Sabra

I had a hummus discussion in the grocery store the other day with some guy who was buying the hummus on sale. He was not buying Sabra. I tried to tell him, but he just wouldn't listen. Then it occurred to me -- the blond hair, the freckles. Not a Jew. Jews know Sabra is the best hummus there is. Creamy, not tahini-tasting. Delicious globs of [insert flavor]. And, they have a new flavor, Sun dried tomato. I know it can be a bit pricey, but a grocery store like Albertson's sells it for $3.99 (versus King Super's $4.99). It's worth it, people. Do not scrimp on the hummus. I'm just sayin', I have my priorities in line.

Sabra in Hebrew means 'A Jewish person born in Israeli territory.' In Arabic, sabr means 'aloe', 'cactus', or 'patience.' And, perhaps only related in my mind, in Spanish sabroso means delicious. And that's what Sabra is. De-e-licious.

www.sabra.com/

project365

I made Moroccan chicken, a salad and brown rice for dinner for my last night of spring break. Ms. Katie came over to share.


I am a dork about symbols and historic things like this. I love it:


Here is a picture of homemade granola, my latest cooking venture.


Beautiful mural at 26th and Welton light rail stop.


Delicious Vanilla Mint tea at a great coffee shop, Coffee At the Point. I love the handle-less black mug.


I caught myself in a shadow and was surprised at myself.


Yay, I am published! Received a big box of copies of my book review (last on in the list).

Technology Jump

So, as you know, I now have a Droid! I love it so far. And, in my humble opinion, I am NOT one of those people who is distractedly playing with it all the time. Many of you think it's strange that I went from a non-flip phone with no internet to a fancy-pants Droid. Heck, I don't even have a microwave (or, "micro" as my Grandma calls it!).

I've never, ever paid for home internet. Through undergrad I used free AOL trials. Then, for awhile I borrowed from unlocked neighbors. For the last two years I've just used internet at school or cafes. I have been at school so much that I figured by the time I get home, I really don't want to look at my computer anymore. It's worked out, despite occasional annoyances like not being able to look up directions or a recipe. But, now I have interwebs with me all the time. Amazing! I think of it as akin to the situation in many developing countries. People skipped the "home phone" generation and went straight to the cell phone. I skipped the home internet phase and went straight to the personal internet. All in all, I'm pretty glad I held out long enough to avoid paying for internet.

It sounds silly, but these days internet is arguably a human right, whose access is necessary to keep impoverished people and developing nations from falling even further behind. It's no joke. Even in the first-world, "global-leader" United States, people still don't have reliable internet access, let alone the ability to pay for it even when it exists in their area. Consider the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

Article 19 states that everyone has the right to “hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers.”

Think about it and read more here:

Human Rights and the Internet

Internet Access: Where Law, Economy, Culture, and Technology Meet

Multitasking

I went for a run today and, as usual, combined it with an errand. Who has time to do just one thing at once!? But, this was totally awkward:

I ran to the post office with all of this hugged to my body:

A jar of Justin's Maple Almond Butter.
A jar of homemade granola
A car insurance bill
Two letters
A hat (free from Columbia Sportwear)
My taxes (incl. copied receipts)

I'm a weirdo. I know. It worked out okay.

Back at it

I'm still resisting the countdown, but let's just say that my friend's gchat status says "Only 10 more weekends in Colorado." It's not so much that I want to leave Colorado. I do like a lot of things about Colorado, and think without this school business I could grow to really love the lifestyle out here. But, that's just it -- "without this school business." The countdown that I'm not doing is to the end of school. Graduating.

I will hopefully write up a long piece on the whole trip, but I feel very centered and calm after Spring Break. People around me are all flustered and crazy, but I feel a-okay. In fact, really good. I like it.

Some thoughts I've had (quickly, because I have to get work done) --

Welcome back to Bloody booger Colorado. Seriously, this place is so dry.

I bought my ticket to Korbel Prom. I'm not going to the law school prom ("Barrister's Ball"), but the grad school prom seemed like a deal: swank hotel downtown, $10 for drinks and apps. Why not? Hmm... what to wear?

Oh, ow, why are running muscles so different from biking ones? My heart and lungs could go forever but my legs are killing me! I don't know how Triathletes do it.

Made some granola the other night. It literally took 20 minutes and was delicious. And way cheaper than what you can buy at the store. Why have I not discovered this earlier!?

project365

For the week of March 13-19:

Beautiful road (notice how it looks like it soon gets to be veeery steep in just a bit. Scary!)


Doesn't this look like Ireland or something? I love the morning fog and literally said good morning outloud to the cows mooing at me. Yes, I'm a dork. But I was all alone out there!


Beautiful.


I just love this back farm road. The house is majestic and the lines are amazing (the light tan, curved road cutting through the horizontal, purple flowers.


Migrant farm workers. I find it symbolic that there was this really tall, ugly, harsh fence between me on the country road and them.


Here is a photo of my post-ride sickness "toolkit" on Friday, in L.A.: Netflicks, Advil, tums, bread, graham crackers and regular crackers, water, Gatorade, Gingerale, my phone, a thermometer, and the newspaper.


Feeling better, we went to brunch with Ula, Cass, and little Oliver. A-dorable!

project365

For the week of March 6- 12 (belatedly, due to the Spring Break break from the computer)...

Mmm, I love smoth-ies.


In preparation for the bike trip, I made this massive pile of things I needed to stuff into two (heavy!) little rear bags that sat off a rack on the back of my bike.


A photo I took of my friend, unbeknownst to him, while he is slaving away in the Environmental Law Clinic. Poor guy.


Sunset form the law school.


Going through the Rockies in Colorado and Utah, on the California Zephyr train to San Francisco.


I took this after I had just rebuilt my bike in the train station at Emeryville. It survived the train in a box and I didn't mess up putting it back together!


First day of the beautiful, incredibly hard bike trip. More photos and stories to come!

news flash

Quick update: made it through SF to LA on my bike! Big post coming... latest news is that I got a droid! This is my first post from the droid. Exciting!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

Spring Break!

One little class left this evening between me and spring break. It's hard to believe it's already spring break and I know life will zip by after we are back at the end of March. What am I doing? This Spring Break I'm taking the train to San Francisco, then biking and camping my way down to Los Angeles. I've been wanting to do this for years!

So, tomorrow I pull out of the Denver Amtrak Union Station on the California Zephyr, heading West to San Francisco. I'm so excited to see the snow covered purple mountains. I'm serious, the mountains here at sunset are purple and beautiful. I have never seen this part of the country and I thought watching it pass by from a train window seemed proper for my modern frontier exploration. It's been a bit of a hustle to get my things packed and together. I still have to actually take apart (some of) the bike and pack it in this massive box. I'm a wee bit nervous now, but I'm sure it'll all work out. I'll learn a lot -- about bike touring, the country in which I live, and, of course, about myself.

An adventure I'm sure to remember!

Why the heck not?

I'm working on a research project on bilateral trade agreements. I've been trying to figure out this one genre of provisions and can't find much information. I did find one report that was spot-on. The authors' contact information was listed in the article ... so, I figured, Why the heck not?, and took it upon myself to e-mail the authors for more information and advice. What's the worst that could have happened, that they never write me back?

Ha! Within less than a day Mr. Senior Associate from the World Bank, in Zambia, and I are having a back-and-forth e-mail trade (no pun intended)! Does he know it's just young, inexperienced, little ol' moi at the other side of these e-mails? I haven't lost his attention yet, so I'll take that as a high compliment.

Put yourself out there, people. It's kind of fun.

Swedish Fish

In high school at cross-country races I remember my friend's dad (a carpenter) yelling, "You're tough as nails!" and other voices yelling, "Dig deep!" In spring time track, doubling up on the mile and two mile, my friend Mary would stand at that far curve on the track. The windy one by the triple and long jump pits, where no one else would venture. She'd dangle red Swedish Fish in front of me and yell, "Come on! Swedish Fish when you're done!" and I'd suffer through all 16 laps to be able to gobble down my fishies.

I need some Swedish Fish motivation.

I've had a few weeks of Blah where the work isn't too much or too hard, I just don't want to do it. It's doable, but I want someone else to do it. Spring break starts this week, though, and I've had a productive day today (hey, I have to start somewhere, right?). I'm sure when we get back from Spring Break time will fly by and it'll all be over before I know it. But, right now I am just struggling with the day to day. Resisting with all I have not to start a countdown. How about a countdown to a countdown?

project365

Church door near my apartment that I'm guessing may have been a Synagogue at some point.


Weird image on the Chipotle Burrito Box.


Cute, little Fire Station in Five Points, the "disadvantaged" neighborhood of Denver, where I am working for my Community Economic Development class. I like the gentleman biking.


Waiting for the train (En Attendant Godot?) after class on Wednesday night.


Dearest of friends who mean the world to me, taken at the Public Interest Law Group Auction.


Shoeless Jackson, sipping the "Jackson Special" drink (Chocolate, caramel syrup, ginger, milk, whipped cream) at 10:30 p.m. in a cafe at the Santa Fe art district. He had just gotten off work as an errand boy at a used goods store and needed to fuel up before meeting friends and catching a movie.


Graffiti I pass every day on the light rail, newly corrected from "Those who stand for nothing fall for nothing" to "Those who stand for nothing fall for anything."

Rabbit Rabbit

Can't believe it's March. Of 2011. I'm halfway through the semester.... of my last semester of a J.D. and a M.A. degree. I'm resisting the urge to countdown.

Onward and upward. Life Marches on. (See what I did there? Like that?)