Songs

Watching last Wednesday's SYTYCD episode, one song stood out the most to me.  I really liked it.  It was the one from Courtney's solo, and thanks to Wikipedia (since I never keep track of the songs before they play), I have the name of the song and have listened to it about 10 times today.  And I kind of love it.

 

It's "Where I Stood" by Missy Higgins. 

 

I love how SYTYCD helps me find new music!

 

Hope day one of the bar went well for everyone!

Hmm

So, the question of the day is...

 

What happens if you're taking the bar exam in Los Angeles and an earthquake hits?

Bar

It's that time of year... good luck to everyone taking the bar!

Rail

Watching this Travel Channel special on national parks and great train rides makes me want to take a rail trip somewhere. There's something about a train ride that's different from flights. I just wish we had bullet trains to get around instead of just Amtrak.

Watching this also makes me want to take a road trip down Route 66. (In addition to the 48 state road trip I have thought about...) Hopefully Ted Drewes will still be there when I have time to do that!

Sigh

You know, it was very sad for me today, when I realized that I couldn't decide who I disliked more - Bush or McCain. I didn't think I would dislike anyone more than Bush.

Santa Claus

I was sitting at my desk humming and then stopped abruptly when I realized I was humming "Here Comes Santa Claus."  In July.

Yikes

Reading an article in the New York Times... there are more smokers in China than the entire population of the United States? That's kind of frightening. But I certainly felt the effects on my health the last time I was in Shanghai. I don't know if it was part of the cause, but it certainly didn't help all of the illnesses I ended up with on the way home.

Cheese

I just laugh when I see that McCain trying to explain away his gaffes is occurring... in the grocery store cheese department.

"I don't think people understand that a surge is part of a counterinsurgency strategy." Right, we know, you know better than all of us. We know nothing. You know everything. You know more about Iraq than the Iraqis. You know what people want even if they don't. We know. It's all in the fabulous video that I hope climbs even higher on the viral charts.

Tomatoes

I feel really bad for the tomato industry. All the articles today are like, "Oops, we made a mistake, it was really jalapeno peppers." How many weeks have the tomato people had to deal with this only to find out they weren't the cause of the salmonella outbreak?

Crazy.

Quizzes

Internet's working! Therefore, I can take quizzes (ha).

Your Fitness Type: Playful

You enjoy exercise as long as it doesn't feel like work. Working out is your playtime, and you're up for any exercise that's fun. Try exercise that involves a little friendly competition, like basketball, softball, or volleyball. Or you may even like exercising with a fitness video game. Anything that makes you feel like a kid again.

How Should You Get Fit?

Yes. I need a Wii Fit!! Sigh.

You Are a Fairly Green Driver

You driving isn't the greenest, but it's greener than most people. Whether you have a fuel efficient car or try not to speed, you try not to use a lot of gas. You do your best to drive less. However, it's not always possible. You may end up driving more than you'd like, but at least you're doing what you can!

Are You a Green Driver?

They're just trying to make me feel better about myself. I wish we had a better rail system in this country, because then I wouldn't have to fly or drive as much to travel long distances. But yeah, I don't use my car if I don't have to. It's just easier taking the subway.

You Are Barbeque Sauce

You are a social person. You enjoy cooking for other people. You are both skillful and competitive. You enjoy mastering hard tasks. You appreciate complexity more than simplicity. Your taste in food tends to lean toward interesting flavors. You appreciate exotic spice combinations. You tend to like cutting edge, fusion cuisine. You get along with all personalities from a distance. Except salsa personalities, who always seem to annoy you.

What Condiment Are You?

I don't understand what these quiz results mean. I don't get how the first paragraph relates to BBQ sauce. I don't understand what a "salsa personality" is. And how do you get along with personalities from a distance?

You Are a One Piece Swimsuit

You are a bit conservative and traditional. And you are not at the beach to put your body on display! You are a low maintenance person. You like to look good, but you're not vain. Your taste tends to be sophisticated. You always opt for classy over trashy.

What Kind of Swimsuit Are You?

Wheee swimsuits. I do like the one in that picture though.

Thoughts for a Sunday

Random thoughts:

1. Our internet is for some reason not working. I was supposed to work from home today but may have to go into the office. That would be annoying. And as a result, I am writing this on my blackberry (which is so much slower).

2. My grandmother told us a story the other night of how, when she was younger, they used to pull out lychee without breaking the skin. Then they would pop the skins like balloons. It's these types of stories, which probably seem insignificant when they happen, that I just love hearing about and want to preserve.

3. I looked through some old pictures this weekend and have decided that (a) I am quite disappointed in myself for resizing all of my digital pics from college into smaller sizes and (b) I need to take more videos.

4. I need to clean but have lost my cleaning energy that I had earlier this afternoon. Oh well. Maybe it will come back.

5. I love USA network cable shows. Best thing on this summer besides SYTYCD.

6. I am way behind on my online photo albums/backup. The lack of internet right now is not helping.

Off to do some work. Hopefully the internet will work soon!

All Stars

I was supposed to sleep early tonight. I did not anticipate watching the All Star Game in the 14th inning at 1:15 am. Good game, but when is it going to end??

I took some pictures of the parade but they're from so high up that I couldn't tell who it was in the truck. I didn't realize they had names on all the trucks until later. I should have taken pictures of all the trucks! Or just worked faster so I could see parts of the parade on the ground.

Lodging

This is really, really scary. Thinking that you could be 2 rooms away from the street and shot from a stray bullet? Scary.

Blabber

When will the sports networks STOP talking about Brett Favre? It doesn't seem like it's ever going to end. If he comes back, is he just going to pull this retirement thing annually?

More Searches

Some more search comments:

Florida graded barbri essays
Sorry, I didn't take the bar in Florida. Can't help you there.

Puppy swallowed fork prong
Oh no! Poor puppy! Is the puppy ok?

I got sick from Yamamotoyama genmai tea
You did? What happened? I drink that stuff all the time, and I love the genmai cha. Is there anything I should know?

Cube fireworks Macy's
Those were great! I love cube fireworks, and smiley faces, and this year, the stars. There's some other types of fireworks that I love but I don't know the technical names for them. I watched fireworks so often in Chicago. That, I miss about Chicago.

Do QVC hosts really work all night or are they taped during the day
I think they work all night. I was watching once at 3 or 4 in the morning and they were talking about the time and the weather and how it was late on the east coast. I suppose they could be taped and could fake that, but usually it lines up well with the callers, so I don't think they are. If they are, they got me.

Is there anything wrong with the old model Blackberry
Which one? The old blue one? That one was terrible and broke on me all the time. For example, all signals on the Blackberry would show that I had a full signal and should be receiving messages, but I wouldn't. For like 6 hours at a time. It was horrible being in a meeting, having your Blackberry, not getting any messages, and not knowing if you were really free and clear with no messages or if you would get back to your computer and have 30 messages from people who thought you had your Blackberry...

Practice MBE Javits Center cell phone
Are you asking if you can bring your cell phone to the practice MBE at the Javits Center? Is there a practice MBE at the Javits Center? I have no idea. I studied for the bar in Chicago.

Dust mask at home
Yes, I would wear one when the cigarette smoke got unbearable. Couldn't breathe otherwise.

Aloe drink Florida
Do they have Paldo?

Faith based eater hot dog
I still want to know what that means... If you know, can you post in the comments?

I'm going to leave the "mayo shrimp" and the "simulated MBE" alone. I think I talked about those enough. I have a whole post about mayo shrimp! Will also not comment on the Wendy's wild mountain chicken sandwich (sigh) or the calories in the Portillo's chicken caesar salad because I've actually never eaten that there. I usually got the grilled chicken sandwich. Is it on the Portillo's website? Mmm, Portillo's.

I went for months without doing these search lists. I wonder what fun searches I missed!

Socca

I can't believe I forgot socca in the favorite foods post. The perfect afternoon brunch is at Nizza and includes an order of socca. And polpette. Yum.

Tomatoes

I was reading an article today which said that they now think tomatoes may not be the cause of the salmonella outbreak. After putting the tomato industry through all of this, and pulling tomatoes off all the menus. The article implied that jalapeno peppers could be the cause, and that cilantro and onions were also added to the list. So, basically, salsa. What happens if they pull all of these off the menu? What happens to the Mexican restaurants? Sigh. I love tomatoes, onions and cilantro...

Thoughts

Some random thoughts as I'm watching the Nathans hot dog eating contest:

1. Where do they get these titles on ESPN and/or who thinks up these competitions? "Cheese fries specialist." "Beef brisket buffet-eating champion." "Specializes in meat on the bone." "World jellied cranberry sauce champion." "Major League Eating's only faith-based eater." (What's a faith-based eater?)

2. We lived near a French restaurant that was an institution in Hell's Kitchen. It had been there for years until it got evicted by the landlord, who claimed he wanted to tear the building down so he could build a condo building. They finally ended up closing in the spring after fighting the eviction in court for years. Last Friday, I looked out the car window and was shocked. They had just taken down the Le Madeleine awning in the past week or so, and what was there now? A new red awning. For a new French restaurant. Looking like a mini-branch of a French restaurant near my office. So, the landlord lied? Not that I should be shocked, but I am. I really thought he evicted them so he could tear the building down, not put in a new restaurant. It's so close to the apartment, and I don't want to hold it against the tenant, but the actions of the landlord... just shady.

3. How do you eat 171 pieces of sushi in 6 minutes? (Or was it 8, I don't remember.)

4. I don't recall previous summers having these types of rain threats. Nowadays it's like a threat of scattered thunderstorms daily. It's like living in Florida. I need a poncho.

5. And I want to go back to Epcot.

6. It's hard to eat while they're eating hot dogs. Because the face-stuffing is actually kind of gross. And our TV cuts off half of the tracking chart on the top corner of the screen. People only have half names.

7. Yesterday at work we had an ice cream social as a summer associate event. It was Coldstone and I was expecting large cartons of premixed combinations, but they had the slabs and mixed them for you, just like in the store. I ended up getting vanilla with a brownie, Oreo and rainbow sprinkles. The only thing missing was cake batter ice cream. Mmm. Cake batter ice cream.

8. I don't know how you can compete in major league eating and eat this much, and still be so thin. Or competitively eat cannolis. Or pickled jalapenos.

9. I can't wait to see Wall-E.

10. Kobayashi is awesome. I don't understand why these commentators think it's such a big deal "if the belt stays in America." It's not like Americans don't like Kobayashi. Seriously. And the 5 dog eat-off? So disgusting. At least this way the commentators don't get to whine about America not winning on Independence Day. *eyeroll*

Quizzes

The Road Trip of Your Life

You see life as precious and special. Heritage and family are very important to you. You live a life of leisure. You take your time in every aspect of life and enjoy it to the fullest. You don't like a lot of risk or randomness in your life. You prefer to stick with what's known, even if it's a bit boring. You are able to find a fairly healthy balance between work and play. You work when you need to, but you never let yourself burn out. In another life, you could have been a great novelist. You have a knack for describing things in an interesting way.

The Road Trip Test

Interesting results. Can't say I disagree except (1) I don't have a life of leisure, but would like one and (2) I do get burned out sometimes.

You Are the Tango

You are an emotionally expressive person. You can't ever really hide how you feel. Deep and reflective, you need a style of dance to mirror your intensity. You have a taste of the exotic. You crave sounds, smells, and tastes from foreign countries. You are sometimes misunderstood and unappreciated. But you don't really care to explain yourself!

What Dance Are You?

I would like to learn the tango. I was at a wedding recently with a lot of ballroom dancers and I wish I knew what I was doing.

What Your Workspace Says About You

You are generally fairly organized, but you have occasional slip ups. You find keeping organized challenging. You are hardworking and driven. You have an excellent work ethic. You feel like you neglect your family and friends when you're working. You may work a bit too much. You don't switch careers often, and you intend to stay at your current job for a long time. At work, you are an introvert. You don't like people coming around your work space.

What Does Your Work Space Say About You?

Let's think of the time period since I moved into my current office as the "occasional slip-up." I'm digging through 2 years of stuff from before I moved out of the shared office and it never ends.

Today's Routines

I love So You Think You Can Dance.

[spoilers ahead]

I think the frontrunner couples are clearly Joshua and Katee and Twitch and Kherington. I wonder if they will hit the bottom 3 at all before the top 10. (I hope not.) I also like Chelsie and Mark, but I'm not sure if they will stay out of the bottom. (I hope so.)

But my favorite 4 routines of the night were:

- Joshua and Katee's contemporary
- Jessica and Will's lyrical jazz
- Twitch and Kherington's contemporary
- Chelsie and Mark's jazz

I also really liked Chelsie's foxtrot dress. Feathers and all.

Hmm. Perhaps I just really like contemporary. (Yes, I do.)

I love dance shows!

Searches

I haven't done one of these posts in awhile, but I also haven't checked the blog stats in awhile. Here are some recent searches which landed people on this blog and my comments. Hopefully this will help people who somehow arrive here looking for something that they won't find.

Portillo's Calorie Counter
Empanada Mama Calorie Count
No calorie counts here. Unless I'm talking about the outrageous calorie counts on the NY menu boards. I just don't find them helpful. They are cluttering up the menu boards and making them hard to read without adding much value. I've talked about it all before and am not going to force you to read it again. Except to say that now that I have seen it implemented at a bunch of places, I'm not sure it's going to make any impact on my life.

Crayon psychics
There were a lot of searches for this, but I honestly have no idea what that is even supposed to pull up.

Paldo aloe drink
... is delicious and refreshing, and my favorite aloe drink brand.

I swallowed a prong off a plastic fork
I totally forgot that I did that. Wow.

Cigarette smoke masks
When you find one, let me know.

Southwest Caesar Salad, Wendy's
I like this salad. This salad and the taco salad are probably my favorite Wendy's salads. I thought about getting one at the Wendy's at the mall on Sunday but figured I could just get it at work. I tried going to Wendy's yesterday by work, but they didn't have it on the menu and it's not on the website! It was on the menu board at the mall on Sunday. I'm so confused. I love this salad and it's good because I don't even need the salad dressing. Why, Wendy's? Why won't you put this and the wild mountain chicken sandwich on your permanent menu? Yes, I'm still whining about the wild mountain chicken sandwich.

Post-course paced program
First, a note about the bar exam. The searches seem to have picked up lately for bar exam related topics, and I guess it's about that time. So, a preliminary note. I wasn't a HUGE bar studier. It was kind of hard to do when BarBri started during final exams in law school. So I was never up to date and was behind for the whole program. For that reason, I'm not sure I did any post-course paced program. But I also didn't follow the regular one very well either. But it seems like a lot of people are concerned about this post-course program thing. Is BarBri ending soon or something?

Evergreen Chinatown
Good Chicago restaurant. I recommend.

Blackberry reception problems
Sigh. Try popping out the battery and the SIM card. I do this too often. But don't get me wrong, I'm thankful to no longer have that old blue unit that wouldn't receive messages even when it told me my signal was as strong as it could be.

What do the crayons mean in the movie The Dark Floor
I don't know of any movie called The Dark Floor. Sorry.

Will BarBri replace lost iPod
I doubt it. Did they make you lose it? Otherwise, I doubt they would do anything.

Cedars of Lebanon restaurant in Hyde Park
If this is still there, I also recommend. I haven't really been for a meal in Hyde Park since graduation.

Placenta pearl cream
I don't really have the time or space to go into this again, but at least it sent you to the right link.

Above 100 on the BarBri simulated MBE is ok
Honestly I have no idea. I don't remember much about the MBE.

Simulated MBE did terrible
Sorry to hear it. :( It'll get better. If they still have the questions on computer, that's a nice option for practicing.

BarBri clear plastic bag
The clear plastic bag thing bothered me the whole time prior to the exam. I worried about how I could possibly carry everything in one plastic bag? It worked out fine. Not something worth worrying about.

Mayo shrimp
Sorry, not a huge fan.

There is also a certain search looking for a part of the body of a famous gymnast which I have mentioned before, and I don't understand why, years later, people are still searching for this. It makes no sense to me.

Exhausted. Time for sleep. Good night!

Absence

The law school's alumni record magazine came today. Noticeably absent from the class notes (at least to me)? Yes, our class. Not even a mention of the class, but with no notes, like always seems to happen in our college alumni magazine. Just omitted altogether. What happened there? It was like we never really graduated at all. (The horror!)

I'm looking back through my blog to figure out what I was doing and/or thinking on this day years ago. [I'm using "today" as July 1st since I haven't gone to sleep yet so for me it still is "July 1st."]

Four years ago, this blog hadn't started yet. I'm not going to try looking on the old one.

Three years ago, I was cleaning out paper. Such a cleansing feeling when things are done to get rid of all the lingering crap. Thinking about it, I actually did a similar mini-cleaning in my office today. (Sadly, when I first typed this paragraph, since I went to look at 2005 first because of graduation, I wrote that it happened "two years ago." Having time issues...)

Two years ago, I don't know what I was doing. Nothing there.

Last year, I went for a run/walk in Central Park and had a fruit and walnut salad from McDonalds.

I miss writing posts. Keeping track of what I've been up to. I don't write nearly enough these days. Perhaps, at this half year point, which came way too quickly, it's time for a change. Perhaps.