Comment Notification?

This is lame, but I have to ask here because Blogger's support form is broken (!) -

Is anyone else having problems with not being notified of new comments via email?

Update: Never mind, it seems to be working again.

Predictable

One of the most jaw-clenching aggravations about going to a school with 30,000 other students is the way one is reduced to being just a number in the system. Especially when it comes to departments such as Financial Aid.

All during my undergraduate experience, I think there have been only 2 semesters when financial aid has gone smoothly and I didn't have to go in and straighten something out. Sometimes the people are nice (especially when dealing with those people higher up in the pecking order) and other times people have been so incredibly rude I've been dumbstruck.

I bring this up now because I just received tangible confirmation of my choice to not attend CU Law, from none other than the Financial Aid Office. You see, I have lived in Colorado my entire life. Even while studying in Arizona for that one semester I still paid rent here and therefore retained permanent residency.

I just received my financial aid award from CU Law. Yes, you guessed it - I was packaged as a Non-Resident. Am I happy that I don't have to deal with straightening out yet another CU Financial Aid mistake? Especially one that had me paying an additional $16,000 in tuition for 1L? Hell yeah!

Soup Is Good Food...

From the NY Times "Food Companies Test Flavorings That Can Mimic Sugar, Salt or MSG":

But Senomyx maintains that its new products are safe because they will be used in tiny quantities.

Yes, because a small amount of something has never hurt anybody...Right? But, seriously, don't worry:

Since Senomyx's flavor compounds will be used in small proportions (less than one part per million), the company is able to bypass the lengthy F.D.A. approval process required to get food additives on the market.

Always remember: What is good for Kraft's bottom line is good for you!

Moving Advice Request

Update: Edited for the more literal among us...

As you know, we're moving across the country 1247 miles (or 968 as the crow flies) from Colorado to Oregon. I want to shoot for mid/late July while J is leaning more toward early August.

I've never moved out of state before, and am unsure about some things. For example, we will not be able to take a trip out beforehand to look at houses. Do we just lease a place over the phone? That kind of freaks me out, not being able to see the house, the neighborhood, etc. firsthand. We're planning on just renting a U-Haul truck and pulling the car behind. Has anyone done this, and if so do you have any advice, warnings, etc. for us?

I'm really very excited about the move, and surprisingly not at all anxiety-filled. I also don't know what I'm doing. Seriously. No clue. So any and all advice is welcome.

Thanks!

Playtime's Over

As CM mentioned in comments, I'm busy.

March was a time of self-indulgent thoughts and flitting back and forth between the coasts. There was still two months before graduation, and three before the wedding. No problem.

April, on the other hand, is a time of putting the head down and getting it done. There's one month until graduation, and two before the wedding. These are scarier numbers.

Aside from normal classwork, I still have that term paper to write, plus still two finals from last semester. One of these (Physics) will be taken on Thursday, and then I start preparing for the big Dante mess. Then, of course, the finals for this semester, the last of which will actually be taken the morning of my graduation. Thanks, CU!

In wedding news, I've gotten my shoes (which I love!), we've gotten the rings, and we've booked the caterer, the cakemaker, a hair and makeup person, the photographer, the DJ for the reception, a classical guitarist for the ceremony and I'm working on finding a (completely secular) officiant. Things regarding the wedding were so stressful there for awhile, but it's all working itself out now. I think.

I'll miss you, March. April - Do your worst.

Portland, Baby!

Dear Lewis & Clark,

You had me at hello.

Love,

WhyLaw

P.S. The check's in the mail!

It's Over...Again...Almost

I just got home from my third and final law school admitted students' day, this time at CU.

I'm taking a couple of hours to really think things over, and then a deposit check is going in the mail. I have lots of strong feelings, and a few - but very few - ambiguous ones.

It's a big decision, though, so I'm going to respect it and really think about the pros and cons for a little while.

The next time I post - It will be done. Oh, the drama!

What Else Did You Expect?

What did you have for breakfast today?

Was it 730 calories and 47 grams of fat in the form of a sausage patty, two eggs, two American cheese slices and three strips of bacon? No? I didn't think so.

Who is going to buy this?

Home Again, Home Again

After many delays in what seems to have been fifteen thousand airports I am finally home from my trip to Vermont.

Using the word 'nightmare' to describe my New England adventure would be unfair. Still, the words 'fun' or 'nice' would be going too far the other way. Let's just leave it at 'over'.

I can't remember what I was high on when I purchased my plane tickets, but I sure wish I had had some more when I boarded my flight at 1am Thursday morning. I managed to sleep a little bit, even with the kid next to me watching cartoons at full volume all night long. A 3 hour layover at JFK and a 3 minute plane ride later I landed in Vermont only to find that they wouldn't take my card. Hertz has very high standards that I, apparently, do not meet. So the law school actually had to fax over their credit card in order for me to proceed onto the final leg of my arduous journey: the drive from Burlington to South Royalton.

Almost delirious at this point, I get into the car and it takes me somewhere around 30 minutes to remember how to drive. I blame the coma. After finally recalling the thing about using the same foot for both the gas and the brake I was on the mean streets of Vermont. I think I saw a total of 12 others cars on the hour drive on I-89. The radio in the car did work (I had heard an ugly rumor that FM was non-attainable on this drive) but every time I turned it on either the music would start to lull me to sleep or I would become incredibly irritated with the talking or the ads. Instead I did a thing where I would alternate the windows I would roll down to get some fresh air. It was really amusing at the time.

Anyway, I'm not going to bore you with the details of the meetings and things I had. If anyone reading this is considering VLS or would just like to know more, let me know. My list of appointments: Admissions Director, Financial Aid, Tour with a 3L, Administrative Law class, Career Services, meeting with Environmental Law Center director, meeting with a professor specializing in International law.

Some random observations:

There were many comments sort of apologizing for the school, both subtle and overt. For example: We're no Georgetown. and But those positions are very competitive and pretty much only top students obtain them. There are other paths for VLS grads to get the same jobs, it just takes more work and more time.

There was a lot of talk about judicial clerkships. They seem to really push students into going for these positions.

From the 3L tour guide: The school strongly recommends taking as many classes that will directly help you on the bar exam. Wow. For me, personally, this is definitely not the approach I want to take with law school, and if I was still strongly considering VLS this would have been a big old red flag regarding the overall philosophy of the school.

Okay, so it's over. I'm glad I took the trip because I still had some overly romanticized thoughts about small town living. Those are gone now. There's no pharmacy in the town, and the nearest hospital is 20 minutes away. You have to drive 20 minutes to go to a grocery store. The amount of planning and coordinating it would take to live in South Royalton would be extraordinary, I think. Plus, there's no way you could live there without a car, and I really don't ever want to own a car again. So, that's that.

To be fair, I think that VLS has some great offerings and some unique opportunities. And I know that a lot of people really enjoy living in the town. Plus the faculty and staff were very nice.

It's good to be home.

Portland Trip Day 2

By 8:10 I was packed up and herded into a big shuttle bus that took all of the admitted students (plus parents, significant others, and other random guests) to the Law School.


Lewis and Clark Law campus. Boley Library entrance is on the left.
I would estimate that about 200 students attended, and maybe half had at least one guest. So there were quite a few people to keep organized. In all, I think they did a great job keeping everyone moving along and getting us where we needed to be.

The first event of the day was a mock class. The large group was split in two, one half with Professor Newell and the other with Professor Brunet. I was in the latter group, listening to a talk about the various legal troubles of Microsoft. It was pretty interesting. The professor accepted questions from the students, and I was relieved when no one student dominated the class. I'm always a little embarassed (and, truthfully, a little annoyed) when this happens. I know that they say that if you don't know who that guy/girl is then it is you, but I swear it wasn't me. I didn't raise my hand once.


One of four bunker style classrooms at L&C.
Our next stop was a panel discussion on curriculum options, and how to decide what classes to take during 2L and 3L years. One thing I really like about Lewis and Clark is the flexibility in this area, as well as the very low number of graduation requirement hoops one has to jump through. This is a huge difference from my undergraduate academic career where I only was able to take one elective. Yes, one.

They talked about the various certificate programs they offer, their publications, and quite a bit about clinics, externships, and other practical skills-type offerings. The people on the panel seemed really down to earth - a common phenomenon at this particular law school, one that I really appreciate - and honest.


I just thought this was funny.
Next up, the campus tour. Three students, 2 1Ls and a 2L, led us around the buildings and answered questions. Lots of questions about how to prepare for 1L, how many hours per day spent studying, etc. One of the 1Ls seemed quite adamant about handwriting notes being superior to typing notes. I've never known anyone to get defensive about their notetaking technique. Maybe people make fun of her or something.

Lunch came next. I was pleasantly surprised that there were plenty of vegan options. So they had one faculty member at each table, just ready and waiting for informal discussion. I sat at Professor Neuman's table. She spoke about really enjoying the open door policy that professors at L&C have adopted, and how this experience was in stark contrast to her own experience at law school. She was very good about including everyone at the table in the conversation and politely answering everyone's questions. There seems to be a lot of interest in Water Law. Several people at this event, and also other LS applicant students I know at CU, mentioned wanting to specialize in this area.

We had an opportunity during dessert to switch tables, so I sought out Professor Wold. I did finally find him, but he was so popular that his table was standing room only. He talked about working on endangered species projects during law school, and having the opportunity to attend an international conference (or similar, I missed the beginning of the story) during his 3L year. He was introduced as a "Legal Advisor" to avoid being dismissed as "just a law student." He also talked about the relative merit of judicial clerking, and the importance of finding ways to make yourself stand out from the crowd when it comes to job applications. He stressed getting published, mentioning that he was published during his time at Lewis & Clark, although not in a Law Review. I never thought about students publishing in other publications than Law Review or Journals from their schools, so this was very interesting.


Views of and from the Sky Bridge.

The remaining events were short talks by Career Services, Financial Aid, and then a student group tabling extravaganza. By the end of the Financial Aid talk I wasn't in the mood for any more information so I just wandered around a bit more and then headed back to the hotel.

Exhausted, a new friend and I took the light rail to the airport, hung out and drank coffee, then flew home, all the while talking and talking and talking about the law school application process. I feel sorry for those sitting near us on the little plane (which needed last minute repairs - eek!)

Tonight I'm off to the land of all that is cute: Vermont! I'll be back on Saturday.

A parting shot - Lewis & Clark Law flowers blooming in March.

Portland Trip Day 1

My trip to Portland was better than I had anticipated, which is kind of saying a lot as I had pretty high hopes going in.

The early morning flight (up at 3:30am, takeoff at 6am) was fine, and I was able to find the train into Portland after getting lost only once in the airport. I was pleased to find that the hotel was able to grant my early check-in request, and after a quick stop in my room to unpack I was off to wander around Portland.

My first stop was J's new school, Portland State University.

Portland State University - I think this is the library.

Then I just wandered around the city until it was time for the highlight of the day - meeting Shelley! We met at a fantastic Szechwan restaurant called Sungari. I am thrilled to be moving to a city with so many great restaurants including 102 Thai restaurants alone! Wow!

Anyway, hanging out with Shelley was so much fun! Meeting new people is normally an incredibly awkward experience for me. I don't chat well. But Shelley and I hads lots to talk about, like law school in general and Lewis & Clark specifically.

After lunch we headed out and ended up at the Chinese Garden.


Shelley outside of the Portland Chinese Garden


Inside the Portland Chinese Garden
Our next stop was the amazing Powell's bookstore. Being in Powell's is what I imagine being inside amazon.com would be like. It was here that I found J a Wagner action figure who currently lives on his desk at work with his Freud action figure. Sometimes they fight.

Unfortunately the afternoon eventually had to come to an end. Shelley had class, and I had to go and get ready for the law school reception. Because I had gotten up at 3:30 that morning and trekked around the city all day I was exhausted and not really looking forward to trying to chat all evening. But I had bought a new outfit that I couldn't afford specifically for this event, and flown halfway across the country, so I felt obligated.

And I'm so glad that I did. It really wasn't awkward at all, and there were standard questions to ask and answer: Are you still deciding, or are you definitely coming here? Where are you from? Where else did you apply? What kind of law do you want to study? And of course the Dean spoke briefly before passing around a wireless microphone to all of the alumni and faculty so they could talk up the school. It was all very nice - they did a good job at making us feel special and welcome.

While walking the 8 or so blocks back to my hotel I passed many little bars celebrating Saint Patrick's Day. As it wasn't too late I didn't think people would be out of control crazy yet, but I was wrong. Walking past a group of older men in suits smoking outside of a little Irish pub, I was safely a half block away before I was spotted. "There's one!" I hear from behind me, "A redhead, and you let her get away! Go get her!" Oh my. I picked it up a bit and hung out in the hotel for the rest of the night. It's an odd thing being a redhead on Saint Patrick's Day.

Later: Day 2 of the Portland Trip: Admitted Students' Events on the Lewis & Clark campus.

Photo Note: Click on any of the above photos to access my new Flickr account and see larger, clearer images.

Friday!

Today's my Friday - at 2pm today I start an 11 day weekend.

In the plans are trips to Oregon and Vermont, lots and lots of wedding appointments, and significant progress on my Conservation Trends seminar term paper.

Tomorrow morning I fly to Portland for the Lewis & Clark Preview events. I think lots of people are going to preview events over the next few days. I can't wait to see pictures and hear about everybody's experiences at the law schools of their choosing.

I'll try to take some good pictures, although generally I am not a taking pictures kind of person. Mostly because of the hassles of getting film, developing film, etc. Also, once I had a really great little Elph camera that I won for selling a lot of telephony crap at the big telecom I used to work for and I took it to these sand dunes in Mexico and it never worked again.



Happily J won the same camera so now I just use his. Hopefully someday we'll join the rest of the civilized world and get ourselves a nice digital camera.

Just Stop Talking! (Updated)

Today, while returning a phone call to a professor at Lewis & Clark, it happened. I got the rambles. I just talked and talked on and on. My brain said, "Just stop talking! Now! End it! Say Goodbye!" And yet my mouth did not heed this advice.

And so, right now, somewhere in Portland, this message from yours truly is just waiting for this unsuspecting professor, its agonizing length taunting me from a thousand miles away.

Give me email anyday - Voicemail is apparently too much for me to handle.

Update: I sent the L&C professor a follow-up email with my questions - mostly because I didn't want to keep taking up his time with the phone tag. Mostly I asked about opportunities for students related to International Environmental Law, and also about some of the more unique programs L&C offers.

Anyway, I just received the most amazing email back! I was excited before but now I can't wait!

For Janine: Tales from the Biosphere

Janine says:

I can't believe nobody has asked this yet: I want to hear Biosphere stories!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Biosphere (and there's no real reason why you should be), here it is, in all of its glory:

I lived in a 4 bedroom house, located just to the left of this picture, with 7 other people. At 25 I was considered "old," and was never allowed to forget it! Although I had a great time during the semester, I never really "fit in" and was often desperate to get away from the very close quarters of the small village.

To that end, I decided it would be a good idea to set up camp in the middle of the desert and live out there. And so I did. To the right of the picture above there is a fairly good sized ridge and beyond that pure desert for a good ways. I set up my tent, a headlamp hanging from the ceiling for light, and it was there that I did my homework and slept. It was paradise. At night there was a big, bright moon, stars, and a velvet black sky. And perfect silence, aside from the occasional owl or coyote. Never before and never since have I felt such perfect peace.

Until one night, as I was heading out from the house toward my tent, around midnight. Pack on my back, Nalgene water bottle swinging from the side. Good sturdy boots on, with a Petzl headlamp lighting the way, I made my way along the top of the ridge to the little trail leading down into the desert, glancing down every few yards to not miss the turn. It was during one of these glances that I saw them. Two huge, green, glowing eyes calmly staring at me from just above the tips of the tall grass.

I froze. Time stood still as I thought the following thoughts, faster than I had ever thought thoughts before: "Is it a raccoon? No, too big for a raccoon. A deer? Eyes are in front of the head. Deer's eyes are on the sides of the head." Then the realization: It was a mountain lion. An honest to goodness mountain lion. Another quick series of thoughts: "Are mountain lions the ones you play dead with, or back away slowly? I'm pretty sure they are the back away slowly ones. If they come at you, are you supposed to run or fight back? I think the fight back ones are bears. Grizzly bears or black bears? Wait. That doesn't matter right now. You know, it's still looking at me. Maybe I should turn off the light."

And so, quick-witted me turns off the light so the human (me) in the situation cannot see while the feline (the mountain lion) still can. Good. The brilliant strategy continues with my reaching for my Nalgene bottle - because, yes, this is an excellent weapon for defending oneself against a giant cat.

Slowly, slowly, I backed away. No moon to help me out tonight, I'm engulfed in almost pitch dark, and now have no clear idea where the lion or the edge of the ridge are. About ten paces later I turn and walk very, very carefully in roughly the direction I came from. However, as I walked on, I become kind of agitated. I don't want to go back to the house in the village. I want to go to the peace of my tent. Am I some sort of scaredy-person (note the avoidance of the term "scaredy-cat")? No! I am indeed not some sort of scaredy person!

With defiance, I do a 180, turn the Petzl back on, and walk the slowest and most carefully I have ever walked, my eyes glues to the tops of the grasses. Finally, I make it to the turn, not spying the eyes and hoping against hope that the eyes have not spied me. I book it down the trail to the tent and hop inside, zipping that zipper as fast as it would zip.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep great that night. But I believe I would have slept worse had I tucked my tail and slinked back to the village, letting a little old mountain lion keep me from my desert.

L'Enfant et les Sortilèges

Last night J and I went to see a one-act opera by Ravel called L'Enfant et les Sortilèges. It was by far the strangest opera I have ever witnessed. It was also the rudest opera audience ever.

For example, people brought their children and didn't immediately take them to the lobby when they started acting up. Grown people whispered to each other constantly. The young couple next to me must have had ADD or something - the guy put his head in his arms on the back of the (luckily empty) chair in front of him, and she relentlessly flipped through her program and at one point held it up in an attempt to read the ads. A-nnoy-ing.

The music was very nice. The story, though, was simply odd. It's about a young boy who apparently has psychotic tendencies as he enjoys cutting off squirrel's tails, pinning dragonflies to things, killing bats, locking up small animals, destroying property, etc.

The best part about the production was the animal costumes. There were frogs and bats and bugs - pretty interesting parts to see played at an opera.

Spoiler Alert: In the end the little boy learns his lesson. The End.

International and International Environmental Law

Yesterday I attended a talk at CU Law on "Careers & Prospects in International and International Envronmental Law."

The first speaker was Vail T. Thorne, Senior Environmental Health & Safety Counsel for Coca-Cola. Luckily the person who was in charge of refreshments purchased Coke products. He not only used an empty bottle from the beverages table throughout his entire lecture, but he also commented three or four times how glad he was that they "bought his product." It was a little awkward.

He spoke some about Coca-Cola products, and stressed that they were not an "American company" but rather an "American icon." His job is all about making sure that Coke complies with environmental laws, regulations, etc. at all of their plant sites - of which there are about 1000 worldwide. I was pretty surprised how evenly distributed the plants were, globally, with about 160 in North America. I wonder how many of those are in the US.

A quick Google search helps me find out that Coca-Cola claims to employ 9,800 people in the US. The same search also reveals that many, many people seem to hate the company.

The second speaker was William L. Thomas of Pillsbury Winthrop, LLP. I wish he had had more time, as he was a very entertaining, informative speaker. He spoke generally about International, and International Environmental, Law and what it takes to practice in these fields. Specifically he stressed that it was important to want to continue learning, and these areas were not for those who wanted to simply "put the kids in college and be done."

Two books he strongly recommended were Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World by J.R. McNeill and Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond.

During the Question and Answer period a student asked about the importance of taking business law classes during law school if you wanted to end up doing public work (or something similar, I couldn't really hear) and Mr. Thomas commented that it is important to create a good foundation while in school, mentioning Corporate Law and Tax Law specifically.

All in all it was a good presentation and I'm glad I attended. CU does a good job putting these talks together.

For SG: Summer Plans

Sui Generis asks:

Are you planning to do anything crazy before law school starts, to celebrate the end of your pre-law life?

I don't think I need any big last hurrah or anything before law school starts. I'm incredibly ready for it to start, actually. However, there are big plans in the works for this summer: Wedding, honeymoon, big cross country move (Probably! No official commitments until April 1! Unofficially, that's just big talk. We all know where I'm going.)

I'm so excited for all of these things to happen, and yet day after day it's just more of the same. I thought February would never end! I have high hopes for March, though, with its spring break, and trips to Portland (next week) and Vermont (the week after).

So, no, no bungee jumping or sky diving or other craziness for me. I'm curious if other people are planning big "Goodbye pre-law existence!" extravaganzas, though.

Life of HSN

A new-ish addition to my blogroll that makes me laugh out loud: Life of HSN

A recent post has the best use of the phrase "Throw some ketchup on that bitch" I have read in quite some time.

Thanks, HSN, that's some funny shit.

For E. McPan: Regarding The Future Mr. WhyLaw

E. McPan asks:

how did you meet the future Mr. Why Law and when did you know he was The One?

Soon-to-be Mr. Why Law and I met about 5 and a half years ago, through a mutual friend. Our first conversation ever was about license plates. Seriously.

I knew right away that J was a great guy, but I didn't think I would ever have a chance. He was out of my league, for sure. :) I got lucky, I guess! J is the sweetest, smartest, most caring, funniest, and sexiest guy. He is also extremely patient - I suppose he would have to be, to put up with me!

He's been so great through the whole LS application process. I swear he must have listened to hundreds of hours of LSAT talk. Then application talk. Then mail talk! He was also the exclusive proofreader of my personal statements. Now he's going to let me drag him halfway across the country and change schools so I can attend my preferred LS. He's amazing, and I am extremely lucky.

Update: More about license plates: In Colorado there are these license plates that say PIONEERS and have a picture of a covered wagon. Well, the aforementioned "mutual friend" and I had been coming up with ideas about what these special license plates could possibly be about all day. We were still discussing it while hanging out at this little neighborhood bar.

J was supposed to meet up with us for a drink. Mutual Friend was dying for me to meet him, as she had a huge crush on him. So, he arrives and sits down and before he even has a chance to say hello, I ask him, "So, do you know what's up with those pioneer license plates?" He didn't.

A short five years later, we're engaged!

Law School Visits

Preview time is here! Some great, informative posts:

Law School Chick visits Albany.

Chicken Magazine spends two days at Columbia, and another at NYU.

Also, be sure to check over at Aspiring Lawyer's as he promises some new reviews and pics soon.

Wedding Blogging

I got my wedding dress today. It's freaking beautiful.

I can't post pics because J reads here sometimes, but I will post wedding pics for sure. My mom found a really great artsy photographer so we should end up with some really fun shots. I requested a mix of color and black & white, candid and posed.

Financial Aid Package

I received my first financial aid package in the mail yesterday. It was from Lewis & Clark, and the letter was dated March 1st. I love when "sometime in March" means "March 3" and not "March 29." Anyway, it's a good package, and pretty much what I expected.

I'm really pleased with the scholarship amount - it's going to make everything a lot easier, both during school and after graduation. Plus, you know, the love factor. You gotta heart the love.

It's going to be weird sitting on financial aid stuff. I usually like to have a one-day turnaround on forms like this. But I've decided not to move on anything until after all of my admitted students' events. It's only fair.

FAFSA Weirdness

I just received an email from the US Department of Education regarding my "recent corrections to my FAFSA." Well, I hadn't made any FAFSA corrections, so I look more closely at the email - and it is addressed to "KRISTA" (not my name!)

So, I go in and check my own FAFSA info - and someone else's email address is listed in my information! Me and KRISTA and sethsomething@comcast.net would advise everyone to check and make sure your own email address is correctly listed. That crazy US Department of Education. What whacky antic will they think up next?

Neptune!

I thought this was a pretty interesting quiz thing when I saw it over at Beanie's.

You Are From Neptune



You are dreamy and mystical, with a natural psychic ability.
You love music, poetry, dance, and (most of all) the open sea.
Your soul is filled with possibilities,
and your heart overflows with compassion.
You can be in a room full of friendly people and feel all alone.
If you don't get carried away with one idea,
your spiritual nature will see you through anything.

What Planet Are You From?

Update: J would like you all to know that: "I'm a Neptune, too!" I guess it was meant to be :)

Awkward, Revisited

While I really do appreciate the law schools having professors, alumni, etc. calling up to see if I "have any questions" I really don't enjoy the actual conversations.

The questions I managed to come up with tonight were, "Where do alumni working in the field of International Environmental Law end up practicing?" With the answer, of course, being: "All over. Our school's name is very well known." He did throw in a comment about lawyers ending up "on both sides of the aisle" which I thought was interesting. I've found on more than one occassion, after bringing up my desire to work in Environmental Law, professors or alumni make sure to drop some hints at the opportunities to work for the "other side and make real money." Hey, guys, you don't need to show me the money...Just show me the LRAP...

Anyway, so I couldn't think of any good questions, of course, so I asked another awkward one: "Do you have any advice on where to live in the city?" Of course he didn't! He's a retired lawyer, who I'm sure owns a house in a nice neighborhood somewhere. He doesn't know about where poor students should live. He went to school like 40 years ago! But he was very nice and suggested who at the school to speak with regarding housing. Of course I already have this information, but at least he didn't just hang up on me, muttering to himself, "What has happened to my alma mater that they're letting in such terribly awkward people who ask such lame questions?!"

When he asked me if I drove I was able to make him laugh when I commented that I am actually an "anti-car person." I think this caught him a little off guard and he laughed so loud right into the phone with the comment, "Well, you're coming to the right school, aren't you?" (I love when people validate my life choices!) He then told me a cute story about a judge who recently retired at the age of 60, having never gotten a driver's license, preferring to take the bus wherever she needed to go. Nice :)

So now, of course, he's having a professor call me, someone from the International Environmental Law program - to see if I "have any questions." This time I'm going to be ready, I swear.

Adding to the LSAT Talk

I thought I would add my $.02 worth to the LSAT conversation, as seen over at Narkoleptomania and Bad Glacier. I only have non-class advice, though, because those classes were so far beyond my budget to be laughable.

To be completely honest, I didn't hate the LSAT. Well, I didn't hate - and sometimes really enjoyed - the practicing of the LSAT. The stress of the Real Thing, that was not so much fun. But I enjoyed challenging myself, trying to beat my high score. Also, the feeling of elation when I got all of those damn games questions right - that was fun, too.

I agree with most of the conventional advice. Be disciplined. Do lots of real past tests under real conditions. Go over all the questions, even ones you got right. Realize what makes the right answer right and the wrong answer wrong. Learn the games.

I will add a piece of advice that I don't see very often, and that is to take a logic class if you haven't already. Intro to Logic was the one and only elective I took in my entire college career. It also turned out to be one of my favorites, and one of the most useful. Some may say this is overkill, but I do believe it helped with my LSAT performance.

Some more specific advice: I had problems concentrating all the way through a Reading Comp passage. I used two methods to help lessen this tendency. First, and I don't remember where I read this, maybe the Kaplan book, anyway, first I picked a really long article on subject matter that didn't interest me in a newspaper. Then I made myself read it beginning to end and try really hard not to think about anything else but the content of the article. It did become easier with practice, and I would recommend trying this method to anyone with a similar problem.

Second, I went down to the local Buddhist center and learned how to meditate. This made a real difference because, with practice, I became able to really focus and even if distracting thoughts came up they did not interfere with my concentration. Meditation also helped with my stress levels surrounding the LSAT, and with stress in general.

My last piece of advice is: Be really careful the days before the Big Day. While I am perfectly happy with and proud of my score it was lower than that of any of my practice tests, and I think the pain of my newly broken ankle was a contributing factor. Again, not complaining, just warning any future 0Ls who may want to, you know, walk around and fall down the day before the test that it isn't a good idea.

Good luck future LSAT takers! Don't worry, you'll do great!

For Stag: Locations

Stag says:

I’m wondering where all you have lived and if you know anyone in Portland.

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I have only lived in 2 states: Colorado and Arizona. And Arizona was only for 1 semester when I studied at the Biosphere.

I lived in the mountains for a short time after being born, but grew up in the northern suburbs of Denver. As a teenager I lived in all sorts of crappy apartments all over Denver and the metro area. I currently live in a small town just east of Boulder. There's a great bus system here, so I catch a bus, practically at my doorstep, that takes me right to CU.

We liked this town a lot when we moved in, and there are some aspects that we still do: lots of little parks and a cute Main street. But the crime has increased and the population in the immediate vicinity of where we lived has increased significantly. We're ready for a change.

As for Portland (yay, Portland!), I know Shelley from the blawgosphere and am looking forward to meeting her in person during the Lewis & Clark preview weekend in March.

There are also lots of Biosphere alumni in the area, most of whom I haven't met yet, but Biosphere people are usually very excited to meet other Biosphere people so that should be fun.

This one isn't Portland, exactly, but a favorite professor of mine (one of my recommenders, also from Biosphere) does research on Mt. St. Helens every summer so it will be nice to be able to see him more often.

J also has a friend from high school who now lives in the Portland area, though not in Portland. I met her at Christmas, she was very nice (from what I can remember - I was still in a major post-hospital-daze).

Requests Note: I'm going to postpone telling my GED story for now, because there has been enough depressing stuff on this blog for a little while. I will get back to it eventually.

How I Feel

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound's the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep

-- Robert Frost

All About Diabetes, Part II

The second part of Kristine's question was:

are there things you can't do/eat that you really miss?

The eating question is one I get a lot, especially considering that I'm vegan. People are perplexed when they try to figure out my diet. The ironic part is because I am vegan what I eat didn't have to change very much at all. I was already eating an extremely healthy, zero cholesterol, low-fat diet. Now I just eat pretty much the same as before, just fewer desserts and a LOT more carb counting. I have to adjust how much insulin I take depending on how many carbs I will be eating. Sometimes this is a pain, but, hey, better than the coma.

What did have to change, however, was my juice consumption. (By the way, Jugo the juicer now lives at my sister's house.) I can't have any juice at all now, except in low blood sugar emergencies. Even then I can only have 4 ounces, and when it gets to that point I'm in no position to enjoy the juice. I miss it less now, but it was a difficult adjustment. Boy, I sure did love the juice.

Are there things I can't do? Well, I can't make my own insulin. Ha ha! Seriously, though, there's nothing I can't do now that I could do before. Some things are more complicated now, and require more planning. Also, since I lost a lot of weight (down to 105), including muscle mass, some physical activities are more difficult right now but are getting easier as I rebuild my muscles.

Thanks for asking, Kristine!

A Bad Day

I'm not going to go all into it, because it'll just turn out to be a big whiney rant and no one needs that.

I will say, however, that I've had a very bad day. A very, very bad day.

I can't wait until graduation.

Update: Adding this on Saturday morning. Feeling somewhat better today, but I wanted to add that I consider yesterday to be one of the worst, most difficult days of my life. But I got through it, and today is a new day. Thank you Janine and Kristine (Heh. I never realized you guys rhymed.) and E. McPan for the nice comments.

Seriously, though, to whoever makes this stuff up: Enough life lessons for awhile, okay?

I Heart Firefox

Another bandwagon I have jumped on: Firefox. And I have not regretted it for even one second. IE was crashing on me two or three times a day, so in a moment of IE-rage I Googled Firefox and within an hour I was in a blissful crash-free daze.

Some features I really like:

• Tabbed windows within the browser
• "Open all in tabs" from bookmarks folder
• Integrated Google search
• Integrated Bloglines notifier (with download from bloglines)
• It is much faster than IE. (My laptop is pretty old, and I'm on a dialup here at home, so you may not notice a huge difference if you have nicer stuff.)
  

I realize that Firefox has been around forever, and this is super old news, so forgive me for being all last-month.

Construction Noise at CU Law

Awhile back I contacted CU Law asking about the potential for construction noise in the Fleming building during Fall 05/Spring 06 while they build the new Wolf building. It occurred to me today that this information may be interesting to others considering Colorado for law school. This message was sent on the 10th of this month:

The bulk of the noise producing operations will take place in the next three months as heavy equipment dig the foundations, install utility lines and place concrete for caissons. The noise presently on the site will grow some, but what is being experienced now is going to be typical. The biggest noise producing operation will be the drilling of the caissons, where a large diesel engine will run constantly to drill the hole.

By fall, nearly all the work will be internalized within the building, and the types of work do not require heavy equipment. There may be some disturbance to the offices and rooms on the south side of the building but all the other spaces should not be impacted by the time that you are attending.

Some of the activity that is underway will be diverted to the south. We are in the process of getting permits from the State DOT that will allow us to access the site directly from Baseline Rd., which will greatly reduce the amount of truck traffic and disturbance that is being experienced now.

For Kristine: All About Having Diabetes

Kristine asks:

what has been the hardest thing about adjusting to your illness?

While there have been numerous challenges to deal with, one stands out the most: The necessity of having to give myself insulin shots.

Before I was diagnosed with diabetes I could not imagine touching a syringe, or even having one too near me. It may sound as if I am exaggerating, but I really am being sincere.

During the first few days of being awake in the hospital I'm sure I was given lots of shots, but I don't really remember having to deal with these. Thank goodness for morphine. J, my mom and my sister were of course extremely concerned about the fact that I would now have to deal with syringes every day, knowing about my phobia as they did.

The day came when I had to administer my own injection for the first time. As I sat there in my hospital bed, the nurse holding the syringe out to me, every thought in me was dedicated to coming up with some way to avoid touching it. I tried very hard to convince myself that there simply was no way this could be real. It was just too absurd.

However, the nurse kept on existing, and the syringe kept on existing, and finally reality made its way in. I realized that it came down to the simple decision of: "Do this, or die." No drama, no crying (well, maybe a little crying), that's just how it was. So, feeling very detached from my body, I saw myself take the syringe and - in perhaps the most drawn out fashion ever - finally gave myself my own insulin shot.

The emotions that flooded over me afterward were very intense: Relief. Fear of having to relive this multiple times every day for the rest of my life. Fatigue. A great need for presents.

Now, just about two months later, the process is pretty much a breeze. I have no psychological aversion to looking at the syringes, touching them, or even to giving myself the shots. Of course, it's still no picnic, and never will be, but it's no big deal now. Amazing.

Later: Another diabetes related question. I know you can't wait!

Request For Requests

Although I am not as interesting as those people who have successfully used this idea in the recent past, and I realize that I am blatantly imitating them, I am officially offering to answer any questions (within reason!) you may have about me.

So, send me an email or comment if you have a question, or if you don't want to see me look really pathetic when no one responds. Either way.

2 Down

2 to go. Fall '04's finals, that is.

Update: Just found out via email - A's in both Engineering and Economics! Take that coma!

Mail Call!

Via Snail Mail:

• An uncharacteristically artsy folder from CU filled with an assortment of random information including maps of Boulder, maps of Colorado, maps of the campus, bus schedules, schedule of events for the Admitted Students' Day, and the pies de resistance: an assigned reading for the fake class during this event. Do other schools have assigned readings for their preview weekends? Quel suprise!
• Our first wedding present! A beautiful set of fancy dessert plates. It will be such a nice, new experience to have grown up stuff.

Via Voice Mail:

• A message from a professor at Vermont Law School, letting me know that I could use him as a resource for whatever questions I may have about VLS, law school in general, and what it's like being a lawyer. VLS is such a nice, caring school.

Via email:

• Random messages on the listserv set up for admitted students by Lewis & Clark. I think it's really smart to set up email lists, discussion boards, etc. for admitted students. Creating a sense of community before those deposit due dates is a great way to keep the school's name in mind and to get students excited about attending.

Blogrolling v. Bloglines

I have officially switched over from Blogrolling to Bloglines.

My hope is that Bloglines will do what Blogrolling never seemed to be able to, and that is to tell me when the blogs I read are updated. In theory, I really like the little notifier. I will really like it if it works like it says it will.

While I was subscribing to my blogs, sometimes I was given a choice of feeds to subscribe to. I always chose the atom.xml - will this cause me problems? I don't understand the differences between my choices, so I just picked the one that was familiar. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please do share.

Also, if anyone has tips about how to use bloglines in the most efficient manner, I would appreciate them. It seems pretty straight forward, but maybe I am missing something. Sometimes I do that.

Professor Lakshman Guruswamy

As I mentioned earlier, I went to a lecture last night at the law school given by Professor Guruswamy. I was exhausted but went anyway - I really hate when I plan to do something and then don't go at the last minute. I'm very glad I did because it was a really excellent talk on the future of international energy treaties and the work the Energy Environmental Security Initiative is doing.

Two funny things happened. The first was "weird funny." This guy - a middle aged guy, fairly normal looking, maybe a little hippy-ish with longish hair and a beard - comes in right before the lecture begins and sits down in the front row. The next time I happen to glance at him, a few minutes into the presentation, he has his shoes off and his socked feet up on the railing. It was totally bizarre to me. This was not...No, I can't even think of an example where this is appropriate adult, public behavior.

Okay, the second funny thing was laugh-out-loud funny. Except for J and I had to wait until after we were outside to actually "LOL." So it's question and answer time and Professor Guruswamy is taking one last question.

The questioner says, "So, everything I've read points toward our using extraterrestrial sources for our future energy needs. " The professor nods and confirms that yes, there's research going into space solar power.

The questioner then continues with, "Well, I don't think we should..." at this point I'm expecting the end of the sentence to be something like: "...because it would be too expensive." But,alas, no. The end of the sentence was actually: "...because it would compromise human sovereignty!"

Woah. Compromise human sovereignty, indeed. Now, I've been known to entertain "crazy" ideas in my time. I've even been called a "whacko" a time or two. But this guy actually took the time to mention, at a serious lecture, his reservations about utilizing space-based resources based on his fear that aliens will come and take them over, therefore leaving us hopelessly under their alien control.

I sure do hope real law school is as full of wacky antics as these lectures are!

I Swear There's a Light Around Here Somewhere...

...Maybe at the end of this tunnel?

Haas asks:

What classes represent your finals and midterm? Does next semester look good to finsh out school? Just some thoughts on what to write about.

Thanks, Haas! Well, your second question first, because it is second-most in my thoughts pretty much 100% of the time (after health-related stuff): Graduation!

After I was released from the hospital in December, many people urged me to delay graduation. During some particularly rough days I did seriously consider this option. However, the idea of having to go through the law school application process again was simply intolerable. So, to answer your question, I am graduating in May. 77 days from now, if my sidebar --> is to be believed.

On to your first question: This morning I took a midterm in my "Environmental Issues in Geosciences" class. It's basically an energy class. It was fine, a little more essay-oriented than I expected, but not too bad.

This afternoon I have a midterm in my class titled "Math for the Environment." Very little math, lots of questions like: "What is a thinking space model?" and "Where did the Exxon Valdez oil spill happen?"

Finally, on Monday I have my 2nd out of 4 make up finals from last semester. The first one I took last week, a 24 hour take home final for my architectural engineering class. This next one will be for "Natural Resources Economics" (which turned out to be pretty much exactly the same class as "Environmental Economics", both of which were requirements for my major.)

Back to the books again, but I will post later about something funny that happened last night at a lecture I went to at the law school. It involves aliens.

Putting Two Words Together = Impossible

I can't write a post to save my life today. Well, okay, if I had to come up with something decent to avoid dying, I probably could. But, I don't. So, I can't.

Two midterms tomorrow and a final (from last semester) on Monday. Back to the studying I go.

Celebrate!

Stag is going to law school!

Yay, stag! You rock!

Salman Rushdie

Last night, amongst the most diverse crowd I've ever seen gathered in Boulder, I went to see Salman Rushdie speak. Before attending I knew basically what the average person knows, that he wrote a book called The Satanic Verses and in doing so offended a portion of the Muslim world, and was forced to go into hiding for many years.

I went to the event expecting a larger than life figure. I expected to hear a booming lecture on free speech, religion, geopolitics, etc. The reality, however, turned out to be much different than my expectations. The Salman Rushdie I saw was physically much smaller than in my imagination. He was relatively soft spoken and his speech was very clever and subtle. He spoke about his beginnings as a writer, the writing process, his education, his father, and his books. I think he only mentioned The Satanic Verses once during his main talk.

Of course the book did come up during the Q&A, as well as Ward Churchill. (But, of course. Can't expect to go twenty minutes in this town without hearing about the topic du jour. Last semester: the football team scandal. This semester: Ward Churchill.) I enjoyed the main talk much more than the question and answer period. The pretentiousness climbed above my tolerance levels rather quickly. Plus, he gave away the end to Million Dollar Baby, a movie I have yet to see and still want(ed) to. It was reminiscent of the time Rosie O'Donnell gave away the end of Fight Club. This behavior is beyond rude. If you don't like a movie, fine, but don't ruin it for other people out of spite.

Why Why Law?

I named my blog not as a question as Evan asks, but rather a reminder. I started my blog right after the LSAT. I was such a wreck, and I wanted to remember why I was putting myself through all that LSAT agony. I'm going to law school to better understand how the world works, to learn about complex ideas, and to maybe, just maybe, contribute in some way to making the world a little shinier.

That said, reading Evan's post and some responses made me wonder why people seem to constantly ask each other why they want to be lawyers, or why they are lawyers. Maybe it's just because I am around pre-law and law students almost constantly and other groups of people discuss the same topic regarding their own chosen professions. But, I tend to think this is not true.

For example, J isn't constantly asked, "Why do you want to be a computer scientist?" My mom isn't constantly asked why she is a marketing analyst. When I was leaning towards "Environmental Scientist," I wasn't asked why. Yet, ever since I began the law school application process I have gotten this question from fellow students, friends, professors, parents, etc.

What is it about hearing the words "law school" and "lawyer" that makes people so inquisitive?

Happy Valentine's Day!

J and I officially became a couple five years and three days ago today.

So, I had been his girlfriend for only three days on our first Valentine's Day. He had a big night planned, which was a nice change for me - previous to J, I had an all-jerks-all-the-time dating policy. And jerks don't plan nice Valentine's Days.

Anyway, I drove downtown to pick him up from work, and he has the most distraught look on his face. With the saddest voice and biggest puppy dog eyes he tells me that he had lost his wallet during the day. And so, because I was flat broke at the time, our first Valentine's Day was effectively cancelled. I was just happy that we were together, but he was so worried I would be disappointed. It was just so sweet that he cared so much - I remember feeling like the luckiest person alive - and five years later, I still do!

For the last four years we've celebrated our anniversary on the 11th and have, for the most part, lumped Valentine's Day in. But! This year, since we will now have a new (wedding!) anniversary, we are finally going to celebrate Valentine's Day up right.

Science? What Science?

From the article U.S. Scientists Say They Are Told To Alter Findings:

More than 200 scientists employed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say they have been directed to alter official findings to lessen protections for plants and animals, a survey released Wednesday says.

and:

More than half of the biologists and other researchers who responded to the survey said they knew of cases in which commercial interests, including timber, grazing, development and energy companies, had applied political pressure to reverse scientific conclusions deemed harmful to their business.

When I was studying at the Biosphere I volunteered for U.S. Fish and Wildlife, surveying for the endangered species Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy-owl. There were two categories of these surveys: Research and Commercial. Commercial surveys are required by the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Basically, you have to make sure that there are no endangered species in an area you want to build on in order to conform with the law.

So, companies hire biologists and they get up at 2am and drive into the middle of the desert to play tapes of owls hooting. Then they listen hard and look around and make detailed records. Of course, I never saw any evidence of any of the owls because there are only like 3 left in the state. I exaggerate, but not by much.

I got criticized from both sides while doing this work, and it was a very valuable lesson. Other students told me that it was ridiculous to work on behalf on the Endangered Species Act because it did not go far enough to protect endangered species or habitat. Biologists told me that I may endure criticism from other biologists because I was "working for big business." (Even though I was not working for anyone, I was volunteering for US Fish and Wildlife, but whatever.) And, of course, company representatives moaned endlessly about the whole process - how it increased cost, building times, etc. I even heard about threats made against biologists, but luckily I was never directly involved in anything like that.

Scientists, like the ones mentioned in the article, are people too. They all have their own motivations. Some may have been idealistic when they began working and have since become jaded and don't mind changing reports as long as the paychecks keep coming. Some may just be hanging on, riding it out until "things get better." Some may feel like they can do more good from the inside and don't change reports, even with the possibility of removal. And so on and so on.

What is more clear cut is that it is never okay to falsify data or to change findings to fit an agenda. And it is absolutely never okay for the government to pressure scientists to do so.

Painfully Awkward

Why oh why am I so incredibly anti-social?!

Tonight I went to a Lewis & Clark "Prospective Student and Alumni Reception." It was downtown at a fancy firm. Well, I thought it was fancy. Anyway, I just have no small-talk chatty ask-relevant-questions skills. I nod a lot and smile. I exclaim things like, "Super!" and "Really!" I ask super insightful questions like, "And why did you choose to do that?"

Oh well. I got to meet the Dean, so that made up for a lot of the painfulness. I can't remember what he said to me, but I'm sure I said, "Wow!" at some point. And who doesn't think a monosyllabic expression makes a great first impression?

Planning Ahead

For a while I went back and forth between wanting to be "a scientist" or "a lawyer" when I grew up. I had some vague ideas about wanting to do good, and wanting to work for the benefit of the environment, for wildlife, and for animals in general. I finally made a real decision during the 2003 Prairie Dog Summit and never really looked back, although I continued to take science classes along with those of a more policy-oriented nature. My favorite classes in college have been those that were very interdisciplinary, requiring knowledge of both science and policy and the desire to make the two work together.

Now, as a 0L learning about the opportunities law school will potentially provide, I'm sure I made the right choice for me. I don't think I would have been happy in a lab, or even in the field. I was thinking about this today after I attended a brown bag panel discussion on 1L summer opportunities. I had no idea that there were so many different options for 1L summers, and I only heard about 6 or 7 student's experiences.

The stories that were most exciting to me were those involving travel, externships, and research. One student had studied in Paris through a Cornell program, and he was inspired to do so by a story he had heard about another student studying in Geneva the summer before. Another student talked about how she had been an RA for two professors over her first summer, receiving both work-study pay and credit. I guess I was just excited to learn that there are more options than just the two I hear most about: Working for a firm or volunteering for a non-profit.

Three Things

1. I just finished my first last semester's final. It was relatively exhausting. Just 3 more to go. This one was probably the hardest of the 4. Very pleased to have it behind me.

2. Yesterday I attended a town hall meeting about CU's new law building. The highlights:

• Move in day is August 1, 2006


• Library space expanding by 50%


• They are attempting to minimize noise and other disturbances during the construction process


• More classrooms, study space, offices


• New cafeteria. One of the speakers seemed very excited about the new cafeteria.


• Lots of windows, sunlight and good feelings. Their words.


• It all seems very nice. Everyone who spoke seemed genuinely concerned about the students' needs.

3. I bought a plane ticket and reserved a hotel room for the Lewis & Clark Preview weekend. I'm going to have some free time in Portland during my trip - Any suggestions about what I should do or see?

Ask And Ye Shall Receive!

I did receive my packet today! It included both a travel voucher to the Admitted Students' Weekend and a nice big renewable merit scholarship! This was all from Lewis & Clark, the law school that won my heart.

But that's not all!

From CU I received a merit scholarship offer of basically a full ride for my first year! Not only is it an offer of money, but the scholarship also has a name. I love it when scholarships have names!

This is the best day!

I Want You To Want Me...

I don't think I'm alone in wanting a law school to really want me. To show me the love. They don't even need to offer me the Big Things like scholarships and travel vouchers out to admitted students' weekends (although these would not be turned down!) Send me a shiny new catalog, a keychain, a pen, a postcard. Just let me know you care! This relationship is a two way street, you know. I give, and I give, and I give...

Vermont has been sending me stuff for over a year. They sent me a holiday card in December, and if I remember correctly they may have even sent a birthday card before I even took the LSAT. Now that's love. Learn a lesson, other law schools.

Colorado hasn't sent too much, but they did turn my application around just two days after sending my complete email. Now that's some warm and fuzzy action.

So, other school, I implore you: Don't leave me hanging. Send me some physical confirmation. Let me stop having these thoughts about some IT person accidentally loading my information into the admitted student database, accidentally allowing me into the website with the pretty pictures of the happy admitted students. I want to be sure I am one of those happy admitted students. Show me some love! Pretty please?

The Circle Of Life

Spartan Apparition, a blawger that I just added to my blogroll, is going to be a 0L when I'm a 1L. Woah. Time just keeps on slipping into the future, doesn't it?

Good luck, SA!

What Is Art? Who Am I?

This seemed like fun, so I made this.

Tired

Just 12 weeks and 1 day of school left and I'm...very...tired.

I won't bore you with the details, but my to-do list just keeps going on and on and doesn't seem to be letting up anytime soon.

I've been trying to compensate by getting up earlier (4 am the majority of mornings lately) and going to bed later (I am a huge baby about staying up late, however, so this means like 10pm). I've been skipping the gym too much, and TiVo is very disappointed with the amount of quality programming I'm allowing to be deleted into the unwatched void.

I take my first last semester's final on Monday. I'm kind of pissed at my chronic illness - this is supposed to be my big slacker-semester before I graduate and now I'm working harder than ever. Okay, now I'm just whining. I hate being a whiner so I'll stop here.

Official Countdown:

Days Until Graduation: 92
Days Until Wedding: 108

Law School as NASCAR

Beanie has written a beautiful post comparing the law school experience to motorsports. A must read.

Blogrolling

I have jumped on the blogrolling bandwagon, and in theory I like it a lot. I like being able to add blogs right from my taskbar, and I like seeing when other blogs are updated so I don't have to click on each one to check. However, it seems like the system sees blogs update only part of the time. Does anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions?

Law School Reviews

If you feel like reading another long post about a different law school, Kristine has one about UT-Austin.

CU Law

I had a little free time today so I spent it over at the University of Colorado School of Law, as I am keeping an open mind and exploring my options thoroughly before sending any deposit checks anywhere.

My initial intent was to simply try and make an appointment with an administrative type who could answer some of my more specific questions. To my surprise someone was willing to talk with me right that very second! This threw me off a little, as I generally like to be ready with notes, lists, spreadsheets, etc. Still, I felt pretty warm and fuzzy at their level of accomodation.

First I asked her about study abroad programs. She wasn't able to offer a lot of information on this subject, except to refer me to another department - and to mention that she knew of one student who had studied at Oxford (lah dee dah!) this past summer, and that some students opt to study for a semester or more at other law schools in the US.

I asked her about the new building. The groundbreaking ceremony was last semester, and they apparently feel very confident that it will be ready for use beginning Fall 2006. I asked how probable this really is, as I have seen on various television programs construction projects running "off schedule." She said she has heard nothing regarding any sort of delay, and has even heard projections of June 2006 as a realistic finish date. It would be fun to be one of the first students to use a brand new law building. I chalked this up as a + in the CU column.

Next I asked about dual degrees. CU Law offers quite a few, the one in which I would be most interested being a JD/PhD in Environmental Studies. It was interesting to learn that a dual degree student at CU usually follows this schedule:

1st year: exclusively law classes
2nd year: exclusively insert other degree here classes
3rd year: combination
Remainder of time, if any: combination

She also informed me that basically any graduate level course at CU can be counted towards graduation credit as long as it is pre-approved with the registrar. Right now I think I would want to take all of my law school courses at the law school, but who knows what options there may be that I might not know about right now. And it is good to have options available.

Next, as I had expressed an interest in International Environmental Law, she sent me up to meet with a professor. He was very, very nice and spoke with me at length about the school's offerings in this subject area. He even kept his actual, scheduled appointment waiting! I was excited to learn that law students have the opportunity to work on the Energy and Environmental Security Initiative, and that there are opportunities for externships in the field.
There is also a journal, the Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy, that I am told is one of only two of its kind (the other being at Georgetown.)

When I went to another office to find out more about this journal I met a very nice 2L who took a lot of time to talk with me about CU Law's good points. He assured me that it is a friendly, although competitive, atmosphere. He seemed very happy that he chose CU, and proud to be a student there. When I asked about job opportunities and the helpfulness of Career Services he admitted that he actually hadn't utilized their services but his friends had said they were helpful in their job searches. He talked about how he performed his own job search independently which resulted in a position at a non-profit that he is happy with.

My last stop was actually at the Career Services office to see for myself if they seemed to be helpful and nice. They were actually more helpful than I expected. When I asked about positions and salaries for those focusing on International Environmental Law she said that there was no specific data available but that she would pull some information together and email me. I was really impressed. I also was able to look through a book of job postings for students so I could see what types of positions I could expect to find when it was time for my own job search. (P.S. One posting was for a "blawg content writer.")

So, to sum up, I'm still keeping an open mind. We'll see what the money says, and how the ultimate pro/con lists look in the end. Between you and me I'm still fairly certain where I'll end up.

Three for Three

While excitedly checking the mail today for scholarship info from other schools, I came across a very unexpected large envelope from the in-state school I applied to 18 days ago. I'm in! 3 for 3, baby!

And thus concludes my law school application process. I can't believe it's over. (Hey, remember the LSAT? And all those personal statement drafts? Good times, right?)

Today Is The First Day of the Last Days of Last Semester

I am finally finishing up the last of my assignments from last semester and am preparing myself to take last semester's finals. At the same time I am managing to keep up with my current classes somehow, and planning the wedding (with lots of help.)

Classes this semester are turning out to be fairly dealable. A lot of the material in my major classes are review, and one of them is based almost entirely on a term paper (I'm writing mine on how human induced reduction of Beaver populations in North America dramatically reshaped the landscape and hydrologic systems of the Rocky Mountains.) "Shakespeare for Non-Majors" is fine - actually, it's pretty interesting. My teacher is very young (for a teacher, I mean. She's not 12.) and talks about South Park and being a raver. "Math for the Environment" is the strangest math class I've ever taken. For example, we've yet to do a problem involving numbers. One of my recent homework questions was: "Do you believe a person can ever be truly free or truly not free?"

Days Until Graduation: 97

CopyB?

CopyB? Where are you? Blog and LSN data are MIA...

:(

Decisions, Schmisions

To those of you who have asked me via email what the name of this "#1 choice" school is: I'm not ignoring you. I'm just very superstitious and I haven't gotten my scholarship info in the mail yet. For some reason I think if I tell you the name of the school this will somehow change this number from a big number to a small or non-existent number. Yes, logically this does not make much sense. (Invoke Chandler: Much sense?!) Still, humor me. I should get the big envelope today (Postal services gods be willing) and I will shout it from the virtual rooftops.

So, in my mind I am enrolling in this school. I've spent the majority of my free time in the past two days on the admitted students' website. I've been making arrangements to attend the admitted students' weekend. I've begun looking into housing possibilities (and they look good! The cost of living in this city is very reasonable!). I've been researching the public transportation system.

So what is the problem? you might ask. The problem is soon-to-be Mr. WhyLaw still has his hopes on staying here. Even though he likes the new city, he would rather stay here. I, on the other hand, do not want to stay here. Not even a little bit. I don't want to be Ms. Bossy New-Wife but I really want to go to this school. Not to be melodramatic, but it's my academic dream come true.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the other schools have to say. But to me, my mind is made up. And I'm pretty stubborn.

I Got In!

I'm in at my #1 choice! I'm so happy!

Lhasa Apso

Stag, this is a Lhasa Apso. More specifically, this is my Lhasa Apso!

My Secret

I want to be just like E. McPan in all ways. So when I saw that she got a cool new blog format I ran out and bought one just like it.

Tell me if it looks weird to you, or if you hate it. Or if you think it's okay. Or if you think it's really groovy.

It still needs some work but I have to go and learn about Math for the Environment now.

Update: Thanks for the feedback. I didn't really like the way the other one turned out, either. What do you think of this one?

If You're Just Tuning In...

Life, while extremely overwhelming to me right now, is not providing a whole lot to blog about. So I thought I would share a bit of random things-about-me just for fun:

I'm 27 (28 in May)

I'm an Environmental Studies major (graduating in May)

I never graduated from high school (got my GED at 23)

I'm a law school applicant (3 applications, one acceptance, two pending)

I'm vegan

My favorite color is brown

My favorite movie is 'Chocolat'

I've seen Legally Blonde too many times to count

I'm engaged! (Wedding is in May)

I spent a semester at the Biosphere in Arizona

I have a Lhasa Apso that I love with all my heart :)

My favorite TV show of all time is Buffy the Vampire Slayer

My favorite currently running TV show is Gilmore Girls

I'm really short (5'0")

I'm a Democrat

I would love to live in Alaska

I would love to live in New Zealand

I have never been to either Alaska or New Zealand :(

I rarely listen to music

I love going to the gym but rarely make it a priority

I'm a (real!) redhead

Okay, that was probably very boring for you, but kind of fun for me. Hopefully more bloggable things will come to me soon...

It's (More) Official

The engagement party last night was better than I ever could have hoped. It was held at a beautiful teahouse in Boulder that everyone thought was lovely. Everyone got along very well - there were no awkward silences or embarassing conversational faux pas involving politics.

J's dad gave a very nice toast and his mom gave me an old, incredibly stunning necklace that had been in her family for five generations! Since my mom is adopted and I know nothing about my father's side of the family I've never been exposed to anything you could call an 'heirloom' so this is very special to me for many reasons. She also included a photograph that had all of the women who had owned the necklace pictured - her mother as a little girl, her grandmother and her great-aunt who raised the grandmother. Talk about priceless, right?

My mom gave us a nice scrapbooking kit - and the offer to pay for the photographer! J's parents also announced that they had booked us a room at a five star hotel between here and Santa Fe for our wedding night. Everyone is being so generous - we are very lucky and thankful to be around so many people that love us and want to help make our wedding day and honeymoon special.

The Devil Is In The Details

Today I am wondering about things. For example, once a person has chosen a law school, sent in their deposit and secured their financial aid, when does said aid come? Is it similar to undergrad where they don't send your disbursement until two days before the first day of class so you don't run off to wherever irresponsible kids run off to with loan money? What about scholarships? If they like you enough to give you a scholarship do they trust you with it before your 1L self is actually sitting in their classroom?

Also, moving across the country is presumably not free. How do students do this? I'm thinking that the answer to this question may lie in the "post-bachelor's-pre-law-school-summer-job" concept. Maybe temp work. Or retail. Or Starbuck's. If you work at a gym as the girl that swipes the membership cards and hands out the towels do they let you work out there for free?

These are the things I'm wondering about today.

It's Only Two Flights Up!

So my mail carrier has developed this annoying habit of just leaving the "Sorry We Missed You!" card in the mailbox without even coming up to see if I'm home. I cannot express to you how infuriating this can be, especially because the package is then not even available for pickup at the post office until the next day.

So today, to combat this needless stress, I have left a note on the mailbox explaining that yes, I am home, and to please not return my packages to the post office but instead, if possible, to actually deliver them.

In law school news: I am considering doing a dual degree program if I end up, for whatever reason, remaining here in state. I feel like with the other law schools I've applied to they offer programs that are specialized enough that I will be marketable with "just" the JD, but the state school here doesn't (at least in "my" intended specialization(s)) so therefore I must do something additional to be employable. I don't have any data or anything to back up my thinking here, so I have no idea if my "feelings" are in any way comparable to reality.

So There, Part II

During my recent hospital stay this awful nurse told me that I would be spending a lot of my adult life in hospitals and that I would die young. Mean, right? (By the way, she was totally full of crap. Actual doctors have assured me of this. And, you know, now this online quiz.)

So There

If only my classmates from the Biosphere could see this score. I was mercilessly mocked during my semester there, for many things but mainly for my nerdiness/dorkiness. I'm glad I have nicer friends now.

A Weekend Away

Today is J's birthday and we're celebrating with a little dual-purpose trip to Estes Park. I've booked us a room in a nice bed & breakfast that we're considering getting married in. Since the wedding is only 4 months and a week away I figure the only way we're going to get everything done is some creative multi-tasking. So, this weekend is birthday-getaway-site visit wrapped into one.

In other wedding news: My soon-to-be in-laws have generously offered to host the rehearsal dinner - as well as help with the honeymoon costs! We haven't settled on a location yet, but we are leaning toward Santa Fe.

My mom is throwing us an engagement party a week from today. It's amazing how traditional people get when a wedding is involved. I had assumed that J & I would be covering all of the wedding related expenses since we're a little older and none of our parents have a lot of extra income. I guess families are just full of unexpected surprises.

One More Application (Finally!)

I know, it is incredibly late to be submitting another app, but I had previously decided not to even apply to this school. But things changed and I'm now considering staying in state, mostly as a compromise but for some other reasons as well.

First, all of my doctors are here and I have like a thousand specialists now so getting together an entire new "health care team" in a new city is not a small task. Not impossible, but it would take some work, and for the most part I like and trust my current gaggle of physicians so it is something to consider.

Other factors are: leaving my family, and my friends, and having to adjust to a new city with its new climate and new transportation system and all the little things one has to adjust to when moving away, when I'm still adjusting to my shiny new chronic illness.

Anyway, I'm at the very least applying, to keep my (our) options as open as possible. Soon-to-be Mr. WhyLaw is reciprocating by applying to a University in the city of my #1 school choice as they have a decent program in his field of study.

Probably March-ish we'll make our big decisions. For now it's all about accomplishing the big task of getting through each day as they come.

Stay On Target...Stay On Target...

On Monday I begin my very last semester as an undergraduate. I also can't believe that in 5 short months I'm going to have a shiny new degree. My class schedule this semester is borderline ridiculous. It's definitely a "filling up the holes in the core curriculum" kind of schedule. For example, it includes Spanish, "Shakespeare for Non-majors," and, of course, don't forget: "Math for the Environment."

Also, because I had to drop my thesis due to my lack of being able to work on it over the break (everyone involved was very understanding) I had to just pick any class that still had a seat left open that would be approved as a class for my major (Environmental Studies). There was one, yes one, class that fit these requirements. So I am now taking a course titled: "The War and the Environment."

The fifth class in my schedule is actually kind of interesting, however. It's called Conservation Trends and it seems to be a small, discussion oriented class about, well, conservation trends. Hence the name.

The important thing is that in 119 short days it will all be over. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed a lot of my undergrad stay, but I'm ready for it to be over and to get on with life in a world where the average age is over 20.

PSA

I promise I'm not going to blog about diabetes all the time now, because that is obnoxious, but I feel I would be remiss if I did not mention the symptoms. I just don't want anyone to go through the terrifying experiences of my recent hospitalization.

Symptoms of Type 1 diabetes:

• Crazy, intense thirst (remember the juicer?)
• Unexplained (or unjustified) weight loss
• Increased appetite
• Fatigue
• Frequent need to use the restroom
• Nausea, vomiting
• Abdominal pain

So, to sum up, if you experience these symptoms please tell your doctor.

This ends this public service announcement. I now return you to your regular scheduled blogging.

Thank You

Wow, I am so touched by all of the kind words left in my comments and email - and even mentions in some of my favorite blogs! You guys are the best :-)

I plan to blog regularly again, and am looking forward to it.

I said it before, but I'm going to say it again: I wish you all a safe, healthy, happy 2005!