act right

i promise to try and not make this post suck so bad. sorry about the others. we'll start with a fun story. once upon a time this morning, i had to go to class like always. i walked the two or three blocks or whatever to the trolley stop and there were more people than usual standing around. i figured the trolley would be along soon if that many people had built up. i wasn't too worried; i had decent time in hand, thought i saw a trolley coming when i was crossing to the correct side of the street and figured i would stand around and finish my cigarette and let other people get on even. except that trolley i saw wasn't there. or if it was, it went the other way, or around, or something. but it probably wasn't there at all. so i just kept waiting with the other people, but at this point there were twice as many of us as i had ever seen before, so i was a little suspicious. i became much more suspicious when a group of people doubling my own double number became visible approaching from the west. the good folks confirmed that yes, as a matter of fact, we were fucked; there was a trolley broken down at 61st street (west end of the loop) and thus nothing was going to be coming along any time soon. not surprisingly, this was not a situation i had dealt with before, and i wasn't really sure what to do. at first i thought i would just kinda join in with the knot and assume they all knew what to do in this situation (i imagine this was not the first time septa had let some of these people down and they probably knew a good backup anyway). but the group peeled off in various directions and no vocal indications of what they were planning to do, and my y chromosome firmly prevented me from asking anyone at random. i tried calling my sister a couple of times but she was still kinda getting up when i left and didn't answer her phone at all. so i just kinda kept walking east down baltimore, and tried to think of what i knew, which took a little effort as this was still relatively early for my taste. i knew that there was an eastbound bus that would drop me at a good spot that runs down spruce a few blocks north of where i had walked to on baltimore, and then walnut/chestnut depending on which way it's going, so i thought i would go and try to check that out. stood around at the corner with the stop for a minute with no sign of the bus, so i figured i would start walking east again and just keep looking back for the bus and go to the nearest corner stop whenever i spotted the bus. so i kept walking and i kept looking and the bus kept not being there. finally i got to 40th and had about given up on the bus when i saw it coming a block or two behind me. i had already crossed to the wrong side of the street for the bus and noticed there was no official bus stop sign on the corner i was at any more, and i guessed it turned there so i was going to try to anticipate the turn but the light for spruce was green (go figure) and i couldn't get back across and the bus blew by. so there went that; it looked super full anyway. the only other thing i could think of as a transport option was the market-frankford el. i know nothing about the market-frankford el at all at this point, aside from that i assumed it ran down market and frankford and i knew it stopped at city hall with a free transfer to the broad street line i take to school because i walk past it when i change from trolley to subway. and i knew it had an a train and a b train, but not what that meant. it just made me think of that jazz song 'take the a train'. phish played that one. so anyway, as time until class slipped away and i walked even further with fifty pounds of shit in my bag (which is still a kick-ass bag maybe even better than zip-lock) i figured the worst thing that would happen is i would walk my ass all the way up market to city hall and catch the broad street line. the hope was that i would stumble on this other subway somewhere though. and that is when things started to get together: my earlier misstep of continuing to walk to 40th which caused me to miss the bus led me straight to a subway stop at market and 40th. this seemed like an unbeatably better bet than the lengthy walk with fully loaded saddlebags, so i figured i'd give it a shot. ladies and gentlemen, i shit you not, this was the nicest subway station i have ever encountered, and it was totally a minor stop. it was in good repair, shockingly clean, and, most unbelievably, there was not even a *hint* of piss in the air. i was a little worried that it wasn't a real subway station at that point. but lo and behold, after not even two minutes of waiting, along came the train. it was the b train, but i wasn't too worried, having seen trains of both flavors stopped in the part of city hall station i was trying to get to. i got on and was immediately again overwhelmed by the step up in quality this subway has over the broad street line. not only that, the train also hauled more ass and stopped less. a+ public transit, would ride again. it was like my reward for not freaking out when i found out there weren't gonna be no trolley a-comin' round the bend. so thus ends the suspense, i got to city hall at like 8:42 and some seconds or whatever before my nine o' clock class and was in my seat with like five minutes to spare. kind of anti-climatic, but hopefully not a bad story, albeit perhaps a touch unnecessarily long. they're more fun that way. more fun to write, at least.
so i made it to class on time, and class was class. i'm starting to get more and more used to it, but the feel is definitely not what i was used to, but i guess eventually it will be what i am accustomed to. profs in law school know how to ask questions in a very unique and penetrating way, probably owing to their experience as lawyers. the thing is, typically it seems as though they aren't hunting for a particular answer at all. there are things they want to hear and analysis they want people to utilize, but the idea is not that there is a "right" answer they are trying to tease out of people. you can be wrong or more wrong (not as wrong as you are dude), or right or more right, but the prof is not going to wait for someone to get close and then tell you exactly what they were looking for. i'm still a little intimidated by that since my nature is more to listen to what people have to say and try and distill my own thoughts from there. i just have to be a little more willing to go out on a limb. just not a flimsy one that causes me a nasty fall on the way down. if i'm gonna go down, i'd at least prefer to avoid the intervening branches, you know?
one bright spot is my anticipation of doing decent on my upcoming memo-writing assignment for legal research and writing. the prof seems to think that most people are really confused by the format-heavy habit which legal memos must occupy, but it seems like the most logical thing in the world to me. the only worry is how to fit it within a rather confined space. the organizing acronym is CRuPAC, not to be confused with tupac. however, when i ride on my enemies, it sounds about the same (biatch!!!). the idea is to state your conclusion outright, establish the rule governing the situation, prove that this is the right rule to use, apply the cases facts under above rule, and then restate the conclusion. i kind of don't want to make the analogy, but the whole thing really reminds me of all the policy debate arguments i dealt with back in the day. people always asked me back then if i planned to become a lawyer. i definitely was not planning on it at first, then i considered it, and then i thought certainly not. so, of course, here i am now.
today concluded classes for my week, and it's always nice to feel like i have another one under the belt. it would have felt even better to have this one settled if i could have participated in an exclusive happy hour for my section (the only one with no friday class) and an overlapping happy hour with the irish law organization at the bar and grille on campus. unfortunately, i could not attend because i had to get back to west philly so i could (singing) sign my lease and get my fuckin keeeeeys. so that is now settled; i have a place. i will be able to move all my shit in on saturday, but i can go and hang around in an unfurnished apartment tomorrow if i want i guess. not gonna lie, i did do that for a little while today, just because i could. so my key ring is now more full than it ever has been, and i don't have any car keys any more. nor do i even have my mailbox key. but this place has two separate front doors that need different keys and then the key to my apartment. move in bonuses include a twin size box spring and mattress and half a bottle each of triple-sec and sour mix. like all move in scores (other than that stupid white winter abercrombie jacket karnes and co. found at wealthy that i wore for a winter), i don't really need or want them, but i don't really know what to do with them. i'll probably use the sour mix and triple-sec as excuses to by half gallons of shitty liquor to make long islands with. i'll be able to make like four and then i will be stuck with shitty rum and vodka i don't want to drink but will anyway. and then you'll be subjected to the subsequent post. better that than getting lost on a nearby side street, thanks mulligan's esp. gwen. oh, and there is a thoroughly decent rug and some sort of furniture thing i think might be called an armoir? whatever. the rug is alright, but i don't plan on making much use of that thingy with the drawers which isn't exactly a dresser. the real question is what to do with my vast amount of space. probably accumulate shit i won't want to move when i go.
this already extensive post has been brought to you by yuengling premium beer and wilco, which will be my final extended springboards for rants to fill out what shall become an even longer post. first of all, yuengling premium beer is different from yuengling traditional lager. for some reason the idea persists that lager is a style of beer rather than a family of styles of beers. typically when something is called a lager, it is a pilsner. the interesting thing here is that there is a marked distinction between yuengling lager and yuengling premium beer, which is more of a pilsner, and not as delicious as the "lager" somehow. the premium is more like a budweiser, but still several cuts above that. and at only a dollar more for the four pack of tall boys than beck's, i figured i would give it a shot. alright for a change of pace. i was already wondering before i cracked one what the difference from the lager would be though, and my research revealed what i already said. however, i also discovered that yuengling used to make something called old german, which was their discount line of lager which sounds like it would have been pretty good. twenty years ago, you could get a six pack of it for a buck fifteen. damn. i don't know inflation backwards and forwards, but that seems like a bargain, the best i never had. they don't make it any more anyway, but some place called pittsburgh brewing company has the rights to make it now; i'll have to keep my eye out for that. these guys also make a beer called, no shit, "totally dirt cheap beer". even better in name, there is naturally a "totally dirt cheap light beer" as well. this is true, and you know it is 'cos the wikipedia said so. check it out. told you so.
as mentioned previously, the other fuel source for this incorrigibly long post is wilco, specifically a show from all of four days ago freshly downloaded off of etree. if someone out there has never checked out etree, you need to. you will be shocked at the diversity and quality of the available audio. if you haven't used bittorrent, it isn't difficult, the site will show you all you need to do, but i think everyone out there could find something they'd be really happy with. in fact, if you wouldn't be happy with this wilco show, you're a rat fink. good recording, good setlist, and classic jeff banter. i think he cracked a Yes joke earlier, something about having some people come up and play close to the edge (which is like 20 minutes, see, it's funny). but way better and more typical was his brief bitch session about A.M., talking about how that record gets the shaft. the crowd reacts favorably as if to suggest, yes jeff, you're right, those bastards never give that album the love it deserves. further commentary from jeff indicates he is actually castigating the fans. he says that this lineup of the band is going to re-record the whole record and "you all are gonna eat it up and be like 'this is the best record ever'". you want to be pissed at him, because you know you love a.m., but when you think about it, he's really probably right. we can all aspire as much. good enough for now. at least an improvement. comment, fuckers. and thanks for reading.