Día de los Muertos

Happy Day of the Dead, everybody!

On November 1st and 2nd, Mexicans celebrate their dead relatives and friends. They gather in cemeteries and hang out there for hours, picnicking and reminiscing. They decorate home altars, prepare elaborate meals, make a special bread ("pan de muerto"), and make candies in skull shapes.

The holiday is derived from an Aztec celebration, but the Spanish later moved it to early November to coincide with the Christian holiday of All Saints Day. The modern celebration seems to draw heavily from Christian traditions, with lots of crosses and Blessed Virgin Mary imagery.

I think this is a cool tradition, though the skull-shaped stuff really creeps me out.

In hiding for Halloween

I live in a guesthouse behind someone's regular suburban house. My guesthouse sort of faces a street, but it doesn't look like an actual house--more like some weird garage or studio. I figured I wouldn't get any trick-or-treaters, so I didn't buy any candy.

Moments ago, I heard a bunch of people come up to my door. There was a knock at the door, two feet away from where I was sitting. I froze, trying to keep as quiet as possible. I heard voices:

Mom: No one's answering; maybe we should just go around the front.
Kid: No, there's someone in there!
Mom: No, no one's answering.
Kid: But if there's no one there, why is there a light on inside?
Mom: Come on, let's just go around to the front. I don't think this is really where they live.
Kid [yelling]: But why is there a peephole in that door if there's no one living there?! And there's a light on!

I thought that kid was going to break in. I almost wanted to open the door, congratulate him on his logical skills, and offer him a can of chick-peas or something. But I did not.

I am now having the scariest Halloween ever.

iSad

My iPod just started displaying this image. My own face looks much the same. The suggestions on the Apple website have not worked, so I am going to spend the evening on the internet looking for more advanced fixes. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

Wonderful Wednesdays, edition 3, one day late

More good things:
1. Fountain soda from the gas station. 32 ounces of ice-cold Diet Dr. Pepper for $0.79 is hard to beat.
2. H.E.B. Central Market brand Indian frozen dinners, especially Chana Masala. H.E.B. is our local supermarket, and "Central Market" is their Whole Foods-esque line of products. Indian food seems to do pretty well in the freezing-reheating process.
3. Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. They're a band. They're good.
4. Corner Gas reruns on cable. I was first introduced to this Canadian sitcom by Squishy Burrito, and it I loved it. Now I can watch it every day. If the information I give the Nielsen people has as much impact as I think it will, there will soon be several episodes of Corner Gas on every day.
5. Pre-washed spinach in bags (non-E.coli type). Healthy and easy.

Stephen Colbert and the religious blogosphere

I came across this blog yesterday: The WORD: A Colbert Blog for Catholic It-Getters. It basically collects and discusses Stephen Colbert's references to his Catholicism on the Colbert Report. For those who don't know, Stephen Colbert is a practicing Catholic who teaches Sunday School and raises his kids Catholic. He talks about it in an interview with Teri Gross here.

Here is an awesome YouTube clip of Colbert singing (and dancing to) one of my favorite hymns from childhood. I also recommend this clip of the Colbert Report.

Some exploration of the links from The WORD revealed a couple of things:
1. Catholic bloggers LOVE that Stephen Colbert is Catholic. I sort of do too. I think there's a real lack of cool, smart, funny, and sincerely religious role models in the media, especially for the sort of people who enjoy things like the Colbert Report.

2. The Catholic blogosphere is very lame. As I looked for Catholic blogs, I saw page after page doing nothing but rehashing the same issue--can you be pro-choice and Catholic? Yes you can! No you can't! Boring. In my travels in the religious internet, I also came across the quite amazing and large Mormon blogosphere, a.k.a. the Bloggernacle (I especially liked By Common Consent, the first one I saw). I have no idea about the religious value or accuracy of the material on the Mormon sites, but they appear to contain the kind of thoughtful and diverse commentary on issues theological, historical, and social that I wish existed for Catholics.

I have so much power.

Moments ago, I was offered, and accepted, an opportunity to become a part of the Nielsen Ratings System by recording my TV viewing habits for a certain period of time.

Finally, the American people will have the benefit of my near-perfect taste in television. You are so lucky! And I am going mad with power right now.

Breakfast Tacos

You know how, in a most offices and institutions, if there's a breakfast event, people will bring bagels, doughnuts, or pastries? When I was planning to move to San Antonio, someone from here told me that here, people will bring breakfast tacos instead. I was skeptical--that is, until my boss showed up one day my second week with a big bag of breakfast tacos. This happens about once a week.

Also, just about every other restaurant here is Mexican, and just about every Mexican place (and some non-Mexican places) sell breakfast tacos. A breakfast taco is basically a (usually) freshly made soft flour tortilla, usually with two of the following: eggs, chorizo, potato, bacon, cheese, or beans. They can be pretty tasty.

According to this article in the Denver Post, San Antonio is the birthplace of the breakfast taco.

Aunt Panda

My (and Warm Fuzzy's) little brother's wife had a baby yesterday, making us aunts! I am excited.

Wonderful Wednesdays, edition 2

More things I like:
1. Dual computer monitors. We just got these at work. Westlaw on one screen, memo on the other. It doesn't get any better than that, people.
2. Rice cookers. I didn't bring my rice cooker with me to Texas. I discovered I couldn't live without one, so I bought a $9.99 version at Walgreens. Perfect rice every time, with no judgment calls. If you are cooking your rice in a pot to save $9.99, you are a sucker.
3. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. There's been a crime. You have the guy who did it. You know he did it. He may even admit that he did it. But we let him go anyway! What an amazing dedication to principle.
4. Suburban running tracks.
I have taken up running again. I do this about once a year. This time, I'm running on a track at the local junior high. It is wonderful! It's easy on my feet and safe after dark--I ran tonight after 8 pm without a single worry of being mugged. The suburbs are growing on me.









5. Altoids. They are curiously strong.

Chain restaurant!

A Panera Bread (a.k.a. St. Louis Bread Company) just opened near my house. On my way to work, in fact. I am extremely happy about this. Being fairly alone and perpetually lost in a new town, it is very comforting to walk into a place that looks exactly like the place I spent many happy (and some unhappy) hours surfing the internet, reading newspapers, and studying for the bar exam. Plus, San Antonio has a bizarre dearth of free wireless internet in any places where you'd actually want to go and surf the internet. (My Chinese restaurant has wireless internet, as does the local Denny's-style diner place--who gets out their laptop places like that? It's bizarre.)


I do feel a tiny bit guilty about this--I typically try to patronize independent, locally owned businesses. I like supporting things that are a little different, to help slow our society's inevitable progress toward becoming a nation of identical strip malls with no local differences other than the content of the maps and street guides they sell at Barnes & Noble and the Shell Station.

But at least the profits on my $0.89 bagels are going to St. Louis and benefiting what will be my local economy in the future, so that's something. I just wish Panera had kept the name "St. Louis Bread Company" for its national expansion--my hometown could use some positive publicity.

Things I like

Below is a list of some stuff I like. Maybe I will make this a regular feature--"Wonderful Wednesday"? If I'm in a bad mood, it can always turn into "Whiny Wednesday." Anyway, here it is:

• Lint rollers. If you haven't used these, they're like giant rolls of masking tape, with the sticky side out. They're essential if you have a pet or tend to dress in black.

• The book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. It's the true story of a bright and educated young man who went, alone and ill-prepared, into the Alaskan wilderness and eventually died of starvation. The book does a fascinating job of exploring the mystery of what motivated the young man.
  
• Vanilla Wafers. Simple perfection in cookie form. The best are the Nabisco ones, a.k.a. "Nilla Wafers." Under no circumstances should you try to save money by getting the store brand.
  
• The Reach Access dental flosser. The greatest advance in dentistry to occur in my lifetime.
  
• The song "If You're Into It" by Flight of the Conchords. It has been in my head nearly constantly for the past two months. The premise is that a guy is writing a song for his new girlfriend about how he'd do anything for her--climb the highest mountain, etc. When his friend points out that he wouldn't actually be willing to do any of that stuff, he writes a more realistic song about the things he would be willing to do, like hanging out.
  

Inauthentic

People frequently praise particular ethnic restaurants as "authentic" and criticize others as "Americanized." I used to do this. No more. I have made an uncomfortable discovery: I often prefer the Americanized, inauthentic versions of cuisines to the authentic ones.

I've always suspected that I'd feel this way about Asian cuisines. Although I've probably never had truly authentic Japanese, Chinese, or Thai food, I would bet any amount of money that I would prefer Chicken Teriyaki, Beef with Broccoli, and Phad Thai over what I would actually be served in those countries. I always thought that was just because of my aversion to seafood and to animal parts not commonly eaten in the U.S.

But lately, I've been going to the authentic Mexican restaurants here (which use, at least in many dishes, ingredients I'm fine with), and I don't love them as much as I'm supposed to. They're good, but to be honest, I prefer mission-style burritos (think Chipotle) and taco salads to their enchiladas and tacos. The authentic Mexican dishes I've had are a little too meat-heavy for my taste, they tend not to have enough vegetables, and they favor corn tortillas instead of my preferred flour tortillas. But I am made to feel bad about my desire for burritos, which the Hispanic people in my office dismiss as "white people food." I don't see why I should feel bad.

Don't get me wrong-- I still think there is a benefit to authenticity. Just as I would enjoy visiting Tokyo once or twice to see how people live there, I would enjoy going to an authentic Japanese restaurant once or twice to see how people in Japan eat. But just as I would not want to live on a daily basis the way that people in Tokyo live, I don't want to eat on a weekly basis the way people in Japan eat. Bring on the burritos.

Veladoras

These tall religious candles are EVERYWHERE in San Antonio. There are big walls of them at the grocery store, at Wal-Mart, wherever. They come with different saints on them (though mostly Mary), and they only cost $1-$2. Their low cost and wide availability suggest that a lot of people use them and that they go through them frequently.

I really like them. I bought one of the Virgin of Guadalupe. I haven't found anything online about their history or use, but I'm curious.

My new home

As most of you know, I've just moved to San Antonio, Texas for a temporary year-long job. I'm starting to settle in.

Good things:
1. The low cost of living.
2. The abundant and delicious Mexican food.
3. My totally awesome furnished guesthouse, which has more space and nicer stuff than I have ever had/will have in the foreseeable future. Let me tell you that I will NOT be living without a washer and dryer inside my apartment ever again.
4. The Riverwalk downtown-a long walkway one level below street level that goes along the San Antonio River and has shops and restaurants.
5. The presence of a giant, pointless monument in the middle of the city (the Tower of the Americas, pictured above). I refuse to live in any city that doesn't have one.

Bad things:
1. The street system. Why are all the businesses on one-way access roads on either side of the interstate? Why does everyone expect you to get on the interstate to drive to the grocery store that's a mile away? Why are there no through east-west roads for 2 miles in any direction from my house?
2. The lack of coffeeshops with free wi-fi. Fortunately, a Panera is opening up nearby soon.
3. The bugs. All the apartment complexes I looked at advertised their pest control services. I have found dead bugs in my house. Grocery stores have entire aisles labelled "Insecticide." Yuck.

Reflections on moving

Things that have gone up in my estimation during my recent move:
-The Magic Eraser cleaning tool (it is amazing)
-SMALL moving boxes
-Brown paper packing tape, because you can tear it by hand
-Housecleaners (they did in 2 hours what I could not have done in 20, and thanks to them I'm getting back a security deposit worth 8 times what I paid them)

Things that have gone down in my estimation:
-Book purchases (I am going to make friends with the library system in my new city)
-Poorly thought-out clothing purchases (I discovered clothes that I never even took the tags off of)
-Furniture of any kind
-Large moving boxes
-Refrigerator magnets (they can leave marks on a bumpy white fridge; see also Magic Eraser, supra)

Also: I'm never buying anything nonconsumable ever again.

What's in my backpack

I'm going to another state for an apartment-hunting trip this afternoon, and I just packed my backpack to take on the flight. It's the same backpack I brought back from my trip to take the bar exam yesterday.

What I took OUT of the backpack:
-A book of Multistate Essay Exam problems
-A book of Missouri Essay Exam prblems
-The Missouri Bar/Bri lecture notes
-The book of practice Multistate Performance Tests
-Hundreds upon hundreds of flashcards containing phrases like "fee simple subject to condition subsequent" and "30 days after the trial court rules on the last timely filed authorized post-trial motion"


What I put INTO the backpack:
-The new Harry Potter book
-My iPod

It's a good day.

Happy bar exam week, everyone!

I just wanted to wish all the bar applicants in my readership luck with the exam. The people of Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, New York, and Pennsylvania will be lucky to have us licensed to represent them.

LALALALA-I CAN'T HEAR YOU!

So, I'm not going to be able to read the new Harry Potter book until after the bar exam is over--a full 5 days after the book comes out. I am not sure how I'm going to make it through those five days without hearing how it ended. Specifically, I am concerned about hearing whether Harry dies or not.

Any thoughts on how likely it is that I'll be able to do this? Any suggestions? I'm thinking noise-cancelling headphones and a t-shirt that says, front and back, "Don't tell me how Harry Potter ends!"

"(C) is incorrect for several reasons."

This is becoming a sentence I read far too often. Contracts law, why do you still elude me?

Big Love

The new season of Big Love has begun on HBO, and I could not be more excited. As most of you probably know, Big Love is a show about a family of suburban polygamists.

I should note, as many people do when discussing this show, that the LDS Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church) does not condone the practice of polygamy, and these people are not Mormons. Some of them call themselves "Fundamentalist Mormons," a designation the LDS Church does not approve of. By the way, no one who watched the show could possibly come away from it thinking that the LDS Church approves of polygamy.

The show is great as a show, and I recommend it for the fascinating explorations of the wives' reasons for getting into polygamy and their reactions to the challenges it poses (which are many--intra-family jealousies, fear of exposure of their illegal lifestyle, disapproval from neighbors and relatives, psychotic relatives from the nearby polygamist cult, etc.).

But I also use the show as a jumping-off point for thinking about polygamy more generally. Is it a legitimate lifestyle choice? Is it inherently sexist or abusive? How many people really practice it in the suburbs rather than in some isolated compound? Would a sane woman ever choose it freely? How should it be treated by the law? How many of its problems are caused by its marginalization? Is it sustainable, what with all those extra men?

Some interesting links:

Here's an article about a real-life family of suburban polygamists. (link fixed now, I think)

Here's an interview with another former plural wife (and pro-polygamy activist) who still believes in the practice.

Here's a blog by a former plural wife who still believes in the practice.

Here's an interview with a writer who says she went undercover in a polygamist compound to research a book. (Some have questioned her credibility, so take it with a grain of salt.)

Go here to find the Television Without Pity thread for discussing polygamy in the context of the show.

The Salt Lake City Tribute has a plural marriage blog and a polygamy section.

Tapestry against Polygamy is probably the best-known anti-polygamy organization. Many of members are refugees from polygamous upringingings, and they REALLY hate polygamy. They're also critical the LDS church for not doing enough to stop polygamy in Utah.

Principle Voices is the best-known pro-polygamy organization.