I forgot to mention the cat crap! The Mountaineering store by school had a box of “Cat Crap” on the counter:
It’s lens cleaner. I’ve never heard of it, but it sounds like the biggest brand-naming fail since Athlete’s Foot.
I finally broke down and bought a face mask.
Stella and I were walking home when the wind smacked us in the face. We stopped, had an “oh hell nah” moment, and went to the Mountaineering store near the law school.
I bought the face mask for $20 and a thermal hat and neck band for $2 each.
The low tonight is -20. According to the local news, tonight is Minneapolis’s coldest night in five years.
The news coverage of the weather is hilarious:
Perhaps all the national attention actually makes us content: The rest of you, you don’t know cold like we know cold. We’ve got salt. We’ve got snowplows. We’ve got stoicism. We can handle it.
The best part of the story was this:
Zielske, who likes to say she “married into this weather,” said her parents love calling her from Nevada to tell her the Twin Cities weather forecast.
“They’re more obsessed with my weather than I am,” she said. “They have no Minnesota connection — they were born and raised in British Columbia and then moved to the Pacific Northwest, and now they live in Las Vegas — but I think they like to gloat that they have a child who is managing to exist in what they consider this kind of deathly, unfriendly, inhuman terrain that we call home.”
My mother does that too! She lives in Miami but is always aware of the Minneapolis weather. She’ll call from the beach and ask, “Is it cold enough for ya?”
I still love Minnesota. Seriously. But tonight you can find me inside, in bed, under 4 blankets, wearing a sweater and two pairs of long johns.
Me (on phone): “Oh, it snowed about four inches today. I know because I’m looking at a table right now.”
I read the New York Times every morning in undergrad. The Times was available for free at the University of Miami dining halls.
The Gamma house has a Times subscription, but this winter the unread papers are amassing in the foyer. I breakfast with network news now.
According to the Jobsrated.com rankings, a career as a Paralegal (#17) is vastly more desirable than being an Attorney (#82). Why? The Paralegal’s Blog attributes the disparity to stress:
While lawyers rake in an average of $109,207, compared to a paralegal’s $46,155, being an attorney comes with enough stress and anxiety to bring the rating down to 82nd place.
I think the ranking is ridiculous. Saying a paralegal job is better than being an attorney is like saying people should opt for teaching high school drama because movie actors get brutalized by TMZ.
The roads are iced over, the wind chill can reach to -30, and yet I still see bikers every day.
I’m not as bold. My bike has been parked in the basement for the past month. It’ll stay there until things have thawed.
Saturday night Jamie and I went to Tickles for his friend’s birthday.
Jamie: “This is like a supper club.”
Joey: “Yeah, definitely.”
Me: “Uh, what is a supper club?”
Joey and Jamie: You’ve never been to a supper club!?
Me: “I’m pretty sure they don’t have those in Miami…
I think they spent 20 minutes explaining what a ‘supper club’ is. They couldn’t really describe the difference between a supper club and a restaurant, so I was confused until about 5 minutes ago when Wikipedia-ed it. Oh Wikipedia…how I love thee… So what is a supper club?
A supper club is an American dining establishment generally found in the Upper Midwestern states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan.
These establishments typically are located on the edge of town in rural areas. They were traditionally thought of as a “destination” where patrons would go to spend the whole evening, from cocktail hour to enjoying night club style entertainment after dinner.
They feature a casual and relaxed atmosphere. Supper clubs can still be found in the Upper Midwest but they are now simply restaurants rather than the all-night entertainment destinations of the past.
Oh. So it’s a restaurant!
Tickles is advertised as a gay piano bar…but eh. Think of a gross, indie Applebee’s. Take out the fun lamps and wall decorations. Then add a piano, cheesy string lights, gays, and staff it with annoyed, hissy waiters.
We left after a few hours and went to the Gay 90’s. A drag queen performed Beyonce’s Diva. It was amazing. I thought it would be the nightlight of the night until we went downstairs and saw an impromptu version of Single Ladies…
…and the Diva drama continued:
Jamie and I saw “The Spirit” today. Here’s Jamie’s take at Chipotle:
The most surprising thing to about my first Minnesota winter isn’t the cold, but the darkness. These pictures are from around 5pm:
We were warned during orientation: “Winter is miserable. It’s dark when you go to school, and it’s dark when you come back.”
It doesn’t help that the law school classrooms are on a sub-level…
Summer was equally bizarre – when I first moved in August, I was surprised that the sky was still bright at 10pm.
But this isn’t exactly 30 Days of Night. The early nights are healthy. I go to bed earlier and get up earlier to maximize my daylight time. And clubbing? The sun sets at 5pm. Most clubhouses are empty until midnight. By that time it has been dark for 7 hours. No thanks.
In the lobby of the movie theater:
Manager: “Can I help you?”
Me: “What happened to the three cops you had stationed in theater 10? It’s ridiculous in there. People are screaming at each other and running through the isles.”
Manager: “Sorry about that. There’s only so much we can do. I’ll send the cops back in. Talk to me after the movie and I’ll get you some comp tickets.”
Jamie and I saw The Unborn tonight. The theater was full of Bebe’s Kids. There were three fully armed cops (vests, pistols) cursing out tweens throughout the movie. Ghettotastic. The second the officers left the theater erupted in chaos.
Got two free movie tickets out of it though!
Oh, and the movie? B-horror movie at best. Stupid premise, gratuitous cameltoe, and a poor man’s Megan Fox. Don’t believe me? Compare Megan Fox with Unborn star Odette Yustman. Yep. The full snark and pictures are over at Im Kino.
Jamie only drinks 1% milk, which is unacceptable coffee creamer, so I went to the Slum Stop (Quick Stop) for some half-and-half.
All the half-and-half at the Slum Stop was expired so I walked to the gas station a few blocks down the street.
The gas station is run by a pair of Middle Eastern brothers. They know me because I’ve stopped by with Maverick a few times.
The items for sale at the gas station are usually cheaper and fresher than the Slum Stop, and I have no idea why I don’t go there first…
There was a middle aged white guy in the gas station store who let me in line first. He had a thick Minnesota accent.
I thanked him, paid for my half-and-half, and as I put my money away I heard the white guy greet the Middle Eastern clerk:
Clerk: “Hello.”
White Guy: “Hola, Como estas?”
I looked back and exchanged a knowing “bitch please” look and smirk wit the clerk.
I could hear the clerk respond as I left,
Clerk (sighing): “Fine sir. How are you?”
Yesterday reminded me why I love college campuses during winter break.
I spent most of the day reading in The Cube. The Cube is a square-shaped reading area attached to the student union.
The Cube is at the mouth of the Washington Avenue bridge and wedged between Washington Avenue and an off ramp. Here’s an image from wikipedia:
This seems like a horrible spot for a glass reading area, but the view is amazing.
Downtown Minneapolis is visible, and cars whizzing by are not as distracting as I expected.
During the semester The Cube is as quiet as Circuit City on Black Friday…but yesterday it was just professors and international students. I loved it.
On the way home I stopped at the House of Ho, the overpriced neighborhood grocery store. There was a sale on frozen Pizzas.
I baked a pizza for the first time a few weeks ago. Let’s just say it involved some smoke and dodging Jamie’s glares. I decided to try again and…
Great success!
I’ll probably go back to The Cube today if I can peel myself away from this marathon of The First 48. I recognize most of the places in the Miami episodes. They occasionally have a body from the neighborhood…
It’s hard watching this show sometimes. Suspects keep telling the police, “I took part in the robbery but I didn’t shoot him!” not realizing that this is enough to get convicted.
I almost wanted to cheer when a suspect finally told the cops “screw you I want a lawyer!” But then I realized, wait, he’s probably guilty. Hm.
Anyhoot, one more episode (there’s a serial killer in this one!) and I’m cutting myself off.
Oh, Law School Discussion…how I’ve missed thee. I know I’ve written about gunners before but can we just acknowledge this ridiculousness? The topic of the thread is: “How To Respond To People Calling You a Gunner?”
Gunner: Last semester I amply and vastly participated in class and I could decipher my classmates’ opinion of said participation. How best to respond to these (to put it generously) rather immature individuals?
The first response (by “Stole Your Nose!“) was rather good:
My flipcam’s vacation was a little longer than mine. When I was in Miami for Christmas I left my camera in a family friend’s car. It ended up in the Florida Keys.
My mother mailed it back today. There were some left over clips from around Miami still on it. Here they are:
The other video is here.
A Minnesota Court of Appeals has cited a youtube video in an unpublished opinion.
The case is about a 14-year-old gymnast who tried this:
The girl (of course) landed on her head, was injured, and sued.
Now, it’s hard to explain the complicated vault, so this is what the court did:
Goetz began participating in gymnastics programs when she was five or six years old, and it appears from the record that she is a fairly skilled gymnast. She attempted the difficult Tsukahara vault for the first time in the autumn of 2001. When performing a Tsukahara vault, a gymnast runs along a long mat, jumps off a springboard, does a half twist, pushes off a pommel horse with her hands while upside down, does one and a half flips, and lands on her feet facing the horse.1
[….]
1 The school district cited a video of Mitsuo Tsukahara performing his namesake vault at the 1976 Olympics. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TmYqSOYZr0 (last visited Dec. 16, 2008). Goetz did not object to the citation. We found the video to be helpful.
I think this is brilliant. It would be terribly convenient for courts to create a youtube channel that contains videos of pertinent material, including depositions (instead of transcribing them in opinions)…
…heck, or even Westlaw – “Defendant robbed a bank…see the video here.”
… “Defendant cussed out judge and was thrown in jail for contempt of court…see video here.”
Sure, it might put TruTV out of business, but I still think it’s the business.
This story is via Fresh.mn Twitter and Minnesota Lawyer .
Just had an odd exchange at the Pelli Library café.
Me: “May I have a large coffee with room for cream?”
Barista: “Sure. That’ll be $2 please.”
(I hand him my Roast Masters card)
Barista: “Does this have money on it?”
Me: “I hope so.”
Lady behind me (muttering): “Smartass.”
I turn around to find a squat woman smirking at me. I shoot a nasty glare and turn back to the (horrified) Barista, ignoring the commentator.
Barista: “Uh, here’s your card. It has $12 left on it.”
Me: “Thanks.”
Dunn Brothers’ Roast Masters card is a modern punch card. You get a free bag of beans or drink with every $40 you spend.
It’s also a gift card. I put money on it so my bank account isn’t littered with $2.09 coffee charges.
It’s slightly annoying when a Barista asks me if there’s money on the card. I’m not pulling out another card or cash…so, I hope there’s money on the Roast card because otherwise we have a problem…
Can you imagine being asked if there’s money on your debit card before it’s even swiped?
The day started with TruTV , (formerly CourtTV).
I watched about an hour of the Tyler Edmonds murder trial and then went to the law school.
The law school bookstore looked like it was going out of business: a very bored manager and isles full of boxed books. All of the undergrad assistants must still be on break.
Only half of my books were available – not that I’m in any hurry – classes start in two weeks and there are no assignment sheets/syllabi online.
And no, I’m not being gunnertastic – it would be much easier to read at a leisurely pace instead of getting bitch slapped in two weeks with three new classes, job applications, and legal writing.
One of my books for Corporations is three inches thick. My book may be the sole cause of deforestation, global warming, and Seasonal Affective Disorder. The EPA should fine the publisher. The book barely fit in my locker! I eventually (after much heaving and griping) stuffed the brick in my locker.
It’s going to stay there until I get my reading assignments…
After the bookstore I went to Coffman and finished rereading The Broker by John Grisham. I then walked around campus. It was cold, but beautiful.
The only problem with this weather is that I constantly have “let it snow” in my head…
I did some shoveling and then sat down for the Law & Order “mini-marathon” on TNT. The original Law & Order is my favorite show from the franchise because there’s an actual ‘law’ part. SVU and Criminal Intent are almost strictly detective shows. If I want a detective show I’ll watch The First 48.
Winter vacation is nice, but it’s beginning to feel more like rehab than a break. I’m ready to get started again.
Jamie studying the science of sleep.