Monday, May 29, 2006

FRIDAY'S FEAST: MAY 26, 2006

I know, I am way late - AND I have not posted in a week. Bad TSC Girl! I have a couple random posts in mind, and of course I should do an update. Suffice to say this was one of the oddest weekends I have ever had for many reasons. [Even odder than getting hit on by a drunk, goth lesbian!] Anyway ... on to the feast!

Appetizer
How old were you when you got your first credit card?
18 sadly.

Soup
When was the last time you felt out of place?
Playing poker with three married couples.

Salad
Did you have a curfew when you were a teenager? If so, what time did you have to be home?
No, I just had to be home at a reasonable hour. I was pretty square back then, my parents knew I wasn't doing much that I shouldn't be. The few times I did things I knew were "bad" were usually in broad daylight when a curfew would not have mattered anyway.

Main Course
Name a person from history with whom you feel you have something in common.
I think it wouild be egotistical to align myself with some great person from history, but I can tell you that I greatly admire Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Gloria Steinam and Julia Child. :)

Dessert
When you read a newspaper, which section do you go for first?
It depends on my mood, usually the comics. Incidentially, this same question is on the Princeton undergrad application, or at least it was when I applied.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

FRIDAY'S FEAST - MAY 19, 2006

Appetizer
What is the last thing you had to have repaired?
Belts on my car, working A/C just in time for summer!

Soup
If someone gave you $2,000 with the stipulation that you had to spend half of it on yourself and give the rest to charity, where would you spend the $1,000 and which charity would receive your remaining $1,000?
I would give the charity money to CASA [Court Appointed Special Advocates] and spend my half to pay of some bills.

Salad
What is one of your favorite songs from the 1980s?
There are way too many to name, but a few favorites are of course Madonna's Papa Don't Preach and Culture Club's Karma Chameleon.

Main Course
You enter a pet store. Which section do you go to first?
Birds, b/c I love talking to them, and I try to stay away from the kittens lest I get emotional about not being able to take one home.

Dessert
On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how athletic are you?
If 10 is like Olympic athlete then I am about a 2.5.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

THE "M" WORD

No, I am not talking about marriage. [Hint: Some people think you might get hairy palms or go blind.] I am talking about another word that I cannot type - cannot even say. I am so easily embarrassed that I will blush quite profusely if someone else says this word in my presence. No, I'm not against the practice, but for some reason I am extremely shy when it comes to that topic. [I don't see why people have to go around discussing such things, although I am not such a prude when discussing other topics in the s-e-x genre, but I digress.] I was once at a party where the host [and his parents] began chanting this word along with other guests simply to make me say it. I did not. I believe I turned a shade of red that bordered on purple though.

So, why am I discussing a word that I won't even say? Because apparently there is an entire month dedicated to the *ahem* pasttime. See related info here & here. [Be warned: that second link is NSFW.] Like I said, I'm not against the activity, I just can't SAY it.

So yea, it's May - go and umm, enjoy?!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

RANDOM MEMES

I stole these from E. Spat and Bad Groove, respectively, just cause I am ignoring the 20 gazillion things I should be doing tonight.

I AM: tired and stressed, but doing OK for the moment.
I WANT: a real job.
I WISH: my tax refund check would show up.
I HATE: not having my own apt.
I MISS: the long earnest talks.
I FEAR: that I'll never find a job and default on my loans and end up a gigantic loser w/ an overpriced education.
I HEAR: the whirl of the fan.
I WONDER: what my life will be like a year from now.
I REGRET: ever having a credit card.
I AM NOT: all that I could be - yet.
I DANCE: only in my memories.
I SING: in my car where no one can hear me.
I CRY: way too often b/c I am too emotional.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: this much of a downer. Sometimes I am really funny.
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: the hugs I use to soothe others.
I WRITE: less often than I used to.
I CONFUSE: even myself.


I say ... and you think ... ?

Immune :: system
Together :: forever
Blank :: page
Professional :: responsibility
Thousand :: years
Penetration :: trial
Shutter :: speed
Upside down :: roller coaster
Neck :: lace
Unlisted :: do not call registry

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

YOUR VERY OWN CLASSY RIDE

Remember when I told you about that monster truck I saw on the highway with metallic testicles hanging from the rear hitch? Well, now you can get some for your very own vehicle!

Just don't go parking that thing in front of my house.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

FRIDAY'S FEAST - MAY 12, 2006

Appetizer
What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Choc. chip mint, followed closely by Chunkey Monkey

Soup
What are 3 things you would like to put in a time capsule?
A newspaper, a CD of the the Top 40 and a photo album.

Salad
Name something you are 100% sure of.
I am not 100% sure of anything.

Main Course
What is something you do to calm yourself when you're stressed or upset?
Relaxing music, if I have the time and place to listen. If I am completely on the verge of a freak out I count, in my head, very slowly.

Dessert
If you could receive an invitation to any important event, what would you like it to be?
The next Inaugural ball.

EVOLUTION OF DANCE

Check out THIS CLIP. It's the best 6 minutes you'll spend on the internet today. I promise you'll smile. :)

Yes, I know I am SO late w/ Friday's Feast. It's been a crazy weekend. The highlights are, I discovered mead [yummm] and I got molested blatantly hit on by this crazy drunk woman. Tomorrow it's back to the 9-5.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

DON’T SLEEP WITH YOUR CLIENTS
ETHICS, ETHICS, MORE ETHICS


Remember when I said I hoped there were more interesting things on the horizon. Yea, that didn’t happen, at least not recently. Trust me. Monday night I found myself in a mind numbing lecture on Professional Ethics. The lecturers promised not to bore us to death with a long monotone lecture on the topic. They didn’t lie – technically. We were instead subjected to a boring, monotone long lectures via DVD. This is not to say the information is not useful, however after an entire semester of Ethics in law school AND studying for, taking and passing the MPRE, if we don’t get it by now we never will.
Edit: Tuesday night did provide some useful information by a new panel of lecturers, but the second half went back to those ridiculous DVDs. Dag nabit!
Attorney ethics is not difficult. Yes, there are a few nit picky rules you need to be aware of as far as advertising and firm names, but a cursory look in the rules book will help in that regard. If you plan on opening your own firm then there might be a few more rules you should take note of, especially about trust accounts and the like. However, very few attorneys start out by opening their own offices, even less do so as anything other than a solo. If you find a newly licensed attorney with lots of partners and a full staff I would be interested in meeting this person.

There are three basic rules you need to remember. Number one, don’t sleep with clients. If you sleep with them and then they become clients that’s OK. If you prey on emotionally or financially weakened clients in the course of your representation of them well then you’re just a dog. Face it folks, if that’s the only way you can get laid then you’re just pathetic and don’t deserve to practice law anyway.

Number two in the super, duper abbreviated lists of ethics rules is - don’t represent two opposing parties. This is just common sense. If the practice of law is adversarial, then you don’t get to represent opposing adversaries. See how that works? If you represent both sides then where is the fight?? If you want to represent both sides of a transaction without those pesky ethics rules then you want to be a real estate agent, not an attorney. [I still don’t understand how they get away with that!]

And the biggie, the Mac Daddy of ethics rules, is … [drum roll please] no co-mingling of funds. In simple terms this means don’t use money that is not yours and don't mix up your money with other people's. This is a pretty good rule to follow all the time, whether you are a lawyer or not. The main difference is that lawyers have access to a fair amount of money that doesn’t belong to them. It’s called a trust account because other people are trusting you not to abscond with their cash! See, it’s all quite logical and easy to remember. It’s not something we need a special class on for the third time since your 1L year. If the concept is too complicated for you, then just think of it this way; if, at any time, while withdrawing funds from a firm account you think, “No one will miss it,” OR “I’ll put this back as soon as I can,” that’s generally a clue that you might just want to forget your little plan, pack up your henchmen, stop twirling the ends of your mustache and go home and watch some television.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

FIRST YOU GO CRAZY, THEN THE WEEKEND COMES,
THEN YOU DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN


I knew last week was going to be hell even before it began. I had too much to do, and of course left most of it until the last minute. They decided, [they being the ICLE gods] for whatever reason, to make both of our first two CLE assignments due on the same day. I, of course, didn’t do either of them early and left both of them until last week. I did get the brilliant idea to start them while sitting in class on Monday night. Imagine my dismay when I walked into class on Monday night and found that all the tables had been removed. As if the classes are not slow torture as it is, they took away all the tables. This meant no leaning, no place to put a drink, no laptop and definitely no typing my assignment. I had to fight to stay awake, even with my back aching and my closest neighbor mere inches from my face. I wrote an interesting note on the back of my evaluation that night. [Those people are going to hate me, I actually write what I think on things every week, and my name is on it!] It made no sense to expect us to take notes and absorb anything in those conditions. I have wondered many times how people who took the live BarBri lecture in Manhattan managed to learn anything without tables or desks. Again, the lecturers were knowledgeable, and even prepared with Powerpoint slides; but without a laptop or even a flat surface, notes were out of the question.

In the middle of this, while we were all silently hoping and praying to be let out early, someone comes in and interrupts the lecture to tell us that an anonymous phone call has been received. I immediately thought of a bomb scare, only to listen further and find out that someone made an anonymous phone call and reported the facility to the fire marshal! In walked a portly man in an ill fitting uniform intent on looking important. He surveyed the situation and walked the aisles, making people who he felt were blocking the path of egress move to new locations. It would all have been very comical had I not been so uncomfortable and dying to go home.

Luckily, when I walked in on Tuesday night the tables were back and we were split between two rooms, with one room having a live lecturer and another having a closed circuit TV. I never appreciated a table so much in my life! I gleefully spent the next three hours typing out my family law homework while listening to the lecture on estate planning.

I typed my heart out. The assignments are insane. I worked on family law for three hours in class and then at least another three at home to finish it. [Yes, I was listening to the lecture as well.] A lot of it was just typing and typing and typing and [well you get the idea]. Which is completely unrealistic. Some attorneys have secretaries do all their typing, but a divorce complaint is pretty boiler plate. Sure you have to change the facts and the causes of actions to suit your client, but no practicing attorney is retyping all the “stuff” from scratch when they do them. Also, since I am not currently working in the legal field I don’t have a lot of people I can ask for advice or help. I also don’t have access to the groovy computerized forms used to calculate child support and the like. All in all, it was not a barrel of monkeys.

Wednesday was my interview. I don’t think it went well. I hope I am wrong. The guy who interviewed me was nice and seemed very down to Earth. He didn’t seem to have a lot of questions for me, in fact I gathered that he had not even read my resume before I sat down in front of him. He asked if I had a writing sample. D’oh! I mentioned in my cover letter that I would be happy to provide one if asked. I also asked the secretary who I made the appointment with if I should bring one. Apparently no means yes. I felt like an idiot. Then he asked me about cases I had worked on in the past – a year and a half ago. I was a little fuzzy on the specifics. Then he told me the salary and it was a lot less than I had expected. Perhaps he wanted to start low and negotiate. Perhaps I’m just not worth what I thought I was. All I know is that I could not move out on that salary and start my “real” life. I also know that the office seemed a congenial environment and practicing law at a decent, if not “move out of the parentals house”, salary is certainly preferable to temping. I did email two writing samples. I hope I get the chance to consider this situation more closely and don’t get rejected outright.

Thursday night I stayed up until 2:30am to finish my assignments. I am out of practice on the “all nighter” circuit. [I used to stay up all night doing work in law school, even before law school I could go out dancing until 2am, and then get up for work at 5:30am. Eeeps! Am I getting old?!] Which brings us to Friday. Friday was a blur due to my general lack of sleep. I managed to get my work done, but it was a challenge. Indeed, I intended to take a nap before the one and only show I try to watch every week, Conviction. However, my “nap” turned into an all night sleep and I slumbered pretty much from 8:30 until the next morning.

Before my sleeping beauty routine I managed to go grab dinner. I discovered this place called Surf Taco: Coastal Cuisine. Apparently I am the last to know about this little Mexican gem that is both delicious and cheap. It’s a bit of a ride to any of the beach locations, but well worth it. I had their signature dish called (go figure), a Surf Taco. It’s very simply a piece of fried cod, shredded cabbage, tomatoes and a cilantro cream sauce in a soft flour shell. Add a tasty salsa bar and some chips and you have a scrumptious [did I mention cheap?!] feast. I plan to go back before the place is overtaken by bennies shoobies tourists.

The weekend was spent cleaning and cooking. Saturday night was some family poker and Sunday I put on my chef’s hat and made some specialties by one of the Goddesses of the Food Network, Ina Garten. I made orzo with roasted vegetables. It has, as you might guess, orzo and roasted veggies, but it also has the odd [yet delicious] combo of lemon juice, olive oil, scallions, pine nuts and crumbled feta cheese. I also added some additional veggies, garlic and roasted chicken. Dessert was homemade key lime pie. I bought the ingredients for mojitos, but those got nixed as we were stuffed from dinner.

Well this has become a pretty long post, and perhaps very uninteresting for some of you, so I’ll end it here. This week promises to be almost as busy, but let’s hope there are more interesting things on the horizon.

Monday, May 08, 2006

REAL ESTATE ANGST

I wrote this post a couple weeks ago - don't ask me why I never posted it. You got me.
Anyway . . .

Well the NJ CLE requirements continue. Family Law two weeks ago was informative, if incomplete and the presenters at my particular location were personable and attempted to make the presentation interesting. Real Estate – not so much. The presenter is very knowledgeable, however I don’t think all the nuances of buying and selling property, even from a purely practical standpoint, can be covered in a few hours. Jumping around here and there does not teach me anything. Real estate law, like so many other areas, can only be learned by doing. If a real estate closing could be accomplished by reading a book and listening to a few well placed nuggets of advice then no one would hire an attorney to oversee it. As I sat, sinking further into the quagmire of recording statutes and pursuit of good and marketable title, I realized that these exact issues have been on my mind a lot recently and this course was doing nothing to alleviate my trepidation that buying a house is WAY too complicated.

My brother and his wife are buying their first house, and I was both surprised and flattered that he asked me to do the closing for him. Initially I said I would and went to my Real Estate books for CLE to get the particulars. I also made a couple calls to attorney friends who had done closings. Everyone was very gracious in offering help, however I quickly realized that I was in over my head and had to tell my brother that, in the interest of family harmony and avoiding gross malpractice, I would have to pass since I am still too much of a novice. This made me feel like a complete ass. I called a friend of mine in tears. [Yea, my reaction of embarrassment and frustration manifested in tears – big surprise. We’ve discussed this. Don’t look at me like that!] How could I have gone through the obstacle course of law school and the gauntlet of the bar exam and still not have a clue how to practice law?! There were a ton of forms I would have had to generate and a million I’s to dot and T’s to cross and there was no way I was going to risk ruining this opportunity for my brother and his wife. Too further complicate the situation they want to close in less than 45 days, which I am told by several attorneys, is an insanely short amount of time. There would have been no time for my learning curve. Also, there are a million phone calls to be made in the process, to mortgage lenders, title insurance companies, inter alia. I am currently tempting and am not in a position to make all these calls and facilitate negotiations while I am at work.

Now here is an interesting issue. Apparently there is something called a “Patriot Search” you have to do on your client that runs their name through some super secret government database. If your client is found to be a potential or suspected terrorist then the attorney has to immediately terminate the closing, and [get this!] is forbidden from telling anyone why everything has come to a grinding halt! Now that will endear you to the seller’s attorney, the title insurance company and the real estate agent. In theory this is a good idea. You don’t want some terrorist cell buying the house across the street for some sinister purpose, however consider the possibility of finding your name on one of these secret government lists by accident?! The magic phrase on Mr. McCarthy’s neighborhood today is “conspiracy theory”. Can you say “blacklist” kids? I knew you could!

And since when did attorneys becomes watchdogs for terrorism. Yes, I think we should all do our small part in the vein of patriotism. Suspicious man in the airport asking me to carry his bags for him, yea I’m gonna make a stink about that. A woman packing heat in the subway? Yup, I’m going to find the time to mention that to someone. However being the final drawbridge between a terrorist and his much coveted hideout? Umm, no thanks. How exactly would that go? “I’m sorry we won’t be having a closing on this property for you – ever. Oh you want to know why? Oh, I’m sorry, I can’t give you that information.” Yea, I’m sure it would go so smoothly. And what is to stop these guys from just going and hiring another attorney? Then they do the patriot search, then they suddenly stop everything in its tracks? I’m thinking the jig would be up. And what if I am that second or third attorney these guys have gone to? Lucky me to tell them that, yet again, everything is not going to happen and nope, nope no reason, just not doing it.

Exactly how many attorneys do you think a real, hardened terrorist who has nothing to lose because all he wants is to die a martyr and get it on with 72 virgins is going to go through before he gets all jihad on my esquired ass and I lose more than my license, I lose my head?! Yea, I am exaggerating. Logically it wouldn’t make any sense to go out and get a mortgage and buy real property if you just plan to blow yourself up a week from now. But consider this – do you really think terrorists are logical?

Sunday, May 07, 2006

A LATE, LATE SUPPER - FRIDAY'S FEAST: MAY 5, 2006

Yes, yes, I'm a little late [ok a lot late]. The weekend was OK, but last week was so crazy I needed the weekend to recover! Without further ado ...

Appetizer
From which country(s) are some (or all) of your ancestors?
Quite a few actually. More than I could name here. From what I gather there were more than a fair share from Holland, England, France & Italy. Also, family lore has it that I am part Cherokee [aside from 2 other tribes]. I once had a Cherokee shaman point out that he knew I was distant kin to him just by looking in my eyes. I was in a KMart when this happend. Weird.

Soup
How would you describe your sneeze?
Never just once and usually very explosive.

Salad
What is the last thing you cleaned?
The kitchen - I made dinner tonight. :)

Main Course
Who made the strongest first impression on you?
This guy I used to know. The first time I looked him in the face I stopped breathing.

Dessert
Name one thing you want to accomplish in your lifetime.
Just one?! I want to write a book.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

POOR DEAD MOUSE

I spilled a wee bit of soda on my mouse the other night while I was trying to finish up my CLE assignment (at *ahem* 2am) and now it is sick, almost dead. The buttons, while "tight" still work, but the scrolly wheel that I love so much, and the whole reason I got this mouse in the first place is horribly dead. Dag nabbit!

BLUE SHIRT BRIGADE

What happens when 80 people wearing blue shirts and khakis [a la a Best Buy employee] go into an actual Best Buy - at the same time!?! Check out the hilarity HERE.
Borrowed from Peekaboo.