I Could Take Dear Abby's Job

In case anyone is curious, B’s birthday over the weekend was awesome, as evidenced by the fact that I refuse to post any of the photos.  Because they are so awful.  Because we were so focused on having fun.  Yeah.  That’s the reasoning we’ll go with.  Also, I got a burrito from under the red line Addison stop.  I know that SOUNDS shady, but if you live in Chicago, it is a MUST.  Ask Baby B.  They are DELICIOUS.

Moving on, I was talking to a 1L friend yesterday who mentioned to me that her section was not very “close.”  For those of you who may not know, first year classes are divided into sections.  So the incoming class is about 240 people, and there are three sections of 80 people.  For pretty much the entire first year, you don’t see anyone outside your section except at social functions.  For the rest of law school, you will have more friends from your own section than any other.

Anyway, back to the problem at hand.  What if your section is lacking in camaraderie or you have a hard time making friends within your section?  She also mentioned that the other students in her section are “crazy” and “never shut up.”  Here’s my best advice:  Bond over the crazies!

Get excited when the crazies talk, and take it with a grain of salt.  Don’t get annoyed by it, just be amused by it.  And then when somebody else in your class mentions it, or alludes to it, YOU HAVE MORE IN COMMON.  Consider playing devil’s advocate and taking the crazy’s side too! 

On the other hand, if that seems too harsh (and it kind of is, though it certainly makes class more interesting) have a conversation after class with some people.  Seriously, it’s second semester.  Law school should feel like home and home should feel like a place you sleep at night.  No one is planning to leave any time soon.  Strike up a conversation about class or about something the professor said.  Ask a question about something you “missed” or about what the person next to you is doing this weekend.  Hello camaraderie!

Or you could just give up on your section as a loss to humanity.  Make friends elsewhere.  Clearly the people in your section are just boring and not worth investing in for the purpose of friendship.  Keep your head down and get good grades. 

Sweet Pickles, I feel like Dear Abby.  I WANT TO BE DEAR ABBY.

Also, my secured transactions professor FINALLY brought up the possibly of high interest-rate loans from the Mafia this morning.  Finally.  It was about time.  

Have any questions you need to ask?  I'm in an advice-givin' mood today!

The Sun'll Come Out Tomorrow!

Good morning!  It's the first day of the new semester!  (But only at DePaul.  Everybody else gets another week.)  I picked a 30 rock episode to watch at random this morning while I got ready, and lo and behold it was one of the ones where Liz decides to be better.  (Which might be every episode.)

"I've got everything I need to put my life in order...I'm going to become wonderful.  It's a new beginning!  Like a Phoenix rising--! [Liz gets hit by a bike messenger.] Or maybe this is going to be the worst day ever."

This is life, I think.  We promise ourselves that things are going to get better, and when they don't do so immediately, we give up almost immediately.

That having been said, things are going to get better!  I can feel it!  I woke up on time!  LSBFF even woke up early!  All my reading is done for the WHOLE WEEK!

And now I'm off to get hit by a bus and slapped in the face by the socratic method.

*In other news, it is the birthday of my good friend Baby B.

He is a whole year older and wiser.  He is also good-looking and single!  He tells bad jokes 80% of the time (but the other 1/5 jokes are hilarious) and sings songs about things like Evidence and Jimmy John's.  He is the best.  I need to find him something made of chocolate for his birthday.  Peanut m&ms are his favorite.  

I just realized I could make this into a dating website for law students everywhere.  Brings lawcest to a whole new level.  

Everybody Limbo!

Had a quick conversation with a friend today about how hard it is sometimes to be one of the young folks in law school.  When it comes to legal education, you can go one of two routes:  (1) You can take some time off and make sure this is really what you want, or (2) you can go straight to law school from college so that you don't have time to talk yourself out of it.  Like the majority of law students, I came to the legal world straight out of undergrad, with nary a year to spare, and I'm starting to feel like I'm living in limbo.

There are only 581 days left of this harrowing experience known as law school, but it stretches out before me like an Indiana highway:  Flat, long, and with corn blocking my vision on both sides.  My current goal for coping is to wear blinders like a spooked horse and concentrate on the short term goals immediately before me and try not to notice neither the life that is (hopefully) waiting for me nor the present fun that other people are having.  I'm living in the in-between, where all that matters is this moment, and the short-sightedness is starting to make me antsy.

"In the Divine Comedy, Dante depicts Limbo as the first circle of Hell, located beyond the river Acheron but before the judgment seat of Minos. The virtuous pagans of classical history and mythology inhabit a brightly lit and beautiful—but somber—castle which is seemingly a medieval version of Elysium. They include Hector, Julius Caesar, and Virgil."*

In order for Dante to travel deeper into Hell, he has to wait in Limbo for Virgil to come along and show him around.

If I'm in limbo now, I don't know what that means for the future.

Or if I want my own personal Virgil to show up.

I'm fine without traveling to the ninth circle, but thanks so much!


__________
*Thanks Wikipedia! 

 

I Want to Live a Simple Life

Well, it's been a Week, with a Capital W. And it's only Wednesday, which also starts with a W, oddly enough. Things that have happened this week:

1.) I lost my ID

2.) I had to wait in multiple lines, deal with downed servers and waste an extra 20 minutes of my life getting a new ID.

3.) Fifteen minutes after I got my ID, I got an e-mail saying my lost one was found.

4.) I used my new ID to rush around and get stuff ready to turn in for my law review memo which was due at five. I managed to get it done.

5.) It didn't matter because today my SECOND topic was rejected.

I won't lie, after the ID issues and the stress that called, and my night classes this week, and not being able to focus, having my topic rejected for a second time was psychologically damaging.

I've got to be honest: I didn't know what the Law Review was until about October of my first year, when I had to cite a law review for something else. (For anyone who doesn't know, Law Review is a student-run journal. You can grade on if you make the top 10%, or you can write on if you have kickass writing skills.) Meanwhile, other people made Law Review their ultimate first year goal. They had topics in mind and interests ready to go. I graded on accidentally, and am totally lost as to how this whole thing works. I'm not even entirely sure that this is what I want to do, except that I'm told it's this huge honor and you just have to do it.

So I did it. And there I was, at a loss again. I feel like every time I fail at this journal thing, it's supposed to be some sort of sign that I'm not right for this, that I'm not the sort of person who is supposed to do this. Except that I WANT to do something like this for once. Keep a commitment for once in my life and not quit. However, since the universe is busily telling me to give up now, I'm just about ready to give into psychic pressure and throw things out the window.

And this afternoon I just about did. I don't have the personality type the rest of these people have, and maybe I'm just taking a spot from someone who really deserves/wanted it. And maybe I'm not meant to write in a peer-reviewed journal. Sometimes law school just sucks and makes you want to (as I told LSBFF tonight) "Eat Pauly's Pizza, and hopefully choke on it and die." But, fortunately, I didn't eat Pauly's tonight.

LSBFF invited me to join her and two of her best friends tonight for dinner. After a dipped Italian beef sandwich with hot peppers, a short ramble around downtown, and Ghirardelli's ice cream, I feel a lot better. Regardless of what happens, at the end of this, no matter what decision I make about Law Review, I'll still be standing. And if all else fails, there's always Portillo's for some healthy emotional eating.

So much stress, and I have to be up early tomorrow, because they're shutting off the hot water in the building at 8 am. At least that we'll give me plenty of time to do some serious thinking

Sing A Happy Little Working Song

Okay.....legal wisdom, legal wisdom....Nope. I think it's time for a list.

The Five Cheesy Songs That Make Me Happy When I'm Working Too Hard:

5. Footloose. It's just so....happy! And it makes me want to arrange a giant flashmob style choreographical thing in the library. However, I never tell anyone when it's on my iPod. It's just too 80s for words.

4. I've Had the Time of my Life. Speaking of the 80s, I haven't watched the movie Dirty Dancing lately. Why does this dose of extreme cheddar make me smile? Because it's so WRONG. This is my sarcastic love song to law school. I want to sing it to DePaul's front doors and then put a true 90s child "PSYCH!!" after it.

3. Independent Women.* Take that boys. Take. That.

2. The Future's So Bright (I've Got to Wear Shades). I understand that this song is supposed to be about some sort of post-apocalyptic future. But really. "Things are going great, and they're only getting better/I'm doing all right, getting good grades/ The future's so bright. I gotta wear shades." Infinitely cool. And geeky. ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

1. "You're My Best Friend." Okay. I admit it, pretty much any song by Queen makes me happy. For all that they were an 80s glam band, their lyrics have a delightfully snarky innocence to them. Seriously Bicycle Race and Crazy Little Thing Called Love? On the other hand, we have Fat-Bottomed Girls. So maybe not so innocent. But still wonderfully cheesy.

It occurs to me that most of my cheesy songs are from the 80s. Oh well. It was a cheesy time. Hmmmm....I need to go watch Patrick Swayze dance. And so do you.

____________________

*This may only be because my roommate listened to it three times last night. But it still made me smile.

Life As I Know It

Check out those awesome curtains! And my large collection of scarves on the right hand side. And that kickass wall hanging above my delightfully over-pillowed bed. The wall hanging injured my leg, giving me big stripy bruises. But it sure does look cool.

My whole apartment, which I now live in with LSBFF is cool. It even has a balcony which doesn't have furniture so we don't sit on it. The best part is, of course, that it's such a homey and comfortable place all done in various neutral shades with bright and shiny accents. (Except in the case of my room, which has bright and shiny walls with various neutral accents.) It's also TINY, compared to all the places I've lived before, but it's pretty cozy for just two people. Plus, I get my own bathroom for the very first time in my whole life. Which, let me tell you, is AMAZING. No toothpaste on the counters and I never have to wait to shower.

While it love it immensely, I haven't quite decided if it rivals The Euclid House, which while charmingly decorated, did not come with the fashionable taste of LSBFF's love for Ikea. However, it did come with loud drunks and an awesome backyard. Sometimes I miss being in undergrad. Looking back, things were simpler then. I had no shortage of big fish in a little pond moments, which is bound to happen when you live in Muncie, Indiana. In Chicago, while I've started to feel like a denizen, I'm a very, very tiny denizen in a very, very large......[insert habitat here].

Regardless, I have brought a little bit of Muncie with me. the bright red scarf on the very edge of the photograph is the mantilla that used to hang over my bed. In the bathroom is a caricature of Nicole and I that used to hang in the hallway. (Oddly, the caricature artist drew us in a car, going to a party. The caricature artist had no idea that we were Honors students who preferred to sit at home and watch bad sci-fi.) I also have the plates that were used in our Euclid House kitchen for two years and a basic knowledge of the things we used to cook. (I always forget the recipe book we created, so I end up sort of recreating things out of my head. My re-creations usually taste pretty delicious.) And while that's not too much, it is enough. Enough to remember what life at the Euclid House was like without dwelling on it.

I did the math. Only 21 months until this is all over. I wonder what I'll take from this new place to put in the next one.

Hail the Conquering 2L

Well, we've returned after an all-too-short summer break. It's been a week of classes now, and let me tell you what makes me happy:

My morning run.

And that's about it. I'm taking Evidence, Wills & Trusts, Business Organizations, Collective Bargaining, and LARC III. I also really need to get cracking on this law review stuff. But things being what they are (overwhelming and boring all at the same time) I'll probably just do LARC research today and go back to bed.

After all, I still don't have curtains, which means I don't get to sleep past 6 am. Which happens to be why I fall asleep at 10 pm. (That is said for the courtesy of my roomie, who happens to be LSBFF, who must be wondering why I'm going to bed so godawful early.) Things I plan to talk about over the next week or two:

1. The silly 1L's

2. The place I'm living (with LSBFF, which just makes the whole thing more kickass)

3. How to keep a cool head in tough situations (2 excedrin and a nap)

4. Why I hate Business Organizations

5. My current television obsessions and why every law student should have Netflix

Not necessarily in that order though, because I REALLY hate BizOrgs and will need to vent very, very soon.

This was one of the more random posts. Happy New School Year!!

Please don't make me go to school!!! I'll just hide under the bed awhile.

Shiny, Happy People

Dear Diary,

I now remember why I never come home and I hate it here so much

Oooo. Too melodramatic. Must stop channeling eighth grade.

The fact is, everything that glitters doesn't remain gold for long. The other fact is that I spend a lot of time on a lawnmower lately, and I spend more than enough time thinking.

At first, being at home was a great joy. I remembered how life used to be and it was this weird feeling of mini-nostalgia. But now trying to get the lawn mowed before it rains while the neighbors laugh at my stupid mistakes doesn't feel so good. It mostly feels like I have to bust my ass to make $50 a week so that I can buy a tiny cup of $1 coffee twice a week and still afford insurance, etc.

Work is great, I guess, except that there's not enough for me to do. Today I sat for two hours while I waited for phone calls. I did all of the petitions and orders necessary for a guardianship case, made appointments, called attorneys for advice on appropriate notice, and sent three client letters. I was still done by 12:30. I'm beginning to think that efficiency is not appreciated in the working world.

So summer has lost its glow and it's mid-June. But that doesn't mean I'm excited for school to start. Just like time at home, law school has about a two-week shiny period. Classes are new, the cases are different and exciting, you're caught up with your work and get to see friends every weekend. And then, just like that, the glitter is gone. You remember that the reason you're learning all this information is to take an exam, that you're paying far too much money in tuition to spend time going out with friends and that you're already behind in reading those exciting new cases.

No, I'm not ready for a whole new period of shiny yet. Shiny can be disappointing. It's better to wait until life is unbearably dull, because then shiny, though short-lived, is incredibly exciting.

Every Thorn Has Its Rose

It's been a whirlwind couple of days. My mom came to get me in Chicago, but got off on the wrong exit and ended up in the ghetto. West Jackson WAY past Malcom X University. In a great big shiny red truck. She finally got to me, we got everything loaded and we got it home. Of course, by the time we got home the basement was about to flood because it rained for about a week straight and the ground was super-saturated. And we have a psycho puppy. Who will kamikaze you. As in, you're sitting on the couch, he'll get a running start, jump on you, jump off, run back across the room and do it again. (He's awesome.)

Then yesterday while unpacking, I realized I was missing some clothes. Specifically undergarments. I left all of my bras except the one I was wearing and the sports bra that was in the laundry in a drawer in my apartment in Chicago. And the dorm I lived in informed me that everything that was left behind would be donated to charity. It was The Worst. At least the one I had been wearing is the newest one.

But I got to go shopping and get margaritas with my friend, the other Amanda. And when I woke up this morning, it was a gorgeous day of sunshineyness that's going to be in the 70s. So I put on shorts and a long-sleeve t-shirt and took Loki out for a walk/run. It was great. He may be mischievous, but his legs are so short that ten minutes of running has him sleeping on the floor by the time you get back. He'll be sedate and compliant the rest of the day. Which is just the way we like him. He's a good dog. He just gets excited about the weirdest things. But how can you NOT love a dog who loves chasing birds and butterflies and goes out of his way to stomp on dandelions? You would have to be dead inside.

I think I'm finally figuring out this relaxing thing. It's going to be awesome. For a week.

Fashion Forward Fridays

This is something I've been wanting to do for a while now. Law school has a specific dress code that you wouldn't even be able to guess at until your first day. The very first day of orientation, they tell you to dress professionally so that you make a good impression on your future gods...er, professors.

So every week I plan to pick one item of clothing and expound upon its virtues. This week, I pick the most fundamental of clothing options:

THE SUIT

Believe me, you're going to want a suit, or something to approximate it. Eventually, you're going to do an interview with SOMEONE (hopefully) and you'll need the suit to be appropriately dressed. Here are five reasons the suit is awesome:

#5: As I mentioned, that interview. If appropriately tailored and colored, you should look impressive.

#4: Versatility. I know. It's a SUIT. It's not THAT versatile. Au contraire. Personally, I own an all-black suit that without a splash of color makes me look like an undertaker. So I like matching it with grass green button downs and creamy silk shells. Also, for women there's the skirt/pants choice. Personally, I'm a fan of the skirt. My legs are too long to find suitpants that fit. But hey, there are other things to explore. Pinstripes, color, wide lapels. The suit IS versatile.

#3: Exploiting jealousy. Give yourself a leg up on the competition. Seriously, when your classmates see you wearing a suit, they wonder what kind of awesome opportunity you've found that means you get to wear a suit. Take that aura of mystery and turn it into confidence.

#2: SHOES. I'm all about the chance to buy shoes. And before you roll your eyes and call this a girl thing, a guy I know is CONSTANTLY looking up Italian leather shoes to wear with his suits. A great suit just gives you a chance to wear great shoes. Who can pass that up?

#1: It just feels good! Is there anything better than walking through downtown feeling like you fit in? No. there is not. Don't lie to yourself. Confidence is something that isn't always readily available in the world of law school, so you've gotta take it wear you can find it.

So, in the words of my favorite sitcome character: SUIT UP!

BREAKING NEWS!!

Well, not really. Rather, just news, classified in easy to understand categories.

THINGS I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN, THAT I APPARENTLY DIDN'T:

Don't attempt to run with pulled muscles. Look. I knew that aerobics wasn't what I was good at. But when I accidentally ended up going through an advanced body sculpting class, and couldn't walk for three days with muscles pulled from my knees to my neck, I decided that I could be in better shape. And today, a week after the most awful 60 minutes of my life, when I moved onto the next part of my training schedule my hamstrings protested. First with mild demands for attention, and after the third mile with screaming, crampy yells. Apparently I'm not healed yet. Must stop trying to be a hero. For....no one.*

THINGS I KNOW THAT OTHER PEOPLE ARE CONFUSED ABOUT:

Only jerks print PDF's on the library printers. Look, everyone loves the free** printing available in the Law Library. Especially right before the major legal writing assignments are due. However, when you try to print PDF's to those printers, they can only print ONE PAGE AT A TIME. And those pages are sent one at a time to the printers. So your 80 page document takes 4 hours to print. It's really kind of a jerk move to tie up a printer for four hours. If you find it absolutely necessary, please do it at 8 am when nobody needs the printers. Not at 2 in the afternoon. Because let me be honest here: I am that girl who will cancel your print job in order to get mine through. I have no scruples.

THINGS WE BOTH ALREADY KNEW:

Ricky Martin is gay? This is so shocking! Except not. Because I was alive in the 90s. Seriously, did anyone think the guy who sang "She Bangs" and "Shake your Bon-Bon" was straight? I'd love to give the human race more credit than that. Seriously, I don't think even Sue Sylvester would need him to Swish It Up. Seriously, the guy is the hispanic Clay Aiken/Ryan Seacrest hybrid.

Jesse James is a stupid man. Seriously, you would trade Sandra Bullock***, she of the Oscar, friendly smile, good comedic timing, and general awesomeness for THIS? A tattoo model and possible nazi? One's man trash is another man's treasure I guess, but who would trade in Sandra for a trashy tattoo model nazi??? Clearly, James was threatened by the extreme force of awesome that is his wife. Ick.

AND IN OTHER NEWS:

Happy Passover!**** Baby B is celebrating the heritage of his people this week and all I can tell is that it's ruining Law Free Lunch. He can't eat ANYWHERE because of the processed grains thing. Look, Baby B, you eat pork ALL THE TIME. You are already terrible at being Jewish.***** Stop ruining my week with your silly religious needs.

_______________________

*"I could be your hero baby!" Seriously, taking applications.

**With outrageous amounts of tuition, of course

***I realize she's not everyone's cup of tea, but objectively I feel she can be considered awesome.

****Do you wish people a happy passover? Not sure about Jewish etiquette.

*****Don't take this too hard. I haven't been to a confession in years.

Absentia, aka Why This Week Has Been Awesome

So I may have deserted this blog for the week. But I've been very busy. Very, very busy. Being not busy. So I thought instead of imparting any sort of faux wisdom, I would just chronicle the past few days to explain my AWOL behavior.

Monday: I gotta be honest. I think I was just lazy this day. Which doesn't work well for my excuses. I did, however, read a 400 page novel. Which wasn't very good. In fact it was awful. Looking back, Monday was a waste. Damn.

Tuesday: In case you didn't know, Rock Band released the Lady Gaga tracks on this illustrious day. So what's a girl to do? Attend a Rock Band party held by a friend! It was probably the best house party I've ever been to. (note: I've been to about three and one of those was busted by the cops as I was arriving, so I don't know that I have a wide enough sample size.) Anyway, you know those couples that you just want to be around all the time because they are so happy and adorable? And you don't hate them at all because it's completely genuine? Seriously, when E. yelled "This used to be our spoonin' song!" when Lay Down Sally came on, I realized that I needed these people to be my friends. Anyway, the people there that night? Are the BEST people. It was an excellent night. And then I got home at 2 am.

Wednesday: I shouldn't need to tell you that this was St. Patty's Day. So I needed to go celebrate my Irish Heritage. Good news! I no longer have an aversion to Guiness! (I used the scientific method and repeated my tests several times to make sure of my hypothesis.) Bad news! My only Ukrainian friend woke me up at 7:30 am with a text saying "You better be going out today." After I got home at 2 am. Jerk. But don't worry. In between the wake up call and all of those scientific studies, I exercised, had lunch with friends, ate the world's most delicious brownie, had a beautiful reconciliation, went to M.'s apartment in River North for a couple hours, made a bet about the lyrics to the song Edmund Fitzgerald, and ate at Flaco's Tacos. Never let it be said I can't cram a whole week into a day.

Thursday: While Property was a complete bust (I have 10 lines worth of notes), LSBFF and I grabbed lunch and ate in the sunshine in Grant Park. (It's Springtime!) While we were there, two students gave us a survey. They were from Campus Crusade for Christ. The survey was cut noticeably short when they found out I'm Catholic and LSBFF is Muslim. So much for being a witness or whatever it is they were doing. Seriously. Had a picture book lesson in accepting Jesus Christ. At least I wasn't indoors.

And now my friends, IT IS 16 HOURS TO SPRING BREAK! So the neglect may continue. After all, Puerta's has whole pitchers of margaritas.

I never said I was a perfect person. Just having a perfect week.

"There's no need to argue, parents just don't understand."

"The world is a shitty place full of shitheads. You need good friends to talk shit about all of life's...shit."

This is not only a fact of life, but a real statement from a real person. That's what we call investigative journalism. Or repeating words out of other people's mouths. But it describes rule #1 of law school:

Make friends.

Because in all honesty, no one else is going to get it. The pain, strife, and heavy work load. The stress, and the fact that you're going a little crazy. The revelation that you want to drop out after every day. The panic of being cold-called on a case that you didn't really understand. The embarrassment when the professor gives you the "How did a dumbass like you get into law school?" look, and the excitement when the professor gives you a nod and moves on to torture someone else.

The other thing that no one is going to get is the ironic, sly, morbid sense of humor you're about to develop. Your parents, siblings, significant other, best friends, they're not going to find jokes about shotgun traps very funny. But your law friends will. And who else is going to loudly argue with you about medical malpractice and liability for AIDS battery in public while people push their food away from them in disgust? Not your cousins.

Everyone needs a support system. And while your mom may be the best person to call when you're having a terrible day and want to quit, or your SO may be the best person to talk to the night before your sure-to-be-horrific final exam, the most reliable part of your support system lies in the people you can call when you have huge holes in your outline. The people who give you their notes when you realize you just spent an entire civpro class playing solitaire. The people who tell you that you're being an ass when stress makes you act like, well, an ass.

The good friends to talk shit about all of law school's...well...shit.