Anti-Fitness Postman?

I walked out to our mailbox today to grab the mail. We now have one of those actual mailboxes with a little red flag on it, unlike the narrow slit-top mailbox we had in the city. There's plenty of space inside it, thus I was surprised to find this:

My poor Runners World magazine.

Looks like a rabid animal went to town.

What do you think? Is my mail carrier anti-fitness? Didn't like the pink and orange outfit the model was wearing? Or just having a bad day?

So sad. Now I have to figure out how to actually read my magazine...since when I opened it a few torn-off corners were even tucked inside. Or, for you conspiracy theorists, maybe Barbri is conspiring to eliminate all of my distractions...

Whatever the case may be, thank you USPS for making my day a little more "interesting".

Finding food.

One of the aspects of living in Carson that I've been very pessimistic about it the food scene. Probably because if the food scene in Washington D.C. disappointed me, I know the food scene in Carson would be virtually non-existent. When I talk about food scene, I mean variety (i.e. diversity of genres and flavors), non-chain (though I eat at chains a good amount, I would prefer not to), and fresh, quality, tasty food.

I haven't explored too much, but nothing has really tickled my fancy, except for the fact that I have an In N Out Burger joint five minutes from my house now (so much better than Five Guys!!). There are, however, a surprising number of Asian restaurants here in town. But I'm very suspicious of Asian food in places where not too many Asians live -- the Asian population in Carson is about 2%, or about 1000 people out of 50,000. We tried one Vietnamese restaurant, called Pho Country, and it was decent. Not terrible, not terribly exciting either. But then again, I only ordered pho and that's not too difficult to make decently.

Mr. TPG's boss mentioned that there are a lot of sushi joints here in town. I'm on the hunt because this girl loves sushi, but the reviews on Yelp do not excite me very much. First off, and I apologize to my non-Asian readers including my dear Mr. TPG, but I take reviews of Asian food by non-Asians -- particularly non-Asians who grew up either (1) not eating a lot of good Asian food or (2) in a place without good Asian food -- with a grain of salt. This is because the flavors that most non-Asians like in their "Asian" food is not authentic. I prefer the authentic when I go to an Asian restaurant. If I don't want authentic, I go to Panda Express. Don't get me wrong, I eat at Panda Express probably as much as the typical American kid, much to the pity of my fellow Chinese people, but when I go to a local Asian restaurant I want real Asian flavors.

I'm probably never going to be satisfied unless I live in San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, or somewhere in Asia. But I can live with something decent. However, if you're putting slices of lemon on top of your sushi, I can tell you already that I probably will not be liking your restaurant. Fresh sushi melts in your mouth and doesn't really need anything to flavor it. I'm serious. The best sushi I've ever had didn't even need a dip in soy sauce. It was amazing. It was also in Japan. Hah. But lemon on things that shouldn't have lemon on them indicates that you are probably trying to mask a less-than-fresh fish taste.

Anyhow. I can rant forever about the way many sushi restaurants are (1) ruining true sushi by totally catering to American taste (seriously, the rolls are out of control) and (2) taking advantage of how "hip" sushi is by charging an arm and a leg for poor quality food. Call me a food snob, but from the way it looks -- though I'm hoping to be proven wrong -- I will be reserving all my food cravings for my trips back to the Bay Area.

Road to trail.

I'm somewhat of a runner. Definitely an amateur, but I've squeezed in a couple of half-marathons, shorter road races, and the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler over the past few years. Moving out to Carson I had two running concerns:

(1) I am out of shape. Period. Between early April and early June I ran only once. This was after running about four days a week between January and April, and my body has just fallen apart.

(2) I haven't really run at altitude. Carson is at about 4600 feet above sea level. I could just imagine passing out from lack of oxygen when trying to run up here.

This week we've been having gorgeous weather in Carson, so instead of hitting the gym today, Mr. TPG suggested we check out the trails behind our neighborhood. I was game. So we set off down the road. Soon we reached a park where there were some trailheads leading up into the hills. It was definitely high desert terrain: loose sand trails with rocks and brush along the sides of the trail. I almost couldn't make it up the first hill, lagging behind my long-legged husband. But when we reached the top we had a good pace running along the ridge, and it was simply beautiful -- the sun shining over the Carson Valley and mountains rising in the distance. It made me appreciate the struggle to get up the hill. We looped back down and made it home, recording a little over four miles.

Trail running is hard. Harder than road running. But the views and the sense of accomplishment are decent compensation for the extra strain on the muscles. Hopefully the next one will be easier on both my legs and lungs though!

My future running goal? The 2012 Lake Tahoe Half Marathon. Anyone want to join me?

The grind.

For the past two weeks, I haven't been able to keep track of what day of the week it is. That's because every day is pretty much the same. Wake up, eat breakfast, take Mr. TPG to work, go home, make coffee, study for six or seven hours, go to the gym, pick Mr. TPG up from work, make dinner, eat dinner, study for three or four more hours, go to sleep. Wake up, and repeat. The bar exam is a real big kink in my plan to enjoy post-law school life!

Okay, okay, I confess - sometimes I watch a little hulu in between all the madness. I think it helps that most of "my" shows are off for the summer, but So You Think You Can Dance is definitely a summer distraction. There are some amazing dancers on this year. Absolutely incredible.

I was even inspired to try to find a dance studio here in Carson. The last dance class I took was an Afro-Brazilian class in San Francisco at the ODC studios and it was awesome. But alas, no dance studio in Carson. No cupcakes in Carson. Only a few bad-reviewed hair salons in Carson. No real clothing stores in Carson. What's a girl to do?

Oh yes, study for the bar exam. D'oh. Back to the grind, whatever day of the week it may be...

For laughs.

Sometimes I get stir crazy while studying all day alone in our house. Our neighborhood is ridiculously quiet. Bar exam studying is ridiculously intense. And so sometimes I just need a good laugh.

This video was featured on the SFGate website, with a note that the lead guy graduated from my high school (albeit some years before me). I watched it four times yesterday and still find it witty and amusing.

Note: language might not be appropriate for your kids.

Somehow, he managed to get "kombucha" and "quinoa" into his rhymes. And he's making fun of the yuppy city-folk who live and die by Whole Foods (I have an "I <3 Veggies" bag too...). Love it.

Honest neighbors.

This morning I woke up wanting to go to the gym. I worked out with a trainer on Thursday (love the freebies when joining a new gym) and he shredded my ab muscles. My masochistic side wanted more.

But this entry is about what happened on the way out of the house. Mr. TPG and I opened the door leading into our garage and stopped in our tracks. The garage door was wide open. Whoops, I guess I forgot to close it after we got home last night, Mr. TPG admitted sheepishly. We've been having conversations all week about my "obsession" to make sure doors are locked at night and windows are shut, versus Mr. TPG's claims about how we live in such a safe neighborhood.

Growing up in the city -- a relatively urban city with significant crime -- I just don't take chances. I had the radio stolen from my car multiple times growing up. I knew people who got mugged, and knew people who committed muggings (another different story). You can ask me sometime about all the little safety habits I've developed. Some of them sound pretty crazy, but when you read about the crime from my home city/region, it makes sense!

But back to our open garage. I instinctively felt exposed and started examining our stuff. The garage was left open pretty much since yesterday around 5:00pm. Not only is our car in there, but so is all of our (expensive) backpacking gear that hasn't yet been dusted off and stored, Mr. TPG's tools, our brand-new lawn mower, and even some of our furniture that we haven't moved in yet.

And not a single thing was taken or disturbed.

It boggles my mind.

Add that to another mind-blowing "this place is safe" feature I noticed this week: at my gym, most people hang their car keys on a peg board on the back wall of the gym while they work out. I'm not kidding. There's a couple boards with like 25 sets of car keys hanging on it. Obviously there hasn't been a problem with theft since people still do it. It seriously boggles my mind after growing up in a place where you would be careful about setting something valuable down while you sit/stand beside it lest some hoodlum run by and grab it, let alone leave it unattended while you wander off.

Mind. Boggled.

Sometime I feel like Dorothy (Wizard of Oz) when she said "we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto"...and then I realize, I'm probably more in Kansas than in the 'hood back home.

We salute you, President Lincoln.

So between the intense bar exam studying (can you tell by my last post that it's a mental struggle to keep at it?), I've been reading the local news at Carson Now to try to stay informed about my new home city. When we got stuck in crazy traffic on the main road yesterday, I learned it was from a somewhat suspicious (or just freak) accident.

But something this morning caught my eye -- the Carson City Rendezvous, happening this weekend!

This is reportedly the area's largest special event, and boy does it promise to be a good one. There will be a reenactment of the inauguration of President Lincoln (whose second inaugural address is moving and appears on the wall of the Lincoln Memorial in D.C.), gunfighter shows, and western performers. And don't forget the mountain men encampment!

If that doesn't tickle your fancy, here is how the Carson Now describes it: The event is where the authentic and re-enactment collide, whether it’s the lingering smell of gunpowder after musket battle demonstrations, the boom of Civil War-era cannons or the taste of beans and bacon cooked in cast-iron dutch ovens over an open fire.

Fantastic. I might have to free myself from these bar exam study books and go check out the Wild West.

In parting, I leave you with the powerful closing words of our sixteenth president:

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan -- to do all which may achieve and cherish, a just and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."
- Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1865, Second Inaugural Address

Death by a thousand practice questions.

Okay, I haven't done a thousand practice questions (yet), but I do feel like I'm experiencing a slow death.

Bar exam studying is painful. It's way worse that law school itself. Reviewing all the pertinent material from an entire semester-long course in three days is like trying to make your brain explode by stuffing it with too much. Now repeat that three-day cycle again, and again, and again...

...slow death. Or maybe two months is quick?

Taxation WITH representation.

Goodbye, Taxation Without Representation:

In DC, even our license plates are political.

Hello, Silver State:

In NV, it's all mountains!

There was no line at the DMV this morning, even though I showed up a few minutes past 8:00am and then had to go around the corner to get my VIN inspection done. As I chatted with my friendly clerk about her kids and life in Carson as she handled all the paperwork, the gentleman at the next window commented, "it's busy in here today, I had to wait a minute for a window!" Vastly different than the D.C. DMV, where you go about 20 minutes before the DMV opens to sit in a line that gets about 25-30 people long by the time they open the doors. Zero wait, friendly customer service -- I'm all about it. And the moving checklist is almost finished.

Christmas, or at least snow, in June.

After dropping Mr. TPG off at work this morning, I heard the announcement on the radio: Snow tires or chains required on I-80 near Donner Pass... (not to mention on Hwy 395 at South Carson City, which is where I'm sitting in our cozy house right now).

You've got to be kidding me - it's June! It's supposed to be warm. Maybe not D.C. warm (I still have sweaty nightmares about last year's endless hot and humid summer), but at least not snowing.

I don't even know what I did with my snow chains from when I used to drive up here to the Sierras to go snowboarding. Guess I'd better dig them out. Even though it's summer. SUMMER!

The Bar.

No, not the fun kind of bar where you meet up with friends, grab a cold brew, and mingle (for those who are single), but the bar exam.

I've finally buckled down and have been checking off boxes on my study program schedule. And after two days on the "normal" pace (instead of the taking-it-easy pace while I unpack and set up our new house), I must say that I'm uncertain whether my motivation will last for the next seven weeks.

Seven weeks. That is all I have until the bar exam. Just typing that causes a bit of panic inside.

Some bar exam humor, from courtoons.net

There may not be too many interesting blog posts during the coming weeks, unless it involves me freaking out in the cyber world...

Wish me luck, I need it!

Spam.

Having a mom from Hawaii, I love Spam. I didn't even know it was weird to eat it until I was much older. Spam sandwiches, spam musubi (yes, I have the mold to shape it!), spam fried rice...delicious.

But I HATE electronic spam, particularly text messages to my cell phone, and especially since I'm on the Do-Not-Call Registry. Anytime I receive a spam text message, I fight the urge to call them back with a string of inappropriate words. At least I have a text message package and don't pay for each one I receive. If that were the case, I would probably lose out to my emotions and say a lot of not nice things to the person on the other end of the phone.

I received such a message today. I'm actually studying for the bar exam today (pat on the back) and expected it to be a friend, sending a commiserative text about how far we're behind schedule. Thus, the interrupting "ding" annoyed me even more. No, I do not want a "hassle-free 2 minute loan form for up to $1500, without a credit check" -- particularly because (1) who would take a loan out via text message or website, except for an ignorant unsuspecting soul that you're trying to take advantage of, and (2) only loan sharks with muscle or scammers, who I wouldn't trust with a penny...nor wouldn't want to be indebted to, wouldn't take steps (i.e. a credit check) to secure their loan to you/investment.

Since I try to exercise restraint of my rage when it comes to spam text messages, I also gleefully report the sender to the FCC. I strongly encourage all of you to do so as well. Let's fight off these spammers, whose products/services usually take advantage of the unsuspecting public!

FCC information link

FCC complaint link

Or if we're not bearing arms or bad words, let's at least make these spammer's lives more difficult, since they are breaking the law (in addition to causing us annoyance).

For the birds.

I am no bird fan. Birds scare me more than large cats (think lions). It could be because I can close my eyes and still see scenes from The Birds (Alfred Hitchcock) that my older brother made me watch when I was little. Something about their claws and beaks scare me, no matter how little the bird is.

About a week after I met Mr. TPG for the first time, we were both sent to the same conference in South Africa. As we explored the conference center grounds, we walked through a field with tall grass on both sides of us. This is where our stories diverge. I remember birds started squawking, then suddenly starting swooping down towards our heads -- without actually attacking -- as if to send a warning. I squeezed up next to Mr. TPG (his head was closer to those swooping beaks, so they would get him first) before taking off in a sprint away from those fields, where the birds were probably nesting. Mr. TPG remembers a peaceful stroll, some birds, and me completely freaking out. I guess we will never know what the birds truly intended.

But since we moved to Carson, I've been noticing a small bird with yellow features all around town. I'm not a bird watcher (I shudder at the thought...again, they scare me) but from the safety of my car those birds look pretty sweet.

I'm thinking they could be one of three things:

1. Yellow Warbler

2. Yellow-breasted Chat

3. Common Yellowthroat

I guess I'll have to try to snap a picture, or ask someone local what they are. And then, I will avoid getting too close!

The Career Associate.

The New York Times recently published an article (At Well-Paying Law Firms, a Low-Paid Corner) about law firm hiring in this depleted economy and a new type of lawyer position called "career associates" or "permanent associates". I think it's an interesting concept, particularly because I think first-year associates at big law firms are some of the most overpaid workers in the United States. Not that making $160k a year right out of law school sounds terrible -- financial security is important to me too -- but $160k a year is quite a sum for someone who probably does not know how to "lawyer" yet.

As a very recent graduate who worked in a big law firm ("Big Law" for those who speak the language) prior to law school, I never thought that the first-year salary matched the talent the firm was paying for. Instead, it's pretty obvious that the inflated salary is a bet on that associate, in hopes that the associate will eventually pull in business and be a lucrative investment. However, I think the salary does a disservice to the firm's clients and business environment itself. It increases billing rates, which clients cannot be happy about. It also generates self-entitled attorneys.

I've given thought to returning to a big law firm following school, and even interviewed with a few -- though all were a long shot in this economy. I've always wished there was an opportunity to work in a high-caliber law firm with quality colleagues and mentors, but trade in a chunk of the salary for a better work-life balance and no pressure to stay on the partner track. I will be carefully watching this new type of associate that some firms are setting up. Right now they aren't in ideal locations -- Orrick's career associates are based in Wheeling, West Virginia -- but it would pique my interest if there were these types of opportunities in a location where Mr. TPG could also find work. Something to think about in the (perhaps not so distant) future.

Bear country.

Well, that's a first.

These two sheets were tucked in with our new resident trash pick-up information:

"Living with bears in Nevada"

Not exactly the kind of warning you would receive in the city, unless these bears were taking cans and bottles from your trash for the redemption value.

My favorite: "5. DO NOT leave a window (screened or not) open with freshly baked goods or other foods on the kitchen counter. Remember if bears can smell it, they will try to get it."

Baked goods? Bears also have a sweet tooth? You learn something new every day...

The Omnivore's Dilemma.

I probably should not be starting "fun" reading yet, since I'm supposed to be studying for the bar exam, but we stopped by Borders on Monday to pick up a book for me before our reading adventure at the beach.

This is what I chose:

The Omnivore's Dilemma

Has anyone read it? When I saw it on the shelf, I remembered my sister-in-law (and inspiration for healthy and local eating) mentioned good things about it.

An excerpt for today, from Chapter One:

The great edifice of variety and choice that is an American supermarket turns out to rest on a remarkably narrow biological foundation comprised of a tiny group of plants that is dominated by a single species: Zea mays, the giant tropical grass most Americans know as corn.

Corn is what feeds the steer that becomes the steak. Corn feeds the chicken and the pig, the turkey and the lamb, the catfish and the tilapia and, increasingly, even the salmon, a carnivore by nature that the fish farmers are reengineering to tolerate corn. The eggs are made of corn. The milk and cheese and yogurt, which once came from dairy cows that grazed on grass, now typically come from Holsteins that spend their working lives indoors tethered to machines, eating corn.

Corn, apparently it's what we're made of.

Morning commute.

It takes me about 11 minutes from pulling out of my driveway to dropping Mr. TPG off at his office.

This was what I saw on my way home (grainy picture, but I think you get the idea!) -- wonderful snow-capped mountains providing a backdrop to the drive.

South Carson Street.

I'll have to post a picture of when we come over one of the hills to our house. It's even more amazing.