Two days till Evidence. Crim Law beat my ass, and this is from the same Professor who has taught these courses for 30 years. Not looking forward to it.

Read half of "A Time to Kill" by John Grisham today after International Business Transactions finals was done. For a novel about topics so ugly--Rape, Murder, Racism, Lawyers--it is a hilarious novel. John Grisham's wit is extremely cut and dry and ironic. It's not fine literature, but it's enjoyable to read, and most of the time I love the humor, which was totally unexpected.

Property Law Exam was a meat grinder. My head hurt more than usual after 3 hours of non-stop work. The good news is I know as the first of four exams this is the one I will be least prepared for. The bad news is that this was the one I was least prepared for. The other good news was that the consensus from the people I talked to was that the exam was a real grinder (meaning good curves), which is qualified by my uncertainty as to whether the people I was talking to were in the top percentiles which I'm trying to get into (Maybe we're the bunch at the wrong side of the hill).

Property law is so dense and convoluted I'm tempted to turn communist, where the only property law would be: "My land is your land, your land is my land, in Communist China, la la la la la~"

Crim Law is on Friday. I'm out of food, the room is turning into a mess, my goatee is becoming more pronounced. Clearly, when finals come around I become a bum.

I wish I had a GF who would massage my temples right now.

Blahest day in a long time. I blame going off coffee for a while and then downing two 8oz cups when the Student Bar Association put out free Noah's bagels and coffee yesterday morning. The coffee tasted a bit acidic. That shouldn't be, right? As I result I tossed and turned in bed yesterday and got to school later than usual today.

Did Sudoku during most of the final Evidence class, which was talking about Judicial Notice, which is the delightful debate people occasionally have (I hope it is occasional) in court about whether Prosecutors have the burden of proving that apples grow on trees, or that the Earth is round, or that cars have wheels and an engine, or whether we can just assume those facts. The short, irresponsible answer that would endanger me with malpractice is: Sometimes, depends on whether the fact that apples grows on trees is specifically relevant to the case. If it is and it is a criminal case in federal court, the Jury has the option of choosing to ignore the fact that apples grow on trees. Try it next time you get summoned for Jury Duty, kids.

I am more worried about preparing the Thanksgiving Turkey than I am about the Finals. I haven't even seen the turkey and I'm already sick of the bastard. It's not exactly cooking, it's more like a science project. And like a science project you will be judged and graded on it, more so because it is the centerpiece of such an important occasion. No similar pressure applies to whoever is bringing the cauliflower or the yam--people can overlook the cauliflower and yam, but like diamonds, a bad Turkey is forever.

I'm hoping my negative feelings towards the Turkey will translate into my utmost effort to see to it that it is completely vanquished come Black Friday, when our dinner party will be held. First I'll pull out its innards from its rear orifice, then I'll drown in it sea water, then I'll shove some stuff up its butt and then roast it. Mmmmm-mmmm.

Ending with some cartoons I drew for the Law School Magazine.

A dialogue hosted by the St. Thomas Moore Society in a bar close to school, attended by one of the Jesuit Faculty from the Undergrad side and the Dean of the Law School. I had one pint, listened to some of the talk, then ran back to law school in time for Criminal Law. Interestingly, the Dean of our Jesuit Law School (just how Jesuit it is/ought to be was a matter of discussion; generally leaning towards more Jesuit) is a Jew from Brooklyn/Queens. He and the Friar (who had a legal education) are the best of friends. It's a interesting combo.

For some reason, drinking before Criminal Law class seems oddly appropriate. I'm sure I'll learn well tonight.

It might be due to the smaller student body, but I've never been at a corporate/academic setting which such streamlined IT services. Both Foxconn and Berkeley fall well short of the user friendliness of USF Law School's online services.

Debated whether to take Corporations or not; for now opted instead for Federal Income Tax, since it is a pre-req to Corporate Taxation, International Taxation and some other courses, whereas Corporations is always available as a California BAR　course. So for now the line up looks like this:

Constitutional Law
Criminal Procedure
Federal Income Tax
Negotiations, Mediation, and Client Counseling Skills (Pass/NP)
Wills and Trusts

16 Units (Max allowed)

Man, what a boring lineup. Federalist Society is hosting this afternoon a debate between a Proponent for the positives of Guantamo Bay and a Critic. Middle Eastern food will be provided. I'm sure it will be a enjoyable experience.

Let the record show that when the office lady walked into Criminal Law class at 7:45PM announcing that the Professor had been stuck on the Bay Bridge since 3:00PM due to a overturned Safeway big rig and was not going to make it to class, I politely groaned rather than burst into applause like my colleagues. I was devastated; I was completely looking forward to being called on to make sense of California's hair splitting of Felony Murders and Misdemeanor Manslaughters and implied malice, etc, etc, etc.

To deal with my grief, I shall use the 2.5 hours to work on fic and play computer games.

Best place for straight single women - San Jose?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ontheblock/detail?entry_id=47312&type=realestate

This is relevant to my interests. Basically the article says there are so many young bachelor professionals (read; high steady incomes) in Silicon Valley, from Palo Alto down to San Jose, women can come here and be choosy, even "plain" women; Attractive women become "Goddesses" and are fought over. The much lower cost of living compared to SF also helps.

Now I REALLY don't know what to do. Should I set my sights on San Francisco or in the South Bay?

1. Go South: On one hand I'm more of a Silicon Valley suburb Asian-ish kind of guy; was born and raised here. Plus there are so many Lawyers and Suits in SF, maybe if I go South I could stand out from the engineers and programmers.

2. Stay in SF: On the other hand, as the article points out, eligible girls are in relatively short supply in the South Bay. The competition may not be so easy either; not all engineers are unattractive nerds, and in Silicon Valley, MBAs and lawyers, who may be the blue bloods in older cities like SF, Chicago, and New York, are NOT the top dogs here. (This is strictly my guess; please feel free to disagree, ladies) Hmmmm...

Well, I've gone to a mega Taiwanese Church two weeks in a row in the South Bay now. I'll see how that works out... Not that I'd go to Church with the ulterior motive of meeting girls. Banish the thought. At most it would be a incidental benefit.

Dinner with Congressman David Wu from Oregon tonight; his term is up and supposedly the next election will be one of the harder one's he's faced in the past 12 years. It was interesting to watch how he listened to and responded to the gripes and concerns of a bunch of folksy Taiwanese people despairing over the present Taiwanese government surrendering the island to China. The election consultant accompanying him was a recent USF law grad, and we ended up talking a lot. An election consulting firm, by the way, helps people and organizations (school districts, Unions, etc) get elected/get their proposals passed. Their business is democracy. Rather interesting.

Attended a Symposium at USF and heard successful big and small firm lawyers talk. Came away with: When firms say they look for "leadership" and "managerial" skills, they actually mean "Marketing skills." Also, networking is vital, but I balanced the typical notion of networking with some advice from my dad: "It's not constructive to view every relationship through the lens of career-building. Just try to be CASUAL friends with as many people as possible."

I need to reorient; rather than weigh how people can be tools to advance my career (Which Kant said is very bad), I ought to... view people as ends in themselves? As dad said, don't plot so much, be sincere and cordial to everyone. Be friendly.

It will be challenging; ever since leaving high school I've become increasingly amoral, pragmatic, realist, skeptical, and cynical. I hope I can regain some of the Faith, ideals, and optimism I had back then.

Property Professor shared this with us before class: A NY Times Editorial lamenting growing poverty over the past decade and the rich getting richer under Bush, and calls for Social Equality.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/opinion/16wed1.html

My thoughts: The call is for higher taxes on rich people so government can redistribute it. I think rich people should support livelihoods of poorer people, which they do by hiring and spending and giving to charity. On the flip side, Bad rich people who speculate on coffee prices in Venezuela and buy Yachts made in Turkey and helps AIDS kids in Africa, that does no good at all for Americans. But I digress.

If our government were Singaporean or Finnish then I think the government SHOULD be the agent of distribution, because they'd be efficient. As is I have no confidence that the US Government can help needy people in the USA with my money.

I also have no confidence that US Government can reform itself to become more like Singapore/Finland's government, in the near future, or ever. Partly it is size, partly it is ethnic diversity (A problem Scandanavia doesn't much have).

So what does everyone else think?

Edit: I've never lived in poverty. My dad was poor growing up in Taiwan. He came to US in mid/late 1970s and eventually made his fortune in Silicon Valley as an Engineer and Entrepreneur. Chances are I can never measure to that sort of rags to riches achievement. That's kind of my relevant background.

First day of classes after labor day. It's 9:30PM and I feel like sleeping. Too tired to write tonight. So behind on the Big Fic. Have written the Small Fics (Hetalia: Prussia/Hungary) in my Head but just have no energy to move fingers.

Tennis: It's gonna be Federer v Nadal. Again, again, and again. I'm surprised no fan girls have slashed these two. They meet more often than tons of other fictional couples who are products of slash.

Did a little better this time, making small talk, appearing interested and trying not to make the atmosphere awkward by my "I'm obviously not used to bars so I'll just stand here and be quiet" behavior. If hanging out at Bars was a skill, I stink at it.

Resume collection for phase 1 employers due tomorrow at 12 Noon. Left lunch boxes at school so will have to wake up early to go get them before going home to parents this Weekend. Whom I spent every minute of my spare time this Summer with. Seriously, I am bar none the best frigging son stereotypical Asian parents can dare to dream of. Chinese dictionaries should feature pictures of me next to the characters of "Filial piety." This may be due in large part to my upbringing and coming to to agree with the Truth (and it is true) that up till now and in the immediate future my existence is contingent on my parents' good graces. I.E. $$$. He who pays, dictates the rules. Larry my brother, being more "American," doesn't buy this idea at all.

I only hope in the future that my own children will be as cognizant of this fact as I have been. Depending on your beliefs, this will be either selfish or the fairest, most reasonable thing in the world.

One of my concerns at the moment is that Bar Night appears to be the predominant way for law school students to bond here at USF; unfortunately, I don't like bars at all. It is not my element. Will my aversion to the bar scene have a negative impact on my networking that will ultimately affect my career in the future? On the other hand, it seems to demand too much from law school that I should be able to meet and make friends who share my very narrow spectrum of interests and values: Anime, manga, fanfiction, hiking, cooking, and classical music. If I had it my way, instead of bar night we would alternate between trying new restaurants and going to the Symphony. I suspect that this would not fly though.

My other suspicion--one which I believe puts things in broader perspective--is that if I uploaded a perfectly honest profile to a matchmaking website, there would be scarcely any hits for compatible persons. The options before me then appear to be: 1)Become more like the typical law school student (requiring lifestyle change, or at least fake it) or 2)Be a loner amongst my current social and future professional peers, to my current and future detriment. Neither seems very desirable.

Or I can just say: "Screw the rest; I'll do things my way and be a geek and graduate in the top 10% percentile and hopefully everything will be smooth sailing from there." This, however, also seems like a approach with significant faults. (Connections are important for one's law career)

Bah humbug.

2nd year in law school is off to a poor start. The Profs in my classes are, in my opinion, inferior to the great teachers I had in my first year. The contents so far seem bland and scattered. There is tons of reading as well as administrative details to attend to (residential parking permit, ABA application, scholarship application, Resumes to upload for employer campus interviews) in the next 24-48 hours. Not helping things are:

Funeral at St. Ignatius Church occupies the law school and second closest parking lot so I had to park much further away.

Have not eaten nice things in a while; cooked a pot of carrot, tofu, broccoli, and turkey and ate that for four days straight. Landlady gave me fried rice tonight; tasted like nearly-Heaven.

Crappy foggy weather tonight made driving home a hazard.

Hopefully things will settle down and I will adapt to the pace and style of my new classes, but there just seems like there's too little time for myself now. Unfortunately, I don't know if I have enough left in the tank to gear myself up so that I can survive on less than 1 hour of loafing time per day.

Things that have made my days better the past few days:
Safeway deli sale on chicken tenders
Albacore Tuna sashimi and Salmon roll from Nijiya
Homemade curry with chicken thigh and liver turning out good
New episodes of Zetsubou Sensei
Latest manga developments in Hayate the Combat Butler
Discovering Tchaikovsky's souvenir d'une lieu Cher on FM 102.1.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcPPzdSO1rA)
Playing "Miles Edgeworth: Ace Prosecutor" (Gyakuten Kenji): The plot and characters are not QUITE as endearing as the original Phoenix Wright series, but Mitsurugi's new girl sidekick is a JOY.

Things that have NOT made my days better:

Reminder that fall recruiting season for Summer 2010 starts now. Collect and submit cover letter, resume, transcripts, writing samples, and what not over next 2 weeks. Interviews (if I get any) begin in 30 days.
Take home final paper due on Wednesday evening.
Learning in lecture that lawyers are statistically far more likely than other professions to be depressed, alcoholic, addicted to drugs (pot, cocaine, prescription drugs), gambling, and (not or) sex.

I'm heartened by the fact that even though I am falling out of love with anime, I will not be falling out of love with classical music in the foreseeable future. The Tchaikovsky I listened to while driving back after class tonight was entrancing; the first movement was romantic and expressive, the second movement was a spectacular technical exercise--to use a video game analogy, it was like watching a pro tackle the last boss on Insane difficulty without losing 1 point of HP.

( Thoughts on If Classical Musicians were in a Shoujo Manga Pt. 2 )

Dad: "Do you know how hard it is to save money? Half of American kids borrow through college and grad school and owe the Government 50-100K by the time they're done. The lucky ones like you will make 100K a year. Obama takes 30% of that and California takes 10%. You scrimp and just maybe you'll save 10,000 a year. A small house around here is 1 million. Figure it out."

By promising to leave me a little something and ensuring that I finish law school debt free, dad has supposedly put me ahead of the field by 20 years. Talk about blessings that come with pressure.

Diet: Cal has entered an era of low-carb super high protein dieting. That means chicken breast, whey protein powder, and cottage cheese. Sodium free fat free cottage cheese tastes... apathetic. I enjoy the texture but add blueberries or honey for taste. Two cups before bed. Stuffy, but I seem to sleep better.

The bike ride around SF (I forgot whether I shared about this) went really great, all things considered. I was still too chicken to ride across the bridge due to my genuine fear of heights. There were also huge winds that day, up to 35 mph, which made riding almost a hazard.

Cooking: Coming up; Blanched broccoli salad. With grapes rather than raisins, olive oil rather than mayo, hot coppa rather than fried bacon. It's for a potluck. Google wiki informed me that pretty looking and healthy dishes are a big hit, and Italian always goes first. Let's hope that's true even for 60 year old Taiwanese folks.

CCS: Two ideas simmering: Sonomi visits the Company shrink to talk about her inappropriate fantasies about Fujitaka her issues. 2, what happens when Touya "introduces" Tomoyo to Fujitaka.

Hetalia: The Star Bangled Banner, America's Anthem, was officially recognized in 1931. The lyrics were from a poem, the tune was from a BRITISH DRINKING SONG. I learned that listening to FM 102.1 Classical. Special Relationship indeed.

Mood Theme: I'm starting to use a mood theme someone made. It's 10th Division Bleach: Matsumoto and Hitsugaya. I still love them.

Summer school and work: For two and a half months I expect to receive... 1K. Not even rent. Mreh...

SF Symphony: Will perform BEETHOVEN, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, and RACHMANINOV's Piano Concerto #2 (Nodame Cantabile peeps), which is my all time favorite piece of music in July. Am considering skipping a day of work to attend Rachamaninov.

There was a professional seminar at USF this afternoon. After wards four cases of Starbucks coffee (the hand held 2.4 liter carryouts) were left over. I looked around for someone from the meeting but everyone had left. Finally, an office worker told me that I could just take the coffee. I grabbed a box of Pike Place Roast (c) along with a handful of Equal and Splenda. I judged there was 5-6 cups worth in there, which translates into $12 or so.

But THAT's not the cheap part

The cheap part is I know that five, ten years from now when I'm making my scum-sucker-lawyer-blood-money, I would do the same thing AGAIN if I came across leftover coffee at a USF event... After I ask permission, of course.

"Kimi ni Todoke" anime to start this fall.



≡ STAFF ≡
原　　作：椎名輕穗
監　　督：鏑木ひろ
系列構成：金春智子
角色設定：柴田由香
動畫制作：Production I.G

Yesterday in lawyer school we learned what to do when a client walks into our office, puts a gun on our desk and tells us "I just killed someone with that gun. Advise me." We learned that our response would be different if client had said "I shot someone and left him bleeding with that gun." We also learned that in many cases lawyers are obligated by their professional ethics not to do the "right/decent/moral thing."

In response to a real case in which a lawyer properly refuses to tell an anxious father where his daughter-the rape and dismembered murder victim of lawyer's client--the location of the body, one troubled student said in class after lengthy discussion. "I think I would still tell him."

The Professor responds: "Well, that's because right now you're still a person."

*Everyone laughs, I thought, in the way you laugh about a really good unemployment or foreclosure joke, the sort of graveyard humor that afterwards you feel a twinge of guilt or foreboding over*

The Professor goes on to say: "Then don't become a criminal defense lawyer. There are areas of law where you don't have to do deal with bodies. I don't know, like, incorporating a will."

*Everyone laughs, more heartily this time.*

One other thing: If you want to screw with a lawyer, ask it for advice. If it gives you advice and you act upon it and suffer the consequences, then that lawyer may well be in big trouble.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/05/alabama.teacher.sex.salary/index.html

Falls under Civil Procedure... or Criminal Procedure? In which case I haven't studied it, and in any event Alabama law applies and the last place I'll be practicing law in 2 years is Alabama unless God decides he wants me working with death row inmates.

Still, Kudos to the lady's lawyer. I hope he's getting at least 1/3 of that 50K salary she'll be drawing in jail for the next five years. It may not seem like much, but times are tough, and I doubt he/she'll have to do that much work to earn it; it is decidedly not difficult to drag things through the court system, if that is your goal.

A case like this can go to the Supreme Court because the criminal charge operates under Federal Law. The quickest way this can be over (and the woman in jail with no more salary) is probably for the full judges panel to hear the case and for the civil case to be dropped; I presume the civil case is proceeding in the state court system under state law, in which case there is no appeal to the SC (they won't hear it anyways, the issue is too trivial here). I doubt the families of the victims would be able to squeeze much from the accused here anyways.

Legal Research and Writing Fall 2008: C-
Legal Research and Writing Spring 2009: A

His name is David Hwu. He fights for JUSTICE.

Now waiting on Torts, Contracts, and Civil Procedure grades.

Finally, a chance to use this Haruhi icon.

Going back to SF later tonight. Wish me tailwind and clear weather, folks.

I'm done with first year of law school. I'm on a flight tomorrow to Taiwan. Two weeks of sweltering moisture and heat and lots of good eating ahead and hanging out with high school friends. Then its back for summer courses and hopefully an internship somewhere, any where. I'm still looking -____________-""

Felt I did adequately on the exams. That's about all I can say.

I'll start writing on my Geass story again. I think I'm 15 reviews from 1000. Catching up to you L-chan, Heartscientist!

May 11, Monday 6:30PM: Exam Contracts
May 12, Tuesday: 6:30PM Review Civil Procedure
May 14, Thursday: 6:30PM Exam Civil Procedure
May 15, Friday: 5-7PM Review Torts
May 18: Monday: 6:30PM Exam Torts

Today the thermometer in my car read 92 degrees when I climbed in at 1:40 in the afternoon. My friend on the East Coast tells me its 55 over there. This will be the only time I envy his weather around NY State. The heat came without a warning, and on the one day of the school year where I'm required to wear a suit to law school.

Today was moot court's oral hearing. Moot court is a one credit deal in law school where they give us a taste of what it's like to argue a case before a panel of judges, who are actual lawyers. We write a 16 page brief, print eight copies (one of which goes to our assigned opponent) and we prepare to get grilled by seasoned, fully spawned lawyers.

I won my hearing!

My opponent helped me out by cutting off the judges a lot, acting overly nervous, and generally ill prepared. The judges were grilling him from the start. In contrast, one judge actually helped me out when I got stuck on a minor point, and my comments were positive; one judge really liked my brief, and another said that it was okay for me to sit down when I've already accomplished my point. Major confidence booster, this was, albeit having no effect on my GPA, which is still very ugly.

Scheduled to go back to Taiwan for 2 weeks when Summer begins in a month. Then Summer courses and hopefully an internship at the same time. Then three weeks until Fall Semester begins again in late August.

And for those of you who are looking for some quality entertainment (and have time to spare for it): A TV show that I've been watching avidly.

http://www.hulu.com/kings

It's a modern rendition of the story of Biblical David. Much creative license, but good casting and acting, gorgeous sets and costumes, nice story. Most importantly, David is so loyal and trusting and pure. I think he's super delicious.