WonL
The random thoughts of an architect-turned- lawyer from the deep south living in Washington, DC...
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Scary
The Law School Halloween Party was last night. If I had to sum it up in one word, I would have to say amusing! I think it was a night for some of the females to wear the revealing outfits that they wear normally, but this time, with ears or a tail...and it was also a night for the males to wear the female revealing outfits too. In fact, that put a new fear into halloween for me...scary how many guys came dressed as women. I guess it was a typical Halloween party. There were a few Paris Hilton's, a post-op Bill Clinton, the Chipmunks, a bottle of SoCo, a crammed bar, long lines for drinks, and a bunch of drunk people spilling everywhere. I actually had a blast...felt like college again! Being the "undecided voter", I was drinking beer out of a Heinz ketchup bottle, so I never really ran out. We get so engulfed in school work, that most of us don't have a chance to really hang out socially (okay, in the evening program, at least.) I had a really good time catching up with old friends and getting close to newer ones:-) Now, back to the books...although really having trouble concentrating!Tuesday, October 26, 2004
As if I don't read enough!
I am having a real hard time focussing on school these days. I have always worked better with more on my plate, but I think I may have crossed the line into non-complacency. This morning, I was going over all of the cliche reasons that people give when you end a relationship...here are some I have gotten and given over the years:Love Hurts;
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all;
Sometimes, love just isn't enough;
It will only make you stronger;
If you love him, let him go;
It's all for the best;
Blah Blah Blah
We all know those things do not help at that particular moment. I found a new one, though...HE'S JUST NOT THAT INTO YOU.
For various reasons, I went out and bought the book this morning. So far, it is hilarious. It is sort of a modern day "the rules". What makes it great, is that it is coming from a MAN. (A heterosexual hot one, at that.) So, it's not like some aniquated version of dating that says you need 36 hours 29 minutes and 14 seconds advance notice in order to accept a date or that you aren't allowed to make eye contact on a date because he'll think you are easy. This book is different. It straight up says 'quit making excuses for him, maybe he's just not that into you...move on!" There is no "maybe he doesn't want to ruin the friendship" or "maybe he is really busy right now" or "maybe he has trouble committing due to childhood issues". Nope...it's much simpler than that! If he never calls, or quits calling, or get's "sidetracked" and completely forgets he made plans with you...maybe he's just not that into you.
This is funny stuff! So, I'm going to read chapter 2...oops, I meant Contracts.
I'll keep you updated.
By the way...Halloween costume is coming along fabulously. Being that I am sewing it together myself, let's all hope it does not fall apart at the Law School Halloween party.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
MockTrial
Mock Trial was this past weekend. I had the most amazing time! As a first semester student, I am not eligible to compete, but was recruited to be a witness. I figured this would be great experience to see if this is something I would be interested in doing. Little did I know when I signed up, that witnesses have to prep as much as lawyers. Not to mention, I was the "lady lawyer who had an affair with Brad Pitt, got him fired, then got caught by my husband naked in Florida with my boss, but swear I am not having an affiar." HA...even I didn't believe my own story. Anyway, being in the DC Superior Courthouse was cool. I am going to be a lawyer and the only other time I have been in court was for a speeding ticket when I was fourteen. As a witness, I had to be sworn in and take the stand and the whole nine yards. To me, though, that was not the most intriguing part. I was just in awe watching these second year students argue this case. There were times that I wanted to jump up and object "your honor, defense counsel is bringing up things that were supressed in pre-trial motions." It's amazing how mentalling stimulating it was. Furthermore, it was not hard to follow the rules and case law, even though I hadn't done any research. I watched 'N' (one of the lawyers on my team) and could see that sparkle in his eye when he got up to speak. He would stand in front of the judge and start slow, then once he got speed, he cracked this little smile, because he knew he was captivating the audience. I want to do that! I had such a good time watching the trial and can't wait until I am in their shoes. I think I will try out next semester (add it to my already full plate). It was such a rush!Thursday, October 14, 2004
JB's apology
Okay, JB is redeeming himself lately. He was really mean last week. Granted, he had reason to be in a bad mood, as he spent a few days in Dover receiving bodies from Iraq. That being said, if you are in THAT foul of a mood...please do not spread the joy to the rest of us. I was the punching bag and doormat all in the same day. At one point, I curtailed my spending again, thinking I would be purposefully availing myself to unemployment again by the end of the week. I went home last weekend really wondering how to handle this. So, on Tuesday, JB came in and apologized for being mean. Granted, it wasn't a heartfelt sappy one, but for him, it was huge. Today, to further request forgiveness, he took me to lunch at Sam and Harry's. (Maybe it had nothing to do with apologizing and everything to do with the fact that he only attends fine dining establishments for lunch and wanted company.SAH's is an amazing restaurant. I had never been there, as I never really could afford it and never had anyone to take me there. Gotta tell ya, it is even a better experience when you go with a prominent DC figure and they totally kiss his *ss. The maitre 'd spent a half hour at our table discussing last night's debate and recommending good red wines. We were forty minutes late for our reservation, yet he had held the table near the window for us, because he knew JB liked to watch the people walk by and make fun of them...and we did! Pretty cool, too, that he knew one in five people that walked by. So, all in all, the job seems to be working out. I feel like a kid in a candy store in this world. Funny that I am working as a receptionist (lowest employment rank since I worked at a pizza place in high school)...yet I am being financially subjected to things far greater than I have ever experienced.
JB said today "isn't this a life you would like? We only dine at 4 star restaurants, play on E-bay all day, never work a full week, and get treated like gods." I don't know if that is the life I would like to lead forever, but as a law school student...I could surely get used to this!!!
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
Supplements
I have two bosses…JB tells me Law School is worthless, he was bottom of his class and he is doing fine. (yet, he makes sure to add into every convo that he went to an Ivy League school) NB seems genuinely interested in my success as a law school student. He also likes to give me advice and tell me about how it was when he was in school. NB finished his first year as #6 in the class…pretty impressive. So, today, he tells me what I should do in order to get A’s. He said “I read the Casebooks (assigned by Prof), read Gilbert’s summaries and outlines, read Cans, never missed a day of class, and re-wrote my class notes every evening.”DEAR LORD! I am being assigned 120+ pages per week in the Casebooks alone. How in the heck am I supposed to “supplement” the reading that I am barely keeping up with? Furthermore, some of these supplemental readings are longer than the corresponding reading in the casebooks. In fact, some of the books themselves are larger than the assigned books. Let’s step back and use some logical reasoning here…who in their right mind goes to class, gets the syllabus with the required reading, purchases the books, then goes out and buys other books with all of the same stuff, just easier to read? Apparently, everyone!!! As of this afternoon, I have spent more money on supplemental materials than I have spent on the required materials. I think it’s a “law school book writer” conspiracy. They know we can barely understand the Casebooks, so they write their own translated versions so we will buy them. Why not just make the translated version the required reading? So, as to NB's equation of how to get A’s…um, I haven’t yet missed a class (good start, right:-)
Monday, October 04, 2004
It's Monday...yet again
I contemplated whether or not to disclose the following information, but figured everyone could use a good Monday morning story...enjoy:-)You know how sometimes you have days where nothing goes right and sometimes you have days where you are on top of the world. Today is the latter...I am feeling really good about myself and my day when I leave the house this morning. There is a chill in the air that allowed me to dip into my "winter clothes." For this, I am excited, and I dress up in a cute "flowy" skirt with tights. (Flowy in LB fashion terms being skirt that is not tight all the way down, but flares out.) I have not fit into this particular flowy skirt in a while, so that was nice too. So, I am walking to the metro with a smile on my face. I have my take-out Chinese leftovers in a bag for lunch, my book-sack isn't too heavy today, all my reading for the day is done, and my boss is not going to be in the office today. I am seriously on top of the world. So, about a block from the Metro, I notice the street is blocked off because there are window washers on that scary platform in the air. The first thing I do is look down to make sure you can't see down my shirt...okay, I'm good. So, I continue walking and they are all staring and whistling. I am thinking "uggghhh…these jerks are just not used to seeing professional women. I mean, don't they have something better to do. I want to yell at them to take a picture, it lasts longer. Now, they are getting each other's attention and pointing. I AM SO SURE...how annoying." So, then I walk in front of some windows and notice that my flowy skirt has in fact flowed all the way up and is resting comfortably in the small of my back, therefore, leaving my a** for the window washers to check out. ONLY ME!!!
Friday, October 01, 2004
The downward spiral that is my week...
Monday, I got up at 6:30 to go to the gym. I had a great work-out, enough time to shower, eat and be at work for 10. At 5pm, I left work to head to class which was from 6-9:15 (this means I could leisurely stroll the 10 blocks.) Afterwards, I came home and did some reading for the next day then off to bed. Life is great!On Tuesday, I got up at 6:40 to go to the gym...had an okay workout because I was a bit tired...still showered, ate and was at work by 10. At 5pm, I left for class realizing I had to give a speech that night and had not come up with anything. I took a cab because I couldn't spare the 15 minute walk. Had class from 6-8, then had to do some hard core reading for the next day. Life is good!
Wednesday, woke up at 6:30, no energy to go to the gym, but had to read. Was at work from 10-5 (I think), had class from 6-9:15 had to vote in there somewhere too. After class, had to go to a thing to find out the winner (me)...yay...head home around 10:30 and start reading. Life's okay, just busy.
Thursday, slept in (forget the gym and the reading-damn tired) went to work, then school, then more school, then more reading, then more reading, then sleep. Life is...oooo...sleep is good!
Now it's Friday and I'm just physically and mentally exhausted! It's 6:30 on a Friday night and I am writing a legal memo for a meeting tomorrow. Life...what life???