This shit is HARD!! And I'm a crappy writer now and have a Swiss-cheese brain.
And the more time I spend around lawyers and lawyers-in-training, the less I want to be around them.
So I was sitting in writing class, realizing how crappy my paper was (it was), and the supervisor who sits in front of me (whose bad attitude rivals my own) was talking about which classes they want me to teach at the test prep place.
Why again did I leave teaching? I already know how to do that pretty well. It's ingrained in me. This lawyer stuff - it's so foreign. And hard. And I'm wrong a lot. It sucks.
So now I'll brief some stupid Torts cases. I have the final draft of my crappy-ass paper due on Wednesday and the instructor and the TA's will not speak to us after Saturday noon. WTF?! I'm BUSY with classes and moving tomorrow and Friday and Saturday morning! When exactly am I supposed to write the entire memo and completely gut and revise the crappy discussion section that I didn't know how to do right the first time?
Today is the worst day, so I'm just tired - I started at 8:30 - 9:45 with Contracts. Then I typed up class notes in the computer lab until a meeting from 12-1:30 (with lunch - falafel, not as good as Pyramids) where I met a cool immigration lawyer who moved back down here to help her family (and I could hire her to help me with the Dayton situation - she's a real pro). Then I had
Criminal Law from 2:30-3:45, Civil Procedure from 4:00-4:50, Spanish from 5:00-5:50, Legal REsearch and Writing from 6:00-6:50, and then a Spanish dinner from the organization that I'm volunteer coordinator for so couldn't really bail, and I had to spend the whole time talking to some smarmy Venezuelan. Thursday and Friday aren't all that much better, so when exactly am I supposed to go see the instructor with questions? When am I supposed to work?
Oh, I guess right now.
So, the last day to get 50% of my money back would have been Monday. Here I am. Plunging forward because what the hell else am I going to do?
Even chocolate won't do it for me today.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
worst nightmare ever
It was so bad, it actually woke me up. I lay there shivering in a cold sweat.
No monsters, no huge roaches, no violence though. Here's a peek into my nerdy soul.
I dreamt that my legal writing closed memo which is due next week was late. There was driving and chocolate involved (and Jenny was there), and a remembrance that if I turn in my paper later it will drop dramatically in grade.
The terror, the horror.
Dayton's worst nightmare, the one that wakes him up, is reliving when rebels killed his father, took away his mother, burned the houses down. Or when he witnessed hundreds of people trapped in a warehouse and burned alive, their screams still haunt him, and there was no way he and others could get them out.
Has my life really been so easy?
No monsters, no huge roaches, no violence though. Here's a peek into my nerdy soul.
I dreamt that my legal writing closed memo which is due next week was late. There was driving and chocolate involved (and Jenny was there), and a remembrance that if I turn in my paper later it will drop dramatically in grade.
The terror, the horror.
Dayton's worst nightmare, the one that wakes him up, is reliving when rebels killed his father, took away his mother, burned the houses down. Or when he witnessed hundreds of people trapped in a warehouse and burned alive, their screams still haunt him, and there was no way he and others could get them out.
Has my life really been so easy?
Monday, September 25, 2006
anti-glam
So, the next time I see some pre-game show with the on-field crowds close enough to be able to spit on Bono (not that I wanted to - I'm just saying) - with The Edge smiling (never seen it before - but NOLA is a major project of his) and Green Day working it hard from the heart and Bono's charisma oozing all over us aplenty while we stare up at the HUGE crowds while standing on the astro-turf at the 40-yard-line - what will I think?
suckers.
We waited 7 hours for 9 minutes of music. Did I have better things to do with 7 hours? Um, yeah, I'm a law student and still behind in most of my work and moving in a few days.
Now, I'm not trying to complain. It was pretty cool really - to be RIGHT THERE with the bands, and being in the Superdome upon its reopening, surrounded by grateful crowds and on the field with the Mardi Gras Indian Krewe (who are Black, but they're called the Indians in another NOLA straight-forwardness).
I'll put it in the category with being at the Berlin Wall when it came down. Being in the streets of Moscow just after a coup attempt. Hey, it's history and I'm there like Forrest Gump.
The best part was chilling with The Puerto Ricans, A and J. Jenny, if J only had a belly I'd consider him for you - he is just as adorable as they come. Wicked sense of humor, but he'll watch my Wal-Mart video.
I guess friendships forged in foxholes - or waiting 7 hours in a freezing Arena to see U2 - are the most meaningful.
suckers.
We waited 7 hours for 9 minutes of music. Did I have better things to do with 7 hours? Um, yeah, I'm a law student and still behind in most of my work and moving in a few days.
Now, I'm not trying to complain. It was pretty cool really - to be RIGHT THERE with the bands, and being in the Superdome upon its reopening, surrounded by grateful crowds and on the field with the Mardi Gras Indian Krewe (who are Black, but they're called the Indians in another NOLA straight-forwardness).
I'll put it in the category with being at the Berlin Wall when it came down. Being in the streets of Moscow just after a coup attempt. Hey, it's history and I'm there like Forrest Gump.
The best part was chilling with The Puerto Ricans, A and J. Jenny, if J only had a belly I'd consider him for you - he is just as adorable as they come. Wicked sense of humor, but he'll watch my Wal-Mart video.
I guess friendships forged in foxholes - or waiting 7 hours in a freezing Arena to see U2 - are the most meaningful.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
how I know I'll never practice criminal law
First case I had to read was about a father who beat his child to death along with the mother. It made me so nauseous, and he got off of manslaughter because they couldn't PROVE that the injuries he did accelerated the 6-year-old's death.
I just wrapped up reading about a guy who hit a pedestrian, slowed momentarily - just long enough for the victim to roll off the hood and get lodged under the car - before driving away. This poor pedestrian either died from horrible injuries immediately, or lived long enough to be trapped underneath a car and die that way. And because they couldn't prove the second, he got off on manslaughter.
It's different when I watch all those Law and Order shows - I love them because they're like a puzzle. They're not real. All these cases are real, and I cannot stomach them in the least.
Just give me boring business maritime contracts. And a nice paycheck. And travel in business class.
I just wrapped up reading about a guy who hit a pedestrian, slowed momentarily - just long enough for the victim to roll off the hood and get lodged under the car - before driving away. This poor pedestrian either died from horrible injuries immediately, or lived long enough to be trapped underneath a car and die that way. And because they couldn't prove the second, he got off on manslaughter.
It's different when I watch all those Law and Order shows - I love them because they're like a puzzle. They're not real. All these cases are real, and I cannot stomach them in the least.
Just give me boring business maritime contracts. And a nice paycheck. And travel in business class.
Popeye's dead
Does the whole poisonous spinach thing have anybody else spooked?
Spinach is THE vegetable for me. OK, yeah, I know I say that about all the vegetables - especially zucchini, chayote, broccoli, sweet potatoes ... ok, so I'm a veg slut. But spinach and me - we go way back and I thought our relationship was special. I eat it raw on sandwiches and salads, stir-fried, in soups, like greens, German-style creamed, and saag panir. There is no position - er, manner of preparation - I would ever decline with spinach.
I never thought spinach would do me wrong. I feel so betrayed.
My refrigerator cries out for a bag of baby spinach, but I just can't do it. Once bitten, twice shy.
The worst to me is the families who worked so hard to provide nutritious fare to their children - and because of it the kids are deathly ill or actually dead. Sneaking spinach in a fruit smoothie or baked with a chicken breast - I would SO do those kinds of things. And it could kill my kids?
The world's not safe for young 'uns. If it's not Susan Smith, it's spinach.
Spinach is THE vegetable for me. OK, yeah, I know I say that about all the vegetables - especially zucchini, chayote, broccoli, sweet potatoes ... ok, so I'm a veg slut. But spinach and me - we go way back and I thought our relationship was special. I eat it raw on sandwiches and salads, stir-fried, in soups, like greens, German-style creamed, and saag panir. There is no position - er, manner of preparation - I would ever decline with spinach.
I never thought spinach would do me wrong. I feel so betrayed.
My refrigerator cries out for a bag of baby spinach, but I just can't do it. Once bitten, twice shy.
The worst to me is the families who worked so hard to provide nutritious fare to their children - and because of it the kids are deathly ill or actually dead. Sneaking spinach in a fruit smoothie or baked with a chicken breast - I would SO do those kinds of things. And it could kill my kids?
The world's not safe for young 'uns. If it's not Susan Smith, it's spinach.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
keep her in your thoughts/prayers
I try not to talk about other people's problems here out of respect for confidentiality, but I can't get this out of my mind and hope she doesn't mind.
Tami's sister, pregnant with her second child, just learned in her first ultrasound that the baby she's carrying (now in the 25th week of pregnancy) will not be born alive because the brain isn't developing properly. Tami's parents are driving this weekend to bring her back here because she needs to have an abortion, and they'll do it in Metairie (though I assume not where she lives in Texas) - but she's nearing the end of the second trimester, so she needs to do it really soon because even for medical reasons it gets problematic both legally and medically.
One doesn't have to be anti-abortion (as Tami and her family are) to feel what a horrible situation this is. It's so bad on so many levels and I can only imagine what Tami's sister is going through (and her husband and everybody else).
I know things like this just happen and there's no fault to lie anywhere. It's more of a miracle for every healthy baby that is born - there are so many things that can go wrong, it's really surprising they don't happen more often. But knowing that and feeling the tragedy are so different. When one is carrying life inside, only to find it's not life - how devastating.
Tami's sister, pregnant with her second child, just learned in her first ultrasound that the baby she's carrying (now in the 25th week of pregnancy) will not be born alive because the brain isn't developing properly. Tami's parents are driving this weekend to bring her back here because she needs to have an abortion, and they'll do it in Metairie (though I assume not where she lives in Texas) - but she's nearing the end of the second trimester, so she needs to do it really soon because even for medical reasons it gets problematic both legally and medically.
One doesn't have to be anti-abortion (as Tami and her family are) to feel what a horrible situation this is. It's so bad on so many levels and I can only imagine what Tami's sister is going through (and her husband and everybody else).
I know things like this just happen and there's no fault to lie anywhere. It's more of a miracle for every healthy baby that is born - there are so many things that can go wrong, it's really surprising they don't happen more often. But knowing that and feeling the tragedy are so different. When one is carrying life inside, only to find it's not life - how devastating.
Friday, September 22, 2006
isn't good news supposed to come in 3s too?
Ask me what I'm doing Monday.
Spending quality time with Bono and Billy Joe! The Superdome reopens Monday for the first Saints game there since Katrina, and the pre-game show is U2 and Green Day. I was reading about it in the papers last month, wondering wistfully how I could get there. Because these aren't just two bands I like, but they are only singing 3-4 songs each, which is about my attention span.
So a couple mornings ago I compulsively checked my email immediately upon waking, and there was an email from some guy I don't know. Long story short, I now have free tickets to the concert! Woo hoo! And some bus will drive us away BEFORE the game. That is the best - no football for me, just tunes, and I don't have to drive. Woo hoo!
The only down side is I'm missing a class of Criminal Law. That sort of freaks me out.
The other good news is that our revised gas & electric bill came and it's $140 less than the last one. In fact, when I did my little fancy math to figure out how much I THOUGHT we owed, that was almost $40 more than what we actually owe. 20 summer days of gas and electric for $54.54 - that I can live with better.
The only downside there is that they READ THE WRONG METER AGAIN. So, this amount is actually correct, but it will be messed up again next bill. Sigh. I've spent too many hours of my life dealing with this already. I just want to get out of here without any more ado.
So, what's the 3rd good thing? I'm waiting! It's 8:18 pm and I'm here madly catching up on all the work I've fallen behind in, hoping something else wonderful and fantastic will happen. Guess I'm just greedy.
And stupid. So, I'm sitting in class on Wednesday evening and this guy I don't recognize turns to me and says, "So, Friday looks pretty good for you?" "For what?" I'm thinking, do I know you? I know the two guys around him, and the two women around me, and I'm trying to think what I agreed to. "For [test prep job]." I stared.
MY NEW JOB'S SUPERVISOR IS IN ALL MY LAW CLASSES AND I DIDN'T EVEN RECOGNIZE HIM.
THAT makes me get over the stupidity I always feel when I say to Blind Woman, "See you later." But she's so nice, she says back to me, "See you." So today I just came clean with her, "Look, I don't ever know when you need help, or when you know who I am so I don't keep saying my name." She's recognizing my voice now, but we didn't get the whole help thing sorted out. She said she hates the room we're in on Fridays because it's different and she's never sure she's in the right seat - and I had seen that look on her face so that's why I went over to chat with her.
I'm so self-conscious, which is pretty stupid. The woman who sits in front of her definitely tuned into our conversation, and I wonder if she was like, "Wow, you're saying what I've been meaning to say." Or, "Oh my god, you are so stupid!"
How many blind people have I known well? Um, the crazy woman I used to do in-home care with. But she was crazy and not pleasant, and that's not because she was blind. This Blind Woman at school, she's really nice and pleasant, and that's not because she's blind. I just get all tangled up in duty and trying to figure out what's socially acceptable. Do I help her cross the street? Do I pet the dog? Do I chat it up with her? Do I ask her over for dinner? Do I suggest a study group? Do I tell her my name everytime I approach? Ok, this helps a little.
So, I said I would stay home all this weekend to STUDY, but I'll be honest with my faithful blog readers (Um, so that's who, Jenny and Gail and sometimes Tami and sometimes Michele?):
Spending quality time with Bono and Billy Joe! The Superdome reopens Monday for the first Saints game there since Katrina, and the pre-game show is U2 and Green Day. I was reading about it in the papers last month, wondering wistfully how I could get there. Because these aren't just two bands I like, but they are only singing 3-4 songs each, which is about my attention span.
So a couple mornings ago I compulsively checked my email immediately upon waking, and there was an email from some guy I don't know. Long story short, I now have free tickets to the concert! Woo hoo! And some bus will drive us away BEFORE the game. That is the best - no football for me, just tunes, and I don't have to drive. Woo hoo!
The only down side is I'm missing a class of Criminal Law. That sort of freaks me out.
The other good news is that our revised gas & electric bill came and it's $140 less than the last one. In fact, when I did my little fancy math to figure out how much I THOUGHT we owed, that was almost $40 more than what we actually owe. 20 summer days of gas and electric for $54.54 - that I can live with better.
The only downside there is that they READ THE WRONG METER AGAIN. So, this amount is actually correct, but it will be messed up again next bill. Sigh. I've spent too many hours of my life dealing with this already. I just want to get out of here without any more ado.
So, what's the 3rd good thing? I'm waiting! It's 8:18 pm and I'm here madly catching up on all the work I've fallen behind in, hoping something else wonderful and fantastic will happen. Guess I'm just greedy.
And stupid. So, I'm sitting in class on Wednesday evening and this guy I don't recognize turns to me and says, "So, Friday looks pretty good for you?" "For what?" I'm thinking, do I know you? I know the two guys around him, and the two women around me, and I'm trying to think what I agreed to. "For [test prep job]." I stared.
MY NEW JOB'S SUPERVISOR IS IN ALL MY LAW CLASSES AND I DIDN'T EVEN RECOGNIZE HIM.
THAT makes me get over the stupidity I always feel when I say to Blind Woman, "See you later." But she's so nice, she says back to me, "See you." So today I just came clean with her, "Look, I don't ever know when you need help, or when you know who I am so I don't keep saying my name." She's recognizing my voice now, but we didn't get the whole help thing sorted out. She said she hates the room we're in on Fridays because it's different and she's never sure she's in the right seat - and I had seen that look on her face so that's why I went over to chat with her.
I'm so self-conscious, which is pretty stupid. The woman who sits in front of her definitely tuned into our conversation, and I wonder if she was like, "Wow, you're saying what I've been meaning to say." Or, "Oh my god, you are so stupid!"
How many blind people have I known well? Um, the crazy woman I used to do in-home care with. But she was crazy and not pleasant, and that's not because she was blind. This Blind Woman at school, she's really nice and pleasant, and that's not because she's blind. I just get all tangled up in duty and trying to figure out what's socially acceptable. Do I help her cross the street? Do I pet the dog? Do I chat it up with her? Do I ask her over for dinner? Do I suggest a study group? Do I tell her my name everytime I approach? Ok, this helps a little.
So, I said I would stay home all this weekend to STUDY, but I'll be honest with my faithful blog readers (Um, so that's who, Jenny and Gail and sometimes Tami and sometimes Michele?):
- I'm reading for fun! Bayou Farewell, which I picked up last weekend with Jenny and am really enjoying - though I can't read too much because it makes me so ANGRY AND DEPRESSED about the ecological destruction wreaked on southern Louisiana (Gail - you must read it!). Then I'm going to read Lonely Planet's The Gambia & Senegal (for obvious reasons!). Then tomorrow I'm going to the library to pick up The Bone People (suggested by the same brilliant classmate who suggested I look to fly out of NYC) and So Long a Letter by Miriama Ba (about the clash between modern and traditional values concerning polygamy - by a Senegalese woman). For those who don't know, Dayton's father had numerous wives - I think six. Many, many children. Most modern Liberian men I know have sort of a "wink-wink-shrug-shrug" attitude towards monogamy (think of Joseph propositioning me as deputy wife!). But Dayton, he's different. People tell me he'll have such culture shock when he comes here, but I think not so much - our values align in most significant ways really closely. Anyway, polygamy is alive and well in Liberia, my future home someday (and hopefully a destination for vacation this December), and it's not so simple really.
- I'm cooking a pot of black beans tomorrow. Yum. Which involves a trip to the grocery store, which involves planning shopping, which involves planning something else interesting to cook up on Sunday.
- I'm starting to pack. It will be a tight fit in the new place, and I'll have to pack and sort and plan well. Moving in a week! Woo hoo! The place is just a band-aid, but it's a step up in some ways.
- I'm calling Dayton for a long conversation and I'll finish up the immigration forms - he's given me all the information. (Including a text message exchange today while I was in Torts, ignoring the prof.) I have an immigration appointment on October 3, so I'll wait until then - until I meet with somebody there to make suggestions before I fax the forms to him to mail them back. On the one hand, this is really exciting for me - we're actually ready to file the immigration forms, the application for a fiance visa for him. On the other hand, this of course scares the hell out of me. My life will never be the same. All the kvetching I've done about him not being here - someday that will change. And in some ways I'm SO BEYOND READY FOR IT, but in others, not as much.
- Mostly, I'm going to just enjoy quiet and solitude (which is NOT to say I don't love visitors! I had a great time with Jen! All are welcome!). The Roommate moves out tomorrow, and then I'm free and alone and that's delicious. Except for the whole Crazy Landlord thing, but he's backed off a little after my last uber-bitch note.
- OK, I think I'm headed for bed with Senegal. No 3rd good news today.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
how I spend my time instead of doing homework
Who's going to Senegal?
Why, that would be me. Ticket bought for considerably less than I'd finally budgeted for. Yay to brilliant classmate who told me to just look at NYC-DKR. I'm going through Heathrow - which I hate like Tami hates JFK - but it's all about saving the green.
Who's probably going to have to sleep in JFK upon return?
Me again. And I've done research. Because while I may drop a K to fly to a third-world country that didn't even make it into the last World Cup, I sure as hell ain't spending $200 to sleep in Jamaica, NY just to get up at 3 a.m. to catch a flight. That's half what I'm spending for the entire three weeks of classes and room & board!
What I didn't do in all my incessant travel surfing today was actually look at the flight schedules - and there's nothing back home from NYC after I arrive at 5 pm. Which bites, but whining is futile. And at least I'm informed now thanks to the above-linked site. I love the internet!!
And hate reading law cases. I'm just fried. I'll take tomorrow off too, in order to practice Russian with the really offensive Belorussian (which just shows to what lengths I'll go to avoid work - I hate Russian, never want to use it professionally, and become a person I don't like when I have to use it), and then I'll be inspired again this weekend to get caught up. I hope. I'm starting to feel a little panicked that this is the hardest educational venture I've ever taken.
And who's sublimating?
Me again. Thanks a lot Jen.
Why, that would be me. Ticket bought for considerably less than I'd finally budgeted for. Yay to brilliant classmate who told me to just look at NYC-DKR. I'm going through Heathrow - which I hate like Tami hates JFK - but it's all about saving the green.
Who's probably going to have to sleep in JFK upon return?
Me again. And I've done research. Because while I may drop a K to fly to a third-world country that didn't even make it into the last World Cup, I sure as hell ain't spending $200 to sleep in Jamaica, NY just to get up at 3 a.m. to catch a flight. That's half what I'm spending for the entire three weeks of classes and room & board!
What I didn't do in all my incessant travel surfing today was actually look at the flight schedules - and there's nothing back home from NYC after I arrive at 5 pm. Which bites, but whining is futile. And at least I'm informed now thanks to the above-linked site. I love the internet!!
And hate reading law cases. I'm just fried. I'll take tomorrow off too, in order to practice Russian with the really offensive Belorussian (which just shows to what lengths I'll go to avoid work - I hate Russian, never want to use it professionally, and become a person I don't like when I have to use it), and then I'll be inspired again this weekend to get caught up. I hope. I'm starting to feel a little panicked that this is the hardest educational venture I've ever taken.
And who's sublimating?
Me again. Thanks a lot Jen.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
recipe - Harira
Tami and Jenny vote this is two yumms up, so here's the recipe:
Harira - North African Vegetable Soup - served during Ramadan at iftar/breaking of fast, the national soup of Morocco (from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant)
serves 6-7
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 diced celery stalks
3 T oil
1 t turmeric
1 t ground coriander
1/2 t cinnamon (go easy on it - not too much!)
1/8-1/4 t cayenne (to taste - go easy)
1 small potato chopped
1 small carrot diced
4 small tomatoes chopped (I threw in a can of diced tomatoes)
1 cup tomato juice
4 cups vegetable stock or liquid from cooking chick peas or water
1 small zucchini finely chopped
1/2 cup curly vermiceli, crumbled (I couldn't find curly, so used angel hair pasta)
1 c. canned or cooked chick peas (I just threw in a can - 69 cents at Whole Foods!)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (I didn't use fresh, but it would be tasty)
salt & pepper to taste
****
Garnish:
chopped fresh parsley
fresh mint leaves
red bell pepper or pimiento strips
********
In a soup pot, saute the onions and celery in the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the spices, potatoes, and carrots and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Mix in the chopped tomatoes, tomato juice, and chick pea liquit/stock and simmer until all the vegetables are almost tender.
Add the zucchini and vermicelli and simmer for about 5 minutes longer. Mix in the chick peas, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with chopped parsley, mint leaves, and strips of red bell pepper or pimiento.
*******
I think it would be way yum with cabbage, green beans, and small pasta such as orzo.
Freezes well.
Harira - North African Vegetable Soup - served during Ramadan at iftar/breaking of fast, the national soup of Morocco (from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant)
serves 6-7
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 diced celery stalks
3 T oil
1 t turmeric
1 t ground coriander
1/2 t cinnamon (go easy on it - not too much!)
1/8-1/4 t cayenne (to taste - go easy)
1 small potato chopped
1 small carrot diced
4 small tomatoes chopped (I threw in a can of diced tomatoes)
1 cup tomato juice
4 cups vegetable stock or liquid from cooking chick peas or water
1 small zucchini finely chopped
1/2 cup curly vermiceli, crumbled (I couldn't find curly, so used angel hair pasta)
1 c. canned or cooked chick peas (I just threw in a can - 69 cents at Whole Foods!)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (I didn't use fresh, but it would be tasty)
salt & pepper to taste
****
Garnish:
chopped fresh parsley
fresh mint leaves
red bell pepper or pimiento strips
********
In a soup pot, saute the onions and celery in the oil until the onions are translucent. Add the spices, potatoes, and carrots and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Mix in the chopped tomatoes, tomato juice, and chick pea liquit/stock and simmer until all the vegetables are almost tender.
Add the zucchini and vermicelli and simmer for about 5 minutes longer. Mix in the chick peas, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with chopped parsley, mint leaves, and strips of red bell pepper or pimiento.
*******
I think it would be way yum with cabbage, green beans, and small pasta such as orzo.
Freezes well.
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