Hello gentlefolks,

 

As you may know, I'm nearing the big day(s).  My test starts on Tuesday.  I've got a place to stay and I'll head up there tomorrow night.  I thought for fun, I'd share a little bit about what I've done.  Here're some fun statistics about my studying period:

 

# of different song listened to on my desktop: 5062 (I have my mp3 player and my notebook a good deal of the time and some of the desktop songs have 5+ listenings)

Approximate number of words written: 220,000 (+/- 3000) - incidentally the length of a good sized novel

Miles driven to class: 1740 (and a few detours)

Number of practice essays written: 192

Number of Times I've filled the same two 750ml water bottles: 85 (I might be off by 2 or 3)

Pages printed: ~300

Gigabytes of downloads: 382

Chocolate bars eaten: 13

Album I listened to the most?  Tie between Guild Wars soundtrack and Last Exile soundtrack at 5 each, followed by the Sweeney Todd soundtrack (at 4)

I finished 5 pleasure books (first 5 in the death gate cycle)

I used my sunglasses 3 times.

I only wore a belt once.

Pots of tea?  At least a hundred.

Times I ordered or paid for or wanted pizza: 0

Brands of pizza I tried: 5 (1 frozen, 4 'fresh' - and the frozen one was better than at least 2 of the fresh ones)

Movies watched: 0

TV program minutes: 2358 (Daily show, Colbert Report, 30 Rock, a few Good Eats, In Treatment 1 - 10, 6 American Dad, 3 Family Guy, 4 Chuck eps, 4 Lost eps)

 

I had kinda hoped to make a log of all the websites I visited between essays.  I think well over 90% fall into a few categories: wikipedia , imdb, anandtech, npr and msnbc news, spoofee, cutlery websites, amazon, and torrent searches.

 

I think that's enough stats for you all to know how exciting it was!

 

I'll keep you posted :)

 

Love muchly, 

Just wrote a perfect Secured Transactions essay.. sadly, two more for the night.. but it's almost like I don't need to do them.  I was hitting these dead on before, but this one was textbook.  Wish I felt so good about some of the other subjects ;-)  Well, at least I can count on 1 ten point essay!

 

Oh.. dinner note: TJ's spelt mix, risotto style, stir-fryed broccoli with almonds, and broiled steelhead trout!

 

Back to work!

I decided against sending my favorite people shots.  I think they'd be interpreted strangely as I look at them regardless of the subject, but I found a few subjects are disproportionately represented in my favorites set.  So instead, I'll give you my single favorite people shot of the year:

He has a name: I call him Steel Reserve for his beer can.  Sadly, I don't have time for much more tonight (and I've already typed out 7 essays today so I'm tired to death of typing).  Wish me whatever luck you have - the next 5 days are going to be hell.

I have just posted my 42 favorite non-people pictures that I took during 2007.  Next week, I will send a collection of my favorite people shots.  These aren't necessarily the best - they are the ones I liked the most :)

Danny found some new toys...

 

After I finished my work today, I went out for a trip to the gym with a secret bonus mission: looking at... grill pans and cutting boards.  These are things I've been looking at for a while because the Stone Family Residence only has 1 small (6x10 or so) poly cutting board, which is wholly insufficient for my needs!  I've been thinking about a bamboo one and I've been pricing them around.  Well, today at target, I found a really nice one for only $19.  And it's big enough to harvest all kinds of vegetable critters! (for you Good Eats fans).  I was looking at the controversial Totally Bamboo brand, but the one I found was like fifteen bucks cheaper and it looks real nice.  I will need to buy a similarly sized poly one at some point, but it can wait for the Shuns... (giggle).

 

Also, I bought some meats the other day the likes of which could not be done justice without the judicious application of heat from raised nubs (yes, nubs.) on a flat surface - the grill pan, king of the indoor... grill pan-ing.  Well, I decided that since I'm starting my fancy future kitchen, I could buy one that was good, so I did.  I ended up with a hard anodized aluminum Calphalon Essentials Pro-series. I figured I wanted something I could put in the oven, and it claims to be perfectly happy up to 450 degrees.  Bonus.  I looked at several make and manufacturers from different stores and decided that, in fact, the extra $20 that the one I bought cost was worth it.

 

So tonight I grilled some zucs and a beautiful chunk (I say chunk because it was nearly 2 inches thick and probably only 2.5 inches wide) of sirloin and it was bad ass.  I haven't had a nice piece of steak in a long time.  A couple times the homeowners have brought home some supermarket meat and offered to share... so, being the good sport I am, I did.  Bleh.  I forgot how bad steaks could be.  I solved the problem - make my own.  And buy decent meat for Pete's sake!  With Costco choice sirloin coming in at a full $2.00 per pound cheaper than the stuff Lowell bought (he made 4 steaks, I did request a less cooked one... two eventually got tossed - more on this) and 10 times better, I'm feeling great!

 

Last night I made a really nice pasta dish, too (multigrain and flax penne, lean roast beef, sauteed zuchini, mushrooms, peppers, garlic, onions, pomodoro sauce).. so I'm doing some cooking.  Actually, this winding up period will be good for cooking.  I'm figuring on about 9 hours of work each day, 1.5 hours at the gym and about 5 discretionary/preparation/cooking/bathroom/scheming hours.  In freezer-reserve I have a full fillet of steelhead trout, a whole double pork tenderloin and 7 neat little packages of sirloin good to go.   I think I'll be eating pretty well.  Oh.  Had a Hogue Fume Blanc last night with my pasta.. it wasn't bad - maybe a little fruity, light pear flavor - good buy at $4.99.  I guess it comes from around here... I need to buy a wine glass - I feel bad about using a 16 oz tumbler for wine.

 

Yeah... wasted food.  I can't believe how much waste goes on in this house!  Jesse frequently makes food for 5 days (when he cooks.. which is pretty rare) and never eats it more than 1 day.  It just sits in the fridge (or on the counter) until I end up throwing it away and chiding him for his negligence!  Now I know I'm on one end of the spectrum (I don't throw anything away), but it's heartbreaking to see so much wasted food.  Speaking of which...I got Jesse to eat some of my pasta last night!  I was so happy because he never eats anything good for him.  Side Note - after dinner, I saw him go in the kitchen and grab a whole box(!) of Häagen-Dazs® ice cream bars from the freezer and take it back to his room.  I think there actually might have been 3 left in the package!

 

I bought my first local coffee this week from a little place called Poverty Bay coffees.  I got two half pounds to try it out.  One of them is really good.  The other is... eh.  I haven't purchased whole beans from Zoka yet as the price scares me a little ($11/lb for the cheap stuff and it goes up steeply from there), but I'm not sure I'm going to stay with Poverty Bay.  Maybe I'll try another bean (they have like 9 different ones, but they're all S. American, and I'm much more of an African/SouthEast Asian bean man, myself), but I think I know the drill.  Zoka actually has some winners from CoffeeReview.com, so maybe I'll bite the bullet sometime and give 'em a try.

 

So I've been downloading lots and lots of classical music (like 20 gigs worth).  I've been listening to a lot of music while studying.  Good stuff.  I was looking for some Deutsche Grammophon stuff, but the torrent community isn't nearly sophisticated enough for high-end recordings yet ;-)  I did find a really nice recording of Rachmaninov (Symphony #2 - 1980 recording, Ashkenazy with the Royal Dutch Orchestra (Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest), always a fav.)   I realized I now have 5 different recordings of two different Beethoven symphonies (in the interest of full disclosure, I've only listened to 3 of them).  I'm beginning to think I won't have enough time in the rest of my life to listen to all the music I have.  I'm probably churning through a good 6-7 hours of music a day.. so I should be able to finish what I have in.. 3600 years?  Oh well.. maybe I'll need to invest in some fancy audio equipment some day and construct a listening room.  I do feel limited by these comparatively pathetic little speakers, especially for fine classical music.

 

Okay.. enough high culture tonight.  Time for beer, porn, and monster trucks?  Enjoy.

 

Oh, btw - Trenton is still in play.  He's just taking the night off.

Bon Soir!

 

It's Saturday night again.  My last class is Monday night - then things get fun.  I've got a medium day tomorrow.

 

Hmm.. I just changed my mind.  I'm gonna write tomorrow.  I'm going to do a couple more essays tonight - made a pot of coffee and I'm on my way!

 

bye :)

Greatings chumps and chumpettes,

 

I just finished my 6th essay today and I'm beat.  I'm visiting the bottom of a bottle of wine I opened last week as we speak as a necessary little reward.  Got to the gym today, listened to my favorite opera (Bizet's Carmen, if you didn't know already), and actually got enough sleep.  The essays were brutal - civil procedure is horendous subject.  I actually think I might try and get ahead one essay into tomorrow's six tonight (if you can believe that).. no I don't think I will, on second thought.

 

Last week felt specifically rough - I was tired and felt like things didn't go as well.  I decided to change my schedule around a little and go to the gym in the morning - that  helped a lot.  I feel pretty good now - civil procedure isn't a total disaster.  I'm actually kinda looking forward to doing more Agency/Partnership/Corporation essays tomorrow.. if you can believe that.  One more week of substantive classes - then it's study-on-my-own for two more weeks.  Then.. Bar exam!  Please come soon, oh horrible exam - I miss feeling free.

 

Amazing.  I am free to do what I want.  No one has any control over my decisions.  Yet, with the bar exam looming, I feel as though my course of action is extremely narrow.  I think about everything I do in terms of the bar exam, studying, commuting to class, futhering my focus, separating myself from anxiety, finding satisfaction in.. less and less.  There's something about the bar exam.  You do things to keep yourself going.  Gradually, those things lose their meaning and their specialness - reward-fatigue.  Also, there are all kinds of things I might want to do that I just don't.  I always want fancy pastries from cool places, but I can't justify them nutritionally or financially or, frankly, motivationally.  They too are a ruse.  It is strange.  Perhaps I am too critical for my own good - I undermine my own motivational tools.  They are illusory and ephemeral, meaningless in the 'grand scheme'.  In fact, short the wonderful cupcakes that were sent up to me by Leah and Chris for my birthday, I pretty much refrain from all sweets.  Okay.. notable exception: I have just finished the last bit of chocolate I brought with me (mom's choco-christmas extravaganza!).  But even still.. it was like 5 or 6 bars of chocolate in a month.  Is that a lot?  I don't know.  I just ate it.  Big smiles for me.

 

Somewhat strangely, I feel like I'm gaining some weight, maybe a couple of pounds.  My diet is exactly what it has been and my exercise regimen is going well.  It's hard to tell, but I do feel like something has changed.  Perhaps I'm just eating more often because my schedule is so funky.  Breakfast when I can.  Something after working out.  Something before I leave for class.  Snacks at class.  Something when I get home.  Sure it sounds like a lot, but it's not really.  (hold on, I'm gonna get an average caloric analysis of a given day and report back..... Average-Heavy day: 2735 calories, 182g protein, 103g fat, 301s carbohydrates, 71g fiber.  This is what I always ate before.  It's not strange at all... I also notice my strength has gone down a little in my normal exercises.  Some of it has to do with new (very ergonomically poor and uncomfortable) equipment and weights but I think there's something seasonal - I remember I had the same thing happen last year - beginning of the year, I saw about a 10-15% reduction in my weights.  I've thought since I was a kid that my body does undergo certain seasonal changes and I guess this is just what happens.  Weird.  Btw.. I can't wait for a new gym... I miss you, NPAC!

 

I got some great news that takes quite a load off my mind.  I've been a little worried about my financial situation recently (well... for the last year) as this period is brutal on the bank account.  I knew I had it coming, but I got confirmation last week that a nice has freed up from my grandfather's estate (a gift to him from my also deceased Aunt Beatrice).  Frankly, it couldn't come at a better time because it will make this next couple of months way easier - I was concerned about paying a deposit on an apartment or having the freedom to move to a place where I get a job... and now I have just enough windfall, that I can survive another 2-3 months if push comes to shove.

 

I have been doing a ton of research on knives (which has probably made my time feel shorter and my studying longer).  I've pretty much decided on Kershaw's Shun Classics.  I love the look and they are exceptional tools.  I also decided to wait to buy them until I have some income.  Even though I recieved a payment for my old knives (you rock, Nick!), I just don't feel right about spending a pile of money on new knives when I don't have any income.  I'll probably buy an interim chef knife to keep myself sane though - the Victrinox RH Forschner series gets rave reviews in the bargain range - you can get an 8" chef's for about $22. If you're looking for perfectly servicable knives in the 'not breaking the bank range', these are pretty choice.  So.. if I finish early tomorrow, I have a mission - to get me a knife and a cutting board worth a shit.

 

Oh my god, yo mutha-fucka weeeeeeeeee!

 

  7_
 <° )_,    PH34R MY KW4YL...
 (___/    H15 N4M3 15 7R3N70N
   -

 

^- he always makes me happy.