This and that

Today I feel like things just clicked for me. I finally got into the zone where I could approach a legal problem from a higher level of perspective than just the nitty gritty details I'd been sussing for weeks. I got to thinking - what if I were in charge of the world - what would I want this solution to look like? It was really empowering.

Often I feel like I should work hard to earn others' approval. Today was not so. I had a platonic guy friend over today to cook at my house and while he cooked, I just did my own thing. I didn't fuss over him or bother him and there was absolutely no drama. I think it was remarkable simply because it was so unremarkable.


I had the most interesting dinner conversation today with a group of lobbyists, engineers, and one stealth attorney. I learned about how climate change works and about the ethical qualms that lobbyists maintain and the traditional way of shaking a groom down for money during a Nepalese wedding and stealing his shoes. It was refreshing to talk with such a varied mix of people. Discussion heated up when we started talking about the Batman movie - practically everyone loved that movie but there were many suggestions concerning the ending.

I came home and there was a message for me from a friend - Have a great first day of class! It was just nice to read that someone was rooting for me. I'm thinking that this is the year of law school that I finally turn things around to where I want to go. I can just feel it.

Youth Power

So tonight I had a fantastic dinner with a galpal and her friend from Chicago, who is also the founder of a professional/educational program called Code Academy in Chicago. The website, http://codeacademy.org/, shows that the program is geared towards individuals who want to create and monetize web apps and general tech industry programs. I don't know anything about coding, so maybe I'm in the target demographic, since it's geared towards beginners. What really impressed me is that this CEO is only 25 years old.

Tonight I found that more and more of my conversations with good friends who are my age gravitate towards how old we think we are. Chilling in a place with 80's music. Complaining about aches and fatigue when it's about 10 p.m. Realizing that all of the folks who are dancing are at least five years younger than we are. While waiting outside a restaurant for my friends, I was greeted by a pickup line and I actually thanked the young man delivering it. Not because I was interested, but because it's rarer that I hear that sort of thing from men under the age of 50. Five years ago I would have acted like I hadn't heard him and just looked at my phone.

Frankly I'm tired of it. I'm not going to get any younger, and if people are still complaining like this ten years from now whenever we have a get-together, I don't know what I'm going to do. I know I'm just as guilty of it.  Perhaps the best thing is to avoid situations that I've perhaps outgrown. Maybe the problem is not that I'm too old, but that the patterns that define my weekends are just too young.

Summer detox

Summer is a great time to get things in perspective and simplify.

After tucking into some heavenly barbeque at Clyde Cooper's bbq and watching Inglorious Basterds over the weekend (never a good combo) I had one of those dreams where something terrible happens to one of my loved ones.  I woke up really glad it was just a dream.  It made me realize - I'm so effing lucky.

I finished up a 10-class LivingSocial voucher for this yoga studio near my house. Whew! Ten classes may not sound like very much spread over months, but that's a little under 18 hours of contortions.  Plus, it just feels so good to finish something. 

I'm wondering if I should find a new workout since my membership is up for renewal.  My options are - continue with the studio that I've liked, or try something else ... like kickboxing.  Or walking pets? I think my life needs more live pet interaction.  When I was leaving the studio, I saw a woman in the lobby of the building taking care of some baby parakeets that she'd just brought in.  Sooooooo cute!

Alas, until I have pets, I must settle with plants.  My basil plant is not dead after two weeks of scorching weather, which I consider to be a raging success.  And after being entirely enchanted with the National Arboreteum's gardenia plants, I snagged a smaller gardenia bush for myself at a nursery. It's a double-flowered varietal that actually looks more like tuberose.  I wonder if this will turn out to be a case of mistaken identity. :$.  There's only one flower blooming right now, but there are lots of promising little buds.


I am also trying to make my wardrobe more fun while also more modest... not easy.  I rely on my more stylish friends to prevent me from becoming a hot mess. My buddy Carl and his friends started a new beta version of a shopping/social networking site called http://cashmerezoo.com/.  The idea is that anyone can post what they're wearing and if users visit the vendor's site, then the poster gets a discount or some kind of incentive.  It's like polyvore but more sartorialist, and less Photoshop.  I think it's neat.

A Little Night Music

My fifth summer in DC has made me love this city even more.  Here's why:

1) Brunch at Dino in Cleveland Park turns out to be amazing.  Two words: orange butter.  It's so much more than just unsalted European butter and orange zest. ::happy sigh::.  The restaurant is also hosting a Great Lakes Brewery dinner soon! I recently got to sample all of the Great Lakes brews (in microscopic portions, thank goodness) at a little event in Chicago.  Based on my recent intro to the label, I cannot say enough good things about it.  I like the names in particular.

2) The Pig in Logan Circle is cause for celebration among pork lovers especially.  Spoonbread is not just for historical reenactments and southern drive-ins! It is studded with bacon in lavish quantities.  The waiters are extra sassy, and so is the drink list.

3) I missed the last Truckeroo, but there are more to come.

4) Granville Moore's is a self-respecting Belgian place.  There are challenging items on tap.  The sporty, louche feel (complete with beer crates) is perfect.  You cannot order a diet coke here, FYI.  The moules are just right.

5) Sometimes I forget that DC is a special place.  Today, I heard a guy playing Prokofiev on the violin on the Metro by the Capitol South station.  He was no Joshua Bell, but he was good - he ran through some buttery glissades and glassy chords sul ponticello like he was getting warmed up.  Where did he come from?  Who knows.  On the way back from a CAPAL mixer, I stumbled onto a free orchestral concert (full strings, brass, winds, percussions) outside the Capitol building. There was a small crowd already.  I stood by and listened.  The strains of familiar patriotic tunes over the Capitol lit up at night gave me shivers.  The swell of French horns was audible for a good distance.  On the walk back to the Metro, the night air by the National Arboreteum nearby was heavily perfumed by row upon row of very well-tended gardenia bushes in full bloom. It was unreal.

There are many more reasons why I sometimes stop and think, I'm so lucky to even be here.  I look forward to finding more.

 

Chicago

Dear Windy City,

How are you?  Do you still go to sleep early?  Do you still dye the river green?  I heard this song by the Weepies and thought of you. How wonderful it is that you have your Chagall windows back.



Photo credit to http://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/8225.

Moving Forward

I love spring: the sunshine, the flowers, the sight of people tossing frisbee around the quad, the kiss of a very cold water bottle. It is so important to change up one's routine and to embrace the possibility of the new.

I spent a few glorious moments on the main campus quad today, which was just what I needed. I am usually surrounded by law students in the library, which keeps me focused, but I'm always feeling the tension of the people around me. It was nice to go somewhere where everyone was intent on being. It was great. When a friend from law school found me sunning with a book on the main quad, I wanted to hide from the conversation I knew would ensue. I tried light banter, but no dice. Talking about our latest paper topics and who was right about what kind of broke the surface of my zen moment. Ah well. I found an excuse to leave and here I am at the local Starbucks. In a few moments, I'll be back in the library, but I feel refreshed from my little detour.

Made with Love - Pizza and Arugula

Whenever life seems to come at me too fast, I can look forward to slowing things down with the steadiest of friends. Tonight, we enjoyed the awesome combination of 1930's Art Deco and Tibetan textiles that is the Shadow. Alec Baldwin plays Alec Baldwin, while also posing as a Central Asian barbarian, martini-downing playboy, and gritty trench-wearing superhero. So many hero stereotypes, so little time. There's even some Jedi mind trick stuff going on.

There are so many terrible pick-up lines in that movie, my favorite being, "I have a sudden craving for Peking Duck." Speak again, bright angel. But when he speaks "Mandarin" in the next scene, he asks for seafood soup. Ah, the old bait and switch.

Sir Magneto/Ian McKellen adopts a American accent and keeps it throughout, much to our disappointment. Tim Curry starts gnawing and then eating the scenery. James Hong gets billing (way to go, James Hong's agent!) even though Hong survives for about thirty seconds of the film. Great fun was had by all.

Being the hostess with the mostest, my friend made a wicked pizza topped with fresh arugula. It was amazing. We agree that there should be more pizzas topped with salads. My gal swears by the dough recipe here. It was delicious and it will live on in my food memory as one of the greatest things I've eaten in, oh, forever.

The Diner

Another sleepless Saturday watching one of my favorite rom=coms. This morning I finally ventured out to the Diner, a 24-hour joint in Adams Morgan. There's decent toast and Saturday morning breakfast cartoons from the 1980s on tap, so I'd recommend it. The Honeybadger Shake was pretty amazing.