Haiti Update: this is it.

28 Wednesday Apr 2010

Posted by in charity, Haiti

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I still can’t believe that tomorrow night I’ll be on my way to Haiti. I feel like it was ages ago when Abby first shared her thoughts of this trip with me. I remember feeling so sad when things didn’t pan out the first attempt, and then how amazing everything fell into place on the second go-around.

I am so thankful to everyone who made this happen. Most people have said they’re so proud of me for going to do something like this. But honestly, this is something I’ve always WANTED to do. I’m thrilled and excited to be going. In reality, I’m more proud of every single person who has made this trip possible. Without your donations and your support, this dream wouldn’t be coming true.

So my bags are packed and ready to go (cue scene from Armageddon where Ben Affleck is saying goodbye to Liv Tyler), and tomorrow will prove to be a long day. I committed myself to a half day in the office, which little did I know at the time included an 8am appearance in court. Working until lunch, then working on my last minute list: make copies of passport and ID, go to a Catholic store and replace my St. Christopher medallion, make a few calls, buy some chocolate for the volunteers already in Haiti, etc. Chocolate, you say? Yes, apparently it’s in high demand over there. See, I’m only going for a week and a half, but there are volunteers down there that have committed to long term stays, such as a month or two. That means two months of rice and beans. Chocolate starts sounding pretty good after a while, I’m sure. Then I’ll double check that I have packed every thing, dinner with the TVN crew, then heading out to the airport with Paul, Abby, and Jeff. Flight leaves at 10pm and we should be in Haiti within 12 hours.

My next entry will be from Leogane, Haiti. Thank you for that.

Haiti Update: Packing!

28 Wednesday Apr 2010

Posted by in charity, Haiti

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So this is it! The last couple weeks I was basically keeping piles of plastic bags in the corner of my dinning room, with whatever stuff I had just bought for my trip. Last night I finally started to put everything in one big pile, and taking things out of shopping bags. This is what my couch looked like this morning:

It only got worse once I pulled the coffee table out of the way and I pulled out every article of clothing I wanted to bring. I figured if it didn’t fit, then I would scale down what I’m taking..

Thanks to some good tips from my mom, I was able to pack everything into my (ahem, Robin’s) backpack, and my smaller backpack which is what I will be taking on the plane with me. I put most of the art supplies I’m taking (thanks to Erik and Marisela for their help on purchasing these items) in my backpack, since they’re pretty light and I had to save an extra room on my check in luggage for all those liquid articles I can’t carry on. So, minus the sleeping bag which I still have to stick in a plastic bag (and for which I’ll probably get charged extra baggage), this is what I’m taking:

Not too bad, huh? It’s still a little heavier than it should be, mostly because-like every trip, and every girl-I’m over packing a little. But the way Abby and I see it, Haiti is probably the last destination you want to be thinking: “I SHOULD have brought [insert item here].”
SO, HODR has a wish list of items they need down there. The first paragraph is art supplies, and the rest is construction stuff, like drills, nails, clamps, boat cutters, etc. I would love to be able to get these construction items and bring them down, since I’m sure they’re much more helpful than colored pipe cleaners or crayons….but how the heck am I supposed to carry that stuff over there?! So I went with the art supplies…and one item requested was googley eyes. Mind you, the 99 cent store had regular googley eyes, but I also couldn’t pass these up:

C’mon, how awesome are those???? I hope the kids in Haiti are at least half as excited as I was when I saw them….

Music Video: Coheed & Cambria

19 Monday Apr 2010

Posted by in entertainment, music, video

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Another group I would not listen to if it weren’t for my husband. There’s just something so intense about their music that I really love. This song is by far one of my favorites. I remember being in a movie theater for [insert movie name here], and a trailer came on for the movie “9,” the animation movie, not the musical, and this song was in the trailer. It was awesome.

Anyhow, my dear friend Sarah was lucky enough to be at Coachella this weekend, lucky enough to see Coheed, but unlucky enough to miss this final number. Watch until the end, which is where the USC band really comes in.

Here is the trailer I was talking about too, just in case you’re curious :)

Who you are, defined by your iPhone apps :)

18 Sunday Apr 2010

Posted by in opinion

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In the age of iPhones and iPhone applications, I’ve come to the realization that you can tell a lot about a person by the applications they decide to put on their phones. And I’ve come to the realization that I’m kind of a dork. There are the standard applications, for weather, maps, Facebook (a must, obviously). As far as games, I only use Words Free so Shirley can kick my butt, and Sol Free to play solitaire (see previous entry). Other than that, here are the applications I REALLY use:

  • Fluent News
  • UN News
  • AP Mobile
  • NPR News
Yes, that’s right, all news. Fluent News gives me snippets of headlines from all sources of print information, from CNN, FOX, AP Mobile, USA Today, BBC, Wall Street Journal, etc. AP Mobile is similar, but it breaks the news down into categories: top news, showbiz, US News, top news, world, etc. Of course, you can customize what categories you want to see. NPR is just a great source of information when you actually want a little more in depth information on anything, since they go the extra mile in investigative journalism (I think).
But by far my favorite is UN News. I actually paid for this one. I have 16 different newsfeeds on this app, and the ones I check the most right now are “top stories” and “Americas.” What’s awesome about this app is that it is keeping me updated on the latest news about what is going on in terms of Haiti relief. With my trip coming up in less than two weeks, its great to see this app and know what’s going on and what the latest UN projects are over there.
Like I said, dork status number one.

Justice or Injustice?

18 Sunday Apr 2010

Posted by in legal, opinion

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I recently came across an article about a father who is being forced to pay legal fees for the church he was suing, the church who organized protests at his son’s burial. His son was killed in action. Here’s a snippet from the CNN article as to why the church was protesting at the funeral:

“Members of the fundamentalist church based in Topeka, Kansas, appeared outside Snyder’s funeral in 2006 in Westminster, Maryland, carrying signs reading “You’re going to hell,” “God hates you” and “Thank God for dead soldiers.” Among the teachings of the church, which was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps, is the belief that God is punishing the United States for “the sin of homosexuality” through events such as soldiers’ deaths.”
Mr. Snyder’s lawsuit initially met with success, receiving a verdict in his favor and an award of $8 million dollars. The church later appealed the ruling, which was reversed, and now the father has been ordered to pay $16,000 for their legal fees. Jeff and I were talking about how ridiculous this was: a father sues to protect the sanctity of his son’s funeral, and ends up having to pay crazy legal fees for the people that invaded that sanctity.
This article reminded me about something I learned in my remedies class: anti-SLAPP motions. Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. I remember having to memorize what these were for and how they could be used, and thinking: this is a waste of time. Not so much. It’s through this legal method that the church was able to get an award of legal fees from the plaintiff. Surprisingly, just as I was thinking of writing this blog entry, the Orange County Lawyer published an article on anti-SLAPP motions, “Avoid SLAPP Motions,” so I will let them explain some basic definitions. Anti-SLAPP, codified in the California Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) Section 425.16, was “[e]nacted in 1992 as a deterrent to the filing of non-meritorious lawsuits which prevent citizens from exercising petition or free speech rights.” Mr. James Moneer proceeds in his article to describe the anti-SLAPP motion as the “most powerful dispositive motion available,” and “a ‘super summary judgment motion’ with a nuclear warhead attached.” One of the things that makes this motion so powerful is that there is a “mandatory award of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.” Ah-ha.
What is the point of this motion? It was basically instituted as a way to protect free speech. The church argues that their protest was simply an exercise of their free speech rights. A lawsuit to prevent this free speech rights is highly susceptible to an anti-SLAPP motion because of the rights involved. I think that, as Americans, we can all recognize the importance of free speech, of being able to protest injustice, being able to assemble and express our opinions. And yes, these rights should be protected. But where do we draw the line?
It seems the Supreme Court will be addressing these issues in the near future.

Work Update: Printer Part II

16 Friday Apr 2010

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So, you long time readers may remember my rants about our printer. Well, they never end! For a while, my printer was out of commission, but that’s old news. Ok, so there’s the Toshiba printer which is the printer that most of the people in the office use, and it seems to be out of order almost every other day. So you know what that means. Someone comes to fix it. I think the repair guy is worse than the actual printer being out of order. I have never met anyone, in my entire LIFE, who smells as bad as this guy. I mean, I can smell this guy through walls!

It’s so bad that poor Amber, one of our receptionists, has had to use her bottle of sprayey, smelly stuff to mask his insane b.o.
For the sake of everyone, I hope the printer works well for a while…

Great News today, times two!

16 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by in family, life

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A couple quick updates that are worth mentioning:

Firstly, Jeff got a job! We’re both soooo very excited about this. Hopefully with two steady incomes, we’ll be able to figure out our finances (and my stupid student loans), and maybe even start saving for a vacation or a home. The great thing about this job is that it offers health insurance, which we both haven’t had in a long time and are really looking forward to (just think about how much cheaper those malaria pills would have been WITH insurance!).
aaaaaaaaaand:
MIKE AND ULI ARE COMING HOME! For those of you unawares, Jeff’s brother, Mike, and his wife, Uli, had to move to Germany at the end of 2008 to take care of some stuff, and they’ve been out there since. Thing is, they also got a little frisky while they were out there and now we have a new member in the family, little Henry (aka, Hank). It’s been pretty terrible not being able to meet the little guy, other than through Skype and Facebook picutures. I know Mike and Uli didn’t make their decision to move back lightly, since there are still a lot of unresolved issues over there, but Jeff and I (not to mention their parents) are beyond stoked to have them and lil Hank in our lives again. Holidays and family time has not been the same since they were gone: although you carry on as if nothing’s wrong, everyone at the dinner table is aware that there are a couple very important people missing. I can’t wait for the dinner table to be full again!

Positive Outlook

16 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by in life, thoughts, work

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So last week was a little rough at work. The work load is getting pretty crazy, and I found myself constantly frustrated by a variety of things. Poor Jeff has to hear me vent when I get home, and last night he gave me some pretty good words of advice. Basically, I’m always going to have a ton of stuff to do, there will always be too many files on my desk, and I can’t control what other people do, I just have to learn to deal with it, and not let it stress me out or frustrate me.

I can’t tell you guys how many times someone at work told me I looked stressed or upset in the past week and a half. And I knew they were right. I could feel my face being all contorted from how tense and frustrated I was at things. And in reality, Jeff is right. There’s no need to freak out about things that are beyond my control, and I just have to learn to take work one chunk at a time.
Rama also made a good point today: we work with some pretty cool people. There are attorneys out there working twice as many hours as myself, and having to deal with people who have no sense of humor. Our office environment is pretty relaxed, everyone gets along, and we have some good laughs. And that really does make all the difference in your work day.
Here’s something I’ve come to appreciate about L&A (aka, Los Borradores):
It’s pretty much a terrible picture of everyone (sorry!), but the point I wanted to make is this: we share lunch with each other! I don’t think I’ve worked at many places where everyone I work with is so open to sharing their food and their lunch time with each other. In the words of Napoleon Dynamite: “Yeah, it looks pretty sweet.” How sweet indeed!
So, Rama and I have decided to have a more “positive outlook” on things lately. Although we had to remind each other every now and then today (“positive outlook, alex, positive outlook”), it worked pretty well. I was much happier, and still accomplished quite a bit of work. I think I’ll try it out again tomorrow :)

Addictions!

14 Wednesday Apr 2010

Posted by in thoughts

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What is it??! What makes games like Spider Solitaire so freakin addicting?? I can clearly remember the good ole college days when Jenna would come into Billie and my dorm, and play game after game of solitaire. And then I would follow. Over and over again. New deal. New deal. New deal. New deal. New deal. You get the point. I rarely won. But I kept trying. New deal. New deal. Restart. New deal.

And then there was lawschool. Talk about an effective way to throw your money down the drain by zoning out professors. It was also a great way to take a study break. I can’t even imagine how many games Katie and I played on our laptops at Starbucks, Saxby’s, the Misison Viejo library, or any other place we tried to study at.
After I bought my mac, my addiction ceased temporarily because I didn’t figure out how to get spider solitaire on it. But now I have an iPhone…and it has a spider solitaire application…hmmmm.
I wonder if it boils down to human nature, and our desire to succeed. I can’t take failure for an answer when it comes to Spider Solitaire, yet I know I will fail most of the time. And when I succeed…I want to succeed again!
(editorial note: I googled “spider solitaire addiction” and wow, there were a ton of entries. So we’re not alone…)

Someone to Remember…

14 Wednesday Apr 2010

Posted by in thoughts

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So last week I had the opportunity to witness something pretty sad, and cool. I was at the courthouse in Riverside attending some hearings, and I called my uncle to see if he could meet up for lunch since he works in the area sometimes. He called me back and told me that he was actually working a funeral procession so he wouldn’t be able to make it, but he have me an intersection it would be driving by so I could see it, since it was going to be a really good procession. My thoughts: it’s a funeral procession, it’s just depressing…why would I want to go out of my way to see it? He mentioned there were going to be over 200 patrol units involved, since it was for a fallen soldier.
Let’s rewind a few hours: I was on my way TO the Riverside Courthouse, and I saw a billboard with the picture of a soldier, and the words: “Fallen but never forgotten.” I thought to myself, that’s pretty cool that they did that for him, not all soldiers get that recognition on the side of a major freeway.
Now it made sense. His funeral procession was going to be driving down this exact freeway in a few hours.
As you can probably tell by my initial thoughts on parking to see a funeral procession, I didn’t go out of my way to find the intersection and pull over. I wish I had. On the drive out of Riverside I started seeing people standing over all the bridges, holding signs, banners, and flags. And not just one or two people. I mean, large groups of people, over every freeway overpass, taking time out of their week. Wow.
Then I saw a few patrol motorcycles. Then a few more. Then a ton more. Then I saw it: hundreds of patrol vehicles, from cop cars, black and whites, all white, all black, ambulances, fire engines, private cars, what seemed like a motorcycle gang, etc. All driving on the 91, holding up traffic on both sides: eastbound because they had to stop for the procession, and westbound because of people who were trying to figure out what was going on. I was grateful at that point that I knew why they were there. I could appreciate the significance of this amazing display and rendering of honor to a fallen soldier. I was able to turn my radio off so I could take a moment of silence, knowing that it was because there was someone who had lost their life somewhere far away, away from his friends and his family. I honestly got a little teary eyed when I saw the people that were pulled over on the side of the road, in silence, holding American flags, waiting for the procession.
Regardless of my opinion of the war, I’m glad I was reminded of the humanity that is at stake. It’s so easy for me to forget that people are losing their lives everyday: I’m not personally affected by it, I don’t hear bombs, I don’t hear gunfire, I don’t see ruble, I don’t see blood. It was good to be reminded.
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