Not to detract from Haiti relief, but I gotta talk about Twitter.

Let me level with you folks. I joined Twitter maybe a week ago and it's been rough going. That stuff is great for making fun of celebrities and being the "first" to know about viral videos, but as far as real-people go, it's horrible. Probably because none (1% ?) of the real people in my life are on it, so it's nowhere near as compelling/entertaining/wtf-ing as facebook. So this is me saying: are you on Twitter? Should I even bother?

The reason I think I should bother is because it's a big deal in my department. Twitter this, crowdsourcing that...honestly people, I think it's here to stay. If not in this version, then the next, but it's coming for us. If you're a heretofore anonymous reader and you follow me, I won't reveal your identity. And it won't be weird! Twitter isn't weird, right?!???

So what do you say? Surf into the future on the Twitter wave with me?

this time o' the year (continued)

[photo credit: Roche Roche's facebook]

Better Get Some Fancy Sunglasses

...because the future of this blog is so bright you're gonna need SPF 500! Not only because of all the talent we have on board, but because I'm getting a new computer this week. I can't wait! True, "grad school and library science and learning code and stuff" really means "I need an excuse to buy something maybe fancier than what I need," but trust me: this new computer will be awesome for all of us. Combined with all the astounding features and capabilities of my new laptop, the sheer knowledge of computers ('n' shit) I'll be picking up in library science will translate to an incredible multimedia extravaganza here on Jar of Paperclips.

Email us with your ideas at jarofpaperclips@gmail.com. Or chat us up! We spend a lot of time on gchat.

Liveblogging my day!

8:13: Leave my house. This is new for me, because usually I leave at nine, but I'm trying some productivity tricks and that includes shifting my workday from 9:30-6:30 back to 8:30-5:30.

8:25: Get the best space ever in the parking deck.

8:41: Arrive at Wake County Courthouse. Go to cashier's office to put money on our copy key, then pick up files I hid yesterday in Clerk's office with DO NOT TOUCH sign. Finish making copies of a file for Wayne's* new appeal client. A few people think I'm a clerk, which is sort of fun.

9:15: Back in my office, hitting the blogs.

9:23: Photocopying some stuff!

9:32: Bagel time! Jimmy* brings us bagels every Friday, which is really nice. Ran into Tim*, Cindy*, and Donna* upstairs in the kitchen. Cindy was pretending to be some sort of foreigner; Donna was loving it. Hope this joke doesn't last all day!

10:06: Billing stuff. Have to fix a draft I wrote last night, mail it to client. Yawn.

10:39: More billing stuff, gchat as usual. Listening to State of Shock by Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury, which is not a very good song.

11:25: Timeslips acting up, just spent the last 30 minutes looking at shower curtains and area rugs online. Can't stop thinking about my new house!! Also, my dad called, thinks I have swine flu (it's just a cold. I don't). Heading to reception to cover Donna's hour-and-a-half lunch break.

12:40: Wondering if maybe I do have swine flu after all. I just looked up the symptoms, and I have them all except for the stomach stuff and chills. Not even sure if I had a fever. I'm sure it'll be fine.

12:48: Weirdly, still not freaking out about possibility of h1n1! Maybe I have outgrown my hypochondriac ways.

1:02: Might go across the street to Morning Times and get a salad. Bagel for breakfast, mexican for dinner later = vegetables for lunch.

2:31: Had a nice lunch in the conference room with Wayne, Tim, Juanita* and Craig*, talked about some murders happening in Rocky Mount lately and about Craig's recent night out with NC's former "first kid." Tim brought down some cookies from the 5th floor. Read the paper. Talked about Bruno. Jimmy came in toward the end and discussed recent problems with his teenaged daughter.

2:49: Listening to this on repeat.

Family Man - Fleetwood Mac

3:25: Opening some files. Here's how I open files. 1) assign the client a number from our system (these two right here are 09169 and 09170). 2) punch up a card for the file, print it out. 3) affix labels as needed on the file folder, file the card. 4) physically place the papers in the file according to these categories: Contacts & Billing Info., Memos & E-mails, Correspondence, Attorney Notes, Orders, Brief, Record, Research. If it's a sensitive case or high-profile, it gets really exciting and you can add Media and/or Materials from Client. If it involves drugs, there's a Substance Treatment folder (because they almost always go into treatment to look good for the judge).

3:43: Juanita totally gets my file-folder pet peeve! Does anybody else out there hate it when all the folders in a file have tabs on one side?? You gotta mix it up!

4:16: Second-to-last task of the day: proofreading a brief for Wayne. State v. Bivens? check! NC Gen. Stat. 15A-1340.16? check!

4:36: OF COURSE one of Craig's clients would show up unannounced on a Friday afternoon. He owes us money, which of course he pays in cash. And of course he's $20 short of what he owes. I tell him not to try to handle his seatbelt ticket (which is new, which he lost the citation for) himself and he goes across the street to an ATM to get the $20. Shockingly, this is one of Craig's personal friends. Also shockingly, I suspect Donna was flirting with him and that's how she miscounted the money.

4:50: Make it to the bank just in time to make deposits for the day. I get the older Asian lady teller instead of either of the overly chatty ones. Success.

5:27: Turn in the brief for Wayne. Made one edit on an otherwise immaculate brief.

5:29: Turning off the computer, going home!

*All names have been changed!

Gmail April Fools

I'm LOLing at gmail's April Fools joke this year: Gmail Autopilot. More LOLs than last year's, anyway!

Camping, Part 1

This is what my bedroom might as well be: a tent in the snow. I live in what is basically an unfinished attic (there's paint on the walls and stuff but it's only technically "finished") (actually, not technically at all, since they forgot the insulation) and we're having a cold break here in NC. I know I'm being a baby about "cold weather" in North Carolina, but 21 degrees at night is pretty low when you don't have heat. So it feels like I am sleeping in one of these tents.



Last night I had on my body: wool socks, a wool cap, pants made of special fabric (I forget the name but it's a -Pro or -Prene tm), a long-sleeved shirt and sweatshirt, a sleeping bag, sheets, and 3 blankets. If I don't get into grad school and I stay in my house for next winter, I'm thinking about buying this:

and maybe this too: