Head on over to The Shark to read about The Blawgirl’s first day of law school orientation!
One of my favorite things to do when I was younger was watch design shows, especially the ones that had episodes that discussed how to deliver a one-two punch of functionality and form in a small space. From those shows, I learned that in small spaces – and especially in studio apartments – you need to define areas based on their functions.
Apparently, doing so will make even a teensy space feel big.
Keeping this in mind, I made a list of the things I wanted to do in my apartment, and planned the space accordingly. I wanted a place to chill/read magazines/watch TV. I definitely wanted a place specifically for sleep, and not a futon sofa. I needed storage for my books and clothes. And I definitely needed a nice place to study and blawg.
As a result, the living area was divided into three corresponding spaces: a place to study, a place to sleep and a place to watch TV/catch up on the Jon and Kate tabloid fiasco. Take a look. (Note: sketch is not to scale)
Moving involved two days. The first day was devoted to putting stuff in the already-existing shelf space. Day two involved bringing in the bigger pieces of furniture. And thanks to The Boyfriend, my mom, dad and brother, things got moved in fairly quickly. Here are the results! (Click through the mosaic to get to my “Moving In” photoset on Flickr for more details on what went into the space!)
I’m not sure exactly what law school will bring when I get started at orientation next Wednesday. I won’t get my schedule until then. I don’t know what to expect of the teachers I get. I don’t know if I’m going to kill myself over the work load.
The only thing I do know for certain is I’m going to be well caffeinated during the course of the next year.
That’s because there is no shortage of coffee houses in the general vicinity of the Chapman University School of Law, which I live just a block and a half from. On a recent walk to the local library, I passed by at least half a dozen coffee shops and even more restaurants that serve specialty coffee drinks.
Add those to the coffee maker I have at home, and you have a jittery Blawgirl. Hurrah!
Searched for “cafe” around Old Town Orange (Calif.) in Google Maps:
Photo: I Can Has Cheezburger
Teenie me is like me only smaller. Much, much smaller.
In all other regards, we are strikingly similar.
We both wear glasses on occasion. We both have an affinity for messenger-type, cross-shoulder bags. We both love ginormous dogs. We both love chocolate, cheese and the TV show “Chuck”. We both think penguins – or “pengins” as Teenie calls them – have an evil, secret plan to take over the world.
Oh, and we both despise men who pop their collars, except European men because they can’t help it: They’re European. They come out of the womb equipped with Speedos and weird-ass shirts.
I first met Teenie Me several years ago at Anime Expo, where she was just chilling at a booth making snide remarks at all the girls dressed in Sailor Moon outfits who probably shouldn’t be wearing mini skirts and the gross amount of man boobs on display. I appreciated her candor and decided to adopt her then and there.
We’ve been inseparable ever since.
You can see where Teenie’s been so far on my Flickr photostream, and you can continue to follow her adventures here as she follows me into law school.
After a bajillion and a half trips to Target, three local Goodwillls, Walmart, Ross Dress for Less and Marshall’s, and after sanding, priming and painting at least three pieces of old furniture, I have finally settled into the humble abode I will be calling home for, hopefully, the next three years.
And although humble is an apt term for my little studio apartment, I love finally having a bathroom, kitchen and living quarters all to myself.
No more knocking on the walls or floors to ask family members and their friends to please cease their crappy music and unimportant-yet-lengthy conversations because I have to work early the next morning. No more going to the kitchen or to the bathroom in my PJs to find a stranger wandering through the fridge or coming out of the loo. No more sitting on the bathroom seat and immediately sitting up because of some mysterious wet spot. *shudder*
I’m free!
Well, at least for the next week and a half until law school orientation starts. After that, I’ll be married to law school, who will be a bitch of a roommate.
The closest I’ve ever come to going to a circus was on the frequent childhood “family trips” to Las Vegas, when my parents would hand me and my brothers $20 to go play in the arcade. Between two boys and one girl – and despite the keen money management of said little girl – the cash lasted all of 10 minutes. After that, one of our parents or other responsible adult would take us out to the Midway Stage where we would be dazzled by any number of free circus acts while sitting on sticky benches next to the warm bodies of other tourists who may or may not have showered that morning.
This probably explains why the circus I remember from my childhood smells of stale popcorn, the mysterious sticky stuff on those Midway Stage benches, cigarette smoke, McDonald’s french fries and just a touch of body odor.
This also probably explains why today I found the eau de barnyard and exhaust that greeted me as I approached the Ringling Bros. Circus train cars so refreshing.
Unlike the stale, musty odors of the circus I remember, this smelled like life, like the wonderment of youth, like the promise of childhood joy under the big top … and, yeah, like poo.
Visit my Flickr photostream to see/download the elephant photos!
UPDATE: See more video of the elephants walking here!
Because I sat at the helm of my community college and university newspapers once upon a time, stuff like this tends to grind my gears.
According to the Orange County Register, the principal of Orange High School in Orange, Calif., stopped the distribution of a student magazine because it had a “gang-looking” tattoo on the cover and because of a Top 10 list of things to do before graduation that included a clothing-optional swim in the school pool.
I understand where maybe the Top 10 list could be seen as encouraging students to break school rules. But even when students volunteered to tear out those pages the principal still refused distribution because of the tattoo.
Was the principal wrong in doing this? I think so. But what do the legal guys have to say?
From the O.C. Register’s article :
“California has the strongest set of laws protecting student speech and student publications in the nation, said Frank LoMonte, the executive director of the Student Press Law Center.
State law allows school administrators to restrict student speech that is obscene, libelous or slanderous. They can also prohibit material that creates a ‘clear and present danger’ of inciting students to break the law, violate school regulations, or cause ‘substantial disruption’ of school operations.
That may apply to the Top Ten list, with its suggestions to skinny dip and skip school. But LoMonte said a judge might consider the list to be nothing more than satire, and therefore no real threat to school operations.
The tattoo cover and story appear to be ‘well within the protection’ of California law, LoMonte said. The magazine, he said, was ‘not promoting tattooing any more than informing people about a rash of fires is promoting arson.’ “
Luckily for the students, they have a wealth of resources now if they still want to continue publication, albeit in another medium.
If I were in the student editors’ position, as a “frak you” to the principal, I would take the PDFs for the magazine and publish them online through a site like Issuu, then invite members of the school community to comment on it through Facebook, MySpace or Twitter.
It won’t erase what the principal did, but at least the students would get a chance to showcase their work.
Read the story and take a look at photos of the magazine here.
The case is also highlighted at the The Student Press Law Center, the National Coalition Against Censorship, the California First Amendment Coalition and the Citizen Media Law Project.
Photo: zalgon / Flickr
It’s a difficult and sometimes dangerous world out there for journalists. While those here in the states face distrust from the public and disdain from pundits, those abroad often face the terror of tyrannical regimes that don’t believe in the freedom of the press and that would do anything in their power to suppress an idea contrary to their agendas.
Just this past year we’ve seen Sri Lankan editor Lasantha Wickramatunga gunned down, U.S. journalist Roxana Saberi detained and tried in Iran, and, more recently, Current TV freelance reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee tried and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.
It’s infuriating that the North Korean regime chose to pursue legal action against these Americans on vague grounds, but what’s even more maddening is how little we’ve heard from Current TV or Al Gore, who founded the independent news network.
Ever since the beginning of the ordeal, Al Gore and Current TV have been very quiet about the goings on in the Hermit Kingdom. The network also reportedly took down stories and videos about the two journalists on its own Web site.
Further, according to New York Times blogger Brian Stelter, the “two women’s profiles were scrubbed of any reference to the detainments.”
Stelter further reports that:
“It is not unusual for news organizations to adopt a silent stance when their journalists are detained or otherwise endangered overseas. News outlets often choose not to comment as they work aggressively behind the scenes for the release of their employees. But the public nature of Ms. Ling and Ms. Lee’s detainments have put additional pressure on Current to comment about the case.”
If Current TV commented about the case yesterday, I would have said the statement was long overdue. As it stands, even with the news media outlets covering the case more extensively than they’ve done since the beginning of Ms. Lee and Ms. Ling’s detentions, Current TV has not said a word.
It may not be unusual for news organizations to be silent on their journalists’ detentions, but doing so is downright irresponsible. News organizations have a responsibility not just to their public to cover a story without bias, they also have a responsibility to their reporters who often put themselves in harm’s way to get their stories.
By remaining silent, Current TV has failed on both fronts.
Image: @LiberateLaura
The Blawgirl crawls the Interwebz to find steals and deals for the frugal law student and the competitive bargain shopper. Find a new Frugal Finds 11:30 (ish) p.m. PST every Monday through Saturday! Also, each post is updated as I come across items. You’re welcome.
A note from the Blawgirl: Frugal Finds will continue on a daily basis until the beginning of August, when it will become a weekly feature.
Gadgets and Gear:
- Internet, phone and satellite TV starting at $100. Sign up for the Verizon FiOS Triple Freedom package at Verizon.com and receive $150 cash back plus an extra $5 off per month. Price and availability varies by location, but starts at packages start at $99.99 per month. (via DealNews)
- $50 desk. Staples has the Z-Line Aura Desk in silver/clear for $49.99 (Was: $69.99) with shipping at $9.95. According to DealNews, it’s best to pad your order to $50 for free shipping.
Odds and Ends:
- Two makeup kits for $60. Ulta.com has two of its Bare Escentuals bareMinerals Get Started Kits together with the Bare Escentuals Refillable Compact and three product samples for $60 via the directions at DealNews with free shipping.
- Free online makeover. This weekend, the Blawgirl and the Boyfriend went to local shopping center South Coast Plaza to watch my friend (and former boss) take part in a makeover/runway show hosted by “What Not To Wear” host Clinton Kelly! After seeing all the awesome transformations, I remembered that there are tons of videos online that could help even the most clueless of us(*Blawgirl raises hand sheepishly*) achieve a professional look. Here are a couple of videos from hosts I like, but definitely poke around to find someone who shares your same makeup approach (simple and light, dark and glamorous, etc.) There are also tons of hair tutorials out there too! Guys, if you’ve ever wondered what takes some of us so long to get ready, watch these videos.
Photo: annia316 / Flickr
Deep Dark Secret: In which the Blawgirl reveals sordid details about her life and innermost thoughts.
If you’ve read this blawg in the past, you’ll know that the Blawgirl, besides referring to herself in the third person on occasion, loves her some cute. Which is why I was thrilled, to say the least, when the White House finally announced that Pres. Barack Obama had made good on his promise to his daughters and had adopted Bo, hereafter referred to as the First Dog of the United States of America, or FDOTUS.
I was equally thrilled when I discovered that, besides posting candid shots of the president at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the White House’s Flickr photostream also showed photos of the FDOTUS intereacting with Mr. Obama and White House staffers. Here are the Blawgirl’s favorite photos of Bo so far!
Bo being friendly with a staffer:
Bo checking out his new office:
And here’s one that, according to Fox News, shows the president bowing to the FDOTUS. The Blawgirl thinks he’s just stooping over to give him a bellyrub:
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