Frequent Citations

Lava Cake Research

I'm sure no one's surprised by the fact that there's a huge overlap between the set of "lawyers" and the set of "nerds." But there's also a significant overlap with the set of "foodies" and when someone is a member of all three sets, well, good things happen.

For example, one of the other summer associates has been keeping a spreadsheet of data on the lava cakes he has eaten this summer. Lava cakes are also known as molten chocolate cake, warm chocolate cake, and sometimes (erroneously) chocolate souffle. Actually restaurants call these cakes lots of different things, but they are all a small serving of extreme chocolatey goodness.

But not all lava cakes are created equal, and hence the spreadsheet. Is it not a brilliant idea?

Go Go Go Thunk

It's just one hoity toity party after another this summer. This nightclub, the other nightclub, that swanky scene... It would be trixie heaven, but I am no trixie.

I have stamina, don't get me wrong. But when you go out more evenings than not, and then you get hideously ill for most of a week, and then you have back to back to back evenings out scheduled again--

Wait, am I whining? No, that can't be right. I'm definitely not whining.

But I am saying that I have no compuction about leaving early when I'm finding things a bit dull. Not when it's a work event, and I've made my appearance and chatted a few people up and really, I have nothing left to contribute here but I do have a few (million) things to catch up on elsewhere. So, ta-ta!

Explosions And Disappearances

It's true that there was an explosion in town a few days ago. It wasn't all that close to my building and the first I knew of it was when I got the email from my mother demanding to know where I was. But it is not true that I have fallen off the face of the earth.

At least, not all the way off. I'm still hanging on by a thread. Life has gotten increasingly nutty and I have ever-pressing and increasing deadlines, and very little time to do anything at all. It's only getting worse, too: next week I have events nearly every night, although I'm going to back out of at least one of them. Tonight I have a Firm Function somewhere downtown so I have to go figure out how to get there, and see if I can snatch a few minutes for LR work between now and when I have to leave.

Also, I'm tired and cranky and I think I got food poisoning yesterday. Or else I have the flu, because I was actually running a fever today which is a freakishly rare occurrence for me. But work is very cool, so that's good.

In other news: apparently Boy got into an accident the other night when he was driving home. He's fine, the other driver (who hit Boy) never stopped, the car is damaged but I don't know how bad it is.

Just Wondering

Do the words "noxious little self-absorbed twit" ever cross your mind?

No, me neither.

In other news: I realized today that I missed a deadline. I had it in my head as something else, but no. Drat.

Triple Play

1. My air conditioner got replaced today.
2. I finished a full draft of my paper, cites and all.
3. In celebration, I am posting a couple of GirlChild's most recent pictures.

Yes, she's a bit odd. Yes, she's incredibly talented (if I do say so myself). Take a closer look at the last picture--it's not what you think it is.

Absorbed And Distracted

One of my projects at work is interesting, challenging, and absorbing enough that when I'm working on it hours can go by before I even realize it. I love that kind of project--I have a lot of freedom to act within a narrow range of options. (That might not seem to make sense, but it does.) And the person I'm working with is extremely patient with all my supremely basic questions.

On the other hand, I'm doing two different projects for school and with each of them it is almost impossible to maintain my concentration. I'll be working along quite nicely and then all of a sudden I find myself reading blogs or clipping my toenails or filling in my timesheet. It's not that I don't want to do these projects or, even better, finish them, it's just that I cannot force myself to work on them steadily. I have the attention span of a gnat. But one of them really and truly is nearing completion, and if I could just spend two consecutive hours on it I might just have something roughly done.

Yeah, I'll still be complaining about it in a few weeks at this rate.

In other news: I had warm chocolate cake and the best vanilla ice cream at lunch today. Vanilla ice cream is almost never made properly with lots of real vanilla and flecks of bean, but this ice cream was perfect. Oh, tasty. I'm not going to eat again for a long, long time.

Insane Heat And Mad Dogs

I went running this morning, but way too late in the morning. I thought I was going to keel over with heat stroke after a block. It was better once I was in the Park and running in the shade, but ye gods.

Naturally, given that we're in for a spate of 90+ degree days, my air conditioner isn't working. It makes a shocking amount of noise--sort of like what the inside of a deisel engine must sound like, I imagine--and it has a sheet of ice covering the front of it, but it's not actually pushing any cold air. It was supposed to get fixed last Monday, but handymen are clueless, the super's in the hospital, etc., etc., and so forth.

I'm crossing my fingers that it will get fixed tomorrow. The girl I'm renting from said if I needed to I could go buy an air conditioner and put it in, and she would reimburse me. But lugging home an air conditioner from the store and installing it with no tools--that's a bit beyond my skill set.

The Summer Associate Weight Loss Plan

I've heard many of the other summer associates complain about gaining weight. It's the notorious side effect of being wined and dined all summer--massive weight gain.

I was pretty worried about it at the start of the summer. For me, maintaining my weight is a pretty important health issue (and economic issue--I can't afford to replace my whole wardrobe!) so it was not just a matter of vanity. Although there's vanity involved too, I admit. Therefore, I developed a plan.

I would run in the Park as often as possible. Not necessarily every day, but more often than not. Eventually, my goal is to be able to run around the reservoir (what is that, a mile? three?) without stopping. Also, I would walk back and forth to work every day, unless it's actually pouring rain.

That was part one of the plan. Part two: don't eat if the Firm isn't paying for it. This isn't a hard and fast rule because, obviously, I still have to eat something on the weekends. But in general it's not that crazy an idea. I need about 1500 calories a day, give or take, and it's pretty easy to get that many and more in a lunch. Some days we get both lunch and dinner, and that can really add up, so if you look at calories over the course of a week a few missed dinners really help bring the total down.

It's been a success! I've stuck to the plan pretty well, and I've actually lost a pound or two I think. I'm certainly fitting into my suits better than I did the first week of the summer. And no, I'm not starving--believe me, it takes a while for the appetite to recover from 3-course lunches. I try to eat reasonably lightly on the weekends, and once in a while I'll pick up a snack. I feel good, though, and relieved to not be verging toward blimpdom--which I could easily do.

Yeah, it is basically the "exercise and eat less" diet. So? The exercise is in one of my favorite places in the world, and the eat less is a) fun, because the firm's paying for it, and b) really tasty, because the restaurants tend to be great. Oh, and I eat whatever the heck I want at lunch, including dessert! No way am I going to restrict myself to chicken, no sauce (well, I still don't get dressing on my salads if I remember to ask for it), and no bread for the whole summer.

Bouncing Around

Due to some . . . let's call it "miscommunication" . . . I had to pack up all my stuff yesterday and move out, which was about as much fun as it sounds. Fortunately, a friend of mine was leaving town for a few weeks and said I could have her place for the next few days until my other (and final) sublet is ready. The good news is that I get to try out several different areas of town this way. The bad news is that I have to haul my crap with me. I did ship a couple of boxes home yesterday, and that helped.

I felt all discombobulated after that start to my day, so after sitting on my friend's couch for a few hours, watching her finish packing, I spent the rest of a beautiful day walking around. I did not buy any shoes, although I was seriously tempted. Today I have to run a few errands and then plunk myself down in the office and wade through the enormous pile of law review work that's waiting for me. 

I have a roof over my head, though, and that's the important thing.

Nature Break

A group of us had lunch in the Park today and then went to the zoo. The food was inedible. We sat on a long park bench--I was on the end, and the guy sitting next to me hunched forward and so effectively blocked me off from everyone, and I couldn't hear more than the occassional word of everyone else's conversation. (I have a hard time hearing if there's background noise, and it's much worse if people aren't facing me when they speak.) Then we went to the zoo, and my allergies are so bad that I refuse to subject myself ever again to an enclosed space in a zoo, so while everyone else went inside the exhibits I lolled around the entrance, watching animals outside.

It was freezing when we left the office but gradually the sun came out, the air warmed, and it turned lovely. The zoo is in a gorgeous spot with really excellent plantings (which I admired with a professional eye). I got some fresh air and sunshine. I watched seals glide through water and tiny monkeys scramble around on a tree.

And I was starving by 3:00.

Also, the Apple store in front of our building had some kind of absurd line of people waiting to get the first iPhone. People are odd.