Hyena

I'm alive and finally back to writing.  Now that I have some goals and objectives, more blogging should follow.  I spat out about 3 posts today.  More to follow.  Oh, yeah and all the titles from today's posts are song titles from my work out mix, if you can figure out all the artists, you get a cookie.

Fuck Armaggedon...This is Hell

The other thing I want to talk about today is my increasingly frustrating job search.  Frustrating because it's going no where.  The worst part about all of this is the silence I've been getting.  I think it's only a fair bit of courtesy that if I take the time and effort to apply to your firm, you at a minimum, send out a no thanks post card.  That's all I really ask.  If that's too expensive, how about a form rejection email.  

I've also decided to change strategies a bit here.  While before things have been going out into the ether and that was the end of it on my part, I've decided to become a bit more active in the process.  By that I mean, take the risk of being annoying.  Couldn't hurt to make some calls and shake some trees if I'm not getting jobs anyway.  I feel like the whole process is somewhat degrading.    Anyway, enough whining.

Hmm, I wish I could get in with some sharks like these.

Everready

One post I've been meaning to do for a couple of weeks now is a little review of the hat the Librarian's parents got me as a Christmas present. It's a NikeFIT Hatphones hat and it's pretty sweet. The built in headphones work fairly well and are at least loud enough to block out a lot of the road noise/distractions when I'm out running.

The hat's greatest strength is also it's weakness. For a guy like me, I get hot fast. I start sweating even before I start running. I've been known to sweat on a walk. That means, at least for me, that overheating is a big issue. I can say without hyperbole that the hat is like wearing burning coals under plastic bag, it's that warm. That's not so much of a problem on a day like today when it's 22 degrees out. However, I went running the other day, in shorts and a tee shirt, when it was 50 degrees out and I was so warm I had to take the shirt off. Which, as an aside is a hilarious thing to see in the winter in Chicago. A fat, sweaty, white dude, running in a hat and shorts and nothing else. Several people honked and whistled.

The hat is very comfortable otherwise. The sweatband works pretty well at keeping the sweat locked up and out of my eyes which is good, since with out that I'd go nuts. I am a bit afraid of what it's going to smell like come spring time though.

Start Today

So, here I am back again after a bit of a lazy hiatus. I've mostly been sitting on my ass playing Halo 3 online against various students, basement dwellers and assorted unemployed bums like myself. However, last night I was given the motivation I needed to get off my duff and get moving. Pinky emailed me and several other people about running this years Shamrock Shuffle. At 8k, it'll be the longest race I've run so far. I'm hoping to get in a 10k this year, possibly even a half marathon if I can get my legs/knees to cooperate.

I decided that today would mark the official start of my training and attempt to get back in shape. Over the last couple of months since my Grandma died and I passed the bar I haven't done a whole lot of running, however, I have done a lot of stress eating. I had managed to get myself down to a svelte 190, today I weighed in at a rotund 210. I guess no more cake, candy and extra food for me.

After the weigh-in I stretched out and went out for a run. Do you know what running in 22 degree Chicago weather is like? Well, let me give you a frame of reference. Fill your bathtub with ice and cold water. Then, if your bathroom is small like mine, position a window A/C unit on your toilet and point it at where your head would be. Then, take two ice packs and wrap them around your knees. Next, jump into the ice filled tub and switch on the A/C so that it's running full blast into your face. Finally, have someone, CAREFULLY, stick a hair dryer down your shirt. That should give you an idea of how pleasant it truly is.

I set out to only run 8k today but then I got angry at my current life situation and ended up running 10k at 1:08:48. Only about 2 minutes worse than my best 10K time. And considering how frozen I was I'll take that as a pretty good time for me. Now, If I can manage to shave like 10-15 minutes off that, I'll be a happy boy.

Yes Nikki, I Am Alive

It's been awhile so here are a couple of random blubs.

I had a job interview today. It's for a clerkship in the burbs. It's not exactly what I'd like to be doing but, it's a job, and it's experience. I'm actually kind of excited for it. That probably means that I've just shot my chances in the foot.

Running in the cold sucks, really sucks. I'm trying to get moving again and get back into a shape other than round. The worst part of the cold right now is the wind. I almost got blown off a bridge the other day. Somewhat worse than that was getting a blast of dust in my face while running over another bridge. Oh the joy's of running in a semi-industrial area.

I was starting to feel bad about not applying for to many jobs. Then I discovered tonight that: 1. there really aren't any that I'm remotely qualified for and 2. there really aren't any that I'm remotely interested in doing.

I can now cook a mean chili, chicken parmesan, a deathly spicy (yet awesome) jambalaya, and some bad ass crab cakes. I have yet to poison anyone. I also had the weird experience of learning that my grampa's delicious beans are made with the food equivalent of old truck tires and toxic waste.

I've turned down one job offer so far. Not worth talking about.

I Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans

I have to admit, I was terrified when the letter came. I had no idea what I had done to offend the Supreme Court of Louisiana, but I was sure I had. My grandpa and my parents were so excited by it that they wanted to open it without me. As it turns out, they were inviting me down to New Orleans to give me an award for volunteering down there after Katrina.

After a bit of trying to decide whether to actually go, my sister and I made the 14 hour drive down on the Friday before the ceremony. That meant it was going to be a crazy weekend rush. Drive down on Friday, come back Monday night. It didn't hit me how happy I was to be in NOLA till we were driving down Magazine St. It almost felt like going home. We got to eat lunch at Parasols, which my sister declared was the "dirtiest place she had ever eaten" and "the best sandwich ever" (shrimp po'boy, dressed). It was good to see that inspite of the crime and the total Assclown in charge, that New Orleans is making notable progress. However, it was a bit disheartening to see the St. Charles streetcar running only because the producers of K-Ville got the city to run it in front of where they were filming.

That night we waited in line for almost 2 hours to eat at Port of Call. It was almost worth the drive just for that meal. Afte that it was a fun night out in the French Quarter. The next day was a tad on the rough side, but we had Nacho Mama's for lunch before a walk around the Quarter in the day light. We capped the night off with some ice cream at the Creole Cremery.



Monday morning we went to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee which, in a stunning New Orleans moment we got to enjoy on the Moonwalk with the Mississippi River on one side and a guy playing the sax on the other side of us. It was a beautiful fall morning. After that we wandered over the the St. Louis Cathedral. It was blocked off by a bunch of Secret Service looking types and LA State Police. As it turns out, it was the "Red Mass" or blessing of the judges. Right as we walked up the bells starting going off and a flood of clergy poured out followed by a mass of judges. After that we wandered around the French Market buying nicknacks for the people back home funding the junket. I managed to pick up a pretty cool little "Abogado" devil. The guy didn't seem to find as much humor in me buying an anti-lawyer charm as did.



The awards ceremony itself was nice. There were at least 100 names of volunteers printed in the program and around 20 of them showed up. I was expecting to get a handshake and maybe a certificate. I was a little shocked when I got a plaque and my picture taken with the Chief Justice of the LA Supreme Court. Afterwards, there was a reception coinciding with the LA judges reception. I stayed long enough to get thanked by a number of judges and attorneys.

It was quite an honor to get welcomed and awarded like that. I got involved with New Orleans becuase I was fortunate enough to make some great friends. I volunteered because I fell in love with the city the first moment I visited it. I only wish I could have seen it before Katrina. However, the New Orleans I know and love is still a wonderful and chaotic place. It's going to take more than just me volunteering down there to help preserve what is good about the city while repairing what is broken and wrong with it.

Last Warm Day

I think yesterday will go down as the last warm day of the year. I'm glad I got outside for it. It was warm, sunny and slightly too windy. The only upsetting thing about the day was that, after a couple of months of not exercising regularly and eating too much, I've gotten back up over 200 pounds. I mention this mostly to help embarass myself back into motion.

I'm glad that today is a pretty crappy day. Perfect rest day, but I think I'll try and get the motivation to do some lifting at some point. I've at least managed to do some work on the job search as well. I found one firm to apply to that looked interesting. I also found a firm that I would avoid at all costs. Not because any of them are bad attorney's, but becuase I know one of the partners could bore someone to death. At least this is marginally easier now that I can apply for a job knowing that in less than a month I'll actually be a licensed attorney.