Blogging Dilemma.

When I started this blog earlier this year, it was in part to document the rapid changes that would happen from law school to law firm. I figured it'd be a cool place to store harmless reviews of pop culture, anecdotes from daily life, and skewer the events of the day.

But, things are trickier than I thought. I'm into week 2 of my new job in my fancy new law firm, and for everything I want to write about, be it glowing praise or cynical ridicule, I can find any number of reasons why NOT to write about them. There are far, far too many stories out there about businesses coming down hard on employees who blog about them--and especially in the law where confidentiality isn't just a selling point, it's grounds for disbarment--I don't want to say anything. Trust me, a fellow summer associate almost learned this the hard way last year. (Luckily, I'm so awesome at Googling, I helped tipped her off that she'd best stop blogging about the law firm.)

So what does that leave me? Well, there's always the tried and true pop culture riffs that I like so much. Except that with my new job, I have virtually no time to watch movies or TV, or to read books, let alone blog wittily about them.

So, yeah, the gist of all this? I have no idea. But I'll figure something out to write about. Giving up on something that I'm so awesome at would be decidedly lame.

My Apartment AC Was Just Upgraded to a Digital Thermostat, and I Can Actually Feel Air Coming Out of the Vent.

Also, Alex Trebek knows how to pronounce Concord correctly.

So yeah, good day.

Sweet.

The main reason to keep playing hard to the end? Win the division to avoid the Angels in the first round. But warm fuzzies all around.

Trends and Trivia.

Yesterday, I was trendy, and went to a new green restaurant that just opened up in DC on Thursday called Founding Farmers. Highly recommended DC fare, and environmentally friendly! Of course, I took a taxi to get there instead of walking because I'm lame.

Then I went to Mr. Yogato, which is DC's version of Pinkberry. You can get 10% off if you answer a trivia question correctly. I chose movies as a category:

Name 6 actors or actresses who've played the U.S. president in a movie, and the movie they were in.

Of course, I got it right. And even had a seventh just in case.

I Caved.

Despite everything, I decided to go with IKEA yet again to furnish my apartment. It's just impossible to argue against the fact that my total bill for two shelving units, a bathroom shelving unit, a desk, a desk chair, a coffee table, and a doormat for under 500 bucks.

Even better, I managed to fit it all in my Elantra. Dude. For reals. This car is the size of a baby bunny rabbit, and I got it all to fit.

A view of the trunk from the rear:



A view from the front. The rear seats fold down to open access to the trunk.



I want to have my car's babies.

Scratch That. My DVR Is NOT Working.

No one knows what a "flurge" is. Google it. See?

Re-Connected.

Thank peaches. I'm back online, and more importantly, I'm back with DVR.

It wasn't on my list, and yeah, I know, some people think I watch enough TV as it is, but I happened to have the TV on the CW waiting for the America's Next Top Model repeat to air, when a repeat of Privileged came on. It's about this twenty-something Yale grad who gets hired as a tutor to two rich high school-aged sisters to help them get into Duke. I watched, like, a minute of it, and then another minute, and then another, and before I knew it, I was Z-snapping at the TV screen telling Joanna Garcia to go on with her bad self.

Kill me?

But wait! It surprised me. It sounded like a retread of the Sound of Music, only sucky. But then the show made a really interesting choice -- it didn't buckle under the pressure of having feel-good-comeuppances to placate its audience. Instead, it chose to let the teenagers actually be, you know, teenagers -- self-righteous and short-sighted, but loyal -- instead of Dawson's-Creeky-hyper-clairvoyant. It was awesome.

It's DVR'd... for now.

Phase III, Part II; or How I Moved In.

I am in Washington, DC.

Sheesh.

It's quiet. Too quiet. My cable and internet isn't coming until Monday. Three. Days. Away. I'd forgotten (a) how many days ahead of time you need to call the cable company when moving to an actual city, and (b) how many hours in a day there are to fill when you're single, in a new city, and waiting for your job/school to start. God bless the stupid for their unsecured wireless networks.

I still can't shake the feeling I'm being snowed about my apartment. I've slept one night here. Here are the good things so far: (1) it's quiet despite facing the street, (2) it's clean, I think, and (3) move-in could not have been easier. Here are the bad things: (1) closer inspection is showing some shoddy work regarding the renovations, like massive holes in the drywall where the sink pipes come in, (2) writing on the elevator walls that mimics what is all over the internet, and (3) a rooftop deck and gym that don't look as finished as they promise.

Aargh. Thing is, I bet had I never read those internet reviews, I'd love my new place. It has everything I need. After all, once I start work, I'll be longing for a free minute, let alone an hour, each day. So really, what I need is a clean, quiet, and safe building, and that's it. I've never been picky about my past apartments. Maybe because I've always managed to find a place less expensive than I was expecting to pay, and so I was always willing to accept a few minor inconveniences... like mice or a roommate who'd fall asleep to the TV blasting at 3am. But this time, I got a place that's fairly expensive. I guess I never realized how many little things I'd notice and care about once I, you know, paid money.

Too many thoughts. This is why I need TV. To keep me nice and numb.

I'm Old: Part II.

Every year, Beloit College puts out a "Mindset" list which describes the general worldview of the incoming class of college students. It's a fascinating time capsule of how much things have changed in the past 18 years, i.e. about one generation.

Here's a link to this year's list for the Class of 2012. Some of my favorites:

• Shampoo and conditioner have always been available in the same bottle.
• Films have never been X rated, only NC-17.
• Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
• IBM has never made typewriters.
• They have never been able to color a tree using a raw umber Crayola.
• The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
• They may have been given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in the crib.
• The Green Bay Packers (almost) always had the same starting quarterback.
• The Hubble Space Telescope has always been eavesdropping on the heavens.
• 98.6 F or otherwise has always been confirmed in the ear.

Fall Television.

After twentyeightsomething years of life, the one thing I've come to conclude about myself is that as to pop culture, I prefer television to books and movies, with music bringing up the rear. So, of course, I check myself every so often to see which network I tend to watch the most. Nerdy, idn't it? Lamer yet, it used to be a deadheat between NBC and the WB. So the new fall season has started, and here's what I'm looking forward to, network by network:

NBC.
Currently watch religiously: 30 Rock; The Office; Life.
Has to be awesome to stay on the DVR: Heroes.
New progs I'm interested in checking out: Kath & Kim; Knight Rider; My Own Worst Enemy; Kings.

ABC.
Currently watch: Eli Stone; Pushing Daisies.
Has to be awesome to stay: Dirty Sexy Money; Lost; Wipeout.

CBS.
Currently watch: How I Met Your Mother.

FOX.
Currently watch: The Simpsons; Family Guy.
Has to be awesome to stay: Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles.
New progs: Fringe; The Cleveland Show; Dollhouse; Sit Down, Shut Up.

CW.
Currently watch: America's Next Top Model; Reaper.
New progs: Valentine; Easy Money.

Other.
Real World / Road Rules Challenge is back, baby!

Back to Form.

I think I'm finally over the jetlag returning from Australia. Flying from here to there was much easier to adjust to than flying from there to here. My much promised non-live live-blog of my adventures Down Under are forthcoming.

In the meantime, a vent. I, being awesome, snagged early on the Gmail address "firstname.lastname@gmail.com." What many don't realize is that the period between the firstname and the lastname is just a place-holder: it doesn't distinguish email addresses. In other words, my email could also be firstnamelastname@gmail.com.

This leads me to receive several emails meant for other people with my name. Apparently there's a bunch out there (especially in California -- at least one goes to Cal). It's a problem that I have always had with my name since I got to choose my alumni email address from college, which I selected as "lastname@___.___.edu." Yeah, yeah, not the brightest move on my part, but that format is the norm.