WonL
The random thoughts of an architect-turned- lawyer from the deep south living in Washington, DC...
Friday, December 16, 2005
Christmas is coming
Well, the day has arrived. I will be taking a "short" trip and will be away from here for a little while. Check it out if you are interested:-)My journey!
Thursday, December 15, 2005
I am halfway through with Law School!!!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Almost...
Thirty-four mintues until my last exam. My FOURTEEN HOUR study marathon yesterday better pay off!Tuesday, December 13, 2005
After all, it is a Constitution we are expounding
Two down one to go. Not sure why, but this one was BRUTAL.It might have to do with the fact that it was an evening exam. Now that I've had a taste of a 2pm exam, I am really not liking the 6:30s anymore. Time isn't even called until 9:30pm which means I don't even get out of there until close to 10pm. Now, I ain't sayin I can't stay up that late or anything, but when I just had a 3 hour mental regurgitation AFTER a long day, by the time 10pm rolls around, I am worthless. By the end of the test, I could not make a cohesive sentence for anything. Formalist is textualist and functionalist is structuralist, but I have no clue how to eloquantly make that worth 40 points.
It might also have to do with the fact that I really did not have a grasp on this subject matter. Constitution - fairly straightforward...what the SCOTUS has done with the Constitution over the years - not so much...my prof's interpretation of the SCOTUS interpretation of the framer's interpretation of the law our country should be ruled under - HUH?
It might also have to do with a LACK of a climactic "I'm done" sigh of relief. Not only do I have another test (which I am not necessarily "ready" for) in 1.5 days...but I also have to deal with this charity stuff. By "deal with", I mean round up and collect toys from 6 different toy drives, get all of the financial stuff in order to send my roomie to KBToys with $2500, take inventory of everything, finish boxing everything, load up a Penske, and get ready for Friday when I have to drive 24 hours to New Orleans. (Okay, just typing that sentence has officially freaked me out.) Hard to feel relieved after an exam when I know the stress that awaits me.
Okay, going to finish this bottle-o-chardonnay and call it a night.
Monday, December 12, 2005
The numbers are not adding up
# of my own outlines for my exam tonight: 3# of pages in my own outlines: 42
# of other people's outlines for my exam tonight: 5
# of other people's exel spreadsheets for my exam tonight: 1
# of pages in his notes: 77
# of pages in the Constitution itself: 4!!! (well 16 if you put it in MSWord at 12pt font)
I think we need to simplify things here!
Friday, December 09, 2005
Pre-Exam Brain Dump!
Well, my head is full. If I make any sudden movements, there is a high probability things will start pouring out of my ears. Things relating to the bid protest jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims after the 1996 Tucker Act Amendments AND the rules of Appropriations AND Congruence and Exceptionalism in Government Contract law. No one in their right mind wants to be around when those things do begin to spew forth (which is in about two hours now).I was watching my GoCo review online this morning. I kept hearing these sirens outside and kept turning the volume up. So annoyed that I could barely hear GoCo prof. Took quite some time for me to put his pauses and together with the increase in siren volume to
realize that the sirens were coming from the GW area, not Ballston. That was pretty funny.
There are a few things that will get me through today. It's good to know I only have to hold it in for a few more hours, then once that test is over, I can forget everything. (Great way to become a lawyer, eh?) I am also looking forward to indulging in a nice dinner and perhaps one or two (or seven) alcoholic beverages with my friend who has been trapsing across Europe for weeks. Hope he knows he is paying;-)
I would like to end this GoCo themed post by making a HUGE request to my GoCo professor:
Sir, I realize with the test only hours away, that you have probably already written it, but I IMPLORE you to include an in-depth question about the available forums for bringing bid protest disputes. I get this! In fact, this is probably the only thing I get in your one thousand pages of material. I would really appreciate the opportunity to write about it. Thanks! PS-even if you don't ask, I fully intend to tell you about it anyway.
UPDATE: Thank you so much GoCo Prof!!! I heart you;-) Well, um, in a Catholic/Jewish...Republican/Democrat...student/teacher sort of way.
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Pissy me
I have said this before and I stand by it now: all bets are off during exams!I do not have to attempt be witty, or quick to respond, or responsible, or clean, or cute, or smart, or ladylike, or understanding, or modest, or humble, or friendly, or giving, or even remotely compassionate in ANY OTHER PART of my life right now. Law School takes over. Nothing else matters.
If you are my friend and you think you need a personal email or phone call reminding you of this, you are surely mistaken. But just in case: DO NOT MESS WITH ME THIS WEEK! For over 350 days of my year, I live as a selfless person trying to be there for others around me. This is my time now. I will be there for no one but ME. Now is not the time for a long-drawn out conversation about the problems in your life. Now is not the time to play catch up. Now is not the time to make waves in the water that is already rising above my head. Now is not the time to really even talk to me. (Unless you can explain to me how a contractor can fall into a de facto debarment under the Old Dominion test.) Otherwise, I strongly suggest you come back after December 14th and don't take offense to any of my words or actions in the upcoming days. (Unless you are old-lady-Ruth at my front desk. If you yell at me one more damn time, I'm going to trip you as you waddle down the hall.)
PS to my roommate: you are exempt from all of the above. I promise. You can come home now:-)
Stress
Exams = only time EVER that I wished I still smoked!Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Expired
You stand outside miserable on this cold morning. It is only minutes after eight and you are already awake, and outside shivering. Most of the people on this street have not even left for work yet. Your truck sits idling only a few feet away. Boy what you would give to be in that warm truck with your radio on sipping your coffee. You can't do that. You have work to do and this is the perfect time to do it. Miserable on the outside with a heart of ice on the inside, there is a slight glow to you. A glow that grows when you think of the jackpot you just hit on this street. Your lips begin to curl in a smile.I get downstairs at 8:07. I notice your scarf wrapped tightly around your neck. You are having difficulty doing your job with your thick gloves keeping your fingers warm. I can see every breath you take. We make eye contact. You look away. I knew that you would be here and I knew that you expected that I would not show up. Are you surprised? Did you really doubt me? I walk briskly toward you, never once looking away. Every so often, you look up to see if I am still approaching. You seem nervous and begin to work faster. Your heart is now pounding. Once you realize I am merely steps away, the smile on your face fades. You hurry to finish your business with the car in front of mine. You quickly walk to my car as I get in and start it. By then, Mr. Arlington County ticket man, it is too late. I am gone and you are one less ticket toward your quota.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Night-night
Let me begin by telling you that tears (of joy) came rushing to my eyes to find that I am #4 when searching for lesbian sleepwear. (Hats off to you, reader in Redmond, Washington...hope you found what you were looking for)This topic of conversation (that of the above mentioned unmentionables) has come up a lot lately. Mostly because it makes a great story to tell people about how the charity I founded was accidentally mistaken as being involved in the sale of such attire. While my mom was in town this past weekend, we got to talking about it over a lull in the dinner conversation and were wondering...what elements would sleep apparel need to have (or not have) in order to be labeled "lesbian sleepwear"?
Probably a HUGE mistake to elicit comments on this particular topic, but nonetheless...loyal readers, what do you think?
Exams start today
My first exam is not until Friday, so I have a bit of time. Yesterday, I was trying to find a quiet place to study and boy did I screw up...I went to school. Dear Lord! When you walk in the door, you immediately notice that exams are here. First off, there seem to be 2,000 extra students. Granted, we are one of the larger law schools in the country, but I have never seen any of these people before. Randoms everywhere! Where do you people come from? My little table in the basement of the library...you know the one with the secret hidden outlet where I usually sit and can spread out all my stuff? Yeah, well, there were about six people at that table yesterday.Second, you notice the increase in supplements and commercial outlines. All semester long, you see people lugging around the extremely large heavy casebooks that all of our reading comes from. People are now ditching the casebooks for a lighter soft cover supplement (which is really some law school professor's synopsis of another law school professor's condensed version of an area of the law). Note to 1Ls: when you buy four different supplements for a subject, it defeats the purpose of "less" reading. (I figured that out the hard way.)
Mostly, though, mostly you notice the raw emotion. People are stressed! It's not like they are running around, yelling, crying, or punching. The signs are not so outwardly, but you can just feel it. The blank stares in people's eyes, the wardrobe deterioration from lack of clean clothing, the greasy hair from lack of showering and the sleeping kids on sofas in the lobby from lack of - well, um, sleep.
I'm glad I am not stressed like that. I mean I am only up to 8 cups of coffee daily, have only pulled out all of my hair (strand by strand), threatened to jump off the roof twice, and yelled at my mom in Target for wandering off when I have to go home and study for exams! I would say I am handling this quite well:-)
UNFAIR: I just looked down and smiled to see that I have now completely covered 431 pages of GoCo law. Then, I quit smiling when I thought about the grand total of 946 pages of material in this class. This is absurd!
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Oh my gosh! I want to cry, hurl, sleep, bang my head on a wall, and drink. I really hate exam-time.
On a happy note, we made over $500 yesterday and got lots of toys including a couple of bikes and a DVD player:-)
Thursday, December 01, 2005
A Bar with a lot of Eyes
Today has been a complete and utter blur. I am currently sitting in my very last class of my first semester of my second year of law school. It's 8pm and I have been in this building since 9:30 this morning. My sanity left long ago. So far today, I have already finished and turned in a paper, collected toys and money for hours in the lobby downstairs, and attended all four of my classes. Did I mention I did all of this hungover as hell. My body hates me right now. Enough with the whining, on to the fun."My name is Law-Rah and I am a blogger." Not many places can you say that to someone and it makes you cool. Yep, that's right, I have a blog and I shouted it loud at the Blogger Year-End Happy Hour. The night began with a brisk walk to Eyebar with good friend M as I thanked her profusely for not making me go through this alone. I really needed a drink BEFORE we went to drink but there was just no time. I was going there to raise money for C4C...how could they not love me, right? So, I put on the jingle bells, fluffed up the santa hat, held my head high and walked in not knowing a soul. Remember that weird science moment where all the white folks walked into the blues bar? Yeah, well, I figured I'd break that awkward silence with a "hi, I'm Laura!"
Thus began an evening which started off with me shyly taking a seat at the far end of the sofa hoping someone would give us a few bucks and ended with me approaching people that do not even blog saying "Give me money. Do you not like kids? Do you not care about New Orleans?" Much help came from the drink menu at Eyebar! I tried a Pink Eye, a Lazy Eye, Old Blue Eyes and ended with blurry eyes (gee, how poetic of me:-) Fabulous alcoholic beverages. You know what else the evening ended with? In the spirit of the notes I should be taking in class right now, I shall outline last evening's benefits:
1) A bunch of new friends:-)
2) Putting faces to names
3) $350 for a great cause
4) A hefty bar tab
5) A med school boy with my phone number;-)
6) Some great pictures
7) An opportunity to relive high school through superlatives
7) A whole lot of recaps - I am way too exhausted to run through the list of all the amazing (and hot) people I met last night. Not to mention, I would be redundant at this point considering everyone has already done this. So, I shall thankfully link the four hostesses and let you weave through the web from there. I recommend DC Cookie's running list of recaps. (Check out Kathryn, AsianMistress and Rhinestone Cowgirl too)
and last but certainly not least...
8) The Presentation
To all that I met - so wonderful! To those that donated to help a fellow blogger help the kiddies, even more wonderful.
Countdown
I will discuss last night and send out pictures later...right now, my paper is due in less than three hours and it is not done.To the girl sitting two tables over...if I have my itunes blaring loudly in my ear and I can still hear you typing, then chances are, you are typing TOO DAMN HARD. I suggest you quit pounding on your computer or I am going to walk over there and kick you! (weapon of choice today since I'm wearing roomy's cowboy boots.)