Tell Me What You Think

Let's see. I'll need 22 credits to graduate. In the Summer Session take Sales, and Business Associations II as they are both bar classes.
That would leave 18 credits left so I could do ONLY 9 credits in both fall and spring and be fine :)
Law Review is 1 credit and that is mandatory for me. Would be stupid to not continue to be on the law review.
Intellectual Property is 3 credits. I find the subject interesting and Prof. Crews is cool. Not a bar class though but oh well.
National Security and Foreign Relationsis also 3 credits. Once again a 'I wanna take' class and Prof. Bradford is cool. Once again not a bar class, but oh well.
Trusts and Estates with Prof. Katz. 4 credits and it is a bar class. Never had Prof. Katz before, but it's time to have some new professors in my career.

Okay, right there is 11 credits. But wait, there's more! Why am I this stupid to take even more classes?
The Program in Law & State Government is 3 credits. If I get a position I figure it will be very useful experience and I may work up a few contacts in state government. Experience and contacts are never a bad thing.
Okay that would still be 14 credits, with 3 actual classes. I'm used to 15 and 16 credit semesters with 5 - 6 classes.
However, I can be on the Client Counseling Competition Board for 1 credit. I get to help organize the CCC that will be running in the spring semester. I've been told it is the single easiest credit you can get in law school.
That could be 15 credits in one semester when I'll only need 18 to graduate at that point. I need this and I want this and suddenly I'm at a freaking full load!

Oh well, I'm pretty sure I'll only have 2 bar classes and law review for the spring. That should only be 7 credits. But Land Use sounds kind of interesting . . .

Another One Bites The Dust

Rarely does anyone like to lose, yet this is one time I don't mind. International Law Society held elections for the new executive board of 2004-05. I was nominated for a few positions, but decided I could do Secretary.

My problem is that I am will likely be so swamped next year. Editing Student Notes, taking classes, the possibility of a class internship, and will likely be the president again of National Security Law Society. I ALREADY do a ton of work and have major time commitments. So once the results came out it was that weird mixed feeling: miffed about losing, yet thankful I didn't need to make the time and energy commitment.

Here's the odd part: I don't think I have EVER won an election! I didn't win presidency of NSLS. I ascended to it. I never won section leader in band. I ascended to that position. Okay, I did win the position of Historian in Psi Chi, but I'm not sure that was even contested. I'll admit the grad school senility may affect may memory there. I never win a popularity contest, but I always seem to be in the right place at the right time as a power behind the throne. Life is funny that way I guess.

BTW: I do still intend to be an active member of Int'l Law Society. I always wanted that.

The Last Of A Kind

Law Reviews are scholastic legal journals run and edited by law students. The purpose of which is to discuss legal topics, give students a chance to refine their writing and research skills, and make those on the Reviews work like a whipped mule for a year or two. I.U.-Indy is lucky to have 3 journals now and it is quite a prize for a student to land a spot on one. If your Note, a student's legal paper, actually gets published by a Law Review that is a tremendous honor and achievement.

Indiana International &Comparative Law Review had solely a write-on contest for the last 14 years to get in new members like myself. Score 70 points on essay and you were invited to join. Indiana Law Review automatically invited the top 10% of the class based on grade point average and a few people wrote-on as well. The new Indiana Health Law Review had the write-on contest and a minimum GPA requirement of a 3.0, a B average.

The problem is that people look at such requirements that include the GPA factor or that top 10% (which is just a variation of GPA), and figured that there must be a hierarchy of prestige. ILR must be the most prestigious, this new IHLR must still be pretty good, and hey, II&CLR will accept anyone so they're the scholastic version of a Hyundai. I've always argued that would I get a better education at Harvard, Yale, or Stanford than here? I don't think so. In the real nuts and bolts, workingman world I exist in prestige doesn't mean anything. Yet superintelligent, hyper-competitive people such as law students fall for this trap.

I admire and respect many of my friends and colleagues in the ILR offices that are next door, but even some of them fall for that trap. It is not intentional on their part, but sometimes in conversation or in listening to discussions it seems to sometimes slip out that they are the elite Mercedes of the journals here.

I found out yesterday that my review, the II&CLR, was upgrading their requirements to be an automatic invite to the top 10%, or the 70 points on the essay AND a top 40% requirement. Why do this? It boils down to several changes in class structure and a need to be perceived better in reputation and prestige. I understand the reasoning. I can agree with it to an extent. In many ways perception is reality. It would be rare that someone not in at least the top half of the class would be able to put out quality work or that such a person be able to handle a standard class load and the extraordinary responsibilities of being on a law review. Such a person would be an anomaly.

Yet I did it. It is unlikely I'll ever be in the top half of my graduating class, yet I wrote a Note that will be published this year. I will be the last of my kind, an anomaly. I understand the world needs to move on, yet I feel so sorry for those that may not shine on the bell curve of GPA, yet have the interest and desire to do the work, and just maybe the talent to have a paper worthy of being published.

To my first year mentees that I have sheparded this past year...do well on your final exams. It is your only hope now.

Help Needed

Oh I HATE to read stories like this because I can't do anything about it money-wise. Actually most of my readership can't do anything because you're as poor as I am! However, some of you do have wives, husbands, significant others that do earn money SO if you can put in a little donation for Timothy I would appreciate it. Look at his picture, isn't he so cute :) Help out a noble Shetland Sheepdog for they deserve it. If you can adopt one you'll never regret it.

Entropy Grew Up

Back in college one of my best friends, T, had a Chevy Chevette named Entropy. Chevettes were not great cars in the first place, but even this one was bad. After awhile I think the only thing holding it together was bailing wire and our prayers that we not die while driving in it. Typical college car.

I saw T for the first time in nearly 5 years Saturday. A large obnoxious group of us were going out to the Pawn Shop Pub to celebrate pending nuputals for a friend. Since I was still pretty sober I got to be the designated driver. My 2 seat Ford Ranger wasn't going to cart our sorry butts there so I got to drive T's minivan. T was very hammered by 7pm.

His instructions: Okay Brian, don't open the sliding door because it is wired shut. You can tell the drivers door is all f*ed up so you have to lift to get it open and closed right.

I will admit that getting 7 other men in varying states of sobriety into such a crippled vehicle was rather amusing. I buckled up because not only is it the law, but it seemed like a smart idea. As we made the turn the driver door swung open! Oh god, I am so going to die! I knew T's car was finally going to kill me; it was just 10 years late. I made a gentle turn into the parking lot and it swung open again. Talk about multitasking: make the turn, slow down, and grab the door at the same time. Funny, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The ride back was pretty uneventful, except for the thought of killing my best friend.
You're honor I'm a man of great repressed anger and his drunken mega-ass personality had surfaced. It was justifiable homicide.
You are right Brian. Case dismissed.

What's the lesson from all this: be trashed with your friends. That way their crap won't bother you as much. Oh yeah, be sure to have cab fare so you don't have to drive Entropy II.

How nights should be.

Friday night: spend it in the library working on Trial Practice until it closes at 11pm.
Wake up early and finish the assignment for today.
Saturday afternoon: go to Rosslyn and cook dead cow. Have beer. Tonight hopefully a little more beer.

Which night sounds like more fun to you?

The next time you denigrate a lawyer and think they earn too much. I'll just point out the 3 years of scholastic hell we endure. Working on a Friday night and shutting down the library...I've never done that until yesterday.

PS: yes I know medical students have it even worse. I acknowledge that Cindy.

"You Look Great"

I walk into the office and check in with the receptionist there. It appears that as a security measure you photo pops up on the computer screen when you check in. (No this is not at school) One of the first things she says is You need a new picture.

Being somewhat confused I asked her why I needed a new picture. As she turned the computer screen around so I could see, her reply
Well you have great short hair (I just had a haircut 2 weeks ago), you have new glasses that look fantastic on you, that shirt is nice, and you look great.

Frankly I rarely, if ever, hear comments approaching anything of that nature, much less from a 22 year old blonde Ball State graduate who is working the receptionist job simply to earn money. I definitely said thank you with a little smile.

Have I approached the point where a much younger woman views me as an attractive older gentlemen? I might need to go back sometime.

Calling Tech Support!

FINALLY I can send email from my laptop. I called university tech support and they suggested disabling Norton Anti-Virus from scanning my email as I sent it. Worked like a charm. Now, if only they would include that tip in their online database! First time in 3 weeks this thing has worked properly.

Save the Pawn Shop Pub!

A wonderful landmark in Broad Ripple at the corner of College Ave. and Kessler Blvd. is The Pawn Shop Pub. Feels like a nice British neighborhood pub. They have good meals, good drinks, and is a nice place to hang with your friends or take a date too. It's in Broad Ripple, but a few blocks off the bar strip so you don't deal with drunken frat boys elsewhere. It's a nice more mature place to hang out.

It is closing down at the end of May :-( It appears the landlord doesn't wish to renew the lease after 27 years. I'll be going there a few more times to celebrate the quaintness of the place before it goes. I hope to see many of you there before a cherished landmark goes. I'll buy the first round.

Checking off the list

1. Finish taking Evidence Midterm. Check.
2. Have third and final mediation session tomrrow morning to complete class requirements. Check.
3. Filled out Scott and Caryn's wedding invitation and mail it. Check.
4. Wash the dishes. Check.
5. Read Evidence assignment for tomorrow. Aw'hell! I knew I forgot something.

Still 4 out of 5 isn't bad. At least the checklist is getting a little smaller. Now if only I can figure out what I want for classes in the Fall Semester. I guess that'll be #6 on the list.

Pretty Smiles

It's the little things in life you have to savor. I remembered to bring in the photos from our Barrister's Ball formal dance. I showed people the pics I had of them and a smile usually came out on their face. It's good of Santa Brian to bring a little bit of joy to our world. Mission Accomplished :)

This Old House

I love old houses. They have character and soul unlike that modern tinkertown conformist suburban crap with have now for urban planning. I've become addicted to various local real estate websites to find old houses that need some (or a lot) of loving to restore. Hey, buy a fixer-upper and you can get into a nice neighborhood cheap. Or buy a fixer-upper and help revitalize a neighborhood. Gingerbread trim, old style Italianate brick and stonework, tall windows with the wavy glass. Those grand old ladies just need someone who appreciates their inner-beauty to make them shine again.

It's amazing that I've lived in Indianapolis all my life and within the last few years have truly gone out into various neighborhoods and explored the city. As the weather has warmed up I like to drive by some of the houses I've found on the websites just to see their condition and what kind of neighborhood they're in. As a benefit I've discovered neighborhoods that I've only heard about but never really knew where they were before: Fountain Square, Fletcher Place, Woodruff Place, The Old Northside, Herron-Morton. All gems in the rough that are in various stages of polishing.

Oh why couldn't I have figured out I wanted to be a lawyer a few years earlier? I could be having an income, paying off student loans, and saving up for a down payment while interest rates on housing loans are near historic lows! Stupid timing!

I drove a few miles out of my way this afternoon to inspect one. It has potential, though it isn't nearly my favorite. Yet why does a $52,000 gutted out 1890's shell next to a light industrial area in Fountain Square still seem pretty appealing? My two favorites aren't in much better shape, but if you haven't bought a house yet and will live in Indy, consider something downtown. Help rebuild the inner soul of an up and coming city by truly putting some work into your home. These neighborhoods have history and are all different versus the neighborhoods by chain restaurant design in former soybean field that we have now.

Besides, a real man or woman knows how to hammer :-)

Add Insult to Injury or The Legal Tips You Need

Ugh..found the email last year that announced the job opportunity that I wanted for this year. That email went out this time last year requesting resumes by April 11th.

This year there was no email announcement and they just filled up positions as resumes came in via word of mouth contacts. Had I known they would start filling up positions in late February I would have sent in my resume sooner! Several of us are P.O.ed to be honest. We relied on this year's procedure to be the same as last year's procedure.

There's a tip for my non-legal friends reading this. RELIED or RELIANCE is a magic word to use sometimes. "Hey I relied on this info I was given; therefore, I shouldn't be caught holding the bag." Just a tip from your Uncle Brian.

Well what the hell am I going to do now?

Since I did not get the prosecutorial internship job that I was hoping for my third year of law school, I now have the problem of figuring out what classes I want to take over the summer and fall semester. I need to get in more classes that will be on the bar exam. I also want to have a few classes that I feel I might enjoy. There are a few class internships or legal clinic opportunities as well, BUT I don't have all of the prerequisites and I don't know yet if I can take it concurrently with the clinic.

I could take the clinic in the spring semester and ensure that I have no problems by taking the last prereq (Criminal Procedure) this fall. See what happens when you don't have a Plan B!

At least I have an envious problem to have. After this semester I'll only need 22 credits to graduate and I have already taken all the required classes and fulfilled my senior writing requirement. If I take 2 classes in the summer session I could either have a ridiculously easy fall and spring semester for my third and final year of school (9 credits apiece), or I could take a still fairly light schedule and get in a few classes for the Bar Exam and still have some fun classes and other experiences like a clinic (12-13 credits in a semester will seem so light to me still!) There is no penalty for graduating with more than 90 credits.

The pain is juggling a rather poor offering of classes and being able to find the good, the needed, and the fun.

It's amazing how I'm the third or fourth lawyer of my peer group, yet all of our experiences in school were completely different.

The Fruits Of My Labor Were Enjoyed!

I was given the assignment to work with the school to prepare for a congresman to speak at the school. I thought it was great that we got a true expert on the field to come to our school and talk about the topic of national security. Unfortunately Friday is not a good day for speakers as most upperclassman aren't at the school. That Friday was also bad as it was the Friday before Spring Break. Who knows how many students had already split town. It was really bad for me as I was leaving that Friday for the Charleston Wedding Related Activities. (not an intentional skipping out mind you)

So I did all this work, couldn't enjoy it, and had no idea how well it went. This particular congressman is a well-known conservative and this law school...isn't. I was so afraid no one would show up, especially since there had been rather unprofessional responses to the announcement. Personally I didn't care, what the person's beliefs were. I just wanted a good speaker!

In class I asked the person who handled it on that particular Friday if anyone showed up. The room was very full and we ran out of pizza! For once, we were a victim of our own success! I just wish I was there to enjoy the moment, and get a picture of me with a real live congressman :-) A dude needs to look for work and make contacts ya know!

I need a break from Spring Break

Given all the bad things that happened to me during Spring Break I feel the need to actually relax. Sadly classes have started back up today and I've been on the go since 8:30 this morning. However, there were a few things that were good during my Spring Break so I'll share a few. That way you don't leave with the impression it was ALL BAD!

1. Temperatures reached the 60s on Friday and Saturday so I could roll down the windows and let the fresh air in as I drove.

2. Watching the dog move his head as I had a jelly bean in my hand and moved it around. He tracked it perfectly and it was so funny to watch.

3. Holding a beautiful 4 month old girl in my arms and feeding her with a bottle. The little girl definately had her mother's eyes.

Sometimes it is the little things in life that make it all mean something.

Metallica Rules :-)

The postal lady has arrived, sans weapons, and has delivered that most precious of things: two tickets to the Thursday August 19th Metallica concert at Conseco Fieldhouse! It's just before classes start up again so I'm going to have fun.

I know Andy you have first dibs on Ticket #2 assuming I don't find a nice single cute Metallica loving lady to go with me. Speaking of which if there are any takers you know how to get ahold of me. I'm assuming that enough classic material will be played to make up for anything played from the new album, St. Anger.

The Measure Of A CHAMPION.

CHAMPIONS strive to be more than what they are. CHAMPIONS fight to be just. CHAMPIONS are strong to protect those that are not. CHAMPIONS stand up against the tyranny. CHAMPIONS do not follow the convenient or easy way simply because it is the convenient or easy way. CHAMPIONS follow the hard road, when it is the only way to go. CHAMPIONS bear the burdens no one else can. CHAMPIONS go it alone when no one else believes them. CHAMPIONS take the hits no one else will. CHAMPIONS strike when no one else can. CHAMPIONS are the steel, when the rest are straw. When CHAMPIONS fall, they go down swinging.

CHAMPIONS are not supposed to pass out after lunch! I felt the nausea after the meal. I closed my eyes. The next thing I remember was opening my eyes and everyone was looking at me while I was in a headlock. For about four minutes I was out, attempting to curl up, and appeared to others experienced a seizure. During my mental reboot I could answer questions in a yeah or no fashion, but my eyes didn’t focus on anything. It was weird when my mind passed some invisible threshold and suddenly I was back. It was like waking up in the middle of a flight and at first you forgot you were flying on a plane. You’re just confused for a few seconds because you’re not where you expect to be. The paramedics had already been called and arrived a few minutes after I regained full consciousness. They asked questions about my name (I so wanted to say Batman but figured that was a BAD idea), address, what year it was (sometimes I still have to resist writing 2003 on my checks so this was a tricky one), who the president was (my answer: Dub’ya. Paramedic’s response: eh, close enough), etc. I had to wait the split second before answering because the mental gears had to double check (perform checksum routine).

I walked out to the ambulance and rode in the back. Ambulances do not have a plush, with a comfortable ride attitude. The buckboard ride over the potholes made me even more nauseous; like 6 gin and tonics nauseous. When the paramedic gave me oxygen I had to wonder where I could a home version for after a night in Broad Ripple. I felt sorry for all the other people in the E.R. One guy puking, one women withdrawing from narcotics, another women bleeding because her boyfriend beat the snot out of her, and I’m there on the gurney cracking jokes and burping every 5 minutes. I felt bad taking up the space. After 4 hours, 1 EKG to see if my heart was fine, and 1 cat-scan to see if my graduate-senile brain was fine: the results were that I was fine! Except for my extreme embarrassment, the bruised ego, the upset stomach, and the fact that parts of my chest were shaved to allow better contact with the EKG pads I was perfectly fine. I may avoid the hamloaf in the future though. I can’t even blame this on Guinness and green beer.

What a week. I accidentally wreck my own taillights, I don’t get my dream job, and now I pass out and go to the E.R. Yet through the trials and tribulations that life throws at us all, CHAMPIONS continue on. Am I the next champion or am I simply too stubborn to give up?

St. Patricks Day

Umm....Guinness beer! Ummm....Irish stew. Ummm...that cute red-headed Irish woman in a traditional dancing dress at Irishfest on TV..err..never mind.

I like any holiday that gives me an excuse to party. Not that I need much temptation. However, I don't have anything dressy that is green and showing up in a judge's chambers in a green t-shirt is likely not a good idea. However I just got an email from a man of German decent and as I am a man of German decent I feel I will have to use this today to avoid being pinch:

Most people know my last name, so whenever they come up and say You're not wearing green, haha and go to pinch me. I say Fine, but I get to beat you up, drink all your beer and live in your house for two weeks come Oktoberfest.

EXCELLENT :-)

So much for the job

I got a ding letter from the job that I interviewed for last Thursday. Okay, I'm bummed. Tons of real world experience, some money and benefits. SIGH!

I guess I'll need to do unpaid pro bono work or find some clerking job to get some cash next summer and fall. At least I only need 22 credits to graduate. That should free up the schedule especially if I do summer classes.

I feel the need to drink some beer now.

This is Spring Break?

Instead of relaxing for Spring Break I'm attempting to get a ton of things completed that have been neglected in the first half of the semester. One project: spend two or three days in our courts for my internship. If I could get 16-24 hours in this week that would go a long way for my 120 hour ceiling for my internship class.

Two problems: 1) some motivational speakership being held at Conseco Fieldhouse and 2) Gov. Orr's funeral procession. There are tens of thousands of extra people downtown that normally wouldn't be downtown. Once I got downtown I was stuck in traffic. It took 10 minutes just to get through several intersections. I never got into 2nd gear for 45 minutes. If the parking meters took dollar bills and allowed you to buy 8 hours of time I could have parked and walked to the City-County Building in 5 minutes. Instead it took forever to get anywhere and all the parking lots and garages (that I could get to) were full. To save time I've parked at the law school and will just walk the 20 minutes to the City-County Building from here. I'm convinced I'll save time and I'll definitely save money.

Oh yeah, the bathroom was handy as well. When coffee wants to leave your body it will leave you body! I may as well be a little lackadaisical and have a decent lunch and catch the afternoon hearings and trials.
GEEZ!

Thank God For The Women!

Purdue men's basketball died this year. No NCAA tourney for these guys and rightfully so. Our women's team is maintaining it's tradition of excellence with a Number Two seed. Some figure they should have gotten the One seed due to beating Penn State in the Big 10 Tourney, but those talking head said Penn State had a better preseason schedule and beat Purdue twice to obtain the No. 1 seed. Eh, whatever! It's time to enjoy watching the women play.

BTW: it is NOT the Lady Boilermakers. They are simply the Purdue Boilermakers and it is the women's program at play.

The Note is DONE!

I tried to get my Note done before leaving for Charleston on Friday. Between homework, updating my resume, and performing a job interview I just could not get the Note finished before I left. For those playing at home here are the rules of the game: when your Note is selected for publication it gets assigned to a team of editors (2 in my case). Those two wonderful people catch my mistakes (and they found plenty). They tell me when I’ve misquoted something, need to add a footnote, change something from italics to small capitals, etc. Then I incorporate their edits into my Note to get it ready for publication. It sounds easy enough, but when I add and subtract footnotes it messes up the numbering of those footnotes. Sometimes Microsoft Word is smart enough to renumber footnote references to the new changes. Sometimes it isn’t; especially when the user (me) couldn’t figure out how to get that option to work properly.

Note to Microsoft: your HELP files are not particularly helpful!

Just so you know it took 4 hours to make sure all my footnotes referenced each other correctly. THAT is annoying! It is done though, sent to the executive editors for their approval, then off to the publisher! I have worked my ass off since late August on this thing and it is getting published. Sometimes hard work and effort do actually pay off.


PS: somebody send my Note to the President. I solved the Iraq problem while keeping day-to-day control with the U.S. and keeping the United Nations relevant.

Dude, where’s my car?

Luckily, the plane trips back from Charleston were far better than the outbound flights. It should have been Indy to Charolette to Charleston. Instead it was Indy to DC and then all hell breaks loose. The fact I was almost shipped to Newark, from D.C., in order to get to Charleston, South Carolina still sends shivers through my spine. Does anyone want to go to Newark? Regardless I stepped off the parking lot shuttle at the airport and then realized something: I had no idea where my truck was! Airport parking lots are friggin’ huge. After 20 minutes of walking up and down the various aisles I finally managed to find the trusty and faithful green Ranger. Yeah, home at last! In time for a snow storm tonight???

Wedding Related Activities

What happens at a bachelor party stays in the bachelor party! That megarule shall not be violated.
However, I shall tease you with some interesting quotes that were observed:

1. I’m sorry, but the flight has been delayed due to a part falling off the engine.

2. After rummaging around the engine room of a World War II aircraft carrier (Yorktown) bewildered by the plethora of valves, pipes, and levers.
Either a genius or an alcoholic designed this. Or an alcoholic genius!

3. Upon looking at the engine diagram that explained how it all worked,
Dude, this picture tells us exactly what we need to do. We can actually steal this one!
Excellent I want to take on France’s one leaky aircraft carrier.

4A. Charleston is obviously a popular place for bachelor parties. Some even come across the pond:
Look, those British hooligans are dressed with Wonder Woman tits and 2 inch nipples. Anything we do will be tame by comparison.

4B. Ties into the above quote: So that’s what happened to the British Empire.

5. Upon running into a bachlorette party that had preprinted name tags for themselves and friends: Anya Nees, E.Z. Lei, Miles Long-Sclong, Ima Beech.

6. You know that girl who took off her bra has already deleted that picture. That’s damage control.

7. Dinner hasn’t arrived yet and [name redacted to protect the guilty] already has won the Shroud of Stupidity.

8. This is not a full-size car and we’re full-size people.

9. Hey, don’t touch my ass!
I’m sorry, but someone shoved me and your ass was just there.

10. Wait a minute, the girl got the $100 AND she got the underwear?

Why it is good to be an upperclassman

We need to schedule for next semester's classes soon. There was an email saying that the system had changed a bit so I decided to attend the Q&A session the school was attending. I would like to note that Administration sometimes does not know squat! At least about the real questions that students would have. I ended up being the only upperclassman attending this session. Once the administration got past the technical aspects, they we stumped by many questions: which classes should I sign up for first? Should I take Law Review and Moot Court at the same time. How should I schedule classes and what should my backup plan be? So I answered a lot of those questions after the session. I have the experience and I can offer the pluses and minues of various strategies. The ones that hung around really liked what I had to say. I wish the Administration had simply asked a few upperclassman around to sit as a panel to offer their opinions. It would have been good experience for all those 1Ls.

Go Boilers!!!

Big 10 tourney in Indinapolis. 2:30pm today Purdue Boilermakers vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers. May Purdue Pete use his sledgehammer to squash a gopher! If only I could skip Evidence and my interview this afternoon to watch the game.

The Dark Cloud in the Silver Lining!

OMG!! I just got an email for an interview about a job that I've been wanting since I've arrived at this school 3 semesters ago. They want to see me at 4pm today. I'm not wearing a suit. Time to go home and change. I hope to get the job, but man I was looking forward to getting homework done in my jeans and t-shirt! Been wearing suits and jackets 3 to 4 times a week lately!

EDIT: Nice gray/silver suit on now with light blue dress shirt. I look ready for an interview. I look marvelous ;) Now I have to figure out what I want to say. Been a long day here at school with not a whole lot getting accomplished. At least the walk downtown will be nice.

Happy Anniversary!

'Confessions' is now one week old. For such a young blog it seems to get a fair amount of traffic. Thanks to Lawren aka B.B.B. for the reciprocal link and Josh posting on Sapere Aude about the creation of the new blogs. If I ever figure out HTML I'll get the little links to work when I reference other people and things. Please bear with me as there are always growing pains.

I hope to entertain all. I hope to occasionally enlighten. I cover the spectrum of goofiness to seriousness. In the end, this is the online diary that I'm willing to share you, the online-voyours of the web.

There ain't jack on TV!!!

For whatever reason all the good shows are on Wednesday night, and they compete against each other. Thank god for the VCR! However, with February sweeps over no it is preemption and rerun hell. Let us see...Smallville is a double shot of reruns, single shot Enterprise rerun, no West Wing, and worst of all, NO ANGEL!!!

I guess I'll incorporate the edits in my Note that will be published in the summer.

The More They Overthink The Plumbing...

the easier it is to stop up the drain. The school recently changed email settings in an attempt to prevent the outbreak of worms and viruses. Seems like a good strategy. I updated my settings to what tech support requested and everything worked fine. Until Sunday that is. Now I can not send outgoing email. I can only receive it. I went to tech supports webpages and double checked my settings. They were fine. They have a little program utility to reset settings. I downloaded it and it ran. I STILL can not transmit an email!

This is highly annoying. As a former tech support person I can easily follow instructions for updating software. Yet, it does not work. I guess I'll have to call campus tech support now. At least webmail works okay, but it's annoying to use it.

I call Shenanigans!!

I saw a hearing this morning that was fishy beyond belief and truly worthy of any organized crime trial. It was full of "I do not know" "I do not have that information in front of me so I can not say either way" etc. etc. etc. Defendant could not identify a third party, give a phone number or location, any terms of a contract. You would think the ruling would go against him.
I don't know, and neither did my judge. If everything about the statute cited was true, then defendant did a very crafty, technically accurate, if highly immoral dodge. He pulled a fast one just like a fake field goal attempt. Of course the upside of all this is now I have to research this one for my judge! More work for me!

Why is it "An Exhausted Mind"?

For some strange reason, I've been waking up around 4 or 5am the past two weeks or so. Given that I am often going to bed around 11:30pm or midnight that isn't really much sleep to be functional, despite the U.S. Army guidelines. If it is a class day, which for me is 6 days a week :-(, that means the alarms goes off at 6am. I've noticed that upon awakening I never really fall back asleep.

I'm thinking of using some Tylonol PM tonight and going to bed early. I've already got the reading assignment for tomorrow done because Monday's Admin Law class was cancelled. I would like a decent amount of sleep for a change. The caffeine IV going into my arm is getting noticeable to others.

How much sleep does anyone else around here get lately?

Irony of the day

Was watching the morning news as I had breakfest. A big story was the fact that Martha Stewart was found guilty of obstruction of justice. The next thing was a K-Mart commercial selling Marth Stewart merchandise with a tag line of wanting to be like Martha!

Angel: Shells

Poor Fred has been consumed by a demon queen coming back to life after millennia. Kudos for Amy Acker playing a completely different role than the meek, funny, and geeky Fred.
Wesley was perfect as the man wanting revenge for the death of his lover. Be strong, be passionate, be full of grief, kill everyone that had anything with her death. Wesley as a dark avenger letting loose with his dark and gray sides is the most in-depth character currently on television IMHO. Using the knife on Gunn after he learned of Gunn's involvement was that nice personal touch of revenge. "Stab Gunn wasn't on the agenda this morning" That was a great line! The best ones were with Harmony and Wes in the lab.

Harm "The girl of your dreams loved you. That's more than most people get."
Wes "It's not enough"

I don't know which part was more true. Three lines of dialogue summed up so much pain, anger, and grief. Sometimes less is more. I still can't believe Angel is getting cancelled. Now we have to wait until 4/14 to see the next new episode..ARGH!! I need my fix!

The Aftermath

I never got to dance, but the Ball was one of the most fun events I've had in a long time. It was good to see people and to see who was with whom. I admit I'm a people watcher. Cindy had a great time which pleased me. I was worried that since she didn't know anyone there that maybe she would not have enjoyed it. Quite a few people, including ourselves, walked along the canal after dinner. As it was a chilly Indiana night many of the men gave their coats to the ladies so they could stay warm. What is it about a woman wearing a man's coat that just makes her look sexy?

It was interesting to study with Cindy the next morning. She had to review for Boards and I started on Administrative Law. I'm calm and barely move when reading; she is figidty and constantly pumping her legs or biting her thumb. In 4 years I don't think I've ever noticed that before. I definately didn't want to hear about the episode of Angel that I hadn't seen yet because I didn't want to be spoiled. It's why I didn't answer half her questions when we watched a miniseries I recorded last year that she hadn't seen. Hey, let the story unfold and learn things as you go!!!

Note to self for future reference: sometimes don't let yourself get too sober. Somethings just work better with alcohol!

A Quickie!

I've survived my Trial Practice class, though I just blanked out during my presentation. It's 2:30 and my date is likely leaving Chicago now to get to Indy for our date at the Barrister's Ball. I just got online to order two Metallica tickets for their first show in Indy in over 8 years.
I need to clean up the place a little bit so Cindy will have a place to sleep after the ball, and I'll vent about a email that has thoroughly P.O.ed me due to a lack of courtesy from the sender.

Let's have a good time tonight and I'll update this thing decently tomorrow.

You Can Dance If You Want To...

The Barrister's Ball, aka the law school prom, is Saturday night. I'm actually going this year. It's half the price this year so that always peaks my interest and I secured a date. You would think it would be one of the highly intelligent, articulate, and beautiful law students that I am classmates with. NOPE!!! For whatever reason that I can't fathom if there is even a single female in the school she has no interest in dating. Perhaps it is our insane crushing schedule that deadens our social desires? I don't know.

On the plus side my date is a highly intelligent, articulate, and beautiful ex-GF, Cindy. We're still friends so I felt no problem asking her to the Barrister's Ball. I'm just glad she has the weekend off and could come down from Chicago to wine, dine, and dance the night away. I haven't been to a formal since my freshman year at college, but I wanted to have fun for a change. I've gone the whole nine yards including renting a tux, shoes, and vest. With either my new glasses that I picked up yesterday or the new contacts I picked up last week, I'm going to be a dashing and debonair dude! FYI: in case any of the lovely lady law students wishes to have one dance with me I will gladly oblige :-)

Hey, what does this button do?

Just so you know, this blog is going to change a lot as a tinker with the various settings. I'm a tinkering kind of dude. I love to see what a button does so I'll push it. So far I have not launched any missiles towards Russia so we should be fine as I push the buttons on this blog.

Why we love blogs.

Are we online voyours to read the thoughts of others? Do those of us who post online like to be exhibitionists of our daily lives? What drives us to read and post? If you have any ideas I am curious to hear them.

I will describe things later, but now it is time for lunch and to read for my classes tomorrow.
Hopefully you will have fun reading my thoughts.