watch this.

i watched some of this movie in one of my classes this semester. granted, not the typical topic of law school classes. but this has shook me to my core. and i'm grateful for it.

earthlings is one movie that needs to be seen.

"if you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." (cicero)

my day today was, on the whole, a simple day. delicious, carefully prepared food, good people, sweet doggies, and lots of laughing.

and then i read maira kalman's new post on food and life, which was the most perfect way to round out the day.


delicious.

why in the world

didn't anyone tell me about this show?

these two are my favorite:

true love

my feelings about new york are conflicted: some parts of the city i love - the availability of delicious food, the impressive array of people, all the details of different lives, in one place. some aspects i'm not as taken with - the prices, the constant movement, the feeling that people are only in it for themselves.

this series from the new york times falls into the former category. and this profile of stefanie rinza? well, this is true love. her words mirror precisely how i feel. about dogs. about animals. about what's important.

to dry for...

i love this site, its name, and its singular focus.

i also love this towel and its sweet message:

a little light

things are tough recently. i'm swimming in work and can't see a light at the end of the tunnel. i'm trying to take things bit by bit. a friend sent me this video today, and it made me smile. it also made me really miss california, though i'm not totally sure why...

i love it when ruby makes other people happy. when their mouths turn up in a smile as she walks by.

this afternoon, an admirer recommended i watch this commercial:



and i recommended this one to him, in return, one of my all-time favorites:




i've also been perusing this highly addictive nook of the new york times.

it always makes me incredibly content to think about how dogs make so many people so very happy.

justice ginsburg...

from the nyt:

"I always thought that there was nothing an antifeminist would want more than to have women only in women’s organizations, in their own little corner empathizing with each other and not touching a man’s world. If you’re going to change things, you have to be with the people who hold the levers."

oh yes.

(credit)

inspirational/nonsensical words i love...

because sometimes? words really do help.
(credit)

the one and only

my dad is the greatest. really, he is the best.

a day late, but with all my heart.




this papa doesn't even begin to compare.

recent activities

include:

- some impressive goodwill/thriftstore shopping
- watching movies
- trying to fix up two record players with my dad (with little luck)
- reading (non-law) books
- searching for tadpoles in a mucky swamp
- snuggling with two impressively adorable doggies
- cooking


oh boy is it wonderful to have a life again.

gorgonzola + carmelized onion + fig + artichoke

not that long ago, i made this pizza. sans the bacon, obviously, and with artichokes as a replacement. but oooo, that combination is a tasty one. quite possibly my most favorite pizza out there. YUM. i highly recommend it.

lest i forget...

my true muse:



ruby

aka the nugget

also very helpful:

watching videos of one of my favorite animals, the capybara. see below. watch for the milk dribble and how he snuggles with the guy after having his snack.

shout out.

thank you, the white stripes. while you are rather odd, you have helped me get through this trying time.

i do appreciate it greatly.

(photo found from through random google search...)

stirring my soul

i'm trying my best to focus and muddle through an impressively dreary subject with terms that sound utterly foreign (Vested remainder subject to divestment???)

this guided walk through kolkata and these pictures help me remember that there is plenty more out there than implied reciprocal negative servitudes, even if it doesn't seem like that right now...


via the nyt

some sunday sweetness

is exactly what i needed to see as i'm in the midst of battling procedural and substantive due process. which is pretty much the opposite of anything sweet.

it gets (really) good at 1 minute in, but it's worth the whole watch...


via cute overload.

the truth is...

it couldn't have come at a better time. which is pretty much what i think every single time she writes something new.

a school year nearing completion, i'm starting the descent into the world of finals. an ugly and scary place, with ugly and scary (and very stressed) people. and just as i'm starting to feel almost completely overwhelmed, i get word that one of my all time favorites has done it again.

a snippet of her life and travels and thoughts, and i feel better in minutes. with a wonderfully quiet and understated grace, which i admire so wholeheartedly, maira kalman seems to uncover something that few others manage to do, at least not in such a succinct yet gentle manner.



it seems she uncovers the truth.

the jury is still out

on whether this commercial will make me drink more coca-cola. for now, i'm thinking not. but i do like hearing from this guy, and i do like what he's saying...

oh yes.

this photo just makes me smile.

thanks cute overload.

much needed entertainment

with a brief completed, an oral argument (finally) finished, and now just the next couple of hellish weeks to soldier through , every day is an uphill battle. my wonderful sister laura has recently provided me with minor, much needed respites, like the one below. i don't know where she gets them, but i am oh-so thankful.

law school hell

i am in a hellish spot right now, a brief due oh-so soon and finals looming large on the horizon. my brain feels like it is clamped together, trying to work way too hard and comprehend way too much information.

but when a friend sent me this clip to try and cheer me up, i had to stop and watch it. and smile.

it is definitely worth the four minutes.

no deep meaning...

to this picture or this textile company.

but i love just about all of the pieces that this seemingly down to earth philadelphia company, Galbraith and Paul, imagines up.


and i really love the patterns and colors here. i love the portrait and how it works with everything. the combination of portrait + gorgeous wallpaper + bright sofa + silly pillow just makes me smile and feel happy.

and right now? that is meaning enough for me.

i know...

it's really no big surprise that i am a huge sucker for dog related photography. i mean huge.


but this work goes beyond that. these photos i simply adore. i love the simplicity and the clean lines, the dead pan humor, and of course, the love and respect that is evident in all of maarten westema's truly wonderful photographs.

milan kundera said: "dogs are our link to paradise. they don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. to sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoonis to be back in eden, where doing nothing was not boring - it was peace."

how absolutely, perfectly true.

treasures

books, to me, are some of the greatest treasures the world holds. few things can absorb and engage me as absolutely as a carefully crafted web of characters, a delicious plot, and a mastery of the english language.
so when i found out about this ingenious website, i was thrilled. it pays homage to wonderful book covers from all sorts of great stories and a myriad of authors. and seeing how it highlights an aspect of books which often go unnoticed and unappreciated, the site helps make my already adored gems shine that much brighter.

not exactly an endorsement...

just an appreciation of the artistic talent. via cute overload.

to the point

i love when things are explicit. it helps calm my over-analyzing mind. and i need all the help i can get.
while i may not be a model of simplicity, i can at least let everyone know it with the brilliant, succinct work of mike monteiro.

note 2

note to fedex:

please do not call me at 6.45am to ask about an address that you don't understand. i only answered because i thought it was going to be dreadful news about a family member. and please do not call me back, 3 minutes later, to ask another question that you forgot to ask the first time. my working business hours are exactly and approximately 9am - 8pm.

many thanks.

note 1

note to self:

before commencing shaving legs, make sure the razor blade plastic-protector-cap is off. this will help things. a lot.

everything is amazing, nobody is happy...

this has been posted all over the internet, with good reason.

no time for movies right now

but in one week. ONE WEEK. i'll be able to revisit my favorites and see some new ones.

"I got kicked out of university after delivering a brilliant lecture on the aggressive influence of German philosophy on rock and roll entitled 'You, Kant, Always Get What You Want.'"
- Hedwig and the Angry Inch

perfect timing

there seems to be a pattern in my life. just when things in my world are seeming to spiral out of control a little too much for my liking, that there's just a smidge too much sadness going on, something - or some one - comes along and brightens things up a bit.

maira kalman's new work about lincoln is just phenomenal. and my favorite part? her embroidery piece at the end:

shout out part II

to another true love of mine.

ruby.



while i would argue that this song doesn't even do justice to my sweet rubyette, it is certainly a nod to how wonderful she is. thanks to my always-in-the-know sister for passing this video along to me.

i heart india.

with a nod to the uber stylish bombay electric store, the nyt gave a shout out today to the movie that trumped all the rest in the oscars last night, slumdog millionaire, as well as the country that has such a huge piece of my heart.

for those who haven't seen the film yet, go. now. it's a wonderful peek into the utterly chaotic and achingly beautiful world of india.

i'm pretty anti most of the valentines day mumbo jumbo out there. all the consumerism makes me a little queasy.

what i do love? genuine expressions from the heart. some sweet and thoughtful words. or a beautiful picture. lisa congdon's work is phenomenal and fits the bill for the day oh-so perfectly.

it's pretty easy

to get swept up in the daily grind of law school. ugh. which is why when something reminds me of the things that are actually important the world, i like to try to sit up and take notice.

there are just some things out there that are so essential and so important, they shouldn't be stopped.

like love.


"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

what i look for

in a man.



belly optional.

poetry pick

maggie and milly and mollie and may
- E.E. Cummings

maggie and milly and molly and may
went down to the beach (to play one day)

and maggie discovered a shell that sang
so sweetly she couldn't remember her troubles, and

milly befriended a stranded star
whose rays five languid fingers were;

and molly was chased by a horrible thing
which raced sideways while blowing bubbles: and

may came home with a smooth round stone
as small as a world and as large as alone.

For whatever we lost (like a you or a me)
It's always ourselves we find in the sea.

eye candy

i am loving the work of maxwell holyoke-hirsch. for some reason, it just completely fits my mood right now.

yes.

top ten things we'll miss about him

what to focus on in 2009

indeed. 

by marc johns

just what i needed this morning...

please note parent panda's expression both before and after baby sneeze.

overheard, part I

while buying spring term books, at the bookstore, from a 2L:

"Every time I go book shopping for classes, I seriously consider dropping out of law school."


um... yup.