Is there enough purple in your life?

A Fairy Tale with a Nice Dose of Reality

I am a sucker for a good fairy tale. I think you would be hard pressed to find a woman or girl who isn't. We all really do want to find our prince and live happily ever after. It was this love of fairy tales that drew me to Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. A new prospective on a classic tale is what I was expecting when I opened the book. I was pleasantly surprised to find something else indeed. While the classic ideas of the Cinderella story were woven into the novel, it presented a story that was quite different. Where things were darker, more sad, and, perhaps, a bit more realistic. The book has you rooting for the ugly stepsister and at times disliking Cinderella, something that just does not happen in the Disney version of this classic. It painted Cinderella not as the one who was forced to take orders but who became a servant by choice when things did not go her way. I would hate to give too much away, but the end was a both a shock and a comfort. The forgotten 2nd sister does contribute to the story in a way I could not expect. I would definitely say it is worth the read. And given the reviews of Wicked, I am sure I will end up reading more by this author.

As is frequently the case with classic fairy tales, they have been retold about 100 times in print and on film. Cinderella seems to be particularly adaptable to new interpretations. The class Disney story is great and has singing and all happiness. The A Cinderella Story movie with Hilary Duff (yes I admit, I like it in spite of myself), is an update to modern times with a slightly modern twist on the ending. I think Ever After with Drew Barrymore is as close as a movie has come to capturing the ideas expressed in Confessions. They share a common theme of making the evil stepmother a bit more really evil and of humanizing the stepsister (or in Confessions stepsisters). No matter how many times the story is told, or how it is told, I find myself equally intrigued by it. One thing is true of all tellings, the cindergirl always gets her prince. And who wouldn't appreciate a story where the good girl wins the man and the ones who treated her badly meet some ill fate?

posted by Miss Margarita @ 9:23 PM 1 comments

Studying sucks

There is no amount of caffiene in the world that would keep me awake while trying to study insurance law. Studying is never much fun for me (mostly because I am so easily distracted by...well...anything that is not my books or outline or notes). I realized a bit ago that I stopped reading for this class and paying attention in class so basically I have tonight and tomorrow to learn a semester of insurance law. Wonderful and with notes that consist of the date, topic heading, and case name, I should be in great shape for the exam. Classes like this drive me to drink...

posted by Miss Margarita @ 10:56 PM 0 comments

As if Finals Aren't Bad Enough

So with one week of finals remaining I still have 2 exams and a paper to finish up. Manageable. But on top of that everyone is like oh you are a 3L it must be great to be almost done. Yeah, great because on top of having exams I have to fill out the bar application which is basically your whole freaking life story. Slap on the fact that I have to pay 600$ to take the damn exam. Oh and I don't have a job yet so I am just hoping to sign up here and find a job later. Yeah being a 3L is great. Fuck it. I need coffee if I am going to get any work done.

posted by Miss Margarita @ 3:44 PM 0 comments

Finals and Saturdays

So today I did something truly appalling. I actually went to a library on a Saturday. This in and off itself would not be horrible. The really awful thing comes in the fact that this is the 2nd week in a row! And shocker there as a bizillion people there. I wasn't there long as I have an aim addiction so as soon as someone suggested shopping instead of being in the library I bolted from the dungeon.

There is no doubt that studying on a Saturday really sucks. And I would prefer to avoid it at all costs. But sometimes it is a necessary evil. Especially when you want to blow off studying on Sunday to watch the Steelers play the Bears. Go Steelers!! But back to the subject at hand.

Studying on a Saturday = sucky. Having an exam on a Saturday morning = are you fucking kidding me?? I haven't had this problem since 1L year (causing me to miss one of my best friend's college graduation...but I am not bitter...really, I swear). But today I was sitting in the library working on my paper and I thought to myself it could be worse I could be taking an exam. This caused me to decide that there should never ever be exams on Saturdays because really that is just wrong on so many levels.

posted by Miss Margarita @ 1:41 AM 0 comments

Feigned Indifference

So tomorrow is my first exam. It is bright and early at 8 am. And should last a mere 3-4 hrs. It is closed book. And all multiple choice. And most importantly it is all about dead people and what happens to their stuff when they die. And some crap about trusts that I still don't understand. Or feel like taking the time to understand.

What have I done today to prepare for said exam? Well here is my list:

• Woke up--hey its a start
• Got out of bed and showered
• Watched the Steelers lose to the Bengals--WTF?? The Bengals. This is not good.
• Laid in bed in Yoga poses trying to make my back feel better
• Opened my outline
• Turned on computer. Used it only for AIM and email purposes
• Looked up things to do in Key West where I will be in only 2 very very long weeks
• Read part of 133 page outline until I feel asleep using it as a pillow
• Went to Panera--a girl's gotta eat sometimes
• Watched Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy--people are always dying on those shows
• Answered emails and checked blogs

To sum up: I have done pretty much nothing for this exam. And really I am not caring. I have tried to convince 2 people to take it for me. I even offered to switch with a friend--I think I would have rocked her Prof. Responsibility exam. Because clearly, having others take your exams for you presents no ethical dilemmas.

posted by Miss Margarita @ 11:59 PM 0 comments

Random Rant

Ok, so Chief Justice Roberts is judging the finals of the moot court competition today. He is not speaking or giving some great lecture. He is going to be asking questions of two probably nervous law students arguing a fake case. Everyone is acting like today is all about him speaking! He's not really. It is more about the people competing! I know it is a big deal but people with away messages that say things like "going to see Chief Justice Roberts" are going to be sorely disappointed when he probably will do very little speaking in the course of the 20 minute argument. Should be interesting and he should have great questions. But still . I know it is a big deal to have another Supreme here today but don't overplay what he is doing here. He was invited to judge before he was even nominated to the Supreme Court and he said he would beforehand. So anyways. Little rant over. More on this later, back to reading Estates...

posted by Miss Margarita @ 10:57 AM 0 comments

Football Football Football

GO STEELERS!!!!! #1 in the AFC North again!!! Woo Hoo!! I heart the Steelers. Crazy Hair (aka Polamalu) had a great game. And looks hot on the cover of SI.

It occured to me after the game ended that if it weren't for football on Sundays I might get alot more work done. But it definitely would be less fun.

posted by Miss Margarita @ 12:32 AM 0 comments

If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it fall, does it still make a sound?

On Tuesday night, the show Boston Legal did this big thing about suing the Army over the death of a soldier. While ultimately the case was lost, the message the show was making was not. We are a country at war. And everyone seems to have forgotten that. We are no longer outraged at the death of a soldier in Iraq. Why should we be, 2000+ have now fallen over there? Our ears have become deaf to the sound, but still they fall.

Everything I have heard from people that have served there is that it is far worse than someone who hasn't been there could imagine. And I believe them. We like not knowing, we like not seeing. It makes us feel better about the lives that are being lost to save us from facing another 9/11. I will be the first to admit I am among them.

The news from Iraq literally brings me almost to tears each time I see that another soldier died. Because I know that it could be someone I know next. Someone I have sat and talked to, had a beer with, joked with, hugged, and said goodbye to before they left. Today, I found out that a friend of my mom's just found out that his son was killed in a recent homemade bombing attack in Iraq. He had only been there 2 weeks. And yes I know that he enlisted and that is was aware of the risk, but that doesn't make his life less valuable or his death any less tragic for his family. It doesn't mean that his death doesn't matter. It should matter, to all of us that are kept safe by it.

So when you see that another soldier has died in a war that has got way out of hand, remember that was someone's son, someone's baby brother, someone's big brother, and someone's heartache. The American people need to talk about this war, we need to question the government's actions. It isn't about protesting a war, it is about holding the government accountable for what it plans to do. To hold it accountable for making some form of plan. And sticking to it.

posted by Miss Margarita @ 9:42 PM 0 comments