Lawyers v. Hairstylists

I think I might be going into the wrong profession.  Why?  Because lawyers can't dress however they want to when they meet with a client or go to court.

I got a haircut today and seeing my stylist reminded me of how the other half lives.  Bee's really nice and I love the way she does my hair, but like most creative people, she's a little out there sometimes.  First, she's named after either a bug or a letter (by choice), I haven't quite decided which.  Second, up until today every time I've seen her she's had blue hair.  Third, she was wearing a red sequin top and that matched her ruby-red strappy heels.  Since her black hair now has red streaks, she was dressed in red and black from head to toe, literally.

Seeing her, it hit me that never again will I be able to dye my hair purple like I did in college, and I can't wear sequins in the middle of the day for no reason without getting some weird looks.  Not that I would dye my hair blue or red, or wear formal wear to go to work at noon, but I would like to have the option.  This being a lawyer thing better have some other perks.

Texas Drivers

Over the years, I've been lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel through most the of US.  Through my travels, I've learned a few things -- 99% of all people are very warm and welcoming, locals can always give you better recommendations for lunch or dinner than Chili's or McDonald's (not that there's anything wrong with either of these), and just about everyone thinks Texas has the worst drivers.

I admit that I think speed limits are merely suggestions and rolling stops are my specialty, but I've never thought Texas drivers are that bad.  After the last couple of weeks, I might have to agree that Texas drivers are not necessarily the best around.

Example 1:
I pull up to an intersection and stop.  The cross-traffic does not stop at this particular intersection.  I look to the right and no car was coming.  The cross-street is a one-way street, so there was no need to look in the other direction.  I start to pull out.  Just then, I hear a car horn and turn just in time to see a car coming from my left.  I slam on my breaks, but he's coming pretty fast so he still has to swerve to miss me.  As my heart skips a few beats, I can't help but notice that the driver is flipping me off as he drives by!  I guess he hasn't yet figured out that he's driving the wrong way down a one-way street

Example 2:
I'm stopped at a green light (yes, a green light).  There are 2 stoplights that are not synchronized -- my light is green, but the next light is red, so we can't move.  There's a car in front of me whose driver has been considerate enough to not pull into the intersection, knowing that when our light turns red, if the other light hasn't turned green he will be stuck in the middle of the intersection and will block the cross-street traffic.  Everyone is happy until our light decides to turn yellow.  This is when the considerate driver ahead of me decides to pull into the intersection.  Of course, our light turns red, the light ahead is still red, and the cross-traffic is blocked.  This leads to blaring horns and angry fist waving, to which the guilty driver responds by giving the universal where-do-you-want-me-to-go-I'm-blocked-too wave/shrug.

Like I said, Texas drivers might not be the best around, but I'm still not convinced we're the worst.  :)

Grammar snob

I don't usually care when people make grammatical errors, but lately it's been getting on my nerves.  I'm not talking about little kids, people who speak English as a second language, or anything along those lines.  I'm talking about people who (supposedly) should know better, people who make a living speaking or writing or generally informing us about what's going on in the world.  In the last 2 days, I've heard or seen the following grammatical errors on the news or posted in an online news story:

• "...refreeze again..." -- This was spoken in the context of water possibly freezing overnight causing dangerous driving conditions the following morning.  Technically, this would not be a grammatical error if the water had actually frozen before (refreeze) or frozen multiple times (refreeze again).  However, since the water had not previous frozen, I find it hard to see how it would refreeze, much less refreeze again.
• 6,500.  There are multiple ways of saying this number which are correct.  Six thousand five hundred works.  So does sixty-five hundred.  I've even heard six and a half thousand (which I guess is technically correct, although weird).  However, this is not sixty-five thousand. 
• "Conversating" is not a word.  The word you're looking for is "conversing."  When you're talking to someone, you are "conversing" or having a "conversation;" you are not "conversating."  I think this is my new pet peeve, replacing the ever-so-common (and annoying) "irregardless."
• Last but not least, "...banks can charge fees of up to $35 or more."   Thank you for letting me know banks can charge these fees, but usually when you say "fees of up to..." we assume that the next number will be the maximum fee they can charge.  What's the point of putting "up to" if you're going to follow up with "or more"?

I've never considered myself a grammar snob, I just expect a little more from certain people.  Oh, and any grammatical errors you see in this post are actually just typos.  ;)

Getting Organized

I've always known I'm a little unorganized, but last night I realized exactly how unorganized.  I have a paper due this afternoon, and I started on it around 10:00 pm last night.  Luckily, it's a very short paper, but it's a paper nonetheless.  I was chatting with family last night when I suddenly had a feeling that I had forgotten something.  So I checked my Outlook.  Nothing.  Then I checked by planner.  Nothing.  Then I checked the calendar in the pantry.  Still nothing.  Thinking I must be wrong, I went back to chatting.  But I couldn't get rid of that feeling.

Then it hit me -- I have to write a paper!  Great.  At this point, I wasn't too worried; after all, I've written papers in less time.  However, a problem immediately presented itself when I couldn't remember exactly what the paper was supposed to cover.  So I grab my notebook and start flipping through it.  Nothing.  No mention of the contents, no mention of the due date, not even the slightest mention of the paper itself.  Luckily, I have friends and one of them was able to bail me out.

So what did I learn about this experience?  First, me having (and using) Outlook, a planner, and a calendar do absolutely nothing to get me organized.  Second, since I'm pretty sure I threw out my notes on the paper when I did a little "spring cleaning," I really shouldn't clean.

Creativity

I've always liked how creative people can be when selling their products.  Whether it's talking reptiles or spelling-error prone cows, you have to admit there are some pretty creative people out there.  Since starting law school, however, I've noticed that most people that advertise their products for law students can't necessarily be described as creative.  Basically, if it can be made into a gavel, it is.  If it can't be made into a gavel, it's not made into anything.  Case in point, check out the pencil and flash drive below. 

Olympics

Over the last few Olympics, I've discovered that what I like to watch has changed considerably.  My favorite event used to be figure skating.  I'm not sure why, but I just don't find it very interesting anymore.  It could be that there are no good characters left (remember Nancy v. Tanya?), or that they completely jacked with the scoring (remember when 10 was perfect?), or the "wonderful" commentary by NBC, or for no reason at all, but it's just not very entertaining.

Lately I've been watching snowboarding and speedskating, specifically snowboard cross and short track.  I think what draws me to these events is they combine the best of two worlds -- no judges and direct competition.  I've never liked the idea that you can do better than everyone else but still lose because the judges don't give you the scores you deserve.  It always seems like the bigger stars get better scores simply because they're bigger stars.  Sure, they're bigger stars because they have performed well in the past, but that doesn't mean the performance they just gave deserved the score they got. 

Which brings me to snowboard cross and short track speedskating.  They're simple enough to understanding -- finish first and you win.  But unlike the other skiing or skating events, you're not going up against a clock, you're going head-to-head against your competitors.  You're required to go as fast as you can while staying on your feet and avoiding those (possibly) crashing all around you.  I'm pretty sure they don't go as fast as some of the other events, but it's more entertaining to watch. 

New Shoes

It's official, DFW just had the most snowfall ever recorded in a 24-hour period.  With all this snow, I've discovered something very important -- I don't have the right shoes to wear in the snow.  I own a lot of shoes -- sandals, flip-flops, boots, sensible heels, not-so-sensible heels, sneakers, crocs, slippers, name it, I thought I had it.  But I don't have anything that I can walk around in and not feel like I'm about to bust my butt.  The way I see it, I have two options: 1) stay home, or 2) go buy some shoes.  I think #2 is the way to go.

My plan was to go shopping for some appropriate snow day shoes as soon as the snow melted, but that's what the internet is for.  So here are my top choices:

Photos by Jimmy Choo and Michael Kors.