Hannah's Brain Online!: June 2007

This morning, Meghann and I boarded the number 12 bus as usual, with the same bus driver as usual. Except this morning, bus driver did something a little different. We were stopped at a stop light, when I hear a strange sound and look up. Bus driver was CLIPPING HIS FINGERNAILS. At the stop light. Gross. GROSS. Time and place man! Time and place! Yeesh.

This weekend I hung out at the gay pride festival. More on that to come.

HP 4-Ever

In a sort of HarryPotter perfect storm, the movie is coming out on July 11, and the final book on July 21. I need to find an HP buddy for the movie (I'm thinking one of my boss' fiancee is sufficiently HP hardcore). I think I might go for th IMAX viewing. I'm really excited to see how the actors have grown, and how the filmmakers are going to bring such a huge book to the screen. I'm also excited about the ending... and the kiss... and the DA. And I hope they kept in Trelawney's meltdown.

As for the book-- Whoooo! I'll be in NY that weekend, and am attending the HP midnight magic book release party at BN UnionSquare! Lin, Jess and I are going to geek out. Cannot. Wait. Seriously. How is JK going to wrap it up? Will Ron and Hermione really end up together? WillHarry die? Is Snape good or evil? These are all burning questions.

HarryPotter mania. It's on.

Happy Birthday Baby

Today is Sarah's 24th birthday. Happy birthday Sarah. Hope you're having fun in the motherland. Be good.

Who wants to come with to see Wilco at the Greek Theater in Berkeley on August 24? Anyone?

Small World!!!

This morning I was getting coffee at CaribouCoffee, when I hear someone say my name. I look over, and I see the grown up face of a kid I went to high school with. CRAZY!! Turns out he's a consultant for Accenture, and is working down the street from me on a project. It was really crazy seeing him- I don't think I've seen him since high school. He was a band geek back then, and I remember him as a scrawny, baggy shirt and shorts kind of guy. Now he's all grown up, wearing glasses and looking all professional. He still lives in the Bay Area and I haven't run into him once there, yet we end up standing next to each other at a food court in Atlanta. What a trip. What a strange way to start my day.

It's only Tuesday? What?

I had a pretty fun weekend. Friday night I had dinner with a college friend, who was nice enough to drive us out to the suburbs for some KOREAN food! I miss Korean food. A lot. Saturday I walked to AtlanticStation, did some shopping, and watched Oceans 13. It was a fun movie- the setting was fun, the men were sexy, the caper was clever. Good summer movie- two thumbs up!!! Sunday I had brunch at the FlyingBiscuit with fellow intern Jenny, then went to the HighMuseumofArt and checked out the Louvre exhibit and the AnnieLiebowitz exhibit. It's a pretty nice museum, with a lot of interesting pieces.

It was really hot this weekend. Really hot. And I did a lot of walking. It was the kind of thing where it didn't seem that hot when I went outside, and the walk's not that long... but as I kept walking, it got hotter and hotter and I got glowier and glowier (southern women don't sweat, they glow). It was especially bad when I made the genuis decision to buy a few groceries and then walk home. A few groceries turned into four bags, so the walk home sucked. A LOT. It was most bearable when I walked to church while eating a big ass cup of marbleslab ice cream.

You wanna know what website I love? Yahoo.com. Everyone should go to yahoo.com a lot. Especially YahooMovies. Make frequent, regular visits to YahooMovies. Cause it's the best. Congrats oppa!

Speaking of movies... what day should I buy HarryPotter tickets for? It comes out July 11, and it's playing at midnight the night before. I'd be all for that if Sarah or Phil or someone would come with... but maybe not as fun, and probably not as safe, going by myself. But on the hand, there's something about going to a midnight screening that's awesome (or maybe I'm deluding myself into remembering the midnight showing of LOTR:ROTK as awesome. it might have been just painful.) Thoughts?

Four weeks down, six to go....

Flattery will get you everywhere.

Today on the bus, it was pretty full in the front, so I walked to the back of the bus. It seems that the young African-American gentleman in the very back noticed my still-manicured toes. I didn't hear it completely, but my roommate tells me he said "damn, look at those girl's toes" and "n* don't show off their toes, if you be a n* your momma tells you to put yo feet away." And then he preceded to create a rap. About my feet.

I tried to tune most of it out, but my roommate listened quite intently. It was part of her "cultural awakening" (she's from SouthDakota).

Anyways, I'm a little creeped out. And a little flattered.

I fell off the wagon.

After more than a year of vowing to myself that i was giving up celebrity gossip sites (old favorites like popsugar, people and pinkisthenewblog), I suddenly found myself at popsugar, critiquing Britney's hair extensions, Katie's new bob, Angelina's skinny frame and PoshSpice's baseball throwing form.

I must not fall back into the celebrity gossip/voyeurism trap. Step one: admitting I have a problem.

For the most part, I believe in the legal system. I think it (usually) works, and (usually) ensures that justice is served.

I also believe the tort reform people's claims that frivolous lawsuits are a huge problem is actually a big myth, and is an easy target to blame for things like rising insurance rates, etc. Instead, the tort reform people are in league with the insurance industry, which makes a lot of bad decisions and has no accountability, but blames frivolous lawsuits for their problems instead of corruption and incompetence.

There may be frivolous lawsuits out there, but most get dismissed early on. And I think most people don't really want to get involved in any kind of lawsuit Plus- this is America! Keeping an open legal system, with the courts accessible to everybody no matter how much money you do or don't have, is important!!!

That being said... it's hard to make this argument when a lawyer is suing someone for $54 million over a pair of pants. And I just can't imagine how he possibly thinks he could win.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/06/pants_trial_day_two_we_see_the.html

Also, reading what this judge said on the stand about reasonableness... um... I think he needs a law school refresher course.

Sigh. What am I getting myself into??

I just killed a cockroach.

I came across it when I went to put a spoon in the sink and there it was, lying belly up. It wasn't there twenty minutes ago, so it must have just crawled in.

After a lot of screaming, shrieking, and all around girlish behavior, Meghann made me the cockroach killer.

First, I sprayed the little sucker until it was drowning in bug spray. And then sprayed it some more. And some more. Then I used a piece of tag board to push it onto a notepad. Then I covered it with a paper towel, and ran to the bathroom to flush it down the toilet.

Cockroaches are gross. I feel a little sick.

I was telling Meghann earlier that one thing I was reminded of at church today was that we are so blessed, and take so much for granted. And that we should be grateful that we have a roof over our heads, with consistent electricity and running water and air conditioning.

Maybe this is God have a little laugh at my expense.

This post made me cry.

Help Baby Elyse

I registered with the NationalMarrowDonor Program when I was in college. How bout you?

Junior year, she makes my life difficult when she gets trashed in her dorm, pukes in the bathroom, and gets written up for underage drinking. I get phone calls telling me to come in to RHA and clear it up. I eventually have to go in to say, no, I'm not underage and I don't live in Bobb, but there is someone with my name who actually is underage and actually lives in that dorm.

Today i get a phone call saying that a claim has been filed against me t0 the LaSalleCounty Attys Office for writing a bad check in 2005 while I lived in 1927Orrington in Evanston to a skydiving company. Except that I didn't live in Evanston in 2006, and have never gone skydiving. However... I might be able to think of someone who did, and would be that dumb.

Bizarro Me, why do you keep making my life difficult? Is this payback for not telling SallieMae that I think they're sending me your statements?

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

- Martin Luther King, Jr. (taken from Sojourners)

Dilemma: Land Use or Race and Law??

Land use
Pros:
More practical- especially if I want to work for some type of local/state government
Interesting topic
Cons:
Taught by DotGlancy, my former property prof who I wasn't a huge fan of
Has a paper AND a final (that's a BIG con)

Race and Law
Pros:
Interesting topic
Paper class, have been told it's pretty easy
The topic is totally up my alley
Cons:
The topic is totally up my alley- maybe I should try to expand my horizons

Dear readers, please comment on your thoughts as to what I should do. Thanks.

Memorial Day 2007: Jeremy and Noelle Got Married!!!
Last weekend I went to Chicago to hang out with friends, eat good food and enjoy the long weekend. But mainly, I went to see Jer and Noelle get married!!!

Flew in on Friday night, and spent most of the evening hanging out with my girls at Joy and Byun's place (my hostesses for the weekend-- thanks ladies!!!). Saturday had brunch with the ladies, ran errands with Joy, and then saw a bunch of NU folk at a rained out BBQ. Good times. Sunday morning we woke up to sunshine and blue skies- Yay! Went to church, then went to FLATTOP! for lunch, and drove around the city.

Hanging out in Chicago made me remember what a beautiful city it is, and I still regret not going into the city and exploring more as an undergrad. There's nowhere lovelier than Chicago in the spring. But I still remember there's nowhere crappier than Chicago in winter.

Kids at the BBQ

Reunion!

Christine and Joy and their mirror rooms

But the main event of the weekend was JEREMY and NOELLE'S WEDDING. I'm so happy for them, but still can't believe they're married. Their wedding was a trip on many different levels. First, it was at AliceMillar. Being back on campus, sitting in AliceMillar, passing by ParkesHall, taking a picture in front of the arch... it made me so nostalgic. Second, Jeremy got married. Jeremy. My little brother. The kid who used to bum bonus bucks off of me for the last two months of every quarter. Third, seeing so many old friends. Fun, but crazy. Also, I ran into the parents of one of my friends from junior high, who are family friend's with jer's family. Small world!!

But despite the surreal nature of the event, Jer and Noelle were lovely, and their joy in their wedding and in each other was great to see.

Jer and Noelle

Mr. and Mrs. Law!!!!!

Reunited, and it feels so good. My girls!!!!

My former roomie and I in the garden at the reception place.

Class of 2003.

They're married.

Congrats Jer. See you in Sacto.

Two Weeks

Friday marked two weeks at work. My internship is pretty neato. They actually have us doing real stuff, along with doing some interesting research. They lawyers I'm working with are great too. So all in all-- ACLU? Thumbs up!!!

I have friends! My roommate is great, and we've also added the other girl intern we work with in our litte posse. We hang out.

Boys are gross. We're renting from two guy grad students, and their version of clean is our version of freak nasty. Dirt, grime, grime, dirt= BUGS. Bleccchhhhh. It's a cute house, but it's just so dirty. Also, there's no TV. Which is tragic. No internet either, but we bribed the guys next door into giving us their wireless code in exchange for beer and brownies. Fair? I think so.

My ipod kind of broke. Still works, but the display on the screen is all jacked up. Any suggestions on how to fix?

Last night I was at a bar, and I was the only Asian person in the place. That was weird. Where are all the asians in Atlanta? I can't figure it out.

Where's my money?????!!!!!!

LA LA LAaaaaaa....

So, here I am in Atlanta. Can't believe it's already been 2 weeke. 2 down, 9 to go. The past 3 weeks have been a whirlwind, and I just feel like I'm settling in and getting my bearings.

To recap... finals ended, and I went down to LA. Drove down the day after my last final-- bad idea. It was long, I was by myself, and I was so bored and sleepy. LA was fun though. Hung out with family, ate some good Korean bbq, saw Phil don his AAM persona, met AngryLittleAsianGirl, went to a comedy show and met BobbyLee.

Little MinHyuk