More than three days in, and I’m still on track. It helps that I’ve been keeping busy: last night we did a short interactive taiko show before Tao’s performance in Galveston, and today we had an extra long practice to prepare for our trip to Hidalgo next weekend.

As a result, I hurt. All over really, but mostly in my back, shoulders, and arms. And I’m exhausted. I might skip dinner and go straight to bed. I know, poor me, getting to spend so much time doing something I love.

In the near future I’ll have hours and hours of newly-freed-up time to spend on taiko because at the end of last week I resigned from journal. My paper was so far behind that things were getting ridiculous, and my best option was to make a clean break of it. No hard feelings on either side, I don’t think. After I finish up a few assignments next week, I’ll be done.

(more…)

I’ve been lucky this year to be in some (okay, two) of the right classes at the right times. Last semester, when much of the healthcare debate was going on, I was in Health Law Survey. We didn’t have time to do a comprehensive analysis of the issues, but we read a few articles and looked at some of the provisions in the bills, and the process was enlightening.

I learned just enough in that course to know that U.S. health care is insanely complicated and full of problems and money sinks, and that I never ever want to practice health law.

And now I’m in Space Law in time to talk about Obama’s announcement of the cancellation of the Constellation program. To be honest, I haven’t been keeping up with space stuff in the last few years, and I knew very little about Constellation before it got axed. I’m excited about the further development of private space enterprises, personally, but it’s going to be weird for NASA not to have a manned spaceflight program. Will American kids nowadays have to dream of becoming space tourists?

I heard on the radio a couple weeks ago that NASA will be auctioning off the artifacts of the shuttle program that museums don’t want. I don’t know if any of the auction is open to the public, but how cool would that be, to own a little tiny piece of a space shuttle? Or even a lowly space shuttle wrench that spent its whole career in Florida? Surely there are more bolts and unidentifiable thingamajigs than the museums of the world can handle.

Of course, now I can’t find any reference to this auction at all, except a few news articles about the shuttles themselves being offered to museums (for a surprisingly low price, in the hundreds of thousands). I did, however, find this little series called “50 Years of NASA” from KUHF. You’d better not have been lying to me about this auction thing, KUHF. I can see you from the Law Center. Or I could if the building had windows on that side.

So yeah. Maybe I wandered a little off topic in this post. But I want my space stuff.

[Source: xkcd.com]

Oh man, do I ever love me some dimensional analysis. It’s so satisfying to line up all the units and cross them out two-by-two until you’re left with the perfect combination…or the mess that confirms that you’ve gravely misunderstood the problem.

If only I could figure out how to apply this fun and useful skill to the study of law, my life would be radically more fulfilling.

I came to school today because I thought the low-distraction environment would help me focus on studying for my exams.

I’m in the journal office right now. It’s the best place I’ve found to study, at least when it’s not too busy, because it has lots of semi-enclosed workspaces with big desks. And, unlike in the library, I can eat in here.

Today there are three people in the office besides me. Two are studying quietly at a table together. The third is bravely attempting to induce carpal tunnel syndrome by playing a computer game that involves incessant high-speed clicking.

I’m pretty sure wrist injuries won’t get you out of taking your exams. Why are you here, clicky-person? Over the last forty-five minutes, not thirty seconds have gone by without a barrage of clickclickclickclickclick. Can’t you clickclick at home?

What’s that, voice of reason? Ask clicky-person to stop? You mean, like, go over there and say it out loud? No, that’s crazy. I will put in my taiko earplugs and fume on the internet instead.

Good news! Google Scholar has added a vast swath of federal and state opinions, journal articles, and patents to its database. Huzzah!

As a law student, I have free suck-you-in-and-get-you-hooked full access to Lexis and Westlaw, but that will evaporate when I graduate**. Getting access to the pay databases through a firm is expensive and can be touchy, especially if you’re made to feel guilty for every minute you spend logged in and every case you print; the expense can keep smaller firms and solo practitioners out of the easy-online-access game altogether.

I’ve spent a few minutes poking around Google Scholar’s legal offerings by looking up a case we’re discussing tonight in Professional Responsibility: Gaspard v. Beadle, 36 S.W.3d 229. It’s worth a skim, even if you’re not used to reading cases; sex, betrayal, and a UH Law grad in the role of the asshole lawyer make for a juicy story.

(more…)

No, my Kroger card will not let me into the law school basement. Not the debit card, either.

It’s been a long day.

So yeah, my level of fail at NaBlo 2009 is reaching epic proportions. I’ve come to accept it. November’s been busy, and it’s flying by. Ten pages of my journal paper, complete with footnotes, due in two days? Criminy.

Today was my third day in a row of taiko performances—two at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands, and one in College Station. Next weekend we’re on the road again to Alexandria, and it’s a 90-minute show, so we’ve got two practices (maybe three) this week to prepare for that.

But right now, if I can deny the existence of my paper deadline for a little longer, life is good. I just took a hot shower, and now I’m sitting on John’s balcony with a beer and my laptop, enjoying the November weather. What’s that? It’s snowing where you live? You can’t go outside with wet hair and bare feet? Suck it. This is our reward for making it through the summer.

Also, I just got to watch a guy throw up over the side of his balcony at an apartment across the street. So that’s nice.

I’m taking Professional Responsibility this semester. It’s a required class that covers the rules of ethics regarding lawyers in preparation for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam, which everyone has to pass in order to be admitted to the bar.

As in all law school classes, most of the cases and hypos we discuss fall right on the boundaries between rules, where the decisions are most difficult. It’s hard for me to say how often ethical dilemmas like these come up in practice, but for some of these, once in a career is enough to destroy a person.

(more…)

I’ve got a few dozen balls in the air at the moment. On the one hand, having so much to do stresses me out, but on the other hand, most of those balls are pretty damn awesome, which makes the day-to-day work a little more pleasant.

Grand Taiko. It’s this weekend! Can you believe it? I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas. Yesterday’s set-change practice was made tense by a couple of unnecessarily-last-minute decisions, but all in all, we are SO ready for this show. Loading, spiking, and tech rehearsal Wednesday, dress rehearsal Thursday, performance Friday and Saturday.

I’m especially excited about our brand new song, Hanadokei. I helped write it a tiny bit, and I get to play in it*. It’s the most exhausting song in the whole set, for me at least, but it’s so much fun to play. You’ll love it.

Because you’re gonna be there, right? Miller Outdoor Theatre, this Friday and Saturday, 7:30 PM? That’s what I thought.

Wedding Planning. We’re thinking early 2011, so it’s still a year and half away, but I’m already deep into the planning. I’m discovering that my mother has a strong vision of what my wedding will look like, and it’s not much like mine. Getting married by a friend or relative instead of a “real” minister? Disappointing. A dress in any color other than white? Even light gray? Disappointing. A wedding palette of yellow, gray, and black**? Disappointing.

(more…)

Instead of throwing out scattershot comments on my life over the last month (month!), I’ll talk a little about OCI.

OCI (On-campus interviewing) is the way many incoming 2Ls (that’d be me) get their 3L summer jobs, and it’s the way some 3Ls line up their first jobs after graduation. In case you skimmed that last sentence, that means that a couple weeks from now, in AUGUST, I’ll be interviewing for jobs that start, at the earliest, next MAY. A bit insane, no? Does any other profession do this?

When I start my 3L summer job, I will have twice the law school experience I have now. Don’t employers want to see my fall semester grades? See how well I handle journal work? Maybe they’re just as frustrated with the situation as I am.

(more…)