Holiday Shopping

I have finished a large portion of my holiday shopping. "Demon!" you might say, "but it's only October!" I know, I know. But let me explain. The holiday time is normally very stressful for me, for various reasons. However, I have decided that since this is most likely the last holiday season I will spend with my families I am going to make every effort to make it as stress-free as possible. Hence the early shopping.

I've also decided that if people want J and I to have two Thanksgivings on one day halfway across the state from each other then so be it. They set the times, we load up the car and the puppy and we're there. And if they insist that we "stay over" - hey, it's only one night, right? I will just smile and remember that all of these annoyances will probably be missed next year when I'm far away in another state. Of course J will be there, whether he moves with me or flies out, and we can start new holiday traditions that don't involve us driving hundreds of miles or sleeping in little tiny guest beds.

Caring Less

As times goes on and the impact of any one grade on my GPA decreases I'm finding it harder to get as worked up about things like Dante tests as I once did. However, this has had the effect of my really enjoying the classes I'm interested in. Maybe those students who go to schools without grades like Evergreen have the right idea.

Oh well, just one more undergrad semester to go. My very last registration date at CU is November 3rd, and while I'm not thrilled with the classes (Yet another semester of Spanish...) I don't care so much. My last set of UG hoops will be jumped through, and then: Off to law school where I'm sure there are still hoops, but at least they will be different ones. Maybe they will be sparkly - or on fire.

The Old Weekend

Friday night J and I went to see the opera Cosi Fan Tutte, put on by Master's students at my school. J loves the opera, so depending on our financial situation we go to see 2-10 operas per year. His favorite is Verdi's Aida. Mine is Puccini's Turandot. However, in general I prefer anything by Wagner to just about anything else. The production of Cosi Fan Tutte on Friday was very cute. The set, costumes, acting...Very cute. A weird resume point from the guy who played Don Alfonso: Performed the voices for both Mickey Mouse and Ursula the Sea Witch for Disney movies overdubbed in Arabic.

Saturday I studied for my Dante midterm all day. I'm so not enjoying this class, and studying for this test is like torture. I simply don't care about Florentine politics of the 1300s. I'm usually not a whiney student, but I am entering whine mode for this. Thank goodness it's all over tomorrow.

Sunday I woke up with a pounding headache. Like a hangover, but a not-fair one because I did not even get to drink. Then, instead of finishing my Dante studying, I slept all day.

So now I'm feeling somewhat better but now I have to start my week with studying. This is not my normal way of doing things, but the sickness got in the way. Blah.

Oh, a note for all of you who got your LSAT scores over the weekend: Great job! No matter what number appeared in your inbox, you did it! You took a difficult test. You can now say: I took the LSAT. Lots of people talk about it and never do it, so you are now better than them ;) Just kidding. But seriously, please, stop reading the boards. You know which boards. You are more than your LSAT score.

I voted today! Now will someone please tell my TV?

My Sentiments Exactly

From Jack Bog's blog:

"We vote these clowns back in, we deserve everything we get."

I was thinking along these lines last night, riding the bus home from school. Jack Bog was talking about the deficit, I was thinking about the environment. Apply your own issue - it works with so many.

New Meaning of "Family Jewels"...

From this article on the new and exciting things you can now do with your loved one's remains:

...an Illinois-based company was using science to turn carbon from the cremation process into diamonds for the family of the deceased.

The jewelry, which comes in either gold or blue, gives the family a way to "keep their loved one with them," said Rusty VandenBiesen, chief operating officer for LifeGem.

"People find it a comfort," he said. "A new way to celebrate the life of a loved one."

I think of myself as pretty open minded, but I find this to be beyond creepy.

Where Is The Future Already?

I work on many different computers during the day. I have my home laptop, the desktop in my office at school, various PCs and macs around campus and my boyfriend's desktop at home when I need to print something. I have lots of projects going on and I need to access them at various times and places every day. During previous semesters it has worked to just e-mail myself things and access files either in my inbox or my sent-mail. However, this semester it is not working. I just have too many files to keep track of, especially now with my thesis and its overload of research requirements.

During the past little while I have been using floppies. I know, this seems ridiculously old-fashioned but they seemed to be the most universally accepted so I went with it. The macs at my school have never had floppy drives, but I can't stand macs anyway so that was not such a big deal. However, now they are replacing all of the PCs with non-floppy drive models. Sigh.

Anyway, now I am considering other alternatives. Some students in my engineering class have USB drives. This seems like a very cool alternative. But I need something that is very reliable and I can just throw in my backpack. Does anyone have any experience with these and can give me advice on brand, etc.? Or any other ideas for me?

Update: I ordered this last night and I'm pretty excited about it. Thanks for the advice!

Law School Fair

I have to say it - I love law school fairs. I love law school literature. I love law school pens.

Our law school fair is going on right now and all of the schools on my (current) list are represented so I had a fun time. I think I made a good impression at my #1 choice school. She even said, "See you at admitted students day!" She probably says that to everyone, but it still felt nice.

Chicken Magazine's Answer

Chicken Magazine from Magic Cookie answers the question: "Why Law?"

Just Smile and Nod

Yesterday I was in the office of one of my recommenders talking about, amongst other things, law school applications. She told me this story about a student she had a few years ago that asked her for a letter of recommendation and also for help with his PS. In his first drafts he wrote about how "the law would be good for him, and he would be good for the law." She suggested that he be more specific and show how he was a unique, attractive candidate. He then proceeded to argue with her about her advice. She told me that she ended up writing him a not-very-stunning letter of recommendation. Ouch!

So, the moral of the story is: Just smile, nod, and say thank you!

Balance Unbalanced

You know that feeling you have when you've just taken on more work than you can reasonably handle? I was teetering at the threshold of it all day and was shoved across about an hour and a half ago.

And I was so hoping this week would be relatively pain-free.

On the good news front, though: My resume is now completely updated and ready to be read by anyone whose job it is to evaluate me.

A Breakthrough!

My first PS was crap. It's now trash. However! I now have a first draft of a first essay that I really am pleased with. It was so key for me to write directly as a response to the school's prompt. It's really interesting what a difference it makes to me to have just a little additional structure.

But, oh, the relief! I was starting to feel so bogged down with the incredibly slow rate of progress I was making. I really feel like I'll be able to make my November 1 deadline now, with applications that are decent products.

Next Summer?

So a fellow 0L at my school asked me what I plan on doing next summer. A perfectly reasonable question - and yet it left me speechless with the realization that: There is a next summer. And during this "next summer" I will know where I will be going to law school. And then I will actually go to law school.

I've been so wrapped up in applying to law school that I almost forgot that something will come after the final submit button is pushed.

So, what am I doing next summer? Hopefully a lot of nothing. Hanging out with my boyfriend before the long-distance part of the relationship begins is my only plan. It's a little too overwhelming to think about life after undergrad right now. I think for now I'll just get through Friday and look forward to eating tofu pups and tater tots tonight while watching Debate #2. It really doesn't take much to cheer me up :)

One (Almost) Down

I've successfully filled out one application. It had some strangeness to it - like the question about whether or not my parents are: separated, divorced, married. I wonder if they realize that there are more scenarios than just these three, or if they don't care.

I need to update my resume. I've already decided to break the rule and have it be more than a page long. I'd rather include everything I think needs to be included than to cut things that could potentially make a positive difference.

I'm getting tempted (again) to add more schools back onto my list. After all that work getting them off...

Okay, that concludes my sharing of the perpetual thoughts of applications that run through my head, day in and day out.

Application Questions

It seems that many of us are currently starting the process of actually filling in the actual applications and preparing to send them off. I thought that this would be the simplest part of the whole extravaganza. I was wrong.

I have decided to go with the LSACD On the Web, mainly because going the other way seemed too complicated and there were too many places to get things from, and send things to, and, well, I just wanted it to be easier. So I start filling in the Common Info Form - and everything is going fine at first. My major wasn't listed, but you can fill in your own. Great. Then I get to the High School(!) area and I need to call customer service and ask them what to put there. As an aside, I'm glad that I'm trusting my application to someone who probably makes $5.50 an hour. Anyway, I have a GED, not a HS diploma so I needed some advice. Ultimately, I figured out that part.

But now: Employment history. What to do? I have had a lot of part time jobs, especially before I went back to school. The service representative said to just list what I want and leave the rest off. Is this true? Does anyone have any advice? I in no way want to be less than 100% honest, but I also don't think that they want to know that I worked at Pizza Hut in 1993.

A Draft Completed

I have officially joined the ranks of the Pre-Ls with a personal statement draft. I thought I was going to end up with an analysis of a specific life event, but it's turning out to be more of a narrative of a sequence of life choices. I guess I think it's a decent start.

I keep telling myself: It doesn't have to be perfect, but eventually it has to be done.

It's finally getting done.

Good Luck LSATers!

Good luck and correct-bubble wishes to everyone taking the LSAT today!

The Debate

Bush seemed tired last night. He didn't seem to really care so much about the debate - it was almost as if he wasn't prepped beyond someone telling him to stick to the talking points. Kerry, on the other hand, seemed very 'presidential.' He seemed in control of the situation, he used his time well, he seemed prepared and confident. He also did what I hoped he would do: answer questions clearly. In the past it seemed as if he felt the need to apologize for his actions by way of over explaining them.

This was my favorite moment of the event, from Kerry:

It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong.

It's another to be certain and be right, or to be certain and be moving in the right direction, or be certain about a principle and then learn new facts and take those new facts and put them to use in order to change and get your policy right.

What I worry about with the president is that he's not acknowledging what's on the ground, he's not acknowledging the realities of North Korea, he's not acknowledging the truth of the science of stem-cell research or of global warming and other issues.

And certainty sometimes can get you in trouble.