Truth be told, I miss you

Dance-off time:



I personally feel that BjörkNeuvirth has the advantage. Damn, I hope he gets a call-up soon. Nothing against you, Varly, but I've always had a fondness for Czech goalies.

Well, okay then. Apparently my complaining about the Gators got them to wake up. Or else it's the new coach and the fact that they've replaced a few players on the roster, and Captain PIM was demoted to an A. Wevs, I like to think it's me. So in that case... Caps, you suck. I miss two games and you can't even win it in OT? Ovi, get better.

Either way, the Gators have now won two straight and are no longer in last place. Makes me feel better about taking Katelin to a game Thursday. Although speaking of OT, the SPHL's version of it is five minutes of 3-on-3 play, which was bizarre to watch. And if someone gets a penalty, the other team gets a fourth player on the ice. Just really, really weird.

Also, ( crappy cell phone picture ahead )

But the feed is even awesomer. Thank you, Russian dubber, for making my night. I only understand about 1 out of every 20 words you say, but it's very entertaining nevertheless.

Fuuuuucckkkk.

And today started out so well, too, with my admin law professor making jokes about the poetic justice of Louisianians getting hepatitis A from eating raw oysters and not being able to drink anymore, and about the distinct, petroleum-tanged flavor of our oysters. Which just inexplicably left me craving an oyster po'boy.

But damned if my creepy neighbor didn't just ruin that all. I don't get why he's so obsessed with my love life, and if he tries to set me up with one of his home boys [his words, not mine] I will seriously go crazy. Ugh. I guess I'll start spending a lot more time on campus to avoid him. Or make up an imaginary boyfriend. Or start hoping he goes back to work soon so he doesn't spend so much time hanging around. Or that he gets evicted like my other creepy neighbor from last year. Or get serious about looking for a job somewhere outside of LA so I can move.

I just keep reminding myself that Katelin's coming visit next week. And we're going watch the Gators play, since she's never been to a hockey game before. Even if, based on what I saw from them two weekends ago, I hesitate to call what those guys do playing hockey. You know you're in a bad way when the team captain has 33 PIM in 3 games, which is just 3 PIM less than the league leader who was suspended for "jumping an opposing player directly off a faceoff and gouging his eye," and your head coach steps down after only three games. And on that note, dudes, you are disgracing the legendary Icegator name. Time to get a W, mmkay?

I may have to take back what I said about watching hockey in person being better than watching on TV. Stupid SPHL.

Caps, please make it a good game. Greener, never change.

At least one of my teams to watch every night [Wild on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; Caps on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday; and depending on the line-up or as a back-up I could watch the Pens Wednesday, Friday and Saturday is against the Pens]. Yep, that's what I call a good week. And tonight's game is on Versus, so no crappy internet feed for me!

AND mom's coming visit this weekend for fun shopping times. And Thai food. Because really, any excuse for me to not spend my own money is A-OK with me.

It's 5 o'clock where the Caps are, and hence I've begun the pre-game vodka drinking. However, I am a bit miffed that I am unable to find Russian Standard in my usual Baton Rouge grocery stores. I s'pose I'll have to see if there are any nice liquor stores near my apartment, since the best one I know of doesn't stock it either. I mean, this is Louisiana, land of the daiquiri drive-thrus, you'd think we'd have a better variety of liquor selections in stores. Good ol' Stoli will just have to tide me over until then. Also, it's probably best that I finish off at least one of my bottles before adding another. Otherwise mom might start to worry about me for having two bottles of vodka, a bottle of amaretto and a six pack of Dos Equis, since she finds my jokes about living up to the statistics less than amusing. Parents.

I've also gotten into one of my wait-listed courses for next semester. Go figure it would be the one that (a) I thought I had the least chance to get into and (b) I was least concerned with getting into. Wevs. At least the school decided to make some awesome changes this year. They're dropping the hours required for graduation [only by 3, which isn't much, but since I've already done my summer semester I'll get one easy semester when I'm a 3L] and are currently trying to decide on a better median GPA which is teh awesome. If I actually still wanted to be in law school, I'd be even more stoked, but at least the adjustment will help my resume seem less like it's from someone who couldn't hack it in law school and is looking for a way out. Hopefully.

Now to rustle up something for supper...

On tonight's "Halloween" episode of Wheel of Fortune, of the contestants, one is a Caps season ticket holder [which prompted an Alex Ovechkin mention by Pat Sajak] and another is a student at LSU Law, who is in my International Law class.

ETA: Poor Liz. Only two rounds in and she's spun bankrupt twice. Well, hopefully this appearance will make for an interesting waste of class discussion time, whatever happens.

Seriously, the way Greener tackles Brooksie, and then how they kinda just lay there on the ice together, is just so, so wonderful. And I love BMo's tap-tap on Greener's back, like he's reminding him they're in public and to not start making out or anything.

Or maybe that's just my own imagination adding in that last bit.

My new strategy for dealing with real life: pretend it doesn't exist. This will only work for about another month until finals come around, but for now it feels so nice.

OK, so I finally got around to checking out the "Hockey Diaries," and why the hell did I wait so long before listening to it? Oh Brooksie, you're too awesome. That's all I can say about you. And I kind of really want to meet your mother.

Also, Karl's got the same kind of dog that I do, which I find funny.

And this picture just... I don't have the words.



Oh, Brooksie.

This article makes it impossible for me to dislike Sean Avery anymore. There are some money quotes in this article. Is this what passes for NHL news? Even though that sounds like the dumbest movie idea ever. And this: But sometimes I don't understand how he can put on his pants because they're so tight needs more pictures, 'cause Lundqvist is a hottie.

And somewhere in DC, Sasha Semin is wondering why he was not consulted on the finer points of Eurofashion.

There was more I wanted to talk about, but I'm far too distracted by the Gators/Caps.

It's like, the two hockey loves of my life collide!

The Icegators are holding an alumni game (Shanahan! Valicevic(s)! Schoen! The only name that could make this better is McNeil [c'mon Shawn, Germany can't be so great that you don't have a free weekend for charity!]) to raise money for the family of one of our old players, who discovered he has cancer, accompanied by a silent auction. And one of the items being auctioned off is an AUTHENTIC SIGNED ALEX OVECHKIN JERSEY.

WANT.

WANT SO BAD.

It's only up to $250 in the bidding, but even that's a stretch for my budget. And really, I love you, Ovi, but a #8 wouldn't be my first choice for a Caps jersey 'cause I'm more of a blank back kind of gal, though it's probably the best long-term investment if I were to personalize. (/is still not over Shawn defecting to Germany the season after I FINALLY get his jersey.)

Hmmm. My dad and I are planning to go. Maybe I can plead with him, daddy's little girl and all that jazz. Christmas is already covered, but really really early birthday?

And this will not be the only Gators/Caps collision. BB's son Andy is apparently playing for Mississippi's SPHL team, so I'll actually get a chance to see him play. OK, how cool would that be if I could wear a jersey of the team his dad coaches to one of his games? Maybe that's only cool in my head. Even if I will be cheering for the other team, little Boudreau, I'll silently root for you, as long as you don't go scoring any game winning goals.

Two more days of classes, and then the bliss of fall break in Massachusetts.

Ahhh.

This past weekend was nice. Got some sun, though not enough to give me a good tan, but it was lovely being outdoors for a change. Even if all those silly kids wanted to do was play in the sand and didn't want to get in the water. Which, given that there were a ton of jellyfish around, actually probably wasn't a bad thing.

I ordered a pair of boots today from zappos. I love zappos. If I had lots of money, I would spend all day buying shoes. I just hope they'll be wide enough, since they were completely out of stock in the wide sizes. Stupid big feet of mine.

I also just realized that this weekend will be my first opportunity to wear my "new" coat. It'll be happy to be brought out of the closet a month or two earlier than it expected. Though it also reminds me that I need to buy a new scarf, since my favorite old scarf doesn't exactly match well. Granted, "need" might be a strong word, since it's not often scarf-wearing weather around here.

Now to figure out what to bring. I'm terrible at packing, I always pack way more clothes than I need. And shoes! What shoes do I bring? Dilemma.

Beach trip this weekend, thank you Kim for being a wonderful sister and not just leaving the kids with me at your house. It'll be nice to get some sun, and basically all I've got to do is make sure the kids don't, like, eat sand or drown.

Ahhhh. Just have to make it through two classes.

Caps game tonight, got a bottle of Stoli and some homemade borscht in honor of our Russians.

It's gonna be a good night.

Now if only I could find my bottle opener...

Ignore the sound of my weeping.

ETA: Hey! I've got a great idea! Nylander for Bourque! DO IT.

Only in my dreams.

All this stuff with CBo has obviously got me quite upset [in case you haven't noticed]. It's not even that he was waived, or even that he was picked up by the Pens, since I'm a terrible Caps fan and actually like them, but the way it was handled. I'm glad he's getting his chance, but no matter how you slice it, the Caps can't come out without looking incompetent or heartless. In my opinion, of course, which apparently plenty of other people disagree with, so. I guess it doesn't really matter.

I think I've fucked up pretty badly with my future in law school too. It's no secret I've been looking into other career options, but until something surfaced law school remained my back-up. And I forgot that the deadline to file my LASCBA form and fill out the NCBE character report request is tomorrow, which I now don't have enough time to do because 1) it's ridiculously long and 2) I need to get it notarized. I know that the NCBE thing can be done as a 3L for a higher fee, but I don't know about the LASCBA. Hopefully, something will come up in the next few months that renders this all moot.

To further that end, I've expanded my job search to most areas with an NHL team, excluding Phoenix [because who knows what'll happen with them?], LA and NYNY [personal preference]. And honestly, my best bet is probably not in DC at the moment, since it's so expensive to live there and I do have loans to pay off. It's still the dream, but if I have to put it on the back-burner for now, so be it. If I can live on $15,000 a year in Baton Rouge, I know I can do it in Pittsburgh, Detroit, Buffalo, St. Louis and probably some other cities I haven't checked yet with similar average living expenses [thanks cost of living comparison calculator!] and so I have more flexibility when looking at starting salaries.

What the hell am I doing?

I just feel so exhausted and downtrodden lately. I need my fall break, like now, kthnx.

Dear Caps,
It's not me, it's you. I'm not saying I want a divorce or anything, but I definitely need a separation.

I'm willing to forgive, in time.

But for now, I'm really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really angry with you.

GMGM, it's probably a good thing I don't live in DC because I could really hurt you right about now.

That was way fucking cruel.

Having tax law at 7:30 in the morning is really killing me. I mean, it's only twice a week, but it's hell getting up that early on a Monday. And shit, but I guess I need to get my bar admission form filled out and notarized like, tomorrow, since it has to be postmarked by Oct. 1. So annoying, I wish they didn't make us do this as 2Ls, especially since I don't really want to come back for third year [I could probably accomplish this more easily if my resume didn't sound like a 12 year old wrote it]. But I should probably fill it out just in case.

However, the awesome news today just completely made up for it. Oh, C-Bo, I'm so happy for you. Please don't screw this up. I can't wait to watch you in the home opener on Versus [umm, how glad am I now that I didn't let that direcTV guy persuade me into switching from Cox?].

As I work out my flight to Boston, I feel the need to comment that airlines make no sense. Most of the cheaper options have a layover in Miami, of all places. As I have it currently configured, I'll have a two hour layover in New Jersey on the way there [must buy some new books to read!], but to make up for that, I'll have a two hour layover in DC on the way back. Not that two hours gives me any time to do anything, but at least I can take a peak outside. Just need to check with Asela that the times are acceptable. And check into parking in New Orleans, since I doubt I'd be able to find anyone willing to drive me there for a flight at 6:30.

Though how awesome would it be if the Caps arrived back in DC from Detroit at the same time on Sunday that I'm there? Please fly into Reagan on Sunday between 9:30 and 11:45, Caps.

What is up with this face?



You'd think they would have taken a more flattering picture.

ETA: the feed for the game is not showing up on atdhe.net NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

ETA2: YAY!!! They put the feed up at last!

Listening to the Rangers' commentators talk about how studly Ovi is this season. I mean really, they spent minutes talking how he's packed on the muscle and has a six-pack...

Not that I minded the accompanying mental image. AT ALL.

That, and on one of the power plays, while Brooksie was out there they mentioned what an underrated player he was. It was nice hearing Brooks get recognition from someone not in the Caps organization.

On a related note: C-Bo. Dude. I feel like I'm the only person still rooting for you to make it. D: [Aaaaand watch, he's going to get traded tomorrow or something, because that's my luck.]