Friday, January 30, 2004

made my day....

QUICK! Everyone type "miserable failure" on Google and hit the "I'm feeling lucky" button.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA, thank god for the Internet.
Me: AARRGH! My wireless internet is failing to detect any sort of wireless signal!
Compaq customer support: Is your wireless card properly installed?
Me: Yes!
CCS: Have you rebooted your computer?
Me: Yes! I have also uninstalled and reinstalled my dsl router monitor, unplugged/plugged back in the router, twiddled with a variety of settings, taken out my battery, disabled/enabled my wireless card, etc. etc. ad nauseum…..
CCS: Did you check to see if you accidentally pushed the little button on the front of your computer that turns off the wireless?
Me: ……..oh.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

This site is for the inner voyeur in all of us...and the deep dark thoughts we never ever wanted any one to know, but just wanted to get off our chests: Notproud.com

Very illuminating, and strangely therapeutic.

Sunday, January 25, 2004

This has been a relatively interesting evening at work. I talked to a dermatologist who is also a lawyer (but is currently not practicing law)...he told me that he actually wanted to attend law school and med school concurrently, and inside, i cowered at his dedication and obvious brilliance. I also helped out a rather computer-illiterate public defender who was doing research to defend a witness whose life is being threatened by a gangster. I really feel I helped someone.

I Googled "bad law school grades first semester" and found these encouraging words:

First Semester Law School Grades
This post is for whoever found my site searching for "bad grades first semester law school". My first semester grades were disappointing. I did not even make Dean's List my first semester and my class rank was decidedly unexciting. By second semester I had graded onto law review (for what that was worth -- more later on why law review was not my bag) and I got all the job offers I cared about (an interviewer teased me about my Torts grade once, but we laughed about it together and moved on). Now my school was very small and I happened to do very well second semester but the message is, everyone's just figuring all this stuff out, and so how you prepared for, took, and scored on first semester exams is not an accurate predictor of how you are going to do in law school or in life. It just isn't. Now you have a clue about what to do and how to study and what to expect -- you didn't before. So quit freaking out and turn your attention to the fascinating and baffling topics they're asking you to learn THIS semester. You are just as smart and full of potential as you were in September. Smarter, in fact. Go learn.

More on Bad Law School Grades
I don't have much more to say about getting off to a bumpy start in law school, gradewise. But good heavens, lots of people are doing Google searches or writing me about it. My heart goes out to all of those of you who were disappointed, heartbroken, shaken by your grades, who are now doubting yourself and looking to Google to make sense of it all.

Look, guys, I got a C- and a C+ my first semester of law school. (And two A-s and a B+, to be complete). I was 22nd in the class after that. The next semester I got two As, a couple of A-s, and another B+, and I was 4th in the class. I just kept moving up, and I graduated first. So it's not hopeless. You're not destined to have dismal grades for the rest of your law school career. They needn't hold you back.

Stop gnashing your teeth about what these grades MEAN about who you are and what you're capable of and what the Rest of Your Life is limited to. You are just as smart as you were the day before you got your grades. And now you know something you didn't know before: what to expect from law school exams. March your butt into your professors' offices and sit down with the exam and talk to them about it. We all know you studied your head off, but did you articulate what you knew, or did you study the wrong stuff, or did you have trouble identifying the issues, or were you a disorganized mess, or did you confuse the terminology, or what? Whichever one(s) it was, you're going to fix it next semester. The professor will help you, if you ask. And now you know to ask.

Thursday, January 15, 2004

I received a letter today confirming my acceptance into Santa Clara Law's summer abroad program, so I'M GOING TO HONG KONG!!! I'll be there from June 1-August 1, probably a few weeks before or after for extra vacation-time. The first month will be law classes and the second will be an internship at a HK firm. Yay!

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

the sadism continues..75 pages of reading for today.

how ironic that lawyers across the country argue every day to protect their clients from cruel and unusual punishment.

Monday, January 12, 2004

a few days ago, i answered the doorbell to a high-school aged kid who said, "is your mom or dad home?" "No..." I stammered, and before I could say anything else, she said "K bye" and left.

this is probably worse than the time me and sherry got carded to watch Bad Boys II.

Friday, January 09, 2004

I'm done resting. Sigh.

School is almost upon me once again, and I have a stack of horrible reading to complete.


I went to Tahoe for Christmas, and it snowed and snowed, so for anyone looking to ski this season, now's the time to go. I spent Christmas day riding through a blizzard--it was magnificent.

New Year's was at the Bonaventure. They did an awesome job of decorating the five-story lobby, and the rooftop garden room. Too bad the lines were too long and I did not get to see Oakenfold spin. I don't think Bonaventure security had any idea what they were in for when they agreed to host Giant. Around 2am there were epuddles in the hallways and cracked out people passed out on the lobby couches..it was hilarious.


My foray into Interior Design:

I have spent a good portion of winter break redecorating Tim's pad. For those of you who have seen the place prior to its metamorphosis, the change is amazing. As the unofficial decorator/indentured servant, I invite everyone to come and witness my very first interior decorating exhibit. The place itself has always held such great potential. Most of the furniture and decor were already sitting there, waiting to be placed and cleaned. It's priceless, really, watching a great-looking home emerge from the ashes of years of neglect and dust and random piles of porn (I found three stashes, but more doubtless exist). Here's a virtual tour:

We went for a modern, blue and silver look for the living room (element: water), a warm, lounge/wine bar/cafe atmosphere for the sitting room (element: fire), garden theme for the stairs (element: air) and an autumnal theme for the end of the upstairs hallway (element: earth). The decor moves from modern to old-world to nature, and finally the decadence of nature as expressed by the large poster of autumn trees in luxembourg, at the end of the upstairs hallway (which is also the natural end to the navigable hallways of the house).

Living room:
Where there was once a mass of blankets and an incredibly ugly couch, there now is a beautiful living room with a massive triptych of Ansel Adams photos, drawing attention to the high ceiling. Van Gogh's Irises hangs above the fireplace and Night Stars hangs next to the door leading to the patio. A multicolored tropical plant, kind of trippy looking and reminiscent of the Van Goghs, sits atop a wood and glass table in the corner of the room, where there used to be a pile of dust and junk. The ugly orange couch, until now the bane of my very existence, has mercifully been covered with a beige slipcover. A new blue rug with geometric accents in a grid pattern further adds to the modern feel of the room.

Middle Sitting Room:
In my opnion, the piece de la resistance of the house. Where there was once a guilt-inducing weight set and mishmash of desks and yet another horrid couch, there is now a cigar-lounge inspired sitting room and shiny bar setup. The color theme here is dark mahogany woods, red, black and chrome. A black leather loveseat sits on the wall facing the living room, in front of a dark wood coffee table. The paintings on the wall are a Paris Cafe/Brasserie scene (unknown artist) and two art-nouveau liquor advertisements: Cinzano 1920 by Leonetto Capiello and Martini and Rossi: Vermouth Torino, by an unknown artist. The two liquor ads sit above the loveseat, while the Paris Cafe painting hangs above a dark wooden park bench, flanked on both sides by palm tree and ficus plants. Two miniature palm plants sit atop the coffee table, which sits atop a deep crimson rug. In the corner of the room sits a rolling two-tier bar setup with chrome tray and coasters, ice bucket, bar gadgets, etc.

While pondering the modern/antique juxtaposition of the main living room and this room, it occurred to me that actually the Van Goghs are from an earlier time than the Art Nouveau prints in the middle room. So I guess it's a stylistic, old-money "feel" rather than a chronologically correct juxtaposition.

Stairs:
The wall area along the staircase is graduated in four steps. I have placed (straw-colored) woven palm-leaf mats on each step, with a small potted plant and clear glass tealight holder. The bottom step has a chameleon poster that matches the green color scheme and adds a little variety to the whole garden theme. The other wall hangings are antique turn-of-the-century botanical prints.
When lighted, the tea lights draw the eye upward, ascending the stairs and culminating at the top of the stairway, where a large botanical print in more muted colors blends the green theme of the stairs into the autumn-hued theme of the top level.

End of upstairs hallway:
This is the natural termination of the main hallway connecting all rooms of the house. As such, I chose an autumnal theme. The poster is a sepia-toned photograph of autumn trees in the Luxembourg gardens in Paris. The persepective of the row of trees adds depth and extends the hallway. Underneath the poster is a collection of leaves and potpurri (autumn colors) given to Eva by her cousin Karolina during her summer visit, and four frosted glass votive candles in red, purple, orange and yellow. I thought the autumn theme was a natural extension of the green, garden theme of the stairs below, yet indicates a movement toward termination.

Upcoming projects:
The kitchen. I have yet to think of a fitting theme. Woodland? Sky? Kitsch? Asian?
Adding mirrors to the upper level that reflect the large cathedral windows, creating the illusion of an atrium-like space.