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Who's got two thumbs and is officially a lawyer?

This guy:

Call me Esquire

Greetings loyal readership,

[crickets chirping]

Just wanted to drop a note on the internets letting you know that I found out that I passed the California bar exam on November 21 and I was sworn in as an official attorney as of December 2, 2008.

And now, for a self-disparaging lawyer quote:

“[Lawyers] have been known to wrest from reluctant juries triumphant verdicts of acquittal for their clients, even when those clients, as often happens, were clearly and unmistakably innocent.”

--Oscar Wilde (from The Decay of Lying)

taking the oath


with Ma and Da

My motto: I'll try anything once

There is this list going around called the Omnivore's Hundred. It's a list of (you guessed it) one hundred things that should grace the lips of all omnivores (at least the homo sapiens kind) at least once. Here is my list with items I've tried bolded, as well as items I probably won't ever try unless I change my religious creed in gray. Please enjoy my commentary in (parens).

1. Venison (medium rare New Zealand venison steak, to be exact)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle (this is my most coveted item on the list)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (Yes, thanks to growing up in Oregon. We had blackberry bushes right outside our yard)
23. Foie gras (I've just had pate. I'm still waiting for a nice thick slice of foie gras)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (not as gross as you'd think)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (I've had plenty of sweet lassis, though)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (Japanese pufferfish . . . you know, the kind that will kill you if prepared improperly)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (too many to mention)
50. Sea urchin (I think I've had this in sushi, but I'm not 100% sure)
51. Prickly pear (yummy but too many seeds)
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone (no, but I've had escargot. yummy)
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (but not since Super Size Me)
56. Spaetzle (If you're in Utah, you can get it at The Bohemian)
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (looks yummy)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores (I once began to explain this to a British friend of mine. His response: "You lost me at graham cracker.")
62. Sweetbreads (This is absolutely not what I thought it was)
63. Kaolin (no, I don't suffer from pica)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake ((d) all of the above)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain (The really crisp, salted and smashed kind is the best)
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (not 100% sure on the blini)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (I haven't spent much time in Appalacia, sorry)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail (J'aime beaucoup l'escargot)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Now that I'm a big-shot lawyer, I think I'll check this one out)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (I literally read that as ha-re', as if it were a Japanse word)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (deep fried rattlesnake is great)

Fifty out of 100. Not bad. It would be 50 out of 88 if you take away the stuff I wouldn't consume for religious reasons.

Thanks to Alicia for list.

If you want to do this yourself and would like an unadulterated list (i.e. without commentary), go here.

Officially Grown Up

I started work as a pseudo-attorney this week. Still awaiting those bar results.

My young-adulthood has officially ended and now I am a workaday square.

BAR NONE!!!!!!!!!

I just finished 18 hours of rigorous testing over 3 days. It's over.

Thank you all for your support, patience and encouragement.

Blogging from the bar

Well, despite a 5.4 magnitude earthquake during the morning session, I have officially survived the first day of the California bar exam.

The testing center is about 10-12 miles from the epicenter. Pretty sweet.