Back in the Saddle Again

I can't believe it is almost February! School has started again and I really like most of my classes. Grades for last semester came out last week and I am satisfied with most of them but there is always room for improvement. I had an interview with the Transnational Legal Clinic last Friday and this Friday I have two more interviews with immigration related non-profit organizations here in Pennsylvania. I am applying for an internship with the Attorney General of Botswana this week as well. I would love to have a summer job in the bag, so keep your fingers crossed for me!!

My work on the Post Acceptance Committee is gearing up, I will be coordinating housing for all the admitted students visiting for the Admitted Students Weekend in March. Luckily I am working with some other very capable people on the project so I have high hopes for avoiding last minute panic. I also found out this weekend that I will be headed to the Mexico border with the Penn Law International Human Rights Advocates over Spring Break. I am excited to find out more about the immigration situation and possible solutions to the mess we have going on right now.

Gordon is doing well, feisty as ever. We are attempting toilet training! I will keep posting on our progress. After vacuuming up a TON of kitty litter all over the apartment, I must admit I am excited about the possibility of not needing it anymore. Well, there is always more work to be done here, so I had better get to it.

I will leave you with one of my favorite Gordon pictures (what else?) which I feel sums up my life pretty well at this point.

Ahhhh, vacation!

Gordon and I have been having a lovely vacation in Montana for the last few weeks. Sadly, it will ball come to an end on Thursday when we head back to Philadelphia. I do love Philly and I am excited for the classes I am set to take this coming semester, but I will miss my mom's dinners, seeing friends, spending time with the parents and the dog, free laundry facilities, and all the nap time. Gordon did amazingly well on the plane ride here, so I am hoping for a repeat performance on the way home!

Well, laundry awaits, and I should probably try to get some work done on my writing sample as well (I have been suffering from vacation brain and have not been effective in that goal thus far...). I'll be interested to see what the results of the New Hampshire primaries will be. Here's hoping 2008 is all that this country desperately needs it to be!!

Exam time warp

Well, exams are already halfway over. Amazing. It is interesting how warped my perception of time has gotten. I can't believe it was only yesterday I tackled 97 multiple choice questions for my Criminal Law exam, and I also can't believe I only have 37 hours until my Civil Procedure exam (and two nights worth of sleep to get). Speaking of Civil Procedure, I took a quiz to find out "What Federal Rule of Civil Procedure Are You?" and I was quite pleased with the results. I was considerably less pleased with my answers to the practice Civ Pro exam I just took, so I will leave you with the quiz results and get back to studying.

YOU ARE 28 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1332!You are not a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure at all: you're the statute that allows the federal district courts to hear diversity of citizenship actions! You were drafted with the idea that an out-of-state party may be unduly prejudiced by appearing in a foreign state. Sometimes people may think that you're strange, and they try to minimalize your effects by requiring an amount in controversy and by being especially strict on the requirements for diversity. Also, attorneys often use you for "forum shopping" and other undesirable behavior. But there's no getting around the fact that you're so darned loveable! Your delightful quirkiness entertains friends and law professors alike, and although others may grumble about your eccentricities behind your back, they're always talking about you, so you must be doing something right. Let's face it, the world could use a few more 28 USC 1332's!

Last Class of 2007!

Today is the last class of my first semester of law school. This is both exciting and strange, and it also means that my first final is 4.5 days away. Then there is another final every third day for the next week-and-a-half. I am going to need to stock up on my finals secret weapon: pudding.

15 days from now I will be attempting to fly accross country with little Gordon. It may well be the longest flight of my life, and I've flown to New Zealand. I am looking forward to introducing him to my family, especially Holly. They are both orange and love to play so I think they will get along well.

Tonight I am going to clean my apartment and get to work on studying! Torts, Crim, Civ Pro, and Property, oh my! I think my brain has turned to jelly. That is good for toast, not so good for studying.

No more Mondays

Well, this is the last Monday of class of my first Semester of law school. So what if that is not really no more Mondays, it feels like it! This morning was definately Monday in full force! Gordon was suffering from "too much rambunction" as dad would say. He jumped on my desk and knocked my cereal bowl very close to my laptop. Needless to say, I was not amused.

Today we learned how to use the exam software. No spell check :( That could be a problem... It seems to be a pretty straitforward system, and assuming my computer does not catch on fire (as apparently happened a few years ago) I should be ok on the technology end of things. The content end of things remains to be seen.

In torts we are learning about defamation and the First Amendment. The elements are 1) defamatory statement: libel (written) or slander (oral) 2) Defendant's statement was of or concerning the plaintiff 3) published (communicated to a third party). Consider yourself edified!

Hypothetically speaking

As I walked into Torts this morning the Professor told us to download the pop quiz. The quiz consisted of 40 true/false questions. There were many good hypothetical questions that needed to be answered, and, of course, argued over.

If grandma loans her rifle to her dope-smoking, crack-addicted grandson and he shoots the mail carrier (sorry dad, I didn't make it up) because he thinks he is the Easter Bunny (whom grandson despises) is grandma liable for negligent entrustment?

Can a six-month-old be liable for negligence?

These questions were actually debated. I blame the lack of sleep and too much reason (I meant to write reading, but I think too much reason is actually more accurate). We have all contracted the rabid law student before finals disease.

They told me law school changes your brain, I think that is proving to be true. Sadly, law school cannot change the need to do laundry. That is what awaits me this Friday afternoon. Life is so glamorous here on the East Coast!

Procrastination

I have one crazy cat. The other night I was brushing my teeth and suddenly he was in my tiny medicine cabinet. The next morning I found the basket from my shower drain (one of his favorite toys) in his water dish. Today he decided to lie in the sink and get dripped on. I have 50 pages of torts to read for tomorrow's double class, but I thought I'd take a moment to share the absurdity with the world. Tomorrow at noon there will officially be only one week of classes left in the semester. Amazing and terrifying all at the same time! Well, I had better tackle that reading, I wouldn't be surprised if I got called on tomorrow, rumor has it there won't be many of us in attendance.