September 29, 2003

Puberty? Party of One? Your table is available.....

While sitting in front of my laptop this morning reading deposition transcripts and attempting to draft a Motion for Summary Judgment, I touched my chin. I felt a bump. Wait, I'm thinking. There isn't supposed to be a bump here. What could this strange protuberance be? This doesn't normally happen to me. What on Earth?

Yes. You gussed it. I have a zit.

I'm 29. I exited the puberty interstate many moons ago. And now I have a zit. This is unacceptable. Once you survive high school, move through college, get married and get a full time job, no more zits, right? Right? Work with me, people, I'm in turmoil here. I think I'll get a hall pass and see if I can pop this thing in the bathroom.

Posted by Kitty at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

September 28, 2003

Archi Sapper

The link to the Archi Sapper blog on the right of this page is a link to my husband's new blog. When I told him about my blog, he liked it and decided to start his own. He just started it up, so he doesn't yet have a comment system established or anything fancy-schmancy like that. But it's pretty good for a soldier who's holed up in Iraq, and can give you some insight as to what our troops do over there on a daily basis.

Posted by Kitty at 03:11 PM | Comments (4)

September 27, 2003

Let's Just Say I Won't Quit My Day Job

Last night I purposefully didn't make plans so I could stay home, relax, catch up on some fun reading and get to bed early. Around 7:00p, I lost my mind and decided that assembling furniture was a good idea (see my post from Wednesday, September 24 for other "good ideas" I've had recently). I had purchased a night stand to place by my husband's side of the bed -- a nice, clean, mission-style night stand. While I have a night stand on my side of the bed (left over from law school), he's never had one and has been using a bar stool (yes it looks weird, but it works). At any rate, I found this night stand on Target's website, and ordered it.

I have assembled furniture before, and furniture much larger than a night stand, at that, so I wasn't daunted by this project. I laid out the pieces on the living room floor and again discovered how difficult it is to do anything on the floor when you have a dog who likes to "help" out. I managed to assemble some of it, and was feeling pretty good about myself when I took a break to eat some dinner. When I returned, I hit a snag. It seems I had been using a screwdriver that was one size too small for the screws I was using. Of course, we don't own the size of screwdriver I needed (well, we probably do, but my husband hid it before he left and I will never find it without a map from the internet and a search team -- thanks babe). I gave up my attempt at "manual labor" and read my book and went to bed, vowing to finish it today, with the appropriate tools.

I am happy to report that this morning I procured a #2 screwdriver (who knew there were so many different sizes of screwdrivers and how did I miss this crucial information while growing up?), along with some new fall clothes (I love Ann Taylor Loft) and a salad for lunch (yum). I've been working away at the night stand, in between loads of laundry, and have made some progress. I still have one screw that won't cooperate, but haven't we all had that problem at some point? (sorry -- couldn't resist).

I hope to finish the night stand this afternoon and will then meet up with my friend Robert for dinner. I'm taking him to Nola, a restaurant owned by Emeril in the Quarter. It is a thank you for letting my book club invade his beautiful home on Wednesday. It should be tasty, and much cheaper than paying for his therapy sessions.

Posted by Kitty at 02:15 PM | Comments (0)

September 25, 2003

Wine, women and......more wine

I'm a member of a book club and I hosted our meeting last night. In the grand tradition of my friends Margaret and Glenda, I hosted it at someone else's house. I highly recommend this option to anyone throwing a party, as you get to show off someone else's cool digs and it feels like you've rented a chic place to party -- only it's free! Our book club is all female. Half of us are doctors and half are lawyers, with the only holdout being a woman who teaches business classes at Loyola. This month's book selection was The Secret History by Donna Tartt, a book I picked because it is one of my all-time faves. As it turns out, my friend Margaret and I were the only ones who actually read the book, but that is par for the course for our club. I'm the only serious reader in the group, and I'm not a member of the club for the scintillating discussions of literature (good thing).

We booted out the owner of the house where we met (he is a guy, after all, and no boys allowed in our treehouse), and commenced drinking copious amounts of wine, eating finger sandwiches and veggies with dip and discussed our romantic lives. It was very Sex in the City only less neurotic. Afterwards, we called the owner of the house and told him he was allowed to return to his abode, and we staggered across the street to the Bridge Lounge (a cool local bar that allows dogs to come in with their owners) and continued drinking and talking.

I love this book club. The truly amazing thing to me about it is that I genuinely like all if its' members. This amazes me because, in any group, there is always at least one person I don't care for, I don't get along with, feel intimidated by, etc. This group isn't like that. I absolutely love all of these bright, funny, warm, successful, wine-drinking, men-loving, book-reading women. *sniff* Sorry. Didn't mean to get all Alan Alda mushy on you.

Posted by Kitty at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2003

I Give Up

As I rapidly approach the ripe old age of 30, it occurs to me that I ought to exercise. No, I don't need to exercise more, I just need to exercise. Period. I need to get off the couch, stop reading, and work out. I've never been athletically inclined (to put it mildly), so the allure of exercise really eludes me. Some people love too work out -- I get that -- I've just never been one of them. When I was in college my sorority had a "swap" (read: party) with a campus fraternity, and the theme was "Night in Hell." You were supposed to show up dressed as your version of hell. I was never able to attend the swap for various reasons, but had I gone, I would've gone as an aerobics instructor.

And that pretty much sums up how I feel about exercising.

Last night it seemed like a really good idea to dust off my aerobics tape (it really did have dust on it, I swear), and see how far I could get without passing out. That seemed like a good idea until I was about fifteen minutes into it, completely out of breath, drenched in sweat and cursing the day I purchased running shoes. Doing this at home was a far better alternative to going to the gym and doing aerobics, though, where I have 80 year old spandex-clad women running circles around me and bench pressing their plastic Reebok bench steps.

I (barely) made it through the workout, when I finally got to the cool down and thought I was in the home stretch. How wrong I was. My dog Maggie decided to join me at that point. While I was lying on a mat on the floor, stretching my legs, she was taking her squeaky toys and balancing them on my legs, expecting me to play. One sqeaky toy I can live with -- two furry hedgehogs and a rubber chicken are too many toys for one cool down.

Posted by Kitty at 02:18 PM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2003

Children? None for me, thanks.

The ongoing debate between my wonderful husband and myself is whether or not we're going to have children, and if we do, when we'll have them and how many we'll have. Since he's been in Iraq, this debate has been put on hold (at least temporarily), but I've been thinking about it nonetheless.

To be honest, bearing and raising children scares the hell out of me. I worry about whether I'll be a good parent, whether I will ever get over post-partum depression, whether I would pour blood, sweat and tears into raising a child who turns out to be a right-wing conservative or whether I'd pour blood, sweat and tears into raising a child who later goes on a talk show and talks about how I ruined their life by not letting them drink Diet Coke with dinner every night when they were seven. I also worry about the more practical aspects of it, like whether we have enough money, and the fact that we still live in apartment and I have this crazy idea that a child should grow up in a house (why, I don't know).

At any rate, I was thinking about all of this on Sunday night, when I was at the meeting for my churches' high school youth group. The kids in this group are great -- they're smart, funny, nice, well behaved, and have a ton of energy. That being said, they're kids. The kids who showed up to Sunday night's meeting were boys, 8th graders, who have recently started attending new schools (some of the New Orleans high schools start in 8th grade instead of 9th). The conversations ran the gamut from who is dating whom to who has developed body hair. When one of the boys told us about how the boy sitting next to me has a lot of body hair, I told him that was far more information than I needed to know. He responded by saying, "But Jennifer, I'm only talking about the hair in his armpits and on his legs." Well, thanks. Glad he cleared that up.

Posted by Kitty at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2003

Cab Rides

Now this is my kind of cab ride.

Posted by Kitty at 01:50 PM | Comments (3)

September 21, 2003

Lazy Weekend

I've had a pretty laid back weekend. I picked up two new cd's, both of which are quite good. One is from the sister of my good friend Mike (hi Mike). It is Hip to Hip: A Colletion of Standards by Mila Drumke. I keep leaning toward listening to standards lately (my musical tastes wax and wane), and she does an outstanding job of re-creating these standards with flair and absolute control over her beautiful voice. I highly recommend it. The other new purchase is Salt by Lizz Wright. She's a good Georgia girl with a fantastic voice.

As for reading, I am re-reading that 1970's classic Fear of Flying by Erica Jong. I started reading it while I was in law school but never made it through until the end. I've really enjoyed the uninhibited talk about female sexuality, and it should be a short enough read for me to finish it before my book club meets on Wednesday.

Posted by Kitty at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2003

No One On Earth Has Better Weather

I have a small confession to make. I'm addicted to The Weather Channel. I can literally sit in my living room and watch those green blobs move across the map for hours. When my husband and I ordered digital cable, my only concern was that our package include The Weather Channel (it does). Now that we're in the full swing of hurricane season (my thanks to Isabel for making that one a reality), The Weather Channel is livin' large. My question is this: Does The Weather Channel really need to stick Jim Cantori in a blue rain slicker, give him a microphone and make him defy the laws of gravity in 110 mph winds and driving rain just to get across the point that hurricanes are both wet and windy? We get it already.

Posted by Kitty at 07:40 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2003

Interviews

I spent all day today conducting job interviews at my alma mater, Tulane Law School, in search of candidates for summer clerkship positions at my firm. A few thoughts:

1) If you want to work at a large defense firm, it probably isn't a good idea to give your prospective employer a resume which lists all of the jobs you've had helping out plaintiffs lawyers who do nothing but sue the pants off the clients of said big defense firm.

2) If you have some weirdo specialty within the legal profession that is your sole dream to pursue, don't pretend that you are really open to doing anything. It is somewhat transparent. I had one guy today who told me that he is really interested in Intellectual Property or doing International Business Transactions. He obviously had not read my firm's website, as we do neither. When I explained this to him (gently), he said, "Oh, but I'm open to anything, really." Uh huh. If he really wants to pursue either of those fields, that sounds great, but I have only one suggestion for him: move. There aren't many law firms in Louisiana that do a great deal of either one.

3) If you want to work at a large defense firm and you have a section on your resume listing your "Interests", ones that might raise eyebrows include the following: hula dancing, hurricanes and "tropical weather systems", being a ballerina mistress (don't even ask), or anything that involves you spending inordinate amounts of time on your couch in front of your television. We all watch t.v. You don't need to advertise it on your resume.

4) Setting yourself apart from your competition = good. Making an ass of yourself = bad. I ran into my friend Margaret while eating lunch with my friend Steve during the lunch break. Steve was regaling Margaret and I with stories of hapless law students, desperate to get a job. One such 3L has not only embarrassed himself, but also Tulane Law School as a whole, by drafting his resume as a "Petition for Interview", which looks like a lawsuit you would file in court. Wait -- it gets better. He has numbered paragraphs, just like a legal petition, and they enumerate the reasons an employer should hire him. Examples include, "I will work as many hours as you want. I will work a 3000 hour year. If my mother dies, I will read her eulogy over the telephone. If I get married, I will tell my spouse that we can't take a honeymoon." Other choice examples include, "I will do whatever you need. I will retrieve a lost deposition transcript from the most foul smelling garbage." As an employer, this tells me that not only is he desperate, he has no clue of what associates at law firms do. We would never make anyone dig through foul smelling garbage to retrieve a deposition transcript. He could sit in the garbage can and do the summary in there.

Posted by Kitty at 07:39 PM | Comments (1)

September 16, 2003

I Shouldn't Be Allowed to Drive

I went to a deposition this morning that was over near the Lake, so I had to drive. I am all too happy to drive these days, since I purchased a new car about one month ago. When I got to the deposition, I realized it had been canceled, but I hadn't gotten the message (surprise). So, I hopped back in the new wheels and drove back to my office. I was attempting to park in my firm's garage, which have several large, concrete poles that are painted bright yellow (surely you see where this is going). I turned too soon and heard a sickening "crunch". Uh-oh. I am currently surfing the web for good auto body and paint shops in New Orleans. If you know of one, let me know.

And if my husband is reading this, it wasn't my fault. The pole jumped out and scraped my car. Really.

Posted by Kitty at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)

September 15, 2003

Yarr Matey!

I really try not to borrow from other blogger's posts, but this is simply too good to resist. I recently looked at Crabwalk.com and saw the following information:

September 19 is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. As if one was needed.

Posted by Kitty at 02:29 PM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2003

Hurricane Isabel

I really hate to see anyone have to suffer through the nightmare that hurricanes can bring, but I have to selfishly say that I'm SO glad this hurricane isn't headed for the Gulf Coast. We are seriously underprepared for something of that magnitude. When I was in law school we had flooding from a tropical storm -- and it didn't even hit us! The storm hit Houston (a five hour drive west of here) and we had so much water in the streets that I walked home from campus in water up to my upper thighs. New Orleanians, being as goofy as they are, made the best of it, though. My next door neighbors rowed their canoe down the street and the convenience store a few blocks away was still selling beer by pushing the beer through windows at the top of the store, since they couldn't open their front door.

Posted by Kitty at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)

September 12, 2003

Military Extensions

On a frustrating note, it seems that my wonderful husband may be in Iraq even longer than initially expected. It was just announced that there will likely be a one year deployment for reservists who are already "in country". My husband called today using the brand new satellite phone I purchased and sent to him, and he said that he may return in December, but it is possible it could be April before he can come home. To see a rather cool interactive map of the troops that have been deployed from the U.S., click here. He is currently attached to the Third Infantry Division, but will soon be attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, out of Fort Bragg, NC.

Whenever I get depressed about him being gone for so long, I go shopping. By the time he gets back, I will have bought a house.

Posted by Kitty at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)

September 08, 2003

Mr. Quintron

I ran into a friend of mine the other day who reminded me of Mr. Quintron. For those who are not from New Orleans, or who aren't familiar with the New Orleans "Ninth Ward" scene, Mr. Quintron is something of a cult hero. He is married to a woman affectionately known as "Miss Pussycat", and lives in a house, known as the Spellcaster Lodge, in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. How did I find out about Mr. Quintron, you may be wondering? Well, I was invited to the premiere of the infomercial for his musical instrument/gizmo/thinga-ma-bob a few years ago. Quintron invented something called the Drumbuddy (it would be much easier for you to check out his site than for me to try to explain what a drumbuddy machine is) and, in keeping with all quality products, filmed an infomercial advertising it. My husband and I attended the premiere of the infomercial at the Shim Sham Club in the French Quarter. It was an evening to remember, with appearances by the late, great Ernie K Doe, Quintron, Miss Pussycat, the Shimshammettes, and MC Trachiotomy. Only in New Orleans.

Posted by Kitty at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2003

Material World

I don't get it.....Californians are trying to select a new governor and their choices range from short washed-up actors to tall washed-up actors........the Recording Industry Association of America wants to give consumers of its music "amnesty" for listening to it............and all anyone can talk about is a kiss between Madonna and Britney Spears that was over before it started.

Guess it's time to erase the music from my hard drive.

Posted by Kitty at 05:24 PM | Comments (0)

September 05, 2003

What I'm Not Reading (Yet)

It has occurred to me that one of the reasons that the bookshelves in my living room are bowed in is because there are far too many books on them. I need to start reading faster!

The following is a list of books I picked up the last time I was in Dallas and made a stop by HalfPrice Books, one of my favorite haunts:

Ravelstein by Saul Bellow
The Prometheus Deception by Robert Ludlum
The Source by James Michener

How The Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez
Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut

I'm currently reading Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence. It is even racier than I expected, and is great late-summer reading.

While at HalfPrice Books, I also picked up a cd -- a copy of Places to Visit by Saint Etienne. So far, so good.

Posted by Kitty at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)

September 04, 2003

Brave New World

I still can't decide if blogging is an intriguing new form of self-expression or yet another way for people to publicize their egos. Leaving that question aside for the moment, I'm jumping in all the same.

I was inspired to start a blog when I joined an online mix cd swapping club. "But that's madness!" you must be thinking. No, just evidence of my interest in finding new music and my lack of enough of an attention span to listen to an entire cd of one artist's music. Through a quick search on Google, I discovered the CD Mix of the Month Club (known to the regulars as the CDMOM club). After I signed up for the monthly trade, I started reading Josh's blog. At first I thought, "Okay, random guy writing about whatever," and then I got hooked.

Now that I've started my own blog and have a forum for my internal monologue, I'm sure I'll run out of things to write about (just like it never rains when I remember my umbrella). Only I would practice law for a living, come home, and begin a hobby which requires me to continue writing and critique my own work. I've gotta get out more.

Posted by Kitty at 08:20 PM | Comments (0)