There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir

October. I love this month! While you wouldn't know it was Fall by the high temperatures here in the Arizona desert, you can still tell that the summer heat has broken -- the mornings and evenings are once again cool, and sometime toward the middle of the month our midday temperatures will hit perfection. Plus, you know, I've got the MLB playoffs on my t.v. screen, so you know it's October!

October is a contradictory month for me. One the one hand, it's the beginning of the dark time of the year which is very much an introspective, going inside, staying home, hermit-y, thinky time of year for me. On the other hand, because the summer heat here is so extreme, any break in that feels very fresh, like a new start, and I'm motivated to start projects, recommit to goals, and just generally DO things. During the Fall and early Winter, I often find myself balancing these two pulls -- in or out, think or do, isolate or socialize.

All this to get to my point: I rejoined Weight Watchers today (part of that recommitting to goals and just generally "doing" thing that I was talking about). Since I'm on a brief, economically-induced hiatus from Trainer!Boy, I really needed some other method of accountability. But, I really didn't want to deal with the rah-rah of meetings (hermit-y much? See, I told you I was full of contradictions this time of year), so I'm doing the online program. I mention it here in order to add another layer of accountability. That would be y'all. *g*

All this is related to the tattoo I got last week -- which, by the way, is at that itchy, dry, skin-peely, really fucking annoying stage *resists the urge to scratch* -- or, more precisely, to my motivation for recommitting to my health and wellness goals. There are several layers of personal symbolism for the dragonfly, the knot, and the spiral, that I may deconstruct here some day, but one of the things that the tat as a whole represents for me is the concept of loving myself, as I am. Before doing all the work I've done in the past couple of years around body image, self love, self-acceptance, I had always thought I'd get ink when I had lost X pounds, or when I was skinny enough, or when I was wearing a certain size, etc., etc., etc. It was a symbolism of beauty that I never thought myself worthy of. Well, obviously I'm over that. *g* And it's from that perspective that I rejoined WW: I love myself, as I am, and I therefore want to care for myself with healthy nutritional decisions and regular exercise.

Hm. I didn't think I was going to get so verbose. Anyway, yes, it's October!!! What's your favorite thing about this month?

She's no Elle Woods.

A legal meme! *geeks out* But mostly, as these things tend to be, this is just a highly effective procrastination device on my part. *g* Also, I have NO DOUBT that everyone on my flist is infinitely smarter than Sarah Palin, so let's see those smarts!

As evidenced by Katie Couric, Sarah Palin is unable to name any Supreme Court case other than Roe v. Wade.

The Rules: Post info about ONE Supreme Court decision, modern or historic to your LJ. (Any decision, as long as it's not Roe v. Wade.) For those who see this on your flist, feel free to take the meme to your own LJ to spread the fun.

Show me your legal briefs! *g*

Here are some of mine: In 2005, in Mayle v. Felix, the Supreme Court reversed a Ninth Circuit decision that I had written the opinion for during my clerkship. You'd think this would bother me, but, really, I had called the reversal. The case involved a procedural question about the timing of a petition for habeas corpus. I thought it should be decided one way; my judge disagreed. I did what clerks do and presented all the arguments and legal authority for my oh-so-wise opinion and he did what judges do and decided the case the way he saw it. It was still "my" case though, so I wrote the initial draft of the opinion and it ended up being published almost exactly as I penned it, only to be reversed the next year when the Supreme Court agreed with me! \o/

Another favorite of mine: Marbury v. Madison, (1803), which formed the basis for judicial review in our legal system. So, you know, despite the Conservative rhetoric about the evil of judges who "legislate from the bench," the basic principle of judicial interpretation of the law and the Constitution, well, it's sort of been around for a while and it's sort of an important part of what we like to call check and balances.

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