In The Hot Seat

On Saturday, Chrissie picked me up and took me to USC, where we saw three Hitchcock films (she's taking a Hitchcock class): Foreign Correspondent, Spellbound, and Stage Fright. It was lots of fun; I need to do that sort of thing more often. After she dropped me off, I finished my open memo. It wasn't a huge paper, but I nevertheless ended up getting to sleep at 1:30 or so.

I was (fortunately) able to wake up early and get my memo into the Faculty Secretary's office on time. Of course, the natural side effect of this was that I was a zombie for my early morning Property class; I noticed most of my classmates were in a similar state. Fortunately, I did get better once I had a few sips of coffee after class. This was especially fortunate considering that I ended up getting called on and grilled in Torts; I had done one-sentence answers before, but this time my prof. asked me questions throughout an entire case (Vaughan v. Menlove). Fortunately, I did a pretty decent job and felt on top of things. If nothing else, I don't have to worry about whether I can handle being called on anymore.

I spent the remainder of the day either studying or relaxing, and things were generally good.

Update Time

Lessee... what's been going on lately?

As you know, I had my Torts exam on Thursday. Of course, I forgot to remember my exam number so the profs can grade anonymously (mornings do that to you, I guess), so I had to run to the computer center in order to get my number. Of course, it turns out that I didn't really need to do it, but that's life.

I spent part of the afternoon working on my open memo at Starbucks. Unfortunately, my keyboard broke down while I was there. After frantically running around campus for help, I was advised to keep the computer off for a while. I did, and the computer is in decent shape... except I can't type t, y, 5, or 6 without it coming out as t5 and y6, which means I have to constantly delete characters. At least I'll be able to finish my memo. Hopefully I'll be able to send my laptop in soon. But5 y6ou should all appreciat5e t5hat5 I'm t5aking t5he effort5 t5o keep my6 ent5ry6 from looking exact5ly6 like t5his.

Friday was parents' day, so my parents came to campus, where they sat in on a class and did other stuff. My dad apparently got recognized when they went to the advocacy tournament (overseen by former CA Supreme Court justice Arabian, who he has argued in front of). I spent much of today just reading, since I will be seeing my sister tomorrow.

Goodnight everybody!

Little More Than A Month Into Law School, And I'm Already Starting To Hate The Word 'Reasonable'...

First of all, here's a profile of my Myers-Briggs personality type on a page I stole borrowed from Fred. You can judge whether it's accurate or not.

Thursday was interesting enough. That afternoon, George Page residents were lured with free food to hear something about what to do in case of a fire. I didn't end up eating much of the food, but I guess I'm glad that it's over with. Later that evening, I was coerced into going out to the Malibu Inn against my better judgment. It was okay, but I would have rather stayed home.

Once Friday classes had ended, I met with Chrissie; after she picked me up, we drove around, had dinner, and hung out around her dorm room before going (along with her friend Jenny) to a screening of Lilo and Stitch. It was a lot of fun, especially since the audience was really enthusiastic. Because it was late by the time the movie got out, I spent the night at her place.

Since Chrissie had to go somewhere on Saturday morning, we didn't end up driving back to Malibu until the early afternoon. We had lunch together before she dropped me off. As one might expect, I didn't get that much done that afternoon, but c'est la vie. I got more done on Sunday (in addition to studying, I met with my Lecal Research professor about the open memo). Happily, I was actually fairly productive today as well.

A Random Law School Note

I'm slightly disturbed by the fact that my math notation has seeped into my law school notes (particularly the backwards E for 'exists'). I didn't think those Real Analysis classes had invaded my subconscious that much. I guess it's sort of interesting, though; perhaps it implies that the same thought processes are at work in mathematical proofs and legal analysis.

Don't look at me... I told you it was random.

Stuff

I'm feeling better than I was a while ago; I think I've been able to get some more perspective.

I'm still having trouble with the whole '8:00 class' concept, though... I have come to the conclusion that I was not meant to be awake until after ten. At least I'll get to put my own schedule together next year.

Weekend Fun

Let's see... where did I leave off?

Well, I went to Santa Monica for the mentor group thing. Despite the fact that the mentor implied in the flier that the event was mandatory (you were supposed to call if you couldn't come, and had to have a pretty good reason why), attendance was low, with about five mentees. Mentor #2 even bowed out. It was fun, though; we pretty much sat around and played board games and joking around. Since it ended at about 10 and I had heard earlier that plans with my friends were probably going to fizzle, I ended up going to Bar Review with the mentor group instead.

After classes ended on Friday, I went out for pizza with friends before going back to meet Natasha. I showed her around my apartment and the law school before we headed out to Zuma Beach. After leaving the beach, we had dinner at the Cheescake factory and went back to the college. Because she's a big animal rights person, I pointed out some deer on the way back to the building. She asked that we go outside on foot and try to find deer, so, after a quick stop, we went and saw a group near one of the parking lots. Of course, we didn't get incredibly close, but it was a fun adventure all the same.

Saturday was mostly a working day, though I did drive out to Santa Monica for part of my study time. Luckily, I got most of my workload out of the way by Sunday, because Chrissie called me and we ended up getting together. We had ice cream at the local Ben & Jerry's before driving around and finally going to dinner.

Thor's Day

Things have been relatively good lately. I raised my hand and was called on for the first time in Torts on Tuesday. Happily, I gave the answer that the prof. was looking for and didn't make a fool out of myself. Though I was pretty stressed earlier this week, I have been able to destress quite a bit, and am feeling much better.

I ended up talking on the phone a bit yesterday; I spoke at length to both Chrissie and Fred, and was able to speak a little to Natasha (we're planning on meeting on Friday). I was glad that I could catch up with people and avoid being swallowed by my life at law school.

Tonight, I will be going to a dinner with my mentor group (which is pretty much mandatory); after that, I should be going out with a group of friends. Fortunately, I think I can get tomorrow's work completed before then.

Happy Birthday, Chrissie!

Today, I drove to Northridge, where I had a birthday dinner with my sister Chrissie, my parents, and my grandparents in honor of my sister's birthday. In some ways, it's hard to believe that she's 19 already (but I think I'm still in denial of having gotten past that age myself). Anyway, Chrissie, I hope you have a great year!

I'm Still Alive?

I apologize to the throngs of adoring fans who have been sorely disappointed by my lack of LJ updates recently.

As you probably could have guessed, I have been preoccupied with law school and readjusting to my new environment, and haven't had the same amount of time to dedicate to LJ or other internet stuff. It's not that the work has become overwhelming yet; I suppose I'm just that my mind has been 'elsewhere', if that makes any sense.

Fortunately, I have been getting along well here. I am so glad that the housing situation worked out, since it has really helped me out. I have been getting along well with my roommates and the people living right by the apartment, so that has helped me come out of my shell somewhat. It's nice to have a group of people to hang out with outside of class and occasionally go on excursions with. It doesn't hurt that many of the people are in my section; we can study together, and the fact that we walk to classes together makes it more difficult to sleep in.

Classes have more or less been interesting. Personally, I like the more 'substantive' classes, that deal with certain areas of law (Torts, Criminal Law, etc.), as opposed to the 'skills building' classes like Legal Research or Civil Procedure, but nothing has been downright bad. Happily, though some of my friends have been grilled, none of my professors have put me in the 'hot seat' yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. I think I'd be prepared as anyone else has been, but you never can tell until you've been put under that type of pressure.

Since I'm not on the meal plan and I figured it was a good opportunity, I've begun trying to teach myself the dread subject of... cooking. Despite my overlooking a few things in the beginning, I have been able to pick up on the basics pretty well. My personal favorite meal right now is the onelette, just because it's so simple.

I can't think of any other developments right now, but I'll hopefully be able to write more in the coming weeks.