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You are viewing the most recent 20 entries July 1st, 200810:39 pm: Following the leader
My sister posted a blog yesterday, and I felt inspired to follow her lead. I love it when those close to me give me inspiration! :) So, let’s see, what has been happening in my life since my last blog all the way back in March? Well, Aaron is STILL gone. He gets back mid-August. I think I’m handling the distance better than he is (granted, I have plenty of experience with long-distance relationships). Regardless of what he says, though, I know he’s having a great time out on the road in the great outdoors. He is constantly sending me pix messages of his “work” (i.e., him riding his horse out in the middle of Colorado with nothing but blue skies and greenery and mountains surrounding him). I’m very excited for this weekend because I get to visit my darling husband for the 4th of July! Which means that in about 48 hours I will be touching down in Denver and seeing my knight in shining armor once again! I’m really excited about this trip. My parents are also going to be there, as are his parents, his brother, and several of his cousins. It kind of feels like the March receptions my in-laws held for Aaron and me back in Chicago – except this time it will be warm outside. :) I’m still eating mostly vegetarian – although with Aaron returning, I may need to start incorporating some chicken into my diet so that my system does not have a complete meltdown when he returns. I’ve really enjoyed my veggie time. I really have saved a lot of money on groceries – which is saying something these days! I’ve discovered combinations that I never otherwise would have. It’s so easy to throw a chicken breast on the Foreman grill, but coming up with wholesome, fulfilling veggie meals has been a fabulous experiment. I’ve discovered tempeh – which I made into a stir-fry with peppers, broccoli and couscous tonight. Mmmmmmm, my belly is still happy about dinner tonight! J I prefer not to think of myself as “vegetarian,” (and all the connotations associated with that label), but as someone who prefers veggies to meat. I suppose the other big news in my life is regarding Mehtropolis. Sarah, the Artistic Director, is going off to grad school in Florida for at least two years. Instead of letting Mehtropolis go on hiatus for a whole two years (which I think would kill most of us dancers), I am taking over as “Acting Artistic Director.” I will run the show while she is gone. For now, we only have one show scheduled for next June (yes, approximately one year from now). We may be able to squeeze in another show. However, I do not want to guarantee any more than that at this time, simply because I work full time, and am married and would like to spend some time with my husband – even though he’s not here right now. In the meantime, I am enjoying having a little bit more free time. I’ve been rollerblading at the beach on a semi-regular basis. I’ve actually been to the gym. I may even participate in some of the outdoor yoga classes that Santa Monica provides during the summer time!
March 26th, 200811:30 pm: announcement (of sorts)
Sorry it's been so long since I last posted anything of meaning. I’m still working at Extreme. Aaron and I had our first anniversary in December. We went to NYC to see my sister perform at Carnegie Hall and took a carriage ride through Central Park in the snow. It was all very romantic! :) Oh, and we got a cat. Her name is Spoon and she is super-cute! She’s a big ol’ fraidy cat and everything terrifies her, but she seems to be slowly coming out of her shell. Anyway, the main reason for this post is to fill everyone in on a (small) change in my life. Aaron just left to go do his jousting/stunt show and won’t be back until August. I figured with him gone for slightly over four months, it would be a good time for me to make a change that I had been toying with anyway, and now have the freedom to do, which is . . . I’m going vegetarian again. The main impetus for this change is really economical. I just received my first student loan bill (AGH!) and Aaron is taking a pay cut by going off and doing this show, so things are really tight. Bottom line: tofu is way cheaper than beef. Plus, I don’t really like shopping for or dealing with raw meat, so why would I do it just for myself? Now, the deal is that, since this is an economical decision, I’m not going to be super picky about it. If I am over at someone’s house and they want to serve me meat, I will happily eat it. I will just not buy it or cook it until Aaron gets back. And by the time he gets back, I will have developed numerous veggie recipes that I can introduce to him. Hopefully then he will realize that humans do not need to eat meat every day in order to survive. There are many reasons to go veggie, but I’m hoping that this economic reasoning will avoid too much harassment following the “why are you vegetarian” question that inevitably comes up. Which, by the way, is one of my biggest pet peeves. Omnivores never seem to be satisfied with the herbivore’s reasoning in answer to that question – no matter what the reasoning is. It drives me crazy! I was veggie for about a year in college, but I was young and couldn’t withstand the pressure associated with said pet peeve listed above. I was also uncomfortable with the implied imposition on friends and family when I came over for meals or socializing. I’m hoping that this time around, with looser rules and different reasoning, my veggie experience will be a good one – even if it’s not a life-long lasting change.
December 11th, 200711:52 am: update
I think everyone who reads this blog already knows, but just in case - I did pass the Bar. Got sworn in on Thursday. Tomorrow is my first day as a full time Sony employee. Yay!
November 15th, 200705:07 pm: impending doom
I want to know, but I don't. Part of me is quite happy in the 'not knowing' stage - at least right now, there is a possibility of me passing. It is just killing me to know that somewhere out there, is my grade. It's all said and done and just waiting. Waiting to be posted. Waiting to pounce on me. Waiting to change my life. 25 hours from now (not that I'm counting) I will either be rejoicing or lamenting the fact that I must do it all again. I really don't want to have to do it all again. God I hope I pass.
November 4th, 200709:36 am: Life update
Last time I blogged, I had just been offered a temp job at Extreme Music. This time, I have just been offered a permanent position at Extreme. (yay!) I’m very excited about this. Right now I am just waiting for the formal “offer letter” to come in from Sony (Extreme is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony). So, I guess now would be as good a time as any to describe precisely what I do. I am the licensing person at Extreme Music. We license our music to producers who then put it into tv shows, commercials, films, trailers, etc. I draft all the contracts for the entire US group (and sometimes London). Extreme is headquartered in London, so half the people I work with are British (we even have PG Tips in the office!). However, both CEOs are out here in the Santa Monica office. In the US, we have offices in LA and New York. I get to sit in on the marketing conference calls between our LA, New York and London offices once a week. The CEO wants to meet with me to discuss what else I can do for the company with my degree. In some ways, I feel slightly better off than some of my fellow classmates because the impending Bar results (less than two weeks now) do not affect my job security. However, they will help in future salary negotiations. Speaking of the Bar results, I have been really good about putting off even thinking about them until now. Now that I will know in less than two weeks, I’m kind of in count down mode, and it’s a bit frightening. I often find myself getting butterflies in my stomache for no apparent reason, and then I realize the flash of memory of sitting in that gigantic overly air conditioned room has come back to haunt me. And I realize how much I really do not want to have to go through that ever again! The evening of the Bar results, I will come home, check the online list, and then Aaron and I will get on a plane and fly to Chicago for his ten year high school reunion. Which means that I will have to face my in-laws and either be very happy or very miserable. I emailed them and told them such and they have responded with their assurances that I will pass. But what if I don’t? What if they have celebratory stuff all ready for me and then I come home and find out I didn’t pass? Will it be like that scene in “Back to the Future” where they have a cake all made out with congratulations and then have to eat it all sad and miserable? (PS I am not really expecting a cake since we get in at 6am on Saturday and then leave shortly after dinner on Sunday). J
September 8th, 200710:38 pm: I got a job!!!
I am finally employed! I'm very excited about this one. I got it through an agency that specializes in placing attorneys and paralegals. I will be working in music licensing at a place called Extreme Music, which is a division of Sony. It's a temp position meant for a paralegal, and it is scheduled to last 2-3 months - i.e. right up until Bar results come out. I'm really hoping that it is as cool as it sounds. It's in Santa Monica, abou 2 miles from my apartment, and it pays well enough for me to pay my bills (including student loans, but not much else). Oh, and I get benefits after a month. Thursday was a great day for me because I had the interview at the agency, and then they called me with this job while I was in an interview with Disney for a contract administrator position in their consumer products group. I would be perfect for the Disney position, but this one pays more and is closer and came in with a definite offer before Disney. But I'm waiting to tell Disney that I'm off the market until I start my first day at Extreme Music - just in case something goes awry. Wish me luck!!!
September 6th, 200708:13 pm: Visiting the hubby!
For those of you who don't know, I went to go visit Aaron at the Pittsburgh Renaissance Festival this labor day weekend. I surprised him by flying out and showing up (waking him up)in his tent. Surprisingly everything went off without a hitch! I flew out on Saturday, and my plane wasn't scheduled to land until 11:30pm in Pittsburgh, and then I rented a car to drive the hour trek out to the Fair site. I was a little nervous because I was getting in so late and I had a stopover in Atlanta (which you may remember from the honeymoon, neither Aaron nor I have very fond memories of Atlanta). But, both of my planes took off and landed on time. In fact, the one getting in to Pittsburgh came in a little early. I had warned Aaron's boss that I was coming, so I called him when I landed and he gave me detailed directions as to how to find them and which tent was Aaron's. When I got there, I woke Aaron up and surprised him. At first he was very confused, he kind of squinted at me to try to figure out who I was. Then he sat up and poked me to see if I was real. Once he figured out that I was his wife, come to surprise him, he was very grateful and appreciative. It was very sweet! The whole weekend was great! I got to meet his boss, who plays Sir William, and the other knight, Billy, who plays the evil knight, Sir Roderick. Aaron plays Sir Aidan. So I got to walk around the fair knowing that I was Sir Aidan's wife. He was even able to come walk around with me for a little bit. Everyone he works with is really nice and very fun. It was a great experience, and I'm so glad I was able to get myself out there!
July 31st, 200707:17 pm: My Bar Experience
Tuesday: The test was to begin at 9:00 am, but the Bar administrators had warned us to get there by 8:15 in order to set up our laptops. So I left home at 7:15 am to depart on this great journey of mine. I arrived downtown at the civic center concourse by 7:45 and pulled into the very familiar parking garage, where they informed me that apparently only people who have monthly passes could park before 8am. So, I started to stress, but there was another parking lot directly across the street that happened to be $3 cheaper, so it ended up working well. I called my sister, and we did our traditional pre-show good luck ritual. Then I walked down the street and joined the line of very nervous looking people. Being July, it was pretty warm standing there in the sun even though it was only 8am. Eventually they opened the doors and allowed us in. The only items we were allowed to bring into the exam room were our laptops, the power cords for the laptops and a clear plastic bag containing our pens and pencils. We had to leave our laptop cases in the lobby outside. So I took out my laptop and walked into the very large, very grand Golden Hall. Once I found my seat (it was assigned seating based on our applicant number), I set up my laptop and looked around. I’ve been in this room many times before. This is where my parents would take me on election night to watch the election results come in. I had just never realized how pretty it is. I guess I just saw the political booths and TV cameras before. But it really is. Then the test finally began. I opened up the test booklet and read the first question. It was a property question – landlord tenant law to be precise. I was so grateful that the night before I had just gone over a landlord tenant practice question. Then I was surprised that the dispute was between the initial landlord and the initial tenant. No one assigned or sublet the lease. It was just a straight up landlord tenant question. The next question was a torts question – strict product liability to be precise. This subject was pounded into my brain first year. So I was okish with it, even though my mind froze on the specific tests for a moment. The final question was evidence. But what confused me about this question was that they did not ask for California distinctions. This is the first year that California evidence has been fair game on the Bar, so I was very confused at this point. I decided that it was safe to throw some distinctions in anyway. At lunch I was in a bizarrely good mood. I had thought that I would just be completely miserable for the entire three days. But there I was, downtown, where I have so many happy memories. I just couldn’t help it. I looked around the plaza, and across the way was the Civic Centre Theatre where I grew up doing Nutcracker (13 years of it!), and next to that was City Hall where I have sat through many City Council meetings with my parents. Then I looked at all the other test takers, and I couldn’t help but feel I was part of something. Everyone who wants to be a lawyer has to go through this experience. Everyone has to take this test, and knowing that every person in California applying to become a member of the Bar was taking it at the same time as me just kind of felt good. At that moment it didn’t matter where we went to law school or what our grades were. All that mattered was that we had to pass this test. It was sort of a level playing field. The second half of the test was a three-hour performance test in which they give you a “file” and a “library” and then tell you to draft some sort of document. Tuesday’s task was to draft a bench memo to a judge advising the judge whether the plaintiff’s law firm should be disqualified because one of the attorney’s who worked there used to represent the defendant. All in all, I think I handled that one ok. Though I never like to speculate – because whenever I do, it turns out badly. Wednesday: Wednesday was six hours of multiple choice. Icky. And hard! I really truly have no idea how I did. I’m one of those people who always can narrow down the choices to one of two answers and then inevitably I choose the wrong one. So, yeah, really no idea. But the end was becoming closer and closer. I could taste it. My friend, Michelle, from Pepperdine, also took the Bar in San Diego. So we decided to walk to Horton Plaza at lunch. It was nice to get away from the City Concourse plaza for a bit and just sit in the sunshine. Also, they kept that room soooo cold! I seriously though my hands would fall off I was so cold. So it was really nice to get thawed out in the sun. After the test I was in a really bad mood. I just didn’t want to talk to anyone because, like I said, I have no idea how I did. So I decided to go to the gym and blow off some steam. That was a very good idea! I love the gym! I’ve told Aaron that if I’m ever in a bad mood, he should just send me to the gym and it will make everything so much better. J Thursday: Final day! Ok, so this day there was no bizarrely good mood. It was just excitement and nerves that the whole experience would be over soon. Of course, there was a bit of bitterness because I knew friends in other states who were already finished and were probably nursing hangovers that morning. Every day they had told us that the test would begin at 8:15 and the doors would open between 7:45 and 8 am. However, both on Tuesday and on Wednesday, they didn’t even open the doors until 8:15, so we all were sort of counting on them starting a little late. I usually liked to leave a little time on my end just in case. So, Thursday morning I got downtown by 7:45 as normal. I parked my car in the same parking lot as on Tuesday and went to pay the attendant. However this morning the attendant told me that they had no more spaces left. I said to her, “But I just parked my car in a space.” She said she didn’t care and that the lot was reserved only for monthly pass holders and handicapped. I thought it was ridiculous, but what could I do? So I asked where I could park and she pointed across the street. So I got back in my car, navigated the one-way streets around the block so that I could even get across the street. I found the parking lot that the attendant was referring to, but it was obviously a tandem parking lot, which confused me. I temporarily parked my car to try to figure out what was going on, all the while keeping in the back of my mind that my time cushion was very rapidly deteriorating. Then this parking attendant came out and started yelling at me that I couldn’t park my car there and he asked if I was a monthly pass holder or handicapped. At this point I lost it. Bar stress plus multiple parking lot attendants who think they are the kings over their little half block do not equal a happy Brenda. I told him that the attendant over at that other lot told me I could park there and that I was there to take the Bar and he better let me park there. So he told me I could park there, but I had to back my car into another spot, which I then did. I got out of my car and went up to him to ask if I paid him and he said, “well I’m here aren’t I? Why wouldn’t you pay me?” (now mind you there was one of those ugly box things where you can stick your money so I didn’t know if I should pay him or put my money in that stupid box). I paid him and then another Bar taker was pulling in and he told her that he would let her park there but she had to leave her car. At that point I asked if I needed to leave my key too because it was a tandem parking lot, so it made sense to me that I might need to leave my key. He looked at me like I was the most retarded person on the face of the planet and told me that I wasn’t blocking anyone, so why on earth would I need to leave my key with him? Ergh!!!! I walked the two blocks from the parking lot to the testing center just in time to get there when the doors were opening. We started the test by 8:37! I was shocked. Although not as shocked as some other people. I later found out that several people got there after the test began. I would not want to be them. Especially because the third day of the Bar was the hardest testing experience I think I have ever gone through. I looked at the questions and wondered if it just felt harder because my brain was fried by that point. But no, those questions really were harder. They were almost all crossover questions – constitutional law mixed with criminal law (murder and free speech – go figure), contracts/remedies/agency, and community property. It was ugly! I still think I really messed up on my answer to the second question. I’m just hoping that my performance on the rest of it could maybe make up for that. Oh well. The second half of the day was a performance test again – this time we had to draft a letter to opposing counsel persuading them that their client was evil and did not deserve to inherit anything from our client’s very well-off father. It was actually a fun assignment. Though I feel like I could have done better if I could have spent just another half hour on it. It was definitely one of those where I finished just before the timer went off. After the whole exam was over I went home and my parents took me out to dinner. It was so nice to sit there in a restaurant across the street from the beach watching the sunset and drinking a glass of wine. Mmmmmmmmmmmm………………
July 17th, 200705:19 pm: Almost there!
One week from right now I will be driving home from the first day of the Bar exam. It’s scary and exciting all at the same time. (I’ve always identified with that line in Little Red Riding Hood’s song in “Into the Woods” - I think it’s kind of the story of my life. I’m always excited and scared it seems.) I’m finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m still not quite ready yet, but at least I have crammed each individual subject into my head, and now it is time to start to be able to work with them simultaneously and without having just studied my flashcards for each subject. I never thought anything would make law school seem easy – that is, until I experienced this. Seriously, finals seem like nothing. At least you know which subject you are going to be tested on and when. You can go through your flashcards or outline for that subject immediately prior to taking the test. Here, there are something like 14 subjects, and they don’t have to test us on every single one. Oh no, there are some subjects that I am studying right now that I won’t even need to use on the test (Please God, let it be Civ Pro!). Another thing, finals in law school are only 3 hours long (one hour of multiple choice followed by 2 essays). The Bar is three 6 hour days (with one hour for lunch, which makes my total time at the location 7 hours). The first day will be three one hour long essays followed by lunch, followed by another 3 hour stretch in which I have to draft whatever document they tell me to draft. The second day is 6 hours of multiple choice. The third day is a repeat of the first. I feel like through law school I’ve trained myself into getting bored after doing two hours of essays. Seriously, every single practice test I’ve given myself, I get to that third essay, and I’m just thinking “Do I have to?” It’s really hard to keep up the stamina for that long. But, like I said, it’s almost over. I’m really looking forward to one week from Thursday at this time. Then I will truly be free. Then I will finally feel like I have graduated from law school. Then I need to find a job!
July 12th, 200708:09 am: Best analogy yet
Aaron and I were talking last night about the Bar and how I feel like it is all not gelling in my head. We came up with the best analogy yet: This whole law study process has been like one REALLY long rehearsal process. 3 years of law school = VERY long table read 6 weeks of Bar prep class = Tech week 2 weeks of study on my own = Dress rehearsals (some magic happens) 3 days of Bar Exam = performance time Somehow between the mess that can be tech/dress and the show it always seems to come together. At least I have that in my blood. Here's to hoping it transfers!
June 28th, 200710:48 pm: Bar Studies make me crazy!
Thoughts for today: today was actually a much better day than I've had since commencing my studies for the Bar. I didn't have any mental break downs (which is very good). I'm not sure I even cried at all today, which might make this the first day in about two or three weeks in which I did not shed one tear. It's been a very long day - I got up at 4 am to take my husband to the airport, only to find out that he had fallen asleep and had not packed anything at all, and his flight was at 6:30am. To top it all off, he had fallen asleep while he had laundry in the washing machine, meaning that he had a bunch of wet clothes to try to get dry by the time we left. He was rushing around frantically while I sat there in a daze and looked for my glasses because the last thing I wanted to do was poke my fingers in my eyes at 4am to get my contacts in. I never did find my glasses - still don't know where they are - I'm sure they will turn up somewhere. We finally got on the road at 5am, and he got through the terminal and onto his plane ok, so I guess showing up a little late when it is first thing in the morning can work out. On my way back from dropping him off, I thought to myself, "hmmm I could either go back home and sleep for two hours, which would be just enough to make myself really groggy or I could go to the gym, which I've been meaning to do for about a week." So I decided to go to the gym and worked out from 5:30-6:30am. I think that is probably the earliest I've ever been there before! But I really liked it - if only I could get myself up that early on a more regular basis. (sigh). Then I went to class. Today's lecture was on Community Property - it was the one subject that is on the Bar that I did not take in law school. But, I felt pretty good about it because I remembered most of the concepts of Community Property from the 4 years I worked in a divorce law firm prior to entering law school. In fact, separate property is what doesn't make sense to me! :) After class, I came home but there was no parking on my street because it was street sweeping day and Aaron's car was in our parking spot. So I decided to go to the beach and study. It was a gorgeous day today! Unfortunately, the wind picked up and I couldn't get much studying done because my papers kept blowing away. But I was out there long enough to get a slight sunburn on my legs and face - I put sunscreen on my arms, because those are the parts of me that always get burned, and my moisturizer has spf in it, so I didn't even think to put extra on my face. Oh well, I guess that's what I get for being pasty. All in all, it was actually a decent day!
April 30th, 200707:53 pm: count down
One down, two more exams and one paper to go!
April 25th, 200708:56 am: Last Day of School - Ever!
Today is my last day of classes . . . ever . . .er . . .until I change my mind and go for another degree. It's weird to think that this whole law school experience is almost over. In hindsight, 3 years wasn't really all that long. At the outset it didn't seem that long, but half way through it began to get a bit monotonous and felt as though it would never end. Now, I can't believe the end is here! I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. Part of me is glad to be done with it. Part of me is sad. Part of me can't wait to not be in school anymore – again. And a rather large part of me is dreading re-entry into the "real world." I think it's slightly different for my friends who have gone straight through their education, with no break between undergrad and law school. They've never been in the real world, and experienced how much harder it is than law school. Of course, for many of them, they will never experience just how hard the real world is. They will go from their cushy educational experience straight into well-paying jobs with benefits and security, and never know how the majority of the world struggles just to pay the bills and get by from day to day. They'll never know the fear that a mere sinus infection can produce because you can't pay the medical bills because you have no health insurance. I'm not bitter or anything, I just think it's something that maybe everyone should experience just so that they can get a bit of perspective. Here I am, about to be one of those statistics who is graduating from law school without a job lined up, even though my grades would not have indicated that's how this would all turn out. It's not the end of the world. I am sure that I will find some job or another at some point between now and taking the Bar – or at least shortly after taking the Bar. But my life would be so much less stressful if I knew that I had something lined up. Then I could just concentrate on studying for finals and the Bar. But, I somehow have a feeling that a job will not come to me in the next two weeks, so I shall be jobless at graduation. Speaking of graduation, there is kind of a cloud over it in that the sentiment goes somewhat like this: "Yay! I'm graduating!!! Oh wait, I have to go study for two months now and then take the hardest, longest test I will ever take in my entire life." Oh well, I suppose it could be worse. After all, I still have my health – until I’m graduated and have no more health insurance – oh yes, that was a nice graduation from undergrad smack in the face incident that I am not looking forward to re-experiencing. When are we going to get Universal Healthcare like all the other civilized nations in this world?
April 16th, 200707:32 pm: Shooting in Virginia leaves 32 dead
(Forgive me, this entire entry will be completely train of thought – I just have a bunch of stuff I need to get out.) I don’t know why, but the news this morning of the shooting rampage in Virginia left me very depressed. I don’t personally know anyone who was injured. My boss’ daughter goes to Virginia Tech, but she’s ok. (naturally, work was a little crazy today.) I have friends who went to grad school in Virginia, in fact one went to Virginia Tech. But they have both graduated and are now living in a different state. I feel kind of like I did with 9/11. I didn’t know anyone who was there personally, but it still had this profound impact on me – filling me with an overwhelming sense of sadness that I can’t quite explain. Maybe the reason this type of thing runs so deeply with me is because of the impact it has on our country. When I was a little kid, I thought the USA was the best country in the world. I was profoundly patriotic. I subscribed to the blissfully ignorant belief that no other country could possibly be better or more advanced or more free than the ‘good old US of A.’ I was six years old when the Olympics came to Los Angeles, where much of my family is from, and where I live now. That had a profound impact on me – it was my first experience with the sportsmanship aspect of the US v. the World, and from everything I remember, the US rocked those Olympics – it was the year of Mary Lou Retton. My parents went and saw a race or some other event, and brought me back a stuffed animal monkey, which I named George. George is still sitting on my bed to this day with his little 1984 Olympic Gold Medal around his neck. Then I grew up and spent a year and a half outside of this country. It was then that my eyes opened up and I saw the world picture a little better. I saw that other countries can be better and more advanced than our own. I learned that our safety standards and environmental standards fall far behind some European countries. I’m not saying that I became disenchanted with the United States in that short time. And I’m not saying that I’m completely disenchanted with the US right now. But events such as this shooting make me very sad for our country. While abroad, I learned that the rest of the world judges the US based solely on what it sees in the news. I was in England when Columbine happened. All anyone had to say was “well, that’s what the Americans get for allowing guns in their country.” One kid that I was working with at the time came up to me and said, “I wouldn’t like to go to America, there are too many guns there.” They seriously think we are all a bunch of gun wielding psychos. Of course, our President has done nothing to stem the tide of negative world publicity – what with his gun wielding Texas Oil background and hell-bent stance on spreading Democracy throughout the world – whether the World wants it or not. It’s times like this that I wish I could just pick up and move back to England. But there are visas and things like that which get in the way. If I weren’t married already, I might just find a cute European bloke to marry so that I could leave this country – at least until we have someone who is not a complete moron running this country. Anyone know of any job openings for an American seeking to live and work in Europe?
April 9th, 200703:12 pm: haircut
Biggest news in my life right - my new hair. They were doing a Locks for Love drive at school, so I went down and donated 10 inches of it. Here's what it looks like now: 
January 30th, 200709:53 pm: Pictures galore!
Hey everyone, I finally got around to posting all the honeymoon pictures and Cinderella pictures. Here are the links to view them: Jamaica http://new.photos.yahoo.com/thespianlawyer/album/576460762385875887NYC http://new.photos.yahoo.com/thespianlawyer/album/576460762385884720Cinderella http://new.photos.yahoo.com/thespianlawyer/album/576460762387689395The wedding pictures are also now online and available for viewing. go to: http://bellapictures.com/photosevent code: T1217SHERY
December 15th, 200603:06 am: Holy Cow, I'm almost married!
This will officially be my last blog as an unmarried person. I say “unmarried” instead of “single” because, really, I haven’t been “single” for a long time. If I truly considered myself “single” three days before my wedding, there would be something very wrong! Yesterday I was very calm about things. I had finally finished my finals and could focus solely on the wedding: no cramming Con Law or Evidence into my brain, no trying to remember choreography from Cinderella or the Pepperdine show; just wedding stuff. Several people commented to me that they were surprised how composed and calm I sounded. I was like, hey, this is the fun stuff! Today was a completely different story. I definitely was not the calm, cool, collected one who easily faced her most current round of ring fiascos as I did yesterday (see below for a further explanation). Today was just one of those days, where I pretty much cried every other hour. Sometimes out of happiness, sometimes out of frustration, sometimes just because. This whole getting married thing is very weird. You plan for an entire year and a half. The whole time, thinking the “big day” is this distant thing that will someday happen. That someday is this Sunday for me. I am very happy about the marriage part. It’s just the wedding part that seems to be the main stress. I never understood the movie scenes in which the bride (or groom) all of a sudden starts to freak out while at the church getting ready, wondering whether they are doing the right thing. If you’re freaking out on the day of the ceremony, there are probably some problems. I’ve only ever been with one bride while she was getting ready for her wedding, and she didn’t freak out like that. I sincerely doubt that I will either. No, my freaking out is really about this day that I’ve been fantasizing about my whole life, and actively planning for a year and a half. It’s finally going to happen. It’s finally going to be over. And then what? I think the weirdest part to me of all of this is that I’ve spent so long with wedding stuff in the back of my head; it will be hard to switch that off. Granted, it will be a big relief, but it will be difficult. It’s kind of like when the run of a show ends. There’s kind of that post-show depression on your first evening without a rehearsal. You’re glad to have the time back, but you feel a little empty. Of course, it doesn’t take long to fill that hole (cough, cough, bar, cough), but still there is a hole. After all that has happened today, I’m very stoic about the whole thing. Whatever happens, happens. It’s essentially live theatre – including the cast party at the end. At the end of the day, I will be married to one of the greatest people on the fact of this planet. Whoever is there will have a fabulous time, regardless of any hiccups that may happen along the way. Hey, you only get one wedding per lifetime (at least that’s the goal), so why not enjoy it, and not let the little things bog you down? Ring saga: Aaron and I bought our wedding rings the day after Thanksgiving. His fit perfectly, and he could take it home that day. Mine had to be fitted because I have such tiny hands. They told us it would be ready by that afternoon. So, the next day I went down to pick it up. Nothing had been done to it. I decided to double check my ring size, and lo and behold, my finger is even smaller than I thought it was. I gave them my corrected size, and was told it would be ready by the next day. Aaron and I went back to pick up the ring the next day, and still nothing had been done to it. I gave them my phone number and told them to call me when it was ready. After about 4 days and still no call, I decided to call them. They said my ring was ready, so I went down to pick it up. My face fell when I saw my ring. They took this beautiful, simple ring, and turned it into the bastard child of the ring I purchased. It looked like the jeweler tried to get my ring small enough by squishing a circle into an oval, and then when he couldn’t get it quite small enough, he added these ugly ball things to the inside of the ring to make it fit right. I tried it on, and it fit on my finger without sliding around. But I could feel the stupid ball things on my finger. This is supposed to be my wedding ring. I’m supposed to wear it 24/7. I can’t put up with those stupid ball things 24/7! I started tearing up, and the lady at the counter told me not to worry, and that they would fix it. It would just take a little longer. At that point I had two weeks before the wedding, so I gave the ring back to them to fix. Aaron and I went down last week to pick it up, and the jeweler was still working on it, but he was there and told us to wait an hour, and he would be done with it. I was so excited to finally get my ring! We strolled around the mall (all the while I was thinking about my remaining exams). I finally got my ring. It fit. It didn’t have stupid ball things. It was beautiful. When we got home, I was in the process of admiring it and discovered that three of the diamonds were loose in their settings. So loose, in fact, that one completely spun inside the setting! I took the ring back the next day to get it fixed. The guy who helped me took my phone number and promised he would call me when it was done. Yesterday, I got a call from the store. My ring was done! I went in to pick it up. By now, they all know me by name. This time, I inspected the ring very carefully before leaving. I poked each diamond to make sure none were loose. That is when I noticed that it looked like one of the diamonds was cracked. I had the lady behind the counter look at it with her little jeweler’s magnifying glass. Without a word, she took it over to the manager, who then called me over to her counter. “You’ve gone through a lot with this ring, haven’t you?” she said. Yup, yes I have. Fortunately, the diamonds are covered for life. This is where we are at right now: my cracked diamond is being fixed/replaced. It should be the jeweler’s first project when he gets in tomorrow afternoon, which means I can pick it up Saturday. Yes, the day before my wedding I will (hopefully) have a wedding ring. Otherwise, we might just have to improvise with a Ring Pop!
October 31st, 200611:41 pm: October blog - Happy Halloween!
Another month gone by – and much has happened to me this month. The two biggest things: my wedding shower and my 10 year high school reunion. Here are the highlights: Wedding Shower – October 14, 2006 (aka Countdown to W-day) My shower was a wonderful, exciting, and very disorienting experience. When I arrived (after spending 4 hours with Ken Starr – but that’s another story), I walked into the house (Sandy hosted the shower at her rather large home in Thousand Oaks) and there were like 30 women there, all because of me. At first it was a bit overwhelming – everyone was there. Aaron’s mom came out to California for the shower. Aaron’s aunt was there. And then there were all my relatives that I usually see only on Christmas and Thanksgiving and other special occasions. I had several Mehtropolis people there. Really, the weirdest thing about it was having my family friends and from all different aspects of my life there in the same room at the same time. But then I warmed to the idea, and it wasn’t quite as daunting. Basically, I just had to remember my birthday parties when I was a kid. All my friends (and some family) gathered around to give me presents. By the end, it was rather fun being the center of attention. J By the time I got used to being the center of attention, the shower seemed to be going too fast. I wanted to enjoy every minute of it. After all, this was only going to happen once in my life. My sister set up an awesome champagne bar with loads of fun extras to put in the champagne – Peach Schnappes, Crème de Cassis, strawberries, orange juice. I tried one of each. J (fortunately they were small glasses and it was a long shower). Julie made her famous brownies (basic brownie mix with chocolate chips added). She even went above and beyond by cooking them in a heart shaped pan! We snacked on sandwiches from Costco, and there were purple, lavender, white, and pink M&M’s in little bowls all over the place. We played the TP wedding dress game. They made me leave the room while my friends and family broke into teams and created a wedding dress out of toilet paper on one of the team members. I decided the best place for me would be in the dance studio downstairs (yes, there is a dance studio in this house. It’s basically an added on room with a wood floor and a mirror – very fun!). So I practiced some of my Cinderella solos while they designed the toilet paper dresses. Then I came up and judged each gown and decided who “was in” and who “was out.” (If you watched Project Runway, you will get that. If not, watch it next season – it’s surprisingly good). Once it got to be present opening time, I faced the mountain of gifts and dug in. My friends would not let me be nice to the wrapping paper, so I had to rip it, which is very uncharacteristic of me. Everyone was so generous! The presents took so long to open that we had to take a break in the middle to eat the cake (which I still have some in my fridge because they made me take home the leftovers). After the shower was over, Aaron’s mom and his aunt, my parents, my sister and her boyfriend, and J-fer, Jenni, and Kim, all came back over to my place to drop off the gifts and go out for dinner. I called Aaron and told him to brace himself for the onslaught of presents. Fortunately he had done a really good job of cleaning before that, so at least we started with a good base. Unfortunately, law school and rehearsals have made it very difficult for us to actually unpack all the gifts, so we still have a huge pile in the living room. But that’s ok. High School Reunion – October 20, 2006 It’s official. I am old. I have now been out of high school for 10 years. But, that means I got to go to my high school reunion and see how each of us has turned out as a contributing member of society. I wish I had loads of dirt to report from the reunion – but I don’t. Overall it seemed like a good time was had by all. Some people looked exactly the same, while others were hardly recognizable (in both good and bad ways). Some of us have aged well (or not at all) and others, well, you can see who has had life take its toll already. We’re only 28, this is supposed to be when we are all still young and gorgeous and full of life. By our next reunion, we’ll be almost 40, our formative years will be over, we all will (hopefully) have lives. Right now we are still figuring things out, and just now finally getting a grasp on who we really are as human beings. So many people were still just finishing school – mostly grad school (like me). Although, some people got sidetracked by life – jobs, kids, husbands, etc – and are just now getting back into school. There were several people there who were “just a mom” – not that that is a bad thing or anything like that. I just can’t identify with it at all. J-fer Aaron and I all went together. We arrived at the hotel at the same time as another group of class of ‘96ers. I remembered all but one of them. Unfortunately, the one person I did not remember, was the one person of the group who remembered me (even though he called me Rebecca – but at least he had the last name right). We stepped into the foyer of the ballroom and checked in. Posted up on the wall was the banner we all had to sign at after-prom predicting where we would be in 10 years. Mine said “I will be a famous dancer/actress.” Hey, at least I got the “dancer/actress” part right – so I’m not famous and I’m doing other things in addition to dancing and acting, at least I am still doing it. Several people have moved up to LA. In fact, one person happens to work in the building across the street from where I work. Definitely a random small world! There was a DJ and some dancing, but honestly not enough for my tastes (note to all those coming to my wedding: there WILL be dancing – be prepared). My one disappointment with the whole evening is that I always thought the 10 year reunion would be a much bigger event in my life. You know, there are movies and tv shows entirely based on the 10 year reunion. I based a lot of my personal timeline in life off of what I wanted to have accomplished by my 10 year reunion. I don’t really feel reconnected with too many people that I wasn’t already in contact with. It certainly wouldn’t be enough for an entire story line in a movie. It was just another party, but with people I haven’t seen in a long time. I don’t think it helps that Aaron and I had to come back up to LA very early the next morning. I shot a commercial the next day and my call on set was 8:30am in Hollywood. The commercial shoot was really fun. It was for North Kansas Hospital, so none of you will probably ever see it. The basic premise was that they needed a dancer for some artsy shots. I stood there in my leotard and tights, and was backlit – so it was basically me in silhouette – and I danced around while they focus on various body parts. There is this one shot of my hand where I kind of do a very slow “dying swan” move that looks really cool! I can’t wait to see the finished product. :)
September 16th, 200602:09 am: Pics
I finally uploaded all the pictures from my camera. So now you can look at pics from last Christmas, the Nightmare Man Premiere Party, and my trip to NYC to visit my sister! check it out: www.photos.yahoo.com/~thespianlawyer
12:31 am: bitterness, happines, and frustration
Right, so I missed last month – so sue me! Oh wait, you can’t, there is no cause of action for that, let alone any damages! J lol – that’s a little lawyer humour for you. “Lawyer humor, is there such a thing?” you say. Oh yes, and it’s all just about as funny as that. So maybe it’s not really humour after all. Anyway, my life right now is a very odd mixture of bitterness, happiness, and frustration. I think the reason I haven’t been blogging as much lately is because I still have a significant amount of bitterness and frustration inside of me, and it sometimes feels like those two emotions take over the happiness. Let’s face it, who really wants to read about a bitter Brenda? Well, maybe you do, so here it all is, take it for whatever you want to take it for. Bitterness I am still so bitter about my OCI (On Campus Interview) experience last year, that I feel it is really overshadowing this year. I literally spent the entire school year last year looking for a summer job because NONE of the bazillion interviews I had from the Pepperdine Career Development Office turned into anything. (note to self: NEVER rely on OCI, or the Career Development people for a job). So I am terrified that I am going to spend the whole year this year looking for a job for when I graduate. I don’t think I can take that again. I really don’t. The worst part of the whole thing is that most employers aren’t even looking at 3Ls. They’ve already filled their quotas from their summer associates. There were literally 3 firms from the OCI employers this year looking at 3Ls that even remotely interested me. That’s opposed to the 10 I interviewed with last year. My current job has expressed an interest in me for when I graduate. I really like working there, but I’m not sure they will be able to pay me enough. All I want is a job that will pay me enough for me to live off of and pay my student loans back. That’s it. Is that really so much to ask? Happiness Ok, enough whining for now. On to the happy part of my life: I’m really excited about getting married. Sometimes I get scared and think to myself, “wait, we’re not ready. This is too soon.” But then I stop and realize that even if I were 40 I might not feel ready. I think it’s one of those things that you’re not necessarily ready for until it actually happens. That said, it is really exciting, and I can’t wait to start my life with Aaron. Not that it hasn’t already started (we do live together now), but I mean officially “start my life.” This whole living together thing is pretty fun too. I actually get to see him. Well, really I see him when I kiss him goodbye in the morning. But that’s more than I got to do when he was living in Pasadena. Oh, and we’ve already received a couple of wedding presents. Yes, I am now officially an adult because I have my very own set of china! It’s soo pretty. We’re going to have to have people over so we can eat off of our china!!!! Other fun stuff, last night I got to see Dennis Quaid’s band perform. A DJ that I have been talking to regarding potential DJ services for the reception invited me to this event. It was really fun! The show was at a place called Aqua in Beverly Hills. One of those places where you walk downstairs from street level and it’s all swankified down there. Sarah and I went (Aaron was busy) and met the DJ guy was there. It was awesome! This DJ is also a swing dancer, so we were able to find a small section of dance floor and dance to most of Dennis Quaid’s set. Frustration Most of my frustration stems from the bitterness of not being able to find a job. I’m kind of at the point where I don’t know where else to look and I’m already getting burnt out on the whole job hunt thing in general. Is it too late to realize 3 years and $150,000 into your legal education that you really don’t want to be a lawyer after all? That’s about where I’m at right now. Other frustrations have to do with wedding planning. Weddings are just so ridiculously expensive! We still need to line up a photographer, DJ (maybe), and florist. Not to mention finding rings for each other and planning the content of our wedding. We are thinking of doing the “ipod wedding” where we just load up a bunch of songs onto an ipod and then have a friend MC whilst plugging the ipod into the speaker system at the location. The upside is that it is significantly less expensive. The downside is that it means we have to collect all of the music that we want to use. The photographer thing is also really frustrating because you say the word “wedding” and all of a sudden the prices jump dramatically. Unfortunately, none of my artistic friends seem to be available that day – either that, or they don’t want to deal with weddings. I had an appointment set up with one photographer (who was going to give me an AMAZING deal) but then he called me and told me he thought I was talking about December of 2007, not 2006. And then very vaguely told me somebody had already booked him for that day. Even though I very clearly stated in my initial email (so it is in writing) that I needed him for this year. So you see, happiness, bitterness, and frustration. That is my life right now. I will try to be better about blogging, but it is kind of hard when I’m in one of my bitter or frustrated moods – mostly because I don’t want to give the wrong impression. I’m not a bitter person in general, just about certain aspects of my life.
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