So today I had one of those ‘oh shit’ moments when you realize that you’re vastly underprepared for something. With me, that moment was squarely centered on my bankruptcy class. Just as I was settling down to sleep last night, my eyes popped open and I started to sweat as I realized that my exam is on Monday and I haven’t studied for it at all. And I mean at all. All semester, I kinda put it on the back burner, instead choosing to spend my time on addictinggames.com. In retrospect this may not have been the wisest course of action, but then again I’ve never claimed to be particularly brilliant – evidenced by the fact that I decided to take bankruptcy in the first place. Sigh… The sad thing is that bankruptcy could have really been an interesting class except for a few minor drawbacks. Number one of course being my charming professor who spoke in such a soothing monotone voice that he could have made a living charming kids with ADHD. Second, the fact that last year Congress significantly reworked the bankruptcy code and now no one really knows if anything is still good law. Since the laws only went into effect in October ’05, there haven’t been many cases interpreting the various new provisions. So after the first few classes, when I would listen intently to a lecture only to have it summed up by the caveat “That was the old law. We’ll have to see if it’s still good.”
I haven’t lost all hope yet. There’s always the chance that I can be horribly burned at work tonight or get struck by a meteor, or get abducted by aliens. The sky really is the limit.
Also this morning I had the pleasure of undergoing my financial aid exit interview. In sum, this is where they sit you down and gleefully remind you that you have mortgaged your soul for your education and that it would be better for you to go without food, heat, and shelter rather than miss a single payment. Talk about uplifting! Then they hook you up with this little amortization table that shows you how much interest you’re going to pay over the next ten to twenty years… I think ‘yikes!’ just about covers it. Thank goodness I lived relatively frugally during law school (although that frugality will have been for not if I can’t ever find a job). No wonder lawyers drink.
Oh and before I forget. The one thing I remember from my bankruptcy class is that student loans are almost impossible to discharge. So much for that plan…
Friday, April 21, 2006
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Outlining sucks
Netflix is great. It’s like Christmas every couple of days. Well… Christmas on a shoe-string budget. It’s particularly great during finals time as it gives me ample opportunities to avoid the work I should be doing, (i.e. studying for entertainment law). Today I happened upon an outline for that class, so it takes a ton of weight off me. Though not literally as I happened to eat way too much for dinner tonight. I went to Bombay House with Brad and Emily and ate a huge amount of a spicy chicken dish with coconut milk and rice with cilantro. Good times. I’m hoping to hit my stride with this studying thing soon. What the heck was I thinking setting up a schedule with four finals during my last semester?
Yesterday at the Minority Law Caucus auction, I ended up buying a dinner for four at Professor Kogan’s house. $85! It had better be darned tasty. This was a total peer pressure moment where my friends Brett and John stared me down until I bid on the stupid dinner. The thing is, Kogan hates me! Well… he may not hate me, but considering that my seminar paper was for his class and I turned it in over a year and a half late, and as such I had spent the last 18 months ducking every time I saw him coming down the hall…
So I’m sitting here, enjoying my Netflix selection of the week, slowly working my way through the fourth season of the HBO series OZ, and resolving not to commit crimes. Frankly I don’t think I’d make a good prisoner. I’m just not angry enough. Anyway, my attention is wandering so I’ll wrap this up.
Yesterday at the Minority Law Caucus auction, I ended up buying a dinner for four at Professor Kogan’s house. $85! It had better be darned tasty. This was a total peer pressure moment where my friends Brett and John stared me down until I bid on the stupid dinner. The thing is, Kogan hates me! Well… he may not hate me, but considering that my seminar paper was for his class and I turned it in over a year and a half late, and as such I had spent the last 18 months ducking every time I saw him coming down the hall…
So I’m sitting here, enjoying my Netflix selection of the week, slowly working my way through the fourth season of the HBO series OZ, and resolving not to commit crimes. Frankly I don’t think I’d make a good prisoner. I’m just not angry enough. Anyway, my attention is wandering so I’ll wrap this up.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
last last day
So today was my last day of classes. Again, my last last day of school. Wow. It’s starting to sink in, but it still hasn’t yet. Granted I still have two yucky weeks of finals ahead of me and I’m not entirely sure that I’ll be able to pass my bankruptcy class, but assuming that I somehow make it through, I’m gonna graduate!
Tonight is the family law clinic. Yee-hah. This is a great project where people with family law related problems and who are unable to afford an attorney come to the courthouse and are assisted by law students and lawyers free of charge.
It’s a great cause and it really helps people but at the same time it’s sometimes hard to handle because by and large because we’re often dealing with people without much formal education and who feel completely overwhelmed by the system. So I go and I listen and I try to help with what little knowledge I have. And I worry that I’m steering people in the right direction, that I’m giving people good advice that will help them and not mess them up further. In the end though, I think that a big part of the job there is just to listen to people who may not have anyone else to talk to them and who can help them take the next step.
And tonight I get to be in charge! Oh the abuses of power will be rampant! Well… at least to the extent that one can abuse the ability to hand out forms to the volunteers… So I’m off there now so that I can be ready to help the thronging masses.
Tonight is the family law clinic. Yee-hah. This is a great project where people with family law related problems and who are unable to afford an attorney come to the courthouse and are assisted by law students and lawyers free of charge.
It’s a great cause and it really helps people but at the same time it’s sometimes hard to handle because by and large because we’re often dealing with people without much formal education and who feel completely overwhelmed by the system. So I go and I listen and I try to help with what little knowledge I have. And I worry that I’m steering people in the right direction, that I’m giving people good advice that will help them and not mess them up further. In the end though, I think that a big part of the job there is just to listen to people who may not have anyone else to talk to them and who can help them take the next step.
And tonight I get to be in charge! Oh the abuses of power will be rampant! Well… at least to the extent that one can abuse the ability to hand out forms to the volunteers… So I’m off there now so that I can be ready to help the thronging masses.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Duck and cover
So it’s time for another posting. My good friend James tells me that it only takes fourteen consecutive repetitions of something before that thing becomes a habit. He was stating this in reference to me working out regularly, but if it’s true it’s probably applicable to things like blogging. So I’m starting a challenge with myself today: Blog for fourteen consecutive days (quality of the content not necessarily being my highest goal) and see if it sticks. This is day one. Good times so far.
As far as updates go, tomorrow is last last day of school. Possibly forever! Who’d have thunk that I’d make it this far. Frankly I expected to die in a particularly spectacular fashion sometime ago…
Nevertheless, kudos to me. Since I managed to complete my seminar paper last week (only 2 years behind schedule) things have seemed much better. I didn’t realize how heavily that darned paper had been weighing on my conscience. Now that it’s done, I can begin to concentrate on the four finals I have to take this semester. Oh gosh. Probably should have started those earlier too… Oh well. No time to live in the past.
As far as updates go, tomorrow is last last day of school. Possibly forever! Who’d have thunk that I’d make it this far. Frankly I expected to die in a particularly spectacular fashion sometime ago…
Nevertheless, kudos to me. Since I managed to complete my seminar paper last week (only 2 years behind schedule) things have seemed much better. I didn’t realize how heavily that darned paper had been weighing on my conscience. Now that it’s done, I can begin to concentrate on the four finals I have to take this semester. Oh gosh. Probably should have started those earlier too… Oh well. No time to live in the past.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Causing panic
As mentioned, I’m something of a slacker when it comes to my homework. Take last night for instance. As part of my grade for my Constitutional Interpretation in Congress class (taught by a federal circuit court judge widely rumored to be on the short list for the supreme court, but tragically skipped over twice (but he’s not bitter)), I’m required to write 2, 5 to 10 page papers expounding on a section from our textbooks. The papers have to be electronically submitted by 6:00 am the morning before the class in which we are supposed to discuss them. I’ve know about this paper requirement since the beginning of the school year. I’ve had my topic selected for almost as long. I had an entire week free from classes in which to write my paper, and so naturally I was at the law library at 7:00 pm last night thinking I should probably start on that paper…
Many hours later… I’m not done yet but the library closes down at 11:00 pm so I decided to pack up my belongings and head home. I don’t normally drive home since I live on the TRAX line but it was cold and I was in a foul mood so I decided my convenience was worth the money I’d spend in gas. I live in downtown Salt Lake in a high-rise condominium. Parking facilities are underneath the building. At any rate, I get into my parking garage and make it to the elevator room where a middle aged Asian woman was waiting for the elevator to arrive. I recognize her as my neighbor from across the hall on my floor. So I said a quiet hello and we proceeded to wait in silence for the elevator. It arrived, we enter, she presses the button and we wait. The elevator arrives on our floor; we get off and turn down the hallway to the right. I was trying to be respectful so I gave her a head start and I noticed as she was walking, she kept looking over her shoulder at me. I thought she was just being rude and kept walking. Then as we got to the point where she should have turned left to go into her house, she instead makes a right turn and starts fiddling with the lock on mine! I quickly caught up to her and was about to demand that she explain her actions. She shot me a panicked look and that’s when I caught a glimpse of the unit number. It was 506. I live in 606. I was on the wrong floor. This middle aged Asian was not my neighbor. She turned out to be my neighbor’s cousin (which explains the resemblance) from the floor below. So here I was, chasing this poor woman down, scaring the heck out of her when all she wanted to do was go home. When I realized my mistake I stood there for a moment and said, lamely, “Oh. I guess I don’t live here, do I?” Then I chuckled softly… She was absolutely silent. I took this as my cue to go on and explain my actions as best I could. “I got off on the wrong floor… hahaha...” At that point, she realized I wasn’t a desperate criminal, just a confused student and she smiled and forgave my mistake… Then I went home. Good times. I’m just glad she didn’t have any pepper spray. Ouch!
Many hours later… I’m not done yet but the library closes down at 11:00 pm so I decided to pack up my belongings and head home. I don’t normally drive home since I live on the TRAX line but it was cold and I was in a foul mood so I decided my convenience was worth the money I’d spend in gas. I live in downtown Salt Lake in a high-rise condominium. Parking facilities are underneath the building. At any rate, I get into my parking garage and make it to the elevator room where a middle aged Asian woman was waiting for the elevator to arrive. I recognize her as my neighbor from across the hall on my floor. So I said a quiet hello and we proceeded to wait in silence for the elevator. It arrived, we enter, she presses the button and we wait. The elevator arrives on our floor; we get off and turn down the hallway to the right. I was trying to be respectful so I gave her a head start and I noticed as she was walking, she kept looking over her shoulder at me. I thought she was just being rude and kept walking. Then as we got to the point where she should have turned left to go into her house, she instead makes a right turn and starts fiddling with the lock on mine! I quickly caught up to her and was about to demand that she explain her actions. She shot me a panicked look and that’s when I caught a glimpse of the unit number. It was 506. I live in 606. I was on the wrong floor. This middle aged Asian was not my neighbor. She turned out to be my neighbor’s cousin (which explains the resemblance) from the floor below. So here I was, chasing this poor woman down, scaring the heck out of her when all she wanted to do was go home. When I realized my mistake I stood there for a moment and said, lamely, “Oh. I guess I don’t live here, do I?” Then I chuckled softly… She was absolutely silent. I took this as my cue to go on and explain my actions as best I could. “I got off on the wrong floor… hahaha...” At that point, she realized I wasn’t a desperate criminal, just a confused student and she smiled and forgave my mistake… Then I went home. Good times. I’m just glad she didn’t have any pepper spray. Ouch!
Friday, October 07, 2005
Wake up! There's misfortune to be had.
So I’ve had this blog for a few days now. At least once each day, I’ve gotten to this point and stopped, unable to tackle the white space demon and get an entry started. All that’s behind me now because I’m able to write about my own previous inability to write. Funny how things work out.
I’m not really sure what tales will eventually grace these pages, but judging from the experiences of my first 24 years of life, they’re likely to be painful (for me), will probably result in a broken limb or two before I’m done, and hopefully provide a chortle from time to time.
To give you a tiny and carefully reconstructed version of my life thus far… I am a third year law student at the University of Utah (BCS Busters!), poised on the treacherous edge of adulthood. I was born and raised in a small college town in northern Utah. Since graduating from said college, I packed up my bags, committed myself to three years of havoc and mayhem and escaped to the sprawling metropolis of Salt Lake City. We are currently on Fall Break—a time when the smart and dedicated law students use their freedom from classes to get caught up in their outlining and reading and when I hang black sheets in my window so the noontime sun doesn’t wake me. So needless to say, I’m not exactly editor in chief of law review. In high school and college, I always wondered who the people were at the bottom of the class. In law school, I’m discovering that it’s me. And I’m surprisingly okay with that. While class standing and the invariable tie to future employment potential should be enough to cause consternation in someone that is shelling out more money for his education than his parents paid for their first house… I’d still rather hang some sheets and catch a few extra hours of sleep.
Speaking of sleep, it’s rapidly approaching 2:00 am so I’ll sign off for tonight, but expect to hear from me again in the near future.
I’m not really sure what tales will eventually grace these pages, but judging from the experiences of my first 24 years of life, they’re likely to be painful (for me), will probably result in a broken limb or two before I’m done, and hopefully provide a chortle from time to time.
To give you a tiny and carefully reconstructed version of my life thus far… I am a third year law student at the University of Utah (BCS Busters!), poised on the treacherous edge of adulthood. I was born and raised in a small college town in northern Utah. Since graduating from said college, I packed up my bags, committed myself to three years of havoc and mayhem and escaped to the sprawling metropolis of Salt Lake City. We are currently on Fall Break—a time when the smart and dedicated law students use their freedom from classes to get caught up in their outlining and reading and when I hang black sheets in my window so the noontime sun doesn’t wake me. So needless to say, I’m not exactly editor in chief of law review. In high school and college, I always wondered who the people were at the bottom of the class. In law school, I’m discovering that it’s me. And I’m surprisingly okay with that. While class standing and the invariable tie to future employment potential should be enough to cause consternation in someone that is shelling out more money for his education than his parents paid for their first house… I’d still rather hang some sheets and catch a few extra hours of sleep.
Speaking of sleep, it’s rapidly approaching 2:00 am so I’ll sign off for tonight, but expect to hear from me again in the near future.
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Legal Briefs Incident
I really should be studying for my BusOrgs midterm so I'll be brief, but I wanted to relay a small and embarrassing slice of my life. I totally pulled a Todd! I'm sitting here at the library, red-faced and trying hard to avoid any public contact. The reason? Well last night I was studying late at the library and when I got home I was dead tired so I wearily shed my clothes and piled them on top of my slightly overflowing laundry basket. Today, as is my habit, I slept into the very last minute possible in order to make it to class on time. So when the alarm sounded, I leapt into my clothes and brought along my Utah hooded sweatshirt since you never know if it will rain/be freezing in class. Routine so far.
Today however, when I arrived at school, I dashed into the library to pick up my books and as I was walking through the main floor, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to face a person I don't know. She smiled sweetly at me and said "I think you dropped something back there" and turned away. Thanking her, I looked in the general direction and noticed an odd bit of fabric about 20 feet behind me. I advanced towards it and upon closer inspection, I realized that the mysterious cloth was in fact, *wait for it* MY FREAKIN UNDERWEAR!
That's right. Apparently when I grabbed my sweater, I also brought along with it the boxers I was wearing yesterday. Somehow they managed to remain lodged inside the sweatshirt until precisely the moment when I was surrounded by my colleagues. God's sense of humor never fails to amaze me...
Lets hope the joke is over by the time I take my test!
Today however, when I arrived at school, I dashed into the library to pick up my books and as I was walking through the main floor, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to face a person I don't know. She smiled sweetly at me and said "I think you dropped something back there" and turned away. Thanking her, I looked in the general direction and noticed an odd bit of fabric about 20 feet behind me. I advanced towards it and upon closer inspection, I realized that the mysterious cloth was in fact, *wait for it* MY FREAKIN UNDERWEAR!
That's right. Apparently when I grabbed my sweater, I also brought along with it the boxers I was wearing yesterday. Somehow they managed to remain lodged inside the sweatshirt until precisely the moment when I was surrounded by my colleagues. God's sense of humor never fails to amaze me...
Lets hope the joke is over by the time I take my test!
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