The Weight of the World is Off My Shoulders

Crim. Con. Torts. Done...almost. The hours and minutes leading up to my torts exam was like a rollercoaster ride, full of ups and downs. Amazingly, I felt very calm during my torts exam, which in hindsight may not be that great considering that everyone knows that the guy who came out of an exam thinking it wasn't too bad probably missed a couple of big issues. You know what, I probably did and interestingly enough I'm not too worried because I'm just glad I can see the finish line now.

However, in roughly two months time, I may need to pack up my bags. The subheading in my blog says "documenting development for hopefully the next three years". Hopefully I did not turn in a turd of an exam and torpedo any potential law career. I wouldn't be able to look in the mirror knowing I screwed up yet again.

Looking back at the past year, I can see that I've aged. I don't feel as spry as I used to. I smile less often. MY HAIR IS THINNER. The first day of law school was utterly bizarre and foreign. I did not understand many of the concepts nor the mannerisms, politics, and personalities that law school attracts. In fact, I still don't understand much. Maybe its the fact that I'm holed up in the library a lot now. I didn't do that my first semester and I found out that I study better while at the library. Or maybe its the work that one must do in order to just get an average grade in law school. Or maybe its because I don't really "know" any one person here while it seems as if many of my compatriots do at least "know" a few of their classmates. Whatever the case may be, I had some good times but I definitely also had a lot of bad times too.

I guess my first year can be summed up as bittersweet. It will be interesting what will be in store for me next year - assuming my grades get me through this first year. I really don't know what I want to do. I do have a few easily attainable goals for this summer though. 1) I want to get back in shape. 2) I want to reconnect with a few friends - the group of friends who I have known since elementary school. 3) This may be the most ambitious of my summer goals, but after a brief discussion with a study buddy of mine, I'd like to push my comfort zone out a bit more; step out of my bubble every once in a while; try not to seek comfort but to continually do...something. I'm not sure how successful I will be with this third goal, I've thought about similar things in the past but I never really pushed myself to step out of my bubble. At the very least, attempting to reach these goals will give me something to write about.

First year of law school? Au revoir.

T Minus 13 Hours Till Liftoff

So 13 hours from now I will have to take my Crim Law exam. With every letter I type the nervousness builds ever so slightly. To ease the nervousness, I can't help but think about the last few days leading up to this exam.

Last Friday, while working with my study buddy on Crim, lets just say a dental emergency necessitated that she be taken to a dentist immediately. Three hours, four calls, and several transfers along the way, we find out that no dentist is available and she would have to wait a while (read: three weeks) before she can see a dentist to help her. Ridiculous. Suffice to say, I didn't get a lot of studying done that day - although it was a sweet adventure.

Over the course of the last few days, I've gotten to know not only my study buddy but also myself. You know what, maybe I can do this. It may not be a question of if someone at this level can go through this work, but whether this person can persevere. I believe I can persevere. At the very least, by around 5 PM tomorrow, I will be done with Crim.

Oh and by the way, my study buddy will be praying for the both of us to do well on the exam tomorrow. I sure hope she puts me in her prayers. I should do the same for the both of us because it sure can't hurt to have an extra voice up there.

Lawyering, LGing, and Lacosteing

So finals are around the corner and I probably shouldn't be on here, but alas, I need to break away from the rigors of re-reading and re-deciphering my notes.

For those of you who check out engadget regularly, you may have seen this news article a few weeks back. Anyways, for posterity's sake, I am reposting the article's pictures on here as I find the model to be its best selling point =)

On a side note, I went home last week to find a couple of new Lacoste shirts. Unlike other polo shirt designers, Lacoste doesn't have that uneven hem design where you are basically forced to tuck your shirt in or look like a loon. Plus for some odd reason, Lacoste's measurments fit really well for me. It used to fit even better when I was fifteen-pounds heavier and had a thicker head of hair (I'm not sure how hair fits into this...). I really do have to thank law school for that. Much love to you Ms. Law School.

My Wii Little Experience

Ok, well I got a tip that the local Walmart would have a couple of Nintendo Wiis in stock starting Sunday morning. So I head on over to the place at around 6:40 on Sunday morning and I am greeted by about a dozen people in line already. Crud. So whatever, my hopes had been dashed somewhat but I decided to stay around, absorbing what it was like to stand in line for a video game system (first time I've ever done this, honest!). I was expecting Walmart to hand out ticket stubs before opening time and give out enough ticket stubs for every Wii system they had on hand - to avoid a mad dash to the counter and be fair to the people who were there at the front of the line. Well, lets just say I expected too much from Walmart.

7:00. BANG! Doors open, the twelve folks ahead of me started running. WTF?!? I take a few gingerly steps and then - as if the Id overpowered my ego and superego - I started running to the electronics counter too. I get there, tenth in line. Nice! I chatted it up with a 10-year-old who must've been super anxious to get his Wii. I was happy for him because he reminded me of me when I was younger, except he's darker and lankier. The kid was eighth in line. I wasn't so enthusiastic about being behind the ninth person though. He got me slightly off track while running towards the electronics counter. Punk!

Anyways, by the time the little kid gets to the front of the counter, the counter-lady said that they were all out, that the little bugger got the last one. Haha. Awesome. I didn't get one but at least the little kid did. I was happy for him. In fact, believe me or not, if I were the last person to get a Wii, I probably would have given it up to him because he was actually in line long before I was before Walmart allowed for the mad dash to the electronics counter to happen (see, that's why it's better to give out ticket stubs than allow everyone to run for it. It's fair for everyone). Plus, the kid seemed so eager for a Nintendo Wii. I give the kid props for tugging on my heartstrings.

Hopefully, this will be my only experience waiting in line for a Walmart to open. The Wii isn't important enough for me to repeat what I did today. It was fun though.

Raiders' First Day Picks for 2007 Draft

Ok, for my totally uninformed prognostication of what the Raiders should do:

1. Swap picks with the Cleveland Browns. They get the number 1 pick to pick up Jamarcus Russell while we slide to number 3 and pick up their second round pick (36 overall) and their 2008 first round pick. Detroit will pick up Brady Quinn with the number 2 overall pick, leaving the Raiders with Calvin Johnson all for them at number 3.
   
2. Sign David Carr to a 2 or 3 year deal.
   
3. Trade Moss and Courtney Anderson to Greenbay for their third round pick (78 overall) and a conditional 2008 pick.
   
4. And so, we would have picks:
• Round 1 (3rd overall) - Calvin Johnson, WR
  
• Round 2 (33rd overall) - Ryan Kalil, C
• Round 2 (f/Clev, 36th overall) - Justin Blalock, OG
• Round 3 (65th overall) - Trent Edwards, QB
• Round 3 (f/GB, 78th overall) - Josh Beekman, OG
• Round 3 (comp, 99th overall) - Ryan McBean, DT

So now, the Raiders will have David Carr, Andrew Walter, and Trent Edwards battling it out for the QB position. Whatever happens, it will still be an upgrade over last year. Furthermore, Calvin Johnson, Ryan Kalil, Justin Blalock, and Josh Beekman could all conceivably start immediately and/or have an instant impact on the team.

Law Review? More Like Water Torture!

So for the past four or five days, I've been preoccupied with a law review write-on competition. Woot! Basically, it was a nightmare! You're given about 500 pages to read (small-text) and then you're expected to write a coherent comment not to exceed 10 pages. Well, I didn't exceed 10 pages, that was the easy part. The hard part was everything else. Just reading through the packet was tough enough, but writing a semi-decent comment took every ounce of stamina I have left of this out of shape student.

I ended up staying awake for over 24 hours to just finish the comment - with a half hour to spare before I had to turn it in. Once the deed was done though, I spent the next 20 minutes acting like a dumbass, going into my gangsta routine, over-dramatic gyrations, and a few expletives to boot. Man it feels good to be a gangsta!

Just one of those days? Hopefully

My life is filled with work. I do nothing but work. No friends, no laughs, no sharing of insecurity. How do people make that connection and make it seem so easy to communicate with each other? Remembering what my old grade school report cards said, I can see that I need to work on "plays well with others". It's not that I don't play well with others, far from it. I just don't play. And since I've never played, when I try to, it's awkward since everyone is already amongst their own.

But then the question becomes, why do I want to play with others? I'm not "bringing anything to the table". It seems as if I am seeking out these relationships in order to feel a sense of belonging, a degree of care and humanity. Isn't that somewhat selfish of me though? To ask for a human connection because I feel lonely?

Whatever this feeling is, I sure hope I don't end up like these guys. Well, first of all, I need to be a lawyer, then I need to have a stinkin pile of cash locked away. Even then though, it seems awfully shallow of these people to narrow what they want to a single trait. What happens when that single, superficial trait - like time - fades away? Well, I'm being naive here. I'm thinking of a longer term relationship. Most likely, these nice folks are in it for the short term. If that's the case, to hell with time.

However, for the men, isn't it cheaper just to find an expensive hooker? Lets be honest here, the guys are there for attractive women they can either bed and/or have some long term relationship (with their money locked away in a prenup if they ever get married). So isn't a high priced hooker escort cheaper for these guys? As for the women, well, you can't rent a rich escort. But hey, if its good enough for the gander, it's good enough for the goose. Right?