summary!
I have not had a substantive update in eons. it's hard to decide where to start.
perhaps a short summary: took the bar last week of july last year, started dating an amazing guy; scraped by on odd jobs until i received my cert of Bar passage; i was sworn in Nov, decided over the Holidays to start my own practice, was released back to wild by amazing guy post-new year; been working a good-paying contract job since Jan, setting up my practice (now with partner!), and finally ready to exercise my 'single' status again. Travels over the last year: friends' wedding in Portland in Sept (i introduced them!), KS for half-marathon in Oct, KS and Tuscon for Yule/Christmas, annual pagan festival over memorial weekend. I've had friends come visit (thinking particularly of epic-ladies' weekend with Crystal, Katy, and Jen), and my Dad and Sis will be here next weekend. Showing and introducing people to the splendors of Chicago is a total blast. for example, next weekend is the Chicago Blues Festival: all weekend, and free. :D if nothing else, i feel like i have friends and family that are a blessing in every way. I am loved, supported, and cherished for being me. sure, we can all wish to be millionaires, but brass-tacks--i'm hard pressed to need more in my life now.
it's amazing to transition out of student-mode again. I have more to do than i can ever manage to get to, but deadlines i set are now my own, and I can bask in the full meaning of 'weekend' again.
I am now an attorney. I have finally become a professionally-licensed person; thus making me an 'adult', i suppose. I do feel more 'grown up', but only in the sense that i feel control over my own person-hood in a way that i did not before. the time of waiting is over, my life has ripened, and my legacy will be built on the next three decades of work. i just hope that i can find the opportunity to make the changes i want. it will be sometime before i have the client base needed to practice full-time, but it will eventually happen. i am too determined for it to not become reality.
Chainsaw and Velcro are good. They are horribly spoiled in our tiny studio; i even got them A/C this year (I'd rather not have it, but they were so miserable last year) and a cat stroller for trips to play in the park. my tiny apt is very cozy for me, and I renewed my lease for this next year. my neighborhood has lots to offer, and being so close to the lake and the lake-shore trail is immeasurably beneficial. the place i have been doing contract work has a gym with shower, so I have been biking to work half the week (which works out to ~50mi and saving ~$10 on public trans per week). biking in Chicago is similar to driving on a busy highway when the weather is agreeable. I've found that i relish the cold/wet days because i have the bike trail largely to myself. Lake Michigan is most spectacular! aside from the lack of salt in the air, you cannot tell that it is not the ocean (yes, double negative!); and the color of the lake is a different color practically every day. there is one part on the trail close to downtown where the waves will splash up very dramatically when it is windy in the right direction--i always whoop and holler when i bike through the water because it is so exhilarating.
i am still building a friend network. i miss the comfort of my friends back in KS and WA. i've been thrust into social situations with strangers so often that i am a practiced hat at it, but it is draining. being able to sit in a room full of people and feel completely at home is a rare thing to be cherished. i think that is why my annual memorial weekend in KS is so important to me. this year, i took a whole week off for it, and it was in every way spectacular! spent time with my bff, dinner with old friends, did some gardening out at Cedar Springs, ate steak with T (grilled on open fire!), soaked up as much peace and greenery as my soul could handle, tranced-out dancing to drums around a bonfire, drove black mamba (pickup) around the county roads, bbq'd with friends post-camping and laughed so hard that my stomach hurt, and managed not to get sunburnt!
this past Nov 5th i had my 5th annual V for Vendetta party. i believe there were ~a dozen attendants. C came to town for it, and we cooked up quite the epic spread! chicago, being so large, is a city of mixing cultures. common knowledge is a plethora of holidays/celebrations/events that i have never heard of before. neighborhood festivals are also a 'to-do', and a person can go to one every weekend all summer and probably not get to all of them. like some sort of LARP, vampire power structure, the city is divided into local fiefdoms that correspond with the ~50 distinct neighborhoods. you can cross a street in chicago and be in a completely different neighborhood that is entirely distinguishable from the one you just left. tucked away eating establishments are a treasure to be discovered, and everyone has an opinion on where to go for the best-*insert food type*.
additionally, it is interesting to see the differences in how people live in a big city versus smaller towns of which i am accustomed. people want to individualize themselves in the throngs of people, so you see more daring outfits. i've noticed that many people are apt to yell at you if they decide you are inconveniencing them. there is anonymity in a crowd, but there is also a commonality that i have seen rise to the occasion on crowded buses and trains where one person is rude. ultimately, i am consistently awed by just how many people are here! i can't go anywhere without thinking about all the other people who are here living their lives too. their distinct perspectives are so different from the person standing next to them.
well, i will attempt to be more regular in my postings. perhaps next i will share about my bay-window garden! :)
perhaps a short summary: took the bar last week of july last year, started dating an amazing guy; scraped by on odd jobs until i received my cert of Bar passage; i was sworn in Nov, decided over the Holidays to start my own practice, was released back to wild by amazing guy post-new year; been working a good-paying contract job since Jan, setting up my practice (now with partner!), and finally ready to exercise my 'single' status again. Travels over the last year: friends' wedding in Portland in Sept (i introduced them!), KS for half-marathon in Oct, KS and Tuscon for Yule/Christmas, annual pagan festival over memorial weekend. I've had friends come visit (thinking particularly of epic-ladies' weekend with Crystal, Katy, and Jen), and my Dad and Sis will be here next weekend. Showing and introducing people to the splendors of Chicago is a total blast. for example, next weekend is the Chicago Blues Festival: all weekend, and free. :D if nothing else, i feel like i have friends and family that are a blessing in every way. I am loved, supported, and cherished for being me. sure, we can all wish to be millionaires, but brass-tacks--i'm hard pressed to need more in my life now.
it's amazing to transition out of student-mode again. I have more to do than i can ever manage to get to, but deadlines i set are now my own, and I can bask in the full meaning of 'weekend' again.
I am now an attorney. I have finally become a professionally-licensed person; thus making me an 'adult', i suppose. I do feel more 'grown up', but only in the sense that i feel control over my own person-hood in a way that i did not before. the time of waiting is over, my life has ripened, and my legacy will be built on the next three decades of work. i just hope that i can find the opportunity to make the changes i want. it will be sometime before i have the client base needed to practice full-time, but it will eventually happen. i am too determined for it to not become reality.
Chainsaw and Velcro are good. They are horribly spoiled in our tiny studio; i even got them A/C this year (I'd rather not have it, but they were so miserable last year) and a cat stroller for trips to play in the park. my tiny apt is very cozy for me, and I renewed my lease for this next year. my neighborhood has lots to offer, and being so close to the lake and the lake-shore trail is immeasurably beneficial. the place i have been doing contract work has a gym with shower, so I have been biking to work half the week (which works out to ~50mi and saving ~$10 on public trans per week). biking in Chicago is similar to driving on a busy highway when the weather is agreeable. I've found that i relish the cold/wet days because i have the bike trail largely to myself. Lake Michigan is most spectacular! aside from the lack of salt in the air, you cannot tell that it is not the ocean (yes, double negative!); and the color of the lake is a different color practically every day. there is one part on the trail close to downtown where the waves will splash up very dramatically when it is windy in the right direction--i always whoop and holler when i bike through the water because it is so exhilarating.
i am still building a friend network. i miss the comfort of my friends back in KS and WA. i've been thrust into social situations with strangers so often that i am a practiced hat at it, but it is draining. being able to sit in a room full of people and feel completely at home is a rare thing to be cherished. i think that is why my annual memorial weekend in KS is so important to me. this year, i took a whole week off for it, and it was in every way spectacular! spent time with my bff, dinner with old friends, did some gardening out at Cedar Springs, ate steak with T (grilled on open fire!), soaked up as much peace and greenery as my soul could handle, tranced-out dancing to drums around a bonfire, drove black mamba (pickup) around the county roads, bbq'd with friends post-camping and laughed so hard that my stomach hurt, and managed not to get sunburnt!
this past Nov 5th i had my 5th annual V for Vendetta party. i believe there were ~a dozen attendants. C came to town for it, and we cooked up quite the epic spread! chicago, being so large, is a city of mixing cultures. common knowledge is a plethora of holidays/celebrations/events that i have never heard of before. neighborhood festivals are also a 'to-do', and a person can go to one every weekend all summer and probably not get to all of them. like some sort of LARP, vampire power structure, the city is divided into local fiefdoms that correspond with the ~50 distinct neighborhoods. you can cross a street in chicago and be in a completely different neighborhood that is entirely distinguishable from the one you just left. tucked away eating establishments are a treasure to be discovered, and everyone has an opinion on where to go for the best-*insert food type*.
additionally, it is interesting to see the differences in how people live in a big city versus smaller towns of which i am accustomed. people want to individualize themselves in the throngs of people, so you see more daring outfits. i've noticed that many people are apt to yell at you if they decide you are inconveniencing them. there is anonymity in a crowd, but there is also a commonality that i have seen rise to the occasion on crowded buses and trains where one person is rude. ultimately, i am consistently awed by just how many people are here! i can't go anywhere without thinking about all the other people who are here living their lives too. their distinct perspectives are so different from the person standing next to them.
well, i will attempt to be more regular in my postings. perhaps next i will share about my bay-window garden! :)