For some odd and unknown reason I had an angry day today. Maybe it was the unoriginal, poorly written note I had to read for journal. Maybe it was the weather combined with my lack of a sense of accomplishment. Or maybe it was the couple across from me in the coffee shop who could not keep their hands off each other. I had to fight the strong urge to say, "Get a room! I am trying to read about internet privacy in the European Union and all I can see is you dirty hippies making out all over the place."
I had a free song download from Amazon (apparently for being such a good customer?) and couldn't think of anything to use it on. So I ended up with "Black and Yellow." As a result I constantly have that song stuck in my head and hate myself a little bit. Just about anything could be substituted for the words "black and yellow." Kerry said a teacher at her school made a song called "Math and Reading" to the beat. Erica mentioned something similar, the title of which I cannot recall at present. I want to make a lunch song called "Swiss and Turkey." Come to think of it, that could also be a geography song.
No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain is on Netflix Instant. This might take a while. I'm already going through Modern Family and Parks and Recreation. This summer, at Shaked's insistence and my interest, How I Met Your Mother will be added to the list. Also, I am currently reading Anthony Bourdain's book "Medium Raw." It is not as good as "Kitchen Confidential," which I highly recommend, but it is still amusing. Bourdain is probably more opinionated that I, and certainly more foul-mouthed. He is also a much better cook and a much better eater, so he can do pretty much whatever he wants as far as I am concerned.
People need to stop sending me links on gchat. I am beginning a new policy or rarely opening them. This stems from my previous experience of rarely being amused by the links I open. While the internet has many virtues (like permitting me to write this blog), it also has many problems.
Showing posts with label journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label journal. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Here I Am; Rock You Like A Hurricane
Yes, I know it's been a long time. But I've been busy. For one thing, Shaked came to visit last week. We did all kinds of crazy crap. Eastern Market, American History Museum, the mall, the Portrait Gallery. Wild times. Actually there were: watching the Food Network (for 3 hours)...which led to getting Amsterdam Falafel after Trivia Night, getting angry at the idiot Trivia host, getting angry at people in general, etc. It was quite nice to have her around.
Four Loko ain't as potent as the media likes you to believe.
My editorial board competition ended in success: next year I will be a Notes Editor. Whoops dee do. The finals step in the application process was an interview (read: inquisition). It involved sitting in a chair in front of the current 24 board members and being peppered with questions. Some of them were standard, and received standard hot air answers ("What leadership experience do you have?"). Some of them were difficult and not particularly probing questions ("What three words would you use to describe yourself?") And one of them was downright terrifying; that question was "I see you have lots of comedy on your resume, could you tell us a joke?" That translates to: "Be funny. Go." Difficult to do on the spot. Luckily, I had thought of a joke (or at least a Deep Thought) the night before while washing my hands:
When dyslexic zombies come back to life, do you think they crave Brians?
Say what you want, but Shaked laughed the night before. So that's what I went with. It went over alright, with a moderate amount of eventual laughter (it's kind of a thinker). Overall, I thought the interview did not go very well. It took maybe 11 minutes of a schedules 20. But it worked out in the end! Editorial board/resume padding, here I come.
The National Portrait Gallery proves that in college we were cutting edge. Thanks Alexis Rockman! Thanks to Shaked, I basically got a guided tour of that exhibit.
Also, the Portrait Gallery has the silliest portrait of LL Cool J. Donated by LL Cool J. Go figure.
Running soon after eating eggs benedict is not the best decision you can make in your life.
I think I want to watch How I Met Your Mother. I'm eager to find out the answer.
St. Patrick's Day was widely celebrated in DC on Saturday. I watched someone vomit on the roof deck of the Big Hunt. At 6:55 pm. A little early, no? We left that bar at 6:56.
Picking classes for next semester is getting annoying. Tentatively, I am going with:
Evidence (all but mandatory for "lawyers")
Professional Responsibility and Ethics (mandatory, but you might not think so for "lawyers")
Trial Advocacy (I need a skills credit, and this is a "lawyer"-y thing which feels appropriate)
White Collar Crime (maybe? or Antitrust? or Bankruptcy? I just don't know!!!! I assume an appropriate defense will be "Your Honor, I only wear blue shirts.")
What else?
The Social Network was good. Definitely not Movie of the Year good, but good.
The only other thing I have to say is nerdy. Here it is: I love fantasy baseball. Women clearly do not understand fantasy sports, especially not the concept of a mock draft, sometimes referred to as a fake fake game. Yes, yes it is. You'll never understand! You're part of the system.
Four Loko ain't as potent as the media likes you to believe.
My editorial board competition ended in success: next year I will be a Notes Editor. Whoops dee do. The finals step in the application process was an interview (read: inquisition). It involved sitting in a chair in front of the current 24 board members and being peppered with questions. Some of them were standard, and received standard hot air answers ("What leadership experience do you have?"). Some of them were difficult and not particularly probing questions ("What three words would you use to describe yourself?") And one of them was downright terrifying; that question was "I see you have lots of comedy on your resume, could you tell us a joke?" That translates to: "Be funny. Go." Difficult to do on the spot. Luckily, I had thought of a joke (or at least a Deep Thought) the night before while washing my hands:
When dyslexic zombies come back to life, do you think they crave Brians?
Say what you want, but Shaked laughed the night before. So that's what I went with. It went over alright, with a moderate amount of eventual laughter (it's kind of a thinker). Overall, I thought the interview did not go very well. It took maybe 11 minutes of a schedules 20. But it worked out in the end! Editorial board/resume padding, here I come.
The National Portrait Gallery proves that in college we were cutting edge. Thanks Alexis Rockman! Thanks to Shaked, I basically got a guided tour of that exhibit.
Also, the Portrait Gallery has the silliest portrait of LL Cool J. Donated by LL Cool J. Go figure.
Running soon after eating eggs benedict is not the best decision you can make in your life.
I think I want to watch How I Met Your Mother. I'm eager to find out the answer.
St. Patrick's Day was widely celebrated in DC on Saturday. I watched someone vomit on the roof deck of the Big Hunt. At 6:55 pm. A little early, no? We left that bar at 6:56.
Picking classes for next semester is getting annoying. Tentatively, I am going with:
Evidence (all but mandatory for "lawyers")
Professional Responsibility and Ethics (mandatory, but you might not think so for "lawyers")
Trial Advocacy (I need a skills credit, and this is a "lawyer"-y thing which feels appropriate)
White Collar Crime (maybe? or Antitrust? or Bankruptcy? I just don't know!!!! I assume an appropriate defense will be "Your Honor, I only wear blue shirts.")
What else?
The Social Network was good. Definitely not Movie of the Year good, but good.
The only other thing I have to say is nerdy. Here it is: I love fantasy baseball. Women clearly do not understand fantasy sports, especially not the concept of a mock draft, sometimes referred to as a fake fake game. Yes, yes it is. You'll never understand! You're part of the system.
Friday, February 18, 2011
I'm still here, I promise
I know I have been negligent keeping up this blog for the past week and a half. I'm not writing a full entry, I'm just writing an entry to acknowledge that I've been shirking my blogging.
I am currently in the midst of the editorial board competition for my journal. It requires me to do textual and citation edits at a rate of over one mistake per sentence on average. I would say the average is closer to two and a half edits per sentence. This lovely exercise must be completed within 48 hours. My time ends at 8 tomorrow night. So much for enjoying the lovely weather which Friday promises to bring.
I am spending some quality time with the Bluebook and with the Chicago Manual of Style. We are bffls.
It's really just as well that I am doing this competition now. I've had a sore throat for the past few days, and while I am fighting it off it is better for me to stay at home than go out and rage (against the machine).
This seems to be turning into a more full entry than I anticipated. Hrm. Maybe that is because I am not ready to go to sleep.
Today's Criminal Procedure class was frustrating, to put it politely. One particular incident stood out to me. We were discussing plain view doctrine. In order for the police to invoke the plain view doctrine to seize evidence, the police must have a lawful right of access to the location and the illegality of the object must be immediately apparent. So we were doing hypotheticals in class: what if there is a sawed off shotgun? Then that is clearly under plain view doctrine. What if it is a video tape? Probably not, need a search warrant to view the video.
What about a cell phone in sleep mode?
A student raises his hand and answers, "Yeah, I think a cell phone would fall under plain view doctrine." The professor clarifies that the phone is in sleep mode so the screen is black and one of the requirements for invoking plain view is that the object's illegality be immediately apparent. The student responds, "Yeah, I mean drug dealers use cell phones so if the police think its a drug dealer it is immediately apparent that the cell phone could be evidence." This continued for about two full minutes; the professor kept guiding him towards the obvious answer that a cell phone does not immediately appear illegal, and the student kept spouting nonsense and proudly displaying his ignorance.
I nearly spewed smoke from my ears, buried my face in my hands, and did deep breathing exercises as expletives flowed through my mind. "Immediately apparent" is not a legal term of art. Just pause for a moment and think about the plain English meaning of those words Just think. For a minute. And you will see that you could not possibly be more incorrect.
(Even thinking about it now I have to take deep breaths.)
My professor is too nice. She should have cut him off and told him to think before he speaks in class. Instead, she just continued to try to guide him to the correct answer. But he was having none of it.
In Tax on Monday, my professor called on a student who raised his hand. He looked at his seating chart to try to correctly identify the student and asked, "Are you Christian?" "I'm Alex," the student responded, and then proceeded to ask his question. A few minutes later another student from that part of the room raised his hand and was called on. Again, my professor tried to identify the student and asked, "Are you Christian?" "No, I'm Steve." At which point my professor felt the hilarious need to clarify that he was not inquiring as to students' religious preference, but rather whether their name was Christian. The next day he called on another student: "Julie. Are you Christian? Jewish? I'm just kidding!" Maybe you don't think Federal Income Tax is the happy, fun class, but I think my professor is hilarious.
Some good news: fantasy baseball is starting again. Make fun all you want, but that is one of the best parts of the year.
Well, somehow this became a real post. So there it is. I'm back from my week and a half hiatus.
I am currently in the midst of the editorial board competition for my journal. It requires me to do textual and citation edits at a rate of over one mistake per sentence on average. I would say the average is closer to two and a half edits per sentence. This lovely exercise must be completed within 48 hours. My time ends at 8 tomorrow night. So much for enjoying the lovely weather which Friday promises to bring.
I am spending some quality time with the Bluebook and with the Chicago Manual of Style. We are bffls.
It's really just as well that I am doing this competition now. I've had a sore throat for the past few days, and while I am fighting it off it is better for me to stay at home than go out and rage (against the machine).
This seems to be turning into a more full entry than I anticipated. Hrm. Maybe that is because I am not ready to go to sleep.
Today's Criminal Procedure class was frustrating, to put it politely. One particular incident stood out to me. We were discussing plain view doctrine. In order for the police to invoke the plain view doctrine to seize evidence, the police must have a lawful right of access to the location and the illegality of the object must be immediately apparent. So we were doing hypotheticals in class: what if there is a sawed off shotgun? Then that is clearly under plain view doctrine. What if it is a video tape? Probably not, need a search warrant to view the video.
What about a cell phone in sleep mode?
A student raises his hand and answers, "Yeah, I think a cell phone would fall under plain view doctrine." The professor clarifies that the phone is in sleep mode so the screen is black and one of the requirements for invoking plain view is that the object's illegality be immediately apparent. The student responds, "Yeah, I mean drug dealers use cell phones so if the police think its a drug dealer it is immediately apparent that the cell phone could be evidence." This continued for about two full minutes; the professor kept guiding him towards the obvious answer that a cell phone does not immediately appear illegal, and the student kept spouting nonsense and proudly displaying his ignorance.
I nearly spewed smoke from my ears, buried my face in my hands, and did deep breathing exercises as expletives flowed through my mind. "Immediately apparent" is not a legal term of art. Just pause for a moment and think about the plain English meaning of those words Just think. For a minute. And you will see that you could not possibly be more incorrect.
(Even thinking about it now I have to take deep breaths.)
My professor is too nice. She should have cut him off and told him to think before he speaks in class. Instead, she just continued to try to guide him to the correct answer. But he was having none of it.
In Tax on Monday, my professor called on a student who raised his hand. He looked at his seating chart to try to correctly identify the student and asked, "Are you Christian?" "I'm Alex," the student responded, and then proceeded to ask his question. A few minutes later another student from that part of the room raised his hand and was called on. Again, my professor tried to identify the student and asked, "Are you Christian?" "No, I'm Steve." At which point my professor felt the hilarious need to clarify that he was not inquiring as to students' religious preference, but rather whether their name was Christian. The next day he called on another student: "Julie. Are you Christian? Jewish? I'm just kidding!" Maybe you don't think Federal Income Tax is the happy, fun class, but I think my professor is hilarious.
Some good news: fantasy baseball is starting again. Make fun all you want, but that is one of the best parts of the year.
Well, somehow this became a real post. So there it is. I'm back from my week and a half hiatus.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
One of those days
It was just one of those days. Something dumb happened at every turn. The day started out well in Crim Pro, with two police officers coming in to talk to the class about Terry stop-and-frisks. A student volunteer frisked one of the officers in an attempt to find all the weapons concealed on his body. She did an admirable job, but only found about 7 of the 15 weapons he had. She totally missed the small knife he had clipped to the back of his tie. But hey, I probably would not have found that either.
After the officers left, things went down hill. In addition to the usual "jibba-jabba" that goes on in that class, including New Gunner's incessant attempts to appear smart, people who I generally consider to be intelligent began making moronic comments. A friend was attempting to argue against a distinction that the Supreme Court made between predictive and descriptive anonymous tips, but made the crucial mistake of not thinking before he spoke. He had to be reminded that "predictive" indicates future action. That's just part of the definition of predictive, you don't have to be a law student to get that. (Thus, giving a description of a black male wearing a plaid shirt at a bus stop is not predictive, whereas describing a woman who will leave a specific apartment at a specific time and travel in a particular car to a particular motel is predictive. See Florida v. J.L. But this distinction was apparently lost on my friend.)
Then a student who was clearly not paying attention got cold called in Tax. He was first unable to recall the only important phrase from a case we read despite the professor having repeated it approximately a dozen times. And even after the professor gave him the answer, he was unable to remember it or use it when given hypos to answer. It was awful and made the other 139 people in the class give a collective eye roll. It would have been a horrible class period had my professor not saved it by regaling us with a story about drinking beer and playing darts at a bar in Wyoming.
As I said today, I thought that when I went to college I would get rid of all the stupid people around in high school. Then there were stupid people in college. I thought when I went to law school I would get rid of the stupid people in college. Then there were stupid people in law school. (More than in college, really.) Now, I am beginning to accept that I will never be rid of stupid people.
Hey, there are some not stupid people in the world. Caitlin just got into vet school, so congratulations to her. You will soon need her services, you are a sick puppy.
Tomorrow will be a lovely, long day featuring 7:45 am class and a 7:30 pm meeting. They are both for journal. For some possibly insane reason I am seriously contemplating participating in my journal's editorial board competition so that I can be an editor next year. Why? I don't know. It's a resume line? It could be interesting? Emphasis on could. For some reason I have a compulsion towards resume lines and "achievement." It is disturbing to me.
My 7:30 meeting will happily include giving constructive feedback to other students on my journal about the first draft of their notes. I will likewise receive feedback on my first draft. My major challenge for tomorrow night is finding a polite way to explain to a fellow student that citing Alan Dershowitz for historical facts about Israeli-Palestinian relations is not legitimate. He is neither unbiased nor a historian, and as a reader I become skeptical of any argument relying on the Middle East according to Alan Dershowitz.
Remember that time he tried to debate Jimmy Carter? Yup, he should probably remember that he is a lawyer, not a foreign policy expert.
After the officers left, things went down hill. In addition to the usual "jibba-jabba" that goes on in that class, including New Gunner's incessant attempts to appear smart, people who I generally consider to be intelligent began making moronic comments. A friend was attempting to argue against a distinction that the Supreme Court made between predictive and descriptive anonymous tips, but made the crucial mistake of not thinking before he spoke. He had to be reminded that "predictive" indicates future action. That's just part of the definition of predictive, you don't have to be a law student to get that. (Thus, giving a description of a black male wearing a plaid shirt at a bus stop is not predictive, whereas describing a woman who will leave a specific apartment at a specific time and travel in a particular car to a particular motel is predictive. See Florida v. J.L. But this distinction was apparently lost on my friend.)
Then a student who was clearly not paying attention got cold called in Tax. He was first unable to recall the only important phrase from a case we read despite the professor having repeated it approximately a dozen times. And even after the professor gave him the answer, he was unable to remember it or use it when given hypos to answer. It was awful and made the other 139 people in the class give a collective eye roll. It would have been a horrible class period had my professor not saved it by regaling us with a story about drinking beer and playing darts at a bar in Wyoming.
As I said today, I thought that when I went to college I would get rid of all the stupid people around in high school. Then there were stupid people in college. I thought when I went to law school I would get rid of the stupid people in college. Then there were stupid people in law school. (More than in college, really.) Now, I am beginning to accept that I will never be rid of stupid people.
Hey, there are some not stupid people in the world. Caitlin just got into vet school, so congratulations to her. You will soon need her services, you are a sick puppy.
Tomorrow will be a lovely, long day featuring 7:45 am class and a 7:30 pm meeting. They are both for journal. For some possibly insane reason I am seriously contemplating participating in my journal's editorial board competition so that I can be an editor next year. Why? I don't know. It's a resume line? It could be interesting? Emphasis on could. For some reason I have a compulsion towards resume lines and "achievement." It is disturbing to me.
My 7:30 meeting will happily include giving constructive feedback to other students on my journal about the first draft of their notes. I will likewise receive feedback on my first draft. My major challenge for tomorrow night is finding a polite way to explain to a fellow student that citing Alan Dershowitz for historical facts about Israeli-Palestinian relations is not legitimate. He is neither unbiased nor a historian, and as a reader I become skeptical of any argument relying on the Middle East according to Alan Dershowitz.
Remember that time he tried to debate Jimmy Carter? Yup, he should probably remember that he is a lawyer, not a foreign policy expert.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Underlining. More Underlining.
My blogging has been severely injured by my actually getting down to business and doing work. Doing work makes much of my life consist of staring at some nonsense in a book and underlining things that seem important so that I may promptly forget them. I got frustrated enough with this process the other day that I actually yelled at my Admin casebook. Just me sitting at my desk with no one around shouting "Oh come on! No one cares!"
The only "interesting part" of "doing work" has been cite checking and substantiating sources for an article at the behest of my journal. The process basically requires me to look through the author's sources, check that she didn't just make up her facts, and then correct her citations. It's busy work (but necessary so we don't get slammed for academic integrity issues) and I am beginning to think that this author never actually went to law school based on how badly she managed to screw up the citation style. But that's really not my big qualm. Someone else was responsible for "source collection" - gathering together copies of the sources the author used. I have been assigned 18 citations to check, consisting of 16 sources. 5 of the sources I am supposed to be looking at were collected incorrectly. 5 of 16. Almost one third. Like, they are just blatantly not the source in the citation. Security Resolution 827 was cited; Resolution 857 was collected and given to me. Guys, 2s and 5s look kind of similar, but come on we are in 18th grade. Another mistake was printing out the wrong statute. Just clearly not the correct one - different number, different name, different everything. This was unhelpful to say the least and it requires me to look like a whiny moron when I have to relate the information to my editor. Whoever collected these sources must be joking. I don't have time for this. No time!
Why does ice cream make you thirsty?
I was relating a story about petting a dog on Saturday night after I left a bar. In the middle of talking about the dog I realized that this occurred around 2 am. Why was this lady out walking her dog at 2 am? And why was I still awake with my night not nearly over? Because we all make poor decisions is why. I don't know exactly what her bad decision was, but mine was playing beer dice.
The only "interesting part" of "doing work" has been cite checking and substantiating sources for an article at the behest of my journal. The process basically requires me to look through the author's sources, check that she didn't just make up her facts, and then correct her citations. It's busy work (but necessary so we don't get slammed for academic integrity issues) and I am beginning to think that this author never actually went to law school based on how badly she managed to screw up the citation style. But that's really not my big qualm. Someone else was responsible for "source collection" - gathering together copies of the sources the author used. I have been assigned 18 citations to check, consisting of 16 sources. 5 of the sources I am supposed to be looking at were collected incorrectly. 5 of 16. Almost one third. Like, they are just blatantly not the source in the citation. Security Resolution 827 was cited; Resolution 857 was collected and given to me. Guys, 2s and 5s look kind of similar, but come on we are in 18th grade. Another mistake was printing out the wrong statute. Just clearly not the correct one - different number, different name, different everything. This was unhelpful to say the least and it requires me to look like a whiny moron when I have to relate the information to my editor. Whoever collected these sources must be joking. I don't have time for this. No time!
Why does ice cream make you thirsty?
I was relating a story about petting a dog on Saturday night after I left a bar. In the middle of talking about the dog I realized that this occurred around 2 am. Why was this lady out walking her dog at 2 am? And why was I still awake with my night not nearly over? Because we all make poor decisions is why. I don't know exactly what her bad decision was, but mine was playing beer dice.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
New Toothbrush Day
It's new toothbrush day. That day when you are at CVS and finally remember that thing that has been gnawing at the back of your mind for a few weeks. That day when you get that nice crisp brush and remember why new toothbrushes are important. To accompany my new toothbrush I even purchased new toothpaste. Not a new kind, just a new tube. This is probably more important than the new brush; this morning I managed to squeeze out the last drop of toothpaste. Believe me, there were tense moments when I though I would not be able to get anything, that the well was dry. Luckily I avoided a terrible fate: having to sneakily use my roommate's sub-par toothpaste.
I think I found a new note topic! And it's not preempted! But I am trying not to jinx it. Two things. First, I don't know why, but I am increasingly superstitious and worried about jinxing things by discussing them. Maybe I need to go outside, run around the building, throw salt over my should and spit, or whatever it is. Second, Jinx was the name of the cat in the "Freddy the Pig" book series, which I enjoyed thoroughly as a child (as maybe continue to enjoy).
My Corporations professor went on a lengthy tangent about how he does not understand the "Poke" feature of facebook. Among his comments were, "I've never been poked," and "I always want to poke someone, but I never do. I just hover my cursor around it." He is a silly man. Speaking of professors, I ran into my old Property professor, who invited me to attend oral arguments with her class at the Supreme Court on Wednesday at 5 in the morning. She was so enthusiastic she gave me copies of the briefs and appellate court opinion to look over if I want. I am currently weighing how cool it would be to see a First Amendment oral argument at the Supreme Court against my desire for sleep. My current thinking: you only live once! I'll sleep when I'm dead.
I think I found a new note topic! And it's not preempted! But I am trying not to jinx it. Two things. First, I don't know why, but I am increasingly superstitious and worried about jinxing things by discussing them. Maybe I need to go outside, run around the building, throw salt over my should and spit, or whatever it is. Second, Jinx was the name of the cat in the "Freddy the Pig" book series, which I enjoyed thoroughly as a child (as maybe continue to enjoy).
My Corporations professor went on a lengthy tangent about how he does not understand the "Poke" feature of facebook. Among his comments were, "I've never been poked," and "I always want to poke someone, but I never do. I just hover my cursor around it." He is a silly man. Speaking of professors, I ran into my old Property professor, who invited me to attend oral arguments with her class at the Supreme Court on Wednesday at 5 in the morning. She was so enthusiastic she gave me copies of the briefs and appellate court opinion to look over if I want. I am currently weighing how cool it would be to see a First Amendment oral argument at the Supreme Court against my desire for sleep. My current thinking: you only live once! I'll sleep when I'm dead.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Everybody's Free (To Forget to Wear Sunscreen)
Yesterday was pretty fantastic. I spent the majority of the day at Jen and Anthony's rooftop pool. I got yelled at for trying to read for Corporations and write a cover letter. All told, I think I was there hanging out with various people, swimming, and throwing around a football (which ultimately took a 12 story fall into the parking lot and was never heard from again) for about six hours. I guess this is that "relaxing" stuff that people talk about. Being white and responsible, I sprayed my torso and arms with sunscreen. SPF 30, baby. I did not anticipate being in the sun for as long as I was and thus forgot all about my legs and feet. So now I have a nice little sunburn on my knees and the tops of my feet. Wearing socks is slightly painful these days (just like watching the Sox - hey-yo). Now, back to work. Actually, some back to work is fun, like reading Griswold v. Connecticut. Maybe Shaked will be the only one who agrees with me, but I enjoy reading that case.
Notwithstanding Griswold, there are still tolls from school. Currently, I have to think of a note topic (a note is basically a piece of scholarly writing akin to a thesis, though shorter than a full-fledged thesis). I wonder if my journal will accept a tragicomedy in two acts about the American embargo against trade with Cuba. I doubt it, so I am forced to find alternatives. Any ideas for fun topics related to international law?
Four day weekend!
Notwithstanding Griswold, there are still tolls from school. Currently, I have to think of a note topic (a note is basically a piece of scholarly writing akin to a thesis, though shorter than a full-fledged thesis). I wonder if my journal will accept a tragicomedy in two acts about the American embargo against trade with Cuba. I doubt it, so I am forced to find alternatives. Any ideas for fun topics related to international law?
Four day weekend!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
I Have A $2 Bill and I'm Not Sure What To Do With It
Today I got cold called in Contracts. It ended up going fine (I think), but it was odd that I got cold called. I was cold called a few weeks ago, and not everyone else in the class has been cold called in the time between. Also, I went to my professor's office hours yesterday afternoon, so I can't help but wonder if it was some kind of test to see if I really like the class and if I really understand the material. Maybe I'm just being paranoid here, but something was weird about it. He went right for me!
It didn't help that when he called on me I was literally sending a text message and had not yet opened my casebook. Very irresponsible, I know. But it was within the first three minutes of class. I hadn't even signed onto gchat yet! I recovered pretty well, discreetly sliding my phone into my pocket and opening my casebook to page 842 (shazam!) while the professor was talking. Apparently I even sounded like I knew what I was talking about (Restatement section 241, the five factors, a through e, for determining whether a breach is material) (Yeah, pulled that out of nowhere). With luck, he still likes me. With further luck I won't get called on anymore this semester and not doing my reading for Friday's class in preparation for the journal competition will not come back to bite me.
Oh yeah, journal competition starts tomorrow at 4 and goes through Monday at 8. Long story short, I have to read a bunch, do citations, and write. And in return I get the chance to be on a journal, assuming I am selected for one. Being on a journal will get me some academic credit, look good on my resume, and likely bore me to death. Doing a crapton of extra work for all that reward? Let's do it. I'm super psyched. But also, I might be pretty out of commission from tomorrow afternoon until Monday evening.
Yesterday in Trader Joes I was trying to get around in the dairy aisle. I was impeded by some woman who was just staring at the eggs, blocking me from getting the eggs I wanted. I retraced my steps and took another route around the store. Five minutes later I came back to get eggs and this woman was still just looking at the eggs. What are you doing crazy egg-staring lady? I politely said "excuse me," she politely moved out of my way (nothing seemed to be "wrong" with her), and I got my eggs. Then she went back to looking at the eggs. Alright then. I liked her more than 60 year old PDA couple in the frozen aisle. Yeah, exactly what it sounds like. A couple just could not keep there hands off each other in the frozen aisle and then later on two people behind me in line, and they were generally boisterous for no reason (it is Trader Joes, it only gets so exciting...minus the peanut butter-filled pretzels). It was really odd behavior. They kind of reminded me of the couple in "Pulp Fiction" who holds up the diner at the beginning/end of the movie. I kept wanting to say something to them, but I have no idea what I would say. "Could you please keep your affection to yourself a little more? I'm trying to buy produce here." That just seems senselessly awkward. What an odd grocery shopping experience.
Why does my cell phone sometimes cause weird noises in my computer speakers?
Why is Pegasus extinct?
Are those two related? Deep thoughts.
It didn't help that when he called on me I was literally sending a text message and had not yet opened my casebook. Very irresponsible, I know. But it was within the first three minutes of class. I hadn't even signed onto gchat yet! I recovered pretty well, discreetly sliding my phone into my pocket and opening my casebook to page 842 (shazam!) while the professor was talking. Apparently I even sounded like I knew what I was talking about (Restatement section 241, the five factors, a through e, for determining whether a breach is material) (Yeah, pulled that out of nowhere). With luck, he still likes me. With further luck I won't get called on anymore this semester and not doing my reading for Friday's class in preparation for the journal competition will not come back to bite me.
Oh yeah, journal competition starts tomorrow at 4 and goes through Monday at 8. Long story short, I have to read a bunch, do citations, and write. And in return I get the chance to be on a journal, assuming I am selected for one. Being on a journal will get me some academic credit, look good on my resume, and likely bore me to death. Doing a crapton of extra work for all that reward? Let's do it. I'm super psyched. But also, I might be pretty out of commission from tomorrow afternoon until Monday evening.
Yesterday in Trader Joes I was trying to get around in the dairy aisle. I was impeded by some woman who was just staring at the eggs, blocking me from getting the eggs I wanted. I retraced my steps and took another route around the store. Five minutes later I came back to get eggs and this woman was still just looking at the eggs. What are you doing crazy egg-staring lady? I politely said "excuse me," she politely moved out of my way (nothing seemed to be "wrong" with her), and I got my eggs. Then she went back to looking at the eggs. Alright then. I liked her more than 60 year old PDA couple in the frozen aisle. Yeah, exactly what it sounds like. A couple just could not keep there hands off each other in the frozen aisle and then later on two people behind me in line, and they were generally boisterous for no reason (it is Trader Joes, it only gets so exciting...minus the peanut butter-filled pretzels). It was really odd behavior. They kind of reminded me of the couple in "Pulp Fiction" who holds up the diner at the beginning/end of the movie. I kept wanting to say something to them, but I have no idea what I would say. "Could you please keep your affection to yourself a little more? I'm trying to buy produce here." That just seems senselessly awkward. What an odd grocery shopping experience.
Why does my cell phone sometimes cause weird noises in my computer speakers?
Why is Pegasus extinct?
Are those two related? Deep thoughts.
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