Damnit, California.

I have to say, I love Michelle Obama just a little bit more tonight. I was watching the streaming feed on CNN.com, listening to the end of Barack's speech and when "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" started playing, I thought "How could anyone not sing along? It's so catchy!" and that very moment they showed Michelle singing along, even swaying a little bit to the beat.

Happy Super Tuesday.

Date:	2007-06-13 15:24
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	ecstatic

So.... done with college now. That was fun.

Date:	2006-07-23 12:09
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	surprised

I just realized, of my best friends from Blue Lake's ICE in 1999, one is possible divorced, one is recently married, one just got back from serving a tour in Iraq and is engaged and the other is now a high school music teacher.

People should really stop growing up.

Date:	2006-06-26 21:11
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	sleepy
Music:	"I'm Glad I Hitched My Apple Wagon to Your Star"

I just realized I walk past LiveJournal headquarters every day on the way from the train station to my job. I get off the train with people who run this thing that I've been using since I stopped paying attention in Campion's class when we went to the computer lab.

Dude. Surreal.


In other news, the job is going great. It's mostly paralegal stuff, which I could be paid to do somewhere else, but here I'm preparing discovery for defense attorneys and public defenders and transcribing witness statements and suspect statements and sometimes even talking to witnesses (not so much with the suspects) and observing trials and the pre-trial sizing up that the lawyers do of each other and learning how office politics plays against city and state and federal politics and the horrible things that people can do to one another and seeing how different lawyers react to the injustice they find in the system and it's just really really cool. We're waiting on a murder verdict from a trial that started shortly before my birthday, just starting a trial against a locally notorious playboy who supports his lifestyle through stolen jewels, and starting to build a case on a string of bank robberies. I can't see myself being a prosecutor for ever, but I could definitely do it for a while. Definitely definitely.

The gentleman is still galivanting about Europe, soon off to Austria I believe, but I just bought my plane ticket to visit him in July, so I'm pretty happy. Get to meet the rest of the family, and see the Japanese Gardens and the Rose Park and the rivers and figure out where this whole thing is headed. Kenpo started for the summer, and I might be a green belt before senior year kicks off!

That's about all. It's 9:30pm and I'm waaaaay too sleepy, but such is life. Hope everyone's having a lovely summer!

Date:	2006-05-15 06:46
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	wumbly
Music:	Tiny Dancer - Elton John

Just wanted to take a minute to say how grateful I am for life. This has been just about the best quarter ever at Stanford. I woke up at 5:15am for a surprise that went so amazingly well, and I'm pleased as punch. Talked to my madre and grandparents for a while, will now settle down and start studying for my Arabic midterm, after which I'll work on the logic homework and finish my reading for "Race and Crime in America," and pick up a book on abortion politics to read for Thursday. So I'll be rather busy, but I'll be happy and pleasantly distracted the whole time remebering a very speechless morning.

Oooh, and I'm RAing again next year in the same dorm with the same lovely Kate and I'm terribly pleased, but a little frightened of the whole being a senior concept. It's just not right is all.

Date:	2006-03-10 10:00
Subject:	Good afternoon, good evening, and good night
Security:	Public
Mood:	turning yellow and bouncing?
Music:	Never Far Away- Jack White

"In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups: the police who investigate crimes, and ME!"

I know I haven't updated in forever, but I thought I'd share some general highlights, the major one being my job with the SF District Attorney's office this summer. I get to help prepare legal motions, and sit in and takes notes on cases and just generally do everything that they'll let an undergrad do to get some Jack McCoy-style justice about the place.

Also? My building is named "The Hall of Justice." Best office name ever.

The rest of life, in a fairly short round-up: we're now in dead week, so finals are only a few days away. Going home two weeks from Monday for a whirlwind visit, then Spring Quarter brings tie-dye night, Yosemite, RA selection process, 21st birthday memorial sky diving over Monterey Bay, having the Bucket's new significant other take us for a ride in a flying machine, and other fairly amazing things.

And of course, everyone should watch West Wing this Sunday, even if they haven't since forever, because life is all about the lovin'.

Date:	2005-12-25 17:13
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	excited
Music:	Brokeback Mountain Soundtrack

Just wanted to drop a note - we're all packing up and chowing on Christmas brunch leftovers and getting ready for the cab to get us at 4am tomorrow morning to take us away to someplace warm and shiny. It's been great fun being home, spending so much time with la familia, but I'm really not going to miss the wind chill factor.

I hope ya'll are well and in the midst of the happiest of days - it's all quite richly deserved by you guys. Anyhow, much peace, and I'll see Michigan people again in a week or so and California people in two. Yeep!

Date:	2005-12-16 13:15
Subject:	Day is done, gone the sun...
Security:	Public
Mood:	happy
Music:	Questions - Old 97s

Finals are over! Yeep. It's Lau's birthday! Double and triple yeeps. I choose to take this moment to profess my undying love for that girl - best friends from sixth grade aren't that easy to come by these days, and even if they were, she'd still be the best.

Anyhow, Maggie's tagged me with a meme, so here are my simple pleasures. Everyone is welcome, nay, encouraged to list there own. ( In my life... )

Date:	2005-12-12 12:06
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	content
Music:	Redemption's Son, by Joseph Arthur

So. Lots of crappy things have been happening around the dorm, and there's a lot of business with staff stuff that's taking the place of finals this quarter. But regardless, you can still have the best 1-2am ever if you have a good guy friend who's willing to belt out the Elephant Love Song medley with you (vocal roles reversed, of course) as you're chalking 10 ft. tall letters all over campus.

Happy finals, happy holidays, and happy warm cocoa nights.

Date:	2005-11-14 20:45
Subject:	Gokyo
Security:	Public
Mood:	exhausted
Music:	Queen - just any and all Queen right now

I have a blue belt.

That is all.

Date:	2005-11-13 23:42
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	aggravated
Music:	sleepytime station mix

I'm really rather miffed at the Gaieties people. Being a four class dorm with an apathetic middle floor, we couldn't sell a ton of seats for Friday night, so they moved us entirely to Thursday during the middle of a midterm that, like, half of my freshmen are in. Also, this makes it harder for us to get in line early for Harry Potter.

NOT PLEASED.

Date:	2005-09-30 20:50
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	sleepy
Music:	Dirty Dancing soundtrack

I know I'm never good about updating on a regular basis, but I can tell this year may well be the worst yet - at least in those terms. Probably the best in actual living terms, so I'm okay with it. I'm just rather continuously busy with balancing the freshmen and other residents in one life and having a life outside the dorm in another. My freshmen are amazing, kenpo's great, I'm meeting a new group of friends that centers in Arroyo 1st floor, which is a perfect distance away from Mirlo, my classes are especially great this time around and I think I'm actually beginning to shape a realistic course for the next five years rather than just an ideal one.

Currently off to take a nap, timed just right to wake up when the freshmen start getting back from their first night out with tons of alcohol available. Fingers crossed for responsibility!

Oh, who am I kidding? Fingers crossed for not having to call for an ambulance. Everything else is just icing on the Flogressivized cake.

Training is going quite well, life is going quite well. Well, quite amazing really. Tracy sent pictures from the road trip, Nate's on campus for 12 whole months, I'm an RA about to go on staff retreat, I'm going to a party tonight with Jarreau, Josh, Nicole D., Jules, Joe and Grahamzi, Arran's gonna help me get my couch soon and life is pretty damn amazing.

My laptop background is my sister and I by the fireplace, eighteen years ago. I'm in the most amazing mood. Off to small group. Hope everyone's having a wonderful day!

Date:	2005-08-31 18:26
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	excited in a nervous way
Music:	"Ain't nothing but a family thing..."

I am here! Back on campus as of tomorrow (officially), but spent the day around town with the lovely Tracy, Kate, Hammad and Edwin. Am so glad to be no longer living out of a car and to be with such fun people, though I miss the folks back home already. Lau and Katie especially - those were the happiest two phone messages ever.

At some point, I'll do a write-up of the whole trip, but probably not till I'm really moved into the House of MirLords, or whatever it is we finally decide to call it. As of 5.5 hours from now, I'll be officially an RA, and, you know, responsible for things. And people. Dear lord. I'm gonna grab some food and get some sleep and see Wade! and then start loading Baby James with boxes of stuff and nonsense.

Date:	2005-08-23 21:57
Subject:
Security:	Public
Mood:	excited
Music:	Field of Dreams in the background

Thank you for a lovely summer, Grosse Pointe.


Tomorrow morning, we say goodbye to the parents and set off for Iowa City. In the grand scale, we'll be going through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada and California. I promise to take pictures all over the place and to have an amazing time. We're going to try to power through after Yellowstone and have enough time to spend an afternoon with the Berkeley boys before getting to Palo Alto. I hope it works out. I hope I get to see my boys and I hope all of you have a lovely end of summer.


Ma'asalaama.

Date:	2005-08-19 13:47
Subject:	I'm not big on social graces, think I'll slip on down to the oasis...
Security:	Public
Mood:	prematurely nostalgic
Music:	"Friends in Low Places"

So, t-minus 5 days till Tracy and I take off for California. I'm trying to be good and pack early, but every time I start I just keep thinking about not really wanting to leave. I've had a really fantastic summer, and I've had a great time with my parents. Padre and I went to the African American History Museum yesterday, which was lovely, and he's been teaching me how to cook all my favorite dinners this week. Madre and I are going out to lunch in Royal Oak on Sunday and then seeing "Broken Flowers" and baking nut bread and cranberry bread on Monday before I go out to a last supper with the extended familia, whom I won't see till Christmas. Tomorrow, I get to visit Mike! and shadesofbrixton! all day, and I can't help wishing I had at least an extra week to keep doing stuff like this.

On the other hand, though, seeing the first of my freshmen on thefacebook.com, that's been a really good way of getting me out of any homesick-funk. I've got freshmen! From Maryland! And New York! And Arizona! I've even got one of my friends' younger sister, which I think is particularly hilarious. I'm terribly excited about it all, but it is a little strange to think about being halfway done with college, especially seeing my sister starting all over again with law school and all of her undergrad friends now spread across the country for good, not just for the summer.

At least I know so many of us will end up in DC, where all PoliSci majors go to multiply.

Well, four hours and fifty-five minutes later...


I just have this intense desire to fly back to school and be at Kenpo this morning - I need a punching bag. Badly.

Date:	2005-07-15 16:47
Subject:	Radio Silence
Security:	Public
Mood:	anxious
Music:	"Too Darn Hot" from Kiss Me, Kate

After a lovely long day of work, and a quiet toast to a two year anniversay, I'm going to sign off for the weekend. Hopefully I'll be back late Sunday night, in which case I'll rant and rave and finally start updating more often. As for now, have an amazing weekend, all of my wonderful friends. Cheers.

Date:	2005-07-01 17:22
Subject:	Happy Thoughts
Security:	Public
Mood:	wumbly
Music:	Eliz is watching 90210 - does that count?

So today, somewhere around the 14th floor landing, I realized that this really is a fantastic summer. I finished Malcolm X's autobiography at work (which they let me leave an hour early today - well, that's kind of mitigated by the fact that I'd worked 45 min. extra every day w/o pay, but hey, an hour is an hour), I've been having an amazing time with the familia and I get a full weekend of empty house and great friends (cough, shadesofbrixton, cough) and a lovely dip in the pool on Monday.

I also got a postcard today of the former Pope giving a blessing rather reminiscent of a gang symbol. Very familiar ink. A good omen for the weekend, I'd say.