i like stuff

Summer Salads

2009-07-28T13:23:00.002-06:00

The Minimalist (Mark Bittman of the NYT) is my favorite recipe-guru. He just put out a list of 101 summer salads, and it's divine. Some of his recipes are a little too east-coast for me (I'm not a huge fan of canned clams, or tuna packed in heavy oil, and getting some of the finer ingredients can be tricky here in the Rockies), but mostly they are creative and new and easy. I've entertained using his 101 appetizers list, and people thought I was a magician in the kitchen. I haven't tried any of these salads yet, but it being summer, and hot, and produce being what it is right now...I can't wait. So I thought I'd share.

Here are the first three I'm going to try (I've only read the first few dozen, because I can't process 101 recipes at once):

13. A red salad: Combine tomato wedges with halved strawberries, basil leaves, shaved Parmesan and balsamic vinegar.

24. Blanch spinach, then drain and shock in ice water. Squeeze it dry, chop it and toss it with toasted pine nuts, raisins, olive oil and a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar. Capers are good, too. Quite elegant, actually.

44. Make a crisp grilled cheese sandwich, with good bread and not too much good cheese. Let it cool, then cut into croutons. Put them on anything, but especially tomato and basil salad. This you will do forever. (My note: why didn't I think of this? And he's right, I will do this forever).

I'm drooling.

Good news. Seriously.

2009-07-24T10:59:00.003-06:00

I got a job interview. I'm trying not to get too excited (ok, I'm really too shocked to even be excited), but given how things have been? With the no-jobs-at-all-ness? I'm pretty excited. This, in large part because it's not just a job interview, it's an interview for a job I would actually like to have. Again, with the shock. I've been considering applying to be a cop (but those shifts really suck), I've applied to be a receptionist at a hair salon, I've applied to work for free, and so on. And I'm a lawyer, for chrissake. So this interview? For a job as a lawyer? But not a sucky firm job?

I'm probably about to wake up, aren't I? Please say I'm already awake. And that it's real. And even more important, please assure me it will go well. It took a year to get this interview. I can't wait another year.

I live in the #1 Best Place to Live in the United States!

2009-07-13T11:55:00.002-06:00

Louisville (Colorado, duh) was named the best place to live in the U.S. by Money Magazine. We were #3 a few years ago, but we've moved up the list. I'm surprised it took me two and a half years in Boulder to figure out how awesome this little neighboring town is. I really didn't even know it existed for a while. For shame. Louisville really is the best place to live, and I plan on sticking around. Little traffic, low crime, street fairs every Friday night in summer, fabulous restaurants, affordable rent (affordable to buy, too, I just don't have first-hand knowledge of it!), Colorado weather, and terrific neighbors. What's not to love?

Okay, so I'm lazy

2009-07-08T12:31:00.003-06:00

So, as usual, I didn't write it. But Maureen Dowd is just so on top of things, why bother? Here's another good Dowd column. A dig at Sarah Palin. Go forth, and read!

P.S. My favorite line is the one calling Bristol Palin the "ambassadress of abstinence." Which is demonstrated by Bristol holding her son....who was, of course, conceived in abstinence.

A litany of contradictions

2009-06-30T14:05:00.001-06:00

Ok, so I didn't actually write anything for this post. But, this column by Maureen Dowd, about Gov. Mark Sanford, is super-duper fantastic. Please to read it?

Insomnia

2009-06-25T12:08:00.002-06:00

I'm not one to suffer from insomnia. Usually. In fact, I can sleep some 20 hours a day if I need (want?) to. Well, that particular rule is out the window. Here is a bulleted list of the potential reasons that I can't (bad word) sleep at night:

The job market
The fact that after looking for over a year, all I can find are low-paying, short-term jobs
My law degree, which cost $100,000 and is worth about $10/hour. I made more before law school.
Planning my wedding
Paying for my wedding
Guilt over the fact that Rex makes money, but absolutely hates his job. I get to stay at home all day.
Staying at home all day, feeling like a total loser.
Rent, which apparently has to be paid every month. We don't make enough to pay it every month!
Medical bills. A few thousand worth.
Medical billing companies that have no sympathy for the unemployed.
The fact that I'm not actually applying for jobs full time. That's what they tell you to do. What they don't tell you is that (a) there aren't enough jobs to take up that much time applying (b) after a while, it's hard to motivate because it feels so futile.
Basically? It all comes down to money. You need it for EVERYTHING, but we really don't have any. I have $76 in my bank account, which is great when you don't have a job and therefore don't have more coming in.

I'm so stressed out!

"Landscaping"

2009-06-19T11:57:00.005-06:00

Rex and I have been spending a fair amount of time in the yard at our (still relatively) new rental house, fixing it up and making it pretty. Which is a lot of work, because it was absolutely trashed when we moved in, and the neighbors all say it's been 20 years since it looked halfway decent. We're determined folks, though, so we've been watering and weeding and planting grass seed and making a vegetable garden. It was all going so well, until our landlord decided she was going to have the south side (the worst of all), landscaped. Actually, she said xeriscaped, and Rex and I were fine with having someone else pay and perform the work to leave us with some attractive, low water landscaping.

Do you know what my landlord meant by "xeriscape?" I found out last Saturday, when I walked out to check out the new yard, only to find a giant mulch field. With a kidney-shaped "dirt pool" in the middle. I always wanted a pool. Just not a dirt pool. And there's nothing planted in the small respite from a sea of mulch, just dirt. The landlord has indicated a desire to wait on planting in the dirt pool, so we just get dirt. Do you know how attractive several hundred square feet of mulch is? NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT ATTRACTIVE. The dirt in the middle? Doesn't help. See?:
Here's a close-up of my lovely pool (of dirt):But it gets better. The landscapers (dare I call them that?) told us they had taken the liberty of installing soaker hoses in our veggie garden, since they were already installing them in the dirt pool. Rex and I thought that was great--we'd been meaning to do that, and now, we didn't have to! Only last night, when I planted a bunch more veggies, and went to water them, do you know what happened? The soaker "hoses" are actually solid tubes, and closed at the end. So no water comes out, anywhere but at the spigot where it sprays like crazy due to the pressure. Pressure that builds at the spigot because the hoses ARE NOT HOSES. They are closed tubes. Running all over our lovely vegetable garden, and all around the dirt pool. The beautiful tubes look like this:
And, we can't even unscrew the tubes to attach our actual soaker hoses, because they affixed them at the spigot in a rather permanent fashion. So. Watering cans for the vegetable garden. And watering with my eyes closed, so I don't have to see the sea of mulch with its kidney shaped dirt pool.

Ha!

2009-06-08T19:42:00.001-06:00

nataliedee.com

Bad math

2009-06-03T10:29:00.002-06:00

I was listening to Denver Mayor Hickenlooper on NPR this morning, and he was talking about the recession, and city employment, and the economy, and all that fun stuff. When I tuned in, he was going on about how layoffs are the absolute last thing the City and County of Denver would do to free up extra cash. Which, I think, is a good thing. Isn't it better to have everyone make a little less, than to leave some people high and dry while their colleagues are doing just peachy? In Denver, we're talking 3-4 furlough days. Period. Over a year. This isn't the 3-4 per month that Hawaii has instituted. Looks like we have a good plan.
Only, the details seemed a wee bit murky to me. To avoid layoffs, the government must trim costs in other ways. Naturally. By way of example, Mayor Hickenlooper said that agencies are starting to share services, like IT and fleet maintenance. That way, he said, we can trim about 20% of the workforce needed to perform those operations.
Wait. Isn't cutting the work force tantamount to layoffs? What, are we expecting 20% of the IT staff for the City and County of Denver to spontaneously retire all at once? Can someone explain how eliminating 20% of our IT and fleet maintenance crews, among others, we are avoiding layoffs? Kthx.

The life of leisure I'm leading

2009-05-29T18:01:00.002-06:00

Some might call this being an unemployed deadbeat. After spending ALL DAY sitting in the sun at my favorite coffee shop, alternately doing nothing and chatting with friends and acquaintances, I call it a successful life of leisure. Women of leisure usually have money, and are not desperately in need of work so they can pay rent (nay, they own). Today I say FIE! I've chosen this life of leisure (no I haven't) and I won't give it up for anything (except any reasonable offer of employment)! Oh, but it's so nice. Why must I work? Why can't I live this life forever?

On Unemployment...

2009-05-22T10:22:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm still unemployed. I finally applied for Unemployment, but they got my income screwed up so I'm still waiting (UI thinks I made $0.00 last year, which = no $$ for me. They're wrong!). Applying for unemployment was no small feat. The problem, in CG's words, is that you have to be a lawyer to figure out the damned unemployment system. It's true--I figured it out, but the paperwork is NOT easy to understand. First, the online system boots people out randomly. If you're in the middle of your claim (or almost finished, as the case may be), you have to start all over. And it's S-L-O-W. So you have to have lots of free time. Not exactly a problem for me! After the fun of filing online, you start to get mail. Lots of mail. The first batch includes lots of letters that make it look like the check is on the way. The next batch includes a debit card for the money they'll be sending. The problem? Tucked away in one of the letters they send (which you get with an avalanche of information) is a little box that says "Monetarily Eligible." Below that, it either says yes, or no. "No" in that box means there is no money on its way to the debit card they sent, and you have to file more information. "Yes" means money may or may not be on its way, and I have yet to figure out what you do in that situation. I got a "no," because of the aforementioned UI glitch where they said I made $0.
Who is supposed to know to look for the box, in the middle of a whole series of boxes in a whole slew of letters, to find where it says "monetarily eligible?" Is that language that the vast majority of the population can understand? And why are they paying for postage on the 6 or so separate letters/packets I've gotten? Wouldn't it be cheaper to just send everything together? Why do I have a debit card with no money on it? How do I find out if there's money on it, or when they put money on it, and so forth? C'mon people, I'm a lawyer. If I can't figure it out, we're all doomed.

Becoming a member

2009-05-20T14:56:00.001-06:00

I just joined the Louisville Chamber of Commerce. Not only does that make me feel grown up (it does!), it also makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something. I'm not sure what yet, aside from the obvious fact that I'm out $260. I stuck the sign in the front window of my house, encouraging people to stop in and check out this Chamber member's business. Well, it might be my house, and having folks stop in randomly would be a little weird, but still...I had to put the sign somewhere.

Getting political

2009-05-11T21:15:00.002-06:00

Since I'm still out of work, I figured I better do something with my time (in addition to looking for work, of course). So, I decided to teach myself web design and design websites for both of my parents, who are both self-employed, and who don't have websites (*gasp*). The real kind, not web-in-a-box--I'm looking to develop my skills here, people. Skill I seriously lack. And who doesn't want a web designing lawyer on staff?

The other thing I'm getting into (though both things are unpaid) is political. I always thought politics were hideous, horrid things. Not unlike the plague. The older I get, the more it turns out that I really like politics. So. I'm volunteering with a Democrat's campaign for my House District here in Colorado. It's a solid Dem district, the issue is beating the more conservative, more well-known candidate. I like a challenge. And I'll work for free. Looks like I found my niche (till my $700 in total assets runs out).

Out of work lawyer...

2009-05-07T12:49:00.003-06:00

That's me! I passed the Colorado Bar Exam (with flying colors, even!), so it's official--I'm a real life lawyer. That's the good news. The bad news is that I'm an out-of-work lawyer. The $100K-plus that I spent on the degree isn't doing me much good right now, as I sit at a local coffee shop trawling the job ads online. So, if you hear of any law jobs in the Denver/Boulder area, or contract work, or have any other money-making ideas (except direct sales--I'm already on that one), let me know! I'll give you my first born child, for the right job.

The Constitutionality of Fairness

2009-04-28T15:59:00.002-06:00

I get to talk to a lot of unhappy people at my job. It's often better when the voicemail talks to them, because sometimes it's hard to keep smiling, and not reach through the phone lines and strangle people.

Yesterday, I got a message from a lovely gentleman unhappy with the Colorado Legislature's proposal to offer health care benefits to same-sex partners of state employees. It's a controversial subject, I know. Homophobia is rampant, especially among conservatives. This guy went another step, though. He explained, with citations to the Colorado Constitution, that it was unconstitutional to extend benefits to same-sex partners because in this state, marriage is defined as being between one man and one woman. Sadly, that last part is true. We do define marriage that way. I wanted to say to this man, "sir, that's the whole reason for the bill. It's because we restrict marriage this way that we have to take extra steps to give homosexual citizens the same rights you have. The Colorado Constitution prevents them from getting married, but it does not, thank goodness, also say that they are not entitled to all of the other rights that you are."

Alas, it was just a message, so I couldn't. Well, I couldn't have even if it was a live call. My job is just to listen and smile. And what's saddest? That we do need legislation for this kind of thing, and even worse, that there's a good chance we won't achieve it this time. Will the bigotry ever end?

Sharing the love

2009-04-27T14:01:00.004-06:00

Miss MZ has given i like stuff an award! I think it's very awfully nice of her to think that I'm award winning. I'll try to keep up the good work, so I can feel like I earned it.

I'm supposed to return the favor by passing out 5 of these babies myself. Well, here they are:

I don't think this is the intent of the award, but Miss MZ is just so super that I am re-awarding her. Her blog (well, she has two, but the one most inspiring to me) From This Point. Forward. is a personal, eloquent journey through her battle with the immune-system attacker RA.
Miss [Dis]Grace. She's responsible for getting me into blogging (for better or for worse), and was/is a great friend and co-adventurer. Her blog, Miss Disgrace, is about the trials and tribulations of raising her fabulously handsomely adorable son.
She doesn't post much, but my sister has a blog where she shares her terrific insight (on occasion). For someone as young as she, I'm always impressed at her musings. She blogs as Thoughts from an Undecided Undergrad, aka Tuna's Thoughts.
On to the bloggers I don't know...
Dooce. She's so popular, I'm not sure she needs my awarding, but I do LOVE her blog about life, and raising her daughter (soon to be two daughters!). She's Heather B. Armstrong, a recovering Mormon in Utah.
The Daily Coyote. Another uplifting blog, chronicling the life of a rescued coyote named Charlie. The author posts a daily photo, and coyote puppies? Are so cute.

To finish the task, I shall be posting a comment on each of these award-winning blogs (four out of five, I know, have won awards previously, so I'm a little behind the curve, but whateva').

Dear Weather,

2009-04-27T13:56:00.001-06:00

It is very nearly May. Please stop snowing now? Snow is for winter. I know that you forgot to snow all winter long, but I promise it isn't necessary to make up for it by snowing profusely all April long. That is all.
Sincerely,
Your Friend Paris

Shop for Mother's Day - Stella & Dot!

2009-04-23T13:08:00.005-06:00

Mother's Day, it's a comin'. May 10, in fact. Time to think about getting Mom a present. Or, getting yourself a present, if you are a mom. Mom's deserve all the gifting they can get! Shop now!

Confused Tea Party-ers

2009-04-21T14:05:00.002-06:00

I was marveling at the lack of logic in the Tea Parties held last week, and I stumbled across this article. It's worth a read. My favorite is the repeated mention of the number of taxpayer-funded facilities and resources used to put on anti-tax events. It's a bit ironic. Dontcha think?

Help out a great cause!

2009-04-13T15:18:00.002-06:00

The MESA (Movement to End Sexual Assault) Canine Classic 5K/10K run/walk is coming up, April 19 at the Boulder Reservoir! Register to participate, or donate to help end violence against women, here. MESA is a non-profit in Boulder, Colorado with a terrific track record of helping women who have been assaulted or abused. It's an extremely worthy cause, and no donation is too small!

More than meets the eye

2009-04-12T19:54:00.001-06:00

toothpastefordinner.com

Worst economy in how many years?

2009-04-06T12:36:00.005-06:00

I'm about to be unemployed. One month from today, I will leave the lap of luxury (y'know, the $10/hour one where I make less than an unemployment check?), and be without work. It's not for lack of trying. Oh god, there has been trying. I'm applying for anything and everything I can find, but with 150-1400 people competing for single positions, the odds are a teeny bit stacked against me. And many others. The 149-1399 others for each and every job. I'm getting rejection letters like Miley Cyrus must get fan mail. So, knowing that finding "regular" employment ain't gonna happen anytime soon (especially if I talk like that!), I'm striking out on my own. Sort of.

Enter Stella & Dot. It's a direct-sales jewelry line, which means that I'm technically a small-business owner, working for myself, but get some hand-holding (and someone else is responsible for the creative genius part). Stella & Dot is a pretty fabulous jewelry line, one with prices just about anyone can afford. So, I'll be hosting parties and selling online, in the hope that July rent can be paid. We're good on rent till then (thank goodness), but after that, well, you know what happens. Landlords don't like people who don't pay rent.

If you need a little sparkle in your life, some retail therapy, or want to get some friends together and have a party and try on jewels, cruise on over!

Ignorant people shouldn't speak

2009-04-02T13:01:00.002-06:00

There is a blogger in Colorado who goes by the catchy title of Rossputin (his name is Ross), and he has spent a good amount of time debating the merits of House Bill 1299, which would enter Colorado into a compact to give our electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, if and when enough states have entered said compact. I'm not here to discuss the merits of the bill, I think there are good arguments on both sides. I'm here to debate Rossputin's intelligence. So much more fun.
I have taken issue with a number of his constitutional arguments on my own time, but this simple inability to navigate the interwebs is my favorite. On his blog, in a posting made yesterday, 4/1, he has this to say:

"Not even 48 hours after my state Representative, Claire Levy, sent me a long explanation of her support for HB1299 which would nearly eliminate the important of small (and small-ish) states like Colorado in Presidential elections, Mrs. Levy has not only deleted that same note from her web site’s home page, but she has deleted the entire “National Popular Vote” page from her site. And she does not mention the issue on her “Current Issues” page."

Well, Rep. Levy's webpage was last updated on Tuesday, 3/31. As of today, there is an ENTIRE page devoted to the issue of the national popular vote and HB 1299. It's titled, "National Popular Vote," which isn't exactly subtle or difficult to find. I think it's the precise page Rossputin is referring to? The one he says isn't there? This page was up when the genius Rossputin wrote his posting about how she's a coward. Way to go, smart guy. Maybe surf the interwebs a tad bit before you go running your not-entirely-literate mouth!

Two days off work...

2009-03-27T16:28:00.004-06:00

We had a rather impressive snowstorm here yesterday (about 18 inches at my house), and because the traffic is known to get gnarly going to Denver, Rex and I decided not to go to work. Good call, because we heard it took some people 4 hours to make the commute, instead of 30 minutes. We got today off, too, because the House was in adjournment (I can only guess it's due to the snow).

Here's what I did instead of work:

Work. At least it felt like it. I've been applying to any job I might actually want. Several a day, which doesn't sound like much until you've done a USAJobs.gov application. They take FOREVER. (NB: I did not use the KSA service I told you about). Cross your fingers for me, and do let me know if you hear of any good enviro jobs in the Denver/Boulder area.
Walk to the grocery store. Our little cars would have none of the snowy, slushy, icy roads. So we walked, trudging through 18 inches of fluff. We got home soaking wet, feeling like kids. And it was good exercise!
Shovel snow. Lots of snow. With a garden shovel, since we only have one snow shovel.
Clean my kitchen. I am a winner. (Ok, it was filthy and long overdue).
Cook dinner. Again, I am a winner. This was the second night in a row!
Nap for three hours. I love napping, and this was most excellent.
Sulk about the job market.
Enter the Denver Post Sweepstakes. Five times. If the economy is going to suck, I have to be creative. I intend to make a living with pennies-at-a-time services that pay me to look at ads, entering sweepstakes, and the lotto. Again, you should probably wish me luck.

I would love to be qualify for a job. Then they'll hire me!

2009-03-25T16:07:00.004-06:00

This sentence was on a website promoting their service of helping job seekers draft KSAs, these nasty things required for federal government jobs.

"They will make sure that your KSA's comply with all the Government standards and showcase how qualify for the position you are."

There are TWO typos in just one sentence. I'm sure they will help me get the job of my dreams. As a janitor cleaning toilet's, if I'm lucky.

Becoming Mrs. Rex (part 1?)

2009-03-25T13:30:00.002-06:00

I've known for a while that I'm going to take Rex's surname when we get married, but lately it's started to become apparent that I might want to go ahead and become Mrs. Rex now, rather than later (I don't want my full name on here, so we'll pretend he's Rex Rex). After all, I will become a bona fide attorney, with a license and registration number, in May. Wouldn't it be simpler to start out as Mrs. Rex, rather than having to change the damned information with the Board of Attorney Regulation after three months of practice? On a more practical note, wouldn't it be nice to actually be Mrs. Rex the day of our wedding, rather than having to just start the switch after we've said "I do"? I certainly think so. Which is why I took a trip to the Social Security Administration this afternoon.

The SSA is probably one of the saddest places there is. It's like a cross between a homeless shelter, a halfway house, and a home for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled. You take a number, and wait your turn while these poor (quite literally) people are cycled through. Rex and I were by far the best dressed, wealthiest people there. And we make about $15,000 a year.

On a brighter note, I got that first piece of paperwork handled, and it only took about an hour. So, I'm on my way to becoming Mrs. Rex. Wish me luck, this might be a long, tedious journey.

Redistribution of wealth...

2009-03-23T09:42:00.003-06:00

Republicans have long been carrying on about the redistribution of wealth that will occur at the hands of President Obama and all the other liberals who are now in charge. It's obvious that socialism is nigh... Right.

I saw this comment to an op-ed piece about the similarities between Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" and the new administration. While the article was written by a conservative, claiming that our county will come to ruin shortly, I really liked this response (grammar notwithstanding):

It is said that the money doesn’t go away it just gets redistributed. Under the Bush administration billions of dollars were reallocated to the wealthiest of the population. Mr. Andrews the “Economic makeover” the redistribution process has already taken place. As a result the middle class is slipping into poverty. I say Atlas has already shrugged and we are currently dealing with the consequences.

It's all a matter of perspective, and I agree with the commenter, who is named as "snowbow."

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-19T15:46:00.005-06:00

In addition to stuff, I also like St. Patrick's Day. I'm a big fan of wearing green and drinking Guinness. I did both, plus I had a Smithick's and some extra special fun. But that part's a secret, and there were only two witnesses. Officially, anyway. *wink, wink*

Going on a little rant...about those damned republicans

2009-03-18T09:55:00.004-06:00

As I've mentioned before, I read a lot of [Colorado] news every day at work to stay informed about what's happening here at the state house. I read a lot of conservative opinion pieces, so that I know what those crazy Republicans are up to. It's good for me. But much of the time, it's also really, really irritating.

One of the most annoying topics is TABOR, the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (I've also ranted about this specific issue many a time). This horrid piece of legislation was enacted in Colorado in 1992, when the state was very red. Well, the state isn't so red now (actually, it's rather blue). The legislation basically made the state go broke, and it's all-around just a crappy concept. Our state revenue is seriously limited by TABOR (mainly by what is known as the "ratchet down" effect), and funding for education and transportation are particularly impacted. Democrats keep trying to amend it, or make other legislative changes that would untie the hands of the state, but it's very difficult since all changes to tax policy must be put to the voters (that's a huge part of what TABOR does). Colorado is something like 47th in education funding nationwide, and if you've ever driven here, you know how bad the roads are. We need to change the way we handle our money, and increase our taxes (or at least let the state keep the money it collects to spend it how we need/want, rather than refunding it when we collect more than TABOR allows). It's hard to argue that we don't need more money for these things. Still, the conservatives hammer on and on about how we have TABOR and how great it is. Usually, the rants I read are so full of typos I think they're written by illiterates. That's part of the irony--people love TABOR despite the fact that they never learned to write under our poorly funded public school system--because of TABOR.

There's a point here (I think). I was reading an opinion piece in the Colorado Springs Gazette that criticizes the recent CO Supreme Court decision upholding a legislative mill levy increase from 2007. I'll be the first to admit that the democrats keep trying to make end-runs around TABOR, but they're not breaking the law. If the Supreme Court upholds the mill levy change using sound reasoning, then it's probably legal. So stop whining about it. Just because TABOR is law, that doesn't make it good. Lots of law is, in fact, bad. And lots more is simply badly drafted. The system IS broken, and we're just trying to fix it. And just because legislation was once enacted by the voters does not mean that we can't later amend or overturn it. In fact, that's why our legislators meet every year and why we vote--we are changing and adding laws all the time. I'm listening to laws being passed in the Colorado state house right now.

The biggest problem I have with the TABOR supporters who keep lambasting attempts to fix the budget problems we have, is the fact that they generally don't understand what a "fee" is. TABOR specifically prohibits changes to tax policy without a consent vote of the citizens of the state. However, it expressly allows fees to be imposed without a vote of the people. There is a distinction, and it's allowed under the law. Still, republicans keep complaining that we're "disguising" taxes as fees to pull the wool over. That's just not the case. THEY ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS, and are defined by TABOR (I could go into the difference, but I don't feel like re-living law school just now). Yes, it seems like an end-run by democrats to enact fees rather than trying to get taxes approved, so that revenue can be generated. But your beloved TABOR allows this, so stop crying foul when democrats are just using the legislative process, and doing so legally, to raise money so that our bridges are safe and our kids learn how to read.

I think I'm done ranting for now. In case you want to see an example of a couple of republicans' grammatical challenges and difficulty with spelling, check out this blog posting, and look too at the comment by calGone.

A moment of optimism

2009-03-11T13:02:00.003-06:00

I went to a legislative reception yesterday for all manner of environmental groups, which was a good way to spend time since, well, I want to work for one (really, any one) of them in the future. I got to tag along with my boss, The Representative, who thought she could introduce me around a bit. It's too bad that I'm so terrible at the small talk and all, and had to cling to The Representative like a barnacle...but still, it was a good event. After the embarassing gaffe of ordering a beer and then realizing that, oops, my wallet was totally empty (and having to borrow money from my boss), I met this person and that person, whilst the boss mentioned all around that I was a freshly minted attorney looking for work. A few people seemed at least somewhat receptive, and the real score came as I left and got an offer from an old professor to send along my resume. She offered to do whatever she could to help--that's the sort of thing I'm desperate for. It was also nice that she didn't seem daunted by the fact that I got a C+ in her class, or maybe she just didn't remember. Mostly I'm just mumbling on here, but I felt optimistic at the end of yesterday, a feeling that is somewhat hard to come by these days. I'm going to try to hold onto it, a feat I think I can imagine until the rejection letters (or worse, total silence) start rolling in. And I'm sure they will--by the truckload.

Demons and crap

2009-03-10T15:28:00.003-06:00

Reading some pretty ultra-conservative news today (I do it for my job, so I know what people on both sides of the aisle are thinking and doing), I came across two great nicknames for democrats. First, democraps. The other, demoncrats. How clever, eh? Both used in the comments to an article about Colorado's SB 09-170, which would give in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. I support the legislation, by the way. If I have the time, I'll share my reasons. In the meantime, here's a great article about the bill and immigration more generally.

The Impending Bar Exam

2009-02-22T10:01:00.004-07:00

The goddamned bar exam is the only thing I can think about, so it's the perennial subject of this blog and everything else out of my mouth/mind, and will be until it's over.
The thing is the DAY AFTER TOMORROW, and the panic abated for the last week or so, but really? This is terrifying. Because if I don't pass, I have to wait another 6 months and pay another $600, and in the meantime I won't get licensed and it will be even harder to find work. Which, as it turns out, isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world right now as it is. Can you read the edge in my voice? Because it's there, with a little shakiness. And still, I'm too burned out to study any more. Which only freaks me out more. It's a vicious cycle, I tell you.
I am, however, looking forward to staying at the Hotel Teatro during the exam. And eating at alto the night between exam days. I've never been to either of the places before, but they look amazing on the websites, and are really close to the Convention Center where the bar exam is to be held. I figured I could pamper myself (and Rex), given that this is probably the most stressful thing I'll ever do. At least until I have (if I have) kids.
I'm off to see if I can't force a few more minutes of mnemonic device learning into my head. PATERNITY, KIDBARF, CAMPingMAP, ALIE, SID to the REC, HEDDEC, HOACS, RVCABLEFAILS, this sucks ass. And I only know what a few of those even stand for.

Study Breaking

2009-02-19T12:56:00.001-07:00

I could pretend it's been a quick study break....

nataliedee.com

Sharing Time

2009-02-13T19:43:00.001-07:00

Rex Invictus. He made it up, not me. Creativity in lieu of bar exam studying = good stuff.

Why he's my favorite

2009-02-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Rex just sent me this message:
Люблю тебя всем сердцем, всей душою
It means "I love you with all my heart, with all my soul" in Russian (is that correct, miss grace?). You see, everyone thinks he's Russian, even though he's really from Texas. So it's cute. At least, I think so.

25 Things, because everyone is doing it.

2009-02-07T14:46:00.000-07:00

1. I finally live in a grown-up house. I still rent, but it's a house, with a dishwasher.
2. I am getting married in September. I'm very excited.
3. My little sister is my BEST friend in the whole world. And she turns 21 next week.
4. My college roommate/best friend in college didn't speak to me for about 2 years. I still had dreams about her every few nights. We're speaking again, which makes me happy.
5. I really really don't like bananas. Or anything that smells like them. Yuck.
6. I used to have a gremlin in my tummy. It's back, because of the bar exam.
7. I knit, and crochet. Occasionally.
8. My sister was 2 and a half months premature. She weighed less than two pounds, and almost didn't survive. You'd never know it today (Are all of these supposed to be about me?)
9. I prefer my water "con gas," with bubbles.
10. I tap dance. I've been doing it since I was four, and have performed with my mom and my sister.
11. I had laser eye surgery at the end of 2007. I was almost legally blind at that point. Now I see 20/20.
12. I'm a little OCD. For the first two years of law school, I could use ONLY pink highlighters. Otherwise I kind of freaked.
13. Sleeping is my favorite thing to do. I love naps.
14. I'm taking the Colorado bar exam in just over two weeks. My hands shake whenever I think about how soon that is.
15. I have a law degree, and make $10/hour. I thought I'd make more at this point.
16. My parents are still married. Happily.
17. My favorite color is green. My eyes are green.
18. I really like to stay in hotels, even cheap motels. As long as they aren't too too seedy.
19. I drink champagne regularly. It's not reserved for special occasions in my world.
20. I'm left handed.
21. I hated cats until the day I got one. I'm not sure how I bridged that gap, but now I have two and they are my family.
22. My car is named Harvey. He is 13, but you'd never know it. Except that I just told you, so now you know.
23. I used to freak out about getting older (which included a tantrum on every birthday). That stopped ever since I met Rex. Now I'm comfortable with getting older (old!).
24. We had a dog named Babs when I was younger. She was a really mellow Golden Retriever. I still miss her.
25. I consider myself to be a very fortunate, lucky person. I have a good life, and try to remember that every day.

Making fun of the misled, again.

2009-02-02T09:24:00.004-07:00

High school students in Denver got a pair of Democratic legislators to back a bill that will impose a 6 cent fee on plastic bags at the grocery store (really, the language includes all very large stores), and ultimately require that the bags be phased out by 2012. Half the fee goes towards education on the eventual phase-out. The bill is a good one, though maybe not of the most pressing urgency.

The nay-sayers (conservatives) argue that the bill is bad because then we'll just use more paper bags, which require more resources to produce. Well, that is true about paper bags. It just completely overlooks the point--to get people to use reusable bags. Not paper bags, which also contribute to landfills and litter. High school kids aren't that retarded. Unless they're conservatives too, of course.

If you read the article, you might notice the comment that the bill implicates TABOR. Well, if the author knew the difference between a tax and a fee (knowledge absolutely essential to any discussion regarding TABOR), the article might read differently. TABOR specifically allows fees without a consent vote, and a fee is a flat "tax" (it cannot be based on income, for example) that goes to pay for a specific service. The 6 cents per bag is a flat fee (it doesn't depend on how much you spend on groceries, for example--that would make it a tax), and the bill designates precisely what the revenue is to be spent on--the service of educating the public about the bag phase-out. Looks like a fee to me.

All that aside, my favorite part of the op-ed piece is the comments submitted by readers. Naturally, they take the form of debate between those who support the bill, mostly liberals, and those opposed, mostly conservatives. My favorite comment is this one:

I refuse to recycle.
I flush the toilet multiple times.
I use plastic bags and throw them in the garbage.
I drive a car and only worry about emissions at inspection time.
I put used kitty litter in the trash.
I use paper towels.
I use old incandescent bulbs.
I intentionally try to put as much carbon back into the environment that I can.
I refuse to yeild the road I pay taxes to keep up to bicycles.
I run the washing machine with just a few items in it.
I take pride in being a contrarian disestablishmentarain who "fights the environmentalist whacko establishment" any time I can, in my own little way. Mankind, even if totally focused on doing so, CANNOT destroy the planet, nor its environment.

That last sentence is especially my favorite. I'll bet this guy is a big supporter of the Heartland Institute.

Conservatives without Brains

2009-01-27T12:07:00.003-07:00

This is kind of long, because I've reprinted a piece from the Daily Camera...
In last week's paper (from the ever-liberal Boulder), was a piece from a local named Don Lloyd, complaining about the "liberal hate mongers." Here is what he had to say:

It is worrisome to contemplate how the numerous liberal hate mongers will react to the sudden loss of their opportunity to express their unprecedented disrespect and hate of our President. Will it be something like drug withdrawals, or will it be depression? Surely, the Camera cartoonist will be saddened that he can no longer express his narrow-minded hate by regularly casting our president as an ignorant monkey.

No, this will not be replaced by similar but conservative purveyors of disrespect, because they seem to have the ability to communicate criticism more constructively. It’s similar to the treatment of liberal versus conservative guest speakers on the CU campus. We never see liberal guest speakers taunted or blocked from speaking, yet the campus liberals, who loudly declare the merits of freedom of speech and the right to self-expression, are quick to prevent any significant conservative voice from speaking at CU, even when they’ve been invited for the engagement. And such behavior is vindicated by what great moral justification? Certainly it isn’t freedom of speech, or a balanced political venue. And now someone has even dared to suggest the need for a new seat of conservative thought on our fair campus – horrors!

It isn’t going to be easy for the libs, when they begin to see the bill for the massive promises being made by President Obama and his inability to deliver on many. But they will readily commit their complete support to our new president, exercising the same respect and support so completely denied President Bush.

If you think this concern for liberal withdrawals isn’t well founded, just consider the numerous hate-filled harangues printed over the past few weeks, trying to get in the last bash before President Bush leaves the oval office to his successor.

Noting that Mr. Lloyd is patently wrong on a few points, let me take this opportunity to point out just what the conservative jackass pretends to know, but really knows nothing about.

First, let me acknowledge that he is correct that there has been much Bush-bashing going on, not just in the end of Mr. Monkey's term, but throughout. As an educated person, I think that the bashing was warranted. The man was an idiot and a fraud, and not fit to lead this country.

Next, Mr. Lloyd goes on to mention the negative treatment of conservative guest speakers at CU. Mr. Lloyd says that the campus liberals "are quick to prevent any significant conservative voice from speaking at CU, even when they've been invited for the engagement." Well, Mr. Lloyd, I hate to disappoint, but at the time of your writing there were prolific advertisments of a conservative speaker, coming to the CU campus to speak. On January 26, the conservative author Dinesh D'Souza engaged in a debate entitled "What's so great about God," on campus. So much for that idea. D'Souza is a best-selling author, a former senior policy analyst for the Reagan Administration, and was described by New York Times Magazine as one of the nation's leading conservative thinkers. Seems to me just like the kind of person Mr. Lloyd was describing.

The other major point in Lloyd's column I'd like to address is his statement that we liberals will essentially follow President Obama in blind faith. Even if we do, I'd really like to know how that is at all different from the astonishing blind faith I saw conservatives put in President Bush, even when he couldn't form complete sentences and had to lie his way through the war in Iraq.

Mr. Lloyd accurately illustrates the ignorance espoused by so many conservatives, and it's always nice to see them put their feet in their mouths in public.

The J.D. is official

2009-01-25T12:55:00.002-07:00

All my grades are (finally) in from last semester. I managed to squeak by in all my classes, which means the J.D. is mine to keep. Huzzah! I'm officially an unlicensed attorney!

The bar isn't looking quite so rosy, but I'm intending to keep cramming for the next four weeks (it's 30 days exactly to the exam), so wish me luck.

Busy times

2009-01-19T13:06:00.002-07:00

In the last month, I graduated from law school, went to Crested Butte and Texas (spraining my ankle and tearing ligaments in between trips), moved, started a new job, and started studying for the bar. Bar review really, really sucks. What with trying to get accustomed to the new job and get moved in, plus that nagging wedding planning business, bar review, which should be a full-time affair, really isn't even close. Eight hours a week is a surefire way to fail. But studying for the thing sucks way more than law school did. I need: (A) more time in a day; (B) more weeks in January; and (C) the bar exam to be anytime good and later than the end of February. That's not too much to ask, is it?

Oh, and I went snowboarding this morning. My still-not-totally-healed ankle wasn't really thrilled, especially after Jazzercise yesterday. But it was such a beautiful day, I couldn't resist!

Under the Dome

2009-01-14T15:59:00.003-07:00

So I've been hard at work for a few days now, really about a week. Having to get up at 6:30 to go to work really sucks, but my job as a legislative aide is interesting.

Except on Monday. The 40 minute commute took nearly three hours because of an unexpected storm, a commute in which I had to stand up on the bus on my sprained ankle (and yes, it's STILL screwed up). We finally got off the bus at an early stop to walk the rest of the way because of the horrid slowness of the traffic. Then Starbucks got my drink SO WRONG (I ordered a cappuccino, it's not rocket science) and I was so cranky that I threw it on the ground because I didn't realize it was wrong until we were away from the store. Rex was kind enough to buy me a new one at the next Starbucks, but then when I got to work the phone rang immediately and I was stuck talking to crazy constituents for the next two hours. One lady took up a whole hour on her own. The rest of the day was good, including the commute home, until we were in the parking lot at the bus station and I slipped on black ice and landed right on my ass. Which was also not so bad until Rex slipped right after me and his leg went right into my back. I burst into tears for a minute, then we were laughing, and then we had wine. Lots and lots of wine, for purposes of curing the Monday-from-hell-ness.

Yesterday and today have been much better.

Limping to Austin

2008-12-30T11:16:00.003-07:00

I shall be ringing in the new year in Austin, with my future in-laws. Which, in my case, is a good thing. On my one day in Boulder between Crested Butte and TX, I tried to be a good girl, and I went to Jazzercise. That turned out to be a terrible pre-travel idea, as I twisted the hell out of my ankle halfway through class. Twisted it, as in it was 90 degrees in the wrong direction: the sole of my left foot was looking (rather shocked-like) at the ankle of my right. Luckily Jazzercise is full of moms, so I was taken care of in style. I managed to drive home, where I got to lay up whilst Rex ran all of my necessary pre-travel errands. And then, I got to travel with a cane. As it turns out, traveling with a cane is brilliant, because you get to go in the special no-line security line with the pilots and such, and you get to "courtesy pre-board." That means we were the first people on the plane! My little ankle was swollen to the size of a tennis ball yesterday (or perhaps it was a novel way of smuggling a small bomb? Kidding), but today she's looking much better. And I've dispensed with the cane, which truth be told made me feel a little conspicuous.

White Christmas

2008-12-25T13:57:00.001-07:00

It is, decidedly, a very white Christmas this year. It has been snowing since yesterday evening, and shows no signs of stopping for at least another 36 hours. Merry Christmas, everyone! There's enough white here to go around for those of you with a more, er, green Christmas.

Retailing in a Winter Wonderland

2008-12-24T17:27:00.001-07:00

I walked into my mom's shop in Crested Butte this evening, to find my mom and sister waiting on a young couple. The girls jubilantly told me that the couple are getting married tomorrow at the base area of Mt. CB, and they were just purchasing the bride's outfit. At my mom's little shop! The couple just up and decided to get married while they are in town, and she knew she wanted to take the plunge on Christmas day. So, they got a local wedding planner and hit up all the shops in town to find a ring (oh, what a ring) and wedding clothes. For the life of them, they couldn't find a suitable outfit (despite their extra casual approach), and were just about to give up, when at the last minute they stumbled on Four Eighteen. They found an outfit and jewelry, and we sent the very happy, adorable couple on their way. The couple, in turn, invited us to the wedding. It's such a great Christmas fairy tale, and on Christmas day we'll head up to the mountain to attend this couple's wedding, along with all the other locals they have met along the journey of throwing their nuptials together.

Merry Christmas!

So....close....

2008-12-18T12:17:00.003-07:00

I rented my graduation regalia this morning. Doctoral graduates (that's me! Doesn't it sound fancy?) get to wear a tam, and the law color is purple. As for the color, at least it's not pink--music has to wear pink. But the tam? It's a square, floppy, velvet hat. Seriously? I think the goal of graduation is to utterly humiliate us in front of our families. Me? I'm going to look sexy in that floppy, shiny, square hat. Yes indeed.

Still counting down

2008-12-17T16:02:00.002-07:00

I now have 24 hours and 15 minutes left until I am FINISHED with law school. That is, unless I can finish my exam sooner. Closed book, 3 hour water law exam...perhaps 2 hours (easy 2 hours), better at 1 1/2 or less. Then 'tis time for champagne and happiness.

Counting down

2008-12-16T13:38:00.004-07:00

I have two days plus roughly two hours of law school left. The end won't come soon enough, but when it does, there will be celebrations and family time and NO MORE EXAMS! Until that unholy of unholy exams, the Bar Exam, but let's not worry about that now, okay?

Counting down to the end of school makes me think I should count down until the end of winter. Because yesterday? It was nineteen degrees below zero. And I don't even live in the mountains anymore, for chrissake. Five more days until the days start getting longer again (FINALLY), and 13 1/2 weeks until the official "first day of spring" (though we in cold climates all know that's a load of crap).

Thirty eight and a half weeks until I get married. And I still don't have a caterer. C'est la vie.

The Shoes

2008-12-14T14:21:00.005-07:00

These just might be the magic shoes I will wear down the aisle. I love. Love them. 'Twas love at first sight.

Giveaway

2008-12-08T14:37:00.001-07:00

Because I can't resist free stuff, and I'm sure you cannot either. There is a giveaway at http://www.kirtsy.com/story.php?title=Chicks_Who_Click_Excellent_Giveaway, and if I might add, it's a pretty good one.

Going, going,

2008-12-06T15:59:00.000-07:00

GONE. I'm not sure if I'm one of those people that fears change, or if it's just some kinds of change that bother me. I've always been fine moving from place to place, but when my hometown changes dramatically, it makes me feel all funny.

Crested Butte is a fabulous, wonderful, even magical place. But it changes a lot. That's normal in the ski/tourist industry, especially when you're somewhat behind the whole fancy-all-looks-the-same ski resort trend, but most of us hope that CB will retain some of its charm. After all, it is known to locals and those abroad alike as "crusty butt." How much more charming can you get?

The sad/scary-change part is that the resort sold again. Last time it sold, it sold to a very small "corporation" (basically a couple and their adult son--the Muellers), so it was actually a good thing. They started pouring money in, and people were generally happy (just don't mention the word "Snodgrass," and you won't get hurt). This week, though my happy place was sold to a giant corporation, the mean ugly hateful kind. CNL Lifestyle Properties, Inc. bought the place, and while they're going to lease it back to the Muellers to run it, it's the nasty corporation that owns the place and therefore calls the shots.

Perhaps it will be ok--maybe I've always wanted to live in a cookie-cutter corporate community and never knew it? And who doesn't love the idea of living in a place designed by the same people as the Dallas Market Center?

Looking...this time for a new place to live

2008-12-03T11:36:00.003-07:00

After the job search that would never end (really it's just suspended, and I'll work for $10/hour part-time in the mean time), I'm now on to the next search--this time for a new place to call home. We had to terminate the contract on our condo for a whole host of reasons, but I CANNOT live in a crappy apartment with no dishwasher, a/c, washer/dryer, or closet space any longer. Our pantry and our linen closet and our storage closet are the same thing. One closet, about 18" wide and 24" deep, has to fit food, cleaning supplies, and miscellany. There is one drawer in the kitchen. It holds our silverware. Everything else goes on the countertop. The only counter space is occupied by the dish dry rack, so you have to move that to cook. The sink isn't divided, so you can't dry dishes on one side of the sink instead. It gets to be around 95 degrees in the summer months. The bathroom is through the kitchen, which means from the bedroom you cross past the front door, the living room, and through the kitchen to get there. Given that I'm about to have a JD, I think I'm ready for more commitment. Like with a dishwasher. I lust after dishwashers, to the point that people who have them think I'm going to sexually assault theirs. Wish me luck, and look out, dishwashers of Boulder.

Miss Grace: Remember Pardall? I think this is more poorly equipped. Even when you consider the neighbors and that eensy shower.

Legislative Aide-ing

2008-11-20T12:16:00.002-07:00

Rex and I both finally have jobs. We are going to be legislative aides! We'll only make $10/hour, and work just 20 hours/week, but things were looking so grim I'm willing to regress to a high schooler's paycheck. We're hoping to make enough connections and such so that we can get real jobs when we pass the bar. If we pass the bar. Yay for us and our new jobs!

Because Global Warming IS Real

2008-11-18T15:31:00.000-07:00

"President-elect Barack Obama, in strongly-worded remarks to a gathering of governors and foreign officials on Tuesday, said he had no intention of softening or delaying his aggressive targets for reducing emissions that cause the warming of the planet." (here)

Thank goodness we are actually going to get some change. I know the economy is extraordinarily important now (I'm accepting a job that pays $10/hour, and is only part-time, and I will have a doctorate), but this is also very important. I'm so happy we elected someone who will really act on the climate change problem. That is all.

The never ending job search

2008-11-12T13:19:00.003-07:00

"The slowdown also has made it much harder for lawyers looking for work to find positions, said Robin S. Miller, a principal at Corrao, Miller, Rush & Wiesenthal Legal Search Consultants in New York." (NYT)

I'm graduating from law school next month. I haven't been able to find even part-time work, despite having been looking since last April (well before the downturn). Everyone I talk to says, "oh, it'll be fine. You'll find work." Well, I'm here to say that there is a good chance I won't, at least not for a while. So stop annoying me by painting a rosy picture with your eyes closed. Things suck for lawyers right now, and I'm about to be at the bottom of the totem pole. Last year's grads are still looking for work, and they are licensed.

"You know things are bad when even lawyers are getting laid off." The same article, refuting the constantly posed comment that, "people always need lawyers." Well, they don't need 'em if they can't afford to hire 'em.

I just hope the economy turns around. Soon, and dramatically. Otherwise, I'll be looking for a box on Colfax avenue to call home.

On why I hate Career Development...

2008-11-06T14:16:00.003-07:00

I am going to a career fair at the law school tonight. There are numerous employers collecting applications. So I have been diligently drafting cover letters, in the hopes that I might find a job tonight. Since there are two separate lists of employers attendees, one entitled "employers collecting applications," the other titled "employers participating," I had assumed that there would be at least the possibility of job openings.

I was wrong.

I just ran into my illustrious career counselor, one of those in charge of the event. I said to him, "E---, I hope there are going to be some jobs for real lawyers/graduates tonight!" His response? "Oh, don't go looking for jobs, just collect information."

SO WHY DO I HAVE TO WRITE COVER LETTERS??? Why are applications being accepted if there are no jobs? AND HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO ACTUALLY GET A JOB??? Information doesn't exactly get the job done. It's called a career fair for a reason.

A New Day Dawns

2008-11-04T21:08:00.004-07:00

I am totally speechless, but couldn't resist the urge to put up a quick post. We have elected Obama, and now have OUR FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT, and he Baracks my world. Champagne, anyone?

Vividly remembering the 2000 election in the Santa Rosa dorm, and the CNN gaffe, I waited till I heard two networks proclaim Obama winner before I got all giddy and teared up. This time, though, is for real.

HELL FUCKING YEAH!

Yet another medical saga, and insurance

2008-10-30T12:10:00.003-06:00

Sometimes I think I might be a hypochondriac, because it seems like I have more weird and somewhat serious medical issues crop up than other people I know. I use my self-awareness of this to tell myself that it's all real, and that I'm not a hypochondriac, rather I'm just not the healthiest girl. Which would stand to reason if you knew about my lifestyle.

It all started in college, with "the gremlin." Somewhat suddenly, I was throwing up just about everything I ate. Wednesday night pizza and beer at Woodstock's in Isla Vista was particularly egregious, and there was a tree I would always duck behind on the walk home to retch. It became so commonplace, I didn't even blink. Well, the condition of my tummy got so bad that a roommate demanded I go to the emergency room. At the time, I was in so much pain I couldn't stand up all the way. She was probably right about the need to seek treatment, but I tend to avoid doctors like the plague (see, I told you I'm not a hypochondriac). After a little morphine, I felt all better. After six months of no alcohol or greasy food, the gremlin had been healed considerably. It has never totally gone away, though. Mostly I just ignore it now, except fo those times it hurts so badly I just moan and try to go to sleep.

Last year, in May, my right calf went numb. Then my thigh. Then, as the feeling would come back at the lower end of this numbness, the feeling would move higher. A numb half-belly feels really weird. Rex's dad is an MD, so a phone call to him revealed that this could be nothing normal or ok. Again, I protested a trip to the ER in a way that you might have thought Rex was trying to remove my fingernails with rusty pliers. Until the right half of my tongue went numb. It's hard to be convincing if you sound like a drunk retard. To the ER we went. I got scared enough by the time we were checking in with the triage nurse and my speech center went wonky. In the exam room, I lost the ability to speak certain sounds, "thank you" would come out only as "yank you," no matter how hard I tried. It looked like a stroke, and a trip to the ER was probably well-advised.

It wasn't a stroke, just an "aura migraine," unusual only for the severity of the aura symptoms. Auras usually present as mild visual disturbances, and they'd never seen anything quite like mine. So they sent me for a CT scan and an MRI, plus trips to the neurologist. Two grand later, I was pronounced just fine. That two grand, however, will haunt me for around five years, because that's how long it will take me to pay it off at $30 a month, which is still more than I can afford.

Don't you have insurance?, I hear you asking. Well, yes'm I do. With a $3000 deductible. That renews each year. I have zero coverage until I meet the deductible, be it for perscription drugs, office visits, or something that looks like a stroke. So the two grand falls entirely on me to pay. This is the kind of insurance someone like me can afford (actually, my dad pays for it. I would be uninsured if he didn't. And it ain't cheap).

Two things just converged that caused me to write this rather long diatribe. One, as you might have guessed from the title, is that something else has gone awry with little Parepare. The other is the revelation from a New York Times article that women are paying more for health insurance than men. And the reasons are not entirely clear. This more expensive coverage does not include maternity care, which would at least account for the disparity. Anthem, my insurer, is listed as being one of the major offenders. Women with Anthem in Columbus OH (the example cited) pay 49% more than men in the same age group, and the disparities are worse for young women. Being a young woman who is barely insured, and at that can't afford health care, this makes me so mad really I'm just disappointed. Because really, are we surprised? No. We know that the system is totally f***ed. But this should be illegal. We can't discriminate based on race, but sex? Sure, go right ahead. That's progress.

So, in the shadow of this knowledge, I just made an appointment for a breast core biopsy, because I have a fibroadenoma in my right breast. A fibroadenoma is a lump very common in young women (particularly my age bracket) that is almost always benign. So it's really just a lump that's more annoying than anything. But because of the severity of cancer, since there is a remote chance that the lump is cancerous, fibroadenomas are nearly always biopsied or removed. Mine shall be biopsied in a procedure that will have me out of commission for 24 hours, and guess what? I get to pay for it all with the riches I have from being a law student for 2 1/2 years. My insurance does not cover this sort of treatment (though the guy at Anthem enthusiastically told me that they cover 100% once I reach the deductible!). I chose the less expensive biopsy option, which will mean I'll still have the lump. But I'll know it's a nothing lump. And I'll get to remember that fact every month when I get the bill, asking for another $30. I just hope they don't raise my monthly payments with addition of the new charges. That would really hurt.

City of Angels

2008-10-28T17:11:00.002-06:00

In the first half of the 20th Century, William Mulholland felt the way about L.A. that I do today:

"I'd rather give birth to a porcupine backwards than be the mayor of Los Angeles."

And he's a major reason the city even exists.

Amendment 48

2008-10-20T17:08:00.003-06:00

I've surprised myself in realizing that I haven't mentioned it yet, but Colorado is trying to go back to the awesomeness level of the anti-gay Amendment we had with Amendment 48, which would define a person at conception. I was prompted to post this because I read this excellent blog about it, written by a non-Coloradoan who is rightfully opposed. I would get shakingly mad to explain all that is wrong with Amendment 48, but I encourage you to think about the rights you have by virtue of being a person. Then think about an embryo having all the same rights. Read the link. And then think about how awesome the girl is who created it. By the way, she's about to graduate from law school, kind of like yours truly. Unlike myself, she "attends" an un-accredited online Christian law school. Good luck with the bar exam, honey.

Fashion

2008-10-20T16:04:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I worry that I have no fashion sense, in a way that might be embarrassing. I worry that I can barely dress myself, and that perhaps people are laughing at me (or cringing).

I just saw a woman wearing a black t-shirt, hunter green tapered jeans, and tennis shoes. T-shirt, no problem. Hunter green tapered jeans? In all seriousness?

I feel much better about my own ability to get dressed in the morning. Even if my clothes are too small, at least I don't own hunter green jeans. Or tapered jeans. Or, worst of all, the two combined.

Pro-Abortionists

2008-10-16T14:57:00.002-06:00

I just gotta show solidarity with that movement that Obama is part of--the pro-abortion movement. John McCain sure does know what he's talking about! In fact, I'm going to go have an abortion even though I'm not pregnant, because I think we should all be having abortions, all the time. Go abortions!

Okay, but seriously? I'm so sick of hearing right wing nonsense. I'm just holding my breath, beaming at the polls that show a good chance of, I'm going to say it, the change we need.

Wolf Law, 207

2008-10-16T14:55:00.001-06:00

Room 207 in the Wolf Law Building is perpetually FREEZING. And there's a vent over my head that blows frigid air on me the whole time I sit here. Green building? I think not. It's not warm outside, folks, we don't need the A/C on full blast. Now I shall stop typing because I have 10 finger popsicles.

HeeHee

2008-10-14T11:55:00.002-06:00

Since I haven't anything clever of my own to say...

superpoop.com

superpoop.com

Also, I happen to be a Satinist. Especially if I buy that wedding dress I want...

A gift from the DNC

2008-10-13T10:04:00.002-06:00

The Democratic National Committee sent me presents! Well, they actually sent me junk mail asking for money and time, but more importantly, the envelope had PRESENTS! The presents are stickers, and you might not think that's too exciting, until I tell you that one of them says "Ask me how many houses I own." And it's in the style of a McCain/Palin sticker. I LOVE MY PRESENT.

Mavericks

2008-10-09T15:22:00.002-06:00

We all know how much Sarah and John like to call themselves mavericks. It's one of their favorite words/phrases. Well, the family who is descended from the original Maverick, isn't so pleased. The NYT has a piece about the origin of the term, and the current family's feelings towards our self-proclaimed mavericks running for high political office.
The term originated when Samuel Augustus Maverick of Texas refused to brand his cattle. Unbranded cattle, then, became known as "Mavericks." The term literally means "unbranded," from this origin. The Maverick family is still alive and well, living in San Antonio. But they are not Republicans. In fact, they are progressive liberals, and resent that John McCain and Sarah Palin have adopted the term. One member of the family fumes, "they are branded. They're Republicans." Just another Republican move pissing people off.
So there's your etymology lesson for today.

The Bar

2008-10-09T11:25:00.003-06:00

The good news today is: two of my friends passed the Colorado Bar. And they are not two of the people who would be a shoe-in. One didn't take the main bar review course (and I'm not going to), and one was, well, sort of an underacheiver (like me!). Today is a reassuring day. If they can pass, I can pass too.

UPDATE: It turns out, my third friend did not pass the bar. And he is not an underachiever, and he did take the bar review course. This is not encouraging. Two of three is like University of Denver odds, and I go to CU. Which is supposed to have a very high bar passage rate. C'mon class of 2008, you're making me n-e-r-v-o-u-s.

Because it bothers me so much when people call it "expresso"

2008-10-08T17:24:00.001-06:00

toothpastefordinner.com

Wedding update?

2008-10-08T13:46:00.003-06:00

My current problem is the caterer, and the cake. Which, unfortunately, are two things I CANNOT do myself. Or I would commit suicide. Perhaps hire some girl scouts to get a baking badge in exchange for a wedding cake? Of the few caterers actually in Crested Butte, all of the few are rumored to suck in some way or another. Which is super.
On the upside, I have the invitations nailed (I'm doing them myself, and it STILL costs about $3.00 or so per invitation). Plus about 1/2 hour for each of the fucking things. Oh, but I love it. And oh, how I love spray adhesive. Lovely fumes.

David's Bridal

2008-10-07T17:06:00.003-06:00

I'm in the process of trying to find a wedding dress, and I'd convinced myself I could do it on the cheap (you only wear the thing once, right?). Unfortunately, cheap meant I couldn't do an "eco" dress, but I relented on that point. Being budget-minded, I sucked it up and went to David's Bridal (too bad, reader, I can't type the apostrophe as a little heart), that strip-mall big-box bride factory. The nice lady at the "reception" desk assigned me to Cathy. Take a look, she said, and Cathy will be right with you. Shortly, a blonde Eastern European woman with imperfect English approached, so I told her I was Paris. "Do you want to schedule your pampering session now," she asks with a thick accent. This was not Cathy. This woman was going to make me submit to a "makeover" in which I leave looking like a circus clown. I declined, and she left.
Rex and I continued looking at dresses, finding most to be much the same, and nothing was particularly exciting, when Cathy finally approached. She grabbed one more dress and we were off to the fitting rooms.
Behind a fully-mirrored door was a fitting room like you'd expect at Wal-Mart, but smaller. At these places they always give you a "bra," which is more like a grandma's foundation garment from 1976. Cathy also furnished a slip (these dresses have, like, 10 layers of material. Do I really need a slip? How crappy are these things?), and told me to get moving. I put on the first dress, and walked out. Totally unremarkable, as you might expect. I tell Cathy that it's not really what I'm looking for, I'd really like x, y, and/or z features. "Brides, they always want something," she says. "Brides are so quirky." I'm a little put off by her snarkyness, after all, we are brides and it is our wedding dress. I go back in to try again. I tell her I really want a corset back. She says, you can have one put in, but it'll cost ya. Again, with that horrid snarky tone. Couldn't I just get a dress that already has one? No, I have to buy the ugly one she picked so she can sell me and move onto the next bride. While she saunters off to find another David's Bridal "creation," I quickly dressed and grabbed Rex. We ran, like we've never run before. David's Bridal is the Wal-Mart of bridal gowns, and since I don't even shop at Wal-Mart, can someone please tell me why I even went in there?
Worst shopping experience. Ever.

But it gets better. When we go outside, and a woman from a DARE tent approaches us, and says "doyouwanttobuyoneofthesebackpacksforunderprivelegedkids?" No, we say. "Butwe'retryingtogetridofalloftheseonthetablefor$20youcanbuyoneorallsix." No thanks, we say. "Mostpeoplebuyoneortwowouldyoulikeoneortwoorallofthemwetakecchecksorcreditcards." Now, it's time to just walk away. I do not want to buy a crappy clear plastic backpack with pencils in it for a kid in the ghetto. If I wanted to help a kid in the ghetto, I could think of a million better ways than that.
Get me the hell out of Westminster. The suburbs are so scary, I'm beside myself.

Jeopardy?

2008-10-07T17:04:00.003-06:00

I just played water law jeopardy. And had cookies. School is better when you regress to second grade.

It makes the system go.
What is return flow?

Now you may have a cookie. There are enough for two per person. Don't be greedy.

WOO-frickin'-WHOO!

2008-10-01T17:20:00.003-06:00

Not to get to excited, but I just saw that Obama has taken a real lead in the polls. Which is SO exciting. I saw this, of course, on the NY Times, which calls it a "significant" lead. That sounds good to me. Now I gotta go celebrate (maybe some champagne will kill this horrid cold?).

Just got back

2008-09-30T12:23:00.001-06:00

Just got back from Texas. Partied myself REALLY sick at Austin City Limits Festival. It was SO SO SO awesome. Maybe I'll have some time for recapping, but probably not. Have a meeting tomorrow regarding all the work I've done on a BLM project. Except that I've not done a SINGLE thing yet. Get to be sick AND up all night. Yay!

At least someone is in charge!

2008-09-18T11:23:00.003-06:00

A quote from Eve Ensler:

"Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God.""

Lucky for us that God is such a competent leader. If we just do nothing, God will take care of us.

Another terrific McCain plan!

2008-09-17T13:38:00.001-06:00

The McCain-Palin health care plan would require employees to pay taxes on the value of health care provided by their employees. What's this about tax cuts? Oh, I get it. Cut = more.

Palin is on those substantive issues!

2008-09-16T14:54:00.003-06:00

Listening to NPR this morning, a Libertarian Palin supporter called in to talk about all of the substantive issues that Palin is focused upon, naming among them that Palin is an admitted pot smoker. The caller said that because of her focus on such substantive issues, Palin is a great candidate for vice president, and the caller will be voting for the McCain/Palin ticket.

Yes. Pot smoking is a substantive issue that should help us determine who we vote for.

Hayley, on driving

2008-09-15T14:36:00.001-06:00

I do have balls, but it's raining, and it's dark.

In response

2008-09-10T17:13:00.000-06:00

Rex's response to my tweet:
Pirates don't get bored. They're pirates.

Is that true? Because maybe I want to be a pirate. I hear they're still pretty plentiful off the coast of Somalia.

Sex, drugs, and valuable minerals

2008-09-10T16:46:00.003-06:00

Surprise of surprises -- there's corruption in our government! Okay, so you knew that (and, hopefully, that W is to blame). So the NY Times did an article about rampant ethics abuses in the Minerals Managing Service. Sound boring? Not to a nerd like me! As Erin put it: the Bush administration is in bed with the oil and gas companies . . . literally! She's right- the government employees were sleeping with the oil and gas execs. And doing a bunch of coke to boot (which they bought from their secretaries!). Yay Republicans!

If you like having your tax dollars at work for this stuff . . . vote John McCain!

The date.

2008-09-09T17:08:00.002-06:00

I'm getting married. On 12 September, 2009. Hurrah!

If you have any skills that might be wedding-planning related, you could volunteer your help and I could promise something like a first born child? Or something? We're on a tight budget, so it's gonna be sort of a low-key DIY affair, but with at least most of the regular trimmings.

Republican National Convention (Part I)

2008-09-03T09:32:00.002-06:00

Here are some of my observations from watching last night's RNC events on CNN:

Fred Thompson was talking about the “economic downturn” and how Obama wants to raise taxes during this time—wasn’t it McCain who said the economy was fine? So what’s this Republican talk suddenly about problems with the economy? Plus, Obama will only raise taxes on the rich folks who don’t notice the problems with the economy. Hypocrisy much?

Thompson also made a comment about how Republicans will protect newborns. What exactly is it that Democrats are doing to endanger newborn children? Encouraging infanticide?

I love that the Republicans complain that Obama is a “celebrity,” and that’s the only reason why he’s appealing to Democrats. But I put this to you—Schwarzenegger, Jesse Ventura, Ronald Reagan… Republicans LOVE celebrities. Where are all of the elected Democrat celebrities?

Another problem I have (though this is one you’ve heard over and over)—Obama’s inexperience is one of the most common reasons Republicans decry Obama. But Palin has WAY less experience. Somehow, when it’s a Republican, it doesn’t matter.

The audience tried to get a USA chant going, but Lieberman shut them down. When I was at the DNC, we chanted USA full-force, and no one stopped us. Who are the patriots now, I ask you?

I saw a sign in the audience that read “Democrots for McCain.” Seriously, if that’s evidence of your intelligence level, go right ahead. Because you don’t even know which way is up.

And here are a couple things gleaned from listening to NPR:

McCain badly wanted Lieberman for his running mate, but chose Palin because some Republicans were threatening to bring a competing nominee at the convention. He chose Palin only to avoid an insurrection at the RNC. Because the party is in enough trouble as it is.

How are you a huge supporter of family values when your teenage daughter is getting knocked up? If you were such a great mom, wouldn’t you be able to instill your values in your girl so that doesn’t happen? I thought only low-class welfare mothers got “knocked up.” Maybe they have a nicer term for it when it’s rich people?

Democratic National Convention

2008-09-02T17:27:00.003-06:00

Thursday I had the great fortune to attend Obama's acceptance speech at Invesco Stadium in Denver. I'll start by saying that yes, I was a Hillary supporter, but I (a while back) conceded the loss and am 100% behind Obama. He is a great politician and really will be an awesome President.

We got to the stadium at about 1:15 to make sure we wouldn't miss anything (though apparently we missed HUGE lines by arriving so early). Our seats were waaaaay up in the nosebleeds, but we were facing the stage and I can't complain. Besides, they had plenty of big screens. Yonder Mountain String Band was playing when we arrived, and played again after a couple-hour lapse in activity. Since I'm kind of a hippie, I love them and it was good entertainment. Then, around three o'clock will.i.am re-created his Obama endorsement video Yes We Can.

We went to get food, and I will complain about this. As someone who is relatively affluent, I can afford stadium food prices ($5 for a soda, and they claimed only to have large sizes). However, for Obama supporters who are not wealthy, a hot dog for $6 is a little steep. We were also told that we had to purchase water (not true, there are water fountains in public places like a stadium). Again, for someone on a low income, that is outrageous. Attendees were not permitted to bring in food or drink, including water. The campaign should have made some accommodation in this respect, because people need to eat over an eight hour period, and we spend a WHOLE LOT of $$$ on food.

Anywho, we got to see Sheryl Crow and Stevie Wonder play, and that was great. We saw Martin Luther King III speak, which was a treat. Lots of other politicians spoke too, but I'm only mentioning the highlights. Mark Udall is a favorite of mine, so it's always nice to see him speak. Al Gore gave a great speech, of course focused on the climate. All of the speakers gave wonderful endorsements of Obama, and the energy was great in the stadium.

Before Obama spoke, the campaign had a number of ordinary people come out and speak. Of note were those who were staunch Republicans, but because of the way the party treats the working man, they had jumped ship and were voting for Obama. All of these speakers were heartfelt, and it was emotional because they illustrated how the American people are suffering under the Bush Administration.

Obama himself was incredible. He really railed against McCain, which was a departure from his typically patient, reserved style. It was totally appropriate, and all the more effective because he had been so reserved--it didn't sound like the whining that Republicans say it is. As he harped on his policies, you couldn't help but nod your head and agree and cheer, because he is so on point. Obama knows what we need--new energy policies, the right to choice, economic fixes, lower taxes for the middle class, more higher education funding, better K-12 services, and so on and so on. When he was finished, and the fireworks started going off, there were tears in my eyes. It was so powerful, and the energy so incredible, that I couldn't help myself. This party is on the right track, and we need him so badly.

DNC!

2008-08-27T16:34:00.003-06:00

I am going to the Obama acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver tomorrow. I got my grubby hands on two of those coveted community credentials because I have all the right connections (none of which can get me a job, but that's a different issue). And I am ridiculously excited.

It's not what you know, and I know Katie.

Seriously, a Band-Aid?

2008-08-25T17:31:00.002-06:00

I ripped this off from my sister, but seriously? Band-Aids as a real, honest-to-god fashion accessory? In the world of U.S. high fashion, this is the next hot accessory/jewelry. I tell no lies, and they MUST be coordinated with your outfit and handbag. Even if you're a dude.

And I thought my engagement ring was pretty...should have asked for an engagement Band-Aid. THEN I'd be soooo cool.

Ever been a renter?

2008-08-25T16:37:00.000-06:00

Then this should speak to you:

toothpastefordinner.com

Sneaky

2008-08-24T15:37:00.003-06:00

My mom was in New York last week for a merchandise show, as she is twice a year. She likes to catch Broadway shows when she can, and if she can get a good deal on tickets, when she's in the Big Apple. A few years ago, she saw The Producers with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick for $100, a ticket that she scalped from some guy on the street (and she refused to pay more than face value, thank you very much). Last week, she went to check out Wicked, and found that tickets were $250 and up. So, she decided not to go. What she did do, however, was sneak into Mamma Mia. Not her first choice, but the theater was easier to sneak into. When the ushers busted her, and she admitted to not having a ticket, they escorted her to a seat where she watched the end of the first act and all of the second. I guess when there's a well-dressed 62-year-old lady sneaking in, you can't do much else, can you?

Gadget irony

2008-08-21T10:42:00.002-06:00

I was reading this article about iPhones and other tech gadgets in classes, distracting students. While I am sitting in class. Surfing the internet on my laptop with wireless internet. Then, the irony of it struck me but also the inevitability.

Professors, it's inevitable. We cannot pay attention for more than 5 minutes, and if you're just gonna ramble on up there (for three and a half hours, in the case of this class), yes, we are going to take advantage of all that Steve Jobs and his cronies have given us.

No "poo"

2008-08-21T10:16:00.003-06:00

Since I totally lack the ability to come up with my own subject matter, here is another post that I have ripped off from another blogger. At least I know Miss Grace personally.

A little while back, Miss Grace posted a link (here's Grace's post) about going shampoo-free, and as soon as I read it I was convinced. I have to admit that I avoid regular dish soapi and laundry detergent (with phosphates and so on) like the plague, but failed to think about the horribleness that is shampoo. So, I almost immediately went "no-poo" (almost because I was out of baking soda and had to trek to the store for some). I am so pleased! My hair feels perfectly clean, and I love not using shampoo (not least of all because I use the expensive kind, and it's, well, expensive). Baking soda works remarkably well, and I can't wait to try all the fun other stuff I can add, like chamomile and lavender.

On a side note, Rex is going "poo-free" with me, and I put the baking soda mix in a green shampoo bottle. Remembering that it was in the green bottle, he washed his hair with a large amount of Clinique face wash (I know, I need to get off that too. Any suggestions?). He didn't like it as well as the baking soda.

Every day I get a little more "hippie," and every day I love it more. My food is more expensive, but most other stuff is cheaper (like baking soda, tupperware rather than ziplocs, walking not driving, ...). I recommend hippie-ness whole-heartedly. But please, I think we should all continue to bathe (using water in your home is not actually very wasteful, most of it is recycled, and soon we'll all be drinking our used water, and so, yeah, please bathe).

Beef, humanely

2008-08-21T10:08:00.003-06:00

I went vegetarian for a while, mostly for ethical reasons related to how our meat is raised. I've gone back to meat, and will admit that though I try to eat only ethical meat, on my budget I "cheat" way too frequently. My own hypocrisy aside, here is a post from the Daily Coyote about cows and grass-fed (and finished) beef, which is the only kind any of us should ever eat. Grass-fed, which is as opposed to grain-fed, means the cows have been out to pasture eating grass their whole lives (it must also be grass-finished, a cow can be grass-fed and then sent to a feedlot for "finishing," which defeats the whole purpose). Grain fed cattle are those from the infamous CAFOs, which are concentrated animal feeding operations. If you've ever driven through the Davis area in California, you've been by a CAFO. Cows are packed tightly and wallow in their own waste, being stuffed grain (which is not nearly as good for them as grass). The result is a cow inhumanely treated, and on the consumer end it is not only unethical but has 500 times the saturated fat of a grass-fed steer. Writing this is a good reminder to me how important it is to eat ethical meat. I am lucky because in Boulder, I have access to great beef at relatively affordable prices, and it's local to boot. I can also get it in several restaurants, which is a place where people tend to cheat the most when trying to eat ethically. You might not be as lucky, but not only are CAFOs inhumane, they contribute a remarkable amount to climate change--the methane emitted by cattle is toxic for the environment, and more potent that carbon dioxide in it's global warming ability. Grass-fed cattle don't release any less methane, but if we try to eat ethically, we tend to eat less meat, which is better, anyway.
Thanks to the Daily Coyote for posting about this (again), it's an issue I think about a lot.

Wasting my time....

2008-08-19T09:40:00.002-06:00

Just had a job interview. They said, "your resume is very appealing," and sounded ready to offer me a job on the spot. For a job that I actually want. Then, I ask about salary. The job is unpaid. Thanks for your time, judges. On to the next thing. Maybe someone will decide one day that my law degree makes me deserving of a paycheck (however paltry, I'll take just about anything at this point).

My dancing grandma

2008-08-07T17:38:00.002-06:00

She's 92...

Caffeine, my hero

2008-08-06T10:47:00.003-06:00

I'm a coffee drinker. I'm one of those people who is utterly dysfunctional until I've had 16oz of strong coffee. I try to balance it with water, because I never manage to drink enough non-diuretic fluids, and am therefore constantly dehydrated. Or so I thought. Today, my favorite news source revealed that caffeinated beverages, unless they are extremely high in caffeine, count towards the body's need for hydration and are NOT diuretics (coffee's caffeine level is below the diuretic level). SERIOUSLY. Which means I can drink as much sweet, sweet coffee as I want and not feel guilty that I'm depriving my body of much needed water. Not only that, but the article touts several other POSITIVE (or neutral) health aspects of the glory beverage, debunking several myths about the tolls caffeine and coffee can take on one's health. So, I'm raising my mug in a toast to coffee. Starbucks, here I come.

I (sort of) got a job!

2008-08-05T14:37:00.002-06:00

I got a job that will last about three weeks! I take an $8/hour pay cut from my last job, but it pays infinitely more than this one (which, if you didn't know, pays nothing). It's short term, but any money is better than no money. I get to work from home on my own schedule, so it's worth it for even a few bucks (and another line on my resume, which is proliferating by the minute). Plus, I learned how to sell my old casebooks on Half.com, and so have made a little dough that way. Things are starting to look up (and I'm starting to look around to see what else I can sell on the internet).

Status update?

2008-08-05T10:08:00.004-06:00

Since I'm still out of a job (and in my last week at my unpaid position with EPA), I figured I better find SOMETHING to do with my time, so I decided to volunteer. I already do tours for the law school, but this week I agreed to serve as a bailiff for a capital murder trial. In Centennial. Almost 50 miles away. So I will be commuting almost 100 miles round trip to escort jurors to and from the courtroom. At least I'm a good citizen?

My affair with Chuck

2008-08-01T15:36:00.008-06:00

So the pictures are two years old (it took Jodie that long to send them to me), but this is me in the throes of a love affair with a horse named Chuck. He has since retired, and I have had to begin a new affair (now with Badger and Ladago), but since Haze lost her camera, I don't have photos of that tryst. Jodie will have to take me riding again so that there can be photos of Haze on a horse...it's so damn adorable!

These photos were taken on a ride up to Jodie's cabin, out towards Paradise Divide, outside Crested Butte. The last photo is a spectacular shot of the divide.

Grandma gets struck (almost) by lightning

2008-08-01T13:37:00.000-06:00

I went to visit my Grandma while I was home over the weekend, and if you've ever met her, you know that she's hysterical and entertaining, especially for a 92-year-old. In fabulous health, the woman is up-to-date on current events and has a razor-sharp wit. So while I'm visiting her, she asks if I've heard what happened to her and Martha the previous week. No, I tell her, I've not heard anything. I start to worry that it's something health-related, because 92 is pretty old.
Grandma embarks on a story about how Martha came by one evening wanting Grandma to go with her to Sonic to get a hot dog. Grandma agreed to go along for the ride in Martha's Crown Victoria, even though she'd already eaten. Off to Sonic they went, and Martha got her hot dog and Grandma a strawberry milkshake, and they headed for home where they were going to enjoy their treats in front of Martha's telly.
On the short drive home, the weather quickly turned ugly. It got windy, started to rain, and the next thing the old ladies knew they saw a bolt of lightning strike a tree, split it in half, and half of the tree came crashing down on top of the Crown Vic. Martha hit the brakes, and a man came running out of his house to see if they were all right.
What he saw was two old ladies, stunned silent in the Crown Vic, one holding a hot dog and the other a pink milkshake, with the car all beat to hell from the half-tree that was on top of it. The ladies didn't want to open the door for want of getting shocked should the car be charged, so the nice man cleared his way to the door and opened it. Both ladies were unhurt (thank goodness), and still had their Sonic foodstuffs. The mental image I get of this event is just outstanding.
Well, the insurance company won't fix Martha's car. They called it "an act of God," which for the most religious woman I've ever met, just seems too cruel. She's elderly and godly, for Chrissakes just fix the damn car!
At least God didn't want to hurt the old ladies, just the old Crown Victoria.

Trying hard

2008-07-31T14:09:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm still unemployed (unless you count the 10 hours a week that I pay $20/hour to work), and still desperate for paid employment. Hell, I'd probably babysit for my old price of $2 per kid per hour if someone asked. Except that I probably shouldn't be left alone with children...
But I digress. In my unemployment, I have decided to attempt to better myself in some way, and given that I am now a size 16 (almost), and with zero income can't really afford new clothes, let alone new suits, losing weight seems like a great idea. Plus, I'm already verging on scary hippie-dom with my refusal to use plastic bags and use of public transport (which, like Jenny says, is miraculous), love for all things organic and free of scariness like trans fats, hydrogenated whatnot, and high-fructose corn syrup, and so on.
My mom gave me this book, Ultrametabolism, by Dr. Mark Hyman, and it seems so soundly based in science and not fad-like and all that I couldn't put it down. I even tried to give up caffeine for a week, but when I had to drive 200 miles to Crested Butte I decided that I would be a danger to myself and others without at least 16 ounces of coffee. So. I lasted 7 days without caffeine, which I think is still pretty remarkable.
Anyway, the diet is based essentially on the principles of whole foods and the Mediterranean diet with healthy fats and so on. For over a week, I have avoided gluten and dairy (done so that one can determine if one has any allergies to these commonly irritating foods). I eat only whole grains (not even whole-grain wheat, though), which is how I discovered amaranth. I use soy milk rather than the cow kind, and have discovered that it is SO delicious. Unfortunately, I am now hooked on $4 iced soy lattes, but what with my income that should be no problem... I still eat out plenty, and have found that vinegar alone is just about the most delicious salad dressing I have ever had. I'm not kidding, and it doesn't even matter what kind of vinegar it is. I'd pretty much kill for cheese, but if I can last two weeks of the recommended three without, I'll still feel like a success. I have lost about 2 lbs in the first week, and feel good about being so good to my body.
Another think I love about Dr. Hyman's plan is that he urges consumption of only organic fruits and vegetables, and grass-fed range meats. Did you know that a feed lot steer has 500 times the saturated fat of a grass-fed range steer? That is not a typo. Healthier AND good for the environment! Cows are still bad, but they are less bad when sustainable grazing practices are implemented. Also, organic grains are really cheap at Whole Foods, and so what could be better? The diet fits with my understanding of what my body wants and urges people to be more eco-friendly (it's also much healthier for you to eat organic etc.), and so far I think it's pretty awesome. So cross your fingers for me that I can fit into my suits...I'll never get a job if I show up in elastic-waisted capris and a baggy shirt!

Obama strikes out again

2008-07-22T15:26:00.000-06:00

What I didn’t like about Obama was his constant promising that we would have CHANGE!!!! Well, of course we need change in this country. Change I can believe in, even. But I want real change, not empty statements of policy that sounds great but that may not be achievable. In her campaign, Hillary could back up all of her numbers and financial proposals, which I loved. Now, Obama’s promise for health care savings may not be all the “change” he has promised. The NYT says that of the money Obama has said we’ll save ($2,500 for a family of four, per year), most of that savings will be by the employer, not the employee. It breaks down to roughly ¼ of that amount to be saved by the family itself, with the remainder of savings going to the business. Yet Obama routinely promises that a family will save $2,500 a year in premiums. This seems misleading, if you ask me. Furthermore, analysts are now saying that it’s not clear that such savings can even be achieved in the time he has promised, with some saying it’s like waiting for pigs to fly. I am, once again, disappointed in this “change I can believe in.”

A is for Amaranth

2008-07-21T13:52:00.000-06:00

Amaranth, a “golden seed” that was apparently very popular in times past (way past), is double delicious! I understand that it’s making a comeback as people start avoiding trans-fats and hydrogenated-this and partially hydrogenated-that. In my quest to do just that, and eat more “whole” foods, I came across a recipe for Apple-Walnut Amaranth. I bought some in bulk from Whole Foods, and after mixing one cup of the golden seeds with three cups of plain soy milk, one diced, cored apple and a dash of cinnamon, and boiling and then simmering (covered) for half an hour, I can’t keep my hands off the pot! It’s delicious, kind of like cream of wheat in texture, but better and way more delicious. I would HIGHLY recommend amaranth to anyone looking for something to add to their kitchen repertoire. Amaranth is amazing!

Indulging my desires to eat and complain in one fell swoop!

2008-07-18T10:49:00.002-06:00

Don't yell at me for last time. Try this.

More whining

2008-07-14T11:08:00.000-06:00

I know you’re sick of hearing me whine about not having a job, but that’s all I got going right now.

Currently: I am paying $20/hour to work (yes, that’s the reverse of how it’s supposed to be). I go to the law school, the one to which I pay ever-increasing tuition plus $20/hour for my job at EPA, in order to search for jobs. However, lately the internet rarely works at the law school that is causing my debt to balloon, so I can’t even use the career development website or use other online resources in my job search. Might I point out that everything is on the internet these days, which is why I take the time to come to the school for my job search—so that I can use the magical World Wide Web. Which is so much less magical when it only contains the page “Problem loading page.” I can’t even check my damned email, and I would be screaming at the top of my lungs were I not in the library with someone working at the table behind me.

Note: I’m writing this in a Word document, because I can’t get online. No email, no blogging, and no productivity. I might cry, because it’s costing me a fortune to do nothing. No income = big financial problems (for very obvious reasons).