Phocas and Francis

A Wednesday in the Life of Lyco

2007-12-12T10:25:00.000-05:00

So this morning, someone lovely left a chunk of candy cane on the dining room table. Somehow under my helmet. It stuck to said helmet. I placed said helmet upon my head and blithely rode off to work. When I arrived at said work and removed said helmet, said candy cane was FIRMLY lodged in said bangs of doom (or s-bod). The s-bod was sticking straight up and holding fiercely to the helmet. I yanked. No good. I had to walk into my office with my helmet stuck to the candy cane and stuck to my hair - I clearly went straight into the bathroom, but not before a coworker saw me. It took me 15 minutes to get said candy cane out and it involved ripping and yanking feverishly. My coworkers came in and laughed at me. Then they told me it was too warm out and to work harder.

And later on that day in a series of emails from a coworker:

CW: "And now you know, when I see the word 'gas,' I think of you."

Lyco: "I hope that's because of my project."

CW: When the project fits the gal....

Braised Tempeh Bowl

2007-12-06T12:21:00.000-05:00

This made a fantastic winter meal. Keep the pieces warm in the oven as you assemble so everything comes out nice and toasty.

Serves 2

Lyco's Braised Tempeh Bowl

1 package tempeh
1 container Pacific Organic mushroom broth
1/2 cup red wine
1/3 apple cider
2 shallots, thinly sliced
7 small-med mushrooms, sliced
1 small bunch spinach, cleaned and stems removed
3 garlic cloves, minced and separated
5 sun dried tomatoes
2 roasted yellow bell peppers
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
olive oil
salt and pepper
Enough brown rice for two people

Preheat oven to 375. Cut tempeh into two even pieces and then slice those pieces down their centers (the tempeh thickens a lot as it cooks). Place all four pieces in a small pan evenly spaced. Cover with the wine and apple juice, then add enough mushroom broth to submerge the tempeh. Throw in the sun dried tomatoes and the bay leaf, and add some pepper. Cover the pan and cook in the oven for 1 and 1/2 hours, occasionally adding more mushroom broth to keep them submerged. When the tempeh is done, pull it out and lower the oven temp to 250. Remove the sun dried tomatoes onto a cutting board to let them cool. Once they are cool, slice them. Put two large bowls in the oven to warm them up.

Cook rice while tempeh is braising and keep warm. Slice the roasted peppers and keep aside.

Warm about 1 tsp of olive oil in a large nonstick pan over medium high heat. Saute 1/2 of the shallots with 1 clove of the garlic for about 1-2 minutes. Then add the mushrooms and thyme and cook until soft. Put mushrooms on a plate and stick them in the oven.

Lower heat to medium and add another small drizzle of olive oil, the remainder of the shallots, and another clove of garlic. Cook until shallots are soft, or 3-5 minutes. Add the spinach and 1/3 cup of the tempeh broth and cook spinach until soft and wilted, about 3 more minutes. Remove onto the mushroom plate and put into the oven.

Turn the heat up to med-high (on the higher end) and add another tsp olive oil and the remaining garlic. Still until the scent is released, about 30 seconds. Add the tempeh and fry on each side until golden, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove to mushroom plate and put back in oven.

Put the remaining broth from the pan into the sautee pan and reduce by 1/3. Then assemble your plate:

Evenly distribute the rice into the warmed bowls, carving a large dip in the center. On the bottom of each "dip", put in half of the spinach, top with two of the pieces of tempeh, and cover with the half the shallots and mushrooms. Pour the juice evenly over each dish.

Turn the heat back up, toss in the roasted red pepper and tomato slices to warm them up - about 30 seconds. Then lightly dress them around the edges of the rice.

YUM!

Garden Update - Building Cold Frames

2007-11-19T08:03:00.000-05:00

My recent post got me a lot of emails and a surprising number of them asked a simple question:

"What's going on with the gardening, Lyco??"

So I will give you a short garden update while I eat my yogurt and drink my morning coffee of pre-bike winter ride warmth. Brrr.

As you know, I don't have a garden of my own right now. I have herb pots, and a couple chili peppers I grew this summer, but that hardly counts. I am, however, volunteering at the 7th Street Gardens. Which, as I said before, raises organic produce for low income DC residents. It also provides nutrition and urban gardening classes to them and to local public school kids. So what have we been up to?

Well, it's winter, so we busied ourselves by building cold frames. It started by driving down to Virginia to a couple local dumps and foraging as many old windows and scraps of plywood as we could. We then had a bunch of railroad ties and 4x4s donated to us - so we used those as the "frames". That next volunteer day, we overturned all the soil by the brick building on the eastern end of the property, leveled it out, and put a series of 4x4s and railroad ties along the back wall to make a 2.5 foot high space. We also used 4x4s to create the front space for the cold frame - measuring it by the window. We set the 4x4s into the ground 3 inches. For every two windows, we cut a piece of used plywood on the diagonal to connect the back and the front. Lots of drilling and hammers and nails, etc. At the end, we had 24 feet of cold frame. We had also contructed row covers over 4 more of the boxed garden beds. And yes, we only used non-treated wood. Period.

So what's with that?

Well, the row covers are covering collards, kale, broccoli, parsnips, bok choy, and 3 kinds of radishes. The cold frames are now hosting carrots, lettuces, and spinach, beets, turnips, chard, brussels sprouts, and leeks. We still have other carrots, 2 kinds of onions, leeks, several lettuces, 3-4 kinds of winter squash, kohlrabi, lots of herbs, and some apples out there uncovered and just taking that cold to the face.

A lot of the time lately has been spent tearing out the summer crops, turning over the soil, and getting in the seedlings before the soil got too cold. Eggplants, marigolds, tomatoes, melons, etc. all came up and out. We also had a big day where 12 volunteers showed up out of now where so we got them to dig up and sift out the soil in a back area we plan to expand into come spring. On top of that, we've been testing the soil beds to see what needs to be changed for the next season, painting new signs for the winter crops, and dealing with the fact that our tool shed was robbed and all our motorized equipment stolen. Sigh.

Anyway, for the gardeners curious, we have 32 beds, so I can't really go into details about how we're mixing all the plants. Suffice it to say, we're planting quick growing plants with large plants so they will harvest in time to make room, and interspersing thinly rooted plants with root veggies to make the most use of the garden. A few obvious pairs:

Spinach, broccoli, radish, turnips
beets, parsley, kohlrabi, radish
brussels sprouts, cabbage, chard, carrots

Things grown by themselves: leeks and onions - why? Because faster growing roots will hurt these sensitive little guys.

Anyway, that's it I guess. if you really want more detail, email me again and I'll answer your questions directly, off the bl@g.

P.S. - Knitting season started and I'm SO psyched! While staying in Takoma Park last week, I bought a beautiful warm orange and browney yarn and I'm eagerly starting a double stranded hat. And I think, after years of doing this, that I finally have perling down. At least, the base of my hat says so :). I know, I'm stupid. Whateves.

Passed the Bar

2007-11-16T19:22:00.000-05:00

Well, I passed the NY bar exam. My office mates and the policy department took me out to celebrate. It was incredibly sweet of them.

I think I lasted an hour at the bar.

I know I should have gone out and gotten wasted (or whatever the term is for it right now), but I was just so relieved to have passed that I couldn't have energy for anything else. I went home and drank a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau (it came out 2 days ago!) and cooked a big dinner. And then slept in today until 9:00. My boss just chuckled when I slunk in at 11:00. Nice guy.

So yeah. Big life accomplishment, check.

I just want to say one little thing. Just one thing about that whole experience. Let this be a lesson to you that you CAN take the bar exam and keep your sanity and balance. I did not go insane, with perhaps the exception of the last two weeks, and I passed.

During the exam, I got one of the essays entirely wrong. I only wrote two paragraphs in another one. I ran out of time on the MBE - both sections.

And I passed the bar. So just don't believe the hype. You CAN pass the bar and stay balanced.

I guess that's it folks. Thanks for stoppin' by!

P.S. - Willie, I got you something that will TOTALLY make up for my tomslackery. Totally.

Vegan Down Home Bowl

2007-11-14T12:53:00.000-05:00

So I'm in this book club, and it's pretty hot. It's full of a super diverse group of women who are all highly intelligent and interesting. The deal is that the person who hosts picks the book and then you cook dinner and clean up afterwards. We meet once a month - and since there are 10 of us, you really only host once a year, so it's not huge commitment or anything. Anyway, something interesting that has occurred is that the women have been cooking traditional meals according to their backgrounds. So last month, one member who is from India made amazing chai, saag paneer, and this incredible chick pea dish and served it with raita and had Indian deserts. Wow! So when it came time for me to host (I picked The Hummingbird's Daughter - magnificique!) I decided to do a vegan South'rn meal. I made Down Home Bowls, and everyone ate WAY more that I thought! The deal is that you make everything separately and then serve it together in a big dish. Make enough so that each person has two pieces of cornbread - one to crush into the bowl, and one to sop of the remaining juices!! Because you want the sop, make everything juicy. I made the beans the day before and just made the greens and cornbread the day of. I served it with mulled apple cider.

Serves 10.

Easy Crockpot Pinto Beans

3 cups Pinto Beans
2 tsp olive oil
1 hot pepper, minced
1 celery rib, chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp vegetarian Worcestershire sauce (optional)
1 tbs dried oregano
1 tbs garlic powder
1/2 tsp thyme
cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste
1-2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 container Pacific vegetable broth
water

This is a really chill recipe, so make it the way you like it. Turn a crockpot on high heat up the olive oil. Saute the onion, hot pepper, and celery until softening, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, half the liquid smoke, the Worcestershire sauce, the dried herbs, and cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Stir well. Add broth until beans are covered by 2 inches of liquid. Cook in crockpot for 3-4 hours. Go back and add the rest of the broth and probably some water until the beans are covered again. Taste it and adjust seasonings, adding more of whatever you want to get the desired flavor. Let it cook for another 3 hours or until beans are tender and liquid is thickened. Take off the heat and add the vinegar.

The Best Vegan Cornbread Recipe Ever

I got this recipe off the internet a long time ago and it is really the best one.

2 Tbs ground flax seed
6 Tbs water
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp table salt
1 cup soy milk
1/4 cup earth balance, melted

Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 8-inch-square baking dish or a large cast-iron skillet with nonstick cooking spray.

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the ground flax seed, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer the ground flax seed in the water for 3 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt until well-combined. Add the ground flax seed mixture, soy milk, and canola oil to the flour mixture. Beat just until smooth (do not overbeat.) Turn into prepared skillet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack 10 minutes; invert cornbread onto wire rack, then turn right side up and continue to cool until warm, about 10 minutes longer. Cut into pieces.

Savory Chard

3 large bunches of chard, roughly chopped with stems and cleaned well
3 tbs olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1/3 hot pepper, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 tbs apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/3 cup red wine
2 tbs soy sauce or Bragg's Amino Acid
dash of hot sauce
salt and pepper to taste

You need a huge pan for this, if not, you should do it in batches. Heat olive oil in large, deep pan. Saute onion, pepper, garlic, ginger and chopped chard stems until softening, about 5 minutes. Add chard and coate in olive oil and seasoning. Add the liquids and cook, turning chard every minute or two, until chard is tender and reduced in size by 2/3s. Adjust seasonings.

Take large shallow bowls, and put beans and greens in halves. Top with two pieces of cornbread. Serve with hot sauce for people to adjust the heat.

Savory Tofu Recipe

2007-11-11T21:10:00.000-05:00

Just a note to say that I firmly believe in the superiority of White Wave Extra Firm tofu over all other tofus for when you desire a firm texture. It's delicious and stands up to anything.

For those interested in my life - read along - if not, skim down to the recipe below. Things are going well. I have a long term and short term case each. I'm learning lots. I like my coworkers and we're starting to bond outside of work. I still love DC. I'm building a strong community in my neighborhood and getting really involved in the urban gardens. I'm biking lots but mostly commuting/errands - about 50 miles a week. I know my bike is suffering, but I don't have the skills to deal with some of her issues. But still fighting my way through. I'm realizing that I'm gonna have to pay out a little in the dough-section to keep it up. Dough is something I lack. I'm po'.

I should probably write something soon about what a HUGE RELIEF it is to not be in law school anymore. I don't regret it - I loved the intellectual challenge. But damn. I'm glad that's over. Anyway, back to the recipes:

Crispy Fried Savory Tofu

Serves 3

1 package White Wave Extra Firm Tofu
liquid smoke
4 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs balsamic vinager
1/4 cup
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp minced ginger
2 large garlic cloves, pressed
2 tbs stone stone ground mustard (anything but yellow)

1/3 cup corn starch
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Cut tofu into 9 slices and press between 2 dish towels and something heavy (cookbooks, etc.), turning top towel once to press out moisture. Put tofu slices in a large container to marinate them.

Mix next 8 ingrediants in a bowl and pour over tofu slices, turning once. Let marinate for 1 hour, turning occasionally.

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan over med-high heat. Place cornstarch on a dish and dredge tofu slices, knocking off any extra but making sure they are coated. When oil is shimmering, add the tofu in batches, cooking until each side is golden and crispy - about 3 minutes per side. Drain on newspaper or a paper bag. If you want, this is good with gravy or a balsamic reduction, but it's also amazing on its own!

I served this with rice and roasted veggies, but it's a staple with me so I serve it all the time. Yum!

The Air Car

2007-11-06T17:09:00.000-05:00

Holy crackers this is the coolest thing I've seen in a LOOOOOOOOOONG time. Apparently this car does, among other things, the following:

To fill the tanks it will take about to 2 to 3 minutes at a price of about $5. After refilling the car will be ready to drive 121 miles.
Because the engine does not burn any fuel the car's oil(a litre of vegetable) only needs to be changed every 50,000Km.
The vehicles have a small computer screen that shows the speed and engine revolutions. The system allows for infinite possibilities such as GSM telephone systems, GPS satellite tracking systems, programs for delivery people, emergency systems, internet connections, voice recognitions, map presentation, traffic information...
The temperature of the clean air expulsed form the exhaust pipe is between 0 and 15 degrees below zero and can be subsequently channelled and used for air conditioning in the interior of the car.

Check out the Air Car!

Cloud 9...hundred

2007-11-01T17:06:00.000-04:00

I actually made a difference in the world today. Me.

*I* made a difference. In the world. A difference. Like, not a pretend one. And not some indirect one. Not one of those "I did research for the guy who helped write the brief" ones. I actually directly made a difference.

Law school actually worked. Amazing!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T20:58:00.000-04:00

I'm in this beautiful little moment where the kids have finally petered out from tricker treating, and the neighbors are settling back down, but it's not quite late enough to go upstairs. There was a sweet neighborhood Halloween party - a very different ballgame from our annual shindig but lovely. So since I'm taking some well-deserved but rare me time, I decided to make a personal batch of my Halloween snack (the stuff I brought to the party) for myself - extra salty and extra spicy. I can see the pumpkin flickering out on our stairs, and I have Amos Lee blasting through our recently acquired stereo. Happy Halloween!

Lyco's Spicy Salty Halloween Snack

For the pumpkin seeds:
seeds from one pumpkin, picked clean of scrap but not rinsed
2 tbs Earth Balance, melted
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs canola oil
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbs creole spice (recipe to follow)
salt to taste

For the popcorn:
1/3 cup popcorn
1 tbs canola oil
2 tbs Earth Balance, melted
2 tbs soy sauce
4 tbs nutritional yeast
3 tbs creole spice
extra cayenne and salt until happy with life

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put pumpkin seeds in a bowl with butter, oil, curry, and soy sauce. Mix well and lay out on a single layer into a baking pan. Top with creole spice and salt. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until golden, tossing occasionally. Pull out of the oven and cool.

While pumpkin seeds are cooling, heat oil in a large pot with a top that you can easily crack and heat oil over medium high heat. Add popcorn when it sizzles and pop, tossing constantly, until popping slows to 1-2 seconds. Put in a large bowl. Mix butter and soy sauce, and drizzle a little of that onto the popcorn, tossing some of each of the ingredients on and tossing the popcorn until all the liquid is gone and the popcorn is well coated. Adjust the salt and cayenne to desired amount and add in 1/3-1/2 of the pumpkin seeds. Yum!

Fall Feast

2007-10-21T23:43:00.000-04:00

Today we got the house ready for winter by sealing all the cracks in the windows and the floors. My house gets darn cold in the winter and hopefully this will do something to help. It was the roommies plus 3 of my friends. We got lots of fall beers and just tackled every room in the house. It’s rather funny that we are all in our late 20s and early 30s and yet no one could resist the obvious “caulk” and “crack filler” jokes.

One of my friends who came works at Asbury Farm and brought us 2 pounds of their lamb, so I whipped this up with stuff we already had on hand to feed everyone once the winterizing was done – it worked well that most of the CSA veggies and the local farmers markets are giving us fall veggies. Since most of the house is vegetarian, I made a veggie version of this stew with lentils to accompany the lamb. Another of my roommies had some Brussels sprouts, so that was that. The sweet potato biscuits are just a fun thing to make – I highly suggest them. My roommie made the apple cobbler, so that recipe isn’t in here – but I think she got the cobbler recipe from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and added a dash of ancho chili powder and garam masala to the apples. To make this meal come together, first get the lamb stew cooking, then tackle the lentils and Brussels sprouts, and end it with the biscuits. Put the oven racks so that you can put the sprouts on the bottom and the biscuits on the top. When you pull everything out, reduce the oven heat and put in the cobbler. We all sat around and ate like kings while watching the Red Sox game, and I’m snuggled up in a chair writing these recipes out before I forget them – trying to digest the apple cobbler. Now back to full attention on the game – Cleveland just sported a beautiful display of running into one another trying to catch the ball. Amazing.

Irish Lamb Stew

1/2 cup + 2 tbs flour
1 tsp each ground dried sage and rosemary
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 lbs cubed lamb shoulder
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 oatmeal porter (or stout beer)
½ cup red wine
1 lb small potatoes, diced
3 carrots, coined
3 parsnips, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbs dark brown sugar
2 bay leaves
32 oz beef broth
1/2 cup pearl barley
8 sprigs parsley
3 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs rosemary
1 sprig sage
¾ cup frozen baby peas

Salt and pepper lamb, dredge lamb in ½ cup flour. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the lamb in batches, until browned on all sides, about 4 minutes per batch. Remove each batch to a plate. Reduce heat to medium and stir 2 tablespoons of flour with the dried herbs into the Dutch oven. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat, 1 minute. Stir in the beer and wine, scraping up the browned bits and cook until thickened slightly. Add the parsnips, carrots, bell pepper, onions, celery, garlic, and brown sugar. Cook until the liquid is reduced by 1/2, about 20 minutes.

Return the meat to the Dutch oven. Add the bay leaves, potatoes, broth, and barley. Tie the parsley, sage, thyme and rosemary in a bundle with kitchen string; add to Dutch oven. Cook, stirring occasionally for 45 minutes. Add frozen peas, reduce heat to med-low, and continue to cook, until the lamb is fork tender, probably another 15 minutes. Skim off any fat and season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaves and herb bundle and serve.

Lentil Stew

3 small potatoes, diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 large stalks celery, sliced
1 large onion, diced
2 parsnips, diced
1 large carrot, coined
2 tbs olive oil
1 bay leaves
Liquid Smoke
1 small can diced tomatoes
2 tbs flour
1 tsp each dried rosemary and sage
Several sprigs of thyme
½ cup red wine
5 cups vegetable broth
½ cup barley
2 cups French green lentils

Heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add first six ingredients and cook about 10 minutes. Add wine, tomatoes, bay leaf, and 6-7 shakes of liquid smoke and cook another 5 minutes. Add flour and dried herbs, stirring constantly until thickened. Add broth, lentils, thyme, and barley and cook on med-low heat until barley is tender and lentils are soft but not mushy – about 25 minutes.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

2 lbs Brussels sprouts, halved and outer leaves removed
3 tbs coarse salt
Pepper to taste
2 tbs thyme leaves
3 tbs walnut oil

Heat oven to 400 F. Toss sprouts in oil and sprinkle with 1/2 salt and pepper. Toss again and top with more salt and pepper and thyme leaves. Bake until outer leaves are crispy, brown, and cut sides are caramelized, stirring occasionally ~ 25-30 min.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 sweet potato
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
5 tsp. baking powder
4 tsp. sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
2/3 cup cold solid vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Preheat an oven to 400°F.

Prick the sweet potato several times with a fork. Place it directly on the oven rack and bake until very tender, about 1 1/4 hours. Let cool completely.

Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and increase the temperature to 450°F.

Peel the sweet potato and force it through a food mill or wire sieve. Add the buttermilk and whisk until smooth.

In a large bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Add the shortening and butter and cut them into the dry ingredients until the pieces of fat resemble corn kernels. Add the buttermilk mixture and stir until a soft, crumbly dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead 8 to 10 times, until it just holds together.

Roll out and pat the dough into a rectangle 6 by 12 inches. Using a knife dipped in flour cut the dough into 12 rectangular biscuits. Transfer the biscuits to an ungreased baking sheet. Bake until the biscuits have risen and their edges and bottoms are lightly browned, 12 to 14 minutes.

Serve with apple butter.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

2007-10-18T21:26:00.001-04:00

It's fall here and the CSA dropped about 800 pounds of broccoli on our doorstep. So I made this. I tend to be scared of making soups, but with my roomie's prodding, I launched into it. Rather glad for the outcome too. It was yumtacular and flexible to boot - just use whatever's around. I served it with seitan coated in whole wheat flour and nutiritional yeast - baked them in the oven whilst the soup was cooked.

Lyco's CSA Cream of Yummy Soup

3 tbs butter
4 cups broccoli, diced
1 medium zuke, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 medium shallots, diced
3 gloves of garlic, minced
5 medium mushrooms, diced
5 wild mushrooms, diced
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup flour and nutritional yeast mix
3/4 cup cream
3 cups vegetable stock
1 cup shredded cheese (we used CSA cheddar)
salt and pepper to taste

Put the stock in a medium pot and bring to boil, then keep warm. Heat the 3 tbs butter in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, shallots, and bell pepper and cook until onion is barely translucent, 3-5 min. Add mushrooms, garlic, mustard powder, and cayenne, cook 3 min. Add broccoli and zuke, cook for about 5 min, or until a lot of the veggie juices have been released. Add the flour/nutritional yeast mixture and stir until thick coating forms. Slowly mix in the stock until bubbling and cook for about 5 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend soup until thick and creamy (otherwise do this in batches in a food processor or a blender). Slowly stir in the cheese until it melts, then slowly mix in the cream. Adjust salt and pepper and serve with crusty bread. Yum!

This can easily be made low fat by using nonfat creamer and less cheese. It can be made vegan by using earth balance, vegan cheese (or not), cashew cream, and a bit of soy creamer. Enjoy!

Thank God

2007-10-17T09:55:00.001-04:00

Landon is home.

Seitan Pot Pie

2007-10-16T11:12:00.000-04:00

I was not satisfied with the chicken pot pie recipes I have found, so I made my own, substituting Seitan for the chicken since my house is mostly veg. This served 4 as a main course of hungry folk and then another 3 lunches the next day.

Lyco’s Seitan Pot Pie

3 large carrots, diced
2 large stalks celery, diced
2 small/medium potatoes, diced
1 large yellow onion, diced
3 packages “chicken style” seitan, 1 cup fluid reserved, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 bay leaf
1/3-1/2 cup frozen peas
2 tbs butter
3 cloves garlic
7 medium mushrooms, diced
1/3 cup celery leaves, chopped
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/3 tbs paprika
1/3 tsp dried ground rosemary OR sage
1/3 tbs dried thyme
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup flour/nutritional yeast mixture
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup cream

Pie Dough (make 2 batches)

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 tsp dried oregano
5 1/3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
5 1/3 tbs cold vegetable shortening
1/2 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Make the pie dough by combining the flour, oregano and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until mixed. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add in the water 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until mixed. Take out and work with hands just until a smooth ball forms, being careful not to overwork the dough. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Repeat for 2 batches - this makes for thick crust on both ends - if you prefer thinner, reduce accordingly.

In a medium pot blanch the carrots and potatoes with the bay leaf in boiling water until just cooked through, about 5-8 minutes. Drain and reserve (keep the bay leaf).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a deep casserole dish with butter.

In a large skillet or pot, melt the butter over medium high heat. Saute the onions and celery with the bay leaf until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and mushrooms to the pan and continue cooking until the mushrooms are soft and give off their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the dry spices and stir well. Sprinkle the flour/nutritional yeast mixture into the vegetables to make a roux, cooking for 3-4 minutes to slightly thicken. Slowly add the stock until a thick gravy is made. Add the wine, cream, celery leaves, and parsley, stirring well. Cook down the fluid if it’s too wet. Add the precooked veggies and seitan, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Remove the 2 balls of dough from the refrigerator and place on a floured surface. Roll out the dough to fit the dish. Gently transfer first batch to the bottom to the dish, pushing in to fit the bottom and pressing around the top to create the bottom part of the seal. Then transfer the mixture to the deep casserole dish. Top with the next circle of dough, trim to 1 inch from the edge, then turn the edges under and flute diagonally with a butter knife. Brush the top of the pastry with the egg wash and cut a pattern of slits over the crust. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the contents are hot and bubbly, about 45-60 minutes.

Vegans: This can easily be made vegan by substituting Earth Balance for the butter and soy creamer for the cream. Just omit the egg on top.

Buen Camino

2007-09-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

Hola!!

I'm back from DC with wonderful adventures under my belt. Among them are a 250 km hike through the Spanish Pyrenees involving my humping a Saint, riding a bucking pony on a dare (yes, I won the longest ride BITCHES), and a narrow escape from a decent hurricane (no, I am not dead).

Put simply, Spain est bueno. While I now wish I had known even a teensy bit of Spanish before embarking on a hiking pilgrimage through rural Spain, I picked up some as I went. Oh yes, such important phrases as "dos cervesas por favor" and "dos cafe con leches y dos tortillas por favor", "Como va?/Que esta?" and the ever present "quiesiero la campena o habitaciones doble?" Yeeeahhh... something like that. My favorite thing I learned was "buen camino", or "good way." It's what bikers and hikers say to one another on the trail.

Anyway, old people mostly thought us batty and young people mostly thought us fun. It actually tended to have the same effect no matter what. I'll tell ya one thing right now though: I ain't n.e.v.e.r. goin' on a vaca in Europe again unless I can guarantee a plethora of Italian bikers. Them boys is cheeky in EVERY sense of the word. Heh. No but seriously folks, they're a lot of fun. Anywhere we found ourselves by the road, they made our days a little bit brighter with their jokes as the going got tough and their charm when things were simply going. And the views of their rears. Sorry, but a gal's gotta be honest.

Aside from hot men in spandex, we were completely blessed with kindness throughout our journey. We were, to be frank, woefully unprepared for anything. Seeing as how we made our plans on the plane on the way over. And not even really then. Incidentally, have you had a moment to enjoy an international flight lately? Because they are simply wonderful and involve not only two decent meals but free booze at both every turn AND high altitude. Lovely chaps, those international flight stewardesses. Much hotter than the Americans. I mean, I hate to diss on us, but those girls rocked the socks off any American stewardess I've ever seen. Then again, that's only because I'm not a flight stewardess. However, to be an American flight stewardess, I should think I must age about 20 years and gain about 20 pounds. And wear far too much makeup and probably have some mole that no one discusses but everyone gapes at. But I digress. Back to the kindness... we were completely moronic about the whole thing and yet everywhere we turned was a bit of grace. Even after I chucked our tent in a 5:00 cold wet a.m. outrage, we still managed to make it through just fine. Better than fine in fact.

Part of our lack of preparedness, and probably the most amusing to look back upon, was the fact that we had just spent the last however long sitting in front of our laptops studying for the bar and eating cheetos and other such nonsense. This caused a wee bit of a problem when we hiked somewhere close to 17 miles our first day out on the trail (forever after known as the Day Lyco Learned to Hate the Poor) - due mostly to the fact that a small impoverished village changed the trail markers to lead us astray round 4 miles into their invested, horrible village full of mocking and chicken-laden children. I hope God sends a plague their way. Just saying.

After a few days, we were adjusted, but still in hilarious amounts of pain. Particularly enjoyable were the star burst bruises on our hipbones from the 37-pound packs, the thumb-print blisters covering our feet, and my ass after I sat in a nest of baby spiders- though that was not quite normal. After the first day or two, we could hardly walk after arriving at our destination. It was mostly pride that kept us upright to be honest. However, after a touch more than a week of this, both of our bodies had adjusted to the packs and the constant hiking. We learned that after about ten minutes of stiffness and pain, we were warmed up and ready to go. Even at 6:00 a.m. A most unfortunate time. Quite ironic to see more sunrises than sunsets on one's vacation, but Spain has a tendency of not letting go of its sun until close to 10:00 p.m. - and often I am too exhausted to keep up until then. Anyway, everything but the feet seemed to adjust, and though my toes grew something akin of hooves on them, the pain in my feet was not the tickliest thing I've ever felt.

The trail is a Catholic religious pilgrimage that grew out of an ancient Pagan religious pilgrimage (don't they all??). It was amazing to see the two cultures overlap in the ancient areas and really uplifting to be so embraced by the locals because of the nature of our journey. We spent a lot of time resting in gorgeous tiny stone churches and in pastures that were too overwhelmed with cow turds.. you see, since many of the mountain towns are REALLLLLY rural, they have all their own livestock. They like using our trails to move said livestock. And you would not BELIEVE the explosions that come out of those cows. It's particularly nice when the sun has hit it and there is an ode de 10 other farm animals' poop mixing in. I very much enjoyed trying to pick out exactly what combination of animals we were smelling at the moment ("Definitely a heavy dose of cow and chicken... and do I detect some... yes, some sheep this morning!).

I can definitely say that it was some of the loveliest countryside I've ever visited. The views from the top of the Spanish Pyrenees were definitely my favorite. But the vineyards in the valleys were amazing too. The cities were my least favorite - I got too accustomed to the silence of the mountains. It just digs it in that ultimately I'm happiest tucked away in the mountains somewhere.

Upon my return, I zoomed to Atlanta to be the maid of honor in my best friend's wedding. It was so amazing to just spend a week with all my old friends and my best friend's family. I missed them so much. It's almost worth moving back to Atlanta just to have those people around me again. Almost. But I was surprised at how nice it was to be back amongst my loved ones. I feel like we've had some kind of invisible wedge between us (I've been gone from ATL for 8 years) but the wedding just seemed to dissolve it all and it was like I'd never left. The wedding was, without doubt, the loveliest wedding I've been to ever. Afterwards, I went back to the cabin with all her climbing buddies and proceeded to get into a drinking contest. FYI, I will always beat you when the booze is whiskey. Just sayin. So after much whiskey, there HAPPENED to be a pony behind the cabin quietly minding its own business that we determined needed some molesting. So molest it we did. The boys all took turns riding it only to get bucked off one after another. I talked a lot of smack and they then made the huge mistake of betting me I couldn't do much better. I guess I should have told them that I rode horses growing up. But anyway, after I stayed on the pony and calmed it down to a docile state, I spent the remainder of the evening talking about 18 times the amount of smack I was beforehand. That's what they get.

After that, I packed up to go to Mexico with the Madre Unit, only to have a hurricane destroy Tulum. Which is where we were going. So that was out until next year. Instead, I went up to Asheville, which is probably the best place on earth. I joined up with my best friend and her new husband for brunch and a hike and spent a couple wonderful days with K & B and their new BABY! Holy cow that baby is a cutey pie. One month old now. Plus, they basically live in heaven. A gorgeous farm a few minutes from Lake Lure. Whilst in the area, talked to a long time Aville friend and found out she was getting married. She and her fiance just finished building their log cabin in Tennessee and the reception will be there (the wedding is at her parent's historical farm - should be gorgeous)! I am in charge of churning the pumpkin and vanilla ice cream. For about 80 people. Eep! Hopefully her pumpkins are harvestable by then! The Blonde Bombshell doesn't know it yet, but she's co-captain of this ice cream team.

I got back to ATL just in time for college ball season to start. Which, of course, meant nothing else happened except that. But that's fine, we all got Michael Vick dog chew toys for the dogs and enjoyed the dog days of summer. Get it? DOG days!

In the two weeks that I was back in DC before work started, I read the entire Harry Potter series (lots of fun), started football season in style, going to the last baseball games in RFK, and have finally gotten my new shiny green computer from Cyberpower. Oh, and took some nice long bike rides down the Potomac. Having this computer makes me feel weird - mostly because I don't even understand the stats enough to nearly appreciate them. But for once in my life, I realized that I am woefully technologically incompetent and resistant to change. This time, instead of going with what was easy, I got expert advice and now have a Ferrari that I'll drive at 25 mph. Oh well. Did I mention that it was green??!

Speaking of green, I am now also volunteering at a local garden project that orients itself toward urban food production for disadvantaged DC residents. I'm super psyched to have my hands in a garden again. It totally gets my itch scratched - they grow everything I do plus some. And it's also been a great way to meet some fun new like-minded peeps in a sometimes overly conservative city. I've also joined a book club comprised of some pretty amazing women in the city. I promised them I'd join in as soon as I finished the Potter series. Which just happened. And even though I am now seeing the light of day again, I miss the little buggers. But glad to be on to some new books.

All this and the game of balancing my time with a job. I adore not being in school anymore. I love practicing law - I'm heading up my dream litigation project and getting to work on some kick ass side projects to boot. I'm applying things I learned in law school and learning lots new. Plus, my coworkers and work environment is amazing. I can bring a dog to work (I'm going to adopt as soon as I get paid) and I'm an easy bike ride away. My life has been crazy for years now. It's so nice to have things be simple. Monday-Friday I work and exercise and cook good food with my roommates and spend much needed time by myself or catching up with long distance peeps. Saturdays I garden in the morning and ride bikes in the afternoon, Sundays I go to the farmer's market, then Mass, then go watch football with friends. Then life starts all over again. If I had my way, it would be just that simple all year.

So as you can see, when with work on top of everything, I am really not gonna have much time to be bloggin. Plus, when I went to Spain, I needed to figure some things out for myself. Happily, I think I realized what I needed to, but I think it involves not blogging about my personal life anymore. So I'm still not saying I'm ending the blog, but if I keep it - it will be quite scaled back to garden, cooking, and silly little things that happen to me. What I am saying is that my life requires a new kind of attentiveness and until I achieve that balance, blogging is an easy thing to drop.

Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs...

Oh wait a minute... what I actually mean is this:

I wish you all a buen camino!

Reason No. 2334.8 Why I'm Not Blogging More

2007-09-26T19:41:00.000-04:00

I *want* to blog, I really do. However, work is keeping me a trifle busy. Apparently I need to draft some legislation. By tomorrow. I got this news at (ready for this?) 4:30 pm. Today is the first day I brought my work computer home with me. Me thinks the start of many.

While I am primarily a litigation peep, the peep who normally does this will be out of town. While I would feel way more comfortable having her do this and me just helping, this is why I'm not an intern anymore. I'm psyched for the opportunity, if not a little overwhelmed.

I promise to at least do a post about Spain, beyond that, it's gonna be hard for me to figure out this whole balancing thing. Work comes first and all that.

And now to read 600 more pages to "get updated" on the issue before my phone conference tomorrow a.m.

Back and Badder Than Ever

2007-09-25T14:15:00.000-04:00

Even in a bridesmaid's dress.

More To Come.

El Spain

2007-07-29T12:40:00.000-04:00

I'm off homedogs. I'll be back in September with likely limited to no blogging on the way. I'm even thinking of deserting el blog entirely. But that doesn't need to be decided now.

All that needs to happen now is that I need to get my ass to Spain and clear this head of mine. 14 days of hiking ought to do the trick.

To my friends, good luck and unicorn hearts.

Joy

2007-07-25T23:26:00.000-04:00

Just an announcement to say that Ken and Britney had their BABY this morning at 7am - a little girl at 7 and a quarter pounds. Her name is Carolina Harmony and she is totally healthy and happy (and so is Brit). Brit's water broke at 12:05 am and she slept for 5 hours and got up and fed the farm animals and then settled into the bath and had the baby without problem or peep. She's clearly the most amazing woman on the planet. Ken told her, after the baby was born, that he was honored to have fathered her child. Beautiful!

There's no way I can have failed the bar exam if that angel entered the world on this day.

Here I Go Again On My Own

2007-07-21T14:41:00.001-04:00

Well, it's back to just Lyco.

I'm off to Albany. I got my rental card loaded up, my reservation confirmed, and my mixed cds.

To everyone out there taking the bar, good luck hommies. I believe in you.

Send me thoughts on Tuesday and Wednesday! God knows I need it.

MBE chatting

2007-07-20T21:09:00.000-04:00

How studying for the bar makes you speak nonsense:

Jes: I have a negotiable instruments question for you. an accommodation party or suretyship party is a co-signer, a guarantor of the debt.
Lyco: right
Jes: and if the primary obligor defaults, the holder of the note can go after the accommodation party.
Lyco: right
Jes: so, suppose the note in question is a purchase money mortgage, it's secured by a house
Lyco: ok
Jes: Has the accommodation party just satisfied the debt, in which case he can get indemnity from the primary obligor for the $250,000 he paid? or has he just bought the debt as an HDC, and he can collect the $300,000? or does he get to choose his own adventure as between the two of those? i assume if he's an HDC, he can foreclose on the house if the oblogor won't pay up. can he if he's suing as an accommodation party?
Lyco: Ummm... hang on, I don't even understand what you're saying.
(a few minutes pass)
Lyco: Ok. I think I understand. So homedog buys a house, and writes a check to homeskillet and homeskillet says "FUCK NO YOU CHEATING SOB" and so homedog called homeslice and says "hey slice, write the check for me" and slice says "sure homedog, you're my dawg yo." and slice writes a check and dog indorses it to skillet. Skillet sayd "if you don't pay me, I'm SO cashing this check you sketchy SOB." So then homedog defaults and slice FREAKS and says "dude, I'm gonna challenge this naz unless you accept less" and skillet sayd "FINE whateves" and they settle. If that's the case, skillet ain't got no nothin and slice has both instruments. So how would that happen? But if dog can't pay, then it's got to go to what the instrument is based on right?
Jes: well.... i guess that's what i'm trying to figure out.
Lyco: Hrm. I see the predicament.

Lyco: yeah, I don't know. I have nothing about whether an AP has a right against the collateral or just the right to get paid. Common sense tells me that if they get a judgment in their favor, the court will go to the collateral to satisfy the debt.

Jes: yeah it does seem that way
Lyco: I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't know.

EIW Pointers and Tips

2007-07-20T19:13:00.000-04:00

I'm kilt deep in bar review panicking about the NY bar and I keep getting hits for freakin' EIW crap. And I remember my red hot moment as a corporate whore and cackle at the the thought of how freaked I was for EIW. So now that I'm a gainfully employed lawyer type studying for the bar, I'd like to share my advice to all you hot little 2Ls about to start your EIW madness. Unfortunately, my brain doesn't work, so I asked Scott to help me out some because everyone knows he's even more of a corporate whore than I am, so here you go:

Come up with a nickname for your interviewer in the first few minutes of the interview. The standard format is the first letter of their first name followed by a single meaningless syllable that is vaguely friendly and slightly offensive. Preferable words to use after the intial are "spot," "dawg," "slice," and if you're trying to use the ten dollar words, "skillet."
Midinterview erections are perfectly normal and nothing to be ashamed of, provided you're not a girl.
If you're in a hotel room, it's a good ice breaker to mention how awkward it is that the bed is a mere 3 feet away from your interview spot. Be sure to use a double-entendre.
Always show up fashionably late to your interview. Be sure to order room service during the process. Remember, you're worth it!
The following activities show confidence: gum chewing, pen clicking, foot tapping, pencil flipping, and drumming on the arms of the chair.
It's considered fair game to move the signs outside of the doors with the interview lists on them. It's also considered fair game to print out your own and replace them. This is looked at as being forward-thinking and is heavily rewarded in the industry.
When being asked what you plan to do with your career, be as honest as possible. The interviewers reward honesty with regards to your future plans and they will definitely see you as a better investment of their time and money if you give them a firm honest answer. Some of the best include "I'll probably go clerk for a judge if I can get my GPA above a 3.0" and "I've always seen myself going into politics."
Finally, 95% of people get call backs. If you're not one of them, it's time to start doubting your choice in law school.

What he said

2007-07-19T12:49:00.000-04:00

Paleo feels me.

Buh.

2007-07-18T22:46:00.000-04:00

8.5 hours at the LOC doing a practice exam. Not as good as I wanted, but passing. Barely. Ate some enchiladas and now I'm gonna go back and figure out what I did wrong.

I can't wait for this to be over so I can go to Spain. And then my best friend's wedding. And then Mexico. Wherever it is, it's not here taking the bar trying to not think about all the crap I've mussed. Still, even with all that, I'm pretty happy (considering).

However, I really need some distance.

P.S. - been cookin' some awesome CSA meals but no time to write about it (le sigh). Did some grilling, some summer squash with garden basil, roasted cauliflower, and a delish green bean salad with sesame oil. At least I'm eating well. Buh.

Big Hurdles, Little Blessings

2007-07-13T20:59:00.000-04:00

I think I have strep throat. Going to the doctor Monday to confirm. Not good.

On the more unicorn and rainbow side of things, today was awesome. I confirmed that my friends and I are the geekiest people alive because we were kicked out of the library on a Friday for staying past close. We then sat at the outside tables of the library across the street for three more hours. At least I embrace my geekdom. To our cred, it was possibly the most beautiful it's been all year outside tonight. Sitting on the white marble steps of the John Adams Building with nice company, a soft breeze, and a gorgeous sky can't be beat. While drinks on the roof of a friend with Thai food and wine was the perfect closure, my impending illness of doom dictated I ride home instead.

The ride home was amazing. The weather was still perfect for it and I was listening to Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever. I rode by the Supreme Court, the Senate Buildings, Union Station, and a few minutes up a busy street led me to my lovely little block. I'm so glad I'm staying here.

Now for more torts questions. Then I'm done with the multistate subjects and it's on to New York specifics. Oh yeah...

Welcome to DumbAssica, Population 1

2007-07-13T12:31:00.000-04:00

So I lost my cell phone. Yes, lost. cell. Because I'm a complete idiot.

Well, last time when my phone was STOLEN in April, I got the insurance plan. This is because when I went in with my wet seal pup eyes the evil biznatches in the store only grunted that I was required to buy a new phone or else I could receive a brick they attached an antennae to and agree to a 2 year contract. I screamed and writhed in agony and then paid $600,000 for their next cheapest phone. When they offered me the insurance, I thought about it and realized that being the complete dumbass that I am, I should probably get some of that. I thought yay for me, I have an insurance plan. It only costs $8 a month and I did the math, it actually was somewhat of a good idea if something actually happened.

Why the heck would I ever even CONSIDER that insurance is even remotely a fair thing with Verizon?

I called them today to report my lost phone. I had my godforsaken police report, my phone information, and all the other pieces of crap they wanted. And THEN they informed me that it would be a $50 deductible. For the phone that costs around $175. I tried to vomit into the phone line, but when that didn't work, I paid it and asked her to send me my new phone.

I get it on Monday. For anyone trying to call me until then, tough cookies.

Off to el LOC!

I like the way you do it when you do it when you're doing what you're doing

2007-07-12T23:49:00.000-04:00

If you must study, then you must study right. This means taking a few of the loveliest ladies in DC and studying in the main reading room at the Library of Congress. No internet, no noise, incredibly beautiful surroundings, and no food (I've been snacking too much). However, an awesome bakery across the street for cookies during study breaks. The only thing I don't like is that I can't have water with me and I get mildly dehydrated if I'm not careful.

I absolutely adore the LOC and it was nice to go back after a long hiatus. I was interviewing for a job there for a while and it made it a stress pit so I didn't return after I accepted another position (scared of running into el wouldhavebeen bosses). However, it's been long enough to dispel that so I'm back to hearting every dusty moment there. It's actually not dusty, but whateves. The other nice thing is that I can bring my laptop and listen to music, which not all libraries consider yay-tastic. I'll be there tomorrow again with the ladies. Then beers on a friend's roof.

In other news I got my hair cut. I was considering growing it out, and I still am, but I realized I wanted it short for Spain. Just too much damn hair. I don't know when it got so thick, but it definitely feels great to have the pixie-do again.

Not much substance here. Lots of bar, some booze, and good company. But now sleep.

Transformers

2007-07-11T09:23:00.001-04:00

I *might* have seen Transformers last night. I *might* have had the help of a little whiskey.

I bet Jay and Scott miss me already.

Sick Puppy

2007-07-09T19:53:00.000-04:00

I know this makes me gross in every way possible, but I realized something today. I am actually enjoying my final cramming. I mean, it's scary and I'm overwhelmed... but I really enjoy just sitting in the library for hours on end with my awesome music blaring into my ridiculous headphones with a simple task ahead of me: memorize.

This is the first time I've been in the main library reading room since finals before graduation. It actually feels good. It's pretty in here. It's quiet. My music is loud, but that's all there is. Just me, my outlines, and my music. And you know, I think I just really enjoy working hard. At my undergrad, working hard meant busting tail at the farm. It was a totally different thing, but actually a really similar experience. I love working hard and it makes me happy. nothing made me happier than the accomplishment of a poetry journal, or an asparagus bed, or a newly built playground for the local neighborhood. Whatever it was that I did in college (and yes, beer was muchly involved there at the end), so much of it revolved around loving to work hard and being surrounded by people who love to work hard.

In law school, people just stress hard. That didn't so much happen before. And that part makes me want to throw up in their eye balls. However, the work part is nice. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait for the bar to end, but then I can't wait to start my job either.

I guess that's why law school was a good choice? I will totally kick myself for this post if I fail the bar.

Oh For Pete's Sake

2007-07-09T12:44:00.001-04:00

I brought the wrong handout to class today, forgot that I lent my pen to my roommie, and got a ginormous paper cut all before 9:30 am. Grrrr. Only two more days of class. Only two more days of class...

Last night was the first time I didn't feel vomitous so I celebrated by making an absurd amount of food. The local farmer's market had humanely raised grass-fed pork so I bought pork chops and made a huge southern dinner for my household and the hottest girl in DC. Smothered pork chops, CSA collards, brown rice and gravy, and biscuits were the main menu. My kitchen was SOOO hot but I played Blackalicious and funk music and just jammed hard and just enjoyed the summer heat for what it is. I am super glad that my roommies have been ok not turning on the AC yet. While it might have to happen soon, I love the summer heat, and try to adapt as much as possible. Hanging out in AC makes it impossible to be ok outside without it. And I don't mind being hot. It's cold I hate. HATE with the passion of a thousand hate weasels. I will admit to drinking a lot more ice water than usual though.

Anyway, everyone seemed to enjoy el food. I know I sure did. I didn't get as much studying done as I wanted last night, but I felt so much stronger after a real meal. Plus it was nice to hang out with the hommies. I heart my hommies. So here's some southern lovin for ya - share it with yer hommies.

Lyco's Southern Smothered Pork Chops

For the chops:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour sifted with 1 tbs each ground rosemary, ground thyme, salt, pepper
1 tsp salt and pepper
4 med chops
1/4 cup vegetable oil

For the gravy:
heart of a celery dude (with the leaves) - or 1 big stalk, chopped
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf, split into two pieces
1 tbs fresh sage, chopped
2 tbs whole wheat flour
2 cups broth of any kind

First, if you don't have a a skillet that will fit all 4 pork chops, have an extra skillet with a lid on hand that will fit two of the chops, besides the one you'll be cooking in. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops with the tsp of salt and pepper. Then dredge the chops well in the flour mixture and shake off excess. This will probably require more than one dredge. Heat oil over med-high in a large skillet. Lay some newspaper down by the skillet. Put in pork chops and cook until browned, about 5 minutes on each side. Pull out and place on newspaper to drain. If you can't fit all the chops in at once, do it in two rounds. After you pull out the last chops, reduce heat to medium and toss in all vegetables and sage. Cook until brown and soft, about 10 minutes (while that is cooking, heat up your extra skillet (if needed) over low heat). Sprinkle on flour and cook until golden, stirring constantly. Slowly add two cups of broth, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and even. Place all chops back in the gravy, or two in one skillet and two in the other, splitting the gravy between them. Make sure you top the chops with the gravy and then cover the skillet(s) and cook over low heat for 12-15 minutes, or until cooked through. Yum!

A Walking Contradiction

2007-07-07T17:37:00.000-04:00

So I have this stomach bug, right? It basically makes me sick at the thought of food.

Well, it's also the date range for the annual time of el monthitude. Which means all I want to do is eat food.

This has lead to an excruciating couple of days. I crave pnut M&Ms and then want to puke at the thought of them. The cravings get so bad that I eat a SMALL piece of Lindt dark chocolate which immediately sends me to the bathroom gagging.

Ten minutes later I'm craving a milkshake. And the thought of it makes me want to puke. The craving gets so bad that I eat a couple bites of vanilla ice cream. The cycle continues.

I just got done with yet another piece of chocolate and nausea cycle. Man it's awesome to be a woman. At least I'm not pregnant. I'm pretty sure that's what it's like, right? A good friend of mine threw up every time she smelled garlic. Another one got sick at the smell of butter. BUTTER. I guess life could be worse, but that's not so much how it feels right now...

A Couple Notes

2007-07-07T11:22:00.000-04:00

One is that I have a stomach bug. Things are not ok in that department. My roommies are all gone for the moment and I'm completely dysfunctional. It's amazing how disgusting one can get when one lives alone and is ill.

The other thing is that I was sitting on my back stoop last night trying to get some fresh air (it helps the nausea) when I saw two cockroaches doing it. Ummmm.... isn't that a crime against humanity? I then realized I was far too unsteady to go down my stairs and stop the activity so instead I just sat there staring at them. I just sat there and watched cockroach porn. This was the moment I realized that mayhaps the bar study crunch is not the best time of my life after all...

Crikey

2007-07-05T22:45:00.000-04:00

My total number of posts is the same as my text message usage for the past month (or two?):

613

Woah.

Happy 4th!

2007-07-05T14:32:00.000-04:00

The 4th of July is my favorite holiday. This year was no exception. Not only was the hottest girl in DC's birthday a complete success (and my first go at running a grill a success as well), but the 4th was on Idaho's boat house. Which is really the most amazing place to spend the 4th ever.

My friend just left and I'm settling in for a study marathon. But I thought I'd just leave you with the two most important moments of July the 4th: grilling and fireworks!!

Half In, Half Out

2007-07-02T19:56:00.000-04:00

Which was the theme of my bar class today. Those sick perverts.

Anyway, I have a million things going on at once (as per usual) so this is just a brief post to say that things are amazing here at Club ARRRR. Everyone seems to be in such a good place and it's become a truly positive environment. I'm still doing a fun job at balancing the bar with having a killer time. It's SO nice to not live with law students!!

Tink just got a 20% raise. Her work is currently looking for grant money to give her a new project on renewable fuel sources. Which is her specialty so we're all so excited for her.

Geo just got a new job within her current which (a) is way more interesting, (b) pays a lot better, and (c) comes with a helluva lot more bens (as in efits).

Bloom just got his first big grant raising money for the company he works for and we're all completely psyched for him. His book comes out really soon now and we're already planning the awesomest "coming out" party E.V.E.R.

And me? Well, I'm the happiest I've been in years. My weekend was awesome. I was admittedly a little (read completely and utterly) terrified of dealing with a van full of 12-15 year old kids from Long Island. Not only are they from a way different background from me, but I'm not exposed to kids above the age of 4. I heart the toddlers, but the older chitlins I'm not terribly fond of... But you know what? I had a BLAST! By the end, we were all buddies and I felt way comfortable around them. I even found myself feeling protective of them and enjoying their company. They were crazy but really really fun. And they handled a drive from Long Island to the southernest tip of rural Virgina like absolute pros. When it came time to leave, I realized that I really didn't want to go.

That made me feel really good. It also gave me some confidence that I can enjoy and bond with an older age group of kiddos. Don't get me wrong... I was still relieved to have that first meal without them. A beer. No smacking a kid on the back of the head for smacking another kid on the back of the head. No yelling at them for sneaking slurpies into their soda cups. No screaming. But then again, way less laughing. And kind of dull. It was just nice to know that when the time comes for me to have a 12 year old, I'll think it's fun and not terrifying (mostly). Unless, of course, they turned out like me. Eep!

So now I'm gonna get the house ready for the hottest girl in D.C.'s bday party of awesomeness and fun tomorrow, then read about wills. WHOOT!

Tomorrow one of my oldest guy friends gets in town for the 4th from Team Deep Souf. I can't wait to see him!

Dear Asian Guy Who Sat Behind Me During the MBE,

2007-06-29T16:49:00.000-04:00

Hi. How's life? I'm sure it's full of things like World of Warcraft, cheese nibs, and your mom's basement. Anyway, I just really wanted to take a moment to write and thank you for your company during today's practice test. I was entirely grateful for your presence - it added a certain je ne sais quoi to the whole experience.

First, I adored your adorable little snorts. Like a tiny fat piggy lived in your throat. However, as much as I admire your choice to mouth breath during the MBE, the fat in your throat that caused the guttural rattle upon said exhale might be considered excessive at times. But it's certainly outweighed by its charm.

I also realize that the spittle getting caught on said fat globules in your throat caused a wet raspy cough every few minutes. And HEY, not your fault. I get that. That's ok too. In some cultures, it may even be considered a plus.

However. There was the little moment with the shoes. If one decides to wear cheap rubberized shoes in summer, that is certainly one's prerogative. And I support that. Economics and all. I really am compassionate to how hot and clammy and STANK NASTY those things get in summer and aaaahhhh it must feel good to just pop them off in times of relaxation. But mayhaps relaxation is not quite the same thing as, oh say, the practice MBE. Especially when your feet smell like 100 rotting weasels whose diets consisted of nothing but garlic and onions have been embracing them with love for the past 15 years. I would just like to take a moment and apologize for visually spasming upon removal of said shoes and the gagging that proceeded it. It was involuntary, I promise. I'm sure it was a wee bit distracting though, so humblest apologies.

Now my problem really came up when I started to hear the strange ssscritch ssscritch ssscritch. I could NOT figure out where that sound was coming from. And since I was blinded by the stench of your feet, it was difficult to see. When I finally ducked below the line of stank, I finally realized where that noise was coming from. You were absentmindedly RUBBING YOUR FEET against my back pack. I mean... hey.. my bad for leaving my back pack behind my chair. But seriously dude... WHO DOES THAT???? Whilst I'm sure that under normal circumstances, I would have adored having your "feet" "rub" against anything of mine, attached or unattached to my person (is that a battery? No wait, I got that one wrong...), I have to admit little piglet, I just wasn't in the mood for your sensual delights. I guess I was trying to "focus" on the "bar exam." I know, I know. I never know when to enjoy life in the moment. And it just might be that I'll never have another chance to hear the symphony of your awesomeness and love again. But still, I just felt like it was all too much excitement from the bar.

So, my little piglet, next time, please don't be quite so amazingly scintillating in your activities and have pity on us. I only got 53% on the questions, and I'm quite sure I need to do better than that next time. After the bar, I'm all yours.

Love,

Lyco

Busy Bee

2007-06-29T08:26:00.000-04:00

So I have my first MBE practice test. For which I'm not. at. all. prepared. I'm leaving in 5 minutes to go there (so I can get cooofffeeeee first). Immediately afterwards, I leave to prepare for Saturday. On Saturday, I get up at 5:00 a.m. to help drive an entire youth group down to rural Virginia to do service work. I hope they like Big Country, because that's what I'm gonna play in the van.

Then Sunday I come all the way back home and keep studying. Then get up Monday to prepare for the rockinest party at el casa for the hottest woman in D.C.'s Bday on Tuesday.

Umm, and what if I just don't have time for the bar?!?!

CSA Naz Three

2007-06-27T20:54:00.000-04:00

Holy cow was running hard today. After my BarBri regiment, I met the hottest girl in D.C. for our biweekly run. Only it was 94 degrees and humidity of a million percent. And we chose today of all days to increase our distance. You know, because we're just STUPID like that. We didn't make the entire run, but we did all but the last 1/2 mile of it. I was damn proud. And then I biked home yelling at God for making the weather like this. I mean, COME ON. Even biking was rough. And I am definitely sweating out small unicorns every time I go outside. Hotttt.

Got my week 3 CSA veggies from one of my fav D.C. boys last night. It was really good timing because I was full of anger and regret last night and he came by after he got off work, gave me a big hug, we drank a beer, and then he gave me a bag of delish veggies. We're both workin hard right now - me on the bar and he on some concert hall whose designs are due on July 3rd - so he feels my stress and reminds me why I should NOT rethink my life during bar review. He also reminded me why my choices are, in fact, the right ones and why I should stick to my guns and continue tits forth. It's good to have people who do that.

So anyway, what a blessing. The veggies for the week are (drum roll):

Mixed salad greens, cauliflower, collards, basil, oregano, garlic snapes, eggplant.

Because of said run, I decided to make some protein naz for el rebuilding process. And so here is my recipe:

Chicken-Fried Seitan w/ Mixed Vegetables

1 package seitan packed in fluid (not the preseasoned crap), drain but keep fluid
1/2 medium onion, slivered
2-3 garlic snapes, minced
1/2 medium head of cauliflower, chopped
1/4 flour and cornmeal mix
1/2 cup nutritional yeast, halved
1/2 small bunch of collards, sliced off stems
2 tsp oregano, minced
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbs oil, + 2 tbs Earth Balance (or butter)
dash of liquid smoke and hot sauce, if desired
salt and pepper to taste

For gravy:
heat Earth Balance over medium heat in a small sauce pan. Add heaping 1/4 the nutritional yeast and stir constantly, making a roux. When golden, slowly add the seitan fluid, stirring constantly. If too thick, add some broth to thin. Let simmer for 10 minutes until thick and smooth. If it needs thickening, then add more yeasty goodness. Umm.. let's pretend I didn't just say that...

For seitan:
Mix flour, remaining nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper into a bowl. Pat seitan dry and dredge in the mixture. Heat 1 tbs oil in a nonstick skillet on med-high heat and cook until outside is golden and crispy. Pull out and place on newspaper to cool. Heat the remaining oil over med heat and add the onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes and add the cauliflower, oregano, and collards. Cook for 6-8 minutes until cauliflower is golden brown and collards are limp(er). Add oregano, salt and pepper, vinegar, liquid smoke, and hot sauce and cook for 1-2 minutes to blend flavors. Toss the seitan back in and serve with grain of choice, pouring the gravy liberally over the pile o' food.

p.s. - if your scapes are getting tough (the end of the season is approaching) then toss them in at the same time as the onions.

ACK!

2007-06-26T12:19:00.000-04:00

So I got the results from my X-Ray today on the phone from the doc. In December of 2005, I fractured my foot from too much running and biking (it happened ON a bike ride with Idaho and the Scop - ow!). It took a LONG time to heal but seemed ok. However, my recent exploits in running land have been leading to some new pains, so I decided to go make sure it healed right.

Um, NO. Apparently my continued pressure broke it clean AFTER it fractured and it healed wrong. Which means they have to rebreak it and pin it. I am *not* in a good mood.

D'OH!

Ups and Downs

2007-06-26T08:28:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a day of enormous highs and some difficult moments.

On the high end, I purchased my ticket to Spain!!! I'm paying for the trip by selling something that, while is very valuable and sentimental, is pointless in my life now. And you know what? I can't think of a better way to spend money from something that brought so much angst except on a trip to Spain with one of my closest law peeps.

The trip is going to be a walking pilgrimage across northern Spain. When walking, we have a 10 mile a day (30 km) goal. During the journey, we will rent bikes and do 25 mile jaunts when it gets flat (in the wheat fields of Leon, for example) and use bikes to do a separate overnight trip to the coast at the end. This is something I've always wanted to do - and now is the time for me to do it. Push my reset button, as it were.

On the other end of the emotional spectrum, I had to help a homeless woman in my neighborhood last night. My roommate and I heard loud crashing from an abandoned house next door to us (the one on the other side) and then a woman crying. A homeless woman was walking down the alley behind my house crying for help. I walked outside and asked her what she needed and she asked me to call the police. So I did. Right then, a man came out and started to yell at her. When he saw me, he backed off for a moment and then began to advance again. She was crying and holding her face and telling him to stay back. I informed the man that I had called the police and that he should leave. I also brought her into my yard and locked the gate and we waited for the police to show up. I basically just hugged her and tried to talk to her so she wouldn't listen to what the man was saying (which was not very nice). When the police arrived, they arrested the man and took her statement. She was then taken for medical treatment. The woman thanked me as she was taken away and I gave her a card from the Domestic Violence clinic.

Ironically, it was the same officer as the last time. A nice guy, really... we chatted about the houses and what was going on. I informed him that we were in the process of reporting the other one to the city and we chatted a bit about the ramifications of that. Seems like the owner gets a notice to clean up the property within 3 weeks or the city condemns it. So hopefully that will finally trigger a reaction in the guy who owns the joint.

You know, when I started the Domestic Violence Clinic, I shied away from interfamily violence. It scared me and made me uncomfortable. Now it just enrages me. I am not doe-eyed about the women I served, but I certainly knew that their lack of privilege should not equate to being beaten and left to their druthers. I felt good about my response last night - I felt confident in helping that woman and sorting through the situation. I was not impressed with how the cops treated her, so I was glad that I was there to talk her through the situation and tell her her rights. Because they pretty much treated her like a vagrant instead of a woman who had gone through a traumatic experience.

I hope she's alright and I hope she seeks those resources. And for God's sake, I hope those houses get cleaned up soon.

Great Moments in Learning About the NY Bar

2007-06-25T15:03:00.001-04:00

On the reasonably prudent child during the bar:

Children under 4 have no duty of care at all. We basically consider children under 4 to be protoplasmic orbs of destruction. They can electrocute the fish, put the cat in the blender, whatever. It's "cute."

On Borrowing Statutes in Civil Liability:

So to satisfy the two part test, the plaintiff must show that she is a member of the class of persons that the statute seeks to protect and that injury is in the class of risks that this statute seeks to prevent. So let's take a tort case for property damage that involves a defendant who was smoking marijuana. Can you borrow the marijuana statutes against the defendant to establish liability? Well, what is the injury that anti-marijuana statutes intends to protect people from?
(silence)
....yeah. I thought so too. Perhaps an anti-munchies agenda?
(more silence)
Let's just say it's not property damage and move on, shall we?

National Association of Home Builders v. Defenders of Wildlife

2007-06-25T10:37:00.000-04:00

BAH. Sometimes I hate being right.

Alito wrote the opinion in Defenders of Wildlife. Scotusblog has this to say:

the Court split 5-4 in deciding that a federal agency that is required by law to take a specific action does not have to follow the conflicting mandate of the Endangered Species Act. The decision, written by Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr.

I'm hoping that since it's a 5-4, it won't be that bad. I mean, I'm hoping that to get the 5th vote, there was some moderating going on. But seriously, this sucks. What a way to start a Monday.

More on this when the opinion comes down (and I've had a chance to read it)...

Update: you can read the opinion here.

Good Night Moon

2007-06-25T03:10:00.000-04:00

This is a very quick post because it's 3:00 am and bedtime for Lyco. However, I wanted to mention a couple points while I can and want. The first is that I spent my second weekend in Long Island and just got home. While the first weekend featured boating and beaches but absolutely no NYC, this one was in and out of NYC pretty constantly. I can't even count how many times I rode the LIRR - which isn't a good thing. I had a blast at a jazz bar until 4:00 am, took Scott to my favorite NYC bar, and met up with Hsu, Jes, and his gal post Stalking Horses show. It is always a little weird being in NYC because my ex husband lives there. I used to see him whenever I went up, but that doesn't happen anymore. But I can't help but stare around me and feel a little icked out by hangin' in the city I got ditched for. And a lot of it makes me think about him. But at the same time, it's sort of nice to start making that place into something unrelated to him. This weekend certainly did just that, not to mention it was a nice break just before the bar study makes that impossible.

The ride home was just in time to make it to the 9:30 Club to see Kristianne play her final gig as the guitar maven for Alexis George Band compete in a battle of the bands and a group of my hommies. Afterwards, a couple of us went to a late night dinner because Mark and K are leaving tomorrow. It was nice to just get to hang out, but I was exhausted from the weekend and emotional at the thought of losing the two of them. While I remain ever-joyful that my friends are leaving and starting their new lives, this one was definitely the hardest hit so far. I just can't imagine life without them! At least there's still Google Talk which, honestly, revives most of the friendships to their current status no matter where someone is geographically.

I remain one of the luckiest women I know to have such friends, and this weekend was certainly a testament to that. I just wish I could keep them all with me. That or invent a teleporter.

Live BarBri Class Blogging

2007-06-22T09:48:00.000-04:00

No MadLibs today, so I've got el puter. Our prof just stated the following on False Imprisonment and the bounded area requirement and how it would be tested on the Bar Exam:

I mean, the way the folks in Albany design the bar exam is that they sit around a conference table and drop tabs of acid. Then they have flashbacks and say things like "Duuuuude, remember when we played that gaaaame Clue? And there was that hidden passageway from the Conservatory to the Hall? Let's write a question about that!

On Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress and how the elderly were a sensitive group:

One year some guy was offended that I said old people are incontinent. So I told him that I was not saying all old people were incontinent, only that they were incontinent when I said mean things to them. But seriously folks, old people are incontinent. Just go to Rite Aid and check out the old people aisle...

Dear Alcohol

2007-06-22T09:39:00.000-04:00

This was emailed to me and I thought I should share:

Dear Alcohol,

First & foremost, let me tell you that I'm a huge fan of yours. As my friend, you always seem to be there when needed. The perfect post-work cocktail, a beer at the game, and you're even around in the holidays, hidden inside chocolates as you warm us when we're stuck in the midst of endless family gatherings. However, lately I've been wondering about your intentions. While I want to believe that you have my best interests at heart, I feel that your influence has led to some unwise consequences:

1. Phone calls: While I agree with you that communication is important, I question the suggestion that any conversation of substance or necessity takes place after 2 a.m. Why would you make me call those ex-boyfriends/girlfriends when I know for a fact they do not want to hear from me during the day, let alone all hours of the nigh t?

2. Eating: Now, you know I love a good meal, but why do you suggest that I eat a taco with chili sauce, along with a big Italian meatball and some stale chips (washed down with WINE & topped off with a Kit Kat after a few cheese curls & chili cheese fries)? I'm an eclectic eater, but I think you went too far this time.

3. Clumsiness: Unless you're subtly trying to tell me that I need to do more yoga to improve my balance, I see NO need to hammer the issue home by causing me to fall down. It's completely unnecessary, and the black & blue marks that appear on my body mysteriously the next day are beyond me. Similarly, it should never take me more than 45 seconds to get the front door key into the lock.

4. Furthermore: The hangovers have GOT to stop. This is getting ridiculous. I know a little penance for our previous evening's debauchery may be in order, but the 3pm hangover immobility is completely Unacceptable. My entire day is shot. I ask that, if the proper precautions are taken (water, vitamin B, bread products, aspirin) prior to going to sleep/passing out face down on the kitchen floor with a bag of popcorn, the hangover should be minimal & in no way interfere with my daily activities.

Alcohol, I have enjoyed our friendship for some years now & would like to ensure that we remain on good terms. You've been the invoker of great stories, the provocation for much laughter, and the needed companion when I just don't know what to do with the extra money in my pockets. In order to continue this friendship, I ask that you carefully review my grievances above & a dress them immediately.

I will look for an answer no later than Thursday 3pm (pre-happy hour) on your possible solutions & hopefully we can continue this fruitful partnership.

Thank you,
Your biggest fan

P.S . THINGS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Innovative
2. Preliminary
3. Proliferation
4. Cinnamon

THINGS THAT ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Specificity
2. British Constitution
3. Passive-aggressive disorder

THINGS THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Thanks, but I don't want to have sex.
2. Nope, no more beer for me.
3. Sorry, but you're not really my type.
4. Good evening, officer. Isn't it lovely out tonight?
5. Oh, I couldn't. No one wants to hear me sing.

Crap Bugger Hellfish Poop

2007-06-21T12:15:00.000-04:00

More opinions came down the tube today and now Alito is the only one without a case. I hope he doesn't write Defenders. Wisconsin Right to Life is coming up as well and he's too small fry for that biznass. BUT maybe he's sooooo small fry that he just doesn't get one of those opinions. Panetti still hasn't been decided but I guess I just can't see Alito getting a huge 8th Amendment case over some seemingly low brow statutory interpretation case (UPON WHICH MY ENTIRE FUTURE RIDES). Roberts hasn't had anything big since the race cases and that was in December. So I'm not convinced that he's not gonna snap up the 8th Amendment cases. The problem is that if they were going to remand the case, we would have gotten the opinion by now. And we haven't. Which screams MERITS to me.

It could also be Souter. Justice Souter focused on the problem of two mandates and how to structure each one so that it does not conflict - so if he's leading the majority, there's a good chance that his opinion will keep the ESA's power in tact. Justice Alito focused on the importance in the case by asking questions about how many states have already applied with the ESA and how Arizona fits into that pattern. So I think he would probably not stab the ESA in the face because if he did... well, I just think Scalia would write that opinion. Alito will probably claim that it really didn't make a difference anyway and just decide the case narrowly, keeping it to the facts of the case rather than a sweeping trashing of the ESA on the mandate issue.

Here's the updated chart. Buh. More panic next Monday.

Case		Justice
	Powerex v. Reliant		Scalia
	ConIsland v. Coke		Breyer
	Defenders of Wildlife
	Sole v. Wyner		Ginsburg
	Utrecht v. Brown	Kennedy
	TN 2nd School v. Brentwood		Stevens
	Panetti v. Quarterman
	Atlantic Research	Thomas
	Brendlin v. CA	Souter
	Hinck v. US	Roberts
	India v. NY	Thomas
	Breck v. Pace	Scalia
	Dayton v. Hanson	Stevens
	FEC v. WIRTL
	Waston v. Philip Morris		Breyer



	Check List So Far


Stevens	Thomas	Alito	Scalia	Breyer	Ginsburg	Kennedy	Roberts	Souter
II	II		II	II	I	I	I	I

I'm In Love

2007-06-19T13:58:00.001-04:00

This woman makes me wish I were a guy. Or gay. Or even remotely attracted to women.

Because I would definitely marry her.

General Rules Apply Here

2007-06-18T23:06:00.000-04:00

I'm pretty sure that when someone (repeatedly) cooks you dinner, you might want to thank them or occasionally tell them the food is good. Just sayin'. It's rude. Especially when you're cooking in a house without A.C. and it involves baking. Because I'm definitely wet from sweating. Mmmm... TMI much?

Lyco's Spiced Sweet Taters
2-3 mixed sweet potato/yammish things, sliced
olive oil
1 inch of ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
generous sprinkling of curry, mustard powder, salt, and pepper
drizzle of balsamic vinegar and sesame oil
cilantro (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread tater slices over a foil lined pan that has been well oiled (the foil, not the pan). Drizzle olive oil LIGHTLY and balsamic vinegar over taters and then evenly distribute the rest of the spices. Cook until fork slides through easily. Pull out and lightly drizzle sesame oil and cilantro if desired.

Served with a tofu stir fry w/ broccoli, onions, bok choy, garlic, ginger, Chinese five spice, Rooster hot sauce, soy sauce, black and white sesame seeds and sesame oil, lime juice, cilantro.

Melting Lyco At It Again

2007-06-18T20:19:00.000-04:00

Holy COW was today's class FREAKING AWFUL. ACK. We had Contracts with the worst, most boring, pain-inducing, dry, flat professor e.v.e.r. On top of everything, he has a knack of not knowing when the hell to break and instead continuing over for an extra few minutes here and there. Not to finish a section, or a page, or a topic... just to pull a power play against our poor little weakened wills. Don't they TRAIN these people to have some modicum of humanity??!?!

So I drew pictures of me throwing the following items at him for my friend Kamilah's enjoyment:

Forks
Rabid Squirrels
Bombs
Shoes with cleats on them
Swords
Chuck Norris' Fists

I was so bored I was actually enraged. That was also because, to stave off falling asleep, I had too much coffee. And coffee in me works as gin in others - it gets me agitated and angerfied. Other people were literally snoring around me. Yes, it was THAT bad. I actually missed that woman who sang. Wow. Never thought I'd say THAT.

Afterwards I went and met up for a Girl's Run in the National Mall. It was 86 degrees and humidity was at 60%. I definitely wanted to ralph my wrap. Instead I complained bitterly and pictured how incredibly cute I would look in my rainbow shoes. It didn't really help much - it was a terrible run. Eh. At least there was good company. I can't ever get anyone to run with me so I'm really enjoying this. But there was a bit of excessive sweat. Same with the my riding loop. It was so hot that the wind hardly did a thing and I arrived at each location mopping the salt from my eyelids.

So now I'm still in running gear, waiting for my shower to open up and preheating my oven for some sweet potatoe'd goodness. Tonight features roasted sweet potatoes, floured seitan with nutritional yeast gravy (the lower fat recipe instead of the delight that is its alternative), and salad from the CSA.

Then Bar Review. Something about trying to learn Contracts. Bah.

No Defenders

2007-06-18T10:23:00.000-04:00

Three opinions, two of them April cases.

None school, none Defenders.

Souter wrote one, not sure of who wrote Powerex yet. Will post updated chart as soon as Powerex becomes available.

Crap. It doesn't necessarily mean that Souter's out though.

Update: SCALIA wrote Powerex! WHOOT!!!! Gosh I can't believe I get so excited about that...

Case		Justice
	Powerex v. Reliant		Scalia
	ConIsland v. Coke		Breyer
	Defenders of Wildlife
	Sole v. Wyner		Ginsburg
	Utrecht v. Brown	Kennedy
	TN 2nd School v. Brentwood
	Panetti v. Quarterman
	Atlantic Research	Thomas
	Brendlin v. CA	Souter
	Hinck v. US	Roberts
	India v. NY	Thomas
	Breck v. Pace	Scalia
	Dayton v. Hanson	Stevens
	FEC v. WIRTL
	Waston v. Philip Morris		Breyer



	Check List So Far


Stevens	Thomas	Alito	Scalia	Breyer	Ginsburg	Kennedy	Roberts	Souter
I	II		II	II	I	I	I	I

Open Email to Men Entitled "Why I Am Sometimes the Opposite of You"

2007-06-18T10:04:00.000-04:00

Hi Opposing Gender!

I have decided to more than make up for your oath to not own lots of clothes. Or to know anything about clothes. Or to think that all clothing needs can be fulfilled by a yearly trip to the thrift store. It's like when you promised to eat three animals for every one animal a vegetarian didn't consume - only with cute shoes and funky tops. Sometimes I feel bad about that and think that I should be learning from your lack of materialism. But then other days I see these shoes and know that Baby Jesus would cry if I didn't wear them because they are just that cute (and so am I):

So I ordered them.. so I now have one more pair of shoes. So there. :P

Lyco

And the Insomnia Returns

2007-06-18T01:12:00.000-04:00

and I was doing so well too.

Frustrating when there exists a cure to which I have no access. I spent a long time on the phone with one of my oldest friends (the Pinball King) who reminded me that "time heals all wounds and all those cliches." Spoken like a true guy. He had no recommendations for my insomnia, but he *did* buy a plane ticket while he was on the phone with me to come visit me from the ole ATL after he heard my tales of woe. He reminded me that I had better find a pinball machine post haste so we can figure out who reigns in the D.C. area. I assured him that I would reign supreme - this is my home turf now.

Damn I have good friends.

April in the Supreme Court and Predicting Defenders of Wildlife

2007-06-17T20:44:00.000-04:00

Because I'm just that kind of geek and that's how I role, I spent a part of today charting the recent opinions and whose left in hopes of figuring out how Defenders of Wildlife will be decided. As you can see, there are six cases left to be decided. So far, we know that Breyer and Thomas and out because they have each already written two opinions and it will certainly come out even steven. So Alito and Souter are the two who will definitely get a case to write. The Wisconsin Right to Life cases are gonna get a big name (i.e. not Alito). The chart below shows the cases in the order in which they were heard. Which doesn't necessarily tell you much except for that they've been holding onto Defenders for a while now. Which could mean good things because it means they are paying attention to it, but it could also be a bad thing if they are really that undecided about the issue.

Monday will bring changes to said spreadsheet and it will updated accordingly. Now to write some stupid essay for the stupid stupid BarBri.

Case		Justice
	Powerex v. Reliant
	ConIsland v. Coke		Breyer
	Defenders of Wildlife
	Sole v. Wyner		Ginsburg
	Utrecht v. Brown	Kennedy
	TN 2nd School v. Brentwood
	Panetti v. Quartnerman
	Atlantic Research	Thomas
	Brendlin v. CA
	Hinck v. US	Roberts
	India v. NY	Thomas
	Breck v. Pace	Scalia
	Dayton v. Hanson	Stevens
	FEC v. WIRTL
	Waston v. Philip Morris		Breyer



	Check List So Far


Stevens	Thomas	Alito	Scalia	Breyer	Ginsburg	Kennedy	Roberts	Souter
1	11		1	11	1	1	1

Sunday Sunday

2007-06-17T12:36:00.000-04:00

I heart Sundays. And weekends. Today was a wonderful one. On Saturday, I bailed on the Kangaroo Olympics in favor of tubing down Harpers Ferry with a great group of friends. We tied a cooler to an innertube, the tubes to each other, and then floated down the river in all our pale-bellied glory. I wore a bikini for the first time in goodness knows how long in hopes that the dough that is my midsection would bake and get its bread on a little bit. Instead of bread, it turned to lobster. But I digress. It was a blast and a half and I'm so glad I got to spend a day in the southern mountains on top of everything else. That land is so healing to me.

This morning I awoke to music playing outside and a moment of elation washed over me as I remembered WHY. One of the hardest things about leaving Takoma Park (besides the idyllic house and the garden) was my favorite Sundays. The morning would begin with the Scop kicking me in the head repeatedly until I got out of bed, then tossing on random clothes and walking down to the center of town. There we would indulge in an awesome breakfast at the local cafe and get coffees and then meander about the Takoma farmer's market buying food for the week. During this time, we'd buy amazing pastries from a local bakery that had a stand there (I always got these amazing macaroons and strawberry cream cheese croissants). Once that was done, we'd bring back our booty to the house, sit in the shaded back yard drinking coffee and eating pastries and watch the cat explore the yard. Then I'd work in the garden for a while and we'd cook whatever amazing foods we bought for desert.

Um, perfect much? Yeah. I know.

So anyway, I consciously chose to move further into the city and live life "in D.C." as opposed to hiding in a dreamscape of Takoma Park. Do I regret it? No. Do I miss it? Umm, YES. Which is why this Sunday was so amazing when I heard music being played and the sound of voices. I was immediately elated because I remembered what this Sunday was: the first weekend with the Bloomingdale Farmer's Market! Which happens to be 1/3 of a block away from me! At that same corner was the newly-opened Big Bear Cafe selling pastries and coffees. So I threw on my Caterpillar hat, my sun dress, and grabbed my basket and skuttled down to the end of the block. There was a band playing and lots of people milling around being happy and interested in the goings on. I ordered my coffee and got an amazing buttery croissant and then wandered through the farmer's market. I bought eggs, cherries, apples, flowers, and bread. I figured against buying veggies because of the CSA. They were also selling veggie plants... I may get a couple next week. I was particularly psyched to see a lot of people buying food with WIC checks. That makes it possible for everyone to enjoy local organic produce. Yay!

In the coffee shop, the owners bustled to satisfy the long line of patrons and everyone was grinning ear to ear. I could tell that they were ALL as happy as I was to have this going on in their community. We were delighted to be meeting each other. There were lots of young families, cute hipster couples, older retirees, young professionals, and even big-eyed teenage boys staring at sassy teenage girls. It was a fun diverse crowd and everyone was in fantastic spirits. I met a lot of new people, said hi to a lot of known neighbors, and just generally beamed at whoever would meet my eyes. COMMUNITY!!!

I wandered slowly back home and drank my coffee, ate my croissant, and piddled in my herb garden (which is growing rapidly!). I chatted with neighbors and roommates and enjoyed the morning. It's no Takoma Park, but I certainly felt happy and connected to my community in a great way this morning.

For Your Grammatical Procrastination Pleasure

2007-06-15T16:53:00.000-04:00

And so it begins...

Apostrophe Abuse

Damn Hipsters!

2007-06-15T15:38:00.000-04:00

Friend: So how was it?
Lyco: COMPLETELY AMAZING! We ate fish tacos and then went (my first time to the Kennedy Center) to see Romeo and Juliet as performed by Tiny Nina Theater!
Friend: Pardon?
Lyco: It's this random guy holding tiny ninja action figures and making them perform Shakespeare.
Friend:.....
Lyco: No, it was amazing. Really!
Friend: While I believe you entirely, I just realized if that had been a date, that you went on the most hipster date I've ever heard of. I mean - fish tacos?! Those are so in right now.
Lyco:... ok could you NOT ruin this moment?!?

So needless to say that Scott and I had a fantastic time seeing Romeo and Juliet as performed by tiny ninjas. And I must admit that even in the midst of the sniggering and absurdity, that play still manages to be *so* beautiful. EVEN whenst performed by ninjas. Ninja ninja ninja. Ok, I'm over it. Not really. My cheeks hurt from smiling at the end of it.

Today in class I spent the first part trying to recover from (a) my lack of sleep and (b) my food coma from eating six days worth of grease in breakfast form. It was totally worth it but ouch that was a rough hour. During hour the second, I managed to stay awake thanks to Scott's kind and generous gift of coffee and we discovered that BarBri would be amazing if only the had pirates teaching it. And instead of repeating everything 14 times, they would have a parrot on their shoulder who would do it for them:

Pirate: Yarrr, just remember that there be no contract without consideration.
Parrot: No contract! No consideration! No contract! No consideration!

During the final hour (and a half aslhadfsdif) my pen ran out of ink. I knew it was out of ink, but I thought maybe if I shook it, I could get a few last words. So I shook it. And it came apart, pieces flying everywhere. Luckily a friend was sitting behind me so she wasn't pissed when one went careening into her laptop. Another into the aisle and the last hit me square in the face.

HOLY COW am I graceful or WHAT???

On a slightly different note, I just wanted to take a moment and brag about my around-town biking as of late. I had a couple health problems earlier in the semester which caused me to develop of fear of biking on the street. If I wrecked, it would mean.. oooh, possible paralysis. So I didn't bike hardly anywhere and I kept making excuses. Even after I got better, I was still terrified - I guess it had turned into a learned behavior. But since summer has been around, I've been back to it and getting my nerve up to go farther and farther from home. Today, I even biked up to an appointment by the zoo and back! I was nervous but... OH YEAH it was a blast!! I love it and it's so liberating to be free of that fear. I mean, I'm still too scared to go on a long ride, but I'm working back up to it. And I sincerely believe that within the month I'll be there.

Until then, just a little whoot whoot for my full on return to the bicycle! It's just like last summer only without the monster hills...

Croooooaaaaak.

2007-06-15T06:57:00.000-04:00

My girls better know how special they are. I'm awake and about to bike to the Florida Avenue Grill to meet them pre-class for a girl's breakfast. It's 6:45 a.m. On a scale from one to morning person I'm about a -6. Not to mention that I was up until 2 or something bizarre and unreasonable like that. Nooo, not partying - one of the air bladders in my bed sprung a leak and I had to perform emergency surgery patch. I know, I'm McGuyver.

Effing special ladies. We're like the opposite of Sex and the City. We get up to eat bacon and drink coffee and bitch about how effed up everyone is with whom we are in love.

Kill me.

2 Announcements

2007-06-14T16:00:00.001-04:00

I have but two announcements:

I notched my belt down one notch today. AWW YEAH!
Tiny freakin Ninja freakin Theater. AWW YEAH!

Buh.

2007-06-14T00:43:00.000-04:00

Crappy day. Some are harder than others I guess...

Part of transitioning from law student to lahwyer has to do with letting go of a lot of the people you had in your life while you were a law student. Some of those people are easy to let go of - it's a joyous process and you know that you'll always be in touch. Others it's hard because you know that your life will be just a little emptier without them. And sometimes it's just for the best that the transitions be marked by literal geographic distance.

But it's hard to get closure with all these people. How do you spend enough time with them? How do you ignore your urges to run up and hug people and just not let them go? You walk by them, smiling and nodding the polite "hello" and then spending the rest of the day wondering why the hell you didn't tell them right then and there what you were actually feeling. It's an act of pure will. And while I've not always been good at will power, I'll be damned if this ain't learnin' me real hard.

Bar review is weird because a lot of your interactions are exactly that. A lot of chatter and glances and trying to keep up with people in brief bursts. I sit in that stupid room thinking about how there are so many of my closest friends all around me in similar rooms doing the same damn thing - only I can't see them and can't talk to them. I'm definitely broken hearted and the best way for me to deal with that is to stay as busy as humanly possible and shift all my attention to people that I *can* express to them how I'm actually feeling. I spend a lot of time with my girls and my roommies, and a lot of time on the phone, and a lot of time just blurring the hours together in whatever way I can. Bar study comes to me now (it didn't before) but I have too much access to my own head during that time. And how, in just a few short weeks, I'm definitely going to lose parts of myself.

So what do you do? Keep smiling and nodding and making the transition as easy as possible or do you wear your heart on your sleeve?

I'm thinking the former, but some days, it's really tough.

First Annual Kangaroo Triathalon

2007-06-13T17:44:00.000-04:00

This Saturday! So far we have 13 in - write me if you're down!

Noon - Event 1: Racketball del Fuego
1 p.m. – Event 2: Swimming de loco
Bike to the Washington Monument
2 p.m. – Event 3: Three on Three Ultimate Frisbee
3 p.m. – Bike to finish location for Human vs. Beer Competition

I'm totally gonna rule the final event.

CSA Dinner 2!

2007-06-12T22:11:00.000-04:00

YUM! We just got CSA shipment number 2! I worked out WAY hard today and so the dinner tonight really gave me a boost. It was all freshly picked this morning too, so everything tasted AMAZING. Three of the five of us gathered our ingredients, added to them, and had a delicious dinner.

This week: squash, mustard greens, garlic snapes, salad mix (purslane and mizuna), various herbs (oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary), radishes, bok choy, shallots

Braised Radishes and Mustard Greens
10 radishes (leave babies whole, half medium, and quarter large), trimmed of their leaves but leaving some stem on
generous handful of mustard greens, chopped (stems included if they're tender)
1/2 shallot
1 tbs minced thyme
3 tbs butter
salt and pepper to taste

Heat 2 tbs butter over med heat and saute the thyme and shallot for 1-2 minutes. Add in the radishes, salt and pepper them, and barely cover with water. Cook for 3-4 minutes and add the mustard greens, cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until mustard greens are limp and tender. Remove radishes and greens and turn up the heat to high, adding an additional tbs of butter. Reduce to 1/4 cup and pour sauce over radishes.

Lyco's Garden Sauce
(used over black bean and goat cheese ravioli)

1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium squash, diced
4-5 tomatoes, diced
3 shallots, diced
3 large garlic snapes, minced
3 tbs oregano, minced
1 tsp thyme, rosemary, and sage, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 package Quorn vegetarian meatballs
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup torn basil
shaved Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs olive oil

Heat olive oil over medium heat and add shallots and garlic snapes. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add bell pepper and squash, and all herbs but basil, and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper, and let simmer for about 10 minutes, occasionally mashing to get sauciness. Add Quorn meatballs and continue to cook for 8-10 more minutes, then let cook for 5 minutes before serving. Use over pasta/starch of your dreams. Top with parmesan and basil.

Served meal with a purslane and mizuna salad - we just used oil and balsamic vinager.

Now back to Con Law...

Most Exciting E.V.E.R.

2007-06-12T17:31:00.000-04:00

So Scott and I are going out on Thursday evening to see Romeo and Juliet as performed by tiny ninja action figures. NOT KIDDING.

I cannot wait. Is it Thursday yet???

Woah. Supressed Rage Much?

2007-06-12T11:22:00.000-04:00

I called the cops on myself last night. I mean, not something I'd ever really expect myself to do, but I was clearly out of control. They came and my only justification for the rampage of brutality was "HE DESERVED IT!!!"

Heh. Then I woke up.

Last night I think I finally let out some deep inner rage that I've not let myself feel in a loooong time. It involved a build up to a knock down screaming drag out fight with witnesses, cops, and everything. Pretty much everyone that I've felt rage towards was in that dream and the frustration built and built into a crescendo in a movie theater. It was amazing. The guy didn't even start business with me - he started it with some poor schmuck in front of us in the movie theater. Soon enough, however, I was involved. And when the police (who looked like Hell's Angels btw) arrived, I remained incoherent and proudly justified. And still taking every opportunity to swing at him. I'm still amused that my dream saw it fit to call the dream police on me.

When I woke, I was shocked. Violence in my dreams is unheard of. When it does occur, it's usually a threat towards me rather than the opposite. But that certainly was NOT the case last night. I mean, he was holding his own to be fair. But anyway, mayhaps I have a wee bit o rage that I'm not accounting for maybe? I guess it's better to come out in dreams than in real life. Hmmm.

This moment in psychology brought to you by the letter ARRRRR.

Summer BarBri Workout Schedule

2007-06-11T21:56:00.000-04:00

I got a message asking about what my workout routine is during bar review so here you go.

I workout pretty much everyday. I am doing it as much to get back into the fabulous shape of two years ago as anything else, but it's also keeping me SANE right now. Dealing with so much transition makes little Lyco a little crazy sometimes and nothing heals all wounds like pounding my body into oblivion on the National Mall (which also serves to give me my gooky little civic moment for the day - nothing beats running with the Capital and Jefferson Memorial around you).

First of all, I bike pretty much everyday of the week, but usually it's just from home-class-school-home with the occasional errand. I am pretty sure that it's 5.5 miles to do that loop - not much at all. I do my workouts at 6:00 p.m. everyday of the week, whether I go to morning or afternoon session at BarBri. I do it that way because that's how I'll be doing it when I start my job and I'm trying to get my body used to that routine now. I also do it that way because it's easier than going before my 9:00 am BarBri class (blech). However, to be honest, I end up at just as many afternoon classes as I do morning classes, but I digress.

On Saturdays, I either bike or run earlier in the day. I take Sundays off entirely. Usually I take Fridays off. The only problem with Saturdays is that most of the time I'm doing something else random, but usually it's active so no worries anyhow. I make sure I run a minimum of 10 miles a week right now, so if I miss a run, then I up one of the 3 milers to 5 miles.

Monday: Run 5 miles, arm workout (triceps, rowing machine, bench press)
Tuesday: Warm up on treadmill or stationary bike (10 minutes) and do leg workout (hip adductors, inner thighs, calves, quads) and calisthenics (butt workout, back workout, abs)
Rinse and repeat on Wednesday and Thursday.
Friday: off unless I'm tweaked, and then if I am I run 3 miles
Saturday: bike 12-15 miles or run 3 miles or some other super fun active play time
Sunday: off

So far it's going well. I've dropped a couple pounds and I've re-upped my weights to the next baby step up. Yay! I'm also feeling a lot better during my runs and rides - which is really what this is all about. That and keeping me from tweaking. Whoot for not tweaking!

CSA and Recipes

2007-06-10T12:59:00.000-04:00

Seein' as how I'm a DC res now (and here for the entire growing season), I owned up and joined a CSA. CSA (or Community-Supported Agriculture) is a weekly produce drop from a particular local organic farm. They are really expensive so I'm splitting it with 5 people and it basically provides most of our produce for the week. Unfortunately splitting it between 5 people means I don't get everything, and we draw randomly to see who gets what. Either way it's a sustainable way to eat and tasty to boot. Plus it makes me cook things I might not otherwise because the ingredients are chosen for me. So I thought it would be a nice thing to start posting what vegetables I got that week from the CSA (keep in mind it's only 1/5 of the actual delivered veggies) and how I used them. A fun little summer log. Anyway, with that in mind, here goes CSA recipe 1:

This week: Bok Choy, Sorrel, Salad Greens, Cilantro, Watercress, Strawberries, Green Chilies, Garlic Snapes

Lyco's CSA Bok Choy Curry

7 large bok choy leaves, stems included, sliced
1 block firm tofu, pressed and cubed into 1 inch pieces
1 tomato, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 garlic snapes, slices diagonally
1 tbs ginger, minced
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
2 green chilies (hot)!, minced
1 tsp each paprika, coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
3 tbs fish sauce
2 tsp peanut oil
1/2 cup cooked rice noodles

Put tofu, onions, garlic, ginger, coriander, paprika, turmeric and 1 tbs fish sauce in a bowl to marinate while you heat the water for the rice noodles. Put the rice noodles in to cook (15 minutes) and heat peanut oil over med-high heat in a large skillet or wok. Add tofu mixture to skillet when hot and sear tofu for 5 minutes. Add bok choy and sugar and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, chilies and remaining fish sauce to the skillet and cook until tomatoes soften, 2-3 minutes. During this time, drain noodles and toss them into the skillet as well. Stir until noodles are coated and add cilantro and garlic snapes. Stir again and take off heat.

Serve with salad of mixed greens, sorrel, and watercress and the following dressing:

1/4 cup yogurt
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic snape
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt

Have fresh strawberries for dessert!

Yum!

New Order v. Duran Duran and a Little Jesus on the Side

2007-06-09T12:54:00.000-04:00

While this post MIGHT make you think I'm about to make commentary on the important social movement that is the New Order / Duran Duran controversy, it's not. It's mostly about the fact that I went to the New Order v. Duran Duran dance party at Black Cat last night and it was AMAZING. I have been wanting to have a night of irony for a while now and I got more than my fill. I went with Bloom and a bunch of his peeps - they could definitely hang. Although that place is definitely the opposite of sex - watching a bunch of 20 and 30 something drunk white kids dance to New Order definitely means no one in that room is getting laid. Then again, anyone who would go to the Black Cat to get laid is disgusting and should be roshamboed post haste.

To balance out the previously stated inanity, I have been reading a lot of Matthew Fox's work recently and it's been incredibly inspiring. He is the leading figure of the Creation Spirituality movement, which is something I've been wanting to explore for a long time now. Matthew Fox was a Domincan priest who was excommunicated by Pope Benedict XVI. Fox is now an Episcopal priest whose teachings on Creation Spirituality are considered heretical by the Church. I don't have anything to say about him now - but I will soon. I read his 95 Theses (that he nailed on the door of the Wittenberg Church (same as Luther) and they made my heart sing - so I wanted to post a link to them here so that anyone else can take a look yourself. It was amazing to read someone who was connected to the Church saying these things that I believe and know to be true.

Anyway, I always said that I don't like to talk religion on this bl@g, so I won't get into it too much. I will post a little more on him after I've read one of his books because I'll have a better idea if this is something with which I can jive. If so, it'll be a turning point in my life. If not, it's nice to know people out there are trying to deal with these issues. If you want to talk to me about it, shoot me an email. If you're interested in the 95 Theses, you can read them here.

Now I'm off to take some peeps on a biking tour of the city.

And Other Reasons Why I Look Like Complete Crap Today

2007-06-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

It's times like this when I really wish I had a car.

Last night started as one of the best EVER because it involved Pirates of the Caribbean 3, two hot mamas, and a liter of tequila. Plus I had *finally* gone running for the first time in a month (p.s. my quads feel like mouton hot lava was poured into them). The ladies and I went out for ridiculously hot Thai food, then made the giantest margarita ever, and popped in for the 9:10 show. I have no idea what that movie would have been like sober, but it doesn't matter because it COMPLETELY RULES whenst not sober. I yelled YARRRRR a lot and laughed at the ridiculous phallus jokes. It was amazing. Except Kiera Knightly is scary looking.

During this time, I got a phone call from Tink telling me she was going to the emergency room. However, at the time, it was just a little thing and seemed completely minor. She was calm but irritated and seemed to have it under control. I assumed she'd get a shot of antibiotics and be sent on her way. No big deal. However, I *should* have immediately left and gone to her just in case.

This is not ever the kind of thing you want to be wrong about. When I got home at 12:30 am, she was there in completely rough shape. Her little thing turned into little surgery and she was not well. I freaked. First of all, you never want your loved ones to be going through that alone. Second of all, her car was in the shop and I had no way, at 1:00 am, to get her anything she needed. My other roommie with the car was not around and anyone I felt like I could call at 1:00 am had their phones off or didn't pick up. It was scary.

I definitely realized why it can be incredibly helpful to have a car. I purposefully sold mine upon coming to D.C. because it's ludicrous to have a car in this city. Not only can I not afford the taxes or the gas, but I get around faster without a car anyhow. But I definitely realized how scary it is not to have immediate transportation or access to someone who does. Luckily, everything is ok - she's sleeping in her bed with lots of meds and I'm about to hop on the bike and slog to an appointment. Today will be my first evening class - from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm. ouch.

Best Friday night EVER. I guess I gotta make up for last night somehow...

A Small Journey into the Female Parts

2007-06-07T17:40:00.000-04:00

I know what you're thinking right now, dear readers. You're thinking, but what is Lyco really like? We want to know the scrumptious little details, the intracacies if you will, of this allusive peach. Well, who am I to take this desire away from you? Indeed, I should encourage such curiosity. And when I'm not busy arm wrestling Chuck Norris and then comforting him afterwards, sometimes I have rather mundane issues to face in this quaint little thing I'd like to call life.

Mainly, I'm trying not to bite my nails. You know, because it's better for the environment. And puppies. And Chuck Norris (that way I can claw him brutally during said arm wrastling - yesIsaidwrastleWHAT??). Anyhoodle, I've been biting my nails since.. oh since dragons and unicorns walked the Earth - otherwise known as 20 years ago. I've been doing this since I was a small fry (though never a tater tot). And I periodically stop, but always start again. And much like arm wrestling with Chuck Norris, it's just becoming embarassing for all parties involved.

Now allow me interject and say that I HATE long nails. I am all for utilitarianism and my gardening habits don't lend themselves well to fancy appendange decorations. Plus Chuck likes me better au natural. But I digress. More to the point is that I just don't want to walk around with chewed cuticles and my hands shoved in my mouth constantly like my fingers are going out of style. It's gross. But I've never been able to break it. And the only thing that seems to work is (GASP) manicures (SCREAM).

I *never* get manicures. Not only because it's a stupid thing to spend money on, but because it's embarassing. Now, I occasionally have "girl" time with my homedogs in which we partake muchly in the Girly Arts, including but not limited to both manicures and/or pedicures and/or getting one's hair did. Now that's different. That's bonding time. I'm talking actually taking time on my own and going out to have said appendanges groomed by a small woman who glares and me and mutters something about "insolent" and "disgusting" and "God hates me." I apologize perfusely for the foul state of said mits and beg her to help me. After signing away my first born (that or $14 plus tip), she begrudgingly does my nails and yells at me to never touch any part of my face with my hands again. Not even to eat.

And while I have yet to go on my own, I've gotten two manicures in the past month. During this time, while my nails make me feel like a dirty pirate hooker (TM), I have yet to bite them. Much. And while I hate the irridescent crap that makes me think my nails are covered in unicorn semen, it seems to be the only thing keeping me from attacking them with the strength of 1,000 camels (don't ask). So I keep them purty.

This has clearly caused from deep turmoil within my soul. On one hand (heh) if it works, word. On the other EWOHMYGODEW. But I feel like the fact that "I" "am" a "professional" "now" means that I should probably get 'er done and behave. And so the nails remain irridescent and I remain befuddled at their state of said irridescence. But I have to admit, it looks nice. They are still short, but they just are... well, ragged anymore. I refuse to believe that this is demasculating me at. all. At. All. I still remain the woman about whom the Dan Bern's song "Tiger Woods" was written. And hopefully when I start my job, I'll look a little less like a 10 year mascarading as a grown up and more like the hot workin' mama that I am. So next time you see me, you will know that beneath that steel exterior and six-pack and GUNS lies a vulnerable scared woman who fights with all her will the demons of her nail-biting closet...

Transitions

2007-06-05T13:55:00.000-04:00

I haven't written about graduation yet, and I think I'm gonna hit it in small chunks. This time, I'll briefly write about the transition from law student to pre-lawyer.

I am in a particularly unique position. When I came to law school, I was recovering from serious health problems, and soon after my husband would take off for what turned out to be a nice healthy divorce. Between having my physical set up blown (I gained about 45 pounds) and my emotional support blown (we had been together for close to a decade) - I was really uncertain. I was terrified of being judged and felt really ashamed of who I was and what had happened. Amazingly, what kept me together is that I truly believed that environmental law was my calling and it became my rock. Slowly (very very slowly) I started to heal. I fought just about every mental issue one would expect after facing the kind of trauma I faced in a stressful new environment and often failed miserably in my personal relations. But through it all, I was creeping back to health. I worked hard to get there, and had a lot of support walking the path. Everything from physical therapy to grief therapy to spiritual retreats to friends and family. And you know what? Three years really isn't all that long for the kind of crap I went through.

This year has been the first that I have started to feel like "myself" again. In fact, I wasn't even aware that I wasn't being myself. All the sudden I wasn't ashamed of myself anymore. I realized that what happened to my neck wasn't my fault and didn't mean I was defective; that what happened with my husband wasn't my fault and didn't mean I was defective. In fact, I remembered that I like myself. I have been blessed with community in this life and as I started to love myself again, my community blessings returned in force.

And all the sudden I graduated. Which of course, blows this community out of the geographic water, but not the actual water. I see myself taking trips and having reunions. I am still close to my peeps from undergrad so no reason that doesn't work with law school. And there are some great people staying in D.C. I also am getting to know a lot of amazing people who are also living in D.C. outside of law school. What's more important is that I *know* I'm supposed to be here doing environmental law. Which has stayed my path thus far and will continue to in the future. But it doesn't mean that it's not a shocking transition. I don't like that everything didn't turn out the way I'd hoped. I have regrets. I don't like that some of the best people in my life are moving. But I'm grateful that I could become myself again in time for them to see who I am. Despite the awkward discussions of "Yeah, you were really different...", it feels damn good to finish them with "and it's awesome to see you so happy now."

None of this is to say that I ever stopped being essentially who I was. But sometimes one has to cocoon for a while and shut off that light from others. I realized that I was doing exactly what my ex was doing - I was letting fear dictate my decisions about my life. It's interesting when that transition is facilitated by such a literal transition as law school to bar review.

So what does that mean? It means that I have some freakin perspective. I am absolutely NOT freaking out over the bar. I am doing my work (finally) and struggling with issues, but I'm having fun and enjoying my community at the same time. Nothing can possibly be as hard as my past few years and I feel like 8,000,000 pounds of shadow have been lifted from my person. My semester in the Domestic Violence Clinic was wonderful but completely intense, along with a not so intense but still rigorous course load. And there I had the pressure of grades. Here, it's just the pressure to pass. And yes, that's tough - but not nearly as tough as balancing what I have been doing. And I absolutely refuse to turn it into an excuse to freak out over my recent transitions. While these transitions are scary and big, they are joyous and invigorating. I am finally coming to do what I have been waiting to do all along. This is just the pre-show.

Now I gotta jet - I have to get my bar work done in time for a cookout and music at Club ARRRR.

Possibly the Most American Weekend Ever

2007-06-03T23:29:00.001-04:00

I have thusly returned from THE BEST WEEKEND ON EARTH. It almost feels illegal the amount of fun I've been having for the past month, but hey - I'm rollin with it. Don't look a gift horse in the grill.

I am currently sunburned and and full of joy. Friday night, I went out to a bar that was the closest thing to the South I've been to in a loooong time. They played nothing but country and had cheap Pabst pitchers, in which I partook to just the right amount. I met a few fun people and saw a few old friends. It was nice to be the only lawyer in the room, but the longer into the evening, the more they were blaming on the lawyers. The end result? Global warming is officially my (and all lawyers') fault. Eh, at least it keeps me employed.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to bed until sunrise. On Saturday, I woke too early considering my previously stated bed time and I went out on a most amazing boat with a very dear friend. He muchly impressed me with his seaworthy boating skillz (SBSZ) and we rode to this really gorgeous beach. Where I got to lay and BAKE in the sun to my heart's content. And try out the new bathing suit. I went in the ocean for a few red hot seconds, but it was too cold to sustain. The waves were enormous and the tide was definitely pulling out to hard to play around anyway. But it was really fun because my trip to Ocean City (while COMPLETELY awesome!!) was a bit dampened by the entire lack of skin-cancer-hot sun. So it was nice to get my sun on for a couple hours.

But we then had amazing carbtastic Italian food served family style and rode around in his pick up truck listening to some awesome corporate country and seeing the sites.

I left today after going to church and just got home. Church was fun because a bunch of kiddos were getting confirmed - and they all read 12-year-old versions of what God means to them. It was sasstacular. The ride back was full of rain and took an hour longer than it should have. But I did get a good hard nap in. Which is good, because I need to get my bar on. But I have decided that at some point in my life, I want a boat. Heh. With my magic money and extra time that grows on the bush outside my window.

Speaking of time... off to learn about... whatever it is we're doing in class tomorrow. It's hard to be bummed about bar study when it's balanced with so much wonderfulness.

Joys of Living

2007-05-31T23:15:00.001-04:00

I'm in full swing. I've gotten all my work done for tomorrow AND a bunch of errands run AND I cooked a fabulous dinner for a friend and a roommate. And I'm utterly and completely overjoyed at life right now.

This weekend, I'm off to go on a BOATING trip. I'm so incredibly psyched. Thanks to Scott for teaching me everything I needed to know to not make myself look like a complete idiot (which I am - Georgia don't have much water).

Lyco: I'm so excited about this trip, but I know nothing about boats. What do I do?
Scott: All you need to know is that port is left and starboard is right.
Lyco: How am I ever going to remember that?
Scott: Easy. Port has 4 letters and so does left.

And you know what? It worked - I remember! And I've already impressed my ship captain with my breadth of knowledge.

So off I go to have a blast this weekend - pictures to come. But I'll leave you with my new catfish recipe. I served it with rice and steamed broccoli.

Lyco's Impromptu Catfish
3 catfish fillets
1 cup cornmeal
handful of finely chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp each dried tarragon and chervil
1/2 med lemon zest, minced
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 450 and line a large pan (I used glass) with cooking spray. Put all the first ingredients onto a plate and mix well, beat the egg into a bowl. Rinse and pat dry catfish fillets. Dredge in egg and then dredge generously in cornmeal mixture. Lay side by side in pan and roast for 10 minutes in oven. Turn on broiler for 5 minutes to brown. Serve with lemon wedges.

YUM!

Ladies and Gentleman, Start Your Engines

2007-05-30T01:29:00.000-04:00

I just wrote my first bar exam practice essay. I felt ok about it. I have been doing a half-assed job thus far, but it looks like I'm finally getting my butt in gear.

I'm gonna be a complete dork and say that I got a little excited working on the civil procedure stuff because guess what? I'm actually gonna be doing that next year!!!!

Ok, enough of this crap, time for bed.

Wrong Side of the Tracks

2007-05-29T21:30:00.000-04:00

A short post to talk about my most recent evening. It was a long one.

Many of you know that I have insomnia. It's just a way of the world with me and I'm used to it. So This means that I am awake at 2:30 am and I finally decide to go to sleep. It (of course) takes me a loooong time to actually fall asleep. When I finally do hit the place of slumber, I get fairly ticked when brought out of that. So when I heard the loud knocking at the vacated house next door, I woke out of my half slumber with the wrath of God in me.

A little back story: this house has been vacant for well over a year. They did some work on it last summer, but in the winter, the owner of the house made the very stupid decision of letting a homeless man live there in exchange for keeping an eye on things (it had been broken into previously). The owner of the house knew that the man was on drugs, but found him harmless, and so decided that he could stay there as long as no one else did.

That obviously is not what happened. Soon the homeless man's girlfriend was staying there, then they started dealing drugs out of there. Finally it escalated to the point where we called the police during a particularly brutal fight and called the owner and told him it was getting intolerable. So the guy was kicked out and things were quiet.

Now recently, we've been hearing noises there again. Not big ones, but definitely things have been happening. And the late night visitors have been coming more frequently. Not good. That makes me feel totally sketched out. So I call the owner again and ask him what I should do about it. He tells me the next time it happens, I should call the police.

So I did.

At 3:00 am there was a really scary show down where the cops came in and removed a good number of people. They (of course) found drugs and people were taken away. I was shocked at how awful I felt. I don't approve of the criminal justice system as a way to deal with problems in my community, but I and Tink have told these people, my landlord has told these people, and the owner of the house has told these people that they cannot stay there. It's not safe, it brings druggies into the neighborhood, and is a really sketchy scene in general. So I finally got fed up with things and called the police. But I definitely felt horrible about it even though I believe I made the right decision.

Things died down and I went back to sleep. Until about an hour later when I heard a huge crashing. It was my door. My roommate Tink came tearing down, we locked the door to my room (mine is the only one that locks) and we again called the police. The people were the same that were kicked out of the house. Apparently, they didn't actually do anything other than slam my porch door loud enough to wake the house and scare the complete shit out of me and Tink and stand in our entry way for a couple minutes before leaving. The cop (bless his heart) stayed in the neighborhood for the rest of his shift and I finally got to sleep around 6:00 am. Terrified.

This is not to be sexist at all, but I really would have felt better if a guy had been here. Bloom was away for the weekend... and... welllll... he's not exactly the manliest of men. I think I'd have an easier go at a fight than he would. But I digress. It was a hard and frustrating feeling.

I hope I don't regret living here. I firmly believe in not hiding behind the white wall of northwest DC. I feel like I'm getting to know my neighborhood and that makes me feel safer. And I believe that getting this house next door sorted will also drastically increase my feeling of safety. But I would definitely feel better if it weren't three small women and a guy who might as well be a fourth small woman (but I heart you Bloom!!!).

When choosing to live in this community, I am definitely making important decisions every time I face a problem. What is best for our community? Is calling the police the right thing to do? It ruins the lives of many people, clearly it's leaving at least two individuals homeless, and it's a completely detached way of dealing with your neighbors. Even illegitimate neighbors. But when people so blatantly violate the codes communicated to them by their fellow community members, then how are you supposed to deal with it? Especially when they are engaging in behaviors (i.e. using drugs) that makes them unstable and unpredictable. It's interesting making the choice to live in this neighborhood. I think a lot about what community means to me, and I feel in my heart that I'm making the right decision. I feel like I made the right decision calling the police last night. But I am definitely paying for that decision, and I'm not always positive it's the right one.

Note To Self

2007-05-28T22:19:00.000-04:00

Dear Self,

You are not really all that clever. When you find a lake with lovely trails on it and no one is swimming on it, there's a reason. You thought you were clever - looking up the toxicity of the lake (it was fairly pristine) and just thinking that YOU had discovered the long lost watering hole of Narnia. There was no algae, no muddy inbanks, and best of all, no people. But the fact that there are no people is not because the rest of the world is lazy and ignorant of this close, convenient, clean lake with trails. It's because of the leeches.

Next time, remember that you are not the Indiana Jones of Mid-Atlantic lakes. And if no one else is swimming there, perhaps you should not either.

Smooches,

Your Brain

At A Loss

2007-05-27T12:40:00.000-04:00

I finally got to see One Hand Loves the Other and they completely blew my mind. I mean, of course they did. Thanks to those who came out - although I'm sure the awesome show was thanks enough. We had a blast. It's been amazing to finally have opportunities to integrate my different communities. And it seems like that will continue into the future - as many of them are now independently in touch. Yay!

After the show of total awesomeness, I encountered something that I spend a decent amount of time trying to avoid: the DC hipster. And not only was I encountering them, one of them was hitting on me. I'm sorry, but I don't date people who are ironic. I just don't. No irony here. I think the problem (other than my dashing good looks and alluring personality) is that I was hanging with the band. Which made said hipsters gravitate. They were angst-chic and had British-messy hair. The hair-head ratio was definitely off on that one. And it was hard not to laugh. They invited us to parties, to which we did not go. Thank goodness. We happily went to a gross dive bar instead and celebrated the show of awesomeness. Yay dive bars!

Other than seeing amazing music and spending time with el peeps, I've been slowly dealing with the fact that I am out of law school. That is kind of crazy. However, processing deep emotional transitions is not very blog-friendly. I think there is so much going on in my life right now, but none of it is bloggpropriate. I want to write things about processing the end of law school, but I'm not there yet. It was just a week ago and I've pretty much not stopped for the past month. A lot of my non-law friends are coming in town to see me, a lot of my law friends are leaving town to seek their new homes, and when it comes time to prioritize, el blog comes down pretty low on el totem pole. It's kind of wonderful to have my balance tipped so far on the side of socializing. I know it won't last, so I'm enjoying every minute of it that I can. I keep assuming that once I'm in bar studying hell, I'll want to ~~kill myself~~ blog a lot more. But right now, I'm just not around a computer. And you know what? I like it that way.

Durrtay

2007-05-26T14:50:00.000-04:00

Well, I got one good night's rest before more peeps rolled in. We were up until 4am rockin out at el pad of ARRRRR. This morning, I awoke at 10:30 to loud scraping and banging and I realized that

TODAY IS FLOWER DAY!!!

So I rushed out of bed and put on random tank tops and shoes and ran outside to help! Soon my one of my other roommates joined and we were weeding between liriope, digging up boxes, spreading mulch, raking old leaves, planting Black-Eyed Susans, and trimming bushes. At the end of our three hours, we had made an enormous difference along my side of the street.

I met lots of fun people, drank lemonade, played with kids, got dirty and sweaty, and remembered how hard gardening is. It was weird gardening with all these people I didn't know. I kept turning my head and expecting to shout orders people who weren't there. You can't really shout orders to strangers. Luckily, my roommie and I made a good team against the rock hard dirt. Soon I will post pretty pictures of our recent conquest!

Now off to a late breakfast with all my visiting homies.

Responsible Lawyering by Lyco

2007-05-24T14:57:00.001-04:00

Day 1:
Missed bar class. Woke up still drunk from graduation. Went back to bed. Homework completed? None.

Day 2:
Went to bar class slightly late. Almost fell asleep. Came back late from every break. Homework done? None.

Day 3:
Went to bar class slightly late. Fell asleep repeatedly. Came back late from every break except one. Homework done? 1/3 of the assignment.

Now I'm at school. I *will* get better at this. I'm just... err.. working my way up to it.

Stupified

2007-05-23T14:37:00.000-04:00

I can't remember the last time I was this exhausted. I'm exhausted to the point of incoherence. It's different from finals exhausted because unlike finals exhaustion, this was worth every ounce of my energy. But it was worth it - these were two of the best weeks of my life, which is ironic, because I've had some serious emotional hardships recently.

I forgot how wonderful it is to have people who have known you for so long just around in your life. I was doing my thing - making hummus in my kitchen in my house in my city hundreds of miles from all my friends and family. I turn around, and suddenly, there they are! It was unimaginably uplifting to combine my worlds. It was a blast introducing them all to my community and seeing the worlds collide into one happy family. I'm such a lucky woman.

Either way, I never thought I'd say this, but it felt good to simply go to a bar class and take notes for 4 hours. It sucked, but at least it was easy. I need simplicity. And bar review is opposite of emotional, which is oddly comforting.

Now to clean my whole house. I have more company coming in this Friday for some rock and roll. Then, I have to admit, I'm gonna spend some serious Lyco time. Nice, quiet, dorky Lyco time. And blog.

I'm a LAHWYERR

2007-05-20T02:59:00.000-04:00

I told YA'LL I was gonna do it! Tomorrow mornin', I be all graduwaitin' and shiiiiit.

Thanks to my bro for the awesome fro!

Yay!

2007-05-17T18:17:00.000-04:00

This is just an announcement that I have really cute toes now.

Four ladies and a baby got together this morning to scope out the main campus so we knew what the heck would be going on during graduation. It was more realistic than we thought because the undergrads were having their ceremony today. There was parking chaos, hoards of people, and confusing maps. It was good that we tried it out. When we got to the reception site, we were suddenly surrounded by thousands of skinny Prada-clad blonde girls in their early 20s. It was kind of obnoxious because they treated us like we should have walkers. And their shoes alone would have paid all our tuitions. So, how does one recover from that?

Pedicures of course.

We marched ourselves down to the local cheap nails place and all sat in a row in massage chairs whilst getting the semester rubbed out of our feet. And by semester, I mean three years of law school. We then covered el toes in pretty polish. Then I got a manicure because I've been chewing my nails and they look GROSS.

It was amazing.

Now to drag my brother to Ben's Chili Bowl and off to see a battle of the bands. Law school bands. Hehe, we're such dorks.

Prepping for Graduation

2007-05-15T18:51:00.000-04:00

List of Things To Do Today

Deal with leftover client issues
drop off dry cleaning
go to the grocery store to get supplies for entire family visit - buy nonfat yogurt for friend in weight loss program, buy bacon for everyone else
go to booze store and get booze for entire family visit
Panic and buy some more booze
go to storage and get non-flannel-lined clothing
put on said non-flannel-lined clothing and stop sweating
go to hardware store and get spare keys made
Also buy mop
pick up 4 pillows and full sized sheets
wash sheets
wash summer clothes that smell like not summer
organize closet for said summer clothes
go to plant store and buy flowers for front lawn
pick up moldy trash from front lawn
plant flowers in front lawn
realize they are full sun flowers
drink beer from supplies
clean entire house from top to bottom
drink beer from supplies
repeat numbers 18 and 20

List of Things To Do Tomorrow

Pick up brother from airport
go see Paleobiology's comedy routine
repeat number 21 from prior list
YAY!

I Needed That

2007-05-14T23:47:00.000-04:00

That was awesome + happy + booze till next month at least!

But it's good to be home. Now I have to clean like CRAZY to get everything ready for my family's arrival on Wednesday. Soon after that, I'll be one of them law gradumates.

Mountains down, beach to go!

2007-05-08T17:56:00.000-04:00

Asheville was the most wonderful place on the planet. When I die, screw heaven, I'm going back to Warren Wilson College.

Tomorrow, we leave for the beach for a women's weekend. Yay!

For Your Procrastination Pleasure

2007-05-02T21:48:00.000-04:00

Ok, I'm leaving tomorrow morning, but for old time's sake, here's my one contribution to all your procrastination needs. Enjoy this bit of Eurotrashtination. It has a mullet and bikinis. Really, need more while I'm gone?

Enjoy him at
Christmas
More Christ-my-ass (with dancing elves - not kidding)
the beach
deep in the night

Nothin' But the Rain

2007-05-02T00:11:00.000-04:00

Well, I'm done with law school proper. I still have to clean up my Clinic files, but I estimate that will take an hour tops. I'll do it tomorrow. At 11:00, I have a meeting with the Journals office to discuss the new journal procedures, then a meeting at 1:00 to discuss my close out memo and letter in Clinic. Then that's that.

I leave Thursday morning to go to Asheville. I won't be back until the 7th. Then I leave the morning of the 9th for the beach, not to return until the 14th. So basically, I'm out ya'll.

I might blog on the road, but I think I need to get away. First mountains, then ocean. Let's hope I come back with a clearer head and a stronger heart.

Good luck on finals!

And to Counter that Last Post

2007-04-30T10:58:00.000-04:00

While I have felt some discomfort here as of late, there is much about D.C. that I love. One of the most important aspects of this city is Eastern Market, which was subject to a massive fire last night. A huge loss for the D.C. community.

The Eastern Market is certainly one of the best parts of living in D.C. The neighborhood's charm combined with access to the market makes it one of best neighborhoods to live in, in my opinion. It's probably where I'd move if I were to do such a thing. But the loss of the market is a huge blow, and the neighborhood will feel that hit for a while. I can't imagine how the vendors are feeling right now.

I hope that the District responds quickly. And I hope that this casts light on how important these oases are in D.C.

D.C. is starting to scare me.

2007-04-30T09:05:00.000-04:00

I realize that I am paranoid right now. It's perfectly normal to be skittish after being mugged. To add to that fear, I saw some really horrific stranger violence on the street a couple nights ago - three young teenage men ran up behind an old man and assaulted him right on a brightly lit crowded street in front of my favorite cafe. The scariest was that the guys laughed as they ran off. No remorse. No fear of consequences. Nothing. It was a joke.

Finally, a couple rides home ago, a group of young kids - maybe 11-13 years old, threw rocks at me on my bike as I rode up the hill past the Sursum Corda Cooperative. Not a big deal except one of the rocks actually hit me. I screeched my bike to a halt, some of the kids ran off, the others stayed. I spoke with them, and they showed no signs of backing down or caring in the least bit. The scarier part is that there were much larger and older men in the background yelling at me to "ride on." While this is a mild irritant at best, coupled with my mugging, it makes me feel really unsafe. And really aware of how slow I go up that long climb to New York Avenue.

I adhere to facing my fears as best I can. So last night I was working on my LAST LAW SCHOOL ASSIGNMENT EVER until about 1:00 a.m. in the library. I was terrified to bike home because the only way home took me back through that route. I know that I couldn't go very fast up the hill. I also knew that I was probably being ridiculous. Was I scared of a bunch of kids with rocks? They would be in bed anyway.

So off I went. Everything was fine. But I was terrified. Absolutely terrified. I rode so hard home that I thought my lungs would explode.

You know, I am all for alternatives to gentrification. Specifically, I am really for heavily mixed-income housing. When I was volunteering in Sursum Corda, I was very vocal in the harms to the community that would result in tearing it down (which is the current plan). But I I have to admit that right now, I'm not too sad about the NoMa project. I don't like feeling scared. I also don't like feeling like a Republic asshat. So there you go - conflict abounds.

Back to my paper - it's due today.

A Chat with My Friend the Youth Minister

2007-04-29T21:24:00.000-04:00

YM: I can see that your jaded facebook attitude will lead you to become an evil villain . i will do everything i can to stop you
Lyco: you can never stop me. I am all powerful and at the seat of power in the nation
mwahahaha
lawyers are unstoppable - we never give up. You're screwed
YM: I live in the capitol of the universe, and my hords are emo hipsters. That last part doesn't help so much, but I still like my odds
Lyco: Long Island is hardly the capitol of the universe, and your parishioners are hardly hip.
YM: that was the verbal equivalent of sucker punch. I live here cause its free dammit, but I still claim NYC - and I can't believe you just dissed my youth group.
You're going to hell. I'm a youth minister. I know these things.
Lyco:... I just snorted in the library. Wait.. I'm already there! That explains all the people surrounding me with glowing eyes.
YM: That would be laptops.
Lyco: ... and the undead.
YM: that would be the lawyers.
Lyco: oh right.. SEE- you CANNOT STOP THE UNDEAD.

For More Than Just Me

2007-04-29T14:58:00.000-04:00

It's my last year here. I'm sitting in the main library reading room, which continues to be the best place for me to study. At least once a year, I get the smacking gum guy/gal at my table. Without fail. I've also read it on many of my fellow law student blogs. I know many have suffered at the fate of the disgusting smacking at cracking of the gum. Usually I turn up my music and occasionally cringe through it. But not this time. I thought, I'm a 3L - I get to have one finals session with no smacking.

So I asked her if she could please stop popping her gum and chew with her mouth closed. I was polite but firm. She immediately stopped. She left a couple minutes after that.

God that felt good.

Post Script Note: I just got done laughing hysterically in the reading room and having all the wee folk glare at me. But that's what happens when you put 3 slap-happy 3Ls at a table together. I was actually crying from laughing so hard. I guess that makes me a nice black pot. It's worth it. Gum smacking is worse...

Paper, Can't You Write Yourself??

2007-04-28T18:33:00.000-04:00

Sigh. I only have one assignment left, and I can't seem to get past the first paragraph. Crap. And it's due on Monday. Double Crap.

Ok, This Needs to Stop

2007-04-28T01:14:00.000-04:00

On top of the fact that, while studying at my fav cafe, the waiter called me a "gentleman," (I responded curtly with as feminine an "excuuuuuse me??" as I could), I had an issue occur today.

So I'm in the spa this morning getting, ahem, bathing suit ready. This is a very vulnerable place for me to be in. The woman who performs my wax is a sweet Czech woman with a gentle but thorough hand and the kind of English that makes her a little too honest sometimes. Because she doesn't know how to candy coat. So I'm lying on the table, pretty much completely exposed to her harsh florescent lights when she leans over me, rubs her hand over my forehead and scrinches her face into a knot.

"You are too young to have skin like that. What's wrong with your skin??"

Uhhh. I wasn't aware that there was anything wrong with my skin. I knew it was dry, but at least I didn't break out. I never get zits and there's nothing discolored or hanging off. It seems ok to me. Clearly my standards are not up to par.

"You have the driest skin of any woman your age I have eeevveeerrr seen. Is that your momma's fault? What kind of skin does she have?"

I stammered something about my mother's skin seeming perfectly normal to me. I said it was probably just the winter weather. She clearly didn't buy it. She then tsk'd me and told me I should do a facial mask and some alpha hydroxy thing at night. Only take 8 minutes, blah blah. Doesn't she know that my entire morning shower only takes 8 minutes (not a word, Scop) ?? I told her that I already use a facial scrub, nice soap, beta hydroxi toner (which I rarely use, admittedly), and expensive lotion. Which is all true. She stared at me baffled and said, "I guess some of us just don't get the nice skin."

Then she ripped out all my hair.

Justice Ginsburg, General Clement - Have I Died and Gone to Heaven??

2007-04-26T17:50:00.000-04:00

I just got back from the annual Supreme Court Institute end of the year party.

It. was. amazing.

I got to speak with Justice Ginsburg (she wears very floral perfume and talks very quietly), General Paul Clement (he's extremely gracious), Patty Millet (a personal idol of mine), Seth Waxman (replace gracious with gregarious - he was a hoot!), Carter Phillips, and many many others. I was proud of myself, I swallowed my little law student fear, stood up as tall as I could and started introducing myself.

And it worked! They were all gracious and kind to speak with us. Many of them joked and some asked very nice questions. At the end, my peers all commented that they were amazed at my networking skills. Me too!!

But I'm a D.C. lawyer now - I gotta get my network on! What a blast - and now I'm off to take a short run and burn off some of this nervous energy.

Global Critical Race Perspectives

2007-04-25T20:48:00.000-04:00

Wow. Some of you know that I have been honored enough to be a member of a team working very hard on a project to get a new journal at Georgetown that focuses on Critical Race Theory from a global perspective. It's something that is really missing from the dialogue. And though there are a few journals out there dealing with them, Georgetown is a particularly apt institution to act as a pinnacle for that dialogue because of its concentration of Critical Legal Studies-oriented professors, its international focus, and its commitment to equality through the Jesuit philosophy (can you tell I have been trying to sell this journal for a while now?).

And so the new Critical Race Theory Journal at Georgetown is born: Global Critical Race Perspectives. I just got chills typing it out.

On a personal note, I feel like I've left Georgetown Law better than when I arrived. I feel good about leaving something behind. Despite some of the horrors at GULC (law school in general I think), there have been some amazing people with whom I have been lucky as hell to associate myself - this journal brought many of them to me. It gave me an outlet to remember why I went to law school in the first place. I hope this journal works as a conduit to bring those people together again and help them stay centered in law school for years to come.

True Friends

2007-04-24T23:36:00.000-04:00

So I had my birthday dinner tonight. And it was amazing.

Twenty people came to celebrate one of the best celebrations of my life a human could ever ask for. What's more? I got a card from those 20 and 12 more who couldn't be there with some of the sweetest messages a gal could ever read.

Here's the final tear jerker:

They all chipped in to replace the things I had stolen from me when I was mugged - some of it really expensive gear. It was truly amazing. I have some great friends. So I think I need to give a shout out to everyone who was kind enough to be a part of my birthday, and to be a part of those generous gifts.

Anne, who has been my conjoined twin for the past semester, and I can't say I'm sad for it.
Jer because, no matter what, he's one of my nearest and dearest - plus he drove to Maryland to make sure I had a Shuffle in "Fifth Element Orange." Only Jer would know how important that is.
Miriam who has been making me laugh with bacon jokes for three years now.
Mark who makes me laugh about everything for three years now - and who I am one of the luckiest people alive because I can consider him one of my closest friends in the world.
Kristianne because she's one of the few people who can bring sunlight into the grumpiest rooms.
Kate because she's more than a roommate could ever be - she's a bike gang member.
Jo because her level headed keeps the R Street Gang in line.
Greg because his lack of a level head keeps the R Street Gang from growing stale. Plus he sings in the shower and that's just plain awesome.
Karla because she has been one of my closest friends in law school, and because she's probably the smartest person I've ever met and yet she still studies with me.
Brook because she's only herself no matter what, and that self is gorgeous.
Duff because... well, Duff knows why.
Scott because he's got one of the best souls I've ever met - plus he knows my dark side and it makes him like me more!!
Jay because he makes Scott tolerable. And he made me laugh harder than I've ever laughed during finals.
Kev because he's got his heart in the right place and I know he's going to do exciting and wonderful things with his law degree. And he's adorable in facial hair even if he *does* make highly unnecessary blog posts.
Brett because he's a good friend even though he may be balancing more than any human should ever balance at a time. A lifetime that is.
Dana because she's definitely the only 1L I can bear to hang around. That girl has her head on her shoulders. Plus she's damn cute to boot.
Ginger because the girl always inspires me and our Sex in the City cocktail hours will forever have helped me through law school.
Julia if for no other reason than when I told her my partner left town she said "Well we hate him, don't we. Let's go get Cosmos."
Larissa because we have too much in common to ever talk without laughing hysterically. Plus she has the best hair in law school. Seriously.
Lisa because it took us three years to get close, but that lack of time didn't matter at all.
Jess G. because that girl is HARD CORE. One of the coolest down to earth women alive.
Kymberly because speaking of hard core, she is one of the brightest hard working women I know, plus she's a triathelete, PLUS she's a model wife and mom to the cutest kiddo alive.
Erica because she's the best environmental law student I've met, and she's always down for a good talk.
Stephanie because even with a new babe, she still manages to make everyone feel like she's there for them.
Amy because she's the law school Houdini and damn I miss that girl's baking.
Brad because I still reserve hopes that one day he'll take over the world and give me the job of my dreams.
Jed because he never bought that Flowbee - thereby mooting my drunken dare acceptance - and he reserves the right to "Whoot" in proper propagation.
Nate because if he's the hottest taken guy I know and it never ceases to be fun to tell women he's not available.
Eun Ha because even though she's going to be a prosecutor, I know she'll be fair and that makes me feel good about the world.
Danielle because she is about the sassiest dresser I know, and gives damn fine marriage advice.
And of course, the Madre Unit. Always and forever the Madre Unit. I wish she could have been there. She would have smacked me for calling her the Madre Unit. But seriously, she's the only person who has loved me and forgiven me unconditionally, and I would never be where I am today without her unending support.

This picture obviously only reflects a few of those peeps - mostly the ones who stuck around long enough for me to get boozy and pull out my camera.

I am truly blessed and I don't stop to doubt it for a moment. Thank you.

More News After the Weather

2007-04-24T19:45:00.000-04:00

It was beautiful today. Just stunning out. I spent an hour reading YAL (young adult lit) to catch up on my Garth Nix. I'm also rereading Charles Wright's Appalachia in preparation for my trip to Asheville. I'm hoping it revives my creativity and that I can *GASP* get some poetry written while I'm there.

I also celebrated the weather and went running for the first time since my health issues - and I wasn't quite ready for it. I got about a mile and a half out and had to walk back because of some pain. Patience patience. Unfortunately, the weather's supposed to chill out again - I'll try running again on Friday when it's cooler out. Perhaps I won't have the same problems.

Either way it feels good to move. Even though my run was craptastic, I did my calisthenics and weights and had a slightly proper workout for once. Without totally panicking about the time I was losing. I still have a lot of work left, but it all feels manageable, something I've not been able to say for a long time now. And the Domestic Violence Clinic, despite it's many rewards, has turned me into an unstable unhealthy slob. It's diet and exercise time in Lyco Land, not to mention the spring cleaning going on in my dust-buffalo range of a room.

The one thing that will not so much be a great diet tool is my belated birthday dinner tonight. As this is the last week of classes, I cherish any moments I can grab with my community. There are all very dear to me and I am in shock that I won't have them with me as I start my upcoming year. It's a pleasant surprise to get to spend the evening with them, and I intend on eating lots of pizza to celebrate. On my diet. Yeah. I'll get back to my former shape yet.

It's ok, I've been super good for two days, and if I continue this trend, I'll be alright. It's a rough time to go on a diet when everyone keep scheduling end-of-the-year events and they all revolve around food. I think we should have an end of class bike ride. Or an end of class hike! Alas, I can dream.

But enough about me. Soon, a more in depth discussion on the oral arguments at Defenders of Wildlife v. EPA. I've been thinking about it, and thought I'd share

Mockingbird

2007-04-23T01:11:00.000-04:00

I love birds. I particularly love mockingbirds. I love that this particular mockingbird is as excited about the spring weather as I. I do not so much love that my newly opened window means that he is absolutely screaming in my ear at 1:15 a.m.

Although it's kinda cool that it just made a cricket sound. Still, it needs to stop that.

She Feelin My Stash, She Feelin My Flow

2007-04-22T18:29:00.000-04:00

Back in DC. It's W.A.R.M., which stands for Happy Lyco! Shut up, it does so.

Anyway, NYC was a good thing I think - I heart my future coworkers! We had a blast together and I had the chance to meet a lot of high level environmental lawyers. Awesome.

Now I'm back and spring cleaning my room because it's LOVELY out. I'm gonna get back to it, just wanted to say that this week is my last week of classes. I have to close down clinic, write a 10 page paper, and THAT IS IT. Done with law school. I kind of can't believe it. But I think I'm psyched. With all the craptastic karma that's beating my chest, I dare poke my head out of its gopher hole and say that I think the next few weeks are gonna be good. Perhaps Life has stopped turning her back on me an instead will give me a little booty dance lovin. I could use some of Life's booty dance lovin.

Next week I have two fun receptions to attend, a fun dinner, and no doubt other events will emerge. I also got a new license, debit card, metro card, and cell phone. The robbery is fading. I'm still mad, but it's fading.

The week after that is Asheville for a wedding and some joyous reunioning. The week after that I'm off to the beach with the ladies. The week after that, my family, including my brother (who just bought his ticket) get in town. Then graduation.

Then studying for the bar. Where Life recommences with the denials of said booty. Let's take it one day at a time, and enjoy the weather for now.

Rough Endings, Exciting Beginnings

2007-04-19T00:13:00.000-04:00

We got conflicted out of our last client. An assistant AG took over the case for us, and they lost today in court. Most of it was the Judge being a piss. He was in a foul mood and didn't want to hear it. I was shocked as his rulings all day.

But some of it was that she wasn't as prepared as she could have been. Not surprising, seeing as how she didn't get the case until a few days before trial. I felt horrible for our former client - I was full of what-ifs and if-onlys. It's such a helpless feeling. I've been broken-hearted over it all day. I think the worst is that it's all over now. I'm done. No more clients. I just wish there was some way to help her more. Stupid conflicts. Stupid ethics. Stupid stupid.

In more exciting news, I'm off to an awards ceremony in NYC with my future employer. I'm extremely excited - he told me this was an important event and that I'd be meeting the CEO and all the outside attorneys. Did I mention that I have a horrible head cold? Yeah. Nose? Faucet.

I'm nervous, but looking forward to it nonetheless. I finally feel like I'm starting this career thing I've been working towards for so. damn. long. It's kind of amazing how long I've wanted to be an environmental attorney. This is will be a fantastic opportunity for me to meet some great minds in a cutting edge field. Plus they're paying for my trip! I'm going on a business trip! Laugh all you want, but I'm stoked. I've been working since I was 15 at a myriad of jobs, but I've never had a career.

On Friday, I am attending a 6 hour workshop on environmental law at NYU Law school. I am incredibly excited about that as well. I'm hoping it will let me dip my toes in some of the specifics of what I'll be doing next year. If there are some good nuggets, I'll blog them out. I think it'll be a blast.

Saturday is my birfday. Little Lyco is turning 26 this year. Whoot! Here's to hoping for great new beginnings, because I've had some craptastic luck lately. So here's to a good next few days for all! See you on the flip side.

Defenders of Wildlife v. EPA

2007-04-17T20:53:00.000-04:00

Defenders of Wildlife v. EPA was heard today in the Supreme Court. I was quite pleased with the results. For one, the Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler did not perform nearly as well as I expected. He didn't even bring up Public Citizen until rebuttal, which means that no questions on it came up during Eric Glitzenstein's time to speak. Now this could have been strategic because they didn't want to give Eric oral argument time to rebut their terrifying word games on the Public Citizen issue - either way, a revealing choice not to bring it up.

I thought Eric did an amazing job. He has a thorough understanding of the law, so I know it must have been difficult for him to translate this issue to the Justices without frustrating himself. He bumped a little at a good softball thrown by Breyer. Breyer basically asked him what he thought if they wrote the opinion stating that and agency should "read your existing authority, but read it in light of informed by the endangered species objectives language." Eric, instead of jumping on it, stated his concerns with it. I think he was too tied to his position and lost a point there. Other than that, I thought it went great.

Now, I want to take a minute and explain the Public Citizen issue. It's important to know what the government is arguing with that case so that you can really understand how Needler's decision could impact the way the case is decided.

Just as a background to the case, the issues that arise in Defenders of Wildlife v. EPA stem from Arizona’s application to obtain NPDES permitting authority from the EPA. The case before the Supreme Court actually consists of two lawsuits: one challenges a biological opinion of the Fish and Wildlife Service used to approve Arizona’s permitting authority and the second challenges the EPA’s decision to transfer the permitting authority to Arizona. The problem was framed by EPA in the context of two competing mandates. According to the ESA § 7(a)(2), “[e]ach Federal agency shall…insure that any action authorized, funded, or carried out by such agency…is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species” or a listed species’ critical habitat unless the agency is “granted an exemption” from the listed exemptions in § 7(h) (emphasis added). However, under the Clean Water Act § 402(b), the Administrator shall approve a state permitting program unless the program fails to meet the nine listed criteria listed in that section. The question was originally whether the EPA can veto a state permit on endangered species grounds.

Each of the two statutes has its own agency interpreting it, which muddies potential agency deference issues. The holding of Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen is very helpful to the government because it sets forth the idea that if an agency has no discretion to perform an action, then the agency is not the legal cause of any harm resulting from that action. Basically, the EPA argued that because the CWA imposed a mandate that they provide permitting authority under those conditions, then providing the permitting authority is not the cause of the alleged species loss - Congress is. The big problem relying on this case without a lot of two-stepping is that the assertion is that the FWS’s conclusion, that the CWA § 402(b) permit transfer was not the legal cause of the harm, was inconsistent with EPA’s prior insistence that consultation with § 7(a)(2) was required.

The Public Citizen issue first arose in Judge Kozinski's dissent in the Ninth Circuit's denial of a rehearing en banc. Kozinski stated that the Ninth Circuit opinion was “[t]one-deaf to the Supreme Court’s message” in Public Citizen.

The government does not have a strong plain meaning argument to support its reading of § 7(a)(2). However, the government performs a feat of advocacy to construe the no jeopardy and consultation requirements of § 7(a)(2) as not overriding any other statutory mandates. This is done by construing “authorized, carried out, funded” to mean “attributable to,” the idea being that if an agency is operating under a congressional mandate, then its actions cannot be seen as attributable to the effects. The problem with this argument is that it there is no language in the ESA to support this assertion.

To support their argument, the government looks to the history of when Congress split § 7(a) into separate sections. The government argues that there is no legislative history to support that Congress tried to make ESA authority stronger in separating out the section. This argument is flawed because the split in the paragraph in no way changes the plain language of the statute. Furthermore, a contrary case, Tennessee Valley Authority v. Hill interpreted the clause when it was a single section and the Court found the ESA to have that kind of authority.

Next the government ties in their construction of § 7 to Public Citizen. The government capitalized on Judge Kozinski’s dissent and pushed his reasoning to articulate how this case fits into the purview of Public Citizen. Essentially, the government took “attributable to” from the prior analysis and analogized it using FWS regulations to mean “legally caused.” Once the petition stated that the EPA’s following the CWA § 402(b) mandate was not the legal cause of the harm, it fit the analysis directly into the holding of Public Citizen.

So you can really see how the language shifting would be either a highlight of the oral arguments or completely smothered out as much as possible. Interesting that it was the latter, and I hope that bodes well for Defenders of Wildlife.

VA Tech

2007-04-17T01:34:00.000-04:00

Obviously, this is a tragic loss. As a student, this hits particularly hard. We are all bound by a shared academic community, and feel the loss of that community's safeness. I am deeply sorry to anyone who is close to those lost at VA Tech. I cannot imagine the pain and anger the victims of this senseless violence must be experiencing. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Suck. Itude.

2007-04-16T00:50:00.000-04:00

I have decided that around my birthday, all my bad karma comes out. My health problems emerge, my law school loans are thrown in my face, and now this.

Remember how I mentioned in my previous post my concern for not having money to cover those random expenses? Well, this is a great example. I was robbed tonight. Not only was I robbed, but I was robbed right up the street from my house. In a well lit area at the intersection of two very busy streets. Two young guys - one drives up along side me, one pops out of the passenger seat, sneaks up behind me, and WHAMMO. In and out in 45 seconds. I'm dealing with the cops for the next 3 hours.

They got my purse. With my iPod in it. And my shuffle. Yes I have two - shut up - I need the shuffle for running and biking. And my cell phone, wallet, keys, checkbook and who even knows what else. Everything. Student ID, driver's license, health insurance card, business card of everyone who has ever given me a business card. And, for your information, I LOVED that purse. It was completely cute. And fit a lot. Which I now see as a problem.

So my roommate calls my phone, and they answer my phone. Mostly because they are dumb pricks. They giggle and make noises and act obnoxious. I can't believe they had the balls to do that. But then again, why not? No repercussions. I kind of hope they all have very very bad things happen to them. What's worse is that they were driving a car I could never afford. Probably stolen.

Argh. And I don't have anyone's number anymore. So yeah, if you ever gave me your number, send it again. I'm clearly not smart enough to keep that information in more than one place.

The worst of it is that I already knew that I lived in a sketchy neighborhood, but now I truly feel unsafe. I don't like that. I don't like feeling scared in my own neighborhood. And I don't like feeling like I can't go to sleep because they stole my keys, and it doesn't take a genius to look at my damn license address to figure out I live right up the street from them.

The important thing is that I'm safe. My cards are canceled, my phone is suspended, and the landlord is coming to change the locks tomorrow morning. And thusly I will begin to reconstruct my life again. On the menu tomorrow is my metro SMARTcard, my student ID, a new phone, replacing my health insurance card, and figuring out how to get a new bar card. Maybe the DMV.

Fuck.