amiguriken

Once upon a time, I read a lot. I read everything I could get my greedy little paws on. And then I went to law school and I all-but stopped reading anything but cases and fanfiction.

Recently, however, I have been tearing through books, which makes me exceedingly happy with myself. I was always proud of my voracious reading habits, and I had missed books more than I really even knew. Moreso, I missed that desire to read. It's terrible to say, but for a little while, I didn't really want to read that much. I comforted myself by reminding myself that I really was reading enough fanfic to fill several novels, but it just wasn't the same. It's just not as satisfying to read something on a computer screen instead of in a book. And even though I know that some of the fics I've read have contained as many words as some of my favorite novels, the factual knowledge of the word count doesn't strike me the same as the page count for a nice, long book.

I also recently realized how badly I have been neglecting my journals in recent years, both this one and my real hard-copy journal. For several years I updated each of these fairly regularly, but for a few years now I've hardly updated either at all. I would also like to rectify that. I don't do it enough, but the truth is that I really enjoy writing, particularly in the personal essay format that LJ/Dreamwidth and hard-copy journals encourage most.

And it strikes me that perhaps the best way to begin pushing myself to write more would be to start by writing about the thing I'm happiest about lately. I'm going to try to start writing reviews again (which will, of course, include tv and movies), but for right now I'll just start by listing out what I've been reading in the past few months along with a few notes.

Up first are Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books. I've read all of them except the latest hardback and the book of short stories (though I'll finish that one tonight). I have to admit I really have enjoyed reading these books, despite the fact that they could be classified as vampire romance. My favorite characters in the books (and the TV series True Blood) are Sam, Eric, and Pam. The characters are what really carry the stories for me. The weakest part of Harris' novels is the actual writing - she's not the worst writer I've ever read, her writing's just sort of bland. There is no beauty to her sentences, no elegance to her word choices, and I do find myself missing that when I read her books. As far as the stories themselves go, they're light, fun reads that are really perfect for the summer. Oh, and I appreciate Harris' respect for the vampire - her vampires don't sparkle and are actually dangerous.

In addition to ripping through the Harris novels, I've been reading Jim Butcher's Dresden series. I had previously listened to the audiobooks of Storm Front and Fool Moon (Dresden books 1 and 2), and thanks to my enjoyment of those (read by the wonderful James Marsters), I had also picked up a paperback of Grave Peril. Sadly, Grave Peril was to languish on my bookshelves for a few years. However, when I finished off Harris, I decided I was in the mood to read about the misadventures of Harry Dresden, Consulting Wizard. I started with Grave Peril, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Then I picked up a copy of Storm Front and actually read it. (And I'm currently relistening to Fool Moon during my morning and afternoon commute.) Quickly, I'd say that I like Butcher's characters, even though both Susan Rodriguez and Karrin Murphy feel like cliches sometimes, at least they're likeable cliches. I really love how Butcher combines pulp detective novels with magic and the supernatural. I also have to say that his writing seemed to get stronger and better with each of the novels I read so that by the third novel I found myself appreciating his sentence structures and word choices.

Last night I finished reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I would write about it here, but frankly, I don't have time. I've already done two other series' injustice by writing such short little rambly pieces about them, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is more complex than either of them. I'll attempt to write about it next. (And I hope to expand on the other two.)

Right now I'm halfway through the book of Sookie Stackhouse short stories. I expect to finish it tonight. After it, I'm planning to read Wil Wheaton's Just a Geek. Sadly, my pile of unread books multiplies faster than I'm capable of reading. I'm like the kid whose eyes are bigger than her stomach - it's just that my eyes are bigger than my freetime.

I spent most of the day hanging out with my five-year-old brother and my three-year-old nephew. They watched Spider-Man 2, Coraline, Star Wars: Episode II, and part of the recent live-action Peter Pan. They also put decorations on my Christmas tree (some of which will have to be shifted for evenness' sake), held several lightsabre duels, wrestled, read books, and talked and talked and talked. One of them even took a nap. And they had not worn out their welcome by the time I took them to my mothers--I was just trying to figure out what to do with them for supper. (I don't keep much actual food in my house.)

Today I also received my new cell phone. I upgraded to a Blackberry Tour. I wish I was planning enough out-of-country travel to justify it for that reason. But no, I just liked some of the new features it had, including, I'm ashamed to say, the camera. I can't believe I missed having a camera-phone, but there were several instances where I would have liked to have had a picture and had my cell phone but not a camera.

And let's not forget today was Black Friday. I actually did some Black Friday shopping. Online. I hate crowds too much to go out and intentionally inflict them upon myself. I also ate leftovers, including even more of my mother's wonderful sweet potato casserole, which is the single best thing I have ever eaten. It's the kind of food that causes otherwise normal eaters to to make sex noises and facial expressions, including, I'm afraid, myself. It is seriously just that good.

And now I'm closing out my evening by knitting for the first time in months while watching the original The Prisoner series on DVD. I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy knitting. And I am really enjoying The Prisoner, though the equipment and the lave lamps definitely betray the show's age.

And now it's time to go back to my knitting. I would like to finish this one sometime this century.

I bought my very first Christmas tree today, along with a few ornaments. It feels as though I'm slowly creeping into adulthood, and I'm not sure I like it. I attempted to balance that feeling out by purchasing an overpriced Han Solo ornament from Hallmark.

The other adult thing I've done recently is to volunteer to prepare portions of the Thanksgiving dinner. Up until now, I've never really been in a position to bring things. I've been in college or living too far away to really travel with food, and then last year I was living with my parents and could only help my mom and try to stay out of her way. This year, however, I'm in my own apartment and I have money and time, so I've decided to handle some of the pie-making duties. I'm going to bake pumpkin and coconut pies.

I've spent several recent evenings unpacking in my apartment. I recently set up two of my bookshelves and quickly filled them up. Today I unpacked even more books, filling up my Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett bookcase that sits in my living room and straightening up a little more of the other room.

There's still a lot of unpacking to do, but the apartment is starting to look a little less cluttered now. One of the big things I need to do is unpack my DVDs. That will mostly consist of putting them back in their cases (I've been using several large cd carrying cases for them since I moved last year). That'll be fun.

Work has been going pretty well. I've been staying busy and have had several days in court recently. I've got court again on Monday, as a matter of fact. It's a DSS day, and it's going to be mostly easy. Sadly, I am expecting at least one long hearing. But maybe a miracle will happen and a particular party's heart will grow a couple of sizes and we'll be able to come to a consent agreement.

Outside of work, my social life continues to be incredibly non-existant. I've been horrified recently to realize just how little I've been reading for pleasure over the past few years. It made me incredibly sad to think just how few books I've actually made my way through recently. And that includes re-reads of favorite novels! Ugh. I've got to get back in the reading groove. I've got at least half a tall bookcase full of books I've never read. I just need to take the time to read them.

One of the things I do instead of read is watch TV online. I LOVE this seasons of Supernatural. I've enjoyed all of the previous seasons of the show, but there's just been something about this season. I'm also a huge fan of Glee, and I really don't know why I even like that show. Those aren't the only shows I watch, but those are my two favorites right now. I need to watch what's aired of V, but I don't know whether I'll keep up with it or not.

All right. That's enough trivial rambling. I need to unwrap a bunch of caramels (baking caramel brownies for a church dinner) and watch the latest couple of eps of Supernatural.

My fall to the dark side is complete: I have an office now.

I moved what little stuff I have over on Saturday and unpacked most of it then. The office looks pretty empty and sad right now, but I'll add more stuff as I go along. I need to find a good picture or two to put up. I have a gorgeous print of a The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly painting a friend of mine did, but I rather prefer it to stay here on my fireplace mantle. Right now the only thing I have on the wall is my diploma in its fancy-pants frame (the license will be joining it in a week or so, once the framer's done with it). I also have a handful of books on my bookshelf. Oh, and I have a Darth Vader bust and pewter figures of Han Solo and Chewbacca up on the top shelf (with the Metallicar sitting in front of Vader).

The main problem with putting art on my walls is that I don't like nice, tranquil prints of flowers and lakes. Monet has his place, but it ain't in my office. And the art I prefer is simply not appropriate--people do not want to associate their attorneys with surrealism. Nor do they want to walk into a law office and see superheroes (though I'd probably risk it if I had a nicely framed Alex Ross).

Another problem is that my office is stark white. I will most likely end up painting it a few months from now, but for now, it's snow white. This makes me not want to put up black-and-white or colorless prints (such as Escher or Picasso's "Don Quixote"). And it also leads me to be careful about colors. Some of the things I like will look even more garish against pure white.

Anyway, I think the office is going to be a good thing for me. I didn't get as much work as I'd hoped done today, but I got work done and didn't waste as much time as I usually do at home. And now that I'm home, I am not sitting here feeling like I need to be working on something. I think home space can now safely be home space and work space will be work space and I will be a happier person for having a place to escape work at the end of the day.

I never wanted to live in Shermer, Illinois.

I really never wanted to be Molly Ringwald.

I don't even think I've ever sat through Pretty in Pink or Sixteen Candles.

But I loved, and continue to adore to this day, The Breakfast Club. It is one of my all-time favorite movies.

R.I.P. John Hughes. And thanks.

1) I was very pleasantly surprised to find The Colour of Magic on DVD at a Wal-Mart today. There just aren't many people in this are who would have any idea what The Colour of Magic is, and I frankly wouldn't have even expected to spot the DVD in a Wal-Mart in Greensboro or in Lexington, KY. It's just not a Wal-Mart sort of thing. I know for a fact I've never seen a single Pratchett book in one.

2) I have a puppy now, and she's adorable. She's a tiny, black-and-white ball of fur. I don't expect her to get big (her parents are both fairly small dogs), and I'm hoping that she's as intelligent as I've been led to believe her parents are. I've been told she's a cross between a Feist, an Australian Shepherd, and an Airedale Terrier. Those are all smart breeds. I had initially given her the very boring name of Lucky (I found a four-leaf clover the first time I set her down in the yard at my house), but my brother has launched a heavy campaign to rename her Leia since he named his puppy Luke Skywalker.

3) Looking back, it seems obvious that I would become a fangirl. Even when I was small, I had that sort of obsessive mindset that led to collecting things. My first fandom was horses. I had so many porcelain, ceramic, and glass horses it wasn't even funny. I had horse pictures on my wall. I had books about horses. I collected My Little Ponies. And I even, finally, had my own horse.

My horse died several years ago, and it had been years before that before I did anything more with him than feed him some corn and call him "Fat-head". But now that I'm settling down, I find myself wanting a horse again, a desire that grows worse every time I'm around some of the great beasties.

I spent a little while this evening down at my aunt and uncle's house visiting with their horses. They currently have four horses in their pasture, three adults who belong to them and one colt that belongs to a friend of theirs. I was perfectly content to do nothing more than stand in their field petting and talking to the horses.

I'm such a sap.

4) I'm moving into office space! Yay! I've set a tentative move-in date of September 1 to move into some shared space with two other attorneys. I think it's going to be fantastic. I hope it's going to be!

5) I got Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader from Amazon this week (along with the Watchmen and Coraline dvds). I think I'm going to spend tomorrow afternoon reading it on my porch.

You are hereby warned that this is a rant and it is political in nature. Also, it is not in support of the current health care reform bills being bandied about by Congress. So if you think they're on the right track and doing what needs to be done, you might want to stop reading right now. Just saying.

Every article I read about health care reform makes me sick to my stomach. Today's latest was that a non-partisan budget director stated today that the plans currently being lobbed about will only cause health care costs to go up and will do nothing to help keep them down. And in the article (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_health_care_overhaul), quotes from the bills' supporters just poo-poo these warnings.

Now, I'll agree that we have a problem with health care in this nation. I will not agree, ever, that the answer lies with drastic government intervention. I believe in small government for a reason, not the least of which is that at its best, our government is mildly incompetent and incredibly inefficient, and at its worst, our government is grossly incompetent and downright immoral and corrupt. I would not entrust most of Congress with my laundry, much less something as important as my health care.

For me personally, the piece of the legislation that worries me the most is the plan to require everyone to carry health insurance or to pay a fine. Well, I am one of the 50 million people who are currently uninsured. I am uninsured for several reasons, not the least of which is that I cannot afford to purchase health insurance. If these bills are passed, I'm going to have a choice of paying a fine I can't afford or purchasing government subsidized health insurance (probably the government-run plan) that I don't want and probably still won't really be able to afford.

My issues with having to purchase such insurance are three-fold:

1) I don't purchase health insurance as is because I feel that the insurance industry is run immorally and borderline illegally. I would prefer to start a medical costs savings account to which I contribute more than a monthly insurance payment each month. Given my age and current physical health, I should be able to set aside enough money to cover myself in case of medical issues down the road. The only problem here is if I face a major medical emergency before I have the funds set aside to pay for it. And that is, admittedly, a large problem that I haven't worked out how to overcome yet. Buying health insurance would take care of that issue but would also soak up most of the money I would need to set aside in order to not have to carry health insurance later on. It's kind of a catch-22 situation.

2) I fully anticipate that the government-subsidized insurance (particularly if it's government-run insurance) will be substandard. I foresee fewer options in my health care and far more limitations than I would have with private insurance. I also foresee a lot of things not being covered such as eyecare and dental care, despite the importance of both of these. And then there is the issue of what happens when we have a recession and budget crunches. Look at what's happening to our teachers and in our schools now. I can only imagine what hospitals who are dependent on the government funding will have to cut back on or buy more cheaply. It terrifies me to consider our hospitals being run like our public schools.

3) I have a moral objection to buying subsidized insurance. I have long declared that I do not believe I should have to subsidize others' anything, including health care. I do not like being forced into hypocrisy by my own government. Just as I don't believe I should have to pay for my neighbor's hospital visits, so too do I believe he should not be obligated to help pay for mine. Unfortunately, the current bills requiring everyone to purchase health insurance or pay a steep fine give me little choice until I can make enough money to be able to afford my own unsubsidized health insurance. (Of course, with the way I expect taxes to go up for everyone, I figure it'll be awhile before I'm able to keep enough of my paychecks to actually be able to make a living and buy insurance.)

Frankly, I don't believe that government interference on the scale they're talking about is going to do anything but frak the system up even worse than it already is. Even if, somehow, the current folks pull off a miracle and establish the perfect health care system (and they won't because they're rushing this through and not sitting down and really giving it the time it needs--which is the sort of typical government action that leads to horrible laws being passed, so no one should be surprised when this all blows up in our faces), even if they somehow do that, the next administration, even if it's the same party, will feel the need to meddle with it, to tinker, to make things "better," and within three administrations, the entire health care system will be in much worse shape than it is right now.

No, I'm not a cynic. Not me.

On the other hand, I do support the proposition that insurance companies be forced to offer insurance to everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions. And I am okay with this even if it does mean my prices go up so that I am subsidizing others' insurance costs. I don't like that I end up subsidizing others' costs, but I can suck up some of it if it means that insurance companies can no longer cherry-pick only the healthier patients and then still charge them out the wazoo.

1) I will not complain about jerkface attorneys here.

2) I will not complain about jerkface clients here.

3) I cannot say enough about the relaxing powers of kicking and punching the crap out of something. Happily I invested in a free-standing kicking/punching bag just for that purpose. I just imagine heads where my roundhouse kicks land. I think my bag needs more weight though--I nearly knocked it over.

4) There is no 4.

5) I hate feeling like I've done something wrong when I am actually fairly certain I haven't.

6) I hate, hate, hate that I sometimes care about what people I do not even like think about me. ARGH!

7) I can't believe Donna only got one season of Doctor Who. She's my favorite companion by far.

8) I want to see Star Trek again very badly, but it's not playing anywhere close enough. (An hour's drive away is the closest.) Rather than breaking the law and hunting down a torrent (though it was ever so tempting), I opted for the next best thing--I bought the book. I hope it and a steady infusion of good fanfic will tide me over until the DVD comes out.

9) Have I mentioned lately that I have a general loathing for most of humanity? No? Well, I do. It had dulled down to a low-level simmer that just caused me to roll my eyes at most news reports and the like, but today I had no less than three people reaffirm why I insist that I'm a misanthrope.

10) Okay, glitterandlube, you have a point, rabbits aren't vermin. I'm actually rather fond of rabbits. Groundhogs, on the other hand, are most definitely vermin. And so are opossums. And moles--I am not a fan of the moles.

11) I have pre-ordered Coraline and Watchmen on DVD. Now I just need to hold out until the 21st. I really want them both!

While the clients are usually the most interesting part of my legal day, sometimes it's other attorneys.

Don't get me wrong, for the most part, attorneys in these mountains are very professional and courteous. I have already made some wonderful friends among my soulless counterparts, and I even have some level of fondness for two attorneys I would classify as arrogant assholes. (I have a little bit of a soft spot for people who know they're arrogant assholes, embrace it, and are very up-front about their nature. I just try not to spend too much time around them.)

However, there is this one attorney who is causing me some issues, and I'm not sure what to do about him. I have never even met the man, but I have already been forced to file for sanctions and attorney's fees against him for filing a frivolous motion against my client. The fact that he didn't even bother to turn up to court to defend his motion speaks volumes to me. I took on another client yesterday whose ex has used this attorney in the past and who described the man to me as a slimy greaseball. I was contacted today about taking on another case which may actually require me to file professional complaints and seek a malpractice complaint against the man.

What troubles me about this is that I haven't even met the man. All I know of him is what I hear from other attorneys and my clients. I've heard him described as a nice man who's just terminally disorganized and I've heard him described as a slippery, vile weasel of an attorney who seems to take great pleasure in fleecing his clients. And while I hate to base an opinion of someone on gossip, I'm afraid that the combination of gossip and my professional frustrations with the man have my opinion leaning toward the weasel end of the spectrum.

A sad commentary on myself is that I kind of like having him around because of his bad reputation. As long as he practices in this manner in this area, I'm not going to be the worst attorney around. If nothing else, I show up to court and do so on time!

Last night school administrators for Bonny Eagle High School in Maine had to have been horrified to find that a story about their graduation ceremony (in which a student was denied his diploma for blowing a kiss to his mother) had hit the front page of Yahoo. Just a few short years ago, if anyone outside of that small community heard about this event at all, it would have been as a quick blurb on a news broadcast or a footnote in a large newspaper trying to fill up space. The school would have dealt with the irate parents of the community. Now, however, thanks to the internet, the story is everywhere, and school officials at Bonny Eagle High School have found themselves at the center of a maelstrom of opinions (most of them negative) from people around the entire world.

And, then there's the Twitter effect on the Iran elections. I remember Tiananman Square. Somewhere I still have the Time magazine with the cover of that iconic image of the young man facing down the tanks. The news we got from that tragedy was so limited. Now, thanks to cell phones, computers, and the internet, we are able to get stories directly from the students and other protesters in Iran. And the internet has given individuals in other countries ways to vent their own frustrations and share their concerns as well as ways in which to offer some small help. I have seen multiple posts on Twitter identifying ways for people in Iran to get around the censors to make their voices heard. That is amazing.

The internet is one of those things that makes me wish I had become a journalist. I could spend years writing articles on nothing but how the way individuals use the internet has completely changed our world and about how humanity as a species really, probably is not mature enough for that sort of power. Perhaps one day I'll start really writing again and can turn my focus to writing a serious article about the awesome powers of the internet instead of just rambling about it vaguely on DW and LJ.

(Speaking of the awesome powers--yes, I'm writing this from my Dreamwidth account. I'm giving the bugger a go.)