Decade in Review: 2000 - 2009

As I sit in my livingroom, looking out over the city in the dying winter light, I must reflect on the events that brought me here. To be sure, the past decade will be deemed dark & grim to historians: the terror events on 9/11/01 & subsequent Al Qaeda attacks around the world, two wars, the Bush administration, the Hurricane Katrina debacle, Wall Street's economic meltdown.

But for me, it's been a really fantastic decade. I sit now, ten years later, very close to where the decade began for me--on Vancouver Island. At the end of 1999, I had recently left missionary work & was living with my parents, working part time. I had very little going for me & hoped for better in 2000. And better it was! In 2000, I moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I started dating & started college, doing more of the former than the latter. Eventually, in early 2002, I wised up about school, moving to Tampa, Florida in order to get away from my partying friends & really buckle down.

During my Tampa years, I developed a very close friendship with an old acquaintance, met my future husband, did very, very well in school, got a scholarship to Oxford & got married.

In 2007, Monster & I determined to make another big change: moving to a city for law school. But what city? We decided on Vancouver because of its proximity to my parents & sisters (who were beginning to have families of their own), its inexpensive quality health care, its environmental responsibility & its beauty. I started law school & went through lots of ups and downs on the way.

And here I am, poised to graduate in the Spring, with my marriage strong, building a stronger relationship with my family, about to begin a fulfilling career & thinking about my future aspirations.

As it turned out, this decade couldn't have been better. My hopes & dreams were fulfilled & expanded. And now, on to the next!

The Daily Squishy--Christmas Edition

Fifteen months.

Christmas 2009

We spent Christmas Adam (what I like to call the day before Christmas Eve) shopping for last minute prezzies and enjoying the city. So, we didn't leave for Vancouver Island to see my parents until early in the morning on the 24th.

One of the many great things about living in the heart of Vancouver is that you can easily imbark on a long journey car-free. We walked out of our apartment building, up three blocks & got on a bus that took us directly to the ferry--all before the sun rose!

The ferry was packed but we got there early and were able to get great seats, right in the back of the ferry with a beautiful view of the water & snow-capped mountains. After breakfast, we stretched out, read and listened to our iphones (Monster got me the new Susan Boyle CD on itunes--it's terrific!). In an hour and a half, we were in Nanaimo & my little sister Gina was right on time to pick us up. We did some last minute alcohol-related shopping (after all, we were about to spend quality time with the 'rents!) and then went to my parents house.

After a delicious homemade carrot soup & pizza bread lunch, we decided to take a walk to the bay. My parents live on the side of a mountain and very close to nearby waterways. We walked and talked and walked and talked until we came up to the bay, where we noticed a sign for fresh osyters. $5 a dozen! Hello!

The funny thing was, there was no one at the marina to take our money. Instead, Monster and Gina found two boxes on a boat. One full of bags of osyters (with their registration attached--farmed) and one red lock-box for depositing the money. The honor system! It was so cool, we couldn't believe it!

We happily paid $10 for two dozen oysters & brought our bounty back home, where we ate raw, fresh osyters and then watched "Angels & Demons" between wrapping presents & sneaking stocking stuffers into labled stockings by the fireplace.

All it all, it was a sweet family Christmas. We missed our two sisters who weren't there, though, and--of course--we missed our little Squishy.

Old Pictures are Fun!

Now that I'm away from school, I have time to go through old photos. Here are a small sampling.












This is me at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe in 1999. Someone call the fashion police! Seriously, who thought this outfit was a good idea?!

While in Africa, I had bit of an identity crisis and decided to go blonde. Without the help of professionals or know-how, here is how that worked out:


















Unfortunately, after taking my hair from dark brown to blonde many, many times using cheap dye, this is the bright yellow, damaged mess that resulted:



















I wore it up most of the time in a bun. (I still do, tho' I am always trying to break the habit.) Dancing on the table of a Greek restaurant, Miami, 2001.













Black & white is my friend! Topsail Island, 2002.











And one with my sisters!











And then I met my Monster! This picture is from a few years later, our engagement party, 2005.

RIP Brittany Murphy

Her song, "Faster Kill Pussycat" was a huge hit in Europe.

The law firm which is giving me my first real job had a Christmas party on Saturday. They hired out a cozy little Italian restaurant only a few blocks from my apartment. It was so much fun. I felt at home pretty quickly and called out actions & suggestions to the improv players entertaining us alongside everyone else. I felt like I belonged.

When I was in law school, there was one message contantly repeated to students from the faculty, the administration and guests from the first day of first year--that the only way to find a fulfilling legal career was to get the best grades & go to the biggest corporate firms in Vancouver. We were constantly told failure was just around the corner for us if we played the game any other way. Because we were going into debt to be in school & because we all wanted to succeed so much, this news was terrifying.

But I knew in my heart I didn't want a big firm atmosphere. I felt that my talents were best reflected in a smaller firm, where I could take on additional projects & where my initive would be noticed. (And I don't think I'm wrong about that--a friend of mine who has been at a big firm for a few years told me that one of her main duties remains making photocopies for senior lawyers & sitting quietly in the corner during conference calls, taking notes.)

But, even though I was looking for a progressive small firm, the particular firm I ended up with for articles was not on my radar. They are an established firm in a very discrete area of the law and, as a whole, are hip, technology-loving, cool cats. But I wasn't aware of their existance throughout my first two years of school. We just kept missing each other (I signed up for the law school's mediation competition but they hosted an arbitration competition that kind of stuff).

That is why I am so beyond thrilled that we found each other. I was talking to a senior partner at a house party yesterday and liked him so much--he travelled through North Asia a few months ago & remains committed to social justice both here & abroad. The fact that I even get to sit with a senior partner at a house party is beyond what I ever hoped.

I don't know if they will be able to hire me on after I finish my articles in 2011. But I know I will learn so much from them & I'll have the opportunities to work really hard to prove myself. Everything I was told in law school about 'how to find a firm' pretty much doesn't apply to my situation and I wish I had remained true to my own worldview during my first & second year of law school, instead of allowing myself to be manipulated into freaking out in order to live someone else's dream.

The Daily Squishy

About thirteen months. Giving us the 'Isaac' from Love Boat.

A Taste of What We're Missing

As I have widely proclaimed in this blog, I have a crush on Rachel Maddow and I was thrilled when she got her own show on MSNBC. I am less thrilled with the rest of MSNBC, which, although it proports to be the 24 hour news station with a 'liberal' bias, in reality has very little liberal bias but rather reflects the same media corporatism that the other 24-hour news stations adhere to. But anyway, back to RM, who truly is liberal and DOES consitently reflect my progressive values.

So, here she is interviewing a behavioral 'therapist' (unlisenced and kicked out of his professional affliation for fraud years ago. This therapist is gay but hates gay people. It's a problem for him, as you might imagine.

Anyway, he has started his own unlicensed practice where he helps 'ungay' people who come to him for help. He also writes books about getting rid of gay tendencies (which he assert come a variety of factors including divorce & race). He, alongside many other American conversatives, has flown to Uganda to influence Uganda to bring forward new legislation introducing the death penalty for those found engaging in homosexual sex (this afternoon, the death penalty was removed but prison sentences remain within the law.)

In fact, the Uganda bill was heavily influenced by American religious policy makers. Think about that for a minute.

Back to Rachel. I love her commitment to research, her intelligence and Monster & I thoroughly enjoyed this interview when we watched it this morning.




Glenn Greenwald discusses her interview here. His point is that, although the interview is satisfying to watch, it also reminds us of what we so often don't see when people with power get interviewed: a real interview with hard hitting questions and follow-ups.

My Proud Distinction as the Law Rep for UBC AMS Council

I don't know what else to say about this.

Some Blub!

While I do not consider President Obama a progressive president & I continue to be unsure if I will vote for him again, the following picture assures me that my vote in November of 2008 was not in vain.













This picture conveys more than words can ever say on how the election of a non-white man opened up the Prisidency of the United States to a formerly excluded group of people. This picture truly encapsulates hope & change in a way Obama's policies have not yet mirrored.

[President Barack Obama bends over so the son of a White House staff member can pat his head during a family visit to the Oval Office May 8, 2009. The youngster wanted to see if the President's haircut felt like his own. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)]

The Best Thing to Come out of the 2008 Election: Senator Al Franken

It is no secret I am disappointed with the politics of President Obama. His arguments for "real change" turned out to be neither real nor change. This week's decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan to fight Al Queda (although his staff admits most of Al Queda is in Pakistan) just serves to punctuate my frustration with him.

But there is good news. I assert that the most progressive new political actor stepping forward from the 2008 election (although he was held up in a recount for six months after the election) is the junior Senator from the State of Minnesota, Al Franken, former head writer and actor on Saturday Night Live.

Policy for policy, he has proven himself to be throughly progressive: in lobbying against arbitration-only clauses for rape-at-work victims (so that rape victims can go to court should they so desire), in supporting health care reform and the end of overseas wars. Here he is articulating his views on the state of U.S. health care. As always, he is measured, articulate, fact-driven and resolute.



Senator Franken: because he's good enough, he's smart enough, and...gosh darn it! I like him.

Small, Unexpected Victory

Throughout my first year of law school, I continually sparred with a certain guy in my class over sexual assault. Whenever a sexual assault case came up in class (be in Tort or Criminal Law), he would always pipe up with some version of "sexual assault is not a big deal." Invariably, I would raise my hand and make the case for why sex without consent was an assault. A physical assault on a human being. By the end of first year, I thought he would give in or at least not make any more infuriating comments, but he always did. At the party marking the end of first year, I told him over a beer how deeply his comments had upset me but he just shrugged.

Cut to yesterday. We are both now in third year and have had very little contact with each other other than both being executives in student goverment. So, we are eating lunch in our office, waiting for a meeting to begin when he tells me that he wants me to know he has changed a lot since first year. He didn't elaborate, and there were many people in the room that weren't privy to what he meant, but I was elated. I never expected him to say anything concillitory, much less for him to bring up the issue himself--albeit in a roundabout way.

It was a really great little moment.

On Labels & Stereotypes

Are Americans petty and nosy? This is the theme that popped up on a facebook thread yesterday and I wanted to address it further here. My argument against Americans being more (or less) petty than any other nation was that being an American is not something one can choose. It is an innate characteristic, something one is born with, and therefore should not be included in stereotyping.

Of course, as my mother pointed out on that same thread, many people do become Americans after birth. I checked with the Department of Homeland Security and approximately 1,000,000 immigrants arrive in the States each year. But this only accounts for 0.03% of all Americans at any given time.

So yes, some people do choose to be American after birth, just as some people choose to change genders after birth. But the percentages of these are very low. Therefore, my point remains the same: I believe that innate traits (female, male, black, hispanic, caucasian, etc) should not be included in stereotyping because of the vast array of diversity within that group.

Turning to other groups that are diverse (democrats, capitalists, Christians, Muslims) the argument was made these groups also cannot be qualified. I disagree. What we are looking in these circumstances are groups that has self-selected their own membership. While negative stereotypes are unfair, I do think these sorts of groups should be held to give account for their actions and their group's actions, based on the voluntariness of their membership.

After all, if one joins a pre-existing group, shouldn't one also be willing to answer for the policies and beliefs held by that group?

[Update] In thinking further, I realize that some of these groups (the religous ones) have this accountability explicitly written into their holy books. Both the Bible and the Qur'an discuss believers being able to "give account" and be "a witness" for their beliefs. So, when these groups were organized, their leadership did regard that membership as something which should be held to account, for the good of all believers.

Hillary Headband Moment

Last week: It's like the '90s all over again.








She used to wear those frikin' things everywhere!