s in the city

2009-08-25T21:43:00.001-04:00

i have developed an unhealthy addiction to brickbreaker. it's not a constant thing. basically it goes like this: when b's score is higher than mine, i can't put the damn blackberry down. but when i'm beating him - meh.so i was on the train after work, at a time when b's score was higher than mine (not the case anymore, sucka!), breaking my bricks, listening to my ipod. and this woman walks up to

it serves me right

2009-08-16T15:22:00.002-04:00

last week in michigan was chock full of nephews and nieces and breezes and baseball games. and driving the new SUV* around detroit like a real midwesterner. arriving back in DC just in time for the hottest, nastiest, swampiest day of the summer was not awesome timing. maybe there's something there, but any blog about that would have all my DC friends asking (not for the first time) if i'm going

my momma told me there'll be days like this ...

2009-08-04T13:14:00.002-04:00

so now there are five little kids that are lucky enough to have b and i spoil them rotten in an attempt to secure permanent status as best auntie and uncle ever. (we're well on our way, don't you worry.) i don't think it had actually hit me that we were about to have another little person before whom i could barely remember before last week. in my defense, b's sister has been pregnant a lot in

2009-07-30T21:50:00.002-04:00

dear two years ago s,sorry i'm so tardy in responding to your letter. greetings from the future! i can barely believe it was two years ago that i experienced the delicious satisfaction of returning said staples to said jackass in a neat little pile on said desk. (see how lawyerly i am now, what with all the "saids" and the extraordinary delay between your initial letter and my response. i'm

hello, stranger.

2009-07-29T21:20:00.003-04:00

i doubt i exist on anyone's bookmark list any longer, but here we are. sorry about that. i think i was concerned that my semi-anonymous blogging would somehow get found out by my law firm, and that it would somehow get me fired. but then it turns out i was probably was just being paranoid, and also it turns out i'm not all that concerned about it. but i should probably try to keep my big

love at first sight

2008-08-25T20:28:00.003-04:00

i'm a superstitious girl. i fully believe in jinxes. i refuse to acknowledge whenever a tigers pitcher goes more than three innings without allowing a hit. i dared not mention to b, when our best friend chris was crashing on our couch the weekend after the bar exam, that he wasn't snoring (i love chris, but that's not normal). i don't mention if the weather is good on a winter drive from the

done waiting for my real life to begin

2008-08-07T20:06:00.004-04:00

i thought i would do cartwheels out of the roanoke civic center last week. i thought i'd skip, or maybe even fly, back to my car. a week later, those days are a blur. but the sensation i felt as i quietly pushed my chair back from the table, stood up, and looked over the hundreds of poor compatriots - that sensation has not left me. i thought i'd shake it as i dropped my scantron in the huge

i've got you under my skin....

2008-07-25T12:04:00.005-04:00

i was barely awake this morning as b was getting ready for work. in the fog of sleep, i remember suddenly having this pressing need to ask him about eminent domain in the district of columbia. congress has its hands all over dc (stupid constitution) and i was convinced that there must be some special congressional approval for eminent domain.let me be clear: i'm not taking the DC bar exam.so

2008-07-23T09:49:00.001-04:00

despite the fact that i've spent ten weeks and - at least for the past ten days or so - 14 hours a day in preparation, i'm really trying not to think about it. no, seriously. i'm trudging through my ridiculous to-do list every day, marching across the volumes of practice essays, learning because that's what the calendar from barbri says i'm supposed to do. it's all i do, it's all i think about

duped

2008-06-24T14:27:00.002-04:00

in hindsight, there was something a little fishy going on, but i just didn't put two and two together soon enough. what's more, the clues were all clumped up closely to the culmination of events, too close for me to have seen the writing on the wall. the lightening fast response when i noticed a text on his phone from his boss, the excessive hours, the shower saturday evening after "work" even

you leave big shoes

2008-06-18T19:15:00.002-04:00

i have hit a bout of writer's block the size of montana of late - and i would apologize, but i honestly believe you are all probably better off without my less-than-sunny disposition taking up space. maybe there's a post a-brewing about the potential pitfalls of counting down to an event and thinking that then, then ... then things will be ok. but this is not that post.this is a post about tim

i'll cross the finish line. it won't be pretty. but i'll cross it.

2008-05-03T19:59:00.002-04:00

so you know that dream you have, where you're about to leave work on a friday night and indulge in a few cocktails and pomme frittes - and right before the end of the day, your professor's secretary emails you wondering where your take home exam is? the take home exam you thought wasn't due for another week? the one you haven't started? the one you could have easily done before if you hadn't

rest in peace, friend. you will be missed.

2008-04-21T20:12:00.001-04:00

I often see flowers from a passing carThat are gone before I can tell what they are.I want to get out of the train and go backTo see what they were beside the track.I name all the flowers I am sure they weren't;Not fireweed loving where woods have burnt--Not bluebells gracing a tunnel mouth--Not lupine living on sand and drouth.Was something brushed across my mindThat no one on earth will ever

peaks and valleys

2008-04-13T20:25:00.002-04:00

i knew yesterday was going to be one of those days well before i actually knew why. when i checked my cell phone at 9am and found three missed calls, i had a feeling. two of those numbers were the mishmash of numbers i've come to associate with my brother's calling card. the other was from my mother. and she left this message.... nearly singing, really.good mooooooorning! it's your muuuther.

my laziness has clearly permeated even my blogging

2008-04-03T21:48:00.002-04:00

i kind of have senioritis with my life right now. because i can't seem to piece together a funny blog on my own these days .... this is a recap from my gchatting in elder law class this afternoon. enjoy.Joe: amazing that bea arthur came out of retirement to teach this classme: HAHA! you're going to get me in trouble!Joe: "you're a pal and a confident!""thank you for bein' a friend!"schuster [a

2008-03-31T07:41:00.002-04:00

2008-03-03T12:37:00.002-05:00

the only way to punish a newspaper for baseless, degrading and irresponsible journalism is to hit them where it hurts. that's why, friends, i am canceling my years-long subscription to the washington post today. there's no eloquent way to respond to a piece of garbage that reads more like a 15-year-old boy's rant than an opinion piece to be run in any newspaper, let alone the washington post.

2008-02-27T11:02:00.001-05:00

so i'm walking home from the bus stop last night, down my quiet street in adams morgan, when across the street i see this guy with a ski mask run up behind this woman and try to take her purse and her ipod. she fought back a little, and before i really thought about what i was doing, i ran across the street and just started beating the shit out of this guy with my big as umbrella. it's one of

2008-02-20T20:03:00.001-05:00

i am many things. i am a wife, a sister, a daughter. i am an auntie. i am a student, i am almost a lawyer. i am (i hope) a good friend. i am a pretty decent cook. i am a good parallel parker. i am a lapsed violist, and a lapsed christian. i am wondering if i drink a little too much wine for my own good. (i am convinced i do not, for now.) i am currently considering drinking right from

2008-02-19T18:56:00.002-05:00

reading dutch's triptych on the early morning after his son was born, (also, yay little gram!) i was thinking about my own quiet early mornings lately. in the past couple of months, we've had two 5am saturday cab rides to national. both times, though i wasn't thrilled at having to get in a cab at that ungodly hour - on a saturday, no less - and was also pretty annoyed that the cab company

i'm trying

2008-02-19T08:28:00.001-05:00

i am a little hesitant to blog about the delightfully normal and bad-news-free weekend we've just enjoyed, fearful that the fates will think i'm taunting them and put me in my place. there was a happy hour full of friends, a saturday with starbucks and shopping, an attempt at grilling that may or may not have nearly caught our house on fire, a trip to the woolly mammoth to see no child, brunch,

this is totally turning into the most depressing blog on the Interwebs.

2008-02-12T19:45:00.000-05:00

the last time i voted in person was actually in a primary as well. i've been voting absentee for a half dozen years, clinging to my parents' address - though it wasn't the one at which i grew up - long long past a time when i would have considered living there. it was a primary in the summer of 2002. it was my brother's first voting experience, and we two piled into our parents' 1957 chevy (a

file under: life is not fair

2008-01-29T08:01:00.000-05:00

let me just start by saying that whole foods at 9am on a saturday morning is a delight. full of fresh food but not yet yuppies, well-staffed in preparation for the oncoming slew of said yuppies ... i was thinking this even as i realized they did not have any israeli cous cous and the raspberries were approximately $12 a pint. when i reached the beer section, though, things took a turn.i

2008-01-08T22:48:00.000-05:00

new hampshire, new hampshire, new hampshire.what can i say? somewhere belva lockwood is smiling down on us all.i love you, new hampshire.

is it wrong to scream for ice cream by yourself?

2008-01-07T22:01:00.001-05:00

my last first day of classes, a 70 degree day in january, and the fact that my brother left michigan early this morning and i don't know when he's coming back. to those of you that know me well, the fact that i stopped in at ben & jerry's on my walk home today should be no surprise, given those things. and sure, i got frozen yogurt, but when you put chunks of brownies and cookie dough in

this year, the title goes to ...

2007-12-18T19:17:00.000-05:00

last year, i got a little sentimental over the gift that RK gave me for christmas. it was an awesome gift.this year though ... i think the title for best gift has got to go to a. now, i know christmas isn't for another week. but whatever. if anyone else can top months of work to produce something this awesome in every way, i will eat my words.so a big blog shout out to a, who i imagine spent

just stop it already

2007-12-14T18:55:00.000-05:00

alright, mainstream media. enough.this means you, today show, world news with charles gibson, nbc nightly news with brian williams. all of y'all.listen.i am currently enjoying a very successful and fruitful relationship with my friend Denial over the fact that my brother is going to be gone for a whole year on tour in the middle east. his little boys - you see, i am so close with Denial that

je suis une fille formidable

2007-12-12T22:12:00.000-05:00

i'm allowing myself to be a little sentimental today, a little appreciative of the way things are. wait, that's not accurate. i'm allowing myself to blog about it is all. it's been six weeks now since we've moved into the city, from the burbs of arlington into adams morgan, from a high-rise to an english basement, from corporate landlords to a nice gay couple who are, themselves, just getting

we all just need to REMAIN CALM - updated

2007-12-07T15:22:00.001-05:00

something is not right, here in the metro dc area today. and i don't know what or who is behind it. terrorists? some super virus? alien invasion? satanic possession? i don't have the answers, people. but i know we should all be afraid.if i hadn't seen the terror with my own eyes, i wouldn't have believed it either, friends. seriously. and what scares me the most is that it's happening in everyday

does karma take payment in the form of contributions to worthy causes .. for credits that could be redeemed later, say, during a federal tax law exam?

2007-11-28T18:47:00.000-05:00

i couldn't help but think, as i stood in my socks and well-loved, long-sleeved western t-shirt on the cold cement of my english basement doorstep, trying not to let in the few mosquitoes who've refused to let the cold air collapse their minuscule lungs, that i'm a sucker. but in a good way. i listened to the well-scripted lines from the chapped lips of this girl years my junior about the

we all know what time it is

2007-11-20T10:09:00.000-05:00

it's the week of thanksgiving. the week i pretend to study. the week my stomach gets a little tighter, thinking of the 14 precious days between now and that first exam. the week i stop preparing for the classes i actually have and start actually trying to learn something about the law. it's also the week that itunes puts the holiday music front and center again. the week i guffaw at the

ambassador cabbie #697 is a dick

2007-11-14T16:12:00.000-05:00

oh ambassador cabbie #697, today was really not the day to cut in front of me at the dc car inspection center. now, most of my friends - and i'm sure all of my acquaintences who would not consider me a friend - would be quick to tell you that there probably is no good day on which to attempt to cut in front of me in any line, let alone the wrapped-around-the-block line at the dc car inspection

an open thank you note to karma

2007-11-09T20:25:00.000-05:00

good day, karma.as you probably know, after doing what i deemed to be the right (ok, and satisfying, sure) thing and totally busting the damn fool i work with, i was really torn between commupins-related glee and pragmatic realization that i may have just made the next six months even longer and more miserable ... this dread was compounded when, as i left ej on the bus and walked the block to the

metro monday: the end of an era edition

2007-10-29T12:26:00.000-04:00

i had faith, going into this morning's commute, that the orange line would give me something/one spectacular this morning, an appropriate send-off on the last metro monday in her overcrowded cars. i wasn't sure if i'd be graced with an outrageously dressed commuter (maybe the gentleman i saw at clyde's in chinatown this weekend lost a bet and had to show up to work wearing the cape and cod piece

oh for fuck's sake, cnn.com

2007-10-22T14:33:00.000-04:00

i am consistently disappointed in you, cnn, much like a midwestern mother trying to pretend her children aren't adults and demanding that the holiday be Just The Way They've Always Been. but this, truly, has taken things in a whole new direction.Martial arts TV star picks presidential candidatechuck norris? CHUCK NORRIS? how is chuck norris' endorsement in the presidential race even on the

metro monday: the It's Almost As If I Never Left Michigan edition

2007-10-22T11:51:00.000-04:00

brown dress shoes that very closely resembled the dock shoes my dad used to wear up north: not awesome.wrinkled, too snug, been-through-the-dryer-one-too-many-times khakis: not awesome.woven leather black belt that obviously did not match aforementioned shoes: not awesome.unironed white button-up shirt, rolled up to your elbows: not awesome.camouflage NRA baseball hat with little images of guns

there's no place like home for the holidays ...

2007-10-18T10:34:00.000-04:00

i was so proud of myself this year, managing to wholly circumvent the annual holiday fight - the one big fight b & i have each year about holiday plans, with each of our families breathing down our necks, angling for an extra hour here or there. this, i thought, was especially impressive given that we are going to michigan for both christmas and thanksgiving - a trip that we usually forgo in

metro monday: the sleepy-head edition

2007-09-24T15:40:00.000-04:00

only one of the three sleeping men this morning on the train was particularly interesting - the other two just looked like really weary travelers that had taken red eyes into dulles. this third fellow, though, he was quality. there was the snoring, which was great, and the sighs one expects to hear from a 2-year-old who has just started to fall asleep after an afternoon of hard play. there was

an open letter to one-year-from-now s

2007-09-24T11:09:00.001-04:00

dear s,i hear that first year associates find themselves doing a number of fairly menial tasks: days of document review, maybe researching contract law in minnesota (again), and of course the document review. maybe you're in the middle of some massive document review right now, maybe you've just finished your third red bull, and maybe your head hurts and your fingers are covered in papercuts.

marble and wine (and private parts)

2007-09-19T11:00:00.000-04:00

of all the cabs i took this summer, i managed to never find myself in one during rush hour. i'm not sure how that's possible, but sitting in the cab last night in rush hour, in a suit, en route to an event with a couple of lawyers at my firm - instead of sitting in class - i didn't mind the stop-and-go one bit. it gave me a great chance to observe the mass of humanity pouring from their

metro monday: the It's September For God's Sake edition

2007-09-17T10:32:00.000-04:00

i'm not going to lie. though i giggled a little when the woman got on the train this morning with the winter coat, i was not surprised. i've been here through enough falls to know that people overreact. only one winter coat on the first really-feels-like-fall morning is expected. overall, my fellow commuters, you were dressed very appropriately. it seems i'm not the only one who has been

live blog: my first interaction with the dc dmv

2007-09-12T16:51:00.000-04:00

4:40 call general information number. english. option 1. listen to fairly short intro.4:40 some random announcement about the website. did you know we have a website?! gasp! read: go to our fucking website you idiot. why are you even calling?4:42 chipper fellow talking about registration requirements for living in the city. ok, got it. then tells me to return to the website for

seriously?

2007-09-12T14:01:00.000-04:00

the following announcement, or some variation thereof, has appeared at least a half dozen times since i started law school in 2005. Law Association for Women Bake Sale - Wednesday! a bake sale. the women lawyers association is having a bake sale. apparently i go to law school in the 1950s.

mega metro monday

2007-09-10T11:26:00.000-04:00

i was a little sad, standing in the long line this morning waiting to get through the one turnstile not being blocked by the tourists trying to shove their little metro cards into the slot where the card comes out. it occurred to me that in a few weeks, when i really become s in the city, my commute won't be peppered by these little gems of tourist frustration. i've seen a lot of tourist

this is fucked up

2007-09-06T18:21:00.000-04:00

my mom has this unfortunate habit of leaving me the following voicemail:s. it's your mom. i need you to call me as soon as you get this message.after calling her back in a tizzy, i learn that she has recently discovered my old cheerleading shorts or that hotplate i took with me to college and she needs to know if she should keep it.i have never gotten one of these voicemails from my dad, though

when I awoke today, suddenly nothing happened/i'm waiting for my real life to begin

2007-09-05T11:06:00.000-04:00

forgive me, colin hay, if you do not approve of the wandering musings i've attached to your lyrics.i'm not sure why the impending move into the city has my stomach tied in knots. it's not the apartment (which is great) nor the location (which could not be better) nor the price (not a steal, of course, but for dc pretty good). it's not that i cannot commit to live in this place for at least a

eye on detroit

2007-08-30T19:39:00.000-04:00

let's start with what is not shocking: a road rage incident in metro detroit. not because i think detroit is more prone to road rage; in fact, i think that drivers in the metro detroit area are infinitely better drivers than drivers around here. (you are crazy, dc drivers. seriously. where the hell did you people learn how to drive? you. are. terrible.)sorry.anyway, let's move to what is

on public restrooms

2007-08-29T22:02:00.000-04:00

not that, you pervs.i had a dream the other night that ej had asked both b and i what annoyed us about the other person while we were at a slumber party in the farmhouse in which my grandmother used to live with her second husband before he died. obviously. anyway, his answer was that i could be vindictive and manipulative (what? moi?) and my answer was that i hate it when we go shopping and he

metro monday: the back to school edition

2007-08-27T17:34:00.000-04:00

i was going to spend my first post-sabbatical metro monday on the following two words and how they should be banned from the english language:fanny pack.and really, who can't write a little something funny about the fanny pack?but since this is the back to school edition, i'm instead going to focus on the following two words, inspired by one of my professors:man boobs.and more specifically, man

The Call

2007-08-24T19:51:00.000-04:00

it came well after business hours, and i had basically assumed any hope of receiving it today was all but lost. but as i sat moping a little in bed, staring blankly at the television - it came. a random 202 number that i did not recognize.the substance of The Call was, i'm not going to lie, not a surprise. i worked hard all summer (well, i mean, as hard as a summer associate can, people!) to

we'll never know what could have been...

2007-08-23T18:46:00.000-04:00

i don't know how well we know each other, dear readers.i realized this as i started crafting this post about how devastated a specific law firm should be that they did not give me an offer last summer. i started writing and then it occurred to me - you all may not know that i dance like a strange amalgamation of elaine benes, ellen, carlton banks and madonna. b likes to call it avant garde, and

national airport cell phone waiting area, i thought i knew you

2007-08-22T08:32:00.000-04:00

oh, national airport cell phone waiting area! just when i thought we had really gotten to know each other, this happens. we've spent some quality time together, you and i ... listening to music or npr, staring aimlessly out the window, waiting for the phone to ring. (this actually sounds a lot like how The Most Annoying Coworker Ever spends his days. curious.) but i never expected this kind

an open letter to the crazy woman that verbally accosted me in giant this afternoon

2007-08-12T17:43:00.000-04:00

dear crazy woman:although i did not get the chance to explain this to you today after you verbally assaulted me at giant, you should know that i parked my grocery cart in front of the stale, iced donuts and left to maneuver the chip aisle for doritos for b (how else, i ask, will he comfort himself when i'm gone this week for nephew-mania 2007?), in no way whatsoever to piss you off. in fact, as

i think cnn is officially dead to me

2007-08-09T14:37:00.000-04:00

i go on vacation for a week, and all of a sudden (or not?), cnn.com is using 4th graders to write headlines:Bertinelli no stranger to f-word, (fat)first of all, how the hell is the diet program for some soap star from 30 years ago worthy of such prominence on cnn.com? and if cnn.com was really so concerned with what the headline would've implied without the (fat) - i guess that she's a slut that

day four

2007-08-09T10:05:00.000-04:00

here i am, in day four of what is supposed to be the glorious month off between fake lawyerdom and the last, irrelevant year of law school and a return to my could-not-be-less-mentally-challenging part-time job working with the-most-annoying-human-being-ever. day four, with the whole of august spread about before me like a blank slate.this is essentially what i have done in the past 72 hours:

the highest caliber

2007-07-19T22:48:00.000-04:00

on an early winter day six and a half years ago, having been tapped to introduce a performer at my undergraduate college, i was practicing my schpiel in the car with my new boyfriend as we drove to campus. i had written the whole grant proposal to get this musician to michigan from israel, and my professor totally screwed me by not even letting me have a lesson with the guy. instead, apparently

man v. wild

2007-07-17T07:33:00.000-04:00

it had all the ingredients for a perfect sunday afternoon: a tigers game, a bottle of chateau chantal, a bottle of our old friend chuck , the best steak sandwiches b has ever made and no work to do. but then it happened. b reached that predictable stage when he's a little buzzed where he says, hm, how about a cigarette?so out onto the balcony we go, after i have adequately pounded on the

chicago (i fell in love again)

2007-07-08T10:32:00.000-04:00

as a kid, i thought chicago had to be the biggest city on earth. and i used to love that it touched my lake ... the lake i swam in every day, back in my little town. i remember holding my breathe as we drove through gary, thinking that it was some kind of moat, some protection for this beautiful city, so that only the people who really wanted to be in chicago could get there.when i was in

did you hear that? it was my my last shred of hope that there is justice in america being torn out of my totally unsurprised hands

2007-07-02T20:33:00.000-04:00

dear neglected internet,let me first be clear: there is no love lost between myself and paris hilton. i think she's a terrible excuse for a twenty-something woman, and i frankly find it insulting that my generation is associated with her. but having said that, all she did was drive without a license a couple times after being caught driving drunk. and initially i thought her jail sentence was

i know, cry me a river.

2007-06-14T22:29:00.000-04:00

am i really so busy that i can't spare a few moments for a blog? or that i can't be bothered to unzip my suitcase from last weekend's quick trip to michigan for a wine festival? or to do the four loads of laundry piled up by the washing machine? or put the iron or this morning's paper away? or drop off those shoes from zappo's we need to ship back at the nearest fedex store?to be fair, i

an open letter to nascar

2007-06-02T20:12:00.000-04:00

dear nascar,let's be honest right out of the gate. i don't care for you. and even though rk will perhaps scowl at me for a few days after this revelation, i'm being honest. i don't like you. and b really doesn't like you. but, i could. really. if you changed. and i have a few suggestions, a few ways i think you could broaden your appeal past the drunken southern white trash crowd.* b

the bizarro world that has become my life

2007-05-30T21:49:00.000-04:00

tonight, my "professor" - after watching a video for the first 45 minutes of class - gave us cookies. what a strange juxtaposition. by day, faux lawyer extraordinaire. going to court to watch oral arguments, being told to "pencil in" the prep for that eight circuit argument next month, hearing the word perfect to describe my work by a partner a half dozen times. by night, a first grader.i'm

and i feel fine

2007-05-27T14:21:00.001-04:00

as i exited my office building onto k street friday evening after my first week as a fake lawyer, the draft of my first project sitting on my desk waiting for me to proofread her tuesday morning, i decided to shuffle my ipod and see what insight my little friend had. i got r.e.m.'s it's the end of the world as we know it (and i feel fine). i nearly stopped in my tracks. it really is, isn't it?

metro monday: better late than never OR fake lawyer and ventriloquism

2007-05-21T21:39:00.000-04:00

did i even ride the train this morning? is it still monday? i have this vague recollection of being in the shower contemplating the fucked up dreams i had last night (including one where i was clinging to a giant stone column in the middle of the ocean, huge waves crashing on me but somehow still hanging on, for example. also my dad was there talking to me. i think he was in a raft. and i

metro monday: the mystery of the ghost train

2007-05-14T11:16:00.000-04:00

i'm a showoff. you see, b doesn't have very good vision, but refuses to go to an eye doctor and get glasses. i, however, have great vision. and whenever possible, i like to read something really far away to remind him that he can't bloody see and for the love of god will he please get some glasses. for example, the metro signs. i like to tell him how long we have to wait for a car of what

i am a watermelon.

2007-05-13T14:53:00.000-04:00

a few weekends ago, when b was in detroit and i was here studying for exams (was that really only a few weeks ago?), b called as i was sitting down for a little dinner.above all the laughter in the background he said, if i was a fruit or a vegetable, what would i be? my grandma thinks you're an artichoke. as it turns out, our brother-in-law has revealed he likes to think of us as fruits or

let's develop a working definition of "breaking news"

2007-05-09T07:57:00.000-04:00

dear nbc4: for some reason, you are my default local news source. it just happened, i just fell into this relationship with you. i wish i could switch to leon harris at abc 7 (sidebar: why the hell did leon harris leave cnn to do local news? anybody? doesn't that seem strange?), but it just doesn't stick. i guess this is a long-term thing, so let's talk about how i want to change you.here

well played, elizabeth from arlington. well played.

2007-05-08T09:13:00.000-04:00

usually i'd never write about something quite so personal... but i'm positive i can lean on you, dear readers, to help me come to terms with the reality that my marriage might be in serious trouble.really, it's all that little witch's fault. elizabeth - her real name! i'm not even giving this woman an initial - maybe you weren't trying to send my marriage into a tailspin when you sent my

metro monday: i wear my sunglasses at night

2007-05-07T09:49:00.000-04:00

monday feels good for the first time in a while, my friends. i'm done with exams, my parents just left after a long-overdue visit, one filled with only a minimum amount of irritation. (it's a little like background radiation with me and my dad - i'll always have to deal with some small amount of annoyance.) but not everyone was feeling so great this morning. dude sitting next to the window was

pumpkin's not my dog

2007-05-03T10:45:00.000-04:00

but i did kinda come up with her name ... and also, b and i openly admit that we full on pressured rk into getting her. we pulled out all the stops ... hey, rk, that guy over there is looking at your dog funny ...hey, rk, i think i heard him say he was going home to ask his wife ...hey, rk, don't you think that your new dog will have no problem being bossed around by jane? ...hey, rk, you go

only in the agony of parting do we look into the depths of love. ~george eliot

2007-05-01T16:51:00.000-04:00

i used to think about going to law school all. the. time. there was the blizzard in january 1999 during which i spent three full days stuck in my kalamazoo townhouse with the nice roommate reading One L together (twice) and talking about how smart and organized and how ... awesome we'd be at law school. we dremt of proving ourselves to a mean socratic professor, all the other brilliant women

metro monday: a little guest blogging never hurt anybody

2007-04-30T16:11:00.000-04:00

because my dear s and b were not with me, i’d like to submit a report of my latest trip to st. martin. also, as dear s is bogged down with the semester, wedding appearances, and W’s follies, it’s time for her good friend to step up and make a guest blog. here it goes: day one wednesday: departure day! towncar was on time (yes I know I said I was going to drive

man this is really gonna cramp my style

2007-04-26T14:43:00.000-04:00

my parents are coming to visit next weekend. luckily, i have a 28-hour trip to michigan and five exams in the 7 days before they arrive, so i don't really have much time to wonder which set of parents will show up: happy, normal parents or manic depressive angry at the world parents. obviously, i'm really pulling for the former. but they haven't been able to visit in about 2 years, so frankly

i love this kid, part 3 - lukitza

2007-04-24T09:26:00.001-04:00

lukitza Originally uploaded by s_inthecity. this is part three in the birthday boy trilogy ... the trifecta of awesome nephews.unlike the bigs M & A, i wasn't there when lukitza was born. my sister-in-law was in labor for weeks, as i recall, before the ball really got rolling. b, who's terribly close with his sister, really couldn't get his head around the fact that his sister was going to

the worst news i've ever gotten in my entire life, ever

2007-04-23T12:28:00.000-04:00

maybe it wasn't b's alarm going off and the repeated snooze-hitting that kept me awake from 5:30 on this morning. maybe it was some sixth sense about today, that it was going to be - and i honestly am not exaggerating - the worst day of my life. now, to be fair, i've had it pretty good all these years. but even still.soon, very soon, i will have to start using words like iraq and war and god

metro monday

2007-04-23T09:31:00.000-04:00

there was a 75-year-old cross dresser on the train this morning. i am so. serious.evidence:shoulders like a line backer.super defined chin.ear hair.man hands.way too much eye make-up for a regular 75-year-old woman.counter-evidence:wedding ring that actually seemed appropriate for a 75-year-old woman.i was sitting behind ... er ... her, so that's basically all i could see when i walked onto the

court issues decision that makes S question her faith in her heretofore favorite branch of government

2007-04-18T10:58:00.000-04:00

i really don't even know what i could say to communicate how appalled i am by this decision.the majority opinion stated that opponents of the act "have not demonstrated that the Act would be unconstitutional in a large fraction of relevant cases" ... read: we're not here to protect every woman's constitutional rights, just some.a non-political body indeed. ignoring decades and decades of clear,

metro monday: and it's not good for your posture, either

2007-04-16T11:07:00.000-04:00

i had actually been wondering a few weeks ago if i'd run through all the possible bad behaviors on the metro. what a fool i was. the possible opportunities for rudeness are, i think we can all agree, endless.a train was pulling in as i sulked down the escalator (it is monday, after all) ... and i'd usually just wait for the next train, but it didn't seem too full (perhaps because of this?) so i

whoever said washington is an endless series of mock palaces clearly built for clerks never spent an evening with us

2007-04-15T10:14:00.000-04:00

as we exited the metro station next to the reagan building, bickering a little about which direction 13th and penn actually was, i found myself dodging hundreds of mini-puddles in the cobblestone sidewalk. now i know that with all this rain, i maybe should have gone with a closed toe option, but they were comfortable and quite simply the best shoes for the new wrap dress i was inaugurating, so i

funk.

2007-04-14T11:47:00.000-04:00

i've been in one.this is what i'm blaming:-stupid weather.-residue from the aforementioned shit-losing in the chuck e. cheese parking lot, and just nephew-missing in general.-five exams that i keep saying i'm really not worried about.-inability to get the perfect sleeping temperature.-stupid weather.-suffering fools.-messy closet.-basket of half-folded laundry that's been at the foot of the bed

breaking up is hard to do

2007-04-11T09:05:00.000-04:00

it's rough when you reach that point in a relationship where you have to, if i may be so bold, shit or get off the can. and i don't mean to make light of it. i mean, even if you know things have to end, getting off the can is no easy task. come on, we've all been there a few times in our lives, no? and sometimes it takes something big and inappropriate and wrong to make it happen. this one

i love this kid, part 2 - the big A

2007-04-09T11:44:00.000-04:00

this is part 2 of a 3 part series for my nephews' birthdays, detailing their superiority to all other nephews.today's subject: the big A. three years ago now, when my sister-in-law was in labor with her second boy, our best friend chris was in town for a rare, short visit with b & i. b & i were both really good friends with chris before we ever met - and the fact that we met, have since married

metro monday: speaking of martinis ...

2007-04-09T10:35:00.000-04:00

dear non-descript woman on the train,a few tips from a friend:i can tell you dye your hair with clairol nice-n-easy. and i'm cool with that. i've been known to bust open a bottle of clairol in the day. and my mom lives on that stuff. i don't judge, really. but please pick a color that is not the precise color of your skin-tone. unless you are trying to look washed-out and ten years older

home sweet home

2007-04-05T10:03:00.000-04:00

b and i spent last weekend in michigan, splitting our too-short itinerary between a birthday party in lansing for the two eldest nephews and a low-key sunday chasing around the little-ist one.i always feel so torn when i'm there and when i'm leaving. i mean, there's nothing like losing your shit in a chuck e. cheese parking lot because your 4-year-old nephew's mad at you for leaving and will

i'm judging you, and i don't like you.

2007-04-02T14:16:00.000-04:00

dear small mousy crazy weird lady who works on my floor,i didn't judge you when, on your first day, you walked into the men's restroom accidentally. i didn't judge you when i heard that you were taking naps on one of the armchairs in the ladies' restroom. during business hours.i didn't judge you when you left your toothbrush in the ladies' restroom. despite the obvious: ew.and i tried very hard

metro monday

2007-04-02T13:00:00.000-04:00

i'll tell you what i wasn't expecting this morning - to see a grown man wearing a baseball jersey and cap on over his dress clothes during my morning commute. listen, i know it's opening day. i know because b was whistling take me out to the ballgame all morning. i know because he's been telling me everyday for the past month how many days were left before opening day. i know because when we

a starbucks named desire, a play in one act

2007-03-28T18:27:00.000-04:00

s exits her favorite starbucks, a tall tea and three law books in tow, and takes a seat at an empty table. she grins slightly as she acknowledges the familiar homeless woman sitting a few tables over. she spreads out her ethics books dutifully, and tries to actually learn the material she's been hearing the professor yammer on about all semester.a few moments pass.a young woman exits the

for the love of all things holy

2007-03-28T10:07:00.000-04:00

ok, you've caught me. i watch american idol. i have always watched american idol. i was on a plane with ruben once from detroit to grand rapids, and it was very exciting. i called my grandmother. i love american idol.you know what i don't love? this guy. i mean, wtf.he can't sing, and last night he showed up on stage wearing a hairstyle based on a sleepover i had with my girlfriends when i was 12

metro monday: ew.

2007-03-26T10:34:00.000-04:00

these are the two winners i was jammed between this morning: sniffles mcfrumpy and man-who-sighs-heavily-into-my-hair. let's start with sniffles.i knew this woman was trouble when she walked up to me on the platform. a train had just passe, so there really weren't too many people waiting. but, despite all societal norms that suggest she stand a reasonable distance from me so as to not intrude

alberto's: a love story

2007-03-25T12:41:00.000-04:00

by and large, i am sorely disappointed with the culinary character of dc ... the dearth of bakeries, mom and pop restaurants, decent sausage (like fresh kielbasa), cheap clean diners for breakfast ... the city just seems to lack a personality when it comes to food.but there is one gem, a diamond in the rough, a stand-out that has captured our affection. one place that i unabashedly adore and

i love this kid, part 1 - M

2007-03-20T12:53:00.000-04:00

anyone who knows me, i'm sure, quietly complains behind my back about how much i talk about my nephews.obviously, i don't give a shit.my nephews are awesome. they are brilliant and gorgeous and loving and pretty much perfect in every way. i adore them and hate being away from them. the older they get, the harder i cry when i leave. it's not pretty.this is to serve as a preface to this and the

metro monday: metro - a promising second career for those with anger management issues?

2007-03-19T10:21:00.000-04:00

originally, i was going to blog about the ginormous blue suitcase that was hanging out on the train sans owner right in front of the door ... about how no one seemed to mind ... about how big an explosive device could be in there ... about how i thought about moving to another car of the train for about a nanosecond before immediately deciding there was no way i was giving up my seat.but then, i

i have fucking ruined our washing machine: part three (in which the glorious misadventures of s and her crappyass rugs concludes)

2007-03-16T17:37:00.000-04:00

yeah, the maintenance guys fixed our washing machine. and that's about it. i blogged with the word fuck a whole lot over kind of not a big deal.but that's ok. fuck is my favorite swear. fuck fuck fuck. i would like to say that if i still lived in a charles e. smith building (well, i certainly wouldn't have a washing machine, but still) this ordeal would have taken weeks, people. weeks. i

i have fucking ruined our washing machine: part two

2007-03-16T09:36:00.000-04:00

the draino didn't help one bit. strangely, neither did the half(ish) bottle of wine, though to be fair, that actually wasn't for the washing machine so much as because of the washing machine. b kindly assured me that he would have thrown those crappyass rugs in the washing machine too - any reasonable person would have. because, let's be honest, who the hell is going to handwash $3 kitchen

i have fucking ruined our washing machine: part one

2007-03-15T20:32:00.000-04:00

let me catch you up to this point. b is at a happy hour which i declined to attend in favor of staying at home, reveling in the fact that i didn't bother to shower before class today, clean this messy apartment, do some laundry, drink some wine, in general just chill out.at approximately 6:32 i realized that there was a problem. the new, cheap but cute rugs we bought from target (like a million

on bicyclists and gay marriage ...

2007-03-15T09:36:00.000-04:00

maybe someone can enlighten me (as well as the reader that suggest i address this really annoying segment of the dc population) about whether bicyclists in dc have their own set of special rules that state they can be total assholes and ignore all traffic rules and common courtesy ... because if the city council has passed some sort of legislation that allows this ridiculous behavior, i would

the one time there's no motorcade ...

2007-03-13T19:44:00.000-04:00

i'm sure i've written before about the motorcade starbucks, at 20th and penn, where i can't spend 12 minutes without a motorcade racing by. it's somewhat charming, or at the least very washington. sometimes i like being reminded that this is the seat of power. importance by proximity, or something equally flattering to my ego.today, i really wish that there had been a motorcade. i know

metro monday: this crappy morning brought to you by congress

2007-03-12T10:20:00.000-04:00

sure, sure. spring forward would have happened eventually. but in march? and to save energy? b and i were up until midnight last night, with the lights and tv on, and both of our laptops in bed with us. i struggle to see how much energy was saved there. spring-forward-itis definitely had a palpable presence on the train this morning. the three commuters closest to me that had window seats were

white blood cells, my unsung heroes, please come back. i know i have taken you for granted, but i'll change. promise.

2007-03-07T17:36:00.000-05:00

some of you may remember #4 of my new year's resolutions: chill the fuck out. i thought i'd been doing ok, but after this week, i'm not so sure. some women retain water. like my sister-in-law. that woman is always (claiming to be) bloated. it's just her thing. and i retain stress. i think i just carry it around with me, even when there's nothing to stress out about or, if there is, nothing

metro monday xiv: an open letter to boris

2007-03-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

dear boris:i noticed you the second i stepped on the train, your beady eyes peering out from those 1980s reading glasses. i think the shades of grey and dirt brown in your mangy fur hat really accentuated the dullness of your features. but boris, why did you think it was ok to take up both seats as you read the paper? boris, didn't you realize it was rush hour? as i watched you stick your thumb