I'm going to revive Music & Jjigae. I keep on trying and failing, but it's going to happen this time. Before, I tried to limit it to food and music, but I think I'm going to write about everything.

But don't worry. I'm not abandoning this one. This one's more of a random whine and muse blog anyway. The last few posts have almost been like I wanted to Tweet but didn't feel like shortening the entries to 140 characters or less.

Well, I guess setting up the laptop again in theory means I can sort through music and get rid of stuff I don't listen to anymore.

One month later and I finally have a working computer again. How I missed this feeling.

I don't get it. Why does Dell make it so hard for me to order a recovery disc? This was a MUCH easier process with Toshiba.

So, I'm 93 miles into my whole LOTR walking project. It isn't that much progress since the last time I wrote about it, but I'm not counting gym trips and it's been on and off rainy lately. Nintey-three miles seems like a lot, but I'm still only like 4 days into Frodo's journey, so I guess I still fail? Meh. It's ninety-three miles I wouldn't have walked otherwise.

I had something else to write about. Meh. Bruce and I are listening to 90s pop music again.

My laptop has been broken which is a long story in itself. But it means that I've been without my own computer the last few weeks. In some ways, it's kind of liberating, but in other ways, it's been frustrating. Right now, I've stolen Chris's laptop.

I passed the bar. Did I mention that? Anyone who reads this already knows anyway.

Thanksgiving was fun. A Thanksgiving free of any obligation to study is a perfect one.

I've been much cheerier this season. I've even been enjoying Christmas music. Don't know why. Also, I've been suddenly and inexplicably obsessed with Savage Garden. I think I'm regressing big time.

Can't believe Friday is the big day. Trying to find ways to distract myself until then. Decided to reread The Sandman. Just finished the first volume. The Sound of Her Wings gets better every time I read it.

I have more to say, but I'm just delaying a trip to the gym where I'm starting a new lifting routine. I don't want to, but I've been on the last one for four weeks now so it's time to shake things up a little.

Since I came back from Europe late August, I've tracked 67.97 miles of walking and running. It's not an accurate count. There are days I didn't record anything. In any case, it could be better. I'll be adding a giant chunk to that on Saturday when I do the Mermaid Run. I finally calculated it to see where I am on Eowyn's Challenge. Almost at Ferry's Landing. I was excited until I realized that it only takes me just under three days into their journey. Oh well. Assuming I don't do anything tomorrow, Saturday will bring me to Crickhollow.

Yeah, I guess keep a record that Sept 2011 is when I started this challenge. It takes 458 miles just to get to Rivendell. I have a feeling this project may take several years to complete.

It's weird. It's November and I instinctively feel like I should be starting outlines. The cold weather makes me feel like I should be retreating inside and hacking away at those things. Granted, November this year brings a whole new level of dread, but it's weird not having to think about finals anymore.

I decided to start taking some science classes in my free time. It's a good way to make myself more marketable for patents and trade secrets. Even if I end up getting something in copyright or trademark, especially in this area even a basic knowledge of that information is going to be important. There's no pressure to get particularly stellar grades, so I can focus on learning to learn. Also, it might be fun. I think I'm ultimately going to decide between bio and computer programming. I don't think doing two at once is going to be manageable.

Finished Clash of Kings, but I'm taking a break before I continue with that series. Went back to Terry Pratchett books. Not that I've been reading much lately. I've been doing a lot of job hunting related work and ...I rediscovered my DS. Also playing some Arkham City. Yay Batman.

I looked at my list of things to do post-bar and I think the only thing that I managed to accomplish was going to Europe. I guess I'm halfway through season three of Buffy and finished the first season and most recent seasons of Dr. Who (just need to finish those gaps). Beyond that, nothing much else.

Maybe the job front. But working as a research assistant, as fun and amazing as that is, is not the same as having a real job.

Project Game of Thrones has been floppy. I've finished a little over one half of the second book...yes I'm still on that one. It's not that I'm not enjoying it. It's just that it's huge and I don't actually give myself too much reading time. And then because I'm so deep into the book, it's kind of hard to read other books. The only other project I have going on is reading Rick Steves's Travel as Political Act. That's an off and on project. I've also been reading a ton of comics. Go New 52. Yay.

Haven't touched LA Noire since I got back, partially because when I was gung ho about starting it up again, I had no idea what Chris did with the game. Now I just have actual other things to do.

I guess the lose the bar weight project is kind of on track. I always lose focus on the weekends and it's been slow, but there's been progress since I returned from Europe.

Hello blog. Today, a bee stung me on the head. It was entirely unprovoked too. It just jumped on me, stung me, and got mad as I brushed it away. Now, my head hurts and I spent a lot of today bitterly watching episodes of Buffy.

Lately, I've been recovering from Europe and trying to lose the weigh I gained during the bar. Once that's done, we'll go to the weigh I gained during the last semester of law school. It'll be a step by step process, yo.

Been watching way more TV than I ever should of late and chilling out with Bruce. Been trying to look around for jobs and the like. Such is the post-bar life.

I'm kind of underwhelmed by the line up for the Treasure Island Music Festival this year. Honestly, why is Death Cab headlining Sunday this year? I do really want to see Beach House and The Antlers. It'd be cool to see St. Vincent again. There were a couple of other bands that seemed like they would be worth seeing, so I'll probably end up going. The site is down so I can't check prices.

Death Cab though? Really? I saw them live once only because Jenny Lewis was opening. I fell asleep in the stands because they were so boring. At least I know I can leave early.

Post-Bar To Do List (continued)

12. Join an informal soccer group
13. Finish crocheting that blanket that I started crocheting in undergrad
14. Try to re-learn Korean and Italian

Where are all my Phantom Planet concert friends right now? I need to get the fan girling and speculation out now.

Was helping clean out the shed a little because it's primarily full of boxes of my stuff from undergrad. I grabbed notebooks that had empty pages so I could use the paper. The one I grabbed was my little research notebook from when I was writing my honors thesis on music piracy. It's cute, I have little notes scribbled in there about the DMCA. Good times. And I thought things were stressful back then.

I also found one of the textbooks from my Human Stress class because it was a book on how to cope with stress. By then, I had sent Hastings all of my stuff, so I knew I was going to law school for sure. I'm pretty sure that I kept it around specifically so that I could pull it out and find ways not to stress before the bar. Too late, my friend. Too late.

Also found one of my old CalPIRG notebooks, and now that the whole EIC thing has passed, I still think that being a chair/co-chair of CalPIRG was MUCH harder than being an EIC. God that was a draining activity. I would take on 10 production weeks before I did another pledge week. I wouldn't have traded my CalPIRG experience for the world, but if you thought EIC was a thankless job...

Anyway, should get to Con Law.

Things to do After the Bar (In no particular order)

1. Read, maybe finish the Game of Thrones series
2. Lose bar and last semester of law school weight
3. Find a job
4. Frolic around Europe
5. Finish Buffy
6. Watch all of Dr. Who
7. Finish Boys Over Flowers (because I never finished that one)
8. Hike or engage in other activities that require me to be outside
9. Finish Project Learn to Run
10. Complete LA Noire
11. Play the Portal games maybe?


I'll add more later

I really want to go to this. It's too bad that it's on the first day of the bar exam and all. I really want to meet the Doctor and Amy Pond. Maybe they can let me borrow the TARDIS and I can buy myself some more time.

In two weeks, this will all be over. Scary, but exciting.

Apparently the band Rilo Kiley broke up. I assumed that they'd broken up years ago. Oh well. RIP. I'm glad I managed to see them at least once.

Chris and I went to the Pruneyard for lunch.

We were going to get tickets for one of the DBox (moving seat) showings of Harry Potter this weekend until we found out that 1) it was $21 and 2) it was in 3D. I think I'd actually shell out the money to see it in DBOX, but the 3D part is a deal breaker. I hate it.

Anyway, it was around noon and I saw a small line gathering in preparation for the midnight showing tonight. Made me miss those days. This line was pretty lame though. There were four people, none of which were dressed up in anything wizardy. I remember when we did the line for the 3rd one at the Spectrum, there were people who watching the first two movies and there was even a TV set up for people who brought Guitar Hero. Much more legit.

Also, I thought eating lunch would be a fun break until I remembered that the mall I was eating at was the setting for a Con Law case.

Almost there.

So I skipped out on a friendly the Quakes were playing yesterday against an EPL team. Figured it'd be a good idea since I spent the whole of the Philadephia game freaking out about the bar. I missed seeing one of our reserve goalies score a goal from his goal kick. How awesome is that?

Glad to see the video going viral and fun to smugly laugh at the haters whose comments were "shows how bad MLS is." Take that smelly EPL.

In other news, I opened up the results page for the Simulated MBE to see what to focus on in Real Property...turns out it's pretty much everything. Lot of help that was.

I want to be excited because in two week(ish), I'll be jetting off to Europe, but there's that whole bar thing to get over first. There's so much planning to do for Europe though. And a Rick Steves Eastern Europe book to relocate :(

Finally finished my alphabetical tour of my music library.

Here's the rest -

Queen - Greatest Hits (Disc 2)
Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - I Learned the Heart Way
Thomas Dybdahl - Stray Dogs
Under the Influence of Giants - Under the Influence of Giants
Volcano Choir - Unmap
Weezer - Pinkerton
The XX - The XX
Yeasayer - Odd Blood
Zero 7 - When It Falls

Maybe I'll try to not be so bad at soccer that I can't play in public. Had a fun study break with Chris earlier playing tennis court soccer. Maybe I'll eventually be able to play with people.

I really hope my computer doesn't crash during the bar because doing these essays by hand is so painful.

Also, we've recently discovered that Bruce really likes the song My Heart Will Go On. So random.

I feel like life during the bar is all about finding simple pleasures in life. One such example would the project I've undertaken this week of listening to an album by an artist in every letter of the alphabet. I'm on P right now.

So far I have:

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today
The Beatles - Revolver
The Civil Wars - Barton Hallow
The dodos - No Color
Elvis Costello - Brutal Youth
Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
Grand Ole Party - Humanimals
Hermane Dune - Next Year in Zion
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
Jeff Buckley - Grace
K'nann - Troubadour
Little Joy - Little Joy
M. Ward - Post War
The National - High Violet
ok go - Of the Blue Color of the Sky
Phantom Planet - Raise the Dead

My prediction for the rest:
Queen
Rufus Wainwright
Sondre Lerche
Tallest Man on Earth
U2
Volcano Choir
Wavves
XX
Yeasayer
Zero 7

But maybe I won't be that predictable...

Because I've been out of touch with news (other than soccer news), it took me listening to my weekly geek podcast to find out that the Brown v. EMA had come out. We were going to try to crash the recording of the podcast this week too. Would have been a good one to crash considering they discussed not only that case, but the jailbreaking exemption to the DMCA (I miss IP law so much).

In any case, reading the opinion right now. It's 92 pages, but I'm filing it under the Con Law tab of bar studying. :D

I assume this is a problem that is going to get worse as we approach the bar, but I've started to dream in fact patterns. It's driving me insane. I think IIED was involved in last night's dream. And false imprisonment.

Although well intentioned, this guy's spiel about all the people in these crazy scenarios who passed the bar exam is not encouraging me.

The problem with switching computers and what not is that you always lose a ton of music along the way. I've collected a pretty decent Elvis Costello library over the past (almost) ten years and yet I have only one album on my computer. What is up with that? How can I study without Elvis Costello? I will have to round up all those albums or something.

Among other things, also missing the second Bird and the Bee album *tear*


Edit: Scratch that. I found all of my Elvis Costello stuff. Crisis averted. 13 albums + a best of. I think I'm still missing one or two. I'd pat myself on the back if it wasn't for the fact that the man's released 30 studio albums. I'll catch them all one day.

Doing the Panic by Phantom Planet = the song of my summer.

One day into substantive lectures and there is one thing I know for sure-this is going to be one long and miserable summer.

I janked this from Jeanne

* I am a male.
* I am a girl.
* I am shorter than 5’4.
* I think I’m ugly.
* I have many scars.
* I tan easily. (quite the opposite)
* I wish my hair was were a different colour.
* I have friends who have never seen my natural hair colour.
* I have a tattoo.
* I am self-conscious about my appearance.
* I have/I’ve had braces.
* I wear glasses.
* I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free.
* I’ve been told I’m attractive by a complete stranger (I think any female who’s spent any time in the TL has, right?)
* I have more than 2 piercings.
* I have piercing in places besides my ears.
* I have freckles.
* I’ve sworn at my parents.
* I’ve run away from home.
* I’ve been kicked out of the house.
* I have a sibling less than one year old.
* I want to have kids someday.
* I’ve lost a child.
* I’m in school. (only if you consider Bar Bri school..)
* I have a job. (blah)

* I’ve fallen asleep at work/school
* I almost always do/did my homework.
* I’ve missed a week or more of school.

* I failed more than 1 class last year.
* I’ve stolen something from my job. (like pens and stuff)
* I’ve slipped out a “lol” in a spoken conversation. (intentionally though)
* Disney movies still make me cry. (That Pride Rock scene at the end of Lion King still makes me teary eyed a little)
* I’ve peed from laughing.
* I’ve snorted while laughing.
* I’ve laughed so hard I’ve cried.
* I’ve glued my hand to something.
* I’ve had my pants rip in public. (Unfortunately)
* I was born with a disease/impairment/disability.
* I’ve gotten stitches/staples.
* I’ve broken a bone.
* I’ve had my tonsils removed.
* I’ve sat in a doctor’s office/emergency room with a friend.
* I’ve had my wisdom teeth removed. (apparently I don’t have them)
* I had a serious surgery. (I guess ankle surgery doersn't really count.)
* I’ve had chicken pox.
* I’ve had measles.
* I’ve driven over 200 miles in one day.
* I’ve been on a plane.
* I’ve been to Canada.
* I’ve been to Mexico.
* I’ve been to Niagara Falls.
* I’ve been to Japan.
* I’ve celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans. (I will one day though)
* I’ve been to Europe.

* I’ve been to Africa.
* I’ve gotten lost in my city.
* I’ve seen a shooting star. (every time I see a shooting star, I wonder if it’s landing where you are)
* I’ve wished on a shooting star.
* I’ve seen a meteor shower.
* I’ve gone out in public in my pajamas. (much to everyone’s embarrassment)
* I’ve pushed all the buttons on an elevator. (I can’t believe you’ve never done this Jeanne)
* I’ve kicked a guy where it hurts. (sometimes I wonder why Chris still likes me)
* I’ve been to a casino.
* I’ve been skydiving.
* I’ve gone skinny dipping.
* I’ve played spin the bottle.
* I’ve drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour
* I’ve crashed a car.
* I’ve been skiing.
* I’ve met someone in person from Tumblr/Facebook/Twitter (I guess)
* I’ve caught a snowflake on my tongue.
* I’ve been in a play. (had the best one liners of the play)

* I’ve seen the Northern lights.
* I’ve sat on a roof top at night.
* I’ve played chicken.
* I’ve played a prank on someone.
* I’ve ridden in a taxi.
* I’ve seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show. (I want to go see an actual midnight showing of this one day)
* I’ve eaten sushi.
* I’ve been snowboarding.
* I’m engaged.
* I’m married.
* I’ve gone on a blind date.
* I’ve been the dumped more than the dumper.
* I miss someone right now
* I have a fear of abandonment.
* I’ve gotten divorced.
* I’ve had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back.
* I’ve told someone I loved them when I didn’t.
* I’ve told someone I didn’t like/love them when I did.
* I’ve kept something from a past relationship.
* I’ve had a crush on someone of the same sex.
* I’ve had a crush on a teacher.
* I am a cuddler.
* I’ve been kissed in the rain.
* I’ve hugged a stranger.
* I have kissed a stranger. (I’d like the story of this one day Jeanne)

* I’ve done something I promised someone else I wouldn’t.

* I’ve done something I promised myself I wouldn’t.
* I’ve snuck out of my house.
* I have lied to my parents about where I am.
* I am keeping a secret from the world. (I think I am at least)
* I’ve cheated while playing a game.
* I’ve cheated on a test.
* I’ve run a red light.
* I’ve been suspended from school.
* I’ve witnessed a crime.
* I’ve been in a fist fight.
* I’ve been arrested.
* I’ve consumed alcohol.
* I regularly drink.
* I’ve passed out from drinking.
* I have passed out drunk at least once in the past 6 months.
* I’ve taken pain killers when I didn’t need them.
* I’ve inhaled Nitrous.
* I’ve done hard drugs.
* I have cough drops when I’m not sick
* I can swallow about 5 pills at a time no problem.
* I have been diagnosed with Depression
* I have been diagnosed with one or more anxiety disorder.
* I shut others out.
* I’ve taken anti-depressants.
* I’ve slept an entire day when I didn’t need it.
* I’ve hurt myself on purpose.
* I’ve woken up crying. (The few times it’s happened has been the result of a bad dream)
* I’m afraid of dying.

* I hate funerals.
* I’ve seen someone die.
* Someone close to me has committed suicide.
* I’ve planned my own suicide.
* I’ve attempted suicide.
* I’ve written a eulogy for myself.
* I own over 5 rap CDs. (no)
* I own an iPod or MP3 player.
* I have an unhealthy obsession with anime/manga.
* I own multiple designer purses.

* I own something from Hot Topic.
* I own something from Pac Sun.
* I collect comic books. (It’s sad that this trend has started very recently)
* I own something from Gap.
* I like girls. (In a platonic way at least)
* I like guys. (I’ll forgive them their cooties)
* I’ve been close to being homeless.
* I’ve had someone close to me almost die.
* I’ve been in more than one Near Death Experience.
* I have been accused of something that I never did. (nothing serious really)

So I've graduated and am waiting for bar classes to start. This week between finals and bar classes has gone by way too quickly and I've spent most of it sick on the couch. On the upside, at least I'm not feeling sick with the awful feeling that I'm letting everyone down and not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. That always stunk. It's okay though. Bruce and I have been chilling out the last few days.

Graduation was kind of a blur, though. Glad that family got together and came up for it, but it went by pretty quickly.

Right now it's just the calm before the storm.

Got up after eleven because in my dream I had been working on my IP paper.

Fail

In any case, I suppose there's always still Sondre...



And he is coming to San Francisco...

Still on my Phantom Planet kick and still want them to come back. Couldn't they give us just one live show? Please?





I really miss this band. Phantom Planet, you're reviving the worst of my fan girliness.

I thought that turning on Phantom Planet's last album (*tear*) would help me focus. Quite the opposite. I forgot how much I loved this album though. I love how well they pulled off an album inspired in large part by cults and Lost. I miss them. They need to end their indefinite hiatus.

Speaking of music though, Glee last night (yes I still watch that) had Kurt singing a gorgeous rendition of As If We've Never Said Goodbye. The theater geek in me squeed a lot. Also, they sang TLC and now I have to go dig up those old albums. Thanks Glee.

Ozma makes me miss undergrad like crazy.

Chris and I have officially been together for seven years now. We mark April 18th because it's the day we first held hands, which is cheesy, vomit-inducing, and kind of cute at the same time. Anyway, it's been seven years and we're still swapping comics. I guess we're kind of awesome like that.

We read All Star Superman this weekend, which was kind of amazing. I think he's on Fantastic Four and finally finishing Sandman and I'm starting Transmetropolitan. He also let me borrow Game of Thrones (not a comic, but we were on the topic of nerd talk).

I'm such a dweeb.

On a similar note, I think I'm finally convincing myself to get a Kindle. Gianni has some random e-reader and I might get that if it's compatible with Rick Steves travel books, but it seems to me like the Kindle's the sweetest deal of the bunch. Though, I wonder which one invades privacy the most. Something to look into...I think EFF has some sort of paper or something on it.

A random homeless-looking busker at the BART stop was singing Bring Him Home. It threw me off a little and while his voice was deeper than Valjean's voice is supposed to be, it was very pretty. I wish that I had small change to give to him. But alas, I did not.

I can't believe how fast this semester is going by. I just scheduled my training with my replacement intern and am discussing last day deets.

Where did these months go? gahh

I haven't been blogging lately and that makes me sad. Random free Internet time that should be spent on better things tends to go to Yelp and even that tends to be a rarity. Honestly, I'm hardly even on Facebook anymore. But I wanted to say hi. Have been drowning in work and dreaming of Europe. Listening to Rick Steves podcasts like there's no tomorrow. I wish I had his job.

Okay. I have to be up in five hours for class.

So I think it's about time to get off of my high horse and accept and embrace the fact that I like reading Science Fiction and Fantasy. I've spent too much time in those aisles of bookstores the last few years looking for Neil Gaiman books to deny it at that point...maybe it's because he's just so crazy awesome. I've started going through the Terry Pratchett Discworld series. Yeah. I think it's about time to just give in. Maybe I'll even get around to reading Ender's Game and Asimov books.

Chris, Gianni and I are trying to see if we can read 52 books this year. I've read two - Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Steig Larsson) and Soul Music (Terry Pratchett). Maybe accepting this genre into my life will allow me to actually reach this book goal this year. Maybe.

"I feel... thin. Sort of stretched, like... butter scraped over too much bread. I need a holiday. A very long holiday. And I don't expect I shall return. In fact I mean not to."

I should not be this exhausted three weeks into the semester

The semester's gotten off to a busy start. I have a lot of night classes and a lot of early mornings, so I'm not quite sure where to fit the gym into all of that, but I guess I'll have to squeeze it in somewhere. I'll figure it out next week when I've settled into the schedule a bit more

So, we forgot to put James's chickens back in the coop after letting them run around everywhere all day. I guess I was too engrossed in the Jersey Shore marathon that's been running on MTV. Anyway, we just ran around outside in the dark looking for the silly chickens. Turns out that they all made their way back into the coop and were sleeping. I guess they are smarter than I thought.