Crotcheting is better than Corporations

This last semester of law school, I'm walking a delicate balance between pretending that I'm not in law school anymore and feeling bad about not doing more work. To be fair, I'm a sort of hard worker in general, so aside from the pass/fail class I'm taking, I do the reading, pay attention in class, and study for exams. I'm just less invested this semester. All of that to say that I'm diving in to some activities that I've really missed while I've been in school - one of which is crocheting. I pulled out my hooks and yarn and started playing with some patterns.

Completely inspired by Lucy over at Attic24, I bought $25 of lovely yarn.


And in the next week or so, I'm planning to get started on this delightful bag so that I have something to put all my yarn in!


PS - For those of you - ahem, Virgin - who have absolutely no interest in all this craftiness, please feel free to skip my crafty posts. But be forewarned, I think (and hope) that there's more to come!

Crafty Things

One of my favorite daily reads is Craftzine's blog, where I learn about all sorts of crafty things going on all over the interwebs. Last week, they featured Craftster: Best of 2009 - the best projects from another crafty website - Craftster. I thought I'd share some of my favorites for those readers who are craftily inclined or just like looking at pretty things.

First, from the reconstructed clothing section, this summertime dress made from an old skirt and a 1970's curtain makes me want to sing Do-re-mi on a hillside with Julie Andrews.

Next, from the machine embroidery section, these absolutely precious owl towels might be the cutest little things I've ever seen. I certainly wouldn't want to wipe my dirty hands on them!

Third, from the dyeing section, is this lovely dragonfly batik-dyed fabric. I have no idea how this actually works, but I always think batik fabrics look so whimsical.

This fabric bowl from the crafty housewares category is just gorgeous. Apparently it's a pretty straightforward technique, but it looks like a lot of hard work to me.

And finally, from the paper crafts category, this delightfully whimsical deck of altered cards that the crafter made for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary. It's an idea that I'm going to store in my brain somewhere until I have the perfect time to use it.

There are dozens more of these beautiful, creative projects if you follow the Best of 2009 link from above, and for those of you who are into crafts, I highly recommend it. I never spend as much time crafting as I'd like, but I really love being inspired by all of these truly creative people out there.

More bloggers!

A friend of mine just started a new blog. It should prove to be funny and depressing (through no fault of her own, of course - you can't help your subject matter).

Go check it out!

Skip to Friday

Lolcats, you speak to me.

Tis the season

This is pretty much what the babe looks like.





Maybe a little less furry.

She's got something.

The flu?

A really bad cold?

A sinus infection?

The plague?


It's ugly whatever it is, and it is not appreciated here.

Maybe I'll just link my blog to Obama Foodorama

I'm not intending for this blog to become all about food. But, seriously, would that be a bad thing?

Delighted to read this on the G20 summit:

The Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is the site of the opening G20 reception on Thursday, as well as the working dinner for summit leaders on Thursday evening (photo at top of post). As is standard practice for all events at Phipps, food and beverages will be local, organic, sustainably raised and humanely raised where applicable. Fair Trade organic coffee will be served, food waste will be composted, and paper, glass, plastic, cardboard and cans will be recycled. The Victorian-era botanical garden, known as "The Green Heart of Pittsburgh," has been restored, expanded, and updated, and is recognized as one of the greenest public sites in the world; go here to read the comprehensive series of initiatives Phipps has in place to ensure energy conservation and sustainability, including Silver LEED certification.

From, where else, Obama Foodorama.

In other news, I'm finally getting to do a research paper involving the Farm Bill. Hurrah.

Give me a hoe

Here's to hoping that one day I'll have my own garden and that I'll look as cute as Michelle Obama while I tend it.

You can go to my new favorite blog to read all about the White House garden.

Photo from Obama Foodorama

Tagged: Best and Worst

Laughing tagged me, and to thank her, I proceeded to fall of the face of the planet - as least as my blog was concerned.



I'm back, at least for the moment, and I won't make a bunch of excuses for my absence. I'll just say that I've been insanely busy. And a lot of it has been good. And some of it hasn't. And that leads us right into Laughing's tag - the best and worst of the first. Except for me it was the second.



I thought about it for a while - since she tagged me about 2 weeks ago, and I'm just posting now. What were the best and worst moments of Law School Year Two?



There were a zillion best and worst moments in my personal life, but I'll still with law school life here.



Best: I gave a presentation in my feminist legal theory class with my dear friend T. The topic was prostitution, and as we began our research, I became really interested in what was happening with young girls and the market for virgins. I was borderline obsessed, and I spent way more time researching than was necessarily merited. I watched documentaries and read blogs, and I think the babe got sort of tired of hearing about it. T and I talked about it all the time. And then we put together this totally kick-ass powerpoint presentation with documentary clips and quotes and numbers and pictures and all sorts of stuff. And we created an interactive portion of the presentation so that we could promote discussion about what it means to be a prostitute and whether people would or would not choose the job as compared to other jobs, like being a medical guinea pig or a porn actress or a secretary or a hired killer or a nude model. The presentation went amazingly and the other students were really interested in it. When we finished, one of them said that it was amazing, and I realized that, like me, they hadn't really known about a lot of this or thought about it before. It felt so wonderful to have shared all of that information - to have opened other people's eyes about what goes on with young girls in this country every day, to have really good discussion about the tension points between victimization and autonomy. It was one of the most proud moments I've had.



Worst: It's hard to pick out a worst moment - I think because the whole year sort of blends together in lots of really awful moments. It's easier to pick out a great moment from there. I'm aware that not everyone feels that way about law school. I envy those other people.* At any rate, I think what I'm going to single out as my worst moment was actually two days during reading week of second semester. I got a journal substantiation assignment, and it was the longest one I had ever had. I had been out of town the weekend before, so the only time to do it was the first couple days of reading week (which isn't actually a whole week). I really don't enjoy substantiation in the first place, but this took hours and hours and hours. Somewhere between 12 and 15 total, which maybe doesn't seem like that much. But when every moment I spent on it felt like a moment that I wasn't spending studying for the three exams that I had coming up, it felt very, very long. I finished it; the jury's still out on one of the exams. And the one that I didn't do so well on - well, I can't really say it was the journal's fault. I don't know. But it sure felt that way at the time.

Because I waited so freakin' long, I'm not going to tag anyone, but if anybody decides to do it, let me know.


*By envy, sometimes I mean hate.

First Things First

Orientation today at The Big Firm.

I won't be back for five weeks. I've got a public interest fellowship, so I start a new job for the second time in two days tomorrow as I head to the public interest organization. I'm sure working there will great, but I have to admit that the first day of a new job isn't my favorite experience.

Highlight of today's first day:

I'm at lunch with three other summers and our four mentors. We're talking bar trips. One of the mentors describes her six week trip around the world. She took it last year before she started working at The Big Firm. The progression of countries sounds oddly familiar to me.

"Did you do that trip with a friend from Our Law School?"

"Yes."

..."Does she have a blog?"

"Yes."

I was right. It was a blogger that I'd read before starting law school and then some after starting. Small world.

we iz gooberz

Too much lolcats and a penchant for silly has destroyed mine and the babe's ability to speak - so much so that on the way home from the park yesterday* the babe turned to me and said, with a note of pride, "We've spoken correct English all day."

Maybe it was finals insanity, maybe the stress of law school in general - who knows. But for whatever reason, a person with their ear against the door of our apartment might hear any number of the following phrases:

I'z tired. I'z redy for bed.

Uz my favorite. Uz da best evah.

I no wants ta do dis no more!

I ruvs u.

Das no gud. Das bad.

Dis poopy.

I think you get the point. We realized it was out of hand when we noticed ourselves and each other saying these things in public. Around other people. Very bad.

So we're trying to cut ourselves off from lolcat/baby talk. It's harder than it seems. But sometimes you just have to suck it up and work hard if you want to keep your friends from throwing up in their mouths every time they see you.

* The park was our longest jaunt out of the apartment since mother's day weekend (when the moms were here). Though it required intense willpower, we peeled ourselves off of the couch and away from the television so that we could enjoy the sunshine.

Tween Wisdom

I was eleven and convinced that I had been adopted - in the way that you're convinced of things when you're eleven. Meaning that I was convinced of it every time my mom made me pick up the dishes or set the table or leave my sister alone.

That was the kicker.

I was always being getting in trouble for bothering my sister. Apparently my being older required that I be filled with self-discipline and good judgment. When my 6 year old sister hit me or threw things at me or poked me or licked me or bit me, I should calmly say to her, "I don't like it when you do that." And then walk away.

Looking at it now, it seems like a sort of good skill.* But at 11? Think again.

Any woman who would expect me to hold my tongue in the face of a tyrannical six year old clearly was not my real mother.**

Hence, I found myself locked in the bathroom one afternoon screaming through the door at my mother, "If YOU WERE MY REAL MOTHER, YOU WOULDN'T TREAT ME THIS WAY!"

And my mother, being the quick thinker that she is, responded, "Well, maybe if you were my real daughter, you wouldn't treat me this way."

Gasp.

What? What did she just say?

Maybe a risky move, but it worked.

She's not my mother?! HA! We look exactly alike! Everyone knows she's my mother! My sister and I look exactly like! We all look exactly the same! She's so ridiculous. Good grief. (Because I didn't use profanity when I was 11. I was Holy.)

So after that I only complained that things were Unfair, which was not nearly as satisfying as complaining that I was adopted.

Which leads me to wonder - what will I blame for the bad days when law school is over?


*Although I'm still not entirely sold on it.
**I love you, little sister. :)

It was bound to happen

I have a blog crush.

For those of you I've been reading all along, I don't know how to tell you that it's not you. I hope you won't take it too hard.

It's just that a new blog came into my life, and...I'm smitten.

Maybe it's because there's part of me that longs for the life represented in this blog. (Hat tip to the babe for her belief that crushes - mine in particular, apparently - are more about personal identification than desire)

At any rate, meet The Pioneer Woman.

To call her blog a blog is really a misnomer. It's more like an online magazine, with sections on photography and writing and cooking and homeschooling and home improvement projects. And beautiful photos. And long stories about her life.

But lots of blogs have that, you're saying.

I know.

But do lots of blogs have a woman who lived in LA and was studying for the LSAT, happened to meet a cowboy, fell in love and followed him to a ranch in Oregon, where they had 4 children and lived happily ever after?

No! No, they do not!


Really, it's much like the story of a young Washington DC law student who met an organic farming girl, fell in love and then...stayed in law school...hmm...

But a girl can dream, can't she? Of a house in the country with my love, where we have a garden and renovate a beautiful lodge? Where I make amazing dishes and cupcakes with fondant? Where we have precious children, and I'm an amazing photographer? Where the babe wears chaps? :)


Ah, babe, I guess you're right. It's all identification for me. Now, what do you think of these? ;)

It Sucks to Be Me

Okay, so maybe not totally - there are a lot of wonderful things in my life - my family, the babe, my beautiful new apartment, with a gym, and cute dogs everywhere.

However, I'm in law school and not making plans to take a bike ride around the country working on sustainable farms.

Yeah, so my lucky duck friend Ibti is getting all prepped and ready, including learning how to ride a bike. And figuring out where friends of friends and happy sustainably-nourished people live to help her on her journey.

Go check it out!

Finalz Overload? We Haz It

Scene: On the phone outside the library.

me: Okay, well I just wanted to call and tell you that I love you.

the babe: Wait. I wanted to tell you about this realization that i had.

me: ok

the babe: It's not just that kittens are cuter than puppies. The cat people are just funnier than the dog people. I mean, the funniest dog ones are the ones that have cats in them.

me: I know! That's what I've been saying all along. They're just funnier.

the babe. I know. You were right.

me: How does that make you feel?

the babe: It makes me want a cat.

For all you bloggers out there.

"Words, of all sorts, have never seemed so now."

Andrew Sullivan's take on the blogging world is definitely worth a read.

I don't pretend to be anywhere close to the realm of Andrew Sullivan, but I do claim a connection just by virtue of my being a blogger. And I guess that's one of the nice things about blogging.

Haricot vert

I didn't truly experience green beans until I was 19. I'd had some green beans on my own, of course. I mean, where there's a hunger....

At any rate, I enjoyed green beans with the boy for a few years. It was nice. I loved him. We had special green beans.

And then there were some years of struggle. I couldn't figure out what kind of green beans I should be partaking of. Canned green beans? Fresh green beans? Frozen green beans? French cut? Green bean casserole? Green beans almondine?

Eventually it became clear. Green beans were best enjoyed in the company of a lady.

And then best enjoyed in the company of one particular lady.
Wooh, GREEEEEEN BEEEAAAANS!!!!!

Thank goodness for green bean blessings.

If you're confused, go here.

And here I thought I was all the colors of the rainbow

So I've been bopping along in my life for a while thinking that I was being my own person - or at least trying to be my own person. At least since I passed the age 16 or so. I've been figuring myself out, taking in new ideas, broadening my horizons, learning more about the world around me. I've felt proud of myself. I've relished in a sense of accomplishment.



And then I was introduced to this blog.



And I realized that I've actually had no part in any of this personal development. That I'm just another one on the path to becoming a classic white person.



All these things I thought were part of my personal developmental journey - nope.



Wanting to learn a new language? Nope.

Getting into yoga? Nope.

Going anti-"the man"? Nope.

Doing insane amounts of post-graduate education? Nope. And Nope. And Nope.

Wanting to move to Canada? Nope.

Dreaming of raising multilingual children? Nope.

Being hyped up on the environment? Nope.

Wanting to help poor people? Nope. And Nope.

Riding my bike to work? Nope.

Going organic? Nope. And Nope. And Nope.

Developing an infatuation with NPR? Nope.

Saying goodbye to Jesus? Nope.

Reconnecting with my nature-loving side? Nope.

Getting all excited about political change? Nope. And Nope.

Fantasy-planning my round-the-world vacation? Nope.

Running a marathon? Nope.

Experimenting with mental transformation? Nope.

So, basically I've spent the last 28 years of my life becoming a giant cliche. Hot.

And I've been so angsty about it. I think the plan from here on out is just to read the blog on a daily basis and figure out the next step in my personal development from there. Much less messy.

Saying goodbye to fifteen...

When I opened my blogger account this evening, there was something different. In the upper right-hand corner of my dashboard, there was something blinking. It was a notification that I, I (In)Sanity Gal, have (and a hush fell over the room) a follower.

The event brought on a certain level of nostalgia over my younger days when people were clamoring to follow me.

Ha.

The event actually brought on a reminiscing of all of those days that I desperately wished that someone would want to follow me or that some cool kid might lower themselves enough to let me follow them. But no, I sort of sat around neither following nor being followed, which in retrospect, is probably a good thing. But at the time it felt somewhere between unbearable (in middle school) and uncomfortable (in high school).

I really wanted to be a "cool kid." I had moments. In 8th grade when I moved to the small town, I was new and, thus, interested. I went steady with a Cool Boy. I slept over at The Coolest Girl's house. A lot actually. We were sort of almost besties. Of course you wouldn't have said that then. But there were some other girls who I knew could see right through me. I heard them once talking about my poor clothing choices. Instead of being annoyed and deciding that I didn't want them as friends anyway, I was just embarrassed and sort of irrationally angry at my parents - for not having more money, for not caring more about appearances, for not having more attractive offspring.

And then high school started. And The Coolest Girl became a cheerleader, and so did those other girls. And I joined the band.

As much as I try to convince the babe that the band was not that dorky at my high school, she never believes me. It's true in a lot of ways. There were some "cool kids" in the band. And there were a lot of kids who sort of bridged the gap and hung with both crowds.

But on the girl end, the cheerleaders were cool. On the boy end, it was the guys who apparently did nothing. Go figure.

It wasn't me, though. I think in part it was because they could smell it on me. That desire to be one of them.

And yet, it was sort of a mixed desire. I wanted to be one of them and disliked them as well - disliked their fickleness and their pettiness. In truth, I figure they were pretty much like me - just with another friend group. Trying to make it through high school and figure out who they were as people and what they wanted. It was so hard to see that at the time, though.

I was telling someone a story about high school recently, and I couldn't remember one of those girl's names. It made me laugh. I spent four years thinking that they were so important.

What's sad about that is high school was really great. I had great friends. I did really well in my classes. I loved being in the band. I learned how great theatre was. It was great. It seems sad that I spent any time at all thinking about whether or not I was a cool kid.


I guess what I'm trying to say here is Thank You, Virgin - for letting me lay that wish to rest.

What a Girl Wants

I don't normally do memes, but I'm losing my mind working on an assignment that's due tomorrow. That makes posting a wee bit difficult. And this one's kind of creative.

Also, Virgin tagged me, which makes me feel loved.

So, what I have to do is put my itunes on shuffle, then answer the questions that follow with the song name that comes up when I hit the "next" button. And hence, bring forth the answers to the questions that burden your soul about me. [I have to say, this was sort of unnerving on some counts. Also, it was a bit weird b/c this is the itunes account that my ex and I shared, so I don't even know some of these songs. But some of the titles...hmmm...]

Behold:

IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY" YOU SAY?
"Taste this" - Mya

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"Circle" - Barbra Streisand

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"The Nearness of You" - Norah Jones

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Cherry Pie" - Marvin & Johnny

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"I Believe/You'll Never Walk Alone" - Barbra Streisand

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Take it From Here" - Justin Timberlake

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Ain't That Lovin' You Baby?" - Jimmy Reed

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"This Moment" - Melissa Etheridge

WHAT IS 2+2?
"Summer Time" - Billy & Stuart

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Red House" - Jimi Hendrix

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Hooked on a Feeling" - B.J. Thomas

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"Angel from Montgomery" - The Angels

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Ain't No Sunshine" - Bill Withers

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Will You Still Love Me?" - Melissa Etheridge (well, that's depressing)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Feelin' the Same Way" - Norah Jones

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Lovesong" - Ellis

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Come on Home" - Indigo Girls (man, i hope so)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Someone to Watch Over Me" - Julia Fordham

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Last Day" - Blessid Union of Souls

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Drug State" - Vincent and Mr. Green

WHAT'S THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
"Foolish Little Girl" - The Shirelles

HOW WILL YOU DIE?
"Hey Rose" - Girlyman

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET?
"Last Call" - Kanye West

WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
"Cherchez la Femme" - Gloria Estefan

WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
"Let Me Be the One" - Blessid Union of Souls

WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
"Long Journey" - The Angels

WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
"Storybook Life" - Blessid Union of Souls

DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
"Hey No" - Halcyon (well, this is seriously depressing)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
"Shoot the Moon" - Norah Jones

WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
"Let it Rain" - Amanda Marshall

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
"What a Girl Wants" - Christina Aguilera (nice)

Spread it around.

Go over to pt-law mom's blog and give her some love. The girl is having a SERIOUSLY bad day...er...year.