counting crowds

From an AP snippet quoted in the Omaha World Herald: "Journalists estimated there were about 20,000 protesters, but pro-Chávez lawmakers said there were far fewer." I've always wondered how people estimate crowds. Sentences like the one I've just quoted seem pretty common in newspaper articles involving crowds, and particularly about protest crowds, since, of course, the number of people attending is itself a political statement. A little web research reveals there's really no good way to estimate them. There are various methods, but none without significant detractors, or at least significant margins of error (e.g., 20%). The major problem seems to be density--there's no way to evaluate density accurately in all parts of the crowd (unless they're seated in an auditorium or stadium or similar arena). This article from the Seattle Times outlines the problem pretty well.

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doo doo dooby doo good thing

As many of you know, by winning National Public Radio's game show, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, you can get eminent voice Carl Kasell on your answering machine. Here are some of the ones he's done. (You have to play them on Realplayer, I think.) A lot of them are boring/stupid/probably annoying to listen to more than once. I am trying to think of what a good one would be. Maybe just having him say "Hi, this is Anne! please leave a message." or something simple.

Also, here's this weird coffee beer. As MH has pointed out, it might be hard to know when to drink it.



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mountains levelled

(This is mostly an excuse to use the webdings font.)
Mountain #1: the recycling in my laundry room. a
Mountain #2: thank you notes. a
Mountain #3: dirty dishes. a
Mountain #4: laundry. l
Mountain #5: the dining room table.a (mostly)

I'm slowly spanking this place into shape. My birthday provided a lot of inspiration, actually. Among the wondrous bounty I received are a painting, two framed photographs, and a big map plus I bought myself a birthday painting too. They need hanging, and it seems shameful to hang them in the box of clutter that is my house. I'm really truly attempting to clear out some of that silly detritus (a nod to MVA and the faraway days at 7 College Ave.) that I've been hauling and storing for years and years. I'll never be a minimalist, but I can try to avoid being trashist too. I'm too tired to think of what kind of ist that leaves me. Maybe a goodist?

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cherry

I made my first appearance ever "in front" of an Article 3* Judge today, this very day. For family reasons, my colleague was unexpectedly out of the office this morning, and, well, he had a hearing at 11:30 to terminate our client's grandparents' guardianship of her child. Attorney #23665 to the rescue! I appeared by telephone (hence the quotation marks around "in front") and sounded like the utter newbie I am, but I didn't screw it up and our client has regained custody of her child. (It would have been hard to screw it up--the other side agreed and did most of the talking.)

*An Article 3 judge is one provided for in Article 3 of the Constitution. Administrative law judges, such at those that adjudicate social security hearings, are not Article 3 judges. They are part of the executive branch, and besides, they have nowhere near the power and prestige, and they wear suits instead of robes (at least the one I've seen did).

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make this recipe as soon as you possibly can

No joke. You got to do it while there are still sugar pumpkins in the grocery stores (they're much smaller than the carving kind).

It's called Kaddo Bourani, it's Afghani, they serve it at my favorite restaurant in Boston, Helmand, and here's the recipe. The dish's got a pumpkin wedge base, with a cold mint-garlic yogurt sauce and a meat sauce. If you don't eat meat, make it with TVP. I've tried it both ways, and while the meat version is better, the TVP version is still amazing. You might add a little more oil, since the meat contributes part of the fat. The pumpkin prep takes quite a while, but it is really truly worth it. You could probably cut down on the sugar in the pumpkin a little, and I didn't happen to have a tomato when I made the TVP sauce the second time, so I used a red pepper and it was still delicious. I also had coriander seeds instead of ground coriander, so I ground some up with my mortar and pestle. I highly recommend doing this, if you have the seeds and M&P. It just takes a few seconds to grind and it smells heavenly. Oh, and I used olive oil and grapeseed oil instead of corn oil and that was fine too. I think the next time I make it I'm going to bake the pumpkins a little first so that they're easier to peel. And then freeze it so I can have it in the coming winter deeps.

Let me know if you make it.

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p.s. I ate mine too fast to take any pictures, so that picture is from the site with the recipe.

test

testing out that google reader sharer over there. hope it works out ok.
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on the russian caravan of a cold wet saturday

A long walk with Lulu on paths following the South Platte River, stippled with stops to pull the evil burrs from prancing feet, followed by:

A toot around town, garage saling (no spectactular finds, alas) and finally tasting the homemade cinnamon rolls from Skelly's Inn, complete with sign rather insistently reading "This establishment is a smoking area in its entirety." It makes one feel as if one is not only disobeying the rules by not smoking, but is utterly unwelcome as a nonsmoker. Venturing into the entirely smoking Skelly's for even 10 minutes to await my donut's cinnamoning seems to triple the mental and physical exertion required to stop there. Something about the smoke's complete permeation of an establishment engaged to feed people boggles me. Nevertheless, the homemade baked goods receive high praise, and in this town of little-to-no-homemade-baked-goods and in-general-less-than-stellar eating opportunities, I felt I must give them a go. I had tried to get my hot little hands on a Skelly's cinnamon roll twice before, only to find them sold out (the most believable kind of high praise). I now know that the homemade donuts are better--less goo overdo. Anyway, this toot, followed by:

Endless tea drinking, a long-overdue return to reading, and possibly a little sewing. No cleanings or sortings or puttings-away, if possible. If possible. And let this be the end of my computering for the day.

Ciao.

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"it's first and ten with 20 yards to go"

I went to my first high school football game in, oh, say, 13 years tonight. Unfortunately, the NP Bulldogs (or 'Dawgs, as they're more commonly called) spent a lot of their time with 20 yards to go, usually as a result of "illegal procedures" (a fine term that leaves much to the imagination). The Dawgs are now 4-4, while the Kearney Bearcats are now 8-0. I asked the friendly folks (unbelievably friendly--by the end, Mr. Folks asked me if I had gotten to know people in NP, and I made some vague reply, and he then asked if I had someone to call if my car wouldn't start, just to make sure I did) sitting in front of me if they knew what a bearcat was (I didn't). At first they were both like, yeah, it's like a bobcat--but then I asked if they had ever heard of one outside the context of Kearney sports, and both admitted not. But here it is, people, the fearsome bearcat:


You'd think this lil' beastie could hardly stand up to a 'Dawg. For comparison, here is a bulldog:



Well, not so, friends, not so. Turns out, that bearcat, she's a vicious fighter that can throw amazing passes, catch them, and tackle anything. Hats off to the Fightin' Bearcats' fightin' ways. (For good times, search google images for bulldog. In the photographs, the bulldogs all look pained, bemused, or sleepy. In the drawings, they all wear spiky collars and seem to be about to rip something to shreds.)

It was the last home game of the season, so I guess that's it for the Friday night lights. I might try to catch a volleyball game or a basketball game later in the season. Mr. and Mrs. Folks were fake-insulted when I innocently asked if NP had a basketball team (it wasn't mentioned on the program, which talked about lots of other teams). Anyway, it does. Go 'Dawgs.

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being

Why I like the North Platte Telegraph: a front-page article titled "School libraries being transformed" is continued on page 2 under the header "BEING, from page A1".

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news to me

Things I have learned in the past month:

• having one's hands/feet/jeans/chin licked is not as gross as it appears to people who have never had dogs.
• picking up poop in plastic bags swiftly becomes routine and also not as gross as it seems at first.
  
• those little burrs in grass this time of year that are merely annoying to people are vicious to dogs. they get caught everywhere, but most evilly between toes. I am considering making Lulu some felted knitted booties to protect her from the lurking burrs. I doubt she would tolerate them, however.
  
• dogs have toes.
  
• processed (don't know how) bull penises are the most preferred chewing implement (by Lulu at least).
• processed bull penises do not become less gross with familiarity. once chewed upon, they have a disgusting smell, pallor, wetness, stickyness, and texture.
• I have a growing, already-very-strong, loathing for irresponsible dog owners.
• it is very hard to tell when my clients are lying to me.
• I dislike suspecting that my clients are lying to me.
• an amazing number of poor people (in America even!) do not have phones.
• an amazing number of poor people somehow live on no income at all (or so they tell me, and they can't all be lying).
• Thus far, my limits are taxed more by my job's aspect of general life manager/problem-solver than by its truly legal aspects.

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lulu unleashed

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awkward

A few weeks ago, HDL, SWT and I had a conversation in which we all agreed that it was unusual for us to form the sort of chatty intimacy with baristas that some others seem to find routine. Not long afterward, I told them about how I seemed to have accidentally fallen into a relationship of exactly that type with the barista at the coffee shop I frequent. Part of the chattiness derives from the barista (we have not gotten as far as names) guessing what I want. This isn't a particularly difficult feat--I always get a latte, and with temperature the only variation. When it's hot outside, I get it iced; when cold, hot.

This morning I went drove through the drive through right before work--usually I go later in the afternoon. I was surprised to see two baristas--one whom I think is the owner, and the chatty one. I suppose they're probably busier in the morning. Anyway, after the owner barista took my order (a regular latte) and went to make it, Chatty McChattersons came by to take my money, and blithely commented, "Soooo, getting it hot this morning?" I just stared at him and said, "Excuse me?!" He repeated himself: "You getting it hot this morning?" It will probably seem exceedingly evident to all readers that this comment referred to the coffee. It did not seem so to me, and the only meaning I could ascertain, after frantically searching my brain for any other possibilities, was very, very dirty. Thinking to myself that although I did pick out quite a fine outfit this morning, such comments were nevertheless inexplicable, surprising, rather unprofessional, and quite beyond the level of the chattiness we'd already established. So all I could say was "What?!?" and look very confused. At this point I think he figured out what I'd thought he meant, and he also got very surprised and said, of course, "The latte. You want it hot?" And then I understood and started laughing like crazy and he said my mind was in the gutter. I had to agree. Perhaps it's best that I just maintain my cool distance with baristas in the future.

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BOGO

Mark Bent is sending one solar-charged flashlight to Ghana for every one bought through his website. (There are lots of other charities too.) The batteries have to be replaced only every two years. Here's the page for the one that's connected to Saboba's Hope in Northern Ghana. Props to G.S.T. for finding these.



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high time

The countdown is a little late out of the starting gate this year. Only 14 shopping days left till my 29th birthday. Let's get busy, people.

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naughty can be nice sometimes

That was my Dove chocolate fortune a couple days ago. Lulu is a little bit naughty. I probably (probably) wouldn't like her as much if she did what I told her all the time, so I suppose Dove chocolate is right. It also puts me in mind of Lulu's namesake, Lulu Frederici Cody, Buffalo Bill's wife. My brother named his dog after a park in Pittsburgh--I named mine (following my sister's suggestion) after the wife of North Platte's most famous citizen's wife. It sounds like she was rather naughty too--I guess there are rumors that she tried to poison ol' Bill. He probably deserved it. Seems she was also allegedly rather canny w/ the finances. You can read a little bit about her here.

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just another puppy on life

What do a dentist, an optometrist, a legal aid lawyer, a john deere dealership owner, his wife, his son, and his wife all have in common? they all got to sit with me at the NP chamber of commerce banquet tonight. Oh yes. That's right. And I managed to be underdressed, quite a feat here in the West. I heard about the latest in dentistry (laser anesthesia, tv screens on the ceiling (I suggested video games), and the most famous architect...in dentist architecture (what? you haven't heard of him? I had to say no.)). I heard about the ebb and flow of machine-buying, and about how people are buying machines in Texas and renting them out here at the relevant time of year. Migrant combines. I heard about many, many boring awards (Business Person of the Year) and Thank You Margoes, and We Couldn't Have Done it Without Yous, and waited out as much of a boring speech as I could (he didn't get started till two hours in). Now I know--I am not Chamber of Commerce Material.

In other news, not to brag or anything, but it seems Madam Lulu, aka Lady Sniffer, is literally too cute for her own good. There's an effusive neighbor that Lulu and I are going to have to try to avoid now. She gets the wee pupsicle so riled up that she forgets all she's learned about How to Take a Walk with Her Attorney. Today, post-extravagant-lovin-by-excitable-neighbor, Lulu waited till I was distracted by the poop-grass-bag extraction process, gave a great tug, and found herself free to roam the world. It was surprising for us both, I think.

Now we're going to surprising ourselves right to bed.

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BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

I bought a microwave today for a dollar at a garage sale. (I also got a beautiful quilt rack for $5 at another garage sale, but that's not what this post is about. I included a picture just for kicks though.) Anyhow, I can't remember the last time I owned a microwave. It might be never. Here are the ever-so-fascinating reasons why I decided to rejoin the world of nukers:

• It's probably more cost-effective and environmentally friendly to reheat food in two minutes rather than the half hour it usually takes in my toaster oven; and
  
• My gratification is more instant; and
• It was $1 (although I confess I was pricing them in Walmart and actually carried one around in my cart for a while there earlier this week); and
• It has the crucial "minute plus" function I love so much.

So pained visitors be assuaged! people who hate the thought of we microwaveless (you know who you are) be pacified. For now I nuke.

And although it does beeeeeeeeeep unpleasantly, it lessens my need for the chicken timer (found! by the way--hiding out in the spare bedroom for reasons she doesn't care to share), which, to be fair, has herself something of an unpleasant timbre.

And here are some gratuitous pictures of Lulu. They prove she has eyes.





and one fine tail. I like how feathery it is, although this picture does not do it justice.

Happy Saturday, all.

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dogbreath

Hi there. I haven't been blogging much lately mainly for doggy reasons. For several days I could not figure out how to merely be in my living room--either my dog friend was barking piteously at me from the kitchen or eating all the furniture and electrical cords in sight and peeing on the wood floors. Thanks to SWT, problem solved. The right kind of chewy combined with the removal of a Petmate Pet Porter from the bedroom to the living room were a dream come true. Happy, contained pup=happy, relaxed me. Also, Lulu is sweet and funny, but also naughty and exhausting, especially for poor-me-never-had-a-dog-before. She came from a farm to the "city", and I, from a completely human-centered world to dogland. We're both of us a little dazed, I think.

To be fair, she hasn't peed on the floor in three days--and I take about 95% of the responsibility for those incidents. We have a rhythm going now, though. And she can sit and heel and lie down on command when she feels like it, which is pretty amazing for a wee three-month-old, or so I in my ignorance believe.

One last doggy reason why I haven't posted much is because all I've been doing is work, dog-walking, and dog-shopping. I don't want this to become luludotdotdot, though I am sure she will have her proper place of honor. Work has been overwhelming--actually being a lawyer, giving people legal advice--is a complicated and intimidating business. Mostly my method is guess-and-check, as it always has been. Tra-la for the scientific method. So anyhow, the upshot is I've been quite tired every day, too tired to think up clever bits for my reading public. I'll try to get back on that horse. Now that I can actually sit in some measure of peace in my living room, there may be hope yet.

I got called a "shyster" for the first time a few days ago. Not that I minded in that instance, it wasn't meanly intended, but it is weird suddenly to be a member of a group that literally anyone feels comfortable denigrating, and directly to my face to boot. A shyster is, according to the merriam-webster online dictionary, "a person who is professionally unscrupulous especially in the practice of law or politics: PETTIFOGGER". A pettifogger is a "lawyer whose methods are petty, underhanded, or disreputable"; or "one given to quibbling over trifles." (same source.) Pretty harsh, especially considering I have barely had any time, as a newly minted lawyer, to be petty, underhanded, disreputable, unscrupulous, or quibbling. It's not all bad, though, I should say. I received a very kind "good for you!" from a random young woman I met in a coffee shop a few weeks ago, when I told her, rather embarrassedly, that I was an attorney. (I was embarrassed because I wasn't used to the title, not because such a thing is embarrassing.)

anyway, this might be boring and I'm tired (at 9:30). I'm out.
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LULU

LULU is my new friend! She is a golden doodle, although as you can see, she is more swarthy than golden. She is a second-generation golden doodle, which means that one of her parents is a standard poodle (her dad, by the name of Big Kid Rock) and her mother is a golden doodle (Ruby Rose). She is very sweet and soft and she lives with me and we are friends! We met yesterday at a farm in Colorado. This farm was ever-so-much more the middle of nowhere than North Platte. It is a couple hours from the interstate, on County Road KK, which is paved with dirt. There were actual tumbleweed crossing the highway, desert-y Rocky foothills, and a snake that truly slivered across the road like live mercury. The past day has been very exhausting for Lulu--I don't think she'd ever been in a car before (and she had to start out w/ a three-hour tour--and she barfed, although maybe it was b/c of the allegedly stomach-calming medicine her breeder gave her). I think this is also her first time in the house of a person, and she is getting pretty good at going up and down stairs. She doesn't like being on the leash very much but she's getting used to it. She's awake now, time to go outside.
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goals

If all goes as planned tomorrow, I will have a new friend. Maybe you will too. Keep yr eyes peeled.

Unrelatedly, I'm going to my first county bar association party tomorrow. I'm not the best at these see and be seen, greet and be greeted, schmooze and be schmoozed sorts of events. I hope to escape without being elected to anything.

I enjoy this photograph from the NYT. RIP Mr. Pavarotti, you juicy old man.


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