Things to Love About Minnesota

• The lady at Target who is intrigued by your purchases, leading to a conversation about law school, dogsitting, and the eventual discovery of a mutual friend... in Boston.
• The woman who made a sign (!!!) to point out to me that my gas cap was open, and then made her husband drive extra fast in order to pass me, so that she could hold up the sign and wave.
• The teenagers who look you in the eye and say hello (FIRST!) on the sidewalk. What??
• The sky. Sure it's scary when there's a tornado warning, and you can capture a funnel cloud on cellphone video (anyone know how to download that?), but it's also purple and pink and SO huge and pretty.
• A bar with board games. Nuff said.
• Smoking bans.
• Barack FREAKING Obama is going to be here on Tuesday. Yeaaah, I'm gonna be there.
• Running into people you know everywhere you go, even though you moved away 2.5 years ago; causing said people to be teary-eyed (and blogger to be so as well).
  

Minnesota. So nice. I love the midwest. I just can't say how much I love it here. It makes me insanely happy to be here, doing nothing in particular.

How I Feel Can Only Be Expressed in Song

*ed. note - I do not actually love Bon Jovi this much. Just the TC. And hot dish.

Obama/Cook '08

Apparently I'm not the only one who sees political metaphors in silly television shows:

David (Hussein) Cook

I dutifully watch American Idol every week because my daughter is a huge fan. After two seasons, I have learned to (almost) enjoy it. I basically just pretend I'm living in a different age and a pleasant second-string country, maybe in Latin America or the Middle East, where every week me and my extended family sit down to watch a goofy variety show filled with amateur singing and colorful local characters. Then last night, after the final results show, I found myself unreasonably elated when they announced that David Cook had won. For those of you who are above such frippery, you might not know that this was not at all the expected result. The night before, after the final showdown, the judges had all but declared the other finalist, David Archuleta, to be the better man. Then last night they dragged us through Fox infomercials and a string of has-been celebrities until, an hour into the show, they announced that in fact COOK had won, by nearly 12 million votes.

So why do I care? And why should you? Well, here is my very unfounded theory: Cook is the Democrats, and Archuleta is the Republicans. More specifically, Cook is Barack Obama and Archuleta is, if not John McCain then some dependably modern Republican-type. Both come off as sweet, good guys, but Cook is older and decidedly cooler. He's a baby-faced rocker from just outside Kansas City whose performances have been unreliable. One week he's awesome and the next so-so. He's mostly cheerful but sometimes moody and glum and seems to expect to lose.

Archuleta, meanwhile, is a 17-year-old fuddy-duddy from Utah who grew up singing show tunes and Elton John. His mother is from Honduras, and he has four siblings. He's deeply humble and entitled at the same time. I've always imagined him as home-schooled but I have no evidence, outside his large family and unyouthful musical tastes. A Los Angeles Times blog suspected he skipped the first verse of "Imagine" on Idol because he's a Mormon and would take offense at the line about "no religion." I think of him more as a Mitt Romney-type—weekly transmitting secret religious messages only his fellow conservative Christians would pick up. Every week I scrutinized his song choices and his outfit, and quizzed no one in particular: Why did he choose Neil Diamond's patriotic song "Coming to America"? Why does he have a huge anchor sewn onto his jacket? Is there some Jesus parable about an anchor?

So come last night, I was sure Archuleta would win. Which is how a Democrat would think. Despite all evidence pointing to the Democrat's superior charisma, vitality, momentum, relevance, and musical tastes, they still think the Republicans have some secret silent majority that will prevail in the end. And then, lo and behold, those extra votes showed up on the right side. Hallelujah.

Published Thursday, May 22, 2008 10:23 AM by Hanna Rosin Filed under: Barack Obama, 08 election

Good Job, America. Now Vote Democrat and Restore My Faith in You Completely.

For Real This Time

I am now officially a rising 2L! I still had one take-home final left when I wrote my last post, but I wasn't planning on much studying for it (I had seven hours to do it!). Now that that's over with, I am really really done. Of course as I handed it in, the person checking in the final reminded me to head upstairs to pick up the law review writing competition, which started immediately after. That's optional, and even though I'm doing it, I have officially completed the requirements of 1L year! Hip hip hooray! Now to pack, clean, and get the heck out of Dodge!

DONE.

Done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done done.

"You can try to resist, try to hide from my (lists), but you know, yes you know that you..."

...can't fight the (law)(school)." So. Close. So. Burned. Out. So in need of new, non Leanne Rhimesy music to come up on shuffle.

One more "real" (read 100%) final, one "fake" (read 30%, take-home) final, and then I'm out of here! In a week I should be lounging on Rachel's roof in NYC sipping a mojito and contemplating my next move. (Why doesn't blogger know the word mojito? That's just plain wrong.) Yes, I'll still have the law review write-on competition to do (another week of legal writing, yay!), and then a car trip to Minnesota to start my new job, but I think I'm just about to get over the hump.

Random other Minnesota-Boston things going on this weekend: Twins beat the Sox, then the Sox beat the Twins. Almost hope the Twins win tomorrow. (Blasphemy!)

Obama - yeah, I'm excited! Now, HRC, please, just STOP. I believe I've mentioned this before, but IT'S TIME TO GO HOME. I even used her as an example of carpetbagging Senators on my Con Law exam. Mostly because I'm a panderer to my conservative professor, but also because she's really REALLY annoying me lately. And I'm one of those white women who is supposed to be voting for her.

Had a dream where I ran over a dog. It was awful!!!! The dog just ran out into the street! Interesting new form of stress dream.

Alas

My favorite American Idol contestant was sent home, just as he was really letting his hippie freak flag fly! Now, if you know me, you know I could by no definition be considered a stoner, and only ever considered myself mildly crunchy in relation to family and friends. The truth is labels are all relative, something you discover over and over again in life. In WV, I am out there progressive and liberal, at Macalester I was a party hack moderate, and in Boston, at a Jesuit law school, what am I? I'm one of the crunchiest, hippiest granolas you can find! Never have I experienced the sheer volume of designer clothing-on-a-daily-basis-wearing, upper class "but I'm really working class," summer home-owning, golf-playing, I-can't-believe-you-don't-wear makeup/straighten your hair/shave your legs every day/own Uggs/know John Kerry personally-gaping crowd of people. I know I'm being slightly hyperbolic, and there are many wonderful people here, whom I respect a lot; I'm simply trying to explain why I feel the need to point out, for the second time on my blog, my favorite American Idol contestant of the year. Yes, he chose a Bob Marley hit and a Bob Dylan classic, and kinda screwed them up for his last performance, but you know what? It was kind of awesome watching someone roll their eyes and be clearly out of place in a pop competition, refusing to take it as seriously as it takes itself. I aspire to be the doofy, crunchy Jason Castro of LegalEagle school. And I'm not going to cover up my tattoo for interview season either. Take that career services!

Favorite Things

I learned how to EMBED things. New levels of procrastination abound.

Random Observations of Randomly Bored Bostonian-in-name-only.

Status: Civil Procedure, conquered, if not drop-kicked.

Sleep deficit: Harry 2L's is worse. As least I don't have 2 kids, a dog, or an asthmatic cat!

Caffeine addiction: I foresee a somewhat trembly withdrawal period come June 1ish.

Running: I fell off the wagon big-time post ankle boo-boo. Boo. Never fear, I'll start again! It's really necessary; even if I don't make the June 1st 5k, it's happening this summer come hell or high water.

Things that are expensive and have broken today:

• my car (spark plugs, again, darn it);

• my computer (the "e" key popped off mid Erie doctrine analysis in the exam and I squeaked loudly, but I was able to reattach it, for now).

Musical obsessions: still replaying Dolly Parton songs over and over and over. The woman can write a good song!

Hair: large, very large. Also, amazingly my hair seems to be thinning *thanks family genetics* and yet getting bigger and poufier all at the same time. I can't quite explain it, but I appreciate the ability of the pouf to cover the approximate 50% loss in thickness and scalp coverage over the last year or so (I'm really not exaggerating, I went from a twice around the ponytail thickness to a four times around the ponytail thickness, if you ladies know what I mean). I'm also glad I'm not vain or splurgy enough at this point to consider expensive head creams necessary, though if I end up with a full-on bald spot someday, you'll all know why.

Last random observation: I really want to go abroad again soon. I need to figure out a way to do this. Sometimes, when I am really bored and questioning law school, I wish I hadn't abandoned the whole Peace Corps application process for reasons that didn't turn out to be very good ones. And then I wonder if it's not too late, and maybe I should just take a tiny (3 year) break from law school and come back to it. But then I'd be 28 and still have to finish law school. I AM THE WORLD'S MOST INDECISIVE PERSON. (and the "e" key just fell off again)

Later folks. Sorry for the randomness.

Terror v. Malaise (Apathy?)

I am strangely calm, given that tomorrow at 9:30, I'm taking an exam that is worth 100% of the credit I'll get for the year-long Civil Procedure class I just finished. It doesn't matter that I managed to impress the professor once or twice (but conversely, it also doesn't matter that I make a fool of myself on an equal number of Socratic occasions). It doesn't matter that I missed only one class all year when many of of my compadres were fed up with the professor and didn't come (especially by the end), or that I took diligent notes on the readings and lectures (well, at least until about April 15th, at which point I started to become fed up), or that I've spent the last 4 days poring over said notes and readings. All that matters, the only thing that counts is that I don't choke up on the exam tomorrow and can manage to make sense in four hours about the information I've managed to shrink from 150 pages, to 40, and which I'm currently attempting to fit within the two-page outline limit.

Funny, though, unlike last semester when I was terrified, and couldn't eat for two days before my first exam, I feel completely calm, even somewhat apathetic. Five credits! I should be at least a little scared, but I have utterly lost the sense of urgency and fear that preceded finals last semester. Either I've learned to deal better (and I have been making a conscious effort to be more sane this semester) or I peaked a little early in this whole law school business. Either way, I can't bring myself to really care too much!

In the spirit of procrastination, I just read Beth's friends' blog about being missionaries in Africa for a solid hour. Even though I have some reservations about what they are doing religiously speaking, it is unquestionably amazing what they are doing, and quite a tear-jerker to read from beginning to end. Lots of other thoughts on that, but I should get back to working so I can get a decent night's sleep before my big test tomorrow.

For some reason I keep thinking about one of my favorite teachers today, Mr. Chaplin, who was one of those funny and nice teachers who gave everyone nicknames and put a quote of the day (QOTD) on the board every day, which we had to copy down and respond to. Every single time we had a test (American history), he would put up the same quote: "Life is a test." - Anon. I like it because you can interpret it a lot of different ways; my current interpretation is that life is sort of a big jigsaw puzzle, and you have to figure out how to fit all of the pieces in without messing up the big picture, or knocking the whole puzzle off the table and having to start over again.

Hasta luego bloggie friends!

You Might Be a Law Student in Finals When....

You consider going to a different-than-your-regular coffee shop for a shot of espresso because you are so dirty/unkempt/bleary-eyed that you don't want to embarrass yourself in front of your regular baristas.

You wonder what "clean" really means in relation to blue jeans.

You wish you were married, just so you'd have someone to do the dishes.

You burst into hysterical laughter about anything involving the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.*
*or because your 'e' key has dislodged from your keyboard and is now just a little rubber nubbin.

You have listened to the same song 15 times (iTunes should really stop keeping track) in one day, because it helps you focus.

Momma, this one's for you!

Thanks to N------ for this AWESOME link.

Seriously, folks, this is officially the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. It's possible that it's my finals brain, but I've been giggling inappropriately loudly for being home alone:

Postcards From Yo Momma

Just an example of the many, many emails that people's mothers have sent them that are unintentionally hilarious:

"Hi love,

Berlin is grandiose and fascinating. We’re seeing many sights via train and subway - traveling in grand style. Hotel is great but has an unfortunate nudes pic over the bed. Tomorrow we check Dresden and back to U.K. on Saturday.

Love,
Mom"

EDITed to add: Definitive proof I should have come of age in the 80s to take full advantage of my hair. Three days of not showering or using product makes for this after a good lather, rinse repeat (the picture doesn't really do justice to just how big my hair is right now):



**also note, apologies for the narcissistic self-portrait-taking this week, but I haven't actually spoken to another human being (minus the person who sold me diet cokes at CVS) for a few days.