TheresaMD's Xanga

Update

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 13:55:08 GMT

I haven't updated in awhile, but I'm at work so this will be short. My boss is on vacation this week, so work here is light. I'm working for Richard Cordray, a candidate for State Treasurer. He's a Democrat, and even if you've never voted for a Democrat in your life, you should vote for him. If you want reasons, e-mail me or leave a comment, and I promise to provide them.

Life has been uneventful, basically I work and sleep. Friday I went shopping, and then stopped by Tree's house but the lights were dim. Saturday I went swimming and my Aunt's. Sunday, I introduced my mom to DeGrassi, and fun was had by all.

My big news is that I won't be going to law school next year. I'm deferring for a year (which means I have a spot guaranteed for me in the Summer)to work on the campaign and then, hopefully, I will continue to work for Rich until I go to Ann Arbor. They've asked me to start in the summer, so I will begin classes in June.

In short, I'm excited about this opportunity, and my candidate. But I'm also here, I'm a little bored, and I will be here and a little bored until next well into next year. So if anyone is interest in hanging out let me know. Or, you know, if you'd like to volunteer. We can use people.

Have fun, and stay out of trouble.

A Lovely Day

Mon, 01 May 2006 00:45:15 GMT

Today has been lovely. At midnight I was at Seth Flaxman's with a bunch of College Democrats. The Dems are really good people, and I am happy that I spent what will probably be my last party at Columbia with them. After that a few of us went to Tom's for grilled cheese and milkshakes, and it would have been perfect but for seeing a rat run into a sewer on the way there. We came back here, I went to bed at about 3 (after some lovely drunk-dials with Dean) and woke up at about 7. I made pancakes, then I went to a lovely service at Saint John the Divine Cathedral. The theme of the sermon was tolerance within the Christianity and the woman was emphatic that we needed more of it. Then I went to Stroko's for pizza, and then down to Lincoln Center to see the NYC Ballet perform "A Midsummer Night's Dream." I got there early and was lucky to find a street fair, where I purchased some headbands and a crepe and generally enjoyed my very stereotypically New York experience. The Ballet was amazing. The fairies were all played by students at the American Ballet Academy who were very good, but I felt compelled to feed them. My 12 dollar student-rush ticket got me into the second row, so I could hear when they went into a giggle fit. The dancers were amazing and the orchestra was terrific. After that, I came back to campus and Jen and I went to see Anthony Rapp (the original Mark in Rent) speak about his book. You could tell that he really cared about Rent, Jonathan Larson, the original cast, the fans, etc. He was adorable and passionate, and I loved him. We bought books (hardback for $10, no less) and had them signed. He talked about living with Jesse L. Martin and Adam Pascal during the film shooting, and about what happened to the cast after Larson died. I nearly cried three times. This was a great way to end the small party I've had since turning in my last paper. Tomorrow, I begin studying for finals. May 11th I'm finished. May 16 I graduate. After Memorial Day I begin at the Treasurer's Office, and in August I start at Michigan. (I write all of this now, because what is the likelihood I'll write about it later? Let's not kid ourselves). Life is good.

Thesis and Iran

Mon, 10 Apr 2006 12:38:58 GMT

My thesis is basically finished, minus some editing and finishing the works cited page. I wasn't sure this day would ever come.

If anyone's interested, there's a really good article in the New Yorker (Andy Novak pointed me to it) about the plans of the Bush administration to attack Iran's nuclear program. I think this line got to the heart of the matter fairly well:

“God may smile on us, but I don’t think so. The bottom line is that Iran cannot become a nuclear-weapons state. The problem is that the Iranians realize that only by becoming a nuclear state can they defend themselves against the U.S. Something bad is going to happen.”-Pentagon Advisor on the War on Terror

If anyone's interested in the article, here's a link: http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060417fa_fact

A Good Day

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 01:35:30 GMT

Okay, so I've got 20 pages of paper left to write before Friday, but I've had a good day that I would like to write about briefly, and some updates on law school.

1) Today I heard that I was admitted to Boston University. A few weeks ago, I got a letter from Columbia that said I had been put on their reserve list, which basically means that they won't be giving me a definitive answer until June, at which point I could be admitted, rejected, or put on the wait-list. This means that I probably won't be attending Columbia, because I can't wait that long to determine what I'm doing, besides the fact that they're likely to reject me anyway. I also assume that I will be rejected from Harvard, but if anything exciting comes in the mail in the next few weeks, don't worry, all of you will know. Thus, I will be attending Michigan or Georgetown next year, but I'm going to wait awhile before making that decision. If anyone has an opinion one way or another, let me know.

2) I got a 90% on my history exam. I should have done better but I thought I did worse. I was also and idiot and missed an easy 5 points by forgetting to do one of the IDs. So overall I feel a little dumb, but I'm happy with how I did.

3) Natalie Portman showed up in my Terrorism & Counterterrorism class today, as a suprise guest speaker to talk about her new film (V for Vendetta). My class was invited to an early screening of it which I didn't attend, but the people that went said it was good. I believe they're going to show her speaking to my class on MTV-U, whatever that is. She was really little, and she seemed to know a bit about terrorism based on some research for the film, but I think her showing up had more to do with the Professor being well-connected (he was a speechwriter for Senator Dodd, but I'm not sure how that equals knowing people in the movie industry) and either wanting to show off and get the class excited or doing a favor for someone who wanted her to speak to a class that would understand what she was talking about.

Anyway, it was a good day, and I needed a good day. I wish the same for all of you.

Oh yeah, and Friday I will be in Disney World. It's 85 degrees there.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Tue, 17 Jan 2006 19:52:50 GMT

I've been accepted to 5/8: Temple, OSU, Michigan, Georgetown, and George Washington. I feel more than a little proud of being accpeted to Georgetown law after being rejected from Georgetown Undergrad. Some of them have also offered money, which is nice, and means I might not be broke by the time I have a law degree. This has definitely made me the happiest that I've been in quite some time.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Thu, 05 Jan 2006 02:48:13 GMT

I got in! The University of Michigan accepted me. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am. It's not just any law school, it's a fairly good law school, and they actually want me. I am not, as I had feared, destined to be a bag lady. Well, that's not true, I could still fail miserably at life, but I think I'll allow myself, for a few moments, to think that everything may actually be okay.

Happy new year, everyone!

Okay and this may be inappropriate after all my excitement, but everyone should say a prayer or send consoling thoughts to the families of the miners in West Virginia who have had to endure things no one ever should in the last two days. I went to bed at 2 last night and thought they were all alive and I can't express how sad and angry I was to learn they were dead this morning. I cannot even imagine the breadth and depth of emotion those poor people had to go through.

Monday, June 27, 2005

Mon, 27 Jun 2005 01:55:29 GMT

I've been in Washington a little over two weeks and I'm having a very good
time.  I've visited New York once and this weekend my friend was here and
we hung out with some of her friends around Washington.  It was a good
time.  Work is also going well.  I started out just folding letters that
were to be sent to constituents.  It has progressed and now I'm writing
some of the letters.  I've also done some research for floor speeches that
she has given and for some reports that the legislative assistants wrote
for her.  The biggest problem is that we have seven interns and often
there isn't enough work and/or computers to go around.  At that point they
encourage us to go watch proceedings on the floor or to go to committee
hearings or briefings.  I haven't done that yet, but I hope to later this
week.  Last week I went to the Congressional Baseball game.  Basically
it's a bunch of 55 year old men reliving their little league glory days. 
Usually someone walks away with a separated shoulder or a broken ankle. 
Luckily, this year there were no bad injuries (except to the Dems' pride,
they lost 19-10) but it still wasn't pretty.  The best parts were the
entire Democratic side booing whenever Rick Santorum went up to bat, and
when a staffer from my office talked six female democrat members into
cheering on a dug-out.  One of the members was Nancy Pelosi.  I've seen
her speak, and she's really good, but I was also quite impressed with her
cheerleading.  Also last week, I saw Barak Obama speak.  I was a little
disappointed as he wasn't nearly as good as he is on television, but it
was a speech directed entirely toward interns so I guess I can understand
why he wouldn't build up quite as much enthusiasm as he did when
addressing the DNC.

The other people I'm interning with are very nice.  We have a girl from
Lithuania and another from England.  There is a law student from DePaul,
and a pharmacy student from Toledo.  The two other undergrads go to UMichigan
and OSU.  It's an eclectic group and we have fun.  Unfortunately, they're
all over twenty-one and a lot of group bonding involves local bars that I
can't get into.  Still, I'm not lacking a social life and I'm having a
good time.

I got my LSAT scores back and think I did rather well.  Now I'm trying to 
decide if I should wait a few years or jump straight in.  Any advice?

Friday, June 03, 2005

Fri, 03 Jun 2005 12:09:36 GMT

In the Metro section of the Dispatch today, there is an article about an increase in the use of assualt weapons on the west side of Columbus. Perhaps I care a little more because that's where my Grandma and a lot of my family live. But really? Did anyone else even know that assualt weapons are legal in Columbus? That's ridiculous. Is there a reason you need to be able to fire 30 shots without reloading in order to hunt? I can't think of a reason. And you can get them for very cheap prices. That means that I could one day be the proud owner of an assault weapon, and it would be perfectly legal. Shouldn't that be concerning? Apparently not to Second Amendment activists. I say give everyone a musket and perhaps the world would be a better place. But no one asked me.

Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Tue, 22 Feb 2005 22:41:20 GMT

I made a Quiz for you! <A HREF="http://www.quizyourfriends.com/yourquiz_IM.php?quizname=050222174345-492182">Take my Quiz!</A> and then <A HREF="http://www.quizyourfriends.com/scoreboard.php?quizname=050222174345-492182">Check out the Scoreboard!</A>

Yup, I'm that determined to procrastinate.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 01:28:48 GMT

So the levy failed. Here's my final post to Neil, in case anyone is interested.

Are you happy? I hope you are. Band, gone. Choir, gone. Student Council, football, In the Know, all AP classes. Gone, gone, gone, gone. All gone. So enjoy your big screen tv. Enjoy your 8 million cars and your fancy vacations. Because a lot of kids are going to suffer. And don't worry about deleting my posts ever again. Because I've finally realized that you're a hypocritical, selfish asshole. And nothing I say is going to change it. Reading your posts is making me into a kind of person I don't want to be. So, I don't know, maybe you can take pleasure in that too. I hope you're proud of yourself and your "ministry."

Posted 2/8/2005 at 9:27 PM by TheresaMD

The hope you're happy goes to everyone out there who didn't vote. By the way, the people around JC Sommer, who are older, and live in older houses, passed the levy. The people who vote at a church near Indian Trails, didn't. It seems like older people care about what happens to our children, but apparently the people raising the children don't. Well, I hope they're happy.