Medically Speaking...

Thankfully, I turned on my car this morning to 31 degrees. Not much, but not 10 below, either.

I received yet another e-mail today inviting me to attend yet another discussion about the apparently paltry state of my gender in law school - apparently, the amount of female lawyers pales in comparison to the other, inferior half of our species, and the number of female applicants is declining with every year. I guess I ought to be more concerned, but the well-combed employment scout in me can’t help but consider (with a smile) the ramifications this will have on my job search, particularly in relation to employment quotas and such.

Well, like is looking up - the Senate approved medical marijuana manufacturing, up to 10lbs or something like that. It’s off to the house! Skateboarders and punks nationwide are rejoicing.

Speaking of medicine, the school has this really clever social event a few times per semester open to veterinary and law school students - it's called a "medical malpractice" mixer. Clever.

Almost There

Assembly Hall installed a new sign yesterday that would send Dad shuffling through sixteen shades of green: a massive, Bradley Center - type collection of colored lights that gleefully sport images of upcoming acts in a continual spiral. This means that, while George Strait grins at me every morning in all his elegance, so does that irritating, blubbling purple thing called Barney. And here’s another interesting happening - David Copperfield is coming! Can you imagine? After all this time, the guy is still attempting to make a living off of fallacy and deception. It’s rather eerie how his appearance hasn’t changed in the ten years since I last saw him smoosh himself into a box full of knives.

I gave my Oral Argument for my Motion to Change Venue in the Arnold Schwarzenegger case yesterday - for the dual purposes of “get it over with” and “obtain maximum sympathy,” I signed up for the very first time slot the professor offered. First I gave my four-minute summary of my paper, then the other student gave hers, and finally we both faced a not-so-censored critique from our professor and the pseudo-judge. They told me I need to work on my eye contact (surprise, surprise, I spent a lot of time peering just over the shoulders of my audience). But I apparently showed admirable “deference and respect to the judge” (because I ceased talking immediately when she interrupted my recitation to poke and prod my argument with questions) and answered the challenges to my argument “admirably” (they said I not only produced a suitable answer but also proffered a viable counterargument that effectively killed the controversy). How cool, huh? The final point of critique was duly noted and expected - I must work on my assertiveness, because I had well-defined, researched, prepared and memorized arguments, but a weak manner. Hmmm. I had the mentality down for about half of the presentation, seeing in my mind’s eye Zippidy and a stuffed bunny rabbit in lieu of my professor and a judge, but as soon as they interrupted to poke and prod and pose inquiries, they shattered my imagery. I’ll have to work on that.

I’m seriously considering going to a movie tonight. They have a special this week at the movie theater just up the road for students attending matinees - I think it’s a sign. There’s this movie called The New World that is essentially a live-action version of Pocahontas.

No Advocacy on Friday afternoon - I get to leave at 12! Rah, rah, rah! Only 26 hours! Ahh, I'm pathetic...

Razzle Frazzle

I turned off my alarm this morning and fell back asleep, unfortunately, which meant my entire routine slipped off course and I shuffled through the morning in a state of total frazzlement. It’s one thing to run late of your own volition... I just despise that groggy, disoriented feeling that chases me all day after an extended sleep. Or maybe, as George Strait says, I just hate everything when I'm tired.

I was unaware of this fact, but according to the American Bar Association, I don’t exist until I enroll with them. I’m not sure precisely what this entails, but I’m sure it involves lots of paperwork, a substantial fee and the sacrifice of a first born, or something comparable. I have to attend an orientation session regarding this to learn how to apply for the right to exist as a law student. It’s roughly comparable to the tree in the forest question: If a tree falls in the forest and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound? Stated differently, if a student goes to law school and the bar is not aware of it, do they exist?

Grammy Awards tonight... wonder if Mariah Carey will win everything. I’m sure the whole thing will prove an extravagant bore, as most award shows are... although I am holding out a modicum of hope for the Academy Awards because Jon Stewart is hosting - he might be all right. I must say I’m bitter that Walk the Line was snubbed in the Best Picture category.

At this point, Champaign does not have any precipitation in the forecast for Friday, Chicago has a “few flurries,” and home has a “few snow showers.” I am holding the clouds to this on the grounds of reasonable reliance.

I can't wait to see my puppy on Friday... can't wait to be drooled on and used as a chewing post... can't wait to see his little ears flopping about as he trots over to greet me. Hooray for puppies, making the world a better place.

Motion

Well, the motion has printed.... it’s all set to be turned in at 3:30. I must admit watching other students scurry around like headless chickens to make last-minute modifications had a certain appeal to it.

In Constitutional Law, we have this program where you sign the seating chart when you walk in to assert that you have adequately prepared for class and are prepared to discuss all the cases, so the prof knows who to call on. A student who never misses a sign-in all semester, even for legitimate causes, will receive a half-grade boost at the end of the semester (an A- to an A, or B to B+). Today, as the motion is due, the professor opened the class: “Well, today we have 41 people missing on the sign-in sheet.” (There’s only 60 people in the class.)

I didn’t really realize how tightly this writing assignment had wired my adrenaline system until I woke up this morning moving almost in reverse. Definitely going to be an early evening.

It feels like fall outside today. I almost hate this weather more than the bitter cold - bright sunshine lures you into a false sense of summer until you open the door and the wind slithers through every crack in your clothes. It’s like someone taking a fire extinguisher to an otherwise hardy little flame of optimism.

Today in 1940, Pinocchio was released. Five weeks and change 'till Florida!

Settling for Settling

We had an interesting project today in Intro to Advocacy (previously known as writing). The prof paired us off in teams of two and gave us an information sheet regarding a fake case. One pair represented a student who broke his leg slipping on a puddle left by a leaky water fountain at a high school, and the other side represented the school. As an attorney for the kid with the bum leg, I had a letter from his parents saying they wanted at least $3,500 in some way, shape or form - whether that meant going to trial or settling. Thus, I couldn’t settle for less than $4,500, factoring in my $1k salary (of course). We were given estimates for medical costs and lost wages, and then provided with a rough estimate that, if we went to trial and won, the jury would probably award us $2-5k in pain and suffering. So we had to meet with the school’s attorneys and haggle. The good news is, we won (per se) - we got the “school” to pay us $3,000 for $2,300 of medical expenses, plus $1,500 for $500 of lost wages, then $300 for the private tutor the kid had to hire while he was in jail, and $200 that we just plain reeled in for kicks (we gave some song and dance about how the boy was going to lose an entire season of varsity basketball and had been expecting a basketball scholarship to college, blah blah blah). We “won” by procuring $5,000 in settlement - $500 more than we needed, and we maxed out the school’s funds (the sheet the prof gave them said they could pay up to $5000 or they would have to go to court). So... we were pretty successful. Rah, rah, rah.

I went to the Computer Lab this morning before class and met with a representative from Westlaw (one of the online research programs) for help researching this motion I have to write. I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but for Writing I have to craft a motion as Arnold Schwartzenegger’s lawyer to have a lawsuit against him moved to a different venue (because, as governor, he wants to have the case tried in LA as opposed to San Francisco for his convenience and the convenience of his witnesses). So... the rep gave me a bunch of searching tips and I’m now on the path to have a nice nest of case rulings to mine from when I’m crafting my plea. Whew! I was really worried... last night seemed like my gazillionth evening of futile exploration.

Wednesday... 50 degrees today, and bright - much more encouraging (psychologically). Since Disney history today is dry, I'll mention that today in 1970 was the first session of the US Supreme Court.