Your new attorney

It seems that in this past year, there have been a series of small events that have culuminated in me becoming an attorney. First, graduation from law school. That was nice, but not the end. Then the bar exam and resulting failure. Then another bar exam and resulting passing. Yesterday I traveled to Salem and was sworn in as a member of the Oregon State Bar. So, finally, it is official.

I may practice law.

Except I haven't paid my dues, nor gotten my bar number, etc. Seems that they don't want me ever to be very comfortable, rather to be apprehensive about the next step and whether I can continue to pass muster.

Well, the ceremony was lovely yesterday. I cried, again, with the feeling that FINALLY, the process is mostly over. I'm happy, and now no excuses lie between me and getting a job. Soon. Shannon and Nicole and Shannon's mom went with S and I. We had to each walk across the stage and say our name and school into the mic and then shake the hand of the Oregon Supreme Court Justice for a photo op, then another photo op at the end and later we took the oath to be honest attorneys. You can follow the journey on my flickr account.

Other news:
Off to Mexico on Cinco de Mayo for a week, and then a week in NYC. I'm excited to be getting out of town and travelling. I know I was on Vancouver Island for three weeks last September, but that travel bug is so deeply ingrained that I feel as though I've not been out of the house in years. I need to regenerate, and badly. And then come back and start my life of slavin away for the man. As long as they pay me.

We bought a kite. A friend had received one as a reward for passing the bar. It was so much fun that we bought a bigger one, the MIRAGE. Look it up. We've taken it out a couple of times, and found the best place to fly it. Unfortunately, the Couv kite club also knows the place. And they are kite-nazi's. They had taken over the whole field, with one woman threatening the breaking of our kites in the strong winds, while she took half the field for some lame kites that don't even do tricks. We found a corner of the field and slowly muscled into some of the better wind territory. We suck at flying. So, our kites take a nosedive and crash into the ground at regular intervals, to the great dismay of the "pros" that were there, and to our great amusement. Anyway, if you wanna fly a kite, don't do it near the racetrack until after 5:00 on Sundays. Unless you want free lessons from smug kite elitists.

We also finally broke out the bug gun/vacuum to capture a large bee that was trapped in our house. Works wonderfully, highly recommended. Too small however for the bird that was trapped in the house yesterday (all is well).

Contacts are lovely. I have a kind that I can leave in for 6 nights and then take out, clean and reuse for a month. I forget they are in and I love the fact that I just bought my first good pair of polarized sunglasses, Smiths, that look nice, protect my eyes and keep me from getting sun headaches. YEAY!

I also worked more on getting my fingernails dirty by more front yard landscaping. I transplanted a bunch of roses (like they will die), and other made other improvements, including mulching, and creating an area to grow corn and squash/pumpkins.

I'm working on the editing and saving of the photos. I'll place them into the flickr account and this posting, but later, cuz I'm tired of this, and I need to go trim some roses.

Then and now

Candroid vs. The Acrobots

Candroid vs. The Acrobots

I really need to get on making that Candroid movie.

Amongst many other things.

the resurrection of the lord isn't the only good news this week

I passed the bar!

Take a look, I didn't believe it either.

I stole the title of this entry...it was the funniest email subject on the matter that I received.

My good friend and fellow second-time taker, siw, also passed

officially

I've dropped off my application for law clerk to the Supreme Court of Palau. When I applied for law school (a lovely process in itself), I scoffed at attending Hawaii law school. I figured no one would take me seriously if my degree was from there. In my old age, I am learning that that sort of thing is not at all important. Instead, I would like to take every opportunity to enjoy my existance here on this planet. So, Palau:

"Palau offers you the world's most beautiful tropical paradise. Famous for its diving, Palau is rated as one of the world's best diving destinations by scuba aficionados. And why not...Palau has unspoiled reefs, caves, and walls with the most amazing array of marine life you can ever imagine.

Palau beckons to you with some of the world's most awesome natural wonders. Imagine the whitest beaches you will ever see, gardens of coral just beneath the clearest waters, lakes filled to the brim with "sting less" jellyfish. Forests, waterfalls and caves that have never been ravaged by man, and hundreds of islands of the purest beauty abound all along our pristine archipelago.

Experience the wonders of Palau... the Rainbow's End."

Long shot, but I emphasized my ability to adapt to new surroundings and love of travel. We'll see how that goes.

On a related note, I woke this morning, for the first time in over a year, wishing that I had a job to go to. I worked on my cover letter, resume and writing sample, gathered some references and sent out the first application. Good for me. That is something that I can feel good about no matter the results of the bar exam (which come out tomorrow at 2:00). I was mistaken about them coming out on tax day. Alas, my outlook is less optimistic without the tax gods on my side. Like last time, when I saw my first whale the day I found out I didn't pass, my prospects for a happy life are still rather good. Palau, here I come. I will, however have to learn how to scuba dive, and therefore love the water. But that will be my mission. To overcome another fear in my life.

In the meantime, I'll be cranking out cover letters all over town, and hopefully the world.

In news of other fears, no contacts today. I've received news that the solution my doctor gave me is the very kind that they are pulling off the shelves for potentially causing eye infections. That would be Bausch and Lomb MoistureLoc. Now, I've had a cold for a week, and the contacts are new and I'm not used to them, but I seem to have all the symptoms of this ailment. So, glasses until I can get new solution. Arrgh. Hope for no infection.

All else is well. I try to be nice by not beating up annoying scientists, and they in turn cower under my wrath. Lesson: get out of your bubble so that you can communicate with the world. I'm a nice girl, until you target me or my friends. Not a good idea when I have some men with powerful guns on my side. Yes, a new incident. I'm so tired of being fucked with by the world, I swear, the next person who messes with me will end up breaking my hand on their face.

What's goin on

Back from Fife's orthopedic surgeon. He will be able to hold out until June, when we are back from vacation and the Vet has moved into his new digs. He's good, expensive and named Richard Howard, if you need someone to operate on your dog's knees.

I've been very ill in the past week and a half. Steve was sick first, and then me. A bit different, but still ugly. I thought I was well this weekend, and overdid it a bit, now I'm aching and paining much to my chagrin.

Though lying in bed until bar exam results are announced this week may be just what the fates have in mind. After they come out, either the 13th or 15th, not sure, I'll not have the time to lie in bed anymore, as the great job search of 2006 will commence.

Anyway, because of my bedridden state, I've not checked emails or phone calls. So, sorry if you've been trying to reach me. Try again because I cannot guarantee that I'll check my past phone messages.

Also, I've gotten contact lenses. Yep, finally I can touch my eye and am getting better at it. I've always wondered what it would be like to see without glasses frames in the way, and now I know. I like it.

Back to bed.

update

So, Fife is ok for now, we have appointments soon, and hopefully all will be well.

I went to a play called "Celebrity Row" last night. Which was good, I would recommend it.

Here's what it is about:
"Four of America's most violent criminals are on death row. For one hour each day they have access to each other. Imagine what they might say. It's funnier than you think.

Fact: The most secure prison in America is ADX-Florence, a.k.a. Colorado Supermax, a.k.a. the Alcatraz of the Rockies. It once held The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Latin Kings gang leader Luis Felipe and World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yusef, all on the same floor, at the same time.

Fiction: In this brilliant, hilarious and free ranging epic, Itamar Moses {Outrage} imagines what might have transpired in the one hour a day that these prisoners were allowed access to each other. As seen through the eyes of the prison educator, Maze Carroll, these conversations morph into a humorous and excoriating examination of the freedoms we trade away for "security."

Thanks to PCPA

It was often a bit tiresome, but overall some interesting insights and provocative messages.

More interestingly, we stopped at Dixie, a pub downtown for a drink on our way home. As we were leaving, some jock/cap/tweaker decided he wanted a fight and pushed Steve into a wall. He had two other athletic friends with him. We talked our way out of being killed there, then walked to an area that was more populated. They followed us. So, we stopped at a club where there were some gigantic bouncers. At this point only the one, very aggressive fellow was following us and when we stopped, he walked past us. He didn't walk very far, and in an effort to make him go away, I threatened to call the cops, then called him some names and he went to get his friends. They all came back and followed us back and forth across the street as we tried to get into a bar that felt safe. Sadly, our options were McFaddens and whatever bar is across the street from there. Not such a good location. Finally we lost them, and were able to hop on the MAX before they knew where we had got off to.

Lesson: need to get me some pepper spray, and stay in my own neighborhood where it looks scary, but the people have the sense not to beat up people for no reason. Seems the real scary people are drugged-out frat boys.

bedridden

Fife's knees

You may recall that Fife had surgery at the end of 2004 for his right medial patellar luxation. His kneecap kept moving out of place. Ended up that his femur was crooked. So we had a guy saw it purt'near in half, straighten it and put a metal plate and screws on it.

Well, after a trip to the vet today, we've discovered that he now has a left medial patellar luxation. His in great amounts of pain. So, no visits from any dogs please. And any contributions to the "Keep Fife from getting shot" fund would be most welcome (the right leg cost over $4,000). I guess this is a good reason to sell my car.

Additionally, I was supposed to start painting V's house today, but I'm watching Fife to see how he takes to his anti-inflammatories and doggie pain meds.

Further making this suck is that we are supposed to go to Mexico and NYC in May, one week in each place and my first visit to either location. That will likely be during the six weeks that Fife is not allowed to move. Hopefully we can find a sitter that is qualified (I've called Nikki). Stephen was to watch the house, but he won't be able to have Abba live here at the same time. Otherwise, say goodbye to the tickets we purchased just this past weekend.

Otherwise, things are pretty good. Cable has been cancelled entirely (except for the internet). That hopefully means more outings and more book reading. Though with Fife being bedridden, likely more of the latter will occur.

Boffins breed omega-3-packed porkers | The Register

Boffins breed omega-3-packed porkers | The Register

103_0544

103_0544
Originally uploaded by jkf.

Interestingly, this is how a movie shows up when uploaded to Flickr. I like it.

Why?

I have pretty fast computers. They can run just about any sort of program without a glitch. My internet is hella fast and efficient (with the new router, that is). I run WindowsXP home.

Then why, whenever I attempt to adjust the properties of the desktop (screensaver, background, etc.) does it take forever, and do things that I do not tell it to do?

Evidently there has been a great deal of neglect in developing this aspect of the computer platform. Someone tell me how to fix this glich, or better: if this doesn't happen with Linux get me a copy.

Steve's birthday photos

Mind you, most of them were not taken by me. I was barely even able to take the pictures I did take. I have a Sony. Erin Brokovich has a Kodak. You'll see what I mean.

Did I mention...

that I am extremely sore from skiing? I am, and bruised too.

I'm planting more trees today and finishing (varnishing) the porch swing.

I'm on an uploading frenzy

A couple of my fav's:

1. Studying for the bar


2. We had just bought a shredder and were shredding months of bills, when the shredder got stuck. Ended up being the manual.

My birthday photos - click on the photo for more

Mt Hood

I went downhill skiing! And it was definitely an adventure. No practice. Up the chair lift immediately. Cat run first, thank goodness, though it started with a mighty steep hill. I had no fear, though I was cautious and safe. I ran that with only a couple of falls. Then we hit the green diamond portion. I know, easy peasy, right? No. It got ugly here. But I did it.

Back to the top. And an additional section. That was what killed me. I almost missed a big turn and got scared. I was not really ever able to regain my initial (likely foolhardy) confidence. At one point, I took off and threw my skis and vowed to stay on the hill, never to return to civilization. Steve, ever patient, took my verbal abuse and coaxed me down, mostly by taunting me by skiing backwards in front of me. So, I was doing better and then we went down it again. This time it took me a fraction of the time.

Then the good stuff. I was taken to a blue diamond. Just to say that I did it. Once I realized how steep it really was, it was too late. I did manage to learn how to slide down sideways, which helped me learn balance and how to dig in and slide on my edges. I did cry at one point out of extreme frustration at the difficulty of the run. Again, Mr. Patience helped me down, and almost lost his grits in the effort. I skiied the bottom, but the initial say 50 yards of extreme slope was horrible.

Found out later that it was a black diamond run. So, I've done about the worst skiing I'll ever do.

Did I mention that Steve is the most amazing skiier that I've ever seen. Like jumps and stuff and fast and backwards and amazing. I'm impressed to no end. Granted, he's been skiing for 30 years, and I for only 5 hours. But he's really good.

I did the cat trail again, without falling and without making Stephen have to stop for me, not even once. SWEET!

And then the lovely warming hut, a couple of beers and I skipped a few runs, mostly because I felt bad for the boys having to babysit me.

Then they were cold, came back to get me, and then I had to ski one more green hill down. This one was the first thing I saw when I got to the park. I thought it was a triple black diamond or something, it looked impossible and at the beginning I would never have dreamed that I was going to end my day going down it. I fell a couple of times, but once I was kindly reminded to make big turns, I did just fine. I still think there was something wrong with my right ski, but I'll figure it out next time.

Which, will hopefully be next weekend.

More photos here.

Rileys learn how to celebrate St. Patrick's day early.

Three fingers of your best Irish for me...

What I've been up to

Making sure the fucking neighbors stop looking at my man's purple tat. Yeah, I built that. More to come in the following days. I just stopped for now, cuz those mofos are HEAVY. And it rained while I was moving them around, so I'm wet through and through.

I would like to note

that I am posting from my psp. And I'm playing Quake on it too.