Oops. I guess I haven't done so hot with the regular posting in the ol' blog, have I? Rest assured it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that all four seasons of Heroes are available instantly on Netflix. Noooo, nothing at all. No sirree bob.
So, yeah. Still unemployed, although I went to court twice this week to cover for a friend. It was kind of awesome to be back in the saddle a bit, although the whole side switcheroo is a little disconcerting. It's been a very long time since I've been asked if I stipulate a factual basis, but luckily I remembered that the answer if most emphatically "yes." (My first day as a P.D. I was TOTALLY unprepared for a question of that magnitute and had to be told -- by the judge -- how to properly answer.)
I also forgot to sign the Boykin as the attorney. Again, it's been a long time. But I'm in the groove now! Business cards are on their way, so here's hoping that all my good friends go out and commit some crimes!
And in case you need a glimpse into the life of a mostly-unemployed lawyer, I offer this heart-warming vignette:
Last night, I had a meeting at church, and before I went I had time to make dinner, but not eat it. I called Todd on my way to the meeting and told him that there was a yummy pasta casserole, piping hot and wrapped up tight, sitting on the counter for him when he got home from work.
Well. As it turns out, when he actually got home, what he found was an almost-empty casserole dish. And one very full and content brown dog. Formerly known as Penny-the-Wonder-Puppy, now referred to as Food-Thief-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named.
So, for last night's dinner, I had $5 Little Caesar's pizza, Todd had half-eaten, dog spit-infused pasta casserole, and Penny had whole-wheat pasta with ricotta, parmesan, mozzeralla and homemade garlic scape pesto.
THIS is on top of the Great Cinnamon Roll Caper last week. It seems that dogs also know that the centers of cinnamon rolls are the tastiest.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Stuff About Words
First of all, thank heavens for NPR. Thanks to them, I learned today that it is no longer totally acceptable to put two spaces after a sentence. My thumb is so confused. Next thing you know, they'll take my beloved semi-colon away from me. And I do so love the semi-colon.
Second, I seem to have turned into one of those people who read multiple books at the same time. I know, I know, as a shoulda-been-a-librarian type, you would think I have always been that sort of reader, but not so. I've always been a firm one-at-a-time person.
When you think about it, being a one-at-a-time person is usually a good thing in many aspects of life. But I digress.
So right now, I am actively reading four books, and that's only because yesterday I finished one, bringing the total down from five. It's a strange mix, too. A novel about a guy on a roadtrip with a hippie zen master type, a book about praying with beads, a young adult horror novel, and a book about church evangelism. This doesn't count the stack of jewelry-making books and grant-writing books that are sitting on my desk along with a book on election and campaign finance law, all of which are in current rotation. Oh, and sometimes, when none of those sound good, there's always the book about the search for scientific proof of the afterlife. No wonder my brain is feeling kind of scattered.
By the way, I recommend a book I just finished, Veracity, which, ironically, is about a dystopian society in which many words -- all the good ones, really -- are banned. If you like dystopian society literature, it's for you. (I myself am always a sucker for a good dystopia.)
Third, (I know you probably forgot this was a numbered list, seeing as how "second" was pretty long) I recently was on the receiving end of a diatribe from a good friend, scolding me for not using the increased free time I have right now to actually write down some words and call it literature. I told her personally, but feel I should declare it to the public at large: Christee, you are right. I am starting my novel TODAY. I don't have the entire plot, so I have no idea where the story will end up, but I'm going to start the blasted thing.
As I learned from my yoga teacher today, anything is possible.
Second, I seem to have turned into one of those people who read multiple books at the same time. I know, I know, as a shoulda-been-a-librarian type, you would think I have always been that sort of reader, but not so. I've always been a firm one-at-a-time person.
When you think about it, being a one-at-a-time person is usually a good thing in many aspects of life. But I digress.
So right now, I am actively reading four books, and that's only because yesterday I finished one, bringing the total down from five. It's a strange mix, too. A novel about a guy on a roadtrip with a hippie zen master type, a book about praying with beads, a young adult horror novel, and a book about church evangelism. This doesn't count the stack of jewelry-making books and grant-writing books that are sitting on my desk along with a book on election and campaign finance law, all of which are in current rotation. Oh, and sometimes, when none of those sound good, there's always the book about the search for scientific proof of the afterlife. No wonder my brain is feeling kind of scattered.
By the way, I recommend a book I just finished, Veracity, which, ironically, is about a dystopian society in which many words -- all the good ones, really -- are banned. If you like dystopian society literature, it's for you. (I myself am always a sucker for a good dystopia.)
Third, (I know you probably forgot this was a numbered list, seeing as how "second" was pretty long) I recently was on the receiving end of a diatribe from a good friend, scolding me for not using the increased free time I have right now to actually write down some words and call it literature. I told her personally, but feel I should declare it to the public at large: Christee, you are right. I am starting my novel TODAY. I don't have the entire plot, so I have no idea where the story will end up, but I'm going to start the blasted thing.
As I learned from my yoga teacher today, anything is possible.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Drumroll Please . . . . .
Does anybody know how to spell a drumroll? Like pdtpdtpdtpdtpdpdt or something?
Well, anyway, I'm here to announce the grand opening of the new etsy shop, Sparrow Song Designs!
Woohoo! Seriously, this sucker took waaay more time than I expected, and there's still a lot of work to do. I'm planning to make a personalized banner for the storefront, and my oh-so-talented husband is diligently working on new phot options. And, of course, I'm still making more jewelry.
I'm not going to turn this into just one big promotional blog, but I will be featuring my favorite pieces here on occasion, along with a coupon here and there, and the occasional give-away.
So, if you like jewelry, check me out at the link above, and if you don't, well, back to our regularly scheduled programming -- chronicles of an unemployed lawyer -- tomorrow!
Well, anyway, I'm here to announce the grand opening of the new etsy shop, Sparrow Song Designs!
Woohoo! Seriously, this sucker took waaay more time than I expected, and there's still a lot of work to do. I'm planning to make a personalized banner for the storefront, and my oh-so-talented husband is diligently working on new phot options. And, of course, I'm still making more jewelry.
I'm not going to turn this into just one big promotional blog, but I will be featuring my favorite pieces here on occasion, along with a coupon here and there, and the occasional give-away.
So, if you like jewelry, check me out at the link above, and if you don't, well, back to our regularly scheduled programming -- chronicles of an unemployed lawyer -- tomorrow!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Thank Goodness I Didn't Promise You Excitement
Okay, so here's the problem with blogging: sometimes what I want to write about is, well . . . dull. Sometimes a wee little bit with the crazy, even.
For instance, on Monday I started out wanting to write about how great all my courthouse friends are (since I had drinks with many of them on Friday) and how I REFUSE to let the fact that we no longer work together weaken our friendships and how the courthouse was like a safe haven for me, etc., etc., and WAAAAAAAH, I WANT MY JOB BACK!!!
Yeah, so that's an example of the crazy.
Then, on Tuesday, I wanted to write about unhappy I was that my new favorite yoga class was cancelled AFTER I got there, and how tasty avocado is on top of black bean chili, and how difficult it is to decide on prices for my jewlery, and how I discovered tomato gravy is actually a deep South dish, not German as my in-laws had led me to believe.
On the off chance that you're still awake, that's an example of the dull.
So, the unemployment, it is weird. The extreme quiet of my house lulls me into an almost trance-like state -- not entirely unpleasant, just a strange change from the hyper-stimulating courthouse world I am used to. I find myself drifting from activity to activity, staring off into space, daydreaming and wondering how this is all going to turn out.
It's strange to think that in some amount of time, oh, let's say a year from now, the joblessness of my life will likely be over, and I'll have a regular routine again, and people that I see every day, and a place that I stick my lunch when I get there in the morning, and some kind of work story to tell in the evening. But right now, I have NO IDEA what or who or where those things will be.
Right now, it's just me, and the dogs, and a cat, and a lot of wishful thinking.
For instance, on Monday I started out wanting to write about how great all my courthouse friends are (since I had drinks with many of them on Friday) and how I REFUSE to let the fact that we no longer work together weaken our friendships and how the courthouse was like a safe haven for me, etc., etc., and WAAAAAAAH, I WANT MY JOB BACK!!!
Yeah, so that's an example of the crazy.
Then, on Tuesday, I wanted to write about unhappy I was that my new favorite yoga class was cancelled AFTER I got there, and how tasty avocado is on top of black bean chili, and how difficult it is to decide on prices for my jewlery, and how I discovered tomato gravy is actually a deep South dish, not German as my in-laws had led me to believe.
On the off chance that you're still awake, that's an example of the dull.
So, the unemployment, it is weird. The extreme quiet of my house lulls me into an almost trance-like state -- not entirely unpleasant, just a strange change from the hyper-stimulating courthouse world I am used to. I find myself drifting from activity to activity, staring off into space, daydreaming and wondering how this is all going to turn out.
It's strange to think that in some amount of time, oh, let's say a year from now, the joblessness of my life will likely be over, and I'll have a regular routine again, and people that I see every day, and a place that I stick my lunch when I get there in the morning, and some kind of work story to tell in the evening. But right now, I have NO IDEA what or who or where those things will be.
Right now, it's just me, and the dogs, and a cat, and a lot of wishful thinking.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Preview of Coming Attractions
One of the things I've been wanting to do for months is open my own Etsy shop, and really, if there's one thing unemployment is good for, it's doing things you've been wanting to do but didn't have time for.
Whoa. That is one poorly constructed sentence up there. Anyway.
Do you know about Etsy? If not, hightail thee over there and check it out. It's an awesome online marketplace for individuals to hawk their handmade wares. I've purchased many a Christmas present there and it's great for browsing and generally wasting oodles of time looking at pretty, shiny stuff.
In the next week or two, I will be debuting Sparrow Song Designs, a place for me to display and hopefully sell my handmade jewelry and a few other accessory-type things. I've been working on building up my inventory and last night, I coerced my poor husband into taking some photos for me. Who knew jewelry photography would be so frustrating? Methinks I am going to need to get some handy display paraphernalia before I can actually launch the site. But here's a wee little view of one piece that will be featured.
As soon as we get the whole display/photography thing hammered out, I'll be debuting the shop, to much hoopla and fanfare. (Actually, probably to NO hoopla, maybe a tiny bit of fanfare.) I'll be featuring individual pieces here as well. Hope to see you over there!
Whoa. That is one poorly constructed sentence up there. Anyway.
Do you know about Etsy? If not, hightail thee over there and check it out. It's an awesome online marketplace for individuals to hawk their handmade wares. I've purchased many a Christmas present there and it's great for browsing and generally wasting oodles of time looking at pretty, shiny stuff.
In the next week or two, I will be debuting Sparrow Song Designs, a place for me to display and hopefully sell my handmade jewelry and a few other accessory-type things. I've been working on building up my inventory and last night, I coerced my poor husband into taking some photos for me. Who knew jewelry photography would be so frustrating? Methinks I am going to need to get some handy display paraphernalia before I can actually launch the site. But here's a wee little view of one piece that will be featured.
As soon as we get the whole display/photography thing hammered out, I'll be debuting the shop, to much hoopla and fanfare. (Actually, probably to NO hoopla, maybe a tiny bit of fanfare.) I'll be featuring individual pieces here as well. Hope to see you over there!
Thursday, January 6, 2011
I Might Be a Beggar, But . . .
Okay, so beggars can't be choosers, right?
Well, this is one beggar that is going to be a bit choosy.
It all started right after I posted my resume on CareerBuilder. This occurred approximately ten minutes before I read an article on Idealist about why you should never post your resume online.
So. Within hours of my posting said resume, I started getting all these emails from insurance companies, telling me how PERFECT I am for insurance sales, and how I would be such a HUGE ASSET to their company.
Well, I'm not really going to argue with that. I mean, of course I COULD sell insurance if I wanted to, and yes, I would in fact be quite the asset to such a company, but really? Insurance sales? I can remember my parents setting up an appointment with some insurance sales dude when I was a kid and this dude came to our house and brought out all his life expectancy charts and all that rigamaroll, and just NO. I refuse to be that skeevy guy with a combover, or worse, plaid polyester slacks.
Hmm. Why do I imagine insurance salesmen to have combovers and plaid polyester slacks?
It doesn't help, either, that I just watched that weird movie with Forest Whitaker, where he's a life insurance guy and his company is always trying to bilk people out of the proceeds of their policies, and he ends up uncovering a murder and then killing the murderer himself so Julia Stiles can have the insurance proceeds. You know that one? Well, if not, it's not worth seeing, Forest Whitaker is creepy. And then, just now? I read that Forest Whitaker's father was an INSURANCE SALESMAN.
So, no. I will not be taking a job as an insurance salesman. So when that guy called me just now from Banker's Life to recruit me, I said, "No, THANK you." I mean really, why do bankers need life more than the rest of us?
Well, this is one beggar that is going to be a bit choosy.
It all started right after I posted my resume on CareerBuilder. This occurred approximately ten minutes before I read an article on Idealist about why you should never post your resume online.
So. Within hours of my posting said resume, I started getting all these emails from insurance companies, telling me how PERFECT I am for insurance sales, and how I would be such a HUGE ASSET to their company.
Well, I'm not really going to argue with that. I mean, of course I COULD sell insurance if I wanted to, and yes, I would in fact be quite the asset to such a company, but really? Insurance sales? I can remember my parents setting up an appointment with some insurance sales dude when I was a kid and this dude came to our house and brought out all his life expectancy charts and all that rigamaroll, and just NO. I refuse to be that skeevy guy with a combover, or worse, plaid polyester slacks.
Hmm. Why do I imagine insurance salesmen to have combovers and plaid polyester slacks?
It doesn't help, either, that I just watched that weird movie with Forest Whitaker, where he's a life insurance guy and his company is always trying to bilk people out of the proceeds of their policies, and he ends up uncovering a murder and then killing the murderer himself so Julia Stiles can have the insurance proceeds. You know that one? Well, if not, it's not worth seeing, Forest Whitaker is creepy. And then, just now? I read that Forest Whitaker's father was an INSURANCE SALESMAN.
So, no. I will not be taking a job as an insurance salesman. So when that guy called me just now from Banker's Life to recruit me, I said, "No, THANK you." I mean really, why do bankers need life more than the rest of us?
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
On Scheduling
After several days of moping around the house in my jammies, watching reruns of Charmed and eating way too many Christmas leftovers, I decided I need a schedule.
Day One's schedule went something like this:
7:00 AM Go to the Y
9:00 AM Retrieve a motion from the clerk's office to use as a writing sample
10:00PM Search job sites, edit resumes, get transcripts
12:30PM Meditation
1:30 PM Creative writing, jewelry making
3:00 PM Call potential contacts for referral cases
5:00 PM Violin lesson
Day One's activites went more like this:
7:00 AM Curse at alarm clock, hit snooze
8:00 AM Go to Y. Wonder how it is that people get addicted to this exercise thing. Curse the elliptical machine and all it's evilness.
10:30AM Attempt to park to go to clerk's office. Curse the new mayor for blocking off all the streets for his coronation.
11:00AM At clerk's office, try to remember how to get something from a file when you don't have a pass to get to the back. Curse.
12:00PM Start searching job sites. Don't edit resume as there is nowhere to send it, anyway. Curse the economy.
1:00 PM Meditate.
1:03 PM Curse.
1:04 PM Decide am too chicken-shit to call other lawyers for referral cases.
1:05 PM Watch Dr. Who
2:00 PM Fantasize about writing for a TV show about a supernaturally gifted unemployed lawyer who travels through time.
You get the idea. Okay, so maybe I need to revise my scheduling a bit. Although I'm not giving up on that TV show.
Day One's schedule went something like this:
7:00 AM Go to the Y
9:00 AM Retrieve a motion from the clerk's office to use as a writing sample
10:00PM Search job sites, edit resumes, get transcripts
12:30PM Meditation
1:30 PM Creative writing, jewelry making
3:00 PM Call potential contacts for referral cases
5:00 PM Violin lesson
Day One's activites went more like this:
7:00 AM Curse at alarm clock, hit snooze
8:00 AM Go to Y. Wonder how it is that people get addicted to this exercise thing. Curse the elliptical machine and all it's evilness.
10:30AM Attempt to park to go to clerk's office. Curse the new mayor for blocking off all the streets for his coronation.
11:00AM At clerk's office, try to remember how to get something from a file when you don't have a pass to get to the back. Curse.
12:00PM Start searching job sites. Don't edit resume as there is nowhere to send it, anyway. Curse the economy.
1:00 PM Meditate.
1:03 PM Curse.
1:04 PM Decide am too chicken-shit to call other lawyers for referral cases.
1:05 PM Watch Dr. Who
2:00 PM Fantasize about writing for a TV show about a supernaturally gifted unemployed lawyer who travels through time.
You get the idea. Okay, so maybe I need to revise my scheduling a bit. Although I'm not giving up on that TV show.
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