I like this

Also, In Addition

The end of the semester has taken hold, so I can discuss details more later (like, when I know them...) but it looks like we're moving to Arizona. Well, Charlie definitely is and barring anything totally strange happening, I will be, too. We'll be based in Flagstaff. I've never been there, truthfully, I've heard conflicting things. Some say it's nice. Another said,

"That's interesting, moving to Flagstaff, helping the tribe. He must be a good man to do that. She must really love him to move to Flag."

Both are true and each informs the other, I think. I am still trying to work out my own employment situation and exactly when this will all happen. But for now, please remember Flagstaff is 2 hours from the Phoenix airport (6.5 driving from LA? 4 from Las Vegas?) and visitors will be very welcome.

NYR, Update

Yesterday was the 5mi New Years Resolution run. I didn't do it. It was raining cats and dogs all morning. We left the house to go pick up the materials, got caught in a downpour and reasoned time and energy might be better spent studying. Plus, I mean, after all, this was supposed to be fun and running in the cold and rain... well, that's not fun. I also probably wasn't going to make it, since I got derailed and never quite made it back on track before this finals season when I am totally derailed. So, the goal will remain, I'll just work on it over the summer and accomplish it on my own, without thousands of my closest friends.

Hey Wanna See Something Depressing?

Try this!

Uggles McFugly

Can someone explain this Susan Boyle phenomenon to me? Why are we so moved and surprised? We don't expect ugly people to be able to sing? Because we watch shows like that where they make fun of people for being old, fat and/or ugly and then it's a shocking internet surge when someone who is those things contributes something worthwhile?

Or am I misreading it and there' some really affirming social message here?

I'll tell you...

I am lying in bed with a sad, sick dog right now. When he's sick, he
gets extra affectionate, nuzzling up even more than usual. It's sweet
and pathetic all at once. But, I came home yesterday, midmorning,
pretty upset. I'd been walking a few blocks, letting my mad/sad
fester and by the time I walked in the front door, was verging on
tears. One of those stressed upsetnesses where things seem to
snowball and part of the problem becomes the fact that you're right
now wasting time being upset when there is so much else to do.
Anyway. I walked in the door, Aberdeen bounded to meet me. Like
usual, he brought a welcome-home toy in his mouth. And then he
followed me into the bedroom and gave me all kinds of doggie love
while I tried to figure out how upset I was. And I thought, THIS is
why people have dogs. That unconditional love they talk about?
Sometimes that feels really nice.
The least I can do tonight is return the favor.

Internet, You Missed It!

Sunny day: Me in suit (including Brooks Brothers button-down that I could never afford if I had to buy it-- I had a "free shirt" coupon!), walking bike, holding venti iced americano.



Huuuuuuge yuppie. You would have been proud

A Couple of Things I Forgot to Mention about Nashville

1. Sunday night Erica and I had weird sushi, one of my rolls was the "Georgia on My Mind" which contained smoked catfish and fried okra. Obviously it was delicious.

2. We saw Little Richard.

Lost? LOST!

You know what, LOST? I've been following you for a few years now. I've put up with a lot of shenanigans from you... but this season... well, I have no effing idea what is going on. And here's the thing. You're on ABC. If I don't understand something on ABC, it's not (please I have to believe) because it's over my head. No, it's because it's weird and doesn't make any sense and it like the television version of some of my law school peers who use big words incorrectly to try to trick the listener into thinking they're saying something interesting. This shit is not deep. It's confusing. And I'm going to stand by that.
It's just starting to piss me off, because LOST used to be a guilty pleasure. I could catch up with that and shows like 24 during school breaks or on a lazy weekend. This year has been in many ways less busy than the first two, so I've even been able to watch them semi-regularly on tv (or at least stay up-ish-to-date via the internet.) And now it's all weird and crazy and trying to make me feel stupid. It won't work, LOST! I see through you!


And that's today's rant about television.

Product Review

Hello gentle readers, on this day of Jesus' alleged resurrection, I thought I would do a little resurrecting myself and tell you about some products that have changed my life for the better recently.


Ladies with big boobies- maybe Miley can jog in a bikini top (and jean shorts?! What the heck?) but for us, the expensive sports bra is totally worth it! No more doubling up with what Target has to offer for fear that the boobies will be at your knees by the end of the work out (not to mention the plain old discomfort.) It's not THAT expensive and more than worth it. I do slightly feel like I'm on suicide watch when I wear it (nothing is going nowhere... including my rib cage to breathe...) so you're going to want to get out of it as soon as the sweating is done.


I can't find the entry where I talked about my 2008 New Year's resolution not to use bottled water. It was relatively successful, and even here in 2009 I try to avoid it. I haven't really fallen for this whole plastic water bottle will kill you thing... but I am kind of weirded out by reusing plastic bottle, even like Nalgene-type bottles because I just don't think of them as getting completely clean and kind of imagine them with a slimy spit layer in them. I am not terribly germ-phobic in general and I'll use them, but I have found, like the white person I am, I greatly prefer the metal one. I think I would like glass even more, but that would be heavy and hazardous. But I like this metal gorilla one I have. I also like that it's 20 oz instead of 32 because it doesn't get so heavy when full.



Which is important when it is in my backpack along with this awesome thing. There's almost nothing really to say, it's a mug I can throw in my backpack. It doesn't spill and even when it's open, the coffee stays warm all day long. It's amazing. Also, since the lid is part of it, you can't lose it. Go get one!



It turns out, one really simple way of drastically improving your life is buying a tupperware set. Yeah, see, you CAN use old hummous containers and take out tubs... but they you'll be spending lots of time and energy looking for the right top, making sure they don't leak, etc. You are doing all of this when, for $20 at Target, you can get a bazillion-piece set that doesn't leak and are various sizes, but all use one of two sizes of lids, and everything nests in each other so perfectly.


Yes, electric toothbrushes do a much better job of cleaning your teeth than regular ones. And, plug-in ones like this one (and like the one I got with my Westlaw points) do an even better job than the semi-disposable battery-operated ones.

Back Home, Mostly for Good

Upon return from awesome Nashville, I'm a little too generally exhausted to post about it in the way it deserves.  It was a really wonderful weekend (after my unplanned overnight in Detroit on Thursday...) with the highest concentration of my favorite people since... well... reunion in May. Or maybe Anna's wedding, but missing Alison, in August. Thinking about it, I'm extremely lucky to have these people all over the country and to have seen them all multiple times in the past year. 

Aside from the dream company, I really liked Nashville itself. It was very cool and parts were very beautiful and southern, but also seemed really down to earth. Friday night we headed to the "honky tonks" and it just really felt like this is what people in Nashville have been doing for... ever. Not all self-aware and like Nashville knows its awesome like some places I've been (actually the some-time homes of many blog-readers- NYC, Austin, San Francisco and Madison come to mind...)

While in Nashville, I was rejected by the last job I was kind of holding out hope for- in Colorado. So I've been feeling particularly afloat over the past couple of days, it's been harder even to get back into it when there is this low-level panic about what will happen after graduation. It seems like I won't take a bar (since I'll be barred in WI no matter what...) so what the heck will I do until the Madison is over in August? Or... gasp... after that?

One bright spot is that tonight I bit the bullet and looked up my total student loan amount. This may seem like an odd thing to be pleased about, and maybe odder to blog about, but the total comes in at just under $100,000. I thought it would be more. And I am weirdly proud of myself for getting three years of law school for under $70,000.  Thanks to Karen, I was also able to calculate that if I make $40k, my income-based payments will be about $300/month. Which is less than I was paying on just my undergrad loans before law school... so in some sense, we could think of law school as free, right? At least that's the kind of logic that got me the iphone...