divine angst

Chicken Magazine posted this (as did E. McPan) and I thought I’d jump in. These are the top 106 books tagged “unread” at LibraryThing. The idea is to bold the ones you’ve read, underline the ones you read for school, and italicize the ones you started but didn’t finish. I did all of that and also bold-underlined the books I originally read for school but have since reread for my own pleasure.

I started out pretty hot, but got more lukewarm towards the bottom. Not sure what that signifies, since I’m not sure how this list was ordered. Jump in yourself if you want!

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
Anna Karenina
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Crime and Punishment
Wuthering Heights
Catch-22
The Silmarillion
Don Quixote
The Odyssey
The Brothers Karamazov
Ulysses
War and Peace
Madame Bovary
A Tale of Two Cities
Jane Eyre
The Name of the Rose
Moby Dick
Emma
The Iliad
Vanity Fair
Love in the Time of Cholera
The Blind Assassin
Pride and Prejudice
The Historian: A Novel
The Canterbury Tales
The Kite Runner
Great Expectations
Life of Pi
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
Atlas Shrugged
Foucault’s Pendulum
Dracula
The Grapes of Wrath
Frankenstein
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Mrs. Dalloway
Sense and Sensibility
Middlemarch
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Sound and The Fury
Memoirs of a Geisha
Brave New World
Quicksilver
American Gods
Middlesex
The Poisonwood Bible
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Dune
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
The Satanic Verses
Mansfield Park
Gulliver’s Travels
The Three Musketeers
The Inferno
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Fountainhead
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
To the Lighthouse
A Clockwork Orange
Robinson Crusoe
Persuasion
The Scarlet Letter
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The Once and Future King
Anansi Boys
Atonement
The God of Small Things
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Cryptonomicon
Dubliners
Oryx and Crake
Angela’s Ashes
Beloved
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
In Cold Blood
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
A Confederacy of Dunces
Les Misérables
The Amber Spyglass
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Watership Down
Beowulf: A New Verse Translation
The Aeneid
A Farewell to Arms
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
Sons and Lovers
Possession
The Book Thief
The History of Tom Jones
The Road
Tender is the Night
The War of the Worlds

I admit it. I’m a HUGE nerd. So much of a nerd that when I read this Volokh post, I actually tried to explain my hysterical laughter to Mr. Angst by briefly recounting the constitutional requirements for administrative appointments.^[1]

1. Note that at least part of my hysterical laughter was inspired by the masthead on the actual article referenced in the Volokh post. ↩

I don’t know whether to laugh hysterically or cry: LOLcat Wasteland

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, and unblague tagged me, so I thought I’d comply.

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night.
My brother, telling me about how he’d trekked to a not-so-good part of town for the sole reason of getting The Best Fried Chicken in his town.

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Sleeping.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Washing my face, brushing my teeth, getting ready for the day.

4. What happened to you in 2006?
I finished my first year of law school, started my second year of law school, wrote a 65-page paper (holy moly), and got a dog.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
“I guess they lost it, and we’ll have to get you a new one.” To Himself, after discovering the vet (where he was boarded last weekend) lost his new Kong bone.

6. How many beverages did you have today?
So far, two cups of coffee.

7. What color is your hairbrush?
Red.

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
A pack of Guinness cans (for Guinness lamb stew), a bottle of wine, an appliance light bulb for our refrigerator, and a tube of facial cleanser.

9. Where were you last night?
Home.

10. What color is your front door?
White. Well, sort of cream-white.

11. Where do you keep your change?
In my wallet. I used to keep it in this cute beaded change purse I have, but that got to be a pain, switching between my wallet and the change purse. I don’t know how people use change purses.

12. What’s the weather like today?
Beautiful, if a little cold. Sunny, no clouds, a little breezy (I’m guessing; I haven’t been outside), and under 50°.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Um, I can’t answer this. All the other flavors might get upset.

14. What excites you?
Right now, putting the pieces together to create an outline for The Task. Getting to a place where I could start putting together an outline has been hard, but now that I’m there, it’s really exciting to see it all falling into place.

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
I really need to. It’s not a bad length right now, it’s just a little too long and is starting to scream “soccer mom.” I just need a trim.

16. Are you over the age of 25?
:::whimper::: yes.

17. Do you talk a lot?
Depends on the day, my mood, and who I am around.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
No. I think I watched five minutes of one episode once while I was trying to find something else to watch.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
More than one.

20. Do you make up your own words?
Yes. I have used my own made-up words in class, even.

21. Are you a jealous person?
Like, romantically? No. In other senses, though, yes; I am jealous of other people’s success sometimes, I am jealous of other people’s social ease, things like that.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
I have a lot of friends whose names start with the letter ‘A.’

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.
My name starts with a ‘K,’ does that count?

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
My brother. (See #1, supra)

25. What does the last text message you received say?
“He loves it!”

26. Do you chew on your straw?
No.

27. Do you have curly hair?
My hair is wavy enough to be curly if I work at it, but otherwise, no. I usually blow it out straight anyway.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
A meeting with a professor. Well, before that, I have to walk my dog, but that’s not going anywhere; we just walk around in a big circle through the neighborhood.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?
I have known some really rude people. And rude in different ways. So this is hard to answer.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Toast with butter.

31. Will you get married in the future?
Um, am. So, I hope not.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
I am not sure I’ve seen a movie in the last two weeks. I think I watched part of Independence Day on TV last Thursday. It’s not a GREAT movie, but I like disaster-type movies, so I was enjoying it.

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
That’s a strange question. I’m going to say no. I’m in a misanthropic phase. (Of course, I love Mr. Angst, always, but that’s not what this question is about, I don’t think.)

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
This morning—I rinsed last night’s dishes, loaded the dishwasher, and ran it.

35. Are you currently depressed?
Stressed, yes. Overwhelmed, yes. Depressed, no. The first two can often send me spiraling towards the third, but I’m keeping it in check.

36. Did you cry today?
No.

37. Why did you answer and post this?
I like memes, it’s been a while since I’ve done one, and I didn’t have anything else to post today.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.
I think everyone else has already done it. Pick it up if you want to!

Go vote for Kim to win the $10,000 blogging scholarship! All of the other nominees are COLLEGE students, for goodness sakes. Have some solidarity! Vote for the law student!

I’m pretty sure I know this guy. And he’s as douchey as he sounds.

Best lolgrims evar.

If anyone–and I mean ANYONE–spoils Harry Potter for me before my British copy arrives from the UK (probably Monday), I will hurt them. That includes the stupid MSM and all bloggers I regularly read.

You’ve been warned.

I used the Symptom Checker on the recommendation of a fellow blogger. I was just checking to see what funny things it would come up with to explain “weight gain and bloating in the tummy because of too much food paid for on someone else’s dime.” (For the record: many of its responses were acceptable.) The thing I found funny was that a potential symptom for abdominal ailments was “worm in stool.” Because that needs explanation?

Oh, hooray! E. Spat is back! Everyone run over and tell her you’re glad she’s back. Because I’M glad she’s back.

Lyco has a TERRIFIC post about law school and money.

Frankly, we don’t talk about the monetary realities enough–and I mean the realities. Yeah, we all bitch about our debt, we all complain about loan repayment, but we don’t actually talk about the hard numbers and what they represent. Lyco has–and it’s FANTASTIC, all about priorities and dreams and balancing. Go read it.

Do you think Volokh & Co. realize their domain name is down? (It’s been intermittent since Sunday–a victim of mini-Y2K?)

You can still access the VC via their “real” URL, volokh.powerblogs.com, but you can’t comment or do anything interactive that way. And I had a good comment (for this post)! And I can’t! Boo!

I’ve been tagged at Unblague with a food meme. I like food. So I’ll do this one. Also, I feel bad for never getting around to the Christmas song meme.

1. If you were stuck on an island and could only eat one cuisine (e.g., French, Italian, etc.) for the rest of your life, what would it be? Why?

Um. Cheese and bread? Cheese and pasta? Cheese and broccoli? Is “cheese” a cuisine? It should be. No, seriously, I’d have to say Italian, but that would have to include the whole boot. So not just the standard Southern Italian red-sauced pastas, but also the clean, fire-grilled meats and veggies from Tuscany, and the seafood from Tuscany, and the clean flavors and simple palette of Roman food. I could live on that. Plus, the coffee and the wine are almost unbeatable.

2. What is the most unusual food you’ve eaten?

I honestly have no idea. I’ll eat just about anything without thinking twice, and I don’t tend to keep track. It’s likely the most unusual thing I’ve eaten was consumed in a sushi restaurant, where I am in the habit of asking for the chef’s special–I love the surprises! I’ve also eaten menudo (though I started refusing that many years ago) and that’s pretty unusual. (For those not in the know, menudo is a soup whose primary ingredient is tripe.) I’m not sure tripe is “unusual” but it is gross, so maybe it counts.

3. What is the most unusual food you’ve eaten and liked?

Again, probably some form of sushi. I also like those little baby octopi you sometimes find in seafood restaurants or in paella.

4. What foods will you avoid eating (either because of a dietary choice or allergies or just plain don’t like)?

Tripe. Duh. Also, even though they are such an “in” veggie right now, I still can’t stomach brussel sprouts. There are certain flavors in Thai food I can’t really handle, too–usually something like Lard Nar. I don’t particularly care for mayonnaise in excess. But for the most part, I will almost anything you put in front of me. Not often, perhaps, but I’ll eat it at least every now and then.

5. Do you cook (and by that, I mean prepare a meal that you’d serve to friends)?

Um, yeah. See?

6. If yes, what is your favorite dish to prepare to impress someone?

There’s this great salmon recipe I got from Emeril–panko and wasabi crusted, pan-seared, served with a ginger-orange beurre blanc. That stuff kicks butt. I’ve also done a really good leg of lamb. Pork tenderloins are good for crowds, since I slice them into medallions. And I’ve made really yummy, flavorful savory vegetarian red beans and rice. I’m good at lasagne and any variety of other Italian foods, and I make a really good osso buco. Just for a few of the things I make.

7. When you go to a restaurant, what’s your ordering strategy/preference?

I’m not sure I understand this question. Strategy? Preference? I try to order things the restaurant is known for or good at–so, if I’m at a steak place (and in the mood for steak), I will order a steak. I also try to order things I can’t make or don’t make well. That prevents me from criticising the food too much. In that vein, I also try to order things I’ve never tried, if that’s possible, and if those things don’t have flavors I don’t like. (Like green olives in food. I really don’t like green olives in food.)

8. Have you ever returned a dish or wine to the kitchen at a restaurant? Why?

Yes–I’ve returned pasta with chicken for lack of chicken; steak for being overcooked; steak for being undercooked. I myself have not returned wine, but have been at the table when others have returned wine. I WOULD return wine, though.

9. How many cookbooks do you own?

Six or seven? Maybe a few more? I also have stacks of printouts from online recipe sites, a book of my own recipes, a book of recipes from my best friend, and a folder of recipes on my computer.

10. What is one food that you wouldn’t want to live without?

Cheese. Chocolate. Wine. Steak. Varieties of shellfish like Gulf shrimp, scallops, and lobster. Why are some of these questions so hard??

OK, back to my risotto. That’s cooking, on the stove.

I take my last exam tomorrow. That means, of course, that I spent tonight finalizing my outline and preparing it to be well-used, should I need to use it. (The best sorts of exams are the ones where the issues jump right out and you never need to use your outline. So I hope I won’t have to use my outline tomorrow, but just in case, I want it READY.)

I had this brilliant idea that, since I’d spent some time color coding certain things in my outline–highlighting for some things and font colors for others–that I would just pop down to Kinko’s to print it off in color. We have a laser printer at home, and it doesn’t print in color and I wanted COLOR, dammit!

But I did not want color enough to spend ONE DOLLAR PER PAGE to have my 47 page outline printed in beautiful, glossy, laser-printed color. No sirree. I hauled my butt–IN THE RAIN–down to the Kinko’s only to discover that color prints cost a f–king DOLLAR EACH. And, frankly, I didn’t feel like spending FORTY-SEVEN DOLLARS on my outline. No matter HOW pretty it is. I mean, 90% of it is BLACK, so the $47 I would spend to get that 10% color seemed unreasonable.

Back home I came, then, and printed it out in black and white–and it’s not nearly so pretty, even though I attacked it with multicolored highlighters so I get at least SOME of the same effect. But it was FREE to print at home, and that, I suppose, makes it all OK.

I’m off to bed, now, to get as decent a night’s sleep as I can (still debating whether or not I should take some Nyquil; I think I’ll just take a regular Sudafed, except the “regular” Sudafed doesn’t actually have any Sudafed IN IT), before I wake up early and go get this thing over with.

By the by, I know I was tagged with the Christmas song meme, and I PROMISE I am going to do it. I’ve just been really, really swamped over the last few days, what with doing all this learning and outlining (and last-minute Christmas shopping and shipping, too).

Happy holidays, all! I’ll be back tomorrow, likely somewhat tipsy.

Hef more significant than Castro? I’d have to agree. For one thing, I bet more American men would recognize Hef from his picture than would recognize Castro. (I won’t go so far as to say they wouldn’t know who Castro was, if only because of the embargo on Cubanos, but it’s entirely possible most young American men wouldn’t know who Castro was.) For another, um, sex! A decaying communist regime might be interesting to some folks, but sex is interesting to almost all folks.

That being said, I’ll note that Playboy, as a “sex” publication, is pretty outdated. I know their circulation numbers are down, and I know they have a hard time attracting that golden demographic, the 18-24 year-old set. Maybe it’s because Playboy actually has good-quality journalism. It’s not always stuff I agree with, but it’s at least well-written. In some ways, Playboy is like Vanity Fair, but with naked ladies. There’s always a celebrity interview, to bring in the casual reader, a selection of political articles, and fiction. If Dominick Dunne wrote for Playboy, there would be NO difference between the two (except, again, naked ladies).

So, yes, Milbarge, Hef is more significant than Castro. But maybe he shouldn’t be.

I personally have not composed a post for the incoming 1Ls this year (I did some of those last year, after I started law school) but I think they are completely valuable. Last year, I had to sift through so much BS when I was reading about law school–what to do to prepare (or what not to do), how to behave (or not to behave), what things to make time for (and what things to forget all about).

The Namby Pamby and Calculating Bitch of There’s No Competition in Law School have decided to step in and create a whole blog just for pre-law advice. I’m plugging it, mostly because I think advice from actual law students is good (compared to advice from other 0Ls on the boards) and any advice that’s current is good.

You can find their stuff here, at Wish I Would Have Known. Enjoy!

And if you’re an 0L with a blog and you’re not on my blogroll, let me know!

LQ tagged me with the movie meme. The rules are as follows:

A. Pick 11 of your favorite movies.
B. Then pick one of your favorite quotes from each movie.
C. Post the quotes on your blog.
D. Have commenters guess what the movie is.
E. Either strike out the quote once it has been correctly identified or place the guesser’s user name directly after the quote.
F. Extra points for knowing the actor or character’s name.

Here are mine! Guess away! And no cheating with Google!

Movie #1:

And from now on, stop playing with yourself.

Dave!, of Preaching to the Perverted totally nailed this one. I don’t know the actor’s name, either, but this is from Real Genius, when Mitch is talking to Kent through the implant in his mouth, and Kent thinks it’s Jesus. The best part is that, right after Mitch says this, Kent’s response is, “It IS God!” Classic.

Movie #2:

Waitress: What do you want in your omelette, sir?
Man : Nothing in the omelette, nothing at all.
Waitress: Well, that’s not technically an omelette.

Stare Decisis correctly identified this as John Cusak as Martin Blank in Grosse Pointe Blanke.

Movie #3:

Do I have a nightgown on? No, I don’t. Would you mind turning around for a second? Oh, never mind, it’s such a corny line anyway. I’ll turn around myself.

Joey at Yayarolly goes to law school got this one: Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) says this in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

Movie #4:

She is starting to damage my calm.

kmsqrd of Quo Vado? got this one: it’s Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin) in Serenity.

Movie #5:

Baby, I am not from Havana!

Dave! got this one, too–finally! It’s from Blazing Saddles, spoken by Bart to Lili Von Shtupp.

Movie #6:

Once it hits your lips! It’s so good!

Peanut Butter Burrito knows that this is from Old School–Will Ferrell as Frank the Tank.

Movie #7:

I am a choreographer. That’s what I do. You are cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are dancers who have gone retarded. What you do is a tiny, pathetic subset of dancing. I will attempt to turn your robotic routines into poetry, written with the human body. Follow me, or perish, sweater monkeys.

Jeanne from My So-Called Internet Life knew this: it’s from Bring it On. The speaker, by the way, is the irrepressible “Sparky.” I don’t know the actor’s name.

Movie #8:

Fester, fester, fester. Rot, rot, rot.

The Namby Pamby knew that this was from French Kiss. Meg Ryan’s character Kate says this to Kevin Kline’s Luc.

Movie #9:

Don’t tell the elf.

Dan at Last Moderate Republican correctly identified this as Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. And it is high comedy.

Movie #10:

Wasn’t there anyone else there to lavish you with attention?

Janine from Very Unnecessary knew that this is from Lost in Translation; Bill Murray’s Bob Harris says it to Scarlett Johannsen’s Charlotte.

Movie #11:

I am FILLED with Christ’s love!

Q from Passionate Discourse got this one: Mandy Moore as Hilary Faye in Saved!

And, in grand meme tradition, I get to pass it on. Cella and Randolph Jurisprudence have had so much fun with music lately, let’s see what they do with movies. And Citations should have to do it, too, since she’s [finally!] done with school.

Randolph Jurisprudence and Cella Bella posted their third-track playlists earlier this weekend, and invited me to join in. So here’s mine. I’m not entirely happy with it, but I’m posting it anyway, because I think it says a lot about the way I buy and listen to music.

First, the rules required that the song be the third track on the original album–so no compilations, best-ofs, or soundtracks. But all I have are compilations, best-ofs, and soundtracks. Or individual songs purchased individually. As it turns out, the Belle & Sebastian song below is one such, that just happens to be the third track on its album. But I don’t own the album, just the song.

Think about what this means for music! The fact is, most of the songs on my playlist are from albums I’ve owned for no less than five years. (Aimee Mann is one exception, but I only have her music because someone gave it to me a year or so ago. I would have been more likely to buy single tracks than the entire albums. The Dixie Chicks are another exception, but Home is just an exceptional album, in my opinion.) The reason it’s so short, too, is that, of the complete albums I own, these are really the only nine songs I like enough, and that “fit” well enough to make a cohesive playlist. I suppose I could have thrown in some of the experimental instrumental music I have–or some of the English choral music I have–but I’m not sure the first would fit in any playlist, and I don’t know if songs from the latter would fulfill the “original album” requirement.

So here’s my Track Three playlist. I don’t like it. It’s too flat, too boring. But it has its own message. Hopefully that message doesn’t also include a postscript about how crappy my taste in music is.

1. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band)
2. Red Vines, Aimee Mann (Bachelor No. 2)
3. Please Do Not Go, Violent Femmes (Violent Femmes)
4. Travelin’ Soldier, Dixie Chicks (Home)
5. Weather, Jackopierce (Bringing On The Weather)
6. Perfect World, Liz Phair (Whitechocolatespaceegg)
7. Lost In Space, Aimee Mann (Lost in Space)
8. If She Wants Me, Belle & Sebastian (Dear Catastrophe Waitress)
9. With Or Without You, U2 (Joshua Tree)

This is fascinating. Teenagers are like…dogs?

Notably, I can hear the sound in one of the clips Amber provides, but not in the other. However, even when I can hear it, it’s not so noticeable that it would work as a ring tone for me.

sponges reproduce sexually: Nuh uh! Oh, OK, maybe they do sometimes. Lucky sponges, they get the best of both worlds, I guess.

Mario 3 beaten in three minutes: Dude. Not possible.

show me your tramp stamp: You first.

have you ever danced with the devil under the pale moonlight: Oddly, I am the sixth result on Google for this one.

having a baby as a 1L: I didn’t.

narrow-heels wooden floors: I’d think they’d be loud.

“jodi Foster” revolution iran film: I honestly have no idea what this is about.

women marrying last names: I think they mostly prefer to marry people. I’m not sure marrying a last name is legal.

Guess what? You may be screwed before you even start the LSAT! I blame the test site, yessiree. That’s what I get for waiting to register and having to take it at the old, dinky college in town instead of the big state university.

Face it, constitutional protections may not be afforded to the undead. At least not under strict scrutiny. And, frankly, I can’t imagine an anti-vampire law would fail rational basis. Sorry, ye undead. Sucks to be you.

Finally, a cautionary tale about taking work too seriously. Or at least about taking care of yourself as well as your clients.

OK, break’s over.

THIS is exactly what I need right now.

First: cookies. YUM. Second: peanut butter. Also YUM. Third: NUTELLA. We all know how I feel about Nutella. Also, as an added bonus: ice cream, M&Ms, and caramel sauce.

Con Law continues to be shitty. Yesterday’s pissiness over the paper fiasco, though, has morphed into a fervent drive to learn every inch of Con Law, and f**k my professor’s inability to teach it to me. I feel very zealous. And every good zealot knows that cookies, peanut butter, Nutella, ice cream, M&Ms, and caramel sauce are soul foods. Excuse me, I may have to go find 3000 calories and consume them.

You Are an Excellent Cook

You’re a top cook, but you weren’t born that way. It’s taken a lot of practice, a lot of experimenting, and a lot of learning. It’s likely that you have what it takes to be a top chef, should you have the desire…

First seen at LQ’s place