law school ninja

… hence the name

Mini-Me isn’t called Mini-Me for no reason. She really is so much like me, and sometimes it drives me nuts. Behold this little gem of a conversation we had while I was checking her math homework. They’re studying fractions and this particular question was asking about the shaded area of a 1″ square. The square was divided into eight equal parts and three of those were shaded.

me: Number 30 is wrong.
her: Yeah, I was gonna ask you about that one.
me: Okay, well, the shaded part represents a fraction of the whole.
her: I don’t know how to multiply fractions.
me: You haven’t studied that yet?
her: [look of utter disgust that I didn't already know that] No.
me: Well, you really don’t even have to do that. You can figure it out just by looking at it.
her: Didn’t you just tell me that area equals length times width?
me: Yeah, but in this case you just look and see that 3 of the 8 squares are shaded.
her: Mom, that’s not how you do it!
me: Okay, then how do you do it?
her: I don’t know! They’ve never taught us how to do this!
me: [struggling to keep from laughing] Then how do you know I’m not doing it the right way?
her: [look of disgust returns] Because!

You get the picture. Finally, I had to actually multiply the fractions of the shaded area to get the area and show her that, indeed, it works out the same whichever way you do it. Of course, if you’re in 5th grade and you haven’t yet learned how to multiply fractions, it would make sense to just take the easy route, but then again… we are talking about Mini-Me.

law school update

I got an invitation in the mail this week from my law-school-to-be to a special thing they’re having for scholarship recipients — that’s me! They take us on a tour, let us sit in on a class, and introduce us to “student leaders.” Then, that evening, we have a dinner with the faculty and a mock trial demonstration. I have to find out what the dress is supposed to be in order to determine whether a shopping trip is in order.

Also, I’m on a mission to get my taxes done ASAP so I can get my FAFSA filled out. I haven’t decided for sure, but I’m thinking about borrowing some money for living expenses so that I can concentrate more on school and much less on work. If I don’t get my FAFSA filled out pretty soon, I won’t have any choice in the matter.

the sky is falling (for real this time)

Once again, I’m baffled. A few months ago, we were told by a breathless Hank Paulson that we were perhaps hours away from a complete financial meltdown, the likes of which we’ve never seen. Remember? They said credit had frozen and it was an impending capital-D-Disaster. And the only way to avert Disaster was for Congress to pass, at lightning speed and with minimal consideration and certainly no debate, legislation authorizing some $700 billion taxpayer dollars for… well, for… um, what was that money going for again?

Silly Americans. Of course the government has our best interests at heart. Why question them? Just look how much the economy has improved since Congress passed the original TARP bailout bill. What? What did you say? Unemployment is at the highest level in 26 years? The Dow just had its worst January since 1916, down 8.84%? January was the fifth month in a row that the Dow fell? I don’t understand. First of all, Congress passed the first bailout bill. Secondly, and most importantly, Barack “Messiah” Obama was elected President. Hello? Didn’t everybody get the memo? How is this possible?

So Washington’s answer to this is — you guessed it — an almost $1 trillion piece of legislation they’re calling a “stimulus.” One. Trillion. Dollars. Wanna see what that looks like?

That’s one thousand billions. Twelve zeroes. Can you even begin to get your head around that amount of money? It’s truly mind blowing. If your income was a million dollars a year, it would take you a million years to get a trillion dollars.

Now that they’re freed from their obligation to support President Bush as a fellow Republican, some of the Republicans in Congress are experiencing spontaneous regeneration of spinal tissue and opposing this ridiculous bill. Good for them. Whoop-de-do. Trouble is, they’ve gotten themselves voted out of power in both houses as a result of their abdication of principles up to now, so their opposition will be ineffective. Maybe they’ll get some pork trimmed off the bill, but the end result is going to be total insanity. Meanwhile, President Obama has resorted to penning an editorial in the Washington Post to try to convince us all, yet again, that we’re facing a capital-D-Disaster if Congress doesn’t pass this “stimulus” spending bill, which includes such goodies as $50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts. Everybody knows that we will cease to function as a nation without an extra $50 million for the NEA, right?

Fasten your seatbelts, dear readers. This is going to be a very bumpy ride downhill.

my newest pet peeve

There are a few unfortunate hours each day during which there is no Law & Order rerun to watch, and sometimes I’ll switch to Food Network in order to keep from having to turn off my new fabulous TV while waiting for the next Law & Order rerun. I’ve discovered a directly proportional relationship between the amount of time I spend watching Food Network and my hunger level. Today I had a major battle of the wills with myself (I won) when I passed by Chicken Express. What I wouldn’t give for a delicious, golden, deep-fried, sinful chicken thigh, with its crispy, tasty, calorie-laden skin and its juicy meat! Somehow I was able to keep myself from “popping” in there to grab one… or ten. Which leads me to the focus of today’s rant.

What is the first thing you think of when you hear the word “pop?” A loud noise? A sudden movement or burst of activity? Maybe popcorn or a soft drink? All normal associations. How about an oven? A refrigerator? Maybe a piece of meat? Didn’t think so. Apparently it’s very fashionable to use the verb “to pop” instead of “to place” or “to set” or “to put.” For example, “I’m going to pop this into the oven,” or, “Just pop this in the fridge and let it marinate for three hours,” or, “This most recent bastardization of the English language might make my eyeballs pop.” Oh, wait a second. That last one was me.

This popping phenomenon is really getting to me. There are already a number of words to describe the act of a dish entering an oven or other large appliance. Why the need to add yet another meaning to a word which already has several meanings? There’s no answer to this, of course. To be fair, only a select few of the Food Network show hosts are committing this offense, but it was bad enough a couple of days ago that it inspired this manifesto. As for me, I’m going to pop on over to another channel, or maybe I’ll pop onto the Internet for some browsing as a way to pass the time between Law & Order reruns.

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, & Cheese

The only way to truly know what you’re eating is to prepare your food yourself. Some restaurants and food establishments post the nutritional information for the dishes they serve, but that can really only be used as a set of guidelines for what you’re eating because of variations in the cooking process that can’t be avoided. With that said, I’m making a concerted effort to eat at home as much as possible in an effort to document every morsel that goes into my mouth.

Gooey goodness on a paper plate.

I thought this was an okay casserole. The turkey sausage was actually good despite the fact that it had an abundance of fennel flavor, which I normally don’t like. In fact, I could smell the fennel while it was baking and I thought, “Oh boy, this is gonna be a waste of a casserole.” To my surprise, it was tolerable. And I’ll be dipped if I’m going to throw out a whole casserole.

You could make a full-flavored version of this casserole by using more cheese and regular Italian sausage instead of the turkey sausage. Also, I think it would be tasty to use some pasta sauce in place of one of the cans of diced tomatoes (Silver Palate’s Tomato Alfredo is my favorite).

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese
Adapted from Cooking Light, November 2003

• 13 ounces uncooked whole-wheat penne rigata
• 1.25 pounds hot turkey Italian sausage links
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans petite-diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 cup shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350°.Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting fat. Drain and set aside.

Brown sausage, onion, and garlic in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tomato paste, garlic salt, and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Combine cooked pasta, sausage mixture, and basil. Place half of the pasta mixture in a 9 x 13 casserole coated with cooking spray. Top with half of mozzarella and half of Parmesan. Repeat layers. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Yield: 8 servings

1 serving = 8P

Unexpected Three-Day Weekend

Mini-Me is ill. I think it’s just a sinus infection, but she doesn’t feel well and I think she’s running a low-grade fever. She’ll be staying home from school tomorrow, which is both good and bad. Good because it means I don’t have to set my alarm clock; bad because it’s not likely to be a very productive day, especially if we end up having to go to the doctor. Hopefully she’ll feel better in the morning.

Speaking of not being productive, I realize I’m many years late jumping on this bandwagon, but lately I just can’t get enough of Law and Order — all iterations of it. Between NBC, TNT, and USA, all of which I get in HD at no extra cost (!), there’s almost always an episode on the air. Don’t you just love it how those lawyers use these cool little tricks to get around legal barriers? I want to write them all down for future reference.

I didn’t watch one second of the Super Bowl. Not even one commercial. Does that make me unpatriotic?

Weekend Ruminations (WR)

I forgot to ruminate last night.

POLITICS
The “stimulus” bill is soon to be signed into law by President Obama. Everybody knows there’s very little in the way of stimulus in the stimulus bill, but who cares? The point is that the government needs to look like they’re doing something — anything — to help the economy. Interestingly enough, the House Republicans suddenly became aware of their collective spinal column and unanimously voted “no” on the stimulus package. Hmmmm… if only they would have done that the first time! Oh, wait — the last bailout package was the brain-child of the brainless former President. Weird. For the first bill, the House Republicans told us all how something had to be done and that we were hours away from a complete financial meltdown. Remember that? Now that there’s a new sheriff in the White House, they don’t see it as such an urgent matter. Don’t get me wrong — I am totally, completely, 100% against any more bailout money (unless, of course, I’m to be one of the recipients). I just wish the Republicans had had such conviction a couple of months ago.

BOOKS
Just… don’t ask.

MOVIES
Mamma Mia! (2008)
I had a blast watching this movie with its great music. Except for that one song they sing while the daughter is getting ready for her wedding, something about slipping through fingers? That one made me cry a little. I thought it was a lot of fun.

In the Bedroom (2001)
I think this is a really beautiful film. It wasn’t until close to the end that I realized I had already seen it a few years ago, but I enjoyed watching it again. That is, I enjoyed it as much as one can enjoy a film all about parents grieving after the death of their only child. It’s not really even as much of a tearjerker as you might think. It’s just more of a character study of these two parents who are just trying to figure out how to move on after their son’s death, which they believe to have been a murder, while the perpetrator claims it was an accident. The thing I liked so much about it was that there are long periods in which there is no dialogue, but the camera shots speak for the characters. Also, there is not much in the way of a soundtrack. Lots of silence and beautiful shots.

An Affair to Remember (1957)
Watched this one with Mini-Me, who was barely able to stay awake. I actually only watched it with one eye myself. That Cary Grant sure is hunky, isn’t he? It was good, but not great.

The Goonies (1985)
Another one watched with Mini-Me. Howcome when I think back on some of my favorite movies from when I was a kid, I conveniently forget the bad parts? I remember taking Mini-Me to see a live musical version of Grease a few years back, after not having watched it myself in many years. I was horrified! Turns out, that whole movie is just about everybody trying to get in everybody else’s pants! I certainly didn’t remember that from my youth. Well, the same goes for some of my favorite movies. I loved the Goonies and I still do, but I had forgotten about the sexual references and the horrible language.

COOKING
I don’t think I cooked even one dish last week. We ate out a LOT. This is bad. The more I expose myself to food I’m not supposed to eat, the more tempting it becomes. Must resolve to eat at home more. Remember: Nobody wants to hire a fat lawyer.

LAW SCHOOL
Are we there yet? How many minutes until I can start?

Law School Update

My receipt for the $300 seat deposit arrived in the mail last Saturday. Guess that means the check didn’t bounce! Orientation will be August 12 – 14 and they’ll be having some admitted students’ functions coming up sooner than that. I think there’s a chili cook-off in April.

I’m still waiting to hear back from the other two schools to which I applied, but it’s really irrelevant at this point except that my ego really wants to know. My decision is made.

Taco Soup

I rejoined Weight Watchers a couple of weeks ago in an effort to shed this extra person who clings onto me every time I step onto the scale. My daily mantra: Nobody wants to hire a fat lawyer. This is a good thing, because it means we have to cook at home more and cut out the fast food. I really do love to cook, and the Weight Watchers website has some rockin message boards where people post WW-friendly recipes. So the first one I tried was Taco Soup.

Editors note: It’s really probably more like a stew than a soup, and it’s chock full of ingredients that I’d never put on an actual taco, so don’t blame me for the misleading name.

Taco Soup

1-1/2 pounds of lean ground beef (93% lean, 7% fat)
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chilis (I used mild)
1 can of whole kernel corn, drained
1 can of black beans
1 can of pinto beans (I made my own pot of beans instead)
1 packet of McCormick Taco Seasoning
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
4 cups of beef broth

In a skillet, brown the ground beef with the onion and garlic. Transfer to soup pot and add remainder of ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer on medium heat for about an hour. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

1 cup = 1 serving = 3P (sour cream and cheese are 1P extra each)

This is even better after it’s sat in the refrigerator for a day. It makes a ton.

Weekend Ruminations (WR)