it's a good feeling. emotionally, not physically.

So I’ve been working on some really cool stuff lately–which is what’s been keeping me from posting, because I’ve been doing that writing instead of this writing–and I got some feedback on some of it today in the form of “it’s been slightly edited, but we’re sending this out pretty much how you wrote it.”

That’s a nice feeling, y’all. It’s really exciting to spend a lot of time and energy working on something interesting–and interesting in that it’s a timely issue as well as a legally intriguing problem–and have the work you’ve done be accepted, approved of, and sent on to become part of the record!

My wrist, though, will never recover.

it's yicky, but true

You know it’s cold when your runny nose isn’t actually runny because your snot has frozen in your nose.

Moot Court Countdown

Round 1: Done. Many things learned. Good feedback. Maybe next time we’ll win.

status check

I like to think this used to be a pretty good blog. Never terribly widely read, never with a great deal of substance, but well-written, usually with some interesting topics, and generally, well, nice.

I am not sure if it is any of those things anymore. I have almost no time to blog lately, and when I do my posts are all about how insanely busy my life is. The interesting things going on with me are all things I can’t write about, either because I’m still sort of trying to preserve some of my anonymity/googlenymity or because I really can’t talk about them for reasons of privilege.

I’m so busy that I don’t even really have time to write about my fallbacks, food and the dog. Food, because I don’t have much time to cook really cool things right now, and dog because I seriously don’t have the time to get the damn pictures off the camera.

I don’t like this trend. I usually have a few minutes a day where I could write something. But what? That’s the problem, I think. I thought about having an all-request week, and I will always take requests, so if you have any, send them on, but I don’t think that’s a solution. I don’t know what the solution is.

I’m not quitting the blog because I don’t think I can–I enjoy it too much. And I’m not just going on hiatus, because I think hiatuses are silly. You know–either stop or keep going with less frequency. I think I’m just reflecting, here. Reflecting on how crazy my life is right now. Because as crazy and busy as I am right now, I am loving every damn minute of it. The things I’m working on are interesting, fun, exciting, challenging, amazing. I just can’t write about very many of them.

dinner and a book?

I keep screwing up when I make cookies. Tonight, it was totally my fault–I halved the recipe, but forgot that I halved it when I added the eggs. So I added one egg and one yolk when I should have added half of that. I’m not sure how I would have added half…how do you halve an egg or an egg yolk?

So my cookies spread out all over the cookie sheet and they’re all weird looking. They taste good, but they look crappy. Ah well. Dinner was yummy–baked pork chops, buttered rice, and wilted spinach–so I think that makes up for it.

But all the cooking can’t make all the work go away. So I have to read some articles tonight, maybe draft a little more of the brief I’m working on in clinic, and finish my reading for Admin. Oh, and maybe read my opponent’s brief for tomorrow night’s oral arguments. Yeah, that’s a lot to get done before bedtime–and I have to get up early, so it won’t be a late night, either.

Off to get something done. SOMETHING.

Weekly Law School Roundup #55

Law students have to eat, too. This week’s roundup includes a selection of posts about comestibles, and some other just plain funny stuff. Enjoy–and remember not to go to the grocery store when you’re hungry.

• Processed food exists for a reason. (I Love the Monkeys!)
• A tort is a tort, except when it’s a torte. (Who Cares What You Think?)
• Man could live on eggs alone. (The Frugal Law Student)
• Food has nothing to do with spelling. Or does it? (Negligent Use of a Dangerous Mind)
• If baking is really chemistry, and chemistry is used in evidence, isn’t baking really equal to evidence? (Passionate Discourse)
• Eat fast! Back to studying! (Shelley’s Case)
• When you can’t make it yourself, bleg. (Amicus Curiae)
• Some things you just can’t give up. (Half the Sins of Mankind)
• Food trivia! (pseudostoops)
• Adventures in eating overseas are not always easy. (Life, Far Away)
• Follow the rules for gastronomic fulfillment. (Neo Tokyo Times)
• CHEEEEEEEEESE. (Preaching to the Perverted)

And that’s it! I hope you’re full of yummy blog posts–and just in time for dinner! Look for next week’s Roundup at Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground and, in two weeks, back here. Also, look for previous Roundups at my Law School Roundup Archives.

commercial review

Has everyone seen those tax preparation service commercials? There are two, and they have the same scenario: a husband is sitting at a computer and he’s either found out his family is being audited or he’s doing their taxes and he’s stuck. And the wife comes in and says, “What’s the matter?” and he responds by saying they’re being audited or that he’s stuck.

She replies, “Well, maybe we should ask the people who helped us do our taxes/Maybe we should ask some people to help us.” And then she says, “Oh, wait, we didn’t use people. We used a box. Honey, ask the box.”

I hate these commercials.

First, the sarcastic wife ridiculing her inept husband? Old stereotype. BAD stereotype. Because, seriously–sarcastic wife? If you don’t like how your inept husband does the taxes, DO THEM YOURSELF. Hey, I do our taxes–not because I am better at it than Mr. Angst, but just because that’s how it’s fallen out over the last three years. So every time I see these commercials, I get angrier and angrier. I don’t like the image it portrays of marriage, I don’t like the general image it portrays of relationships. Finally, it’s not even a very interesting ad. Had I not paid a little attention to the last one that came on because I was so pissed, I wouldn’t even remember what company it was advertising. And I am now thoroughly inclined to boycott them forever.

two things

1) My doctor gave me a wrist splint today. I think I will use it at home and when I am working outside of class. It makes typing too slow for class, though. I don’t type accurately enough while taking notes to be able to correct what I’ve typed and keep up with my train of thought with the splint. Also, it makes me look silly. But if it helps my wrist stop hurting, I am all for it when it is appropriate. Which, actually, is not in class, but is when I am spending copious hours on the computer, using my touchpad (yeah, back to the external mouse) and clicking on webpages. I swear, I am usually doing those things while I am doing research, not while I am blogging. My new superhero name? RSI Girl. Her superpower? NOT getting a repetitive stress injury from things like typing and surfing the internet. Rock on.

2) Please don’t tell me about Grey’s Anatomy yet. I haven’t watched it. See, I had class tonight. Then a party thrown by some friends I never see. And tomorrow I have LOTS of work to do. So if you plan to blog about Grey’s Anatomy, use spoiler tags. And if you plan to talk about it, make sure everyone in the room has either seen it or doesn’t watch it.

i see my neat schedule falling apart into a pile of crumbled blocks

So, yeah, this blog is just going to become really boring. I am SWAMPED this semester. Thankfully, it looks like a few of my commitments are going into dormant mode for a couple of weeks–while a couple of others go into overdrive–but there are some things I am doing this semester that seem to be constant and, worse, unpredictable. I don’t like unpredictability. I need to know, for instance, if I’ll be able to get home by a certain time on a certain day, and this semester I have at least one thing going on that is often scheduled like this:

Person: So, K, you’re going to work on this. Let’s meet this afternoon about it, OK? See you then!
Me: …but I have to get home and feed the dog…
Person: Oh, and then we’ll need to schedule another meeting on Monday, right after your class, and I don’t know how long that will take.
Me: …but I have to get home and feed the dog…

It’s amazing how much of my life is constrained by needing to get home and feed the dog. But, in fact, I have a dog, and I love my dog, and coming home to his happy wagging tail makes my day most days. Mr. Angst and I carefully crafted our schedules this term so that he is never home too long by himself, and so that neither one of us bears the burden. So if I keep getting scheduled for things without my input, things will get very messy with that carefully crafted schedule. You know?

Sigh.

food meme

I’ve been tagged at Unblague with a food meme. I like food. So I’ll do this one. Also, I feel bad for never getting around to the Christmas song meme.

1. If you were stuck on an island and could only eat one cuisine (e.g., French, Italian, etc.) for the rest of your life, what would it be? Why?

Um. Cheese and bread? Cheese and pasta? Cheese and broccoli? Is “cheese” a cuisine? It should be. No, seriously, I’d have to say Italian, but that would have to include the whole boot. So not just the standard Southern Italian red-sauced pastas, but also the clean, fire-grilled meats and veggies from Tuscany, and the seafood from Tuscany, and the clean flavors and simple palette of Roman food. I could live on that. Plus, the coffee and the wine are almost unbeatable.

2. What is the most unusual food you’ve eaten?

I honestly have no idea. I’ll eat just about anything without thinking twice, and I don’t tend to keep track. It’s likely the most unusual thing I’ve eaten was consumed in a sushi restaurant, where I am in the habit of asking for the chef’s special–I love the surprises! I’ve also eaten menudo (though I started refusing that many years ago) and that’s pretty unusual. (For those not in the know, menudo is a soup whose primary ingredient is tripe.) I’m not sure tripe is “unusual” but it is gross, so maybe it counts.

3. What is the most unusual food you’ve eaten and liked?

Again, probably some form of sushi. I also like those little baby octopi you sometimes find in seafood restaurants or in paella.

4. What foods will you avoid eating (either because of a dietary choice or allergies or just plain don’t like)?

Tripe. Duh. Also, even though they are such an “in” veggie right now, I still can’t stomach brussel sprouts. There are certain flavors in Thai food I can’t really handle, too–usually something like Lard Nar. I don’t particularly care for mayonnaise in excess. But for the most part, I will almost anything you put in front of me. Not often, perhaps, but I’ll eat it at least every now and then.

5. Do you cook (and by that, I mean prepare a meal that you’d serve to friends)?

Um, yeah. See?

6. If yes, what is your favorite dish to prepare to impress someone?

There’s this great salmon recipe I got from Emeril–panko and wasabi crusted, pan-seared, served with a ginger-orange beurre blanc. That stuff kicks butt. I’ve also done a really good leg of lamb. Pork tenderloins are good for crowds, since I slice them into medallions. And I’ve made really yummy, flavorful savory vegetarian red beans and rice. I’m good at lasagne and any variety of other Italian foods, and I make a really good osso buco. Just for a few of the things I make.

7. When you go to a restaurant, what’s your ordering strategy/preference?

I’m not sure I understand this question. Strategy? Preference? I try to order things the restaurant is known for or good at–so, if I’m at a steak place (and in the mood for steak), I will order a steak. I also try to order things I can’t make or don’t make well. That prevents me from criticising the food too much. In that vein, I also try to order things I’ve never tried, if that’s possible, and if those things don’t have flavors I don’t like. (Like green olives in food. I really don’t like green olives in food.)

8. Have you ever returned a dish or wine to the kitchen at a restaurant? Why?

Yes–I’ve returned pasta with chicken for lack of chicken; steak for being overcooked; steak for being undercooked. I myself have not returned wine, but have been at the table when others have returned wine. I WOULD return wine, though.

9. How many cookbooks do you own?

Six or seven? Maybe a few more? I also have stacks of printouts from online recipe sites, a book of my own recipes, a book of recipes from my best friend, and a folder of recipes on my computer.

10. What is one food that you wouldn’t want to live without?

Cheese. Chocolate. Wine. Steak. Varieties of shellfish like Gulf shrimp, scallops, and lobster. Why are some of these questions so hard??

OK, back to my risotto. That’s cooking, on the stove.