"In vacant or in pensive mood..." I am: Bekah; 24; Law Student / Favorite Things: Carbs (so there!), Johnny Damon, Smiling at babies, Grilled cheese, Comfortable silence / Favorite Supreme Court Justice: Brennan / Favorite Wilson: Owen by an inch / Today's Special: Song: Elliott Smith, "Bled White"; Quote: "You know, there's like a butt-load of gangs at this school. This one gang kept wanting me to join because I'm pretty good with a bowstaff." Please love me: mmbekah@yahoo.com

 
Luxembourgers and Fries

Ok, I would go into my awful travel story, but don't we all have them? Talking about bad travel experiences always leads to people trying to one-up each other with who had the most absolutely horrendous time. Let's just say my 8.5 hour flight to Amsterdam was doubled, in that I had to spend an extra 8 hours in the airport. I wanted to just get my bag and take the train, but it was impossible. Nothing like airplane baggage issues to make you realize that people and places, at the most basic levels, really are all the same. Anyway, I read almost all of The Count of Monte Christo in the airport lounge, so the day wasn't lost.

I have been in Luxembourg for a day and a night, so here are a few quick thoughts (Luxembourg in 60 seconds) before I head on to Belgium tomorrow:

1. No one understands "Vegetarian," the word or the concept. Everything has to do with sausage...and I mean everything.
2. People still rock out in their cars, only they blast R. Kelly in Smart Cars...those little smooshy 2 seat things. I know they're economical, but that doesn't stop me from laughing at them.
3. "Bars" and "restaurants" look like movie-set versions of bars and restaurants. Very small, very cute, very clean. Try thinking of a bar in America that fits that description.
4. Actually, everything is very clean. Not so much as a cigarette butt on the ground. And I noticed something else. The trash cans are really tiny. So not only is it really clean, but there's not as much of an opportunity to throw stuff away. Does that seem logical? I suppose this country is clean and exceptionally efficient. Fantastic!
5. It's not really all that different from the US of A, except 1) the city is full of gorgeous spired buildings situated on beautiful, picturesque hills and 2) the men wear capri pants. The former makes me wish I lived in Europe, but the latter makes me think twice.

posted by Bekah at 1:37 PM :: |

 
Law Review "Right On!" Competition

One more thing before I go. Because of the small sense of accomplishment I have right now, I feel I should report that I actually took it upon myself to join the flock attempting to make Law Review. After reading 300 pages and writing and Bluebooking 17 (thanks to a relatively generous 20 page maximum), I can finally say that, no matter what happens, at least I tried. I just dropped off 5 copies for Law Review and 5 copies for another journal (name TBA if by the grace of God I get an offer). If you hear nothing more of this, feel free to assume the worst. Life without citation will go on.

In the meantime, please check out a delightful little book entitled The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation by The Prince of Darkness (pen name). What a find! Famed for its organizational clarity and overall readability, The Bluebook will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish! My favorite selections include: Table 6, the Short Citation rules, and the Practitioner's Notes--those are fun and witty! The Bluebook even makes a great fireside companion (resist the urge to toss it into the fiery depths from whence it came).

Ok, now I'm really going. I refuse to be like those infuriating couples on the phone:

You're so cute. I love you.
No, I love you.
Well, I love you more.
No way!
Yes way!
I love you til infinity!
Infinity plus one!
(Giggle) It's a tie!
Fine! Goodbye!
Ok, you hang up first!
No, you hang up first!
No, you!

[Neither one actually gets the chance to hang up, due to severe head injuries inflicted by Bekah. End scene.]

I love you! [click]

posted by Bekah at 2:01 PM :: |

 
Some Parting Words

Tomorrow I am off to Europe for three and a half weeks, so I will not be tending to the Marathon with my usual diligence (or any diligence at all, frankly). In my absence, I wanted to leave you with a little something to mull over. I will check my email periodically, so if you have any questions or comments feel free to send them along and I’ll answer as soon as I can. If I happen upon a relatively good and cheap internet connection, I might try to write a post or two from an exotic locale. I'll also have access to a digital camera, so if I can I'll try to make this site prettier every once in a while.

Like so very many others, I want to provide a few words of wisdom (?) and encouragement for entering law students. If you’re a soon-to-be 1L and you’re already reading law student blogs, you’re probably a lot more prepared (or a little more psychotic?) than I ever was. Seriously…chill out. Regardless of the advice below (or any of the fantastic and much more in-depth advice you may have found on other blogs or in books/movies/messages from God), my biggest tip for you is to NOT THINK ABOUT LAW SCHOOL UNTIL YOU GET THERE. Read novels. Go to the park. Go to Target and browse around the bedding section for several hours. Count the tiles on your bathroom floor. (Do not think about whether or not you’d be liable if someone cut his foot on one of them). Do anything and everything that has nothing to do with the law. Believe me, it will be your last chance for a while.

1. Run away! Run away! Kidding, kind of. But quite seriously, if you aren’t really into the idea of going to law school, you should probably reevaluate your decision to attend. It’s not too late at this point to save yourself the grief. I remember hearing this very warning before I started, and I thought people were just exaggerating. They’re not: you will be miserable if your heart’s not in it. On the flip side, if you know that this is what you really want, then the pain will be much easier to endure. I didn’t really know what I wanted, and my first year wasn’t peachy. But I made it, and you will too should you decide to take the plunge.

2. Friends. Given the fact that all of your classmates will one day be lawyers (except for that one kid who looks like he’s been pumping himself at the gym 24 hours a day), and given the fact that networking is the single-most important tool in finding jobs, it behooves you to be nice to people. Aside from this relatively selfish motive, making friends is essential to surviving your first year. You simply cannot do this alone and maintain your sanity at the same time. You need friends to remind you that sometimes you just have to skip that last case so that you can eat ice cream and watch the Bachelor. I absolutely would not have made it through the year without my girls.

3. Preparing for Class. Personally, fear is my main motivation in this area. I fear being unprepared, I fear getting called on in class, and I fear not knowing the answer. Thus, I almost always do all of the reading, and I almost always brief my cases. I’m a big fan of the color-coded book briefing, although I also like to put a short synopsis of the case in my notes. Some people have no problem saying, “Yeah, sorry, I’m not prepared,” and honestly, I think lots of those people do just fine in the long run. To me, it’s ultimately a matter of respect. I know how hard professors work. If I found out that people didn’t prepare for my dad’s class, I would yell at them and beat them mercilessly about the head. So basically, I do my reading so I won’t get physically and verbally assaulted by the crazed spawn of one of my professors.

4. Outlining. Outlining is exactly like plucking your eyebrows: it’s uncomfortable, it’s easy to fall behind, and the longer you wait the harder the job gets. Think about the period of time right after you get your eyebrows waxed. You start to see a few stray hairs here and there, so you pluck them with relative ease. But imagine that you get really busy (or really lazy), and neglect to pluck for a whole month or more. Any attempts to get your brows presentable again in time for an important occasion will surely be time-consuming, ugly, and extremely painful. And worse, if you give up altogether and show up on your date as a Michael Dukakis look-alike, chances are even better that things won’t go well. Outlining is exactly the same way. If you stay on top of things and outline your classes every week or two, you’ll never have to have an excruciating monster-plucking session at the end of the semester, and you won’t be a loser on your big day like Michael Dukakis was.

5. Exams. There’s no good way to sugarcoat this one, kids. Exams are an awful, awful experience. To a certain extent, however, they are only as bad as you make them. I have several friends who were cool as cucumbers (or perhaps trendy stalks of broccoli) during the entire process, and I seriously envied them. Actually, I may be the wrong person to give advice about exams. I have had somewhat varied results with no real correlation to my level of study or understanding. I also have kind of idiosyncratic issues when I take exams. For example, when I sit down with my exam in front of me, I invariably have a sudden and severe existential crisis during which, in my dementia, I must repeatedly assure myself that I am in fact a human being complete with hands and feet and a brain who is about to take an exam. I venture to say most of you probably don’t have these kinds of issues to deal with, and can simply walk into the room and kick ass on your exam. Unfortunately, I sometimes have problems performing everyday tasks as a normal human being. I also have a more common problem of psyching myself out; telling myself I’m not good at whatever class, and that I can’t do well. Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy. One thing I do know is this: flashcards work for me, as does simple, methodical memorization. Basically, sit down and empty the rules into your brain. That is the single most important thing to do. Oh, and always write everything you know, regardless of whether you think the professor asked about it. I made the mistake of not doing this, and I was penalized for leaving seemingly irrelevant things out of my analysis. Even if your prof says he doesn't like "brain dumps," the translation is: "I love brain dumps. Dump away, or you'll pay...listen to what I say..."

Ok, I'm out like a fat kid in dodgeball, as my friend Abby says. Peace.

posted by Bekah at 12:39 PM :: |