Magic Harry Dust

This morning I hiked out to my car in 40 degrees- Forty! Argh!

I walked into Legal Composition this morning and one guy who sits in the row in front of me was partaking of the Harry Potter 4 trailer on his laptop. My interest piqued in spite of the caffeine-deficient haze that still fogged my consciousness, I commented that the movie looked fairly disappointing. He agreed on the grounds of the American trailer and proceeded to show me the British version – me, two other students, and Professor Grant crowded around the laptop watching Harry’s world unfold. Thus ensued an enthusiastic debate of the merits of the movies versus the books, whether the 5th or 6th book proved superior (the general consensus favored the former, with one holdout, but heralded the 4th as the best in the series), and when JK Rowling would finally cough up the 7th volume (after the 6th movie's release). After class we all trudged over to Torts and one guy’s comment that Snape had surprised him by becoming a proverbial bad guy and killing Dumbledore prompted another twenty-minute debate of why Dumbledore had to die, whether he perhaps survived as a Phoenix, if he had perhaps used a Polyjuice potion and not in fact died at all, and all the incidents in the previous volumes that served as foreshadows for his demise. I had no idea so many people my age had read the books – there were only two guys in the class that hadn’t consumed at least one, and six of us had assiduously read and reread multiple volumes a multitude of times. It was really quite an entertaining morning, debating the merits of particular theories and predictions. Our Torts professor even popped in, favoring the 5th volume (in accordance with my assertion).

In terms of Hamster names, I’m pretty much down to Fuzz and Fluff or Pouf and Puff. Guess we’ll see.

I suppose, after my paragraph's indulgence in Potterland, I ought to steer my discussion back to the applicable topic...

In Property we're discussing the different ways to convey real property. We're given cases and have to determine whether land was conveyed via fee simple determinable, fee simple subject to a condition subsequent, or fee simple subject to an executory limitation, based on the language used. Then we have to decide whether the original owner has any "remainder" interest in the property, or if they permanently relinquished the land...

In Torts we're discussing negligence. We're given a case and have to decide whether the defendant was negligent, by analyzing the case and comparing the defendant's behavior to the way in which a "reasonable" person would have or should have acted in an identical condition. Then we have to decide whether they have any special privileges, such as a child's privilege- children are not held to an objective reasonableness standard; their behavior is compared to the manner in which a reasonable child of their age and experience would have acted. I'm really beginning to like Torts, after a shaky start.

Writing was boring today; just learning how to cite precedent cases in our Memos.

Can't wait to go home. One more class!

Pitter Patter

We have another one of those busy afternoons stuffed with makeup classes that make me feel like a Sardine squeezed between requisite classroom appearances. I’m yawning so much I think my jaw’s going to unhinge, but I’m bound and determined not to revert to espresso; it’s disgusting, and makes me feel even worse in the long run. Guess it’s just me and Pepsi and determination today. At least I have Lost to look forward to tonight!

The hamster names I am considering: Betty & Veronica (from Archie comics); Veronica & Victoria (my two favorite names); Coke & Pepsi; Cloak & Dagger; Fuzz & Fluff; Aurora & Borealis. As it stands, I am partial to Betty & Veronica, but I guess I have to meet the little buggers before laying anything in stone. If the dog had a different name, I would have gone with Zippidy and Doo Dah.

Here’s how exciting my life has become : I have to stop at Sam’s Club on the way home for some Pine Sol and toilet paper.

Preparation

I finished my Writing assignment Memo last night and printed it, etc., so all I have to do today is turn it in... so it’s good sport to watch everybody run around like headless chickens today, having left the project until the last feasible moment.

When I carried my books down to the car this morning, it looked like a giant, semi-transparent blanket had settled over the world. I drove the long way to the apartment complex exit, all the way around the pond, just to take in the view. The sun cast a dull glow on the top portions of the cotton ball – type clouds, and faded to an almost sheer transparency on the bottom as it brushed against the top of the lake. Hopefully the weather will hold out today – I’d like to go down and lie by the pond again tonight while reading.

My latest evening art project, of which I partake with liberty from guilt by the justification that I am talking to my Mom and thereby concurrently doing something productive, is my bathroom stool. It’s currently red and covered in blue dots to match my immensely cool toilet seat. Last night I painted a Mickey on the seat, modeled after my shower curtain and bath mat, and in my not-so-humble opinion, it turned out really well. Even being painted totally freehand, all his body parts seem to be in scale, which is quite a feat. I made his face a little too orange as opposed to a pale tan, but it’s not that noticeable; I’m probably just being too critical, as usual. I’m going to add little Mickey shoes, hands and head silhouettes coped from the kitchen dish towels.

Had a really bad night last night. At first it seemed unprovoked, but upon contemplation in my journal I realized it was likely prompted by my Research class yesterday: We started reviewing for the class’s Final Exam on October 7... which brings up another point. October 7. Final exam. Friday. 3-4 PM, argh! They’re unjustly splicing into my home time. Doesn’t that violate some principle of the Constitution? No, I suppose not. Sigh....

Big Drips

Late posting today because, in the grand confluence of events conspiring to keep me downtrodden, the blogspot website was down for a substantial portion of the day.

Last night I was setting my clothes and books by the door (so that in the morning, as I stumble against the walls in the general direction of the door I don’t have to think too much), I felt a thick pelt smack on the top of my head, by the part of my hair. I looked up and realized the water spot on the ceiling, which Dad had been suspicious of since I moved in, had taken to periodically spitting small quantities of rain at me. I now have a Tupperware container propped in the middle of the floor. It doesn’t drip much, thankfully. I guess I’m going to have to call the service men, but I don’t want them coming in while I’m not there.

On Friday, in my excitement to come home, I accidentally forgot my Mickey umbrella looped over the back of my chair. I was prepared to go to the Lost & Found and duke it out with the massive pile of abandoned goods in a futile attempt at reacquisition, but shortly after I sat down in Contracts the guy that sits next to me in Property, Tevor, came up and gave it to me! Yay! I thought I’d seen the last of Mickey.

Very cold and overcast today. I'd like to lodge a protest.

In our second Contracts class today, a guy that sits thee seats down from me walked in and declared he thought we were in a "safe" zone - that he had a good feeling about this class session. I told him if he jinxed us, he had some major 'splaining to do, as Mr. Ricardo would say. So what happened? Bam, he was the first person called on, and Professor Maggs just worked his way down the line- bam, bam, bam. Luckily, I got a manageable question, but.... it's the principle of the thing.

Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk

I absolutely cannot stop yawning. Thursday is the only day I start class late (10), so I tried to sleep in… but I felt like such a moron last night for not knowing anything about the mondo plane issue that I fell asleep to CNN, and this morning the reporter said economists predicted that gas would leap to $5/gallon as a result of the second hurricane’s aftermath, so that was the end of my slumber. I visited gasbuddy.com to find the cheapest local fuel and shot over before anyone had a chance to change those little plastic numbers. A few shots of espresso would wake me up but I really don’t want to recommence that habit; additionally, I have come to the conclusion that I really don’t like coffee. I’m going to have to invest in some green tea (which is naturally caffeinated).

Lost was last night; yayyy! I missed a sliver of it because I the kid, Michael, that got kidnapped in the season finale appeared looking like a possessed zombie and I looked away because I wanted to be able to sleep. I learned my lesson after a late-night showing of 28 Days Later thwarted my sleeping attempts for several evenings.

So yesterday the Grand Yapper (aka my Property professor) talked overtime, and I got a ticket. Thankfully, it was a U of I meter, so it was only $10, but it doubles after 72 hours… so today at lunch I zipped over to pay it and then, driving back, missed my turn (Pennsylvania Avenue) and drove clear into the Boondocks of campus. All of a sudden - literally within the span of one street - I entered the back roads of Wisconsin. Empty fields, those tall towers that accompany farms, and… the pungent odor of cows? Sure enough, we have a Dairy Science Research Farm! Isn’t what wild? And across the street there’s a beautiful arboretum – I don’t know precisely what goes on there, but it’s a beautiful collection of trees and benches and wildflowers... absolutely gorgeous. I also encountered the veterinary school – it’s huge.

It’s positively stifling outside – 98 with a beating, blinding sun and not a cloud in the sky.

As a point of trivia (with Nans in mind), I am 76 miles North of Kanakee.

25.5 hours until home!

A Sleepy Residue

I am so tired, I keep slipping in and out of wakefulness. I was all right this morning, but it’s really starting to hit me now. I went home for lunch to try and sleep but I was so scared that I wouldn't wake up for Property that I couldn’t bring myself to properly nap. I realize that’s why they make alarms, but at this point I’m so foggy I've probably acquired a temporary ability to sleep through a small bombing. Unfortunately, after Property I have a lapse of time and then my least favorite class, Research, this evening, when I’m sure I’ll be good and groggy and abysmally bored. That's the only class that really puts me to sleep.

One upswing of the day : the season premiere of Lost is tonight! 8pm! Rah rah rah! [I'm sure after all this buildup and anticipation the episode will be a complete and utter letdown, but here's hoping.] We get to see what’s in the hatch! I guess they send Kate down the latter to see what’s there; she’s my least favorite character, so I’m holding out a small hope that something will consume her like a shish kebob.

I’m not sure why I didn’t sleep; I had horrible nightmares that kept waking me up and thwarted my best attempts at sawing logs like Bugs Bunny. The only thing I can surmise is that I ate abnormally close to bed time, which I traditionally avoid doing to circumvent this precise situation. I can’t wait to go home, put on my Mickey pajamas and curl up on the couch with my stuffed Thumper and kiwi bird to read for classes tomorrow while the ninety-degree sun streams through my living room window.

I’m embarassingly excited to go home in two days. I’m kind of homesick, a sentiment which materializes in my practice of driving around with stuffed replicas of Lady and the Tramp in my lap, drooling fuzz on Cicero’s steering wheel. [By the way, Cicero has replaced the unofficial Mr. Big moniker as my car’s official title – it’s my favorite street name, and I pass under it every time I drive home. Plus, it just kind of rolls off the tongue.] I’m thankful that my anxiety has (finally) almost abated... it really only gets me at night, now, and seems on the road to dissipation, just as Dad predicted. Unfortunately, he says homesickness will never disappear. Great.

Quote of the Day, from my eternally-friendly Research professor: "It can look like I bled all over the [homework assignment], but unless it says ‘redo,’ you don’t have to redo it. If you come up and ask me if you have to redo it, the answer is yes. So don’t come up and ask me."

Recalling a Storm

We had a spectacular storm last night. Driving home from school, I noticed a splinter of lightning in the distance, and glanced over. Within twenty seconds, the overcast sky turned to an imposing blackness, and this really thick wind appeared out of nowhere. Sitting at a stoplight, my entire car started sweeping back and forth, such that I actually wondered if I might turn over. Then the red stoplights popped into blackness, and – I’ve never seen anything like it in my life – the entire street just started popping, one by one, down the street. First the adjacent gas station flickered into darkness, then a Mobil sign, then the coffee shop, a few more illuminated signs, a Blockbuster... it just swooped down the street, leaving an eerie lack of electricity in its wake. If not for the massive gusts of wind, dancing rubble crashing about and immense sense of foreboding, it would have been a really cool experience. This morning, the stoplights were still not working, just flashing red. I guess it’s a nice breach of monotony, but it took forever to get home last night.

Not much to say, today; I've been occupied drafting my immunization opposition letter and my Legal Writing memo.

Quote of the Day:
From my Contracts professor...
"The nice thing about being a Socratic professor is, this morning I criticized you for being too abstract, and now I’m criticizing you for being too concrete."

Puppy Pining

The only thing I don't like about coming home on the weekends is I loll about on Mondays in a haze of loneliness. I know it will dissipate by Tuesday, but for the time being it's extraordinarily uncomfortable, because I'm so infrequently disposed to that state of being. I wish I had a dog. For Christmas, I'm angling for a computer program called "Petz," which allows you to adopt a puppy on your computer desktop and watch it grow - it barks at you and everything. Maybe that will do it.

Mom asked me last night on the phone if I had taken pool water in to be tested. At some point in the conversation I noted that the pool lady "just had Sue shock the pool to try and make the free chlorine and total chlorine levels equal." I think that was the single most boring conversation I have ever subjected someone to. (I suppose readers of this blog could assert otherwise, but that's neither here nor there.)

The Emmy's were on last night... kinda boring, but a nice change to have in the background. I liked Jon Stewart's little bit mocking the network censorship policies, and that Lost won for Best Drama, but other than that...

I saw Just Like Heaven this weekend, and although it was a little heavy on the cheese, it proved quite entertaining, with more emphasis on the latter portion of "romantic comedy" than the former. I really didn't enjoy the portions that were shot in the hospital (Reese Witherspoon played a doctor), but there were nice sharp jabs of pure comedy to spice up the dialogue as opposed to simply pushing the plot along. I'd like to see it again, actually, which doesn't happen often, since most movies released in this day and age are uninspired and generally drab and awful. At least I didn't have a panic attack - last time I went to a movie at the dinner place I had to pull over on the side of the road on the way home and calm down, and then lay in bed all evening. I'm glad that phase of the adjustment-to-a-new-life period has largely passed. As long as I can still function while I panic, I'm all right, on the whole. I still haven't seen Red Eye... gotta get on that... like I have nothing more productive to do with my time, right?...

In Criminal Law today we discussed a case charging that bloke Kervorkian with murder... I don't understand that. Under the law he did actually commit murder, because he provided the means for them to kill themselves with the knowledge and reasonable ability to foresee that they would do so - all you need to do is provide the means. I wish to contest this assertion, but I guess I have to wait two and a half years to do that. Is he a murderer? I suppose, if we're using the statutory definition, but life is about grey areas, and that's what courts are for - to interpret the law. We're a Common Law country, basing our judgments on previous courts' interpretations of statutes. This isn't Germany, where we have to blindly adhere to the laws. Why didn't someone flex and mold the statute to relinquish his liability? If someone wants to die, let them. Isn't that cruel and unusual punishment to keep them alive when they're just going to die a long, slow death from illness?

On a happier note, while I was falling asleep, the Breakfast Club was on. Nothing better than a good, cheesy 80's movie to cap off the evening.

Fall is quickly slithering into our lives, stalking summer like a vulture swooping in on a cute, innocent chipmunk (who, on further analysis, is most likely not so innocent whilst partaking of the rodent inclination to damage the yard by burying bits of chow for later in the middle of an otherwise unmarred, plush green lawn). I miss rollerblading in the suburbs, with the warm wind and nothing to worry about beyond pebbles and dogs prancing along the rim of electric fences. I also miss hopping on a scooter and shuttling over to feed the ducks and the fish. And a little puppy running up and wagging his tail so hard his entire hind end zooms back and forth.

Friday

I’m too tired to type.

Stumbled into school yesterday morning when the library opened at 8am and worked on my conflastroginated research project until my Torts class, then worked on it another three hours until my Property class, and finally left at 4:45 to visit Lowe’s and invest in some bug spray. At home I finished the online portion of the project at home online (another hour and a half) and now officially HATE that class. But, the final exam is the “first week” in October, so it’s almost over, I suppose.

Cloudy and overcast today. Blah. I do like the stability of the weather here, though; it doesn’t dip too much at night like it does at home. My toes didn’t freeze like popsicles this morning when I trotted down to the garage loading my car.

I tried one of the Bernie CDs last night to accompany my traditionally futile sleeping endeavors, and I couldn’t even tell you whether I like the CD or not because I zonked out before we even started the guided imagery. Whatever works.

Bigtime drive this evening. Hope there’s not too much traffic.

Thursday

The sky has still not complied with my wishes, having scraped together considerable precipitation in the absence of sound effects or firecrackers in the sky.

Just two days after I opened my Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire book and encountered three centipedes scurrying out from the binding, I found ANOTHER one last night! I’m sitting on the floor talking to Mom and movement on the carpet catches my eye right next to Dad’s redwood table. I glance over just in time to see a long red-brown centipede disappear into a notch of wood. I’m standing there in shock, preparing to put out the twenty-something candles, flip over the table and track the sucker down when I see him rushing across my carpet toward the front door, his gazillion legs all aflutter. Geez! I went to terminix.com and the vagrants are listed under “occasional invaders,” stating that these boogers only seek shelter in homes in times of draught and extreme heat… like now. So maybe there’s hope. Terminx even says it’s not necessary to spray for them, because once the weather changes they’ll leave on their own.

In Property, we’re learning to distinguish between assignments and subleases in real estate, and who can sue whom for defaulted rent.

Why I like my Property professor, part two : “In my first year of law school, I didn’t have Property as a first year law student… it probably still shows…”

Tuesday

Contracts this morning is actually interesting. I haven’t been called on, but raised my hand three times. I think everybody’s asleep – I was the only one raising my hand for the problems in question. We’re discussing offers, and whether negotiations and discussions can constitute binding offers. It’s a shame the professor is so dull, because Contracts is my favorite reading material.

Well, of course, as soon as I said that, I was called on and mercilessly annihilated. Ah, well. Such is life.

I opened my mail today (I only undertake this activity once every three days or so, because it’s depressing to open the mailbox and not even get a junk solicitation for Wal-Mart) and it was a neutral endeavor: the excitement of a people magazine, Gift Certificate and Walt Disney World pen were slightly doused by the arrival of a WATER bill. They charge you for WATER? What next? Are we all going to have to wear breathing apparatuses? “Sorry, miss, you breathed six cubic meters of air this week, that’ll be two hundred dollars, please.” I mean, come on! Thirty-five dollars for something you can dig out of the ground yourself??? So much for long baths!

The Plant Guy, who I mentioned before, the one with a replica of the Amazon crammed into his living room, was walking along the road last night as I came home. He has a little two-tiered push cart teeming with buckets of water, presumably filled from the pond. He’s probably afraid of an astronomical water bill. Who can blame him?

As with everything in life, the Law School classroom experience can be succinctly and accurately described in metaphor to a Monty Python skit snippet:
Broadcaster: We are here tonight with Mr. Raymond Luxury Yacht –
Mr. Yacht: Excuse me, but that’s not how you pronounce my name.
Broadcaster: Oh, I beg your pardon. (He attempts to sound out the name phonetically)
Mr. Yacht: No no no, it's spelled, "Raymond Luxury Yacht," but it's pronounced, “Throat Warbler Mangrove.”

Monday Evening

I went outside today during my break to lay on a beach towel and read Crim Law, and as I walked past the art museum, there was a long string of about fourteen people standing just inside of the art and design building’s glass windows. They had their hands outstretched against the glass, and I deduce partners were perched somewhere in the shadows, sketching the figures. Ever wonder what an alien would think of our society? A string of humans standing still against a clear surface with no discernible purpose while others watch? Of course, what about law students… a massive amount of young people staring at illuminated screens. Hmm.

My least favorite class is Research. Not just because of the time – until 5 on Mondays and Wednesdays – but also the subject matter.

Today on the way home I bought a loaf of bread. Struggling beneath the lurking presence of immense guilt at putting off my reading, I shuffled outside to the pond in the center of the compound, hoping to snag a few finned vermin. At first I paced the edge like Zippidy contemplating the best point from whence to leap off the couch, wondering where to begin, when something splashed in the distance – we have jumpers! At first I only had about six, and wondered with disappointment if I would even make it through two slices, but then the National Guard arrived, and all of a sudden I stood at the microphone for an audience of twenty. It was extremely difficult to ascertain even their color due to the immense murkiness of the water, but they seem to be a clear tawny color with dark brown or blue stripes, ranging in size from three to about seven inches long. They remind me of the giant tropical fish Mom used to have, only these are skinner (probably for lack of nourishment; don’t see how anything can survive amongst all that muck!) They Gobbled the bread like crazy and then thanked me with a few jumps, which was immensely cool (but then, I’m easily amused). There were two dragonflies flittering around on the surface, and a chorus of crickets in surround sound. It was so pleasant and relaxing I retrieved a beach towel and plunked down right next to the water to do tomorrow’s reading. Assorted spiders, biting ants and spiky weeds aside, it was truly quite pleasant. I’m beginning to understand why people enjoy fishing… although I’m still not convinced it qualifies as a sport. Oh, how I wish the weather would never turn!

Monday . . .

I went in to speak to one of the Deans this morning about repressing my directory information, but it turns out that if I keep my addresses, etc., out of the records, potential employers will not be able to contact me in second and third year, and I won’t be able to send out resumes or anything through the offices of Career Services. She did give me a long song-and-dance about the Honor Code we’re bound to in law school, and said if I had any concerns about other students, I could go speak to her any time. As though she doesn’t have anything better to do.

We have classes straight through from 9 to 2:30 today. Dean Vermillion was out of town last week, so we have to make up the courses this week. It wouldn’t be too bad, but it’s the same deal with my Property professor, so we have yet another makeup crammed in. It’ll be the same deal on Wednesday. I wish I had managed to scrounge up more sleep last night – I fell asleep almost immediately, but popped out of slumber at 4:45 and couldn’t fall back asleep. I was called on in Criminal Law today, so that makes all four classes now. I could almost feel the webs of sleep weaving through my brain as I formed an answer, the coils and wheels in my mind crunching past spiders in a quest for the perfect answer.

I started looking into supplementary art classes this morning, but it turns out the deadline to add a class already passed. Blah!

Here’s an interesting cocktail party statistic: only four states in the nation have codified a requirement that, if it is reasonable to do so, citizens are required to aid a person in peril: Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont and – you guessed it – Wisconsin. In all other 46 states, you can’t drown someone, but you can watch them drown, and you don’t have to throw a rope; you can’t push a blind man off a cliff, but you don’t have to open your mouth if he comes walking by inquiring the location of the cliff.

Why I like Professor Smith, Chapter One… Student: “Is that a question for me?” “No, for your alter ego.”

ºOº Thursday . . . One More Day . . .

One more day and then I get to go home! Rah!

Last night after Research I tore over to the library to get the project done with all haste. It only took me an hour to complete, as opposed to last week’s seemingly neverending searches and endless questions. Whew! It helped that my professor was at the Research Help Desk last night, so I just kept pestering him whenever I toppled into cluelessness.

Today I arrived at my usual time even though I didn’t have Torts until 10:30 to put the polish on my project (I like a night’s sleep before I double-check it) and then worked on my outline. The library is a really pleasant place to toil until the construction workers arrive and start shaking the foundations of the building.

I still couldn’t sleep last night, so I made a last-ditch attempt at injecting my bedroom with friendliness. My favorite part of Christmas, silly as this sounds, is the confluence of lights – colored ones, not the lifeless white variety. I love the explosion of color that pops up in windows and yards and shops… so I clicked the three strands of multicolor lights that Mom donated together and wound them around the posts of my bed. It’s tacky as can be, and I felt like I had pitched a sleeping bag on a Las Vegas street corner for the amount of illumination that ensued, but it sure did make me feel better. It had the same effect as falling asleep in December with the Christmas trees still illuminated in my room. I guess when Stein’s releases their Christmas lights in late September I’ll invest in some dark purple ones, to simulate the comforting effect but dilute the brightness.

On an unrelated note, I don’t know what’s going on – after two weeks of being ignored, I was called on in Contracts and Property yesterday, and then in Torts today. It’s actually enjoyable, perhaps because the professor catches you so by surprise you don’t have the opportunity to rustle up nerves.

Last night I didn’t talk to anybody before going to sleep, so I had a minor panic episode involving a little breathlessness and chest flutters. At that point I realized my heart hadn’t pounded, my chest hadn’t hurt, and my I hadn't had an odd heartbeat since Sunday. It obviously was just stress. Whew! One more day, and then I'm homeward bound. I'm excited to pack...

Wednesday the Third

This morning in Contracts the professor nailed me with one of the cases. It involved a doctor who was summoned to care for an unconscious car accident victim and then sued for monetary compensation of the services rendered. The injured party said that because he was unconscious and therefore unable to consent to medical treatment. Thankfully, I answered correctly… the court made the injured party pay the incurred doctor bills, to uphold a societal principle. We obviously want to encourage doctors to help people in any and all situations, and want to secure unconscious individuals the ability to receive aid in the future – punishing the doctor for helping by not reimbursing him would be contrary to the general common good of society, which the court (allegedly) tries to protect. I actually wish I would get called on more often – it makes class more interesting, and it’s infinitely more enjoyable than listening to someone else ramble

Well… speak of the devil. I’m in Property, and when the professor asked, “Is anyone familiar with Miss O’Keefe? Any fans in the room?” Moron that I am, I raised my hand… and spend thirty minutes in deep interrogation. That was actually really, really fun. I hope I didn’t sound like an idiot, but he did keep asking me questions instead of moving on to someone else, so I must have been doing something right. The case, O’Keefe v. Snyder, involved three paintings stolen from the famous flower artist’s gallery. Talk about hitting all my interests in one fell swoop!

I investigated the average temperatures of Champaign and Mequon on weather.com to see the differences, and the average lows for Mequon are 53 for September, 41 for October, 29 for November, 18 for December, 12 for January, 16 for February, 26 for March, and 37 for April. In Champaign, it’s 54 for September, 43 for October, 33 for November, 22 for December, 16 for January, 21 for February, 30 for March, and 40 for April. So I’ve got a little leeway for winter, but not as much as I would like. I guess the truly relevant issue is snowfall, because cold is tolerable, but snow is immensely irritating. It just renders mobility so difficult…

I am sooooo tired. I only have one cup of coffee early in the morning and then boycott caffeine for the duration of the day to provide the maximum chance of sleep, but it’s not really helping. At least I don’t have panic anymore, though; that was infinitely worse than exhaustion.

Week 3 - Tuesday

Last night I went out for a rollerblade around the pond. It turned out to be a considerable amount longer than I had anticipated, but surprisingly smooth and easy to navigate. There is one portion where, if speed is not adequately accounted for, I could see myself toppling over the railing into the pond, but it’s an otherwise unencumbered path. I traveled obscenely slowly, indulging a penchant for window nosiness and peering n everybody’s glass (the good news is, due to the peculiar angle of my corner apartment, it is exceedingly difficult to see anything of my homestead from the path, particularly given my compulsive blind-closing practices). I did feel like a bit of a snoop when I peeked in and saw a set of eyes or two returning the inquiry, but other than that, it was a largely uneventful and entertaining excursion. There was an elderly couple trying to coax fish onto their hooks next to a sign that read, “Only catch and release fishing allowed,” and a couple of kids tooling around on their bikes, in addition to the traditional college frizbee-players. I found a rocking porch-swing-type-thing that will provide an excellent spot for reading this evening or the next, and there are two gazebos with appealing views for a similar purpose. I noticed a ton of foreigners – primarily Chinese and Japanese, and even one Arab dude, all either surgically attached to their iPods or cell phones. Our current society has an embarrassing reliance on technology. I found the backside of the apartment owned by the Plant Guy, who wheels about seventy plants out of his garage at six-thirty every morning for sun and watering, and found his porch stuffed to the brim with even more. I wonder if he’s a professional grower, specializing in rarities? He’s home at odd hours, and I didn’t recognize any of his subjects. None of my business, I guess; and all the same, everybody needs a hobby. My favorite porches had lights strewn across them, those big Chinese lantern-type things with electrical inserts – they look so fun.

Anyway… back to the grind. Criminal Law was cancelled this morning due to a death in Dean Hurd’s family, but we have an extra Property class in its stead. I feel a bit like a sheep, but it’s nice to be shunted with the same people everywhere… makes getting lost much less frightening, because I can just wander in circles until I see a familiar face. It also helps that someone posts the schedule of each room outside the door, so if worst comes to worst, I just wander around until I find my class on one of the sheets. Doesn’t happen often, though, this being the third week and classes largely stable in location.

Back to Contracts, first thing in the morning. This guy could make an art class boring. Okay, maybe not, but he’d certainly lay out a damp blanket to smother any rising spirals of enthusiasm.

Friday

So I live above a married Oriental couple, one of whom has a vehicle with license plate rims advertising a University of California School of Music. Last night, I was in my drawing room, and directly below me heard someone playing the piano. It wasn’t anything I could recognize, but played with extravagant style and skill. I couldn’t hear it anywhere else in my apartment, so I migrated there to finish my Property reading. Wow! What a talent, and it was so pleasant to listen to.

It took me about four trips this morning to haul my life out to my car in densely-packed packages. I stopped by the vending machines today and obtained $5 in quarters from the change machine to accommodate the blood-sucking Illinois tolls. I contemplated taking out a loan at the gas station. I have Harry Potter loaded in the CD drive. Watch out, Wisconsin, I’m a-comin’!

Property professor quote of the day: “Because we’re the Supreme Court, and if we’re good at one thing, we’re good at making stuff up… and we’ll throw some Latin in to make everybody feel better about it.”

Thursday

I got to the library this morning at 8:30 and plugged away at my research project until 10:25, because Torts started at 10:30. It ends at 11:45, so I’m going straight back to try and finish. This one’s a lot more involved than its predecessor; unfortunately, the interest factor has not increased to any considerable level. One of my biggest pet peeves in life is wasting time. It kills me that we have to expend massive chunks of our life chasing little text snippets through hundreds of hard-cover volumes and innumerable dead dust mites, though we just learned how to do the same thing via computer programs.

Well… Checking in later, I’m now in Torts, and I have successfully completed my Research project. Rah! Rah! Rah! It was a tough one, but it’s done! Done! Done! What a relief! I feel so relaxed the adrenaline that almost had me hyperventilating this morning has abandoned me. I’m now struggling to keep my eyes open.

I really like my Property professor. He’s my favorite, followed by Writing professor, and then Criminal Law. Today he integrated another Monty Python reference, this one from Monty Python & the Holy Grail: “There’s a scene where the king spreads his arms wide and says, ‘Son, it’s all yours,’ and the son says, ‘What, the curtains?’” I guess you have to be familiar with the movie, but it was quite funny.

Not that anybody cares, but they ran a rerun of my favorite episode of my favorite tv show last night, Lost. It’s an episode called “Numbers,” and the islanders are trying to figure out what this sequence of numbers means that they heard over a radio transmission The new season debuts in three weeks, and I’m stoked. I’ve never been into a tv show before, and the only reason I am into this one is I just happened to tune in during the pilot of the show and kind of half watched it to see the guy who played Merry in Lord of the Rings. But it turned out to be a mystery show – psychological suspense, in the vein of Silence of the Lambs, which is my favorite genre. Every episode flashes between the current happenings on the island fortysomething plain wreck survivors are stranded on and the life of one of the main characters before the plane crash. Then we can see how the things that happened to the characters before the plane crash taints, influences and molds their interactions with people on the island. It’s all psychologically based and quite creepy, laced with mystery. The thing is, they’re not alone on the island – they met a French woman who has been stranded there sixteen years and is so mentally unstable they can’t ferret any truth or information out of her. All they hear about is the dreaded “Others,” creatures or spirits or people who brought a “sickness” on all the people who were stranded with the French woman and killed them all, and she’s continually harping that the survivors need to be careful about their impending return. Then there’s the matter of the Monster, a mysterious creature that pounds around in the forest picking people off. Because of the destruction it has wreaked they know it’s huge, but nobody’s ever seen it and lived, and the only flash we’ve seen of it consists of a quick-moving black vapor that tried to pull one of the main characters underground. My favorite character is Locke, a fiftysomething former paralysis victim who magically and mysteriously regained use of his legs after the crash. He’s like a human Yoda, full of wisdom and laden one-liners. He’s also one with nature – he’s always out hunting, tracking boars, etc. Very cool guy – hope he’s not picked off by the Monster or the Others. And the really cool thing is the DVD of Season One comes out the 6th! Rah rah rah – I can catch up on my missed episodes as accompaniment whilst I attempt to combat my insomnia on a nightly basis.

School Stats

Interesting pull from our dean's daily newsletter :

"The College Recruits a Top-15 Entering J.D. Class--Boasting a 3-point Increase in the Median LSAT score and Big Ten Leadership in Diversity

In the past three years, the College of Law has succeeded in taking its J.D. class (THAT'S ME) from the nation's 88th percentile to its 95th percentile while sustaining its record-holding diversity. In recruiting this year's entering J.D. class, the College accomplished a 3-point median LSAT increase, placing the College amongst the top 15 schools in the country by that measure. The Class of 2008 is comprised of 188 students from 26 states and 87 undergraduate institutions, 32% of whom are students of color and 32% of whom are women. The average age of the class is 25 (though its students range from 18 to 37), and 26 (14%) of the class members have advanced degrees. 115 of its students are from Illinois, 69 are from out of state, and 4 are from countries abroad. The class boasts engineers, teachers, scientists, firefighters, artists, economists, soldiers, sailors, venture capitalists, and a retired NFL player (who was an Academic All-American here at Illinois). We are delighted by the wealth of life experiences that this impressively-credentialed class brings to our classrooms and hallways and we extend to its members a hearty welcome to the College.