January 31, 2004

The Rise and Fall of Niles Crane

I don't understand the fascination with the Metrosexual, other than as people's excitement over having coined a new term. This article covers my feelings on Metrosexuals fairly well.

While I'm all for men bathing regularly, dressing nicely and having an appreciation for culture, all of this metrosexuality is a bit over the edge for me. If I were single and looking for someone to date (which I'm not, for the record), I would want a guy who is sensitive, but not one who cries at the drop of a hat. I'd look for a guy who dresses nicely, but not someone who is pickier about their clothing than I am (or irons their clothes more than I do). And if he has visited a salon/spa more than I have in the past six months, he's out.

Posted by Kitty at 12:16 PM | Comments (3)

January 27, 2004

Late Cheddar

1. Do you read more male or female bloggers? Why do you suppose that is?
It is about equal for me. I like reading different perspectives.

2. Does politicizing a blog send you packing if the blogger's beliefs are opposed to your own? Or, do you only read opinions that you agree with?
I don't mind reading political blogs that espouse opinions with which I disagree as long as I'm in a good mood. Otherwise, they just annoy me.

3. Do you read other Cheddar X answers before writing your own?
Nope. It never occurred to me to do that.

4. What was the last utterly ridiculous thing someone said to you?
This won't hurt.

5. What world record would you most like to hold?
I don't know...

6. What types of blog posts make you want to comment more often than not?
Usually personal ones, where someone is describing events in their life.

7. Does your significant other have a beloved article of clothing that you hate? Have you contemplated "accidentally" destroying it?
Interestingly, since my husband is in Iraq, I have abundant opportunity to "accidentally" destroy any of his clothing I don't like. The only article of clothing he owns that I simply cannot stand is a pair of ripped denim shorts that have paint stains on them (at least, I think that's paint).

Posted by Kitty at 04:41 PM | Comments (1)

30

Happy Birthday to me.

Posted by Kitty at 02:34 PM | Comments (3)

January 26, 2004

Weird Dreams

I've had weird dreams since I was very, very young. These aren't just dreams that are somewhat odd -- these are dreams that make therapists and counselors (not to mention friends and family members) step back and say, "Ooooooookay........." Needless to say, I had a weird dream last night, involving a trip on an Amtrak train, shopping for cute clothes, a paralegal at my office, extraterrestrials who live on Earth and being late a lot.

I'm trying to figure out what causes these dreams. I've heard that people often have strange dreams when they eat close to bedtime. The last thing I ate last night was a slice of king cake, and I had it a good three hours before I went to bed. I'm trying to see if this dream has any "depper meaning" within the context of my life, and is my subconscious trying to tell me something.

All I can figure is that before I went to bed, I was reading one of my first forays into Dean Koontz. I'm currently reading One Door Away From Heaven.

Posted by Kitty at 09:18 AM | Comments (5)

January 23, 2004

Mix Tapes

This article definitely sums up my feelings about making mix-cd's these days, as opposed to the age old practice of making mix tapes. I spent countless hours in high school and college making mix tapes, using a method not unlike the one mentioned in this article. It was painstaking, deliberate, time consuming and fun. Not to be outdone, of course, I also made covers for the mix tapes, which I cut out of magazines like Interview.

Don't get me wrong, I do make mix cd's and I enjoy it. It just involves such a different process that it can be hard to compare the two endeavors. With all digital music that automatically records at the same volume, gone are the days of searching for the right song, getting the volume levels right, making sure the beginning of this song flows with the end of the song before, etc. In some ways, I like the seamlessness of the new technology -- for instance, not having to worry about how much "dead space" there is in between each song. I just can't help but think that making mix cd's isn't quite the labor of love that making mix tapes was.

Posted by Kitty at 10:20 AM | Comments (2)

January 21, 2004

Mediating with feminists

I got to the law firm at 9:30 this morning, well in advance of the scheduled mediation. And I was prepared, too. In addition to my purse, I had my notes about the case we were mediating, a legal pad, my T-Mobile Sidekick (for e-mail and internet access) and a book to read during the down time. I even got there early enough to get a seat at the table (but I sat along the wall anyway).

For those of you who have never been to a mediation before (fess up, guys, you know who you are), it works like this: the mediator (whom both sides have selected jointly) gives an opening talk to plaintiff and defendant(s). Then, each side gets their chance to tell their "story". Then, one of the parties goes into another room, and the mediator runs back and forth between the two rooms, trying to negotiate agreeable terms. When done correctly, this process ocassionally works.

We knew we could never mediate this case today. There are 25+ defendants in the case, and each had their own lawyer there, plus we had the plaintiff and his two lawyers -- a man who is quite nice, and his wife who has a special circle in hell reserved for her. However, the judge ordered us to mediate this case (because he wants to get rid of it), so we complied.

We were in a large conference room of a large law firm here in town. The conference room sits on the 32nd floor of this office building, and has a magnificent view of downtown New Orleans and the Mississippi River. It is a perfect place to lose track of time (as an aside: several of the large firms who occupy these spaces often have problems with tourists who wander into their conference rooms and libraries wanting to take pictures of the cityscape).

At one point, while the mediator was in the other conference room conferring with the plaintiff and his attorneys, I was reading my book and several of the lawyers were chatting to pass the time. One of them, who happens to be my former boss, walks in with a stack of photocopied papers in her hands. She begins passing out these papers to everyone for our review. The sheet of paper I received contained a review of a new book by Dr. Laura Schlessinger entitled, "The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands".

Understand this: my former boss is a feminist. And I don't use that word lightly. I can understand how she morphed into feminism, as her first legal job was at a large law firm in town that had no female partners when she started working there. Furthermore, many of the male partners were pigs (not all of them, of course, but a good number). She ultimately worked her way up the ladder and became a partner there and was a memebr of the firm's Management Committee. She is also married to one of the most conservative men I know. He's somewhere to the right of Rush, and is of the type who finds the Fox News network too "touchy feely".

Once I received this book review, I already knew the score. I've always thought of Dr. Laura as something of a Nazi, but an avoidable one (thankfully). However, this book reviewed intrigued me.

As an example of her (ahem) "advice", Dr. Laura starts one of her chapters with quotes from real-life (no fakes here!) men. One of them is as follows:

"Men are only interested in two things: If I'm not horny, make me a sandwich."

John

A few thoughts: (1) No one would really want to eat the kinds of sandwiches I prepare, my husband included; (2) Most wives would never get the opportunity to make the sandwiches in the first place, men's sex drives being what they often are; (3) Is it some big revelation that men want to have sex as often as possible? I understand that there are many men (unlike Dr. Laura, I cannot group all men together) who, if possible, would have sex 24/7 -- however, this is real life, not Cinemax. Wives can only perform so many miracles in a day, and constant sexual gratification of their husbands sometimes isn't one of them.

One of my favorite quotes from this book? "And at the end of the day . . . roll over in bed, close your eyes, give him a big hug, and remember that without him, you are only a sorry excuse for a person, but as half of the team, you are invincible."

Well, this sorry excuse for a person is going to hang out with her girl friends this weekend.

And no, we didn't mediate the case.

Posted by Kitty at 08:56 PM | Comments (2)

January 20, 2004

Good Faith

I'm usually in the middle of a book (well, at least when I'm not at work) and right now I'm in the middle of Good Faith by Jane Smiley.

This book is set in the 1980's, a special decade for us all, no doubt. I've really been enjoying the book, but reading a book set in a previous time period that I actually lived through is like watching a bad horror movie. Instead of saying, "No! Don't open that door!", I keep thinking things like, "No! S&L's aren't safe places for your money!"

Posted by Kitty at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2004

It's About Time

Now this is what I like to see -- a man who appreciates a good spa day.

Posted by Kitty at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2004

Cheddar X

Choose your favorite actor and answer the questions below with movies they have been in. It may be too difficult to answer all the questions with a single actor's filmography so you can either skip some or split the list in two and use two different actors. Do whatever makes you happy.

1. What is your home life like?
Everyone Says I Love You.

2. What is your first thought when you think about high school?
Our of the Past.

3. What is your strongest personality trait?
Slapstick of Another Kind.

4. What's your work like?
High Anxiety.

5. What do you wish your job was?
The Score.

6. Describe your partner.
Mixed Nuts.

7. Describe yourself.
Mixed Nuts.

8. What's some good advice?
I couldn't find one for this one.

9. Tell us about your childhood.
A Bug's Life.

10. What would you say to your ten year old self?
What's Up, Doc?

The two actors I used are indeed two of my faves -- Edward Norton and Madeline Kahn.

Posted by Kitty at 05:08 PM | Comments (4)

January 15, 2004

The Witching Hour

3:30 a.m. Yep, that's when I got up this morning. No, that isn't a typo. I think it is what I get for sleeping for 15 hours straight one night last week. I put my husband on a 5:00 a.m. flight to Atlanta, and from there he'll go to Frankfurt. I returned home around 5:00 a.m., and fell into bed until my alarm went off again at 6:30. I'm now at work trying to deal with each piece of paper on my desk so that the stacks don't collapse of their own weight.

I had a wonderful time with him, but I can't believe it went by so quickly. I am constantly reminded of how much fun we have together. My reminder this afternoon came with a knock at the door of my office, as I was sitting at my desk eating lunch (trying to organize said paper) and one of the guys who works in General Services brought me a dozen long-stemmed pink roses with a card from my husband saying, "I love you and I'll see you soon." Now, as long as I don't fall asleep face-first into the roses' thorns, I'm good.

Posted by Kitty at 01:18 PM | Comments (1)

January 13, 2004

Relationship Advice

It has been a great R&R for both of us -- I didn't realize how much I needed some time off work until I actually took it. My husband and I have: spent the night at a swanky local hotel to celebrate New Year's, gone to Beau Rivage and gambled our money, bought a new desktop computer, travelled to Dallas and cleaned the apartment (it had to be done).

Dallas was enjoyable, if hectic. As Vauda pointed out in her comment to my previous post, Justin has a lot of family members. Wonderful people, all, but trying to sit down and visit with each of them was craziness. It will be much easier to catch up with people when he's home for good. Included in the visit were cameos by Judge Hartman (the Judge I worked for during the summer after my first year of law school), Catherine (my college roommate and maid of honor at our wedding) and our friend Josh, proprietor of Crabwalk.

My favorite moments of the weekend? Those include: 1) seeing my eight year old cousin Anna fall for Justin's 10 year old cousin Skylar. After spending an evening playing video games together, Skylar asked Anna if she wanted to stay in his hotel room with him. We later informed her that she could do that. When she's 18.; 2) Having my fourteen year old cousin (who shall remain nameless, but he's Anna's brother) ask my husband for relationship advice. It seems that when he and his girlfriend make out, he gets bored and want to stop and play video games, thereby upsetting her.; 3) Talking to my sister-in-law, who related to me the story of how her four year old son told her that in order to get a husband, the first thing you have to do is "prove yourself brave" (truer words were never spoken); and 4) Talking to my father-in-law about blogs and realizing that he reads more of them than I do.

Posted by Kitty at 08:50 PM | Comments (5)

January 07, 2004

Cheddar X for the New Year

1. How do you organize your music?

I'm sad to say I don't. I used to, but so many of my cd's are in my car, at work and in the possession of my husband (i.e. in Iraq) that I can never find what I have any more. I used to organize my cd's alphabetically by artist, and once organized my cd's by the color on the labels.

2. Do you have more online or more hard copy music?

I definitely have more hard copies of music. I switch computers too often to really amass a cache of online music.

3. What are your three most favorite bands you found or heard of online?

Well, any band I heard about through the cd mix of the month club I ultimately heard about online, so if those count then I would say Beulah, the New Pornographers and Death Cab for Cutie.

4. What are your New Year's resolutions, if any?

To lose some weight, get in shape, pay off my credit card, learn some freaking HTML and spend more time with my wonderful husband.

5. How did you do on your last year's resolutions?

I didn't make any resolutions last year, so I did just fine.

Posted by Kitty at 08:47 PM | Comments (10)

January 06, 2004

Ahhhhh, Vacation

I proved to my husband that I can indeed sleep for 15 hours straight for no reason other than pure laziness. It is amazing what you can do with little to no effort.

After getting up at 2:00 this afternoon (no, that's not a typo), I found out that the Dell desktop we ordered, that wasn't supposed to ship until 1/17, shipped last night! (and yes, I already got a webcam to go with it).

In other happy news, I got two mix-cd's from my friend Josh, former founder of the cd mix of the month club. It is like Christmas all over again!

My wonderful husband and I are off to scenic Biloxi, Mississippi to spend the night at Beau Rivage, a casino/resort on the Gulf Coast. It is one of my favorite places to spend obscene amounts of money.

Posted by Kitty at 03:41 PM | Comments (4)

January 02, 2004

Some Things I'm Good At

No, blogging regularly isn't one of them these days.

Yep, you guessed it, life has been crazy. But in a good way. My wonderful husband arrived safely in New Orleans from Iraq via Kuwait and Frankfurt (and a few interminable layovers). His first evening in town was spent sitting on the floor of our living room, eating Krispy Kreme doughnuts and assembling the huge Playmobil castle set I got him for Christmas while Maggie tried to help. We spent New Year's Eve at the W hotel here in town, which was a memorable experience, and decided to join the rest of polite society by purchasing a DVD player today. On tap for tonight are Finding Nemo and Italian for Beginners.

I will return to work Monday for a meeting, but otherwise won't go back to work full time until January 15, the day he leaves to return to Iraq. Normally a type-A personality (in the extreme), I have seriously been enjoying this hiatus from work.

Posted by Kitty at 07:11 PM | Comments (3)