Yet Another Inappropriate Moment Brought to You By

I was leaving school this afternoon and I witnessed something more than mildly disturbing. As I was walking down a hallway lined with lockers but nonetheless not particularly frequented at that time of day, I spotted a fellow classmate that I am not especially fond of. This classmate has never done anything to me in particular to make me un-fond of him, but he's just one of those people that irks me.

Anyway, this was not any ordinary sighting today. I caught him with his pants down. That's right. He was just standing there in the hallway, with his pants around his ankles, tighty-whiteys in full view. He might have been changing. He might have been doing something else more horrifying. I don't know. I do know, however, that he saw me see him and had a classic deer-in-headlights look on his face before I very obviously turned around and went another way.

Who changes in the middle of the hallway at school???!!

On a Morose Note...

I typically try to write about things that amuse me or intrigue me as I go about my day, and I try to find some humor (or at least sarcasm) in them; but right now I'm feeling kind of depressed, so I'm just going to go with it. School is getting pretty overwhelming, so maybe that has something to do with my overly emotional mood; but I'm not completely sure.

I called Granny today to see how she is doing. I try to call her every week or so. She lives too far away for me to visit often, and unfortunately I only get to see her about once a year. I really look forward to the time I get to spend with her. Growing up, we lived really close to my grandparents and I saw them almost daily. My family moved when I was about 10, and after that, I spent every summer with my grandmother while school was out. Some of the best summer memories I have are of her and me sitting on the patio, talking and laughing and listening to her stories. I know it was hard for her after my grandfather died, but I like to believe that my visits helped some.

Anyway, Granny had a couple of major strokes in recent years, and, while she's recovered remarkably well, I can't help but worry, especially after conversations like today's. Her words came with more difficulty than usual, she lost her train of thought mid-sentence. She sounded overwhelmed to just be on the telephone. I asked her what she was doing, and she said that she was making dinner. Something about the thought of her alone, in her house, cooking a meal just for herself made me terribly sad, and made me very much want to see her right away. The hardest thing is that everytime I leave, I'm never quite sure if it will be the last time that I'm watching her wave to me as I pull away from her house. My grandmother is an absolute sage. She has the answers to everything it seems, and has a way of letting you know the right thing to do without you realizing that she's shown you the way. I love having such a wonderful person in my life, but with that comes the paralyzing fear of losing that person. Hearing her "not having a good day" only amplifies that fear.

And I guess here is yet another one of my OCD characteristics, and that is obsessing and worrying about things that I have no control over and about things that haven't even happened yet.

Writing this, though, has helped me feel a little better already. See? She's not even here with me, but she still knows how to guide me in the right direction.

Denial is the First Sign of a Problem...

I was reading Moonlighting in Misery today because Elle Woods had discussed it on her blog recently regarding Games.com. I hate to bring it up in my blog, because I don't want to look like I'm ripping anyone off - but this has consumed a large chunk of my day and I just had to write about it - thanks to Misery and Elle for posting it first!

I was curious (isn't this always how bad things begin??), and I registered (for free of course, just to make it harder to resist), and started playing games. I can't stop. There is Monopoly, my personal favorite, Scrabble, BATTLESHIP, and more. The fun part is that you get to play against other people online. It's unbelievable. It felt like Christmas morning when I discovered this site and the hours of mindless entertainment that it offers.

The bad part it's TOO MUCH of a distraction - I'm not sure how I can fit hour-long Monopoly tournaments with complete strangers into my already replete schedule of school, reading, work, and more reading. But where there is a will, there is a way. (That paper might suffer, though...)

If anyone wants to challenge me to some gool 'ol Monopoly or Scrabble (I suck, but it's still fun!!), you can find me under (what else?) LawNut.

Better Off

I got my paper back today. The paper that I slaved over for a couple of weeks. The paper for my 1L writing class that was almost 30 pages long.

The good news is that I got a decent grade. The bad news, however, is that according to my prof, I am precariously teetering between two grades for the semester.
Now, I think as far as law school is concerned, either one is a pretty good grade; but I am borderline (who am I kidding, I am COMPLETELY) OCD about stuff like this, so of course now I am making it my personal mission to achieve the better of the two grades. The prof said that obtaining the better grade would take a "massive effort" on my part for the final paper. (Yes, she used the words "massive effort.") Personally, I think that every paper I have handed in so far has been the product of "massive" brain hemorrhaging, soul-searching, and Westlaw/Bluebook adoration, but apparently I am wrong. This final paper will require an effort paramount to all others.

As soon as I got back from class, feeling slightly dejected, I got an email from a co-worker I was friendly with at Cubicle Hell, Inc (the old company I used to work for that I had utter and complete hatred for before I became a law student). She mentioned in her email that she wanted to get together but wasn't sure when because she was "so busy" at work. So busy?? Are you kidding me?? I worked there, ok? I know that a "busy" day there for me meant one where I got so many emails from friends that I didn't have time to visit all of my favorite bookmarked websites AND finish the daily crossword by lunchtime.

So that email really served as a reality check for me - just when I thought I was going to crack over the paper that I basically have to get divine inspiration for in order to push myself into a higher grade bracket for the semester, I realized that I could still be at Cubicle Hell Inc - therefore, Westlaw, here I come!!

And the Emmy Goes To......

I waited all week in suspense as to what would happen on Sopranos this week. I couldn't wait to see it - would Tony die? Was he going to get up and suddenly bitch-slap Uncle Junior for shooting him after mistaking him for "Malanga"? I was sadly disappointed.

This week's episode didn't shed much light on the situation except to allow us to see Tony's disgusting abdominal abcess while he was lying comatose in his hospital bed. AJ turns out to be a complete and utter loser (like we didn't know that already), confessing to poor Carmella ("while your father is in a coma!!!!") that he basically failed out of school. I think his unkempt hair probably gave us the assumption of "loser" already, but that's neither here nor there. Meadow played the caring and concerned daughter, ambivalent between medical school and law school (both are torture, Meadow - marry a mob guy instead!), and apparently having some "issues" with dental-student Finn.

Meanwhile, as we witness all this drama at a NJ Level 1 trauma center, Tony is stuck in some sort of alternate universe where he dreams that he loses his wallet while at a conference and has to assume the name of someone else. Not surprisingly, even while in a coma, Tony is trying to cheat on Carmella. Some things never change.

And that brings me to the one aspect of the show that really impressed me - Edie Falco's performance at Tony's bedside. I have to say, I thought it was moving. She really pulled it off, and I think that at awards time, she will (or should) be recognized for it. She's really come a long way on this show as a mob-wife, and we started to see her coming into her own when her and Tony were calling it quits, but this is entering a whole new realm of acting for her. I can't help but notice, though, that she looks so much older than 43. Oh well. Good for her for growing old (old??) gracefully.

Previews for next week look exciting and more action-packed than this week's episode. Not that I need action for an episode to really rock my world per se, but I would like to see some advancement besides Janice making a bad situation worse at the hospital.

I Gotta Get Outta Here!

Spring break is over. It was over as of Monday, officially, but it's taken me until Wednesday to really get into the swing of things again. Unfortunately, though, I'm feeling a little jaded despite the week-long respite. Perhaps it was because I didn't go anywhere or really do anything fun because I had a ridiculously long paper to write that was due the Monday back from spring break. (Law professors are really all about having fun and making sure their students are having a good time too.) But I think the real reason that I'm feeling so jaded is because I am SO PALE. Yes, I am pale. I am pale because my skin has been hiding underneath coats, and turtlenecks, and scarves for, let's see, oh...about FIVE MONTHS now!!! And I can't take it anymore!! I swear I must have a vitamin D deficiency from lack of sunlight exposure. The extent of my outdoor experience on a daily basis is walking from my front door to my car (in the driveway) and then back from the car (in the driveway) to the front door. Aside from that I'm shielded from the light by parking decks, drive-thrus, etc. At this rate, I'll soon be transparent.

I could just go Fake 'n Bake, but...somehow that just doesn't cut it. I might get my skin to glow after standing in front of big lamps while wearing googles that make me look like a bug, but I really just prefer the real thing.

So, while I sit here, wilting away without sunlight, waiting for summer, the only warmth that I know coming out of a vent in the wall through a miracle called forced air heat, I will dream about a better place, a place like THIS.....[sigh]......

How You Doin'?

It's finally back!!! After 20 months of painful waiting, The Sopranos has returned and it's shaping up to be an AWESOME season! I'll admit, initially a lot of the reason I watched was to catch glimpses of places in "beautiful" North Jersey, but over the past few years, it has really sucked me in.

So highlights from last night - Meadow looks like she's lost some weight. I couldn't help but notice that during the opening credits, she was listed as Jaime Lynn Sigler again, not her married name, Jaime Lynn DiScala. I'm wondering if she's already divorced. I guess by Hollywood standards she would have been celebrating her silver anniversary by the time they filed for divorce. Anyway, she was only present for two scenes - one where she's performing a softcore striptease for her fiance Finn, which I think was just placed into the episode to show off her newly-thin body. I wonder if she's back to her anorexic ways. The next scene was literally a walk-on and walk-off where Tony asks her about some intership that he helped set up for her. Must be nice to have a mob-boss dad set up legal interships for you. I'm stuck pounding the pavement looking for one of those on my own for the summer.

And speaking of weight loss, how about Vito?? I know he was on Celebrity Fit Club but I'm astounded at how much thinner he looks. I'm glad for him, because last season of Sopranos the man looked like he was going to collapse at any moment.

Uncle Junior shooting Tony might very well have been one of the greatest Soprano scenes ever. I mean, here is the definition of senility, and Tony's all "I don't want to put him in a nursing home." Well Tony, do you think you might reconsider now that you've got a bullet in your gut??

Meanwhile, it looks like the FBI has everyone under their thumb - poor Carmine kicks the bucket in the agent's car!! They are relentless - next they drill Eugene who clearly picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue, which drives him to go home and hang himself. And props to HBO for so graphically depicting the suicide scene - I like the involuntary urination after he died. It was...authentic.

Of note, HBO did NOT give us any preview treats after the episode - I guess they want us to hang on for next week to see if Tony survives Uncle Jun's shooting...got to give the old guy some credit, he's still a pretty good shot - until next week!

Hurling Fruit

Today I was really in the mood for fruit. It's probably my nutrient-deprived body screaming for vitamins and sleep instead of more reading and thinking on my paper that's due next week. In any event, my strawberry craving today (and I am NOT a fruit fan in the least, so this was definitely bizarre for me) got me thinking about this scene that I witnessed about a week ago while Hubby and I were driving.

We were behind this car and were stopped at a light. It looked like there were two people in the car. All of a sudden, the driver opens the door and gets out. Isn't is always really odd when people get out of the car WHILE driving?? This always freaks me out for some reason, like I think the person is going to come carjack me or something equally disturbing. Anyway, he looked really distraught. He runs around to the back door on the passenger side, and proceeds to take out a large box from the back seat and SMASHES the box and its contents right on the sidewalk! Apparently it was a box of grapefruits or melons or something because they all went flying! Then he reaches in again and flings yet another fruit-laden box onto the sidewalk! Then he jumps back in the car and speeds off just as the light was turning green. Hubby and I just stared at each other in disbelief at what we had just witnessed. I absolutely love catching people acting so totally and randomly inappropriately.

Popping my Blogger Cherry

So after months of looking on longingly at others' blogs, I've decided to start my own. I don't really think I have anything interesting to share at this point, since I'm in the midst of writing class HELL, but who knows - something may pop up in this nutty head of mine and I'll choose to share it. Please feel free to stop by and leave your comments!