March Madness

March means one thing for my brothers -- March Madness.  In case you don't know what I'm talking about, March Madness refers to the college basketball playoffs.  Sixty-four of the top college basketball teams compete in a single-elimination tournament, and whoever is left standing at the end is the national champion.

I usually don't care too much about the tournament; I might watch a game or two if nothing else happens to be on.  However, this year my Baylor Bears were kicking butt, so I had to pay a little more attention.  I didn't watch much, but I was keeping tabs on them.  Before the season started, the Bears were ranking #10 in the Big 12 Conference.  And yes, there are only 12 teams in the Big 12.  Baylor surprised everyone and not only made it into the tournament (not an easy task in and of itself), the Bears made it to the Elite Eight.  They went from being ranked #10 in their own conference to one of the top eight teams in the nation.  Unfortunately, that's as far as their run went; Baylor did not make it to the Final Four this year, but they should be a tough team to best again next year.

On the up side, the Lady Bears are still in the women's tournament.  They are also in the Elite Eight and will be playing Duke tonight.  Sic 'em Bears!!!

Homeless?

Living in downtown of any big city introduces you to a wide variety of people.  Among others, there are the weekday commuters, the weekend partiers, the daily runners, and unfortunately, the many homeless. 

My school is located in downtown, so we students see homeless people walking around every day.  Every single one that I've encountered has been very polite, and there are some characters.  There's the gentleman who's always just $0.80 short on his bus fare, the gentleman who's determined to keep you safe from the people trying to steal your thoughts, the lady who always greets you with a smile and a Bible verse.  I try not to judge; you never know what caused these people to end up where they are.

We've been told by school administrators, security, local police, etc, that we should not give money or food, that we should refer them to the local shelters or churches instead.  But it's still not uncommon for a student to buy someone a sandwich from the local Subway or a cup of coffee on a cold day.  I once saw a student offer a lady her scarf (which she refused to take).

I'm sure among the truly unfortunate are a few impostors, those hoping for a handout because it's easier than actually getting a job.  Last week I saw one of these supposedly "homeless" people -- he was wearing new kicks, had a Starbucks cup, and was listening to music on an iPod.....and yes, he was asking for money.  I can understand the coffee (a nice passer-byer?) and new kicks (a church?), but the iPod?  Really??  I know you need a computer of some sort in order to download music, and you have to charge it eventually.  Maybe he really did need some help, but I couldn't help but slowly shake my head as I walked away.

TV Justice

Since moving to FTW, I've realized that there are A LOT of court shows on TV.  At first I thought it was a FTW thing.  Now I think they've always been there, but I've never noticed since I was always at work.  And in case you're wondering how many, a quick glance at the TV Guide for today shows the following schedule: Judge Alex (three times), Divorce Court (three times), Judge Jeanine Pirro (twice), Judge Mathis (twice), People's Court, Street Court (twice), Judge Hatchett (twice), Judge Joe Brown (twice), Judge Judy (twice).  And all of these shows are scheduled before 5:00 pm.  On a typical weekday there would be more, but there's a baseball game scheduled for the middle of the afternoon, so that knocks out three hours.  I know there's normally at least one more episode of People's Court.

I watch a couple of these shows.  Some are good, some are not.  People's Court is pretty good; Judge Mathis is one step above Jerry Springer.  I can't believe some of the stuff people try to get away with!  And what's the deal with parents suing their kids?  I know I would never sue my parents, but watching these shows makes me think they would have no problem suing me!  (No, they wouldn't.)  I especially like watching people try to justify their actions when they know they're wrong.  For example, a lady today admitted she was stealing money from her mom, but said it wasn't really stealing, it was "borrowing."  Of course, she borrowed the money by withdrawing it directly from her mother's account without her permission or knowledge and had no intention of returning it.  Not only was she dumb enough to do this, she was dumb enough to admit it!  News flash -- stealing is stealing regardless of what you call it.

Now I know I said in another post that I don't watch reality TV, but that's what's great about being a law student -- you can watch something like this and call it "research," "educational material," or "training."

Getting Broker by the Minute

Oh, the joys of owing money.  I recently discovered that my student loan provider sold my loans to another provider.  No big deal, they have a right to do that.  My terms stay exactly the same, the check just goes to a new address, so I don't particularly care.  However, I also recently discovered that the new provider is having some issues with their website.  You can do anything you need to on the site, except make a payment.  This I do care about very much.  

I logged into my account, did some checking, and then decided to make a payment.  I clicked Make a Payment and got a big, fat error screen.  I figured there was some temporary problem, so I logged out.  A few days later, I decided to try again.  I got the same error screen.  A day after that, I got the same error again.  I sent an email to let them know, but I don't expect a quick resolution.  After all, the longer their site is down, the more interest they get to collect from students.  Welcome to the world of compounded interest.  Not that I think they're doing this on purpose, I'm just a little frustrated at the moment.

On the up side, I recently got an email from the FBI saying I won the lottery.  That has to be legitimate, right?  I mean, why wouldn't the FBI be the one to contact me about winning the lottery?  Seems perfectly logical to me.  :)

Little B

Little B is my niece.  I think she's the cutest baby ever, not that I'm biased or anything.  She'll probably be the cutest baby ever until I have more nieces and nephews or kids of my own, then she'll be one of the cutest babies ever.  :)

I stopped by B's house during spring break and snapped the picture below during my visit.

This is now one of my favorite B pics.  I can hear you now: "Why?  It's just a baby on a blanket.  What's so great about that?"  There's just something about her expression, that little crooked half-smile.  It's a look I've gotten at least 1,000 times from my brother (her daddy).  Add a little nod and that's his "what's up?" look.  It's also his "yeah, I know I'm good looking" look.  I guess some things ARE inherited!

Reality TV

In honor of tonight's season premier of Dancing with the Stars, here are my thoughts on reality TV.  Generally speaking, I'm not a fan.  How much not a fan am I?  Well, there's a House rerun on that I've already seen at least 3 times, but I'm watching that and writing this blog instead of watching Dancing with the Stars.  I admit that I used to watch some reality TV shows, but I tend to get tired of them pretty quickly.  A quick glance below tells me that is not the case with the general TV watching public.

According to TV.com, the top 10 most popular reality TV shows are:

1. Survivor
2. America's Next Top Model
3. American Idol
4. The Amazing Race
5. Undercover Boss
6. Bad Girls Club
7. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
8. Mythbusters
9. Keeping up with the Kardashians
10. America's Funniest Home Videos

While I'm not surprised by most of the top shows, the list does have some surprises mixed in.  There are shows that I can't believe people watch, shows that I can't believe people still watch, and even shows that I didn't know were considered reality TV.

I didn't know America's Funniest Home Videos was still on the air.  Seeing as how it came in at #10, I might be the only person in America who didn't know that.  While The Bachelor comes in at #42, The Bachelorette only managed to get to #96.  I guess watching women fight over a man is more interesting than watching men fight over a woman.  Jon and Kate Plus 8 managed to come in at #89, which I found surprising because I thought that show no longer existed after Jon and Kate split up (maybe I should read more tabloid news).  And then there are the shows that I didn't know were even considered reality TV, namely 20/20 (#57) and Dateline NBC (#61). 

Some of the shows I used to watch managed to make decent showings: Kitchen Nightmares (#18), Deadliest Catch (#27), So You Think You Can Dance (#34), Hell's Kitchen (#36), What Not to Wear (#45), and Top Chef (#82).  I also admit that I've watched a couple of episodes of Undercover Boss.  One was good, one was not.  I haven't decided whether I'll be watching any more episodes, but considering I've missed the last two weeks, I'm leaning towards no.

And in case anyone is wondering, Dancing with the Stars comes in at #11.

For TV.com's full list of most popular reality TV shows, click here.  

Weekend Warrior Update

Well, it's Sunday night and all I can say is I survived a weekend of tennis and soccer.  I could leave it at that, but that would only be a half-truth (lawyers and lawyers-in-training don't flat-out lie).  A cold front blew into town Friday night, so tennis was rained out Saturday morning, and the Sunday afternoon make-up was canceled because of the 33 degree temperature.  So I should say that I survived soccer.

However, in my defense I have to mention that we were short on women today.  It's a co-ed league and we only had 3 women show up, which meant no subs.  And in case you've never played, indoor soccer with no subs is torture.  Everytime I think I'm starting to get in shape, something like this comes along and kicks my butt.  Luckily, the guys were very understanding.  They let the women hang out around the goal playing forward while they handled the midfield and defense.  It also helps that a guy can't score inside the red line (50 feet from the goal) without getting a pass directly from a woman.  That means the women have to play, and if we stay up front like we did today, we don't have to run too much.  But somehow I'm still exhausted.

So instead of tennis and soccer, I played about 40 minutes of soccer.  I managed to fall (or as the ref saw it, got shoved) and slightly scrape my knee, but otherwise managed to escape unharmed.  I'm hoping I'm not too sore tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Weekend Warrior

Many years ago, I got into the habit of hurting myself.  It wasn't something I did on purpose, but I just seemed to have new bruises, sprains, and strains every week.  I've always been a relatively athletic person, but it seemed like I lost all coordination overnight.

During this time, my dad made a comment I didn't particularly appreciate.  He said the reason I kept getting hurt was because I was just a "weekend athlete" who was trying to do too much and was deluding myself into thinking that I was still an athlete.  Sports have been a part of my life and a part of me for as long as I can remember.  I didn't like this comment and was determined to prove him wrong.  Forget the fact that I worked in an office 8 to 5 every day and only got active during the weekend.  Forget the fact that those weekends were when I managed to do something not so smart to end up with the bruises, sprains, and strains.  I was an ATHLETE, not a WEEKEND ATHLETE!!  So I kept doing what I was doing and kept getting hurt.  Eventually I learned that my dad might have been right, maybe.

I have to laugh as I think about that conversation.  At the time, I couldn't believe he would make such an insensitive comment.  What I heard was that I was lazy, out of shape, (maybe) fat.  What I now know he was saying was if I wanted to do things on the weekend, I needed to do something during the week or my body was simply going to break down.  If I sat on my butt for 5 days a week, I couldn't go out and play a tennis tournament on Saturday and a soccer game on Sunday without there being some consequences.

So what have I learned in the many years since?  Well, this weekend I have a tennis match Saturday morning and a soccer game Sunday evening.  In order to prepare, I've done ..... absolutely nothing.  Instead of sitting in an office, I spend most of my days during the week either in class or preparing for class.  Looks like not much has changed.  Luckily, I now play in over-30 leagues, so everyone else is a "weekend athlete" too.  It's easier not to get hurt when you're playing with other people who are also out of shape and somewhat delusional.  ;)

The Keys

Many years ago I took a long weekend trip to the Florida Keys.  I only went to Key West, but since I saw the rest of the Keys, I'm going to claim them as well.  This particular trip was a spur of the moment decision.  I was sitting at work and thinking I'd rather be almost anywhere than in this land o' the cubicle.  So I asked a couple of friends if they were up for a little trip.  I hadn't really thought about a destination, but when someone asked where, Key West just popped into my head.

From the moment I said Key West until we were on a plane took about two weeks.  Originally there were somewhere between 6 - 8 people who agreed to go.  I think they originally said yes because they didn't want to be the only one to say no, and because they thought there was no way I was actually going to take a random vacation.  Little by little people kept dropping out until it ended up being only two of us.  I remember my friend asking me at least half a dozen times, "Are you really going to do it?  Because I really want to go, but I don't want to go by myself.  So, are you sure?"  I think she was convinced I was really going until I told her I had already bought the ticket and had just submitted a vacation request to my supervisor.  Even if she backed out too, I had already decided that I was going to go.

Key West was great.  A bit of warning though: if you don't like small planes, DO NOT fly into Key West.  We flew into Tampa and took a tiny plane into Key West, shared a cab with two random people we met on the plane, and eventually ended up at our hotel.  The next few days were filled with jetskiing, snorkelling, eating, staying out most the night, and generally having a good time.  I would say relaxing, but that would not be accurate.  There's too much going on to really relax.  I don't really see myself going back, but at the time it was a perfect weekend get-away from Cublicle World. 

Aloha

When I went to Hawaii, I was amazed that I could leave Texas at breakfast time, get on a plane for 12 hours (more or less), and arrive in Hawaii before lunchtime.  Back in 2001, I spent about 10 days on the islands of Hawaii and Oahu.  I don't remember if that plane ride was really 12 hours (I'm pretty sure it wasn't), but it felt like I was on that plane forever.  What I do remember is that I had the greatest time.

So what's so great about being on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?  Well, what not great about being on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean?  Over those ten days, we went hiking through a rain forest, drove through a desert, watched a volcano explode both from a helicopter and from the lava fields, saw the most beautiful waterfalls, went snorkeling, watched the sun set from atop the world's tallest mountain (if you measure from the ocean floor), visited white and black sand beaches, went to a luau, visited some historical sites, and did lot of shopping, eating, and general relaxing.  The only thing I wanted to do and didn't get a chance to was go whale watching.  Unfortunately, the whales were not visiting Hawaii during the time I was there. 

Some things I didn't know before going to Hawaii:

• there are deserts in Hawaii
• you can be comfortable wearing shorts and a tanktop at 5:00, and need a parka by 7:00
• without the glare of the city lights, you can see the Milky Way and a million more stars (yes, I'm a city girl, and no, I'd never seen the Milky Way before)

Spring Break

I will be graduating from law school this December, so my last official spring break begins today.  Although technically spring break doesn't begin until Monday, I have no Friday classes, so my spring break begins the minute my last class ends at 3:00 today. 

Everyone is more than ready for a few days off, and trips are the topic of choice for my law school buddies today.  Since I will not be taking a trip this year, I figured reminiscing about past trips would be appropriate this week and next.  Today's topic -- a sneak peek at some island retreats.

I've been to a few island in my life (in fact, I was born on one!), but my favorites are definitely Hawaii, Oahu, and Key West.  I've never been one for sitting on the beach and working on my tan, so the good thing about these islands is that they have a lot of activities other than sitting on the beach.  Some of my island adventures include volcano-watching on Hawaii, snorkeling on Oahu, and jet skiing around Key West.

Coming tomorrow -- actual details.

The Voices in my Head

I love to read and for as long as I can remember, there's always been a book or two or three on my nightstand.  I find reading to be very relaxing, and I usually read for a few minutes each night before going to sleep.  I started a new book a few days ago and last night I noticed something a little odd.  The oddity isn't in the book, it's with the voices in my head.  The book is set in London, but only one person actually speaks with an English accent.  For some reason, everyone but this one character appears to be American.  Even when they say something Englandy (yes, I know that's not a word), they don't sound English.  And it's not even the main character; it's actually her husband.  Up until now, he seems to be a really good guy, but I'm thinking he's really not.  If he is, why wouldn't he just talk normal like everyone else? 

Advice for a Future Lawyer

Today Career Services had a guest speaker make a presentation.  Overall, I would have to say this was one of the most informative speakers they've had, and definitely the most entertaining.  One of her pearls of wisdom stuck in my head and I felt the need to share.

Obviously, people are worried about getting jobs once we graduate.  And once you finally manage to get a job, what if you hate it?  There are hundreds of areas of law, but what if you end up taking a job not in the area you want simply because it's the only job you can get?  Are you going to be stuck there for the rest of your career, or will you eventually be able to make it back into other areas?  What if you do end up with your dream job, in your dream city, with the dream firm.....and then you make a mistake that nobody ever lets you live down?  Are you going to be the butt of jokes forever?

What I learned today from this speaker was that it really didn't matter what I did when I got out of school.  Whatever I do is not going to determine where I spend the rest of my career.  Or as she put it: "The worst thing you can do straight out of law school is commit a felony and get caught." 

There are two things I'd like to point out about this bit of advice.  First, apparently the problem is not committing the felony, it's getting caught.  And second, if you commit the felony and get caught, it's ok as long as you're not straight out of law school.  I'm pretty sure that's not what she meant, but it does make it more entertaining and memorable to think if it this way.

Profile Pictures

A friend recently asked me why my profile showed a big gray question mark instead of my picture.  I had never really thought about it.  When I created the profile in question, I didn't have a (decent) picture of me to post.  I found decent pictures later, but never got around to updating my profile.  The truth was I didn't particularly care about whether it had a picture.  But now that I'd been called on it, I decided I needed to post a picture.


Now here comes the hard part -- picking a picture.  There are pictures of me with family, pictures of me with friends, pictures of me alone.  There are pictures of me with pretty scenery, pictures of me with landmarks, pictures of me at weddings, pictures of me sitting on the couch.  There are pictures of me with long hair, pictures of me with short hair.  There are pictures of me looking stunning (in my humble opinion), pictures of me where I should have a paper bag over my head.  As expected, there are pictures of me that I love and pictures of me that I want to burn.

I have a habit of over-thinking these things.  Case in point: I've had short hair for the last few years, but now it's long again.  So do I pick a picture with my short hair and have people say something about me picking an old picture of myself?  Or do I really pick an old picture of myself but that looks more like what I look like now?  Since jeans are part of my daily attire and make-up is optional, do I pick a picture where I'm dressed up or a more casual one.  Once again people would say something about never having seen me looking like that. 

After about a dozen more questions that really have no importance to anyone but me, I finally decided that whatever picture I chose was irrelevant.  No matter what I decided on, there will be that one person who makes a comment, but the vast majority of people won't care.  So I decided to pick a picture that I love.  The picture I selected was taken in 2006 while I was on vacation with my mom in Alaska.  I think it's a decent picture of me.  I'm not dressed up at all -- I'm wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, sunglasses, no make-up, and my hair is pulled up in a ponytail.  But what I love about this picture is that it makes me remember the great time I had with my mom during those two weeks.  Every time I look at it, I can't help but smile.