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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

I've Got a Fever and the Only Prescription Is...

Well, I officially got homesick. I should have had my emotional breakdown around Labor Day, but my cousin, Lynn, and her family took me to Maine for their mini-vacation. Too busy and surrounded by extended family, I finally started showing symptoms last week. Long story short, I broke down in tears in the Back Bay Fens while walking Mr. Big yesterday morning.

According to a poll of close friends, I am right on schedule. They all got homesick around 4 to 6 weeks after moving.

I had a tear-induced headache and nausea for the rest of the day; I promptly passed out after Property class and slept for three hours. I felt a bit better after my nap, but didn't really cheer up until I washed dishes. Why dishes? Firstly, I think cleaning is therapeutic in and of itself. Secondly, I have been known to seriously jam out while cleaning.
I sing into my hairbrush. I dance in front of my dog. Sometimes I even play air-drums. It's embarrassing. :)

Here's Dr. Tallant's prescription playlist for a really crappy day:

  • "I Need A Doctor" - Dr. Dre and Eminem  You can't argue with a doctor!
  • "Dirt Off Ya Shoulder" - Jay-Z
  • "Last of the American Girls/ She's a Rebel" - Broadway cast of American Idiot Because nothing says "angry punk in suburbia"  like Broadway show-tunes
  • "Coming Home" - Diddy
  • "So Says I" - The Shins
  • "15 Minutes" - The Yeah You's aka The best song from Easy A
  • "Overdrive" - Katy Rose aka The best song from Mean Girl
  • "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" - The Slits I love when bands cover songs that are completely outside of their genre.
  • "Mr. Brightside" - The Killers
  • "Pretty Girl Rock" - Keri Hilson
  • "Since You Been Gone/ Maps" - Ted Leo While it may be hard to find since it's a live recording of an acoustic show, it's so worth the effort to hear a guy sing a high-pitched Kelly Clarkson song

The first part of the playlist should get you get through the anger and frustration known as law school...I mean, life. Then you can sing into your hairbrush and dance around your bedroom in your sweatpants. You'll be smiling despite yourself at the end of the playlist. Drink coffee, shuffle playlist, and repeat.

P.S. Can I just say that I miss the golden days of SNL? If you're still depressed after this playlist, just YouTube any of The Lonely Island music videos. Preferably on a boat....
P.P.S. I miss eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream with Mel and Rusty at the pharmacy. Wonder what Mel would say about the SNL themed ice cream flavor, Schweddy Balls?

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

I heart Torts

"Law school is hard" is a huge understatement.
Imagine you've been thrown into the ocean and you can't swim. It's midnight, so you can't see anything around you. Someone is in a lifeboat and shouting instructions at you on how to swim so you can make it to the boat. After dog paddling for five minutes, you realize that your rescuer is shouting in French. So now you're struggling to stay afloat and translate French...all the while trying to just get to the boat. Did I mention that there's a thunderstorm, it's cold, and you're really tired? And the Green-line is late...again?!

Law school is a lot like being rescued from the ocean by Frenchmen. You're learning how to preform new tasks and analyzing material in a completely new language. Learn to swim, mon cherie, or au revoir!

So far, Torts has held up to my quintessential ideals of a law school experience. The teacher loves the Socratic Method (putting students on the spot and probing them with questions until they  discover the legal standard beneath the facts). Prof. Lustiq may seem stern and gruff, but he genuinely wants the students to learn and succeed. We have ungraded "quizzes" each week so we can monitor how well we understand the material. His midterm is only 7% of our grade, so we can have a full exam under our belt before the final without a huge penalty.

Torts is a hard subject, with or without Lustiq putting students on the "hot-spot". In a very basic sense, torts are wrongful acts fought in civil courts. We covered intentional torts (battery, assault, trespass, etc) for the first month. Here's how I taught myself about trespass and conversion of chattel (movable property).

I thought it was creative. :)

Proof that doodling in your note margins CAN be productive. Enjoy!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Boston: I Spy...

Okay, so I finally made the move to Boston. Hurrah, right? Well...it's everything I hoped it would be and more, and it's nothing like I thought. Does that make sense? Trust me, I'll make some time to explain about law school, living in an apartment, the subway, hurricane Irene, a day in my life, etc...but I'm munching on a croissant for lunch and only have so much time before class.

So here's a list of some random sights and sounds I've experienced in my three weeks in Boston:


* a group of Buddhist monks walking through Chinatown
* Nuns
* a Greek Orthodox monk (bald head, long beard, grey robe, wooden cross as a belt)
* public urination
* several blind people. Some had seeing-eye dogs and most had the stick thingie.)
* People using sign language on the subway
* LOTS of homeless people
* a homeless man who lives in the park and the pigeons sit on his head. Remember the lady in "Home Alone 2"?
* Earthquake during Torts. The professor didn't notice and kept teaching
* really cute Freedom Trail tour-guides
* A protest about the war in Libya and the refugees
* Street performers being shut down by the po-po
* open-mic stand-up comedy at a bar
* got SOAKING wet in the rain
* more abandoned mattresses and futons than I've ever seen in my life!

There's more...but my lunch break is over. :)