"And down the stretch they come!"

I’m currently on lunch-break from my Pre-Criminal Law Exam crunch, so I thought I’d check in with the old log.

I study with the TV kind of humming in the background to provide the simulation of other people conversing, and last night I was incredibly bummed to have to change channels when “Behind the Scenes at Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary Bash” came on the Travel Channel. Ahh, such sacrifices we make in the pursuit of higher learning.

I'll be strapped to a tree in front of a target while arrows are shot at me mercilessly for the first time tomorrow morning at 8AM. I plan to arrive at 7 to get a prime spot – I’ve heard horror stories about being jostled, or stuck next to an idiot who coughs or whatnot. (I had actually planned on 6:30 just to be safe, but they won’t open the doors of the building until 7.) Plus, I’ll be able to lay out my coat and reserve a few spots on either side to spread out all my stuff. Criminal law is so complicated we’re allowed to use outlines of a certain length, so I printed mine and put it in a three-ring binder. You ought to see this thing. First, all the text is color-coded – black for the main, red for the subject headings, purple for important maxims, maroon for hypotheticals and examples, teal for page number cross-references, orange for Model Penal Code references and direct quotes, blue for textbook case briefs. Then, I made an index for easy referencing, and put little tabs on the side like a real binder has. I'm told time will be of the essence (even though it's a 3:45-hour exam), so I've tried to make referencing as quick and painless as possible. I have to say I’m impressed on my own behalf.

After talking to Dad last night about the Cats DVD, I’ve been singing “Shimbleshanks the Railway Cat” all day.

Now I’m reviewing the Commercial outline I bought and running through all the sample problems the publishers provided. Who knows if they’ll help, but the most useful thing I did to prepare for the LSAT was run through practice questions, and I’m a big fan of sticking to practices that have a successful track record.

UIUC is currently experiencing a campus-wide heat crisis, so we’re at about 55 in the law school. Unfortunately, heat is such a big issue in all the buildings, we’re not allowed to call maintenance until we fall beneath 50 – they’re that overbooked. I would argue that the undergrads should have to suffer until we graduate students receive proper accommodations, and cite Dad’s highly useful “undesirables flow downhill” theory as evidence, but somehow I suspect this would simply earn me an unceremonious hangup as opposed to the desired result. I found a vacant room in the building that isn’t too cold, but I still have to sit with my jacket, scarf and hat on. I would just leave and go to Borders but I completely filled my parking meter before coming in ($.75/hr). Plus, it may be cold, but it’s quiet here, and easy to focus.

That said, my allocated break time has petered out. This is your resident haggard IL, signing out.