So This is What Life is Supposed to Be Like...

Hey.  Hey.  Hey. Guess what?  No, seriously, guess.  No, come on.  Try harder.

Oh fine.  You're the worst.

LAW REVIEW IS OVER.  The (40 hour) cite-checking assignment (from hell) was completed last Sunday.  My article went into the box at 2:00 on Friday.  And let me say that when I actually FINISHED the article at 11:45 the night before, I felt physically lighter.  I took a deep breath and exhaled before I started the next step of work, and then I realized there was no more work.  That was the end of work.

I may have almost cried.

But that would have been cliche, so instead I danced around my apartment without any pants.  (Sorry LSBFF)

On Friday at 5:16, I left town with nothing more than a couple changes of clothes and some extra shoes. That's right.  No books.  No laptop.  No notepads.  I did not do ONE MINUTE of work.  It was the best weekend ever.  (Thanks, The Boy!)

Unfortunately, my jaw still thinks I'm stressed out and the muscles in it are SUPER tense and painful.  It will be a week or so before my body realizes that it can stop trying to kill me.

But on the plus side, I get to take tylenol pm every night without feeling like I'm abusing medication.  Oh, sleep, how I love you.

Rules For Debate

I think I’m lucky.  I grew up in a family that respected intelligent, friendly debate about all issues.  A family where any viewpoint could be heard, challenged, and discussed without fear of hostility or anger.  The Boy made fun of me  a little bit when I told him once that we actually make coffee and watch Meet The Press on Sunday mornings together.  And while the "press" is talking, so are we.  Talking about social issues and fiscal policy.  Apparently normal American families don’t do that.

Of course, normal American families, aren’t necessarily like mine.  My mother comes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and had a mother who was very liberal.  My father insists that the proper word is “socialist,” but that’s because he comes from a family that’s very conservative.  He spent his youth on a farm on the west side of  Michigan.  Needless to say, the two of them disagree on a lot because of their opposing political views.  (Oh, the Obama vs. McCain debates in 2008.  The ones in my house.  Not on the news.) 

Not everyone can discuss immigration laws, drug reform, abortion law, and gay rights at their breakfast table on Saturday morning.  Which is why I think many people don’t know how to have these discussions.  I’ve found that many people simply react with immediate hostility and defensive behavior when someone proposes a view which is contrary to their own.  They jump to defend their belief system by saying “You’re WRONG!”  instead of, “Here’s why I’m right.”  And eventually that debate devolves into nothing more than name-calling and he said/she said.

Being that law students often find themselves having to debate the motions and acts of a Congress we may not always agree with, I’ve put together a list of how to behave in friendly, open debate:

 1.  Assume that no one’s position is 100% right.  Including your own.  Everyone’s viewpoint is colored by personal background, religious belief, and facts that you don’t know or can’t understand.

2.   You don’t get to tell anyone they’re wrong.  Unless you can tell them why.  If your response isn’t at least two sentences long, don’t write your thoughts. 

 3.   Remember where you are.  This is friendly, intelligent discourse.  It should never be taken as a personal attack, but rather an opportunity to learn something you didn’t know.  Give points to your opponent(s) where due, take issue with them where you have issue with them, or request clarification if you’re unsure.

 4.  No swearing or finger-pointing.  Well, no swearing in a hostile way.  I have a mouth like a sailor sometimes (I am a sailor’s daughter), and I fully support the use of adjectival expletives, but don’t use them to demean anyone.  Also, no name-calling.  Because if you need to resort to name-calling, it makes your own argument look faulty.  And you don’t want that.

 5.  Learn.  Pay attention to what other people are talking about.  You may not agree with anyone else by the end, but you may gain a new perspective on the situation as a whole, which will allow you to defeat those same arguments when you have this discussion with someone else.

Now, shall we discuss the relative faults and merits of the death penalty system?

What are your rules for debate?  What have you noticed to be a problem when you debate other people?  Sound off below!

This is your birthday song, it isn't very long...

This is the Birthday Crown of Shame.  It's a weird tradition.

I’m 24 years old today.  I think I gave the impression last year that I have the worst birthdays.  This is not true.  I simply have the worst birthday PARTIES.  Wonderful things have happened on my birthdays:  I’ve gotten scholarships, first kisses, Mexican food, boxes full of glitter, the chance to be “President for a day”, fizzy pink martinis, and my very first copy of Seventeen magazine* all on my birthday.

Looking back on my birthdays, I think it’s important to note that my life philosophy is in there somewhere:  It’s the little things that make life worth it.  Life in general isn’t so much about the super great things that happen so much as the fact that someone made you a cake with the super creative decoration of your name being scrawled across the top and however many candles happened to be in the cabinet above the stove at the time.  It’s about people knowing it’s your birthday and going out of their way to tell you that they remembered.  (Or that they saw it on Facebook.)

Life should be about walks in light spring rain and on frigid, sunny days.  Life should be about practicing what you preach, and trying to defend your beliefs, not with attack, but with reason.  Life should be a chance to practice love.  All kinds of love, not just the romantic kind: even the “I love the whole world” and the “I like to smile at happy dogs” kind of love.

So with all the wine that is left in my fridge and on my counters:** I have been alive for 24 years.  That’s 8,760 days, or 210, 240 hours, or 12,614,400 minutes.  It doesn’t seem very long at all, and I guess that’s the point.  It’s not long at all.  But it’s been enough time to learn to love more than anything the small things that happen in life.  So here’s to another year of loving the little things.  I hope that more than enough come your way.

I hope you didn't think my goofy
nature was a recent development.

______________________________________________

*This last one may be balanced out by the fact that I was sick with the flu in bed that birthday, trading off bouts of boredom with bouts of vomiting and my mom felt guilty enough to go out and buy me a magazine.  Especially since I was supposed to be “Townsperson #2” in the Youth Group production of Joan of Arc that night.

**I really need to get around to drinking some of this wine….

These are a Few of My Favorite Things....

I know, I've been bad about posting lately, but law review is KILLING me right now.  EVERYTHING is due in the next two weeks and I have been (quite literally) running back and forth across Chicago looking for sources.  On the plus side, everything will be done on February 25th, and I can ride off into the sunset.  (Or dance my way through my tiny living room after drinking too much wine.  That's the same thing, right?)  On the minus side, I am going to be grumpy and depressed for another two weeks while I finish everything up.

So in honor of Valentine's Day, I give you a list of things that I am LOVING right now and that are keeping me sane:

Baking -- This weekend I made muffins AND soda bread.  Yummy.  I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but there's something about baking that keeps me sane.  The process of reading a recipe and making something out of it appeals greatly to my control freak nature.  And yes, to those of you who asked me about it, I will probably feel the need to bake cookies at some point this week/weekend.  Be prepared to reap the fruits of my labor.

Running -- I get tired of sitting in a chair all day, and even though I have to convince myself with ALL MY PERSUASIVE POWER, running five miles before bed feels good.  Plus, I'm so tired that I fall asleep at eleven and don't wake up all night.  Win.

This weather we're having -- It was almost 50 degrees yesterday!  In February!  In CHICAGO!  I really hope this keeps up.  If it does, I may have to go track down Punxsutawney Phil and kiss him for his blind, non-shadow seeing ways.

Surprises -- Because I won't see him for Valentine's Day or my birthday, which are but one week apart, the Boy keeps dropping hints at surprise gifts.  Then he discusses them with other people who drop hints at me too.  Whenever I get depressed, I just think, "Soon I get PRESENTS!"  It's materialistic.  It's shallow.  It makes me less enraged about my lot in life.

The Fam--Getting calls from my parents or text messages from my little brothers really makes my day.  Even if they say nothing more than "I just lost a lot of respect for you."  That's brotherly love right there. Also, it's this guy's birthday today:

Cupid Dog Loves You

So that's what's keeping me pushing through.  How are you getting through February? 

SNOWPOCALYPSE 2011

So I didn't know what to write about today.  School has officially been cancelled until Friday, due to the blizzard you may have heard about that blasted the midwest last night.  And then I realized, hey!  Chicago was the "epicenter of the snowquake!"  (ABCNews 7 called it that, not me.)  So today I went out and took some pictures of what the city looks like after the snow.

This is the view from my window right after it stopped snowing.  You can see that the balconies across the street are completely filled with snow.  I realized at this moment that things were going to be harder than I originally planned.

So I did my best imitation of Indian Princess hair...

Wrong type of Indian

That's more like it.

I got bundled up...

And I went exploring.  

These are water fountains, but I don't think anyone's going to be using them today...

Kids went sledding down the monument at Soldier Field.  They were having a blast!

This dog, Tess, was about as tall as the snow.  But that didn't stop her from tunneling through it in her pink coat.  Her owner said Tess was having a ball!

I fell down in drifts more than once trying to break a path.  Here I fell into one and was covered in snow to my hips.  Good thing I was wearing pants, leggings, and my dad's old, super-thick sweater!

For some reason, the sidewalk just stopped, so I walked in the street like everyone else.  There weren't any cars out anyway.

These are the famed Tiffany Gardens in Grant Park.  I couldn't go in any further than this.  Some of the snowdrifts were WELL above my waist, and I was having a hard time as it was!

These are stairs, I swear!!

A distant picture of Buckingham Fountain, better known as the "Married With Children" fountain.

A little bit closer.  Usually it's filled with water.  Today it's filled with snow!

People were actually walking into the fountain.  Hey, you'll never get that kind of chance to get so close to it ever again!

The snow was about knee-deep on average.  Some spots were better than others, but it was quite a workout to get through!

One of my favorite spots in Grant Park anyway, this little tree-lined avenue was made even prettier by the snow.

The Bean (actually called "Cloud Gate") from the Millenium Park Bandstand

The Bandstand itself.  There was security everywhere in Millennium Park, as opposed to Grant Park where one couple was just sitting in the snow with a couple beers.

Getting closer now.  You can see Trump Tower in the background.

Of course I took the obligatory picture of myself at the Bean!!

The Bandstand in the Bean's reflection.

I took a lot of pictures of the Bean okay?  But they're so awesome looking!

The sun is just starting to break through the clouds here.

The Chicago skyline is so awesome.

There's snow on top!

Someone decided to feed the sparrows.  But you can actually see words on the entrance to Millennium Park.  They're almost entirely covered by snow.

The famed guardian lions outside the Art Institute haven't shaken the snow out of their manes yet.

The Art Institute IS open, if any of you Chicago natives need to get out of your apartment for a couple hours.

Yep, that's a street that hasn't been plowed yet.  It's nice for pedestrians though.  I've never not had to worry about getting hit by cars while crossing the street before!

So that's just a little taste of the aftermath of Snowpocalypse!  I hope that wherever you are, you're safe, warm, and cozy.

And if you want to see some REALLY awesome photography, check out my friend Kristen's blog, Through the Looking Glass.  She's a fabulous photographer.  Her pictures make me want to visit Oklahoma!