Life is not tried, it's just merely survived if you're standing outside the fire

Whew. It's been a crazy week. And it's only Tuesday. Oh law school, why must you be so cruel??!!?

I'm getting ridiculously excited for spring break. It'll be nice to have a whole week where I don't have to go to school. I'm really excited to see my sister. We are going to rock the hell out of New York. :)

So my visiting teachers came this Sunday. I know, shocker, I have visiting teachers; they're actually quite nice. Anyway, we were talking about the summer, and I told them I was going to Spain. They asked me if I was going with anyone. When I said no, they acted surprised and told me how brave they thought I was. I was flattered. However, having known myself for 25 years, I wouldn't use the word 'brave.' 'Oblivious' is perhaps a better term.

Of my many faults, I like that I do what I want. My decisions have little to do with what other people think I should do, and I like that. Is that weird? For those who know me well, (which is everyone reading this blog, I assume because why else would you read this shit?) you know that I have always valued my freedom and independence. A lot. It is one of the most important ideas to me, that I am me and no one can take that away. That is such a beautiful phrase, don't you think?

I love that I make my decisions based on me, not you. Nothing personal. I am often grateful that, for the most part, I have shrugged off the societal pressure that is sometimes pushed my way. To hell with that shit. I know people who try very hard to fit in; I also know people who spend most of their time trying to be different, from their peers, or their parents, whatever. I'm not trying to fit in or rebel. Which is good because I don't have the energy, time, or patience for all that shit. Seriously. I want to find my joy in my life, not in superficial things or fleeting emotions, things that don't last. Even though I will get my heart broken, I will be disappointed, I'm willing to take that risk. Ultimately, that's what life is, isn't it? It's not about never falling down; it's about learning how to get back up. And I love that. Except when I fall down. Then I love it a little less. But isn't it incredible to know that, even when you are at your lowest, you always have a choice to drag your ass out of the hole, to take another risk. Life is beautiful, dangerous, and I love it. Most of the time.

Welcome to the Caribbean, love.

Happy Valentines day everyone! Well, Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow. I've had an excellent V-day. My dad sent me a package of yummy cookies; my mom sent me a nice Valentine's day card, and my sister Marla and her family sent me a card and some yummy candy. I feel very happy about my Valentine's day, even though it technically hasn't happened yet.Pretty cheery, don't you think? I love my family!

In other news, school marches on. I'm trying hard not to get run over. I have a summary judgment memo due at the end of the month, and it is causing me... some stress. I'm also trying not to fall behind in my other classes, and now my car is sick. That is, perhaps, what is causing me the most stress. I feel so isolated and vulnerable without my car. I'm planning on taking it to the mechanic tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be an easy (not very expensive) fix, and me and Ol' Bessie will be back on the road again! Sigh. I really don't want to take the bus.

Well, I think that's all for today. I have mucho research and reading to get done before tomorrow. I hope you all have an excellent Valentine's Day!

We shall have a magnificent garden party, and you're not invited (just kidding, you can come if you want)

I'm going to Spain. So there.

This summer is going to be incredible, and I wish the snow would just melt already so I could get started! I went to the grocery store today and had to dig my car out. Bleh. I should've taken a picture of that because it's something I hope to never do again, though I will probably have to do it again next week. I briefly considered using an extension cord to get my blow dryer out there to melt the snow, and then I remembered I don't have an extension cord. So I just dug my car out instead. Thanks to my new snow shovel, some rock salt, some clever driving (if I do say so myself) and, I'm certain, a little push from my guardian angel, I managed to make it out of my driveway and to the store. It was quite the adventure. I didn't enjoy it. But, I have food now. And thanks to all of my family freaking me out about ice storms, I bought a bunch of bottled water, so you can all stop worrying about that.

Anyway, my package from FIU (Florida International University, that's the school I'm going through to study abroad) came today. I'm pretty damn excited. I even did a little victory dance. I have my school schedule, complete with field trips, and some general information from the US embassy in Spain. Yeah! and Yeah! I'm so excited. I will be taking a Women and the Law: Comparative and Global Considerations class and a European Legal History class. I have class four days a week, with long weekends to study, of course, and explore Spain. Ms. Trujillo, the lady in charge of the program, told me there are some other students in the program who have opted to stay in the dorms I'm staying in, so that will be a lot of fun. I'm so excited to experience a new culture, meet new people, try new food, try a new language (though, honestly, I don't have a lot of hope in that area). It's going to be incredible.

So that'll be five weeks of my summer, and the rest of my summer will be spent in sunny SG where I have an internship lined up that will also be incredible. I'm pretty excited about that as well. Seriously, this summer is going to be totally jam-packed with nary an inch to breath, but it's going to be awesome, and I can't wait. Alas, it's only the fifth of February. Sigh. At least it's not January anymore.

Look, my first snowball. I love snow so much, my fingers are numb with joy

There is so much snow. I've been taking pictures to share with all of you fine folk, but I'm just not sure they do justice to the ridiculous amount of cold white stuff on the ground. Ah well, here they are anyway. Enjoy.This is a picture of the courtyard at the law school. I was trying to take a picture of the ridiculous amount of snow falling from the sky, but I was largely unsuccessful in that area as the snowflakes didn't show up very well. You can see how much snow is out there, kind of. The school hasn't shoveled the courtyard at all since the snow started at the beginning of January, so there is a lot of snow out there.
This is a picture of some of the icicles on the ACPH's gym building. Some of the sidewalks are actually roped off because of the giant icicles dripping from the roofs. Apparently they don't want any icicle/human contact, and I totally concur with that. Too bad they don't also strive to avoid snow/human contact. Oh well. Can't have everything I guess.These are just some random pictures of the snow. And I have no idea why my blog has suddenly decided to type in blue and underlined, but it's not a link, so don't click on it.This is a picture of the park by my house. Another place that never gets shoveled.I just thought it was funny that they only cleared one side of the stairs.That is a picture of my front door. The stairs leading up to my front door are under there somewhere.I thought I should end this snowy post with a picture of my school. Kinda pretty, don't you think? It'd be prettier if it wasn't so damn cold. Still, I do go to school in a really cool building (and yes, there is another wing, but I couldn't go back any farther due to the giant snowbank behind me.) Hope you're all staying warm. Happy trails!

I wasn't born of this [frozen tundra] like you [upstate New Yorkers] . . . . My constitution is much more... delicate.

It is very cold in upstate New York. Very, exceedingly cold. Last week, we had a freezing rain storm. That was weird. The next day when I was scraping the ice off my windshield it got even more strange. There was an inch of solid ice covering my entire car. It wasn't hard to get off though. All I had to do was get my little ice scraper underneath the ice and I could pry the whole thing off. It came off in sheets, big blocks of ice falling off my car. It was bizarre. And very cold. I have this awful habit of not wearing gloves; I really hate them. The problem is, when I'm scraping the ice and snow off my car, my hands get a little... cold. My car actually ended up being stuck in the ice and snow, so I had to walk to my meeting. When I got there, I noticed that I was bleeding. That was when I realized I had cut myself fifteen minutes earlier whilst scraping my car. Awful habit of not wearing gloves whilst scraping ice off my car = frozen hands and total loss of feeling. Next time, I wore gloves.

This weekend, I went to a hockey game with some friends. It was so much fun, but walking from the car to the stadium... holy shit. I don't think I've ever been so cold in my entire life. Until today. This morning I walked to school in -12 degree weather. I had on every piece of winter clothing I could fit onto my little body. The sun is shining and it looks so beautiful and inviting. Lies! If anyone would like to know what hell frozen over looks like, let me know, and I'll take a picture for you. Sigh. I'm cold.

Wow, I know that tone. It's just weird hearing it come from someone with hair.

Well, first week of the second semester is finished. Phew! Only like 16 to go, or something like that. I'm starting to get anxious about studying abroad this summer. I'm waiting for the Dean to approve my program (which he will because I have the requisite grades. I just wish he would do it faster) so I can send in my application. I'm also getting anxious about my FAFSA because I'm waiting for the hospital to send me my W2 so I know how much I made last year. I hate waiting.

Besides all the anxiety, the first week has been pretty good, a little weird, but pretty good. We had a snow day on Wednesday. Unfortunately for me, I didn't check my email before I left my house. Over the break, the school called me to inform me the facilities were closed due to an ice storm, so I was under the impression they always called if the school was closed. Apparently not. I walked my ass all the way to campus through a foot of snow (and growing) only to find it completely empty save for the janitor. It was kind of weird seeing the school empty like that. It's not even that empty at midnight. But anyway, I turned my ass around and headed home. It was kind of nice to have a snow day, just relax. I enjoyed it. I was extra excited because I only have contracts on Wednesday this semester, so we missed it. Alas, my professor emailed us and said we couldn't afford to miss a class so we will be making it up. Bugger. Anyway, for your viewing pleasure here is a picture of the sidewalks the day after the snow day.

I thought it looked kind of cool, like I was walking between two walls of snow. Anyway....

It was nice to have a long weekend, even though I've only been in school a week... Friday night I went out with some friends to Eldas. I love Eldas. On Thursday nights, they have karaoke. On the weekends, they have a DJ, so you can go dance your little heart out. Which I did. It was a great time. On Saturday night I went to a house party with a friend. Apparently I was supposed to dress nice. I, however, showed up in levis. Oh well. There were a few people there I hadn't seen since before Christmas, so it was fun to get to visit. And then there were two glorious days of procrastination and relaxation. I watched Die Hard. It was beautiful.

Alas, school must start again. I wondered if we'd have a snow day again, but we didn't. They did have an "emergency closure" of the school though. All classes after 4 o'clock were cancelled, so I went to all of my classes (the last one gets over at 3:15. So close!) and walked home in freezing rain, which was kind of a weird experience. It's like 20 degrees outside, but it's raining, but because it's so cold, the rain is frozen. It's like the clouds had a glitch in their system and sent out the wrong material. The ground was all crunchy.

My boots have been holding up nicely, which is good - especially when I walk to school in a blizzard... Or home in freezing rain... This is a weird place.

All I have is the phrase "I have a foolproof plan". Beyond that, I'm wide open.

Well school has begun again. Bleh. My classes are really hard, so hopefully I'll be up to the challenge. I feel like the professors expect more of us this semester, which makes sense I guess. Still, I spend most of class hoping they don't call on me. So far so good, but it's only Tuesday....

Today I had three classes, so I just took all my books with me to campus. The idea was to study in between classes. Do you have any idea how much four law textbooks weigh? I don't either, but it's a lot. I was waiting for the light to change so I could cross the street, and I thought for sure my backpack was going to rip through my shoulder and split my body in two. I feel like I should never do that again. Tomorrow I also have three classes, so I'll have to think up a different way to study without causing my shoulders to implode on the rest of my body. Seriously, I had to lean forward to prevent myself from falling over. Yikes.

Anyway, my Constitutional Law class is pretty interesting. My teacher is totally crazy, but I think he'll be fun. He seems pretty chill. It's a hard class though. I keep hoping it'll get easier.... I have that class every day but Friday, so I've been doing a lot of reading in that book. We've been talking about judicial review and we're supposed to start discussing standing (whether you have a valid reason to be in court) tomorrow. I did do my reading, briefed my cases and everything, but I think I will still hope he doesn't call on me tomorrow.

My property class is... good? I should probably not be so candid on my blog. The cases we've been reading so far are all from the 17 and 1800's. They're kind of interesting, although some of them I don't really get. Why would you sue someone over a fox? Granted, it's obnoxious for someone to kill a fox you've been chasing all day, but sue them? Some people's kids. Anyway, that class is going to be very hard. I really hope he doesn't call on me, or if he ever does, he just asks me for a definition. I'm pretty handy with a dictionary.

Intro to Lawyering this semester is going to be crazy. We have to write a fact analysis, a persuasive memo, an appellate brief, and then do an oral argument in front of judges (real judges, which just makes it more terrifying). We even get to do a mock negotiation session. That will be kind of fun. It's going to be a lot of work though, for sure. We have more freedom this semester to do our own research instead of using the cases Professor Queenan gave us. That means we get to make our own arguments. Hopefully I don't turn out to be dumb. That will be really embarrassing.

I've only gone to my criminal law class once so far. Mostly we talked about legal and sociological theories of punishment. We read this awful case where these guys kill the cabin boy and eat him to survive (they're shipwrecked and out of food). I realized I am a retributivist because I thought they should go to jail even though it was unlikely to serve as any kind of deterrence, or reform, or anything like that. Then I felt bad because if you're going to spend all that money and time to punish someone, it should probably serve a purpose for the punishee and society. Still, they ate the cabin boy! I suppose that's the classic societal-internal struggle regarding punishment. We're supposed to continue our discussion next class. Should be interesting.

Anyway, my classes are hard, but I think I'm going to enjoy them. This semester's going to be pretty crazy. I have one more class than I did last semester, and the teachers all expect us to know what we're doing now.... Anyway, I plan to spend a large majority of my time this semester in the library. I also plan to start outlining much earlier then, you know, the week before finals. So hopefully all that extra studying will help my brain to keep up with my professors brains. Here's hoping!