Mad Props

Although I am not supporting her husband's bid for the presidency, I find Elizabeth Edwards one heck of a lady. Not only do I give her props for telling Ann Coulter that she's a hateful hack, I am happy to oblige with what Mrs. Edwards is way too classy to say:

Hey, Ann Coulter: Shut. The. Fuck. Up.

Peace.

(The link is to Towleroad, one of my favorite blogs on the interwebs.)

SWEET RELIEF

The restaurant has my wallet. I was so glad that I nearly peed.

It's not in the fridge....

I'm still awake because I've been dismantling my place looking for my wallet. I've concluded that it is not in my apartment. The last time I remember seeing it was at the 4th Estate (17th and I NW) this evening when I got drinks with Charles, Jen, and Prescott. Right now, I'm hoping that I left my wallet on the table and someone turned it in at the bar. I have been known to put my wallet (and my phone for that matter) on the table after I take it out of my pocket instead of replacing it. It's not the best habit, to be sure.

I'm worried that it may have fallen out of my pocket on the walk home. This is particularly probable on the last half a block to my apartment. You see, I REALLY needed to use the bathroom so I took it at a half sprint while pulling my house keys out of my pocket. Of course, I keep my house keys in my right front pocket, same as my wallet. I tried going for a walk outside, but I didn't see it (not that I expected to). Now all I can do is sip this glass of scotch, get some sleep, and hope that fate is on my side.

Still, as I attempt to chillax, I cannot help but think how very extremely fucking crazy irritating it will be to cancel my credit cards, bank card, AAA card (I have no idea why my pedestrian ass carries that around), SmarTrip card, and, of course, my beloved NJ driver's license. Pardon me while I go stick my head in my convection microwave.

Cross your fingers for me. I will update as I know things.

Choice.

I had to choose between work and blogging over the last few weeks and, obviously, I chose work. It's been great here, but also more than a bit stressful trying to get into the groove of being a legal services attorney. That said, I feel like I'm nearly there and I refuse to abandon Colonial Jumbo. Expect more soon.

In the meantime, I just read this terribly sad article. It's long and sad, but worth a read.

Intruding on my stress....

I have my first trial on Tuesday. It's a bench trial. I'm very excited and somewhat nervous and I feel extremely cool. Needless to say, I've been a bit busy. As an attorney, I suppose I'm most sensitive to the legal dumpster the Justice Department has become so, when I noticed this article in the NY Times, it caused me to pause from my brief writing.

Uhm...ARE THEY FUCKING KIDDING ME?

All My Trials

I have learned so much over the last few days, but I feel a bit like my life's been hijacked. I'm in trial ad training all day and then I come home and work on my assignments for the next day. My faux trial is Sunday at the District Courthouse here in DC. I represent a small aluminum company that's suing its fire insurer for breach of the insurance plan after the insurer failed to pay on a claim for a burnt down warehouse. Pretty intense stuff.

I want my life back. My apartment looks like a well-dressed, chubby man exploded.

[Edited to add: I got in a little later than usual last night because I went to the Hillary Clinton "block party" with my buddy Jen from work. After I got home (around 9pm), I debated whether I should sleep or do my assignment for today. I chose sleep. I was in bed before 10pm. I slept through the night. I have to run to Georgetown now so that I can get an hour of work in before we start today but it was TOTALLY worth it. I had forgotten what 8 hours of sleep feels like.

It feels like awesome.]

Quote of the Week - 05/28/07

"Looks like after TFA we both ended up as public interest lawyers (at least for time being)...gluttons for punishment we are!" -Mrs. H-P, my former TFA partner in crime (now a Skadden Fellow)

Debating sleep.

Three new posts on this Monday morning! How nice for you! I know it's 2am and I should've gone to bed a while ago, but I just couldn't without watching the Democrat debate in New Hampshire from earlier this evening. And it's been so worth it! I love this stuff! Because I'm really quite tired, I will provide you with some stream of consciousness thoughts. I'm now forty minutes in (Obama is talking about healthcare). Enjoy:

• I'm concerned about a strange feeling deep inside me. This feeling, strange and itchy, is that maybe, just maybe, I think that Joe Biden or Chris Dodd should be President. Wow. I can't believe I just wrote that. They've both been fairly impressive in the debate so far. It's weird and it won't happen, I know, but maybe President Dodd might be great.
• Mike Gravel wants us all to speak English. Bueno!
• John Edwards is so angry! His face -- normally so lovely -- is all twisted with some serious hate. I keep thinking he's going to reach out and backhand Hillary Clinton. He also really needs to start calling her "Senator Clinton" instead of "Hillary."
  
• Chris Dodd is now talking about our shameful infant mortality. Earlier he was talking about how not enough of us speak foreign languages. I think I have a crush.
• I can't help but think how neat it would be if all these kids (except for maybe Mike Gravel) formed a Justice League-esque superhero team.
  
• Now Edwards is yelling at Barack! Simmer down John "RAGE" Edwards!
• Kucinich looks like an elf. It's so sad that no one really cares what he thinks.
• Gay question! Clinton asked about Don't Ask, Don't Tell! And she wants to change the policy! "People would not be judged on who they are. And I just want to end by saying Barry Goldwater once said, 'You don't have to be straight to shoot straight. And I think he was right and I believe we should open up our military." I (heart) you Hillary! (I'm allowed to call her that. We're people.)
  
• WOW: "I've been in these foxholes with these kids...let me tell you something, nobody asked anybody else whether they're gay in those holes-- those foxholes...." Joe Biden for President!
• Everyone wants to get rid of DADT! Bill Richardson wants hate crimes laws! And domestic partnerships! I love how it's suddenly fashionable to be pro-homo these days. I've been waiting for the Democrats to stop being so cowardly on the issue. Maybe they'll start calling for marriage soon?
  
• A gay marriage question! Finally! But it's to RAGE. And he's going to waste it. RAGE is telling us us that churches should be making decisions for themselves. Super. That's exactly what gay civil rights are all about. Good point, RAGE.
  
• And now RAGE is off-topic. From gay marriage to Iraq? Really? Shut up, RAGE.
• Mike Gravel needs a TV show. He made Hillary giggle!
• I like Chris Dodd's tie. I'm going to nickname him Hot Doddy.
• "We Americans have to grow up!" - Mike Gravel. Nicknames are fun. His is now Gravelicious.
  
• Bill Richardson has started every answer with a portion of his resume. "Well, I was Ambassador to the UN." "Well, I'm the Governor of a border state, New Mexico." "Well, I was Secretary of Energy." Honestly, he might be the most qualified person, experience-wise, to be President.
• Shit. This thing is only half over. I have to be at Georgetown Law between 8 and 8:30am tomorrow. Maybe I should go to bed? Wait...ANDERSON!? Eff it, I'll get a venti in the morning. NO! No John King. Back to Anderson! Larry King now? Really? OOH! Candy Crowley! I love you Candy! (Wow, I'm seriously tired. This is going to get loopy.)
• OOOH! Anderson is in my head! "Is it a coincidence that John Edwards continues to refer to Senator Clinton as "Hillary" and refers to everybody else as 'Senator Obama' or 'Senator Dodd?'" Can you see what I'm thinking now Anderson? That's my number. Call me.
• Ok, back to the debate. Round two. Fight!
• They're sitting down for the "average Joe" questions. How down home!
• I'm going to nap while Elfy-K is speaking. (My nicknames are getting worse as the time wears on....)

Ok. "Elfy-K" is a terrible nickname. I'll watch the rest of this tomorrow night and finish up. I need to sleep now or I'll be an incoherent mess tomorrow morning.

Lost in Trial Ad

First a disclaimer: I have an "Intensive Session in Trial Advocacy Skills" going on this week. It goes from Monday until Sunday (no, that's not a typo). Judging from the schedule of assignments, I won't have much free time this week. Please forgive me if the posts are only links and short comments.

Starting us off is this absolutely AMAZING promo for Lost that aired on Channel 4 in England. It's from season 1 (I think) and it's mad trippy. The song is "Numb" by Portishead (pronounced Porti-shed...I really need to finally buy the album Dummy) and the video's director is David LaChappelle. I'd heard the name but had to do some research to recall that he's a music video director (Moby, Britney, and Jennifer Lopez, among others). A commenter on the TV Squad post called it "very HBO-ish." I couldn't agree more. I could totally see the cast of Six Feet Under in this.

Anyway, I know I'm not the only one suffering from serious Lost withdrawal after a kick-ass season finale, so enjoy:

iMiracle

I went to court yesterday. I was a little nervous because I might have had to (a) submit a motion I didn't want to submit and (b) argue something that I was destined to lose. Neither of these things happened, so I left the courthouse happy as Lindsay Lohan in a snow storm. I practically skipped to the Judiciary Square metro and, as I neared the top of the escalator, I reached into my bag and pulled out my iPod. Before I even knew what was happenening, I was watching my iPod -- out of her protective case -- bouncing down the escalator steps. I'm talking more than one step. Like, at least 4 or 5. It was bad.

I fetched her and pressed play. Nothing. I noticed that the LOCK was on. Phew! I thought. Nope. I unlocked her and she still wouldn't play. Shit. I got back to my office and pulled her out of my bag. Still not playing. I shook her. The rattling noises coming from within convinced me that, yes, my iPod was gone.

I was sad. Cicie got me my iPod with a discount back in summer of '04 when she bought her iBook. The iPod had been my sidekick through two years of law school. She kept me company on daily commutes to SE, Alexandria, and Arlington. She was there for me while I studied for the bar exam. She even came with me to the Netherlands, India, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Japan. Every flight of the last three years. Every train ride. Every time I walked anywhere, my iPod was with me. And now she was never to be with me again.

I sighed sadly and thought of what to do. I had been planning on holding out until the next iPod model came out (the latest video iPods have been out forever) so I didn't want a new video iPod. On the other hand, the Shuffle, while cute, was not going to fulfill my needs for the next few months. I opted for the cheapest Nano, which I bought off of Amazon so I could get it delivered on Saturday. It wasn't MY iPod, but it would have to tide me over until the next iPod model gets released (I'm guessing/hoping before the end of the year).

Today, because I was spending the day in my apartment waiting for the new Nano, Genger came over to keep me company. I handed my iPod to her and had her shake it by her ear to hear the saddest sound in the whole world. She did. Then she said, "Oh I see, the apple comes up but it doesn't start. "

What?

She turned the iPod in my direction. There on the front was the apple that appears on screen when the iPod is dead and/or loading up.

"That wasn't there yesterday." Nothing had been on that screen since my iPod had clattered down those escalator steps the day before.

We plugged it in and the iPod began to charge. Genger put on some headphones and -- sweet miracle of miracles -- the iPod seemed to be working just fine. I let it fully charge and then connected it to Miss Kitty Mactastico to sync. No issues whatsoever. You can still hear the parts rattling around inside, but I'm listening to it as I type this. Genger, with her touch, fixed my iPod.

She is the iMessiah.