Category: Melissa’s life (Page 12 of 20)

Who am I?

October 16, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

if you haven’t donated to Race for the Cure and would like to do so, you can donate here.

I came across this article on Lawyerist about headshots and biographies. I have been putting off the headshot and I am completely baffled about what to put in a biography for my professional site.

What exactly is my expertise if I’m starting out and how does my “expertise” manage to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct that says you can’t say you are an expert in a certain type of law?

For all the writing about myself and random daily events on this blog, I have always had problems writing out my accomplishments and writing a succinct biography. It must be a function of modesty or some “home training” where I’m supposed to be modest. Also, I’m always surprised at what people want to know and how people react to certain information. I also see the gaps and the disappointments and mistakes I made in my life in those biographies. The information that isn’t there because I did something goofy or made a decision that turned out in hindsight to be “not wise.”

Of course, my mistakes aren’t tragic. I haven’t gone to jail. I’m not paralyzed from the waist down because I got in a car with drunk driver. Although I am overweight, I still have a decent blood pressure and am working to lose weight. I have a good job and some good friends. Even though I’ve had some relationships that were absolutely horrible, I didn’t have any horrible marriages that resulted in kids and many years of a long drawn out divorce and years of litigation over child custody and visitation issues. When the weenies who used to be my significant others are gone, they can stay gone. I’m blessed like that.

So what is this great biography that I should be making on my professional site? I don’t know. I guess I’ll figure it out later.

Blog post amnesty

October 7, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

There’s a concept in the De-cluttering world known as email amnesty where you delete all your emails and send a mass email to all your contacts stating “sorry, I was so far behind on answering emails that there was no way I could catch up. I deleted them all. If there was something important, I’m sorry. Please send the message again.”

Well. All those meaningful posts that I meant to write are well way past their prime to be relevant anymore. Maybe I’ll catch up on them later. Here’s a list.

The first football game of the season here in small town America. It was our town versus the town twelve miles away. IT’s amazing how football, of all things, manages to bring the entire town together. I had pictures of the band and the full bleachers of the visitor side and the home team side. Well I guess I will upload the pics. The “Friday Night Lights” style commentary is just gone forever.
Roman Polanski.
Okay I may still go after details on this. I’m a criminal defense attorney at heart and this type of case is a gold mine for all the issues involved. Does he deserve time? If criminal law is meant to protect the public, does it matter that Polanski hasn’t recommited the type of crime in the past 30 years? Does it matter that he was gainfully employed and giving to society? Does it matter that his past involved Nazis and his wife and unborn child being slaughtered by the Manson family? What about his leaving the country? Does it matter about the corrupt judge? OH man.

Well the short answer is that in most states (i’m not sure about California) bail jumping, leaving the country, being on the lam, etc. is an entirely new charge and that is an extra felony on top of his crime. So he’s screwed for that. There is a concept that warrants get stale and if the police wait too long then it’s over. Most of that time, that is based on a warrant to arrest and it doesn’t involve a person ACTIVELY avoiding being arrested. The girl was underage and that is statutory rape. This means it is a strict liability crime. it doesn’t matter if she lied and said she was 20. It doesn’t matter if was completely consensual and she climbed on top of your naked body and rode you like a rodeo bull. If she’s under age and you had sex with her, you’re going to JAIL. The more interesting question is “how much time should he get?” Sentencing is where most of the issues being bandied around in the press get their attention: his past, etc.
MORE SERIAL KILLER LOVE I discovered Dexter. What a wonderful witty little show. I managed to whiz through the first two seasons via Netflix ready view and will now have to wait for Season 3 to make it here in teeny succession.
I became interested in psychology after watching Silence of the Lambs. My wanting to be a criminal profiler lead to an interest in forensic psychology which lead to my investigation job which lead to law school. If you want to connect the dots, Hannibal Lecture is responsible for me being a lawyer. Lord, help you all.
WORK AND VOLUNTEER WORK I’ve become involved with the local young lawyers section. Since I have been in practice for less than five years, I qualify. yee hawww. This also deserves an extra special YEE HAWWW because it means I am getting out of the house.
I’m doing Race for the Cure again. According to the site, I’ve raised NO DAMN MONEY!
professional domain YES. web host for professional site. YES. Actual site content. NO! will rectify that soon.
COOKING I bought a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I’m not good at cooking but, like Julia Child, I do like to eat. Since I heard that she explains every little thing down to the last detail, I would buy this book and attempt to make delicious food. We’ll see how this goes. I’m sure there will be photos.

So yeah. I could have written an entry on each blurb. I just realized I forgot about the Blogging Academy I attended. SEE!!

But I’m good and I tweet a lot. And I will start over with topics.

I've become a lightweight.

September 24, 2009 / melissa / 1 Comment

I live in a dry county and for whatever reason have become friends with people who don’t drink. As a result, there isn’t the bar hopping of days past.

As a result, this list of Drinks to try before you expire. Well I don’t have that many bold items.

List of Drinks You Must Try Before You Expire

1. Manhattan Cocktail
2. Kopi Luwak (Cat-poo coffee…I plan to seek it out on my next trip to Vietnam…it’s crazy expensive…even there.)
3. French / Swiss Absinthe
4. Rootbeer
5. Gin Martini
6. Sauternes
7. Whole Milk
8. Tequila (100% Agave)
9. XO Cognac
10. Espresso
11. Spring Water (directly from the spring)
12. Gin & Tonic
13. Mead (Mead can be really tasty…)
14. Westvleteren 12 (Yellow Cap) Trappist Ale (N
15. Chateau d’Yquem
16. Budweiser
17. Maraschino Liqueur
18. Mojito
19. Orgeat
20. Grand Marnier
21. Mai Tai (original)
22. Ice Wine
23. Red Bull
24. Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice
25. Bubble Tea (nasty, nasty stuff)
26. Tokaji (want to try…)
27. Chicory
28. Islay Scotch
29. Pusser’s Navy Rum
30. Fernet Branca
31. Fresh Pressed Apple Cider
32. Bourbon
33. Australian Shiraz
34. Buckley’s Cough Syrup
35. Orange Bitters
36. Margarita (traditional recipe)
37. Molasses & Milk
38. Chimay Blue
39. Wine of Pines (Tepache)
40. Green Tea
41. Daiginjo Sake
42. Chai Tea
43. Vodka (chilled, straight)
44. Coca-Cola
45. Zombie (Beachcomber recipe)
46. Barley Wine
47. Brewed Choclate (Xocolatl)
48. Pisco Sour
49. Lemonade
50. Speyside Single Malt
51. Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee
52. Champagne
53. Rosé
54. Bellini
55. Caipirinha
56. White Zinfandel
57. Coconut Water
58. Cerveza
59. Cafe au Lait
60. Ice Tea
61. Pedro Ximenez Sherry
62. Vintage Port
63. Hot Chocolate
64. German Riesling
65. Pina Colada
66. El Dorado 15 Year Rum
67. Chartreuse
68. Greek Wine
69. Negroni
70. Jägermeister
71. Chicha
72. Guiness
73. Rhum Agricole
74. Palm Wine
75. Soju
76. Ceylon Tea (High Grown)
77. Belgian Lambic
78. Mongolian Airag (kimus)
79. Doogh, Lassi or Ayran
80. Sugarcane Juice
81. Ramos Gin Fizz
82. Singapore Sling
83. Mint Julep
84. Old Fashioned
85. Perique (appears to be liquor distilled from tobacco!)
86. Jenever (Holland Gin)
87. Chocolate Milkshake
88. Traditional Italian Barolo (Have a bottle…unopened…need to open).
89. Pulque
90. Natural Sparkling Water
91. Cuban Rum
92. Asti Spumante
93. Irish Whiskey
94. Château Margaux
95. Two Buck Chuck (Would buy it if it were in AR)
96. Screech
97. Akvavit
98. Rye Whisky
99. German Weissbier
100. Daiquiri (classic)

See? Look. How did that happen?!?!?! How did that happen. I’m a do-gooder. I should go sell girlscout cookies and add
“GOLLY GEE WHIZ” to my vocabulary.

Fa la la la la busyness means no bloggyness

September 21, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

It’s that time again. I signed up for the Race for the Cure. with Team Fabulous. You can see the pictures from last year’s race here. This is one of the few events that I don’t actually run. Last year, Team Fabulous took a smoke break by the stripping firemen. Yeah I said stripping firemen. You might just have to join to figure out if I am serious.

I cooked something. It tasted good and no one got food poisoning. It’s the dawn of a new age, America. I made this Chicken a la Diable It’s french. Well bastardized french. I don’t think about.com got too authentic but its’ dijon mustard and cayenne pepper over chicken, then covered in bread crumbs and baked in a roasting pan that has melted butter in it. YUM to the TUM. I was rather pleased myself. It didn’t taste spicy though. IN fact, I didn’t taste much of the mustard or cayenne pepper at all. That was rather weird but the chicken wasn’t dry or bland so I can’t complain.

I attended our local high school football game and took tons of pictures. Yet I haven’t had time to download them and give the commentary. I also attended the tailgate but the camera crews had already left and most of the food was gone by the time I got there. I wasn’t that late people. It seems people descended on that food like vultures. One woman almost snatched something out of my hand. OUT OF MY HAND!!! I didn’t know anyone here was friends with Kanye West. What the hell?! See… great commentary is a coming. Oh yeah we won like 62 to 32 or some other crazy score that indicates that both teams have shitty defense but theirs is worse than ours.

9/11

September 16, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

On this day eight years ago, I spent it looking for Pablo Gomez.

The Thomas Reed Affair part 2: the end

September 6, 2009 / melissa / 5 Comments

Well as I wrote here, there’s this Thomas Reed guy who friended me on facebook. His info said that he went to my college and graduated from my class. I thought he looked familiar and friended him. Someone wrote me and said they couldn’t remember him and checked the four yearbooks and couldn’t find him. As I thought about it, I couldn’t definitely remember him at all –not one single memory.

I wrote some other friends and they didn’t remember him either.

Well I finally wrote a blog entry about it and then put a status update on facebook that said this.

Who is Thomas Reed? Does anybody from Hendrix College circa 1995 remember him? I don’t and it’s bugging me. If you graduated Central High School around 1991 and remember him, let me know.

Well I got several comments from people who didn’t remember him. Another person made a joke that he was the “Hendrix stalker” because that person had also went around asking and no one could remember him either.

I did email him and the conversation went like this.

Me: Dude How do I know you. It’s bugging me.

Thomas Reed: How would we know each other…. Read More

About 30 seconds later, without me responding.

Thomas Reed: I was just online and looking at friends of friends

ME: I graduated from Hendrix College in 1995.

Thomas Reed: I didn’t finish until 98

ME: Then why did you list yourself as graduating in 1995. (look at your own info). And if it’s friends of friend, who is the original friend?

Thomas REED: Well.. I’m sorry. I had a friend of mine set up my account. I am not sure how I ended up with you in my friends list. Im sorry I bothered you.

And apparently after that message, he defriended me.

So even though his info says he graduated in 1995. He’s now claiming he finished in 1998 but it doesn’t appear that he’s friending anyone from the year 1998.

One of my friends commented that he was being sensitive but that my questions were very pointed. Well, I don’t know about that. The whole thing is weird. Hendrix was a fairly friendly place and most classmates would have no problem saying “I lived in such and such dorm and hung out with so and so most of the time. That’s how you would know me.” This isn’t New York where random questions like that are greeted with suspicion.

But he has proven himself on some point to be partially dishonest. Why did the friend who set up the account put 95 if he finished in 1998? Did he mislead that friend? Did that friend just have a brainfart and assume since he was 36?

Someone sent me a message privately asking if it was possible that this guy was just that gosh darn forgettable. That somehow he did indeed manage to slide under the radar for most students.

I don’t know.

The other weird thing is that his friends are mostly people from undergrad and hardly anyone else. For someone who is 36, that seems weird.

I do know that working as an investigator in criminal law for a while has warped my outlook or made me extremely cynical, depending on whom you ask. Based on my investigative background, I am aware of the information that can be gleened from someone’s facebook account.

Maybe I’m being cynical. I don’t know.

I am a woman who likes answers and I am coming to the conclusion that I am not going to get the ones I want from Thomas Reed.

So that’s all.

I still have no idea who he is,l He doesn’t seem that forthcoming and seems to resent questions.

Schuyler's Chicken

August 31, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

Schuyler’s Chicken

Originally uploaded by Citizen Rob

Some people like Bellesouth are already thinking about Halloween costumes but I say that no matter what you wear, your Halloween costume will not be as awesome as this man in a chicken suit right here.

aww

August 13, 2009 / melissa / 1 Comment

Molly Ringwald wrote this editorial in the New York Times about John Hughes. The most poignant paragraph about his later films.

None of the films that he made subsequently had the same kind of personal feeling to me. They were funny, yes, wildly successful, to be sure, but I recognized very little of the John I knew in them, of his youthful, urgent, unmistakable vulnerability. It was like his heart had closed, or at least was no longer open for public view. A darker spin can be gleaned from the words John put into the mouth of Allison in “The Breakfast Club”: “When you grow up … your heart dies.”

TWEET!

July 25, 2009 / melissa / 0 Comments

WORK WORK WORK WORK

So much work I missed out on the french movie I wanted to see. Now I get to wait for it to be released on Netflix

AND

I attended the LR Tweet up. I didn’t take pictures. I was too busy mingling. Other people took pictures and a good bunch are over on Lance Turner’s Blog..

Over 70 people RSVPed and there were quite a few there. The room that was originally reserved for the event was too small and the people managed to take over the entire bar area.

I’d give more details but I don’t want to end up in the trunk of a car. You’ll just have to come to the next one.

Thoughts of the day at the end of the day.

July 22, 2009 / melissa / 2 Comments

This was in Conway today. Conway is town where my alma mater is located. On more than one occasion, I remember sitting in the hallway of the first floor in the dorm waiting for a tornado watch/warning to let up. It’s an awesome video. The conversation between the two people who are watching this while one is filming is pretty classic.

I took one of those cheesy “which Greek Goddess are you?” quizzes and got Hecate. I’ve never heard of her. Obviously, my education on the Greek Gods and Goddess is sorely lacking. Fascinating though.

For all your personal injury attorneys, the ambulance chaser t-shirt.

This is the video of Arkansas Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue after his speech to the Arkansas Political Animals Club. He gave a lot of football metaphors and called the Hogs. I love the attempt to ingratiate himself with the locals by calling the Hogs. I can understand the theory on why you pay the lottery people so much; (It’s a specialized set of information and to set up one from scratch requires a level of expertise that should be compensated) BUT WHY!!!! is the security detail (a former Arkansas sheriff) getting paid six figures? Is he supposed to follow the director around 24/7?

The best part about Tolbert’s video is the female reporter making faces. She obviously forgot that people could see her. OH MY!

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