i are going through a "grah"

A grah is an especially black period of bad luck. If you believe in that sort of thing.

I lost my wallet. I had my NY ID and green card in it and that is the most tiresome and frustrating part of it. Replacing my green card could take up to a month, or more, and I cannot get New York ID without it.

I'm bummed about the rest of the stuff but mostly because I cannot do anything about the lost credit and insurance cards. John is primary holder in everything and he has to make all those phone calls. I'm staying out of his way for the next few days.

I called the one card in my name and got that sorted. They even checked to see if any purchases were made yesterday, when I didn't use the card at all. Thankfully, nothing.

I think I lost it getting out of a livery cab in the rain yesterday morning. But I remember taking out the money to pay the cab and putting the wallet back into my pocket. I took money out before we got to our stop and I didn't get any change, so had no reason to take the wallet back out. It was raining really hard and I was so mad that I had to get out of bed to take Derek to Saturday Club in that mess and then find out when I got there that there was no Saturday Club because of the long Easter weekend and then take him back home. But I could swear I put the wallet back into my pocket before I left the cab.

I looked all over the house this morning. It's a pretty big wallet, so it can't fall behind a crack or something. It's also brand-new and just the day before I was telling John how much I loved it because it was so big.

These things happen to people every day and there is no reason for me to shut down over it. The green card thing is troubling, but I will be sending in the request tomorrow morning and praying after that. My new card will be arriving on Thursday and I can stay home to wait for it. In the meantime, finals are looming and I need to focus and study and stay out of John's way!

Oh, and I lost one of the rubber thingies on my ear buds this morning. Thank goodness I will be getting a new iPod and headphones next Saturday. But it's hell on my ear till then.

no job, no glory

So I've been a bit worried that I have no summer job while most people in my class have found some kind of internship or externship. I'd really like a part-time anything at this stage. Anything legal, that is.

I am taking 2 classes over the summer. Corporations is on Tues and Thurs nights and Drafting for Contracts is during the day on Wednesdays. Not the greatest schedule in the world, but I think I can get away with just taking Wednesdays off, depending on the job.

I discovered an excellent opportunity for a dream internship, but its out on Long Island. Even with the angel on my shoulder trying to at least get me an interview, I wouldn't blame the guy for not even wanting to give that to me. The commute can be up to 2 hours, if I choose to get as close to his practice as I can, and it would mean half days two days a week and one whole day off. Who wants that, no matter how great she thinks she is? There's more to think about than the angel.

I've been applying everywhere. I've gone outside my field of interest now and even applying for research jobs. Nothing is uninteresting or isn't something I can learn from, but no one is even getting back to me.

I attended a session by the Career Services office that offered suggestions about tweaking a resume and following up on jobs already applied for. They seem to think that I still have time since I can apply for jobs after exams and still get 8 weeks on a gig if I start July 1. Sound advice, no doubt, but there are things in there that don't make that realistic for me. And what about a holiday with my family? I should be getting 2 weeks off between summer exams and the start of school that I can use to go see my sisters-in-law in Portland. Or our friend Drew in Colorado. Or go to New Paltz. Or have Chris come to visit. Or sleep late.

But, I tweaked my resume and if I'm lucky, I might get to make myself a bit more marketable. But I'm stopping in the middle of next week because I have to study. I needwanthavetoget better grades and the job hunt is just slowing me down.

Monday

So I met with a couple of practicing lawyers and sitting judge yesterday and none of them even ever heard of choice retribution. Just wanted to throw that out into the void.

1L is winding down. Bang pointed out on his calendar "This is how long we have as 1Ls" and I guess it's not really sinking in right now. I'm really excited about 2L, but I still have finals to get through.

My depression is not good. I haven't felt this bad since my days at the Guardian, when all I wanted to do was sleep. Right now, that is exactly what I want to do, and want to do it all the time. I black out when I go to bed and wake up unrested and sleepy. I feel like I haven't slept well in days.

I feel unprepared for finals this time around. There is so much going on and my attention is split in so many directions and I'm just unfocused and unmotivated. So many people are getting away with so much shit in here, it isn't funny. It's actually kinda scary. I'm running out of coping skills and it might be time to tweak the meds.

Of course, posting this vulnerability on a public blog might be fodder for my classmates, all two of them who read it!

A good thing was mini moot court this morning. A few people from my writing class got together and we practiced our advocacy skills. One person spoke while the others acted as judges, firing questions. It went really well. The only problem was that we've been dealing with this all semester and we're out of questions to ask. There's only so much a 1L can anticipate and we are trying to find exit strategies for all kinds of questions. The practice is good, nevertheless, and if Major Moot Court didn't have that pesky writing requirement, I'd so go out for it!

first step to 2L-ness

To say this week has been stinking from the word go is a grand understatement. I have been feeling distant and lonely and very depressed. Home is not the salve it should be and school is pressure because finals are coming up.

A not-sucky thing was a Labor and Employment Law Society event I went to last night. I had fun, learned a lot and made a couple of contacts. I also discovered this morning that I am the Vice President of the Society, having contested the post unopposed. That was nice to wake up to.

One other tiny sliver of a silver lining and that was 2L registration last night. I managed to register with relative ease and only had 2 issues. I got closed out of Professional Responsibility and my Spring part of Explaining Law to the Public was showing up as an error. Both got sorted before I went to bed shortly after 1 a.m. Assistant Registrar Raymond Grant is a rock star, a god, a saint and an angel who walks on earth.

So here's the line-up:

FALL
Explaining Law to the Public I
Professional Responsibility
Evidence
Employment Discrimination
Memo and Brief Writing
Justice Action Center Colloquim course

SPRING
Explaining Law to the Public II
Sexuality and the Law
Employment Law
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Law & Literature
Intro to Constitutional Law

Now I'm exhausted. I have an interview with Prof Contracts from last semester for a TA position and I do not feel like I could put together a coherent sentence. I also have the Leg Reg reading for tomorrow morning and there is an event I'd like to attend this evening. But I am so tired and bleary-eyed. And midnight registration has very little to do with it.

tonite's the nite

The day every 1L looks forward to: registering for 2L! Actually, the last day of exams is probably more on track with reality, but go with me here.

We register at 12:01 am for the 2L year. Yep. You read right. Tonight. I'm sure there's some great reason that has to do with a server, but, motherfucker, I rather be sleeping.

Here's a good one. I almost would be. I thought registration was tomorrow night and made plans to suit. I happen to overhear someone talking about tonight and wondered if they got some kind of special permission to register 24 hours ahead. Who do I have to blow to get that?

Turns out, I wuz so wrong, I couldn't be wronger if I was a baseball! I can't imagine what I would have done if I came to school in the morning and realized I had not registered and everything I wanted was closed off!

I think I'm fairly safe in the classes I've chosen for my concentration. What worries me are the mandatory classes I have to take: Evidence, Professional Responsibility and Constitutional Law. Everyone wants this professor or that, and I am no different. I've done some asking around about profs I don't know for the first 2 courses and think I made some good choices.

The other classes should be easy enough to swing, I hope. It's getting a bit nerve-wracking as the day draws to a close. I'm glad I will be at Labor and Employment Law Society shindig tonight (even though I'm very sleepy) because it will help pass the time. I'll get home after 10 and will annoy the husband until it's time to register.

I fully expect to be wired afterwards and asked John to take the kid to school in the morning. I don't have to be in school till 2, so I can sleep nice and late. Hopefully, it will be a happy sleep.

Larissa

When you heard her talk, you looked around for Patty or Selma. Or that woman Cheri Oteri played on SNL. You knew that voice meant you ball was never coming back from over her fence. Or you WALKED past her driveway. Never ran. And you left her dog alone.

But when you turned around, what you see is Gorgeous. Heavy brown hair, with reddish tones, bedroom eyes and slim thighs. Her beauty was like a Lara poem and it was no mistake her mother named her Larissa. Next to her, nearly always, was Martha. Not even her clunky gray wrap could hide her stunning body. She chose to uglify herself, tying her dirty blonde hair into a tight ponytail, which only emphasized her well-scrubbed, All-American, girl-next-door face.

But that voice. That Old Bostonian with a hint of Adirondacks cultivated only by years of smoking 2 packs a day since she was 14. Larissa got invited to her first boy-girl party and cadged a pack of her mom's smokes to make an impression. She kissed her first boy and he told everyone he fingered her during two minutes in the closet and she got a "rep". A week later, she kicked him in the 'nads and the jokes stopped. To her face, at least.

She met Martha in college and they were never apart. But they'd been not apart for nearly nine years and life had grown into a comfortable routine. However, their bodies synced for the last nine years meant that they got their periods at the same time. One night a month, they came alive. Tampax-buying night also meant cheap boxes of Chardonnay from the Piggley-Wiggley and mozzarella breadsticks from Pizza Hut.

undecided about blog post title

So I found out that there are slots open in a project-based learning course and I applied for it. It's a 2-semester course and I had to pore over my schedule yet again. I signed up for a second class over the summer. I'm now taking Drafting for Contracts and Corporations and all the classes are from 6-9-something at night!

I'm also job-hunting like crazy. My Judicial Externship does not seem to be panning out and I am now panicking about summer employment. I'm applying all over the place but most places would have already filled their summer vacancies and I'd be lucky to get an interview at this stage. Personally, I won't die without a job. Professionally, it feels like suicide.

I am excited about the project course, which does mean that I will have one less exam per semester! However, I had a look at my Spring exam schedule and I have 3 exams in 3 days! Ack!