This is my contracts class & that at the very front is the prof dressed in a 'chicken suit'! It was hilarious. He did it because we were talking about contract interpretations & the case on the docket was Frigaliment Importing Co. v. B.N.S. International Sales Corp. which deals with the issue of what the word 'chicken' means.
1. People who don't update their blogs regularly. There needs to be a "blog will be taken down after 7 days of inactivity" clause that all blog engines should impose.
2. Women with uneven nails. Clip them....they'll grow back you know.
3. Cars that won't move over when I'm trying to merge onto the freeway.
4. Typos
5. Grocery carts with one bad wheel which you only discover after you've made it all the way to the back of the store.
6. The big animated pop up ads that crop up every time you go to a web site. They fill up half your web page & the kicker is that they hide the "x close" button so that you have to actually look at the ad for about 5 seconds.
7. People who talk when class is in session. If you have something to say, share it will all of us that way I don't have to miss out on 15 seconds of what the prof has to say.
8. Women with chipped nail polish. There's a wonderful little liquid called acetone that works wonders for this problem.
9. When I'm at the grocery line & the person behind me is stepping on my heels. Coming closer to me won't make the grocery bagger go any faster.
10. People who drive while tapping on their brakes sporadically.
My last class yesterday was Property which the prof decided would last 2.5 hrs to make up for the snow days last week. It was about 4:45pm so I read up for Contracts & Legislation & decided to take my Constitutional law & Property books to read at home. Got home about 7pm, ate dinner while watching t.v. (was supposed to be only 30 minutes). Next thing I knew, it was 10pm & I hadn't cracked open a book. Started reading for Con Law which was a massive assignment & soon it was 11pm. Decided to watch the news & after 40 minutes, was back to reading Con Law. Got done at 1am & it was nighty night. Had Property homework been done? Nope. That was ok, I'd skim over it at lunch (which is now today).
Lunch time comes & by the time I'm done eating & chatting, it's time to go for an interesting meeting (the school always invites people to come & speak so I always attend whenever I think a speaker is going to be interesting) which takes up the rest of my lunch break. I toted around my Property case book & didn't even open it. Classes resume & when Property rolls around, I am completely lost. We're talking about Covenants which are horrendous & the fact that I didn't do my reading makes this horrendousness go up exponentially. So I take a few notes every time something sounds logical hoping it'll all come together after I go back & re-read what I was supposed to have read yesterday, right after I read what is assigned for today. Realistically, not gonna happen.
An aside: During lunch, my friend had brought some sopapillas & put them on the table for us to partake. They looked delish & everyone was wolfing them down except moi. Why? Because they had been sprinkled liberally with sugar on top & I don't like very sweet things. It didn't go unnoticed for very long that I wasn't feasting on the delicacy. I should've stuck to my guns but silly me found myself reaching for one. The darn thing was so big...I had to really focus with every bite not to have a gag reflex. Can't remember the last time I had to eat something so unpalatable.
That would be Meridith on Grey's Anatomy this past week. The last 2 episodes about the ferry disaster have been a perfect example of a cliff hanger gone wrong. The little girl that stared & didn't talk was weird, Izzie & her 'I believe' speech made me want to gag - why would she say that she thinks George & Callie are wrong for each other? She came off sounding like a petty bitch & frankly I'm starting to think she must have the hots for O'Malley since she keeps bringing it up.
We all know that Meredith won't die (show is called Grey's anatomy) & the flat line at the end of last week didn't fool anyone since the preview of the next episode showed them still working on her. Sloppy. If she dies though, I hope she doesn't incarnate as the narrator like they have it on Desperate Housewives. Maybe the show will be called O'Malley's Anatomy. The person that needs to get killed off is Izzy...have you noticed that her character on the show is sounding more & more like her real self when she talks about Isaiah Washington? Wouldn't miss her one bit if they got rid of her.
The problem for Grey's is that people are watching shows like '24' where the drama is non-stop & un-predictable. So when you watch Grey's attempt at suspense, you can't help but notice the amateurish result. The writers need to stick to the personal story lines of the doctors & focus on trying develop their characters in the most interesting way possible.
today for a summer associate position at a firm & thought it went well. The highlight of the morning was trying to walk in snow & ice in 3" heels! I looked very nice though in a skirt suit & pearls so it was well worth it. Should know by the end of next week if it was a yea or nay so will keep you updated. Wish me luck!
I didn't realize until last week that the Legislation prof calls on people by alphabetical order going backwards (from Z-A). I thought he randomly called on people so I was always prepared. Only after getting called on last week did I realize this pattern (5 weeks into the semester)! There's a reason they say students lose whatever common sense they had prior to law school. Whenever when we appear stumped in my Contracts class, the prof always asks, "What would you have said before you got to law school?" And sure enough, everything crystallizes. Anyway, now knowing he doesn't randomly call on folks makes my reading faster because when you're not on call, you read to get the gist versus reading in order to be able to regurgitate back to the prof. All of a sudden, I like this class much better!
One of my friends dropped out! Didn't see him after grades came out & when I asked around, found out he was done! I think he was burned out (came straight from undergrad) and that's too bad since he was a really nice guy.
Now is about the time reporters unearth Ralph Nader from whatever hole he's been hiding in. Will he or won't he run in the 2008 Presidential elections? I think he'll run as an Independent like he did in 2004 & that's why I detest him. Nader has no realistic chance of winning, he knows this & yet he persists on running because says he's the lesser of the evils presented. That takes away votes from Dems, especially highlighted in the 2000 presidential elections where had he not run under the Green Party, Gore would've received most of the Green Party votes, carried Florida & Iraq would've never happened.
Those who say he's not a spoiler say there's no reason to believe that people who vote for Nader would really vote for Dems and that Dems need to do more to try & understand what these folks who vote for him are attracted to. BS. The only difference in stance between Nader & Dems is environmental policies & big business & even that is iffy. Everything else is identical so it's really not a stretch of the imagination to think absent Nader, this misled group would vote for the Democratic candidate. I'm sure now, all the idiotic people who voted for Nader & his Green Party in 2000, would've voted for Gore had they known what we Dems knew, that W. would be a disastrous president.
Temperatures for the past few days have been sub-zero & will continue to be till mid-week. So Friday evening I went to the newly opened Walmart to buy groceries. When I got into the store, it was just cold but about 40 minutes later when I got out, it was snowing like you wouldn't believe. Got home and made 2 trips back & forth from my car to my apartment hauling the groceries. The only thing left was a 12-pack of cokes which I figured I'd leave in the back seat & get the following day since I was too lazy to make one more snowy trip outside.
Fast forward to this morning. Got in my car to drive to school & what do I see in my back seat? 12 cans of exploded coke!! Don't forget that my seats have been upholstered in a tan color and the frozen soda was all over the seat & floor mats. Dilemma: Do I take a few minutes to clean up my car and get late to class or do I leave the mess & make it to class on time since the soda will probably still be frozen a few hours later?
Well, I chose the former. Cleaned out the frozen soda with my snow brush but as I was brushing it off, it was melting onto my super clean seats & staining them. Ugh! Then I had to dispose of the exploded cans. With my kind of luck, I sliced my right thumb open on one of the cans. Didn't think nothing of it since I was working at a frenzied pace trying to make it to class on time (Prof's detest students that come in late). So I clean up but as I'm driving I notice a red drop and realize that my thumb was bleeding profusely. No band-aid was at hand so a tissue was the next best thing. Get to class & couldn't even take notes because the minute I flexed my thumb to start writing, it would start bleeding.
If there was ever a day where I should've just stayed at home, this was it.
and Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow so Spring is just around the corner!
The mock interview was today and it went splendidly! The attorney that interviewed me was very easy going. He lost the resume I'd sent him so I'm glad I carried some extra ones. I interviewed for about 30 minutes and then he gave me some feedback.
Positives: I was dressed very professionally, arrived 5 minutes early (my mistake because I forgot my watch was 5 min fast), spoke well, answered questions as soon as they were posed, knew some info about him, etc.
Negatives: Didn't ask enough questions about the company, to always remember who my audience was (he asked me if I would like to work in a large or medium sized firm & I didn't emphatically say a large firm which is what this firm was).
Funny situation: He asked me what I liked to do outside of studying and I told him I like to read fiction books. Then he asks, "Oh good, so which author do you like?" So I say Daniel Silva knowing perfectly well no one has ever heard of this author (saying I like Danielle Steel's books doesn't quite have a ring of professionalism). Then he says, "I like him too!" So we went on to have a conversation about all his books. All the while I was thinking, thank goodness I'd really read Silva's books because there would've been no way to get out of that one without coming off as a total fraud.
I've been experiencing blogger's block this month. I have lots I want to talk about but can't translate those thoughts into words. Today is no exception. So I'll just ramble along and if it makes sense great, if it doesn't, tough.
The most outrageous thing that happened this month was Isaiah Washington checking into rehab for calling T.R. Knight a faggot....oops excuse me....the f-word. I have a rant about this ridiculousness going on in my head but can't translate it into logical words....
Barbaro the horse, the Kentucky Derby winner last year, was euthanized early this week, 8 months after his injury. I thought it should have been done sooner. Animals are not like people who can undergo surgeries and rehab, then go back to normal life. You can't ask them if they're in pain, you can't tell them they need to take it easy for the day or not to put too much weight on that ankle, etc. It's all a guessing game no matter how much man thinks he's in tune with animals (not a knock on veterinarians). This story should've ended 8 months ago. On the day of the injury.
A black coach (Tony Dungy or Lovie Smith) this sunday will lead his team to a Super Bowl championship. Great! But then what? Will this story translate to having more minorities put in positions of power in the NFL or will it end in the NFL history archives? Whatever the case may be, it promises to be a great game! Plus, K-Fed will be in one of the super bowl ads! It truly doesn't get better than that.
American Idol. Need I say more? Paula Abdul is going over the deep end and somebody needs to fish her out. Don't have anything to say about the contestants except I watch the show with my t.v. on mute!
Finally, school....hmmm. I'm running on fumes! The novelty has worn off and I think that's what was making last semester manageable. Now, reality has set in. The degree of difficulty of a law degree is very high and I'm just realizing that. Other than that I love it!
From the look on my face I don't need to expound. However, there's no time to wallow in this very mediocre performance. My study habits are currently undergoing a complete & total overhaul. As they say, it ain't over till the fat lady sings!
Can't say enough good things about these folks. They are super nice & super helpful.
1. Last semester around exam time, I emailed a 2L student asking her if she'd had one of my professors & if she had any pointers of how to approach the exam. She emailed me back she hadn't but that one of her friends had (& had done great in the class) so she forwarded my email to her. Next thing I know, her friend emailed me back with a list of great pointers & also included her outline & one of her other friend's outline to help me prepare! Preparing an outline is a very time consuming process so having one from another student who's had your professor before is like manna from heaven, I kid you not.
2. Same thing a few days later happened. Approached a different 2L & asked him if he'd had yet another of my professors. He had & he proceeded to talk to me for about an hour on how to prepare for his exam, what to do & what not to & again, he emailed me his outline as well as his friend's who'd received the top grade in the class! Considering contracts is a one year class, I treasure this outline since I'll be using it this March for the final exam.
3. As mentioned before, I'll be going for a mock interview next month. So I emailed a 3L asking her how to prepare. She sent me a checklist of about 50 questions firms ask (you can tell she's interviewed alot) & then forwarded my email to another student who'd actually gone there last summer for a mock interview & eventually worked there in the summer. Now this student wants to schedule a time to meet with me so we can talk about it. How nice are these folks?!
C'est moi studying for this class which I really and truly despise. I thought as the weeks rolled by I would get the hang of it & start liking it but this is not the case. The class deals with the passing of statutes & how the Supreme Court interprets them. Thus far, we've only dealt with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. How & why it came about and specifically, Title 7 of the Act that deals with discrimination in the workplace & affirmative action.
I'm talking from floor debates, to passage, to violation, to interpretation & back to amendment. Cruel & unusual punishment!!! We keep hashing & rehashing what some old geezers had to say & it just seems never ending. And to top it all off, we're on call at any time. If you get called on & don't know the answer, the next day you're the first one up. Shoot me already!
I woke up this morning & there was a blanket of snow outside. It's the first time it's snowed significantly all winter, so I dedicate my favorite Boyz II Men song to Mother Nature.
1. Oprah show today had the families of the 2 boys that were found after being kidnapped in Missouri. Only time I've watched the Oprah show without flipping channels so that I don't forget to come back. The older boy spoke with O. and boy was it sad. The horrors he must have gone through one can only imagine. Must see show for parents out there. Your kids are not safe!
2. '24' is back with a bang. I think the reason this show is so great is because all this stuff can truly happen. Suicide bombers, nuclear weapons, clueless president, etc. We can all relate. Could you believe it when Jack shot & killed Curtis?!
3. How about the 'Grey's' feud between O'Malley & Dr. Burke? Do you think Burke will be fired? Well, for those of you who haven't kept up, allow me to fill you in......after the Golden Globes this past Monday, some reporter asked the cast if they had put behind them the whole incident of Burke calling O'Malley a faggot (which led to his real life 'coming out'). Here goes Burke, "I did not call T.R. (O'Malley's real name) a faggot!" You should have seen the expressions on everybody else's faces...open up ground, swallow me now. Anyways, the following day, O'Malley went on The Ellen Show and stated that Burke really did call him a faggot. There's already a "Fire Isaiah Washington" petition online right now with about 9,000 signatures. I'll be surprised if he makes it past this season.
4. 'Apprentice' is so boring! Somebody at NBC ought to be fired for the idea of a tent for the losers. Small wonder that team keeps losing...exhausted from the coyote howls keeping them up at night. Then the reward last week was a visit to the Playboy mansion! Huh? How will Hugh Heffner help these women climb up the corporate ladder? Also the winning team's project manager goes in the board-room to help The Donald fire somebody. Talk about folks who don't have anything intelligent to say. Caaaarrooline.....Geeooooorge.....where are you?
1. I've received about 8-10 ding letters from those resumes I sent out (stopped counting). Employers are really nice about their rejections though. A couple have requested additional materials - whatever that means.
2. Will be going for a mock interview end of this month at one of the local large firms. My interviewer is one of the partners....gleaned this info from his bio on the firm's website. I'm really looking forward to the experience since there's no pressure to impress although you're supposed to go at it like it was a real interview.
3. Signed up for the study abroad program. That way I reserve a space for the classes I want to take. As I mentioned before, I'll use these credits to lighten my load as a 2L which I hear is really hectic.
Bush is going to be sending about 20,000 more troops to 'secure' Baghdad. It's fair to assume that majority of Americans especially Dems are opposed to this saying that more troops won't help the deteriorating situation in Iraq any.
I, on the other hand, am all for it but not for same reason as W. The Iraqi people didn't ask for their land to be invaded. If they were tired of having Sadaam treat them so ruthlessly, then they (Iraqis) should've gotten organized and revolted against him & toppled his government (I do realize this is easier said than done). This is what countries that were colonized did since they didn't like being ruled by foreigners, and this is what countries still do to topple rogue leaders. You start grassroot level revolts & hope they pick up enough momentum to remove the sitting dictator. E.g. Ahmad Shah Masood was the leader of the Northern Alliance, a group that was opposed to the Taliban. He was assassinated by suicide bombers posed as journalists in 2001. This is the type of organizing that Iraqis should've done if they were really tired of Sadaam's regime. It's bloody, it's risky, it doesn't always work, but if the people want it that much, they will find a way to make it happen.
Back to Iraq. Prior to the U.S. invasion, there seemed to be peace and everyone seemed to be able to do something economically to make a living, notwithstanding those that Sadaam & his sons saw fit to torture, detain & kill. I'm also sure that if you took a poll around Iraq today (not ex-patriates who've fled Iraq & can now punder from the comfort of their new countries), majority would say they hated Sadaam but they would rather the atmosphere then than what it is now. Again, if they hated it so much, THEY are the ones who should've done something about it. Not have W. impose his will on them to pay back Sadaam for what he did to his Daddy.
So, I say ramp up the troops and do everything you can to protect the Iraqi citizens from the autrocities that are taking place there. They didn't ask for this mess so the least the "coalition of the willing" can do is stay the course even if that means that more troops get killed. But W. is right about one thing, retreating cannot be an option. The minute the U.S. troops leave, the insurgent groups will take over the country and all hell will and shall break lose.
Doesn't that then mean that troop additions and not withdrawing right now is only delaying the inevitable? Coalition troops will leave eventually and since the tenuous Iraqi troops will probably run for their lives when they no longer have the coalition working with them, why delay all that? Why get more coalition troops killed? Why call up the reserve and national guard? Because we just don't know. Maybe the additional troops will be successful in snuffing out insurgents & leave a stable Iraqi government & army behind that will be able to protect its own citizens. Possible but highly unlikely. Time will tell.
Obviously, I make this argument because I don't have a son/daughter in Iraq & don't know anybody who does. I figure the same goes for W. This war itself would probably have not taken place if Jen & Barbs were enlisted in the military.
Hope everyone had a safe & enjoyable holiday. I know you're all armed with new year resolutions but moi doesn't have any this year. Bought books for $553. I tried selling 2 books I used last year at barnes & noble but they told me new editions were pending so they couldn't buy them back. The nerve. So off I went to amazon....I've already sold one for $75.
Recap: 4hrs. Closed book. 1 essay question & 150 T/F questions. Instructions for the T/F questions: Do not answer a question if you're not sure of the answer. Correct answer +1; no answer 0; wrong answer -2! Socrates quote "Wisest is she who knows what she does not know".
Tell me this doesn't take the cake for ridiculousness. I left about 50 questions blank & guessed about 30. So you do the math. I just might end up with a negative score. It took me 2hrs to write the essay exam & I wrote it rather eloquently if I must say so myself. You would have too after calculating your odds with the T/F questions.
Afterwards, went to the bar for a stiff drink. Me & my new drinking buddies. I've never told y'all about how much liquor (not beer) law students can consume but I will one day. I definitely cannot keep up but I like hanging out with them. So Thursday, after the final exam, we're going at it again, this time hard!!
I have a splitting headache as we 'speak' so not much studying will be done tonight. I'll pick it up in the morning since I have 2 days before the Torts exam Thursday. Cannot wait!
Recap: 3 hours. 3 essay questions. Open book. Thought it was a hard exam. The problem with this class is that we didn't deal with the good stuff like homicide, rape, entrapment, etc. All we did for the entire semester was statutory interpretation. The prof. was the nicest man ever but we had no clue as to what we were supposed to learn in order to prepare for the exam.
So I went to the mall today to return something. As I was passing one of the kiosks, one guy pulls me and asks me if I want to see something magical. Usually, I don't even look at these salespeople, but I was like what the heck, in the spirit of christmas, I'll be nice & give him some air-time. To cut the long story short, the 'magical' thing turned out to be a nail buffer. You know, the one where they take your finger, remove any nail polish, buff it till it shines, then ask you not to scream when you see how fantastic your nail looks, yup, that one.
So I punctuated the conversation with the expected uh's and ah's, but in all honesty, it looked really fantastic. I look up & see another lady, with a different salesman getting the same treatment & she ended up buying it (she kind of looked at me with that look of 'I don't know how I got myself into this'). So I refocus on my guy, Eric, & he's now showing me lotion samples which would be used to moisturize my hands after using the magical buffer.
Next thing I know, I'm paying $21.95 for a cute little package that includes the magical buffer, a bottle of raspberry lotion, a nail file, and some cuticle oil. How did this happen? How did I get roped into buying something I'll probably never use? To top it all off, as I'm leaving, the other salespeople in the nearby kiosks start shoving their wares into my path....I guess they figured since I was suckered into buying a magical buffer, then perhaps I needed a leather wallet, sunglasses & some incense to go with it.
Here's what's frustrating me: It's 3am and I'm still up studying. Not because I'm studious but because I can't seem to get anything done before 5pm so I have to compensate. This is a vicious cycle that repeats itself every single weekend.
11am: I get up (slept at 4am)
11-1pm: Have lunch & watch some t.v.
1-3pm: Happen to be flipping channels when I came across a movie which I just have to watch (probably seen it before but that doesn't matter)
3pm: Decide to start studying.
3:10pm: My eyes start closing. Take a nap till 5pm.
5-3:30am: Really studying, eating dinner, some t.v. watching.
Who am I and why can't I control myself like other people who go to the library from sunrise to sunset? I mean seriously, this madness has got to stop before I flunk out of law school.
I digress for a minute: All This Talk has reached its century mark. Looking back at the posts, I've realized that life in retelling is much more dramatic than in reality. Here's to 1ooo more!
Today is J's birthday, she's turning.....well, let's just say she's getting up there. It is ridiculously cold today, it even snowed and your's truly doesn't have a snow scrapper so I had to idle my car for like 20 minutes so the snow could melt off my windshield, and then hit the highway at blazing speeds so the rest could be blown off. Ingenious, I know.
With my civ pro class that is. Only my classmates can relate to what it feels like to have this class end. Every morning, 8:40-9:50am, M-W, I would go to class nervous as heck hoping I don't get called on. By the end of the semester, even the few gunners we had had been reduced to mere mortals. Getting shot down in humiliating fashion tends to make people second guess themselves really fast. Anyhoo, it's all a bad memory now. Well not quite because the exam still lurks.
I made it through detox in one piece. The world does still goes around even if I don't keep up with it. I see W. is still saying progress is being made in Iraq so little has changed. Anyway, I haven't been to a Walmart store since getting here and it's now going on 4 months mainly because they're few and far between. So with vague directions from C. I ventured out on Saturday night (that's how boring my life is) & found one about 10 miles away. To say I was giddy is putting it midly!
In I go, pushing a cart just ready to get my grocery shopping on. I go around the store once and don't see any groceries. So I take another twirl and finally find about 3 aisles of groceries. I'm talking about a soda aisle, paper towels & bath tissue aisle, & the cereal aisle. I was devastated. Really. I drove in the middle of the freezing night for 10 miles armed with my grocery shopping list and it turned out to be the dirtiest, oldest looking, grocery-lackingest Walmart store I'd ever seen.
So I got back into my car and drove to my local neighborhood Kroger store. It might be pricier but at least they have groceries & the store is kept clean and modern looking. Little wonder why Walmart saw a dip in their November sales. They have to improve the working conditions of their employees and need to realize the importance of having stores that are clean, modern, and well organized. People like the cheap prices but they're starting to become more discriminating evidenced by Target's good November's sales.
That being said, I can't wait for the Walmart Supercenter being built about 2 miles from my place to open sometime early next year!
Relax, not for alcohol or drugs. Lawschool hasn't gotten me to that point....yet. I'm detoxing from the news and the internet. Starting immediately after this post, I'll turn off my internet & not watch any news until Monday! I'm a news junkie and anytime I turn on my t.v. or get on the web, I'm catching up on news. I don't think there's any national news story going on right now that I'm not on top of. It's to a point where I'm checking the Drudge Report (always has the latest juiciest news) on the hour every hour incase something happens & God forbid I miss it.
But there's so much negativity going on that I feel my mind needs to be cleansed: the Iraq war, the poisoned Russian spy, the snow storms in the Midwest, NYPD's 50-bullet unloading on unarmed men, Bill O'Reilly's rants and raves, Nancy Grace's abusive line of questioning, Danny DeVito's meltdown on the View, Shamu's gone wild antics on her trainer, Kramer's n-word rant, etc. You get the gist.
So until Monday!
The nfl network started airing NFL games on Thursdays and Saturdays. That's ok except my cable carrier, Time Warner Cable (TWC), has refused to carry the network because of a disagreement they have. Nfl network doesn't want customers having to pay extra for the channel but TWC wants to charge extra. So if you have TWC you are screwed. Even home games are blacked out from local channels like FOX or ESPN. Only choice I have is to change my cable carrier to Dish Network or DirectTV which I have no plans of doing. Too much hassle trying to get a satellite dish situated on my balcony.
Do you remember Doug Christie, formerly of the Sacramento Kings? Do you also remember his crazy wife who trailed him everywhere he went so groupies couldn't get to him? Well, he has a new reality show on Bet J, called "Committed: The Chrisities" where cameras follow him and his wife around. So on tonight's show, Doug n wifey are in Jamaica on vacation with some friends. Doug & his guy friend decide to go jogging....guess who's on a golf cart trailing them in the back? Yup, his wife talkin' 'bout them island girls are crazy so she has to watch out for her man. No, you're the crazy one Heifer!
I do realize that I'm spending entirely too much time watching tv instead of studying.
1. my civ pro class ends on Tuesday next week. Teaching by terrorism should be outlawed. In all fairness though, this is the best taught class out of all of them.
2. my online purchase from Victoria's Secret arrived two days after ordering. Talk about superfast shipping. Turns out they're based in Columbus. Who knew?!
3. I got a $10 bath and body works gift card by mail yesterday after taking a random survey sent to my inbox.
4. I skipped class today for the first time. The Torts prof is really nice but she is rather boring. I just couldn't see myself listening to her drone on and on for 1hr. Naughty! Naughty!
5. my gas bill this month was $30. I was waiting for a monster bill because my heat is always running but was pleasantly surprised. Knock on wood?
Back to school after Thanksgiving break. The only constructive thing I did was get my resume done. Ventured out to one of the malls on Friday and didn't even get out of my car because I couldn't find a parking spot. So I went home, got on the web, and ordered everything I wanted to buy online.
It's back to seriousness now. There's very little time left to prepare for exams which are in a couple of weeks. Outlines (nutshell of course materials) need to get done & mastered. Since I don't have Contracts anymore, that should free up time to get started on those. Here's my exam schedule:
Criminal Law 12/15
Civil Procedure 12/18
Torts 12/21
Last week, PILF (public interest...) told us that we could pay off our professors not to call on us today, the day after the Contracts exam. How this works: you pay $2 per any class you don't want to get called on and get your name on a list that is given to the prof. The money is for a good cause (children's charity). So I paid off Civ Pro. Today, 1st class is civ pro & prof tells us he has the list so if he calls on you, just say you've paid and he'll move on.
So a few people got called on, "I've paid," they said. The other cheap students who didn't fork out the money got center stage. Then he asked a question that no one had a clue & after a few "NO!" "NO!" "NO's!", I got called on to answer the question.....so in a split second I wonder should I say I'm on the list or should I hazard a guess? I hazarded a guess and I was right!
At the end of class, the prof is sorta glancing at the list and he says, "I don't think people got their money's worth. I'll let the people who're on the list, off again tomorrow." I knew he had a heart somewhere....deep...deep down in the abyss. But tomorrow, if he calls on me, "I paid" will be yelled out really loud. I had my little moment of glory and that's enough.
Today was the school's Thanksgiving lunch. We had to pay $3 or bring 3 canned goods to be donated to the homeless. It was really nice - turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, mac & cheese, tons of desserts, fruits, salads, drinks, etc.
Rented 2 movies to watch over the weekend. Mission Impossible 3 and Wedding Crashers. I went to blockbuster & out of the new releases, I had only watched 2! The last one I saw was Derailed at my sister's house last month. I was going to rent Me, You & Dupree also but I figured 2 movies with Owen Wilson is a little much. Not to worry though, I'll get caught up over christmas break.
The Ohio State Buckeyes beat Michigan Wolverines 42-39! Great game & just as expected, the cream of the crop rose to the top. When I first moved here, didn't think I would get into the frenzy of college football, but dammit, it's contagious. If you're not a football fan, it'll get shoved down your throat until you surrender. I mean, yesterday I went to Kroger and all the cakes they had baked had a buckeye football or helmet at the center. Ridiculous but I love it!
The big game is tomorrow, and the hype is ridiculous out here. The Michigan team arrived today in two buses escorted by Michigan police, lights flashing, the whole nine. The press is also here, satellite trucks galore. University of Michigan advised their students travelling to Columbus on how to stay safe:
Is the title of O. J. Simpson's new book coming out in two weeks. He shows how he would have killed his ex-wife & her boyfriend were he the one who had actually dunnit. He'll be on Fox Nov. 27 and 29 talking about it. I think he did it, so I'll be tuning in to find out how it all went down. Johnnie has got to be rolling over in his grave.
What to do for the summer is now becoming center stage. For starters, if you're an out-of-state student, you must spend your summer in Ohio so as to get in-state tuition. Tuition is cut in half so it's a sacrifice worth making. Here's what I'm sorta thinking about doing:
1. Get a job at a firm (very difficult as a 1L). I'm hoping to get out about 50 resumes & cover letters by Dec. 1. Ambitious? Nope, people send out 200 resumes and don't even get 1 call-back. It's an exercise in futility.
2. Summer in Oxford. Take 2 classes for about 6 weeks in England. Should be lots of fun, easy grades, traveling, etc. Nice but pricey.
3. Become a research assistant for one of the professors. Pay is minimal but looks nice on your resume & you can work from home.
4. Judicial externship working under an Ohio state, federal, or supreme court judge. I don't know if they pay, but I don't plan on working for free. Damn skippy.
5. Just kick back the whole summer. What the heck......I need a break!
What's annoying me this week: Contracts exam is Monday but other professors don't give a hoot. Workload is still as much if not more because they're running out of time as the semester comes to a close and tons of material still has to be covered. So I don't crack open a Contracts book till the end of the week. And don't forget the Michigan game is this weekend and has to be watched and of course the after-party to celebrate the beatdown they'll get. Priorities....priorities....sigh.
I have a problem with red eyes so today I went to the College of Optometry to get them checked out. My 'doctor' was a student graduating next year who was really nice and knowledgeable. So anyway, after a thorough exam, he finally tells me:
"...and so your tears aren't generating any oils which has made your lower lid's lining wear out making the bacteria that live there more active & this is has caused your cornea to.......so I really have to go discuss this with the Dr. to figure out a cause of action."
So when he left, I'm thinking, "my God, this can only mean surgery, I'm picturing my eyeball sitting out on the operating table with someone working on it...."
In comes my 'doctor' with the real Dr. (oh no, it's even worse than I thought) The real doctor examines my eyes....AGAIN....and then says, "well, just like you were told, you do have...blah...blah...blah...so here's what we're going to do: I want you to take a hot compress twice a day and put it on your closed eyelids, put these drops in your eyes once a day, and drink more water..."
Talk about anti-climatic. I have dry eyes!
Last week, my desktop was unable to connect to the internet, & after calling TWC, the technician told me it was probably hacked into and someone erased something necessary to get on the web. So anyway, the technician came out today & I'm back in business.
I have McAfee on my desktop so I wanted to install Trend Micro PC-cillin. So I uninstall McAfee, and when I try to download Trend Micro, it tells me I need to install the latest Microsoft update first before installation. This is great except for one minor detail, my version of Windows XP isn't genuine (don't ask) so updates are not an option since Microsoft only allows authentic operating systems to get updates.
Now I have uninstalled McAfee (threw out the installation CD a while back) & cannot install Trend Micro! What's a girl to do? I can't surf the web without antivirus software so I'm screwed.....or so I thought. I remembered that you could get free antivirus software from AVG & luckily it doesn't care about my bootleg XP so I was able to install it successfully. So now I'm officially protected....as much as you can be protected with free software. It has good reviews though and it beats having nothing. So that was my little computer adventure.
I had my first study group experience today for Contracts review (exam on the 20th). I think study groups can be helpful but only to a point. It helps to hear what other people think about issues, but for me, I could have gotten a whole lot more done on my own. To each one his own.
Go Bucks! Trounced Northwestern 54-10. Between us & the BCS championship game....Michigan!!
No and No! I say Obama should wait at least until 2012. The challenge that faces the next administration will be cleaning up Bush's mess in Iraq. That job should be left to some of the hardknocks out there like Hillary or McCain or Giuliani or Kerry or Gore (we can hope), or whoever who's fixing to run.
It's not that I think he can't do it, I just think the business of Iraq should be over and done with before he runs, so that people will not judge him on some mess that was created by W. I think too that his inexperience in Washington will be used against him by his opponents if he runs in '08 and undecided Americans (these are the only people that really matter) will buy into that. He has no 'baggage' that we know of, so his sticking point is his inexperience.
So, as much as we want a breathe of fresh air in Washington, Sen. Obama, sit it out for a few more years. Your time is coming.
As for Hillary, she shouldn't run ever, she's too divisive! You either love her or hate her (I think she rocks), there's no in between. Her rhetoric is great for the Democratic base but that's about it. She's not going to be recruiting any undecided voters to her corner. Also, she has too much baggage. Whatever she did (or didn't do for that matter) during the Clinton administration will be scrutinized under a microscope and it's not going to be good. Whoever who'll be running against her on the GOP ticket will win. I can almost guarantee it (and it's not because she's a woman) just based on her past and present political ideologies. Way I see it, if Hillary or Obama run in '08, the Republican challenger will win.
So, because one of them will run and will win the Democratic primary, just hope the GOP ticket doesn't have someone too radical. How about Rudy Giuliani? I like him because he's considered a moderate conservative, most importantly, he's pro-choice. That's why he'd never win the Republican primary. A Giuliani & Clinton showdown would be like the 2000 New York Senate race that never was. He pulled out of the race after being diagnosed with cancer. As for McCain, well, I don't care for him, he's overrated. He blasted Obama a few months ago, so eat shit and die! Do I sound bitter?
I took a strengths-finder profile (series of timed questions where you pick an answer that best fits you) in preparation for resume writing. These are snipets of my strengths:
Maximizer - Excellence is your measure; this might mean that others see you as discriminating; you see talent and stregths in others sometimes before they do; you don't want to spend your life bemoaning what you lack; consider coaching your intramural team or volunteer to be a Big brother or Big Sister.
Harmony - You look for areas of agreement; you can't quite believe how much time is wasted by people trying to impose their views on others; wouldn't we all be more productive if we kept our opinions in check and instead looked for consensus and support?; sometimes your deep desire to "keep the peace" leads you to stay silent when you disagree with someone; recognize that sharing your feelings can lead to a win-win solution for yourself as well as others.
Deliberative - You are careful; you are vigilant; you are a private person; you know that the world is an unpredictable place; everything may seem in order, but beneath the surface you sense the many risks; rather than denying these risks, you draw each one out into the open. then each risk can be identified, assessed, and ultimately reduced; thus, you are a fairly serious person who approaches life with a certain reserve.
Individualization - Your Individualization theme leads you to be intrigued by the unique qualities of each person; you are impatient with generalizations or "types" because you don't want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person; be a mentor, you will pinpoint people's unique qualities and encourage them to follow their own paths.
Analytical - You do not necessarily want to destroy other people's ideas, but you do insist that their theories be sound; you see yourself as objective and dispassionate; you are at your best when you have well-researched sources of information and data to support your logic; you take the time to identify credible sources you can rely on; you determine the most helpful books, web sites, or other sources that can serve as references.
I thought it was fairly accurate. The school had us take it, otherwise I wouldn't put myself through a 40-minute questionnaire. Now, how all this translates to my resume is the million dollar question.
- Ed Bradley of CBS '60 Minutes' died today of leukemia.
- Chris Rock and his wife have separated.
- If you don't watch House, you've got to start. I'm even tempted to say it's better than 24.
- Britney and Fed-ex reportedly had a pre-nup (she filed for divorce). Just give him some $$$ Brit, that way he can stop putting out albums that only sell 6000 copies.
Election news keeps getting better:
1) Dems are going to take control of the Senate (Virginia is the only hang up now). The Democratic candidate is ahead by about 4,000 votes so a recount is likely. Electronic 'hanging chad' vaguely comes to mind......
2) Donald Rumsfeld resigned today.
Can this news get any better? Yes, Bush could resign, no wait, that would put Dick at the helm....never mind.
Let me digress, one of the girls in my small section (class of 35 students) has quit! I haven't seen her all this week so I asked one of her buddies and she told me she quit, law school just wasn't for her. It's really surprising coz she was always involved in class discussions and seemed to know what she was talking about.
Sadaam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging today. The appeal is automatic and if the sentence is upheld, execution will be carried out in 30 days. It's idiotic to think this will make Iraq any safer but let's not get into that.
Conspiracy theorists are already saying Bush manipulated the timing of the verdict to coincide with Tuesday's mid-term elections.
Don't fret, it's only 806 days, 12 hours, 38 minutes till he's gone!
Just downloaded it and it's alright. I like the tabbing feature where you can have tabs of different web pages that you want to view without having to open a new page. I wanted to start using Firefox (better browser than IE) but I haven't gotten around to it yet. One of these fine days, time permitting.
Agenda for today: finish up my Torts paper which is due Monday morning. Also, start studying for the Contracts exam which is in a couple of weeks. Where did the semester go?
Republicans were on such a roll screwing things up, you had to steal their thunder, didn't you? Watch Sen. Kerry's royal snafu! It doesn't matter if it was taken out of context or if it was a joke gone wrong, new campaign ads will be rolling out tomorrow, talking about how Democrats think soldiers in Iraq are uneducated.
Update: Sen. Kerry has cancelled all his upcoming stumping appearances for Democratic candidates.
At about 7pm tonight, I decided to go out and wash my car. The weather was pretty nice so off I went. It was just me and one other car, I guess not too many folks wash their cars at night. Anyhoo, I couldn't find the change machine, so I asked the one other guy there where it was, "..oh it's just around the corner." On my way back from getting some change, he said,"...I'll also go ahead and put some money in for you.." Huh?
Turns out the guy owns the place and was cleaning up. He put for me about $8 in my machine!!! I got to do all sorts of things I never do, like use tire degreaser, scented soap, foam brush, etc. Even after all that, I got done before the money ran out. Lil ol' me never puts in that kind of loot! $2 tops, $1 for soap and $1 for rinse. And he even got the vacuum going after I was done washing my car, who does that?
I know what you're thinking......who still washes their car manually?? Don't hate, congratulate!
So far I've been an unwitting member of these legal actions:
1) BMG. Got a CD for $3 w/ free shipping. Settlement after some people sued for unfair shipping charges. I was a BMG member for a few years.
2) Epson. Got an e-card for $45 to spend on their website. Settlement after some people sued claiming that their printers indicated the cartridges were empty when they were really not. I bought an epson printer a few years ago.
3) Western Union. Got a $1 coupon for my next visit. Settlement after some people sued for unfair pricing. Used western union occassionally.
4) I just got a notice from a firm (representing some employees) asking me if I wanted to be a part of a class action suit they were bringing against my ex-company for unpaid wages and unfair work practices. What's a girl to do? Hmmm.
So next time you get junk mail, don't be so quick to throw it out!
Don't forget to set your clocks back by one hour this morning at 2am. When I used to work on Sundays, it was great to get an extra hour of sleep. Now all it means is that I'll have to be leaving the library to go home an hour early because it'll be getting darker earlier. It's a long walk to where I park my car and in the dark, there ain't no telling what's lurking behind the bushes. The school has a courtesy escort but it takes hours before they can come out.
Go Bucks! Blanked Minnesota 44-0.
shoots off the mouth. What is wrong with these people? When will they learn that it's better to keep their mouths shut so as not to confirm their stupidity to the rest of us? Oh right, this is Viagra popping Rush Limbaugh we're talking about, he can't help himself!
was held last night at the Barrister Club. The point was to show us how to eat properly when on a business lunch or an interview. We had to dress up and pay $10 to attend. The highlight for me though was the meal. It was a 4-course dinner and during each course, we were taught the do's and don'ts. Soup-creamy tomato, salad-very leafy and fresh, entree-chicken, fish, rice, and peas (delish), and dessert-raspberry chocolate & chocolate mousse. (Coffee too at the very end). It would've been wrong for me to study after enjoying myself so thoroughly, so I hit the sack as soon as I got home. Well worth it!
Nothing against baseball, but it's really annoying when I make a mad dash home so as not to miss Grey's and CSI, only only to find out they are re-runs, thanks to the World Series! It's also the reason why there's been no House for the past month and there was no Sunday night football. Good thing it's just about done, the Cardinals lead the series with the Tigers 3-1.
1. George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) of Grey's Anatomy is gay!
2. Keith Urban, husband of Nicole Kidman, checked himself into rehab yesterday.
3. Scary Spice is 4 months pregnant with Eddie Murphy's baby.
4. Sal Masekela of E! News' Daily Ten is the older brother of Nathan Raro of Survivor Cook Islands.
5. Celebrity death-match I'd love to see: Rosie O'Donnell v. Elizabeth Hasselbeck
-Jeffrey Sebelia won Project Runway's Season 3 tonight. Of the 4 finalists, he had the the worst designs throughout the competion and had the worst collection during NY fashion week. What a total waste of a season!
-Ulrike and Laura had beautiful collections although they were very one dimensional throughout the competition.
-Michael Knight though should've won the competition. His collection was hip and was by far the best designer throughout the competion. I just might boycott the next season in protest......nah.
is kicking my ass!
galore is what we have on t.v. these days. Ohio is a swing state and with the mid-term elections coming up in early November, campaign ads run during every commercial break. The closer we get to election day, the nastier the ads become. Why can't we all get along?
"Citizens Tired Of Being Sick And Tired Are Responsible For The Contents Of This Ad"
why the outrage? Why are activists trying to block this adoption? That it'll start the sale of people? That adoptive parents have to abide by Malawian residency rules so why not Madonna? Do these people really expect Madonna to set up shop in this country so as not to offend its laws?
Bono and Bobby Shriver have a new project, RED, to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world's most iconic brands to produce RED-branded products. A percentage of each RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children with HIV/AIDS in Africa. Stores/companies carrying these RED products: American Express, Apple, Motorola, Armani, Gap, and Converse.
They were featured on Oprah and Larry King Live today and it seems to be for a worthy cause. So go out there and shop to save a life!
speech was very interesting. There were lots of people, actually the whole auditorium was full which was surprising. She spoke about how she began the whole Greenbelt Movement and how it led her to getting the Nobel Peace Prize.
I had an aha! moment after she explained why she was picked for the nobel peace prize when really her movement is about planting trees, I never understood the connection. She says that at the center of most wars and conflicts in the world today is the fight for natural resources (she didn't mention oil but we got it). If there're enough resources in this world to go around for everyone, then there'll be no reason to fight for them, hence PEACE.
All it takes is for us to do our part in saving the environment. Buy a hybrid car, recycle trash, plant a tree, whatever, it doesn't matter what so long as we all do our part. She also mentioned Al Gore's movie on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, numerous times. The gist from this was that fresh water will eventually become an endangered natural resource as sea levels rise from glaciers melting (seas contain salty water which will infiltrate fresh water lakes).
Final words: Be patient, be persistent, be committed! No matter how tough things seem to be, if you look hard enough, there's a silver lining. Grab a hold of that silver lining and use it to pull yourself up.
Great message all around!
is finally here! School is out until 10/16 so it's time for some R&R. I'm leaving Columbus tomorrow for a few days and I can't wait. My gorgeous niece is getting christened this Sunday and guess who's the Godmother? Yours truly!
Q: Why doesn't Rep. Foley use bookmarks?
A: Because he prefers to bend his pages over!
Just loaded this up on my computer and I love it. Simple interface, doesn't take up too many resources so everything's booting up faster, detected a virus after I ran a scan, great reviews online, etc. Decided to abandon McAfee after it never detected anything in all the years I've had it. I don't think I'm that lucky that my laptop never catches anything, McAfee just doesn't seem to detect as much (entitled to my opinion). So if you're wanting to try something other than Norton or McAfee, this is a great option. Amazon is selling it for $40.99 + free shipping. Should get cheaper as time goes by.
And no, I'm not getting a commission from Trend Micro and don't own their stock either.
exam is this Friday (wish me luck). It's going to be my first law school exam and everything is very formal. We received our exam numbers (used instead of our names for anonymity) via email today, along with instructions on what will go on during the exam. So when will the grades be available, you ask? January, yup, along with the rest of the year end exams.
I'm glad this class is coming to an end. One, it takes up way too much time to complete assignments, and yet it's only a 1 credit class. Two, I'll now officially have no classes on Friday, as this was the only class on that day, how cool is that?!
My Torts professor cancelled class today, it's the last class from 2-3:10pm. So now I'm in the library finishing up my homework. Reading, reading, and more reading....it just never seems to end.
Oh, did I ever mention how much free pizza there always is at Moritz? Hey, come today and listen to Speaker X....free pizza will be served. Hey, don't forget to come to Organization Y's meeting.....free pizza will be served, and today, for no reason at all, there was....you guessed it.....free pizza for all students! Enough already, how about some sandwiches?
and I just cracked open my civ pro book and boy will I pay for it. Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., really (forget all the other ramblings I've had on civ pro cases) and truly is an obtuse case. The facts would make the sheep (that you count to fall asleep) fall asleep!
On top of that, the fact pattern is really difficult, and that's all that crazy prof wants recited back to him in class. So when I went to my usual life saver, Mikeshecket, he has under facts the word BORING! Now how is that going to help me??
Enough ranting, back to studying.
is taping a show at OSU, Oct 29th, with tickets being given out at 5pm today. So, I figured I'd go to the library until 4:45pm and then go pick up tickets by 5pm.
4:45pm rolled around, plenty of time to spare, so I asked the person at the front desk, "...do you know where the Ohio Union bldg is? I want to pick up tickets for the Jon Stewart show..." He pointed outside, "...you see that group of people over there...?" I peered outside and saw a group of people, "...oh ok great it's just across the street...." I replied. So off I went thinking, good thing Ohioans don't know anything about Comedy Central.
When I opened the door, what seemed like a group of people, was really a mass of students in lines about 4 deep, snaking around and around as far as the eye could see, waiting to get the same tickets I was going to get!!!!! WWWWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Cry me a river.
Up next, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Dr. Wangari Maathai, is coming to OSU in a few weeks and the tickets can be picked up Oct 5th. I figure my chances will be better here!
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