Never, never, never...

Never write a blog about how great your day is going at 10 a.m., because it can always get worse. And it will get worse. Much, much worse.

We took at practice exam in Criminal Law on Tuesday. We had 30 minutes to answer the sample question and then we matched our answer up to the sample answer to see how we did. A lot of very gloomy people left that classroom. The bookstore ran out of study aids from Crim. Law that same afternoon. I don't think it was a coincidence.

There is good news though. Hubby has found a job. Starting this Monday, he will be gainfully employed. Yay! We are still working on the appeal to Mass. Unemployment though because I want the back money they owe us. Bow before the power of my case citations and give me a check Mass. DUA! Do it now.

I woke up at 5:50 today and still had a good morning

Today started out very well. Maybe that's because I had a very relaxing weekend in Palm Springs. (The trip was a gift. Considering our financial situation, food is a luxory right now, so we certainly wouldn't be paying for our own vacations.) The weekend was actually a little too relaxing. I can only lay around for so long before I wish I had something to do.

Anyway, today was one of those morning where things just went right. The train driver actually held the train for me when he saw me running up the tracks. I just caught my subway connection, which gave me enough time to stop for coffee before I caught the school shuttle. I had actually done the correct reading assignment even though I lost my class syllabus.

The only other item of interest that happened is that someone passed for the first time in Torts class because they hadn't had time to read. The professor had no reaction at all. It was a lot lesss scary then everyone in the class had expected it to be. I predict a wave of passing in the future.

Actual comments overheard as I work on my Civ Pro outline

Guy 1: "I'm working on getting rich so I can get a hot wife. No, really. I figure our kids will be slightly better looking than me and eventually, we'll have rich, hot kids in the family."

(Discussion of plastic surgery, the number of girls with nosejobs at USC and how fat midwestern chicks are...)

Guy 2: "I've dated some hot girls that were poor."

Guy 1: "Poor?"

Guy 2: "Well not really poor, but..."

Girl: "How can you date someone that's poor. Like... they won't appreciate fine dining and stuff."

Guy 2: "I'm sure poor people appreciate decent food."

Girl: "No. Like... I have some friends and they just don't appreciate good restaurants."

(Like, oh my God!.... Ignorant banter continues)

Guy 1: "If I had a daughter, I wouldn't want a tomboy. I'd want a little princess.

Guy 2: "So you won't make her all in to softball?"

Girl: "Ugh. I know. There are parents that want a boy so bad that they raise a tomboy and turn her into a lesbian."

(I think I smell future corporate lawyers.)

More of the same.

Yesterday it rained. People in Boston are thinking, "Big deal. When doesn't it rain?" People in Los Angeles just rear end the person in front of them on the freeway. It apparently took some of my classmates upwards of 2 hours to get to class in the rain because people here just don't know what to do if it's not 80 degrees and sunny.

Regardless of the weather, it's work, work, work here in California. I am trying to get far enough ahead in my reading and whatnot to justify the weekend trip that hubby and I are going on. (It was a wedding gift and I am going to do my best to relax and enjoy it. Maybe I'll try some yoga breathing as one of my professors suggested to those who felt the class was moving too slow.)

At lunch today, I went to a panel discussion on John Roberts and what his appointment will mean for the Supreme Court. The general consensus seems to be that he stands about where Rehnquist did on most issues, so the makeup of the Court won't change drastically until O'Connor gets replaced. It also seems that no one knows quite what his views are-- probably because he refuses to tell anyone what his views are. The most conservative of the panelists said that some Republicans are actually worried that Roberts will turn out to be less conservative than they want (although there's no chance that he'll turn out to be a liberal in disguise -- or even a moderate in disguise.) Another benefit of attending the panel was that today's free lunch was not pizza-- it was tacos. An excellent choice.

I am now 95% mozzarella...

Every club meeting or event here comes with free pizza. I am unable to resist it's cheesey goodness. Is it not enough that we are sleep deprived, overworked and drained of our humanity? Do we need to be fat too?

Damn you and your free pizza school, damn you!

I have been informed...

I have been informed that there are people who actually read my blog. Suddenly I am full of shame. Maybe I should think before writing from now on.

Anyway, I went to my very first professor's office hours ever. I never went to office hours as an undergrad. I did email a professor once about setting up an appointment and he told me that if I needed his help, I wasn't smart enough to be in the class. Yes, they had quality professors in the film program.

In order to go to office hours, I had to wait a full 30 minutes while other people in the class chatted with the professor, told him how much they loved property, how smart he was, how nice his haircut was and all the other shameless butt-kissing and attempts to look smart that everyone in law school does just in case they lied about that blind grading thing.

The reason I decided to go to office hours was two-fold. First fold: shameless butt-kissing, which is not my strong suit, but I thought I should at least try and play the game. Second fold: making sure the professor knows who I am so that maybe he will call on me in class so that I can look smart and show off and shamelessly butt-kiss.

I'm not sure if going to office hours will turn out to be a good thing or a bad thing. After 30 minutes in the hall, I got really nervous. And I was holding a loaf of bread I bought from the hurricane relief bakesale that started to look really yummy about 10 minutes into the wait time. So by the time I actually got to speak to the professor, I was drooling and shaky and had forgotten all the intelligent sounding questions that I had thought of to ask him. So basically I blathered on for 5 minutes until my rambling came full-circle back to the genius question I had originally asked: "So, um, what are the expectations for the course and stuff?" (More or less-- maybe slightly less dumb). I'm sure the professor was fascinated by the ensuing 30 minutes of my life story. He humored me at least.

It's a good thing we have blind grading.

The sad truth

After over an hour of effort, I have admitted the sad truth. I am a failure at Soduko. An hour of work on that stupid puzzle and I didn't even do it right.

Other things I have failed at today: getting my reading done (thanks to you, Soduko), doing the L.A. Times Crossword (I couldn't even get one answer. You would think that with all this reading I've been doing for school, I would know more words, not less), figuring out how to work my scanner (so, no, you can't see pictures of my wedding). Sigh.

I am also not so good at staying all by myself for the whole weekend. Hubby's at a wedding in Connecticut and it's pretty lonely here seeing as I don't really know anyone else. I've started having conversations with the cat. Sigh.

A Hypothetical

X is a law student at school Y. A member of School Y's faculty told students at orientation that they should "perfect the art of mooching." School Y offers free lunch to its students on Wednesday. This lunch is funded in part through student's tuition money. The lunch is served on the basketball court, where there is no shade of any kind. A line of students and faculty forms. Due to the time required to prepare the burgers, the wait for food is very long. Because of the promise of free lunch and the amount of time X had already spent waiting, she feels compelled to remain in line. As a result of waiting in the sun, X gets sun stroke.
Does X have a cause of action against Y for false imprisonment?

Rule: The confinement requirement of false imprisonment can be met if the defendant holds the plaintiff's property, thus compelling plaintiff to remain.

Issue: Does X have a property interest in the free lunch? If so, did Y withholding the lunch from X constitute the confinement element required for false imprisonment?

Chief Justice Rehnquist

I thought it would be appropriate, if not obligatory, for a law school blog to make note of the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. To be honest, I don't know a lot about him, which led me to do a bit of research.

On the pro-side, he was a supporter of a strong judiciary and stood up to attacks by the far right calling for limited judicial powers. On the con-side, his political views were pretty far to the right for my tastes. He was one of the justices who penned a dissent to Roe v. Wade, for example.

But I think that the most interesting article I turned up was this one:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/nat/sep05/353263.asp

So as Bush gets ready to appoint more toadies to the Supreme Court (see John Roberts recent butt-kissing comments upon being nominated as Chief Justice), I'd like to take a moment to remember Chief Justice Rehnquist, respected intellectual, strong leader, and flashy dresser.

The best thing about long weekends is...

... you can catch up on your homework.

I actually spent a whole day without doing any schoolwork at all and I don't even feel guilty. Of course, that means that tomorrow I will need to buckle down. They actually scheduled a make up for my Legal Writing class since we have the holiday off. So basically, I have the same number of hours of class this week, they are just distributed differently. And that means that I have the same amount of reading to do.

In exciting news, the hubby found out that he is eligible to collect unemployment. Apparently, if your spouse goes back to school and you move as a result, you can collect even though quitting your job was voluntary. We have decided that we will buy a couch (finally!) as soon as the first check comes (provided that the check isn't for 50 cents, which is the point of waiting for it to arrive.)

Sometimes lawyers do good things...

I was speaking to my Mom the other night about the hurricane and I mentioned that I was waiting before I donated to any charities because I wanted to see what my school was going to do first. (I figured I might donate time or money through them). My Mom replied, "What are they going to do? Give people a place to stay?" Apparently, yes.

I just checked my law school email and was happy to see an email from the Dean about the school's efforts to help hurricane victims. Apparently, in addition to an upcoming fundraiser for the relief effort, the school has offered upper level students from New Orleans schools the chance to come and finish their studies here so that they can continue law school uninterrupted. Well law school, you've made me proud. What a nice gesture.

(And just so that you don't think my Mom is a cold cold person, she has already donated to the Red Cross and is considering going to Mississipi to help with the relief efforts. In context, she was basically wondering what the heck my school was going to do that was any better than what the Red Cross was doing.)

ARRRRRRRGH!

And now a hypothetical.

You are President of the United States. As a result of one of the worst natural disasters to ever affect this country, hundreds are dead, several cities are destroyed and untold numbers of people are homeless and without basic necessities. Do you:

A. Visit the affected area to comfort those in need
B. Mobolize government aid workers
C. Learn from the situation so that we will be better prepared for future disasters
D. Think long and hard about how best to use this tragedy to increase profits for your buddies in the oil industry.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, President Bush's response has been a resounding D. In fact, one of the first actions he took was to open additional federal land for oil drilling. Fear not people of New Orleans. You may be homeless and hungry, but oil company profits will not suffer. Apparently, Bush has also asked Americans to only purchase gas if they really need it. His actions thus far seem designed to create the appearance that there is some sort of gas crisis. The basic notion of supply and demand teaches us that when supply decreases and demand remains the same, prices can increase. Seems to me that Bushy is trying to create the appearance of scarcity to allow gas companies to further gouge us at the pump. Unless Mississippi is actually the center of American oil production, which, correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think it is. It's good to know that when push comes to shove, we can count on the President to look out for number one-- his wallet that is.

If any good can come out of this, maybe it will be that those average Americans who somehow still thought that Bush stood for "family values" will realize how wrong they were. Let's all get good and angry and elect people who will actually look out for the interests of all Americans, and not just the rich ones.

Related link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9156612/