Happy Easter!

Ah, finally. After the long wait, the glorious day has arrived: where I can once again celebrate the Greatest Miracle. Coffee. I forgot how much I missed it, how miserable I was in the mornings without it. I would wake up, expecting it to be there, and would be so disappointed to realize it was gone. But there is a happy ending! We have returned, like old lovers rekindling their passion. And I don't mean "elderly" lovers because that's gross. Nobody wants to see that. Except maybe Teddy, or his Indian version, Savith. Or maybe Teddy is the White Savith. Hmmm... See? I have coffee in my system once again, and I continue to the incessant, nonsensical rambling. Oh, how I've missed it.

Anyway, Easter was a wonderful day, even if it was colder than on Christmas (according to Kendall, according to the weatherman). I started the day off by going to Mass with Kendall and her mom, who was visiting for the weekend. Then, I made dinner (lemon/garlic marinated pork tenderloin, herb-seasoned potatoes, and apple/Manchego cheese salad... quite tasty) for Savith, Katie, Chris, Jordan, and me. Then it was off to the library where I tried to focus. This proved to be rather difficult, since I had eaten so much food, I thought I was going to die. Topped off with my 3rd cup of coffee for the day. And after a 40-day hiatus, it packs a punch.

Well, now that I have reunited with my dark-roasted Love, I suppose I no longer have an excuse for being grumpy, not getting work done, or taking long naps. What have I done?

"Congress Page," I think I shall miss you most of all...

If we had curtains, I'm sure the final curtain would have been a powerful moment. After countless hours of rehearsals and "cast bonding," Parody has finally come to an end.

The show had a very successful run, with only a few minor mishaps (a poorly-endowed streaker, a broken blacklight, an injured dancer, and mad ad libs). I had an absolute blast. I would have done it just for the Mark Foley solo in "Scandals Back." Sigh. Is there anything better than having friends and professors see you sing about being an "elected pedophile" or dance around in mesh? I argue that no, no there is not.

Arguably just as fun as the show itself were all of the fantastic cast parties (one of which was hosted chez moi. Well, two if you count the post Tommy Doyle's after-party. Which I do.). I would divulge the secrets of HLS Drama Society, but what happens at cast parties stays at cast parties. (False, but oh well, no reason for me to be the source of gossip). Suffice it to say, there was much eating, drinking, dancing, and Kelly's mouth turned green.

The cherry on top of the experience was the post-strike trip to Chipotle. Brandon drove Pam, Trevor, Ken, Lauren Schreiber, Caroline, and me to Chipotle. Pam had acquired the directions. Unfortunately, Google Maps suck worse than MyPlan. What should have been a 7 minute drive to Medford, turned into about 40 minutes of driving, backtracking, round-abouts, and ducking in the overloaded car whenever we passed one of several police stations. Of course, all was made better when we arrived at Burrito Mecca. Especially when we realized that if you were wearing green, you got your burrito for free (St. Patrick's weekend!). Luckily, I was wearing my Marquette "Smart. Safe. Sober." St. Patrick's Day shirt. Between the anticipation and it being free, this was the best damn burrito. Ever.

I think the burrito was a wonderful metaphor for the show itself. It felt like it took forever to get to it, but when we did, it was well-worth the effort. Plus, good stories and great friends came out of the bonding that such an experience entails. Lastly, it ended with a sense of great fulfillment. And a coma.

Cast Bonding
After a week of fun and demanding Parody rehearsals, the end of the Thursday night review called for two things: board games and booze! We celebrated a fantastic first week, as we ate pizza, drank Sodexho wine, and got our Apples to Apples on. (Well, some of us got our Taboo on or Egyptian Rat Screw). I came out the winner of the Apples to Apples game. What put me over was the "Supreme Court" for the dual clues "cold" and "weird." I mean, you just know that's going to be a winner in a group of law students. Of course, you do have to be careful when you play any game with law students, as the evening might dangerously drift towards "Now, what's the standard for review to contest an outcome?" Damn, we're such losers. It was a pretty fun night, even if I did come to realize that my reputation preceded me. How did I develop such a reputation in only a semester? Well, spooning helps. (Friends spoon all the time!). Oh, but it's all in good, clean fun. Ok, not clean. But still fun, and that's what matters.

Midnight rolled around and it was time for us to be kicked out of the Hark South (aka "The Fishbowl"). However, this was hardly to be the end of the evening. Trevor invited anyone remaining back to his place. So, with bottles, cups, and booze, we trekked out in the cold, and got to his place. There, we soon found out that his roommate was home and wasn't feeling well. This was when I offered to continue the festivities at my place. Let the record show that I had offered before, back at the Hark, but I don't think anyone heard me. I mean, my apartment being just across the street from the Hark, it would have been the most attractive choice. So we did.

Most of the rest of an evening is a blur, but the 80 pictures that wound up on my camera sort of helped to piece it together. When we arrived, I was talking with Theresa about my ties (no clue why), and then she tried one on. Which then required that everyone else put on a tie or other Andrew-Accessory as well. So, from there, we partied pretty consistently for a few hours, which included me having to explain a lot of things. Such as "Andrew, why do you have so many ponies?" or "Andrew, are you sure that's a Hello Kitty microphone?" etc. There was a lot of explaining that night. We also had two blackouts (not my fault! they were building-wide) which proceeded into ghost stories and a game of Truth (we were too lazy for Dare at this point). Eventually it was 5:00 AM, and people wandered off home, minus anyone crashing on my futon.

The following morning and day proved to be somewhat brutal, but honestly not my worst. The theme of the day was The Powers That Be did not want me to sleep. I was amazed that I was able to make it to my 8:50 AM Property class. Which really wasn't all that worth it. Almost the entire class was taken up by an exercise discussing a hypo involving lateral support and interpreting the Massachusetts Building Code to see if it provides a private right of action. Fun times! After class, I proceeded to go back to my apartment, where I discover that my lock is broken on the door, and all I wanted was to be able to get in and go to bed. After a few very frustrating minutes, the lock gave way to my rugged masculinity, and I was able to sleep. For about one hour. Then, I heard a very loud pounding on the door as the maintenance people had arrived to paint my bedroom ceiling. There had been a leak that had stained it, and they were here to make it look pretty again. I would have appreciated some kind of heads up, but hey, so it goes. So, I stay awake as they paint my bedroom, and then they finally leave. Now, I can go back to sleep. Except for the fact that my bedroom is filled with paint fumes. Which is not a good combination. Anyway, I get back to sleep for another half hour, before I'm awakened by yet another loud knock on the door. More maintenance people. They came to check on the work. I really do appreciate the maintenance workers and their enthusiasm and thoroughness. But for the love of God, at that moment I just wanted sleep! Soon enough, though, there wasn't any more nap time, as I had to go to dance class. It was quite productive, and I'm amazed that I didn't get sick, considering my combination of lack of sleep, fried eggs, paint fumes, and much spinning.

Finally, after all of this, I was able to go home and have peace and quiet to myself and just crash. Right after I watched Gilmore Girls, of course.

Final Judgment

Ah, waking up this morning, I felt the sweet sense of bliss; I have finished finals! My first semester at law school is officially over! Lying in bed, the possibilities became endless. I don't have to spend countless hours at the computer, pouring over outlines, cases, chicken-scratch notes that no longer make sense to me. I could just rest. Eventually, I rolled out of bed and helped myself to the last Eggos in the freezer (now all that's left is ice and Bombay Sapphire). My food supplies are pathetically low. I didn't want to go grocery shopping, knowing that I would be gone for the week after finals. But I underestimated, and I have no more essentials (i.e. Eggos. And milk.). Blast. Leaving my pitiful kitchen, I ate my Eggos, watched some TV, took a gloriously hot shower, shaved, and just enjoyed the freedom.

It has certainly been a tough semester, and a grueling month since classes let out. It was so bizarre seeing everyone pick up the Civ Pro take-home test. This was the first time I saw many of them since classes ended weeks before. Excited though I was to see everyone, the daunting prospect of the 8 hour final made this less of a joyous social occasion. But I muddled through it, including a very odd question that may or may not have been a typo. The jury is still out on that one! After turning it in, I knew I wasn't going to get any more work done that day. Socializing called. That night, it took the form of Monopoly (Nintendo-themed Monopoly, no less). It was a lot of fun (especially since I won, or at least, had the most worth when we decided to call it quits) and a much needed departure from academia. The other finals just flew right by: Crim, Torts: woosh! I felt really ambivalent about those two exams. I don't like coming out of a test and not feeling proud of my work. But, it seems like a lot of other people felt the same way. I don't know if I really shone or stood out, but I did my best with the question in front of me. Just like in Mean Girls. Once we turned in the last final, it was off to the Cambridge Common for some food and drink! Ah, how I've missed both of them. Everyone was just so thrilled to be done. I was walking around like a zombie, totally wiped out. But an evening of ice skating took care of that. Luckily for us, Harvard Law School has an ice skating rink on our campus. Oh, I thought it wasn't worth it to dig up the sand volleyball court and replace it with a rink for the winter, but it made my evening. That was when it hit me that finals were really over; I was actually having FUN! As soon as I began to lose feeling in my toes, it was about time to call it quits. So, we headed over to our LRW teacher's house. She was kind enough to throw us a party with lots of finger food and drink (including champagne to celebrate!). It was really sweet of her, and I'm always up for free food. The night ended with a few friends over at my apartment. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Speaking of friends, I get to look forward to a week and a half of vacation before the spring term starts. It's going to be great: going to see movies, shopping, and then I'll be heading back to Milwaukee to see everyone and do a few interviews for summer jobs. I couldn't be happier! Although that thought might change once I get grades. . .