Awards Season

Oscar noms are up.

Two brief comments:
1) Keira Knightley for Best Actress?!???!!!!! (That's a "WTF" comment, by the way.)
2) I'll bet the Academy has never nominated a song with the word "pimp" in the title before. Or anything with the word "pimp" in the title for that matter.

Heard In Class

Prof:
"If you want George and Laura Bush, you go to whitehouse.gov. If you just want bush, you go to whitehouse.com."

Prof:
"What doesn't Amazon.com sell these days?"
Me:
"Amazons!"

Thankyou, thankyouverymuch. I'll be here all night.

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Just wanted to wish all of you a happy Chinese new year!

Hope you had plenty of chicken and pork yesterday to open up the new Year of the Dog. :)

Edit: On another note, the yappy dog is back. That dog is the bane of my existence. Bastard. I hate that dog -- even though I am a dog (born in the Year of the Dog). If hating that dog makes me a bad person, then consider me a lost cause.

Greed is good.

Gordon Gekko had it right, especially when you consider the current status of NY's associate salaries. Which is, specifically, unchanged.

Why is it that associate salaries are going up all over the country in LA, SF, Chicago, and even Philadelphia, while they continue to remain unchanged in that city with the highest cost of living of them all: NY?

On top of that, NY firms oftentimes don't offer a summer stipend; instead, they offer salary advances. Factoring in the summer stipend even before taking into account the hiked up salaries, these other first year associates are getting upwards of $5K to 10K more in starting salary even before clocking their first billable hour.

Is it just me or are we getting double screwed for going to the Big Apple?

X3

According to this article on the slumping movie business, "aside from "Mission Impossible," none of these movies [in a list of sequels including Superman Returns, Mission Impossible 3, and X-Men 3] can be considered sure things."

Um, HELLO, Robert Walberg?!? Are you blind to the undercurrents of pop culture society?! Tom Cruise = crazy nutjob even wackier than Wacko Jacko according to numerous websites that list such things. MI3 is far from a sure thing.

And X-Men 3 = NOT a sure thing?! What are you smoking?! Sure, Gambit (that spicy Cajun -- and yes, comic characters can be hot) might not be in it, but we all know which summer blockbuster I'll be heading to the theaters for...and here's a hint: it's not one that stars a maniacal couch-jumper.

B Olympics?

So my friend today was talking about how her grandma has "A" grandchildren and "B" grandchildren. "A" grandchildren are the starters and "B" grandchildren are the bench warmers. Horrible as it is to admit, I have to say that I agree from first-hand knowledge. My grandma definitely has "A" grandkids and "B" grandkids. Yours truly is firmly in the "B" category for simple unchangeable facts of birth -- I am the daughter of her daughter. That's a double girl whammy! Anyway, so "A"/"B" grandchildren suck, but to take it one step further, here's an idea: "A" Olympics and "B" Olympics.

Next month will be the Winter Olympics in Turino. Is it just me or does it seem like people are less excited about Winter Olympics than they are about Summer Olympics? Winter Olympics would be the "B" Olympics to Summer Olympics' "A" Olympics. Other than figure skating, which seems to be the big advertising seller of the Winter Olympics, there doesn't seem to be a huge draw.

Here's my theory (on Olympics prestige):
The sports that require a competitor to use a lot of equipment are less prestigious than the ones that solely rely on the competitor's talents. E.g. Olympic gold in curling is less prestigious than Olympic gold in the 100 meter race.

Discuss.

Addictive Measures

I have rediscovered a site that kept me occupied through undergrad and promises now to keep me occupied through Legal Profession: www.orisinal.com.

My personal favorite?
The Amazing Dare-Dozen (third from the left, sixth from the top, the green picture of a basket with an egg and a "Start" banner).

And for those of you who are concerned that I should be paying attention and learning how to be a moral and ethical lawyer, don't worry -- I'm already "so freaking ethical!"*

* -- in the words of apenguiniamnot.

Not since elementary school...

We're looking up Puerto Rico hotels, and my friend just described one as being "on an isthmus."

ISTHMUS.

I swear I haven't heard that word since elementary school.

After poking fun at her for saying it, she argued that "it's a common word!"

Awesome.

Quickly

The fact that there is a fraternity house on "Curb Appeal" (on HGTV -- that's Home & Garden Television) is hilarious because you know that means one of the guys watched the show and submitted their frat house for redecorating. Awesome.

An Open Letter to MTV

Dear MTV,

I never thought I'd be sending a letter like this to a station like you, but (a) you happen to have produced one of my favorite shows ever (no, I'm not talking about Celebrity Deathmatch or The Osbournes) and (b) I desperately want something from your Very Important People.

Back in 1997, you put out a little show called Daria. For reasons unbeknownst to me or to 18,000+ other people, there is no Daria DVD available for any of the 65 episodes of this show.

The outrage! The utter disregard for humanity! The suffering!

How is it possible that shows such as Laguna Beach or Pimp My Ride are out on DVD after their very first season while Daria, that epitome of teenage indifference and cynical brilliance, wallows in complete obscurity, lower than the grey water at the side of the curb that cars splash onto your jean cuffs as others drive by? Where is the respect?? Where is the understanding of management that 18,000+ willing customers is indeed a viable, profitable, and marketable audience???

I will henceforth boycott one of your stations every hour until this situation is remedied or until all of them are destroyed.

Consider yourself warned.
-odderie

Chairman Meow

After (1) seeing Slater's adorable fish Abraham (2) getting impatient about my cat acquisition in NY and (3) deciding to pound one more nail into the lid of approaching spinsterhood, I have adopted an online kitten (he's hanging out on the sidebar). I've named him Chairman Meow. Go play with him!

Venting (Twice)

I rarely use the word "hate" because I feel as though very few things in this world lack any redeeming quality.

I hate the small dryers in my building's laundry room.

They have a drying time of 50 minutes. That is a really long and inefficient length of time for a dryer to be running. It's also a really long time to be waiting on laundry. Especially when, after the 50 minutes, everything in there is still damp. I am so frustrated with these damn dryers. They have a completely ineffective ventilation system, so I have a feeling the heat just recirculates. I hate them.

On a marginally less severe note, I am extremely annoyed with a new dog that someone near me has acquired. I'm not entirely sure which apartment has this new dog, but let's just say it's loud enough for me to hear it. Constantly. At all hours. It's one of those small yappy dogs that, once started, barks incessantly. Yap! yap! yap! yapyapyapyap! yap!yap! Yap! yap! yapyap! yap!yap! Yap! yap! yapyap! yap! yap! yapyapyapyap! yap!yapyapyapyap! yap!yap! Yap! yap! yap! yapyapyapyap! Yap! yap! yap! yap! yapyap! yap!yap! Yap! yap! yapyap!

Now imagine that at 4AM.

UH, NO

An acquaintance (a 2L) at the law school recently got engaged, and when I congratulated her, she asked me when my wedding would be.

UH, WHAT WEDDING????

She said that she'd been under the impression that I had been engaged for a while now.

UH, TO WHOM????

I find this both tragically ironic and ridiculously funny.

Why?

First, because I'm the furthest thing from engaged as is humanly possible. Second, because I'm the furthest thing from engaged as is humanly possible.

Does "perpetual spinster indulging in unrequited crushes" mean anything to you?

Newsflash of Psychic Proportions

Angelina Jolie is pregnant.

Check her (and Brad Pitt) off of the list.

In Honor of Wingsta

In honor of my friend's new job at le Googley machine, here's a new game for people to play: Google Whack (or is it lower case -- googlewhack?).

The goal?
To submit a Google search that yields only one result.

Here are the rules.

Just an Observation

The recipe for "Crusty Macaroni and Cheese" has been in the top 5 e-mailed articles for the New York Times on the Web for a straight six days. Yes, six days.

Travel Bug

Jamaica from Friday to Tuesday, this weekend, under $500 (specifically $468 last I checked).

This is a serious question: Does anybody want to go with me? Please IM ASAP.

Edit: The weather is stormy for this weekend. DAMN. Anybody interested in going to Madrid? Under $600. Again, let me know.

Take It Away (Parenthetical Ed.)

Newest obsession: Bar Trip plans

Instead of travelling all over, I'm thinking something more ... anthropological (for lack of a better term).

More specifically, going somewhere and living like a native (non-working) gal in a cool city/town for an extended period of time (a month or so).

Current leader: Sydney

Runners-up: Quaint town in N. England or Scotland (Wordsworth-style), island town in the Caribbean (hermit-in-a-hut-style).

Disappointing Update

My friend is still in his lukewarm relationship.

Yes, he went there over Christmas.

I find this a major character flaw.

Pet Proof

This is why cats are so awesome.

Impromptu cat haiku:
All cats have nine lives
But then I saved my human
Do I now get ten?

Most useless gift?

Is it just me or are stuffed animals the most useless gift out there?

Don't get me wrong -- I myself have a few (that are all mighty cute).

Really, though ... is there any purpose to a stuffed animal beyond looking cute?

2006: The Year of No Fear

2006 brings with it the Year of the Dog -- my year -- and a year of many milestones and "life" events in my life. I'll be graduating from law school, studying for and taking the Bar, moving to New York, getting my first ever pet, and starting my new job. This upcoming year promises to be a year of transition, if you will. Looking back on the past couple of years, I can see being intimidated by the upcoming changes to what has thus far been a well-ordered and much-predictable regime. However, in keeping with this year's theme, I will rise up to meet these changes with grace, confidence, and (let's hope) a little sass and panache, to boot.

Fear no changes. Fear not the unknown.

This is 2006. This is my year. This is the year of no fear.