So, Where Ya From?

For the most part, everyone has their team allegiances. And for most people, the allegiance was formed based upon where they live, or because one or both of their parents is a diehard fan of a team, even if they don’t live in that city anymore. What really got me thinking about all that was a conversation I had with a friend about the NBA. She was told by someone that she is now a fan of a team because she lives in that city and then the added bonus to her new fandom is that she has gone to several games. Is that really the standard of fandom? Like “oh I grew up in a city that has all four of the major sports leagues and am a casual fan of the NBA team there, but because I live in City X now, and enjoy live entertainment, I am now a fan of City X team.” Ummm… what? Hell no! That’s not how this shit works! Like at all!!!   I admit I don’t have an NBA team and that I have never been to an NBA game in my life. It’s usually something that throws people off about me, and is a great...

I. Love. Baseball. A baseball stadium is my happy place. I love to get there early, when the gates open, and watch batting practice. I enjoy going to games with friends and family, but I spent at least a season going to games alone, and I enjoy the peace of watching the on-field strategy of the managers, of the pitchers on the mound, the batting order, when and when not to shift, when to pinch hit or pinch run, and so on, and so on. Hell, baseball is the reason I even like sports at all since it was the first sport to capture my heart and soul.  My dad started to take me to games when I was really little. His trick to get me to love the game was that he never forced me to stay at a game. If I wanted to leave, we would get up from our seats, leave Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and walk back to the car that was parked in the garage past the clock tower. As a kid, it was a far walk, and once I wouldn’t wander into the street, my dad stopped carrying me back after I asked to leave ...

I have a quarantine routine. I take my car for an afternoon drive every Tuesday. I enjoy turning up the music, opening the sunroof (weather permitting), and just driving around. Before the state I am in issued its version of a Stay-at-Home, I had filled my tank with gas. So, with only taking my car for a drive once a week, I haven’t needed to fill’er up yet. But, as I was just driving around aimlessly, I got to a stop light, stopped, looked around, and saw a gas station sign with giant electronic numbers saying $1.88/gallon. Now, I’m not quite old enough to fully remember when there was cheap gas but I do remember the major fluctuation in prices between tourist and off season. In 2020, seeing gas prices well under $3 is really shocking. Now I know it is tied to the COVID-19 pandemic and less of a demand for the product but it is still really really shocking to see a sign with a price under $2 for gas.   I mean like, less demand makes a whole lot of sense! I went f...

Recently, I was on the phone with a friend of mine and we were just shootin the shit and our convo took a fun turn and we were like “okay, if you could describe your personality using three television characters, who would you choose?” I honestly can’t remember if this was part of a game like Answer the Internet, and one of us was reading off of a card, or if it was just random chit chat but I immediately had my answer. I was like “oh that’s easy! Blair Waldorf, Caroline Forbes, and Jenny MacArthur.” My friend knew the first two but didn’t know the third. Once I explained who Jenny MacArthur was, she was like “actually those three are actually accurate.” It also made me ponder the similarities and differences between those characters and why I resonated with all three enough to throw them down as my personality as told by tv characters. Which then got me thinking about how diverse my tv viewing choices really are. Like, I always get a kick out of the “continue watching” and “sug...

My mother is a saint. She genuinely is a kind and generous human being and I’m very proud to be her kid. While most people are looking out for numero uno right now, my mom has been thinking about others and how to help them. Her actions range from getting gift cards from local restaurants and sending them to her friends, to use now on takeout/delivery or later when we are all allowed to eat in them again (and I know it’s not lost on her that in doing this she helps to make sure the restaurants are getting some money now so that they can be open when we are all allowed out and about), to putting together food bags out of her own pantry for homeless people with sandwiches, fresh fruit, and snacks (just like the lunches she would make for me when I was in school). She doesn’t do any of this for recognition and would probably be so embarrassed that I typed out anything out about it. I can even hear her now going, “NO!! Don't do that! Don’t post about me!!” and “well, if you do...

I am allergic to freshly cut grass. And some other things… but I can’t avoid grass like I can avoid a Black-Eyed Susan. As I am sitting here typing this, I can hear a lawnmower somewhere close to my house and soon I will start to sneeze and cough because I refuse to close my window on a nice 52-degree day. It is incredibly inconvenient for me normally, but now people will think my stupid allergy is going to kill them. I don’t leave my house often… if I do it is for a walk around the neighborhood, I use a mask to cover my face and am fairly good at avoiding people. If I do see another human, I make sure I stay more than 6-10 feet away from them. Now, I can only imagine me walking by a house where someone decided to break out the lawnmower to break up the monotony of their day stuck inside and then will just give me the death glare as I start to hack up a lung and sneezing my brain out. It’s not my fault the pandemic decided to happen during springtime when nature decides to com...

Last night was the series finale of Hawaii Five-0, a show I have watched for the last ten (10) years of my life. I know it was a reboot and I have seen the original but it doesn’t change the fact that I had that moment when I realized, “holy shit! I have been watching this for ten years?” Then the thought “what was I even doing 10 years ago when this premiered?” And finally, “so much has changed since I started watching this show.” The reboot premiered on September 20, 2010. I was a freshman in college. The series ended on April 3, 2020. I am a lawyer. So much has happened in between those two dates, on the show and in real life. It also doesn't feel like it's been a decade. But through that decade Hawaii Five-0 has been there. Not many of my friends watched the show but my dad did (we have very similar taste in movies and tv shows). Yea, I’m sad the show has ended. My dad even remembers being sad when it ended the first time around. People would say to us (separately...

I am a huge breakfast for dinner person. Which then made me think how I would much rather have cold pasta for breakfast than what society considers breakfast foods. And then it made me think, who and/or when did we decide that cereal, eggs (however you like them cooked), waffles, and pancakes, bacon, and sausage were a morning thing? Somehow, we snuck in potatoes for breakfast as hash browns or home fries and the Brits sneak in some beans. Yes, a “traditional breakfast” will vary by culture and a “traditional brunch” has a different meaning in the Deep South and the North East, but there are still enough commonalities where society has deemed certain foods as “breakfast” and has deemed it unacceptable to eat those foods at any other time of the day, except for maybe at brunch. The same could be said for lunch, with things like sandwiches (lunch meat) and paninis, but there isn’t as much of a well this is a lunch thing only like there is with breakfast or dinner. There are some peo...

Social distancing is an introvert’s dream and extroverts just can’t understand. Like I get it but I don’t get why people keep asking me how I’m doing stuck inside... Then there’s the flip side of how I can’t relate to why some people are ready to claw their eyes out because they are “stuck” in their apartments and houses. Now I get it from the logical sense of extroverts need to be around people and that being inside for days and weeks is the opposite of that but I just can’t relate on a personal level. I know which friends I need to check in on and I try (keyword here is try) to empathize with them but know I need to just listen to them and not really give advice since they just don’t get my side of it either. But oh well, eventually we will all look back at this and be like “holy shit! Do you remember when…” So back to me and how I’m doing. To be honest, I’m doing kinda great. I’m thriving. I am getting projects done I’ve been wanting to do but putting off, I’ve been cooking and...

Multiple states have made the decision to postpone the July 2020 Bar Exam to sometime in the fall. As someone who has graduated law school and taken and passed the bar exam, I do not agree with the idea of allowing this year’s graduates to be granted “Emergency Diploma Privilege” as some people are asking for. Here is a link to those people. While I understand that it is frustrating and that it will delay potential job prospects for people beyond the quarantine and normal timeline of the bar exam, lawyers are not doctors. It is very unfortunate that those graduating law school will not really be able to practice as lawyers until January/February but there are other positions within the legal field that exist and are a legitimate option until becoming licensed. I understand allowing for doctors graduating to immediately enter the workforce as there is a medical reason for them to since we are in this global pandemic. They aren’t going to allow someone to go straight from med s...