NINA FARINA

i deserve a gold sticker

for the "bring your sandwhich to work brigade" (of which I am one)
take your sandwhich
leave it in the bag/wrapping you kept it in
stick it under your laptop at work
in about 15 minutes you have hot pressed sandwhich goodness
makes me sooooo happy when the cheese is all melty over the ham

Reading the standard for summary judgment cases (summary judgment is a way to win cases before they get to trial) in the 11th Circuit (where I now live) for discrimination and hostile work environment claims and I am wondering....

Where the hell did I move to? Sheesh

Is it more violative to have to stick yourself in something or to have something stuck in you?

Yes that is a gross headline in context of what I am going to talk about but I wanted it to be gross because the topic is gross.

You see I am currently getting paid to co-author on article on Sexual Harassment in Schools (particularly issues with damages across circuits). Either way the fact patterns to the cases involve students harassing students, teachers harassing students (and I am talking about kids between grades 5-12 and in some cases younger) and sexual relationships between the above mentioned groups.

Here is the thing, when you read this stuff it just seems so much eekier when the high school teacher is sleeping with HIS ninth grade student, then when the high school teacher is sleeping with HER ninth grade student. Why is that? I mean on a really big level why is that? For the male students there are studies that show that the rigors of going through a trial are more psychologically damaging than the actual abuse itself. Plus with the recent string of hottie teachers sleeping with their students (and I mean female teachers) the general public comments are the equivelant of a verbal high five for whatever adolescent boy had the experience.

SO can anybody give a GOOD explanation for why the difference? I have some ideas but I wanna know what you think

Links

I thought I was going to only link to people I know personally but I decided to add links to people I wish I knew. Plus pretty soon I am going to start deleting links to friends who never post anyway. Write something fools!

I hate hate hate

wanting something. And this something is a particular job. Cross your fingers for me.

Nina can you write something? and other blippets

The hardest thing I ever had to write was the bio in the pamphlets we gave out at my uncle's funeral, and the poem to accompany the back. The hardest readding I have ever done was reading his eulogy. I made it through the whole thing without crying and basically collapsed in my pew when I was done.

Other notes: I don't get how some people can be so damn selfish

in the midst of all of this I passed the bar and I passed with a high enough score to waive into D.C. I haven't really celebrated celebrated between the good and bad I feel kinda numb.

Marco told me about a great tattoo cover up kit Macy's sells so I have a new piece on my ankle. It is a G-Clef, because my uncle loved music, intertwined with a red rose, because my mom loves red roses. My mom took care of my uncle his last days. And he died in her house.

I need coffee.

Monday

I will be at Bar 13 for Louder Mondays. I would love to have dinner with folks beforehand. Bar exam results come that day so I will either need drink chips to celebrate or drink chips to lament.

Dear Tio Juan,

Yesterday I went to the pet store. I had been pestering John about getting a cat but I realized we can't really afford it. I went to the pet store and I got a fantail goldfish. I decked out his bowl with really nice gravel and a real plant for oxygen. He seems rather happy. I named him tattoo. So now I have tattoos of fantail goldfish and a fantail goldfish named tattoo.

Last night John and I went to Gil's for our music open mic. I finally just completely let myself go with John's friends. I am not so self conscious with them anymore. I was dancing and singing and talking with everyone. I decided I really miss having a guitar and regret breaking mine out of anger. Like you, I can't play well but I enjoy it. And I really want one soon so my friend said he would lend me an acoustic. I spent the rest of the night drinking and dancing and singing some more (which made my throat hurt more cause I'm a little sick but who cares). When John and I came home I ran to the house to try to lock him out and I was laughing so hard that I couldn't even find the key.

Bar results come on Monday. I was a little anxious about it. Everyone knows why I stayed calm while studying for the test. What was a test compared with the fact that you were dying? I just couldn't be nervous about failing and I stayed calm through the whole thing. And now
you know the results before I do I guess.

I won't be nervous about getting the results because I will be with my family. We will be sending you off, you've already left but will be letting go. Placing your ashes in the east river and the ocean like you wanted. I'll always remember your face that last time you mouthed the words "I love you". I'll always remember that even in pain evern towards the end you could still make jokes. I'll always remember to take care of animals and to share whatever I have no matter how little. I'll always remember you and I'll always miss you and I know you are always with me.

tu sobrina,
Cristina

Randomly

Does anyone know anything about getting married at Coney Island? Or places on Coney Island where one (really two) could get married? If so please email me

Clearing Up the Credit ... Humpf (the humpf comes later, scroll if you wanna skip the credit advice)

Like most people I racked up a ton of credit card debt in college, not law school, college....okay and during my year off. By law school I knew how evil credit cards where/are and I stirred away from them but the damage was done. I had almost 10,000 in credit card debt and my interest rates were awful (one company actually had me at 25.99%!) I knew I had to get this down I didn't know how. So here is my advice for people with access to student loans. I know you techinically aren't supposed to do this, this is not legal advice, but this is what I did.

Before any of this pull your credit report. It is now free to pull your credit report once a year. My mom (who has been in banking for 25 years) says that you should pay the extra and pull it every six months to protect identity theft.

1. Take out an extra student loan to pay off your credit card debt. If you have lots of credit card debts and high revolving balances then you are almost certain to get better interest rate than you have on your credit cards.
***in case someone out of the norm is looking at this revolving balances are the balances you carry month to month. Also, if the amount you are carrying is almost as high as your available credit that is a bad thing on your credit score.
***You should also look at your credit card statements and know your interest rates. So many people do not know there rates. When they get offers they can't evaluate if it is a better offer.

2. Use your loan to pay off your debt in order by who has the higher interest rates. Once you pay off a card HIDE IT. Do not use it. Do not close the account. Having available credit that you DO NOT USE reflects well on your credit score. Hide it, don't use it, and make sure you check your statements ANYWAY to make sure no one else is using it and to make sure there are no finance charges.

3. A few months after you get down your credit card debt you will get offers for better credit card rates. Wait for one that has a really low interest and a no balance transfer fee and transfer your balances. Hide the credit cards again and don't use them.

4. Once you have fixed all of that use your cards responsibly. Keep low revolving balances. Having credit and using it responsibly looks great on your credit score and will help you get a house and a car.

Note:

a. You will never pay off your credit cards by paying the minimum payments....ever ever minimum payments are an evil trap.

b. This is the plan I used and my credit score has gone up over 80 points in a year.

c. I've done lots of research into this. My mother is an international banker and my father helps people finance their car purchases. I am not a debt consultant or financial consultant or anything like that. I am a regular person who has just done lots of research

So here is the HUMPF

A year ago I applied for my student loans and was VERY unexpectidly denied. I pulled my credit report and found that I was listed as in default on a payment to a Michael Marketing Group. I had no friggin clue who they were. It took a long time to track them down.

Apparently Michael Marketing Group is the WORST debt collection agency EVER. The debt was for a hospital stay. It was legitimate. By they NEVER called me and I never received any mail from them. After telling the man this and sending him the money (which I could have sent much earlier had they contacted me) I was told that he would completely erase it from my credit report.

So I was looking into buying a house (and decided against for other reasons I will probably write about tomorrow) and I pulled my credit report (and John's) and here is the Humpf. He didn't do what he said he would do, it was there on my credit report and it didn't even say I had paid it off. The account was listed as inactive (they hadn't sent anything to the credit agencies since last July). It wasn't adversely affecting my score but there it is.

I contested it in my report and have to call the man I spoke with (who shall remain nameless as I do not want to be sued for defamation) today. I have the letter he sent me a year ago (KEEP YOUR FINANCIAL RECORDS) and I want this off of my report completely. I hate when people say they are going to do something and don't do it.

Seeing as I thought this was expunged from my report I almost didn't put it on my bar membership application. John didn't think I should and it was a good thing I disagreed because if the Florida Bar pulled my report they would have seen it and I would have looked like a liar (not good for potential membership).

On an unrelated note John also has some mortgages on his report which are probably his parent's (since he and his dad have the same name). Pull your credit report (it's free) once a year at least, only good things will come of it.

Two Post for the Price of One (because thinking about how things are is pissing me off today)

OOh how good they are at pegging the little guy against the little guy

How do you rebuild an entire area of the nation quickly? You start drafting laws that would let construction workers get paid less than the prevailing wage. That way if construction unions don't want to build for so little you can blame how long things are taking on the unions. Then more Americans will hate unions, the unions will get less support, then we can finally do away with the small percentage of Americans who are in unions making it even easier for big business to stick it in the little guys ass. (sorry for the language but the whole idea pisses me off)

Why do we even LET women become attorneys?

I mean if we are going to chastize women lawyers for having all the traits that men lawyers have, traits that are supremely necessary for being a successful attorneys why do we let women become lawyers. For that matter why do we let women have any positions of authority. I've read so many gender discrimination cases where all the words that are used to cut down the woman are words that would be used to praise a man. I saw this great comic strip when I was in California where two male coworkers were "discussing" this woman who was "gunning for a promotion". The second panel was titled "In an alternate universe" and they were discussing a a man (with the same name just Mr. instead of Ms.) and praising him for his desire to advance.

I hate Hate HATE how my mom tells me (and every other woman I know that doesn't work for herself but is successful) that you just have to accept that people are gonna consider you a bitch. And just to make sure you are going to be nice in all other realms. You know, buy your employees flowers before you tell them they are doing a poor job. Bake your boss cookies before you ask for a raise. And you know what I DO bake people cookies I DO buy my loved ones flowers (quite often) that is just a part of my nature. But I hate the implication that I have to do it so people won't hate me.

And I have just decided that I am going to be me. If I want to cook for my coworkers I am gonna cook. I know I am not doing it to win brownie points, I just genuinely love to cook. And if I want to decorate with flowers so be it. I love flowers and fish and will have both in my office. And I will do whatever job I take how I feel I have to do it to be the best advocate for my clients (whoever they are) because otherwise I just wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror. And I have to look at myself a hell of a lot more often than other people have to look at me.

Clank clank clank clank clank clank

I'm jumping up and down in Winn Dixie like an old lady at a slot machine in vegas just praying the machine hits a hundred.... and it does it went over a hundred and the shit eatting grin on my face will last for a while.

I love coinstar machines because when you put your money in the change jar at the end of the day you don't really feel it. It doesn't really hurt to be without that 60 cents but then about every three months it's like you hit the jack pot.

The change jar was filling up for our weekend in New Orleans in the spring. Coinstar lets you donate to different charities via their machines so I guess our money got to New Orleans a little earlier and in a much different way than was expected. I'll be doing it again in three months.

Total our daily change ended up being $104.13 for the Red Cross.

p.s. This is amazing

will someone please send me a writing exercise
it doesn't have to be for a poem
i also write short stories, and descriptions (so i can use them one day when i start writing novels for children)

anyway i have been rather blocked when it comes to my creative writing and need a jump start or a kick in the ass whatever you prefer

either way give me a deadline too that way i have to write it

I tried saying something this morning, said it the wrong way, got checked and then took it down.
Fortunately my friend Noyam said it the right way (he is linked to the left). Below is one of his post where he says exactly what I've been thinking.

________________________________________

Just caught the end of tonight's NBC Nightly News. Brian Williams, conlcuding the show, says that a number of people have objected to NBC's use of the term "refugees" to refer to those people who have been displaced from their homes as a result of the destruction caused by Hurrican Katrina (and the way the situation was bungled and made worse by the Bush administration).

I was hoping, for just a split second, that Williams would say something like, "Well, you can stick your objection in your left ear," or some such recognition that people are retarded and have too much to think about now than to complain about the use of the term.

But no, NBC actually took them seriously. Brian Williams actually said, "so we will begin to call them 'evacuees' or 'survivors.'"

Now, "refugee" means "One who flees in search of refuge." I understand that nowadays it has a political connotation. But what is so bad about calling these people what they are? Are people objecting that, heaven forbid, Americans are called refugees? Because like it or not, it's true. Americans have been forced from their homes, fleeing a natural disaster. Perhaps these people are objecting because they don't want Americans called a term we use for Palestinians and other third world minorities. "We can't be refugees, we're Americans."

Whatever the motivation for it, xenophobic, racist or just plain stupid, it's stupid. Now, NBC is being PC, and using a term that is mostly accurate, but doesn't quite convey the true gravity of the situation. We should be using a term that calls to mind abject poverty and squalor. The living situation of the refugees from Katrina is no better, possibly worse, than those in Gaza. Why use a different word?

Cohabitation lessons 1-5

1. I am not completely losing my mind....at least not about this. For weeks I thought I was going nuts because I would take off my hair clip (of the claw type variety) and I swear I would put it down on the nightstand or in the bathroom but in the morning they just wouldn't be there. It drove me crazy that I would find them in places I KNEW I didn't put it but there they were and who can argue with that plan fact. So I just accepted that I couldn't remember where I put them. Then I started running out.... some just started dissapearing. Last night I noticed in the bedroom that John picked one of them up and was playing with it. The idiot (bless his heart) has been picking them up, playing with them AND THEN putting them down in other places without even noticing it. I should not leave nifty things lying about.

2. When it comes to clean-- men and women speak a different language. I am cluttered, I admit but things must be disinfected, the kitchen must be in a certain way and if I find mildew or mold I freak out. This seems to be a gender specific trait. Clean means two totally different things.

3. If he could I swear the boy would eat an entirely fried meal every day. keeping him alive will be an adventure

4. If my ass is showing in any way, shape or form it will get pinched or smacked or some other contact must be made with it.

5. Apparently making a bed is a really stupid activity

The message below is from the dean of Columbia Law School to Tulane law students. If you know anyone that this concerns, pass it on please.

We are deeply saddened by the tragedy that has hit New Orleans and Tulane
University and hope that this great city is restored as soon as possible.
We are able to offer some help to Tulane Law students by accepting five or
six 3Ls for the Autumn term. We will waive tuition for these students, and
some limited housing is available. Interested students should contact our
Admissions Office at 212-854-2674 as soon as possible.

David Schizer

I DID NOT WRITE THIS BUT YOU SHOULD READ IT

Body: Vacation is Over... an open letter from Michael Moore to George W. Bush Friday, September 2nd, 2005 Dear Mr. Bush: Any idea where all our helicopters are? It's Day 5 of Hurricane Katrina and thousands remain stranded in New Orleans and need to be airlifted. Where on earth could you have misplaced all our military choppers? Do you need help finding them? I once lost my car in a Sears parking lot. Man, was that a drag. Also, any idea where all our national guard soldiers are? We could really use them right now for the type of thing they signed up to do like helping with national disasters. How come they weren't there to begin with? Last Thursday I was in south Florida and sat outside while the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over my head. It was only a Category 1 then but it was pretty nasty. Eleven people died and, as of today, there were still homes without power. That night the weatherman said this storm was on its way to New Orleans. That was Thursday! Did anybody tell you? I know you didn't want to interrupt your vacation and I know how you don't like to get bad news. Plus, you had fundraisers to go to and mothers of dead soldiers to ignore and smear. You sure showed her! I especially like how, the day after the hurricane, instead of flying to Louisiana, you flew to San Diego to party with your business peeps. Don't let people criticize you for this -- after all, the hurricane was over and what the heck could you do, put your finger in the dike? And don't listen to those who, in the coming days, will reveal how you specifically reduced the Army Corps of Engineers' budget for New Orleans this summer for the third year in a row. You just tell them that even if you hadn't cut the money to fix those levees, there weren't going to be any Army engineers to fix them anyway because you had a much more important construction job for them -- BUILDING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ! On Day 3, when you finally left your vacation home, I have to say I was moved by how you had your Air Force One pilot descend from the clouds as you flew over New Orleans so you could catch a quick look of the disaster. Hey, I know you couldn't stop and grab a bullhorn and stand on some rubble and act like a commander in chief. Been there done that. There will be those who will try to politicize this tragedy and try to use it against you. Just have your people keep pointing that out. Respond to nothing. Even those pesky scientists who predicted this would happen because the water in the Gulf of Mexico is getting hotter and hotter making a storm like this inevitable. Ignore them and all their global warming Chicken Littles. There is nothing unusual about a hurricane that was so wide it would be like having one F-4 tornado that stretched from New York to Cleveland. No, Mr. Bush, you just stay the course. It's not your fault that 30 percent of New Orleans lives in poverty or that tens of thousands had no transportation to get out of town. C'mon, they're black! I mean, it's not like this happened to Kennebunkport. Can you imagine leaving white people on their roofs for five days? Don't make me laugh! Race has nothing -- NOTHING -- to do with this! You hang in there, Mr. Bush. Just try to find a few of our Army helicopters and send them there. Pretend the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are near Tikrit. Yours, Michael Moore MMFlint@aol.com www.MichaelMoore.com P.S. That annoying mother, Cindy Sheehan, is no longer at your ranch. She and dozens of other relatives of the Iraqi War dead are now driving across the country, stopping in many cities along the way. Maybe you can catch up with them before they get to DC on September 21st.

Football?

I don't have a driver's license. Most of it is political, part of it is fear and part of it is just lazy. I moved to the Florida Panhandle and now I have to get my license. My present to myself for getting my license was going to be a trip to New Orleans. I was going to drive down I-10 with John. This weekend when I called him from California he told me that we may not be able to go to New Orleans because it may not be there. I thought he was exaggerrating.

There are refugees from New Orleans in Tallahassee. Make no mistake they are refugees (I really hate how the media is calling them almost refugees or refugee like) they have no homes to return to, no jobs, and in some cases just the clothes on their back. And these are the people who could afford to leave early! I hate people who ask why others didn't evacuate. They couldn't! They had no money, no cars, greyhound isn't free and John tells me it stopped running Saturday anyway.

But that is not the best (worst part). There are hotels in Tallahassee that are telling the refugees that they have to leave Saturday because there is an FSU Football game on Monday. WTF! I mean Jesus...the people who do come here for the game at least have homes to return to. It BLOWS MY MIND that people can even THINK to tell refugees to leave for football fans. It blows my friggin mind.