Thursday, November 26, 2009

Happy Turkey Day, Turkeys

L to R: Karen, Mark, Dave, Rod, Jenn, Nick, Nicole, Carry
Not pictured: Mark, Laura & Kaylee (dog)
Turkey Dogs: Thor, Bailey, Banjo

It isn’t every day that 10 people decide it’s a good idea to go hiking in the rain. Turkey day traditions are important, though, so several hearty souls gathered for a walk. This year we went on a tour of Cougar Mountain. One wrong turn (we were talking too much) didn’t phase us. It did cause us to lose two people about a 1/3 of the way into the hike. (Not to worry; we found them about an hour later.)

Our tour provided 3 waterfalls, one 100-year-old baseball field, and an old mine. How are we going to top that next year?!

Mark and Karen cleared a clogged water bar in the hopes that the water would run off the trail, not on the trail. Nice work!

Studying the information about Cougar’s mining history

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Is it hard to be vegan?

While we haven’t made any big announcements, people are starting to catch on that Nick and I eat a nearly vegan diet. When I explain what we eat (nutrient-dense foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans, whole grains, and nuts/seeds) we’re often confronted with the same question: “Is it hard?” We also hear that people admire how we eat, but don’t think they could ever do it themselves.

The answer to the first question is complicated. Eating a nutritarian diet at home is relatively straight-forward because you control what you cook. There are so many wonderful fruits and vegetables, that after nine months of eating this way we’ve yet to become bored with our choices.

My biggest challenge has been overcoming addictions to one or two foods that I don’t want to eat. Cheese tastes so darn good! But it is one of the worst substances (I’m not going to call it food) you could choose to eat, because it is made almost entirely of saturated fat (linked to heart disease) and animal protein (linked to cancer and osteoporosis, among other things). Instead of beating myself up about wanting to eat it, though, I limit my consumption to once a week, and then only a tiny amount as a garnish. Maybe someday it will simply become unappealing.

Eating a nutritarian diet away from home is more complicated. If I’m eating at a friend or relative’s house, I don’t feel it is polite to turn down food that someone has worked hard to prepare. I always volunteer to bring vegetable dishes and have found that many people almost always appreciate this. Often people really like to eat vegetables, but don’t like preparing them. I sample small portions of the foods that are not vegan, and try to focus what I eat on things that are compatible with my way of eating.

Eating at restaurants can be more difficult. I’m headed to Le Pichet tonight for dinner, for example. A quick look at their menu and you’ll see there isn’t one vegetarian entree, let alone a vegan one. Restaurants are getting better with their salads, though, and there is usually one awesome looking one that the chef can make into an entree-sized meal. Tonight I’ll probably ask the server if I can get a super-sized version of their salad with white runner beans, apples, dandelion greens and a cider-chestnut vinaigrette (on the side). I could choose to let my diet choices go for the night. I’ve tried this approach in the past and found it doesn’t serve me very well. The meal admittedly tastes wonderful, but I feel just horrible about a half-hour afterward. I wake up in a fog the next day and can’t seem to find any physical or mental energy without resorting to caffeine.

For those that don’t think they could ever do it, I’d like to offer you a five-day menu to try it out. You can do anything for five days, right? If you try this menu, let me know how it goes. Did you like the food? How did your body feel as you detoxed? What was challenging? What came easily?

Monday
Breakfast: Pumpkin-Spice Oatmeal and orange juice
Lunch: Apple Edamame Salad, bowl of tomato soup, and a roll
Snack: piece of fruit and a handful of raw nuts
Dinner: Pepita pasta with spinach and dried cranberries

Tuesday
Breakfast: Green smoothie (Combine 3/4 cup of juice and two big handfuls of spinach in a blender and blend until well combined. Add 1 banana, 1 pear, a handful of frozen berries, and 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed. Blend and serve.)
Lunch: Quinoa Pilaf Salad and a piece of fruit
Snack: veggies and hummus
Dinner: Clouds in the Sunset (aka Roasted Butternut and Cauliflower Soup), roll, roasted green beans

Wednesday
Breakfast: Quick Banana Breakfast to Go (one banana, chopped + 1 cup blueberries + 2 tablespoons walnuts chopped + 1/4 cup rolled oats + 1/3 cup cranberry or pomegranate juice)
Lunch: leftover soup from yesterday + green salad (lettuce with leftover green beans, chopped almonds, white beans, and cherry tomatoes topped with balsamic vinegar and a dash of olive oil) + a piece of fruit
Snack: Fruit & raw nuts
Dinner: Creamy red pepper polenta with roasted mushrooms

Thursday
Breakfast: leftover pumpkin oatmeal
Lunch: Mixed green salad (something light to tide you over until Thanksgiving dinner)
Dinner: Is it possible to enjoy a vegan Thanksgiving? Here are three menu suggestions:
Recipe Collection 1
Recipe Collection 2
Recipe Collection 3

Friday
Breakfast: Golden Spice Pancakes with maple syrup
Lunch: Leftovers from Thanksgiving dinner (yay!)
Snack: Veggie sticks and hummus
Dinner: Celery Root Soup with Granny Smith Apples

Bon apetit!

Banff Mountain Film Festival #5

A few weeks ago, Nick, Mona, Susan, Dale and I flew to Canada to rub elbows with movie stars at the annual Banff Mountain Film Festival. (Sounds pretty exotic doesn’t it?) Dale documented our adventures beautifully and posted his pictures online. For the full visual accounting of our trip, click here.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Five reasons you shouldn’t go to law school

At a reception last night to honor Jenny Durkan, the new US Attorney for the Western District of Washington, I overheard a judge talking about his daughter who just took the LSAT. People listening let out audible groans - mostly because they know too well the three years of hell law school that await her, which may or may not lead to a career that sets her hair on fire.

With only a semester (and a couple weeks) to go before graduating, I can only offer my thoughts on the decision to pursue a J.D. Here are my top five reasons why you shouldn’t go to law school:

1. Don’t go to law school because you’re lured by the prospect of making money. As many high-profile managing partners have mentioned recently, the job-market for lawyers is pitiful. Most law grads will not get the six-figure salaries so often touted by the LSAT prep courses and the university career departments. Go because you’re excited about the prospect of gaining skills that will allow you to truly help people and make the world a little better.

2. Don’t go because you’re trying to please someone else who thinks law school is the right path for you. Law school is simply too hard, too time consuming, too emotionally draining, and too physically challenging an undertaking to do it for anybody else but yourself.

3. Don’t go to law school because you have nothing else to do. Remember those egg ads from the 80s - “this is your brain; this is your brain on drugs.” They forgot to mention, that if you leave that frying egg in the pan until it is black and crispy, that is your brain on law school. You need a reason for attending law school that will sustain you in the darkest hours (that would be around 2 a.m. when you have a half-completed appellate brief due the next day and 120 pages of reading to do for class at 8:30 in the morning). You’ve got to want it so badly, that your soul aches. Only then will it be worth the effort.

4. Don’t go because you think law school will serve as a “default” option - a doorway to just about anything. Did I mention that the workload is grueling? More importantly, tuition costs are astronomical and going up. When you’re considering whether to take on $150,000 of debt (plus lost income for three years), it is so important that you are enrolled because the law degree makes sense as a lucrative option for your future. How else are you going to pay down those debts?! (Refer to reason #1.)

5. Finally, don’t go to law school if you don’t have the requisite emotional fortitude. I met a solo practitioner at Seattle Rep last night who characterized being a lawyer as the only profession where people tell you you’re wrong all day long. Consider what that might mean to you before dedicating three years and a lot of money to get there.

I really don’t mean to suggest people shouldn’t attend law school. If the most difficult things are the most rewarding things, law school has been one of the richest experiences of my life - right up there with living abroad for a year. Even after two and a half years, I still feel blessed by the opportunity to spend my days with incredibly smart people, grappling with intellectually stimulating problems. Please just consider your reasons for going to law school and make sure they are ones that will get you through.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Seattle Futsal

Emily and I visited the Wallingford Boys & Girls Club Sunday afternoon to watch our law school clinic clients host Seattle’s first Futsal championship. Futsal is a fast, high-scoring version of indoor soccer. It’s very popular in Brazil and is now just making its way into the United States. The teams that qualified for the final match were made up of elite soccer players with amazing footwork and agility.

Seattle Futsal is hosting an open gym on Sunday afternoons in December. League play starts again in January; all you need is four other people who’d like to play on your team.