Free Day

I have to compliment my Banana Republic experience today. I went to Nana Pubs because Shaked sent me a 40% off coupon and I need jeans. I went to the one in Metro Center and met up with Kerry. We walked in and were immediately offered free manhattans. Free cocktails? What's going on? Little did we know that we were walking into the Mad Men line release party. Free drinks, little appetizers being offered as you shop; what a great shopping experience. It made me totally not care that they didn't have the jeans I wanted in my size. But come to think of it, that's pretty weird. I'm a really common size. What kind of self-respecting Banana Republic doesn't have jeans for me? One that serves cocktails apparently, so I am actually fine with that trade-off.
Then on the bus ride back home the fare reader was broken so I got a free ride. And at dinner I got a free cold shoulder from the bartenders. Fifteen minutes without so much as looking at me. The service is consistently awful at Chef Geoff's. Well, our server was good actually. So they aren't even consistent. But look, if you are planning on not serving anyone drinks for the last fifteen minutes of happy hour, just make happy hour end at 6:45 instead of 7.

Spring break is so close. Two classes away. I'm going to San Francisco to visit Emma and Blake. For some reason the inevitable reaction when I tell anyone that is "Have you been there before?" Why is that your first reaction? Yes, yes I have. So what? No one asks me if I've been there before when I go to Boston or New York. Is the west coast some otherworldly place with unicorns and leprechauns? Well...California is sort of some otherwordly place with hippies and medical marijuana. And a bridge made of gold, I hear. Oh no wait - I've been there and seen it. Maybe everyone asks so that if I say "no" they can make up lies to tell me about California. That's what I'm going to do whenever someone tells me they are going somewhere for the first time. "Oh you are going to Prague? Make sure you check out the wizard society. They own a lighting bolt-shaped building in the exact geographic center of the city. And when you see the dog that looks exactly like Pluto riding a unicycle, don't be alarmed. He is a national treasure to them, so no pictures."

Sadie came to visit a couple weeks ago. Baller. Ok, well she really came to interview for grad school and hung out with me also, but that's neither here nor there. It was good seeing her. Except that the first night she was here she refused to go out with me. She insisted on sleeping. This from the girl who used to have a full week of parties at her house during high school? Disappointing. The next night she was definitely more of a gamer. We walked around Georgetown, went to dinner, and played skee ball at Buffalo. She also introduced me to "Party Down" (or at least made the show amusing for me - I think it's better to watch with someone else). It sounds like she's been living the life in Austin. Everything is cheap, nice weather, good people, what more could you want?
The other amusing part of her visit was actually due to my roommate who came back very drunk one night. He met Sadie and then proceeded to rant about 1) republicans in general, 2) Rick Santorum, and 3) how he doesn't understand transgender people. Sadie, of course, went to transgender university, Wesleyan. She did a great job of trying to make him understand the thought process behind it. It totally would have worked on a sober person. But Ryan just kept shouting "I'm sorry, I just don't get it. Why would you want that?" That was really the only answer.

Valentines Day in Class

Happy Valentines Day. I spent this evening not out to dinner, but rather in my Antitrust Seminar. Whoop-dee-freaking-do. The class is supposed to be about mergers, so how did we end up with my professor ranting about the Federal Reserve Board's groupthink decision-making pre-2007? I really couldn't tell you. I think I took three lines of notes in the entire two hour class. And all three lines were just because I felt like I should write something.
And if he explains to me what a heuristic is one more time, I might throw my laptop.

That's really all I've got.

I'm actually in a fairly good mood. I just don't know how to show it. Sadie's coming on Thursday night. My Trusts and Estates cold call went well. Fantasy baseball is starting. How bad could it be?

My Finger!

Last night I hacked off a small portion of my pinkie finger with a mandolin. It was the bloodiest injury I've sustained in years. I feel so hardcore now, with my X-Men bandaid and whatnot. I'm basically a member of the 300. While continuing to chop an onion after my horrific injury, I screamed "This. Is. Sparta.!!!!!"
Note: I don't actually have an X-Men bandaid. I'm not cool enough for that. Just a regular CVS brand one.

Just finished the "Hunger Games." According to Shaked, it shouldn't have taken me so long. The book was pretty good. I'd call it a page turner. Some enemies become friends, a girl learns a lot about herself, and a large number of small children die in horrific ways. Hrm. It's pretty brutal for what I'd call a young-adult book. A bit more gruesome than the Hardy Boys.
I have been informed that the second and third books are not worth it, so my work seems like it ends here.

I watched a lot of the Grammies last night for the first time in many years. My initial reaction was that there isn't a ton of good, popular music being released these days. Another reaction is that Chris Brown is a douchebag. I'd find it a lot easier to accept him back to the Grammies if his performances didn't suck.
Also, if the Foo Fighters are really the premier "Hard Rock" band these days, then we have fallen into a sad state of affairs indeed. I like the guy, but I didn't need to see Dave Grohl perform 4 times - none of it particularly good. Though props for wearing a Slayer shirt.
Adele...you sly fox. Does anyone really hate Adele? I guess I can see her ex-boyfriend not liking her. But besides that, I think she's universally accepted as good. But it always pains me to see an award show roll over and die for one artist like that.

Tonight at the Kennedy Center tonight I sat in a box. The entire time I was waiting for John Wilkes Booth to dash in and shoot me.

In Computer Crimes we were assigned to watch a clip of "To Catch A Predator."

Secret Holds

Well today's Antitrust class was interesting. My professor arrived six minutes late, put his bag down, then left to get a soda. Two minutes later his Diet Coke exploded upon opening it. The next hour and fifty-two minutes of the class was purportedly about the independence of antitrust enforcement agencies. But if I had to title the lecture it would be "I hate the Senate's confirmation process." While he did talk a bit about "the law" and cases like Humphrey's Executor, far more time was spent disparaging the current Senate, the process of putting holds on nominees, and the disclosure procedures that nominees must go through. He's a former FTC Commissioner, and apparently he has a number of grievances. But he does know what he's talking about. It was an amusing, if less than enlightening, class period.

We are now in the shadow period of sports. A time where nothing I care about is going on. Damn it, February. Also, why do I have to pay full rent this month? I guess the leap year helps, but I am still full of resentment.

Is it racist that Black History Month is the shortest month of the year?

Facebook memes have to be reigned in. It's all getting too much. My news feed is exploding with not-so-funny captioned pictures.

It's Really My Fault

I'll take the blame for the Patriots Super Bowl loss. Me, right here. This guy. I put on my Tom Brady jersey and wore it for the first quarter. I knew I shouldn't have. I caused this. I wore that jersey the last time we played the Giants, earlier this season, and we lost. I didn't wear it again until the playoff game against the Ravens - and we won despite our best efforts. So I should have known it was the bad luck jersey and kept it in the closet. But no, I had to go dragging it out to show my New England pride. Damn you, hubris. I apologize to Belichick, Brady, Welker, and the rest of them. I am sorry I selfishly wore that jersey and caused that dismal loss.

On the plus side of the Super Bowl, we had a party at my apartment with two tvs! That's twice the number of tvs you probably watched the game on. How did I pull that off, you might ask. Well I don't mind telling you it was a combination of laziness (failing to post the old tv on Craigslist for a few months), elbow grease (or re-wiring RCN service), and good old American work ethic (yeah!).
Since my roommate is a Giants fan, we were quite the house divided. I think Giants fans outnumbered Patriots fans 6 to 5, with another 7 people whose main attractions to the game were beer and salsa. In my book, some people (my roommate) deserve a penalty for excessive celebration. But the losers took their defeat with grace and poise. No one even punched a wall or destroyed a door. My response was doing dishes (conveniently aided by remembering I have a dishwasher and using it for the first time in two and a half years - no joke), drinking a beer, and watching Game of Thrones.

I paid attention to more than half of my Trusts and Estates class today. I relish the small victories.

I got a haircut today and got my barber in trouble with the head barber, for lack of a better term. With Diego, whose establishment it is. I unknowingly skipped ahead of a guy with an appointment. Sorry doode. Me and my barber are thick as thieves. Mostly because I've always wanted to say that. But he's a good guy and I gave him extra tip for getting him in trouble. That's the appropriate response, right? I can honestly say I had never seen a barber get disciplined. It wasn't a pretty sight. There was hair everywhere.

I did not understand what "Semi-Charmed Kinda Life" was about until much later

So last weekend was fun, but rough. Thursday (yes, that's the beginning of the weekend) was a fun bar review at Marvin. I went to a total of two bar reviews last semester, so I am enjoying no longer having an internship. Saturday was the Lamb of God show, which was awesome - the best way to get out some aggression and feel at peace with the world. And Sunday was a really, really...really messy brunch. I am not even thinking about alcohol until Friday thanks to brunch.

I decided to pass/fail my Trusts & Estates class. Mostly because I cannot, for the life of me, pay attention for more than a few sentences. Some days listening to a full sentence is quite the task. I tried really hard to pay attention today. But my professor spent 35 minutes discussing the details of the execution ceremony for a will. Which the book already did in our reading. And which is mostly common sense. When the statute says that the testator must watch the witnesses sign, it's not difficult to understand that you should probably have them all in the same room. Now the professor is perfectly nice. But. But...he just moves so slowly. He is the tortoise, and my mind is the hare. So pass/failing the class, it doesn't matter if I don't finish first. I just can't finish C- or below.

What's your favorite song featuring Jay-Z? I'm proud to say that mine is Mariah Carey's "Heartbreaker."
What's your favorite 90's song? "Semi-Charmed Kinda Life"
Man, I love superlatives. It's probably my favorite game.

Tomorrow I get to see Justice Kagan judging a moot court competition. A reception follows the oral arguments. However true, it might not be a good idea to go up to her and say, "Hey, I know your niece. She lived on my freshman hall and I heard her having sex all the time. Especially in the morning." That could only be followed up by a hilarious request for assistance procuring a clerkship.
Inappropriateness aside, it is pretty exciting to see a Supreme Court justice doing her thing in person. I wonder if Clarence Thomas would talk while presiding over a moot court. Scotty doesn't know.

Newt Gingrich strongly reminds me of Jabba the Hut. I really hope that isn't just me.

Shaked sent me the Gordon Ramsay autobiography, perhaps to further my man-crush. He is super British and swears almost as much in his writing as in his speech. It's awesome!