insert cliche

After the problem I had a couple of weeks ago when the heat spontaneously came on by itself and wouldn't turn off on an 80 degree day, I now have the opposite problem. No heat. And it was nowhere near 80 here today. And there is only so much fleece in my apartment.

I would have called this post "be careful what you wish for" except that phrase is basically the cliche version of "I told you so", which makes me kinda punchy. "Be careful what you wish for" is really only appropriate when what you wish is for me to punch you in the face, and then I would recommend that you be careful what you wish for silently, because I can be a little spazy with the punches.

stir crazy

I agreed to take on 2 extra research and writing projects for work this weekend and next to generate some extra cash for a mini-vacation I'm taking next month. It will be worth it, but it means that I'm staying in to work all weekend. On Thursday it seemed like no big thang, yesterday it still seemed doable, and today I am wallowing in what seems like an impossible amount of work in an impossibly short time, and yet it seems like fo re ver until I will be done. Not leaving the house for 40+ hours can have that crazy-making effect on a person.

So to break up the monotony, I'm following the lead of mind the sass with a few of my favorite things:

1. Crescent rolls. Nom!
2. My new caramel colored knee length boots.
3. Kitty.
4. The Office.
5. Pumpkin ice cream.
6. Netflix.
7. The fact that I got to keep the awesome TV in the division of stuff.
8. Blue mascara - perhaps controversial, but fun nonetheless.
9. Christmas music (ok, I'll wait until October).
10. Not being a 1L.
11. My bicycle.
12. Thai tea.

And, in the alternative, a very short list of my new least favorite thing:

1. Use of the word "arguendo", especially when used after the word "assuming." AARGH.

house-keeping and awesome-keeping

Hi, my name is Laughing and I am an asshole. Which is to say, I just got around to updating the links to some of my favorite blawgers who had migrated to new platforms. Uh, some of whom had done so like 6 months ago. This is my way of making up for my slackishness. Go visit Exhibit L, No634, a woman in law school, and A (Non)Token Minority Law Student - all people who, despite me ignoring their pleas to update my blogroll, did not remove me from theirs. Thanks dudes.

It is also my pleasure to say that I've been included in The Bitter Lawyer's 10 Favorite Law Student Blogs. Woot! I'm totally flattered, especially since my posting schedule has been, err, lacking lately. Go read all the interviews of the folks included on the list. There is a tiny part of me that wishes I hadn't outed my crush on Nobody since she was also included, but on the bright side it reaffirms my incredibly good taste, no?

And if you're here for the first time because of the Bitter Lawyer post, welcome y'all! I hope you enjoy!

this friday night brought to you by lame

I realized I hadn't spent a single night just hanging out by myself for the last 2 weeks (no wonder I feel like I'm losing my everloving mind) so I decided to spare my friends and take some alone time tonight. As soon as I decided that I would spend the evening with my feet up, eating bonbons, I looked around my apartment and saw that it was, well, kind of gross. For me, in law school especially, the messy apartment problem tends to spiral out of control fairly quickly - I'm stressed so I don't clean, things are messy and therefore I get more stressed, and it all ends up with me blowing off something I should be doing for school in order to get my surroundings in better shape. My amazing discovery? Friday night cleaning is better than Saturday morning cleaning, because it comes with the added bonus of wine. And you know me, drinking alone on a Friday night usually leads to a list.

Things I Did Tonight in Particular Order:

1. Play laser pointer with the cat. Never gets old.
2. Washed dishes.
3. Spent twice as long washing dishes as necessary because I was also watching Gossip Girl.
4. Dusted the top of the fridge.
5. Discovered that the heat was on, what the eff?
6. Ohmahgah it is so hot in here, why can't I get the heat to turn off?!?
7. Opened windows.
8. Spent 30 minutes trying to keep the cat from leaning against window screens.
9. Closed the windows.
10. Cleaned the bathroom sink and vanity.
11. Started cleaning the toilet.
12. Discovered that the water was no longer running, mid-toilet cleaning.
13. Overcome by sudden and unquenchable thirst.
14. Cleaned kitchen counters, table. Scoured burner pans.
15. Thought about reading for Ethics.
16. Fuck that, how about a movie and eat ice cream instead.

That basically brings us to the current moment, with me and the cat enjoying a lovely (if hot) evening in a tidied apartment that smells faintly of lemon cleaning product. Hope you all had a great Friday night too.

advice (not assvice!) to 1Ls

Dear Precious 1Ls,

We need to have a quick chat about study room etiquette. You see, I get that you are new here. I get that you don't quite know how things work yet. I get that you are scared out of your damn minds at least half the time. But that doesn't give you any good reason to act like a bunch of dill-holes. So let's go over some stuff that might make everybody's lives a little easier.

1) Try reserving your own study rooms instead of taking mine. Telling me that you've been kicked out of 3 other study rooms already today doesn't move me to sympathy so much as it makes you look like an idiot. Reserve your own room or go to the library, and get the fuck over it.

2) When somebody starts standing awkwardly outside of a study room you are in, they are not admiring your color-coded underlining technique or your overpriced and underfunctional school bag. They probably have the room reserved, which means you need to get out, poste haste. No, you may not finish that page, that email, that killer convo about who said what to whom at bar review. Pack yo shit up and skeedadle.

3) Study rooms are not soundproof booths. Less shrieking, less screeching, less squee. Many of you have not yet figured out that you are staring down the barrel of a buttload of work, and that you would do well to use less time gossiping. If you are with it enough to have gotten a study room, use it for studying, or at least silent facebooking. I don't really care what you do, as long as I can't hear it.

That being said, you all look like lovely people. I'd be more than happy to help you with your citations. I love seeing your UCC diagrams on the whiteboards. Also, I commend you on the relatively low incidence of over-perfumers. Next year you'll have full discretion to chastise 1Ls as you see fit. Let's just try to work these study room habits into your routine, mmmkay?

Truly yours,

Laughing