Pyramid - Round 3!!

Here we go, folks.

You remember how it goes. I tell you three things, and you tell me what they are. We've had "Things that Are Gross," and "Things with Mice."

Let's play Pyramid!

The subway platform at Union Square
David Letterman's front teeth
My comprehension of substantive due process jurisprudence

Guess away!

Not A Problem

I think someone might be reverse pick-pocketting me. I keep finding money in my back pockets that I feel pretty confident isn't mine.

I did find some after going to New Jersey...from what I've heard about New Jersey, I wouldn't expect people to be putting money INTO my pockets, but it could have happened.

It's not a problem, but all the same, it's weird.

Are people on the subway just sneaking money into my pockets to see how long it takes me to notice?

(Apparently, it takes me a while to notice. I always seem to notice in mornings before I've gone anywhere.)

Things I Can't Explain

Today, I got a TON of compliments on my new haircut. (Note: this is the third day everyone has seen my new haircut here, but yesterday, I guess it was pulled up, so I'm cutting them some slack.) Everyone talked about how lovely it looked and how wonderful I was looking today.

Then, I got home and decided I looked like a disaster.

Apparently, I look best when I look rushed and ill-kempt.

Why do I even bother??

Just to Clarify

On my vacation, my sister had to fill out three versions of a long form for something. I asked if she wanted help. She said no, that I had bad handwriting.

Harsh.

Then, as I was typing away on something else, I said that Somebody's Mother makes fun of my typing (hard to describe; you'll just have to ask her why it's funny) and she (LL) makes fun of my handwriting.

Then LL clarified that she makes fun of my typing as well as my handwriting.

Awesome. Thanks.

And So It Goes...

Here we are, just days before school begins again. I'm just finishing up my holiday trek across my favorite parts of the country, and it's almost time to be back in class.

For the past couple of weeks, people have been emailing me to set things up during the first week of school. Little by little, my schedule became a nightmare. Then my poor visiting teacher asked if she could come over. Uh, nope. Sorry. I recognize that it's the first week of school, but somehow, I'm already busy every day this week.

I'll try to be a better blogger this semester, but I can make no guarantees. Don't worry too much though; nothing super interesting has been happening. I get up, I go to school, I come home (sometimes very late), I eat dinner, I go to sleep, and then I start it all over again. If I'm lucky, I get a good night of sleep.

I haven't been very lucky lately.

Pyramid Part 2

Are you ready??

Let's play....PYRAMID!

Here's the list. Your job (as always) determine what the list is. So the last list included the bottom of my backpack, the bathrooms at Grand Central Terminal, and my wages before taxes; the answer was "things that are gross."

So here we go:

A computer
Disneyland
My kitchen/living room

Head to the comments and start your guessing!

New Year

A couple of weeks ago, I was writing out a check. As I wrote the date, I was about to write 2011 as the year, and then I thought, wait, it's not quite 2011 yet.

Wrong. It wasn't quite 2012 yet, but it had been 2011 for a while.

Apparently, I've just blocked out most of 2011.

Oh well. On to 2012!!

Half Time!

Well, folks, I just finished semester three of a six semester law degree. Half way done! WOW! Time sure flies when...wait, no...time hasn't necessarily flown, but it hasn't really dragged by, either. In lots of ways, I feel like I've been in law school forever. Actually, I feel like I've been specifically in this semester forever. Some people complained that it was going too quickly and that they couldn't believe it was already time for finals, but I was ready to get them over with and get on to the next one.

Although I've learned a lot and had many awesome experiences, this semester has been particularly busy, and I'm very tired. Oh, so very tired.

For our law school half time show, all I really have to contribute is my amazing ability to nap.

Any of you have anything better you want to submit for half time? (No wardrobe malfunctions, please, this is a family blog.)

Chariots of Fire, or How My Family Tried to Kill Me

The first in a series of catching up

Lots of people like to tease their toddlers. Sure, it’s cute to watch little people scream and cry, right?[1] So we do it. It’s hilarious. I don’t know if it served some evolutionary purpose, or if we just like their terrified little faces in response to mundane things, but we do it.

That being said, we may be scarring the children in our lives. In fact, I think that’s probably why my generation is messed up. But I digress.

When I was a tiny child, my family had a favorite way to cause this reaction in me. My family played the theme from Chariots of Fire.

Can you hear it in your head? Dum dum dum dum dum dum, (chang chang) dum dum dum dum dum.

I would embed it here for you, but I don’t like it, so I won’t. Google it yourselves. I’ll wait.

Ready?

So, this song made me panic and cry when my family would put the CD in. (Dating myself, I suspect this was one of, if not the very first CD my family owned. We were early adopters.)[2]

I don’t remember any of this. I still hate the song though.

I read a few books this summer that were non-law books, just to give my brain a break from legal life. One of the books I read was about music, as therapy, as connection between people, and as it interacts with the brain, including some strange stories. For example, some people hear music before they have a seizure. Some people have seizures caused by a particular song.

Some of those seizures, although measurable in the brain, manifest only by a general discomfort with the song that is playing.

Just saying.

---

[1] Note: Yes, I did repeatedly show my toddler nephew a toy that made him cry because it was just so adorable—why didn’t he like that cow?? So I’m the pot, you’re the kettle, whatever. We all do it.

[2] Somebody’sMother has clarified that they only did it a couple of times.

Almost Half Way

Tomorrow morning (8:45 EST, if you're of the praying variety and want to think of me whilst I am in the midst of it) is my first final. Wednesday morning (same time) is my other final. I only have two this semester, so this is it.

I could not be less prepared.

Big deep breaths...

Essentials

Hunkered down, studying, trying to survive.

Made a quick trip to the drug store. Came back with pint of ice cream and package of mouse traps.

All the essentials.

Sick, Tired, and Busy

Well, I feel like I should post an update.

Hi.

This week, I'm done with classes, so I'm trying to study and get ready for my finals next week (Tuesday and Wednesday mornings).

Sadly, for the past few days, I've been sick. You can probably see my tonsils from wherever you live--they're HUGE! So I've been doing a lot more sleeping than I'd like, at a time like this, but I suppose you just do the best you can.

Also...I have company. Furry, small, annoying company.

More on that later.

Hope all is well for you all! And to those of you whom I KNOW had fun Thanksgivings and took many delightful pictures, I'd like to see a posting about that, please...

Pyramid

Do you know the show Pyramid? I haven't seen it in years, but it's a game show, and at some round, someone is trying to describe a category like "Things Your Mother Says" or "Things You Find in a Fridge."

Anyway, we're going to have a round of Pyramid here on the blog, since it occurred to me earlier today, and I have three minutes to type this.

I'll be listing things that fall into a category like the ones described above. First person who guesses right wins. There is no prize besides glory and a feeling of accomplishment, but really, what more do you need?

Here we go...let's play Pyramid!

• The bathrooms at Grand Central Terminal
• The bottom of my backpack
• My wages before taxes

Still Here

Back when I announced that I was going to quit my job and go to law school, I bet you all thought that this blog was going to become so entertaining and delightful as you were able to track my big city adventure and glamorous law school life.

Sorry.

I'm still really busy. Really, really busy. Today I told someone that I have never worked so hard, but I have also never learned so much. (Note: I'm involved in a very specific kind of legal education this semester—clinical education—that makes this year particularly grueling while simultaneously rewarding. Not everyone does this kind of work in law school, but I'm glad I am.)

I often think I'm going to come to the blog and explain what I've been up to so you can all marvel at how interesting/uninteresting (depending on who you are) it sounds.

Yet I don't.

I'm busy.

The clinic I'm a member of is particularly intense, even compared to the other clinics at the school. Near the beginning of the semester, I joked with someone that we had hit the ground running in our clinic...then I corrected myself, that it was more like we had been thrown from a moving car and were trying to keep up. However, it means I get to do really cool things. So as to not bore you with the details, I'll just say that I'm getting to be involved in a giant pile of interesting litigation with a pile of really interesting people. I'm learning from highly respected lawyers, and the things I'm involved in regularly show up on the web, on the news, and sometimes in the NY Times. It's such a fun adventure, but I do have a love/hate relationship with it. I love what I get to do. I love who I get to work with. I love who I'm getting to learn from. I HATE how I don't have time to do anything else. I'm working long, long hours, often with quick deadlines as the litigation moves.

A non-clinic classmate remarked the other day that we were getting close to finals, so she had to say goodbye to her social life. I haven't had a social life all semester. I'm thinking about picking one up in the summer. I'm pretty tired though, so I don't know about that. I think I'll sleep all summer.

I'm weirdly actually really looking forward to finals, because the clinic sort of shuts down, and I'll have a few days to catch my breath. Our supervising professors take over our cases, taking care of any emergencies that might crop up, and we will have a chance to just be students for a little while. This time will be a good thing, because I have a couple of classes that I need to do some serious studying for.

I don't have time to write too much else, but I will say that blog-worth things do happen, and I am keeping track of them all, and perhaps I'll try to fill in the gaps over Christmas break. (One of my favorite parts of being a student: CHRISTMAS VACATION! I never got that when I worked. I am savoring it while I'm a student...I'll be back in a regular job in not too long!)

So here, for your perusal, some forthcoming blogs (right now, titles only, but sure to be delightful when completed):

Chariots of Fire; or How My Family Tried to Kill Me
The Visitor
Guilt for All Foods
Objection!
I Believe You Dropped This
Take Note
Know When to Hold 'Em
Occupy Clinic



Hopefully, I'll get around to writing them before I forget what they're all about. I think you'll find at least one of them to be particularly horrifying, and really, if I have a opportunity to horrify you, I like to seize it.

Oh, Netflix

As I've discussed before, I love the things Netflix thinks it can determine about what I want to watch. First, I've because I've watched Battlestar Galactica (don't judge, I grew up with a lot of brothers), it recommended a bunch of period pieces in a category called "Feel-good Dramas Featuring a Strong Female Lead." Uh, have they ever seen Battlestar Galactica? I wouldn't use those terms to describe it, nor would I think that someone who watched it would necessarily love Pride and Prejudice...

The other category it made for me the other day was "Understated Foreign Mother-Daughter Movies."

Because I only like Mother-Daughter movies when they're understated, apparently...

So Many Stories

But so little time. I have no time to tell you all what I'm up to, but as it has been a month since I have written anything, I thought I'd let you all know I'm still alive.

Too busy to say much else, but alive.

Can't wait to see your cute pictures of all of your kids dressed up for Halloween next week! (Or you can dress them up now and post those pictures. I'm not opposed to that.)

Early leader for cutest baby in costume: my pseudo-niece Brylee. Cutest ladybug EVER!

Things Keep Moving

I know, I know...it's been a while! My apologies. I'm extremely busy and sleep deprived, but it's all good.

Here's a quick, bullet-y list of things I've been up to in the past couple of weeks.

• Job hunting! Crazy that it's already time to be hunting for jobs for next summer, right? Actually, I've been job hunting for about two months now. It's a long process, but I just accepted an offer to work for someone next summer that I'm pretty excited about, so now I can move the job-hunting process off my plate for this year and focus on school.
• SCHOOL! Wow, I'm at school all the time. I'm actually at school right now. In the library. Not studying. (What? I needed a break...) School is going well. I have two regular classes. Then I'm a teaching assistant for another class (Legal Writing and Lawyering Skills for 1Ls), and I also am working in a clinic.
• Oh, the clinic. I'm in the clinic all the time. We're working on some really interesting cases, and I'm learning a lot, but it's EXHAUSTING. I need a nap. If I didn't have so much to do, I would take a nap. But alas, I have four different writing projects to do in the next couple of days, so I can't let up on my regular school work. It's pretty hard to balance my regular school work with my clinic responsibilities, but I'm making it work. It'll be easier now that I'm not also simultaneously looking for a job.
• Camping! I went on a tiny camping trip to the Delaware Water Gap. It's in New Jersey. I know, that's weird, being named the Delaware Water Gap and all, but it is in New Jersey. Honestly, it's not too far away from the city (maybe an hour by car), so it was a perfect little trip. And it's very near a place called Buttzville, NJ, so that was a fun sign to get to see. I may post some pictures of how lovely it was, but that's for another day.
• Church! Church is the only non-school thing I do these days. (Correction: I actually do watch a bit of TV, particularly one reality show where I have a friend participating. Crazy! We never get to catch up with each other, but now I'm getting to catch up with him via television.) Everyone at church is done with their crazy summers and back to the normal pace of things. It's nice to have a good network of people who have my same values that I can have a good time with, when I get time...

Things I have not been up to:

• Adequate sleeping
• Doing my laundry (there have been some pretty questionable outfits in the past few days)
• Washing my dishes (eating off paper plates mostly)
• Blogging
• Enjoying my fair city

Hopefully, I'll get to be up to more of that soon. Especially the laundry.

Fortunately, it's Rosh Hashanah this week. What does that mean? Well, it's a happy Jewish holiday (some of them are mourning holidays, but this one is an eating/celebrating holiday). Unless it is a mourning/fasting holiday, Jewish holidays tend to have a traditional food. What's this holiday's food? Apples with honey. 

I don't eat the apples with honey, really, but I do have big plans to go buy a container of the most amazing ice cream (you can't get it outside of this area) that is apples and cinnamon and honey and enjoying it this weekend since I have two days off of school! More importantly, not are they just days off from class, but the building is physically closed, so I can't come here to work. I'll be forced to stay home. I do have a bunch of work I'm taking home with me, but I also hope to do my dishes, clean my apartment, and go to the park for a while. We'll see how it all goes.

I'll try to be a better blogger, but we may be in a once-a-month phase of this Bacon life. Sorry.

There's an old saying about law school: the first year, they scare you to death; the second year, they work you to death; the third year, they bore you to death. 

I'm definitely in the second year.

Things Get Busy

Well, I feel like I should update you all. I feel like I should have something interesting to say, some delightful anecdote to share.

I don't.

I'm busy with school. Last week was the first week of classes. The week before last, I had orientation for a couple of things I'm involved in this year.

I have no free time. I am one busy girl.

In bullet form, here are some things I've been up to:

• Working on some large impact litigation with my clinic
• Job interviews for next summer
• Sitting in classes
• Reading for classes
• Emailing people all over the country, in research
• Lots of editing
• Working on writing a large research piece
• Having house guests for the weekend
• Sleeping (some nights hardly any, then other nights, like last night, WAY too much)

All in all, I'm very busy.

I'll see you all in a year.

After the Storm

The streets are drying out. It's still windy, but not unbearably so.

Slowly, the streets have filled with shoppers, kids, people walking dogs, and cars.

Taxis are back in circulation. Even the buses are running again.

The air smells clean and fresh.

The hustle and bustle of NYC has returned to my street.

And now, I feel home again.

All Quiet

It's eerily quiet outside. Although it has rained off and on today, it's not raining right now.

All of the stores are closed up. There are still people walking around on the streets, but far fewer cars than usual, and no buses, as all public transit ceased at noon.

We're not expecting the worst of the storm until tonight and early tomorrow, so I fully intend to sleep through most of it.

Still, it's weird that it's just not my New York outside right now.