halfway point

i think i'm about halfway done with my class. in fact, i think the bar is like exactly a month away. being halfway done sounds exciting and all, except that i feel like i've been taking this class for a freaking year. so, i can't believe i'm ONLY halfway done.



we finished relearning all the MBE subjects and had a simulated MBE test on friday. it was good practice, i'm sure, but frustrating. i had been doing very well on the practice questions for homework but didn't do as well as i would have liked on the actual in class test. i've been studying this shit for over a month, and spending LOTS of time studying it. it's really frustrating that i don't have it down as well as i'd like.



now that we're done with the MBE subjects, we still have to learn:

agency/partnership
civ pro
corporations
wills
trusts
remedies
community property
professional responsibility (ethics)



i've finally started to get a little stressed out, too. i was quite impressed that i haven't been stressed at all yet, but its starting to sink in a little. more than anything, i just feel irritable. usually it takes a lot to bother me, but little things annoy me now. like when someone who i know is just trying to be supportive will tell me to go home, take a nap and do something fun. unfortunately, if i had time to do that stuff, i'd already be doing it. you wouldn't have to tell this girl twice! ;)



i really miss having time to do the things i need to, even the boring routine things like cleaning my apartment, doing laundry, getting my car washed. and good god, do i need a freaking haircut!! i needed one about two months ago, so now its pretty bad. that's going to be one of the first things i do after the exam.



and, having a social life and dating is very difficult while studying for the bar. i've been a bad friend and bad lady friend for the past month. but, i don't know what's better - spending less time with friends, or spending more time with them but complaining incessently about the bar and being stressed out and being so tired that i feel like i'm about to pass out. and, going on dates is difficult because i don't have a whole night to devote to a date - we can go out for a little bit then i invite him back to my place to watch me study. hot date, huh?



i'm just so incredibly tired. today i went to class until 1pm, then straight to work, then straight to the library to study. for the past 4 days (yes, including sunday) i had class all day until 5pm. followed of course by many hours of studying. i'm so tired i feel like i'm in some dreamlike state when i'm not even sure what's real anymore. i study for like 12 hours a day, and i feel like i can't remember any of it.

being a lawyer better be awesome.



out.

- L

the BJ show

my friend ninja steve likes to call it that.



the barrett-jackson classic car auction is this weekend in scottsdale. unfortunately due to studying for the bar, there's no way i can make it this year. i debated going for a long time, but i have class saturdays and i can't miss it. i'm really upset that i can't go, i've been going to the show every year for a few years now. i look forward to this more than i do the holidays - i would have rather skipped christmas if it meant i could go to barrett jackson. such is life.

BUT, there is also a barrett jackson auction every year in florida. its not nearly as big as the one in scottsdale, but it still sounds like buttloads of fun. i'm trying to convince my sister to go with me. anyone interested? its in late march - perfect way to celebrate finishing (and probably failing) the bar exam!


i have to say, i think the whole idea of a bar exam is stupid. anyone who can make it through 3 years of law school (especially given that over 1/3 of my class was kicked out first year) then they have the skills to be an attorney. at no time in my career as an attorney will i ever be expected to know the law for 15 different areas of law off the top of my head without referring to a rule book. in fact, that would be totally unprofessional. i think the requirement to be an attorney should involve a choice: either 1) graduate from an ABA accredited law school, or 2) pass the bar exam. that way, people who wanted to save the money and time associated with 3 years of law school could just study their ass of and take the bar exam.



i'm thinking of writing a letter to my congresspersons with my ideas. actually, it should probably go to the ABA people instead. i wonder if they receive a ton of letters about the futility of the bar exam from students about to take it. i bet they do. so, who's with me? who wants to campaign for the dissolution of the bar exam? i've started a fund where you can make a donation if you'd like to help my efforts to stop this sadistic and senseless test.



it's called the "Lindsay-wants-to-go-to-Florida-for-the-Barrett-Jackson-auction-and-needs-money fund." your donations are tax deductible and greatly appreciated.


here's a video of the auction from last year. carroll shelby (who is AWESOME) was there, and there was a pretty cool drifting show, not to mention record breaking auction sales for some sweeeeet cars.

but i'm sure studying will be almost as fun.


out.

- L

shhhh, it's a "secret"

for christmas, among other things, i received this book as a gift:

i've seen the dvd, but was also interested in reading the book. if you haven't yet read/seen it, basically its about using the law of attraction to obtain the things you want in life. it involves realistically imagining the things you want and making room in your life for that thing. to help focus on that thing you want, it helps to have reminders. so, to help keep me focused on passing the bar, focusing on the positive, i've put up a few posters around my apartment that i created by cutting pictures out of magazines. the pictures were mostly taken from the local bar association magazine and feature pictures of attorneys doing "attorney things". i have no idea if this whole "law of attraction" thing really works, but i figured it doesn't hurt to try.

here's one of the posters up in my apartment:

but unfortunately, it's a little bit of a stretch to relate that poster to passing the bar - it really has nothing to do with the exam. it's too bad there's not a magazine ad like this:

maybe i should print THAT out and use it as a poster ;)

my friend gretchen sent me an email with those funny inspirational posters because one of them was on ninjas, and everyone knows how much i like ninjas. i don't know why, but this one in particular...

....gives me lots of hope about passing the bar. i'd like to have it made into a t-shirt as extral moral support, but i'm afraid i might get some funny looks. i guess i'll just have to settle for the cheesy picture of me above giving the "thumbs up." 'cause satan knows THAT won't get me any funny looks.

"as above, so below.
as within, so without."
- the emerald tablet (quoted in the secret)

out.
- L

indecision 2008

i know i'm going to make myself sound like a big geek here, but i'm very excited for the elections this year. actually, i'm very scared too. a few of the candidates concern me a little. especially huckabee and romney. and that's coming from a republican!!

i really wish i had more time to be active in the elections right now. i'd love to volunteer for ron paul's campaign. i know the chances of him winning are slim to none, but i think he shows a lot of promise to be a great president.

so, if you are not registered to vote, this is the year to register! it's going to be a very exciting, very close election. and even if you're not into politics, you're going to want to pay attention. there are a wide variety of candidates with a wide variety of beliefs on the issues and a wide variety of views for the future of america. i promise you won't agree with all of it, so do something to make sure the ones you do agree with it are the ones dictating what happens.

really, when you think about it, there's no excuse not to vote.
- don't know anything about the candidates? research them here.
- think one vote doesn't make a difference? it can. besides, what if there are 10 people sitting at home thinking one vote doesn't make a difference? 100? 1000?
- too busy to vote? have work/school/jazzercise that day? request a mail in ballot.


regardless of who you're going to vote for, even if you loooove huckabee and think every public school day should start with a good ol' fashioned christian prayer, go out and vote.


because if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about what you get stuck with.





a guy i sit next to in class and i were discussing keeping count of all our vices during bar prep. i'm trying to exercise regularly to fight stress and the school vending machine is out of mini donuts, so these days my vices are limited to vitamin water and packages of fruit snacks, so they've joined the bar count on the left.

out.
- L

dreamland

just a bit of random trivia: did you know that "dreamland" is a name given to area 51?

god, i'm such a nerd.

its a saturday and i had to go to school :( its a saturday, and i had to go walk many blocks to school early, in the rain. i slept through my alarm this morning. that rarely happens because i put my alarm on pretty loud. when i finally woke up and looked at the clock, i had been sleeping through almost 30 minutes of jazz and oldies. i have my alarm clock set to some local easy listening station because i find that makes me want to get out of bed faster. if there's a good song playing on the radio i'll lay in bed and listen, maybe dance a little (its possible, trust me). but when its michael bolton serenading some hairy chested italian guy named "guy" it makes me want to get out of bed. quickly.

just a quick tangent, i never understood why people name their sons "guy". those most be the most uncreative parents in the world. thank god my parents didn't name me "chick". although, i'm not sure i'm one to talk, since my stuffed camel is appropriately named "camel". but in my defense, i was 3.

so, i woke up late this morning because i tossed and turned all night last night, partly because of all the rain and wind, and partly because i dreamt of the bar exam all night long, specifically contracts. i gave up listening to my bar cds at night about a week ago because i found that all of my dreams were about the bar exam, and sleepy time is the only part of the day where i get a break from that shit.

but unfortunately, sometimes i still dream about the bar despite not listening to my cds before bed. and its not just one dream, its all night long. at some point in the middle of the night, i'll usually wake up and try to con myself into thinking about something else. "think of something fun and exciting" i'll say to myself. you know what the sad part is? at that time of the night, when i'm half awake, i can't come up with anything else to think about. usually i'll force myself to think about food or sex for a few minutes....long enough to get me to fall asleep and inevitably start dreaming about contracts again.

why can't i go back to having dirty dreams or dreams about scary circus clowns dancing the lambada like a normal woman?

i particularly miss having this one already:



i got invited to go to the charger playoff game tomorrow! what an amazing opportunity, but i of course can't go. i'm kinda upset, because beer and yelling is exactly what every bar studier needs.

oh well. maybe tonight i can at least dream of beer and yelling.

out.
- L

so this is the new year, and i don't feel any different

there's a song by death cab for cutie called "the new year"...that's where the title for this post came from.

so this is the new year
and i don't feel any different.
the clanking of crystal
explosions off in the distance.

so this is the new year
and i have no resolutions.
for self assigned penance
for problems with easy solutions.

so everybody put your best suit or dress on
let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once.
lighting firecrackers out on the front lawn
as thirty diaglogues bleed into one.

i wish the world was flat like the old days
then i could travel just by folding a map
no more airplanes or speed trains or freeways
there'd be no distance that could hold us back.

i kinda like that song today, not only because today is new year's, but because it also describes how i feel about new years today.

don't get me wrong, i'm glad 2007 is over. in fact, i'm reeeeaaaaalllly glad its over. new year's eve last night was lots of fun and all, but 2007 was not a good year for me. in fact, just about the only thing that went right in my life this year was school, which is a rarity. i think i made the dean's list for every semester this year, but the rest of my life was pretty stressful, so i'm not sorry to see 2007 go.

on the other hand, i'm not exactly excited about 2008. at least, not the first few months of 2008. so i've decided that my new year doesn't start until i'm done with the bar exam in february. since 2007 sucked, i may as well extend it to include the bad parts of 2008. so, the next few months are going to be 2007 1/2, or 2007B. i'll make my new years resolution once 2008 starts on march 1st. i'll also go out and party on february 28th or whatever the last day of february is this year (i don't have the energy to look at a calendar and see if its leap year). so, get ready to celebrate new years all over again in march. until then, enjoy your 2007 part two, bitches!!

where i'd love to spend new year's someday:

out.

- L