Quaker Parrots

I couldn't get close enough for a good picture before I scared them off, but here is a photo that I took in my yard on Saturday morning.  Those are three "Quaker parrots" that are feeding at one of my feeders.  There is a group of a dozen or so of them in my neighborhood, and there are in fact several other groups of them around town in Dallas.  I see them and hear them all the time, but it has taken me a while to get them to my feeder.  This is only the second time that I have seen them feeding.  They are apparently descendants of escaped pets.  They are not native to Texas, although they clearly thrive here.

KATRINA EVACUEES IN DALLAS

While I was walking to my part-time job at legal aid in downtown Dallas today, I noticed something different.  There are many African-Americans just kind of walking around downtown in a daze.  You can tell that they aren't going to work, and you can tell that they aren't homeless (those are basically the two groups downtown).  You can just tell by looking at them that they are evacuees.  We have 15,000 of them in Dallas.

I am very proud of Dallas for doing such a good job of helping all of those people.  We are starting to have them show up at legal aid now.  God bless them.

What a terrible ordeal.  I have been to New Orleans many times, and it is a special place for me and for my wife, Margie.

Our government let those people down.  They are poor people and had no place to go, and no way to get there. 

THE THRIFT STORE JACKPOT

I love going to thrift stores, and there is a very good one in my East Dallas neighborhood.  It's called "Garland Rd. Thrift".  Now, I have never had much luck in the used shoe/boot category, at any thrift store.

Until yesterday.  I found this pair of Lucchese boots, size nine, and they fit me like a glove.  For any non-Texans, Lucchese's are hand-made boots that have been made in Texas since 1882.  They are so expensive that I've never had a pair, and I've had plenty of Cowboy boots.

I paid $19.19 for these.  Yee ha!  Next time I have to go to court in Ft. Worth, I'll have something decent to put on my feet.

HOWDY

I haven't written anything on Xanga in a long time.  I'm pretty busy with my law practice, and I just haven't spent much time online lately.

This is what my law practice consists of:

1) misdemeanor criminal court appointments in Dallas, Texas.  This can be anything from theft to unlawful carrying of a weapon to prostitution to possession of marijauna to failure ot ID......etc.

2) court appointments to represent children removed from their families by Texas' Child Protective Services;

3) court appointments to represent juveniles in parole revocation hearings; these kids are everything from car thieves to registered sex offenders to murderers;

4) court appointments to represent adults in parole revocation hearings; only mentally ill or mentally retarded inmates get attorneys appointed to represent them;

5) private practice criminal representation;

6) private practice divorce/family law;

7) private practice general civil litigation;

8) simple wills;

9) demand letters;

10) and for the last five and one half years, I've been a part-time contract staff attorney for legal aid.  I interview indigent applicants and determine their need for legal services.  These are often domestic violence cases.  I've probably interviewed over five thousand applicants.  It takes about thirty minutes per applicant.

11) and other stuff.

Maybe that's why I'm still up, staring at the wall.  I think, now that it's cooled off a bit, I'll go outside and do some of what I call my "midnight gardening".

I wonder what my good friend Fauquet thinks about of all of this?  His site is my favorite on Xanga.  I feel as though he is my friend.

NAMES

Here are several first names that I have run across in my criminal and family law practice:

"Malice", "Demon", "Diabolique" and "Nefarious".  I also ran across a guy named "Cocaine".

I never cease to be amazed by this stuff.

My wife, not an attorney, ran across a good one yesterday: "Richard Weed".

Jeez.