Why Aretha Franklin is the Best Ever

I’m on the Badger Bus heading away from Madison and towards Germantown. Well, technically I think I’m headed to Milwaukee, but somewhere along the line I’m going to get off and veer north towards Germantown. That’s still an hour away. Until then I have my laptop and Contracts book to amuse me. And, of course Aretha Franklin.

Admittedly, I don’t have an album devoted to Her Greatness, but R.E.S.P.E.C.T. does make an appearance on the Forrest Gump album (which I DO have). Oh, Aretha. So strong, such attitude, and such darn good singing! I don’t know much about her (not to self: I should learn more about Aretha Franklin), but I imagine she would be just the kind of woman I admire. She’s not a violent feminist. In fact, I imagine she still conformed to certain societal expectations for women in her day. But she seemed to make it clear: she’d play the game, but you had better know she was in charge. She could still have a broken heart, but she wasn’t about to let some man get her down. She would survive!

I really need to sing that at karaoke soon. I will survive!

It’s interesting… She could be strong and have attitude, but all the guys still wanted her. She was still a big star. She’s my hero.

I’ll stick to law school and karaoke for now.

Of Migraines and M&M's

Mmmm. M&M's are good. Especially with peanuts. And I feel floaty. I warned my professor that I might seem floaty this half of class because of the migraine and nausea pills. She seemed happy to know this in advance.

I saw a former classmate dressed up as spiderman yesterday, running up and down library mall shouting. I'm too young to have senile friends.

My therapist says my migraines are probably due to tension and I need to avoid being so tense. It's hard to be tense when you feel floaty.

Puggy Luv

Tonight I attended a debate gathering with some friends and former co-workers (who are also friends, but whom I differentiate just the same). The woman who hosted had a lovely home on the near east side of Madison, complete with Ikea and Restoration Hardware items and... a PUG!!

As you may know, I don't really like politics. It's deviceive, deceitful and downright dirty. I've watched the debates to see the candidates for myself, without so much spin. Tonight, though, it was more of the same.

Thus, the Pug.

She was a 7 year old puppy who loved to sit on laps and smile. She didn't eat food off the table though it was well within reach. She jumped up towards the t.v. whenever an animal was shown, just to keep us safe. She loved to give kisses and snorted whenever you told her "no." She was just adorable!

Oh, the puggy love!

It's hard for me to imagine feeling more loved than I do after spending time with a friendly puppy. It leaves me feeling warm, happy and sneezing. :)

Darn it's good to be a 1L

I went to see a recital last night by Susan Gaeddert and Julia Foster (two names to look for in lists of up-and-coming). It was the first recital I've attended since leaving my music study to become a law student.

Leaving music to study law was a really hard decision for me. It really took the loss of my voice to convince me that I should go a different direction, but that was only after years of questioning, doubt, worry and fear about my future. How could I turn my back on practicality and any hope of security by following my dream of singing?

I didn't commit to the idea of law school right away. I didn't want to give up my dream, or have a new dream and risk losing it so soon. Yet the more I learned about law school, the more I experienced and understood, the more I knew that this is where I need to be.

Last night, listening to Julia's beautiful singing, it really hit home. It was beautiful; the music took me miles and miles from my everyday cares and worries. It made me laugh, and it really did (almost) make me cry. I could listen and think, "Wow, that's beautiful."

I didn't feel like I had to compete. I didn't feel inadequate. I didn't feel jealous.

I just thought, "Wow, that's beautiful."

And I like being able to think that. I don't miss the other feelings at all. I'm happy just to listen.

I'm doing the right thing after all. :)

A Quick Update

I realize I haven't written in a few days. Thus, since I am home and have time, I will compose a quick synopsis of my week.

I am sad to report that I am still having trouble with migraines. I was migraine-free yesterday and today until about 9:00 p.m. Other than that, they have still been daily, though varying in ferocity. I have made it to all my classes, and even worked out three times this week at the S.E.R.F. I figure as long as I am moving forward with my physicians (I'm seeing her again on Monday) and able to function, I'll survive just fine. Besides, if I'm doing ok now, think of how much I will accomplish when I DON'T have almost daily migraines!

I watched the presidential debates again this evening with a group of former co-workers and friends. It is such a good time to sit around and talk at the television and keep up on the latest in political news. It's a decisively pro-Kerry crowd (what a shocker in Madison), but there is a lot of intelligent discussion about both candidates. At one point tonight it hit me though; we as middle class people (or lower, depending on how much we owe in student loans) will never have the opportunity to run for president. We could never afford to. Seems kinda sad to me.

I tried to donate blood today. I say try because I guess my iron levels were slightly too low for them to accept my blood. HOWEVER this is the first time EVER that I've gotten my finger pricked and not felt dizzy or passed out! I was so proud of myself! I figure that even though I couldn't donate today, I am at least one step closer to being able to donate eventually. Hooray!

I ordered Chinese food for dinner tonight. I was kinda sad it came drenched in brown sauce and the spicy food wasn't really spicy, but this is the first food I've had delivered to my house since I moved here. I'm glad I have been able to hold out so far.

I've also started reading the final Dark Tower book by Steven King. It's really good so far. I anticipate it will take longer for me to read than any of the books so far. Part of the reason is that it's a very large book. Part, though, is because I don't have a lot of time for pleasure reading.

I also took my first bath in my new apartment. It's a pretty good tub. The only problem is that there is no slope to the back end, it's just a ninety degree angle. The bath pillow helps. I'm glad to finally have a good soaking tub that I trust! It sure will come in handy around exams when my back is spasming from hand-writing my 4 hour exams :)

Ok, this has taken me an hour to write with phone calls and instant messages to distract me. I think I'll go cuddle with my hedgehog and call it a night.

After the Storm

I just finished up my midterm for Civil Procedure. It went alright. As much as I worried about the pain I was going to experience through my death-grip of the pen and my shoulder tensing up, having to take the exam with pen and paper wasn't terrible. My shoulder and back are definitely sore, and really, I only wrote for half an hour, so I think I'll need to schedule a massage after all of my semester exams.

The scariest thing about the exam was that I finished in half the time we were allotted.

Looking at the "Model Answer," I did miss a few things, but not nearly as much as I was afraid I would. I think the reason I finished so quickly was that I wrote and thought at the same time, instead of taking time to think first and write second. I think I'll try that think-then-write strategy in the future.

So, I survived. I got 6 hours of sleep, mostly because I stayed up late to do SBA election stuff (I'm running for student council). I packed my lunch for today (mmm hummus and bean sprouts and tomatoes and tomato-basil wrap make a yummy sandwich!). I even planned when I would prepare for my afternoon classes. Law school is hard, don't get me wrong, but it is definitely more survivable that I would have thought.

Ask me how I feel about it after my final exams. It might be a different sentiment.