something to look forward to...

besides freedom? and spideyman?

A random present from W! Horray! I have heard so many good things about this series. Best nature documentary EVER??!? Haha. And the DVDs are narrated by the OG British narrator (as opposed to Sigourney Weaver on tv), which is good for me because I (like most other girls?) do love the British accent. :)

... Has no one ever told Blogger that they need smilies?

Anyway, the Discovery Channel has an awesome website for it, too. Is it sad how mesmerized I am by the spinning thing on the front page (when you click from region to region)?

Can't wait till finals are over. Sadly, I haven't even taken my first one yet.

Last Day of 1L Class

Today was my last day of class... unbelievable. Doesn't feel like it, since we still have review sessions to attend and finals to take, but I'm sure it'll sink in soon.

Couple things that'll probably get lost on anyone outside our class, but I'd like to remember...

Last semester, a guy in my class presented our favorite professor (Civil Procedure) with an award on behalf of the class (although most of us didn't know about it). It was called the "International Shoe" Award, based off of a significant case in our course, and there was a little gold shoe on top. At the bottom, it said something along the lines of, "To Professor XX, for Best Subject Matter Jurisdiction." Cute. (cute because subject matter jurisdiction is one of the main topics in civ pro, but sounds right in that setting, too). Our professor, who is a rather quirky but stiff guy, looked like he was about to cry!! A collective aww...

Torts Professor Hearts the Shoulder Pad Jacket (in khaki colors)

So today, the same guy presented our favorite professor (Torts) of this semester with an award. It was more funny than touching. After doing a spot-on impersonation of our double-brested-shoulder-padded-jacket-wearing Torts professor ranting a lecture, he presented him with a trophy cup. There is another student in my class that always makes crazy long-winded hypotheticals in class. There was one "giving you a glass half-filled with water" hypo that especially made no sense to the rest of us. From then on, whenever he started on another crazy hypo, our professor would often go, "wait, this isn't the one where you give me a half-full glass of water is it?" So today, he joined the other guy and poured water half-full into the trophy cup before giving it to our professor. So funny :)

Our prof also showed us this video (as a last day treat?), which is only somewhat amusing but I love it when the guy getting deposed says, "... are you guys threatening to fight?"

"Joe Jamail in Tense Deposition"


... I just realized our two favorite profs both had... peculiar... style choices. The CivPro professor wore a bow tie everyday (someone dressed up as him for Halloween) and now the Torts professor loves the double button shoulder jacket.

pretty procrastination

pretty procrastination courtesy of zara.com

Happy Earth Day

(Wicklow County, Ireland)

Some people think it's too late, but I don't. It's late, but not too late.

My biggest environmental weakness: i really use lots of paper towels, tissue paper, tp, etc.

I'm excited for the summer.. I'm working for Environmental Defense. Check out their website.

It's Finals Time

I've slipped into finals mode. There are technically still two days of instruction left, as well as a week and a half until my first final, but in reality I'm kind of a late-starter. I feel like some people have been in finals mode the whole semester.

Finals time is interesting. On the one hand, you are stressed out because these darn finals are 100% of your all-important 1L grades. On the other hand, it's a little bit like a vacation because I don't have to go to school, I study in my pj's all day, make kitchen runs every 2 hours, etc. I like it.

It's important for me to have "happy things" during finals time.

Sunflowers from W. I love happy flowers.

Simple things: something about a big group of chopped carrots + celery is pleasing to me. It's probably the bright colors and cute shapes. I really dont like eating either of the two, but they are good in soups at least.

Obviously, I can't go anywhere fun during finals (unles you count the market, which sadly I do find fun). But once in a while I like to take a break with these super cool panorama picture sites. You get a complete view of the place (here, Machu Picchu)-- not just 360 degrees around, but up in the sky and down on the ground, too. It really gives you a good feel of what it's like to be there (based off the pics of places I have been to).
Check out Panoramas.dk

Yeah really gotta take in the simple pleasures right now hahah. I realize that I'm studying more than ever, but it's not that bad because you take for granted that this is how it has to be. Instead of being a huge drag, I can't believe I'm nearing the end of my 1L. Overall, it's been a great experience. There are times when I can't stand going to class or want to rip my hair off because of some writing assignment, but at the end, the law is really interesting. I've realized that, if you ever want to do something, think twice about listening to naysayers (somehow their words stick in your mind more). Seek out the advice of someone who has the same personality, temperament, capabilities etc. as you. It would be sad to be discouraged from doing something that could turn out great.


And lastly, an image I find funny:

Growing Disdain and Other Thoughts

I really have a growing disdain for one of my professors. First of all, he is abrasive and stubborn. He often freaks out (in an unpleasant manner) about a student's in-class question before he even fully understands what is being asked. That can be excused, I suppose, since that was what I was really actually expecting from law professors before I came to law school.

However, what really bothered me today was, when discussing the Virginia Tech tragedy, he kept referring to the gunman as the "Korean" killer/shooter. He gave several hypos afterwards, always alluding to the "Korean" kid/boy/killer/shooter/etc. He must have said "Korean" at least 10 times. Had he been white, or even black, he would have been "The VTech shooter," or something along those lines. Instead, he was "the Korean Killer."

This is true of media outlets, too. I suppose that it should come as no surprise that the world is still very race-conscious, but I would expect more from a law professor at a highly respected, liberal law school, as well as from prestigious media outlets, etc. Furthermore, many South Koreans/ Korean-Americans are apologizing and feeling very personally sorry for the shooter's actions, as though they are personally responsible because they share the same ethnicity.

I was surprised, too, when I heard he was Asian. But to cast him as a foreigner, emphasizing his "resident alien" status (even though he was here since 8), to always include the word "Korean" in related headlines, is to make his ethnicity a much much bigger issue than it should be. I understand that it's just one issue of many (gun control and preemptive action are among others), but nevetheless it is not right. We ultimately have a much heavier issue of school shootings in America, and why we have such deranged individuals in our society. How can we prevent such horrible things from happening...

An NPR clip from "All Things Considered" that goes against the grain:
"Weighing Cho's Heritage and Identiy"

Sad Day

Today was a very sad day. I can't believe what happened at Virginia Tech.

Edinburgh

Edinburgh, Scotland.
Not usually considered on a European trip, but it should be... very nice city.
Although, as a warning, people will give you shit about calling it "Eding-BURGH" as it is spelled. While you are there, it's "edin-BRA(g)H"

I Love Google Earth

I love most things by Google. I love Gmail, Picasa, Google Maps, and Google Earth. And Google itself.

Anyway here is a recent cool article on Google Earth:

Story Highlights

• Google Earth highlights atrocities in Darfur region of Sudan
• Google official: Tool can be "catalyst for education and action"
• Google Earth has 200 million users
• Official: Technology will make it harder to ignore genocide

By Elise Labott
CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- If you Google the word Darfur, you will find about 13 million references to the atrocities in the western Darfur region of Sudan -- what the United States has said is this century's first genocide.

As of today, when the 200 million users of Google Earth log onto the site, they will be able to view the horrific details of what's happening in Darfur for themselves.

In an effort to bring more attention to the ongoing crisis in Darfur, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has teamed up with Google's mapping service literally to map out the carnage in the Darfur region.

Experts estimate that 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million more have been displaced since the conflict flared in 2003, when rebels took up arms against the central Sudanese government.

The new initiative, called "Crisis in Darfur," enables Google Earth users to visualize the details in the region, including the destruction of villages and the location of displaced persons in refugee camps.

Elliot Schrage, Google's vice president of global communications and public affairs, joined museum director Sara J. Bloomfield to make the official announcement about the new feature.

"At Google, we believe technology can be a catalyst for education and action," Schrage said. " 'Crisis in Darfur' will enable Google Earth users to visualize and learn about the destruction in Darfur as never before and join the museum's efforts in responding to this continuing international catastrophe."

The Google Earth mapping service combines 3-D satellite imagery, aerial and ground-level maps and the power of Google, one of the Internet's most widely used search engines, to make the world's geographic information user friendly. Since its inception in June 2005, nearly 200 million people have downloaded the free program.

Using the high-resolution imagery of Google Earth, users will be able to zoom into the Darfur region for a better understanding of the scope of the destruction.

More than 1,600 damaged and destroyed villages will be visible, as will the remnants of more than 100,000 homes, schools, mosques and other structures destroyed by the Janjaweed militia and Sudanese forces.

The Holocaust museum also has compiled a collection of photos, data and eyewitness testimony from its archives and number of sources, including the U.S. State Department, nongovernmental organizations, the United Nations and individual photographers. That material also will be available when Google Earth users visit the Darfur site.

The "Crisis in Darfur" initiative is the first of what is expected to be several collaborations between the museum and Google Earth to highlight the dangers of genocide around the world.

The museum also announced Tuesday the creation of a mapping project with Google Earth on the Holocaust, when Nazis killed 6 million Jews during World War II.

That project will use Google Earth to map key Holocaust sites, such as Auschwitz, Dachau, Bergen-Belsen, Treblinka, Warsaw and Lodz with historic content from its collections to illustrate the enormous scope and impact of the Holocaust. Each place links to a featured article with related historical photographs, testimony clips, maps, artifacts and film footage.

"Educating today's generation about the atrocities of the past and present can be enhanced by technologies such as Google Earth," Bloomfield said.

"When it comes to responding to genocide, the world's record is terrible. We hope this important initiative with Google will make it that much harder for the world to ignore those who need us the most."

MySpace Trap... by me!

You know how employers are looking at MySpace pages and Facebook profiles these days? And that's what started my whole crazed I NEED TO GO PRIVATE ON XANGA thing?

I was thinking, what if I made a profile that was MEANT to be discovered by employers?

Such as:

"My Name Here
#1 in her class
Voted Best Personality

Here is a picture of me saving orphans.

Here is a picture of me swimming with dolphins while working on an ocean conservation project.

Here is me shaking hands with Warren Buffet after introducing an amazing new trading technique to him.

Here is me receiving praise from my past employer for my outstanding performance and ability to raise sales.

Here I am with my fully intact happy family, 2.5 siblings, and one golden retriever."


I think it would work marvelously. I may need to work on my grammar though.

Tongue & Foreskin

Here's my friend's dog, Chloe. Look how cute she is when she sticks out her tongue!!!! It's not hanging out like normal... it's just stuck out, with the rest of her mouth closed. We even tried touching it-- she didn't flinch. Kind of weird. But more just cute.

Today my torts professor told me how Keith Richards snorted his father's ashes with some cocaine (we were discussing emotional distress resulting from the mishandling of a deceased relative's body). Gross.
Update: I guess it might not be true, but the fact that Richards would say that is pretty crazy.

Also, there was a case mentioned about a battle over a boy being circumcized on the wrong day. Which reminded me, did you know that there is a rather expensive facial cream made out of a baby boy's foreskin??? Yeah. Featured on Oprah and The View and all; it's supposed to work miracles. I'm not touching it.

http://www.nbc10.com/health/1808693/detail.html

Something about it makes sense but is still so wrong.

Study Buddy

Shorty (now named Pokey) the Taterpot studies our nation's Constitution.