. I notice that two of the boards on my ceiling are a different texture than the rest... And then I notice that there's a giant water stain on the ceiling above my bed. I've been sitting here for the last 24 hours wondering (a) if those boards were different textures before I left, and (b) if that water stain has always been there.I mean, you would think that I would've noticed it if it were there before I left, given the fact that I spent half of the semester in bed sick. But apparently, I didn't.Whatever. Back to Gilmore Girls.Labels: vacation
it's official...
Summer vacation has started.The journal applications are done (not "good", but "done").The wedding is over.So, I hear you asking what I'm going to do to celebrate? Well, I think the answer is obvious.I'm going to DC to hit up some museums. And then I'm going shopping for home furnishings. Because there's nothing I love more than history and IKEA, all rolled into one blissful excursion.Labels: vacation
hippies hate death metal
Would it be a bad idea for my entire Diversity Statement for the WLR application to explain that (1) I am not diverse, and (2) diversity statements are useless?'Cause that's pretty much what I'm doing.And I threw in a Sebastian Bach reference, just because I am the awesomest person alive.If I got my friend's cat to help me with the Bluebooking exercise, does that violate the WLR non-collaboration policy? 'Cause I don't see anything about here about pets of friends, but I'm wondering if Kitty is included in the "but not limited to" clause of the disclaimer...
Labels: vacation
if i can make it there, i'll make it anywhere
My 9 hour drive to the Ohio-Pennsylvania border (my pit stop on the trek to NY) took me 10.5 hours, thanks to evening rush hour traffic in Chicago. I really do enjoy going 4 miles an hour - does wonders for the gas mileage. And northwest Indiana smells like mung.Dear Guy Behind Me on the Dan Ryan, I'm sorry if I grossed you out when I started spitting mouthfuls of water out of my car window. See, I figured that I should make use of the two hours it took for me to drive from the Northwest 'Burbs to the Southeast 'Burbs, and used that time to whiten my teeth. As the goop from the Crest Whitestrips leaves a nasty film on my teeth, I had to rinse it out. Multitasking is a skill, and I can't help it if I excel at it. Besides, the sight of U.S. Cellular Field makes me want to heave.Sox suck,MeDear Douchebags on I-80 in Ohio,It's a one-lane road through a construction zone. Unlike you, I have neither a death wish nor the funds with which to pay the doubled fines for speeding in a work zone. I'm also fairly certain that the guy in the van in front of me is wasted, and I'm trying to stay away from him. So drop the hemorrhoid act and BACK OFF!Someone pass the Preparation H,Me.UPDATE...Dear Northern Pennsylvania,You're really pretty. However, the drive would have been much more scenic if you carved a Starbucks into the side of a mountain. Trust me.Capitalism rules,Me.Dear Studio that Distributes "The Da Vinci Code",You know, it probably wasn't the best idea to include a trailer for "World Trade Center" in the copies that were sent to theaters in the New York metro area. Some folks just aren't ready for that.Just a suggestion,Me.Labels: flicks, starbucks, vacation
there's no "chill time" scheduled at 4:00!
It's no secret that I really enjoy my sitting-around time. And I was looking forward to having more of it now that exams are done. In the spirit of everyone whining about how much stuff they have to do now that exams are over (ooh! ooh! over here! look at me! I deserve pity too!) , here's my List O'Crap to Do before I leave for New York next Thursday:--clean--FedEx laptop to Texas for maintenance--call judge about my schedule for the summer--Law Review packet--International Law Journal application--clean--wash massive piles (yes, that's plural) of dishes in the kitchen--shred the giant pile of old bills sitting by the shredder--laundry--gym--call the bridal shop in Richmond to make sure they can press Bridesmaid's Dress #2: Electric Boogaloo in the five days before the wedding--catch up on trashy magazine and chick-lit reading--buy new ink for the printer so that I can actually turn in a WLR/WILJ application--figure out which SBA member's butt I have to kiss to get a link on the "student blogs" list of the SBA website (without having to un-declare my holy war)--hit the bank, so that I have enough to pay for my exorbitant out-of-state tuition for the summer--trip to Firestone to make sure my car will make it to NY, VA, and back without falling apart--did I mention cleaning?Good thing I didn't hop in the car after Property yesterday and drive to Austin like I wanted to... Labels: vacation
my property professor is a death eater
I decided to skip my last two Property classes of the week to come down to Texas for Spring Break. I left my house Thursday, a little before 4pm. The chain of events went something like this:4:20pm - get dropped off at airport by KB. 4:22pm - realize that I left my purse in back of KB's car. 4:24pm - start begging people for cell phones so that I can call my cell phone in the hopes that KB will hear a phone that isn't hers and come back.4:35pm - KB brings purse back to airport; get back in line4:37pm - start fighting with United Airlines agent because he won't ticket me for my Denver-Austin flight, because my Madison-Denver flight has been delayed to the point where I'd miss my connection by four minutes, and United refuses to hold planes.4:50pm - give up and take last ticket for the Denver-Austin flight leaving 10:30 the following morning7:30pm - arrive in Denver ten minutes ahead of schedule; race to see if I can make the flight I was supposed to be on that was leaving at 7:40pm.7:35pm - get to gate; discover 7:40 Denver-Austin flight left fifteen minutes early.7:45pm - arrive at customer service; realize that the Denver-Austin flight stranded no fewer than half a dozen people who were either in transit or at security.7:46pm - get even more peeved because they would've moved me back to the 7:40 flight. Get excited because I can still get a flight to Dallas that lands at midnight CST.7:50pm - fail to convince parents to drive 4 hours to pick me up in Dallas. Glumly take voucher for discounted hotel stay.8:45pm - arrive at hotel in Denver.9:05pm - realize that I left my contact lens case in my checked baggage, which is conveniently back at the airport. ...the next morning...8:00am - leave hotel in Denver. 8:45am - make it through security; discover that 10:30 flight to Austin now delayed until 10:55am.8:55am - find an outlet to plug in DVD player and watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.10:06am - Harry Potter ends. Put in Pride and Prejudice so that it's loaded when I get on the plane.10:30am - wonder why we're not boarding yet.10:40am - 10:55 flight now delayed indefinitely because a crew member decided to take the day off. 10:41am - get angry and cranky, partly because of the flight situation, and partly because I'm beginning to feel like Nick Nolte's Mug Shot.10:42am - laugh at situation, because I would already be in Austin had the previous night's plane been delayed this long.11:30am - decide to forage for food.11:45am - go to bathroom11:46am - my flight's boarding! hooray! 11:47am - realize that my boarding pass fell out somewhere between the foraging and the bathroom. 11:48am - panic11:49am - find boarding pass back at newsstand. Am informed that they would've reissued the boarding pass at the gate and let me board without coming back to look for it.12:05pm - plane fina-freakin'-lly leaves Denver3:30pm - plane lands in Austin. Surprisingly, my checked baggage survived it's night's stay in Denver.3:48pm - realize that, if I had left Madison after LR&W on Thursday and driven, I would've arrived before my plane ended up landing.4:00pm - arrive at parents' house, a full 24 hours after I left Madison.As soon as I realized that I wasn't going to make it to Madison Thursday night, I determined that this was some sort of punishment for me skipping Property on Thursday. After watching Harry Potter, I decided that my Property professor is in cahoots with Lord Voldemort, and conjured up the previously-unknown Fourth Unforgivable Curse - the Flight Delay - in order to make me regret conveniently skipping my on-call day. When I get back, I'm gonna see if I can talk someone into sending him to Azkaban.Happy Spring Break!Labels: airports suck, austin, property class, vacation
