First Day of School Photo Shoot

Ok, so Rani took these with her iPhone so the quality isn't fantastic, but I was SUPER excited to go to school and carry my enormous books.

I think I need a haircut.

More pics to come, since I'm also experimenting with photography and have a pretty sweet camera.

Lesson #7: Hip-Hop is universal.

Exhibit A: Hip-Hop Yoga

Hip-hop yoga at Back Bay Yoga is bomb. Say hip-hop and yoga don't "go"? Never shaken your ass in downdog to 50 Cent "Up in the Club"? Never did your inversions to Ne-yo? 

Try it and it will rock your body. 

September is yoga month. I was trying to spread the word! It's almost too late (but never too late) to go online at www.yogamonth.com and register for a free 7-day pass at selected studios across the country. You have 3 days. Do it. I did, and I signed up at Back Bay Yoga, a studio recommended by Yoga Wendy (see: Amy vs Wild) and conveniently 2 blocks away from my apartment. This week is a free week and so far, I've taken hip-hop and forest yoga. I miss it, and there's nothing like a little bass to get my body back in the groove. 

Exhibit B: Hip-Hop Class

Franny and I signed up for a hip-hop class at the Dance Complex in Cambridge. It's Monday evenings from 7:30 - 8:30, which is clearly not enough time to learn a whole routine but long enough to get me sweaty and smiling. Despite my natural skills, I'm not the best in class. Not even Top 5. I refuse to settle for anything worse than #3 so I'm practicing in my apartment. By myself. Our song is Lupe Fiasco - "Can't get you outta my head." And I can't get that song outta my head. My head. My head. 

Hip-Hop class has about 20 members. We start with a generic warm up with "basic" hip-hop moves like body rolls... body rolls... body rolls... and then we learn choreography. We do it with our instructor and then by ourselves. And then with our instructor again, because we forget everything every 2 minutes. I know about 30 seconds so far... 3 minutes to go! 

I really hope there is a performance once we have mastered the song. It will only be a 3 minute performance, but you are all invited! I'll keep you posted.

Exhibit C: Hip-Hop Shower

Showers are waaaay more productive when you're crushin' some jams. I mean, it only takes me 1.5 songs to thoroughly shower. I know if I've sung a few Beyonces and a couple Jennifer Lopez (shut up), that I'm probably wasting water. Favorite shower jam of the week: "Best thing I never had" - Beyonce. Try it out and let me know how many songs it takes you to shower!

Exhibit D: Hip-Hop Sprints

30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, 20 sprints starting at 9.0 and going up 0.1 mph each time. Normally I like to work out to some Cock Rock but hip-hop has been getting me through these sprints. And not just any hip-hop... early 90's hip-hop. A little Ja Rule, Jennifer Lopez (shut up), and Jagged Edge gets me going a long way. And thanks to this routine (and thanks to Anne, my personal trainer/friend/soul-twin), my thighs have shrunk. I'm wearing my skinny-Amy jeans. High five!

Exhibit E: Hip-Hop Studying

You didn't click on the wrong blog... I am supposed to be talking about what I'm learning in law school. I learned Classical music distracts me. Techno makes me crazy. And hip-hop gets the job done. I love to read Rehnquist while listening to Outkast...

Ok, I'm lying. I don't really listen to music while studying. It doesn't work for me. But I had to tie it back to the purpose of the blog. Maybe... I do all of the hip-hop inspired stuff above instead of studying? Does that relate back enough? I think so.

Lesson #6: I don't know, and sometimes that's ok

My Civil Procedure professor started today's class by reading us a poem:

There is something I don't know

That I am supposed to know.

I don't know what it is I don't know,

And yet am supposed to know,

And I feel I look stupid

If I seem both not to know

And not to know what it is I don't know.

Therefore, I pretend I know it.

This is nerve-wracking

Since I don't know what I must pretend

To know.

Therefore, I pretend to know everything.

I feel you know what I am supposed to know

But you can't tell me what it is

Because you don't know what I don't know

What it is.

You may know what I don't know, but not

That I don't know it.

And I can't tell you. So you will have

To tell me everything.

- R. D. Lang in Knots

Apparently, its OK to not know Civil Procedure. Of course, until the exam. 

I'm holding up pretty well, except for that whole "I pretend to know everything but actually I know nothing" thing. Details, details. I'm not far behind. I'm not too far ahead. And sometimes, when I get cold-called in class, I magically have the right answer. 

Today, in Property, not so much. Definitely didn't have the right answer. In fact, I didn't even really read the paragraph in the dissent where she pulled the question from. 

Professor: Amy, do you think that Livingston, who wrote the decent, had respect for Justinian's authority?
Amy: Uh... well... hm... I mean, I'm not sure. He said it was... vague?
Professor: Well, Livingston writes that his authority is not relevant and should be disregarded.
Amy: Well, when you put it like that, I suppose he has 0 respect for Justinian.

I thought I was done. But then...

Professor: Oh, and Amy, what did he think about the other authorities the majority opinion cite?
Amy: Well, Professor, he definitely wasn't sold on them. He found the other authorities to be inconsistent and therefore, incorrect. Which is odd because they are, in fact, very consistent. He ends up citing Barbeyrac because he finds him the most rational least likely to be objected, which is totally backwards. 

That's right. Redemption.

I knew she was going to call on me today. I had that feeling. It probably had something to do with the article I emailed her last week: In Honduras, Land Struggles Highlight Post-Coup Polarization. It was a really interesting article which touched upon the property issues fought everyday between natives and big corporations. There are undeniable parallels between what the US did to Native Americans under the Doctrines of Discovery and Conqueror.

As you can imagine, the land in Honduras is fertile and therefore very valuable to both parties: the natives, who use the land to source their food and livelihood and to the corporations, who farm palm oil and make enormous profits. (Do I sound biased?) And as the article states, the 1400 families who have "squatted" and claimed use of the land since last year have been frozen out of the latest pact to distribute ownership. Without ownership title, they fear they could be evicted at any time. Can you imagine a corporation, with backing from the government, telling you that you need to "peace out" in 48 hours or else... (they kill you).

The conflict here goes back to the early 1990s, when wealthy landowners bought up plantations from farmer cooperatives. Farmworker groups argue that these purchases were illegal because members of the cooperatives were tricked by their leaders or signed deals they did not understand.

Ugh. Ugh.

We take for granted in the US the land that we own and the property rights (nay, all rights) that we have. And for Hondurans and many many other populations all over the world, the fight for land that you've lived on for generations continues. And what's even more disheartening is that now, we're covering "the right to water."

Lesson #5: Cat urine causes a lot of problems

If there is an odor of cat urine in your apartment when you move in, tell your landlord he has to fix it. If he doesn't and the urine causes headaches, nausea, and burning eyes, or you are even embarrassed to entertain your guests, than the landlord has breached warranty of habitability. That warranty of habitability guarantees:

1. All areas used in connection therewith in common with other tenants or residents are fit for human habitation;
2. That area is able to be used as reasonably intended by the parties; and
3. The occupants of such premises shall not be subjected to any conditions which would be dangerous, hazardous, or detrimental to their life, health or safety.

Cat urine breaks guarantee #3 and therefore, you will be entitled to damages.

How do I know this? Because I have read like, 20 cases about cat urine in apartments. In fact, I've even read a dozen cases about trash-related odors from awkwardly placed dumpsters and cruciferous vegetable odors that have breached the warranty of habitability. And the really eye-opening fact? They all take place in New York. And New Yorkers complain that Jersey smells. Case law begs to differ.

Lesson #4: It's rough, it's dirty, and it gets in there.

In where, exactly?

NO ONE LAUGHED last night when my Research and Writing Adjunct said that about his draft memo. Seriously. Has everyone lost their sense of humor?

Lesson #3: Cities are crazy. And so are cases.

Last night I was reading Judge Carlin's opinion of the 1941 Cordas v Peerless Transportation case. Let me give you an idea of what that was like...

 "It appears that a man, whose identity it would be indelicate to divulge was feloniously relieved of his portable goods by two nondescript highwaymen in an alley near 26th Street and Third Avenue, Manhattan; they induced him to relinquish his possession by a strong argument and hominem couched in the convincing cant of the criminal and pressed at the point of a most persuasive pistol."

He continues...

"If the philosophic Horatio and the marital companions of his watch were 'distilled almost to jelly with the act of fear' when they beheld in the dead cast and middle of the night the disembodied spirit of Hamlet's father stalk majestically by 'with a countenance more in sorrow than anger' was not the chauffeur, though unacquainted with the example of these eminent men-at-arms, more amply justified in his fearsome reactions when he was more palpably confronted by a thing of flesh and blood bearing in his hand an engine of destruction which depended for its lethal purpose upon the quiver of a hair?"

I am sure I was just about to get it when I started hearing...

 "I've never been in love before. And all at once its you. Its you forever more."

That song! The very song that my GUCI counselors made me sing in front of hundreds of my fellow campers on the Project stage circa 2000. I was about to chime in on the chorus when she abruptly stopped. Screaming! Yelling! Cursing! I, along with everyone in my building, raced to our windows to see what all the fuss was about.

Just a homeless woman with her shirt pulled up screaming profanities to a cop. No big deal.

Then came the sirens, more screaming, and a hell of a lot of apologies.

"I apologize. I apologize. I was just tryin' to get home. I apologize."

I don't think the cop bought it. Not a happy ending for the crazy, homeless woman or my future Broadway career. It was quiet. Eerily quiet. Quiet enough to get back to...

"The chauffeur - the ordinary man in this case - acted in a split second in a most harrowing experience. To call him negligent would be to brand him a coward; the court does not do so in spite of what those swaggering heroes, whose valor plucks dead lions by the bead, may bluster to the contrary."

The Court issued judgment for the defendant, dismissing the plaintiff's claims based upon the merits. Ten days' stay and thirty days to make a case.

Lesson #2: You can't read case law while watching the US Open Finals

Both yesterday and today, I tried to multi-task. Hoping to get ahead (I actually mean catch-up) on work, I parked in front of my 42in and set up shop.

Computer? Check. Text books? Check. 5 different colors of highlighters? Check. The US Open Mens and Womens finals? Check and Check.

How can you miss them?! Serena is a powerhouse. I mean, her bod is hard. Almost as hard as it was to watch her lose yesterday. And today, my eyes are glued to Djokovic and Nadal and not on my Federal Rules of Civl Procedure. Is it weird that both Djokovic and Nadal are younger than I am? One thing is for sure, if you are good enough to play in the US Open finals, you can get a hot girlfriend.

As it turns out, Djokovic and Nadal don't help me learn about Property Law. Or do they...

Djokovic wins the US Open Finals and is given the first-place cup. If you win, does the cup become your property? What about the title of US Open Champion? Is that your property? What happens in 2012 when the title is transferred? 

I don't know! Gawd! Maybe if I read my casebook...

I've been catching up with all my Boston-based friends. This weekend, I had brunch with Marley. We went to Post, a swanky cafe that served us delicious eggs, biscuits, Bloody Marys, and a complimentary pastry basket! We were talking about her recent work retreat and a particular personality test they took, which happened to be the same activity we did at our Theta retreat in college. It's called the True Colors Personality Test.  This personality test asks a serious of questions to rate your likes and dislikes.  The test will then rate your personality as either a blue, green, orange or gold personality type. Here's the chart describing the colors:

Moral of the story is... I am a gold with flecks of blue. (Marley is green.) This random personality test made me realize why I'm currently struggling with adapting to law school. I'm doing OK with the materials and the amount of work, but I'm continuously stressing about the lack of planning, structure, and consistency in  instruction, assignment posting, work expectations, and online resources. I spend more time trying to find my assignments online than actually reading them. I spend more time trying to develop a system for success rather than implementing one. I spend more time doing the wrong assignment than it would have taken me to do the right assignment. And then there's the time I spend complaining about it all!

My gold with flecks of blue reminded me that I have particular tendencies and they may lead to unnecessary stress. But, let's be real... not knowing where stuff is in Cyberworld is pretty stressful. And not knowing how best to go about this whole "student thing" can be overwhelming. So... any tips are appreciated! What helps you get organized and get focused on the stuff that really matters?

You know what really matters right now? That Monday Night Football thinks its OK to push the Season Finale of the Bachelor Pad back to 1 am. Should I sue?

Lesson #1: Law school is for people who are boring and ugly and serious. And I am none of those things.

I'm here. How are you feeling?

Many of you know me as the girl who conquered the wild, but I have an all new project up my sleeve. Law school. "Project" is a funny word, huh.

My mountains have turned from dirt roads to paved hills. My pleasure reads to case law. My four earwig-covered walls to a sexy high rise. Pick-up trucks to subway cars. Late mornings and early nights to early morning and late nights. And best friends to legal dictionaries. Needless to say, life is a bit different.

I've had a full couple weeks of anxieties and stressers, to-do lists and lists of to-do lists. It looked something like this:

Things worth stressing about

1. Pages and pages of reading
2. Rainy, cold, gray, and miserable weather, and being indoors for most of it. 
3. Moving, moving, and lots of moving
4. I don't have money
5. Don't stress about not having money
6. Adjusting to city-life (i.e. mean faces, no car, lots of expense)
7. Becoming Rani and Tom's little, needy sister and the potential payback that may allow her.
8. Not stressing (Make a list of de-stressers)

There's more. Obviously.

I'm two weeks in and so far, law school and Boston are rocking my world. NUSL is a law school unlike no other. I am sure of it. Not only have we received compliments on our intelligence and good looks, they said ensured that everyone would be a lawyer at the end of three years if we pay attention, think, and use our resources. At least someone is sure! All the faculty members we met during Orientation were warm, friendly, not intimidating, and had interests in international affairs, civil liberties, the environment, progressive politics, minority and education equality, and other topics that inspire and support the areas I want to study and pursue. Who knew that I would find a law school so tailored to my interests and needs!

And unlike what Elle (Legally Blonde) was told, law school is not for people who are boring and ugly and serious. There are some seriously cool people in law school. People to be reckoned with. People to be inspired by. People like... me?