I am bone tired, but I finally got the paper done yesterday. I had stayed up until 1:00 on monday night writing the dang thing, and then I woke up at 5:45 the next morning to continue working. I was done as done is gonna get at about noon yesterday, and turned it in last night. I wish I would have gotten more sleep last night -- I went to bed decently early, but my daughter decided that she wanted to wake up at 5:30 this morning. Sweet. So yeah...I'm a tad weary this morning.
On the upside, if any of you want to know anything about the legality of gestational surrogacy contracts, just talk to me. I'll pretend to know what I'm talking about. Stupid paper.
Last night I watched the sneak peeks of "Legend of the Seeker" that were available on iTunes. I was disappointed, but I'll still watch it. When I've invested so much time into reading a book series, I don't like to see a screen representation completely change the story. I understand taking some liberties and whatnot, but from the relatively small amount that I've seen, it looks like they're really gonna change this one. (Umm, no magic of Orden mentioned at all? Kahlan has the Book of Counted Shadows? Richard doesn't know Zedd all that well? What?)
Sorry, I burst into a bit of nerdery there. Like I said, I'll still watch it. Part of my problem with the sneak peek things was that one of them was hosted by Lucy Lawless, and I couldn't help but laugh my arse off every time she came on the screen. Poor thing, she's got nothing better to do. Oh well. Visually, the show was pretty cool. ***slight spoiler*** However, they changed Darken Rahl's hair color to brown, (which makes him look just like Richard...ooh teh foreshadoweeng!) ***/slight spoiler***
The thing that really bugged me was when Terry Goodkind himself came on the screen and said that this story "has become a tale for every generation". What? Don't fluff yourself so much, dude -- the last three books rrrrrrrrrrrrrrreally sucked. And you're ugly. OK that was low.
After billions of recommendations from friends, I finally picked up American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It's excellent so far. Very cool concept.
@#$% Paper
Holy gads, what a weekend. Gwennerpants (as mentioned previously) turned a mighty two years old on Friday. To celebrate, we threw her a huge party on Saturday at Westwood Hills Nature Center in St. Louis Park. It was a madhouse, but a really really good time.
A ton of family and friends showed up for pizza and pop and cake (and ice cream, which we forgot to serve. D'oh! Anyone want ice cream? Come on over. I'll give ya ice cream.). Gwen had a really good time.
My in-laws stayed with us on Friday and helped with some final projects to get the house in order. Props to my father-in-law, who did an awesome job patching our front steps. My parents came over yesterday afternoon and added the finishing transition pieces between the kitchen (recently tiled) and the living room. I gotta say, everything's coming together and it's all looking great. Our new stove is supposed to be installed today -- I've got my fingers crossed, that's been a bit of a debacle. We should be golden after today, unless they somehow connect the gas to the water and the water to the gas...
My Long Paper is due tomorrow. I've been working on it since Wednesday, and I've put hours and hours into the dang thing. I'm now about 1/3 done writing. Honestly, the research part of it is the part that has taken the largest amount of time, and I inevitably find myself doing more research while I write any of these lame things. The problem that I always have with legal writing is citation. I have thoughts that pop into my head while I write, you see, but all of these thoughts have likely come up before. Therefore, I have to find a "source" to cite, in order to write them. Hard to explain, but it makes the process frustratingly slow. I could write 25 pages of BS in a half hour, but for some reason they want me to be able to back this stuff up with fact. Pshaw. Who knew?
So yeah...carry the one...I've put in about 20 hours on this thing (that's a rough estimate) and am going to head home at noon today to finish the thing. Hopefully I'll get it done at a reasonable hour. Barf.
A ton of family and friends showed up for pizza and pop and cake (and ice cream, which we forgot to serve. D'oh! Anyone want ice cream? Come on over. I'll give ya ice cream.). Gwen had a really good time.
My in-laws stayed with us on Friday and helped with some final projects to get the house in order. Props to my father-in-law, who did an awesome job patching our front steps. My parents came over yesterday afternoon and added the finishing transition pieces between the kitchen (recently tiled) and the living room. I gotta say, everything's coming together and it's all looking great. Our new stove is supposed to be installed today -- I've got my fingers crossed, that's been a bit of a debacle. We should be golden after today, unless they somehow connect the gas to the water and the water to the gas...
My Long Paper is due tomorrow. I've been working on it since Wednesday, and I've put hours and hours into the dang thing. I'm now about 1/3 done writing. Honestly, the research part of it is the part that has taken the largest amount of time, and I inevitably find myself doing more research while I write any of these lame things. The problem that I always have with legal writing is citation. I have thoughts that pop into my head while I write, you see, but all of these thoughts have likely come up before. Therefore, I have to find a "source" to cite, in order to write them. Hard to explain, but it makes the process frustratingly slow. I could write 25 pages of BS in a half hour, but for some reason they want me to be able to back this stuff up with fact. Pshaw. Who knew?
So yeah...carry the one...I've put in about 20 hours on this thing (that's a rough estimate) and am going to head home at noon today to finish the thing. Hopefully I'll get it done at a reasonable hour. Barf.
Wacky Wednesday
I have a bad case of senioritis. Well, I'm not a senior, per se -- I'm a fourth year law student. It pretty much amounts to the same thing, though. I've been doing this for far too long, and I have very little motivation left.
It's not like I'm going to completely neglect class or anything, it's that I have a very large aversion to studying. Getting myself motivated is becoming increasingly difficult. I can only imagine that next semester is going to be even worse, but next semester I plan on taking ridiculously easy classes. Heh.
Last night, Kerry and I booked a vacation to Grand Cayman Island for the first week of March (my spring break). I'm freaking stoked. A nice week in the sun will be just what my aching mind needs. (Oh, and all of the pirate stuff around there, too. Woot. I love pirates.) We planned this vacation with Megan and Kristian, a couple of friends of ours, because Kristian is also a 4L and will be celebrating his final spring break as well. There will be reckless drunken abandon. This is sure.
Gwennerpants will be staying with her Grandparents that week. They'll have a good time.
Speaking of my lil' girl, she turns TWO YEARS OLD on Friday! I can't believe that she's such a big girl. She acts like it, too. She's been talking up a storm lately, and it's fun to sit down and have actual, real conversations with her. She's excited for her birthday party, which will take place on Saturday.
I used a gift card that I got for my birthday at Target the other day, and purchased some Wii points. With the Wii points, I downloaded the first episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, which is absolutely hilarious and much more fun than I honestly expected. It plays like Space Quest, Maniac Mansion, and other games of that type, and it's a lot of fun. So far there's been quite a bit of play time, considering that it's only part one of an episodic game series. Good times.
I also downloaded the Secret of Mana, a classic SNES RPG that I hadn't played back in the heyday. It's a lot of fun -- thus far it's fairly typical of Squaresoft games, but is a Zelda-style hack and slash game as opposed to a true RPG. Either way, it's loads of fun thus far. I love video games.
It's not like I'm going to completely neglect class or anything, it's that I have a very large aversion to studying. Getting myself motivated is becoming increasingly difficult. I can only imagine that next semester is going to be even worse, but next semester I plan on taking ridiculously easy classes. Heh.
Last night, Kerry and I booked a vacation to Grand Cayman Island for the first week of March (my spring break). I'm freaking stoked. A nice week in the sun will be just what my aching mind needs. (Oh, and all of the pirate stuff around there, too. Woot. I love pirates.) We planned this vacation with Megan and Kristian, a couple of friends of ours, because Kristian is also a 4L and will be celebrating his final spring break as well. There will be reckless drunken abandon. This is sure.
Gwennerpants will be staying with her Grandparents that week. They'll have a good time.
Speaking of my lil' girl, she turns TWO YEARS OLD on Friday! I can't believe that she's such a big girl. She acts like it, too. She's been talking up a storm lately, and it's fun to sit down and have actual, real conversations with her. She's excited for her birthday party, which will take place on Saturday.
I used a gift card that I got for my birthday at Target the other day, and purchased some Wii points. With the Wii points, I downloaded the first episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, which is absolutely hilarious and much more fun than I honestly expected. It plays like Space Quest, Maniac Mansion, and other games of that type, and it's a lot of fun. So far there's been quite a bit of play time, considering that it's only part one of an episodic game series. Good times.
I also downloaded the Secret of Mana, a classic SNES RPG that I hadn't played back in the heyday. It's a lot of fun -- thus far it's fairly typical of Squaresoft games, but is a Zelda-style hack and slash game as opposed to a true RPG. Either way, it's loads of fun thus far. I love video games.
The war on bugs
My work is hilarious. Every single year we get infested with one bug or another. Once upon a time it was Asian beetles. (Y'all remember those suckas?) They were seriously everywhere in here. It would crunch when I walked down the hall.
Over the past few years, box elder bugs have been the typical pests. They're disgusting, because they don't really do anything, they're just everywhere. I'll sit down and start my computer, and one of the lil' red bastards will climb over the ridge of my keyboard and look at me.
I have declared war on the bugs. I will kill every one I see, by shoe. I will mash the bugger into the floor. This is particularly funny, because just last week the carpets were cleaned, and now there are a bunch of bug splatter marks over everything. (Personally, I've caused the most bug destruction on walls, chairs, and my desk. Looking around it's obvious that I'm not the only one at war, though.)
Today, I met a new bug. He was faster, stronger, and harder to kill. I had to give him the ol' boot three times before he stopped coming at me. I named him Rasputin. He was a fighter. Unfortunately for Rasputin, his reign of terror is over.
In pursuit of my latest musical obsession, I've recorded a bunch of Irish music. I'm silly, you see. Here are some .mp3s. (Keep in mind that these versions are just myself, and all of them are intended to have the full backing of the rest of the members of my crazed entourage, "A Flock Of Kobolds". However, until the day that the music is joined by all of my compatriots, you can find enjoyment in the 'demo of a demo' versions by yours truly.) Two of these songs are original Ben masterpieces, and the others...aren't:
The Hands of Fate (with Ryan on elec. guitar and backing vox)
The Wanderer (with Ryan on keys)
Haul Away Joe
Fathom the Bowl
Hanging Johnny
What's Left of the Flag (Arrgh. For whatever stupid reason, Blogger isn't letting me link the whole link to this one. It should be http://b33n3r.lundo.com/What's%20Left%20of%20the%20Flag.mp3 which still might not work past that apostrophe, so copy and paste the link. Grr.)
Yeah, I'm weird. Whatever. I'm over it. Tonight, I brew beer! I've picked up a nice porter for the coming fall weather. Hopefully all goes well with the keg.
Over the past few years, box elder bugs have been the typical pests. They're disgusting, because they don't really do anything, they're just everywhere. I'll sit down and start my computer, and one of the lil' red bastards will climb over the ridge of my keyboard and look at me.
I have declared war on the bugs. I will kill every one I see, by shoe. I will mash the bugger into the floor. This is particularly funny, because just last week the carpets were cleaned, and now there are a bunch of bug splatter marks over everything. (Personally, I've caused the most bug destruction on walls, chairs, and my desk. Looking around it's obvious that I'm not the only one at war, though.)
Today, I met a new bug. He was faster, stronger, and harder to kill. I had to give him the ol' boot three times before he stopped coming at me. I named him Rasputin. He was a fighter. Unfortunately for Rasputin, his reign of terror is over.
In pursuit of my latest musical obsession, I've recorded a bunch of Irish music. I'm silly, you see. Here are some .mp3s. (Keep in mind that these versions are just myself, and all of them are intended to have the full backing of the rest of the members of my crazed entourage, "A Flock Of Kobolds". However, until the day that the music is joined by all of my compatriots, you can find enjoyment in the 'demo of a demo' versions by yours truly.) Two of these songs are original Ben masterpieces, and the others...aren't:
The Hands of Fate (with Ryan on elec. guitar and backing vox)
The Wanderer (with Ryan on keys)
Haul Away Joe
Fathom the Bowl
Hanging Johnny
What's Left of the Flag (Arrgh. For whatever stupid reason, Blogger isn't letting me link the whole link to this one. It should be http://b33n3r.lundo.com/What's%20Left%20of%20the%20Flag.mp3 which still might not work past that apostrophe, so copy and paste the link. Grr.)
Yeah, I'm weird. Whatever. I'm over it. Tonight, I brew beer! I've picked up a nice porter for the coming fall weather. Hopefully all goes well with the keg.
Another Weenend Down
Admittedly, I'm becoming a tad lackadaisical with my blog posting. I've gone a week since the last one, and that's just not acceptable. My readership is suffering! I feel a bit like Robert Jordan...except not dead. Maybe more akin to George R. R. Martin. That's it.
The tile floor is now finished. On friday night, Kerry and I did all of the grouting. I managed to literally wear a hole in the tip of my right hand index finger. I had to plug this oft-bleeding hole with superglue. As such, I've now got a blob of superglue sticking out of my finger. This makes typing interesting.
Last night, Greg and I had plans to go to a metal show at Station 4, featuring the viking stylings of Amon Amarth. Well, we got there and they had already started, and it turned out to be $25. Since we're a couple of cheaparses, we went with plan B: Not seeing Amon Amarth. We went back to my house, drank some beer, and spent some time playing Golden Axe on the wii. That was quite fun.
I was dismayed to find that my Wii Sports disc has a hole in it. Yep, a hole going straight through the disc. I blame Nintendo for not giving me a case for it, but I really know that the blame somehow falls squarely on me for not taking care of it, or on Gwen for somehow managing to put a hole through the disc. Anyway, if anyone has a copy of Wii Sports that they don't want anymore, I would be interested in making a purchase from you.
The tile floor is now finished. On friday night, Kerry and I did all of the grouting. I managed to literally wear a hole in the tip of my right hand index finger. I had to plug this oft-bleeding hole with superglue. As such, I've now got a blob of superglue sticking out of my finger. This makes typing interesting.
Last night, Greg and I had plans to go to a metal show at Station 4, featuring the viking stylings of Amon Amarth. Well, we got there and they had already started, and it turned out to be $25. Since we're a couple of cheaparses, we went with plan B: Not seeing Amon Amarth. We went back to my house, drank some beer, and spent some time playing Golden Axe on the wii. That was quite fun.
I was dismayed to find that my Wii Sports disc has a hole in it. Yep, a hole going straight through the disc. I blame Nintendo for not giving me a case for it, but I really know that the blame somehow falls squarely on me for not taking care of it, or on Gwen for somehow managing to put a hole through the disc. Anyway, if anyone has a copy of Wii Sports that they don't want anymore, I would be interested in making a purchase from you.
Big weekend
It is finished. Well, mostly. This weekend, my parents came to town and went to work. On Friday night we finished ripping up all of the old vinyl tiles from the kitchen floor. It was backbreaking, sticky business. Sticky because of all of the adhesive that was still on the floor. This made for some hilarity whenever a cat or Gwen tried to cross the floor, because their little paws or feet would just...stick. It was funny. Poor kitties and Gwen.
Saturday morning I went to class as usual, and my Dad started tiling the floor. That project lasted until 8:00 pm, so he worked for 12 hours and I worked for 8 (with a break to mow the lawn). It's done now, and it looks awesome. It's not such a gigantic change aesthetically, because the tiles are still white. They just look a whole lot cleaner and better and are ceramic. I now have to go through the process of grouting, which is a chore but shouldn't be too big of a deal.
Kerry was camping with her friend Megan all weekend. She had a blast, but I missed her (of course). Gwenner is quite the handful these days, because she's just about two. I had a lot of fun hanging out with my girl.
Saturday night I had some dudes over to play poker, and we had a lot of fun. A good bachelor night was had by all.
Yesterday was rainy, so Gwenner and I went shopping, because I was getting cabin fever and there was nothing else to do. Our first stop was Best Buy, because I wanted to pick up the newest Flogging Molly CD. I have most of my music in digital form these days, but I really wanted a CD that I could hold, look at the artwork, flip through the booklet (in my hands, not on a screen)...that sort of tactile thing. I think that it's unfortunate that those feelings of removing the shrinkwrap from a CD and opening it up and holding it in your hand are all kind of going away. I'm going to hold on to them as long as I can.
Well, we got to Best Buy, and it was closed. I had 20 minutes to kill, so I went to the Target that was nearby. Gwen and I meandered around the store, looking at pumpkins, and I made some random purchases. (A ream of paper, a 12-pack of diet coke, and most importantly, a new ivy cap). When we got to the car, I immediately placed the hat on my head and went to Best Buy. Gwen just held my hand in the store, and we walked up and down nearly every aisle. She got sucked in watching a 60" TV that was displaying elephants and zebras and giraffes and monkeys and all manner of creature that she knows and loves. I was able to pry her away eventually, and we succeeded in my mission of finding music.
It wasn't until I got to the cashier that I realized what a tool I was to be purchasing Flogging Molly while wearing an ivy cap. Ahh well, I'm positive that I wasn't the first.
Saturday morning I went to class as usual, and my Dad started tiling the floor. That project lasted until 8:00 pm, so he worked for 12 hours and I worked for 8 (with a break to mow the lawn). It's done now, and it looks awesome. It's not such a gigantic change aesthetically, because the tiles are still white. They just look a whole lot cleaner and better and are ceramic. I now have to go through the process of grouting, which is a chore but shouldn't be too big of a deal.
Kerry was camping with her friend Megan all weekend. She had a blast, but I missed her (of course). Gwenner is quite the handful these days, because she's just about two. I had a lot of fun hanging out with my girl.
Saturday night I had some dudes over to play poker, and we had a lot of fun. A good bachelor night was had by all.
Yesterday was rainy, so Gwenner and I went shopping, because I was getting cabin fever and there was nothing else to do. Our first stop was Best Buy, because I wanted to pick up the newest Flogging Molly CD. I have most of my music in digital form these days, but I really wanted a CD that I could hold, look at the artwork, flip through the booklet (in my hands, not on a screen)...that sort of tactile thing. I think that it's unfortunate that those feelings of removing the shrinkwrap from a CD and opening it up and holding it in your hand are all kind of going away. I'm going to hold on to them as long as I can.
Well, we got to Best Buy, and it was closed. I had 20 minutes to kill, so I went to the Target that was nearby. Gwen and I meandered around the store, looking at pumpkins, and I made some random purchases. (A ream of paper, a 12-pack of diet coke, and most importantly, a new ivy cap). When we got to the car, I immediately placed the hat on my head and went to Best Buy. Gwen just held my hand in the store, and we walked up and down nearly every aisle. She got sucked in watching a 60" TV that was displaying elephants and zebras and giraffes and monkeys and all manner of creature that she knows and loves. I was able to pry her away eventually, and we succeeded in my mission of finding music.
It wasn't until I got to the cashier that I realized what a tool I was to be purchasing Flogging Molly while wearing an ivy cap. Ahh well, I'm positive that I wasn't the first.
Projects!
A great and total transformation is currently underway in my kitchen. My wifey has taken it upon herself to completely redo the floor. OK, not completely all by herself, but so far yeah. We're going to replace our ugly vinyl with some nice ceramic tile.
Kerry started ripping up the vinyl on Monday night. We had a bit of hope that under the vinyl we would discover wonderful hardwood. When the first tiles were pulled up, we realized that lurking under the vinyl tiles were....
...more vinyl tiles. Which is kind of lame, because they're probably the original 1954 floor, which could mean that they contain asbestos, which means that we don't want to rip them up. No siree. So, we'll continue pulling up the more recent vinyl, and put some ceramic tile on top of what remains and it will be beautiful and wonderful and so on and so forth.
I'm trying to organize a poker game for this weekend, because my wife will be out of town. So far, responses have been slow, but hopefully something comes together...it would be a shame to waste a perfectly good bachelor night. Gwen will be sleeping at that point, which is good, because she's a heck of a poker player and I would hate for her to embarrass my friends. ;)
Well, that's about all I've got for right now. The sun is shining, the air is crisp, and all is well.
Kerry started ripping up the vinyl on Monday night. We had a bit of hope that under the vinyl we would discover wonderful hardwood. When the first tiles were pulled up, we realized that lurking under the vinyl tiles were....
...more vinyl tiles. Which is kind of lame, because they're probably the original 1954 floor, which could mean that they contain asbestos, which means that we don't want to rip them up. No siree. So, we'll continue pulling up the more recent vinyl, and put some ceramic tile on top of what remains and it will be beautiful and wonderful and so on and so forth.
I'm trying to organize a poker game for this weekend, because my wife will be out of town. So far, responses have been slow, but hopefully something comes together...it would be a shame to waste a perfectly good bachelor night. Gwen will be sleeping at that point, which is good, because she's a heck of a poker player and I would hate for her to embarrass my friends. ;)
Well, that's about all I've got for right now. The sun is shining, the air is crisp, and all is well.
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