June 29, 2011

I can be pretty sentimental.  It's easy for me to attach a meaningful thought to most situations, which can make it difficult to appreciate something for what it is, rather than what it represents.  In this vein, when I bought my car three years ago, I made sure to take a picture to celebrate the occasion.  I was so excited and so nervous at the same time; I don't think I've ever been a better driver than the day I drove my new car off that lot.  Despite remembering all of this in such detail, I was certain it wouldn't tug at my heartstrings to sell this car today.  I love a nice change of pace, but it didn't occur to me what kind of a shift this one would be.  For example, I didn't realize I would be wondering what the twenty-something from Chicago has done to my perfectly maintained car in the twelve hours since he bought it from me (Did he change the presets?  And if so, did he judge me for my selection of radio stations?).  I'll adjust to the change, certainly, but I'm sure I'll also keep an eye out for my old set of wheels cruising around Austin for a while as well. 

June 28, 2011

Getting lost every once in a while isn't a bad thing.  For a little change of pace, we went to McKinney Falls State Park tonight for an easy run on some unfamiliar trails.  We, thankfully, brought a map just in case the trails weren't well marked, which just so happened to be the case.  As we started off across the falls, we turned too soon and found ourselves at a dead end.  Retracing our steps, we found what we thought was the missed turnoff.  Rather than finding ourselves on the worn trail we'd originally intended to run, we came across a small oasis of sorts, especially when compared to the waterless, dry, dusty trails we've been trampling on at the Greenbelt.  Somehow this area has been able to retain water and support the surrounding trees and plants despite the drought and heat wave the rest of the state has been experiencing.  After pausing for a moment to appreciate the beauty, we ambled off across the black, scorchingly hot rock of the falls again to find the actual trail. 

June 27, 2011

This is getting ridiculous.  Four tumbles in two weeks?  Really?  I seem to keep finding myself right in the middle of amateur hour on the trails, crashing to the ground, skidding on my side, stomach, or back across the rocks, and finally come to a stop as my newest scrape starts to swell and bleed.  Tonight I came home with this gem of a raspberry, which has since swollen to the size of a hockey puck.  I could blame it on the heavy lunch and my mistake of eating falafel right before the run, yet again.  I could also blame it on the oppressively still humidity and heat this evening, which had my head reeling in delirium regardless of how much I hydrated.  Or I could blame it on not picking up my feet or paying any sort of attention to where I was running, which is the more likely story.  Hopefully this tumble will teach me some sort of lesson so I don't find myself perpetually covered in scars and bruises.

June 26, 2011

Have you ever been in a store of some kind and seen something you immediately knew you had to buy?  There was simply no question about it.  In fact, you were not quite sure how you had lived for so long without this thing in your life.  As I was perusing antique stores in Montrose this afternoon, I saw this bust of Homer from across the store and experienced the very moment I have just described.  I wouldn't call myself a fan of Homer, per se; I read and enjoyed the Odyssey, but rumors are afloat that Homer wasn't even the author of the epic poem.  Regardless, this fantastic nugget of plaster is now in my possession and life seems much more complete.  I was also lucky enough to snag an amazing oriental rug after experiencing this moment for a second time in one day.  The rug was a bit more difficult to transport than Homer, but it was well worth the schlepping.  It really ties the room together.

June 25, 2011

If I had spent half as much time and energy on studying ten years ago as I did on the Backstreet Boys, Andy Roddick, and John Mayer, I'm almost certain I could have gone to Harvard.  Alas, I did what any thirteen year old girl does and became irrationally devoted to ridiculous celebrities.  For reasons on which we may only speculate, the Backstreet Boys teamed up with New Kids on the Block and went on tour this year.  Just about twenty-four hours before the show, my mom and I decide this is an opportunity we could not miss.  Within minutes, eleventh row tickets were purchased, travel plans were made, and incredulous giggling ensued.  Now, I'd like to think I'm a much more rational person these days than I was when I was thirteen.  This, apparently, isn't the case when I'm staring at the "band" I was such a fan of ten years ago.  Perhaps I can say I was just playing along, screaming wildly because, well, why wouldn't you when you're watching a boy band?  Isn't that just part of the experience?  Regardless of the explanation for my sudden screaming attack each time the Backstreet Boys walked on stage, tonight was quite a blast from the past!

June 24, 2011

Having successfully drawn the ire of water conservationists, I decided to move on to the arborists today.  I'm working on a monster of a project at work, canvassing certain kinds of cases across all eleven federal circuits, gathering opinions, orders, pleadings, and the like to develop a litigation strategy.  If it isn't yet apparent, although I am certain it is, lawyers and judges generally are not short-winded communicators.  A number of the documents I collected were nearly 900 pages in length, just as an example.  Today I finally finished compiling, printing, hole punching, and organizing the research by circuit and case.  I don't think the karma of destroying so many trees in one swoop has caught up with me yet, as I made it through the process without one paper cut.  Maybe the karma will materialize with an unfortunately timed fallen tree.  We shall see.  Rather, maybe the karma is my next task: I have to read through it all.  Regardless, so sorry for the carbon footprint everyone . . . my bad.

June 23, 2011

It is a testament to our personalities that we managed to have a pleasant evening at our girls' sushi happy hour tonight.  We've been to Kenichi before and had a great time with wonderful rolls, seemingly bottomless sake bombs, and perfectly great service.  Tonight, however, was simply bizarre.  Before the others showed up, three of us ordered drinks, yet only two came; it seemed the waiter had simply ignored Kate's order.  Recognizing these things happen, we moved on with the evening.  However, as we ordered our sushi, the waiter, again, seemed to be oblivious to Kate sitting at the table and had to be flagged down to take her order.  One would think this would jar him into being more attentive, but this was not the case: he never put Kate's order in at the sushi bar.  The entire ordeal was incredibly strange and we can't quite figure out the basis of it, but we were able to have a great time with another in spite of the oversights.  Needless to say, however, we'll be choosing a different sushi spot for the next girls' night out.  Uchi, anyone?

June 22, 2011

I really have a very tough life.  After work, I had to find parking at Zilker Park, making my way through the throngs of people going to Blues on the Green, so I could go run on a meticulously maintained hike and bike trail on the edge of downtown and along Lady Bird Lake.  Then I had to meander down South First, across the bridge and to Kate's apartment, which is precariously close to some serious park festivities of all sorts.  For dinner, I had to weigh my options at the South Congress trailer park eatery, deciding between sandwiches, Thai food, a variety of fried deliciousness, or an old fashioned slider and fries.  It was an extremely trying task, but I finally was able to settle on Mighty Cone's veggie slider and spicy fries.  We then trekked into downtown, with the golden pink and blue sunset distracting us from our travels as we crossed the bridge.  After discovering a new movie theater and some incredibly intriguing stores, we were then faced with more decisions: mango frozen yogurt with strawberries?; peanut butter frozen yogurt with oreos?; a mixture of frozen yogurt flavors topped with everything else available?  Again, it was a taxing decision, but I eventually settled on cookies 'n cream with fresh berries.  Another trek across Lady Bird Lake, along with an all-too-gorgeous nighttime skyline awaited us.  Someone please remind me why I live in this city again?  For the life of me, I can't quite fathom the answer these days.

June 21, 2011

Lately it seems I fill this water filter pitcher four times or more a day, which I suppose is usually a good thing.  This time of year, though, I'm fairly certain water conservation enthusiasts would give me extremely dirty looks if they knew how much water I use on a daily basis.  This pitcher is such a life saver, though, so I really wouldn't be bothered if I actually drew their ire.  It's the best ice cold water I've found in the city (I'm quite the water expert, so you can trust my judgment.).  Every night, on my way home from the Greenbelt, a little imaginary lightbulb pings on as I remember I filled the pitcher before I left earlier, meaning I have plenty of ice cold, crisp water waiting for me when I get home.  I find myself so thirsty that it is all I can do to not to blow through stop signs and completely disregard speed limits.  Five minutes after I get home, after draining two or three glasses of water, on comes the faucet as I have to fill it up again.  So sorry for the drought, everyone . . . my bad.

June 20, 2011

There I am, minding my own business at Crown & Anchor with some friends, when I realize I have inadvertently sat at what seems to have been marked as my own personal seat.  Years and years ago, my best friend nicknamed me "Mik," although I can't for the life of me remember how on earth it came about.  Ever since, the nickname bubbles up in the oddest of places.  For example, my niece seems to have adopted a version of it, calling me "Meek," which we think is just a mix up of the first and last letters of my name, as in "Mik."  Kate, the creator of "Mik," was instantly charmed by Campbell's adoption of the moniker.  And then tonight, of all tables and spots to choose from, here I find myself in front of a "Mik" etching.  Hearing or seeing "Mik," or any of its variations, always warms my heart and reminds me how blessed I am to have such wonderful people in my life, most especially Kate "Charlie" Mack and Campbell "Chicken" McQuire!

June 19, 2011

After a delicious Father's day lunch with Gene & Co., I met up with one of my dearest friends, Patrick.  Getting together with Patrick tends to be an interesting adventure, whether the adventure is simply trying to line our schedules up, catching each other in the right city at the right time, or just making a pit stop at a random barbeque place off Highway 290 in Waller County as we pass one another on our way to our respective cities.  Our original plan to explore Round Top was foiled, so we made do with what we had: red checkered table clothes and banana pudding.   Thankfully, this was just fine for our purposes as our plan simply consisted of another marathon conversation of catching up, talking shop, and the like.  Unfortunately, our conversation was more of a half-marathon this time around, as I had to head west back home.  Without a doubt, we'll make up for it next time around! 

June 18, 2011

The only thing Austin can't offer are my friends from my first year of law school.  Since moving here I haven't had much of an opportunity to get back to Houston to visit and any visits aren't long enough in the least.  The section B folks became quick friends, consoling each other after being on-call in civil procedure, helping one another track the musings of one particular contracts professor, and taking full advantage of the weekends out and about in Houston.  I didn't realize how unique of relationships I had with them until I left, at which point my heart broke and has since remained bruised.  Tonight helped though, as a few of us spent some time as if I'd never left: sitting on a patio, drinking a beer, and laughing constantly.  It was just what I needed this weekend, I just hope less time passes before the next round.

June 17, 2011

Wyatt may be sixteen years old, but he has changed little in all these years.  My mom and I joke Wyatt is the only normal one between the three of us, tending to look as though he is rolling his eyes when my mom and I get into one of our ridiculous moods.  He did so tonight just as he did ten years ago.  Similarly, our girls' night was tonight as it was ten years ago, with the addition of a glass of white wine, of course.  Shortly after I got to Houston, we started making dinner, catching up, and cracking horrible jokes no one but she and I would ever laugh at.  Finally, as if tonight were any given night from my high school years, we sat down to eat in front of a chick flick two shades to the left of the Lifetime Network and settled in for the evening.  Sweet Wyatt, the only guy in the middle of the two of us, was rolling his eyes the entire time.

June 16, 2011

Before my run tonight, I had no scrapes, no falls, no bruises, nothing besides a lost argument with a street curb.  So, up to this point, I really didn't feel as though I had any credibility out on the trails.  I had no stories of my own to share when post-run conversations drifted to the topic of this, that, or the other fall from whichever race.  I've been waiting to take a nasty tumble and just get it out of the way already; it's bound to happen one of these days.  I didn't fall tonight, so I still have that to look forward to, but I did finish with at least a baby scrape.  There's not much of a story behind it, though.  I have no idea when it happened.  I looked down and noticed it at some point; it doesn't even hurt or need a band-aid.  But hey, it's a start, right?

June 15, 2011

If I could take a picture of what is constantly going through my mind today, this would be it.  In one of my moments of spontenaity, I decided to plan a vacation to San Juan, Puerto Rico with Danielle for her post-bar exam trip.  I've never been anywhere tropical, unless South Padre Island, Galveston Island, San Diego, or somewhere in Florida count as "tropical."  Rather, my trips tend to take me to a ski slope in Colorado or Central Park.  I'm certainly not complaining, but this girl has been jonesing for a beautiful beach in the Carribean for years.  My time for a tropical getaway has finally arrived: five days and four nights in a hotel on the beach in San Juan with one of my best friends, arriving just in time to visit one of Puerto Rico's newest inhabitants, our mutual friend Alex. I'm afraid the next two months will be spent in a fruitless pursuit of productivity if my beach-meandering mind continues as it did today.  Sixty-two days and counting . . . 

June 14, 2011

For some, the question "can I get a light?" at about 10 p.m. at the Barton Creek Greenbelt may signal the beginning of an interesting and eclectic evening.  This isn't the case for trail runners; in fact, it is most likely to be followed by a rolled ankle or some nasty scrapes and bruises.  About five and a half miles into our run tonight, the area around me went pitch black.  My CVS-brand, double-A batteries had given out on me and my back-up light was cleverly attached to my other Camelbak, the one I'd left at home.  I hit my flashlight against my hand, flicked it off and on, hoping against reality that it would find some extra juice and get me through to, at least, the final turn.  No such luck and, without an extra light to bum off another runner, I had to share the light cast from their lamps, dodging my own shadow and straining my eyes for stumps, rocks, and snakes.  Taking pity on me and relying on his greater stores of experience, Gordon loaned me his headlamp for the last mile and a half, conveniently leading us to race one another to the trailhead at somewhere below an eight minute mile, all without a rolled ankle to speak of.  Yet another running lesson learned: bring extras of everything.

June 13, 2011

Tonight feels more like a day from the middle of the semester than mid-June.  A brief reprieve, then back to work on a number of different things.  I've been working through just about three hundred pages of write-on competition papers, all the while wondering why I'm somehow qualified to evaluate them on a scale of 1 to 5.  At the same time, I'm working on my own article, trying to find the sweet spot between easy-to-read, respectable, and anything close to interesting.  Next up?  Developing the training and orientation for those lucky souls who accept an offer from the journal.  Followed by a bit of movement on clerkship applications.  All of this is rounded out by training for next month's races.  With all of this, how is it I find it impossible to fall asleep at night?  

June 12, 2011

I've always loved to cook and tend to do so without recipes, just putting together whatever looks tasty.  Without much free time on my hands I haven't been able to cook as much lately, much less come up with any new dishes.  Today, finally, I resolved to pull together a spicy black bean burger.  I've had my fair share of black bean burgers, so I had a good idea of what to include, but I also wanted to ratchet up the heat factor.  Starting with a base of black beans, roasted corn, and bread crumbs, I added every heat-inducing spice I have in my cabinet plus roasted serrano peppers.  Now, I usually try not to pass judgment on anything I make because, for one, I usually like flavor-pairings most people find strange and, second, it is much too easy to like your own meal.  However, this black bean burger is legit.  I dressed it up with some homemade spicy mayonnaise, mustard, tomato, fresh avocado, pepper jack cheese, and sprouts, with a side of spicy homemade french fries.  I'm afraid it's going to be pretty difficult to outdo this one.

June 11, 2011

If you know me, you also know I appreciate a nice whiskey and, more recently, a delicious Dr. Pepper.  So when I heard a rumor about a whiskey-Dr. Pepper specialty cocktail at Haddington's on West Sixth, I knew I had to see what it was all about.  As luck would have it, we went to Haddington's this evening to celebrate Elissa's birthday.  The Dubliner, as it is so aptly named, is made with Irish whiskey and a Dr. Pepper reduction, served with an orange peel.  It immediately became my new favorite drink.  The whiskey had a distinct but subtle Dr. Pepper flavoring and the orange peel really brightened and intensified the flavors.  It's a pretty potent drink, though, so one was more than enough for me!  I will definitely be visiting Haddington's for another Dubliner in the near future.

June 10, 2011

It's always a gamble to join the party later in the evening.  After a long evening run, I made myself presentable and somehow managed to find parking downtown despite the time.  As it turns out, though, I was coming in on the tail end of the evening.  Since the predicament was of my own making, I didn't mind too much.  From this point of the evening on, I became a driver for a number of close friends.  After taking one good friend home, I joined up with another couple of friends.  Again, I came in as things were winding down.  After another bout of chauffeuring, I called it a night and drove myself home this time around.  I suppose this must be one of the consequences of spending the earlier part of a Friday night running the Greenbelt; plus, what are friends for if not to offer a ride?  I can't really complain though because now I'm ready for a day out on the lake!  Sunburn, City, here I come!

June 9, 2011

When I was in undergrad, I lived right off one of the main bus lines in Austin so I would take the 1L/1M or the 101 to campus.  Every once in a while I would miss the bus by a minute or two, or the bus would be too full after picking up students at the Triangle, so I would walk the half a mile or so to campus.  This soon became the norm rather than the exception, and I started to really enjoy it every day, until the summer heat set in that is.  I noticed little quirks of my neighborhood I never would have seen otherwise.  I've been walking between offices for my summer jobs for a week now and just noticed this signpost today.  It, of course, tickled me pink as it is in Russian. The phrase translates to: "let peace prevail throughout the world."  This simple discovery definitely put a smile on my face!  Apparently taking a little walk reveals some of life's little pleasures.

June 8, 2011

It's just any given Wednesday night in Austin, Texas.  Come summertime this city blows up with even more things to do, like the Texas Music Series at Nutty Brown, Unplugged at the Grove, and Blues on the Green at Zilker, among others I'm sure.  I had heard of Blues on the Green before, but in all my years in Austin, I had never gone. Blues on the Green, sponsored by KGSR, is a free music series scheduled every other Wednesday during the summer.  Tonight, Kate and I rode our bikes to the park, found a spot on the lawn, and enjoyed the people watching and sounds of Bob Schneider, both of which were highly entertaining.  I was surprised to see how many people came to Zilker for the music, although I'm not sure why I should be so surprised.  We were pretty far from the stage, yet there were still hundreds of people behind us on the lawn.  The crowd ranged from college students, to young families, to older couples, high school kids, and whatever one might classify me and Kate as.  I can't think of any other city where a gathering like this might be possible without tensions or irritations running high.  For such a big city, Austin really has quite the community feel on nights like this one.

June 7, 2011

The kindness of a stranger can have an amazing effect on a person's day.  After a horribly planned run ending in my inability to comprehend questions asked of me or to focus my eyes on a single object, all I wanted was as large of an iced tea as could be found in the state.  I couldn't get to a Whataburger fast enough and the amount of time spent between my pulling up to the drive-thru and the moment I heard "Welcome to Whataburger..." was excruciatingly long.  My remaining water was disgustingly warm and the electrolyte tab seemed to keep me on a roller coaster of energy highs and lows; all I wanted was my iced tea.  After I ordered and rounded the corner, there was one more obstacle:  one old man who had seemingly ordered the entire menu.  As I'm mustering all the patience I could, I hear a rustling of sorts at the door off the drive-thru window next to me.  It was as if I was seeing a mirage:  a Whataburger angel was holding a large unsweetened iced tea and delivering it to my window instead of having me wait on Old Man Hungry ahead of me.  I'm sure my happy shriek startled him, but he also seemed amused by my glee over a simple iced tea.  Today, happiness was an act of kindness . . . and an iced tea.  Makes for a great day! 

June 6, 2011

I sat through an eight hour new employee orientation for Travis County and all I got was this tiny lapel pin.  Orientations are rarely, if ever, entertaining experiences, or informative for that matter.  They generally are onslaughts of information irrelevant at the moment and usually findable online or elsewhere later.  Yet, sit we must through hours of presentations on benefits, insurance, harassment policies, and the like.  Despite my obvious irritation at having to sit through today's orientation, I do appreciate the County's enthusiasm toward all of its new employees.  Plus, at the end of the day, I get to work for my favorite county in the State of Texas.  Every time I cross the county line I get an instant feeling of being home, so it's pretty great to be able to work for Travis County.  Had I thought about it from this perspective prior to the orientation, I hope I would've been less of a cranky jerk today.

June 5, 2011

I feel as if I haven't stopped eating all day and, for the most part, I haven't.  After a late night spent showing our Yankee friends what Austin, Texas is all about, we woke up this morning with Juan in a Million on our minds.  Queso, a migas taco, and a nopalitos con huevos taco later, among their multiple Don Juans, we dropped the Yanks at the airport.  Without realizing it, I had eaten breakfast two hours before a Freebirds lunch date with my lovely friend Ashley.  I love me some Freebirds though, so it wasn't too difficult to get excited about another meal so soon after breakfast.  One long lunch later, I went home to get ready for a relaxed Sunday dinner party with Kate and Kevin.  We made stuffed shells and broccoli while we rehashed the weekend, talked politics, and listened to some great records.  With all of the delicious food I had today, it's incredible I'm not in a deep food coma.  There are still a few hours left in the day, though, I'm sure I could make it happen if I was intent on doing so!

June 4, 2011

My stepdad has always been one of my biggest fans: he always recognizes and is proud of my accomplishments, but also challenges me to go further, knowing "further" is within my grasp.  Gene also loves to celebrate these achievements, and is damn good at doing so.  Today he came to Austin for the day to celebrate me finishing my second year of law school.  We had such a relaxing day and it was wonderful being able to spend time with him, which I haven't been able to do much since moving back to Austin.  We brunched at Trudy's, enjoying late morning margaritas as Gene and I are wont to do when we dine together.  Then we proceeded to the Domain for some wonderful outdoor shopping.  After exhausting the clothes racks, we caught an afternoon showing of the Hangover 2, which was absolutely hilarious although exactly the same as the first.  We ended the day with an amazing dinner at Truluck's downtown over some perfect martinis and incredible seafood.  It was a day full of being absolutely and entirely spoiled rotten, but the most important take-away from the day is knowing I am so incredibly blessed to have Gene in my life and am so grateful for the relationship he and I have.  I love you Gene-o, thank you for everything!

June 3, 2011

Can you sense the terror straining to bust through the forced smile plastered to my oh-so-pale face?  Although I held his life in my hands, merely feet from a pot of boiling water, his rubber-banded claws and squirming feet held my power at bay.  The fear he induced with his fidgeting is likely to keep me from eating lobster for quite some time.  Tonight we had a surf 'n turf dinner party to celebrate our new friends' visit to Texas from New York.  Although this was, by some accounts, one of the tastiest family dinners in recent memory, it was also a meal which took longer to prepare than any other.  Regardless, the extra time evening gave us more time to relax and catch up after a short, but busy week.

June 2, 2011

Fresh off our run at the Greenbelt, we proceeded directly to the nearest cold water fountain.  On our way, we heard a classical version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" from behind a small amphitheater near the Zilker entrance of the Greenbelt.  First priority: cold water; second priority: figure out why Zeppelin was being played in the park.  As we scaled the hill of the amphitheater, sufficiently hydrated, we saw a small ballet troupe performing to the music.  Staying for a while, we saw performances to Aerosmith's "Dream On," Fall Out Boy's "Dance Dance," and the Doors' "People Are Strange."  The dancing was not particularly moving or polished, but this was irrelevant as the ingenuity was refreshing and impressive.  If you poke around this city just a bit, you'll find some incredibly unique experiences.

June 1, 2011

Why are gorgeous shoes so finicky?  Sometimes they are perfectly comfortable and agreeable; at other times, they act like bear traps strapped to my feet.  And, of course, the day I'm inevitably going to be traipsing around downtown is the day my favorite stiletto wakes up on the bear trap side of the shoe closet.  Today was my first day at my summer jobs, which entailed going from one building to another for paperwork, one floor to another for introductions, and one job to another for the sake of variety, while I cursed my shoe choice the entire time.  I suppose eight hours in the bear trap shoes will have to suffice for my celebration of National Running Day.  Lesson learned?  Unlikely.