In the kitchen on a snowy day.

Everyone is in the kitchen on a snowy day. There's not much else to do in a studio apartment when its snowing outside and you don't have cable or a warm body to cuddle up with. So... you cook! And eat.

Rani and Tom came over for dinner. We were a little nervous about my cooking because last time, all three of us may or may not have gotten sick. This time around, I tried really hard. Here were my recipes:

Polenta baked with fresh mozzarella and a spicy red sauce.
Nachos with chicken, quinoa, black beans, corn, lettuce, tomato, green onions, and avocado.

It was a success because 1) no one got sick and 2) my guests took home the leftovers. Score!

Even Uncle Ray and Mom were cooking this weekend.

Yum! I hope there still some left over by Thanksgiving. 

To follow-up on my last post about Duty to Others, you all were on point. You'd feel morally obligated to stop whatever texting conversation you were in to save the child. Some of you are SO moral that you insisted on "playing with my hypo" and having the kids run into ice cream, big puffy clouds, and puppies. If life were that grand...

Whatever moral obligation you would feel to save the child, we have no affirmative duty to act like a superhero. We are not legally required to step in and save the day except, of course, for a few notable exceptions:

1. Special Relationships. If you and a friend go out on a "social adventure" and have a known relationship to each other, it is implied that you look out for one another. If you and a friend were to go to a party together, get into some "trouble" and you abandon her under a car bleeding from the head, you will probably get sued and lose. 
2. Partial Rescue. If you start to save someone, you must finish to the extent that a reasonable person  could. You aren't expected to perform open heart surgery, but you are required to take reasonable measures to complete the rescue to the best of a reasonably prudent person's ability. Torts law loves the word reasonable. 
3. You did it. You hit someone with your car as they were crossing the street. You will be held liable for their injuries, obviously. But, you will also be legally required to get them help - call 911, take them to the ER, etc.

But, regardless, I'd go save the kid. Give myself a pat on the back and rock out my Super Woman outfit. 

Duty to others

According to Tort Law, everyone has a duty to act reasonably towards others. We are expected to drive our cars carefully and avoid actions and behavior that could potentially cause harm to others. But, what happens when we see an "accident waiting to happen"? Do we have a lawful duty to intervene?

Take this fact pattern...

You are sitting in a park, minding your own business. Texting, perhaps. You see two children playing catch near a busy road. One child misses the ball and he runs after it. Into oncoming traffic. You have enough time to react and stop the kid from getting hit by a car. Do you intervene?

Let's say you don't. You were busy texting and at the last minute, decided maybe you couldn't get there fast enough. Maybe you felt it wasn't your role to save this kid. You aren't a hero, after all. Or maybe you were just feeling lazy. Despicable.

You didn't intervene and the child gets hit by a car, sustaining serious injuries. Maybe he even dies. Morbid, I know. Can the child's parents sue you for failing to act?

What do you think? Let the discussion ensue...

Trips to Asia and Mystery Bruises

I have Asian roots. I've been to Thailand. I practically live in China(town). But, I can't say I've really experienced Asia until a few weeks ago when I ventured into C Mart on Harold St. It was an experience...

It's a good thing I went with my Asian sister, because I would have felt incredible lost (and intimidated). Rani was an impressive Asian - she navigated the aisles, identified great products, and pushed and shoved to the register. But the best thing about C Mart besides feeling like you're in a foreign country is that it's cheap. Dirt cheap.

Enormous container of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. $3.00

Bags and bags of fresh produce. $25.00

Venturing into Chinatown and shopping reminded me 1) I need to get re-in-touch with my Asian roots and 2) Of the many times that my family went the Oriental Mart in State College to stock up on our authentic Ramen Noodles, Rice Vinegar, and Pocky sticks. Good memories!

In other news, not only am I Asian, but I have a mystery bruise. Check it out:

I love mystery bruises. I get them often. I never have a clue where they come from. Pretty awesome. My first law school battle-wound. No big deal.

And apparently, I also have veiny hands. Ga-ross.

More about law school tomorrow. Promises promises. 

Law School Exam #1

Today was a very important day in my law school career. I took my very first exam. Ok, so it was a practice exam but still... it was the very first law school exam I ever sat and let me tell you, I was blown away.

The question kind of went like this...

Yadda yadda yadda Count 1 for breach of contract yadda yadda yadda Count 2 against the second defendant do be do be do Injunction la de da what should I do?

Except those 30 words were more like 3 pages double spaced. And the "yadda yaddas" and the "do be dos" and the "la de das" were actually real, relevant words (that kind of read the same way).

My practice exam was 1 question, 1 hour long on the topic of civil procedure. My task, as "junior law clerk" was to advise the "law firm partner" on how to approach a complaint served on our "client." I spent 20 minutes just reading and outlining the question and in the remaining 40, managed to put together what I thought was a pretty thorough and concise answer.

Unless, of course, I missed something big.

Something totally obvious.

Which would have totally redirected my response.

Oy.

But its over. And its not graded. And its totally anonymous but for a randomly generated student ID. And the "law firm partner" (aka my professor) will give me feedback in a couple weeks.

I. CAN'T. WAIT.

I have spent all my free time in the last several days outlining, reviewing, re-outlining, re-reviewing, and studying for this test. I haven't slept well (too much on my mind), haven't had time to grocery shop (really out of the way), and am so far behind on the TV shows I try to catch on Hulu.

So, what did I do with my free time this afternoon?

1. Bought groceries. Love Trader Joes. 
2. Returned dumb impulse buys at Forever XXI. 
3. Got a latte on Mom. Technically not on Mom, since I paid. But, it was her idea.
4. Watched The Sing Off and Up All Night and Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition on Hulu.
5. Subsequently cried from watching Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition on Hulu. I'm going though an "emotional time" and "don't want to talk about it" because I "cry" about "everything." 
6. Laundry. Still doing laundry. 
7. Re-inflated my exercise ball. It was looking sad. 
8. Watered my aloe plant. Long overdue. 
9. Put on fake tanner. And then let it dry. For 10 minutes. Benefits of living alone.

Lastly, an oath:

I, Amy Pimentel, promise to not neglect my blog and write more often. 

Lesson #10: Enjoy your days off

Unexpected sunny days are the best, especially when you get to play tourist with the other hundred-thousand people walking around Boston on Columbus Day.  But only I had the best tour-guides in the world...

We started out through the Common and onto the Freedom Trail. First stop - graveyard where Sam Adams is buried.  

I don't claim photography excellence but because of the community college class I took this summer, I was delighted to impart what tips I knew to my very intense tour guides.

We walked by City Hall...

Frolicked in the alleys...

I gave Tom my camera and he captured some cool buildings with awesome shadows.

This is when it gets fun. We elbowed through tourists and children to navigate Fannuill Hall and Quincy Market. We landed in the North End where we had an authentic Italian lunch and waited in line for 25 minutes to try the area's famous Canollis.

1. Whipped cream in a chocolate dipped shell with chocolate chips and powdered sugar.
2. Chocolate custard in a regular shell and powdered sugar.

Cue eating montage.

After eating two cannolis, we sought the advice of this sage before we started our walk home.

Don't mind the red light and hand.

I had the best tour guides ever...

And successfully managed to procrastinate during this beautiful afternoon! No regrets!

Flashback and blackout to Belgian Beer Fest

A few weekends ago, Tom and I had a stellar adventure - our first adventure without Rani. I know he'll agree that we had a lot of fun, at least the part that he remembers...

Tom and I signed up to go to Belgian Beer Fest. This was my first Beer Fest ever and I had no idea what to expect when we approached the line.

Tom is a veteran at Beer Fests so he brought all the necessary tools for success: Strategy, a pretzel necklace, and his game face.

We were off, but not before we planned our route around the 50+ tables with 200+ choices of beer! We got our program and headed to our favorites first.

Tom and I made a deal. For ever one sample I tried, Tom was to try two.

I had about 20 samples...

and Tom had about 40.

 

 And we were drunk. You'll have to take my word for it because Tom doesn't really remember.

Lesson #9: Bacon substitute doesn't really substitute for bacon

It's gross. It's disgusting. And it tastes nothing like bacon. And there's no way you can argue it does.

Lesson #8: What every law student needs.

I'm only a month into law school and there are already things I can't live without:

Tabs. I tab everything. They look cool and are really helpful.

Highlighters. Lots of them. Lots of colors.

Notecards. I use them as flash cards for Civil Procedure.

Snacks. Chewy delicious snacks.

Anything to make my day brighter. Like flowers I bought for myself.

Zen. And inspiration for zen.

Lots of sleep.

A sister with attitude.

A little floor space to sprawl, kick, and scream.

As some of you know, this was a really difficult weekend for me. But despite that, I'm starting this week fresh. All smiles, positivity, productivity, and optimism. Yay for being strong! Yay for being me!