Yuletide Yearnings

Although Christmas decorations seem to go up in stores earlier and earlier every year, it didn't really hit me until this week that the holidays are right around the corner. The other night as I was walking back from my friends' apartment I saw all the stores with Christmas window displays. In our apartment's lobby, they just brought out the bright red poinsettias to bring some holiday cheer. And looking out my window today, I saw Christmas lights twinkling from our neighbors' trees and balconies.

All I really want to do right now is drink peppermint hot chocolate, listen to Christmas music, go shopping, bake cookies, wrap presents, go to a holiday party, build a gingerbread house, watch Love Actually, or do anything holiday related. But alas, finals testing is the grinch that stole Christmas. I finally get the cold weather to make it really feel like the holidays and I'm going to be really sad if I have to celebrate the first snowfall of the year with a test (that's what happened last year).

In the end though, getting through this week will make me appreciate being home for the holidays all that much more. And I'll get to do all those fun holiday things with my family in friends in a more friendly climate.

PS. If you have a friend in law school or who is lawyer, you should definitely check out these gifts. These are so amazing, I think I might have to dedicate an entry on it tomorrow.

Curing the Intellectual Hangover

After watching hours of tv last night to decompress my mind and getting eight hours of sleep, I thought I would be ready to switch gears and go into civ pro study mode. I was wrong. My mind still felt numb from yesterday's torts exam. Not that the test was impossibly difficult, but almost everyone else I know who took finals yesterday still felt winded this morning and through much of today.

Fortunately what I lacked in academic productivity I made up in other areas of my life. I think its really easy to get burnt out in law school because you don't have as much balance. In undergrad you at least had friends in other majors, family closer by, extracurriculars, and in general more free time to not think about school (though by the end, school felt like a distraction from my activities). Now everything is school, I even sit there at the gym thinking about tort liability. So while I was wary about doing errands in the midst of finals, I realized that I needed more than a few hours of tv to regain sanity. I needed to actively do something else.

I went and got my immunizations for my trip to Vietnam. Though I am very excited about the trip, I am not sure what to make of the 91 degree, 75% humidity weather that they have there right now. But at least I'm medically prepared: got my hepititus A and tetnus shots, as well as typhoid pills. As my friend Vicki said, it sounds like I'm going on the Oregon Trail. It should be different, but I know it will be an amazing experience. And knowing that its less than two weeks away really gives me something to look forward to after these finals.

Since the travel clinic I went to was located next to the shopping area, I pretty much felt obligated to at least look. The only thing that is a better pick me up than shopping is finding amazing deals. I went Filene's Basement, my new favorite store in DC, and found that all winter accessories were on sale before noon. So I picked up 2 cute hats and a new pair of sunglasses all for $20. I had this grand epiphany today that even if I'm bundled up with scarves, gloves, sweaters, and jackets, my large head probably emits so much heat. I tore off the tags as soon as I left the store, put on my new hat purchase, and felt so much better. Did I mention that it was 30 degrees and incredibly windy. Maybe I will take the 91 degree weather in Vietnam.

I feel a lot better now and ready to conquer civil procedure, and my laundry, tomorrow!

The First Final

Well, what a surreal experience. Since I took my torts take home exam (take home means we had as many hours as the registrar's office was open for one day) on the first day of the testing period and a lot of my classmates won't take it until the end, I can't write too much about the test itself. And the reality is that I really shouldn't think about the test material anymore, sheerly for peace of mind.

What I can and want to say though, is that this was a experience completely different than any other. Knowing that I would have from 8:30am-7pm to crank out pages and pages of tort analysis, I prepared for battle. I had a bottle of water, 2 bottle of Vita-Waters (which I normally don't drink because they're just sugar-y water but thought it would be convenient and better to keep me going than cups of coffee), a power bar, a sandwich for lunch, and apple slices. I even made a "finals playlist" on my iPod to pump me up this morning on my way to school. If it sounds like I was preparing for a marathon, I would point out that 10.5 hours of concentrating on one test is a mental marathon. If it sounds like I am a nerd, I would point out that I am.

I parked out in a cubical in the library and worked for 9 hours straight. I don't know if I've ever done anything for nine hours straight besides watch Law & Order marathons. The only times I took a breather were to go to the bathroom, check my email a few times (I'm an addict, I know!), and to check facebook twice. By the time I finished, I realized that in all the time I was sitting in one corner typing away, people taking 9am finals and 1:3opm finals had already started and finished. And I realized that I woke up before the sun rose and I left school after the sun set. I had just spent an entire day without talking to anyone, only staring at my test and my computer screen. Now I know what it's like to be someone who procrastinates and only has hours to whip out a term paper.

All in all, I am pretty satisfied. That is in no way indicative of how I did, because I honestly do not know. With complex fact patterns and killer multiple choice questions that had potentially multiple answers (I am allowed to say these things since our professor told us this before the test), you just never know. But I felt as prepared as I could be and I was physically and mentally prepared to take that test. And for my first law school final, I think that's already a victory.

Finally, thank you to everyone who wished me good luck and sent good vibes my way. Since I finished 1.5 hours early, I can easily say that don't regret checking my email and my facebook. People left really nice notes and if anything, it really did help me keep going. I'm going to let my mind decompress for the night and it is back to the books tomorrow to gear up for my next final. One down, two to go.

Oreo, Twinkie, and Other Cream-Filled Insults

Normally I don't pay much attention to celebrities throw back and forth insults. And normally I wouldn't take someone too seriously if they called themselves 50 cent. But when he called Oprah an oreo, black on the outside and white on the inside, it hit a nerve. In an interview with Elle Magazine, 50 cent said that Oprah "started out with black women's views but has been catering to middle-aged white American women for so long that she's become one herself."

I've been called a twinkie and a banana before, most of the time in jest which I don't mind. But I've also been called those terms from people who were serious, mostly when I was running for office at UCLA. It aggravates me when people use these terms in malicious and insulting ways because I really want to know how they decided that they, or anyone for that fact, could really determine what it means to be Asian. In addition, what criteria are they using?

Apparently a criterion for being black, according to 50 and other rappers who have insulted Oprah, is having rap music on her show. While I have my share of Kayne West and Common on my computer, I can understand why she doesn't have performers like that on her show: (1) most rap nowadays is degrading to women and (2) most of her audience is middle aged- and I think middle aged women who are white, black, asian, latina, etc don't listen to rap music.

Moreover, I want to know if 50 Cent actually watches Oprah and knows what's actually on her programming. Because as a middle-aged woman at heart, I have seen the show and I have read my mom's copy of her magazine. I know that she tackles so many issues afflicting both minorities, blacks in particular, and woman at large. Just look at her book-list: The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton, The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. And as Richard Roeper points out in his column, "Not only is that an insult to Winfrey, it's an insult to black women. What, only middle-aged white women are interested in book clubs..." (I also really liked the fact that Roeper also pointed out that like Oprah, a large part of 50's fan base are probably white kids, and Roeper also found it funny that 50 cent was doing an interview in Elle magazine).

I might not be black, but as someone who has looked around the room and realized that there aren't a lot of people who look like me in law school or politics, I do admire Oprah and how she defied a lot of the stereotypes in entertainment and business. I also greatly admire the way she has addressed issues like poverty on her show and used her celebrity to promote the (Red) product brand that benefits fighting AIDS in Africa.

Heaven forbid minorities become like Oprah and become successful, popular, and have broad appeal. Maybe if minorities spent less time judging each other and determining whether someone is black enough, or asian enough, we could spend more time helping others. Because that's what Oprah is doing.

Chugging Along

I've been getting a lot of people asking me how I'm doing, whether just part of normal conversation or because they know that I have finals this week. I never really know how to answer, other to say that I'm fine. As cliche as that might sound, it's really the best way to describe how I'm feeling.

I wouldn't say I'm great because I don't particularly enjoy spending all day reviewing for my classes. My mind is so immersed in torts right now that when I took a nap, my mind starting picking apart my dream looking for proximate cause and negligence. If I didn't actively look for excuses to go outside, like go to the grocery store or go to church, it would be easy for me to stay cooped up in my apartment all day and not realize that I hadn't breathed fresh air that day.

But on the other hand, I wouldn't say I'm miserable because studying is not excruciatingly painful either (taking the actual tests is a whole different story.) There's a little part of me that finds immense pleasure when the lightbulb goes on. Moreover, studying all day isn't that much of a departure from how the past 3 months of school have been. Just replace classes with review sessions or study groups and my schedule seems practically the same. Finally, coming for the quarter system where things go by so fast, you have no reading period, and you're likely to talk finals on concurrent days- if not on the same day, I feel like my endurance for testing has been built up. Granted most of those tests were easier, with notable exceptions like art history where I had to memorize a million slides, but the quarter system hyperspeed definitely built up stamina.

So that's how I am. And only 10 days until I'll go from fine to exuberant.

I Love LA (and the rest of California)

I think it's important to be proud of where you come from, whether it be your ancestry or even region of the country. Even though I'm a big government- yay federal power kind of girl, I still recognize the differences between different states. I love learning about the differences in culture between parts of our nation as I do between countries world wide. Sometimes I think I should have double majored in anthropology or something.

As I learn about life in random parts of the country, it's always interesting to hear what people think about California, Southern California in particular. As my friend Helen pointed out in her Xanga, a lot of people think that we're materialistic and vain. A lot of people are openly jealous about our good weather. And a lot of people think that we're just plain weirdos. They don't call us "La La Land" for nothing.

While I actually do think that a lot of the above exists, the reason why I'm most proud of being a Californian is because I think that we're pioneers. Maybe not in all areas (health care... elementary education... functional state governance to name a few) but in many more. I stumbled across a LA Times spread of articles when I was taking a break from studying: What LA Gave to the World. It just made me really proud to come from So Cal. The melting pot forging the way as a green state & stem cell-reaseach state (a might have to admit the Governator is slightly growing on me for these two reasons, but I'm not fully sold), the home of worldwide entertainment, cuisine, technology, and so much more.

I'm not going to be one of those people at school who obsess over my home state, because seriously, (1) if you hate it here so much and love your home state so much, why did you move here and (2) what good will complaining do? But I will be proud, in the laid-back California kind of way.

The Reasonable Prudent Person

The law expects people to behave the way a reasonable prudent person would act. This is a mythical person, one I'm guessing is not a sports fan. Sports does not seem to lend itself to any reasonable thinking or behavior, at all.

To the lesser extent, the time and emotion that your average sports invests would probably not consider reasonable. I would say that it was prudent to take to time to watch the UCLA v. USC game last night, and even setting aside time every week to watch the Bruins. That whole school spirit, break from work, camraderie time. But I don't even want to think about how much time or emotion I put in watching USC games just to cheer for the other team. It only took a short amount of time at UCLA to develop a deep disdain for the school on the other side of town, so much so that I did not even apply to their law schools. Reasonable? Who knows. But fun to have a rival? Yes.

Then to a more extreme extent, sport rivalries (combined with alcohol and mob mentality) leads to very unreasonable behavior. I just find it very hard to get into the mind of a person who thought "hey, it would be a good idea to light this couch on fire in the middle of the street." Maybe we all have an inner pyro, but I just don't understand the joy of lighting a couch on fire. Yet it seems like any riot scene has one. And the one in Westwood last night, right across from my old apartment, even set a car on fire. (see here). UCLA students have to have some kind of intellect to get into the school, but I wonder how smart the person who started the fire felt when it set a car on fire and was captrued on you tube. Yes, other nearby objects catching on fire- that's a foreseeable consequence and no, you weren't acting reasonably. What does that mean, liability! Frankly, I wouldn't feel bad at all if the person(s) who started the fire got punished harshly because its just really stupid and dangerous and I expect more out of bruins.

Yes sports may debatedly be a proximate cause of a lot of fans' stupid actions but I would say that studying torts for 12 hours straight today is a direct cause of my analogies and diminishing sanity. Sports and torts...that's funny.