We Ride Bikes

Christmas Eve

It's Christmas Eve, and I am waiting for Meredith to arrive back from her sister's so we can go to her mom's house for the night. I just got out of work a lot earlier than expected, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

I have spent the past few days trying to decide where I want to go to law school. I don't really know what I expected, but this is becoming an almost overwhelming task. These are the times when I begin to question my dedication, my passion and my capacity. I am ridiculously susceptible to self-doubt and the weak links in my bravado seem to become large gaping holes in my self-confidence.

This is when it helps to stop and remember why I want to do what I want to do. Inspiration can be drawn from a TV show, a movie, a quote, a book or simply looking around and seeing people working. So if you will forgive me...it's inspiration time:

So why? Why do I want to do whatever it is that I want to do?

I want to help people, I want to teach people, and I want to empower people. Injustice is a threat, a threat that lives and breathes in our legal system. I do not think that I can eliminate it, I simply hope to offset some of it for a while. I want to go into labor law, because we have a system that rewards companies for breaking the law. Free markets, unchecked, will simply punish the workers and reward efficiency at all costs. Companies that choose to abide by the laws by not hindering workers that seek to organize, negotiating with that union, or by providing a living wage and a safe work environment simply cannot compete in the unchecked open markets of a big business lead government. Companies that break the law can provide a cheaper product even with any "punishment" should any government attempt to enforce any laws. This is simply not right. This is injustice. Allowing businesses to dictate government policy in order to obtain more favorable business conditions to exploit the workers of this or any other country is inherently undemocratic.

Ok, well it didnt help as much as I thought it might....goodnight friends, have a wonderful Christmas eve and an even better Chrismtas day. Talk to you soon.

How do you know it's the holiday season?

Yesterday on NPR, Glen Mitchell of the Glen Mitchell Show was talking about how he always knows when the holidays are here, and it got me thinking about things that I love about the holidays.

I love pie. Really only pecan and pumpkin, but with a cup of coffee and...

Gin Rummy. Actually it started as various poker games when I was a kid but for the past ten or more years its been strictly gin. I haven't been home to play often enough, but when my extended family gets together they are some gin rummy playin fools. It's a good time.

There are things that I could do all year round maybe once or twice a month or more, but around christmas they seem to mean more to me. Or they seem to be better, whether they smell better or taste better or feel better, I don't know...for example, Bailey's over ice is good, but in December, Bailey's over ice feels cozy.

I know I have repeatedly said that I want to get out of Texas to a state that actually has seasons, but I love that for the most part the weather during the holidays isn't TOO cold. I have rarely seen a white christmas, but I enjoy that it doesnt get ridiculously cold here.

I love the smells of the holidays. Spices, food, pine, cinnamon, chocolate and all the others. I miss the smell of a fresh christmas tree. I haven't smelled it in my own home in years, and I miss it.

One christmas I got the Rent Soundtrack as a gift. Ever since then it has said christmas to me. Christmas music is good and this is the first time in years that I haven't gotten sick of it by mid-December, but (and this is lame I realize) for me the rent soundtrack is a christmas staple.

Regardless of whether I am working and/or going to school I love how lazy the holidays can be. Staying up late, sleeping even later, pajamas, and shuffling around the house in socks, video games and reading...just reminds me of being a kid.

Christmas movies. Don't get me wrong It's a Wonderful Life is a good movie and all, but we never watched it around my house. But A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, Disney's A Christmas Carol, and Scrooged are all movies that I actually remember being around my house.

One of my most favorite things of all time is being in the living room of a home that is decorated for christmas, and seeing all of the gifts and knickknacks and christmas tree decorations but only by the light of the christmas tree lights (which we left on all night on christmas eve). I just remember savoring those moments when i was younger. Standing in the dark with only the Christmas tree lights on...again, cozy.

I am sure there are tons of little things that I see and notice during the holidays that I can't think of right now, and there are a few that I can but don't want to give up. Funny as it sounds, they're mine. You can't have 'em.

An early Christmas present

Immediately before heading to work today I checked my email and I got my LSAT score. It's certainly not as high as I had hoped but about where I thought I might end up. It's not good enough to get in to a top tier law school (we knew we wouldn't get in to those anyway), and it's not good enough for the second tier law school either(we were kind of hoping we might be able to get into one of those)....so we are going to shoot for that third tier and maybe just a touch higher. Affirmative action is our friend and we are going to attempt to exploit it to our advantage, though I would hate to take away some spot of some "more" deserving "white" person....btw, kenneth I am glad you decided to go to graduate school, that is just one less person I have to compete with. I have started looking at schools that seem to have my LSAT score and GPA in their incoming student profile...I am still looking for a labor/industrial relations program or concentration...its not looking good, I think with the declining union membership across the country law schools are foregoing that part of the legal education for intellectual property those have now become a dime a dozen, which, sadly, does not interest me in the slightest.

Anyway, we had our roommate/Aaron and Kathryn gift exchange last night. Good times as always. I received some handerkerchiefs, a logic puzzle book specifically designed for the "office", and a kick ass Texas Rangers logo Zippo lighter, how cool is that my friends?....Thanks again Aaron.

I think that may be it for now. I will now go back to deciding where I would like to go to law school. Seattle? Chicago? Baltimore? Boston? Houston? Lubbock? These, my friends, are questions that will need to be answered.

December 22, 1919
Amid a strike for union recognition by 395,000 steelworkers, approximately 250 “anarchists,” “communists,” and “labor agitators” were deported to Russia, marking the beginning of the so-called “Red Scare.”

December 23, 1908
AFL officers found in contempt of court for urging a labor boycott.

Okay, on that note, if I don't update before then, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy (and safe) New Year!

How good is James Taylor? I know, I know, but this album is so good. You know, I've never been, but in my mind, I am going to Carolina with him....it just kills me...

I forgot to add this to the last post

Okay I finally figured out the last two books of the Top Ten Books I read this year, I realized that this is going to be the third book on this list that I have started before this year and never finished and finally started and completed it this year:

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris: I can't believe I never finished it before, it goes so quickly and it is absolutely hilarious. He is a genius, whats funnier than walking into a bathroom to a huge turd swirling in the bowl that won't flush, it only quivers and seems to be taunting your inevitable embarrasement....Anyway, it's really really funny, I can't wait to read naked and the one about dressing your family in I cant remember but its his latest and I can't wait to read them.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: I debated putting this one on the list as I have read it before and re-read it this summer, but I determined that my only criteria were that it had to be read between Jan 1 and Dec 31st 2004 and that it had to be a book...It always just floors me. It seems to trivialize it to call it a coming of age novel, and "classic" fails to capture the humanity of the story. Sometimes I need a book or a movie like that to remind myself that in the end all we have are our principles and our own consciences and I know that I am awfully quick to give in on some, often only out of convenience....my daddy always told me that true character is what we have when no one is looking. He's not quite Atticus, but it's true and all too often I forget that.

There it is, it took a week but I did it, I came up with the ten best books that I read this year. If you get a chance to pick one up and read one, I really recommend that you do.

Okay, now I really am going to go. I hope you have a good tuesday. I am off tomorrow and we are having our Roommate/Aaron and Kathryn gift exchange. I am really looking forward to getting my gift from Aaron, I have no idea what it is, he said it was a lump of coal, but I can't imagine him getting that on ebay.

A long weekend

It was as you can see above, a long weekend, but not in the sense that there is an extra day off, more in the sense that I spent the weekend at my stupid job. It's really not as bad as I make it out to be, I mean it could be a lot worse, and I make enough money to support my drug habit, so I guess I ought to stop bitchin...So far I have started this day off pretty lazily, but I had one of those nights last night where all of your dreams are so realistic and then you wake up and feel like you are in a haze and don't know if your dream was real or what...I actually dreamt about the restaurant where I worked in Lubbock, only people from here were there, you were there and you were there and well there's no place like home....sorry I just realized that other people's dreams are rarely as entertaining as your own and so I will spare everyone the mundane details.

In other news, there is no other news. I hope everyone had a good weekend and I hope everyone has an even better week. Hanukah is almost if not already over, then Christmas immediately followed by Kwanzaa, so I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and I will update more later with more exciting details from my fabulous and glamorous life....

After work the thoughts get REALLY random

Ok here's what's goin on these days....I know it's lame but everyone else has wierd stuff that they like so here goes, I have a wierd thing for bags, like messenger bags or backpacks and things like that. I have been looking for about a year and half or more for a bag that converts from a backpack to a messenger bag that will fit my laptop. I want one that is waterproof and rugged enough to handle the everyday rigors of my life (laugh I know you want to, but I abuse my stuff, I dont know how, but I do). It also has to have enough pockets for my stuff, you know, the computer, and if I am riding the bus or the train I am reading a book and listening to a CD player so I have to have a place to put that stuff, I mean we are talking serious stuff....anyway, I found it. It converts between briefcase/messenger bag to a backpack and its called the Transcontinental it rocks - The Transcontinental .  So I am pricing it, its expensive i realize but would be so worth it. Problem is.....my computer won't fit. Bitches.

But I found a bag that is just as cool not as expensive and my computer fits in side a sleeve that fits inside the bag like a glove - The Seattle Messenger .

Its $80 dollars and the sleeve that actually holds the computer is $50. They are pretty cool. I think I may try and buy them for myself for graduation.

So there's that, also I want everyone to hear about my new browser, my brotha from anotha mutha Kenneth hooked me up with a new pop-up free tab-ful browser that kicks ass. Mozilla Firefox is truly the greatest browser that I have ever used, granted I have only used internet explorer and netscape but still it rocks. There is only one window and within that window are tabs under which new sites open. I can skin it, meaning I can change the way it looks. It has made my web surfing a pleasure and not a beating that the pop ups and what not were making my life...anyway check it out, you will not be disappointed... the best browser on the planet!

Ok I think that may be it for tonight....I know I have posted twice today, its crazy, I am a blog updating fool. Talk to all of you soon.

It's Wednesday, and we missed West Wing

Okay I remebered a few more books to add to my Top 10 books of 2004...

My Life by Bill Clinton: I know some people didn't like it...I enjoyed it and appreciated it. He gave me enough numbers and politics to satisfy the policy wonk in me, and did not give me the salacious details that I never wanted to know in the first place as quite frankly they are none of my business. It was a long but good read.

The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton by Joe Klein: what can I say I went through a whole Clinton thing, this one was good, but not as good as My Life. He explains without apologizing or excusing him. Both of them together helped me have a greater understanding of his presidency and understanding the New Democrats, granted the Clintonian Democrats are still a little too conservative for my tastes (free trade, pro-capital punishment et al.) these books cleared up a lot for me.

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenriech: I wanted to read this for a long time and finally read it this year. It was not quite as good as I had hoped it would be, but she brings to light a lot of things that should be talked about more often and with more passion.

Again, I will update more as I remember them.

Today Girlfriend (Meredith) was offered a position as the Volunteer Coordinator with the Rape Crisis Center of Collin County. We are very proud of and excited for her. It is a great job for her. I am happy to see her doing what she wants to be doing, advocating for those who cannot necessarily do it for themselves. As a volunteer coordinator she will train and schedule the volunteers that work for the center helping survivors in the short and/or long term aftermath of a sexual assault. My dad always told me "if you arent part of the solution, then you are part of the problem", though sometimes it was "if you're not angry, then you arent paying attention." The moral of the story is, as much as she has been doing for the movement she will now be doing more. I'm so proud of her.

When I see other people doing so well it makes me wonder where I am supposed to be going.

(Quick sidebar: I don't believe in destiny/fate because I believe that it removes free will from the equation. But when I think about the idea of knowing something, and knowing something so deeply like you know your own name it is the overwhelming feeling that the way things are, have some sort of...I don't want to say plan....and I have never FELT the presence of a higher being, but I FEEL, like I HEAR my name, even when someone isn't talking TO me, I FEEL that there is some THING that I am SUPPOSED to be doing, like I have a destiny....don't get me wrong, I don't have delusions of grandeur, I don't expect that I am destined for greatness. In fact, I barely have delusions of adequacy, I have simply always felt that there is something, some job, some task that I am destined to accomplish....maybe I'm wrong, maybe I've already done it, maybe it's not even out there....but how do you explain feelings that you feel when you feel them....)

So when I see Meredith getting the job she wants so badly that she can taste it and she uses sheer will power to get, like Aaron can draw the card he needs at the right time...and I see Kenneth deciding what he wants to study and knowing at the end of the line he will be doing what he wants to be doing, and Emilie defending her masters thesis and saying I've decided to go to school to do this....I think....I have never had a single goal that I sought to achieve. Even now 10 credit hours from graduating college...when i started school, the second time, the graduation seemed so remote a possibility that I never thought about how it would end, I just...started. I had every intention of going to law school with no real idea of what it would take or how i to go about getting in or anything....granted that changed several times and now, of course, I am planning on going to law school.

But to do what? to go where?

These of course are not questions that MUST be answered, but are simply out there.

Oh and a quick shout out to my main man Kenneth who is taking the GRE tomorrow...If you believe in a god or a goddess or God, or Allah or Yahweh or your elders, or those that have come before us, or as he likes to say your uncle in the sky, please put in a good word for him, or otherwise think good thoughts for him.

A long thought goodnight

Now that school is temporarily out I have kept myself busy by working. Exciting I realize, but only for me since tending bar at a sorry excuse for a restaurant is not exactly great reading.

One of the more interesting things that has happened is Kenneth, one of my really good friends  graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas. I was in attendance of said ceremony and can only say that if Kenneth's life story is written, I know that I would be in this chapter of his life and the mere prospect of that happening makes me proud, both of him and the fact that the respectively chosen paths have brought us here.

I think that I have reached a point in my life where the people that I see and talk to everyday have something that I admire about them. This may seem like a silly analogy but in Oceans 11 they each have their own expertise that they bring to the table; individually they are not as capable as they are as a unit. I have surrounded myself with people that have something or several things that I respect, appreciate and seek to achieve. It's funny that we laugh and kid each other about any number of things, but in the end I look up to all of my friends.

Which brings me to another interesting thing...I watched Home for the Hoidays last night. Great movie, truly under-rated and brilliant. The story, directing (Jodie Foster), acting (Holly Hunter, Robert Downey, Jr., Anne Bancroft and I know I know don't laugh Steve Gutenberg). Anyway, I appreciate that my siblings are my friends. It strikes me as odd when I think that other people aren't like that, then I realize, that we are probably the wierd ones....

I have just read Jazz by Toni Morrison and have started Sula, I am looking forward to reading her other works maybe next summer as school will be starting soon, limiting my reading for pleasure to almost none. Stephen King did a top ten books he read this past year so I am going to try and do the same....in no particular order....

Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens: I started it several times and never finished it. I finally started and finished it this summer. I know it sounds lame, but I love getting caught up in his language, just a good read.

Jazz by Toni Morrison: She is a master of the English language. So elegant, yet pedestrian, beautiful w/o being flowery. I never fully understand or appreciate jazz, poetry or art (like paintings or sculpture) - but her writing can affect me like I imagine people who love those things are affected by them. She inspires me to make words my tools and trade.

Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin: again started and never finished but finally did and is really an interesting read. Plus it goes really quick too.

A Question of Choice by Sarah Weddington: her memories of fighting the good fight for choice, in the courthouse and the statehouse, she is an inspiration.

Lies and the Lying Liars that Tell Them by Al Franken: its a fair and balanced look at the right. Really good, really funny, and interesting, even though we all seek only to confirm our beliefs and not to challenge them.

Thats only five...I will have to think about other books that I have read this year... I will get back to you on that.

In the meantime, I think I may be about ready to go to bed, Santa is wrapping Girlfriend's Christmas presents tomorrow and maybe going to the store. I like the grocery store....its soothes me....Okay now this is just getting boring. GOod night all....oh you know I haven't done this in a while....

Today in Labor History:
December 14
Daniel DeLeon, socialist scholar and labor organizer, born - 1852

Wow, really where to begin

Well it has been a long long few weeks.

However, I am finally done with the fall semester. I was taking 15 hours...and one of my classes had a test and a paper, one class had a test, another a paper, and two had optional finals that I did not need to take. I finished all of that last tuesday...very exciting.

Then I took the LSAT on saturday....oh my god what a beating that was. I think I could've done better, but i will take what I can get at this point. As girlfriend says, the hardest part about getting into law school is over. Now I just have to write a personal statement, and fill out the actual applications. I am sure it will be pretty hard writing all of those checks for application fees, but i guess you do what you gotta do.

Oh and I am predicting, lets see, i know i have 1 A so the rest will go as follows, feel free to jump in on the guessing....another A, an A-, a B (maybe B+) then a B- (stoopid global politics). and on the LSAT i am guessing less than a 160 but hopefully higher than a 150 but i am honestly not sure. Okay well its 10:30 on Sunday night, and evidently there is a Jim Carrey movie waiting to be seen by myself, meredith and a few of the roomies maybe - but more importantly i think there is a bottle of bailey's calling my name in the kitchen....Bailey's is SO good.

okay well it was nice talkin to you, maybe we can have lunch later this week, and don't forget to tell your mom i said hi....