geographic (un)happiness

So I am back in DC for a conference this weekend. It's been lovely to be back in the capitol and I am enjoying the city life...being able to walk to restraunts and having public transport at my fingertips. Thursday I had the perfect DC day with a trip to Julia's empanadas and browsing in Dupont Circle shops. And then Friday, I went to the Smithsonian Jazz cafe and heard REALLY good live jazz. So nice.

Anyway, the point of this story is that it has made me think about why I thought I was so ready to leave to DC last December and why I have in fact felt ready to leave every place I have ever lived. I always seem to find little things (or in some cases big things) wrong with every location I have been....and this means a lot of locations. For instance, Portland was not diverse enough (and the lack of jobs didn't help), DC was too cold, NY was too much city, Northampton was not enough city, Wyoming was too well, Wyoming, Namibia was too far from my family and American friends, Zimbabwe was in social and political chaos when I left and even more so now (ok, so maybe that is a legit gripe!), and you can see my previous posts for my feelings on Orange County.

How do you find balance and peace in where you live? Is it possible to be truly happy about your geographic location? Now that I am ready to settle, I have a big problem in deciding where to do the settling.

I am 26 years old and I am afraid I will forever remain in transition.

Any suggestions, send them my way....

the not-so-commander in chief

So I think it is rather humorous that BOTH the R's and the D's are upset w/Bush's SC pick. The Senate Jud Comm has actually asked her to redo her questionnaire and she incorrectly cited some ConLaw in support of one of her answers. M'goodness.

Dad and I have decided that I would be a much better pick for the Ct...now if I only I could get our monkey president to agree.

my new skyline

 




Here's the LA skyline -- from the Getty museum, which is nicely above the smog-line. Went hiking up to Mt. Palomar yesterday - quite a nice hike and beautiful views. Ocean fog, mountain peaks, and fall leaves. I can't believe it's already the end of october! 

break ins

Right. So I, in a very smooth move, locked my keys in my car this morning while I was at the grocery store. Anyway, while the locksmith in a much smoother move was opening my car for me, it got me thinking how someone ends up breaking into cars and getting paid for it. It also is always an eye opening experience to realize how easy your car is to break into. Ouch.

disturbing facts of life

a giant cockroach escaped out from the drain in my shower and
visited me while taking a shower. normally i do not get freaked out by
bugs, but there is something about being naked that makes you very
vulnerable....so I freaked and squished him with a shampoo bottle. Anyway,
it got me thinking about how bizarre it is that a bug who is much larger
than my thumb can somehow crawl its way out of a drain with openings much
smaller than my thumb.... no wonder these things have lived for eons.

life in OC

Hi folks - sorry I have been so MIA. I have been busy...and without internet except at work. Although sometimes frustrating, this has actually been a good thing for me. I like that I limit my computer time to 8 hrs a day. That's enough, isn't it?

So, I have been in OC for a little over a month now. It does not feel like October already. Considering it is still 80 degrees most days, with beautiful sunshine, it still feels like summer. For the most part I am liking it out here -- nice biking weather and the beach is super close. The ocean is very relaxing. Work is ok, except that it's not too intellectually challenging. I'm missing straight-up advocacy work and I'm missing both Portland and environmental law. Perhaps I will be back to both sometime soon... but in the meantime, I am trying to find the best in being where I am. I am gaining quite a bit of new legal knowledge and have been exposed to areas of the law that I know next to nothing about (such as employment law and childcare law). My office is super supportive and it's nice to feel good about what I'm doing.

I went to a Sierra Club beach bonfire the other night and was looking forward to meeting people involved in environmental issues and who are nice 'n'progressive. Instead I found that I was the only one who brough organic veggies.....most everyone ate meat....and basically everyone works for corporations or real estate developers or something equally sinister. Ok, so I try not to be snob, but I think it says a lot about where I landed that members of an enviro group aren't really enviro-conscious.... but it was nice to be social and I realized that that's just the way life is out here - lots of education needed I guess. It's not really in my best interest to give up yet.

Hmmm.... life is pretty much routine most of the time.... but I will try and keep y'all better updated on the occasional non-routineness of my life.

I miss everyone terribly.... why I keep moving to places where I know no one as opposed to moving to places where my friends are is beyond me....and something that I have promised myself I will not do again....