Waste of Billable Time

2011-12-10T10:15:00.001-08:00

Party with the Stompers next weekend!! Fulton Street Bar New Orleans -

2011-12-09T16:27:00.001-08:00

Friday escape plan ... TGIF bitches
see more Monday Through Friday

Don't Get Me Started

2011-11-11T16:03:00.001-08:00

Some of the 'outrage' over Joe Paterno's firing leave me so angry I start shaking. "The Library!", "The Religious Center!", The lives he's changed!" "The people he's helped!" "Such a decent man!" - yeah, except when it was TOUGH.

Calling law enforcement when you hear that your former second in command was in your team showers repeatedly thrusting his penis into the rectum of "what looked like a ten year old boy", must have been a tough one.

We can surmise that after he was told that horrible story by McQueary, Paterno at some point told Penn State AD Tim McClusky, because McClusky calls McQueary A WEEK AND A HALF LATER to find out what McQueary had to say.

What did good, decent Joe Pa do in that week and a half when he knew there was a ten year old child rape victim somewhere out there? No one knows, *except* we know what he didn't do - call the authorities. No one at Penn State ever did. No one ever followed up, no ever tried to find that kid - the kid's still an "unknown".

But that's not even really the kicker - now we know that there'd been allegations of this type of behavior BEFORE the 2002 event!

No, sorry, you cannot convince me it was 'unknown' to Paterno and Penn State what Sandusky was doing before the 2002 event - otherwise, why was he let go in 1999? Do you think no one told helluvaniceguy Paterno why they were firing his second in command?

Why the HELL, after hearing such a graphic depiction of child rape, did Paterno not call police just to say, I think I might have some information about a child predator, can you please look into it ...
Nope.
Nothing.

If he had, there would not be Victim 1, Victim 2 ... and those are the victims the authorities KNOW ABOUT.

It's tough to put everything you've done on the line, to have called into question the empire you built - "The Library!", "The Religious Center!" But it was the right thing to do and he didn't do it. Not only the right thing to do, but it's the LAW in Pennsylvania. Still didn't do it. It doesn't say "Go to your boss." It doesn't say, "If your boss doesn't do anything you're off the hook" - it's all about protecting children ... from people like Sandusky EXACTLY like Sandusky. The Sandusky's of the world are what the law is written for - WHY we have mandatory reporting of child abuse or you are culpable.

I believe all the others who knew and didn't call authorities equally responsible for the non-reporting, but it's the sanctimonious outrage over Paterno that gets me - he doesn't deserve a pass because of "The Library!", "The Religious Center!", "Made a difference in so many lives!", "Such a decent guy!" His actions were just as piss poor as the rest of them.

Even good ol' Joe Pa admits, "In hindsight, I should have done more."

It's the "In hindsight" that gets me. Really tough - that hindsight, isn't it.

Breakfast and Balls

2011-03-19T18:40:00.000-07:00

The restaurant was on the 4th floor of the hotel with a balcony seating area overlooking two major attractions and a lovely park.

When we ate breakfast there the previous morning I had noticed no one was siting outside, even though it was a beautiful, mild temp'ed Spring morning. We were in a rush and didn't sit outside either though. Sometimes service can be spotty if you're seated somewhat out of sight (...and thus out of mind) so we opted for the main dining room and didn't ask if the balcony was 'off-limits' or closed or something.

But this morning some friends were coming to meet us for breakfast while we were in town, and there was no rush. Another beautiful Spring morning.
Once again the main dining room was just about full and the balcony tables were empty and abandoned looking. I asked the maitre d' if the balcony was off limits - "No, go ahead and sit out there if you like, I'll send the server over."

Great! I don't know what's up with the rest of you people, but in my world this is a convertible-top down, sit-outside kinda day.

The tables were four tops and we would have a total of 6 in our party so with the waitresses help I pulled two tables together. She quickly set it up for 6 - silverware, napkins, sugar, creamer and even set a carafe of coffee with mugs to go around.

The rest of the balcony with about 6 other tables stayed empty for about a minute ... and then it was like the floodgates opened. It was like that hive mentality thing - no one considered the balcony until they saw someone go there, then they had to do it too. The remaining 6 tables filled up quickly. And then the trouble started.

People kept asking me if they could sit at the other table I had pulled up ... glares, dirty looks ... one lady even *sat her buffet filled plate down on the table*!
"No, I'm sorry, we have four other people joining us ...".

My friends were a bit late, but they finally got there and we went inside to serve ourselves from the buffet. As I was walking back to the table, I saw this guy standing at our tables. He said or asked something of my son who was sitting there, and then he reached down and grabbed one of the empty coffee mugs that was sitting there waiting for my friend to get back to the table.
WTF?

He and I reached the door to the balcony at the same time and I said, pointing over my shoulder to my friends who were still at the buffet, "That mug is just about to be in use, it's for my friends who are just over there about to come back with their food ..."
He moved like he was going to go right past me (in other words, didn't make polite and stop to hear what I had to say ...) he said in a sarcastic tone, "Well, I guess I can get them another one ..." and kept walking -

I stepped in his way and said, "Or you can just put it right back on the table where you found it."

He finally stopped, and said, "I guess I can do that", stepped backwards, opened the door and put the mug back on the table. He then muttered some stuff under his breath that I'm almost positive included the word "Bitch".

I noted that there were plenty of mugs back at the buffet line by the coffee / tea station.

When he came back, more glaring and he said, "Just so you know, I asked" and jabbed a finger in my son's direction.

I said, "How nice of you."

I mean, 1) how would a kid know, and 2) it was the "I *guess* I can get them another one" reply when he was told the mug was, in fact, soon to be in use, that kills me.

Dick.

I heard some loud muttering to his Stepford Wife unit when he got back to his table.

The rest of breakfast passed wonderfully. Such a beautiful Spring day. With some balls thrown in.

...and when she saw what she had done ...

2011-03-15T16:14:00.000-07:00

I wish I had an ax murderer for every time someone says "I dunno" when I ask them if they 1) know the name of the person they're coming in for, 2) know which building this person is in, 3) how they made it past third grade.

I see that dazed look gazing at the floor, the blank wall, anywhere except the *DIRECTIONAL SIGNS* all over the damn place, and I grit my teeth, plaster a smile on my face and say, "Can I help you find something?", 'cause that's the kinda person I am - annoyed and insincere if you're an idiot who can't help yourself.

Take today - (please), I see this middleish-aged, nicely dressed guy with an elderly lady, who I correctly assumed was a mother / son duo, and they had the look. I grit and plaster and ask the question. Here's what I get,

"Uh, she's coming to see Ver ...", "Vel ..." something ..., and they said to come to the second floor."

And then, AND THEN, you get the look. The look that says, "You should know exactly who I'm talking about, and you should be able to tell me exactly where I need to go. I'm waiting. I have an appointment to get to ..."

That look.

Upon further questioning, this fully functional appearing person had 1) no idea who his mother is coming to see, other than "Vel ..." or "Ver ..." , "or something ...", and 2) admitted that the office's receptionist had 'given him directions', that he, "didn't pay much attention to .."

So now it becomes my job to figure out who "Vel ...","Ver...", "or something", is and where his office is in the myriad of buildings and offices.

I guess he thought it was going to be like in the airport - when you're rich enough or famous enough to have some guy in a cap and uniform standing at the front door with a sign that has your name on it, who steps forward and says, "Hey! There you are! We've been waiting for you! Step right this way!"

Wouldn't that be great for all of us!

But it ain't like that. Instead I'll keep grittin' and plasterin' and wishing for Lizzie Borden to come sprinting around the corner -

a perfect moment

2011-03-12T15:28:00.000-08:00

the end of a cross-county flight, happy anticipation, leaving spectacular San Francisco Airport, a hot Asian shuttle driver, driving into a gorgeous, lit up San Francisco at night, "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People playing on the radio, a slow smile spreads on my face as I realize I will.never.forget.this.perfect.moment.

Drunken Debauchery Coming Soon

2011-01-19T16:27:00.002-08:00

Ahhh, Mardi Gras. Just what ya' need to chase away the winter blues.

We're going to my Krewe ball, (which requires me to wear our 'approved' Krewe formal - so no creativity there), and to a friend's Krewe ball which has a 60's / 70's hippy-meets-disco theme.
Appropriate era attire required.

Ugh.

I lived through that crap. Spent my middle / high school years in 'gouchos', 'window pane' denim pants, and those *horrible* polyester prints. I hated Peter Max, couldn't stand Pucci - just not my design era. I threw that crap away as soon as I discovered cotton was still available, just hiding in specialty stores.

The Go Go boots were cool though.

So, I found my dress - I just went into big department store and looked for the ugliest print, mini skirted cocktail dress I could find. It was not difficult.

I got tights in the color family, black Go Gos and big chunky earrings.

Now apply fake eyelashes, tease hair to drag queen heights, apply head band and I'll be Donna-Summer's-greatest-hits ready.

Hubby's costume will be easy. I'm figuring fake sideburns, fake 'Burt Reynolds - Deliverance era" mustache, a shiny polyester shirt, open to naval with peace sign bling.

Hot. Hot. Hot. stuff, ya'll

I'd like to take that sugarplum and shove it ...

2011-01-08T17:47:00.001-08:00

From the end of the first act through to the end of the second act, I love the ballet "The Nutcracker". I can't sit through the first act anymore. The ho hum 'Christmas eve party scene', the clunky 'war' between the soldiers and the rats ... ugh.
Let me slip into my seat just as the Waltz of the Snowflakes begins and I am butt glued from that point on.
It's one of the few ballets I really like, in large part because of the *music*! Some of my favorite ballet music - Snow, Waltz of the Flowers (my fav), Sugarplum. Ahhh, the genius of Tchaikovsky. It's just not the holiday season until I hear that music. Even in the middle of the year when I hear the tinkle of Sugarplum's notes, it makes me smile.

Until now.

For the season I usually have my ringtone set to South Park character Shelly's rendition of "I Saw Three Ships" ("Shut UP, turds!"), or The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.
Lately it's been set to Sugarplum.
And I've been on-call since last Wednesday and it's been busy.
4:00 am on New Year's Eve Day ... 5:30am on New Year's Day ... 11:30 am ... 3:00 pm ... near midnight
"Twinkle, twink, twink twinktwinktwink ... twinktwinktwink ... twinkletwinkletwink ..."
>bleary eyed< >another headache< AArrrgh! Not again!

If I never hear the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy again, I will be happy.

Bah. Humbug.

Does rotten start from the outside too?

2010-04-24T16:17:00.000-07:00

Anna Wintour fascinates me. But maybe not so much in a good way.

I'm not and never have been 'into' fashion. People that verbally vomit on about 'designers' and won't wear anything that doesn't have a recognizable label repulse me. It's just clothes. Some garments are beautiful, some are comfortable, some awful but it's still just that - garments. Something to put upon our prudish, naked selves, contrived - thanks to Eve - upon banishment from the garden.

I read "The Devil Wears Prada" and from the first pages knew who the writer was talking about. Ms. Wintour's demeanor and treatment of others was legendary before the book, but to read specifics was chilling. And fascinating.

Meryl Streep, as much as I admire her acting skills, just didn't capture the rigid, stony facade of Anna Wintour. Maybe that was by design - if you'll pardon the pun.

I just watched "The September Issue" and loved it. Critics of the movie mentioned that Ms. Wintour allowed the filming because she 'knew she had an image problem'. I don't know if that's true, but I appreciate her acquiescence. It was very interesting, even if you never buy Vogue.

It's all so fraught with circumstance, the making of the magazine. So involved with itself - surely a monster of it's, and her, own making. She looked as if she hated every minute. The scenes with her daughter where charming. It was the only time she looked relaxed and happy.

I also loved the movie because I 'discovered' Grace Coddington. I'd heard the name, but didn't know the genius. She's so charming and lovely and talented. Her photographs, her ideas for photo 'scenes' were incredible. Art. Not fashion. The fact that clothes were in the pictures seemed to me to be secondary to the finely wrought set-up, design.

Maybe the reason Anna wears such tension and detest on her face and in her posture, is because she is the decision maker. She is the one that has to do the editing, the "X"ing out of the beautiful photos because even though they're beautiful, they just don't ... go. The one who takes the role as decision maker and knows that someday she's going to make a wrong decision, and it's going to show, and people will howl and second guess and blame.

I can't decide why I find her so fascinating. She is not like me. I don't want to be her. I don't want to be like her. In watching her and reading about her I'm always trying to figure out how she 'made' it. At one time, was she more likable? At one time did she endear herself to people? Is cold, cut-throat, unfriendly, demanding what's really needed to run a magazine? A company? Is that what corporate America really needs?

The movie was just a small slice of the making of the making of the magazine, and of Anna Wintour. I know I shouldn't generalize, dismiss. We are all multi-layered. Does the 'front' matter in the long run? The top layers that everyone sees?

Roll Call ... of Books

2010-01-10T18:55:00.000-08:00

Its a tradition around here that I get one hardback book for Christmas. My usual frugal nature doesn't allow me to buy hardback books. Not when I know they'll be coming out for a fraction of the cost in paperback, or that I can get them at the public library if I can wait in line. But for Christmas I can ask for whatever book I want - hardback or paper.

This year it was tough to pick. I had three on my list of 'wants' and another couple that I'd like to have. With not much else on my Christmas list my family went long - I got FIVE (5) books for Christmas! I feel rich!
Here's the rundown;

New York by Edward Rutherfurd
A historical fiction of New York City from the time it was a Dutch village to present day. Explains why areas of the city are named as they are, tells the story of several generations of Manhattan families - rich and middle class. Fascinating. Almost finished already.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Really enjoyed her last book - The Time Travelers Wife. About quirky twins who must move to London to claim their aunt's bequest - a haunted apartment building. Cool!

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

More historical fiction - this one about turn-of-the-last-century Mexico. Love Barbara Kingsolver. Her non-fiction book on eating locally changed they way we (my family) regards and buys our food.

Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

Published posthumously. Not always my favorite writer - I think his stories fade out or get too 'fantastical' at the end, but I've read everything he's written. Why stop just because he died? >G<

You can't Drink All Day if You Don't Start in the Morning by Celia Rivenbark

Absolutely adore her books. Have them all, give them out as gifts. Southern funny AND smart. Her last book was titled, "Stop Dressing Your 6 Year Old Like a Skank"

It was a good Christmas

with Jack McCoy on lead guitar

2009-11-25T23:14:00.000-08:00

"Hit it"

Every time I get a "Guilty" verdict I feel like a rock star. I'm exhilarated and over-the-moon happy. I feel like I've done some good. I've had a hand in getting a criminal off the street, provided a measure of justice for a victim.

Court security, the Clerk, the court reporter, your supervisor, the victim and his/her family and friends - all beaming. A prosecutor's equivalent to screamin' fans.

The "guilty" verdicts make the job worthwhile.

It sure ain't the pay.

That'd Make a Great Name For a Rock Band

2009-05-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

Every one and a while I'll hear a particular turn of phrase and think, "That'd make a great name for a rock band!"

It's happened more than a few times over the years and I always forget them. So, in an effort to document for posterity, here's entry number one of;

Begijn's - That'd Make a Great Name for a Rock Band!

(taken from tonights epi of "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe") -

Festering Mass of Coagulation

(extra points if I can come up with cover art)

Note To Self:

2009-03-25T18:15:00.000-07:00

Never, *ever* think about, consider or attempt to become a Mediator. I do not know how they do it. To put up with all the posturing, ego, and testosterone and yet make it your business to bring the parties to some mutually agreeable conclusion.

A good mediator hides his/her own feelings and always keeps an optimistic outlook. A good mediator lets you think you're on top of the world at the same time as she/he clues you in on the deficiencies in your case. A good mediator gently nudges everyone towards compromise while letting everyone think they're still getting the best end of the deal. A good mediator is worth every penny.

I couldn't do it. I was ready to tell everyone to go f*#k themselves after the first hour.

Happy Holidays

2008-11-28T09:13:00.000-08:00

Currently reading:

"...even if you take it straight up Christian, if you choose to spend the holidays glazing hams or baking cookies, you will find this book indispensable ..."

"Us and Them" is a must read - and must force on certain others in the hopes they will see themselves, realize the pathetic of their priorities and stop the crazy.

Would I jump off a bridge if someone else did?

2008-10-10T15:04:00.000-07:00

"It's addictive!" she said, "It stresses me out!" she said, "It's annoying!" she said, "Why don't you have one yet?!" she said

I have Facebook Page.

It's so annoying. It's so addictive.

I am an idiot.

2008-09-19T17:25:00.000-07:00

"A Journal of Emotional Hygiene"

2008-09-16T17:39:00.000-07:00

I've been a hold out on the whole iPod thing.

Been through a few MP3 players though. Just couldn't wrap my head around paying extra for a little music player just because of its brand.

Then Syd gave me an old 512MB iPod Shuffle she wasn't using anymore.

Hooked. Line and sinker.

The interface is better. iTunes is better.

Just got my new Nano.

I have a great time shopping through comedy podcasts on iTunes.

Gotta have Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, that was a given, same with NPR's Unger Report, but my found favorite is "You Look Nice Today" I love these guys.

From episode 7 -

Next time you order your half-skim, double pump latte what name will *you* give the puzzled barista?

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

2008-09-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

Camping, exploring and swimming at some of Florida's natural springs.

Head Spring at Ichetucknee State Park

Beautiful and *cold*

Funny, ur doing it right

2008-09-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

My e-friend Barry at "singleentendre" submitted a caption entry to icanhascheezburger.com

Ha!

Sometimes its less sword-swinging than muck-raking ...

2008-09-02T18:32:00.000-07:00

"Yeah boyeee!" - Jack McCoy.

Borrowed from "Western Justice" -

“ The Speech” by character Richard (Assistant District Attorney)from "The Practice":

“There are heroes in this world. They are called district attorneys. They don't get to have clients, people who smile at them at the end of the trial, who look them in the eye and say "thank you." Nobody's there to appreciate the district attorney because we work for the state and our gratitude comes from knowing there's a tide out there, a tide the size of a tsunami coming out of a bottomless cess pool. A tide called crime, which if left unchecked will rob every American of his freedom. A tide which strips individuals of the privilege of being able to walk down a dark street or to take $20 out of an ATM machine without fear of being mugged. All Congress does is talk, but it's the district attorney who grabs his sword, who digs into the trenches and fights the fight, who dogs justice day after day after day without thanks, without so much as a simple pat on the back. But we do it. We do it because we are the crusaders, the last frontier of American justice, knowing if a man cannot feel safe he can never, never feel free.”

I need to have this calligraphed and hung on my wall. Especially for during those hard, lean times - like on payday.

The Craigslist 2 second "Missed Connection"

2008-09-01T00:22:00.001-07:00

Craigslist's "Missed Connections" is such a crack-up.

Folks write stuff like;
"You were in the white Chevy and I was in the '86 Corolla and our eyes met when we both were at that stop light, I felt a connection! Reply with the color of my shirt so I no (sic) it's you! Let's get together and "talk"!"

Ha! Really?! Seriously?! *That's* a 'connection' for you, dude?

Well, apparently another reader is just as ... skeptical

from tonights postings;

CRAIGSLIST
NORTHWEST FLORIDA
MISSED CONNECTIONS

>
"Hey Babe(s)! I saw you today, you know who you are! I'm the guy who saw you at the mall, and wal-mart and all over the place , really. Even though you were holding hands WITH and wearing the wedding ring OF your husband, and even though you had your two adorable children with you, I'm pretty positive that you want me. I mean, what kind of woman goes out in public if she doesn't want a hookup, right? I have no clue what your name is, or the name of the other 20 or so women I saw when I was in town yesterday, but I know the attraction is there. The way you all looked lovingly into the eyes of the guy you were with, just so he wouldn't get suspicious that you have the hots for me! I am so awesome. And I deserve to be the next to go to bed with you, Because let's face it, I WAS AT THE MALL LOOKING AT YOU! If your husband wanted you so bad, He would have been looking at you too! But he wasn't! He was taking care of your kids, but really he was only pretending to care about you, I'm your True Love, aren't I? Hello? What, am I not wearing enough Drakkar? Anyway, if you wish (and I know that you do!) to leave the man that makes you happy for some schlub who you probably never even made eye contact with, then call me! I will love you forever. Or at least for a few minutes. Gotta go, I'll be waiting by my prepaid cell phone."

Beautiful! Who(m?)ever you are, you took the sarcastic right outta my mouth -

Garnet and gold looks so much better on ...

2008-08-31T23:21:00.000-07:00

There was a cure for spending a full week of trial practice training at the University of Florida's Law School;

A stop in Tallahassee on the way home.

Complete with a wallet emptying at Bill's.

Hills! Trees! Complimentary color combinations!

It wasn't so bad (the week long stay in Gainesville, that is.)
Except for the constant visual assault of the wall sized oil portrait, complete with gilt frame, of the school's contractually required namesake in the hall next to the administrative offices. *That* was bad. Ridiculous and bad. It's so ... 'staged' looking. Bet me he had it done and donated it.
Law school Admin: "Uh, yeah. Um ... thanks? What? You want us to put it where? HA! Hahahah! No, seriously ... seriously? Hoh boy."

I attended a trial advocacy training seminar with 60 other prosecutors and public defenders around the state.
It was intense.
They filmed everything we did - from voir dire to closing arguments. You were critiqued by a panel of judges, practitioners and law professors after your 'presentation' and then again during video review. It was like preping for trial every day for 7 days.
There were no lectures or 'training' - except for telling you what you were doing wrong and where and how you needed to improve.

I got an award at the end with an engraved plaque and all, and that was nice, but I was so tired and stressed, (and sick of looking at that ridiculous 'painting') that by the end I could barely care.

Just get the hell out - and stop for the FSView on the way home.

" ... and this is you as you, not you as a worm ..."

2008-08-30T11:55:00.000-07:00

There's a free episode and a free BBC interview of Ricky at iTunes

Funniest guy on the planet

Why can't I hear this blastin' from someone's Uber tens while stuck in traffic

2008-08-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

PAST EVENTS I WOULD BEAM TO IF TIME TRAVEL IS INVENTED

PAST EVENT #27

Stravinsky conducts "Firebird"
1965

On of the best pieces of music ever. So haunting and delicate, and then it blows you away. See him smile? Looks like he's almost dancing. Would have loved to have been in that audience.

Pet Peeve # 13

2008-07-29T16:43:00.000-07:00

Laugh tracks.

By now it's safe to say that everybody knows that most sit-coms do not have huge, uber-jolly studio audiences. The sound of all those people busting a gut when starlet makes a slightly grin inducing comment is a fake. A big huge uber-annoying fake.

Score one for law & order

2008-06-26T03:08:00.001-07:00

GUILTY, GUILTY, GUILTY
- as charged.

I feel better.

I hate myself so sad but true, I hate myself when I should be hating you. - Bobby Bare, Jr.

2008-06-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

Two trials in one day.
Two acquittals.
I suck.
I hate myself.

One was a he said/she said assault. Jury chose to believe him. Not much I can do about not having any witnesses, and the defendant coughing up a "cousin" who was (in my opinion-} willing to provide a failibi (fail + alibi = failibi), so in the end, it is what it is.

But the second was trafficking.
I cross-examined, impeached, fought as best I could with what I had. But the drug dealer walked. and it tears me up.
F'ing dirt-bag.
When this happens I feel awful, like I let my LEOs down.

Sail Girl

2008-05-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend and it's beautiful outside. Very warm, the kind of warm that makes you want to stay in the water, or get out on the water.

We have a 21 ft. O'Day, but it needs more work before we can crack a bottle of champagne on the hull.

What we need in the meantime is a catamaran. A 14 ft. Hobie would be just the ticket. Just big enough, easy to trailer, easy to keep.

During high school and for a few years beyond I spent * a lot* of time on the water tooling around the Bay on my Papaw's 14 ft. cat. It was just a no-name brand, and I wanted Hobie like a fat kid wants a candy store.

Once, right in the middle of the Bay, wind blowing hard - the mainsheet broke and I had to wrestle the sail by the boom with one arm and steer the rudder with the other. My Cousin Lori, whom I dearly love, who was along for the ride, but oblivious - a ride on the boat was a tanning opportunity :-).
We got back to shore with no drama, but what a rush!

We also spent a lot of time on the beach, on the Gulf. Another cousin was one of the hottest Life Guards on the beach (yay Mike! :-)
Hobie Cat tees from surf shops, running shorts and sea salt stained leather flip flops all summer.

Some of my friends were "surfer girls". I always thought of myself as a "sail girl". (this was when I had a long hiatus from ballet classes)

Labels. College brought a "prep" phase. But my heart wasn't in it. I was just following fashion (again). Then came being a professional, then came being a wife, then came being a mom.

Speaking of labels, I don't want any part of this 'soccer mom' designation. To me, imho it implies that being someone's mom and catering to their athletic needs is what you're all about.
F that.
I still wanna be 'sail girl' (or how about 'sail mom'?)
And I still wanna be a ballerina too.

Ready. Aim ...

2008-05-22T19:29:00.000-07:00

Time to Vent
When you are, by design, on opposite sides of the fence with someone, there's bound to be conflict and confrontation. If you're not up for that then you shouldn't be in the design.
There are going to be times when the conflict is hard to take, but the best you can do is bite it and carry on. It's the *design* stupid. Suck it up, paste on a smile and do. your. job.
Become a sneaky, underhanded, lying, whiny bitch because you can't take the rules of engagement as they are and think you can gain an upper hand by circumventing them or skirting past professional courtesy - then you deserve the shitstorm that's coming your way.

Good luck,
Begijn
(gathering the beach chair and cooler of beer behind the splatter shield to watch the fall out)

I'll scratch your eyes out, don't become the Brigadier Bitch with us dear ...

2008-05-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

Silly. A little bit suspect. But sometimes Monty Python says it best.

Squad Camp It Up
Monty Python's Flying Circus

Let's guess the plot: girl has boy; girl has sex with boy; girl loses boy; girl drones on and on about boy ...audience kills self

2008-05-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

Thank you Scott and Fred.

2008-05-02T21:03:00.000-07:00

The rose garden is starting to break out. Every bush has buds.

Scott and Fred lived a house down from us. They were a fun couple and had the best interior decorating taste of anyone, gay or straight, I've ever met (and that's saying a *lot* I have some friends that EXCEL at interior decorating). We'd go over for parties and I'd take some time to just walk around the rooms and make mental notes and drool.

They collected roses. Their front, side and back yards were like one huge, incredible rose garden. During the bloom seasons, it was like their house was on the Garden Club tour. People stopped to take pictures, talk to Scott or Fred (whoever happened to be outside tending) about the roses.

They could tell you the name and history of each rose. It was incredible.

I got hooked, but not because I particularly liked roses - I really do not care for the fragrance associated with most roses (I prefer the way Carnations smell), and most rose gardens I'd seen seemed scraggly, ill tended affairs that looked thorny and prissy.

What turned the corner for me was the way Scott and Fred enjoyed their roses. The blooms were not left to die on the stem - (well, quite a few did live a healthy life on the stem for all who drove or walked by to enjoy) - but they cut them and FILLED their home with them. Lovely silver, lead crystal, porcelain or glass - bowls, vases, pitchers were filled (stuffed) with blooms either of the same color or varying colors - all over the house. It was glorious!

I realized that the flowers didn't have to be stuffy, thorny, raggedy bushes to bloom and then die on the vine (like my grandmothers garden roses), I could cut them! arrange them! fill my house with flowers!

My garden isn't near big enough to do that - yet. I do let some bloom and die on the vine, but I don't hesitate to bring some inside, give them to friends, stop and smell them where ever they are.

Scott and Fred moved away and took most of their roses with them. They also gave some to the Garden club, left some for the people who bought their house (I think it was in the contract!), and gave some to friends.
Mary Rose (see photo above and previous post) was my gift from Scott and Fred.

Thanks again you guys. We miss you.

This is "Blue Girl", A hybrid tea.

Isn't she beautiful?

Everything's coming up ... Roses!

2008-05-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

Doncha' just love Spring -

This is "Peer Gynt". A hybrid tea, yellow with pink edges.

She doesn't produce that many blooms, but when she does ... wow!
Absolutely beautiful.

Hand me that bottle of Jager ...

2008-04-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

If you have not checked out Random Esquire's (RE) blog (on my blog roll) you should. The blog rocks - as does the author.
http://www.randomesq.com/
(Marry me RE?
What's that?
Oh, yeah. I'm already married.
Damn.)

RE is a foodie and the latest post is about a dinner event featuring those little helpings of exquisitely turned out food each paired with a carefully selected wine.

Kind of like what you see on Top Chef.
So this is my rant about Top Chef

I love that show, although not as much as its sister event "Project Rungay" ... I mean *Runway*

I really appreciate the talent and creativity it takes to select basic foodstuffs and turn them into such special things. Probably because I hate to cook.
Really hate it.
There is *so* much more I'd rather be doing than standing over hot stove or cutting up greens and carrots, or whatever it is you do when "cooking" (- other than turning the dial on the microwave after popping in some "Mrs. Paul's")

What I'm totally over about the show is that diarrhea of ingredients and cooking techniques and such that they blather on about when describing their creations.

Top Chef: "This is a ragout of salmon with a tournedour of butter filleted brisket mushrooms and a strainer of beets with rastafarian lemon curd. Enjoy!"

Me: "What the fuck?"

It sounds so up-the-ass. Like twin-sets and Junior League.

Reminds me of Antiques Roadshow - I can't watch that show anymore because I get drunk.
Anytime someone says the word "piece" when they mean "china cabinet" or "chest of drawers" or "shitter" I have to drain my shot,
(e.g. "This *piece* belonged to my great grandfather ... blah, blah, blah" )
For christsake!, just say "table!"

So back to Top Chef, can't it just be, "I cooked a tiny piece of fish and put a bean on top of it."?

>sigh< Probably not.

Until this trend is over I guess I have to resign myself to getting drunk while watching TC.

Pour me another shot, somebody said, "sous vide"

Courtroom Cinderella

2008-04-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

I cannot buy a trial.

I was supposed to have *at least* 4 trials this docket - possibly 8,

I look forward to them. Sometimes you need a good scrappy fight to get your blood boiling. Knock you out of the doldrums.

And I have once again ended up with ZERO.

Three defendants decided to accept my Plea Agreement offer - usually close to the guidelines, or minimum mandatory.

Three defendants pled straight up to the Judge, which I dislike because sometimes the Judge to which I'm assigned undercuts me.

One didn't appear as ordered for jury selection (after he *demanded* a jury trial on plea day), and another took off during the break on jury selection day.
Yep. Down the hall, down the elevator, out the door to bury-your-head-in-the-sand nirvana.

A warrant issues for their arrest and I get to add "Failure to Appear" to the original charge(s).

It's so disappointing. I get all decked out in my D.A. ball gown - and no Defense Charming.

I got the flu and since last Friday have been paying penance to the porcelain god

2008-04-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

Can someone please hold my hair?

After a bad day, leave it to the LOLcats to make me laugh.

2008-04-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

Totally cracked me up:

from icanhascheezburger.com

"...now go buy this s*#t ,you consumer f@%k..."

2008-04-07T15:35:00.000-07:00

Most advertising is insipid and aggravating, but don't you feel sorry for people in the advertising industry? To come up with yet another jingle for a cracker - *Nabisco's newest!* - must be mind numbing. Enter some New York Ad guys who have (apparently) had enough of glossing the stinking rose ...

From ThrillList New York:

AIDSVERTISING

99.99% of advertising is too insipid to inspire you to action, which is why Suzanne Somers condo's stacked floor-to-ceiling with BodyRows.

Introducing the .01 percenters: Aidsvertising.

The handiwork of a sextet of anonymous/insensitive ad men based in NY and points abroad, Aidsvertising goes where anyone with either a paying client or a sense of shame fears to tread. Witness their departures, which appear on their website without our cowardly redactions:

Duracell Batteries
Regular advertising: Duracell. Long lasting. Powerful. Dependable.

Aidsvertising: Look at these f*cking goddamn batteries. These bastards will dominate your sh*t with energy and then after they're done f*cking your girlfriend you charge them for another 500 f*cking pictures. You see that bold AA? It stands for Amazing Ass batteries. Now go buy these f*cking batteries you consumer f*ck.

Triscuit Crackers
Regular advertising: Triscuits. A tasty romance awaits.

Aidsvertising: Holy m*therf*cking christ on some crackers!! Look at them bitches! All five of em. You want to shove these dry f*ckers right in your gaping pie hole. Got ridges on them to hold other sh*t.

If you think you can be this m*therf*cking inspiring, submit your own advertising copy -- and soon, those t*tsucking Salad Shooters will start flying out of your nob-gobbling storage unit.

Check out the m*therf*cking NSFW site:

http://www.aidsvertising.com/

Hilarious -

Missing New Orleans

2008-04-06T21:30:00.001-07:00

It's time for a road trip to NOLA.

I miss New Orleans.
Even though it's different now it's still special.

The architecture,

The people,

May 8th and 9th, the New Orleans Ballet Association is hosting dancers from the Pacific Northwest Ballet (based in Seattle) for "Absolute Ballet" ...

... a series of excerpts from story ballets and full-length abstract (story-less) ballets.

What's extraordinary is that PNB's star ballerina, Patricia Barker (who recently retired) will be headlining, dancing the Diamonds pas de deux from Balanchine's Ballet, "Jewels".

She's a huge star in the ballet world, although not one of my favorites.
From what I've seen of her dancing (which is, not much - and only on video) she seems heavy, lacking that weightless, ethereal, "pulled up" quality. Video is such a poor replica of ballet though. Maybe seeing her in person will change my mind.

Ballet in New Orleans = great excuse for a road trip

Camping and Hiking and ... (!) ... Oh My!

2008-04-03T18:36:00.001-07:00

Upper Pool
Valley View Hot Springs

This is where I want to go on my summer vacation.

Camping in the mountains of Colorado, hiking tours of natural hot springs.

Valley View is a feature of the Orient Land Trust about 3 hours drive from Colorado Springs. It's a 'primitive resort' in that the trust keeps the pools and the surrounding property features as primitive and undeveloped as possible. There are 4 natural hot spring pools, and one swimming pool where hot spring water is directed into the pool - no chlorine/chemicals. The water temp varies between 80 to 102 degrees depending on the amount of rainfall.

Doesn't it look perfect?

One issue ... it's clothing optional.

I don't think I'd have a problem with that once I got over the initial, ... chill(?), but the fam says 'no way.'

The way I see it, this view ...

... more than makes up for the view of ... well, ... some old guy's package.

Me next Spring (?)

Visit the land trust at www.olt.org

The view from the wing(er)

2008-03-31T17:18:00.000-07:00

New York City Ballet in London

with thanks to Kristin Sloan, www.thewinger.com

Easter Bunny Reject?

2008-03-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

Look what we found in the yard. All by his? her? little lonesome -

Grandpa's house has a huge fenced yard. We looked all over for a den, other rabbit, droppings, anything to indicate where he? she? should go back too. He? she? seemed to be abandoned.

We made it a little hutch, bought all form and function of rabbit food (parsley, carrots, lettuce)

I wanted to name it Hippitus Hoppitus - as any South Park fan would ...

DH suggested "Hoss", short for "Hossenfefer" -

...which I think is just wrong.

So far the little thing is vewwwy, veeewwy still and veeewwwy, veeewwwy quiet. It's not wabbit hunting season is it?

Motion Denied

2008-03-28T21:47:00.001-07:00

My docket overfloweth.

Apparently, only criminals whose last names start with the letters A - L got bizay over the last few months.

My side of the alphabet exploded file sized manila turds that landed all over my desk.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that during one defendant's Motion to Suppress State's Evidence hearing the other day I got to bark at the defendant on the witness stand "You're a *crack head* aren't you?"

"... yes" he squeaked.

Beautiful

Job Market 2009

2008-03-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

Thugs and drugs and dirtbags, oh my

2008-03-16T20:09:00.000-07:00

From today's issue of the "Sarasota Herald Tribune"

"Cell Picture of Undercover Officer Sparks Arrest"

Randy Dean Sievert drew ire from Manatee County sheriff's deputies as he aimed his cell phone camera at undercover investigators executing a search warrant in his neighborhood.

A deputy confronted Sievert, demanding that he destroy any photos of investigators and their vehicles.

Sievert was not a welcome observer of the drug raid. Authorities called him a "known Drug dealer" based on a couple of past arrests. Taking photos of undercover officers jeopardized their lives, deputies said.

Sievert refused to remove his hands from his pockets and step away from his car after he was confronted about the pictures. Deputies forced him to the ground. The 20-year-old unemployed Bradenton man was arrested on a misdemeanor obstruction charge.

Investigators could not access the images on the phone. Sievert "finally" gave up a code that allowed deputies to find and destroy a photo that showed two undercover vehicles, according to reports. The phone is in evidence but not the photograph.

Sievert's obstruction case is attracting criticism in the legal community. Some defense attorneys say Sievert was unlawfully arrested and forced to destroy a photograph authorities had no grounds to erase.

"While they may not have liked what he was doing, it was not against the law," said Sievert's attorney, Charles M. Britt III.

...an assistant state attorney, addressing the merits of the charge at a hearing Thursday, called Sievert's photograph "egregious."

Prosecutor Angel Colonneso argued to keep Sievert locked up on a probation violation charge. Sievert was on probation in a drug case when he was arrested on the obstruction charge in late February in the 6000 block of Seventh Street Court West.

Sievert refused a lawful command to erase the photographs, Colonneso said. That "reasonable request" was to protect undercover officers.

Assistant public defender Jennifer Joynt-Sanchez called the arrest "beyond belief." Joynt-Sanchez, representing Sievert in court, said Sievert had a right to resist unlawful police detention.

State laws allow law enforcement agencies to black out the names of undercover officers in police reports, protecting their identity. But their names are often included on witness lists for trial.

What Sievert planned to do with the photos - if anything - remains unknown."

Really?

We really can't figure out what this "20 year old, unemployed, on probation for previous drug charge" dirtbag was going to do with that photograph?
Whose "civil rights" do we think were more in danger of being trampled? The convicted felon and known drug dealer who had to delete a photograph from his phone? or the undercover officers whose photographs are about to be e-mailed to every contact the drug dealers list - putting them in danger and wasting the thousands in taxpayer money it took to train them - who would then be unable to work undercover anymore?

I have worked with a couple of undercover drug enforcement officers, and besides being totally hot, (I could *so* be an agent groupie if I let myself -) they are incredibly hard working - on the streets all hours of the day and night on undercover operations. Most of them hardly see home long enough than to get a few hours sleep before they're back out there.
Drug dealers don't keep 9 to 5 and neither do they. So, let's keep them safe, shall we? - In their quest to keep thugs and drugs and the attendant terrors such activity always brings - off the streets of the neighborhood so you and I can sleep safely in our warm little beds at night, 'kay?

Randy Dean Sievert

Waste of Oxygen.

ROTFL

2008-03-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

Well then ...

2008-03-12T20:46:00.001-07:00

Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.
Anais Nin

You're stereotyping attitudes have been served

2008-03-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

Sascha Radetsky in this weeks' Newsweek

"Don't Judge Me by my Tights"
http://www.newsweek.com/id/120061

"My business attire is a pair of tights. All right, there it is. I wear makeup onstage, and some of my colleagues are gay. Can we move on now? Can we leave behind the tired male-ballet-dancer stigma—that ballet is not a masculine pursuit—in order to move toward an appreciation of the athleticism and artistry involved in this line of work?"

Great article.

Sascha and Stella Abrera

Ballet = cute girls in short skirts. What's not for a red-blooded, all-American heterosexual guy to love?

Colorful, Complex and Headstrong

2008-03-07T17:59:00.000-08:00

We have our first rose of the season:

Mary Rose
An Heirloom Old English Rose named for Henry the VIII's flagship, "The Mary Rose"

- which was named for his favorite sister, Princess Mary Rose Tudor, Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk.

Mary Rose Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk and Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk.

A little-known royal, she was every bit as colorful, complex and headstrong as her brother

Although the rose was named for the boat, it fits the girl as well.

Apparently I'm not fashionable. Ask me if I'm losing any sleep over it

2008-03-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

PROJECT RUNWAY Season 4

Christian wins?

Seriously?

*Who* would wear this?

Oh yeah, I'm sure lots of work went into it, and it's a monument to garment construction, just like the Trump Taj Mahal, or any Vegas hotel built in the last 7 to 10 years may be 'monuments to concrete construction' but they ain't tasteful, and I don't want any of them in my backyard, just like I don't want this hanging off my hips. I mean, jebus! she's so stick thin she could be Miss Eating Disorder 2008 and this dress makes her look huge *and* flat chested. Now that's talent.

OR, would you rather wear this:

Thank you Jillian Lewis.

Once again I am *way* off from what the Project Runway judges think is award winning 'fashion', and once again the female designer gets screwed.

My South Park character name would be "Beth" and she'd be an annoying teacher's pet who led a secret life as a hip-hop 'dance crew' dancer

2008-03-05T16:42:00.000-08:00

South Park Begijn

New episode in;
One week, 4 hours, 15 minutes

http://www.southparkstudios.com/

Please make it stop ...

2008-03-04T17:38:00.000-08:00

From the St. Pete Times:
"Public: Faith Trumps Science"

http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/15/State/Public__Faith_trumps_.shtml

Brown Moon over the Bayou

2008-02-20T19:13:00.001-08:00

Total Lunar Eclipse 2/20/08

Project Dancewear

2008-02-19T17:23:00.000-08:00

Found this 'fuzzy' fabric in ballet pink.

It has a bit of a stretch to it and I think it'd make a sweet little dance skirt.

But I don't like those sweepy chiffon skirts, and that's the only pattern I can find;

I want something more fitted like this;

Design my own?

Yeah. Maybe I will.

Sew Many Projects, Sew Little Time

2008-02-17T16:11:00.000-08:00

I sew.
And Mamaw didn't live to see it.

Yes, I have one of those "grew up watching my grandmother sew, and later became hooked myself ..." stories. (it's ubiquitous, same as, "I've been taking ballet since I was 5 years old ...")

I haunt all the blogs; "The Sewing Divas", "Gorgeous Things", "BeSewStylish", "Pattern Review" and other sites that post wonderful examples of their 'art' - because even making a nice fitting blouse IS an art. Great sources of inspiration.

So for my first picture post of my own projects, I'll post what I made today;

It's the top in Simplicity Pattern # 4273

(the hem isn't that messy - it's the way it's hanging. No, really.)

It was fairly easy to make. I say "fairly" because I'm a beginner and everything is difficult at this point. Mamaw could've made it in a couple of hours. It took me most of this Sunday.

Here's a tote bag I made my cousin a couple of weeks ago;

It's the LazyGirl "With Love" pattern - free on the lazygirl.com website.

I have a ton of that dragonfly fabric. It's also going on a rocking chair I'm re-upholstering.
When I figure out how to re-upholster.

Here's a shawl I made myself out of some of that super cuddly fleece;

It was a 'no-sew' project. Fleece it great that way. I just marked out the dimensions and cut.

I love the peach color. I also made a fringed scarf from the left over fabric.

Mamaw always had a designated 'sewing room' in the house. She'd set up her sewing machine, her cutting table, hang thread boards, - and plug in a TV set so she could watch her 'stories' while she sewed.

In the house on the Bay, the sewing room was in the lowest level of their big split level house. Papaw called it the 'basement' - but it had windows at ground level and Mamaw could look out over the Bay -and the canal at the side of the house. It was a pretty, cluttered, messy, sunny room and I loved it. She did too except when one hurricane pushed the Bay up so high it flooded the 'basement' and ruined just about everything in the room.

As I got older, she'd insist that I keep her company while she worked, showing me how to lay out the pattern on the fabric, how to cut it properly. Then as I got older it was my job to cut out the pattern, arrange it on the fabric, pin it, and cut the fabric. (that's how I got hooked for a while on 'All my Children' and 'General Hospital'). I don't remember that she ever insisted that I sew a garment to completion. I'd sew a straight seam, maybe.

Now I wish she had, and I wish I'd spent more time with her in that sewing room.
Isn't that always the case? Another ubiquitous story.

The cure for what ails me

2008-02-14T17:52:00.000-08:00

Trial(s).
Four in four days.
Countdown begins.

To >name deleted< - bring whatever last minute, last ditch Motion you want, you poser. You can run and hide only so long before you gotta step up to the podium. See ya' there.

A Wonderland of my own making...

2008-01-29T19:51:00.001-08:00

Falling down the rabbit hole -

"We love flattery, even though we are not deceived by it, because it shows that we are important enough to be courted"
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Baby needs a new pair of shoes

2008-01-28T16:14:00.000-08:00

I wear Capezio's Tendu II

I've held on to these for too long.

Ratty platforms, busted shank.

Time for new pointes.

Not looking forward to breaking in a new pair.

Answer: 600 Inmates, Four Correctional Officers and You

2008-01-24T17:36:00.000-08:00

Question: Give a description of 'living on the edge' -

Can you think of a better way to spend a sunny afternoon than touring your local state correctional facility with a population of 3,200 inmates, 600 of which are 'lifers'?
Well sure you can! Like getting a root canal or a PaP Smear.

Naw, it wasn't that bad. It was actually fascinating and difficult at the same time.

Me and an investigator went to tour the scene of a 'Battery on a Correctional Officer' case I'm trying next month. If I had respect for corrections officers before, it's doubled - at least. The job has got to take a toll, but they remain professional and calm in the most stressful environment I've ever voluntarily walked in to.

We were escorted all the way to the back of the compound, through the inmate dormitories, going through a series of three double gates, all with at least two guards, all with armed guards in towers. By the time we made it to where the incident occurred - the Rec yard, which was teeming with about 600 inmates, we were surrounded by 4 officers, with more fanned out in the yard and the tower window open and a guard with a assault rifle watching.
It was intense people.
None of the inmates said anything to us, but they all *STARED*.
(Knowing that's where I was headed for the day I wore my brown pant suit with the plain high necked cream sweater - with my lapel badge front and center (State Attorneys are sworn Law Enforcement in Fla and we are issued badges)*
I still felt naked.)

The investigator with our office was near freakout when she had to leave her firearm at the front gate before we could go in, and when we got back to the front gate our escort said," Now that we're back, I'll tell you that no Deputy or Police Officer has ever gone past this front gate. They won't surrender their weapon. Federal Marshalls and ATF agents will go in to the main compound, but you two are the first Law Enforcement we've ever had go into the Rec Yard."
I felt proud of myself - and like a fool at the same time. If he'd told me that before we went in I'm not sure I would have done it.

* Can anyone guess what I said when I was given my badge?
Anyone?
Anyone?
(*hint* "Blazing Saddles" is one of my favorite movies)

Gifts

2008-01-01T20:58:00.000-08:00

Kim left me a bottle of 1992 Dom Perignon.

Along with a nice note thanking me for letting them use the apartment and telling me what a great time they had in the city over the weekend.

When I was in law school I commuted every week. 200 miles home after classes ended on Friday afternoon, and 200 miles back to school on Sunday night. That left my little uptown New Orleans apartment empty almost every weekend. My friends had an open invitation to use it free of charge any weekend I wasn't there.

Most would leave a small "thank you" token. Dana, my Tallahassee friend, left a VooDoo doll. (I think I was grumbling a lot about my Contracts professor). Connie left the most prized beads from her Mardi Gras crew.

I was thrilled and a little in awe of Kim's gift. I'd never had "Dom" - but had heard of it. At over $100. a bottle it was never in my realm of affordability and I considered it (still do) too much of an extravagance.

Her note suggested I should pop the bottle when I graduated or when I passed the Bar.

At the time I thought, "I certainly will!"
I was (and am) proud of myself for finishing law school (especially given the whole commuting difficulties). It was challenging and humbling and thrilling and one of the most engaging and thought provoking things I've ever done.

For graduation my dad and step-mom flew all the way from San Francisco. My DH and kids were there. I was so happy and beaming like the moon!

But I didn't pop that bottle of Dom.

It just didn't seem like the right time.

Maybe it was because the Bar Exam was looming. A huge hump to get over before my "new future" could start.
For whatever reason the bottle stayed intact properly stored in it's box on it's side on our wine rack.

Maybe when (if?) I pass the Bar.

The Bar Exam was a bitch. For a month I studied every day from sun-up to sun-down. My firm gave me leave for the whole month to study. I took two Bar Exam review courses. DH drove me down to Tampa to take the exam and I studied the whole way. Couldn't sleep both nights of the exam. When it was over I slept for 12 hours.

Passed on the first try with flying colors. Killed the Florida portion of the exam, did very well on the multi-state portion. I was so relieved and thrilled when I saw those scores post I shut the door to my office and cried. Friends and colleagues sent baskets and bouquets of flowers in congratulations.

And still that bottle stayed safe in our wine rack.

What's the deal? Still it just didn't seem like the right time. My heart wasn't in it. "We'll save it for when I have my first trial." I said.

It still wasn't right even after my first trial. "I only sat second chair." I reasoned. I'll open it when it's MY trial ... when I get a verdict in my favor ... when I get a "Guilty" verdict (after I changed jobs and was finally an Assistant State Attorney - which, I would've thought would have been time to pop that bottle too!) But none of those times was the right time.

This New Year's Eve was the right time.

I could say I have no idea why, but I think I may know.

Opening the bottle left me pondering why we celebrate on New Year's Eve.

Is it really a celebration of the anticipation of what's to come in the new year? Maybe, but I don't think so. I don't have a frame of reference to celebrate what may or may not happen. What I can be happy about is what *has* happened.

I think it was a culmination of everything. Overcoming personal "I'm not worthy" roadblocks and going to law school. Passing a difficult state bar exam on the first try. Getting a great job at a great firm. Eventually leaving the firm to be what I really wanted to be in the first place. And I'm still learning, but I think I was made to be in the courtroom. It's still a thrill every time I step up to the podium and say "[Begijn] for the State." While I'm not dancing with the Company, I made it on the Board of Directors and stay close to ballet. The kids are doing great - really great! DH and I are just fine. I've some really wonderful friends. We had a great Christmas with family. We made it through our first holiday season without a dear family member who is very missed.

It was wonderful. Smooth. Celebratory.

I'll call Kim tomorrow and tell her I finally opened that "Thank you" gift.
And tell her it was worth the wait.

Solstice Moon

2007-12-24T13:15:00.001-08:00

Sometime between the last eggnog and Santa's arrival will be the best time in many years to head out into the chilly air and view the 98-percent-full moon shining down from a height it won't reach again for 16 years.

A couple of hand-widths west of the moon, golden Mars will be extraordinarily bright as well. The Red Planet's exceptional glow is due to it reaching what's called opposition, which means it is exactly lined up with the Sun and Earth. Opposition also means Mars is fairly near, and its full face is lit up when viewed from Earth.

A full Mars and a full moon this Christmas.

The solstice season is a magical time marking the longest night of the year and celebrating a return of light - as the days from this point (this year, December 21 in the northern hemisphere) forward begin to lengthen. In ancient times the solstice was celebrated as a rebirth of the sun.

Comfort and Joy.
Merry Winter Solstice

"No were NOT a "movement". That's what you do in the bathroom." SANTACON 2007

2007-12-19T16:57:00.000-08:00

Don't forget the rules while you're 'spreadin' the red' - otherwise known as the four "fucks";
1) Don't fuck with kids. Fuck with their parents.
2) Don't fuck with security.
3) Don't fuck with the police.
4) Don't fuck with Santa

And remember the answers to FAQs;

Who are ya'll with?
"Santa"

Who's in charge?
"Santa"

How did ya'll get here?
"A magical sled and eight tiny reindeer."

Santarchy and Santacon a holiday tradition (since 1994ish)
http://santacon.com/

http://santarchy.com/

Check the websites for a city near you to join the saturate with Santa.

The wood floor, the windows, the piano, the barre, the familiar movements, the grace, the beauty, the flow, the sweat, the pain

2007-12-10T19:47:00.000-08:00

I'm not in the Company. I'm not looking for a tiara or roses at the end of the performance. I'm not looking for a career.

There are things you just do to keep your soul intact.

ballet is my meditation

and i've let myself stray too far from the conversation.

"When you got a clear stretch ... take him out"

2007-12-07T18:05:00.000-08:00

Watch the video (after a short commercial)
http://www.pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071206/VIDEO/71206020

I love working with law enforcement

It's that time of year again ...

2007-12-06T20:22:00.000-08:00

... Nutcracker season.
I hear the tinkle of Sugerplum's dance on TV in commercials, and it always makes me smile.
I love Act II of this ballet. (Act I is boring and hokey)

Act II is like a primer in classical ballet. It shows how you can take the classical language and imbibe it with different style.

In honor of the season, here is Pacific Northwest Ballet performing Act II's "The Waltz of the Flowers"
Possibly my favorite of all Tchaikovsky, and one of the last pieces of choreography I danced with the company

Im in ur blog and changin ur page

2007-11-19T17:54:00.000-08:00

You've heard about the LOLCats, yes?
Wall Street Journal article;

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118798557326508182.html

BUT, have you heard that "those with lots of time on their hands" are translating the bible into LOLCat kitty pidgen?

http://lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

CeilingCat bans Adam and Eve from the garden

Oh hai

Who wants to be a well adjusted person with a healthy moral compass and enough sense not to present yourself like a jackass on a public blog page?!

2007-11-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

First of all I just have to get something out that's stuck ... like ... in the back of my throat kind of like puke that doesn't come all the way up because you're too sick and disgusted to chuck it all? Yeah. Like that. ... so here goes ...

OH FOR CHRISTSSAKE! I'M EMBARRASSED FOR YOU - YOUR EGO CUP RUNNETH OVER. YOU REALLY GOTTA SERIOUSLY GET OVER YOURSELF, BECAUSE, ... DAMN.

I do not care for people who blow their own horn. Say something like, "I feel like I do a good job at ...", or, "I'd like to think I look pretty good, I work hard at it ..." and that's fine, that's different.

There's a lot of character and beauty in folks who do great things, accomplish much, look beautiful - and never say a word about it.

I have an example ... when I first started dating DH I knew he played soccer for a semi-pro team. He barely mentioned it, I watched him play some games, his teammates seemed to hold him in high regard, that was about it. I knew jack crap about soccer.
At my office, the guy who was our runner played soccer for the local college varsity team.
One day DH came up to the office to take me to lunch and when I got back the runner guy took me aside, was all wide-eyed and stuff and said, "That's [DH]! you're dating [DH]!
"Yeaahhh ...?" "What about it?"
The guy says, "[DH] is one of the best soccer players in the area, he's like, one of the top three players in our region ...! Didn't you know that?!" (I believe he stopped short of asking me if I could get him an autograph ... snorf, jk ;- )

DH never mentioned it. Just sort of tossed off that he played the game.

Made me hot, people. If he had been there I would've totally jumped him on the spot, right there in the copy room.

When I mentioned it to DH, he got that evil grin I love and said, "Course he didn't tell you there's only 5 soccer players in the area .. ." (Total bullshit the area's lousy with them ...) Another thing I love about him - humility in his greatness. Wow, that's sappy but I'm giving credit where due.

It's one thing to have other people blow you up (figuratively, smartass) - that's admirable. Complete bullshit to go on about how hot and wonderful you are.

What compels people to create a blog/MyasSpace page and post "I'm so gorgeous ..." "I'm soooo sexy and sultry!" "I'm the best thing since wireless" ?

Bleh. I'm gagging again.

Total lack of character.

Why does it remind me of that "The Soup" reality show spoof? ...

My Favorite Web Site

2007-10-25T17:36:00.001-07:00

The creator of my all time favorite web site - "The Winger" (www.thewinger.com) has created an off-shoot called "the.inter.mission"

While The Winger is a place for giants in the dance world to post (in some cases include some of the most sublime dance photos I've ever seen), and the rest of us to adore and wonder - the.inter.mission is a place for dancer, dance teacher, choreographer, company admin, and fan to gather and discuss (and still adore and wonder)

Congrats and kudos to Kristin Sloan (NYCB ballerina and The Winger creator) for another great site.

The view from the wing(er)

Except I wanted to smack the lady behind us who kept comparing it to the movie ...

2007-10-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

"Phantom" was far better than I thought it would be.
I guess I was so reticent because;
1) I do not enjoy watching opera.
Listening to it can be wonderful. But watching all those people standing around the stage belting it out - just ain't my cup.
Give me the beauty of movement with the brilliant music. (ballet, anyone?)

2) Also I thought it was going to be to "drama -y" But it wasn't. Moments of drama countered by moments of humor. Perfect.

3) Even though all of the "Broadway Across America" productions I've seen have been top notch - as if right off 42nd street - you always wonder if you're going to get the talent.
We did. In spades.
The guy that played Phantom was especially wonderful. Nuanced, full voiced, totally in the character.
One person I was suprised to see in the cast was Amanda Edge, of New York City Ballet, as one of the (what else) ballet dancers.

That's some serious touring company casting people. Amanda Edge was (is?) a NYCB standout.

Stage craft fascinates me.
*How* do they get the Phantom's boat to glide across the stage? *Where* did all those candles come from?!
Cool.
Sure, you can do all kinds of crafty things in the movies.
Stop tape, insert FX, roll tape.
But IMHO it's one of the things that makes live performance more fascinating, better. It's a love and an appreciation I'm trying to instill in the kids.

Watching real, live people (as opposed to flat, filmed people) standing, reciting, performing right in front of you is so much more ... um ... let's see, ... real, visceral, engaging - than watching a movie.

Mistakes happen. Actor's flub their lines, or the set front door won't open, but even then you feel a part of what's happening - for better *or* for worse.

Of course, it has it's drawbacks. Having to get up in the middle of a scene because you !HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM! is much more of a disruption in the live theater. Take my word.

Little girl was thrilled. She loved it. Bought the tee shirt and the cap.

(if you look close, you an see the "crashed" chandelier on the stage behind little girl)

Another suitcase in another hall ...

2007-10-03T17:19:00.000-07:00

Road Trip.

A wealth of Broadway has hit our area of the country and next week we're going to see "Evita" and "Phantom of the Opera"

Evita - can't wait.

It's not a Broadway touring company, but it is a professional theater company, so I'm hoping it's true to the original production. Hopefully seeing it live will wash the taste of "Evita - The Movie" (remember the one? With Madonna?) out of my mouth.

Phantom? Eh. Not so much.

But it's little girl's favorite "Webber" so we're making the trip.

Need to get to Manhattan to see "Spring Awakening"

... and Drowsy Chaperone and Avenue Q and ...

The State rests Your Honor? The State is just getting started ...

2007-09-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

There goes that cliff again ...

Sravaa Baadhaa Prashamanam Trilokya Syaa
Akhilaishwari Ayvam Ayva Twayaa
Karyam Asmay Vyri Vinaashanam

Blessed be

"Look no further Macgyver ..."

2007-09-19T18:43:00.001-07:00

Have you ever longed for a frozen drink blender that could make your frozen 'rita's as smooth as getting a plea offer for 'Reckless instead of DUI?
Well look no further than the Blendtec "Total Blender". It will blend anything and the boys at the factory are out to prove it.
Watch golf balls (and a club), bic lighters,

spam and eggs (you gotta love Monty Python fans) and Chuck Norris (the action figure) get pulverized at willitblend.com
The glow sticks crack me up;
Clicky to;
http://www.willitblend.com/videos.aspx?type=unsafe&video=glowsticks

DH's company uses the industrial Blendtec's and a couple of factory rep's were visiting the office today. They told DH that after turning the iPhone to dust they tried to return it. And when that wasn't successful they eBay'ed it.

Count Down to October 3

2007-09-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program

New Season begins October 3

One of South Park's editors has a YouTube account where he occasionally posts some "the making of" videos. Here's the latest;
(the guy in the poo brown shirt is Trey Parker)

A Few Favorite South Park quotes;

"Half the kids in the class didn't vote for your nephew. What about them? You don't give a crap about them because they aren't on your side. People like you preach tolerance and openmindedness all the time but when it comes to middle America you think we're all evil and stupid country yokels who need your political enlightenment. Just because you're on TV doesn't mean you know crap about the government." -- Mr. Garrison yelling at Rosie O'Donnell

"Tolerant, but not stupid! Look, just because you have to tolerate something doesn't mean you have to approve of it! ..."Tolerate" means you're just putting up with it! You tolerate a crying child sitting next to you on the airplane or, or you tolerate a bad cold. It can still piss you off!" -- Mr. Garrison

"Just remember what the MPAA says: Horrific, deplorable violence is okay, as long as people don't say any naughty words!" -- Kyle's Mom

Benjamin Franklin: I believe that if we are to form a new country, we cannot be a country that appears war-hungry and violent to the rest of the world. However, we also cannot be a country that appears weak and unwilling to fight, to the rest of the world. So, what if we form a country that appears to want both.
Thomas Jefferson: Yes, yes of course, we go to war and protest going to war at the same time....
Benjamin Franklin: And that means that as a nation, we could go to war with whomever we wished, but at the same time act like we didn't want to. If we allow the people to protest what the government does, then the country will be forever blameless.
John Adams: It's like having your cake and eating it too.
Anonymous Hick Redneck Founding Father: Think of it: an entire nation founded on saying one thing and doing another.
John Hancock: And we will call that country the United States of America.

"Dude, dolphins are intelligent and friendly!" -- Wendy
"Intelligent and friendly on rye bread, with some mayonnaise." -- Cartman

Mr. Garrison: Who was in charge of the feminist movement of the early '60's?
Cartman: A bunch of fat old skanks on their periods.
Mr. Garrison: Right. But who was the fattest, oldest skank on her period?

"I would never let a woman kick my @ss. If she tried something, I'd be like, HEY! You get your b*tch @ss back in the kitchen and make me some pie!" -- Cartman

Eric Cartman: Hippies.They're everywhere. They wanna save the earth, but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad.

Cartman: I'm not fat. I'm big-boned.
Stan: No, Jay Leno's chin is big-boned. You are a big, fat ass.

Seeing Dragonflies

2007-09-14T20:26:00.000-07:00

Images everywhere I look.

On exquisite fabrics I gotta have from the fabric shop.
Pandora Radio e-mails me with a new song it thinks I'll like called "Dragonfly" - and I do . Love it .
A huge specimen of the real thing pinging around my front porch light.

Dragonflies everywhere lately. Enough to make me notice and wonder what's up.
What am I being told? What am I supposed to see? know? listen to?

"...I'm willing my Dragonfly
so jump in while the flame is bright
and if you jump when the wind is right
think of it not as fire,
but the light of the coming dawn

so long as I reach the air
and finally feel my colors change
..."

Excerpt from;
"Dragonfly"
by: Universal Hall Pass

http://www.universalhallpass.com/

(click band's site link above and then click on "sounds" and then "Dragonfly")

"Totems"

" ...Dragonfly symbolism crosses and combines with that of the butterfly and change. The dragonfly symbolizes going past self-created illusions that limit our growing and changing. Dragonflies are a symbol of the sense of self that comes with maturity.

They are fantastic flyers, darting like light, twisting, turning, changing direction, even going backwards as the need arises. They are inhabitants of two realms - starting with water, and moving to the air with maturity, but staying close to water. Some people who have the dragonfly as their totem have had emotional and passionate early years, but as they get older they achieve balance with mental clarity and control. They gain an expression of the emotional and mental together.

Dragonflies are old and adaptive insects, and are most powerful in the summer under the effects of warmth and sunlight. Their colors are a result of reflecting and refracting the power of light. As a result, they are associated with color magic, illusion in causing others only to see what you wish, and other mysticism.

The are often represented in Japanese paintings, representing new light and joy.

Dragonflies are reminders that we are light and can reflect the light in powerful ways if we choose to do so. "Let there be light" is the divine prompting to use the creative imagination as a force within your life. They help you to see through your illusions and allow your own light to shine in a new vision."

" ... It lets us see past the illusion, letting light in so that we can see what we need to see to make our lives better. When we've tricked ourselves into believing that the limitations of physical existence prevent us from changing and growing Dragonfly medicine teaches us to pierce our self-created illusions. Dragonfly reminds us to let our colors shine by using the light within."

I firmly believe that the people of U.S. America, and such, need maps and such

2007-09-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

"... because some people out there don't have maps. Such as South Africa..."

So e-mail this web site with your maps. Because the children of America are in trouble. They need maps.

www.mapsforus.org

">

Spokesperson: Miss Teen South Carolina

(with tongue firmly in cheek)

(she didn't say what kind of map)

Corn Moon over the Bayou

2007-08-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

Corn Moon over the Bayou
8/28/07 @ 7:38pm

" ...
the yew tree points up, it has a Gothic shape.
The eyes lift after it and find the moon.
The moon is my mother. She is not sweet like Mary.
Her blue garments unloose small bats and owls.
How I would like to believe in tenderness ----
The face of the effigy, gentled by candles,
Bending, on me in particular, its mild eyes.

I have fallen a long way. Clouds are flowering
Blue and mystical over the face of the stars
Inside the church, the saints will all be blue,
Floating on their delicate feet over the cold pews,
Their hands and faces stiff with holiness.
The moon sees nothing of this. She is bald and wild.
And the message of the yew tree is blackness -- blackness and silence"

Sylvia Plath
excerpt from "The Moon and the Yew Tree"

Leads? Oh yeah we got leads! We're working double shifts! We got the detectives on it !

2007-08-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

Papers have been submitted, dude and new 'shit' (in the parlance of our times) has come to light.

Pack your marmet and head to the University of Louisville for an academic symposium on interpreting the Coen Brother's film "The Big Lebowski" - and addressing the huge fan base that has grown in its wake

The Lebowski Cult: An Academic Symposium
Louisville, Kentucky
September 28th and 29th, 2006

http://louisville.edu/a-s/cchs/lebowski/index.html

Authors will defend their papers on such subjects as;

"Fuck it, Dude, let's go bowling: The Antecedent Cultural Connotations of Bowling in The Big Lebowski" submitted by; Bradley Clissold, Memorial University, St. Johns, Canada

"What Condition the Postmodern Condition is In: Collecting Culture in The Big Lebowski" submitted by Steve Wender, Independent Scholar

"Don't fuck with the Jesus: The Big Lebowski, Ritual and (Imposed) Narratives of the Self" submitted by Marc Ouellette, McMaster University

These people are *all* Little Lebowski Urban Acheivers, and proud we are of them.

Fuckin' A, man, I'd be there except I've got some leads and I'm out of half and half.
The Dude abides.

Imagine what Bob would have choreographed to Booty Mix

2007-08-15T17:25:00.000-07:00

This is brilliant. Bob Fosse's choreography for his wife Gwen Verdon (from the 1960's) - remixed;

>deleted<

Speeding up on the downhill slide

2007-08-09T17:47:00.000-07:00

People who lack full mental capacity because of organic causes, (birth, hereditary) or medical issues or accidents deserve our utmost care in a civilized society.
The mentally retarded, autistic, down syndrome, and injured by accident should be given a pass, should be handled with care and concern. Extra effort should be made to ensure that their needs and issues are taken care of and that they be given a voice in any proceeding that could affect them.

People who lack mental capacity by design, because they're too lazy to "do the math" or "read the book" should not.

Of course the rub is knowing the difference.

I'm really beginning to dislike it when I hear someone announce that there are "no stupid questions".

Bullshit.

Too lazy to read an assignment? Too preoccupied with your fingernails or nose gold to listen closely and carefully to instructions?

Go ahead - ask "What am I supposed to do?" and that's a stupid question.

I'm sick of lowering expectations to the lowest denominator. That guy who was too busy being a sporto in school to do his reading assignments and now can't be bothered to read instructions. That girl who was more concerned about her hair, makeup and clothing selections for the next day in school to get her homework done and now can barely comprehend basic directional indicators.
Smoke or snort or inject your brain cells away and are the rest of us supposed to dumb down for you?

All over the Courthouse there are instructional signs telling visitors where and how to get to various services. The Clerk of Court, The judges suites, where to pay traffic tickets - there are signs following signs and they even have arrows. A scary majority cannot be bothered to actually read the signs.

"Where's the Family Law Clerk?" I get asked while walking past a huge sign with an arrow pointing to the Family Law Clerk's Office. And heaven forbid if I just point to the sign and keep walking - I'll get cussed - and have. I've got 10 minutes to grab an apple and a bottle of water before I have to be upstairs to Arraignments, so pardon me, but I don't have time to stop and give you a blow by blow, step by step - read the F-ing sign.

People, quit watching mindless TV like - what's that piece of crap? "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (Geezzze - creative title. Why not just say "spell it out for the stupid who won't get it unless we do"?)or heaven forbid, "Big Brother 8" - (blatant sexual agenda pushing anyone? - and pick up a book.

I saw "Idiocracy" (Mike Judge movie - creator of "Office Space" and "King of the Hill"). and it are us.

Better than your name in lights?

2007-08-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Hey look! They changed the "HOLLYWOOD" sign in my honor!

Okay, not really. But you can fake it here:

http://www.glassgiant.com/hollywood_sign/

Cute.

Not you grandmammy's quilt

2007-08-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

With apologies to Aunt Brooks (President, Quilter's Guild of Northeast Texas, Dallas, Texas) I've never been a big fan of quilts. I am the proud owner of a quilt that was hand sewn by my Great-grandmother, and a quilt given to me and DH hand made by his Grandmother when we got married (in the Wedding Ring pattern - what else?) But they're not things that I would ruin by throwing them on our bed, and that suits me fine.
Quilts are just not my cup o' thread.
Until now.
Check this out, coolest quilt ever;

The "Evil Rock Quilt"

They also do one with the "hand of rock". Give them an idea and they'll build it.
Bringing quilts into the new century.

www.quiltsryche.com

New Favorite

2007-07-31T22:06:00.000-07:00

My favorite web site www.iparklikeanidiot.com

...has been usurped by http://uglyoutfitsnyc.com/

Fashion citation(s): Knee socks past puberty. Dress shoes and knee hi's and shorts, oh my! Not just "matchy-matchy" but "ugly-ugly"

Trapped at the Drive-Thru

2007-07-31T20:46:00.001-07:00

Pet Peeve # 15

The "this-must-be-fine-dining" types at the drive-through window who channel their inner Sally (a la "When Harry Met Sally") and proceed to chew a large chunk of the staff's patience and everyone else's lunch hour while they "have it their way" like it's a Michelin 3 star.

2007-07-23T16:48:00.000-07:00

Joe Krown at Dos Jeffes

http://www.joekrown.com/cd-of.htm

N' awlins was >ahem< ... fun as usual.
Went by myself to meet a friend from law school and we went visiting some old friends; Dos Jeffes, Napoleon House, Port of Call, Superior Grill ...
Good times. Good times.

Reminds me; last time I was there we saw The ABT Studio Company "and Stars" perform at Tulane. A ballet e-friend gave me the heads up to watch for Aria Alekzander, formerly of The Anaheim Ballet. I did and she was good. A bit wooden in expression, but a fine dancer who seemed to have "it" - that unexplainable thing that makes you want to watch someone.

After her season with ABT Studio, she moved on to a position as a full company member with The Houston Ballet. Nothing to sneeze at, Houston has one of the top ballet companies in the country, but geeze, watch the girl in clip below; the turns! The rock solid balances! If that can't get you into ABT, what will? For all my wondering 'what if?' - this should tell me, I never would have made it.

Here's a profile of Aria Alekzander from Anaheim Ballet;

How to come out of the Potter closet

2007-07-20T23:18:00.001-07:00

Wouldn't be caught, um ... dead (?) reading the new Harry Potter book?
Maybe, but how 'bout anywhere anyone might see you and drop their assessment of your IQ by a few points? Well now you can disguise your signed, special edition of "Secrets of the Hallows" ... or is it, "Hallowed be thy name"? - whatever the damn thing's called, and come out of the Potter closet with book jacket disguises created especially for the deceptive AND literary challenged;

http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/pottercovers.html

Most of the covers are designed for the male over-puberty Potter reader. I guess because society is more forgiving of the adult female boy-finds-own-wand story reader? Doesn't figure does it?

Pick your favorite, print it out, tape it over the Potter book jacket.

Hilarious. The Kung Foo one made me snarf diet Pepsi all over my keyboard.

Salmonella Poisoning ... Tooth Decay?

2007-07-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

Waverly Films

http://waverlyfilms.com/

Kind of like low rent "Flight of the Conchords"

"The Hauntening" is hilarious

Jarkko Lehmus

2007-07-16T19:08:00.000-07:00

Incredible dancer, sense of humor, a thirst for adventure, loves women, an army officer, wears motorcycle leathers, viking horns, tights and ballet shoes (and doesn't give a crap what you think about that)

The perfect man?

http://www.ballet.co.uk/weblogs/lehmus/

From a Scottish Newspaper;

"Jarkko Lehmus trained at the Finnish National Ballet School and Millennium Dance 2000 in London. He performed at the Royal Opera House in Turandot and Macbeth. He joined Scottish Ballet in July 2003.

How did you get started as a dancer?

Jarkko: "I started doing martial arts when I was eight, and just needed to be active. I was about 15 when my girlfriend at the time dragged me to a Finnish folk dance because they didn’t have any guys there."

What was your most terrifying moment?

Jarkko: "I got my lights punched out on stage. About four years ago, it was a contemporary piece, on a really small stage. One of the guys didn’t keep the pace, turned around and struck out with his arm slap in the middle of my face."

Why should people come and see ballet?

Jarkko: "We rule."

MetroSexual? MitresawSexual.

2007-07-01T19:36:00.000-07:00

We went to Lowe's to pick up some replacement trim. They were too long to fit in the bed of the truck and too long to safely let dangle. So DH pulled a power saw out of his truck and there in the parking lot buzzed them to appropriate lengths. We got a few looks, but hey, It's Lowe's! The Home Improvement Store - the power tool mecca! You can't light up a buzz saw there, then were can ya'?
This kind of behavior totally turns me on.
I like a man who's comfortable with power tools, construction, pick-up trucks, and the outdoors. (not to mention, books)
I've never been able to understand the model obsession with the "rock star."
What's manly about standing around in tight pants crooning a little ditty?
Throw in hairspray and make-up a la Motley Crew (sp?) and I'm completely stumped - what's attractive or manly about that?
Sure, these types probably could man up when they're not on stage singing their little songs, but that doesn't seem to be the big draw for these screaming idiot females does it?
Don't get me wrong, I admire the musical talent of Jack White, Chris Thile and Sean Watkins - but I don't want to sleep with them because of it.

Give me a man who knows his way around a campsite, a construction site, a machine shop, and a library - anytime.

Must See TV

2007-06-27T22:45:00.000-07:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you New York Times;

http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=c2ce0e9a9b9762ef53a8392feb3a1f8063ef50f8

Alessandra Ferri's Farewell Performance at Lincoln Center

" ... thoughts that only will be quiet, when someone clings to my apron strings ..."

2007-06-18T19:31:00.000-07:00

15+ years ago when I was happily pregnant with my first child, someone told me that being a parent is life's greatest irony; you will never be so happy and you will never be so miserable.

Many times over the last 15 years I have lamented and remembered those words and imagined that *this* must be what my friend meant; like when little girl was in the full throes of her colicky baby phase and I was sunk to the horrible depths of sleep deprivation; or when little boy crashed his bike on a camping trip, splitting his leg open to the bone, requiring a near panicked drive down a twisting, turning mountain road to the nearest emergency room an hour away ... or any of the other "lesser" incidents that seemed so happy and miserable at the same time - all of which marked growth or experience gained or memory earned and no matter what, brought us closer as a family.

A new horrible and wonderful phase has invaded my happy motherhood and again I'm convinced that *this* is what my friend must have meant.
Little by little the ethereal apron strings of motherhood are being cut and my children are moving on, and up, and out. Not all the way, but little by little. Of course I wouldn't have it any other way, but it's horrible. (and wonderful. - said grudgingly)

I'm sure when my daughter gets back from her first extended trip away from home I will be proud of the accomplishments she achieved and thrilled that she made this step to being on her own one day.
But right now I'm miserable. I just want my girl back home. I miss her very much.

Remember that lovely song about motherhood by Tracey Thorn back in her "everything but the girl" days?

Apron Strings

Apron strings
hanging empty crazy things
my body tells me
i want someone to tie to my
lonely apron strings

apron strings
waiting for you
pretty things
that i could call you

i want someone
to tie to my
lonely apron strings

he'd look just like me when I was young
and I wonder as the days unwind
will he have your eyes or mine
then i wake up to my

apron strings
cold and lonely for time brings
thoughts that only will be quiet
when someone clings to my apron strings

and i'll be perfect in my own way
when you cry i'll be there
i'll sing to you and comb your hair
all your troubles i will share

for apron strings can be used
for other things
than what they're meant for
and you'd be happy wrapped in my apron strings

Bad Year for Ballet

2007-06-11T21:30:00.000-07:00

MURIEL MAFFRE:

final performance w/ San Francisco Ballet

ALESSANDRA FERRI:

announces retirement.

DARCEY BUSSELL:

folds up her tiara and retires from the Royal Ballet.

Tribute:
"Dancers" from Anaheim Ballet

My land is clear of chattering folk, the clouds are low along the ridges, and sweet's the air with curly smoke, from all my burning bridges. D Parker

2007-06-08T22:59:00.000-07:00

If you have to support yourself, you'd better bloody well find some interesting way to do it.
- Katherine Hepburn

Cheers to that.
Another cliff happily lept off.

" ... you gotta look at what you got, and what kind of dog we got here? We got a Lab?
Now that dog'll hunt!
What did we get? We got one a' those furry dogs, a Schitzu.
A Bulldog.
Well those dogs won't hunt ladies and gentlemen.
You know what you get when you cross a Schitzu with a bulldog?
Bullshit.
..."

Folk the World

2007-05-23T18:43:00.000-07:00

We don't have HBO.
Yet.

These guys are hilarious.

"The Road" (that let's hope is never traveled)

2007-05-14T17:17:00.000-07:00

I finished Cormac McCarthy's latest novel in about 4 hours.

I couldn't think of anything I really wanted for Mother's Day so I wasn't very good with suggestions, but my family knows books are always good.

"The Road" was an unknowingly ironic choice for Mother's Day as a gift since the mother in the story figures heavy as a missing and missed character.

She is a photograph pulled from a wallet (long ago useless just like the money it held) and left on an ash covered road.

Would you too kill yourself rather than power through your fears of the post-apocalyptic world and the "Reavers" that roam in gangs? Could you leave your husband and young son as they make their way through a grey, broken and dead world?

No animals or plants survive, but the humans make all attempts. Some in more honorable ways than others. The horrific descriptions of "man's inhumanity to man" and I'm sympathetic, but I still don't understand how she could do it.
Like the Father, I'd stick around and leave two bullets in the chamber.

Stories of survival fascinate me. Stories of survival after nuclear winter/societal breakdown, even more so.
I couldn't put the book down and then once finished, couldn't sleep.
I remember having the same reaction after reading "Alas Babylon" many years ago. Once required reading in high school, it's a cautionary tale in the same vein but with a much better picture of human behavior and enterprise after the breakdown.

Most of the book reviews speak of the "ultimate beauty" of the story, and use words like "gorgeous" to describe, but I don't get that yet. The images are still too raw.

I guess every generation has their apocalyptic fears. When my Grandfather built the family house he included a bomb shelter in the back yard. Fueled by the Bay of Pigs, the "Red Scare" the atom bomb, he sunk it below a laundry house that was separate from the main house. The shelter was built of concrete a foot thick. There was a narrow opening at the back of the building and a rebar ladder led you down into the dark pit of the shelter. It was stocked with canned goods and cots. It constantly weeped water and always had an inch or two on the floor. All of us cousins thought it was creepy and refused to go down there.

It was only as I got older or maybe after I had kids of my own that I "get" why Grandpa built it. You seek to protect your family. If you're smart you plan for the future and if the future's in question, you plan for that option too.

Although the apocalyptic event is not named or discussed in the book you get the sense that not many had planned - save one section where they find a well stocked shelter. At least someone did.

They are at their most desperate, and the protagonist "happens" upon a rut in the grass. At first he thinks he's just dizzy, off his feet from hunger - they haven't eaten in five days. But he senses something and returns to the rut, kicks away some dirt and grass in the backyard of an ordinary house and finds the shelter filled with a treasure trove of food and supplies.
Here and in other points in the book I believe McCarthy instills a sense of the watching and guiding "lost" mother. She couldn't bear to live with her fear of her, and her son's, fate but she's not altogether lost. Or maybe it's just my wishful thinking after reading McCarthy's take on motherhood on Mother's Day.

Despite the Eeyore-like gloominess of this - I really liked the book and recommend it. Bet me, it will be required reading in all high school literature classes by next year.

But maybe next year I'll tell the family to get me some flowers.

“If I can’t fuck up Ann Coulter before lunch then I shouldn’t be in this business” *Christopher Hitchens

2007-05-05T13:47:00.000-07:00

Christopher Hitchens looked great on “Charlie Rose” last night. http://www.charlierose.com/guests/christopher-hitchens

He must be on the wagon.

His new book “God Is Not Great; How Religion Poisons Everything” is out and he’s taking on all serious offers to debate him on the subject.

So besides the ballet, here’s another reason to go to New York in May;

Live From the New York Public Library

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS and AL SHARPTON:
A Debate
God Is Not Great

Monday, May 7, 2007
at 7:00 PM Celeste Bartos Forum
Humanities and Social Sciences Library
5th Avenue and 42nd Street

http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/pep/pepdesc.cfm?id=2677

(Bet me Dawkins will be there.)

Despite his somewhat, in my opinion, misogynistic slant and poor choice in girlfriends, the man fascinates me. I fell in fan love with him in 1985 when he began writing on the Iran COntra Affair and appearing on various news outlets blasting Reagan on the subject. He was so articulate, intelligent and unflappable.

The October 2006 issue of The New Yorker contained a fascinating Profile that attempted to get to the bottom of his recent troubles - his jump from Left standard bearer to … well, Hitchens standard bearer. Now he’s sort of neither here nor there. He has a finely honed BS meter which he turns toward any dogma or sacred cow.

A former columnist for The Nation who took a turn from the party line of his buddies when he wrote an article questioning the "blathering on" about Mother Teresa, and then, (horrors!) jumped aboard the Bush bandwagon on the Iraq war.

What happened to Christopher Hitchens? Was a frequent question. (Or, to put it another way, how did Hitchens come to be a “Lying, Self-Serving, Fat-Assed, Chain-Smoking, Drunken, Opportunistic, Cynical Contrarian”? This is from the title of an essay posted on CounterPunch, a Web site co-edited by Hitchens’s former friend and Nation colleague Alexander Cockburn.)* from The New Yorker article

Of the hoopla from his former friends, Mr. Hitchens has said, “You’d think I’d abducted their daughters.”

But he hasn’t changed his tune. He still believes that the war against Iraq was necessary. He has asked “We should have left Iraq the way it was?” and has described it as “a pleasure as well as a duty” to kill Islamic terrorists.

I may not agree with all of his opinions but I admire his wholehearted conviction to subjects and matters that mean the most to him, and maybe should mean more to me.

* My favorite Hitchens quote from The New Yorker profile

Crip? Blood? Idiot.

2007-04-30T18:32:00.000-07:00

Dear God/Goddess/Mr. Deity/FillInTheBlank,

Please don't *ever* let me get so plasteretarded that I start "throwing gang signs", or what ever you call those ridiculous hand gestures while having my picture taken.

Amen.

Random Act of Kindness

2007-04-28T19:21:00.000-07:00

I went to one of those charity luncheons on Friday. The kind where you get end 'o the month chicken and wallet rape. There was a live auction and one of the items was this gorgeous gold and pearl necklace by a local jewelry designer named "Rock Hard". I kid you not. Go ahead and Bevis and Butthead giggle. I'll wait.

Anyhow, I wanted it.

The auctioneer opened the bidding at $100 and this cute little kid, a boy about 8 years old who was sitting at a table across the room next to his dad, gave a "can I do it?" glance at pop, got the "okay, go ahead" head nod, and raised his paddle to place the $100 bid.

The auctioneer calls "$100! do I have $125?" and I raised my paddle without thinking.

The auctioneer nodded at me, quickly looked back at the kid, and called "125! Can we get $150?" The kid, disappointed, gave a embarrassed smile and shook his head "No"

One of the action assistants whispers something and the auctioneer says, "Oh yes! That's right - Mother's Day *is* coming up, What a great Mother's Day present!" and looks at the little boy and his dad again, but they decline. I guess anything over $100 wasn't in the budget.
I was done too. I wasn't about to bid against a little boy looking to buy his mom a mother's day present and felt bad about bidding after his $100.

But someone else didn't have a problem with it, and the price began to rise, the kid - and I, were out.

Quickly, only two people were left in the bidding war, one of them being a very nicely dressed guy sitting with his wife right in front of me at the next table. He won.

After he won the bidding ($300), the auctioneer started to come over to him to give him the necklace, but nicely dressed guy called out,

"Give it to him," motioning to the little boy, "give it to him so he can give it to his mom for Mother's Day."

This guy had jumped into the bidding when he realized the boy and his dad were tapped out after $100 bucks, and stayed in - so he could win it for him.

I think everybody in the room was stunned, then broke out in applause. I had tears.
I shook his hand afterwards and told him that was the nicest thing I'd seen in a while. He said, "I've been very lucky and very blessed in my life. I just wanted him to have it for his mom"

What goes around comes around. If you act like an ass you might find yourself full of crap.

2007-03-16T19:22:00.001-07:00

At my hearing yesterday;
PLAYERS:

- Judge (approx. 60 years old)

- Opposing counsel (OP) (Asshole. Appearing via telephone, from downstate, has never met or seen Judge, must explain why he's a year late with discovery, but wants a trial date set on judge's docket "asap.")

- Me (my Motion to Compel is being heard because opposing counsel is 12 months past the deadline. OP convinced me to cancel the first hearing I had set on same motion 2 months ago because he promised to overnight Fed Ex the documents I'd requested if I canceled the hearing. So I did - and never heard from him again. Asshole.)

TRANSCRIPT:

Judge: "The Motion to Compel is granted, (to OP) you have 5 days to respond to the discovery requests, and as far as a trial date, my docket is already full for this year ... it'll be set for early 2008.

OP: "But your honor! I have a very, very elderly client! If we wait that long, she may not make it."

Judge: "Well, I haven't seen any pleadings to that nature, how old is she?"

OP: "She's in her *60's*"

Me: >cartoon thought bubble< - "Oh he *DID NOT* just say that!"

Judge: >long pause< "I wouldn't call that 'very, very' elderly, sir, does she have any other sort of condition or illness that give you any concern that she may not make it to trial in 2008?"

OP: "Uh...um, she has depression, sometimes she gets very depressed ..."

Judge: "Your oral motion for expedited trial is denied.

truly. what an idiot.

2007-03-04T09:03:00.000-08:00

Best video podcast ever

Or go to YouTube for the podcast challenged.

http://www.mrdeity.com/

"I did not save your schmuck brother in the shed with the kiddie porn collection and let the mother of seven die, that's not how I roll ..."

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez

2007-02-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

It's Mardi Gras and today some big Krewes roll.

The atmosphere is like the whole city's having a party and you're invited

Ready? Everybody! ...

"Throw me something mister!"

Watch the parades today in real time @ http://www.nola.com/bourbocam/