Oh, that's where the time went
I know where the time went, and I wouldn't change a thing. Reading, class, workouts, and the following are all things for which I'm thankful:
1. E and I drove to my hometown to celebrate my niece's 2nd birthday. It's amazing how quickly children change. I'd just seen my niece on January 1st, and 3 weeks later she's bigger, has more muscle control in her face, and knows more words. While we were there, my dad gave me a garbage bag full of wild duck and pheasant. As a carnivore, aspiring chef, and child of a responsible hunter, I have to gloat. 4 duck breasts (pre-cleaned, to boot) of 2 varietals (different weekends, different migrating birds), and 4 whole pheasants. Happy freezer full of birds.
2. Mid-week dinner with my sister, E and R. My sister made a delicious asparagus risotto. I made the duck in a butter, red-wine vinegar, and pink peppercorn sauce. Perfection.
3. E and I watched two great movies (Netflix is brilliant) this week. First we enjoyed the soundtrack and explosions of the dork coming of age story October Sky (probably should have been named Rocket Boys). And, we finally saw the light and cute Bend it Like Beckham (mmm... now I want some Indian food...).
4. Then, there was the 1L party where I made new friends, played bad pool, and got to know many of my classmates a little bit better.
Now, if only I could get my moot court assignments finished...
January 31, 2004
Where did the time go?
This semester is more busy than last at this time. I think it's the fault of moot court. There's also more reading than back when they figured we didn't know how to do it. There's also all the cooking I've been doing because I know that there will be no cooking come finals prep time. Under the same logic, I've got a very active social life right now that I'm trying to squeeze in every spare moment. And, of course, I'm suffering from the early semester work-out ambition (a minimum of 4 workouts a week is the goal for the semester...we'll see how that goes).
Add basic house chores, bills, planning the spring break getaway, and I'm slacking in the cyberworld. All the cool kids are either on or moving to Movable Type. Check out Ambulance Chaser's new digs. But, me, I'm just not finding the time. I barely found time to post last week, and I'm way behind on my favorite blog and news site reading.
If you're not behind, and want a good read, I recommend checking out Business2.com's 101 Dumbest Moments in Business.
This semester is more busy than last at this time. I think it's the fault of moot court. There's also more reading than back when they figured we didn't know how to do it. There's also all the cooking I've been doing because I know that there will be no cooking come finals prep time. Under the same logic, I've got a very active social life right now that I'm trying to squeeze in every spare moment. And, of course, I'm suffering from the early semester work-out ambition (a minimum of 4 workouts a week is the goal for the semester...we'll see how that goes).
Add basic house chores, bills, planning the spring break getaway, and I'm slacking in the cyberworld. All the cool kids are either on or moving to Movable Type. Check out Ambulance Chaser's new digs. But, me, I'm just not finding the time. I barely found time to post last week, and I'm way behind on my favorite blog and news site reading.
If you're not behind, and want a good read, I recommend checking out Business2.com's 101 Dumbest Moments in Business.
January 30, 2004
raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...
The school sponsored welcome back party was last night. It's not usually my thing to go party like a rock star with a bunch of acquaintances (my classmates), but something got into me and I decided to go check it out. It was a swanky shindig in a top-floor penthouse of an appartment tower (amazing views). I was, underdressed, as usual, but many of my fellow students went all out. There are many pretty people in law school. Many of whom I'd never seen before. Where do these people hide?
The evening was a wonderful success, and I arrived at a very giving friend's house to crash around 2:15 AM. I couldn't fall asleep very easily, but eventually fell into that unrestful I-know-I'm-not-in-my-own-bed-and-I-partied-a-little-too-hard sleep.
Then the construction woke me up at 6:45 AM. I must say, that is NOT one of my favorite things...
Thank goodness it's Friday.
The school sponsored welcome back party was last night. It's not usually my thing to go party like a rock star with a bunch of acquaintances (my classmates), but something got into me and I decided to go check it out. It was a swanky shindig in a top-floor penthouse of an appartment tower (amazing views). I was, underdressed, as usual, but many of my fellow students went all out. There are many pretty people in law school. Many of whom I'd never seen before. Where do these people hide?
The evening was a wonderful success, and I arrived at a very giving friend's house to crash around 2:15 AM. I couldn't fall asleep very easily, but eventually fell into that unrestful I-know-I'm-not-in-my-own-bed-and-I-partied-a-little-too-hard sleep.
Then the construction woke me up at 6:45 AM. I must say, that is NOT one of my favorite things...
Thank goodness it's Friday.
January 27, 2004
Tuesday... off to both a bad and good start
The bad:
Despite leaving 20 minutes earlier than my best time ever on a commute, and well within my "I-can-expect-to-arrive-in-time-to-get-tea-before-class" range, I arrived at school 15 minutes after class began. Stupid Smarch weather.
Yeah, 15 minutes into a 50 minute class is too late to walk in, even for me. What's worse, I gave a ride to my friend T who's never been late or missed a class (yeah... I'm impressed). Until today, that is. I showed up 10 minutes late at T's house because I thought I had plenty of time... First bad judgment call of the day. Here's to hoping it's the last.
The good:
The portion of the Patriot Act that governs charitable gift giving and suffers from some pretty severe vagueness, was declared unconstitutional by a Federal District Judge in Los Angeles. Now that's something.
The bad:
Despite leaving 20 minutes earlier than my best time ever on a commute, and well within my "I-can-expect-to-arrive-in-time-to-get-tea-before-class" range, I arrived at school 15 minutes after class began. Stupid Smarch weather.
Yeah, 15 minutes into a 50 minute class is too late to walk in, even for me. What's worse, I gave a ride to my friend T who's never been late or missed a class (yeah... I'm impressed). Until today, that is. I showed up 10 minutes late at T's house because I thought I had plenty of time... First bad judgment call of the day. Here's to hoping it's the last.
The good:
The portion of the Patriot Act that governs charitable gift giving and suffers from some pretty severe vagueness, was declared unconstitutional by a Federal District Judge in Los Angeles. Now that's something.
January 26, 2004
January 23, 2004
Lost and Found
I'm VERY absent-minded. As in phone in the freezer, milk in the cupboard, "oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to steal your pen," where-are-my-glasses-oh-right-my-face absent minded.
So, it was no surprise to E when I realized last night that I had lost a small purchase that I made. Wednesday, I went to one of the boutique stores near the art movie house and bought myself a small trinket that I had been eyeing. I managed to keep the bag with the logo of the boutique through the movie and get it back to school. But then, I lost it. Somewhere.
Not only that, but I didn't even realize I had lost it until last night, more than 24 hours after leaving it somewhere on campus.
When you're me, you write off stupid stuff like this all the time. When it's gone, as a general rule, it's just gone. But, much to my surprise, someone turned it in to campus security and I actually got it back today.
I have the most positive feelings towards my fellow students right now. They really aren't bastards, despite how I may feel on a bad day or portray them in failed comedic attempts. They're nice and good and wonderful. So is friday.
In fact, in celebration of the weekend and the beginning of the semester, I'm spending tonight making food and feeding friends. The menu includes a spinach salad, french onion soup, baked asparagus and a chocolate soufflee (assuming all goes well...). Which reminds me, I need to get a run in before I start cooking...
I'm VERY absent-minded. As in phone in the freezer, milk in the cupboard, "oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to steal your pen," where-are-my-glasses-oh-right-my-face absent minded.
So, it was no surprise to E when I realized last night that I had lost a small purchase that I made. Wednesday, I went to one of the boutique stores near the art movie house and bought myself a small trinket that I had been eyeing. I managed to keep the bag with the logo of the boutique through the movie and get it back to school. But then, I lost it. Somewhere.
Not only that, but I didn't even realize I had lost it until last night, more than 24 hours after leaving it somewhere on campus.
When you're me, you write off stupid stuff like this all the time. When it's gone, as a general rule, it's just gone. But, much to my surprise, someone turned it in to campus security and I actually got it back today.
I have the most positive feelings towards my fellow students right now. They really aren't bastards, despite how I may feel on a bad day or portray them in failed comedic attempts. They're nice and good and wonderful. So is friday.
In fact, in celebration of the weekend and the beginning of the semester, I'm spending tonight making food and feeding friends. The menu includes a spinach salad, french onion soup, baked asparagus and a chocolate soufflee (assuming all goes well...). Which reminds me, I need to get a run in before I start cooking...
January 21, 2004
First Time for Everything
I had to get a refund on movie tickets today. {laugh} Yup. Movie Tickets.
My wednesdays suck. 1 hour of class, early in the morning, and then nothing. If I wasn't a commuter, perhaps this would not be so terrible. But, alas, I am. Add the make-up moot court class that was scheduled for late this afternoon and you have a very unhappy BT.
However, all was not lost since H and I decided to go see Monster during the down time.
But, it was not meant to be. Why? Well... you see, the ticket database hadn't been updated. Our tickets said theatre 5. We went to theatre 5. The movie was late starting. Then we sat through the previews. Then we sat through Destino, which was a nice surprise, but not exactly what we were expecting. Halfway through Destino, H got up to ask if we were in the correct theatre, but couldn't find anyone to answer the question (art movie houses...). Smart guy, that H.
Sure enough. After Destino, The Triplets of Belleville started to play.
The guy at the ticket counter, when confronted with our tickets and the fact that we had missed 45 minutes of our movie said, "Oh, I didn't tell you about the theatre switch because the usher was supposed to catch it and tell you. I'm really sorry..."
So, as near as I can tell, instead of watching a movie, I studied, all because the ticket counter guy wanted to make sure that he didn't usurp the job of the under-performing usher/ticket-ripper.
Not Cool.
Oh well, there's more Wednesdays to come. I'm sure it'll be great when I do get to see it. Given the B+ it garnered from the difficult-to-please and discerning Unfashionable Observations, it's got to be worth the wait.
I had to get a refund on movie tickets today. {laugh} Yup. Movie Tickets.
My wednesdays suck. 1 hour of class, early in the morning, and then nothing. If I wasn't a commuter, perhaps this would not be so terrible. But, alas, I am. Add the make-up moot court class that was scheduled for late this afternoon and you have a very unhappy BT.
However, all was not lost since H and I decided to go see Monster during the down time.
But, it was not meant to be. Why? Well... you see, the ticket database hadn't been updated. Our tickets said theatre 5. We went to theatre 5. The movie was late starting. Then we sat through the previews. Then we sat through Destino, which was a nice surprise, but not exactly what we were expecting. Halfway through Destino, H got up to ask if we were in the correct theatre, but couldn't find anyone to answer the question (art movie houses...). Smart guy, that H.
Sure enough. After Destino, The Triplets of Belleville started to play.
The guy at the ticket counter, when confronted with our tickets and the fact that we had missed 45 minutes of our movie said, "Oh, I didn't tell you about the theatre switch because the usher was supposed to catch it and tell you. I'm really sorry..."
So, as near as I can tell, instead of watching a movie, I studied, all because the ticket counter guy wanted to make sure that he didn't usurp the job of the under-performing usher/ticket-ripper.
Not Cool.
Oh well, there's more Wednesdays to come. I'm sure it'll be great when I do get to see it. Given the B+ it garnered from the difficult-to-please and discerning Unfashionable Observations, it's got to be worth the wait.
January 20, 2004
Again?
So, I was surprised that I came up with "The Godfather" on the "What Classic Movie Are You?" test. Didn't totally seem to fit me, but it's a great movie and well... an internet test. But then I saw that Hani and DG had both gotten movies that I would have preferred.
So, I decided to go the Hani route and try for a world leader that might be a little more on par with how I see myself.
Not so much:
So, I was surprised that I came up with "The Godfather" on the "What Classic Movie Are You?" test. Didn't totally seem to fit me, but it's a great movie and well... an internet test. But then I saw that Hani and DG had both gotten movies that I would have preferred.
So, I decided to go the Hani route and try for a world leader that might be a little more on par with how I see myself.
Not so much:
The Best of Law School
Today, an overzealous volunteer posing as a question-asker started with, "I'll help you out." The professor quickly said, "Okay, just try to relax...you've got to leave something for me to do. Let me ask the question first, then you can try to answer."
Finally, a professor said what so many of us have been thinking.
Today, an overzealous volunteer posing as a question-asker started with, "I'll help you out." The professor quickly said, "Okay, just try to relax...you've got to leave something for me to do. Let me ask the question first, then you can try to answer."
Finally, a professor said what so many of us have been thinking.
The Worst of Law School
is embodied in a line that forms from the door of the classroom 20 minutes before lecture because today is the day we will be filling out the "seating chart." I missed the fun, but was treated to my fellow students' complaints of the cutting in line, cat-calling, and general ridiculous when I finally arrived (to take one of the only remaining seats in the very back of the room).
What? Who are these people? It's a seat in a classroom, people. For a professor who is generally acknowledged as our section's least cogent lecturer...
I don't get it.
{laugh} oh, and it'll probably happen next class too since the prof forgot the seating chart.
is embodied in a line that forms from the door of the classroom 20 minutes before lecture because today is the day we will be filling out the "seating chart." I missed the fun, but was treated to my fellow students' complaints of the cutting in line, cat-calling, and general ridiculous when I finally arrived (to take one of the only remaining seats in the very back of the room).
What? Who are these people? It's a seat in a classroom, people. For a professor who is generally acknowledged as our section's least cogent lecturer...
I don't get it.
{laugh} oh, and it'll probably happen next class too since the prof forgot the seating chart.
January 17, 2004
The Beginning of the Semester
Finals stole my life for almost 4 weeks. Then the holidays kept me captive, and then Egypt. But now, I'm in the beginning of the semester. The time of year when 15 hours of class and keeping up on the reading leaves gobs of free time to enjoy.
So in my spare time, I've been blissfully doing normal stuff. Cheerfully, I filled my car with gasoline at my regular station. Grinning, I picked up and dropped off stuff at my dry cleaners. E and I sleep in the same bed, talk about nothing, watch the Simpsons, and have already put in an appearance our favorite pho joint (after a record breaking absence of 2 full months!).
Ecstatically, I made a grocery list and went food and wine shopping. With my spoils, I made bolognese sauce from scratch and froze 2/3 of it for future use.
With the remaining 1/3 of the bolognese sauce, I made lasagna. I took a risk and tried the newfangled barilla no boil lasagna noodles. The noodles worked fairly well. Next time I use them, I'll go heavier on the sauce, since it appears that they soak up more liquid than boiled noodles (in hindsight, this seems fairly obvious...). Unfortunately, the last lasagna I made, I made the noodles from scratch and the memory of that lasagna put this lasagna to shame. But, we still had company over for lasagna, wine, and conversation that night and we've been living off of lasagna leftovers.
And last night, a group of E's friends and their significant others went out to celebrate birthdays, weddings, etc. Eleven of us sat around a table at Maggiano's and socialized while eating family style. I got to order the wine, because people are kind and like to indulge me. What did I do? Giddily, I ordered a magnum of Querceto Chianti Classico.
Magnums are cool. 12 glasses of wine in one bottle. It's even better when they are reasonable priced and you get both a huge cool-looking bottle at the table as well as decent dinner wine at $4.50 a glass. My selection was a hit and we ordered a second magnum to go with the second course.
So, other than this crazy waking up early thing I've got going on, my life is back to normal with chores, friends, activities, and food. I'm happy.
Finals stole my life for almost 4 weeks. Then the holidays kept me captive, and then Egypt. But now, I'm in the beginning of the semester. The time of year when 15 hours of class and keeping up on the reading leaves gobs of free time to enjoy.
So in my spare time, I've been blissfully doing normal stuff. Cheerfully, I filled my car with gasoline at my regular station. Grinning, I picked up and dropped off stuff at my dry cleaners. E and I sleep in the same bed, talk about nothing, watch the Simpsons, and have already put in an appearance our favorite pho joint (after a record breaking absence of 2 full months!).
Ecstatically, I made a grocery list and went food and wine shopping. With my spoils, I made bolognese sauce from scratch and froze 2/3 of it for future use.
With the remaining 1/3 of the bolognese sauce, I made lasagna. I took a risk and tried the newfangled barilla no boil lasagna noodles. The noodles worked fairly well. Next time I use them, I'll go heavier on the sauce, since it appears that they soak up more liquid than boiled noodles (in hindsight, this seems fairly obvious...). Unfortunately, the last lasagna I made, I made the noodles from scratch and the memory of that lasagna put this lasagna to shame. But, we still had company over for lasagna, wine, and conversation that night and we've been living off of lasagna leftovers.
And last night, a group of E's friends and their significant others went out to celebrate birthdays, weddings, etc. Eleven of us sat around a table at Maggiano's and socialized while eating family style. I got to order the wine, because people are kind and like to indulge me. What did I do? Giddily, I ordered a magnum of Querceto Chianti Classico.
Magnums are cool. 12 glasses of wine in one bottle. It's even better when they are reasonable priced and you get both a huge cool-looking bottle at the table as well as decent dinner wine at $4.50 a glass. My selection was a hit and we ordered a second magnum to go with the second course.
So, other than this crazy waking up early thing I've got going on, my life is back to normal with chores, friends, activities, and food. I'm happy.
On Grades
It's undeniable that a huge part of the law school experience is grades. I, like most of my classmates was disappointed. Not terribly, but enough to be knocked down a few pegs. That's probably not a bad thing. Humility is not exactly one of my strong points despite my oh-so-desperate wishes to the contrary.
Coming from an engineering program with a steep curve prepared me somewhat for the letters I would see. I was happy to have already experienced the shock-and-awe that mediocre grades after working your ass off can be. I did not envy my fellow students who were experiencing that emotion for the first time.
However, there is one fundamental difference between an engineering curve and a law school curve. With engineering exams, you can see the model answer and you can see where, exactly, you fell of the train. Step missed here, arithmetic error here, forgotten factor of safety here, modeling error here. Even flaws in your overall approach are easy to understand when confronted with the simplicity of the "real" solution. You get the satisfaction of the slap on the forehead and the knowledge that if you were confronted with a similar problem in the future, you would do it better than the one on the exam.
I had heard the standard wisdom that law school exam grading was arbitrary. But, like most of my fellow students, I suspected it was sour grapes from people who just didn't understand how to take exams. It wasn't going to be arbitrary in my case....
Only, guess what. It really is fairly arbitrary, at least so far in my case. There is no "real" solution. I look at the tick marks all over my essays and I read the model answers and I see that there are a million ways you could approach the answer. There is the professor's way, which she thinks is best, but you may not agree, another professor may not agree, and the professor may not even agree with herself in a few months. After getting your exam back, there is no certainty that if confronted with a similar fact pattern you could approach it in a manner that was better.
With a steep curve at a school where most people are ridiculous over achievers, it's not enough to know all the rules, spot every issue and apply legal analysis correctly. It's not even enough to spot the tricky forks in the fact pattern and analyze where things could turn in either direction. You have to do all of that in the style that the professor wants to see. Knowing the material really well and applying it is a B. B+, A, those are reserved for the people who both know the material really well, AND have a lucky day whereby they organize their responses in a way that the professor likes, plus they write in a style that the professor enjoys.
I make these comments with my statistical sample of 2 grades, an A and a B. I haven't met with any of my professors but I've received two exams and the model answers. I examined them both with a level of detail that betrays my attempted "I don't really care about grades" attitude. I applied the rules/cases etc. in both exams with the same level of proficiency. I missed no major cases or rules. In one, I had enthusiastic comments with exclamation points. In the other, merely tick marks and no happy notes. If you had asked me which exam I performed better on, I would have picked the B.
So, what's the point I'm trying to make here? I've been through enough crap to know with certainty that my grades do not define my worth. And the point is fairly trite: people need to learn that they can't depend on external validation, yadda yadda yadda. My amazement is founded on the fact that a grading system which causes this much strife for thousands of students every year is actually that arbitrary. Sure, some students talk about it, but it's not a well-understood norm about the law school experience.
Perhaps the arbitrary ridiculousness is unique to schools like mine, which suffer from the wannabe excellence complex of a non top-10 ranking while admitting students who desperately believe they belong in the top ten (and probably do, if they'd had a luckier day on the LSAT). These amazingly intelligent workaholics are then placed on a steep mandated curve. From what I understand, employers really care about grades. I'm curious how they can when the difference between average and excellence in a pool of amazing fish is merely luck and style. 3 of my 4 professors spoke on this point, and yet, it seems that the real world is in another dimension where small variations in grades actually do measure something. I suppose employers and judges need something by which to differentiate people, but why not roll dice? Okay, now I've gone a little far with the analogy. I don't doubt that at the far ends of the curve, it is easy to spot the differences, but when you're talking about the middle of the continuum, I suspect that the gradient is minute and unique to each instructor on each given day.
In short, before I received my marks, I thought grades were a useful tool that too many people took too seriously. Now, I'm fairly certain that law school grades are a much less useful tool than I suspected and yet, too many people still take them too seriously.
Oh well, here's to wishing I was luckier and being thankful that I was as lucky as I was...
It's undeniable that a huge part of the law school experience is grades. I, like most of my classmates was disappointed. Not terribly, but enough to be knocked down a few pegs. That's probably not a bad thing. Humility is not exactly one of my strong points despite my oh-so-desperate wishes to the contrary.
Coming from an engineering program with a steep curve prepared me somewhat for the letters I would see. I was happy to have already experienced the shock-and-awe that mediocre grades after working your ass off can be. I did not envy my fellow students who were experiencing that emotion for the first time.
However, there is one fundamental difference between an engineering curve and a law school curve. With engineering exams, you can see the model answer and you can see where, exactly, you fell of the train. Step missed here, arithmetic error here, forgotten factor of safety here, modeling error here. Even flaws in your overall approach are easy to understand when confronted with the simplicity of the "real" solution. You get the satisfaction of the slap on the forehead and the knowledge that if you were confronted with a similar problem in the future, you would do it better than the one on the exam.
I had heard the standard wisdom that law school exam grading was arbitrary. But, like most of my fellow students, I suspected it was sour grapes from people who just didn't understand how to take exams. It wasn't going to be arbitrary in my case....
Only, guess what. It really is fairly arbitrary, at least so far in my case. There is no "real" solution. I look at the tick marks all over my essays and I read the model answers and I see that there are a million ways you could approach the answer. There is the professor's way, which she thinks is best, but you may not agree, another professor may not agree, and the professor may not even agree with herself in a few months. After getting your exam back, there is no certainty that if confronted with a similar fact pattern you could approach it in a manner that was better.
With a steep curve at a school where most people are ridiculous over achievers, it's not enough to know all the rules, spot every issue and apply legal analysis correctly. It's not even enough to spot the tricky forks in the fact pattern and analyze where things could turn in either direction. You have to do all of that in the style that the professor wants to see. Knowing the material really well and applying it is a B. B+, A, those are reserved for the people who both know the material really well, AND have a lucky day whereby they organize their responses in a way that the professor likes, plus they write in a style that the professor enjoys.
I make these comments with my statistical sample of 2 grades, an A and a B. I haven't met with any of my professors but I've received two exams and the model answers. I examined them both with a level of detail that betrays my attempted "I don't really care about grades" attitude. I applied the rules/cases etc. in both exams with the same level of proficiency. I missed no major cases or rules. In one, I had enthusiastic comments with exclamation points. In the other, merely tick marks and no happy notes. If you had asked me which exam I performed better on, I would have picked the B.
So, what's the point I'm trying to make here? I've been through enough crap to know with certainty that my grades do not define my worth. And the point is fairly trite: people need to learn that they can't depend on external validation, yadda yadda yadda. My amazement is founded on the fact that a grading system which causes this much strife for thousands of students every year is actually that arbitrary. Sure, some students talk about it, but it's not a well-understood norm about the law school experience.
Perhaps the arbitrary ridiculousness is unique to schools like mine, which suffer from the wannabe excellence complex of a non top-10 ranking while admitting students who desperately believe they belong in the top ten (and probably do, if they'd had a luckier day on the LSAT). These amazingly intelligent workaholics are then placed on a steep mandated curve. From what I understand, employers really care about grades. I'm curious how they can when the difference between average and excellence in a pool of amazing fish is merely luck and style. 3 of my 4 professors spoke on this point, and yet, it seems that the real world is in another dimension where small variations in grades actually do measure something. I suppose employers and judges need something by which to differentiate people, but why not roll dice? Okay, now I've gone a little far with the analogy. I don't doubt that at the far ends of the curve, it is easy to spot the differences, but when you're talking about the middle of the continuum, I suspect that the gradient is minute and unique to each instructor on each given day.
In short, before I received my marks, I thought grades were a useful tool that too many people took too seriously. Now, I'm fairly certain that law school grades are a much less useful tool than I suspected and yet, too many people still take them too seriously.
Oh well, here's to wishing I was luckier and being thankful that I was as lucky as I was...
Jet Lag
Every night since my return, I've woken at some point and been unable to sleep for approximately one hour. Initially, it was 3 AM, then 4, then 5, until today, when I woke at 5:55 AM and was unable to sleep until now. The light is coming in the window and I doubt I'll be able to fall back asleep at all this morning. It's the beginning of the semester, the time when I can sleep in and relax and socialize. But no, my body disagrees...hopefully it'll fall into line soon. This Sucks.
Every night since my return, I've woken at some point and been unable to sleep for approximately one hour. Initially, it was 3 AM, then 4, then 5, until today, when I woke at 5:55 AM and was unable to sleep until now. The light is coming in the window and I doubt I'll be able to fall back asleep at all this morning. It's the beginning of the semester, the time when I can sleep in and relax and socialize. But no, my body disagrees...hopefully it'll fall into line soon. This Sucks.
January 15, 2004
Game On
Vacation is officially over. I showed up for class today without an ounce of information. I relied on my classmates for briefings on the assignments, textbooks, room numbers, and more. I couldn't believe that there are actually students who would willingly give up days of their vacation to come back to school early in order to take care of bidness. But, I'm glad that they exist. They certainly make my life easier.
The new players in my life are:
Professor Kind -- Criminal Procedure, it doesn't seem fitting that the instructor should be someone who seems like such an all-around GOOD GUY, but that's how it worked out. 4 hours a week of rape, murder and theft, all brought to me by a fellow who went out of his way to talk about his personal life and then took about 10 minutes to disparage the grading system, telling us to buck up if we got Cs and to stop thinking we're cool if we got A's, because really, it's all about how good you were on that given day. I like his approach.
Professor Tax -- Federal Income Tax, he's dry, as expected. He's also very big on efficiency and won't be calling on students to give the facts of the case because, "why? when I can do it faster and we can get on to interesting discussions..." The math is a welcome addition to my life, but he claims it's only arithmetic. Bummer...
I fell asleep in contracts today, which provided two of my section-mates with plenty of entertainment, or so they told me afterward. Happy to help. I think I'm on the last bit of my jet lag. So, I'm off to watch simpsons and make an early night of it. Here's to hoping tomorrow I'm less tired.
Vacation is officially over. I showed up for class today without an ounce of information. I relied on my classmates for briefings on the assignments, textbooks, room numbers, and more. I couldn't believe that there are actually students who would willingly give up days of their vacation to come back to school early in order to take care of bidness. But, I'm glad that they exist. They certainly make my life easier.
The new players in my life are:
Professor Kind -- Criminal Procedure, it doesn't seem fitting that the instructor should be someone who seems like such an all-around GOOD GUY, but that's how it worked out. 4 hours a week of rape, murder and theft, all brought to me by a fellow who went out of his way to talk about his personal life and then took about 10 minutes to disparage the grading system, telling us to buck up if we got Cs and to stop thinking we're cool if we got A's, because really, it's all about how good you were on that given day. I like his approach.
Professor Tax -- Federal Income Tax, he's dry, as expected. He's also very big on efficiency and won't be calling on students to give the facts of the case because, "why? when I can do it faster and we can get on to interesting discussions..." The math is a welcome addition to my life, but he claims it's only arithmetic. Bummer...
I fell asleep in contracts today, which provided two of my section-mates with plenty of entertainment, or so they told me afterward. Happy to help. I think I'm on the last bit of my jet lag. So, I'm off to watch simpsons and make an early night of it. Here's to hoping tomorrow I'm less tired.
January 14, 2004
Best Memory From Egypt
My favorite memory from Egypt comes from our last day in Siwa, despite suffering with a ridiculous bout of intestinal pain and unpleasantness. We walked about 2 Km from our hotel to the base of the Hill of the Dead late on a Friday afternoon. Slowly, because I couldn't move very fast, we mounted the steps and walked around the front of the mountain, examining the exumed tombs which were cut like perfect rectangular prisms from the sides of the mountain.
We rested and enjoyed the view of palm trees, mesas, desert, the town of siwa, and the farther away mountains upon which we'd visited Alexander's (supposed) tomb and the temple of Ammon. A lanky boy came running up the steps--he was in a white running shirt and shorts and barefoot. I clapped for him and shouted encouragement. On his second run up the stairs, he stopped and we exchanged names. I took his picture as he stood there and showed it to him on the digital camera. He asked if I would take one of him running. So, I did. I tried to explain that I would send the photographs to Ali who had promised to distribute them, but my neither my Arabic nor his English was good enough to get the point across.
After the boy left, several Italian women from the previous night's dinner came down from the top of the mountain. They asked if we had seen the locked tombs and if we knew any of their history. I explained that there was some in the Rough Guide and tried to hand it to them. They asked me to translate instead, and although I succeeded in a round about way, I was shocked at just how much my Italian has fallen into disrepair over the last 2 years. One of the women took over translation from me at the end and quickly breezed through the last few paragraphs. I contented myself with a reminder of how much easier it is to translate back into your native language as compared with out of it.
After the women left, we followed the keeper of the Key towards the tombs and passed a man crouching over a fire in one of the caves. He invited us for tea after the tombs, and we accepted. We followed the key-keeper into the four locked tombs and marvelled at the murals of a Grecian-looking merchant, the crocodile, and heiroglyphs. Real mummies and skeletons were in two of the tombs, including a skull with hair still attached (which had later been dated to be roman, not ptolemic or 26th Dynasty). Seeing mummies in the actual tombs as opposed to in a museum was somehow more real and also, more overwhelming. We were silenced as we tried to get our heads around age of the tombs, the multiple uses that had been made of them over the ages by the Ptolemic empire, the 26th Dynasty, the Romans, the Siwans, the Italian troops in 1940...and now us, tourists, visiting with a man who lived nearby and following up our visit with tea.
The tea man carefully laid out clean mats and pillows for us in the cave. He unwrapped a blackened metal boiling pot, a white porcelain serving pot, and four shot glass sized glass tea cups. Slowly, he performed the ritual of making the tea, with each step gently and carefully undertaken as he smiled and smoked. The tea smelled wonderful and we looked over the horizon as we awaited both the sunset and the tea. He offered us cigarettes, oranges, tangerines and bananas. We accepted some of his offerings and relaxed near the fire. Finally, the tea was ready. He poured sugar into the white tea pot and added the tea. Repeatedly, he poured a cup of tea in a long stream and poured the cup back into the tea pot to cool the liquid. The sun kept descending and the sky moved from yellow to orange to pink. Finally, he served us our tea and we sipped on the strong concoction as we watched the sun make its final descent.
I would have liked to stay longer, but unfortunately, my stomach had other ideas, so I had to leave. R stayed behind and talked with the men a bit more. One of them invited us back for native Siwan whiskey, but later, after the cop who had been waiting nearby was gone. R smiled, said no thanks, gave baksheesh to the tea-maker and the key-keeper and walked down the mountain to meet me.
My favorite memory from Egypt comes from our last day in Siwa, despite suffering with a ridiculous bout of intestinal pain and unpleasantness. We walked about 2 Km from our hotel to the base of the Hill of the Dead late on a Friday afternoon. Slowly, because I couldn't move very fast, we mounted the steps and walked around the front of the mountain, examining the exumed tombs which were cut like perfect rectangular prisms from the sides of the mountain.
We rested and enjoyed the view of palm trees, mesas, desert, the town of siwa, and the farther away mountains upon which we'd visited Alexander's (supposed) tomb and the temple of Ammon. A lanky boy came running up the steps--he was in a white running shirt and shorts and barefoot. I clapped for him and shouted encouragement. On his second run up the stairs, he stopped and we exchanged names. I took his picture as he stood there and showed it to him on the digital camera. He asked if I would take one of him running. So, I did. I tried to explain that I would send the photographs to Ali who had promised to distribute them, but my neither my Arabic nor his English was good enough to get the point across.
After the boy left, several Italian women from the previous night's dinner came down from the top of the mountain. They asked if we had seen the locked tombs and if we knew any of their history. I explained that there was some in the Rough Guide and tried to hand it to them. They asked me to translate instead, and although I succeeded in a round about way, I was shocked at just how much my Italian has fallen into disrepair over the last 2 years. One of the women took over translation from me at the end and quickly breezed through the last few paragraphs. I contented myself with a reminder of how much easier it is to translate back into your native language as compared with out of it.
After the women left, we followed the keeper of the Key towards the tombs and passed a man crouching over a fire in one of the caves. He invited us for tea after the tombs, and we accepted. We followed the key-keeper into the four locked tombs and marvelled at the murals of a Grecian-looking merchant, the crocodile, and heiroglyphs. Real mummies and skeletons were in two of the tombs, including a skull with hair still attached (which had later been dated to be roman, not ptolemic or 26th Dynasty). Seeing mummies in the actual tombs as opposed to in a museum was somehow more real and also, more overwhelming. We were silenced as we tried to get our heads around age of the tombs, the multiple uses that had been made of them over the ages by the Ptolemic empire, the 26th Dynasty, the Romans, the Siwans, the Italian troops in 1940...and now us, tourists, visiting with a man who lived nearby and following up our visit with tea.
The tea man carefully laid out clean mats and pillows for us in the cave. He unwrapped a blackened metal boiling pot, a white porcelain serving pot, and four shot glass sized glass tea cups. Slowly, he performed the ritual of making the tea, with each step gently and carefully undertaken as he smiled and smoked. The tea smelled wonderful and we looked over the horizon as we awaited both the sunset and the tea. He offered us cigarettes, oranges, tangerines and bananas. We accepted some of his offerings and relaxed near the fire. Finally, the tea was ready. He poured sugar into the white tea pot and added the tea. Repeatedly, he poured a cup of tea in a long stream and poured the cup back into the tea pot to cool the liquid. The sun kept descending and the sky moved from yellow to orange to pink. Finally, he served us our tea and we sipped on the strong concoction as we watched the sun make its final descent.
I would have liked to stay longer, but unfortunately, my stomach had other ideas, so I had to leave. R stayed behind and talked with the men a bit more. One of them invited us back for native Siwan whiskey, but later, after the cop who had been waiting nearby was gone. R smiled, said no thanks, gave baksheesh to the tea-maker and the key-keeper and walked down the mountain to meet me.
Egyptian Food Revisited
Hani pointed out my very stupid mistake of mixing up fu'ul which is NOT bread, but rather native beans, and shami which is the word for the bread I was disparaging. He also pointed out that shami's a uniquely delta culture bread and it's got a lot of history on its side. Apparently the recipe and manner of making it are older than the ptolemic tombs I saw in Siwa, and older than most of the things I ogled in the antiquities museum. So, that's actually really cool. I think I was perhaps too hard on the stuff because I was more than just a little annoyed with it after the last couple of days of the trip, where it was all that I could eat due to the stomach bug...
Hani also asked for a quick rundown of what else we ate since he doesn't normally hear of people complaining about the food. So, here goes. For the most part, we subsisted off of granola bars, and random sandwiches/pizzas/croissants at cafes. But, we did intersperse a few more memorable meals into the trip, including:
Aladin (inside the Sheraton Cairo Towers) morrocan food. Shami. Grilled chicken/fish with couscous. Good, but nothing to write home about.
A kebab joint in khan el khalili (but unfortunately not the Khan el Khalili cafe, which were were trying to find, but couldn't). The lamb was a very dry mixture of ground meat and spices. R was the only one who ordered lamb and decided to skip it because it scared him. The chicken was good, but not amazing by any stretch. Shami, hummos, vegetables and rice were average.
Cafe Riche (Midan Talaat Harb, Cairo) - good tehina, average to forgetable shami and main courses of chicken over rice and moussaka. The history of the place and collection of intellectuals all discussing politics and philosophy made it a memorable cool experience.
Al Dabke (Inside the Sheraton Heliopolis) - Lebanese food. Good food according to R, I was too sick to eat...The belly dancer was awkward, seemed to have about 5 moves that she kept repeating in various orders and was not very adebt with her hips (believe it or not). But the musicians accompanying the dancing were amazing, particularly the drummer and singer.
Denus (Alexandria) Greek Restaurant, excellent meals of fried perch and fried calamari, pommes frites, tehina, shami and tomatoes/red onions. The staff was wonderfully friendly and insisted on complimenting my Arabic, which was obviously a ploy to be nice to the tourists (that worked!) since my arabic literally consists of 8 words (one of which is not "bread," in case you couldn't tell).
Aethenos (Alexandria) Greek Restaurant, the fish wasn't as good as denus and the same style of meal didn't come with the tomatoes and red onions, but the ambiance, view of the corniche and dedication of the servers was better.
Alexander (Siwa): shami and good native siwan boiled green vegetable dish, flavored with garlic that started with an m/mim. The texture was somewhere near cooked cactus or boiled okra.
Restaurant on top of the Shali Lodge (Siwa): shami, vegetable couscous, grilled chicken, rice, tehina-cucumber-tomato salad. One of the better meals of the trip, both the chicken and the couscous were mildly spiced.
In ground barbeque hosted by palm trees hotel (Siwa): shami, barbequed goat that was dry and unseasoned, tomato/cucumber/red onion salad that was average, and yellow rice that was undercooked. Worst meal of the trip. We agreed before we knew the price and ended up paying way too much. The meal immediately preceding my night of intestinal hell, and most likely to have caused it (although no one else who went got sick... so who knows?)
Hani pointed out my very stupid mistake of mixing up fu'ul which is NOT bread, but rather native beans, and shami which is the word for the bread I was disparaging. He also pointed out that shami's a uniquely delta culture bread and it's got a lot of history on its side. Apparently the recipe and manner of making it are older than the ptolemic tombs I saw in Siwa, and older than most of the things I ogled in the antiquities museum. So, that's actually really cool. I think I was perhaps too hard on the stuff because I was more than just a little annoyed with it after the last couple of days of the trip, where it was all that I could eat due to the stomach bug...
Hani also asked for a quick rundown of what else we ate since he doesn't normally hear of people complaining about the food. So, here goes. For the most part, we subsisted off of granola bars, and random sandwiches/pizzas/croissants at cafes. But, we did intersperse a few more memorable meals into the trip, including:
Aladin (inside the Sheraton Cairo Towers) morrocan food. Shami. Grilled chicken/fish with couscous. Good, but nothing to write home about.
A kebab joint in khan el khalili (but unfortunately not the Khan el Khalili cafe, which were were trying to find, but couldn't). The lamb was a very dry mixture of ground meat and spices. R was the only one who ordered lamb and decided to skip it because it scared him. The chicken was good, but not amazing by any stretch. Shami, hummos, vegetables and rice were average.
Cafe Riche (Midan Talaat Harb, Cairo) - good tehina, average to forgetable shami and main courses of chicken over rice and moussaka. The history of the place and collection of intellectuals all discussing politics and philosophy made it a memorable cool experience.
Al Dabke (Inside the Sheraton Heliopolis) - Lebanese food. Good food according to R, I was too sick to eat...The belly dancer was awkward, seemed to have about 5 moves that she kept repeating in various orders and was not very adebt with her hips (believe it or not). But the musicians accompanying the dancing were amazing, particularly the drummer and singer.
Denus (Alexandria) Greek Restaurant, excellent meals of fried perch and fried calamari, pommes frites, tehina, shami and tomatoes/red onions. The staff was wonderfully friendly and insisted on complimenting my Arabic, which was obviously a ploy to be nice to the tourists (that worked!) since my arabic literally consists of 8 words (one of which is not "bread," in case you couldn't tell).
Aethenos (Alexandria) Greek Restaurant, the fish wasn't as good as denus and the same style of meal didn't come with the tomatoes and red onions, but the ambiance, view of the corniche and dedication of the servers was better.
Alexander (Siwa): shami and good native siwan boiled green vegetable dish, flavored with garlic that started with an m/mim. The texture was somewhere near cooked cactus or boiled okra.
Restaurant on top of the Shali Lodge (Siwa): shami, vegetable couscous, grilled chicken, rice, tehina-cucumber-tomato salad. One of the better meals of the trip, both the chicken and the couscous were mildly spiced.
In ground barbeque hosted by palm trees hotel (Siwa): shami, barbequed goat that was dry and unseasoned, tomato/cucumber/red onion salad that was average, and yellow rice that was undercooked. Worst meal of the trip. We agreed before we knew the price and ended up paying way too much. The meal immediately preceding my night of intestinal hell, and most likely to have caused it (although no one else who went got sick... so who knows?)
January 13, 2004
Quick Recap
I'm back in the USA. Egypt was difficult, amazing, beautiful, scary and wonderful. Classes begin in 2 days and I'll be stuck in early morning classes 5 days a week. Given that I'm not over jet lag or the egyptian version of montezuma's revenge that I caught, I'm not excited for school to start. Oh well.
The short version of the Egypt trip:
Other than that, I'm happy to be home and almost recovered from my stomach bug. Now, I've just got to keep myself awake today and beat this jet lag before school begins...
I'm back in the USA. Egypt was difficult, amazing, beautiful, scary and wonderful. Classes begin in 2 days and I'll be stuck in early morning classes 5 days a week. Given that I'm not over jet lag or the egyptian version of montezuma's revenge that I caught, I'm not excited for school to start. Oh well.
The short version of the Egypt trip:
- Cairo is huge, full of smells, districts that are VERY distinct from one another, and many, many, many people. The basic tourist sights of the pyramids of giza, the antiquities museum, the citadel, Islamic Cairo and Khan El Khalili are all overwhelming and worth visiting again.
- The smog in Cairo is actually as bad as I had read it to be (approximately 30 cigarrettes a day)
- Downtown Cairo has the safest feeling streets of any major city I have ever visited. I had no fear of violence, theft, or any of the other nonsense of which I am usually apprehensive when in a major city like London, Paris, Rome, or New York.
- Egyptian food, on the whole, is really quite terrible. Their bread is an amazingly coarse pita-like thing called fu'ul. Greek pita bread, lebanese bread, Italian bread, so many nearby countries have much better bread, but the Egyptians have not yet gotten the memo. The same logic applies to spices, sauces and meat. The best food we had was at Greek restaurants in Alexandria (We highly recommend Denus, where you select your fish from the platter of fresh/frozen kills and I had the best fried calamari I've ever tasted.)
- Alexandria is a picturesque city on the mediterranean sea, a looser and more open younger sibling of Cairo. It is more common to see women in western dress, and young couples of opposite sex actually interacting with one another, perhaps because of the University of Alexandria and its proximity to the areas we visited. Upon arrival at the downtown train station, we managed to leave out the wrong exit and get lost on the other side of the peninsula in the working class neighborhoods--people were wonderfully friendly and helpful in helping us to get a cab back to where we were staying despite the lack of any common language other than us pointing to Midan Sa'ag Zaghloul in the rough guide. Our first night there, we stayed at the Union hotel on the 6th floor, in a room overlooking the Corniche. The view of the eastern harbour and the walks provided along the Corniche were amazing.
- Our second night there, the Cecil Hotel was a grand experience, which provided a much needed input of western water pressure and toilets during my bout with an intestinal bug.
- An intestinal bug, which comes upon you in the night at a $2 hotel in an oasis in the middle of nowhere, is not fun. Neither are fever and chills in the desert night and getting up every 30-45 minutes to run down the hall to the shared restrooms.
- The Siwa oasis is worth being sick with an intestinal bug. The Siwan people are wonderfully friendly and the culture is still locked into its past although how far back the hold goes is slowly slipping with the onslaught of tourists, factories, automobiles and other trappings of the modern way of life. Additionally, the local sights are some of the best that Egypt has to offer. We chose to go to Siwa over Luxor and Aswan and didn't regret our choice one bit. Luxor and Aswan will be there in the tourist-trapping splendor the next time we go, but Siwa may have completely altered itself by then.
- My trip would have been significantly different had I not been reading Palace Walk while in Cairo, Alexandria, Siwa, and on trains and buses surrounded by Egyptians. The book gave me a rich cultural and historical background against which to appreciate current Egyptian culture. I highly recommend this book to Westerners looking for some cultural perspective on Egypt. I had rented a few Egyptian films prior to going and none of them gave me even a tenth of the insight that the character development and stories in Palace Walk did.
Other than that, I'm happy to be home and almost recovered from my stomach bug. Now, I've just got to keep myself awake today and beat this jet lag before school begins...
January 1, 2004
Phase Two: T minus one day
Now that I'm relaxed and rejuvenated, I'm ready for the hard core portion of my vacation. Tomorrow, R and I leave for 10 days in Egypt. Should be fascinating, difficult, educational, and full of great stories. It didn't seem real to me that I was actually going until this morning when I was practicing Arabic phrases. Laughing at myself for my shower linguistics (some people sing, I speak in tongues) I realized that in less than two days, instead of having to repeat after CDs in my car, speaking in the shower, and babbling at friends who politely pretend that they are interested in what I'm trying to say, I would be able to practice these phrases with actual people who might understand me.
So, yeah. I'll be MIA for a while, doing cultural things, eating food, seeing sights, and hopefully, making a few friends.
Another bonus is that while I'm bummed to be away from E for so long, I'm over the hump. More than half of our time apart has passed and the remainder should fly by quickly as I'm traveling.
I'll collect the best stories from my trip for a monster post when I return.
Now that I'm relaxed and rejuvenated, I'm ready for the hard core portion of my vacation. Tomorrow, R and I leave for 10 days in Egypt. Should be fascinating, difficult, educational, and full of great stories. It didn't seem real to me that I was actually going until this morning when I was practicing Arabic phrases. Laughing at myself for my shower linguistics (some people sing, I speak in tongues) I realized that in less than two days, instead of having to repeat after CDs in my car, speaking in the shower, and babbling at friends who politely pretend that they are interested in what I'm trying to say, I would be able to practice these phrases with actual people who might understand me.
So, yeah. I'll be MIA for a while, doing cultural things, eating food, seeing sights, and hopefully, making a few friends.
Another bonus is that while I'm bummed to be away from E for so long, I'm over the hump. More than half of our time apart has passed and the remainder should fly by quickly as I'm traveling.
I'll collect the best stories from my trip for a monster post when I return.
Phase One: Complete
I survived and thoroughly enjoyed the first half of my winter break. A whole month of vacation! I'm back in love with law school again. Sure, finals sucked, but they were worth the entire month off.
The laziness, relaxation, and social life of the first phase included many wonderful things. I am fat and happy.
1. Read great brain candy books that had nothing to do with law:
2. Attended 2 parties and a psuedo-party where a bunch of alumni met up to watch our alma mater win a bowl game at my dad's favorite local deli/bar (we sang, yelled, drank, and celebrated, it was glorious).
3. Caught up with old friends.
4. Ate too much rich food.
5. Attended a wedding.
6. Slept, a lot.
I survived and thoroughly enjoyed the first half of my winter break. A whole month of vacation! I'm back in love with law school again. Sure, finals sucked, but they were worth the entire month off.
The laziness, relaxation, and social life of the first phase included many wonderful things. I am fat and happy.
1. Read great brain candy books that had nothing to do with law:
- American Gods by Niel Gaiman. I grabbed it just before finals because I saw that it won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus (I used to subscribe, cool rag) and Bram Stoker Awards--I figured with that list of accomplishments, either the book was really good or there was a huge sci-fi/fantasy award conspiracy I should know about. It was really good. Fast plot, tight writing, excellent historical tidbit droppings, all the makings of fine brain candy.
- The Passions of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland. Italy. Art. Hints of the Italian Language. The drama of a difficult and dedicated life. All the things that are so sorely lacking from my law school experience.
- The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. I figured I should at least know what everyone is talking about. Yup, it too had all the great trappings of an escape. Everything I've ever read about using the device of plot and managing the flow of a story was pulled off perfectly in this book. I read most of it on the last day of last year and I started the new year by waking in a post-party-daze and finishing the last 4 chapters.
2. Attended 2 parties and a psuedo-party where a bunch of alumni met up to watch our alma mater win a bowl game at my dad's favorite local deli/bar (we sang, yelled, drank, and celebrated, it was glorious).
3. Caught up with old friends.
4. Ate too much rich food.
5. Attended a wedding.
6. Slept, a lot.
December 23, 2003
Family Time
My life is predictably boring and wonderful these days. E and I are with our respective families, which does make life a little weird for me. We haven't been apart for this long for 2 years.
But, I'm distracted by my brother, sister, sister-in-law (more or less), mother, father, friends in my hometown, and OF COURSE, my adorable niece. For the last two days, I braved holiday shopping obstacles at the mall and target with a 23-month-old in tow and either her father or mother running interference.
Lots of work. I find that I need a nap when she does. And, since I'm on vacation, I willingly take one each day.
The basic scene is as you'd imagine it: my presents are wrapped (finished that today, thankfully) and under the tree, and my mother is buzzing about the kitchen in her typical ADHD way--making two grandiose meals at the same time while attacking 17 other holiday tasks. The stress of her ridiculous approach to holiday meals is a bit much. But then again, I'm staying with my brother, so I don't have to see it 24-7, and even if I did, it's worth it for the tradition of beef wellington for christmas dinner. Mmmm... beef wellington.
I'm off to perform pie patrol (Honey, can you take these pies out when they are ready before you leave? Oh, and marinate the beef? And wrap this present? And... Oh, I can see by your face that I should stop with the pies. Can you take the pies out?)
And then, I'm off to a much needed break from the fam to spend the evening with one of my best friends from childhood.
Happy holidays, break, winter, etc. to you all.
My life is predictably boring and wonderful these days. E and I are with our respective families, which does make life a little weird for me. We haven't been apart for this long for 2 years.
But, I'm distracted by my brother, sister, sister-in-law (more or less), mother, father, friends in my hometown, and OF COURSE, my adorable niece. For the last two days, I braved holiday shopping obstacles at the mall and target with a 23-month-old in tow and either her father or mother running interference.
Lots of work. I find that I need a nap when she does. And, since I'm on vacation, I willingly take one each day.
The basic scene is as you'd imagine it: my presents are wrapped (finished that today, thankfully) and under the tree, and my mother is buzzing about the kitchen in her typical ADHD way--making two grandiose meals at the same time while attacking 17 other holiday tasks. The stress of her ridiculous approach to holiday meals is a bit much. But then again, I'm staying with my brother, so I don't have to see it 24-7, and even if I did, it's worth it for the tradition of beef wellington for christmas dinner. Mmmm... beef wellington.
I'm off to perform pie patrol (Honey, can you take these pies out when they are ready before you leave? Oh, and marinate the beef? And wrap this present? And... Oh, I can see by your face that I should stop with the pies. Can you take the pies out?)
And then, I'm off to a much needed break from the fam to spend the evening with one of my best friends from childhood.
Happy holidays, break, winter, etc. to you all.
December 19, 2003
Totally Crossed Out
See those courses over there? To the left? They are all crossed out. I'm way too happy about this.
I know I'm only halfway done with a couple of the courses, but I'm leaving them off the list 'til classes start again.
So far today, I've slept in, done some christmas shopping, relaxed, and ummm... not much else.
How great is that?
See those courses over there? To the left? They are all crossed out. I'm way too happy about this.
I know I'm only halfway done with a couple of the courses, but I'm leaving them off the list 'til classes start again.
So far today, I've slept in, done some christmas shopping, relaxed, and ummm... not much else.
How great is that?
December 18, 2003
Ahhhhh....
And I'm done. E and I just returned from a nice long Italian dinner at our favorite local joint. We talked about nothing and everything, for the first time in several weeks. Along with Pasto Ceppo and Pasta Norma, we sipped down a bottle of Guiseppe's recommendation: Vigorello. Wow--the perfect way to celebrate the end of the semester. It's light, full bright red fruits, and with the perfect hint of oak, although it was a little heavy on the sediment, if that bothers you. It's my new second favorite Super Tuscan, after Tignanello, which will always claim number one because of the memories from the night in San Gimignano when I first had it.
As for the exam, it's over. The whole semester is over, in fact. One-sixth down. Amazing.
The long story is that H and I crammed as much as we could in our under-prepared heads and compiled as many helpful documents as we could for the open book exam. We managed to cover it all, but definitely not at the level we'd covered everything else. We were scared, actually.
But, I assume we owe a huge Thankyou to the vibes sent my way from Sua Sponte. Yesterday, when it became ridiculously apparent that H and I were not going to be completely prepared for our exam, we had to make a choice. We each named what we thought the essay portion would cover, and we covered those portions extensively. Apparently, someone was listening. It was almost scary how dead-on my guess had been... I called it down to the sub-sub-rule on the first issue and the general topic of the follow up question was exactly what I suspected. A Big Huge Thanks is all I have to say.
So, the next time I have to think about law school is when I return from my two-week vacation in Egypt. For now, it's all fun, family, holidays, gift shopping, bowl games, and getting back into the swing of being a normal human.
And I'm done. E and I just returned from a nice long Italian dinner at our favorite local joint. We talked about nothing and everything, for the first time in several weeks. Along with Pasto Ceppo and Pasta Norma, we sipped down a bottle of Guiseppe's recommendation: Vigorello. Wow--the perfect way to celebrate the end of the semester. It's light, full bright red fruits, and with the perfect hint of oak, although it was a little heavy on the sediment, if that bothers you. It's my new second favorite Super Tuscan, after Tignanello, which will always claim number one because of the memories from the night in San Gimignano when I first had it.
As for the exam, it's over. The whole semester is over, in fact. One-sixth down. Amazing.
The long story is that H and I crammed as much as we could in our under-prepared heads and compiled as many helpful documents as we could for the open book exam. We managed to cover it all, but definitely not at the level we'd covered everything else. We were scared, actually.
But, I assume we owe a huge Thankyou to the vibes sent my way from Sua Sponte. Yesterday, when it became ridiculously apparent that H and I were not going to be completely prepared for our exam, we had to make a choice. We each named what we thought the essay portion would cover, and we covered those portions extensively. Apparently, someone was listening. It was almost scary how dead-on my guess had been... I called it down to the sub-sub-rule on the first issue and the general topic of the follow up question was exactly what I suspected. A Big Huge Thanks is all I have to say.
So, the next time I have to think about law school is when I return from my two-week vacation in Egypt. For now, it's all fun, family, holidays, gift shopping, bowl games, and getting back into the swing of being a normal human.
December 16, 2003
And then there was one
Property was reasonable. 3 hours, 3 questions, weighted according to their time allotments. I left feeling better than after Torts. But, that wasn't hard to do.
I took the night off and went to dinner with E and some friends. I hoped to recuperate, and did, some. But morning came too soon.
And now, although I'm still exhausted, I must focus. 53 hours 'til I'm done with the first semester. Civil Procedure seems undaunting after all of the other exams--it's open book, and only 25% of my final grade. But, unfortunately, I'm also less prepared for it than any of my other exams. So, I've got to buckle down, get a ridiculous collection of notes into a workable outline, tab the rules, attend one last review session, and go through several practice exams all before Thursday afternoon.
I can't wait 'til I'm done with this marathon.
Property was reasonable. 3 hours, 3 questions, weighted according to their time allotments. I left feeling better than after Torts. But, that wasn't hard to do.
I took the night off and went to dinner with E and some friends. I hoped to recuperate, and did, some. But morning came too soon.
And now, although I'm still exhausted, I must focus. 53 hours 'til I'm done with the first semester. Civil Procedure seems undaunting after all of the other exams--it's open book, and only 25% of my final grade. But, unfortunately, I'm also less prepared for it than any of my other exams. So, I've got to buckle down, get a ridiculous collection of notes into a workable outline, tab the rules, attend one last review session, and go through several practice exams all before Thursday afternoon.
I can't wait 'til I'm done with this marathon.
Pronunciation
Turns out, it's Kwik-so-tic, not Kee-oh-tic. It comes from Quixote, as in Don Quixote, the book, written in SPANISH. Seems like the pronunciation would follow the Spanish rules, but apparently, the Brits decided that "Kwicks-ote" (think oatmeal) was how to pronounce the man's name and it looks like they were the ones who coined the word quixotic. Cultural imperialism. Lame.
If you're wondering about other words you may have mispronounced (or correctly pronounced, if you asked me) check out this cool article about common English words disagreed upon regardless of dialect or linguistic background.
Turns out, it's Kwik-so-tic, not Kee-oh-tic. It comes from Quixote, as in Don Quixote, the book, written in SPANISH. Seems like the pronunciation would follow the Spanish rules, but apparently, the Brits decided that "Kwicks-ote" (think oatmeal) was how to pronounce the man's name and it looks like they were the ones who coined the word quixotic. Cultural imperialism. Lame.
If you're wondering about other words you may have mispronounced (or correctly pronounced, if you asked me) check out this cool article about common English words disagreed upon regardless of dialect or linguistic background.
December 14, 2003
Reality Check
One of the theories of why Property rights exist says that without private property, people will not speak up for themselves against the tyrant, because they have no guarantee of anything outside of what is provided by the state. If you follow this line of thought long enough, you get to the place where property rights are a pragmatic way to avoid war--and all of the fighting over who gets the biggest piece of the pie.
The difference between theory and reality is that war is already happening. It's merely a question of scale, and whether the fighting is known to the masses. The truth of property is that it's a system to minimize the war, not avoid it.
So, with an eye towards minimizing war, I'd like to offer a blessing to each and every American, Iraqi and international soldier working for peace in Iraq. May the capture of the despot bring you much good will and momentum on the arduous road to a greater peace.
One of the theories of why Property rights exist says that without private property, people will not speak up for themselves against the tyrant, because they have no guarantee of anything outside of what is provided by the state. If you follow this line of thought long enough, you get to the place where property rights are a pragmatic way to avoid war--and all of the fighting over who gets the biggest piece of the pie.
The difference between theory and reality is that war is already happening. It's merely a question of scale, and whether the fighting is known to the masses. The truth of property is that it's a system to minimize the war, not avoid it.
So, with an eye towards minimizing war, I'd like to offer a blessing to each and every American, Iraqi and international soldier working for peace in Iraq. May the capture of the despot bring you much good will and momentum on the arduous road to a greater peace.
December 13, 2003
Over the Hump
I've had no social life since classes ended. Other than stopping by K's house the night before my first exam, I haven't seen any of my non-law-school friends since November. 'Til yesterday, that is. After my glorious 11-hour night of sleep, I spent 6-hours stuffing everything I know in property either into my head or onto the cheat sheet for about 6 hours. Then, E and I went to a long-lived and favorite client's holiday party at Morton's in Union Square. Mmmm... Filet Mignon. The size of a small house. Oh, and to top it off, they cleared us out of the private dining room a little early (in exchange for a round of drinks on the house) so that we could make room for a party for Jaws. No problem, man. No problem at all. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Dude is REALLY tall.
So, the event to mark halfway was was great: Friends I hadn't seen in 3 months to a year. Union Square during the holiday bustle. Good Wine. Rare beef. And one of the best James Bond Villains of all time.
E and I came home, watched the Simpons, had a cup of tea and passed out. Although I slept quite well, I did wake at 3 AM with bit of beef-madness. Apparently, I was suffering from beef-inspired property dreams, one of which involved a broken deep-fryer, several of the party's attendees, a huge side of beef going into the fryer, hot-oil everywhere, and me yelling at the landlord about how the fryer was part of the common area facilities and boy, were they in trouble. Guess I'm not getting too far away from Torts, but at least it is somehow landlord-tenant related. Apparently, my subconscious didn't get the memo about the night off.
I've had no social life since classes ended. Other than stopping by K's house the night before my first exam, I haven't seen any of my non-law-school friends since November. 'Til yesterday, that is. After my glorious 11-hour night of sleep, I spent 6-hours stuffing everything I know in property either into my head or onto the cheat sheet for about 6 hours. Then, E and I went to a long-lived and favorite client's holiday party at Morton's in Union Square. Mmmm... Filet Mignon. The size of a small house. Oh, and to top it off, they cleared us out of the private dining room a little early (in exchange for a round of drinks on the house) so that we could make room for a party for Jaws. No problem, man. No problem at all. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Dude is REALLY tall.
So, the event to mark halfway was was great: Friends I hadn't seen in 3 months to a year. Union Square during the holiday bustle. Good Wine. Rare beef. And one of the best James Bond Villains of all time.
E and I came home, watched the Simpons, had a cup of tea and passed out. Although I slept quite well, I did wake at 3 AM with bit of beef-madness. Apparently, I was suffering from beef-inspired property dreams, one of which involved a broken deep-fryer, several of the party's attendees, a huge side of beef going into the fryer, hot-oil everywhere, and me yelling at the landlord about how the fryer was part of the common area facilities and boy, were they in trouble. Guess I'm not getting too far away from Torts, but at least it is somehow landlord-tenant related. Apparently, my subconscious didn't get the memo about the night off.
December 12, 2003
OOTO
E works with lots of Indian Programmers. Today, one of them sent the following Out Of The Office message:
Subject: OOTO 12/13 - 01/06
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 14:58:09 -0800
I'll be on vacation in India.
Yes - I'll be checking email when I'm sober.
Yes - I'm going to get my hair cut.
Yes - I'm getting married.
No - I don't know her.
No - I won't set you up with her sister.
Happy holidays,
[name_omitted]
E works with lots of Indian Programmers. Today, one of them sent the following Out Of The Office message:
Subject: OOTO 12/13 - 01/06
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2003 14:58:09 -0800
I'll be on vacation in India.
Yes - I'll be checking email when I'm sober.
Yes - I'm going to get my hair cut.
Yes - I'm getting married.
No - I don't know her.
No - I won't set you up with her sister.
Happy holidays,
[name_omitted]
Two Down
Torts. Three and a half hours. Even longer than contracts.
So, studying took priority over blogging for the last few days. Tuesday, H and I boiled our outlines down to the two-sided page of notes that we were allowed to bring to the exam. Turns out this two pages of notes thing was a bit of a farce for two reasons:
1. In order to finish the exam you had to know the material cold and be a very speedy typist. There was very little time to consult your notes, so spending an entire day constructing the cheat sheet of perfection was a bit of a waste of time, in hindsight.
2. We covered way too much in Torts to fit all of the relevant material on two pages. I say this despite the fact that I used crazy MS-Word-Foo and got 3 columns in 6.5 font with margins of 0.2 on all four sides for both pages. After removing so many useful things and staring at the page trying to decide what else could go before it fit on 2 pages, I realized that the two page notes trick was the professor's way of trying to get you to memorize the important stuff. There are easier ways to memorize...sheesh. So, at the end, you have most of it memorized and the stuff that would be really useful on the exam are the random analyses by dissenting judges, elements of minority opinions, etc. that you could pull-out in policy arguments. But, of course, that stuff didn't make it through the filter of importance to earn a spot on the 2-pager. So, basically, it's a security blanket unless you are so confident that you can fill it with random shit that may come in useful. I'm not that cocky.
Wednesday, H and I cranked through a few practice exams and read the model answers. From them, we determined that there's a pretty high reward for pull-it-out-of-your-ass arguments. The more novel and crack-potted, the more likely they are to keep the professor interested as they are grading their 85th essay. Turns out an engineering degree is a bad thing in these cases. It doesn't occur to me that I should develop a theory about explosions, crashes, etc. that goes against the laws of physics. Thankfully, there were no speculation about destruction questions on the exam.
So, I barely used the notes. And, I barely finished. The proctor called time when I was halfway through spell-check. Turns out I don't know how to spell "forseeability", [laugh] oh well. It's halfway correct and halfway not.
Overall, I was a little disappointed in the exam and my performance. It definitely covered more material in two questions than any of the prof's earlier exams did. I believe I identified most of the issues, and I did my best to analyze the important ones. But, there were too many important issues and not enough time to analyze them all. None of her practice exams had dealt with this problem and I didn't know if it was worth it to point out that I saw the issues I didn't have time to get to, or if I shouldn't bother unless I had time to also analyze them. In the end, I had to make some concessions for speed: I took the two sentence approach. One for "here's an issue" and a follow up of "the facts indicate blah-blah-blah, which leads to a insert-case-here-style approach where result will be the outcome. Or something like that.
I'm disappointed because there was too much to do and in the real world, I would have done it all. On the exam, I had to pick the best few issues to address fully and then use the time left to briefly touch on the others. I did all the basic stuff like sticking to the time allotment for the first question despite it's length, and taking one-third of the time to outline my answers before I started writing. But, the outlines identified WAY more material than I could write about in the remaining two-thirds of the exam. I did my best to rank them in order of importance and just go. I guess I'm a little disappointed because when you are so pressed for time that you don't have time to think, it becomes a game of instincts, and not necessarily a test of your knowledge or ability to communicate it. I guess I can hope my instincts were correct. I have to accept that law school sometimes grades on things like test-taking strategy and instinct instead of understanding, and move on.
Because Hey, I finished my first law school class. I spent the remainder of yesterday giving my brain a much needed break. Some of us went out for lunch and drinks after the exam, we avoided discussing the exam as if it was the plague, then I lounged on a couch watching H's built up TiVo collection (Cold Case Files, Law and Order, QueerEye), read some of the Economist, and finally, went out for dinner with E. Italian food, wine, and early to bed.
This morning, I woke refreshed for the first time in at least 3 days. I slept for 11 hours. I can't believe how physically exhausting this extended learning process is. But, Property is over in a scant 3 days. So, I'm off to make yet another 2-page condensed sheet of ridiculousness.
Torts. Three and a half hours. Even longer than contracts.
So, studying took priority over blogging for the last few days. Tuesday, H and I boiled our outlines down to the two-sided page of notes that we were allowed to bring to the exam. Turns out this two pages of notes thing was a bit of a farce for two reasons:
1. In order to finish the exam you had to know the material cold and be a very speedy typist. There was very little time to consult your notes, so spending an entire day constructing the cheat sheet of perfection was a bit of a waste of time, in hindsight.
2. We covered way too much in Torts to fit all of the relevant material on two pages. I say this despite the fact that I used crazy MS-Word-Foo and got 3 columns in 6.5 font with margins of 0.2 on all four sides for both pages. After removing so many useful things and staring at the page trying to decide what else could go before it fit on 2 pages, I realized that the two page notes trick was the professor's way of trying to get you to memorize the important stuff. There are easier ways to memorize...sheesh. So, at the end, you have most of it memorized and the stuff that would be really useful on the exam are the random analyses by dissenting judges, elements of minority opinions, etc. that you could pull-out in policy arguments. But, of course, that stuff didn't make it through the filter of importance to earn a spot on the 2-pager. So, basically, it's a security blanket unless you are so confident that you can fill it with random shit that may come in useful. I'm not that cocky.
Wednesday, H and I cranked through a few practice exams and read the model answers. From them, we determined that there's a pretty high reward for pull-it-out-of-your-ass arguments. The more novel and crack-potted, the more likely they are to keep the professor interested as they are grading their 85th essay. Turns out an engineering degree is a bad thing in these cases. It doesn't occur to me that I should develop a theory about explosions, crashes, etc. that goes against the laws of physics. Thankfully, there were no speculation about destruction questions on the exam.
So, I barely used the notes. And, I barely finished. The proctor called time when I was halfway through spell-check. Turns out I don't know how to spell "forseeability", [laugh] oh well. It's halfway correct and halfway not.
Overall, I was a little disappointed in the exam and my performance. It definitely covered more material in two questions than any of the prof's earlier exams did. I believe I identified most of the issues, and I did my best to analyze the important ones. But, there were too many important issues and not enough time to analyze them all. None of her practice exams had dealt with this problem and I didn't know if it was worth it to point out that I saw the issues I didn't have time to get to, or if I shouldn't bother unless I had time to also analyze them. In the end, I had to make some concessions for speed: I took the two sentence approach. One for "here's an issue" and a follow up of "the facts indicate blah-blah-blah, which leads to a insert-case-here-style approach where result will be the outcome. Or something like that.
I'm disappointed because there was too much to do and in the real world, I would have done it all. On the exam, I had to pick the best few issues to address fully and then use the time left to briefly touch on the others. I did all the basic stuff like sticking to the time allotment for the first question despite it's length, and taking one-third of the time to outline my answers before I started writing. But, the outlines identified WAY more material than I could write about in the remaining two-thirds of the exam. I did my best to rank them in order of importance and just go. I guess I'm a little disappointed because when you are so pressed for time that you don't have time to think, it becomes a game of instincts, and not necessarily a test of your knowledge or ability to communicate it. I guess I can hope my instincts were correct. I have to accept that law school sometimes grades on things like test-taking strategy and instinct instead of understanding, and move on.
Because Hey, I finished my first law school class. I spent the remainder of yesterday giving my brain a much needed break. Some of us went out for lunch and drinks after the exam, we avoided discussing the exam as if it was the plague, then I lounged on a couch watching H's built up TiVo collection (Cold Case Files, Law and Order, QueerEye), read some of the Economist, and finally, went out for dinner with E. Italian food, wine, and early to bed.
This morning, I woke refreshed for the first time in at least 3 days. I slept for 11 hours. I can't believe how physically exhausting this extended learning process is. But, Property is over in a scant 3 days. So, I'm off to make yet another 2-page condensed sheet of ridiculousness.
December 9, 2003
Refreshed...Sort Of
The nap was two hours. It was dark by the time I woke up, so the leaves are still out there annoying our next door neighbor to no end [evil laugh].
I woke intending to study, but took a quick break to call my sister. Turns out my Dad's house was robbed last Friday. Due to finals, I didn't make the weekend family calls (or attend the funeral of my father's best-friend's father) so I was out of the loop.
Apparently, when my dad came home from work for a late lunch, he interrupted them. Have I mentioned that my dad is 6'4" and approximately 290lbs? He went inside to write down the license plate of the woman in the van in his driveway only to watch her partner, "a little guy," run out the front door. He chased after the guy, who left on foot while the woman sped away in the van. The guy got away (my dad's strong but umm... not so fast...). The woman circled back to pick up the guy and my dad CAR-CHASED HER VAN THROUGH TOWN UNTIL HE PINNED IT AGAINST A WALL, with his American 4-door sedan, no less. Then he called the police and waited for them to come pick her up. My dad is hilarious. [laugh]
The story should be better, though. The police let the woman go after 5 hours because my dad never saw her get out of the van or go into the house, she was only parked in his driveway and there was no stolen property in the van. Oh well. Somehow I doubt they'll come back.
Of course, then I had to call my dad and my brother to catch up on the family gossip and yell at my dad for not telling me (I didn't want to bother you during finals). Then E came home, so we talked about our days. In truth I only got about 2 hours of studying for Civ Pro done before dinner and watching Carlito's Way. Another awesome Pacino performance, but at 2h20m, I didn't get to bed as early as I would have liked...
When I woke this morning, I was tired, but I think my brain is capable of going back to full assault mode. It's not happy about it, but I'm not giving it a choice.
The nap was two hours. It was dark by the time I woke up, so the leaves are still out there annoying our next door neighbor to no end [evil laugh].
I woke intending to study, but took a quick break to call my sister. Turns out my Dad's house was robbed last Friday. Due to finals, I didn't make the weekend family calls (or attend the funeral of my father's best-friend's father) so I was out of the loop.
Apparently, when my dad came home from work for a late lunch, he interrupted them. Have I mentioned that my dad is 6'4" and approximately 290lbs? He went inside to write down the license plate of the woman in the van in his driveway only to watch her partner, "a little guy," run out the front door. He chased after the guy, who left on foot while the woman sped away in the van. The guy got away (my dad's strong but umm... not so fast...). The woman circled back to pick up the guy and my dad CAR-CHASED HER VAN THROUGH TOWN UNTIL HE PINNED IT AGAINST A WALL, with his American 4-door sedan, no less. Then he called the police and waited for them to come pick her up. My dad is hilarious. [laugh]
The story should be better, though. The police let the woman go after 5 hours because my dad never saw her get out of the van or go into the house, she was only parked in his driveway and there was no stolen property in the van. Oh well. Somehow I doubt they'll come back.
Of course, then I had to call my dad and my brother to catch up on the family gossip and yell at my dad for not telling me (I didn't want to bother you during finals). Then E came home, so we talked about our days. In truth I only got about 2 hours of studying for Civ Pro done before dinner and watching Carlito's Way. Another awesome Pacino performance, but at 2h20m, I didn't get to bed as early as I would have liked...
When I woke this morning, I was tired, but I think my brain is capable of going back to full assault mode. It's not happy about it, but I'm not giving it a choice.
December 8, 2003
One Down
Contracts. Finished. 3 hour exam. Very Long. Most people were complaining about not having time to finish. But, I think that's a good thing. I'd rather have a test that covers tons of topics and have the opportunity to write about what I know in order of best to least. If I missed some of the lessor points, so be it. Tests that seem easy and go for a few key points always freak me out. I wonder if I'm missing things, and end up racking my brain in the spare time to try and make up shit that might or might not get points.
After taking that test, I'm drained. I'm going to take a nap, rake the leaves (workout and chore, all in one), and then... begin studying again later this evening.
Based on today's exam, my studying plan looks like it's working pretty well. My approach has been to get the outlines done. Then get the cheat sheets done. By then, I had a general sense of the material and H and I attacked as many practice exams as we could handle.
In the last 3 days, H and I covered around 15 exam questions in prep for this test. We'd outline under time pressure, allotting about 1/3 of the question length, just like we would in the real test, and then we'd discuss what we found. I can't believe how lucky I am to have found a study partner who: doesn't annoy me at all, asks questions that make me think and learn, can study at my house on a regular basis, and enjoys burritos. What were the odds?
And, then, to top it off--we have very different brains. So, we often we take different positions on things that could go either way. We discuss our respective positions and at the end have a very good idea of how to argue both sides of the issue. All but one of the issues (that I spotted, at least) that showed up on the real exam were things we'd covered in depth on the two days prior. I feel like I'd have worked harder without H and chances are, I would have learned less. That's my advice, find a study partner who has the same work ethic and a different way of thinking than you.
Off to get some recovery sleep since the hotel sleep was fitfull and too short. I've finally come down from the adrenaline high I've been on for at least the last 36 hours and my head hurts. My body is craving the bed and I'm only too happy to comply.
Contracts. Finished. 3 hour exam. Very Long. Most people were complaining about not having time to finish. But, I think that's a good thing. I'd rather have a test that covers tons of topics and have the opportunity to write about what I know in order of best to least. If I missed some of the lessor points, so be it. Tests that seem easy and go for a few key points always freak me out. I wonder if I'm missing things, and end up racking my brain in the spare time to try and make up shit that might or might not get points.
After taking that test, I'm drained. I'm going to take a nap, rake the leaves (workout and chore, all in one), and then... begin studying again later this evening.
Based on today's exam, my studying plan looks like it's working pretty well. My approach has been to get the outlines done. Then get the cheat sheets done. By then, I had a general sense of the material and H and I attacked as many practice exams as we could handle.
In the last 3 days, H and I covered around 15 exam questions in prep for this test. We'd outline under time pressure, allotting about 1/3 of the question length, just like we would in the real test, and then we'd discuss what we found. I can't believe how lucky I am to have found a study partner who: doesn't annoy me at all, asks questions that make me think and learn, can study at my house on a regular basis, and enjoys burritos. What were the odds?
And, then, to top it off--we have very different brains. So, we often we take different positions on things that could go either way. We discuss our respective positions and at the end have a very good idea of how to argue both sides of the issue. All but one of the issues (that I spotted, at least) that showed up on the real exam were things we'd covered in depth on the two days prior. I feel like I'd have worked harder without H and chances are, I would have learned less. That's my advice, find a study partner who has the same work ethic and a different way of thinking than you.
Off to get some recovery sleep since the hotel sleep was fitfull and too short. I've finally come down from the adrenaline high I've been on for at least the last 36 hours and my head hurts. My body is craving the bed and I'm only too happy to comply.
December 5, 2003
The Good Life
When you're studying like mad, it's the little things, like emails from your friends that really make your day.
A friend told me about going to his high school reunion:
I had a one person to try to corner me and find out my salary,
but I was able to pass this over easily by just telling him that
I'm a director of soft porn, so my earnings vary.
I explained that last year was a down year,
but this year I really expected to...
get it up.
Buh-dum-ching.
When you're studying like mad, it's the little things, like emails from your friends that really make your day.
A friend told me about going to his high school reunion:
I had a one person to try to corner me and find out my salary,
but I was able to pass this over easily by just telling him that
I'm a director of soft porn, so my earnings vary.
I explained that last year was a down year,
but this year I really expected to...
get it up.
Buh-dum-ching.
December 4, 2003
Best Left-Over Thanksgiving Idea
Turkey Fajitas:
Sautee some diced onions and garlic in olive oil.
Throw in cumin, paprika, cinnamon, cayenne, salt, chili powder and pepper.
Add a small can of tomato paste and 2 cups of turkey stock and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
Cut up left-over turkey (light and dark meat) into bite-sized chunks, throw them in the pan with the sauce.
Cook 'til the sauce has boiled down to the consistency you like and throw in some diced bell peppers for the last 1-2 minutes.
Serve on warmed tortillas, with pico de gallo and lettuce.
And, now, the turkey leftovers are finally gone.
Turkey Fajitas:
Sautee some diced onions and garlic in olive oil.
Throw in cumin, paprika, cinnamon, cayenne, salt, chili powder and pepper.
Add a small can of tomato paste and 2 cups of turkey stock and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
Cut up left-over turkey (light and dark meat) into bite-sized chunks, throw them in the pan with the sauce.
Cook 'til the sauce has boiled down to the consistency you like and throw in some diced bell peppers for the last 1-2 minutes.
Serve on warmed tortillas, with pico de gallo and lettuce.
And, now, the turkey leftovers are finally gone.
Failed Experiment
I broke down and rebooted into Windows today. Abiword and Open Office couldn't handle my contracts outline formatting. I'm not a formatting freak, but I guess bullet points, bold, indentations, etc. for more than 30 pages were just too much for open source to handle today. I don't have the time to force it to work right now.
There IS a market for a good MS-compatible word processing suite on linux. I wonder when someone will get around to making one that's actually an option for people under pressure to produce documents.
I hate it when I have to go back to using the monopoly. At least this time, they won the battle on features. But, I'm still grumpy about it.
In other news, I accessed my blog in IE for the first time and realized my fonts were hard to read. Here's the newer version.
Back to contracts.
I broke down and rebooted into Windows today. Abiword and Open Office couldn't handle my contracts outline formatting. I'm not a formatting freak, but I guess bullet points, bold, indentations, etc. for more than 30 pages were just too much for open source to handle today. I don't have the time to force it to work right now.
There IS a market for a good MS-compatible word processing suite on linux. I wonder when someone will get around to making one that's actually an option for people under pressure to produce documents.
I hate it when I have to go back to using the monopoly. At least this time, they won the battle on features. But, I'm still grumpy about it.
In other news, I accessed my blog in IE for the first time and realized my fonts were hard to read. Here's the newer version.
Back to contracts.
December 3, 2003
Tired
Turns out there was a surprise review session today. I really wanted to cut off of campus after class and get some fresh air, and perhaps buy toilet guts, since one of our toilet flushing mechanism died from the abuse of family, turkey, gravy, etc. But, the toilet will have to wait, as will fresh air. The review session was a practice exam of short answer questions for professor Early. He rabidly guards his short answers (the going theory is that he reuses them) so the opportunity to practice on some, even if they were made up by a previous student of his, was something I could not turn down. So, I did what I should have done and studied for a couple of hours, gulped down some food, went to the review and finally took off with H to catch Shattered Glass.
I highly recommend the movie as a study break. Of course, I highly recommend anything that's a study break these days. But seriously, Hayden Christensen did a very good job of playing a clearly troubled young writer, and the story is entertaining. Of course, when he's getting suspended and asked to leave without any of his belongings, the main character asks if he can at least take his law school books with him. The scene involved a book that looked disturbingly like my property book. I just can't escape...
Tomorrow, I've got two timed practice exams: property and torts. Thankfully, my property outline is done. I came home refreshed from the movie and tried to fly through the remaining 15% of my Torts outline. At midnight, I called it quits without winning. If there's anything on the last 5% of class, I'll have to rely on the fact that we recently covered it. I need sleep. Thankfully, E is being wonderfully patient with me and made me tea, ordered dinner for delivery and agreed to come stay with me at the hotel on the nights before my morning exams. I'm very lucky.
Off to kill a few trees by printing my notes and outlines for those classes.
Turns out there was a surprise review session today. I really wanted to cut off of campus after class and get some fresh air, and perhaps buy toilet guts, since one of our toilet flushing mechanism died from the abuse of family, turkey, gravy, etc. But, the toilet will have to wait, as will fresh air. The review session was a practice exam of short answer questions for professor Early. He rabidly guards his short answers (the going theory is that he reuses them) so the opportunity to practice on some, even if they were made up by a previous student of his, was something I could not turn down. So, I did what I should have done and studied for a couple of hours, gulped down some food, went to the review and finally took off with H to catch Shattered Glass.
I highly recommend the movie as a study break. Of course, I highly recommend anything that's a study break these days. But seriously, Hayden Christensen did a very good job of playing a clearly troubled young writer, and the story is entertaining. Of course, when he's getting suspended and asked to leave without any of his belongings, the main character asks if he can at least take his law school books with him. The scene involved a book that looked disturbingly like my property book. I just can't escape...
Tomorrow, I've got two timed practice exams: property and torts. Thankfully, my property outline is done. I came home refreshed from the movie and tried to fly through the remaining 15% of my Torts outline. At midnight, I called it quits without winning. If there's anything on the last 5% of class, I'll have to rely on the fact that we recently covered it. I need sleep. Thankfully, E is being wonderfully patient with me and made me tea, ordered dinner for delivery and agreed to come stay with me at the hotel on the nights before my morning exams. I'm very lucky.
Off to kill a few trees by printing my notes and outlines for those classes.
December 1, 2003
Life According to Grandmother
Gran sent an adorable thank you email for thanksgiving that included the following:
Had a good trip home, no rain. It is cold here today, too cold to
rain, darn it, we could surely use it. Your home is lovelyand I'm sure that you are going to be very happy
there. It is nice that you have so many nice cupboards, you can never have
too many. I fussed around with this computer and somehow it is working, but it
makes me so angry because I don't know what I did to make it work, oh well I
won't worry about it until it won't work any more then I'll really be ticked.
I'm sure it is working because you put a good hex on it. HA, HA, HA.
Thanks again my darlings and both of you have a wonderful Christmas.
No mention of finals or school. Not because I didn't mention 'em but because they aren't important. She's been alive a long time. In her wisdom, cabinets, weather, and hexes (on technology) are important, but not school. I'll keep that in mind.
Gran sent an adorable thank you email for thanksgiving that included the following:
Had a good trip home, no rain. It is cold here today, too cold to
rain, darn it, we could surely use it. Your home is lovelyand I'm sure that you are going to be very happy
there. It is nice that you have so many nice cupboards, you can never have
too many. I fussed around with this computer and somehow it is working, but it
makes me so angry because I don't know what I did to make it work, oh well I
won't worry about it until it won't work any more then I'll really be ticked.
I'm sure it is working because you put a good hex on it. HA, HA, HA.
Thanks again my darlings and both of you have a wonderful Christmas.
No mention of finals or school. Not because I didn't mention 'em but because they aren't important. She's been alive a long time. In her wisdom, cabinets, weather, and hexes (on technology) are important, but not school. I'll keep that in mind.
November 30, 2003
Exam Tips from Posner
Posner's responses (see below) to Howard's questions are accessible.
So really, he was talking about written briefs, not exams. But it struck me that if I could keep them in mind while writing my exams, I'd be much better off.
My advice for lawyers practicing before me and my colleagues is threefold:
I shall try.
Posner's responses (see below) to Howard's questions are accessible.
So really, he was talking about written briefs, not exams. But it struck me that if I could keep them in mind while writing my exams, I'd be much better off.
My advice for lawyers practicing before me and my colleagues is threefold:
- always explain the purpose of a rule that you want us to apply in your favor, because the purpose of a rule delimits its scope and guides its application;
- always give us practical reasons for the result you are seeking; and
- don't overestimate the knowledge that an appellate judge brings to your case, because we have very little time to prepare for argument in depth, and the breadth of jurisdiction of the federal courts is such that we cannot possibly be experts in all or most of the fields out of which appeals arise.
I shall try.
More Procrastination
I can hardly wait.
Howard will be adding Posner as a new addition to his very cool 20 questions for the appellate judge.
Okay. Off to burritos and then to study. I swear.
I can hardly wait.
Howard will be adding Posner as a new addition to his very cool 20 questions for the appellate judge.
Okay. Off to burritos and then to study. I swear.
Stupid Patents
I did this as a kid. Didn't you?
What happened to "known or used by others"? How hard can it be to ask your friends, parents, etc. if any of 'em used a swing like this? Ugggghhh....
Okay, now I'm really going to study.
I did this as a kid. Didn't you?
What happened to "known or used by others"? How hard can it be to ask your friends, parents, etc. if any of 'em used a swing like this? Ugggghhh....
Okay, now I'm really going to study.
And the beat goes on
Friday and Saturday, I followed the advice of the career center, and DG & Transmogriflaw. My resume is back to 2 full pages, with less specific tech details than it used to have, and no listing of "Skills." All told, I put in over 10 hours of resume editing, firm research, cover letter writing, hand-feeding the nice resume paper into the printer one page at a time, mail-merging letters and labels, editing the letters to make them more "personalized", and envelope stuffing. I've got a nice stack of job packets to show for it. They'll be gone tomorrow and then I get to wait-and-see.
Today is more contracts outlining. H is coming over to sit at the table with me, just like yesterday. We studied 'til 12:30 AM. On a Saturday. I'm so amused at my commitment to only study 1 weekend per month. I'm glad I took advantage of all of the free time in the beginning of the semester. I probably could be taking more free time for myself now, but the problem is, I've never sat for law school exams. I have no idea of how much I need to know. So, I'm going to err on the side of too much. Which is why my life isn't so interesting these days. Oh well. At least I still like the subjects I'm studying. I couldn't imagine doing this much work if I hated it.
Although, there is one thing I hate. I'm definitely out of balance right now. After the big family blow-out, my priorities are now school, school, and a reasonable amount of exercise to keep myself sane (and from turning into an amoeba). It's a conscious choice, but it does have some shitty results.
Yesterday, I talked to J, one of my best friends, and my college roomate of 3 years. We usually get to hang out with at least once every 2 weeks, often much more.
J: So, when's the next time I'm gonna see you?
Me: Probably not 'til after finals.
J: Huh, so when are those over?
Me: December 18th.
J: Shut up! You're going MIA for a full month?
Me: [tired] Yeah...
That's the shittiest part of all this. Friends? What? Oh well, back to the grindstone.
Friday and Saturday, I followed the advice of the career center, and DG & Transmogriflaw. My resume is back to 2 full pages, with less specific tech details than it used to have, and no listing of "Skills." All told, I put in over 10 hours of resume editing, firm research, cover letter writing, hand-feeding the nice resume paper into the printer one page at a time, mail-merging letters and labels, editing the letters to make them more "personalized", and envelope stuffing. I've got a nice stack of job packets to show for it. They'll be gone tomorrow and then I get to wait-and-see.
Today is more contracts outlining. H is coming over to sit at the table with me, just like yesterday. We studied 'til 12:30 AM. On a Saturday. I'm so amused at my commitment to only study 1 weekend per month. I'm glad I took advantage of all of the free time in the beginning of the semester. I probably could be taking more free time for myself now, but the problem is, I've never sat for law school exams. I have no idea of how much I need to know. So, I'm going to err on the side of too much. Which is why my life isn't so interesting these days. Oh well. At least I still like the subjects I'm studying. I couldn't imagine doing this much work if I hated it.
Although, there is one thing I hate. I'm definitely out of balance right now. After the big family blow-out, my priorities are now school, school, and a reasonable amount of exercise to keep myself sane (and from turning into an amoeba). It's a conscious choice, but it does have some shitty results.
Yesterday, I talked to J, one of my best friends, and my college roomate of 3 years. We usually get to hang out with at least once every 2 weeks, often much more.
J: So, when's the next time I'm gonna see you?
Me: Probably not 'til after finals.
J: Huh, so when are those over?
Me: December 18th.
J: Shut up! You're going MIA for a full month?
Me: [tired] Yeah...
That's the shittiest part of all this. Friends? What? Oh well, back to the grindstone.
November 28, 2003
Paying the price
Turkey: every moist bite was worth the 5-hour wait
Mushroom-bacon stuffing: as good as it gets
Garlic-cream cheese mashed potatoes: creamy
Ginger-orange cranberry sauce: tangy
Gravy: fatty and delicious
Candied yams: probably not necessary
Dutch apple crunch pies: 3 pieces, definitely not necessary
Family, fun, and food: the day was exactly as it should be
Just woke up with acid reflux. Probably should have avoided at least one of the slices of pie. Oh well. The first Turkey-day at our house was a huge success, so I'm not complaining. Besides, I have crazy leftovers for finals. I hope to not overstuff myself again. Ouch....
Turkey: every moist bite was worth the 5-hour wait
Mushroom-bacon stuffing: as good as it gets
Garlic-cream cheese mashed potatoes: creamy
Ginger-orange cranberry sauce: tangy
Gravy: fatty and delicious
Candied yams: probably not necessary
Dutch apple crunch pies: 3 pieces, definitely not necessary
Family, fun, and food: the day was exactly as it should be
Just woke up with acid reflux. Probably should have avoided at least one of the slices of pie. Oh well. The first Turkey-day at our house was a huge success, so I'm not complaining. Besides, I have crazy leftovers for finals. I hope to not overstuff myself again. Ouch....
November 27, 2003
Family Rocks
Or, at least, my family does. Now that I'm finally old enough to appreciate them.
My papa (grandfather), who is deaf with hearing aids, has close to a liter of fluid in his lungs, but can't get them drained again until he has 1.5 liters, and had to walk very slowly from his hotel to the restaurant in the same parking lot. However, he found the strength to fiercely grab my arm as we sat at the dinner table and quietly yelled at me, "Papa is getting this check." Right. No arguments here. You'd think I hadn't seen this argument a million times by the look in his eyes. Besides, why would I make a fuss when my dad is going to make one before he lets papa get it. Clearly, my place would be to make a fuss to my father, not to papa. I've fought that fight enough times. I know the rules. Birthdays and father's day are the only days where it's appropriate. And, if there are non-family members around, then even pretending that I might want to contribute is some weird insult.
So yeah, in our family, the oldest man at the table gets the check. Or, the person with the most respected power. I'm not certain how it'll work when the oldest or most respected person is a female. The older generations are certainly sexist, or more entrenched in their gender roles. Or, something like that. Anyways, I'm not really sure I get of all of the cultural crap that goes with the check-getting, but it's there, and I've accepted it. Free dinner. I'm a law student. It's cool papa, you can fight with dad (who's also the oldest son) about it. But not me.
My brother, the father of my adorable niece, the smartest most wonderful 22-month old on the planet, also happens to be one of the funniest guys you've ever met. He's my reality check. He embodies so much of Zen without trying that it's frustrating. I doubt I'll ever have his serene laughter in a seemingly unfunny but actually hilarious moment.
He's a young father, a high-school dropout, a construction worker, and one of the least stressed people I've ever met. He's got to support a whole additional life-form while working in a notoriously undependable field (a few months ago, his boss at the time decided to get married, so he gave him 3 hours notice that there would be no work for 3 weeks, and after that, well, he just wasn't sure). And yet, he's way less stressed than I am, living this ridiculously cush life where the governement gives me cheap money to learn cool shit. Sure, I try to keep myself relatively chill, and do a fairly decent job when compared against law students. But really, that's like saying I'm doing a good job of keeping my carnal urges in check when compared with John Holmes.
So, tonight, my brother told work stories about fires, missing fingers, tearing things down, and what-do-you know, turns out he's the only English speaker on his crew, and his Spanish is pretty damn good. I never even knew. I knew he could affect accents pretty well. I knew he took a couple years of spanish in high school. But, dude, the guy actually speaks Spanish really well. He's so different from most of the people in school. He's brilliantly intelligent but doesn't care. He feels no need to show how bright he is, what he's accomplished, or where he's headed. He just wants to chill, have a few beers, tell jokes, trade stories, and have a good time. He really is the epitome of cool. He's a great dad, a good boyfriend to his baby-mama, and an awesome brother who turned down a free (dad's paying, same principal) hotel room at the Sheraton to stay at our house so the siblings could all bond.
My sis, as I mentioned, is having fun and figuring out who/what she wants to be. She showed up early, helped with food prep for tomorrow, and gave up her ridiculous architecture student schedule for a full two days to be here. Given that she often pulls multiple all-nighters in a row and will be paying for this holiday with her sleep, I'm honored and impressed.
My gran, bless her heart, made my papa stop at the Madonna Inn on their way here for pies (mmm...dutch apple crunch, you have NO idea!). She also pulled at my brother's hair and complained that it was too long. She corrected the hilarious stories my aunt told about my dad to be sure that the details were exactly true and not exaggerated. She's cranky and stubborn and sharp and hiding parkinson's in a fiercely brave way. (Much like the check thing, the hiding ugly truths thing is another weird family issue. Used to piss me off. Now it's quaint and endearing.)
My aunt sat in 3 hours of traffic to meet us at the restaurant and made hilarious jokes at my father's expense which is always a fabulous thing. Earlier, she made the hotel reservations, got the directions to my grandparents, called them every 4 hours to make sure they were cool, and generally, made it possible for them to be here.
My dad sat in traffic for 4 hours and showed up with a case of eye of the hawk for the "kids" to take back to our house after dinner.
More people arrive tomorrow and the feast will be wonderful. On the day for giving thanks, I can't believe how much I have to give. Because, like I said, my family rocks.
Or, at least, my family does. Now that I'm finally old enough to appreciate them.
My papa (grandfather), who is deaf with hearing aids, has close to a liter of fluid in his lungs, but can't get them drained again until he has 1.5 liters, and had to walk very slowly from his hotel to the restaurant in the same parking lot. However, he found the strength to fiercely grab my arm as we sat at the dinner table and quietly yelled at me, "Papa is getting this check." Right. No arguments here. You'd think I hadn't seen this argument a million times by the look in his eyes. Besides, why would I make a fuss when my dad is going to make one before he lets papa get it. Clearly, my place would be to make a fuss to my father, not to papa. I've fought that fight enough times. I know the rules. Birthdays and father's day are the only days where it's appropriate. And, if there are non-family members around, then even pretending that I might want to contribute is some weird insult.
So yeah, in our family, the oldest man at the table gets the check. Or, the person with the most respected power. I'm not certain how it'll work when the oldest or most respected person is a female. The older generations are certainly sexist, or more entrenched in their gender roles. Or, something like that. Anyways, I'm not really sure I get of all of the cultural crap that goes with the check-getting, but it's there, and I've accepted it. Free dinner. I'm a law student. It's cool papa, you can fight with dad (who's also the oldest son) about it. But not me.
My brother, the father of my adorable niece, the smartest most wonderful 22-month old on the planet, also happens to be one of the funniest guys you've ever met. He's my reality check. He embodies so much of Zen without trying that it's frustrating. I doubt I'll ever have his serene laughter in a seemingly unfunny but actually hilarious moment.
He's a young father, a high-school dropout, a construction worker, and one of the least stressed people I've ever met. He's got to support a whole additional life-form while working in a notoriously undependable field (a few months ago, his boss at the time decided to get married, so he gave him 3 hours notice that there would be no work for 3 weeks, and after that, well, he just wasn't sure). And yet, he's way less stressed than I am, living this ridiculously cush life where the governement gives me cheap money to learn cool shit. Sure, I try to keep myself relatively chill, and do a fairly decent job when compared against law students. But really, that's like saying I'm doing a good job of keeping my carnal urges in check when compared with John Holmes.
So, tonight, my brother told work stories about fires, missing fingers, tearing things down, and what-do-you know, turns out he's the only English speaker on his crew, and his Spanish is pretty damn good. I never even knew. I knew he could affect accents pretty well. I knew he took a couple years of spanish in high school. But, dude, the guy actually speaks Spanish really well. He's so different from most of the people in school. He's brilliantly intelligent but doesn't care. He feels no need to show how bright he is, what he's accomplished, or where he's headed. He just wants to chill, have a few beers, tell jokes, trade stories, and have a good time. He really is the epitome of cool. He's a great dad, a good boyfriend to his baby-mama, and an awesome brother who turned down a free (dad's paying, same principal) hotel room at the Sheraton to stay at our house so the siblings could all bond.
My sis, as I mentioned, is having fun and figuring out who/what she wants to be. She showed up early, helped with food prep for tomorrow, and gave up her ridiculous architecture student schedule for a full two days to be here. Given that she often pulls multiple all-nighters in a row and will be paying for this holiday with her sleep, I'm honored and impressed.
My gran, bless her heart, made my papa stop at the Madonna Inn on their way here for pies (mmm...dutch apple crunch, you have NO idea!). She also pulled at my brother's hair and complained that it was too long. She corrected the hilarious stories my aunt told about my dad to be sure that the details were exactly true and not exaggerated. She's cranky and stubborn and sharp and hiding parkinson's in a fiercely brave way. (Much like the check thing, the hiding ugly truths thing is another weird family issue. Used to piss me off. Now it's quaint and endearing.)
My aunt sat in 3 hours of traffic to meet us at the restaurant and made hilarious jokes at my father's expense which is always a fabulous thing. Earlier, she made the hotel reservations, got the directions to my grandparents, called them every 4 hours to make sure they were cool, and generally, made it possible for them to be here.
My dad sat in traffic for 4 hours and showed up with a case of eye of the hawk for the "kids" to take back to our house after dinner.
More people arrive tomorrow and the feast will be wonderful. On the day for giving thanks, I can't believe how much I have to give. Because, like I said, my family rocks.
November 25, 2003
Back-tracking
Last weekend, I spent an hour culling my 2+ page resume down to the career-center mandated size of one page. This meant that all non-legal experience was left for inference from job titles.
Today, in my meeting with a career center counselor, I was told that given my technical background, I really should have a two page resume with bullet points for each job to show what I've done.
Hate it when I cross something off my to-do list only to have it reappear later.
Oh well. I can add un-shrinking my resume, to the weekend's tasks of outlining contracts, writing cover letters, and stuffing envelopes in time to get them in the mail with the rest of my classmates' entries in the December 1st blitz.
Thank goodness for the break from legal montony that Turkey Day will provide. Last night, we pulled off $257 worth of grocery shopping at 9 pm. God bless 24-hour grocery stores. Tonight's fun consists of finally finishing my property outline and the very last reading of the semester (only 10 pages of contracts and I'm in the clear...) with study breaks for cleaning, and hiding all dangerous-to-little-people objects.
Last weekend, I spent an hour culling my 2+ page resume down to the career-center mandated size of one page. This meant that all non-legal experience was left for inference from job titles.
Today, in my meeting with a career center counselor, I was told that given my technical background, I really should have a two page resume with bullet points for each job to show what I've done.
Hate it when I cross something off my to-do list only to have it reappear later.
Oh well. I can add un-shrinking my resume, to the weekend's tasks of outlining contracts, writing cover letters, and stuffing envelopes in time to get them in the mail with the rest of my classmates' entries in the December 1st blitz.
Thank goodness for the break from legal montony that Turkey Day will provide. Last night, we pulled off $257 worth of grocery shopping at 9 pm. God bless 24-hour grocery stores. Tonight's fun consists of finally finishing my property outline and the very last reading of the semester (only 10 pages of contracts and I'm in the clear...) with study breaks for cleaning, and hiding all dangerous-to-little-people objects.
November 24, 2003
Survey of the Good Stuff
This weekend was predictably boring and full of studying, outlining, and updating the old resume. I feel good because I'm on track and not over-doing it (yet). I've never actually been this prepared for exams this early in the game, it's weird. I'm actually annoyed at my discipline. My weekend was devoid of most of the stuff I look forward to M-F. Now it's Monday again. I'm still outlining property, I have 8 cases left, and hope to finish the entire thing before it's time to go to school.
Good Stuff from the Weekend:
Okay. I guess my weekend wasn't that lame. In fact, I'm batting 1,000 on the relationship end. I just miss being a bum.
But, there's nothing like knowing unemployed JDs, reading people's comments on the 2L job market, and knowing a couple of people who didn't pass the California Bar, to motivate me to study at the expense of my usually chill weekends. At least reading period won't suck. I'm going to be well rested and get to work out regularly. I'm also going to know my shit. Shoulder to the wheel.
Interesting note, in D's class at her law firm, the kids from lower tiered schools all passed. Only 20% of the kids from top 10 schools did. The Civ Pro Review of Clarity was taught by a professor from a nearby "lower tiered" school. Despite the legal prestige rule of thumb, there are good things about being away from the ivory-tower theory-heads.
This weekend was predictably boring and full of studying, outlining, and updating the old resume. I feel good because I'm on track and not over-doing it (yet). I've never actually been this prepared for exams this early in the game, it's weird. I'm actually annoyed at my discipline. My weekend was devoid of most of the stuff I look forward to M-F. Now it's Monday again. I'm still outlining property, I have 8 cases left, and hope to finish the entire thing before it's time to go to school.
Good Stuff from the Weekend:
- Friday night with E, a friend D, and her husband, talking, drinking wine, eating pizza, and consoling her because she did not pass the bar. Shitty. What else are friends for but to make you laugh when crap like this happens?
- Saturday Morning Sex
- Bike ride to the last 30 minutes of the GAME to cheer for the TEAM from the tailgater's parking lot (With E).
- Dog Day Afternoon (With E)
- Sunday Afternoon Burritos (With E)
- Hot Tea (With my books)
- Knowing that Turkey Day will mean a house full of good food and family
Okay. I guess my weekend wasn't that lame. In fact, I'm batting 1,000 on the relationship end. I just miss being a bum.
But, there's nothing like knowing unemployed JDs, reading people's comments on the 2L job market, and knowing a couple of people who didn't pass the California Bar, to motivate me to study at the expense of my usually chill weekends. At least reading period won't suck. I'm going to be well rested and get to work out regularly. I'm also going to know my shit. Shoulder to the wheel.
Interesting note, in D's class at her law firm, the kids from lower tiered schools all passed. Only 20% of the kids from top 10 schools did. The Civ Pro Review of Clarity was taught by a professor from a nearby "lower tiered" school. Despite the legal prestige rule of thumb, there are good things about being away from the ivory-tower theory-heads.
November 23, 2003
Dog Day Afternoon
Watch It.
A young Al Pacino holds up a bank in order to get money for his transvestite wife's sex change operation. 1970's, Comedy, Drama, Directed by Sydney Lumet (also responsible for 12 Angry Men).
A highly recommended break for your brain.
Watch It.
A young Al Pacino holds up a bank in order to get money for his transvestite wife's sex change operation. 1970's, Comedy, Drama, Directed by Sydney Lumet (also responsible for 12 Angry Men).
A highly recommended break for your brain.
November 20, 2003
Did you know
That there was once a Justice Frankfurter?
When you're living my current life, you've got to take your amusement where you can...
Basically, I'm still alive, and my life is ludicrously boring, hence the dearth of postings [as opposed to my oh-so-exciting life when I'm posting]. I've finished the reading for the semester in property, and I'm one page short of finishing Civil Procedure. I've attended every study group this week--but they are hit and miss, some are amazingly on target and helpful, others are taught by frenzied 2Ls who haven't read the cases for the week. Unfortunately, it's not predictable. Last week, Professor Together's study group was an excellent hypothetical exercise that taught me a ton. This week, I wanted to yell at the 2L to stop bull-shitting--we could all tell he hadn't read the cases, it's not like a spade can't call a spade.
A few weeks ago, I took advantage of the "scholarship" offered to students and registered to attend an intellectual property conference near school this week. This morning, I went to school an hour early in hopes of signing in, picking up my badge and attending the sessions between classes. Did I mention that the people who told me the conference center was "around the corner from school," were extremely optimistic? There is a corner involved. There was also an $8 cab ride back to school since it took so long to walk there that I took my badge, bagel (can't forego the free food), listened to about 10 minutes of lecture and then left to go to class. I didn't go back and will not be doing so. Kind of a waste of a "scholarship" but I'm sure they'll send me marketing materials about CLE until I puke, so it's a fair trade.
The best thing I've done this week is attend a review session for civil procedure taught by an alumnus. He boiled down everything we've covered into a lucid, clear, and well-organized 90-minute lecture. He also gave us useful advice about what each of our professors actually want to see on exams. Before the review, I was certain Civ Pro was my biggest stressor. By the end of the lecture, people were asking him why he didn't teach at our school. In other words, staying 'til 8 pm when class got out before 4 pm was a good call on this one.
So, yeah, other than class, study groups, reviews, outlining, and finishing the reading, I'm trying to hit the gym or do something physical at least once every third day. I was right to enjoy my spare time while I could.
Oh, and H is cooler than I thought (which is hard to imagine). My concerns about H not understanding the need for anonyminity were clearly unfounded. Today, he referred to my cast of players by asking me repeatedly who I had been "talking" about when I mentioned someone was conservative (like daddy). It took me a while but eventually, I caught his drift. Given that other law students were involved in this conversation, I was happy and impressed with his skill. I think perhaps he's more capable of subterfuge than his all-american-as-apple-pie image lets on. I admire that.
That there was once a Justice Frankfurter?
When you're living my current life, you've got to take your amusement where you can...
Basically, I'm still alive, and my life is ludicrously boring, hence the dearth of postings [as opposed to my oh-so-exciting life when I'm posting]. I've finished the reading for the semester in property, and I'm one page short of finishing Civil Procedure. I've attended every study group this week--but they are hit and miss, some are amazingly on target and helpful, others are taught by frenzied 2Ls who haven't read the cases for the week. Unfortunately, it's not predictable. Last week, Professor Together's study group was an excellent hypothetical exercise that taught me a ton. This week, I wanted to yell at the 2L to stop bull-shitting--we could all tell he hadn't read the cases, it's not like a spade can't call a spade.
A few weeks ago, I took advantage of the "scholarship" offered to students and registered to attend an intellectual property conference near school this week. This morning, I went to school an hour early in hopes of signing in, picking up my badge and attending the sessions between classes. Did I mention that the people who told me the conference center was "around the corner from school," were extremely optimistic? There is a corner involved. There was also an $8 cab ride back to school since it took so long to walk there that I took my badge, bagel (can't forego the free food), listened to about 10 minutes of lecture and then left to go to class. I didn't go back and will not be doing so. Kind of a waste of a "scholarship" but I'm sure they'll send me marketing materials about CLE until I puke, so it's a fair trade.
The best thing I've done this week is attend a review session for civil procedure taught by an alumnus. He boiled down everything we've covered into a lucid, clear, and well-organized 90-minute lecture. He also gave us useful advice about what each of our professors actually want to see on exams. Before the review, I was certain Civ Pro was my biggest stressor. By the end of the lecture, people were asking him why he didn't teach at our school. In other words, staying 'til 8 pm when class got out before 4 pm was a good call on this one.
So, yeah, other than class, study groups, reviews, outlining, and finishing the reading, I'm trying to hit the gym or do something physical at least once every third day. I was right to enjoy my spare time while I could.
Oh, and H is cooler than I thought (which is hard to imagine). My concerns about H not understanding the need for anonyminity were clearly unfounded. Today, he referred to my cast of players by asking me repeatedly who I had been "talking" about when I mentioned someone was conservative (like daddy). It took me a while but eventually, I caught his drift. Given that other law students were involved in this conversation, I was happy and impressed with his skill. I think perhaps he's more capable of subterfuge than his all-american-as-apple-pie image lets on. I admire that.
November 17, 2003
When I'm Free (aka procrastination)
I think I'll put my creative writing skills to use by baiting a scam artist.
For now, I'll just post Michael Bako's email address in hopes that some spiders will pick it up and spam him with some equally stupid Nigerian 419 fraud.
I'm particularly impressed with these details:
I was the account officer to one Mr. Ali B. Ashraf who died along
with his family on the 7th of November 1997 in an BAC 1-11 3005 plane
crash at Engirin River,near lagos. All 141 passengers on board were
killed.
and
Unfortunately from the day of his death till the time of this letter
none of his relation or friends has come forward for the claim. The
bank's policy stipulates that if such fund remained unclaimed after a
period of five (5)years it will be transferred into the bank treasury
as unclaimed funds.
I received the email on Thu, 13 Nov 2003 03:33:23. As in, 1 year 6 days too late to take part in the scam. Bummer.
I think I'll put my creative writing skills to use by baiting a scam artist.
For now, I'll just post Michael Bako's email address in hopes that some spiders will pick it up and spam him with some equally stupid Nigerian 419 fraud.
I'm particularly impressed with these details:
I was the account officer to one Mr. Ali B. Ashraf who died along
with his family on the 7th of November 1997 in an BAC 1-11 3005 plane
crash at Engirin River,near lagos. All 141 passengers on board were
killed.
and
Unfortunately from the day of his death till the time of this letter
none of his relation or friends has come forward for the claim. The
bank's policy stipulates that if such fund remained unclaimed after a
period of five (5)years it will be transferred into the bank treasury
as unclaimed funds.
I received the email on Thu, 13 Nov 2003 03:33:23. As in, 1 year 6 days too late to take part in the scam. Bummer.
Want to laugh?
Put competitive 1Ls, a couple of weeks before their first set of finals, into a damages negotiation exercise.
Make sure that there aren't enough details in the hypo so that to accomplish anything they'll have to agree to common versions of the facts before they even begin negotiating.
Watch them go for blood. As in, my client wants at least $1 million dollars for the horrific laceration and resulting pain and suffering that was the result of your client's gross negligence in purchasing the dangerously sharp paper. People came in ready to fight. There was little to no agreement about the basic material facts that would be a necessary part of even attempting to negotiate.
The whole point about negotiating and coming to an agreement seemed to be lost. But, boy, were a lot of people having fun pretending to be bull-dog lawyers.
It was a nice diversion from the reality of approaching exams.
Put competitive 1Ls, a couple of weeks before their first set of finals, into a damages negotiation exercise.
Make sure that there aren't enough details in the hypo so that to accomplish anything they'll have to agree to common versions of the facts before they even begin negotiating.
Watch them go for blood. As in, my client wants at least $1 million dollars for the horrific laceration and resulting pain and suffering that was the result of your client's gross negligence in purchasing the dangerously sharp paper. People came in ready to fight. There was little to no agreement about the basic material facts that would be a necessary part of even attempting to negotiate.
The whole point about negotiating and coming to an agreement seemed to be lost. But, boy, were a lot of people having fun pretending to be bull-dog lawyers.
It was a nice diversion from the reality of approaching exams.
November 15, 2003
Nothin' but the Rent
Still alive. The current standing is outlining, reading, eating, sleeping, talking to E, with working out coming in dead last. Despite the event's success, my commitments to the do-gooder club are not over. Also, somewhere in the next two weeks, I need to get to the career center, get them to tell me why my resume sucks, write cover letters, and send out about 20 packets to the various firms I'd like to work for this summer. Add general crap like bills, keeping the food supply stocked, and preparing for the holidays, and well, you can see why the blog is suffering.
I'm in countdown mode at this point--two weeks of class, 3.5 weekends, 4 finals, and then freedom.
I was happy to see that The Onion has made light of bloggers getting found out. Granted, I think it's particularly funny when people post under their real names and are surprised to be found out. But, it doesn't really matter how it's written, it is funny--we expose ourselves on the internet, the stuff that people like to read is the stuff people like to hear. It would breed schizophrenia to keep track of what we say where and avoid telling good stories in both spaces. Why are we amazed when people connect our online selves with our flesh ones? [Laugh] Even though we know it's futile, that doesn't stop many of us from pretending we're anonymous and free. Bless those who have us figured out and honor our wishes.
Still alive. The current standing is outlining, reading, eating, sleeping, talking to E, with working out coming in dead last. Despite the event's success, my commitments to the do-gooder club are not over. Also, somewhere in the next two weeks, I need to get to the career center, get them to tell me why my resume sucks, write cover letters, and send out about 20 packets to the various firms I'd like to work for this summer. Add general crap like bills, keeping the food supply stocked, and preparing for the holidays, and well, you can see why the blog is suffering.
I'm in countdown mode at this point--two weeks of class, 3.5 weekends, 4 finals, and then freedom.
I was happy to see that The Onion has made light of bloggers getting found out. Granted, I think it's particularly funny when people post under their real names and are surprised to be found out. But, it doesn't really matter how it's written, it is funny--we expose ourselves on the internet, the stuff that people like to read is the stuff people like to hear. It would breed schizophrenia to keep track of what we say where and avoid telling good stories in both spaces. Why are we amazed when people connect our online selves with our flesh ones? [Laugh] Even though we know it's futile, that doesn't stop many of us from pretending we're anonymous and free. Bless those who have us figured out and honor our wishes.
November 11, 2003
Misread Words
Redound. Not Rebound. Redound. Somehow, the first time through the passage, I saw rebound. The second time I looked it up. What do you know, according to the 4th definition, I didn't need to do so.
Main Entry: re·dound
Pronunciation: ri-'daund
Function: intransitive verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French redonder, from Latin redundare, from re-, red- re- + unda wave -- more at WATER
Date: 14th century
1 archaic : to become swollen : OVERFLOW
2 : to have an effect for good or ill (new power alignments which may or may not redound to the faculty's benefit -- G. W. Bonham)
3 : to become transferred or added : ACCRUE
4 : REBOUND, REFLECT
Redound. Not Rebound. Redound. Somehow, the first time through the passage, I saw rebound. The second time I looked it up. What do you know, according to the 4th definition, I didn't need to do so.
Main Entry: re·dound
Pronunciation: ri-'daund
Function: intransitive verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French redonder, from Latin redundare, from re-, red- re- + unda wave -- more at WATER
Date: 14th century
1 archaic : to become swollen : OVERFLOW
2 : to have an effect for good or ill (new power alignments which may or may not redound to the faculty's benefit -- G. W. Bonham)
3 : to become transferred or added : ACCRUE
4 : REBOUND, REFLECT
November 10, 2003
Sigh of Relief
Well. LWR is officially over. I turned in my memo, had a few beers with my classmates, and came home breathing easier. Man, I hated that class. I'm very happy that I only have to concentrate on my substantive classes for the next few weeks. That will most certainly be enough to keep me busy.
In other news, H found me out. I'm no longer a fully anonymous blogger. It was only a matter of time. One of the more interesting side effects of H's discovery was fascination.
"Why do you blog?"
"What do you write about?"
"Am I in your blog?"
I tried to explain why I started and couldn't come up with a good explanation. It's just something some of us do. We're odd. For me, I guess it's a desire to be part of the community that's helped me out so much, and also just a desire to leave proof of my existence. In high school I had an English teacher who had a sign on the wall that said, "If you want to be remembered when you are gone, either do things worth writing or write things worth reading." Clearly, I'm not really doing either right now. But my heart is in the right place.
Also, I don't feel so lonely simply because I blog and I know that people read it. I don't separate blogging from reading other blogs, so I guess another plus is that participating in this world is immensely practical: I'm often the 1L who has the down low on journals, interviewing, exams, life-in-school, and other basic stuff that you could easily learn by doing. Thanks to those that have gone before me, I've already vicariously lived through many of the trials and tribulations of law school. Given how easily I could have blown off class, reading, my memo, outlining, etc. and not buckled down for the long haul, I'm very grateful to my predecessors for their stories. I'm in it for the good fight, and I owe much of my dedication to my comrades.
Well. LWR is officially over. I turned in my memo, had a few beers with my classmates, and came home breathing easier. Man, I hated that class. I'm very happy that I only have to concentrate on my substantive classes for the next few weeks. That will most certainly be enough to keep me busy.
In other news, H found me out. I'm no longer a fully anonymous blogger. It was only a matter of time. One of the more interesting side effects of H's discovery was fascination.
"Why do you blog?"
"What do you write about?"
"Am I in your blog?"
I tried to explain why I started and couldn't come up with a good explanation. It's just something some of us do. We're odd. For me, I guess it's a desire to be part of the community that's helped me out so much, and also just a desire to leave proof of my existence. In high school I had an English teacher who had a sign on the wall that said, "If you want to be remembered when you are gone, either do things worth writing or write things worth reading." Clearly, I'm not really doing either right now. But my heart is in the right place.
Also, I don't feel so lonely simply because I blog and I know that people read it. I don't separate blogging from reading other blogs, so I guess another plus is that participating in this world is immensely practical: I'm often the 1L who has the down low on journals, interviewing, exams, life-in-school, and other basic stuff that you could easily learn by doing. Thanks to those that have gone before me, I've already vicariously lived through many of the trials and tribulations of law school. Given how easily I could have blown off class, reading, my memo, outlining, etc. and not buckled down for the long haul, I'm very grateful to my predecessors for their stories. I'm in it for the good fight, and I owe much of my dedication to my comrades.
November 9, 2003
The Score
Last week was rough. Each of my professors gave at least one mini-lecture on the topic of exams. They claim these lectures are to calm the fear of the 1Ls, but it seemed to me that they just heightened everyone's jitteriness. I kept up on the reading, went to class, studied late most nights, and went to the eye doctor (note: law school is not so nice to soft contact lens wearers, not enough blinking while reading==scary bloodshot eyes). I completed yet another draft of my LWR memo only to get yet another "suggestion" for organizing the content (mouse on a wheel, that's me). I went to discussion group for a class or two and attended yet another professional panel of practicing attorneys. I also completely bailed/forgot about lunch with a very busy friend/client and showed up late to my first class on every day but one.
I'm still fitting my real life in the cracks of law school, but the available spaces are decreasing. E's birthday was yesterday. We had a blast with roughly 20 friends, some of whom we hadn't seen in several months. We stuffed our faces on some of the freshest and most reasonably priced sushi I've ever had in the city at Judah Ozaku Ya. We were both VERY glad it was over when it was. Too much. That is my life in two words these days.
Speaking of too much, holiday and winter break plans are shaping up, including plans for up to 17 people at our house for Thanksgiving. People say I'm crazy for hosting Thanksgiving during my 1L year, but they don't have my family. It's the first year in the new house--it's not much of a question. My dad's parents are both in their 80's, married over 50 years, and able to drive the 3-hour trip to our new house. How can you say no to that? They are awesome, hilarious, cranky, smart, and wonderfully old people. Every time I see them I'm reminded that my time with them is limited. I'm not letting law school fuck up my priorities that much.
In the I-don't-know-if-that's-necessary-right-now-category, I bought plane tickets for my trip to Egypt over winter break. I also bought arabic CDs to listen to on the commute and a few books on arabic as well. I am trying to learn the alphabet when I need a break from law school books. So far, I can recognize 4 letters. I have a couple of weeks after finals to learn as much as I want, so I'm not trying to jam it into my study schedule like an idiot. It's just relaxing to learn new letter forms after staring at the same damn latin letters for hours on end.
This week promises to be much worse. H is coming over to start outlining property today. It's unlikely that we'll finish, so it'll have to be continued on Monday and Tuesday. The final draft of my LWR memo is due tomorrow. The fundraising event for the do-gooder club I'm in is Thursday. I'm shocked out how poorly the event is managed. There are at least 10 major tasks left and the head of the committee hasn't assigned them. I suspect this will devolve into a ridiculous frenzy on the day of the event...
The light at the end of the tunnel is next weekend. I already bailed on an acquaintance's 30th birthday bender on Saturday--which would have been fun, but the price of time is too high. I plan to do nothing but hang out with E, study, sleep, eat well, work out, update my resume, and catch up on any lingering real-life issues from the week.
Last week was rough. Each of my professors gave at least one mini-lecture on the topic of exams. They claim these lectures are to calm the fear of the 1Ls, but it seemed to me that they just heightened everyone's jitteriness. I kept up on the reading, went to class, studied late most nights, and went to the eye doctor (note: law school is not so nice to soft contact lens wearers, not enough blinking while reading==scary bloodshot eyes). I completed yet another draft of my LWR memo only to get yet another "suggestion" for organizing the content (mouse on a wheel, that's me). I went to discussion group for a class or two and attended yet another professional panel of practicing attorneys. I also completely bailed/forgot about lunch with a very busy friend/client and showed up late to my first class on every day but one.
I'm still fitting my real life in the cracks of law school, but the available spaces are decreasing. E's birthday was yesterday. We had a blast with roughly 20 friends, some of whom we hadn't seen in several months. We stuffed our faces on some of the freshest and most reasonably priced sushi I've ever had in the city at Judah Ozaku Ya. We were both VERY glad it was over when it was. Too much. That is my life in two words these days.
Speaking of too much, holiday and winter break plans are shaping up, including plans for up to 17 people at our house for Thanksgiving. People say I'm crazy for hosting Thanksgiving during my 1L year, but they don't have my family. It's the first year in the new house--it's not much of a question. My dad's parents are both in their 80's, married over 50 years, and able to drive the 3-hour trip to our new house. How can you say no to that? They are awesome, hilarious, cranky, smart, and wonderfully old people. Every time I see them I'm reminded that my time with them is limited. I'm not letting law school fuck up my priorities that much.
In the I-don't-know-if-that's-necessary-right-now-category, I bought plane tickets for my trip to Egypt over winter break. I also bought arabic CDs to listen to on the commute and a few books on arabic as well. I am trying to learn the alphabet when I need a break from law school books. So far, I can recognize 4 letters. I have a couple of weeks after finals to learn as much as I want, so I'm not trying to jam it into my study schedule like an idiot. It's just relaxing to learn new letter forms after staring at the same damn latin letters for hours on end.
This week promises to be much worse. H is coming over to start outlining property today. It's unlikely that we'll finish, so it'll have to be continued on Monday and Tuesday. The final draft of my LWR memo is due tomorrow. The fundraising event for the do-gooder club I'm in is Thursday. I'm shocked out how poorly the event is managed. There are at least 10 major tasks left and the head of the committee hasn't assigned them. I suspect this will devolve into a ridiculous frenzy on the day of the event...
The light at the end of the tunnel is next weekend. I already bailed on an acquaintance's 30th birthday bender on Saturday--which would have been fun, but the price of time is too high. I plan to do nothing but hang out with E, study, sleep, eat well, work out, update my resume, and catch up on any lingering real-life issues from the week.
November 7, 2003
Made My Day
My little sister, who's generally quite the goody two shoes, got her drunk ass ejected from a club last weekend.
I'm so proud.
The best part? She was too drunk to remember even going to the club and had to hear about it from her friends.
Everyone needs to have at least one night like that--it's a common human experience that makes us all understand each other just a little bit better.
My little sister, who's generally quite the goody two shoes, got her drunk ass ejected from a club last weekend.
I'm so proud.
The best part? She was too drunk to remember even going to the club and had to hear about it from her friends.
Everyone needs to have at least one night like that--it's a common human experience that makes us all understand each other just a little bit better.
November 4, 2003
Amazing conversation from the gym
Two Women:
W1: Well, you know, it's just so bad for you... all the toxins.
W2: Oh, definitely. You know, if you're really concerned, in addition to the seaweed wraps, you can go down to LA and get a colonic.
W1: Yeah, I'm thinking about it. Autotoxicity is really getting to me. I've heard if you cleanse yourself of those toxins it's great for losing weight, your skin, everything. It's just so good for you.
W2: You need to be sure not to abuse it though. Only like once every 6 months.
Ugggghhhh.... there are so many things wrong with this conversation. Why is the most popular medical farce of Victorian times making a comeback? At my gym? Near me? Just in response to this, I'm thinking about not renewing my gym membership... I'll just run, get some weights, maybe a road-bike and trainer/rollers for when it rains.
P.S. To the person who found this blog via 1L memo bad grade. We all feel you, dog. No stress. The writing grades are by far the most arbitrary, 'scool. It'll all work out just fine. Keep on keepin' on, and all that. Peace.
Two Women:
W1: Well, you know, it's just so bad for you... all the toxins.
W2: Oh, definitely. You know, if you're really concerned, in addition to the seaweed wraps, you can go down to LA and get a colonic.
W1: Yeah, I'm thinking about it. Autotoxicity is really getting to me. I've heard if you cleanse yourself of those toxins it's great for losing weight, your skin, everything. It's just so good for you.
W2: You need to be sure not to abuse it though. Only like once every 6 months.
Ugggghhhh.... there are so many things wrong with this conversation. Why is the most popular medical farce of Victorian times making a comeback? At my gym? Near me? Just in response to this, I'm thinking about not renewing my gym membership... I'll just run, get some weights, maybe a road-bike and trainer/rollers for when it rains.
P.S. To the person who found this blog via 1L memo bad grade. We all feel you, dog. No stress. The writing grades are by far the most arbitrary, 'scool. It'll all work out just fine. Keep on keepin' on, and all that. Peace.
When Catholic School Girls Attack
Yet again, I have proof that DitzyGenius is the bomb. I'm Laughing my ass off thanks to her link, and very happy to hear that someone else in law school gets the concept of headphone etiquette. Actually, I'd prefer it if people actually got the concept of, "I'm working, please don't bother me," regardless of my accessories, but that's probably asking for too much.
Yet again, I have proof that DitzyGenius is the bomb. I'm Laughing my ass off thanks to her link, and very happy to hear that someone else in law school gets the concept of headphone etiquette. Actually, I'd prefer it if people actually got the concept of, "I'm working, please don't bother me," regardless of my accessories, but that's probably asking for too much.
Law School Books
After so much time in each of their company, I've come to think of my books as people.
Torts is preachy, really bad at math, and doesn't seem to have a full grasp of science, although this doesn't stop her from making the oh-so-popular horrible quantum or grand-unification-theory analogy. Her heart's in the right place, but she often presents a slanted perspective--it almost always seems that her hypos are geared to make your heart bleed for the plaintiff. I'm doing my best to put up with her in the professional sense, but we wouldn't spend time together unless it was required.
Contracts is very proper. He's got lots of old english, citations to the restatement and UCC immediately following the cases, sections on background and history, a very sober serif font on cream-colored textured paper (instead of the youthful glossy white of his fellow comrades). Plus, he has the propriety to put his own comments (rhetorical questions, things to think about, etc) in short, concise paragraphs, in italics. He seems to respect the tradition of the law more than my other books.
CivPro, well, she seems to be too busy to actually give me the time of day. She throws a ton of information at me and expects that I'll go elsewhere for elucidation if I'm confused. She seems experienced, a know-it-all, and very well aware that what she knows can not actually be taught in two short semesters.
Property is a geek. He's quirky. He's got all sorts of oddness and details that exist for good reasons but he's not interested in spelling it out for you. He'll show you the way he derived the solution, but he's certainly not going to just GIVE you the equation.
And that, my friends, is a quick look at my exciting social life these days.
After so much time in each of their company, I've come to think of my books as people.
Torts is preachy, really bad at math, and doesn't seem to have a full grasp of science, although this doesn't stop her from making the oh-so-popular horrible quantum or grand-unification-theory analogy. Her heart's in the right place, but she often presents a slanted perspective--it almost always seems that her hypos are geared to make your heart bleed for the plaintiff. I'm doing my best to put up with her in the professional sense, but we wouldn't spend time together unless it was required.
Contracts is very proper. He's got lots of old english, citations to the restatement and UCC immediately following the cases, sections on background and history, a very sober serif font on cream-colored textured paper (instead of the youthful glossy white of his fellow comrades). Plus, he has the propriety to put his own comments (rhetorical questions, things to think about, etc) in short, concise paragraphs, in italics. He seems to respect the tradition of the law more than my other books.
CivPro, well, she seems to be too busy to actually give me the time of day. She throws a ton of information at me and expects that I'll go elsewhere for elucidation if I'm confused. She seems experienced, a know-it-all, and very well aware that what she knows can not actually be taught in two short semesters.
Property is a geek. He's quirky. He's got all sorts of oddness and details that exist for good reasons but he's not interested in spelling it out for you. He'll show you the way he derived the solution, but he's certainly not going to just GIVE you the equation.
And that, my friends, is a quick look at my exciting social life these days.
November 2, 2003
The Long Haul
H and I decided that if we outlined one subject a weekend, starting this weekend, we'd be on target to use the last weekend of classes to finalize the last few weeks on our outlines. Mind you, this is in order to be on target. Not ahead. Simply on top of things. I think November is the reason most people hate the 1L year. I've done a decent job of not sacrificing my weekends to the law school gods, but this month will be a different story.
In an unfortunate bit of foreshadowing, we both seriously underestimated how long it would take to outline Torts. We figured 6 hours of work on Saturday and we'd be home free. Well, we did work for about 6 hours yesterday, and we're halfway through the syllabus. Today will be more of the same.
More fun this week will include getting another draft of my LWR memo in to my TA for feedback, which I may choose to take with a grain of salt. My meeting with the LWR prof was VERY enlightening. He is looking for very different things than the comments I had been getting from my TA. Which explains why my last memo didn't do so hot--TA told me it was great, Instructor had a different definition of great. I'm very glad LWR isn't a GPA class--I don't have to be so upset about the unfairness of having the rough drafts graded by someone with different standards than the final grader--talk about lack of useful feedback. (Some of the TA's suggestions actually lost me points on the instructor-graded memo. Sheesh.)
I'm guessing all 1Ls are all in the same boat--last couple of weeks of LWR, which makes up more than 50% of that grade, panels of professionals all over the place (which are important to attend since most of us have no clue of what there is to do, much less what we want to do), all the summer job stuff to do before December 1, and the long haul of finishing out the semester: keeping up on reading and going to class when it's the last thing you want to do, outlining, and just when you think you've finished learning everything you need to know--there are sample exams to write.
I'm glad I took advantage of the free time I had earlier in the semester, because I suspect the next 5-7 weeks are going to be boring. My goal is to maintain my sanity: to make time for workouts at least 4 times a week, and to have a fun night or weekend afternoon at least twice a week. Other than that, it's me and the law.
I'm guessing that many of my fellow students don't need as much time as I do to maintain their sanity. They'll be able to cram more work into the last few weeks than I will. Age does have its disadvantages: I need sleep, I need to spend time with E, I need to workout, I need to eat healthier. Then again, maybe I won't get sick after finals for the first time in my life--my younger MO was to cram like Hell, take finals, and then spend the next week in bed. It would be nice to start enjoying the break immediately after the last exam...maybe acknowledging my needs is wise...I guess I'll have to wait and see.
H and I decided that if we outlined one subject a weekend, starting this weekend, we'd be on target to use the last weekend of classes to finalize the last few weeks on our outlines. Mind you, this is in order to be on target. Not ahead. Simply on top of things. I think November is the reason most people hate the 1L year. I've done a decent job of not sacrificing my weekends to the law school gods, but this month will be a different story.
In an unfortunate bit of foreshadowing, we both seriously underestimated how long it would take to outline Torts. We figured 6 hours of work on Saturday and we'd be home free. Well, we did work for about 6 hours yesterday, and we're halfway through the syllabus. Today will be more of the same.
More fun this week will include getting another draft of my LWR memo in to my TA for feedback, which I may choose to take with a grain of salt. My meeting with the LWR prof was VERY enlightening. He is looking for very different things than the comments I had been getting from my TA. Which explains why my last memo didn't do so hot--TA told me it was great, Instructor had a different definition of great. I'm very glad LWR isn't a GPA class--I don't have to be so upset about the unfairness of having the rough drafts graded by someone with different standards than the final grader--talk about lack of useful feedback. (Some of the TA's suggestions actually lost me points on the instructor-graded memo. Sheesh.)
I'm guessing all 1Ls are all in the same boat--last couple of weeks of LWR, which makes up more than 50% of that grade, panels of professionals all over the place (which are important to attend since most of us have no clue of what there is to do, much less what we want to do), all the summer job stuff to do before December 1, and the long haul of finishing out the semester: keeping up on reading and going to class when it's the last thing you want to do, outlining, and just when you think you've finished learning everything you need to know--there are sample exams to write.
I'm glad I took advantage of the free time I had earlier in the semester, because I suspect the next 5-7 weeks are going to be boring. My goal is to maintain my sanity: to make time for workouts at least 4 times a week, and to have a fun night or weekend afternoon at least twice a week. Other than that, it's me and the law.
I'm guessing that many of my fellow students don't need as much time as I do to maintain their sanity. They'll be able to cram more work into the last few weeks than I will. Age does have its disadvantages: I need sleep, I need to spend time with E, I need to workout, I need to eat healthier. Then again, maybe I won't get sick after finals for the first time in my life--my younger MO was to cram like Hell, take finals, and then spend the next week in bed. It would be nice to start enjoying the break immediately after the last exam...maybe acknowledging my needs is wise...I guess I'll have to wait and see.
November 1, 2003
Twas a Happy Halloween
Man. Things were magical last night. You know how sometimes things just fall into place and you feel like the world was made for you to enjoy? That was last night. I thought we would be handing out candy to the kids alone, ordering pizza, and going to bed early. Which would have been fine.
But, friends decided to come join us--so the four of us sat outside, drinking wine, laughing and handing out candy to the adorable children who were directed to our non-decorated house from the neighbors' extravaganza (which included a petting zoo of jello molds of brains, dyed udon noodles, radishes with fake eyeballs glued on the front, several dry ice experiments, a smoke machine, music, the mummies, strobe lights, spiders, spider webs galore). Another friend showed up after he left work, and then we were five.
When it was too dark for kids, we decided to go get "7 courses of beef." Yes, there is such a thing, it's a traditional Vietnamese meal, and it is wonderful. E and I always laughed about seeing it on the menu at our favorite South Bay Vietnamese restaurant. One day, we ordered it when out with one of our friends who is a huge eater and always up for a dare (okay, E & I were up for it too... who wouldn't be, it's 7 courses of beef?). Turns out the courses are smaller than you'd think, it's actually almost a light meal, and DAMN, are the courses good: a flash fried beef salad (awesome), beef in vinegar and onion fondue to be constructed (by you) into rice paper rolls with veggies (a gift from the gods), 3 different types of small beef rolls, beef/vermicelli/spice meatballs on rice crackers, and a rice-based porrige with, you guessed it, beef. Dinner was long and full of laughter. Plus, there's the drip coffee into condensed milk.
We tried to find a friend's housewarming party and failed. Mainly because I looked at the start of the mapquest map instead of the end and we drove around our own neighborhood looking for his street. Didn't happen. We didn't really want to go anyways, but we felt good knowing that we tried, and it just didn't work, we didn't even have his new number.
We came back, lost one of the friends, played some video games and called it a night. That was exactly what I needed after this week of school.
Man. Things were magical last night. You know how sometimes things just fall into place and you feel like the world was made for you to enjoy? That was last night. I thought we would be handing out candy to the kids alone, ordering pizza, and going to bed early. Which would have been fine.
But, friends decided to come join us--so the four of us sat outside, drinking wine, laughing and handing out candy to the adorable children who were directed to our non-decorated house from the neighbors' extravaganza (which included a petting zoo of jello molds of brains, dyed udon noodles, radishes with fake eyeballs glued on the front, several dry ice experiments, a smoke machine, music, the mummies, strobe lights, spiders, spider webs galore). Another friend showed up after he left work, and then we were five.
When it was too dark for kids, we decided to go get "7 courses of beef." Yes, there is such a thing, it's a traditional Vietnamese meal, and it is wonderful. E and I always laughed about seeing it on the menu at our favorite South Bay Vietnamese restaurant. One day, we ordered it when out with one of our friends who is a huge eater and always up for a dare (okay, E & I were up for it too... who wouldn't be, it's 7 courses of beef?). Turns out the courses are smaller than you'd think, it's actually almost a light meal, and DAMN, are the courses good: a flash fried beef salad (awesome), beef in vinegar and onion fondue to be constructed (by you) into rice paper rolls with veggies (a gift from the gods), 3 different types of small beef rolls, beef/vermicelli/spice meatballs on rice crackers, and a rice-based porrige with, you guessed it, beef. Dinner was long and full of laughter. Plus, there's the drip coffee into condensed milk.
We tried to find a friend's housewarming party and failed. Mainly because I looked at the start of the mapquest map instead of the end and we drove around our own neighborhood looking for his street. Didn't happen. We didn't really want to go anyways, but we felt good knowing that we tried, and it just didn't work, we didn't even have his new number.
We came back, lost one of the friends, played some video games and called it a night. That was exactly what I needed after this week of school.
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