I survived to 25! Yes, my 25th b-day was on sunday, and I made it! Woo! I can now rent a car without paying an extra fee. Annnnnnnnnnnd....that's about it. I have decided that now I am an adult (or something like that...)

Oh, and a big happy birthday to my sister, Kristen. She turns the big two one today, and we are taking her out to get legally wasted. :-D Gotta love 21st b-days!

First of all, a big happy b-day to Trish, who has reached the grand ol'age of 25. One quarter of a century! WOO HOOO!

On a sad note, my beautiful bunny Jordan died on thursday. He was old, I know, but it still sucked a lot. I was there when he died, and I was holding him when he took his last breaths. Although it was horrible and sad, I am so glad I was there so he knew he was loved. I am going to miss him lots, he was such a good boy, and a wonderful fuzzy friend. Yes, it is a lot for one bunny, but I don't care, I loved him lots.

btw, chaos runs my life. I will be glad when it stops, and life can get back to being as normal as it has ever been...

Well, what a wacky life I lead. This past weekend, I got to play with a bunch of lawyers in the NITA class I was being a witness for. And THEN, I got to spend the entire weekend scuba diving. Ah, joy. Ah bliss. The witness gig was great. I made some money, and I made a bunch of contacts in the lawyer world who said they are willing to help me learn more about being a patent litigator, and possibly helping me get a job. Heh, sweet. And bonus, the lawyer folks were actually pretty cool to talk to. Who knew?

Scuba was totally cool. Although my first descent was UGLY. I was flailing all over, and I dropped tooooooo fast. But I got better. Until (and deb, you'll appreaciate this) I got to the last dive, where we were talking about how we were finally getting the hand of this, and I just got my fins on. I took one step and fell, face first, in the water. Apparently I had not gotten one of my buckles on completely, and it made me face plant. Right in front of the rest of my dive group. And, to make it worse, since I had my full scuba gear on, I really couldn't get up easily. I kinda rolled onto my back, laughed for a bit, and kinda floated my way to an area deep enough so I could actually stand, since I was much like a turle on its back before that point.

Yes, ha ha ha. But I had a blast. And I got certified after all. :-D

Well, I am done. Technically. Granted I have a bunch of stuff I need to do for my clinic. Granted I am a witness for this CLE thing, and I haven't memorized my script. Granted I have my open water dives this weekend. But...I am done. I am looking forward to taking one day next week, and doing...nothing. Absolutely nothing. I am hoping it will be bliss. But first I have to finish my work. Booooooo.....

It is technically Sunday morning. The day before my IP exam. And I am contemplating what exactly is the difference between novelty and non-obviousness. I am trying to determine when you can get a improvement patent, and when you get a regualr one. I am trying to figure out why a parody would not be considered Fair Use. And I am trying to figure out why in the world people can't just patent their stuff in the first place, and not fight about it later.

And then I realize how sad it is that this whole thing is causing me stress. I mean really, people are starving in Africa, American soliders are acting like sadists in Iraq POW camps, and there are people in many areas of the world who are trying to not die from any number of causes. And I am really worried about a fictious patent that might be subverted by a moron who never patented his work, who has a trademark that might be scandelous?!?!?!

I worry about my priority system sometimes....