"Nightline" will not be seen tonight in this televsion market. In its place...Ladies and Gentlemen, to honor America...a Home Improvement rerun.

The thing about the blog concept I like is that you can add content to your website so quickly and easily. I have a little bookmark to the Blogger "Create New Post" page, and I can just click it whenever I want and *boom*...new stuff on the website. It's relatively easy to make a static web page that says something about who you are (I've had my share...example here), but if there's never anything new there then there really isn't any reason for anyone to look at it more than once.

HOLD THE PRESSES! I've just been informed that pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream is not brain food. I'm shocked. Shocked!

Job one for the summer will be unbrainwashing myself. There is life outside of law school. There is truth to be found outside of the law. These seem like simple statements, but they're easy to lose sight of when your head is in a casebook forty or fifty or sixty hours a week. (Well, at least that's how many hours my head should have been in a casebook...[Arrrggh!!! You see, that's what I'm talking about!!!])

One important lesson from today: if you're gonna have a closed book exam, you probably have to memorize stuff!!!

Okay, I'm gearing up for the big exam...kinda, sorta. I went and had some pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast at Tee Jaye's...ahhhh...brain food. I flipped through my Gilbert's a lot and tried to memorize some of the lists of stuff like, for example, the requirements for real covenants. I'm going to look at Braunstein's old exam again, this time with my outline wide open.

I think I'm going to take an hour or so and slash and burn through my Property outline and then upload it for to share it all with you.

Supposedly, I'm supposed to be in the middle of doing a three-hour practice test. But somewhere around hour one or so I got distracted websurfing. The questions look fairly hard, and I don't remember all of the stuff they talk about, but I don't know what the expectations are. Maybe it's sufficient to just make a well-reasoned argument without having to remember all of the rules precisely.

It seems like every time I close my eyes, I'm having horrible nightmares about missing or screwing up exams. It's a good thing that the reality is a lot more benign.

I guess my study style for Property hasn't been 100% over-the-top intense over the last 24 hours or so, but with a closed-book exam I think you have to rely on your steady progress throughout the semester rather than trying to learn new things by cramming at the end. I feel pretty comfortable. I haven't run into anything that I feel like I don't remember at all. I may not be putting in enough study time to beat the next person over the head with my awesomeness, but I'm doing enough so that I'll be satisfied that I did a good job.

My stepsister had a baby today. I guess that makes me a stepuncle! Wait, that looks too much like barnacle...more like step-uncle.

I'm done with all my classes for my first year! It's not necessarily such an overwhelming feeling. But it does make me feel good to know that my life is in my own hands for a while and I have a chance to prepare how I like and then show what I know on the exam. I think classes are a good bit less significant than they're made out to be before you start law school. And the "gunner" thing definitely didn't come to fruition, at least in my opinion. I wish I had raised my hand more when I had something to say. I found myself participating much less the second semester than the first, or at least it seemed that way.

My strategy is to do some CALI lessons right now, then get my Property outline in working order. I can't use it for the exam, but I'd like it to be useful for studying for myself and others. The next phase is to copy all the old exams and work through them as if they were real.

I finished The DaVinci Code last night. I guess I lied when I said I wouldn't have time to read novels in law school. It was pretty entertaining, although I was disappointed with some of the twists.

Only two more classes, and then it's 100% finals.

I wonder how long it will be before __ U.S. ___ will roll over to ___ U.S.2d ___? What about ___ S.Ct.2d ___? I bet there's a pretty easy way to estimate this. But I probably have better uses of my time right now.

When 1 U.S.2d 1 rolls around...party at my place!!!

My view of the 1L experience has really narrowed to my own experience. For example, I haven't been in a study group all year and I can't really even think of what it would be like to be in one. I can't imagine life without being able to take notes on my laptop. I didn't take a law school prep class the summer before the school year and I can't imagine how things would have been different if I had taken one. Anyway, I don't know how I'm going to be able to give anybody else any advice.

I've got a big stack of books here about starting your own solo law firm. Hmmm...being your own boss? Getting to work with clients right away? Deciding how much money you want to make? That all sounds good to me. I like having choices.

I feel like a very incomplete and unfinished person. I don't know if I would have suspected ten years ago that I would feel this way. I think I probably felt more perfect and complete when I was 14 than I do now. I guess sometimes I feel ambivalent about being in law school because I doubt that it's going to make a grown-up out of me. But I don't think that's what it's for, and I also don't think that's why I came here. At times I feel like my real life is kind of on hold while I'm here, but that having a J.D. will assure that I don't starve once I go back out there and figure out what's what.

I actually have my reading done early. I suppose I have a little time to reflect. I'm a little sad that I'm going to be starting another class just as soon as I finish the ones I'm taking now. I don't know quite what else I would do, but I feel like my brain needs a rest.

One thing that I think is true here and probably in life in general is that the higher the expectations you set for yourself, the more stress you'll experience and the more likely you'll be to end up disappointed. Then again, it may also be true that if you set high expectations for yourself you will actually accomplish more. And clear over on the other hand, it doesn't tend to make you feel very good about yourself if you wallow in mediocrity knowing you could do much better than you're doing if you would put forth more effort.

I am on call in Con Law this week. I will be fine as long as I am not asked to talk about any issue from any other week of the semester.

More arts! More arts! Kill Bill v.2 last night. Pai Mei is awesome. That movie is so simple it's complicated and vice versa. Supercool! And today I saw one of my fellow law school travelers in The King & I. Best ballet ever!!!

I just saw a movie about a guy who makes stacks of rocks and stuff for a living. It's for art! I suppose when I'm a lawyer, or something else, I'd like to do something like that in my spare time, at least.

I'm done with Legal Writing. Now I only have three things to worry about. One exam, frankly, is going to be a bust no matter which way I slice it. That will be a regular open book exam. Then there's one that will be a closed book exam, and I'm counting on doing well in that class. Then there's a take-home exam. There's really only good reason to make one good outline. But I'll probably make three anyhow.

The major law school conflict for me is between doing things well enough so that I'm satisfied and doing things well enough to beat the next guy. It kind of reminds me when I was doing interviews my senior year of college. I had never heard of McKinsey in my life before these interviews, but all of the sudden I found out that it was where all of the cool and smart kids got hired. So I was so jealous of the kids who got hired by McKinsey! But since I ended my very brief consulting career, I've never heard anything about McKinsey again. People outside of our tiny world don't know who Baker & Hostetler are, or Jones or Day or Skadden or Arps. They probably think Law Journal is sort of like the school newspaper. They probably think clerkships are like mailroom jobs where you wear funny hats and ring little bells and stuff envelopes or type things in triplicate. So once we're out in the real world again, it's going to not matter again.

I feel a lot better after talking to the registrar. Things seem under control again.

But I did remember the thing I forgot, and then it turned out it was okay that I forgot. And I finished the paper, kinda...or, I finished the paper but I don't think it's any good. But I never think it's any good.

I had a permanent knot in my stomach for about a month leading up to the war. The knot is back.

I don't know if it's very entertaining at all reading about me being anxious, but I think I should include it so that other people who are thinking about going to law school will know that they might be anxious too.

Is "awesome" not a cool word anymore, with, you know, "the kids"? I think I just heard the library front desk people making fun of me for saying "awesome".

I have seven and three-quarters hours to finish my paper before South Park comes on. That should be more than enough for me to finish my paper. Should...

I'm not just antsy, I'm not just tired, I'm not just frustrated, but I'm also scared. I don't know what I'm afraid of. Maybe I'm afraid that I'm going to forget something important. But on the plus side, I have less than a month to go. Then I get a glorious whole weekend off before my summer class starts...

Oh, I'm in trouble...the hammer is going to fall...I can only remember a certain number of dates by which certain things have to be done at one time. Yes, I did do my taxes, though.

ANTSY!

Do I notice that you can't take a summer quarter class outside the law school and do a journal at the same time? Aw, man...

Today, I made contact with someone who I had not been in touch with in a long time. I'm not going to say who yet because I want to make my mom play Twenty Questions to find out who it is.

I have a concept for an independent study for the fall: I think I'd like to teach a U.S. Government & Economics class at my old high school. It's far from unheard of for former (and even current) students from there to teach classes. It could be like "Intro to Law & Economics"...I don't know how I would deal with those krazy kids, though. If I ran into myself at the age of 15, I don't think I would be able to stand five minutes with myself. But that's just me, and that's just me.

I'm daydreaming more about going into business for myself after law school. Put out a shingle, do wills and stuff for people, and write in my spare time. This is a path for my life that I actually predicted very long ago, going back to 6th or 7th grade. I've taken a lot of twists and turns since then, but maybe I'm finding my way at last.

Aaarrghh...summer, summer, summer...what am I going to do? The rejections just keep on piling up. Do you think people can tell I'm not sure that this is what I want to do with my life? But how can you be so sure about anything? And if you're not, you still have to eat! Gimme a chance!

Ack! My ratings are waning! Maybe I should pull some kind of stunt for sweeps...

I'm desperately seeking perspective...I'm very engrossed in what I'm doing. Maybe it would be a good idea for me to take a class outside the law school this summer, or this fall, or both.

Any time I have an interview for anything, my mouth gets really dry and makes this sort of weird smacking sound when I talk. Maybe I need to start bringing some water or something to interviews.

I'm feeling much better this week. At least a small part of the reason is this.

You know those Yahoo polls that come up, like: "Diana Taurasi: greatest women's hoops player ever? Yes, No, or view results w/o voting"? Well, I think "view results w/o voting" pretty much represents my entire personal and political philosophy.

Soon, soon we shall schedule our schedules. What classes shall I take? Should I take a lot of bar classes? Should I take interesting classes? Are there any classes that are actually interesting?

I wanted to write down an anecdote that has very little to do with me or law school, but it cracked me up, so I'll try to tell it to you. I was supposed to meet my dad and my little brother at Max & Erma's, and they ran into some old friends of ours, a married couple and their daughter, who is probably about, maybe, 8 or 10 years old. The three of them were about to go see a theatrical production of Peter Pan and were quite excited, especially the daughter. The dad says to the daughter, "Tell them what you said earlier." And she goes, "Peter Pan is hot!"

So that cracked me up.

Well...I thought I was going to study. I have two outlines open in Word. I have three books sitting here next to me, and they're all law books...it's just that I haven't opened any of them yet.

I'm studying on the weekend! I'm studying on the weekend! This is...well, it's something.

I am an artiste!!! Behold my artisterie!

Or maybe I should take suggestions...I will no longer be a 1L as of the 7th of May. Or if not that, no later than the first day of classes for the fall. So this won't be the Diary of a 1L. So what should I call it? E-mail me if you have ideas.

I was just thinking that maybe when the year is over I'll change the name of the blog to "Law and Sausages". I was going to make a link to the quote this comes from, but now I can't pin down the exact quote or its author. I don't think it's Holmes, though. Purportedly, it's Otto von Bismarck.

So sometimes I wish I was anonymous so I could say what I really think.

Uhhhhhh........

Are there ever any particular fellow students who you would like to kick in the shins? Not that I really would.

Oh, and did I ever finish that draft? Sure thing! Then I treated myself to some BW3 food and trivia, followed by South Park and Chappelle's Show (the latter of which is swiftly becoming just as essential to watch as the former). Now I'm planning on going to pick up my pictures from my trip, but I think I may be watching somebody's computer for them. Their computer is here, and they are not, and there's nobody else around.

By the way, I don't like April Fool's Day. I don't like surprises, not even good ones particularly. I also don't like being lied to or people being mean to me. I like jokes and funny stuff, but I don't like pranks. I hate being taken.

My laziness has reached new heights or new depths. I sat around at home and finally decided to take the bus to school. That took almost an hour. But I read some Vonnegut on the way.