Wednesday, January 31, 2007

More on The L Word and other misc. thoughts.....

Yes, I know it was three days ago now, but that doesn't mean I can't still talk about it :)

Jen is turning into a serious freak. I really liked her last season, but maybe the character had gotten too "normal" to be really interesting. The psycho-ness is kind of annoying, but it does add something to the show. Even though she's bugging me, I still enjoy watching her. You never know what she is going to do.

Alice is wonderful and a kick. She's enjoying the crazy, new sex with Bette's boss - but we all see it coming; Alice is just having fun and the older woman is falling hard for her. Alice is really great bantering with Papi, too. In fact, Alice is great with everyone. For me, I mean "great" in the "fun to hang with" kind of way, not the "I must have her" kind of way.

Bette repeated a phrase we've heard her say before, this time to her TA - "This can't ever happen again." Just like with the carpenter? I think she means it this time, unlike the first time. Let's get rid of the slutty TA. Giving her what she wanted was a mistake.

Shane.
Shane is great in the other kind of way.

Though this episode didn't really have much happening in it, it was fun to watch anyway. That's what I expect out of my favorite show, just that they be entertaining.

What else is going on? School - grades turned out fine, I'm pleased overall. New classes are good, especially Advanced Legal Persuasion that I take during the day. It's a class that actually lets us use our creativity and think in a way that is different from most classes. Prof is great, well-prepared and clearly wants to help us be the best lawyers we can be.

I find the more heavily my life gets weighted towards legal analysis and other such scholarly thinking, the more I am pulled towards doing something creative. I need the balance to stay sane. We'll see what I come up with to fulfill that need.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Help show your gratitude for the healthy children in your life

Through the magic of blogdom, my partner and I have gotten to know Mieke, who has a friend with a child with cystic fibrosis. They are in the midst of a fundraising mission for research to cure this horrible disease. My partner has a nice summary on her blog, which she posted as a way to help the cause. (This kind of thoughtfulness is one of the reasons I love her!) Anyway, please check out the posting at http://naptimechronical.blogspot.com/2007/01/baby-adelaide-for-while-now-ive-been.html and if you can possibly spare a few dollars for a great cause, DO IT!

Thank you!

Tuesday, January 23, 2007



Photos of Shane :)


You asked for it, you got it:


Way hot, especially in all black.






Monday, January 22, 2007

More on The L Word

In my earlier post I failed to mention the Painful Party. Tina and Henry throw a cocktail party mixer for all their gay and straight friends. The groups are painfully divided, and despite Alice's attempt to bring folks together via what could be a fun game, it only serves to illustrate the very separate world the couple's friends live in. Awkward, totally unfun, and we've all been in these forced social situations, making this a really effective scene. The best part though, is when a guy starts making homophobic statements and the camera pans to Bette. We are just waiting for her to unleash on this guy. She doesn't want to be here in the first place, and now this *ss is spewing his venom, and in the house where her daughter is currently all-but residing. This reminded me of (here's where I date myself) the days of Designing Women when we would all wait for the one scene in every episode where Julia, brilliantly portrayed by Dixie Carter, would get on her soap box and let her well-informed and very civil rights minded (read: liberal) views fly. It was always wonderful! Well, Bette did not let us down. She kept remarkably cool, and pointed out how he'd made it clear that he would always put his own comfort level above the happiness of his own child. It was classic Bette. So good to see her back!

OK - I'm at school and need to go move my car to the closer lot.

Have no idea why I needed to add that to this post. Just feelng chatty, I guess!
The L Word - Now THAT'S Entertainment!

Does television entertainment get any better than The L Word? I think not. Last night was filled with classic L-Word goodness. I am sure there was a smile on my face just about the whole time. Papi – you are NO competition to Shane. Sorry, Babe. What a wonderful scene when Shane says – I didn’t know we were in competition, but you win, and gives her a killer smile and says it was nice to meet her. She is totally clueless as to who Papi is, and why should she care? She doesn't even recognize her own greatness or reputation. It's nothing to her. Alice – going after the older woman. Too fun! Anyone else notice Alice's new catch phrase "Really?" As in "Really, Papi, really?" She said it at least twice in last night's episode. Seems to be vying for a place next to Grey's Anatomy's "Seriously?" Alice does deliver the phrase nicely, the perfect blend of condescension and admiration. Bette’s TA – what a tramp! Could she look more like a slut? Is it any wonder that Bette showed no interest? (Well, right up until she decided to do her - mostly to shut her up, I think.) Also, how cute is Shane taking care of her little brother? Ah, I do love Sunday nights now.

On to other things:

So, as many of you know, the longed for snow arrived. For lots of fun pictures, see my partners blog. School was canceled two out of four days last week, so it was a slow ease back into the routine. This week will be my first full week back. Mixed emotions on this one. I think the classes are going to be fun (Well - still undecided about administrative law - which is how federal agencies are governed, run, where they get their power and such - could be really boring - but I think the prof. will do a decent job of making it as interesting as possible.), but I will miss the family. The kids and I will go four days and nights without seeing each other, unless the family comes to work to visit me for lunch. Seems like a long time.

This past weekend was spent getting my partner new glasses and entertaining the kids at the Lego Store. It was actually quite fun. Gotta love Legos, and both kids LOVED buying them by the piece. You can fill up a small container for $6.95. If you are super good during lunch, you get to go back and do it again!(Way to go, Son!) Little Girl likes the small Legos if a car is built out of them. She also got a Duplo Zoo pack so she could play with the animals. Duplos are the big Legos for little hands. Toys have to be one of the lesser talked about benefits of parenthood :)

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Where's the Snow?????
We were supposed to have snow today. I was disappointed to wake up and find it had not started yet. I showered, got dressed, fed the animals and all the normal morning stuff, was almost out the door and my son woke up. I turned the tv on for him and checked the news really fast, "just in case". Great - snow was already falling where I work. I decided not to go in. Three hours later I was on my way to work, in the sun.

We've had a miniscule amount of snow, a good amount of hail and sleet and way too much sun. We want snow! The kids, wife and I were all planning on going out, playing in the front yard, getting all wet and cold and then coming in to have hot cocoa. Seattle got snow. Where is ours??

Monday, January 08, 2007

The L Word - It's baaaaa-aaaaack :)

It's like an old friend has returned, old friends, plural, really. I just love The L Word. (follow the link to the premiere episode, behind the scenes clips, and other fun stuff) I love that we live in a time that it exists. I love Ilene Chaiken's vision. I love the depth of the characters, their stories, the wonderful actors. I love seeing life that I can relate to on my tv screen - lesbian life - not straight life. I love watching hot women parade around in my living room, I mean, on my tv, of course. These are people I would like to know, would like to have a cup of coffee with, hang out with, get to know. Even the troubled ones are interesting, have their good qualities and are growing. Thank you to the people who make this little slice of heaven available to us each week! Life is good.


(Back in the real world, baby girl is sick again. Throwing up. That girl gets every little virus that comes along, it seems. At least this is still "vacation from school week" and not my first week back. That means I can help out a bit by walking in the door before dinner and being part of the mommy team. That's something, I guess. Let's hope it is a very short virus, and none of the rest of us gets it!)

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Riding the Tram
Today I took a ride on Portland's new aeriel tram. It was fun. Nice views, quiet, smooth. There is a bit of a sway on the ride back up to OHSU after the main climb. That was fun in an almost roller-coaster like way. It is NOT worth the $4.00 they will charge the general public, but OHSU employees and patients with special passes ride free. Good thing. I kind of think the whole thing is sort of a VERY EXPENSIVE publicity stunt to get OHSU and Portland on magazine covers. Seattle has the Space Needle. Now Portland has the tram. It is really only useful for the OHSU community right now, but maybe someday it will be convenient for others, too. My opinion on this issue is not an educated one , so if you are really interested, seek information from another source.

Family Time is still going great! Baby Girl is so excited to see me when I get home from work before dinner. She runs up to me with a huge hug, wraps her little legs around me and stays attached hugging, smiling and laughing for the next 10 minutes. Very cute :) Brother first wants to know if I've brought him home a present, but then is still happy to see me either way, and begins to tell me all about his art projects, or school or a toy or whatever has been occupying his mind that he wishes to share. It's going to be tough not seeing them for 4 days in a row with the upcoming spring schedule. I won't be home until about 10:00 on all 4 school nights. Ugh. Wife will end up with more computer time to herself.....but I am pretty sure this is not the way she wanted to get it. I'll miss her since we won't have much time to connect in person most of the week, either. We are both hoping I can do a lot of my homework during the week, before classes, so we'll end up with more family time on the weekend. Until then....we'll all enjoy the week and a half that are left until school starts again.

Happy New Year! (Now THAT would have been a good theme for a post. Maybe tomorrow.)