Hard at Work

All the summer associates went to the Memorial Tournament today. We got there about 12 noon, had lunch at the Bogey Inn & then some of us ventured out to the course. We decided to sit at the 18th hole & watch the golfers go by which turned out great because we sat right on the edge of the green. Didn't get to see Tiger Woods tee off (because it was too hot to follow him around hole by hole) but saw him putt at the 18th. He was the only golfer in his group of 3 not to birdie the hole so we punctuated his miss with a loud Ooooohhhhh! It's a hard life but someone's gotta do it!

My Favorite New Show

Next Best Thing: Celebrity Impersonators. It airs on ABC Wed 8/7c. Hilarious!!!!

Summer Gig

I started my summer job & it's been an experience so far. I work from 8:30-5:30pm & take about an hour lunch. I get to dress up in suits everyday & get to rub shoulders with some very brilliant attorneys. Everyone is really nice except for one young attorney who's an arrogant s.o.b. We've got to attend lots of summer activities with the rest of the attorneys & this is the part I'm not looking forward to but it's a ritual everyone has got to go through. I'm being kind of cryptic with the details because of "ethical" considerations but I'll let loose once I'm done for the summer since I don't think they'll be asking me back for my 2L summer after the Property grade I got....he he he.

Some grades are in & as promised I tanked in Property but I did well in Constitutional law & Legal writing. I'm still waiting on Contracts & Legislation so we'll see how it all pans out.

Update: All grades are in. With the exception of Property, I'm happy with the results.

Journal Competition

Here's what it's all about: Moritz has 5 Journals - Ohio State Law Journal (OSLJ), Ohio State Journal On Criminal Law (OSJCL), Journal of Dispute Resolution (JDR), Entrepreneurial Business Law Journal (EBLJ), and Journal of Information Society (I/S). Journals publish works written by law students, professors, judges, etc, on issues concerning the law and they are completely student run which is great. The journal editors decide which articles they want to publish and the rest of us go through them with a fine tooth comb to make sure all citations are on point, no typography problems, etc. All except one of the journals require staff members to write a "note" which is about a 60 page paper on whatever you want to write about. If it's really good, then it may get published. We get 1 credit per semester for working on journal & about 2 credits for writing a note.

Back to the competition: OSJL & JDR have a joint competition. They provide you with a STACK of research material & provide two separate topics from which you choose one and write a paper 10 pages or less. 85% of points. There's also a 7 page editing assignment where you go through making edits on everything from typos, to punctuation, but mainly contains errors in the footnotes where you have to apply Bluebook rules to be able to make the necessary corrections. 15% of points. We must submit 11 copies of the writing sample & 2 copies of the editing assignment. I want to get on either one of these two.

Then EBLJ, OSJCL, & I/S have their joint competition. This one is easier because the 10 page writing sample can be from any past written work we've done. I used my legal writing paper since I got a good grade on it but I could've used the writing sample I submitted for the OSJL/JDR competition (didn't want to place all my eggs in one basket). The editing assignment is the same for all journals so you just send copies of what you submitted for the JDR/OSJL competition. However, these 3 journals require personalized letters of interest and a resume. We must submit 4 copies of the writing sample, 2 copies of the editing assingment, 4 copies of the letter of interest, & 4 copies of the resume per journal. I spent a whopping $25.60 at Kinkos this morning. Out of these 3, I would like to get on OSJCL.

I've applied to all 5 & since one could potentially get into all of them, the journal editors give you about a week to decide which one you want to be in since you can only work in one. The kicker of all this: if you accept membership to any one of the journals, you must be back in school by Aug 5 for orientation & journal work which is a whole 2 weeks before everyone else (why again am I applying?!). Should know sometime late July whether my writing & editing was good enough to get into one of them. Did I mention that I haven't slept in the last 30 hours trying to get this monstrosity done? Now that's dedication!

Nothingness

I was a procrastinator during the school year & I'm still a procrastinator during the summer. My journal paper is due this Thu by 4pm & guess what? I haven't typed even 1 page of the 10 page paper! I went to the library yesterday with the hopes of getting it started & was doing pretty well for about an hour when I decided to take a break & surf the web in the computer room. Ended up chit chatting with other folks for a couple of hours & completely abandoned my plan. It's all good though, I'll just pull an all-nighter tomorrow. Been there still doing that.

Watched a ton of movies this past week & really liked Something New. Thought it was going to be just another goofy movie but was pleasantly surprised. So if you're looking for a movie for a girls' night, this is it. Also liked MatchPoint although it starts out slow but picks up after about 20 minutes. Disclaimer: No money back guarantee.

Jerry Falwell died today. I'm sure liberals are not shedding too many tears over his demise.

The Open Toed Shoe Pledge

Alright Ladies, it's that time of the year again. Just a friendly reminder!! Please raise your big toes and repeat after me: (The Open Toed Shoe Pledge)...

As a member of the Cute Girl Sisterhood, I pledge to follow the Rules when I wear sandals and other open-toe shoes:

I promise to always wear sandals that fit. My toes will not hang over and touch the ground, nor will my heels spill over the backs. And the sides and tops of my feet will not pudge out between the straps.

I will go polish-free or vow to keep the polish fresh, intact and chip-free. I will not cheat and just touch up my big toe.

I will sand down any mounds of skin before they turn hard and yellow. I will shave the hairs off my big toe. I won't wear pantyhose even if my misinformed girlfriend, coworker, mother, sister tells me the toe seam really will stay under my toes if I tuck it there.

If a strap breaks, I won't duct-tape, pin, glue or tuck it back into place hoping it will stay put. I will get my shoe fixed or toss it.

I will not live in corn denial; rather I will lean on my good friend Dr. Scholl's if my feet need him.

I will resist the urge to buy jelly shoes at Payless for the low, low price of $4.99 even if my feet are small enough to fit into the kids' sizes.

This is out of concern for my safety, and the safety of others. No one can walk properly when standing in a pool of sweat and I would hate to take someone down with me as I fall and break my ankle.

I will take my toe ring off toward the end of the day if my toes swell and begin to look like Vienna sausages.

If I have been privy to the magic that is Foot Soup, I will share that knowledge and experience with the non-initiated.

I will be brutally honest with my girlfriend/sister/coworker when she asks me if her feet are too ugly to wear sandals. Someone has to tell her that her toes are as long as my fingers and no sandal makes creepy feet look good.

I will promise if I wear flip flops that I will ensure that they actually flip and flop, making the correct noise while walking and I will swear NOT to slide or drag my feet while wearing them.

I will promise to go my local beauty school at least once per season and have a real pedicure (they are about $10 and worth EVERY penny).

I will promise to throw away any white/off-white sandals that show signs of wear...nothing is tackier than dirty white sandals....Don't keep this to yourself - pass it on to other sisters.

Done! Done! Done!

Legislation exam: Recap: 3.5 hrs. 3 questions. Open book.

Q. 1. Hypothetical problems going on in a city. Reforms you'd adopt to resolve them.

Q.2. Title VII affirmative action problem in a police department. Arguments for and against keeping the AA plan.

Q.3. Partisan gerrymandering case. New justice on SCOTUS & how you'd advise her to rule.

So excited about getting done with my 1st year of law school. Giddy is the word that comes to mind. We all headed to the local pub after the exam & guess who showed up? The legislation prof to have lunch. We heckled him jokingly & tried to get him to buy us shots but he wasn't having it. I picked up the materials for writing onto Journal & the package is about 600 pages worth of reading. Will be poring over that in the next few days. Signed up for HBO, Showtime & Starz also so I'm all set for the summer.

Constitutional Law Exam

Recap: 28 hours. Thu 9am to Fri 1pm. 3 questions. Take home.

Que. 1. Dealt with a federal abortion statute. Arguments the ACLU could make to get it struck down & the counter arguments the government would make. 2000 word limit.

Que. 2. State statute criminalizing sexual conduct between children & parents, step-parents, guardians, custodians. Write a majority opinion that you'd expect Justice Kennedy to author. 1000 word limit.

Que. 3. Separation of powers issue dealing with a Peace Treaty between the U.S. & Hungary. 1000 word limit.

I was at it from 9 am yesterday until 6 am this morning. On their face, the questions seemed decent until I got down to writing. Very complicated to make persuasive arguments when there's a word limit imposed. There was a provision in the instructions that papers exceeding word limits would be heavily penalized. Glad it's over.

Knock On Wood

Over the past few days, I have been thinking just how my car has been acting lovely for the past 6 months or so. But every time I would think that I would tell myself, "stop that!" Didn't want to jinx myself but sure enough, it happened. I put gas in my car today (for $2.99/gallon!!!) & then drove around the block to go use the ATM. My car would not hold the idle, it kinda just died. Shit! So I use the ATM....might as well have some money right....all the while thinking what was I going to do? Turned it back on & it still had an almost non-existent idle so I just kept pumping the gas pedal for about a minute & sure enough, the engine began idling normally. Drove a little & pulled into another parking lot just to make sure I had the problem 'fixed' & all was good. Even turned on the A/C & the idle held. My mechanic refuses to come fix my car unless it's not moving. His motto: if it ain't broke don't fix it. My motto: if I'm willing to pay what do you care?

Property Exam

Recap: 3.5 hrs. 4 questions. Open book. I got my a$$ handed to me today.

Que I. 20%. Four part question dealing with future estates.

Que II. 40%. Long essay with 2 sub-questions. Dealt with covenants, easements, & future estates. Took me FOREVER to finish this question. My problem was that when I began applying the rules to the facts & got stuck. I could not figure out how one of the rules applied & got hang up for about 20 minutes because I had to make it work & I couldn't make my argument logical until the rule fit in to the facts. I should've moved on in hindsight.

Que III. 15%. Continuation of fact pattern in Q. II dealing with Takings. At this point I had 15 minutes to spend total on this question so I wrote whatever I could in this time. Found out later from talking to people I applied the wrong case hence the wrong rules.

Que IV. 25%. Essay still on same fact pattern dealing with Tenancy. Main ideas were whether the landlord had a duty to mitigate & whether the tenants had any defenses left to them. I had 20 minutes total to complete question & completely missed the defenses of the tenants. I don't know how that happened but I did. To top it all off, while still working on my 2nd question, one guy got done & left. I mean, how is that possible? Unless he was writing an outline I do not see how he could've gotten done in less than 2 hours. No way. But maybe I'm just saying that to make myself feel better. I'm staring in the face of a failing grade. I'm seriously going to drop out of school if I have to retake this class again.

Semester in Review

1L classes ended today & I'm thrilled about that. This semester was definitely harder than the 1st which was surprising as I thought it would get easier now that I had become adept at knowing what to look for when reading cases. I enjoyed Constitutional Law the most although coming in I thought I would like it the least. The prof was absolutely brilliant & she was entirely responsible for me enjoying this class. However, I am most concerned with her exam so we'll see how that goes.

Legislation was my least favorite class although the prof was great. He had lots of energy and taught the material very well but it's the content that I disliked. Still don't think this class should be mandatory although I get where they're coming from since we're all at some point going to deal with statutory interpretation. Property was in the middle. My prof's British & she knows what she's talking about although she would get confused sometimes in class but she always followed up to clarify.

Exam schedule: Property 4/30; Con Law 5/4; Legislation 5/7.

Enlightened!

The piece of knowledge that has thus far been most surprising to me in law school is that the President no longer has the power to use the "Line Item Veto." The Supreme Court in Clinton v. City of New York (1998) struck down this power. Didn't get the memo until I got to law school & sat through Legislation. Why does this matter?

Well, the Iraq War Spending Bill was passed tonight in the House 218-208 (awaiting Senate tomorrow) & the President has said he'll veto this Bill because it gives a timetable for when troops should pull out. If this was pre-1998, the Pres. could've used the line-item veto to strike down the timetable portion & then sign the rest of the Bill into law. But since he doesn't have this power, he has to veto the whole darn thing. Congress could override this presidential veto with a super-majority (2/3) in each House. Problem: Dems can't get enough votes to pull this off so this Bill will die though it may revive later but it'll definitely be sans timetable.

Glad my tuition is being put to such good use. Really.

Nothingness

I got a $10 award for completing a survey. I redeemed it for Chili's since eating out is such a rarety (if that's a word) due to lack of $.

Yesterday we got evacuated from the building in the middle of class at about 2pm. We got to sit outside for about 30 minutes before the all clear was given. Don't know what the problem was.

Columbus has a brand new airline called Skybus & it's selling tickets for $10 each way. Gotta love that except I have no reason to fly to almost all the cities it's offering service to.

Bought a new skirt suit today from Marshalls. It's really nice although I was disappointed since I cannot seem to find pant suits. I prefer skirts but I need a little variety. The dress code at my summer job will be formal so I'll need a few more suits before it's all said and done.

I cannot seem to get started on my outlines. I have a skeleton one for Property but just thinking about all what needs to be done (Legislation & Con Law) makes me feel like not doing anything. Overwhelming. Only good thing is that all my exams are open book so if I don't get done it will not be the end of the world. Outlining though is a great way to review so I'll give it a try.

Joe has a CD that just came out & his new single is nice. Also like blogmusik where you can put songs in your playlist & listen to them later. Make sure to create your own playlist because the one already there will not save your songs after you log out. Variety of songs isn't that hot though but it's free.

Today: Weather is fabulous. No classes because it's a Constructive Friday (don't ask). Laundry is done. Sanjaya is no longer on American Idol. What a great day!

What a Day!

Today I went to the Student Health Center at OSU. I've been to this building before & they had about 20 parking spots just outside the building where people park their cars. When I drove up today, half these spaces had been turned to handicap parking spots and the rest had been reserved for state cars. Not a problem. There's a small adjacent garage with a similar number of spaces so I parked my car there. As I was locking my doors, I noticed that it cost $2.00 to park...CASH ONLY!!! I didn't have a single cent. Couldn't get out because of the bars that safeguard the exits. Ugh.

Well figured I'd just look for an ATM inside the health building. Turned out there was none. But one nurse told me that the Pharmacy was always willing to give people change. So I went there & asked the clerk, "If I buy something, can you let me get some cash back? I parked in the garage & don't have any cash." To which he replied, "Ohh I'm sorry we're not allowed to do that." So I ask, "Are there any ATM machines around here?" He replied, "Oh Hon, the closest one to here is in the Business school but it was down earlier today so the only other one I can think of is by the Ohio Union Bldg. Sorry." Great....only problem was that O.U. Bldg is about a 5 minute drive away which was probably equivalent to a half hour walk. Short of going around the building & begging for $2, it looked like I was going to be stuck in the doggone building & my 1 o'clock class was starting in thirty minutes. I was completely stumped at what to do (which is not often). As I was leaving to regroup, the girl standing behind me in line asked, "Are you needing $2 to get out of the garage?" I said "yes." She continued, "Here you go, have a great day." She gave me $2!!!! I wanted to smother her with hugs & kisses but I figured if I did this she would probably ask for her money back. So after thanking her profusely, I was off to release my car from bondage. Guess what happened next? As I approached the exit bar so that I could insert my money, the bar just raised up on its own without me having to put in the money! All that mental befuddlement for nothing. Sheesh.

So I made it to my 1 o'clock class on time. I should've skipped it. I had to make a presentation to all the students. We knew the order we were going in & by the time it was my turn, I was so nervous I thought I was going to pass out. I made it through unscathed but I hated the whole process. That's the reason why I'm going to be a transactional lawyer. I'm just not cut out to be a litigator. I need a cocktail after what I've been through today. Not to mention I was up until 5am finishing up my memo. Definitely need a cocktail.

Conundrum

Remember my story about my legal writing prof going off the rails with my memo, well, he's at it again. My trial brief draft was returned last Friday & he had made very little corrections to it. "This is a powerful brief," were his actual words. The problem is: I thought my brief was horrific! I had written it really fast & it didn't flow like any nice document would & my research was spotty at best. Planned to make numerous changes after getting what I was expecting to very negative feedback from the prof but it didn't quite work out that way. I don't trust this man. I feel like he's setting me up to fail by giving me positive feedback so that I don't make significant changes and then he'll hammer my final draft. But what if he's not out to get me and I make those changes I had originally intended to make & then he gets me for butchering a 'masterpiece'? What then? I don't prescribe to the theory of conspiracies but something sure smells fishy! It's due 8 a.m. this Friday & between now & then I have to come up with a workable solution to this twilightish situation.

Virginia Tech Massacre

A gunman killed 32 students - a toll that may rise - and injured numerous others this morning at Virginia Tech University. The first shootings occured at 7 am and the second shootings occured at 9 am in two separate buildings. This two hour time-span shows the glaring gap there is in communication between buildings of university campuses.

High schools since Columbine have become adept at locking down classrooms when a shooting takes place. I do hope this is a wake-up call to all universities to adopt communications such as those in high schools so that when these loonies go on rampages, they don't get the opportunity to harm as many students as those that were killed today. This will be no small fete due to the sheer size of campuses and the distance between buildings but it has to be done. The media coverage will no doubt inspire a copy cat situation in the very near future.

Update: 4/17. Noticed a significant number of police around the school patroling on bikes today. Must be in response to the Virginia Tech situation. Got an email that Ohio State will be observing a moment of silence on Wednesday at 3pm which will be smack dub in the middle of my Property class. Maybe we'll be let off early. Doubtful. The prof will probably cease talking for a minute & then pick it right back up where she left off.

Off To A Good Start

The registration period for picking classes for next year opened at 8 pm tonight. I was waitlisted for 1 class during Fall '07 & 1 class for Winter '08. Mighty pleased about getting into most of the classes I wanted, though there were a few tense seconds there where I couldn't get the Fall registration page to open, but about 8:00:15 pm it cooperated. That's probably why I got waitlisted. No biggie. They (classes) should open up before Fall rolls around.

Goat of the week: The PA radio jock that was fired earlier this week. Phrase that pays for his listeners was "nappy-headed hos." Howard Stern will be having plenty of company down in satellite radio pretty soon.

An aside: Why do celebrities who use racial slurs feel the need to meet with Al Sharpton & Jesse Jackson? Who made these two the moral compass by which African-American standards are measured? They have so much 'baggage' about them that I cringe every time they scold these wrongdoers. I hope those who'll be spewing racial slurs in the future have learnt that meeting with Al Sharpton will do them no good - Kramer has been whittled down to nothingness and & Imus got fired. Why isn't anyone running the tape of Al Sharpton essentially branding the Duke boys guilty way before the facts ever came out & asking him to apologize? Pointless but you get the idea. They take everyone to task whenever the opportunity presents itself and it's about time someone returned the favor! Caveat: I have yet to see someone win an argument against Al.

Oh Hail Midwest Airlines

My flight this weekend was with Midwest Airlines bought through Expedia. When I got to the airport, they told me that they would have to rebook me with another airline because I would miss my connecting flight because the first plane was running late. It turned out to be a non-stop flight on American Airlines! I was surprised they made this happen because tickets bought through Expedia have ridiculous restrictions.

On my return flight yesterday, no such luck. I was issued my ticket & had to connect through Milwaukee. I was expecting an old raggedy plane but was pleasantly surprised. Plane looked very nice & clean & had leather chairs & served freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Even the connecting flight was very nice and plane fairly big which was surprising because for a 50 minute flight, you usually get the smaller planes that rock light boats at any breeze that wafts their way. Would definitely fly with them more often if I didn't have to connect through Milwaukee which has very suspect weather.

A girl was raped & robbed over the weekend right around the block from the Moritz building which is the southern most part of the school. Turns out the police have issued 5 crime alerts in the past week for the same area. That's why as soon as classes are done at 3pm, I'm outta there while it's still nice & bright outside. Too much craziness going on.

About Don Imus & him calling the Rutgers womens basketball team "nappy-headed hos": I think he should be fired from his job. I'm all about free speech & saying whatever you want to say. However, we all know that any other radio jock would've been given the boot as soon as those words were uttered but because it's him & MSNBC doesn't know who would occupy his time slot from 5:30am-9:00am, they won't fire him. His viewership won't suffer but the personalities he gets on his show will probably lessen in quality because they will be afraid that if they appear it may seem that they agree with Imus' views. I think that's a crock but that's how the media works. Moral of the story: double standards are very annoying. At the very least he should relegated to therapy!

Update 1: Imus will be suspended for 2 weeks starting this Monday.
Update 2: MSNBC TV will no longer simulcast the Imus radio show.
Update 3: FIRED!!

John McCain needs to hang it up. I don't even think he's officially stated he's going to be running for Presidency in 2008 & he should keep it that way. Did you see him yesterday on 60 minutes? He looked old & haggard after the whole ,"There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today." Then we see him walking around in a Baghdad market flanked by soldiers & apache helicopters above. Who you think you're fooling John? America doesn't want a President who's out of touch with reality. Shades of W. when he says, "We're winning the war in Iraq." Want a cold dose of reality? Vote Clinton/Obama 2008.

To My Niece

Baby's First Birthday

It's your first birthday, baby,

One candle on your cake;

Proud parents stare in wonder,

At each new move you make.

We join in celebration,

As this special date arrives,

For baby has brought pleasure,

Into all our lives.

We look forward now to seeing,

How you progress and grow;

From the cute and tiny infant,

You were one year ago.
So dig into your icing,

Enjoy your presents, too,

For the reason for this day,

Is a special person--you!

By Joanna Fuchs

My Mistake

This week, the girl that seats next to me in one of my classes showed me pictures of her family: 2 very cute & naughty toddlers(the last naughty thing her daughter did was put all her mother's credit cards through the slot of her car cd player). So after the customary oohs & aahs, I pointed to one picture & said, "That must be your Mom." She gave me that look of 'oh-no-she-didn't.' "That's my husband!!!," she exclaimed. My bad.......but the guy wears 2 earrings, has long curly hair & looks older than she does.....damn sure looked like mom's to me.

I received a "Save the Date" post card from my prospective summer employer. The topic: Schedule for Summer Barbecues & Parties. Makes me feel all warm & fuzzy inside.....NOT! Just let me do my job, pay me & let me go home. Please.