My Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2010

It was a hard list to put together as this was a pretty good year for music. Am leaving out some fantastic albums. It pained me to leave things like The National's High Violet or Sharon Jones and the Dap-King's I Learned the Hard Way (a recent obsession) off of the list, but I think this is a good indication of some of my favorites of the year, even if it is very focused on the first half of the year.

1. 1) Beach House – Teen Dream

2. 2) Arcade Fire – Suburbs

3. 3) The Tallest Man on Earth – Wild Hunt

4. 4) LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening

5. 5) Best Coast – Crazy For You

6. 6) Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest

7. 7) She & Him – Volume 2

8. 8) Tame Impala – InnerSpeaker

9. 9) The Morning Benders – Big Echo

1 10) Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love

In before the 2010 ends. Next is my official end of the year mix, but I should probably get work done.

Did I mention that in January, I'm going to be seeing Hair in LA? I'm so excited. I've wanted to see a production of this show since I was in high school. When it was on Broadway, I had planned and subsequently failed to execute trips to NY to see it.

First I need to get through this IP Licensing final. :( Worst finals period ever.

Still alive, but I think I'm hitting zombie mode soon. Crim Pro, Admin Law and now Animal Law are all out of the way. I tackle Copyright on Thursday and then I'm just left with IP Licensing and Data Privacy. IP Licensing is a take home that I've heard is going to be an absolute bundle of joy. Data Privacy...who knows.

It's been a fairly non stop marathon the last few weeks. Pretty exhausting, but I guess I knew that going in. On the upside, I don't really have much time to sit around and dwell on the previous exam I've taken.

But three more finals and I am free-ish until January. Still have journal stuff to do.

On the plus side, despite Thanksgiving, a ton of cupcakes, and a box of Swiss chocolates, I've managed to lose a little weight this finals period. Yay? I blame the kickboxing.

Random mini rant related to my last post: Why do I only have the movie soundtracks for Rent and Hair? I know I have original cast recordings for both. Where did they goooooo? :(

I really shouldn't be up right now. Due to blue screens of death (it is finals time so my computer is due to crash as it has the past two semesters), outlining, a dog that barks incessantly at night, and a crazy recent addiction to Sudoku puzzles, I really haven't gotten much sleep the last few days. Boo to that.

I am, however, one lecture away from finishing my Criminal Procedure outline. Considering how long I've been working on it, I should actually be finished but...yay 3L procrastination? Anyway, almost done, so I am up at an ungodly hour and feel like I'm hitting zombie mode soon.

I had to take a break, though. Chris asked me a question earlier that had been bugging me ALL day. Way back when I was a freshman at UCI, I took C7, the Introduction to Criminology course. For some reason, this is what led me to switch my major to Criminology. I'm not sure why. It wasn't nearly as exciting as some of the Crim classes I later took. I guess I just hated Humanities Core that much. Seriously, the English major thing was not working out. I loved my Crim major, though, so I'm not complaining. A lot of things I learned in that major (as well as professors I either had/heard of/had dinner with) have shown up in my Crim Pro class, so that's been kind of cool. But I digress.

Anyway, our big paper for the class was to analyze a song about a crime and then write about the crime...or something like that. I don't remember the details. I wanted to do my paper on "Every Step You Take" by The Police and talk about stalking or something, but that didn't pan out. Chris reminded me about that paper today and asked which song I ended up using. I couldn't remember. I remembered that I didn't do the Police song and I remembered that my friend used a song on rape, but I could not remember the actual song I ended up using.

I eventually turned to my old friend, Live Journal. After going back through entries from 2004, I found an entry talking about the paper. I guess I ended up using the song "Walking in Space" from the musical Hair. I think I discussed illegal drug use or marijuana or something. I don't remember.

(Speaking of which, if someone really loved me they'd take me to LA when Hair is playing there...*cough*)

Random final note: Accidentally started listening to Bachelor Girl. Do you remember that band at all? They only really had one hit here and, even then, it wasn't that big. I was obsessed with them freshman year of high school. Brings back a lot of memories.

Okay, I really need to finish this Crim Pro outline so I can focus on Admin Law tomorrow. I know you are all completely jealous of my life and my six finals right now.

I've decided that I'm subscribed to far too many blogs through Google Reader. Went through to trim out some of the ones that I never read (not too successful, but whatever). I think that when I first started using Google Reader, the majority of the blogs I followed were related to the environment and music. I think now, it's become some crazy mix of food, webcomics, soccer, IP/Tech, music, and entertainment. I trimmed them down a bit for now, so I'll see if that makes me slightly more productive than before.

Today was another one of those lost days. I spent a lot of the evening in one of those random music ruts and insisted on finding some new music to listen to. Passed up the new Maroon 5 album. Nothing that they ever make will be as good as Songs About Jane. I didn't like the last album and this one wasn't exciting enough for me to actually want to buy it. As a result, my being over them overrode my compulsive need to cling on to an old artist I used to be obsessed with.This is a new and strange feeling. (Although, I don't think I'll ever be over Songs About Jane. That was just a great album).

Anyway, it's far too late and I should go to bed.

I enrolled in classes for the very last time (*knock on wood*). It feels weird knowing that this is it. Hah. I think I got a good schedule. I know it gives me three finals and three finals >>>>> six. It also gives me a lot of down time. Maybe I can fill that void with volunteer work? Or maybe just enjoying my last semester as a student (and before I have to slave away over the bar).

Anyway my classes:
Cal Civ Pro
Cyberlaw
IP Concentration Seminar
Con Law II
Negotiations

My IP Concentration class is at 8:30 on Fridays. Ugh. It was almost enough to make me want to forget doing the IP Concentration all together and fulfill Upper Div writing with Mass Media Law. On the other hand, I've come this far, so I might as well finish the concentration, right?

What is it about Les Mis that makes you want to sing along with everything? It's so distracting to study to this. On the other hand, I tend to turn this on when I need to stay up late. If I turn on Les Mis, I have to go all the way. It's an all or nothing thing. Works better than caffeine.

I'm supposed to be working on Data Privacy but I've been kind of meh about it all night. Outlined instead, which is like somewhat productive, right?

Halloween is around the corner. One of my favorite holidays because it means I get to dress up in ridiculous outfits. I will be the Swedish Chef this year. Pretty simple and straight forward costume to put together.

I think this blog is turning into more of rant/super random stream of conscious one. I might pick up the Music & Jjigae one to be more of the personal blog. I haven't touched that blog in forever though. I think part of the problem is that I have too many blogs. I'm an addict. I admit it.

Listening to the full Neon Trees album again. I gave it a try once but it's kind of meh beyond Animal.

Exciting plans for the weekend that do not include outlining:

• Star Wars party tomorrow
• Quakes in the first playoff game against the Red Bulls
• Halloween bowling (of course)

Okay, now back to Data Privacy.

So I really haven't been on here that often. Hah. I'm kind of sad. I got a ticket for the Sunday night Treasure Island show because the line up pretty much consists of bands that I've been dying to see for a while (especially freaking Belle & Sebastian). Usually I go with Dinah to these things, but she's off galavanting in Europe. I got the ticket in June because I thought that I had people to go with. Turns out none of them could go and Chris refuses to go with me because apparently he's okay with me going to a music festival by myself and can't bring himself to go with me.

Sooo it's up on Craigslist now. If no one buys it, I might have to go alone. Either way, I'm kind of annoyed that Chris won't go. That's just me though.

People are so gross. Seriously.

Hi, by the way. It's been a while. Apparently everything everyone says about the third year of law school being a breeze has been a lie. Then again, most people don't decide to be editor-in-chief of their law journal.

Anyway, as a result of all of that school related stuff, I've been eating poorly and not exercising as much as usual. Not good. Thus, I dragged myself to the gym just now for a round on the elliptical. I was enjoying reading my magazine until I lifted it up to flip through it and realized that someone had hidden a huge chunk of gum there. Seriously, that is disgusting. Never mind that it's rude, gross, and tacky. You're at a gym presumably to get into shape/stay in shape/lose weight/be healthy whatever. You're really not going to walk twenty feet over to a trash can to throw the gum out? Seriously, how lazy can people be?

On the upside, they added a bunch of trackless elliptical machines to this particular 24 Hr Fitness location. A lot more than the usual one I go to.

Still trying to get back into the swing of this school thing. It's been a slow process. Except not slow at all because there always seems to be something happening on the law journal front.

Went to Vegas this weekend. Was there for less than a day. We drove there to take Umma to a Michael Buble concert. I didn't expect to enjoy it, but he was entertaining. Wasn't overly impressed with the voice live, but he was a funny guy and put on a fun show. Now I'm trying to force myself to read my Wednesday Crim Pro. It's slow.

So I start my last year of law school tomorrow. Part of me is excited and part of me isn't. This last week that was supposed to be spent lounging around and being lazy was an incredibly hectic rush of getting things prepped for the new year - a lot of law journal stuff and a lot more trips to SF than I would have expected.

Anyway, I really can't believe the summer just flew by like that. In some respects, doing my first full-on SF summer makes me feel like I was kind of cheated out of the drippingly hot summer the rest of the country had (except maybe not).

Last weekend before school was fun. I saw Scott Pilgrim this morning, which was awesome. So many geek references in one film. I loved it. Seriously, all the actors were great. It was a lot better than I went in expecting it would be (I mostly went because of Jason Schwartzman...).

Also, we saw SJ Earthquakes play LA Galaxy. Okay, I was rooting for my home team and I was very happy that they beat Galaxy, but I'm not going to lie. We were squished in the corner and after the roller coaster ride of the US team's performance at the World Cup, it was kind of awesome to be like 20 feet away from this guy when he was doing his corner kicks:



It made me a little sad that all the Quakes fans were booing him, but I guess we're supposed to hate him or something. Whatevs.

Tomorrow: Yelp Elite event. Some preview night. Supposed to be 40s themed dress, but I didn't have time to put something together, so I'll figure something else out.

Internship is over. It finished on Friday. I don't think it'll quite hit me until tomorrow, but even now I feel like I should be going to bed soon so I can wake up early. We finished building James's chicken coop this weekend. It was a fun weekend project, I suppose.

I also met up with Churro. We'd been trying to meet up all summer, but one of us would be out of town whenever we'd were in the other's area. It's been ridiculous, so I'm glad I finally got to meet up with her.

Summer's almost drawing to a close, which is pretty sad. On the other hand, I guess I'm ready to tackle 3L and the whole publication process. I think so, at least. I know there are tons of other things I need to do in preparation for the year, including a few trips back up to SF this week. Chris moves back up on Wednesday, though. I'm excited to see him again.

Also, I've been kind of hooked on the Stieg Larson books lately. I read (or devoured) the first two books. Am waiting on the last one until it comes out on paper back. They are fun reads. However, now that I've read them, I think that it's horrific that KStew's name keeps on getting linked to the role of Salander in the movie. She can't act. I haven't seen any of the Twilight movies, but I have seen Adventureland and her acting made me want to drive a nail into my eye. Ugh. I hope it's either not true or it goes to someone else.

Update: Awesome. Glad there was no mention of KStew in there at all. To be honest, my image of Salander was a cross between Carey Mulligan and Emily Browning, but based on looks this girl fits the role. Also, ScarJo? Really? Among other things, isn't the character supposed to have underdeveloped breasts?

Watching the Italy-Ivory Coast game.

The good thing about gli Azzurri after this World Cup is that I think that there's really nowhere to go but up...

...then I remember how France played this year and am no longer so sure of myself.

Fortunately, they haven't let me down yet. They could be playing a lot better, but I'll take what I can.

Update: Maybe I spoke too soon. ...They've still got time, right? Just get it together by the EuroCup.

I am currently watching our recording of the US-Brazil game. It's depressing and US isn't playing their best against a much-better-than-they-were-at-the-World-Cup Brazil, but man this makes me miss international soccer like crazy.

The MLS stuff and even seeing Real Madrid play wasn't the same. I'll post some of the pictures I have from that. It was fun to watch and see some awesome soccer players in action. We left a little early to avoid the inevitable hell that would be leaving a packed Rose Bowl. We also were quite popular/unpopular (depending on how you look at it) because of some anti-Cristiano Ronaldo posters we had. I think they were quite fabulous myself.

Yeah, it was another short SoCal weekend. Other than the game and finally meeting one of Chris's old high school friends, we met up with Henry and Kristina and .. well.. ate a lot of ice cream.

MPRE and OCI are done. Need to start really hustling for journal, but I think things are mostly in place there. It's my last week at CC, but these days are going by much faster than I thought they would. It's insane.

That's about it for now. Probably should go back to doing journal stuff.

Ah yes. Thwarted once again. I saw some mozarella di bufala at Trader Joe's yesterday. Legit mozarella di bufala di campana at that (the IP nerd in me also wants to point out the whole GI thing). I got it despite the fact that all of my previous attempts at buying the stuff at various grocery stores have been disasters. Seriously, some of the stuff I've gotten at Albertson's was most definitely rotten and that's a problem.

This one didn't taste bad. It was actually kind of decent. The consistency was bizarre though, so I ended up giving it to Chabba.

Depressing. Need to go back to Italy for the good stuff.

The MPRE is currently the bane of my existence right now. That and OCI stuff, but there aren't really many firms hiring 3Ls this year, so I really don't have many places to apply to. There aren't even enough options for me to use up all of my bids. Oh well. The MPRE really is a drag though.

It's okay, though. The new Arcade Fire is out. Was listening to the stream earlier today and just got it from Amazon (yay Daily Deal). I'll be listening to it or a lot of tomorrow and now I have some awesome study music.

I'm fighting with my laptop right now. Apparently through all of the computer crashes that I've gone through in the last year (and I've gone through quite a few of them), I neglected to really back up any of my job search materials. I suppose I could go through my emails and look for the stuff I sent out to various orgs and stuff, but it's all in pdf. I'll have to go turn them into word docs or something. Annoying.

Anyway, while scouring through my external hard drive (and remembering that I was long past due for a backup), I ran into a lot of old applications and essays, etc.

For instance, when I was applying to internships through UCDC, this was part of the writing sample that I sent out to all the green groups:

"Over the past two years, the protecting the environment has been something that I thought was important to an absolute passion. While there was one time in my life where I could sit on the sidelines and wait for people to fix the problem for me, I have lately realized that we can never achieve any of our goals and solve any of our problems with such an attitude. As I have said before, right now is the time that we need to start embracing the solutions to global warming and I want to be part of the solution."

This is from a different one:

"I have spent a lot of the past few years doing some soul searching, as all good undergraduates should, and this was a topic that I have spent a considerable amount of time on. Superpowers aside, why do I really want to be a superhero? I have to admit that I am a bit of a chicken, despite however adventurous I may try to be, so I do not know if I could even fight epic battles against my arch nemeses. And a cursory glance at any of the most famous superheroes (Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Wolverine, etc.) tells me that the life of a superhero is a very isolated and lonely life. My great desire to become a superhero really boils down to two things: I want to help others and save the world."



I've always been and still very much am a bit of an idealist, but hot damn. Thing is, I know that this was not BS. Did law school break my spirit (or was it another three years of frustration and a murdered climate bill that did it)? I feel like I've abandoned a major part of me since coming to law school. (Side note, but I'm also kind of sad that I later had to tone down the superhero theme when I reused it for my law school apps.)

No, I think that idealism just moved onto a different venue, one that doesn't quite have the sexy "I'm saving the world" vibe to it that being an environmental activist had. I just get excited when the Library of Congress announces exemptions to the DMCA now, I suppose.

This summer is going by way too fast. Less than a month before school starts and I still have so much to do. It's absolutely nuts.

Weekend of soccer, chicken coops and music. I think it was a productive one, yeah? We saw the Earthquakes play a friendly against Tottenham on Saturday afternoon. We actually played pretty well, a lot better than I expected. Granted, playing well is relative after a summer of the World Cup, but they definitely played a good game. Was a little frustrating. They had plenty of good opportunities to get the ball in and missed them. Tie game in the end, but still fun to watch. We're contemplating getting season tickets next year.

Came home and helped Oppa and James build a chicken coop. Yeah, James's wish to raise chickens might actually come true. With the raccoons in the area, though, I'm not sure if it's going to end well. Kind of nervous to find out.

Went to Oakland last night and met up with Dinah to see the New Pornos and The Dodos. It was a fun show. They're kind of fantastic live and I really need to see Neko Case once. She was so amazing. Was trying to write something up for the other blog. Not much is coming, so I might just crank something out at some point and post pictures.

Now I'm tired. I've discovered that I actually did finish grading all the Writing Competition entries. I didn't really get much of anything else done. Really need to start cracking with journal. Gah. So tired though. I'll save that stuff for tomorrow.

Also I got my Treasure Island ticket for the Sunday show. So expensive.

Did I mention that I hate spiders? Seriously, they are the worst. This place is a haven for spider and during the last few weeks, I've had some run-ins with some pretty epic spiders that probably can kill me. Means that while I've been a lifelong fan of night showers, I've definitely held off for the morning recently. Like tonight.

Am I a chicken? Probably, but whatever. They are the worst.

It's finally over. I guess I have to go back to all of my normal obsessions. I actually didn't mind either way who won this game, but I went in rooting for the Netherlands for several reasons. I thought they played consistently better than Spain, was still a little grumpy at Spain's beating Germany (okay, they deserved that win), I put money on the Netherlands, wanted to prove Paul the Octopus right, and I figured the parties would be all sorts of crazy in Amsterdam if they won. In the end, I'm glad Spain won. I really didn't like the way the Dutch played this game and Spain played a good game. To be honest though, I thought the Germany-Uruguay game was much more entertaining. I was kind of depressed that Klose didn't get to beat Ronaldo's record and the German team really didn't have their hearts in it, but it's been so much fun watching Forlan play.

Been a good, if not short, weekend. Saw Sir Paul McCartney in concert last night. That was kind of amazing and he did a lot more Beatles songs than I thought he would. World Cup partying both yesterday and today (way too much food today). Gianni and Laura came up for the weekend. Tomorrow it's back to work and real dieting. Also seeing Miggs tomorrow night. It's been too long since I've seen them.

Got back a couple of days ago from one of those SoCal weekends where I got to see some people and relive the relaxing and carefree days of undergrad life. Kind of. Also, we got in a fight with the staff at a restaurant in Diamond Jamboree.

Can't believe the week is almost over. Nor can I believe that the last of the teams that I've been rooting for has been eliminated from the World Cup. Germany put up a good run. It's too bad Paul the Octopus sealed their fate. Also, they probably should have not been sleeping during their match with a surprisingly strong Spain. I guess I'm wearing orange on Sunday to root for the team that I have distant blood ties to. Also, they played a lot better than Spain overall.

MPRE is fast approaching. Might want to start studying for that on my BART rides to/from the city instead of playing Pokemon. Don't want to have to take it more than once. And I should also get around to finishing grading those competition entries. Such a bother. Deadline is fast approaching though. Crazy.

Other random tidbit of today, I actually bought music today. Hasn't been happening much this summer (especially compared to last summer). I got The Like's new album. I like it a lot more than their first. It's super 60s poppy and very catchy. It was between that and the Blitzen Trapper album, which I will get around to buying eventually. I think the only reason I chose The Like is because I've had Release Me stuck in my head for the last few days.

Anyway, it's getting late. Probably time for bed.

It's Chris' birthday in 27 minutes. Exciting.

I've also experienced major laundry fail. Now have a lot of tinted yellow clothing. Yay? I hate doing laundry.

Oh, in more entertaining news, we bought mini passes to see four Earthquakes games. Get to see them play Galaxy...was so hard trying to get tickets for that. Speaking of which, life was sad today without any World Cup games.

Back to folding laundry. At least I'm folding laundry to David Bowie.

No more posting long incoherent posts before I go to bed.

This has been shaping up to be an interesting summer. I kicked it off with an intense comic book obsession as I finally decided to start working my way through Neil Gaiman's Sandman series. I also played an unhealthy amount of Super Mario Galaxy during that time.

Now, I've been living and breathing football/soccer because of the World Cup. I actually got up at an absurd time so that I could be in SF by 7 to watch the US-Algeria game. That kind of crazy.

It's led to some interesting patterns for me. I'm pretty sure that I've spent more money on World Cup-related expenditures than music, for one. In fact, I am so not on top of my music hipsterness. It's ridiculous. I haven't even listened to the new Blitzen Trapper album. Been meaning to get that, actually.

Another interesting development: I'm the one talking about sports at work. Usually, during sports conversations I'm the one smiling awkwardly in the corner while everyone else talks about basketball or football or whatever. Right now, I'm considered the soccer fanatic. It's a weird change of pace for me.

It kind of makes me want to go back and read Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch. I wasn't obsessed with soccer back when I read it. I read the book and compared his obsession with my music obsession. The themes were similar, but I think it might be worth a revisit. If I can find that book at all, that is.

Anyway, Thursday and this Saturday have led to a lot of sulking. Sulking that Lippi decided to play a team of old fail-tastic Juve players instead of the younger Italian players. Sulking that Uruguay beat South Korea (though, in their defense, Uruguay has been on fire this year). And, of course, sulking about US's loss to Ghana in a game that we probably could have won. Effectively, those three games knocked all of my nationalities out of the running. Italy didn't really disappoint me. I saw Italy's fail coming. Wasn't sure how far South Korea would make it. On the other hand, I did honestly think this would be the US's year this year. I thought it'd be the year that we'd go far and maybe increase US interest in the sport. I guess there's always 2014, right?

Donovan's still my hero, though. I've been trying to get tickets to see San Jose Earthquakes play LA Galaxy. If I do and Donovan's playing, I might have to change my team allegiance for the game.

Anyway, now I'm rooting for Germany. My fondness for the German national team goes back to that backpacking trip in 2008 during the Euro Cup. I hope the Argentina-Germany game this weekend is as amazing as it seems. Also excited about the Brazil-Netherland's match up. In the end, I think I want any team but Brazil to win this year. So over them winning.

All of this also reminds me that it's been four years since my summer in Florence. It's crazy. It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but so much has really changed. Or so I say. That summer, Chris and I were still licking off the wounds from that Ed debacle. Lost some friends to do that and, at that time at least, we thought we'd be losing more.

The thought of losing so many of the friends who I spent most of undergrad growing close to is what eventually pushed me into joining CalPIRG. I figured I'd throw energy into something new. I can't say I regret it. I made some great friends from those experiences. It help me focus on what I really wanted to do. Gave me a thirst for activism and "fighting the good fight." It made me go from being politically apathetic to actually paying attention to what was going on in the world. Granted, I've changed my focus and passions a little since my CalPIRG days, but it's the same general idea.

I regret how things ended between Chris and Ed. I don't think either of them are ever going to completely get over it. Sometimes, though, I really think it helped me. I don't think I would have gotten into law school if things had continued the way they did, where I did nothing but go to school and then watch stupid television shows with everyone until late at night. So maybe the Chris-Ed fallout wasn't entirely bad. It sparked a new flame in me that led to some of my most memorable undergraduate experiences.

Another interesting thought. One of the people who helped me through that whole Ed incident (in some respects at least) hates me and no longer speaks with me. Had I known that even two years ago, I might be sad about that, but life is a little less stressful with her out of my life.

So, this was a long incoherent and tl;dr (it's way past my bedtime). I guess where I was going is that I've already been planning out my viewing schedule of the 2014 World Cup. However, the difference between 2006 Alea and 2010 Alea makes me wonder what things will be like for me in 2014.

We are heading off on another family adventure today. As per usual, the accounts of the adventure will be recorded on a blog. Hope you enjoy: http://beachsocceroil.blogspot.com/

Also, my room is disgustingly messy. I've been trying to sort out Journal Competition entries the last few weeks (people need to write onto journals to become members of them), so they are EVERYWHERE in my room. It's insane.

Tomorrow is my first Yelp Elite party. I'm excited.

Other than that, have been busy trying to do work with a longer commute than what I have for school and a daily hour long trip to the gym. Means every day is pretty tiring and I'm out by 11:30. Trying to get laundry done right now before the trip (going on a family trip next week) and Gianni's graduation.

Oh and i used the rest of my LexisNexis AmEx card on Pokemon Soul Silver. Don't judge me.

I guess my little two week stint of carefree frolicking have come to an end. Tomorrow, I start my internship with Creative Commons. I will not be having fun waking up early again, but I was also getting pretty restless.

Just saw Inter win the Champion's League final. 2-0, both scored by Milito. It was pretty awesome and led to a rare series of tweets from me about sports. Weird, I know.

Anyway, this Nike commercial was one of the highlights.

19 days until the World Cup!

I've been down on Glee lately. It's gone downhill since it came back in April and there have been more bad episodes than good. However, I just watched last night's episode and it was awesome . NPH singing Dream On and Piano Man. NPH being on there in general. There was actually character development (which is probably because the awesome Joss Whedon directed it). They actually used Other Asian for something. Wasn't a big fan of Idina Menzel singing, but I don't really like Idina Menzel so whatever. Now that Dollhouse is officially canceled can Joss just do more Glee episodes? It'd make everyone happier. Maybe (just maybe) I'd even convince Chris to watch with me.

Also, new Miggs album is out. It's kind of awesome. You should check it out.

Finals are done! They've been done since Wednesday, but I've been too busy playing Super Mario Galaxy and reading The Sandman and eating my way around the Mission to mention that. I've been using my LexisNexis points on The Sandman. Just got Vol. 3 but now I am out of points. Haha. Why is Neil Gaiman so awesome and why has it taken me so long to discover this?

Have the summer internship lined up with Creative Commons. I'm very excited about working with them. I have a couple of weeks of bumming around before that starts, so I'm taking the time to undo all the damage that finals caused. Signed up for 24 Hr Fitness with my mom and James. Chris restarted his account. So hopefully I can fix some of the damage before then. Going to spend this summer actually taking the diet thing seriously as well. We'll see how that goes. Maybe I'll even start cooking for myself again. A novel concept, I know.

Okay, should probably try to find something to eat.

Also trying to finally beat Super Mario Galaxy before the new one comes out. This is taking longer than it should because I'm being anal and want to get all the stars first. Whatever.

Main laptop broke on April 23. Took it to Best Buy the same day. +

Confirmed a week later that I need a recovery disc. +

Could not find recovery disc, so I had to buy a new one (ugh ugh ugh ugh). +

Recovery disc JUST shipped.

= I am never getting my laptop back *cries*

One final stands between me and summer. Never mind that it's probably going to be my hardest, I'm almost done with my second year of law school! Exciting. Once I finish last week's episode of the summer, I'll probably dive back into studying. In the past, I'd make sure to fall asleep to a couple of episodes of Arrested Development or 30 Rock before studying again, but my DVD player seems to not want to work anymore. So sad.

This finals period has been major fail diet-wise. Starting a diet blog with Jeanne and some others. I'm hoping it's good motivation to actually stay on track. Yay?

In less than two days I'll be done. Yay!

It's sad that I spent my Tuesday night sulking about Lost. Very sad.

Anyway, saw midnight showing of Iron Man 2 last night. I thought it was an enjoyable movie overall (as any excuse to watch over two hours of RDJ generally is). I don't know if it was better than the first but it was a fun movie to watch and a good way to kick off the summer movie season (or did Kick Ass officially kick that off? Idk).

Don't want to spoil much, so I will make these comments:

- SO MUCH IP TALK. GO AWAY IP. Stop infiltrating movies I want to watch.

- the fight against Ivan at the end felt like it lasted three seconds. Really? I was hoping for something more epic than that.

- I just saw ScarJo's big fight scene in Kick Ass and HitGirl did a better job. Sorry ScarJo.

- I liked Gwenyth as Pepper a lot more in this movie even if she really didn't do anything.

- Don Cheadle >>> Terrence Howard. It's just a fact.

- Sam Rockwell is kind of awesome. Go watch him in Moon if you haven't seen the movie already.

- stay through the credits.

Dear Lost,

Thank you for continuing to kill off characters I love and keeping the ones I cannot stand. Also, please don't leave me. I don't know what I'm going to do without you. You're leaving me with Gossip Girl and Heroes. Do. Not. Want.

Alea

PS. Thanks for the Jears in this episode. I've been waiting for some good Jears this season.

Went to another Earthquakes game. As a person who has been sports-phobic her entire life, the whole soccer game thing is a lot of fun. Totally looking forward to the World Cup this summer. Earthquakes won this time, too. Thus, I got a "win pin," which is a silly pin they hand out after each home win. Kind of want to go to next week's game too, but considering that I have finals again that week AND I haven't been entirely productive this weekend (recovering from Trade Secrets), I think I might have to skip it. Also, games aren't the cheapest things in the world.

On the upside, I did get a free ticket for a future Earthquakes game yesterday. I had to update on Facebook that I was at the game. Literally got the last ticket. Even then, it was only because he looked really sad when he told some other guy that he was getting the last ticket. I can use it for whatever upcoming home game except for the Galaxy one. Maybe DC United or the Seattle Sounders or something? I don't know. We're going to more Earthquakes games. We should have just gone with season passes this year. Maybe next year? Whatever. It's kind of fun being a sports fan, anyway.

Also, I've finally set up what I've been saying I'd do for months. Been wanting to do a food blog. It's actually the reason I started yelp. Kind of figured building up Yelp views would be a good way to get into the food blog. I'm combining it with a music blog. It should be fun. Music & Jjigae. Even playing around with the whole Word Press thing.

Don't worry all ye faithful reader(s). I'll still be keeping this as my primary and personal blog.

One final down and three more to go. Next one is on Friday and it's closed book (yuck).

Meanwhile, I've been fooding my way around Redwood City. Joining Yelp might have been a bad idea. On the other hand, my desire to discover new places has landed me some great local study spots. I guess it's win win.

Still no summer job yet. Kind of put it on hold when I realized I had to learn Professional Responsibility in one week. Hopefully next week when I've got a little more time I can throw out some applications. I have one that I'm waiting on. While I'd love to get it, I need to stop throwing all my eggs in one or two baskets. Sooo back to that grind next week. That and re-learning Evidence and IP. Fun times.

On an unrelated note, what happened to Gossip Girl? It was never really an amazing show, but they really can't be so out of ideas that they're throwing out soap opera cliches like terminal illnesses at us. Really Gossip Girl? Really? Is someone going to go blind next?

If there's any album that epitomizes nostalgia for me, it's Rock and Roll Part 3 by Ozma. It defines freshman year and the good days in Shadowfax. What a year. I'm sad that it ended with drama that pretty much strained one of my closer friendships from that year, but it was certainly a memorable year. Or, as we would have said back then, it was a jawsome year. (Side note: there was a lot of debate about whether it was to be spelled jawesome or jawsome. I was always in the jawsome school of thought.)

It all started when I was trying to get through one more section of my PR outline and Kristina pointed me in the direction of some of the old blogs from that year. Once I started reading, I got hooked. Brought back so many memories.

I miss the days when things were so carefree. We seriously watched a movie almost every week. Always frolicking around the Spectrum or Target (haha, oh Irvine). Always so happy. No concerns about passing law school finals or finding a summer job. Those were some good times.

I kind of got hooked reading Chris's old stuff, especially reliving the months before we got together. And how technically our first date was a NOFX concert.

But I don't think anything sums up freshman year as well as Rock and Roll Part 3 does. We saw Ozma at the Glass House in Pasadena December 2003 and it sent us all off. It was the band we were obsessed with. Shootingstars was pretty much everyone's emo song. It was so devastating to all of us when they broke up that summer. I think things that may have rivaled Ozma that year were Eurotrip (we pretty much watched that movie every day during Spring Quarter), Kill Bill (came out that year, whatever) and Franz Ferdinand. Oh and Gavin DeGraw, but he was mostly a Fall Quarter thing and a second floor girls suite thing.

On the upside, I'm meeting with some of those Shadowfaxers this weekend. I'm excited.

So the questions I now leave with are:

1) Whatever happened to Diana? I just ran a search for her on Facebook but didn't feel like sifting through the 500+ results I got at 2:15. I hope she's doing okay.

2) What is in Max Cola and why did it make us go crazy that one night?

3) Whatever happened to Ozma anyway? They broke up Summer 2004, got back together around 2006. They released Pasadena and did some shows and then they fell off the face of the planet. My music tastes have changed since my Ozma days,but I would so see them again. If anything, it'd be to do the geek mosh to the Tetris theme. I miss those guys (and girl).

And for good measures:

I've been pretty obsessed with Hospice by The Antlers for the last few months. I'm sad I didn't get into it until after the new year. It would have definitely been high on my 2009 Top 10 list. It's such a gorgeous and powerful album.

I have almost seventy gigs of music. I don't understand how I get into music ruts.

I also need to find my iPod. studying on campus is depressing without it.

I finally got to listening to the Free Energy album. Am streaming it off of Lala. I saw them open for Foreign Born back in February and I really liked them. Might have to go back and buy it this one. It's light and catchy. Perfect for finals studying. It's really hard being an indie music geek. I need more time and more money to fund this.

Record Store Day Saturday. Excited.

By request, here are some other videos.

1) I have no idea what inspired this, but we were making Andrew apologize to Venice for something.

2) This is when we went to a square to watch Germany play Turkey in the EuroCup. Germany just won and there was a lot of random screaming. We decided to join in.

These videos take a while to upload, so I'm only posting these two for now.

Every so often, I go through all of the pictures from the trip to Europe. Brings back so many memories. I wish we could do it again.

An hour of my life I could have used to outline, but I guess it's kind of like a good morale boost...right? Or it just makes me depressed because there's no way this is happening again any time in the near future (or ever). *tear*

Every time I look back through the pictures, it brings back some random new memory.

This is what I relived this time around:

i hate how there are like 15 live shows that i want to see within the no-fly zone of finals. there are several bands i've been dying to see who are doing shows mid-late april to early to mid-may. why?granted, some are sold out. i would have actually gone against my judgment to see beach house at bimbos, but that is sadly a no-go. the crazy in me almost sees this all as a challenge, but i don't think i can blow off studying for finals the night before to see live music like i did as an undergrad. thinking back, i did that way too often. ugh i really want to see the antlers though.

new musical discoveries: the living sisters and moonlight bride

On Saturday, we decided to see the first Earthquakes game of this season. They were playing Real Salt Lake who are the defending MLS champions. We knew it wouldn't end well, but we also want to support MLS soccer...so yeah.

Chris made us go there very early. They'd been announcing on the radio that they were giving away jersey style shirts to the first five thousand people. Somehow that meant we needed to be there an hour and a half early. We got our shirts. On the other hand, so did people who were trickling in 30 minutes late. Oh well. Gave us some time out in the sun.

See these nice seats we had? Didn't last long. Will explain in a bit.

We were also there early enough to watch them stretch. Always fun I suppose.

We also had these great third row seats for the first half of a game. They were really good. At some point in the beginning of the game, one of the Real Salt Lake players flipped over that white guard rail like right in front of us. It was AWESOME.

You see? Earthquakes player is arguing with the Ref. Trying to card him. He got red carded later in the game. Sadness.

Which brings me to another point. One of the reasons that I love soccer is that I LOVE to watch the dramatics they put on to get their opponents carded. It's absolutely delightful.

Anyway, so we had these great seats. Then this family came and said we were in their seats. Chris squabbled with them over the tickets for a while until one of the kids pointed out that we were in the wrong section. I don't know. I wasn't in charge of finding the seats. I was too busy looking for free swag. I guess this was a bit of karma though. The night before Umma made me James and Mia go watch Mitty's production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (kind of awkward considering Mia's the only one who went there...three years ago). When we got there, some girl was sitting in Mia's seat and we fought her for the seat.

So we had to move up to higher seats. In all honesty it wasn't that big of a deal (except for the fact that we had a lot less leg room). We were at a higher location so we could see more of the field. Thus, we were still happy. (Except for James. He sulked for most of the game).

In the end, the Earthquakes lost 0-3. It was depressing, but this frustration is really only part of the true soccer experience.

Assuming we're both in the area over the summer, Chris and I hope to go to more of the games. We're kind of planning around watching some of the better MLS teams play, so I think we're in for a lot more depressing games from an Earthquakes fan perspective.

We went to Eduardos afterwards for dinner. Meant we missed out on Earth Hour. Oh well. Next year.

Umma's been cleaning out random things around the house. Yesterday, I found this opened self-addressed letter from Pres lying around. It turns out it was some letter they had us write to ourselves senior year of high school to be sent out four years later. I'm sure they were expecting us to write something inspirational, but mine was a list of 28 things I wanted to have accomplished by May of 2007. I accomplished one, arguably two.

10) If you're still not a Phantom Planet fan (especially after hearing the mp3 of Turn Smile Shift Repeat live), I swear I will come from the past and punish you.

(Check, but I'm sure 2003 Alea would have been even more devastated than 2008 Alea when Phantom Planet went on "indefinite hiatus")

18) Should be a lead activist for world peace.

(This is the arguable one that Dinah and I both think should count. I wasn't a world peace activist but I was a big green activist on campus. I think all the time and energy I bled into CalPIRG should count at least for that much).

Everything else on the list was ridiculously unachievable, but I'm pretty sure that was the point. Here are some highlights (comments in bold):

1) Have at least two bestsellers
3) Started your own band. (It'd be nice if you play at the Grammy's, but I'm not requiring it of you).
5) Be "mates" with Colin Farrell ( I don't know why this is on the list. I thought he was gross in high school. Still not a big fan, but I really liked him in In Bruges )
12) You should have been awarded the following awards (of course you are not limited to these): Oscar, Grammy, Tony, Nobel Prize, AFI Lifetime Achievement (WTF?), etc.
15) You should have been granted the chance to poke The Strokes. (Sounds dirty but there was a radio contest a couple of months before called "Poke the Strokes" where you could win a chance to meet them).
16) Should have discovered the cure for cancer, AIDs, and any other incurable disease.
17) Found a solution to world hunger.
21) Own an island and call it Guau.
22) Co-created a time machine and cloning machine with Monica.
24) Because of you, Calculus should be banned in high schools.

Okay, it's time for me to go to sleep.

I've been obsessed with Animal Collective's song Bluish recently. Went through and listened to Merriweather Post Pavilion again. I forgot how amazingly good it was.

What has happened to this world?

Why is that Chris is the one going out early tomorrow to plant trees and I'm the one turning him down? Why is it that I was the one who knew about the Blizzard lawsuit over the Glider bot and had to explain it to him?

When did we start living in bizarro world?

I've got other things that I might write about later (like having lunch with Adam Savage of Mythbusters, doing my first exec edit, writing my first Yelp! review, etc.). On the other hand, it's been a long, long week and I think I need to get some sleep.

I've amended my 2010 resolutions (did I have any to begin with?) to include reading all of Jane Austen's works. I think I've gone through life for too long without having done this. It's also a task slightly more achievable for me than the 50 book challenge. (I must say I did a pretty good job on that last year, though.) I've only read Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. I started reading Persuasion on my iPhone (let's go public domain books). Probably will revisit the ones I have read because it's been a while. Though, maybe I'll spice things up a bit and read Pride Prejudice and Zombies instead of the original. That's right. I'll go there.

There was an ice cream social on campus today. Hastings throws them every one in a while. Basically it means that a bunch of law students get to live out every five year old's dream and have ice cream for a meal. You might think it's a little juvenile but for stressed out law students, they are actually kind of amazing.

Anyway, I should work on my Trademark Prosecution paper for a bit so I can go to bed.

Apparently I managed to get laryngitis. Fun times. Everyone collectively forced me to stay home today. I've spent the time wisely, I suppose. Trying to get my way through my first Executive Edit for Comm/Ent. A lot of work.

Crazy weekend. I went home. Mia's here for Spring Break, so everyone came over for dinner several nights. In addition, Chris's parents came in for the weekend. Was supposed to go to SF with them on Saturday, but after I was barely able to make it through dinner Friday night, felt that I should probably spend the day at home. It's been kind of up and down since then.

Should get back to work. I think I'm going to end up appreciating the fact that everyone forced me to stay home today. Got a couple of very long days ahead of me.

"Always bear in mind that your resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing."

Abraham Lincoln

So I've had an unproductive week. Maybe it just feels that way because I'm not rushing home to work on a note. I can't believe the school year is almost over. Got to start cranking out those outlines. Ack.

Inter journal party last night was interesting. It was very frat party-ish. I guess I'm not much of a partier. Couldn't really enjoy much of it because I had to drive home anyway. Made a few rounds to see how each office was celebrating and then left. Excitingly fun St. Patrick's Day festivities, I know.

Today was another long day. Making up hours that I'll miss tomorrow because of the symposium. Progressively getting sicker among other things. Survive tomorrow. Then Saturday with Chris's parents. Maybe recover on Sunday? Get some work done finally? Hah.

Oh, I also got cursed at by a homeless guy today. Oh San Francisco.

Having several different discussions about changing last names after marriage. I like my last name and I like having a ridiculously Italian sounding name. Don't know if I'd want to give it up. I think it's also the Pres girl in me talking. I don't know.

I really should go to sleep at some point.

I'm up a lot later than I thought I'd be. There was a KABA mixer tonight near the Ferry Building. I wasn't going to go because I was going to spend the night working on my trademark prosecution assignment, but it turns out I was able to finish that during my break today (with some editing during class) and we got out of Trade Secrets relatively early. I'm glad I went. It was at this new-ish Korean restaurant, Stone Korean Kitchen. The food there was very good, especially their BLT sandwich (bulgogi, lettuce, tomato). Also a good opportunity to hang out with people and meet some Korean attorneys in the area. It was a fun night. Tomorrow will be another late night on campus as it is the Inter Journal St. Patrick's day party. Excited. Should go to bed soon though. Going into EFF early tomorrow.

I have important things to do now. Clearly that means that I should post here about Gossip Girl. Clearly. Seriously, I think that the TV programming gods must like me because they managed to stagger Heroes and Gossip Girl for me so I wouldn't have to complain about both at the same time. Granted, these TV gods obviously must not exist or Heroes would have been canceled by now. But I digress.

Anyway, tonight's episode was better than usual.

Rufus continues to irritate me in his spiral into terrible parenthood. Seriously, this show is about a bunch of spoiled Upper East Siders who receive little to no supervision by their self absorbed parents. How is it that Rufus outshines Lily as a bad parent? It frustrates me to no end because I loved him first season.

Second, they seem to think that we're going to buy this whole Serena "Daddy Issues" van der Woodsen is over trying to contact her father thing. Not happening. I'll be surprised if they can actually pull a feat like that off.

Third, what happened to Eric? Now, it's been a few months since the show ended for winter break, but didn't Jenny and Eric JUST make up after their feuding ways? Why is it that he disappears for long periods of time? I wonder if during the show's hiatus he just got fed up with his family and disowned them all. Really wouldn't be surprised.

Speaking of which, I love watching Jenny's impending high speed train wreck. I love it. That and the Dan-Nate bromance are what I watch for.

Because while this was once a show about students, there is very little evidence that any of these kids go to school anymore. The closest thing we have was the bizarre college party that Vanessa and Dan went to.

I should get back to work. I just wanted to get in some Gossip Girl ranting.

I haven't posted in a while. Stress from the note led into spring break, where I've been basking in the good life.

Since I last posted, I finished my note. Can't say I'm particularly proud of it, but it's also done and I now have one less thing to worry about. Now I just need to concern myself with a job hunt and the start of outlining. Oh outlining. How I've missed you. On the upside, nothing's going to be quite as intense as the epic IP outline of last semester.

Anyway, Spring Break's been incredibly relaxing. The exact break that I needed after what has so far shaped up to be a very hectic semester. Back to the grind tomorrow. Should be fun. Busy week coming up.

The week was terrible from a dieting perspective. I may have undone everything I worked for so far this semester. I did eat a lot of great food along the way.

Don't know where to start catching up with everything.

Went to one Noise Pop show. Saw Foreign Born. In order to get myself out to the show, I also had to go through some mental negotiations. Basically meant that I would work on my note until 9:30 in the library. I got a lot done in that time, but also missed the first band and half of the second. Second band (Free Energy, I think?) was very catchy. As was the third (Fresh & Onlys - they were kind of like surfer rock with a bit of a modern twist). And I really enjoyed Foreign Born. Great presence. I had to leave a little early because I parked in the Civic Center lot and it closes at midnight on weekdays. When I left the Rickshaw Stop, there was a Kara's Cupcake truck sitting outside. This obviously meant that I had to buy a cupcake. I guess it was good I did. As I was waiting outside the Rickshaw Stop and eating my cupcake, I heard Foreign Born playing Winter Games inside. That was like my favorite song from their last album. Good timing, I suppose. I was also supposed to go with Dinah to see Citay the day after that. Those plans fell through. I would have been sad but I don't know if I could have handled two shows in a row with all the school and internship stuff going on.

Finally saw the King Tut exhibit with the family. We actually went up to SF last Saturday. It sold out for the day by the time we got there. It actually took us forever to get to SF. We left SJ around 8, but stopped in Redwood to watch two depressing Serie A games (Fiorentina lost to Juve and Milan tied Roma). We then ate away our sorrows at the Mexican restaurant near Chabba's. Didn't get to the de Young until almost four. We bought tickets for the next day instead. It was for an early time, but it also meant that there was no line. It was still hella crowded, so I can only imagine what it is like later in the day. I really enjoyed the exhibit. It's absolutely insane that so much of that stuff is mostly intact. In a way, I found the exhibit to be depressing. Besides the fact that people's burial grounds were raided to get those items, it made me wonder what our modern society would leave behind 3000 years from now. It's especially depressing if you consider all of the disposal plastic items that we throw out every day that are still going to be around at the time.

I spent most of break hanging around San Jose. Tried to catch up on some of the reading I didn't do to write my note. Worked at day care. Did a lot of car swaps because all of the cars have decided to require maintenance at the same time. On Thursday night Chris and I drove down South. We'd been planning this for a while. Had to use the second half of our 2fer Pass. We were supposed to bring Laura too but that didn't pan out.

Anyway, as fate would have it, I managed to score a SoCal interview for Friday. I suppose we had some good timing with our trip. Spent Thursday night in Arcadia. Had dinner with Chris's parents after the interview and then drove down to Irvine. Met up with Ching-Yun at Guppy House. Shaved ice. Good stuff. I'm still upset that whole Diamond Jamboree Plaza appeared after I left Irvine.

As things would have it, we actually changed our plans on Friday night. Didn't end up going to CA Adventure because we had to swap cars with Gianni in San Diego and had planned a dinner with everyone else in the early evening. We could have fit in a short trip to Anaheim in there, but it would have made things super hectic. Carne asada fries with Gianni. Went to dinner with the gang at this Cuban/Spanish restaurant in Orange. It was so good. My favorite part was probably the Tres Leches Cake. It was also really nice seeing everyone again. It's always sad how infrequently I get to see everyone because of this whole norcal/socal thing.

Dinner last night kind of inspired me to want to create a food blog. Either that or actually start Yelping. With all of the recent problems with Yelp, I'm not as sure about that. I also like blogging more. More freedom. Less politics. No headaches for me. It makes sense. Almost all of my blogs tend to go off on food and all of my outings with Jeanne are turning me into quite a foodie. Going to start planning it out soon. It's too bad I didn't have my camera with me last night.

Drive back up to San Jose wasn't bad. Mia's flying up on Wed after her finals, so we had to take Brucey with us. He's sleeping next to me on the couch as I type. He's always great in cars, so it's unnecessary to say he was good on the car ride. Bruce may be a year and a half old by now, but he's still disgustingly cute.

I wrote a lot more than I thought I would. I guess I had a lot of things to write about. Wonder how much reading I could have accomplished in this time. Don't want to think about that right now.

Going to bed soon. Also, loving the new album by the Morning Benders. This has truly been a great year for music so far.

"All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them."

Galileo Galilei


I actually went to the movies. This has become an increasingly rare occurrence because it's hard to actually go out to sit in a theater and watch a movie when there's so much work to do for school. Saw Shutter Island, which I had been wanting to see for a while. I enjoyed it, but I saw the twist coming from the beginning. We also watched Romeo and Juliet last night (the Baz version). I guess we were in the Leo mood (actually Chris has been bugging me to watch it for weeks). I like that version, but have never actually been a fan of the story. The only two characters I can really stand are the Nurse and Mercutio.

My note for journal is due in a couple of weeks. It's still an utter mess, but I'm beginning to piece things together. Going to have to really focus to crank something out. I keep on telling myself that I'm going to put my other reading on hold until the note's due, but the nerd in me doesn't let that happen. As sad as it sounds, it also makes for a good break when I am getting nowhere on the note. Oh law school. I love what you've done to me.

It's also Noise Pop this week. Couldn't have come at a more inopportune time, but I can't let it pass and not go to anything. Going to be an interesting couple of weeks. The upside is that it's followed by spring break and a return down south to use the second half of my 2fer pass.

"Fight for your opinions but do not believe that they contain the whole truth, or the only truth."

- Charles A. Dana

Weekend was good. Saw siblings. Saw Bruce. Went to Disneyland. Valentine's dinner with a lot of old friends. A lot of eating which surprisingly did not end up in massive weight gain. Also tried Phillipe's, the home of the French Dip. Didn't get much work done, but that's another story.

Downside is that I think Chris gave me whatever cold/sore throat he's had the last few weeks. My throat hurts, but surprisingly nothing else does (knock on wood).

Today was Mardi Gras. I like to cook jambalaya this day of the year, but I've got no time these days. Instead, Jeanne and I went to Brenda's and had crawfish beignets. Yum. I also got the fried shrimp po'boy so I could finally cross that dish off of my Big Eats SF list.

Okay, going to try to get a little more work in before I sleep.

"When God made time, He made enough of it."

Celtic saying

"He who is drowned is not troubled by the rain"
-Wise saying

I feel like that sums up law school.

Tea Bag Quote:

"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."

- Socrates


Should get back to work but here are short snippets:

- Heroes finale was anticlimactic. Am really hoping that this was the series finale as well. It was probably the show's weakest season finale (maybe because Nathan didn't die this time around?), but it was good enough to end the series. I really don't want to see Sylar decide between good and evil again and I like the thought of them ending with Claire revealing their secret to the world.

- Lost was interesting. Wonder where they're going to take this Claire thing. She looks like Rousseau

- New Yeasayer's album is absolutely delightful. Cannot get enough of it.

- Oh and I appointed my board for next year. Exciting stuff.

I guess the biggest news since I last posted was that I did run for Editor-in-Chief after all and got elected to that position. Granted, I ran unopposed, but it's still very exciting. It's still sinking in to a certain extent and I've been going between moments of utter elation to very Gob-like "I've made a huge mistake" moments. Overall, though, I know next year is going to be an incredibly busy year (probably something like the CalPIRG days on crack minus pledge week), but it's going to be so worth it in the end in more ways than one. My project right now is to elect a board. In the past, Comm/ent has had two editors-in-chief. Because it's only me, I'm going to have to elect a very reliable and strong board. The people who've expressed their interest so far are great, though. I'm very excited about next year.

Otherwise, it's been a lot of the usual. A lot of reading. A lot of writing that I have to do and not that much time to do it all. Such is the life of a law student in their second year. It's what they warn you about before you apply.

Lost premiered. The season premiere created a number of new questions - namely whether they're going to do this split between alternate universes the entire season, but it also answered a few major ones. We also found out what happened to that one flight attendant. I wonder if they added that in because it was a common complaint among Losties. I also find it interesting that the roles of Ben and not-Locke have reversed in many respects. In a way, I'm kind of sad that this is the last season. I need to get as much mileage as I can out of making fun of Jack, I suppose.

I finally also got around to starting Remix by Lawrence Lessig. Thought it might give me some ideas on where to go for my note. Great read, so far. I love his writing style. I still can't believe I met him a year ago. So cool.


Based on the tags of this entry, the letter of the day is L.

I could post about the awesome episode of Lost, but I need to actually work now. Instead, I'll post a tea bag quote. It's pretty cool.

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely.
-Rodin.

I don't even really remember making that post on Saturday. The last week's been hectic because I had a couple of big things due this week. I think I'm going to get a lot of it this semester. One thing I might want to learn for next year is not to take these skills classes. That's what takes up all my time. Of course, those end up being the most interesting and practical, so it's a hard choice, isn't it?

Semester's still going okay. Today was KALSA's part of the Culture Week events, so we sold food in the morning. We also hosted BOB, but I went home early because my evening class (TM Prosecution) was canceled, so I decided to just actually go home early for once and work on my note for journal.

Speaking of which, I'm thinking of running for a board position on journal for next year. Not sure what, but Jeanne's trying to convince me for to go for one of the big ones. Still trying to make up my mind.

Idol's started. I miss Paula.

Heroes is terrible. It's almost embarrassing how horrible Heroes has gotten. It's so bad. Chabba and I are the only ones who still watch it and Chabba is only still watching it because I'm masochistic and want to see this through to the end. It's sad, really. They were working with a great cast of people (except maybe Ali Larter. I was happy she was gone for a while and then she reappeared this episode..yay?). But seriously, though. They had so much potential to do great things with that show. And they still do. They had one fantastic episode during the first half of the season. Samuel should be, in theory at least, a fascinating character and yet they've flopped on that. Even Sylar's getting boring. When they killed off Nathan before the winter break, he made some big speech to Peter about how he just had to let go...I think he was somehow speaking to the producers as well. Maybe that's just me. Oh and one last gripe. How absolutely lame have they gotten with super powers?

Oh but wait. Come Tuesday (? is that right? they keep switching it on me), all is not Lost:D

Other than that life's good. Really enjoying my internship this semester. A lot of fascinating stuff going on over there.

Oh wow. I need to go to bed.

A week or so ago the Blockbuster near home closed down. They had a big sale, where they were selling used DVDs for $2 or less. As a result, I currently have an overflow of DVDs in my room and don't know what to do with them. Good game.

Cool quote from my tea bag today:

"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer."

Ralph Waldo Emerson


Working on the rough draft for my note right now. Might actually update soon.


By the way, just listened to the stream of the new Beach House album. So good. That's all.

I'll post a longer entry about life on winter break, the new year and all that jazz, but I had to post two things before I forget. Both are music related, 2009 music in particular. I wasn't able to do this stuff before the year ended, so you just get it late.

My Favorite Albums of 2009

1) Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
2) Sondre Lerche - Heartbeat Radio
3) M. Ward - Hold Time
4) Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
5) The xx - XX
6) The Decemberists - Hazards of Love
7) the dodos - Time to Die
8) The Swell Season - Strict Joy
9) St. Vincent - Actor
10) God Help the Girl - God Help the Girl

(the 10th spot was really hard, and I've probably switched out the album for this one several times)

And in the spirit of this pretty rocking year of music, I also just compiled my official 2009 mix tape. It's a mix of favorite songs and songs from favorite albums (not always the same thing, I chose certain songs over others from particular albums because they fit better). In retrospect, I probably would have switched a few things out there, but whatever. It's too late now

Here Goes:

1) Lady GaGa - Bad Romance
2) The Decemberists - The Rake's Song
3) John Vanderslice - Sunken Union Boat
4) Animal Collective - Bluish
5) Beirut - La Llarona
6) St. Vincent - Save Me From What I want
7) Thao with the Get Down Stay Downs - Cool Yourself
8) M. Ward - Epistemology
9) the dodos - Fables
10) Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
11) The Bird and the Bee - Diamond Dave
12) Regina Spektor - The Calculation
13) Lily Allen - The Fear
14) Julian Casablancas - Out of the Blue
15) Foreign Born - Winter Games
16) The Swell Season - Feeling the Pull
17) The Cave Singers - Hen of the Woods
18) Andrew Bird - Nomenclature
19) The xx - Islands
20) Savoir Adore - We Talk Like Machines
21) Sondre Lerche - Like Lazenby
22) God Help the Girl - Come Monday Night

2009 was all in all a very good year for music. From what I hear, 2010 isn't going to disappoint either.