Work has been busy, which is why there have been a few days between posts. My boss was under the impression that although her lease was up in April, she would be allowed to pay month to month until she found another space. Well, last week the landlord says she has to be out by April 1 because someone wants her space. EEKKK! So, she is scrambling to find office space plus attend to clients, so it is a mess. Anyway, lets hope she finds something because as of April 1 we better be out.
This last weekend Denise and I went to Big Bear which is a place in the mountains with skiing, cabins, shops with endless amounts of crap you don't need, etc. We stayed in a Cabin with 4 other friends and was SUCH a good time. We didn't end up skiing because the mountain was CRAZY being it was the first good snow in awhile, so it sold out! Also, Denise and I weren't sure we wanted to spend the $$$. I think we will go up another time when it is less crowded and nuts so the skiing will be more pleasurable.
Instead, we found a place on the mountain where no one was! We could not believe it given all the people there. Our friends Cathleen and Rhonda met us there and we sled down the hill on our plastic orange saucer that Baron (Denise's dog) thought was a large Frisbee he was destined to destroy. We got some great video and had tears coming down our faces from all the laughing we did. After that, we built a snow woman complete with large tits of course and then posed with her in inappropriate manners. What else would you expect from a bunch of lesbians. ;)
We had a hot tub outside our cabin, so both Friday and Saturday nights we got in even though it was 15 degrees!! For someone living in LA, this is quite a personal feat. :)
Finally, Sunday we went to the "Snow Play" mountain. (I know what it sounds like, but there were kids there...I mean, kids were there but nothing was happening, I mean....I'm retarded).
Anyway, you can rent tubes there and slide down this hill of snow individually or as a group. We went many times as a group grabbing each other's legs, arms, or any appendage you could get your hands on. It was SO much fun...we laughed, we cried, we injured ourselves, it was great.
Denise and I headed back to LA exhausted just in time to make it to my friend Jess's Oscar party at a fabulous house in the hills that she is staying at. It comes fully equip with a private screening room, projector screen, tivo, and a Bugs Bunny themed bathroom. Pretty much perfect. :)
Well, that is all for today...I'll keep you updated on the office sit.
Over and out...
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
LOST correction
One other thing I forgot....the children and that woman from the tail section we thought were kidnapped are still alive....whoop dee do!
LOST...promises, promises
OK, so this is going to be quick because I am pretty busy at work. I will write something more intellectually stimulating later, but I wanted to quickly say how DISAPPOINTED I was by the LOST episode last night.
All week they advertised "3 secrets revealed." Things you have been wondering about this whole time would be solved, blah blah blah.
Up until the credits I was waiting for some huge revelation that never came. Instead, we found out:
1. Where Jack's tattoo came from.
2. The Others do not stay on the island permanently, and it seems they come and go.
3. The Others have a different place they live with "yards."
4. Kate and Sawyer can't agree on anything.
5. Elizabeth Mitchell is in trouble for killing that asshole guy but she is still HOT after all these years.
6. The girl from mommie dearest grew up to have bad hair and a creepy disposition.
Really, as you can see above, nothing big. I really didn't care about Jack's tattoos, the Others come and go but how was not answered, and where they live is not answered, so basically it is more questions. I keep hoping for some things to fall into place or that they will give us some insight into what is going on, but every time my hopes get up, the show never delivers.
Anyway, I just wanted to throw that out there. Feel free to respond with things I may have missed or your take on the episode.
One last thing, does anyone else think that Ben's daughter Alex is hot?! Is it wrong to think that because she is like 18? Anyone?
All week they advertised "3 secrets revealed." Things you have been wondering about this whole time would be solved, blah blah blah.
Up until the credits I was waiting for some huge revelation that never came. Instead, we found out:
1. Where Jack's tattoo came from.
2. The Others do not stay on the island permanently, and it seems they come and go.
3. The Others have a different place they live with "yards."
4. Kate and Sawyer can't agree on anything.
5. Elizabeth Mitchell is in trouble for killing that asshole guy but she is still HOT after all these years.
6. The girl from mommie dearest grew up to have bad hair and a creepy disposition.
Really, as you can see above, nothing big. I really didn't care about Jack's tattoos, the Others come and go but how was not answered, and where they live is not answered, so basically it is more questions. I keep hoping for some things to fall into place or that they will give us some insight into what is going on, but every time my hopes get up, the show never delivers.
Anyway, I just wanted to throw that out there. Feel free to respond with things I may have missed or your take on the episode.
One last thing, does anyone else think that Ben's daughter Alex is hot?! Is it wrong to think that because she is like 18? Anyone?
Friday, February 16, 2007
Power + Ingorance = Lots of fuck ups
I was listening to NPR on my way to work this morning. Since I sleep in until the last possible minute I have no time to read the paper or keep up with the happenings of the world in any type of visual medium, so I listen to the radio and feel better about myself. :)
NPR has been doing individual pieces all week about the middle east and the division between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. It is a well documented division and a history that is easily accessible for anyone that tries to find out about it. Today's story was about Iraq and the infighting that is happening there now. I caught the tail end of it, but the commentator was basically stating what I have been feeling all along.
Many of the Iraqi people are feeling that even though Saddam was not an ideal ruler, and did some horrific things, at least they had food, water, their children could go to school and they did not have to worry about them being shot or blown-up, etc. At least with Saddam, the people could be united in their hatred of him, and live in peace together. I see similarities between what has happened in Iraq and how the LA gangs (Bloods and Crips) came to be.
Denise and I watched a documentary on HBO called "Bastards of the Party." The film is directed by a current gang member who is trying to change things within the gangs, as opposed to leaving them. In a nut shell, the documentary showed that once organized groups stopped being against an entity (the US govt. as the Black Panthers and the US Group) they turned on each other. In the past, the fight for civil rights unified them despite their differences (being from different areas in the city). Once we took that away from them (by executing their leaders) all they had to fight was each other, and they formed the Bloods and the Crips. That pain and energy had to go somewhere.
Anyway, back to the report, the scholar's in the middle east were basically saying that if anyone had paid just a little bit of attention, it would have been obvious that this division was under the surface and any disruption of power would fuel it. This is exactly what happened. Now the Shiites and the Sunnis do not have a common enemy, so they are beginning to fight each other in the struggle for power.
I wonder what would have happened if we had not done what we did. I wonder if the people of Iraq overturned Saddam themselves, would this have happened? Would the satisfaction of gaining power as a people overcome their sense of division, or would a civil war have broken out anyway. No one can say, because we didn't allow anyone any option.
I get so frustrated with this country because it seems that we do this over and over and never learn. We didn't like the government in Iran, so we help Saddam Hussein fight by giving him money and weapons. Later, the government in Afghanistan was not to our liking, so we helped the Taliban gain power. We all know where this is leading...
The US has a long history of going into a region with no knowledge of the history, no consideration of the consequences of our actions, no analysis of what the ideologies are of the current govt vs the one we are helping put into power. I mean, I really don't see any other Western country making these continual fuck ups...ugh! So, now what do we do? Keep troops over there with people dying everyday for nothing, or bring them home and leave this country in the state of chaos we have created...I really don't have the answers, but it makes me angry.
Alright, I'll step down from my soap box now, I just get riled up sometimes with all the idiocy in the world.
On the life stuff, Denise and I did MEGA laundry last night (6 loads, one of which being a 2 load washer). It feels good to get it done though and have nice clean clothes for this Saturday (tomorrow) which is my BIRTHDAY!!! YIPEEEEEE! We plan to go to the LA Zoo because I have not bee there yet. I'll let you know how it goes. In light of the mega laundry, I had no time to watch any television, but we did start Jarhead (maybe another reason I'm all fired up) which I like so far.
Have a great weekend!!!
(PS: I know this is a somewhat unorganized argument and there is much more to say and conclude, but I'm at work people! :)
NPR has been doing individual pieces all week about the middle east and the division between Sunni and Shiite Muslims. It is a well documented division and a history that is easily accessible for anyone that tries to find out about it. Today's story was about Iraq and the infighting that is happening there now. I caught the tail end of it, but the commentator was basically stating what I have been feeling all along.
Many of the Iraqi people are feeling that even though Saddam was not an ideal ruler, and did some horrific things, at least they had food, water, their children could go to school and they did not have to worry about them being shot or blown-up, etc. At least with Saddam, the people could be united in their hatred of him, and live in peace together. I see similarities between what has happened in Iraq and how the LA gangs (Bloods and Crips) came to be.
Denise and I watched a documentary on HBO called "Bastards of the Party." The film is directed by a current gang member who is trying to change things within the gangs, as opposed to leaving them. In a nut shell, the documentary showed that once organized groups stopped being against an entity (the US govt. as the Black Panthers and the US Group) they turned on each other. In the past, the fight for civil rights unified them despite their differences (being from different areas in the city). Once we took that away from them (by executing their leaders) all they had to fight was each other, and they formed the Bloods and the Crips. That pain and energy had to go somewhere.
Anyway, back to the report, the scholar's in the middle east were basically saying that if anyone had paid just a little bit of attention, it would have been obvious that this division was under the surface and any disruption of power would fuel it. This is exactly what happened. Now the Shiites and the Sunnis do not have a common enemy, so they are beginning to fight each other in the struggle for power.
I wonder what would have happened if we had not done what we did. I wonder if the people of Iraq overturned Saddam themselves, would this have happened? Would the satisfaction of gaining power as a people overcome their sense of division, or would a civil war have broken out anyway. No one can say, because we didn't allow anyone any option.
I get so frustrated with this country because it seems that we do this over and over and never learn. We didn't like the government in Iran, so we help Saddam Hussein fight by giving him money and weapons. Later, the government in Afghanistan was not to our liking, so we helped the Taliban gain power. We all know where this is leading...
The US has a long history of going into a region with no knowledge of the history, no consideration of the consequences of our actions, no analysis of what the ideologies are of the current govt vs the one we are helping put into power. I mean, I really don't see any other Western country making these continual fuck ups...ugh! So, now what do we do? Keep troops over there with people dying everyday for nothing, or bring them home and leave this country in the state of chaos we have created...I really don't have the answers, but it makes me angry.
Alright, I'll step down from my soap box now, I just get riled up sometimes with all the idiocy in the world.
On the life stuff, Denise and I did MEGA laundry last night (6 loads, one of which being a 2 load washer). It feels good to get it done though and have nice clean clothes for this Saturday (tomorrow) which is my BIRTHDAY!!! YIPEEEEEE! We plan to go to the LA Zoo because I have not bee there yet. I'll let you know how it goes. In light of the mega laundry, I had no time to watch any television, but we did start Jarhead (maybe another reason I'm all fired up) which I like so far.
Have a great weekend!!!
(PS: I know this is a somewhat unorganized argument and there is much more to say and conclude, but I'm at work people! :)
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Death..is it really the end?
This morning there is a message for me from my attorney to research a new case we have. I suppose I should say now that my field of focus is Immigration Law. I find it quite interesting, but frustrating at the same time... I think anytime you are working with a government entity, especially during the Bush administration, it is taxing.
Anyway, the case is quite interesting. A US Citizen father filed a petition for his daughter to come to the US. Under immigration laws, US Citizens can file a petition for their spouses, sons, daughters, siblings, etc. to come to the US and gain permanent residence. However, petitions for family members like sons and daughters are subject to "priority dates." For example, at this moment, Immigration is processing petitions of US citizens on behalf of unmarried sons or daughters that were filed in May 2001. So, if a USC was to file a petition today, the wait time for the person to actually come to the US is anywhere from 6-12 years!!! It is insane.
Obviously, a lot can change in this amount of time. In our case, the woman's father died. Generally when that happens, the petition is revoked and the family member cannot come to the US. The only exception being Immigration finding that the petition be approved for "humanitarian reasons." This includes if the foreign national is in poor health, if there is some hardship to a USC if they do not immigrate, revocation of the petition will disrupt the family unit, etc.
There is a sister here in the US, and she wants to reinstate the petition by the father, despite his death, and try to prove to immigration that the petition should be granted based on humanitarian reasons. So, here we are, I'm researching exactly what we need to show, getting some facts about the family, and starting a draft of the letter to immigration. The daughter abroad is the only family member not here in the US, so I would say there is a strong case for family unity. I'll keep you updated!
On a lighter note...lets talk about LOST last night!! I wasn't too interested at first in the Desmond storyline because I'm not that connected to his character....but then when that creepy grey haired woman knew him, knew his future life, and the red shoes man was killed, it got interesting. Then the ending, Charlie is meant to die!! (Sorry, should I have written spoiler ahead?:) Not that I really care a whole lot because I find his character annoying, but what a good twist. Next week looks good too...3 new secrets revealed! We'll see...they have promised us grand revelations before, and I have been disappointed.
Have a great day!
Anyway, the case is quite interesting. A US Citizen father filed a petition for his daughter to come to the US. Under immigration laws, US Citizens can file a petition for their spouses, sons, daughters, siblings, etc. to come to the US and gain permanent residence. However, petitions for family members like sons and daughters are subject to "priority dates." For example, at this moment, Immigration is processing petitions of US citizens on behalf of unmarried sons or daughters that were filed in May 2001. So, if a USC was to file a petition today, the wait time for the person to actually come to the US is anywhere from 6-12 years!!! It is insane.
Obviously, a lot can change in this amount of time. In our case, the woman's father died. Generally when that happens, the petition is revoked and the family member cannot come to the US. The only exception being Immigration finding that the petition be approved for "humanitarian reasons." This includes if the foreign national is in poor health, if there is some hardship to a USC if they do not immigrate, revocation of the petition will disrupt the family unit, etc.
There is a sister here in the US, and she wants to reinstate the petition by the father, despite his death, and try to prove to immigration that the petition should be granted based on humanitarian reasons. So, here we are, I'm researching exactly what we need to show, getting some facts about the family, and starting a draft of the letter to immigration. The daughter abroad is the only family member not here in the US, so I would say there is a strong case for family unity. I'll keep you updated!
On a lighter note...lets talk about LOST last night!! I wasn't too interested at first in the Desmond storyline because I'm not that connected to his character....but then when that creepy grey haired woman knew him, knew his future life, and the red shoes man was killed, it got interesting. Then the ending, Charlie is meant to die!! (Sorry, should I have written spoiler ahead?:) Not that I really care a whole lot because I find his character annoying, but what a good twist. Next week looks good too...3 new secrets revealed! We'll see...they have promised us grand revelations before, and I have been disappointed.
Have a great day!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Valentines Day and Such
This morning I awoke to the bed shaking, and since I live in California I thought, "is this an earthquake?" Then I thought the dog was breathing just a bit to heavy. I was about to kick him off the bed when I realized he was not on the bed. I sat up and looked over the edge and there was Denise with a big ol grin on her face. hahaha! Denise is my girlfriend of a little over 9 months. We talked a bit, and then as I turned to my alarm, I saw by the side of the bed my FAVORITE bagel ever, cinnamon crunch! (For those folks from the Lou we know it as St. Louis Bread Co., for the rest of you, Panera Bread.) Also, a bullet from Starbucks which I have been debating on getting ever since I lost mine in the last months of law school. It of course was filled with a Soy Mocha. It was such a wonderful surprise.
I floated down to my car to drive to work, and there on my seat was a Tulip plant and I LOVE Tulips. I opened my purse to put my CD face on the player in my car and inside was a note telling me to play the CD in the stereo, which had been specially prepared for me. It was like a movie and SO romantic, it brought tears to my eyes.
It is funny because in the past I have never had anyone on Valentines Day, and frankly it really didn't mean much to me at all. I view Valentines Day mostly as a Day created by Corporate interests to make money, and on a less cynical side, a day to remind those around you that you love them. I try to always recognize my friends and family on this day, and let them know in a small way how much they mean to me. So, I was never one of those people who were sad on Valentines Day when they didn't have anyone "special" to spend it with, but instead would go to V-Day celebrations (if you don't know it, look it up) or just hang out with friends.
Still, I can't help but think that after a morning like this of such special attention, if I were to loose it, I might be a bit sad next Valentines Day. However, I hope I could keep in mind that I am surrounded by people that love me and that is what this day is all about, being thankful...not how many gifts get left at your doorstep.
I love Denise, and I was amazed by all she did for me, but in the end...it truly is the thought that counts. (xoxoxxox for you my love if you read this.)
I floated down to my car to drive to work, and there on my seat was a Tulip plant and I LOVE Tulips. I opened my purse to put my CD face on the player in my car and inside was a note telling me to play the CD in the stereo, which had been specially prepared for me. It was like a movie and SO romantic, it brought tears to my eyes.
It is funny because in the past I have never had anyone on Valentines Day, and frankly it really didn't mean much to me at all. I view Valentines Day mostly as a Day created by Corporate interests to make money, and on a less cynical side, a day to remind those around you that you love them. I try to always recognize my friends and family on this day, and let them know in a small way how much they mean to me. So, I was never one of those people who were sad on Valentines Day when they didn't have anyone "special" to spend it with, but instead would go to V-Day celebrations (if you don't know it, look it up) or just hang out with friends.
Still, I can't help but think that after a morning like this of such special attention, if I were to loose it, I might be a bit sad next Valentines Day. However, I hope I could keep in mind that I am surrounded by people that love me and that is what this day is all about, being thankful...not how many gifts get left at your doorstep.
I love Denise, and I was amazed by all she did for me, but in the end...it truly is the thought that counts. (xoxoxxox for you my love if you read this.)
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Welcome!
Hello World!
This is my first post on this site! I'm new to the blogging world, but someone suggested I should do this, so here I am. I have no idea how exciting the content will be, but if you are interested in ramblings about life as a new lawyer, how to control a little shit of a cat, and just what is the Dharma Initiative, you have come to the right place! Enjoy...
This is my first post on this site! I'm new to the blogging world, but someone suggested I should do this, so here I am. I have no idea how exciting the content will be, but if you are interested in ramblings about life as a new lawyer, how to control a little shit of a cat, and just what is the Dharma Initiative, you have come to the right place! Enjoy...
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