Sprinting might be easier

I'm 5/6 of the way through law school, and the time in this last winter break is speeding along much too quickly. I've been finished for almost 4 days now, and I can't seem to get my mind to come down, to really sink into the relaxation. I think it's because I know that in two weeks, I've got to be back in it.

I ran a marathon once. It was grueling. My knee started hurting at mile 6. I was running it with my dad (who had actually done this before), and his calf had been hurting during training and then really started hurting during the race. We hobbled along for over six hours. Once when I wanted to start walking, my dad reminded me that the more we walked the longer it would take and the harder it would be to start running again. I was so incredibly torn - the running was awful, but I knew he was right. If we started to walk, it would just be that more painful to start running again.

I think my brain is quietly going through those machinations right now - if I really settle into this relaxation thing, it is just going to be THAT MUCH HARDER to pick up that reading again in less than two weeks and try to get ready for that first class on Jan. 4. And then of course, if I don't let myself melt into that relaxation, I may just fall over before I get to the finish line.

For Goodness Sake

Remember the other day when I said some things about presidents and atheists. I take it all back. And who do we have to thank for this enlightenment?


Well, the babe and some atheist friends but also our dear friends at fox "news". I would hate hate hate for anyone ever to confuse me with Bill O'Reilly and these "news"casters.


Remember the other day when I said some things about presidents and atheists. I take it all back. And who do we have to thank for this enlightenment?


Well, the babe and some atheist friends but also our dear friends at fox "news". I would hate hate hate for anyone ever to confuse me with Bill O'Reilly and these "news"casters.








The babe and I sat through this ridiculous segment completely mesmerized. That's a lie. The babe was laughing sort of incredulously, and I was screaming - just AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! because there seemed no other appropriate thing to do under the cirumstances.



Let's get a closer look at the infamous ad.

Scandalous, I know.



But seriously. When the Christian Right (read Wrong) is creating websites to berate retailers who don't sell nativities or wish you "Merry Christmas", then can they really blame the Humanists for trying to advertise for their cause. Who's attacking who here?



And what exactly is so awful about the idea that a person could be good with a belief in God? Do these people want to do away with anyone who's a good person but doesn't believe in God? Yep, I bet so.



And also - did they not notice that these people are wearing CHRISTMAS HATS?! Hello, they do not hate Christmas. They want to celebrate it as the secular holiday that it has become. They are not attacking you. They are not trying to take away your right to celebrate your own sacred version of that holiday (does this sound familiar?). They're just trying to say that people who don't believe in God can be good people too - even at Christmas.



I, for one, love the ads.

Weekend Yummies

It's finals time again. Sigh.

In my book, there's no better way to waste time than cooking.*

And this time of year, what's better than roasted root vegetables? Nothing.

If you too are in the finals way, you can take a study break and cut vegetables for about 30 minutes, pop them in the oven and enjoy the amazing smells. Then about an hour later, you've got glorious, melt-in-your mouth vegies. Yum.

This one's so simple, it doesn't really need a recipe.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut up your favorite root vegetables, and put them in a baking pan. Douse them in olive oil and spices (we like simple - salt, pepper, rosemary) and toss them around to make sure they're all covered. Then bake for 1 - 1 1/2 hours - until everything is nice and soft.

You can use whatever roots you'd like. In this one, we used the things that were in season at the farmers market - sweet potatoes, turnips, radishes, beets, onions, and threw in some brussels sprouts about 20 minutes in for good measure.

It was delicious, and the leftovers made me and the babe the envy of all of our friends at the lunch table.

*Except, of course, surfing the interwebs in a restless and dissatisfied fashion.

The Past is the Past is the Future

I was trying to finish a paper recently, and I was lamenting to a friend about the stupid decisions that I had made along the way that were making it really difficult for me to finish, i.e. inserting a footnote with no information in it.

And he said, "Yeah, Past M is always doing stupid things like that for Future M to deal with."

I thought it was the most brilliant thing I'd ever heard, and after chatting with folks about it, it is clearly the cross to bear of the law school type.

Past (In)Sanity Gal hates Future (In)Sanity Gal. Clearly. Or else she thinks Future (In)Sanity Gal is some sort of superhero who has the ability to fly over large buildings and write 15-page papers in a single bound. Whichever it is, Future (In)Sanity Gal is constantly being left with Past (In)Sanity Gal's giant mess to clean up, and it's annoying. And it makes Present (In)Sanity Gal feel as though she is LOSING HER MIND. Which is obviously what is happening here because, although this is clearly a brilliant idea, this paragraph is also the rambling madness of a crazy person.