··· Jan.12.08 @ 12:11 am

     Labeled as: Personal Entry.

I’ve been busy tying up various loose ends in expectation of class starting anew on Monday.

The Bad News:

I will have to try to function like a normal person. Basically, my classes fall in one giant lump every day of the week: 8:30 am - 12:30 pm. I’m not sure if can I make this work; I’m not even sure if I can fall asleep early enough to make arriving at class on time a reasonable possibility. This could be the end, folks.

I have to buy new books… this expense didn’t quite find its way into my rough mental budget for the coming months. Oops.

I still don’t have my last semester grades yet.

The Good News:

I’m taking Introduction to Intellectual Property, a course taught by one of the top scholars in the field. It will be awesome… assuming I can wake up for it.

I managed to scrounge up all my textbooks for less than 60% of retail. Thank you internet.

I still have the weekend to sleep properly.

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··· Jan.8.08 @ 3:33 pm

     Labeled as: Personal Entry.

I’ve been under some pressure to resuscitate my flatlining blog.

Although maintaining a blog is difficult in the absence of spare time and mental energy, I’ll see what I can do! It’s sweet that people care enough to pester me so.

Here’s what you missed these last few months:

1.) I did a lot of homework.
2.) I played many games of Srabulous.
3.) I partied with law students.
4.) I studied a lot for exams.
5.) I took long, tortuous and difficult exams (grades still forthcoming).
6.) I spent Christmas with the family.

Now I’m back in Berkeley.

I was scheduled to teach an LSAT class for PowerScore this month, but it didn’t pan out due to low enrollment. Thus, I’ve a over a week with nothing but free time…. scary.

Stay tuned.

Actually, if you don’t hear from me again soon, go ahead and call time of death (for my blog, that is).

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··· Sep.16.07 @ 2:10 pm

     Labeled as: Personal Entry.

I never though I would be so lucky: I’m going to see Gunther live!

In the event you plan to be in the San Fransisco area and are one of my few friends who understand why this is a big deal, make sure to grab some tickets soon.

More Details:

San Fransisco
The Factory, 525 Harrison St.
September 22, 2007
21+ with ID

It’s going to be amazing.

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··· Sep.15.07 @ 3:47 pm

     Labeled as: Personal Entry.

Well, I guess I’m a bona fide law student now.

Life is pretty good, notwithstanding.

Berkeley is a fun place to live- full of energy, diversity, food opportunities, and bike paths. It doesn’t feel like a real town, but more like a liberal and ethnically diverse activist Disneyland with transients and a substantial socioeconomic gap. Overall, though, it’s a nice backdrop for law school (at least in my opinion).

While I haven’t had an overabundance of free time to explore the bay area, I have managed to find some amazing grocery stores: local markets, asian grocers, crazy organic places, etc. I’m in the process of expanding my wok-cooking repertoire, and already make some great pad thai.

As far as academics go, I can’t help but feel that the soul-crushing, life-ruining, ego-destroying reputation of law school is slightly exaggerated. Everyone works plenty hard, don’t get me wrong. I guess I’d imagined a life in which every waking moment of thought would be dedicated to the law. Instead, I find myself with at least an hour and a half of free time a day with some time on the weekends on top of eight hours of a sleep a night. The work is still picking up however, and I’m finding myself slowly more and more involved… so stay tuned.

Oh yeah- I recently joined up as an associate editor on the Berkeley Law and Technology Journal. I’ll actually be helping to review, select and edit the myriad submissions that come in every week from top scholars all over the world. Pretty cool, huh?

Ok, back to the books for awhile… I’ll try to pick things up here on the blog!

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··· Sep.10.07 @ 10:02 pm

     Labeled as: Personal Entry.

I am not letting my blog die. I am not overwhelmed to the point of tears. I have not released my soul to the law…

Rather, I have been busy settling into a new life rhythm and working with words a lot; it’s hard to read and write in my free time when all I do is read and write all day.

Even so, keeping you all at a reasonable threshold of informedness is important to me and I do have things to share.

I promise a substantive update in the next few days.¹

1. The breach of this promise would not entitle you to a legal remedy (i.e., this promise is not a contract) for want of consideration. See Restatment (Second) of Contracts § 71 (1979). That shouldn’t matter, though… you trust me, right? [<]

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··· Aug.22.07 @ 12:24 am

     Labeled as: Personal Entry.

Well, now it’s official! I’ve begun my first semester of law school: Contracts, Civil Procedure, Property, and Legal Writing/Research.

Having completed my second day, I’ll offer some initial observations:

1.) I don’t have any shocking initiation stories to tell. No one has been crucified by the Socratic Method (very sparingly used so far) or intimidated to tears. I’m almost disappointed in this respect.

2.) My professors all seem awesome- very intelligent, and decked out with amazing credentials. Though I know they’re all working on many of their own projects, I’m pleased to see they generally seem to care about their students and teaching. All four are women.

3.) It will take me some time to adapt to the nutty academic schedule 1Ls are forced adopt. I can already sense that law school will require a lot of intellectual stamina… though the material is actually interesting, and sometimes even engaging, there is a lot of it. Here is how my “average day” is taking shape:

8 a.m. : Get up, shower, grab a bowl of cereal, and bike to school.
9 a.m. - 11 a.m. : Spread out in law library, finish assigned reading for day.
11 a.m. - 5 p.m. : Classes, with a break for lunch (sometimes a free few hours).
5 p.m. - 6 p.m. : Consolidate/organize notes from day’s classes.
6 p.m. - 8 p.m. : Bike home, grab dinner, chill out a ‘bit.
8 p.m. - 11 p.m. : Back at law library, start assigned reading for next day.

I think this is maintainable: I’m getting an adequate amount of sleep, periodic breaks, and biking an average of 12 miles a day for minimal fitness. Nonetheless, compared to what I’m used to, these are very full days… seriously engaging the brain for 9-10 hours is tough!

Hopefully the weekends will allow for a little more free time…

For now, bed.

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··· Aug.18.07 @ 10:39 pm

     Labeled as: Personal Entry.

I have a strong aversion to spending money.

This trait is undoubtedly inherited (both genetically and socially) from my mother.

When I do spend money, I pride myself on scrounging up treasures on craigslist, marveling at my own ingenious frugality… patting myself on the back for sidestepping mainstream consumption. I also spread out my purchases, minimizing the pain of releasing funds.

Accordingly, the last few days have been hard on my psyche. I’m bleeding money. It’s awful.

I’ve been spending so much that I’m writing this post with the intention of itemizing and calculating the damage.

Here’s a rough ledger for the past 72 hours:

More →

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