Sometimes my computer becomes convinced I live in Canada. It doesn't happen every day, but today is a Canada day. Google and Yahoo both are the Canadian version. I play along because I figure there is some mystical power at work (probably a computer virus), but between you and me, it's annoying.

I wish some of you watched Lost so we could talk about the season finale that aired last night. I ended up looking for some online discussion last night, but the 2 sites that I like to visit that are Lost related crashed. Seems I wasn't the only one who needed to discuss their favorite show with strangers.

Harvey Korman died yesterday, and when I read the news on Yahoo!Canada this morning, I let out a passionate, "Oh, no". I had a bit of a crush on him. Reading the brief article, it sounds like he was the very definition of "a fighter". I wonder if he has an autobiography-or if there is a bio in the works?

And the last thing I want to share with you is the progress in Lily's aggressive behavior. I tried to find some techniques from Cesar Milan aka the Dog Whisperer. He doesn't give great advice---he says to be a gentle, calm leader. What the hell does that mean? (It means he has services for sale and if he gives away all of his insight, he will have no buyers.) So I tried the few things I did find in the way of instructions on his blog and in the short clips available online. I made a nearly fatal mistake yesterday by grabbing the food bowl away from Lily because she was growling--Lily bit me, and luckily for me it did not break the skin. There were two teeth marks left--the pointy (incisor?) teeth, and one of them was directly over a major vein on my hand. I could have died, people. It really hurt my hand--I can still feel it today-although there are no marks left. Veins are important.

I will keep trying to rehabilitate Lily.

Oh, and studying for the bar is slow work for me because I cannot get into the studying groove. And I think I will stay here until August even though my lease ends in June. So I am off to the leasing office to extend my lease for a few months. I hope all of my fellow students with jobs lined up are grateful. I have gotten several messages back from the federal positions (paralegal) that I applied for, and I didn't score high enough. What!?! They must rank experience higher than education which I understand but also find ridiculous. I was thinking yesterday how some of my past colleagues had tons of teaching experience but were truly awful teachers, yet they would get hired over someone with no experience--who could potentially be the next movie subject a la all of those movies about teachers who teach at shit holes and inspire their students to stop their wayward ways and become scholars. Whatever. I guess I will have to apply for firm jobs after all. I'm leaning towards family law--the pay is less, but the cases are more compelling (read: interesting). I did pretty well in my Securities Regulation class, but when I think about doing that type of work for 10 hours a day, my bones get angry. Family law--high drama. I'm used to high drama. I can get behind a crazy client bent on revenge against his/her cheating spouse. I feel them. A corporation that wants to issue new stocks and needs to advertise within the law? Boring!

Your neighbor from the great white north, eh!
rp

I need a million dollars, please

http://bestfriendsagain.com/auction/index.html

Disobeying the leash law is a gateway crime..

What is with people around here? Rules do not apply to them, and it is driving me nuts. Last week this girl's dog was off leash and "attacked" me and my dogs. I gave the owner a talking to. I should have gathered the dog up and held it for animal control--next time...
The same girl today parked in a non-parking zone--and there were 2 other legitimate parking spots available.

This is the kind of behavior that makes me see red. Follow the rules!!
Sociopaths. I'll bet the Manson family did not leash their dogs and also parked in non-parking zones.

Is there a new movie-star definition of the term baritone? I ask because Scarlett Johan-a whatever and her people keep calling her singing voice a baritone. I have made it known how much I hate her speaking voice, and I question her acting ability--she always comes across to me as one tone: spaced out. And there is no emotion in her voice. I think you know where I'm headed. Scarlett Johan-a whatever is a robot. I'm a little obsessed with her new album and the one video I have seen--for Falling Down. Normally obsession follows enjoyment or an appreciation for the subject. Not here. I know intuitively that I do not like her music--how could I? She sings with no emotion and I have made loud proclamations about hating her speaking voice. And yet, I am not willing to say outright that I dislike her music. I think she has tricked me by using songs from an artist that I do like. I am not really familiar with the songs she released as I am not a card-carrying member of the Tom Waits fan club. I have one of his crazier albums that makes it difficult to sing along to, but I do like him. I like the idea of Tom Waits--I like him as an actor as seen in Short Cuts and Coffee and Cigarettes. So I think what is happening with her album is she is using her trickery or robot witchcraft to fool me into thinking I like her singing, when in reality I really just like the songs. Scarlett Johan-a whatever is a witch. A witch robot.

The other day I stayed up until 4 am looking at really horrible pictures of autopsies and crime scenes from some of the most famous crimes/criminals. I saw JFK's autopsy photos and pictures from the Tate murder. I looked them up after seeing a short paragraph that one of the female members of the Manson family is dying from a brain tumor/cancer. After looking it up, I found the woman dying was a horrible person--she said she stabbed Ms. Tate because she was tired of hearing her ask for help. And she and a few other of the girls laughed at trial and made a joke out of the whole thing. I'm sure you know the details, or where to find them should you want to know them, so I'll stop there. What I found was a website dedicated to this woman's release, maintained by her husband and another supporter.

Here's where things get interesting. She married this guy while in prison--he is a Harvard grad. I verified this fact on the California Bar website because after reading the website, I was convinced he graduated from some online law school. The website had several spelling errors, and the word effect was used instead of the correct affect. I found a picture of him elsewhere on the web, and he has hair down to his butt. The website contains several pictures of her throughout the years, and I got really pissed at the pictures. It looks like she is wearing makeup and attending dances and other fun functions. I am a firm supporter of the death penalty. She originally was sentenced to death--which made her laugh--but CA did away with the death penalty shortly thereafter, and her sentence was reduced to life in prison. Thus my anger at her having great times in prison.

The plea for her release made me pissed off as well. According to the website, she is the greatest gal in all the land because she is now a Christian and behaves herself in prison, therefore she should be released. They (she and her Harvard educated husband) claim she is a political prisoner. I never did well in criminal law, so I cannot speak with any authority on this, but they (she and her supporters) claim that you cannot keep a person in prison if they would not do any harm to the public-when they are up for parole. Again, I don't know the rules, but I think this is bullshit.

I do remember from the first day of crim law a big discussion on the many theories of the purpose of prison which I am sure you can imagine--corrective, punitive, etc. So, if her supporters think the purpose of jail is to correct behavior, then if the behavior is corrected, then she should be released. However, prison is not really set up to correct behavior. Prisoners don't sit around talking about their feelings with therapists all day. Prison is basically punitive. She was sentenced to death, so how can her supporters really believe she should be released? She is supposed to be dead by now.

This is probably boring, so I will stop discussing it. I will say that I am glad she is dying. I know that is not particularly open-minded of me, but I am really glad her life is ending. I saw what she and her friends did to those people, and she deserves to die.

Side note: I used to support the death penalty for child molesters, but someone made the excellent point that the death penalty will not deter molesters, but instead, create an incentive to kill their victims. But, if one of the victims' parents murdered the molester after discovering their crime, I don't think the parent should be punished.

To take all the crime out of my brain, I spent the next day and night reading my new favorite blog:
http://www.makeupandbeautyblog.com/

I almost went to U of Miami Law School

This clip is amazing.

Here's looking at you, Kevin Bacon: the guy who was arrested today for the Florida forest fires was squatting in the home of a man I assisted at my externship last semester. At least I think he was. Probably shouldn't state it as fact.

I am super obsessed with a ton of things lately--none of which are applying for jobs. I've been looking, just not applying. Someone asked me recently if I regretted going to law school--not sure yet, but I am not looking forward to the loan repayments. I am definitely fantasizing about other paths not taken, and that road not taken always looks far more romantic, prosperous, wonderful than where I am right now. But I am alive and I have the best dogs in the world, so I am content. And I have a six pack of Strongbow which should be chilled by now, so I will soon be temporarily happy--albeit a happiness induced by rotting apples. But you know, happiness is usually experienced as a temporary event, so I am not going to judge myself to harshly.

Did you guys know J.D. Salinger was good friends with Learned Hand?

I had a fantastic weekend with my family and I will probably say more later about that, but just now, I got back my grade in Corporate Finance, and I am pissed. I got an 81, but I really feel like it should have been higher. I think I will schedule an appointment with the professor. I realize I did not stay on top of things throughout the semester, and that I will not take another test with this guy--so why bother, but I put a lot of effort into studying for this stupid exam, and I expected a higher score. I'm telling you all right now that if I don't score a high B on my other test--the one I did not study for--I will be really super-pissed because that exam was ridiculous.