These Things Make Me Smile

(04/29/14)

Trolling the internet for inspiration and smiles often leads me to laughing out loud and thinking of the specific people who would also love what I find.

This certainly should belong to my baby sister:

Available here

And, well this one is for my baby sister, too:

Available here

My other sister would like this art:

Available here

On Friendship

(04/21/14)

On Friendship

I asked a friend to write an essay about "Being a Good Friend." In my opinion, she is one of the best keepers of people I have ever met. She regularly corresponds with people from her long-ago past and keeps tabs on the happenings of hundreds with only rare reliance on social media for sourcing.

So, after a good deal of time passed and I did not get an essay back, I inquired. You know what she said?That she wrote the essay; it was only one word: persistence.

Tips for Your First Time

(03/12/14)

Last night, I had the great honor of ushering a friend, who shall remain nameless unless she opts to out herself, to take the plunge and just try it. She had a lot of excuses mostly the typical: "I am shy. I can't do that!" followed by giggles. Seriously, blushing and giggles. It is against the code to force someone to do it, so I didn't. I just strongly encouraged her. Strongly. I told her about my first time and the time I got my Dad to do it for his first time. It was an uphill battle, but in the end she did it. And then the flood gates were opened. And she did it again. And if we had more time (and another beer) I have no doubt she would have done it all night.

Thanks be to karaoke.

Repurposing with a Purpose!

(02.20.2011)
Two days of 40 degree weather prompted me to make good on my plans to start seeds for my garden! I had a dream about creating a mini-greenhouse to sit on the table in my office. With the help of Jen and some duct tape, I was able to create a nice frame out of old curtain rods, covered in left over winter window plastic to keep in the moisture and warmth! We had some plant containers from last season, now filled with fresh dirt and later today sprinkled with seeds. The garden of my dreams is well with in the reach of reality.

The plastic is not attached to the frame in this picture.

Feelings of Inadequacy SQUASHED

Note: in no way is this post asking for sympathy or pity parties. It is quite the opposite, in fact! (or at least that is my intention)

(02.16.2010)
Maybe I have said this before, but law school has a very direct way of making me feel dumb. Outright unintelligent, underachieving, incapable and generally inadequate. They say you should try to attend the very best law school that will offer you admission and then to surround yourself by smart people. I did that. I did not realize, however, just how smart everyone in law school would really be. For the first time in my life, I really struggled (academically). Haunting feeling of: you aren't good enough, you aren't smart enough, and you will never make it, often permeate my mind.

Lately, however, things are changing. A little. School is still very very hard, colleagues are still very very smart, but finally a little break has come my way. A little break that makes me think, "hmm maybe I am good enough and smart enough and still make good impressions on people... "

I just wanted to share that with you. I think its a good idea for us to admit when we feel defeated and shout with joy when the world spins our way.


PS: the little "change" is a 10 hour/week gig with the law school's Human Rights Quarterly journal. The position is new and apparently I fit the job description. The most encouraging part is that I did not apply for this job, I did not know it existed, and I certainly did not know I was being considered. Oh the fun ahead.

unique EXPLOSION

So, on the snow day last week, I was drinking coffee and overdosing on caffeine. I wondered: What would happen if I just had hot water and sugar in lieu of the coffee? I rinsed out the cup and filled it with water, then put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Then I multi-tasked myself away from the kitchen to tend to some other project. I forget, briefly, about the water. When I return, I decide to re-heat the water for a minute as it didn't look hot. So, I take it out of the microwave and set it on the table. Then, this is the good part, I take a heaping scoop of sugar and put it into the mug and BANG! SHOOSH! YOWZAH! the water that was simply steaming roars to a boils and explodes everywhere! It was amazing. Better yet, according to snopes:

see that: "odds are, you'll go through life without ever viewing this phenomenon first-hand" I felt so very special for exploding my water until I read another website that tells you exactly how to "super heat" water. I won't publish that link because 1. I want you to be safe and 2. I lost the website and don't want to find it.

Thanks. bye.

Happy Valentine's Day

(02.14.2010)

My Valentine gave me a new Scrabble game, Deluxe edition (with quadruple word score!). The cutest part, the board was open and filled with loving words. It was awesome! Here's a picture, please disregard the mops in the background. And do note, we exchanged gifts a week ago because neither of us could contain our gift giving excitement.

Snow, snow, snow!

(02.11.2010) I know its not the 5 feet of snow that DC got, but the half foot or so on the ground in Cincinnati has been fantastic! On Tuesday and Wednesday my classes were canceled. I enjoyed the free time by sledding, shoveling and building a snow monster. And sleeping. A lot. The rumor is that there is more on the way for Valentine's day! I can't wait!!

I blame the Christians...

(02/03/10)

You see, at my school we are very lucky to have free coffee on Tuesday mornings. The Christian Legal Society provides this treat. And we are also very luck to have free thermos mugs. The mugs are from Westlaw, who I think by the end of this post, you too will agree, are in cahoots with the Christian Legal Society. (see the picture of my beloved mug)

So, It was some time at the end of last semester that I decided to have just *one* cup of this free coffee. And it was very good. The following week I did the same time, but later tat same day I went back to have a second cup. That was when I discovered how it feels to be jittery: my mind races, I concentrate intensely, my mind races, my hand shakes, great thoughts come pouring out of my mind... And the rest is history. I have been drinking a lot of coffee. I like the color, I like the smell, with 3 packages of sugar I like the taste, and I like how it make my brain spin.

Today, however, I made a deal with the devil.

I said: "If I don't get out of bed on the first alarm, then no coffee!!"

I did not get out of bed.

I did not get coffee.

I did have a quite a headache and it was not pleasant, let me tell you.

So here I am, late in the afternoon and really needing some warm coffee goodness, but no. I will not do it. Sigh. And remember, all of this comes from a girl who was so sensitive to caffeine before that no matter the time of day she wouldn't be able to tame her racing mind in order to fall asleep...

Trusting the Universe Month

(02/01/10)

I used to strongly adhere to the idea that I could "get whatever I wanted from" the universe; that there was no reason to worry about the future because everything would always unfold exactly as I needed it to. I realize this is a very self-centered approach to my existence. Over time I have found myself straying from such a spoiled-child sort of philosophy. However, the root of the philosophy deserves some more contemplation. And this month I am going to try and be more trusting and less worrisome. Working in my favor is my optimistic view of most everything and the coming of spring. There are some cool work/life happenings that fall in to this "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7). I will keep you posted on how it all unravels. I would love to hear your stories of asking and receiving...

Crafty: skillful in underhand or evil schemes; cunning; deceitful; sly.

(12/19/09) Last weekend I hosted a crafting party. It was a grand success! Everyone was bent over their work, drinking wine, and just enjoying the space to create. I haven't stopped. I have made some beautiful wedding/engagement cards for friends as well as a dozen little penguin ornaments. Last night I folded greeting cards to make mini-box to hold the penguins. It has been so much fun and a great break from studying!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle does have some limits...

(12.13.09) Let's just say I am a fan of reusing water bottles, making art from old magazines, printing on both sides of paper before adding it to my recycling bin, you get the idea. But this week I witnesses what I would like to call an extreme-green earther.

Here is what I saw: guy sits down a study desk in the public library, gets out a small plastic bag filled with cigarette butts and a clean sheet of rolling paper. He then proceeds to tap every remaining bit of tobacco out of the butts and on to the paper. (we're talking 2 dozen butts)

It was fascinating. It was disgusting. It was a great way to avoid studying for exams (like am doing now, does anyone understand hearsay??), and apparently a great way of getting a nicotine fix. He left as soon as he was done and returned a few minutes later, I can only imagine he was enjoying the fruits of his labor.

Believe-you-me, if I had a cancer-stick to offer the guy I would have given him one for now and one for later. Yuck.

"You will spend your old age surrounded by comfort and wealth"

(11.27.09) Well, its "black" Friday (how black modifies a day of the week? I have no idea) and the crazies are out in full force. Or at least that is what I imagine. I slept in and only went to two craft stores at 830 this morning. It was nice. Everything I wanted was half price which makes me wonder: just how much I get ripped off every time I pay for something?


Here's another example, the furnace in my rental home stopped producing heat yesterday (Thanksgiving Day of course). I called our heating guy who "tapped on the sensor with a screwdriver" and it started to work again. I am thinking that just tapping on sensitive parts of the furnace when the heat stops is probably not the most effective fix. So I had him replace the sensor. So a $50 service fee is now a lot more expensive, but you know, I would much rather pay for that now and not worry about getting a phone in a week reporting the same issue and be out my $50 service fee. Oh the fun. I need a job to pay for all of this FUN.

PS: here's the link to the cartoon above


PPS: and the title today is classic fortune cookie wisdom

What happened to craft night?

(11.23.09) I had the good fortune to go to two craft fairs this weekend. It was good for my Christmas shopping, bad for my wallet. Also bad for my motivation to study for law school. I would really prefer a life where I made scrapbooks, cards, and put beads on strings instead of studying who gets repaid first when someone goes bankrupt. Sigh. I long for the creative connection. I did spend a few hours making cards and wrapping gifts after the craft fair, so there's a start!

Here's a link to more fantasy animal busts

Wiener Races

(09.18.09) Only on Fountain Square in downtown Cincinnati would hundreds of people gather during their lunch hour to watch wiener dogs race to the finish line. And let's be honest, (1) it is the only reason I left the house today and (2) if I had a dachshund I would have been training her for months to win this competition. And it was quite a competition, there were over 60 dogs entered in the race!! This race kicks off Oktoberfest. And what makes you think of drinking German beer more than watching German dogs barking and chasing each other?