Friday, November 30, 2001
more thoughts on cities
(Soooo many generalizations here. I came up with this at lunch, while talking to Justin, who was, in turn, talking about parties. I was thinking as usual about how I don't fit in here. Oh, the violins.)
There are introverted cities, extroverted cities, and clique-ey cities, I think. LA and Washington, DC -- these are extroverted cities. People have big big social groups, and people strive for bigger social groups. People's webs are huuuge, and thin.
Boston, in contrast, is a city in which people have medium-sized social groups that are more tightly knit. I'm thinking that New York (or at least parts of it?) is like this too. There's less emphasis on the quantity, but more emphasis on a sort of closeness/similarity that can be read as cliquishness or elitism.
I am, I must admit, more comfortable with the latter type of city, the salon-ey kind of city. I like regular meetings between a medium-sized group of friends. I like having a long history of past conversations to which to refer. I don't feel a strong need to know everyone, just to know a moderate amount of people really, really well.
So yeah, I miss Cambridge/Boston. Still.
I haven't yet figured out where San Francisco or Chicago or Seattle or any other city, really, fit into this classification scheme. I'm not sure what cities are introverted, though I think they must exist. Help me out, ya'll.
Thursday, November 29, 2001
me, out of touch
New attorney training all week. Preparing all night. For the training exercises, and for this big housewarming shindig we're having on Friday. Busy busy. Email later.
Tuesday, November 27, 2001
national novel writing month
Argh, I've mostly missed out on it -- haven't done any substantive writing this month at all, barely. But I've done a lot of editing, so I feel okay. Next month, I hope.
This topic (novel writing) was, coincidentally, mentioned at our division orientation today. (And hey, I didn't even need to ask, it was brought up sua sponte and everything.) According to the orientation, yes, I can work on a novel on my work computer, I just can't use work time or tons of paper to do so. Whoohoo!
Monday, November 26, 2001
GAH!
I've just spilled massive amounts of coffee all over my new office. Three weeks -- record time for this sort of thing with me.
ooh!
kings of convenience!
death cab for cutie!
tons of music in the world, but oh i am too slow.
Friday, November 23, 2001
very very cool
Israel Builds DNA Computer.
Thursday, November 22, 2001
random
So at Ilana's parents' house, I met one of Ilana's aunts, who happens to be in Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble, by Steven Fatsis. She was quite the character. I think I'm gonna have to read the book now. I do not, however, think I'm gonna start playing competitive Scrabble anytime soon. Waaaay too easy to get obsessive with something like that.
thank you
Wednesday, November 21, 2001
a disturbing realization
In law school, two of my best friends were Ed and Wayne. We often hung out together, doing things as a crazy little trio. We have some random things in common -- all of us have worked in Japan, all of us like smashing watermelons and grabbing free food.
Well anyway, Wayne is now going out with some girl named Edna. Ed is now going out with some girl named Steph. I'm really hoping now that I'm not destined now to date someone named Wayne or Wayne or Uena or Ueno.
Monday, November 19, 2001
moody
I am moody in a way that I can't quite put my finger on. This is probably a sign that it's almost that time of the month, the better sign of which is that, well, it's almost that time of the month.
I hate being moody like this, because I hate knowing that my emotions are being driven entirely by stupid, thoughtless chemicals (some would make the case that all our emotions are driven by stupid, thoughtless chemicals, but I'm not even going to go there right now). I hate having to step out of myself and think, "Well, I feel vaguely peeved at ____, is it because of anything he did, or is it just because I'm extra-sensitive right now?" I hate this period of necessitated temporary recalibration.
I hate it too because there are things now that should make me feel really really good, but don't. Like getting all sorts of positive comments on my first real appellate brief. Like finally having the chance to work on my novel again (pretentious as the phrase "working on my novel" might be.) Like having to do no revisions on this book chapter on nuclear reprocessing and the environment that I cowrote, whew. Like settling into my funky new apartment. These things, in normal life, would make me feel all special and good.
Instead, I am dwelling on the bad things. Festering about ____. Grumping at the random web pages I read. Being annoyed by the lack of response I've received from _____. They are little things, unimportant things, but certain chemicals lead me to fixate on them.
I can't wait till the next few days are over, and my hormonal balance is back to normal again.
(I do have one non-hormone related reason to be moody, though, this really annoying canker sore in my mouth. I think I accidentally burnt myself on hot food over the weekend, and then it got infected. Ugh!)
word counts
Everyone's listing them. I'm at 44,370. I haven't really increased it in awhile, but I've finally set everything up so that I can start up again. Will probably be editing by blogger now, rather than telnet.
Thursday, November 15, 2001
on hold
My friend Ed, he works for a judge on the DC Superior Court. When he puts me on hold (as he has done right this second), I get all this piped in classical music. I think he's the first friend of mine that's had on-hold music before. It's wacky. I bet he doesn't even realize it's there.
Wednesday, November 14, 2001
new hobbies
Every now and then, I like to scope out new hobbies to try out. Just in case the old ones run dry. Here's one I'd like to take up, eventually. Birdwatching.
Yes, apparently there are a few non-geriatric birdwatchers around, not surpisingly enough, in the enviro-law crowd. They seem to have mellow, relaxing fun. They seem to know all about the cool sounds that the birds make, their different habitats, their varied plumage. It's a whole huge world out there, the hobby of bird watching. I am a fan of the concept. Someday I will try it, someday when my other hobbies get boring.
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
my office building
Remember the old computer game Deathmaze 2000? Well, this building is like that. Not in terms of monsters, of course, just in terms of the mazelike corridors. Each floor is totally different, with different entrances and passageways. Ugh, I am lost all the time.
Friday, November 09, 2001
the big issues
You'd think (or at least I would've) that conversation at my workplace would be about big legal issues, being an appellate section and all. But no, the big issues of the day are
* preferencing strategies regarding the impending office shuffle,
* whoever's stealing water from our water cooler, and
* mail in the time of anthrax.
Wednesday, November 07, 2001
interim weirdness
I exist in a strange sort of limbo over here. I am a brand-new attorney here, so everything feels rather new and unfamiliar and, indeed, scary. But I was here two years ago as a summer clerk, so everyone's treating me as if I've just been here all this time. Thus, they're not offering me the usual hand-holding responses, even though everyone's really nice if I ask them any questions.
Anyway, I'm looking forward to working long enough such that this isn't all new and weird anymore. This stage is nerve-wracking.
minor annoyances
This anthrax thing, by the way, is sucking. All my work mail is getting irradiated, which means an extra three or more days of processing. Which means if I need to get something quick, I need to have it sent to my house. Bleah, just when I was thinking I was going to have some nice, clean division between work life and home life.
Tuesday, November 06, 2001
overwhelmed
My new job started out slow at first, and then suddenly it got overwhelming. Too much to say, too little time. Plus there are problems with confidentiality as well. But I am liking the people I've met there. I am liking them tons and tons and tons.
Right now, I am sleepy, and tired. But I am happy to be sinking into the comfort of my room. I love this place, this apartment, this house, this neighborhood. I am thinking I can live here. This is good.
Tonight, Buffy comes and goes, and I have no television. One test down. The big test, though, is tomorrow night, with Law and Order. If I can get past that, I will be free of tv. And that, that will be nice. Not because tv is inherently bad, but because I need to free up the time to do other things, like write. The hours have to come from somewhere, you know. And I still have eleven chapters to go, having taken a break for awhile.
Ilana moves in tomorrow. That, too, is good. It's been awhile since I've been this happy just with everyday life (as opposed to weird vacationing life). I must enjoy this enjoyment while I can.
Sunday, November 04, 2001
roommate heaven
Hung out with Ilana today, my new soon-to-be roommate (once she moves in). I think I might have reached roommate nirvana. We are sooooo compatible, it seems, in terms of how we'd like to live. Earthy crunchy conservation-ish resource use, natural foodsy cooking, non-pickiness about extreme cleanliness. Neither of us has a television set, and neither of us thinks that's a big deal. We might get one, we might not -- no real urgency there. But we are thinking of getting DSL, though, for connectivity. And we will be listening to NPR for our news.
Life is going to be great, I think. She even likes my color scheme idea, and says that blues and greens are her favorite colors too. Ooh.
Oh, and my room, my room has a skylight. Yeah, it's totally fab and brightens up the place incredibly. This whole house, in fact, is bright bright bright! I love it.
Friday, November 02, 2001
so
My parents have sent me a surgical mask and some gloves. "For the anthrax," they say.
Thursday, November 01, 2001
moving in
Moving into my new apartment, whoohoo! Okay, so it's less huge than I'd remembered, though still pretty darned cool. Argh, all this stuff to move, all this stuff I still need to buy.
safe
Made it safely to DC. Am I actually safe here? Eh, probably. I generally don't worry too much about these things, preferring to worry about much sillier things like whether my workplace has fired me before I've even gotten the chance to start there. (Technically, I'm among the last of the Clinton Administration hires.) It turns out I still have a job, whew.
Oh, and to those of you who were afraid that I would (as I'd claimed) buy a bright blue inflatable mattress for my bed, and either called it tacky (Gina) or not what a Justice Department lawyer should be doing (Andy), it turns out I won't actually be doing so. Paul and Audrey gave me some old futons of theirs. Yay. Free futons.
|
...about
blog
me
:::::
...mylinks
archives
dahlia
email
home
livejournal
record
:::::
...daily
blade
citypaper
lawdc.com
mcsweeneys
nyt
salon
slate
spinsanity
tnr
washpost
:::::
...law
acsblog
bag and baggage
bureaucrat by day
courtside
ernie the attorney
findlaw
gideon's promise
greenbag.2d
greenwire
halfthesins
how appealing
how green
jack balkin
jason rylander
legal ramblings
nfgl
nick daum
nikita demosthenes
lawsites
lawrence lessig
netlawblog
statutory construction zone
sam heldman
scotusblog
sub judice
supremecourtus blog
talk left
tin man
this month's contents
unbilleablehours
univatty
weblogsforlawyers
wrm
<
?
law blogs
#
>
:::::
...pop
allmusic
darla
epitonic
insound
jpophelp
kindercore
nerdmagazine
pitchfork
pollstar
splendidzine
tomlab
tweekitten
:::::
...books
believermag
complete rev
dalkey
globe
nyt
post
raintaxi
:::::
...forums
cafezeitgeist
infirmation
livejournal
bulkymailtruck
rustyblog
:::::
...regulars
+ diana
geegaw
+ mimi
miromi
peebles
saltbox
:::::
...semiregulars
danzig
dfan
emilyjustin
iiiii
jason
jen
juked
lizzy
manda
markp
+ * matt
mike
+ * moose
+ pylduck
ray
rusty
seanod
son
:::::
...dc
black cat
corcoran
dc lit
9:30 club
pollstardc
resassoc
smithsonian
usda
visionsdc
wp fed diary
wp full court press
wp ideas industry
wp in the loop
wp special interests
wpfs
:::::
...orgs
aaas
aba-env
aba-sci
acs
another acs
apaba-dc
dojpride
eli
gaylaw
nbm
shawdc
ucs
walkdc
:::::
...status
:reading
paris peasant, louis aragorn
:writing
ellen
:planning
modest mouse, 7/18
stinking lizaveta, 7/24
rilo kiley, 7/30
acs convention, 8/1
acs convention, 8/2
acs convention, 8/3
bumbershoot, 8/29
bumbershoot, 8/30
bumbershoot, 8/31
:::::
...dcblogs
dcblogmap
:::::
|
