Home. Finally.
I had a great week in Seattle. Work was, well work.
The real fun started on Thursday.
By the time I wrapped things up at work, Mom had arrived. We spent the afternoon at the Seattle Art Museum. The museum had a great photography exhibition about race. It was interesting because it looked at the issue from different angles. It was unexpected and definitely thought provoking. The museum�s native art collection was also fantastic. We did a little shopping in the museum store. I bought Rianna some art books. She loved the last one I bought her. I also bought some African Knowledge Cards to bequeath to the Judge�s incoming law clerks. If they brush up on their African knowledge they�ll have a better time of the lunch time chats. I wish someone would have told me that.
Friday was spent walking all over Seattle. We went to the Space Needle and Pike�s Market. We walked along the waterfront. We had dessert instead of dinner at Dahlia�s Lounge. It was a good day. We were exhausted by the time we returned to the room.
On Saturday, we took a day trip to Victoria, B.C. We saw the Butchart Gardens. They were beautiful. We shopped and walked and watched and generally had a great time. The boat ride back to Seattle was a bit choppy. Mom ended up slightly sick. But she was right as rain the next day.
Sunday we went back to the Market and had a delicious brunch at a small french caf�. Our market purchases included fruit, cheese, and wine. Our carry-on bag was a party waiting to happen!
So, yeah. Seattle was wonderful. But it�s still good to be home.
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MM has been in a pissy mood since last week. She didn�t say more than a half a dozen words on the flight back. Two and half hours of silence. Yeah. I�d say she�s pissy.
To be honest, I don�t much care if she�s in a foul mood. What�s annoying is that she expects the world to ebb and flow according to her mood. That�s not going to happen. If you�re in a bad mood, deal with it. But don�t expect casual friends, acquaintances, and co-workers to order their day around your mood. Put on a game face, dammit, and at least be civil.
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For some reason, I feel kind of dizzy today. As if I�m wearing someone else�s glasses. Maybe I have an ear infection. Or perhaps I�m experiencing some sort of delayed motion sickness. In any case, it�s very disconcerting.
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I stole borrowed this from serenaville.
1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says:
". . . reflected in the opinion rule, hearsay doctrine . . . ."
From McCormick on Evidence (because the law-geek in me just can�t write a quote, even a partial one, without attributing it to its source).
2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?:
The open space between my desk and the window.
3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?:
The �Today Show� while I was getting ready for work this morning.
4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is:
1:10 p.m.
5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?:
1:43 p.m.
What the hell happened to the last half hour?!?!
6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?:
The music playing on my LaunchCast station (currently some fast jig by Gaelic Storm). The traffic outside. The hum of the copy machine. The Judge�s secretary working in the file room, unpacking boxes from the Seattle trip. The click-click of the keyboard.
7: When did you last step outside? What were you doing?:
This morning. Walking from the parking garage to the courthouse.
8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?:
My work e-mail inbox.
My personal e-mail inbox.
The �How Appealing� blog.
Didn�t look, but listened to my telephone messages at work.
9: What are you wearing?:
Black slacks, a black and cream colored blouse, black heeled loafters (seeing a theme here?) and eyeglasses.
10: Did you dream last night? What about?:
Yes. I can�t remember everything. But there were bats. Lots of them. Yuck!
11: When did you last laugh?
Last night. Playing with Carissa. I missed the little crapper. Did I mention it was good to be home?
12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?:
West Wall: windows
North Wall: book shelves holding assorted law books and work files
East and South Walls: nothing. They�re painted institutional white and I haven�t hung a thing on them. There�s no point. This is just a one-year gig.
13: Seen anything weird lately?:
Weirdness abounds. The most recent example was the middle-aged woman (calling her middle-aged is a generous characterization on my part) walking out of the courthouse wearing a skirt that would rival Ally McBeal�s wardrobe in its, um, brevity. Where the hell are the fashion police when you need them?
14: What do you think of this quiz?:
It was an enjoyable way to waste a few minutes in my continuing quest to put off as long as possible the work that�s spilling out of my inbox.
15: What is the last film you saw?:
I saw �Veronica Guerin� on DVD before I left last week. It was good.
16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?:
A car for the Brother. He really needs one. After that, I�d book that long awaited and much needed vacation to Scotland and Ireland.
17: Tell me something about you that I don't know:
Every time I travel, my garment bag gets opened and searched by TSA, and I get one of those lovely notes saying that, in the interest of security, my personal items were rifled through, but that everything has been carefully put back. I suspect that the reason my bag gets the special treatment, rather than the standard run through the x-ray machine, is that my G-spot vibrator shows up on the x-ray machine and the brilliant TSA employees can�t tell the difference between a handgun and a vibrator. Really folks, my vibrator may be threatening to the average male ego, but it poses no threat to national security.
18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?:
I would pour all available research money into finding a way to make chocolate calorie-free. No, on second thought, even though I think the world would be greatly served by calorie-free chocolate (imagine how happy everyone would be � in fact, calorie-free chocolate may just be the only way to achieve world peace) the world would be even better served if Bush lost the election. So, yeah, I�d be willing to fix the election.
19: Do you like to dance?:
I love to dance. I�ve been taking ballroom, latin, and swing dance lessons for several years, and I recently took up bellydancing (and, yes, you do need a healthy sense of humor to do this).
20: George Bush:
See question 18.
21: Imagine your first child is a girl, What do you call her?:
The thought of having a child has just rendered my mind a complete blank. I�m definitely not ready for motherhood, no matter what I�d call the kid.
21: Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?:
*checking brain* Yup. Still blank. Now there�s a strange ringing noise, too. The hotel that I stayed at in Seattle provided a goldfish if you wanted one in your room. I killed mine. I�ve been totally conflicted over whether or not to get a dog. The dead goldfish didn�t help with this dilemma. I�m definitely not ready for motherhood.
22: Would you ever consider living abroad?:
As Serena so aptly put it: OH, HEH-HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL YES!
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In order to put off just a little longer that over-flowing in-box, here are some Unconscious Mutterings:
- Condemn::Judge
- Promiscuous::Sex
- Pro-life::Pro-choice
- Mona Lisa::Smile
- Crown::Royal
- Mumble::Enunciate
- Hack::Cough
- Diet::Failure
- Introduction::Beginning
- Latin America::Diverse
Listening To: Damien Rice, "The Blower's Daughter"
Reading: e-mails, lots and lots of e-mails
Feeling: good to be home