November 29, 2004

Hot Cheddar

1. Hottest place you've visited? Lived?
The hottest place I've visited would be Mexico, and the hottest place I've lived would be Dallas.

2. Song that gets you hot?
Anything by Peter Gabriel.

3. Person other than Signifigant Other that gets you hot?
Vin Diesel -- I know that's cheesy. I don't care.

4. Hottest movie scene?
There was a scene in American Pie that was surprisingly sexy. Beyond that, I don't get too worked up over scenes in movies.

5. Hottest sexual experience?
That question is wayyyy beyond the scope of this blog.

6. Hottest non-sexual experience?
Attending our wedding reception in my 50 pound dress, when one of the generators went out that fueled the air conditioner. It was early September in Dallas. That got pretty warm.

Posted by Kitty at 09:17 AM | Comments (6)

November 28, 2004

Holidays

Thanksgiving went pretty smoothly this year. We had the fam in town (at least, my fam) and they were fairly well behaved. Mom cooked enough food for us to fill up and have some left-overs, but nothing too unmanageable (not like three years ago when we ended up with approximately 10 pounds of leftover turkey). We went to the movies Thursday night and saw National Treasure (a good movie to see if you aren't interested in thinking too much) and also went to Celebration in the Oaks in City Park, which was nice. Friday we went to the horse races at the Fairgrounds and had a good time.

I'm now at work trying to catch up. I can't believe Christmas will be here so soon. Our firm's tree trimming party is Thursday and the firm's Christmas party and our department's Christmas lunch follow soon after. And with Mardi Gras so early in 2005, before we know it it'll be time for JazzFest.

Posted by Kitty at 01:45 PM | Comments (1)

November 19, 2004

Google Scholar

Here's a tip for the kids out there: If you're looking for scientific/medical articles on the internet, look no further than Google Scholar. Excellent stuff.

Posted by Kitty at 03:01 PM | Comments (1)

November 18, 2004

Early birds

The stampede started around 11:40 today.

If you didn't hear it, I'm shocked. Today was my firm's Thanksgiving potluck lunch. After three years of working at the firm, I've never made it to one (today included). I wasn't sure of the protocol, so I called my paralegal around 11:30 and asked for instructions. She said, "There'll be a line so be prepared to wait, pace yourself because there's lots of food and don't get there too early to pounce on the good stuff or you'll be talked about later." Good advice.

I showed up around noon with another paralegal (yes, I cheat on my paralegal occasionally, but she forgives me. I think.), my secretary and another attorney. The line for the lunch was so long it went down the hall, turned and wrapped around the building. I gave up and went down the street to the deli for a sandwich, not too concerned that I'd missed anything.

After lunch I asked my paralegal how it went. She said it was good -- she only had to wait about 25 minutes to get into the conference room to get some food and she only got one helping of a dish that tasted like feet. I'd rather gamble at a casino. I'm a bit more conservative with my meals.

Posted by Kitty at 09:18 PM | Comments (0)

November 17, 2004

Double wide library

While I'm pleased that Bill Clinton chose to build his presidential library in Little Rock, I do have to agree with those who have said that it might not do as much to elevate Arkansas in the eyes of others since the library resembles a double wide trailer on stilts.

Posted by Kitty at 12:23 PM | Comments (1)

November 15, 2004

Wealthy Animals

This article explains how some beavers in Louisiana found a sack of cash stolen from a casino and used the money to build a dam. How come I never find sacks of money lying around?

Posted by Kitty at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2004

Cheddar X Word Association

Before we begin, an announcement: Archi-Sapper has been having numerous technical difficulties with his blog, which Pylorns has been hard at work helping him correct. While Pylorns and Archi redesign his blog, he has started an interim blog at: http://lightbluecollar.blogspot.com.

Fluffy bunnies - Peeps

Coffee - beans

Flat tax - ugh

Fair and open - honest

Truth - really

Justice - courts

America - free

The Culture of Fear - Mao

Honesty - hard

Freedom - cheap

Comfort - blanket

Soothing - bath

Healing - balm

The Future - hazy

Posted by Kitty at 09:47 AM | Comments (1)

November 09, 2004

There's Always One

And I thought we already had one this year.

I previously blogged about adventures in interviewing -- you remember, the woman who showed up for her job interview with our law firm wearing an ill-fitting, out of season suit, a negligee, no pantyhose and shoes that didn't match her atrocious outfit? Well, it gets better.

We told the fashion-challenged woman thanks, but no thanks. However, we did interview several candidates we really liked. We typically have two interviewers conduct interviews of candidates from different schools, and then they rank the students they liked most and those students are invited back for a meet-and-greet cocktail party. That gives them a chance to meet several lawyers and gives us a chance to see how they do in social situations. From there, we select which candidates will receive offers for summer clerkships.

We did this. It all seemed to be going well (it always does). Early in the day of the interviewing I did this fall, I interviewed an appropriately dressed woman who really seemed to have her act together. She had an interesting background, was articulate and seemed interested in the firm (did I mention she was appropriately dressed?) We invited her back to the cocktail party and she did well there, too.

We sent her a letter and extended her an offer for a clerkship for next summer. In the letter, we asked that she respond by October 15. On October 15, she called and asked for some extra time to think about it, and asked if she could let us know by October 18. We said that was no problem -- we know we're not the only game in town, and good students often have several offers.

October 18 came and went and we haven't heard from her since. Naturally, we called her. Her phone had been disconnected. We e-mailed her at the e-mail address listed on her resume. Our e-mails went unreturned. We called the law school where she is a student. They assured us that no, she had not been hit by a bus, but they couldn't say more than that. Ultimately, we sent her a letter rescinding our offer and have moved on to more, um, responsive pastures.

It really slays me when there are so many great law students out there who would love the opportunity to work for our firm and we end up pursuing the yo-yo who is incapable of telling us she isn't interested.

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

November 04, 2004

Winter Reading

I have such a long, long list of to-be-read books. I just don't read fast enough, or have enough free time, to get through my stack of books quickly enough to make headway.

My latest pulp fiction addiction? The Stephanie Plum series of books by Janet Evanovich. Any book that features a protagonist who often (mistakenly) wears mismatched shoes is right up my alley.

I'm eagerly awaiting Tom Wolfe's new book, I Am Charlotte Simmons, despite the mixed reviews it has already garnered. Wolfe is so adept at describing a time and place (when I first read Bonfire of the Vanities, I was shocked at how it was New York in the 1980's, as A Man In Full was Atlanta in the 1990's). I've read reviews of it which basically criticize Wolfe for being an old guy who tries really hard to "get" college students, but misses some critical points (like having his main characters listen to Britney Spears without irony). Without having read it, I'm inclined to think that he may have gotten some minor points wrong in Bonfire and A Man In Full, but that didn't hamper the overall story. We'll see how it goes with his latest missive.

Posted by Kitty at 10:13 PM | Comments (1)

November 02, 2004

I'm Sure There's A Joke In Here Somewhere

In what is only of interest to New Orleanians, we had some heavy rain today. It hit Houston yesterday, so I figured we were next in line. What I wasn't expecting was the sideshow that came with it.

I was at work this afternoon and left around 4:00 to go down the street to get a haircut. I ducked into the salon just as it really started to rain, so I was pretty pleased with my timing. When I returned to the firm an hour later, I discovered that our building had been struck by lightning. Seriously. Our phones were all out and administration made everyone turn off their computers since we couldn't access the network, anyway. I'm sure there's a joke to be made about lightning striking a law firm, but I'm too tired to make it.

Posted by Kitty at 08:16 PM | Comments (1)