I really am a dork…

So yesterday I really needed a break from studying (you can only stare at contracts for so long before your eyes and brain just can’t take it any more.) Most people, when taking a study break, do things like watch tv, make dinner, go to the gym, etc. I, however, was very excited to take my break, because I was going to read something not for barbri. I was thrilled because I was reading…the latest supreme court opinions. WHAT? I know, in retrospect, how superbly dorky, huh? But there were a number of cases I was waiting to catch opinions on, and a study break seemed, at the time, a really logical time to read them. So I did, and I gotta say the supreme court perplexes me sometimes. I am not gonna go into the cases now, since I really do have work to do, but suffice it to say, I am mildly baffled by the courts rulings on eminent domain, on its split on the ten commandments cases and the P to P case (not really baffled on that one, I suppose, but bummed none the less.) But I think I actually agree with the court on a few cases, despite the weird outcomes they provide (the TRO case is a great example.)

All that being said, no justices retired (and why would they, they have fab jobs and they’ll leave when they are good and ready.) And the court ends the term in a flurry of media once again. Maybe Rehnquist will be feeling better by next term. I hope so. I gotta imagine it is tough enough getting questioned by Rehnquist, but that voice box must make him just all the more intimidating.

Bar Moments

Yeah, I haven’t written in a while. I would feel bad about it, if I wasn’t just completely pre-occupied with, surprise surprise, the bar exam. Lately I’ve been having the first of what I am just going to call “bar moments.” I’m sure there will be many many more in the future. Bar moments are those small bits of time when the following realization kicks in: “OMG I have ___ more days till the bar exam. I know NOTHING about _______(enter subject here)! I am going to fail!!!!!” Now, before I get any angry responses from the studying folks, please understand that most bar moments last for only short periods of time, and then my rational mind kicks in and realizes that not getting some obscure rule of contracts correct is not going to cause me to fail my bar exam.

However, what is starting to worry me is the mild dread I get when I realize that I am having many more bar moments lately, and this has a lot to do with the fact that I have been doing more practice questions. And getting them wrong. Lots of them. On stupid stuff. I know what a fee simple determinable is. I know about the statute of frauds. I know how murder is different from manslaughter (I even know how those differ from the NY standards!!) But give me a multiple choice question and my brain goes screaming for the hills. I guess I just need to study a LOT more, and maybe my brain will stop freaking out.

Stupid brain.

Why losing can sometimes be fun…

My softball team lost again. We tend to lose a lot. Normally this would be the most frustrating thing in the world to me, but I find myself not really caring. Granted, losing kinda sucks (and really, who LIKES losing). But at least my team is fun to play softball with. One of my old high school classmates is on the team, and we got to gossip a bit (which is ALWAYS fun.) And my other teammates are cool folks, and we have FUN playing. It is the exact opposite of the last losing team I play on (my good ol’ high school team.) When I played in high school, we sucked. We sucked a lot. We won ONE game my senior year. We lost by the mercy rule (which in high school is 25 freakin’ runs…) TWICE. And it was horrible. My coach was pitiful, my team didn’t try half the time, and, as the catcher, I spent a lot of time crouching in the dirt. Now, I loved catching, but when the half of the inning I am in the field for lasts almost an hour, and it is 90 degrees out, I no longer love catching. No, I pretty much HATED catching at that point.

But my summer team is fun. Sure, we make really stupid errors sometimes. And yes, our batting could use some work (like it would be nice if I could stop hitting fly balls directly to the centerfielder…) But my pitching is getting better, and at least we are laughing and having fun. Taking it serious and trying hard? Sure. But enjoying the game all the same, and that is what really matters.

After all, if I wanted to be serious, I could just go back to studying…

People you meet in Bar/Bri - #3 Flashcard Girl/Boy

I’ve had the joy of listening to our third member of the Bar/Bri family the other day in class. She was chatting with a NSP (See Neurotic Study Poser supra) on one of our breaks, and the conversation went something like this:

Flashcard Girl (“FG”) – I am getting a little worried about crim.
Neurotic Study Poser (“NSP”) – Well, I studied crim for like 7 hours last night, so I am set. How are you studying?
FG – I read over my notes, but that didn’t help. So I decided to make flashcards.
NSP – That’s a good plan. I have flash cards for every subject we’ve done.
FG – Wow, I’ve only done crim so far. But I’m worried I don’t have enough
NSP – Enough what?
FG – Flashcards
NSP – How many do you have?
FG – Only around 70. I think maybe I should make more, because maybe that will help…

I stop this conversation here to make the following observation. We have no more then 33 pages of crim notes. The class outline for crim was 9 pages, typed. WHERE IN THE WORLD did this girl get 70 flash cards worth of material? Did she copy, word for word, the notes onto flash cards???? How in the world is that productive?

Now, Flashcard Girl is to be avoided. She will make even the most sane person doubt their efforts. Her obsessive creation of cards will make you wonder if you too should make more cards. Do not fall into this trap. One card per page of notes is logical. Copying the entire thing on to 3x5’s is nuts. Flashcard Girl is to be feared. And, in a small way, pitied.

Note: She was talking this morning in class. 97 cards for crim pro. 36 pages of notes. **sigh** oh the conversations people have…