This is where you will find me

This is the last post at this website.

Introducing Being a Jackal.

See you on the other side.

I may be moving...again

I've been eyeing Wordpress and I'm pretty sure it's time to make the move. It has more functionality than blogger, but doesn't appear to have the pain in the ass elements of Movable Type.

The biggest selling point is that it appears I can import my old Movable Type entries and my Blogger entries into Wordpress without having to cut and paste individually. This is a huge deal to me because I still have a gazillion entries to move over from Movable Type.

So there you have it. My excuses and justifications. Keep your eye out for directions to my new home.

Busy Work

Hassle of the Day: The weather today sucks. It's rainy and windy - windy is the part that sucks. I don't mind rain and I don't mind snow, but add wind into the mix and I begin minding.

This morning I had an interview for a job I'd really like to get. I felt good about the interview overall. As always, there are other candidates for the position so time will tell.

After the interview I headed for my home office and took care of some junk that's been piling up. The pile is mostly nit-picky quick items that I've been putting off with my usual flare for procrastination. I still have a massive backlog of personal paperwork to sort through, trash, and file. I pretty much stopped trying to control my mess during the third year of law school and there is an abandoned desk in the spare bedroom piled high with what I assume will mostly be trash (as in it sat for so long it is now moot).

Christmas shopping conundrums are beginning to bother me. I'm stumped for gifts for quite a few people. I may have to take a day and just wander around a mall looking for inspiration.

Led Zeppelin Groupie

While doing some Christmas decorating today, I threw in my newly purchased DVD of The Song Remains the Same. I'm going to date myself by confessing that I viewed this film at numerous midnight movies in my teenage years. The soundtrack album was also my first Led Zeppelin purchase.

I remember when the eagerly anticipated album In Through The Out Door was finally released. (Yes, I'm ancient.) I was busily rehearsing my pitch to my parents for permission to see them live at their first U.S. Tour in years. I was beyond crushed to hear the tragic news that John Bonham died. Not only was this a huge hit for a lunatic Led Zeppelin fan, but it forever squashed my chances of ever seeing Led Zeppelin in concert.

As a teenager I had a massive crush on Jimmy Page. While watching the film again, I realized I still do as in day-um Jimmy Page. I once got into a prolonged argument with some twit over whether or not Jimmy Page is the greatest guitar player of all time. I still want to throttle the guy. Imbecile.

Just to underscore my point:

Overnight Mash-Update

The past 24 hours are very newsy:

The state bar has finally assigned my bar number. I'm officially an attorney. Watch out world.

I assembled our brand new fully lit, hinged Christmas tree all by myself.

We had our first snow.

Sallie Mae sent me my first loan statement. I sent Sallie Mae my first deferment request.

All four dogs had a bath.

Proof of first snow:

In a Holiday Mood

I'm going to break my very brief tradition and post the Random Dog Photo right here up front. This is Smudge.


Smudge is a 3-month old Papillon puppy who has taken over my parent's household. Smudge also took over J and I during Thanksgiving - that's J's arm in the photo. We fought over who got to play with puppy on an ongoing basis.

I've redecorated for the holidays. The template comes from Pyzam.com. The post area is a little skinny for my taste, but hey, moochers can't be choosers! The chances of my sitting down to code a new template are pretty much nil.

On the way out of town I got a call scheduling an interview for a position I really want. I'm keeping the contract/sole practice on the down low for a couple of weeks to see if the interview results in a job. Job with benefits definitely trumps self-employed, broke sole practitioner!

My newly consolidated federal loans come due soon and they will promptly be placed in deferment. Sound familiar to any new J.D. graduates?

My Purse Has A Warranty

My very last gift to myself for passing the bar was a Dooney & Burke handbag. I'm not kidding about the warranty. Can I afford a purse that has a warranty? Not particularly.

Which brings me to the real subject of this post. Job hunting is not going well which isn't a surprise in the Northwest market (especially since I want to stay put where I live). While I continue job hunting, I'm going solo. To make this enterprise possible, I'm going to start up at home. Future contract work with a small firm has been lined up. As soon as I get my mythical bar number in the mail, I can start marketing myself for both contract work and private clients. My background is in civil litigation with a focus on family law. Since family law is what I know best, that is what I'm going to practice.

Right now I'm open to either getting a permanent job with someone else being responsible for keeping the lights on or settling into a solo practice. Beginning after Thanskgiving I'm going to start doing all the stuff I really don't like much such as attending organization lunches, going to events and networking, networking. Blech! As severely uncomfortable as self-promotion may be, it won't be nearly as painful as bar preparation.

For now I'm using a mail center for an address and I just hooked up VOIP for my fax and home office line. Who knows, maybe I'll decide I love being a solo. If so, I'll be in the market for an office share arrangement in the future.

And finally a big Shout Out to Shelley of The Menagerie who kindly responded to my frantic email seeking advice. Go check out her blog and her cute Peaches.

Interior Decorating

I love people who design xml blog templates and then post them on the web for me to use for free. Although I have a link credit in my sidebar, I should call attention to the designer of this lovely new template located here.

I gotta go reserve my spot in bed before a wiener dog is given my space. Bulleted info dump:

• I have a new desk for my future home office. woot!
• If you like different hip-hop/rap with great lyrics and produced by the always-wonderful Trent Reznor check out Saul Williams' latest release. You can download a low quality version for free or get it in the format of your choice for only five bucks! Trust me it's awesome and it is here.
  
• I have a new pre-lit fake Christmas tree. I love it. No needles on the floor and no lights to hang. I just unhinge the perfect tree and hang my pretties.
• I have a hair appointment to get my "natural blonde" touched up and to plot either a brief grow-out or a new cut.
• I have a manicure/pedicure schedule just a couple of days before my swearing-in. I'm going to be glam in a suit.

That's it for now. This creature may be invading my personal bed space right now. Must go defend territory.