So yeah. Hi blog. I've sort of abandoned you. But I knew you were there waiting for me. I've been busy going to Italy, and starting my new job and settling into NYC life.
Things are good. I am reminded by the tweets and blog posts of those still in law school that though--for the most part--I liked law school, I do not miss finals. I feel the pain of those still in law school. I remember trudging through the snow last December to take my Evidence final though the city was nearly shut down. Took me 4 hours by bus to get to campus, and they ended up shutting down the school while I was taking my exam (those who were mid-exam were allowed to finish). That exam ended up giving me the worst grade I got in law school. Oh well, 4L grades aren't something to dwell on!
Passed the bar. If all goes well, get sworn in next month. Passing the bar was a huge relief. Though that sounds obvious, it was more of a relief than I had imagined. When telling people what I do pre-results, I had this awkward response that was something to the effect of "I'm hopefully going to be a lawyer." Now, it really feels real.
Doing interesting projects at work. Trying to balance a few things at once, and that's a bit stressful, but so far they've worked out.
Today I went to Brooklyn to buy some chocolate bars at Mast Brothers. We'd bought a couple at Stumptown at the Ace Hotel here, but they were $10 ea, and at the factory they're 3 for $20. Bought 6 different kinds, and have to figure out which to keep for us and which to give away. This was my third visit to Brooklyn. All the visits have felt very different. The first was last summer, to Park Slope, for a work function at someone's house. A few weeks ago, we went to Coney Island and Brighton Beach. I really enjoyed that trip, including a visit to a restaurant that served Uyghur food. This visit, in what I think was Williamsburg, reminded me strongly of Portland. It was raining, so I got my chocolate and came back to Manhattan, and stopped at Union Square to watch "Up In the Air," which was pretty good.
Been watching some TV - watched season 1 of Damages, and am now in the middle of the first season of Dexter. Also been reading a lot. It's crazy how much time I have compared to working full time and going to law school!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A reading...
Waited all day for a charity to pick up a bunch of clothes and some books -- they finally got here in the afternoon; made me miss the ease of loading up the car and heading to Goodwill.
I saw that David Cross was reading from his new book at the Borders at Columbus Circle, so I decided to go. I really like that area, spent a lot of time there last summer and thought it would be cool to live over there.
To get there, Google Maps told me to take an R or a Q I think, but when I got to the station to swap, I wasn't sure what direction to go (Uptown/Downtown is much clearer - cross-town-ish subways just confuse me), so I accidentally ended up in Queens. I love that I can get on a subway and accidentally leave the island. I finally made to the right stop, and got out near Carnegie Hall. My sense of direction is usually good but I get turned around pretty easily here, but then I saw trees, and knew where I was map-wise in relation to Central Park, so I pointed myself in the right direction.
Got to the Borders for the reading pretty early, so I headed back outside for a bit. When I went back in, some people were in the seats, so I sat down too, and pulled out my New Yorker from my New Huge Purse. I bought this purse in Portland before I left and like it but hadn't used it yet - I'm used to carrying a wallet, iPhone and keys and nothing else, so have been using a small cheap purse. In New Huge Purse, I was able to fit the normal stuff AND a New Yorker, umbrella (ella ella), camera, bag that I had used to carry 7 (!) suits to be dry cleaned to the dry cleaners [dry cleaning lady asked if I worked at a bank!], and still have tons of room. It is the best thing ever. It's like having a airplane carry-on bag with me. I could throw in iPod and Kindle and still have room. So, back to the reading. I pull out my New Yorker, getting excited to read NIN story by Sasha Frere-Jones, since I had watched him do a live chat thingy about it earlier today. But, I grabbed an old issue. Luckily it was one I hadn't read yet so I was able to kill the 90 minutes of wait time.
The reading was fun - it appeared to be his first ever book reading. He read a couple stories and answered some questions (with the disclaimer that there was no news regarding the Arrested Development movie). Afterwards, I walked home - it took me almost exactly an hour. I decided to walk up Madison, looking for the shop where my New Huge Purse could see its siblings, but I didn't see one. (Looking it up now, I see it's on 5th, rather than Madison.)
Back at home, and Gossip Girl Season 2 DVDs have arrived, so that's how I'll be spending the next few hours -- watching it and seeing how much of the locations I recognize!
I saw that David Cross was reading from his new book at the Borders at Columbus Circle, so I decided to go. I really like that area, spent a lot of time there last summer and thought it would be cool to live over there.
To get there, Google Maps told me to take an R or a Q I think, but when I got to the station to swap, I wasn't sure what direction to go (Uptown/Downtown is much clearer - cross-town-ish subways just confuse me), so I accidentally ended up in Queens. I love that I can get on a subway and accidentally leave the island. I finally made to the right stop, and got out near Carnegie Hall. My sense of direction is usually good but I get turned around pretty easily here, but then I saw trees, and knew where I was map-wise in relation to Central Park, so I pointed myself in the right direction.
Got to the Borders for the reading pretty early, so I headed back outside for a bit. When I went back in, some people were in the seats, so I sat down too, and pulled out my New Yorker from my New Huge Purse. I bought this purse in Portland before I left and like it but hadn't used it yet - I'm used to carrying a wallet, iPhone and keys and nothing else, so have been using a small cheap purse. In New Huge Purse, I was able to fit the normal stuff AND a New Yorker, umbrella (ella ella), camera, bag that I had used to carry 7 (!) suits to be dry cleaned to the dry cleaners [dry cleaning lady asked if I worked at a bank!], and still have tons of room. It is the best thing ever. It's like having a airplane carry-on bag with me. I could throw in iPod and Kindle and still have room. So, back to the reading. I pull out my New Yorker, getting excited to read NIN story by Sasha Frere-Jones, since I had watched him do a live chat thingy about it earlier today. But, I grabbed an old issue. Luckily it was one I hadn't read yet so I was able to kill the 90 minutes of wait time.
The reading was fun - it appeared to be his first ever book reading. He read a couple stories and answered some questions (with the disclaimer that there was no news regarding the Arrested Development movie). Afterwards, I walked home - it took me almost exactly an hour. I decided to walk up Madison, looking for the shop where my New Huge Purse could see its siblings, but I didn't see one. (Looking it up now, I see it's on 5th, rather than Madison.)
Back at home, and Gossip Girl Season 2 DVDs have arrived, so that's how I'll be spending the next few hours -- watching it and seeing how much of the locations I recognize!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Conservatory Garden
Conservatory Garden
Originally uploaded by blur_
Looks like my old camera will be heading to Italy with me. It took some lovely pictures today and only crashed once.
Turtles!
Spent a few hours walking through Central Park yesterday, and saw all kinds of stuff I'd never seen before, even though I walked around it a number of times previously this summer and last summer.
My favorite was seeing so many turtles:
Second favorite was boats (which go on the lake where there are turtles!):
Must find time to go back and go on boats.
Found cafe near the boats that sells reasonably priced food + beer; am glad to know I can get an inexpensive-ish beer in the middle of the park should I want one.
The boy went on a tour of SoHo with school peoples, so after he got home from that we went back down there to check it out together. Had some good mexican food + overpriced margaritas.
Got an appointment to get passport renewed next week; have hotels secured for each city in Italy except Rome, which is my last stop. Trying to figure out if I need to get a new camera before the trip. There's a new Sony I want that has good low-light capabilities but it comes out just before I leave. I love my old Sony but it likes to die in the middle of a picture from time to time so I'm not sure if I want to risk it.
Today I am going to mail a bunch of books that I sold on Amazon, and probably go walk around Central Park some more because it's RIGHT THERE and it's awesome. I will bring a real camera this time, not just my iPhone.
My favorite was seeing so many turtles:
Second favorite was boats (which go on the lake where there are turtles!):
Must find time to go back and go on boats.
Found cafe near the boats that sells reasonably priced food + beer; am glad to know I can get an inexpensive-ish beer in the middle of the park should I want one.
The boy went on a tour of SoHo with school peoples, so after he got home from that we went back down there to check it out together. Had some good mexican food + overpriced margaritas.
Got an appointment to get passport renewed next week; have hotels secured for each city in Italy except Rome, which is my last stop. Trying to figure out if I need to get a new camera before the trip. There's a new Sony I want that has good low-light capabilities but it comes out just before I leave. I love my old Sony but it likes to die in the middle of a picture from time to time so I'm not sure if I want to risk it.
Today I am going to mail a bunch of books that I sold on Amazon, and probably go walk around Central Park some more because it's RIGHT THERE and it's awesome. I will bring a real camera this time, not just my iPhone.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
I was battered.
I just got off the most eventful flight I've ever taken - I was battered (in the torts sense) by a fellow passenger when I said I didn't want to swap seats.
The whole story: I boarded the flight early, knowing it would take a little extra time to get my cat under my seat. General boarding starts, and a 10-ish boy and his 7-ish sister came to sit down next to me - I had a window seat, and their family had the two next to me and the adjacent aisle (and I later found out, a first class seat also). The daughter started crying because she didn't want to sit next to stranger. The brother tried to calm her down. The father showed up and asked me to switch, and I said I would prefer not to, as I had already stowed my cat under the seat. (It would be a pain to get him out of there, and add more stress to an already stressed cat, and I specifically woke up at 7am yesterday to check in early to get a window seat.) Apparently this man is used to always getting his way, because he flipped out. He started shouting that I was choosing a cat over a human, then proceeded to throw his kids' backpacks at me, hitting me both times. I asked him to stop, and his son started freaking out, telling his dad to apologize to me. The daughter is screaming now, and the dad says to me, menacingly, "This is only just beginning!" and made some comments about how his daughter would be screaming at me the whole flight and I deserved it because I was an awful human being, etc. Not wanting to get more stuff thrown and me, I hit the button for a flight attendant. When she arrived, I told her that the man had been throwing stuff at me. At this point, the boy decides to defend his father and shouts at the top of his lungs, over, and over, and over at me, "NO HE DIDN'T". When the guy still isn't getting his way, he claims his daughter is allergic to cats. At some point their mother showed up and said under her breath something like, "He doesn't handle these things well." Yeah.
Luckily, an awesome German woman and her two sons gave up their row, splitting themselves up so that this guy and his kids could sit together. Once they were reseated, the son recanted his defense of his father and started shouting to his father that his father needed to apologize to me for throwing stuff at me. The son was saying something about how he was an A student and had a good reputation and his father was ruining everything. The flight attendant basically had to tell the boy that if he didn't calm down they had to get off the plane, because they couldn't deal with 5 hours of that. I think the boy said he would rather that they drive. But, he eventually shut up.
So 5 hours later, the flight arrives at Newark. I'm thinking, hey, maybe the dude had a chance to settle down, all is fine. In a amazing word, he would even apologize. Or even better, I'll never see them again. Unfortunately, I walked by them on the way to get a cab, and he shouted out, angrily, "Hope your cat had a good flight." WTF? I feel so bad for those kids.
(After the flight was underway, the flight attendant came by to apologize, and asked me if there was anything she could get me - free bloody mary? etc. I said I was fine, and she pushed a free set of $1 headphones on me. Why couldn't this happen on a flight when I wanted to watch a movie and/or wanted a drink?!)
Oh, and on the outbound flight Tuesday, I had my first "Is there a doctor on the plane?" medical emergency - the guy in the adjacent row apparently wasn't doing well but it all got sorted well enough to continue on with the flight.
Had a good time in Portland - went to the zoo, the art museum, the rose garden (2x) and saw some friends.
So, with that done, I now have both cats in NYC. The cat who got here earlier is not a fan of sharing the apartment with the recent arrival (nevermind that we got them at the same time as kittens 12 years ago).
The whole story: I boarded the flight early, knowing it would take a little extra time to get my cat under my seat. General boarding starts, and a 10-ish boy and his 7-ish sister came to sit down next to me - I had a window seat, and their family had the two next to me and the adjacent aisle (and I later found out, a first class seat also). The daughter started crying because she didn't want to sit next to stranger. The brother tried to calm her down. The father showed up and asked me to switch, and I said I would prefer not to, as I had already stowed my cat under the seat. (It would be a pain to get him out of there, and add more stress to an already stressed cat, and I specifically woke up at 7am yesterday to check in early to get a window seat.) Apparently this man is used to always getting his way, because he flipped out. He started shouting that I was choosing a cat over a human, then proceeded to throw his kids' backpacks at me, hitting me both times. I asked him to stop, and his son started freaking out, telling his dad to apologize to me. The daughter is screaming now, and the dad says to me, menacingly, "This is only just beginning!" and made some comments about how his daughter would be screaming at me the whole flight and I deserved it because I was an awful human being, etc. Not wanting to get more stuff thrown and me, I hit the button for a flight attendant. When she arrived, I told her that the man had been throwing stuff at me. At this point, the boy decides to defend his father and shouts at the top of his lungs, over, and over, and over at me, "NO HE DIDN'T". When the guy still isn't getting his way, he claims his daughter is allergic to cats. At some point their mother showed up and said under her breath something like, "He doesn't handle these things well." Yeah.
Luckily, an awesome German woman and her two sons gave up their row, splitting themselves up so that this guy and his kids could sit together. Once they were reseated, the son recanted his defense of his father and started shouting to his father that his father needed to apologize to me for throwing stuff at me. The son was saying something about how he was an A student and had a good reputation and his father was ruining everything. The flight attendant basically had to tell the boy that if he didn't calm down they had to get off the plane, because they couldn't deal with 5 hours of that. I think the boy said he would rather that they drive. But, he eventually shut up.
So 5 hours later, the flight arrives at Newark. I'm thinking, hey, maybe the dude had a chance to settle down, all is fine. In a amazing word, he would even apologize. Or even better, I'll never see them again. Unfortunately, I walked by them on the way to get a cab, and he shouted out, angrily, "Hope your cat had a good flight." WTF? I feel so bad for those kids.
(After the flight was underway, the flight attendant came by to apologize, and asked me if there was anything she could get me - free bloody mary? etc. I said I was fine, and she pushed a free set of $1 headphones on me. Why couldn't this happen on a flight when I wanted to watch a movie and/or wanted a drink?!)
Oh, and on the outbound flight Tuesday, I had my first "Is there a doctor on the plane?" medical emergency - the guy in the adjacent row apparently wasn't doing well but it all got sorted well enough to continue on with the flight.
Had a good time in Portland - went to the zoo, the art museum, the rose garden (2x) and saw some friends.
So, with that done, I now have both cats in NYC. The cat who got here earlier is not a fan of sharing the apartment with the recent arrival (nevermind that we got them at the same time as kittens 12 years ago).
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Update.
Getting unpacked, probably 70% done at this point. We're realizing that we have a lot of stuff we need to get rid of, but it was hard to decide what to keep vs. chuck until we actually had our new space. Need to get rid of a number of books, but having time to read some I've yet to read but have wanted to read and now have time to read will help with that. Not sure what to do about clothes - I have a lot of stuff in a few sizes down that I really like, so I need to figure out if I'm going to get back down to that size soon or just buy new stuff when I do.
Got temporary window coverings put up in all the windows. Just did the bedroom initially, but now have them all done. Though I love the great views we have (sunsets and nights are lovely, especially the last few nights when the moon has been hanging out outside our windows), it's nice to be able to block out the afternoon sun, and hopefully we'll save a bit on a/c costs.
I've figured out the important basics: when the mail arrives, how to get things in the apartment fixed, best close grocery store and alternate less close gourmet grocery store, etc. Did a bit of walking with the boy today and found some lovely fancy-pants-looking blocks not far from here.
Yesterday, I had a little homesickness for Oregon, as I wasted away my afternoon at the DMV. It took almost 4 hours of waiting, and at the end, unlike in Oregon, I didn't even get my license, I just got a temporary license and have to wait 2 weeks for the real thing. While I'm grateful I didn't have to take a test to get my license like I did when I transferred my California license in Oregon, the wait was pretty ridiculous. Oh well, it's not like I have a job or other things to gainfully fill my time.
Am enjoying not working. The first few weeks were so busy with moving-related stuff that it didn't feel like it was free time. Now it finally does. I can make myself a gin & tonic at 4 in the afternoon and not feel guilty. The last few days I've spent unpacking for a few hours, walking around for a few hours, watching some TV (re-watching Lost season 2, because I'm not sure what episode I ended with), and moving CDs from jewel cases to sleeves (long-term project that I'm about 20% done with).
Have an appointment tomorrow with a new vet for my cat -- as part of the exam she had before we moved so we could get a health certificate, they found a problem, so I need to have the new local vet examine her and refer me for treatment. It's a cat-only vet, and though it's on the other side of the park, I think it will be a good place -- the vet has a great resume and I like that it's cat-only. This is where not working becomes super handy: I can take her there in the middle of the day. Speaking of the cat, she's crazy happy here. The boy flew in with her on a red-eye on Sunday, so they arrived early Monday AM. She did great on the flight. She's usually very skiddish, so I thought she'd go straight under the bed and stay there for a few hours. Instead, when she got here, she became an explora-saurus and checked out the apartment and has been chirping up a happy meowing storm ever since. Maybe she likes being an only cat; I'm flying back to Portland next week to fetch her brother.
Dealt with some banking stuff today. Last summer, through the firm, we were given the opportunity to set up fancy bank accounts, and I'm feeling weirdly guilty about the amazing level of service I get from them.
Despite the negative reputation of New Yorkers, I'm finding them to be significantly more friendly and geniuine than Portlanders. (Portlanders do trump Los Angelinos for genuineness.) People say hi in the elevators, are (for the most part) nice in shops, etc., and it feels real.
Alright, back to my G&T and New Yorker.
Got temporary window coverings put up in all the windows. Just did the bedroom initially, but now have them all done. Though I love the great views we have (sunsets and nights are lovely, especially the last few nights when the moon has been hanging out outside our windows), it's nice to be able to block out the afternoon sun, and hopefully we'll save a bit on a/c costs.
I've figured out the important basics: when the mail arrives, how to get things in the apartment fixed, best close grocery store and alternate less close gourmet grocery store, etc. Did a bit of walking with the boy today and found some lovely fancy-pants-looking blocks not far from here.
Yesterday, I had a little homesickness for Oregon, as I wasted away my afternoon at the DMV. It took almost 4 hours of waiting, and at the end, unlike in Oregon, I didn't even get my license, I just got a temporary license and have to wait 2 weeks for the real thing. While I'm grateful I didn't have to take a test to get my license like I did when I transferred my California license in Oregon, the wait was pretty ridiculous. Oh well, it's not like I have a job or other things to gainfully fill my time.
Am enjoying not working. The first few weeks were so busy with moving-related stuff that it didn't feel like it was free time. Now it finally does. I can make myself a gin & tonic at 4 in the afternoon and not feel guilty. The last few days I've spent unpacking for a few hours, walking around for a few hours, watching some TV (re-watching Lost season 2, because I'm not sure what episode I ended with), and moving CDs from jewel cases to sleeves (long-term project that I'm about 20% done with).
Have an appointment tomorrow with a new vet for my cat -- as part of the exam she had before we moved so we could get a health certificate, they found a problem, so I need to have the new local vet examine her and refer me for treatment. It's a cat-only vet, and though it's on the other side of the park, I think it will be a good place -- the vet has a great resume and I like that it's cat-only. This is where not working becomes super handy: I can take her there in the middle of the day. Speaking of the cat, she's crazy happy here. The boy flew in with her on a red-eye on Sunday, so they arrived early Monday AM. She did great on the flight. She's usually very skiddish, so I thought she'd go straight under the bed and stay there for a few hours. Instead, when she got here, she became an explora-saurus and checked out the apartment and has been chirping up a happy meowing storm ever since. Maybe she likes being an only cat; I'm flying back to Portland next week to fetch her brother.
Dealt with some banking stuff today. Last summer, through the firm, we were given the opportunity to set up fancy bank accounts, and I'm feeling weirdly guilty about the amazing level of service I get from them.
Despite the negative reputation of New Yorkers, I'm finding them to be significantly more friendly and geniuine than Portlanders. (Portlanders do trump Los Angelinos for genuineness.) People say hi in the elevators, are (for the most part) nice in shops, etc., and it feels real.
Alright, back to my G&T and New Yorker.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Settling In.
A boring update; this entry mainly inspired by the fact that I am able to use my dining table as a desk to write it from. We didn't have room to set it up at the temporary apartment, so I'm very excited to have it usable. While typing, I'm eating leftover pasta from a place down the street - I ordered pizza from them earlier in the week, and decided to try their pasta last night. It's pretty good, and nice that it's close.
As I suspected, having my stuff here is making me feel more at home in this crazy place. Everything arrived yesterday, and so far, only two things were broken - one of my Japanese screens got punctured (3x!) and a picture frame broke. The packers took special care with plastic-fronted framed posters, and just put glass-fronted original photographs into a box with other stuff. Oh well, it's not too bad; on the move from the house to the temporary apartment, we lost an expensive wine glass, I was much more bummed about that. Tomorrow I find out of the TV survived the trip, as we have to wait for special uncrating people to finish putting together the (very basic) TV stand.
Woke up early and got a bagel/egg/cheese sandwich from the bagel place at the end of my block; it appears that my building's free breakfast is only during the week, but I'm okay with that, it gave me an excuse to find the bagel shop. After that, walked to Home Depot (35 blocks, about 2 miles). Picked up some temporary window shades - fantastic invention. For $10, I now have privacy in my bedroom. Got some other assorted cleaning and other supplies. I think we pretty much have everything we need now, other than waiting a few more weeks for the blinds to arrive and get installed.
Unpacked my bottle of pastis earlier today - I'd totally forgotten about it, and am currently enjoying a glass; it makes a hot afternoon very bearable. I first had it when I was in France for a friend's wedding in the summer of 2003, when they had an terrible heatwave; it took me a bit of shopping around Portland's small liquor stores to find a bottle. The liquor stores here seem more well-stocked, but it's weird to not have wine in the grocery stores. I've found a number of wine stores with quite a few Oregon Pinor Noir options, including a few with bottles from one of our favorites, Domaine Drouhin.
Tomorrow, the boy and one of my cats arrive!
Alright, back to my pasta and pastis.
As I suspected, having my stuff here is making me feel more at home in this crazy place. Everything arrived yesterday, and so far, only two things were broken - one of my Japanese screens got punctured (3x!) and a picture frame broke. The packers took special care with plastic-fronted framed posters, and just put glass-fronted original photographs into a box with other stuff. Oh well, it's not too bad; on the move from the house to the temporary apartment, we lost an expensive wine glass, I was much more bummed about that. Tomorrow I find out of the TV survived the trip, as we have to wait for special uncrating people to finish putting together the (very basic) TV stand.
Woke up early and got a bagel/egg/cheese sandwich from the bagel place at the end of my block; it appears that my building's free breakfast is only during the week, but I'm okay with that, it gave me an excuse to find the bagel shop. After that, walked to Home Depot (35 blocks, about 2 miles). Picked up some temporary window shades - fantastic invention. For $10, I now have privacy in my bedroom. Got some other assorted cleaning and other supplies. I think we pretty much have everything we need now, other than waiting a few more weeks for the blinds to arrive and get installed.
Unpacked my bottle of pastis earlier today - I'd totally forgotten about it, and am currently enjoying a glass; it makes a hot afternoon very bearable. I first had it when I was in France for a friend's wedding in the summer of 2003, when they had an terrible heatwave; it took me a bit of shopping around Portland's small liquor stores to find a bottle. The liquor stores here seem more well-stocked, but it's weird to not have wine in the grocery stores. I've found a number of wine stores with quite a few Oregon Pinor Noir options, including a few with bottles from one of our favorites, Domaine Drouhin.
Tomorrow, the boy and one of my cats arrive!
Alright, back to my pasta and pastis.
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