Two posts in a week?!? Whoa.

I actually intended to write this post yesterday, but I was distracted and forgot. Something that I have noticed, and lamented to some of my readers since moving to Lamesa, is the sameness of almost everyone here. There is some racial diversity, in that there's a decent mix of white, black, and Hispanic (a group which everyone here refers to as "Spanish"), but there is little to no Asian or Middle Eastern population in west Texas. Further, everyone I've come across is either Baptist or (a few are) Methodist. I realize this shouldn't really be a surprise to me or anyone else, but it makes me sad. I never realized it at the time, but I was lucky to grow up in a pretty diverse setting. I have multiracial cousins on my mom's side and diversity of religious beliefs on both sides of my family, from my parents on out. Perhaps even more importantly, my parents were always open to the idea of teaching Lisa and I about different cultures, be it in terms of food, religion, history, or anything else. My dad's best friends at UTA and Mobil were Muslim and Hindu, and my dad is somewhere between agnostic and atheist, so I've been comfortable with the idea of the validity of diverse types of beliefs since I was young.

Long story short, (too late!) I wish the people I know out here had been given the same experience. Everyone is in their little bubble of what is acceptable in terms of religion and morals and behavior, and nobody seems capable of internalizing the idea that there is more than one right way to do pretty much everything. I don't think my coworkers have any idea when they offend me: they'll apologize for making some mildly misogynist joke, but then go on to make some comment about gay people (but "gay" isn't the vernacular here) or Arabs (not that they use the word "Arab," either) or that anyone who believes in evolution is clearly going to hell, and it never occurs to anyone that these are the things that piss me off and make me want to walk out or yell at them, because they assume they are right and the Other in that context is, obviously, wrong.

I really miss living in a diverse environment, where people actually have opinions that are different from one another, and backgrounds that are unique. It seems to me that I'm the only odd duck. I went straight to college and law school, didn't get married and divorced young, no second marriage, no kids, no background in law enforcement, I don't regularly attend First or Second Baptist, etc. Lamesa is not home. How soon can I move back to a place like home? It can't be soon enough.

QOTD: "Since folks here to an absurd degree, seem fixated on your verdigris, would it be all right with you, if I de-greenify you?"

What do you take me for, a blogger?

Lisa said I should update my blog. It's been more than two months since I last wrote a post, so she may have a point. Let's see...I'm looking for a job so I can move back to Houston. I've applied to an ever-lengthening list of DA's offices and other possibilities but so far, no luck. My sister is job-hunting and, in the meantime, working at a math/science camp for girls in 4th - 8th grade. Kyle got a job in Houston, moved there last Wednesday, and started work today. Tomorrow is the first day of the last bar exam where I'm likely to know very many people taking it. I have seen Avenue Q, Beauty and the Beast, and Wicked in the last two months. (The latter two in the past two weeks.) I have visited Austin, Houston, Arlington, and will be visiting San Antonio soon.

If you want to hear about my job, that's something to be told in person and not discussed online, because it is a long and complicated tale of woe and whoa. I'm so punny. Supposedly I may be sitting second chair in trials soon, which would substantially improve my marketability, but I've been told I'd get to do that before and it didn't happen, so I'll believe it when I see it.

I finished "How to be Good" by Nick Hornby on the way to Houston last Thursday. I love his storytelling style and the characters' voice, but it was definitely my least favorite among his books. I have a stack of other books to read, including five new additions to the stack thanks to Jay (Kyle's mom). Thanks, Jay!

In other news, Scout is now a year old (as of July 2) and it appears she'll max out at around 30 pounds, which is smaller than originally expected or desired, but turns out to be good for travel. She's big enough to be a real dog, but I can still bring her places fairly easily in my car (although she's too big to fly Southwest).

People who haven't visited me yet and still want to: I have a couple probably free weekends in August, or we can start talking September. I love hosting visitors and I'd love to show you around Lamesa. It'll take 15 minutes. That's all I can think of, so have a good day and, as ever, I'll try to be better about updating.