Love these

When X was maybe 3 or 4 months old, we started calling him our little dinosaur from time to time because he made dinosaur type noises. Now his room is dinosaur themed (as in, we've painted it bright green and put up a few dinosaur prints-- real over the top, you know). Anyhow, he sort of says "dog" or "dad"-- sometimes. And it's not totally clear that he's saying it intentionally. But, he does say "RAWR!" when he points at the dinosaur prints in his room. And sometimes he'll say it when I ask him "What do dinosaurs say?" or "Are you a dinosaur?" So, "RAWR!"-- I can say is among his first words with absolute certainty. So stinkin' cute. (And very useful right? Because telling the grown ups what dinosaurs say is a really useful thing to communicate...? Guess we should have been working  harder on "eat" or  "mama" or something. Oh well.)

So, that's the story behind why I think these are so great. We might have to put up one or several in X's room. So cute that I thought I'd share.

The Real Story on that McDonalds Coffee Lawsuit...

I thought this was interesting. At least, it made me think a bit differently of the supposed frivolous lawsuit. I mean, yeah, coffee is hot-- but so hot-- 180 degrees!?-- that your burns require skin grafts, and McDonalds hadn't done anything after 700 similar cases? I dunno McDonalds... I think now I'd say you had it coming and the plaintiff only actually got less than $650,000. Which I imagine may have covered her medical bills and not much else-- I'm guessing skin grafts and 2 hospitalizations are not cheap.

Sometimes Law School Homework is Fun

Law school homework is almost all reading judge's rulings and then figuring out how it relates to other judge's rulings in order to come up with some principal of how the law is supposed to work. Which is interesting to me, although sometimes tedious. So the textbook authors nicely throw in the more interesting/bizarre cases and opinions when it will still get the point across. This is the best so far... it's really funny, so I know it's not everyone's thing, but trust me, it's really worth the read. I even deleted the parts that weren't necessary to get the jokes from the judge to make it easier for you. 

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REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA, Plaintiff,
v.
PHILIP MORRIS COMPANIES, INC., Defendant.
United States District Court, Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division. March 1, 1999.

ORDER OF TRANSFER

Plaintiff, the Republic of Bolivia, brings this action to recover from numerous tobacco companies various health care costs it allegedly incurred in treating illnesses its residents suffered as a result of tobacco use.... For the following reasons, the Court exercises its authority and discretion to TRANSFER this case to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

This is one of at least six similar actions brought by foreign governments in various courts throughout the United States. The governments of Guatemala, Panama, Nicaragua, Thailand, Venezuela, and Bolivia have filed suit in the geographically diverse locales of Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida, in both state and federal courts. Why none of these countries seems to have a court system their own governments have confidence in is a mystery to this Court. 

Moreover, given the tremendous number of United States jurisdictions encompassing fascinating and exotic places, the Court can hardly imagine why the Republic of Bolivia elected to file suit in the veritable hinterlands of Brazoria County, Texas. The Court seriously doubts whether Brazoria County has ever seen a live Bolivian ... even on the Discovery Channel. 

Though only here by removal,  this humble Court by the sea is certainly flattered by what must be the worldwide renown of rural Texas courts for dispensing justice with unparalleled fairness and alacrity, apparently in common discussion even on the mountain peaks of Bolivia.

Still, the Court would be remiss in accepting an obligation for which it truly does not have the necessary resources. Only one judge presides in the Galveston Division-which currently has before it over seven hundred cases and annual civil filings exceeding such number-and that judge is presently burdened with a significant personal situation which diminishes its ability to always give the attention it would like to all of its daunting docket obligations, despite genuinely heroic efforts to do so.

And, while Galveston is indeed an international seaport, the capacity of this Court to address the complex and sophisticated issues of international law and foreign relations presented by this case is dwarfed by that of its esteemed colleagues in the District of Columbia who deftly address such awesome tasks as a matter of course.

Indeed, this Court, while doing its very best to address the more prosaic matters routinely before it, cannot think of a Bench better versed and more capable of handling precisely this type of case, which requires a high level of expertise in international matters. In fact, proceedings brought by the Republic of Guatemala are currently well underway in that Court in a related action, and there is a request now before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to transfer to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia all six tobacco actions brought by foreign governments, ostensibly for consolidated treatment. Such a Bench, well-populated with genuinely renowned intellects, can certainly better bear and share the burden of multidistrict litigation than this single judge division, where the judge moves his lips when he reads....

Regardless of, and having nothing to do with, the outcome of Defendants request for transfer and consolidation, it is the Court's opinion that the District of Columbia, located in this Nation's capital, is a much more logical venue for the parties and witnesses in this action because, among other things, Plaintiff has an embassy in Washington, D.C., and thus a physical presence and governmental representatives there, whereas there isn't even a Bolivian restaurant anywhere near here. Although the jurisdiction of this Court boasts no similar foreign offices, a somewhat dated globe is within its possession. While the Court does not therefrom profess to understand all of the political subtleties of the geographical transmogrifications ongoing in Eastern Europe, the Court is virtually certain that Bolivia is not within the four counties over which this Court presides, even though the words Bolivia and Brazoria are a lot alike and caused some real, initial confusion until the Court conferred with its law clerks. Thus, it is readily apparent, even from an outdated globe such as that possessed by this Court, that Bolivia, a hemisphere away, ain't in south-central Texas, and that, at the very least, the District of Columbia is a more appropriate venue (though Bolivia isn't located there either).

Furthermore, as this Judicial District bears no significant relationship to any of the matters at issue, and the judge of this Court simply loves cigars, the Plaintiff can be expected to suffer neither harm nor prejudice by a transfer to Washington, D.C., a Bench better able to rise to the smoky challenges presented by this case, despite the alleged and historic presence there of countless smoke-filled rooms. 

Consequently, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1404(a), for the convenience of parties and witnesses, and in the interest of justice, this case is hereby TRANSFERRED to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

X's nursery

We're finally making headway on X's room. We still need to put in a new light fixture, put in a new baseboard heater, buy & put up black out roman shades, paint the baseboard trim white, figure out where to hang his crucifix & baptism candle, & maybe paint a corner with magnet paint/put up some fun textures on the walls... And maybe some more things to make it feel dinosaur-y... But besides those things, it's done. Ha. So here's the start.

In case you were wondering what would happen if Jim Hensen was a dog breeder

Why dogs are unreliable house cleaners

Juniper has made an excellent helper since she came into our lives. She helps keep the floors clean. She helps keep the baby clean. She helps keep the high chair clean. If there's food somewhere it isn't supposed to be, she's quick to volunteer to dispose of the mess.

Except this. I made a huge mess in the kitchen by dropping a smoothie, and she was entirely uninterested in the smoothie clean up. She wanted nothing to do with it. I told her she was fired. She asked when dinner would be served and started licking herself.

Life Changers

My mom has been sending out a couple of emails to my sisters and I about food and what's healthy, what's not. Which got me thinking about some books I've read that were life changers and go with the emails she has been sending, so I thought I'd give a little book review here. Maybe my sisters and mom will appreciate the review?

In Defense of Food: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Michael Pollan followed up the very good but very thick Omnivore's Dilemma with this book, and that phrase is what his eating philosophy boils down to. It's not about dieting. It's about eating real food-- not chemicals from a lab, but things grown or raised in a field. Not because other foods are full of nasty things that have unknown impacts on our bodies, (and you'd probably steer clear of if you actually knew what it was and where it came from), but also it's better for the environment. That's "eat food". The rest is probably easier to figure out, so I won't explain what is meant by "Not too much. Mostly plants." Anyway, this book has changed how I make decisions about what food to buy, how I cook, and how I understand American agriculture and our food culture. It's an easy read (quicker than Omnivore's Dilemma!) and it just seemed to make sense, for the health of both for humans and the planet. I take it (like all diet advice) with a healthy dose of skepticism, but the great thing about his approach is that it's just common sense.

I've seen this beautiful edition of Food Rules at Anthropologie, but I'm sure it's elsewhere, too. It's full of gorgeous illustrations; even though I have an older edition, I've been tempted to buy this one because it's so pretty.

Food Rules: A common complaint after reading In Defense if Food is "great, I know all this background information on why I should change my eating habits, but I don't get how to make it work in practice." Enter Food Rules. Here, Pollan explains how to put his approach to food into practice with fairly easy to follow rules. For example, here are some rules:

• "Treat treats as treats"
• "Shop the outer perimeter of the supermarket"
• "Eat whatever you like, as long as you make it from scratch, at home."
• "Don't buy anything your mother/grandmother wouldn't recognize (such as GoGurt)"
• "Don't buy anything with an ingredient you can't picture in your pantry" (xanthum gum, anyone?)
• "Don't buy anything with more than 5 ingredients." 
• "Eat all your meals at a table-- not at your desk or your couch or..." (I'm bad at following this one.)

There are exceptions to the rules, and of course it's hard to follow the rules 100% of the time, but this book made it so simple to put what I read in In Defense of Food into practice. I read this 18+ months ago and I am still grocery shopping, eating, and making food related decisions with this book as a guide. I'm not saying I keep it with me and refer to it while I'm strolling the aisles at Safeway, but it made enough of an impact that I still mentally flip through the rules as I decide what to put in my shopping cart.

And a non-food book: The Happiness Project. This too is a life changer. We read this in my book club, and at first I was hesitant. "Really? A self-help book?" (It is not a self-help book, actually. And if it were, it would be awesome. The book club ladies do not choose bad books.) This is a woman's memoir from spending a year doing things that have been proven to actually make you happier. In the end, she distills her advice to things you can do that really do make you a happier person, and nothing in it is rocket science. Clearing clutter, getting enough sleep (and improving the sleep you're getting), being true to yourself-- all are things that just make you a happier person, it turns out. Some of these things are to help manage stress, some help you stay more organized, some make you a better spouse or parent or friend, but all in all, it adds up to an increase in happiness.

I have to mention that the one phrase she mentions relating to parenthood that resonates the most is this:

"The days are long, but the years are short." (Click the link to watch a video on it.) Countless times over the last 9 months, I've said this to myself as I've gotten out of bed to take care of Xavier in the middle of the night. Yes, I am so exhausted at the end of every long day-- and by the way, they all are long days, when I'm home during the day with X, and going to school at night-- but someday, if I'm lucky, I will look back at this time and marvel at how quickly it passed and how valuable these days of raising my son were. When I remember this phrase, everything changes and the challenges of parenthood on that particular day don't seem as big or important. My perspective changes. The days are long, but the years are short.

Since reading The Happiness Project, I've been following her blog, which has lots of tips that just make life, well, happier.  My stress level has gone through the roof with starting law school, and it's hard to find energy to do the things she recommends in her book and her blog, but the truth is, I'm happier when I do. It's worth it. Because the days are long but the years are short.

So there you have it, 3 life changing books I've read in the last 2 years. Have you read them? If you haven't, you should!