The Bitterness of the California Bar Exam

2007-11-16T20:04:00.000-06:00

The name above appears on the pass list for the July 2007 California Bar Examination.

I will be right here waiting for you

2007-11-16T19:00:00.000-06:00

Results will be available in 62 minutes.

Thanks, Cal bar website.

Currently working on a bottle of wine - so I have 62 minutes to finish it.

Argh!

I was staring at the sky, just looking for a star, to pray on or wish on or something like that....

2007-11-14T03:33:00.000-06:00

Results come out on Friday... I feel like I'm going to throw up. (Pretty much all the time, for the past few weeks.)

Billed almost 300 hours last month - ergo the lack of posts.

Time to sleep.

So this world has left you bare, I'm sorry I no longer care.

2007-10-05T00:51:00.000-05:00

Attn Everyone I Know - I'm sick of being told - "You'll pass!" You don't know that. And every time you say it, the Cali Bar Folks feel a sharp pain in their sides and dock me another point off each of my essays. So stop... please.

On the bright side, I won't get kicked out of Biglaw for my lack of billable hours. I just got pulled into a new case that will suck my life away for quite some time. At least after the first 10 billable hours dinner is on the firm. Sadly, I may miss out on my upcoming work retreat at some posh little resort in order to spend an entire weekend at the office. But who really wants to play lawn tennis when you can work on some pimp ass litigation-related materials? Oh right, me.

Suddenly I see

2007-10-02T00:55:00.000-05:00

Apparently we're about 45 days from the bar results. I'm pretty sure Cali is the last one to give them out. At this point I've convinced myself I failed it. I'm not a moron, but then again, I did fuck up that whole lesser-included offense thing. So there's that. The results come out on a Friday. Two days later is my birthday. I'm going to a long lunch that Friday afternoon to start the binge drinking, which will likely continue through the weekend. Awhile back, I asked a friend of mine if I could come visit him over my fail-the-bar-birthday weekend. He said no. Why? Because either I'm going to fail and be miserable the whole time, or I'll pass and make his life look like shit in comparison. (I'm paraphrasing there.) I know I won't want to call anyone out in Cali to hang out that weekend, as the vast majority of my friends are wanna-be lawyers... and who wants to call to report that they have failed the bar? Or call to say that you have passed --- only to find out your friend failed. I'm fucked. But for better or for worse, I've got a bottle of Barolo all lined up for the event.

Today marked the start of the billable year - Holla! Not like this is a good thing, as my department is really slow right now. I have 50 hours of time to use up on research activities that don't get billed to a client but count towards my billable hours, but that will be burned through in a little over a week. 8 hours billed a day BLOWS. I end up wasting an insane amount of time during the day, so I have to pull 10 hour days to get my 8 hours in. My effectiveness rate is increasing, but I still feel guilty when I disappear to go to Starbucks or grab lunch. Granted, I have my nifty blackberry with me at all times, but what if a partner were to walk by my empty office? I'm 26, I'm a profesional, but sometimes I feel like I'm twelve.

I'm starting to think I could get away with never having to buy lunch during the week. There's always a meeting or presentation to go to over the lunch hour, and food is always provided. I could stock up on rolls for the days that don't happen to have a lunch event. It's sad, I make a small fortune and I'm trying to find ways around buying lunch. And not because I want to make student loan payments... because I want to do more shopping at Banana Republic and Coach.

The good news about work is that I seriously love my group... the personalities all match really well, the partners seem to actually like me, and the group is small enough that I'll actually get some billable work from time to time. I did a lot of work for them when I was a summer, so I believe I may have earned some respect back then.

Then again, once I fail the bar all of this goes to hell.

Ah well.

I owe my soul to the company store

2007-09-18T00:23:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been a week and a day since I began work at the firm. The first day back was a little odd... I had the first day jitters along with the confidence of knowing I wasn't on the chopping block. It was a little before noon when I was escorted to my office. Sitting down for the first time sort of gave me the chills. My name on the door (and not an officemate along with me like I had over the summer) - I had a few minutes alone there before lunch, and just sort of sat there, staring blankly at the computer thinking - only 8-9 years before I make partner. Or something like that. Part of me still thinks I don't really deserve all this... that I've perpetuated some huge hoax on the firm, that I'm not intelligent enough to pull this off. A week later, I'm buried in a huge project, and I still think any minute that a senior partner will walk into my office and tell me that I've already fucked up the research (even though I have yet to turn anything in yet). Paranoia, ftl.

Anyways... on a brighter note...

I love my blackberry. I got it the second day, and just holding it in my hand made me happy. Granted, I'm not entirely sure how to use it yet, but it's already come in handy (to notify a co-worker I'd be a few minutes late one morning). And it has the added perk of making me look like a pretensious asshole. I'm one of those blackberry people... next up, the bluetooth in my ear 24/7 (I own one, but don't use it, yet).

I managed to get a few lunches last week for free. That's right, ease the old summer into the new gig by paying for the first two days...

I have a retreat for work coming up already - and I've heard those can be entertaining. Plus, I love stealing all of the toiletries from the hotel room. Who needs 15 shower caps? I do!

As for the cat - he's still alive. And needy. Apparently he doesn't appreciate me being gone for 11 hours each day. When I get home, he meows until I feed him, then proceeds to sit behind me on the couch while I watch C-Span on Tivo (and by C-Span, I mean old episodes of Dawson's Creek). Yes, he's neglected. But aren't we all.

Enough random rambling... Andi is about to take ecstacy. Bad call.

So I got the letter...

2007-09-13T21:42:00.000-05:00

And the Bar Gods have been merciful - they will accept my answers despite them being 30 minutes late.

It's good to know that when I fail on Nov. 16, it won't be because of a technicality.

I'm not dead...

2007-09-04T14:41:00.000-05:00

I just was half a world away on my bar trip - and I have yet to make it back to LA to check to see if the Bar Gods have responded to my letter. So no news yet.

I needed to be rescued

2007-07-27T15:02:00.000-05:00

Ok - so I wrote up a letter, printed out confirmations of my upload times (they hadn't magically changed to before the deadline, however), and drove over to the State Bar to deliver the letter to the admissions people. They didn't have much to say, other than that I would get a letter telling me what they were going to do.

The good: Apparently there is at lease some discretion on the part of the bar to accept late answers. I was "only" a half hour late, dropped off a letter to the bar within an hour of uploading my answers, etc.

The bad: I have a really lousy excuse.

At least if they send me a letter telling me I'm screwed, I'll know in advance that I have to prepare for the Feb 08 bar. Sure beats waiting until November.

One of the girls I used to work with back before I moved out to Cali called me when she read the blog (thanks KA/MD) - that helped a bit. I know this whole thing is out of my hands at this point, that my luck sucks, that it's my own damn fault, etc. I even wrote an e-mail to my law firm director of attorney hiring, to see what happens if I don't pass. I think we get a second chance at it, but I'm not sure.

The worst part of all of this - I think I did enough to pass. I missed some issues (attempt as the lesser included offense for murder, for example) - but most of my answers were half-way decent. If they don't accept them, I don't even get the 40 for showing up - it's a zero. I have yet to talk to my parents, but they aren't going to be impressed. And they'll be worried I'll kill myself (which I won't, life goes on).

I'll deal with whatever they decide. Hopefully the begging in the letter to the director was enough. If not, well... not sure yet. Maybe it won't have hurt to learn all those damn CA subjects.

I'm fucked

2007-07-27T13:17:00.000-05:00

Woke up at 9:30 AM to upload my answers... and no internet connection.

Screwed around with it for an hour, got them finally uploaded at 10:30 AM, 1/2 hour after the deadline.

I feel sick.

I called the state bar, they told me to write to the director, but it looks like I've failed the bar.

Remember me, every so often, promise me you'll try

2007-07-25T22:00:00.000-05:00

Apparently my prior post didn't work... so here's an abbreviated version:

1) I'm sick of JOAN, whoever she is, and the sick relationship she has with our main proctor.

2) The MBEs cracked me up - actually, any time I see "Dumpor" I crack up.... or a girl taking naked pictures of another girl (without her knowledge???)... or the EPC of the 5th. And the fuck-ton of Ds (as Biff pointed out) - well, that didn't crack me up at the time... but now it's funny.

3) I think the afternoon session was easier for me, aside from some really odd questions,that I won't post here yet I get fined, put in jail, get disbarred (assuming I pass), or get a Rule 12 violation.

4) I'm tired. One more day.

I’m not sure how this all got started, but I can tell you exactly how it will end.

2007-07-24T20:20:00.000-05:00

End of day one.

So the worst part of the exam has got to be waiting for the proctors to pick up materials... it's like waiting to de-plane once your flight has landed, only to find out that you have to wait for another plane to leave your gate. Minutes seem like hours, especially since I smoke. Anyways...

This morning was 3 hours of essays - all of which suprised me in some way or another. The first was a landlord-tenant problem. I actually think I did relatively well on that one, having had it drilled into my subconscious during property first year. I spent an extra 5 minutes of so on it, and listed off a fuck-ton of issues, especially defenses to paying rent - although I probably should have emphasised more that the "defenses" were really just mostly counterclaims. But I hit a bunch of shit and did a good job on it. Go me.

The second was a torts question - product liabilty and negligence. I really wasn't expecting torts, and I had convienetly forgotten the elements to PL, so I made them up. Some of the stuff I made up was correct - foreseeabilty - others, well, not so much. But I think I managed a 65 on it. Oh yeah - so the question asked if a MTD shoudl be granted, and I pretty much fell over when I couldn't figure out the standard for granting a MTD. What I used was - taking all the facts as true in P's complaint, does P still have a claim? But something about the question just didn't seem right.

Last up was evidence, and I probably did the worst here - given my ability to not want to point out why 24 of the 26 exceptions DON'T apply. In addition, I was somewhat pissed the evidence essay wasn't California specific. I inserted some CA distinctions, but I doubt I was even supposed to do that as the call of the question didn't ask for it. Apparently a number of other people did the same thing as me. Fuck you, Bar People, for making me focus on these things only to ignore them come exam time. Through me a bone. But.... no matter what - I got a 40!!!!!

The afternoon was the performance test, a PR question. I'm hoping this means PR won't be tested in the essays on Thursday - but my ability to predict is clearly not good - so it will most likely be a full essay. I wasn't totally happy with my organization of the essay response - I did more of a law shit first, then apply second in seperate sections - when I probably should have "weaved" more. But - 40!!!!! I left the PT portion early - as I was feeling slightly out of it - but I think it went ok.

Tomorrow is the MBEs. I was hoping to have the motivation to do some practice MBEs tonight, but I just don't want to think right now. Besides, I highly doubt that my ability to get 70 - 80% will drop to an unacceptable level should I ignore them tonight. I ran into some co-workers from last summer that were out here taking the bar and had dinner with them tonight, so instead of studying, I'm just going to ponder the latest gossip, read some Harry Potter, watch some shitty TV, and pass out - probably by 10. I'm already dreading how tired I will be come Thursday. Argh.

And to close - fuck the bar.

2007-07-23T13:28:00.001-05:00

Was it a dream?

2007-07-23T13:02:00.000-05:00

After a few nights of relatively peaceful sleep, last night I had another bar-related nightmare. For some reason I was in South America, and due to a storm couldn't make it back in time to take the CBX (after pleading with the airlines, checking alternate routes that took me through Florida and Kansas, crying, etc.). I blame it all on the BarBri story of the guy who missed the first day of the exam because he was a day off on his schedule. I woke up this morning in a panic - and double-checked to make sure today was in fact Monday, not Tuesday, as well as that the exam started Tuesday. I can already tell that tonight won't be an easy night's sleep. At least I'm not stuck in South America.

Anyways, after the minor freak out this morning, I sat around my apartment for a bit before deciding to deal with traffic to get breakfast at a little diner I found on google. I very rarely eat breakfast, but I do tend to consume truckloads of bacon when studying for an exam, and I've been lacking in that department lately with my diet of PB&J and coffee. The food was good - eggs, hashbrowns, and 4 glorious slices of bacon. The service was pretty good too. Perhaps I have that whole - "Be nice to me, I'm taking the bar exam tomorrow" look about me. Or perhaps they were just pitying me because I was dining alone. Either way - yeah for bacon.

This past weekend the so-called "sense of serenity" hit me - or, put differently, I've sort of given up. I did a few more mini-outlines on Saturday and Sunday, looked over a few essays, but overall I think I know enough to pass. During one of my all-to-frequent study breaks playing World of Warcraft, I was turned into a sheep for the first time... yeah, in game apparently the mages can turn people into sheep. I think it was a sign from BarBri. Despite my refusal to follow the paced program, I've hit sheep status with a day or two to spare. I rock on most of the MBEs, I lie like a pro during essays, and I randomly insert phrases like: reasonable person, qualified immunity, convenience of the parties, irresistible impulse, respondeat superior, and res ispa loquitur. I know I'm going to blow an essay, and I'm okay with that. I get a 40 for just sitting down, and a 45 if I talk about my ex-boyfriend dumping me and mention a ring (provided it's a property question). Yes, I could have done more, and no, I shouldn't have starting reading Harry Potter or playing WOW. If I fail, it will be my fault for not doing more - but I think I did enough to feel comfortable about this thing.

So tomorrow, after the first day, I'm going to re-read this, then tell everyone why it is that I'm going to fail. Confidence only goes down from here.

Good luck to everyone!

They called you failure's art

2007-07-22T20:49:00.000-05:00

I just received the following e-mail from my father:

"Good luck on passing the bar this week, and always know that we're proud of you. I know how hard you've worked for this now go get it. Remember that if it doesn't go well we still love you. DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PS If you should fail don't bother to call or come home again, we'll disown you! LOVE DAD"

Gotta love that sense of humor.

The decision made itself

2007-07-21T22:26:00.001-05:00

The book came early. Fuck.

Yes, things have gotten bad.

2007-07-20T02:12:00.001-05:00

Blood of christ is dripping in to the eyes of the world again

2007-07-19T14:52:00.000-05:00

The following quote just came up on my gmail -

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." (Don Marquis).

No kidding. And I suck at art. Anyways...

As I took the elevator downstairs this morning, a random person in my building, who I had never met before, decided to talk to me:

Random: "What are your plans for the day?"

Me: "Studying."

Random: "For what?"

Me: "I take the bar exam in a few days."

Random: "I'll pray for you."

Me: (Slight laughter.) "Thanks, I need all the help I can get."

Random: "Jesus is the only help you need. I'm alive because of him."

Me: "Um... Well, thanks."

Random: "God bless you."

--------------------------------

Ok... so I'm an atheist, but that didn't really bother me. What bothered me was the whole "I'm alive because of him" bit. Now, if I were to believe in a higher power, I would think that we ALL were alive because of him, right? So was it really necessary to point it out to me? Wouldn't a simple "good luck" have done the trick?

Then again, maybe she's right, and BarBri was the driving force behind the "God is dead" chain of thought. Instead of studying for the last two or so months, I should have been praying. Well - praying to something other than the World of Warcraft gods in order to level. (I'm now a lvl 30 undead warlock btw - sweet.)

---------------------------------------

The other bloggers have been posting their final review schedules. The Grand Poobah's seems bar far the most intense - about 15 hours a day until the bar. I'm shooting for 9-10 hours of actual study time. Today and tomorrow I'm going to make my one page charts for all of the subjects, and then spend Saturday through Monday outlining essays (most of which I skipped over during the paced program). During law school I always tended to cram at the end - including a number of all-nighters (thanks to me convincing myself that if I fell asleep I'd miss my alarm in the morning and never wake up). Sleep hasn't come easily lately aside from those days when I start drinking at 2:00 PM, so today I bought some sleeping pills which I will try out tonight. More important than cramming is going to be getting at least 6 hours of sleep a night and waking up at 6:30 each morning.

-------------------------------------------

Finally, if I don't pass the bar, I know what the reason will be - lack of my lucky vodka. During law school finals, I brought in one of those one-shot mini bottles of vodka to each exam. Not to drink it - just to have it there. The running joke was if I ever felt completely fucked, I could always just take a shot. It was meant as a joke - which most people got - aside from one of the law school professors who later notified one of the deans of the school about my "excessive drinking" including the whole bottle in the exam thing. As a result I got a call from the dean to go over my drinking problem. She apparently didn't think the whole vodka thing was as funny as I did, and was convinced I had a 1.75 in there with me. I found it entertaining though, especially after I pointed out to her my GPA (which would have been really impressive if I was a raging alcoholic.) Anyways, I still brought in the vodka to finals, and did well - never having to resort to its contents. Perhaps I'll stick it in my pocket or something - or at least the label. Unless we get frisked at the door, which is a definite possibility.

And we all freaked out, what a shame

2007-07-18T20:58:00.000-05:00

PT review - what are the first two lines that MUST be included in an affidavit, which the CBX folks won't tell us about? I have no clue, and considering that this is the only PT prep I'm going to do, any help would be appreciated.

On My Own from Les Mis - Bar Taker's Edition

2007-07-17T06:04:00.000-05:00

On my own
Pretending Conviser’s beside me
All alone
I read with him til morning
Without him, I keep on bombing essays
And when I lose my way I close my eyes and hope I die soon

MBEs
Aren’t easier when sober
Wrong answers are circled on my paper
Despite practice, essays are full of fake rules
And all I see Conviser forever and forever

And I know it’s only in my mind
That I’m talking to myself and not to him
And although I know I’ll fail the bar
Still I say there’s a way for us

I love him
But when the bar is over
He is gone
The PTs just a PT
Without him, I’m guaranteed to repeat
I’m giving up though everyone keeps telling me “You’ll pass this!”

I love him
But every day I’m learning
In BarBri, I only was half-listening
Without me, graders will go on grading
The world is full billables that I will never know

I love him
I love him
I love him
But only if I pass

You will burn in hell for all your sins

2007-07-16T20:39:00.000-05:00

TWO UPIAs -

Uniform Prudent Investor Act
Uniform Principle and Income Act

Go to hell, uniform act creators.

I am certain I've become broken, bruised, and numb

2007-07-16T14:35:00.000-05:00

The only thing I could think about when I woke up this morning was Harry Potter. No, not the new book, which comes out Saturday (and I've ordered with very slow delivery as to not get my hands on it until after the CBX) - but the sorting hat. You know, from the first book/movie. Harry sits down, and basically begs the hat not to put him in Slytherin-- "Not Slytherin, not Slytherin..."

I'm basically doing the same thing every time I study for the bar - especially when it comes to the essay questions... "Not Con Law, not Con Law." Even as I'm sitting here writing this, Con Law creeps into my subconscious. There's an old episode of Dawson's Creek on (don't ask, the CBX does funny things to everyone) - and there is a beauty contest that Pacey (a guy) wants to enter. State action? Intermediate scrutiny? What about a Capeside residency requirement? Quote from the show: "There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that allows you to enter this pageant!"

Despite the BarBri promise that Con Law turns out to be one of the easiest MBE subjects, it's consistently the area I perform the worst in. Granted, the Chem-Chem outline was lost on a plane when I left for a mini-vacation right after BarBri started, but I don't know if that would have made much of a difference.

Today I'm going to try to change all of that by going to coffee and covering Con Law for most of the day. It's just so much easier to do the things I tend to get right - Community Property essays, Crim Law MBEs. I need to get over that - a week from tomorrow is the bar - so I'll save the "Not Con Law!" begging for right before I fall asleep each night, and prepare for the worst if that doesn't work.

A different kind of pain

2007-07-14T20:48:00.000-05:00

My coffee shop is having an event with the two art galleries that surround it, complete with security guards, wristbands, and a bunch of really odd looking art folk. And loud music. So much for me getting anything else useful done today. It's hard to concentrate when I have to worry about waiting in line for 20 minutes each time I want to use the bathroom.

If it's like this again tomorrow I may just sit in my car and cry.

I find it hard to adjust to the lines you're drawing for me

2007-07-13T18:55:00.000-05:00

So I'm on a mission to not get another parking ticket until after I take the bar. As a result, I leave the coffee shop after 55 minutes or so, walk down to my car, plug another quarter in the meter, and walk back. I tend to stare in the soap store next door as I'm walking by. It dawned on me that I'm approaching the Terry scenario. I'm sure it appears like I'm casing the place. Then again, I'm not talking with anyone upon my return to the coffee shop - that would require me actually having contact with another human being, which I've pretty much stopped doing in it's entirety, aside from the chick at subway who makes my sandwich every day. The baristas now know what I order at coffee, so no conversation there either.

Anyways, if I did get stopped, I think it would be reasonable for me to point out that I'm studying for the bar exam, and thus 1) have a stipend, so I don't need the cash, and 2) don't take the time to shower as it cuts into my studying time. (1) could be rebutted by the fact that I have developed an adderall addiction in order to study 24 hours a day for the next week and half before the bar, and that shit's expensive. (2) though, sounds pretty good to me. Reasonable suspicion dispelled? Let's hope so. Because honestly, if I get stopped and frisked, I'm all about committing a few choice common law torts on the cops, just for having the gall to interrupt me from the joy that is remedies.

You're a salty sea of misery

2007-07-12T19:20:00.000-05:00

Tonight I'm going to see Rocky Votolato in concert - the last "fun" thing I'm going to do until after the bar. It was going to be my reward for working so hard these past few weeks, but since I've failed at that, it's going to be be my reward for waking up every morning (or afternoon) and not shooting myself in the face.

I'm incapable of memorizing anything - at least by the typical memorization method of re-reading something over and over again. Outlining has helped with the memorization part a bit, but I've noticed that in my essays I tend to gloss over the basic shit that doesn't apply and get to the point. What I need to do is memorize the language given in the sample answers. So, instead of me saying that "A controlling shareholder owes the corporation a duty of care," I need to get used to saying: "In general, shareholders of a corporation do not owe the corporation any duties and my freely transfer their interests in the corporation. However, contrary to this general rule, a controlling shareholder does owe the corporation some duties, they are X, Y, and Z." The bar exam doesn't teach you how to think like a lawyer, but it may help you bill like one - going through a bunch of insanely tangential and inapplicable material before getting to the point.

ANYWAYS -

To help with my memorization issues I've decided to go back to my law school tactic - charts. Well, not charts really, but graph paper that lists out everything I need to know - at least the basic points - in lots of pretty colors. Handwriting always helps me with these sorts of things, as does color coding the major points. I'm going to try to limit myself to 2 sheets of graph paper per subject, which is probably the only amount of information I can retain going into the bar. I think that will be enough - the focus of the essay isn't going to be some random day for service requirement - it'll be something more major. At least I'm hoping that's the case.

In other news, I subscribe to a forum that talks about the Cali bar exam. A recent poster put up something along the lines of: "The bar is a test of minimum competency, and it's hard to fail." The members who replied went ballistic, especially those who were repeat takers. It looks like everyone is on edge now. It was kind of entertaining to hear people go on at length about how hard the exam is - if that's the case, shouldn't they be spending more time studying and less time replying to someone they disagree with on a listserve? There's also been some discussion on forum about the time limit for firm offers and how long they can be kept open, with people quoting various treaties because of a discrepancy between the BarBri materials and a sample answer. There wasn't a clear answer on this - but that didn't phase me - I think the point of the sample answers is that they don't have to be correct, just state the rule and apply the facts. Reasonable authorities differ on the conclusion - and that's fine.

Also funny was a sample answer I went over today that stated: "No case has ever held X." Good idea??? I doubt it. But it's in the sample answer.

I think Prof. Whitebread was correct in saying that the bar is about the basics. I've looked over a lot of what has been tested in the released MBEs and the released essays - and nothing struck me as particularly unfair. I'm sure I'm going to blow an essay, or two or there, but I still think it's possible to get a 65 on them without perfectly reciting the time frame between the pretrial conference and discovery requests. I'm starting to think that the main reason people fail is that they get freaked out before the exam, study too much material, and lose sight of the major issues. Or just fail to study at all.

Yep, I'm a sheep, and proud of it. Baaaaaaaaaaaa.

Disfunctional fuck up

2007-07-10T01:39:00.000-05:00

Motivation Monday came to a crashing halt thanks to another $40 parking ticket and no internet access at coffee. Instead I went home and played WOW. And drank, heavily.

Tomorrow is another day. Thank god. 2 weeks starts in 20 minutes.

Like a fugitive who just quit running you found out there's no escape

2007-07-08T23:36:00.000-05:00

Fuck you, new version of Microsoft Word.

I bought a new laptop at the end of the school year, since the P.O.S. the school issued me was on its last legs and I wanted something reliable to take the CBX on. Anyways, it came with Vista and the newest version of word. I had all of my outlines typed up and ready to go, and just printed them all out in the business center in my building. Turns out that the option to make the docs Word 2003 compatible (which I need in order to print from the computer downstairs) does nasty things to the formatting of the outlines. I had spent a considerable amount of time making sure all of my spacing was set out the way I wanted it - major subject headings on a new page - that sort of thing. After all 200+ pages had printed, I flipped through them and found out how fucked up they were.

Most people would be somewhat disgruntled by this, but I have some sort of OCD when it comes to my outlines. For law school, all of my outlines had to be perfect. They typically were color coded and I kept them in pristine condition. One night during finals, a waitress at Denny's spilt a drop of coffee on one of them - and my friends thought I was going to have a heart attack/shoot the waitress. (Hmmm.... adequate provocation to justify a reduction in the charge to voluntary manslaughter? No--- that's judged by a reasonable person standard - and the OCD pretty much negates that.) So, needless to say I'm debating going through the outlines and reformatting them, paying a small fortune to print them out at Kinkos on a newer version of Word, or buying a printer. Clearly, it's not going to be possible for me to keep them in their current condition.

On a happier note - I'm all over the released questions - much easier than the AQs, and more straightforward. BarBri has had the unfortunate effect of making me think that the most obvious answer is wrong, because they test on the exceptions to the expceptions. The released questions, however, don't do this. I'm also happier with my performance on these - somewhere between 79 and 94 percent on the questions depending on the subject. So that's good.

A comment on the last post referred to the PTs. Honestly, I don't think I'm going to do any of them. The one I did for the turn-in for BarBri was enough for me to realize I don't need to focus any energy on those things to do well. The random essays, on the other hand, need more work. Especially in the specific distinctions questions. So I'll continue to try to work on that, keep up with the MBEs, and try not to stress out.

Speaking of stress - I know we can take bathroom breaks during the exam, but can we go outside to smoke? I'm fine on my timing issues for the MBE, and the 5 minute break would be better spent filling my lungs with cancer inducing agents than urinating.

Tomorrow is Motivation Monday again. The third to the last one before the exam. It also starts the 2 week crunch time period. I think there's a good chance I'll get my act together now - I couldn't study worth shit until about 2 weeks before finals during school, then busted ass until exams were over. Too bad there isn't a 24 Denny's that allows smoking around LA - or in the state of California for that matter. Then again, the waitresses there suck.

I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?

2007-07-05T16:19:00.000-05:00

So I threw out the paced program (actually, it's buried in my trunk) and set up a new schedule for myself - the next 5 days or so I'm going to outline all of the subjects I hadn't gotten to yet (which was most of them). After that I'm going to be doing essays in the 2 weeks prior to the bar - 2 subjects a day - for a total of about 10 hours of studying (more if I can get my ass out of bed in the morning). I'm also going to do 100 MBEs or so a day. It's crunch time now, and I know this, and I don't feel prepared. It's sort of freaking me out. Most of the material for contacts that I've gone over so far seems familiar, but I don't know how I'll be able to recall it for the essays. Then again, looking over the prior bar exam essays, they don't seem overly difficult. I'll be able to hit most of the big issues, and ideally BS my way through them. Hopefully.

I'm starting to wish that BarBri was more uniform in terms of how the subjects were presented - some of the outlines from class were great, others were pretty shitty (like Civ Pro - way too much detail on stuff that won't be tested - or would only be worth a point or 2 - like days to serve). When I'm doing my own outlines I'm cutting out what I know I won't be able to remember come test day and focusing on the big picture. I think I'll be able to pass doing that. Once again - hopefully.

As to the Random Question - turns out that the guy was a realtor who was giving out his business card with the ice cream. My initial response was that the truck broke down, my friend (who was given the free ice cream) - thought that the person had just seen his dad outside working on the AC and felt guilty for the people inside. I guess that makes me the more cynical one, especially as I thought his response was insane. I think I likened it to the FEMA Ice Cream Service.

I've begun to think that watching TV is going to be more helpful for my bar prep than I thought. Within the last few days, I got to review the elements of arson, murder, and attempted murder thanks to an early X-Files episode. Negligence came up on an episode of Ice Road Truckers. And thanks to the one soap opera I've watched since I was 8 years old - Y&R - I've hit conspiracy, duty of those who undertake a rescue, defamation, false light, the spousal privileges, and accomplice liability. Too bad my friends don't find this as entertaining as I do.

Back to outlining.

RANDOM NON BARBRI RELATED POST

2007-06-27T02:18:00.000-05:00

I need some help in settling a bet with a friend... this has NOTHING to do with BarBri...

Assume it is a very hot, sunny day. The AC in front of the house is broken down, and your father is out there working on it, but to no avail. You are sitting in your room on your computer, when your mother walks in and says: "Come outside, the ice cream man is here and is giving us free ice cream."

Now... what prompted the free ice cream?

This isn't some sort of weird hypo, it just came up with a friend. I thought his answer was insane. So now we have a bet going to see what people would think the cause was. SO - if you can post a comment with your thoughts, I'd appreciate it. Oh, and before you click on the comments, please have your response ready, so as not to taint the results.

THANKS!

I think I'll go home and mull this over

2007-06-25T21:51:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged in awhile because I started playing World of Warcraft. All I can hear in the back of my head is "Good Idea????" Not really, but I'm doing fine on the MBEs in the mixed subjects (75% or so). I'm sure in a week or so I'll freak out for not doing much for prep, but the last 2 days I've had zero motivation. Less than zero. I really shouldn't have been told during the PT workshop that everyone passes... it really did a number on my ability to concentrate.

Drink up with me now and forget all about the pressure of days

2007-06-21T23:09:00.000-05:00

Three days ago I cancelled the insurance coverage on my cell phone, as I'd been paying $5 a month for it for the past few years and never used it. Two days ago my cell phone speaker decided to quit on me mid-call. Figures. So yesterday I went to a Cingular store to get a new phone. It was pretty busy when I walked in, but there was a sign up sheet and the reps were using it to call people to help them. So I signed in and started checking out the phones. About 1/2 an hour, I turned around to see that the 10 or so customers had all formed a single file line in front of the counter. Of course, I thought "Wow, those dumb-fucks don't know there's a list" and continued to play with the various cell phones. Another 20 minutes go by, and I realize that they are no longer using the list. (Apparently I missed the sign that said the list became ineffective at 4:27 on Wednesday afternoon.) So I joined the line. There were about 4 people working at the time, so I figured it wouldn't take that long to get to me. Yet, as each rep finished with their customer, they disappeared in a back room and refused to come back. A full 45 minutes later, the one remaining rep had finished with his customer, and I was due up. So instead of renewing my contract as I had planned to do, I simply asked for the phone I wanted and when my contract was up. He told me that it had already expired, and that I could get a big discount for renewing. I politely declined. As he was ringing up my phone, he called up the next person in line and asked them what they needed - and THEN PROCEEDED TO HELP THAT PERSON - while I was waiting. I'm sure the bar stress had something to do with it, but I was livid. After going home, I spent the night researching new cell phone companies and prices, and went to T-Mobile earlier today where they actually were into the concept of customer service. The bitch of it is that I have to go back to Cingular tomorrow to return the phone I bought, but I can deal.

The whole cell phone issue has just added to my sour mood of late... the littlest things have been driving me crazy - lukewarm coffee, minor traffic delays, internet access problems... etc. I think I should start wearing a sign that reads: "Taking the July Bar Exam - Stay Back 10 Feet" It's likely that I'm going to hit someone soon - for no reason what-so-ever.

I've also been having trouble falling asleep. Every night I'm up until at least 4:00 AM, despite switching to decaf after 5:00 PM, taking sleeping pills, having a glass of wine before bed, etc. Nothing seems to work. Considering they won't let me take the bar exam at 9 at night, I need to figure out how to remedy this problem - and quick.

Oh - K MBE's - 60%. I'm not thrilled, but I'm not totally disappointed. At least now I know what the right to reclaim goods from an insolvent buyer means.

On a more positive note -

1) I got brownies from my aunt in the mail for no reason. No note or anything. Too bad I shook the box before I opened it to try to figure out what was in it. Now I have brownie crumbs. But they're good.

2) I decided on my bar trip - Egypt - for 10 days. My sister may come along, otherwise it will be me alone with a bunch of randoms on the tour. So at least now I have something to look forward too.

Sadly, that's about it.

They took your life apart, they called you failure's art

2007-06-19T03:36:00.000-05:00

Recent Google searches that sent people to my blog:

fast forward barbri dvd

missing tons of questions on the multistate

Paula Franzese alcohol

And the best one yet:

professor whitebread beastiality

WOW.

Don't wake me I plan on sleeping in

2007-06-18T22:49:00.000-05:00

Slept through the AM Ks lecture (thanks to a sleeping pill... I should have known better given the lecture we got on Friday.) Made it to the afternoon lecture. Out of guilt, made 100 flashcards for Ks instead of taking the night off, as most of the other BarBri people were going to do. Sad.

During one of our bathroom breaks this afternoon, I had a short convo with someone I didn't know in line. I made the comment that it's like 1L year all over again - seeing legal issues all over the place, and feeling the need to comment on them (at least in my head). (That guy just spit on the car - trespass to chattels? Guy gets hit with a baseball bat on TV - assault? Battery? If he dies within one year... prosecution for murder ok and no double jeopardy if he was already prosecuted for battery.)

Also, if one of my friends is in the middle of telling me a story, I seem to want to jump in with all the random rules I've been refreshed on the last few weeks. (Oh, I'm really sorry your grandfather died. But, keep in mind that if the funeral parlor drops his casket and you're around to see it, you may be able to recover for NIED. That's when....)

Seriously, this has got to stop.

Then we'll drink the night away

2007-06-17T22:20:00.001-05:00

Saturday - slept until 3:00 PM. Did nothing in terms of bar study. Went grocery shopping. Watched movies on HBO. Stayed up until 2:00 AM on a phone call with a friend of mine. Clearly, I took Honisburg's advice a little too literally.

Today - finished all the assigned material from Friday, Saturday and today. Basically - I just did 4 essays for corps, and took the simulated PT. I think I did ok on the PT. I tend to quote a lot more than I should instead of summarizing, and spent too much time on on part at the expense of the other, but overall I didn't have a tough time in completing the exam in 3 hours. We'll see when I get my exam back in 7-10 days though.

Tomorrow I start contracts with Prof. Epstein. A full day of it - which means I have him live. (I've been going to the AM lectures on Monday mornings, then sleeping in the rest of the week and watching the lectures on video the rest of the week.) He's the only other name that I recognized besides Chem-Chem that's giving the BarBri lectures to us. I'm still tempted to bring in my camera to take a picture of him... and I still won't do it.

After Ks is done I'll have completed all the MBE subjects. Kind of a scary thought, considering that I feel like I know nothing at this point. I'm also terrified to go back and do MBEs on subject that I covered 3 weeks ago. Like I remember any of that stuff at this point.

Hopefully this "I'm fucked!" feeling continues until the bar exam begins... without it I lack motivation to study (hence sitting at home doing nothing all day Saturday). I do great under pressure - but can't do shit without it. Even with the Paced Program.

Even with the "I'm fucked!" feeling, Entourage still wins out. So now, with all of my Paced Program assignments completed, I'm going home to watch that and ideally get to bed at a half-way decent hour.

Sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell

2007-06-15T20:01:00.000-05:00

The fact that today's title is from a legit song really makes me happy right now.

I just got the following e-mail from my Sports Law Prof -

"Dude, you got an A in sports law! (I just got the list back so I could match people to exams.) Of all my courses, how the hell did THAT happen?... I wondered who would use The Cutting Edge as precedent! I also wonder how many points you would lose with any other professor for calling a tort "stupid....""

My sports law prof. kicked some serious ass. I had her for torts, and then proceeded to take everything she offered - hence the Sports Law class. I was also her research assistant, so it's getting this e-mail from her was not as bizarre as it may appear.

Too bad that the bar examiners wouldn't be as keen on the use of humor in exams (she encouraged it for her tests). Although I may have to point out that a few torts are "stupid." Sheep my ass - I'm going to be a goat! Then, after I fail miserably, I'll try the whole sheep approach.

I left class early today - somewhere in the last hour of the PT review. It just got too repetitive to handle. At least it was more substantive than yesterday, and I think I learned a few things. Like what to include in an affidavit, for example. I just got really really tired at the end of it.

Tonight I'm going to take most of the evening off to go see a showing of Dr. Strangelove. I won't get to the Paced Program assignments today, but have sworn that I'll get caught up tomorrow during the day.

They really need to have a supplementary Paced Program that goes through how much one should be drinking each night after studying for the bar. With all the concern of lawyers becoming alcoholics, it'd be nice to have a way to build up tolerance over the next few months before I start work. My current program of a bottle of wine every few days isn't cutting it right now. I may have to draft my own...

Day 1: 1 glass of wine.

Day 2: 2 glasses of wine.

Day 3: 1 bottle of wine.

Day 4: 6 shots of grey goose.

Day 5: 1 liter of grey goose.

Days 6 though 34: Enter rehab, use extra "reflection" time to study for bar exam.

Day 33: Start the program again.

Yeah - I better start working on that... right now.

I'll be waiting with a gun and a pack of sandwiches

2007-06-14T19:25:00.000-05:00

I had the first of my performance test workshops today... and about 96% of it was a complete waste of time. They really should just have held that class the first day of BarBri, over drinks at a local bar, as the vast majority of it consisted of a motivational speech about how "Everyone passes the bar!!!" To emphasize this point, the Prof. told of stories of people who overcame the odds to pass (a vet with brain damage and a girl who slipped in her shower and suffered a concussion right the morning of the exam stick out in my mind). "They passed!" His mantra was - if you don't know it, no one knows it, so don't freak out. The reason that no one knows it, btw, is because "Everyone takes BarBri! There's no competition!" Hmmm... no wonder there's class action litigation going on right now. Aside from convincing us we were all going to pass, he made a few important comments like: 1) read the question, and 2) follow instructions. I'm glad my firm is paying $3,000+ for me to hear that point repeated over and over again.

On a somewhat more positive spin - I did appreciate him going through the math relating to the grading of the exam. Rather interesting that you can fail all of the essays and still get a passing score. Also - the story about the chick writing down on her property essay that she was depressed was damn funny. And she managed a 45. (5 points above the minimum.) But other than that, it was a waste of time. I'm debating if I want to go back tomorrow or just take some extra time to outline essays and the other PTs, so if anyone has had that part yet, please post and let me know if it's worth it or not.

Also somewhat related was a comment I overhead one chick say during our break - "I'm so sick of getting YELLED at every day in here." I agree. There's nothing wrong with a professor being enthusiastic, but why must most of the BarBri people yell at the top of their lungs when they want to emphasize a point? Today, for example, "FABULOUS!" "It's a BITCH!" and "THEY PASSED!" were constantly shouted. It's getting more than annoying. Then again, when he calmly asked: "Good idea??? Good idea???" after every clearly bad idea, I wasn't happy either.

Also overheard today on a break - apparently there is a Loyola law student who wrote/writes a blog about how law school is horrible... or something like that... which the Wall Street Journal is interested in writing an article about. Anyone have the link for this?

Finally - I wanted to tell everyone taking the bar to check out this blog - Law with Grace. That chick is a fucking riot. Special encouragement goes out to the girls in West LA morning session to read her post about using the restroom. I'm capable of using the restroom in 30 seconds - so I'm as confused as Grace is as to why everyone takes so damn long.

2007-06-14T00:29:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Cirkuspeanut...

This is what I dealt with today.

She laid out in front of a truck so it would look much more like an accident

2007-06-13T22:38:00.000-05:00

Finished typing up/reformatting my Civ Pro outline... claim and issue preclusion is a complete mess. Most of the other stuff is okay - except where my class notes (and the given outline) - specified certain rules for Cali but not for Fed (like timing issues). I also think that we were given way too much information on non-testable areas. Ick.

Time for a practice exam to see how little I've manage to retain.

He's not half right

2007-06-13T19:04:00.000-05:00

I just got done with Agency/Partnerships with Michael Kaufman, who was by far the oddest prof. that's done BarBri so far. His manner of speaking was unique, to say the least, and included noises that I've only heard made by either 1) consenting adults behind closed doors or 2) Yoda. I was in the afternoon session today... so I have no idea how the morning section who had him live kept a straight face. The lecture was pretty good in terms of boiling things down to the basics. I was also happy that he seemed to have reviewed bar exams from all over the country for similar fact patterns... a vibe I haven't gotten from anyone else (most of them just refer to the last time a given subject was tested on the Cali bar, not to specific fact patterns, and not nationwide.) I think this will end up being very helpful for agency/partnerships, as that's it's a brand new subject on the CBX. My only problem was that in going through the exam, all I could see were the potential cross overs with torts, contracts, corps, etc. It started to freak me out a bit. Things were made worse when I got my Property essay back, with a whole series of Fs on it like I had expected. (Once again, fuck you adverse possession.) At least I knew what was coming. However, the grader didn't like my writing style at all, which bothers me considering the last grader was all over it. I'm sure the same will be true for the bar exam grading process... but still, it's annoying. I'm still wondering what I should be doing in terms of reaching conclusions. I went with the whole "Rule, Here, Therefore" method - and reached a reasonable conclusion after applying law to facts. In the first essay, this was praised, but now all of my "Therefore's" are met with the statement "Conclusory (you stupid bitch, stop doing it.)" Well, at least the first part of that. Maybe I'm supposed to qualify these statements with "Therefore, it is LIKELY that John and Jane had a valid contract" instead of "Therefore, John and Jane entered into a contract."

Tonight will be spent back at coffee, trying desperately to finish my Civ Pro notes... which is taking MUCH longer than expected. I should also outline the Civ Pro essays from yesterday and today, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. Especially given that Rescue Me starts up again tonight and I still have 2 episodes on DVD to watch before I can get to it. Life's full of hard choices.

And finally, in the spirit of boiling things down - my list of pros and cons of bar review thus far:

Pros:
* Minimal traffic, even for mid-day, going to BarBri. Today only.
* TiVo, so bar review doesn't cut into my viewing of new episodes of the Deadliest Catch or Y&R.

Cons:
* Generally shitty traffic, for mid-day, going to BarBri.
* Getting asked by some randoms in the elevator in my building if I'm studying for the bar exam. This has happened a few times now. At first, I thought it was nice. Now I'm just annoyed. I'm apt to respond: "No, the 3 big fucking books in my hands that are labeled "BarBri Bar Review" are my paperweights." Or "What's the bar exam?" Or "No, these books are for my boyfriend. If I don't get these too him before his class starts he'll start beating me again, like he did last night."
* Getting to coffee to find out there are no tables open. (While lugging the 3+ books, my laptop, my purse, etc.) Having to stare down a few people until one of them left.
* Eating PB&J sandwiches every night because I'm too tired to make anything else.
* The complete and total lack of motivation, running from Tuesday to Sunday each week.
* Having a social life that revolves around my cat and long distance telephone calls.
* Hearing my mother say "Atta-girl" every time I talk to her and she asks if I've been studying at all.

Hmmm... kinda puts things in perspective. Final con: depression.

It's no problem, I'll just keep quiet if its easier for you... To make believe in that I don't love you as much as I do

2007-06-12T20:06:00.001-05:00

As requested - pictures of the cat. Here he is threatening to knock over my expensive bottles of wine.

This is where he got stuck - actually - behind the washing machine - when I thought I had killed him.

And this is just his generally pissy look.

I bought a bottle of Caymus this past weekend (which I paid double for somehow, as I got it at Ralphs... still not sure how that happened, but I'm not too happy). George has been threatening to knock it over unless I spend more time with him. Looks like we'll both probably lose out on that one.

Today was Corps... and I realized that in 3 hours I probably learned more than I ever did in BA/Corps in school - at least on the Corps end of things. I'm surprised at the level of detail they ask in the exams according to the prof... put and call options, for example. Thankfully I dated a CPA for a bit my 2L year, so I'd be okay on that question (provided I kept the two straight, which I'm going to do by remembering that they match up with the thing that ISN'T the same amount of letters - put - option to SELL, call - option to BUY. Enthralling material, seriously.

Tonight on the schedule is outlining a few essays for Civ Pro. Since I didn't get to the second half of typing up my outline yesterday, I'll be doing that first and then giving the essays a shot. I'd really rather do MBEs... I think they give me more practice... but "sadly" there are no Civ Pro questions on the MBE. Time to suck it up and just go with it.

I'm cranky.

So a jury was formed as more liquor was poured

2007-06-11T19:36:00.000-05:00

Today was BarBri day from hell. Not only did I have to spend a full 7 hours of classtime going over civil procedure, but as the second half of the day started up the guy in front of me knocked over my coffee, which completely covered all of my workbook pages. The notes I had taken from the morning session now have bleeding ink all over them, and the whole mess smells like vanilla cream. So that was pretty awesome. Things were made all the better when, with about 1/2 hour remaining of civil procedure torture, the fire alarm went off. Now had this happened during the "shouting fire in a crowded theater" portion of con law, I would have found it mildly entertaining. But it loses it's entertainment value when it goes off during the jury selection portion of the notes. I'd been dying to get out of there since I arrived, as I got only about 3 hours of sleep last night. Argh. Next Monday isn't looking too good either, with a full day of Contracts, which will only serve to bring up painful memories of my horrific contracts prof. from law school. I'm shuddering already.

Anyways... civ pro. I think the lecture could have been organized a lot better. We spent the morning doing federal civ pro, and the afternoon with a mix of federal and Cali rules. A side-by-side comparison throughout the whole thing would have made more sense, at least to me. The prof. giving the lecture, Freer (I think), wasn't too bad, but sounds like either 1) a game show announcer, or 2) the guy that does Moviephone. I got used to it, but first thing this morning I was close to shooting myself. (Not like that feelings gone away.)

Tonight the only thing on the BarBri schedule is to review civ pro. I think I'll be doing this by taking my coffee soaked notes and putting them into chart form. If I manage to finish with that before 10, I'll try a few PMBR problems in Con Law. Or perhaps I'll just pass out in the bathroom at coffee - I tip well enough that they should be cool with that.

Final random point to bitch about - why aren't we doing contracts now? It would make a lot more sense to do all the multistate subjects first, as they are guaranteed to be on the exam. Instead, tomorrow we have corps, followed by agency & partnership on Wednesday, and two performance test workshops to finish out the week.

This coffee better kick in quick... I'm cranky.

2007-06-10T01:46:00.000-05:00

I don't know you, but I want you

2007-06-09T20:21:00.000-05:00

The title is, of course, referring to the Bar Examiners, who today let me know that I apparently am of good character. My parents will be proud. (And confused.)

Barely got over 50% on the Advanced Crimes MBEs I've done so far. I'm now starting to get pissy with the discrepancies between BarBri and the PMBR tapes. For example - If a police officer goes to your house, and a person answers the door, can that person consent to a search? PMBR says that the police have to reasonably believe that the person has ownership or control, and can't just assume it by the fact that they open up the door - basically, that they need to ask: do you live here? BarBri says they just need a reasonable belief - so in the above case, the fact that the person opened the door, said that the person they were looking for was away for a bit, and consented to the search, was enough to give the officer the reasonable belief.

Granted - in both cases the issue is reasonable belief. I get that. But PMBR makes a point of saying reasonable belief requires something more than BarBri seems to imply with their question. (Advanced #30 by-the-way.)

SO.... this leads me to a two questions - 1) Who do I go with? 2) Is this sort of fine distinction going to be on the bar in the first place?

Given my shitty performance I'm going to give up for the day. At least for a few hours, at which point I may bust open the PMBR books I got in the mail today. Sounds like the makings of an awesome Saturday night... try not to be jealous.

Words fall through me, and always fool me

2007-06-08T20:43:00.000-05:00

I skipped BarBri today, and only feel mildly guilty about it. Today was another Essay workshop, and I didn't feel like I got anything out of the first one that I wouldn't get by going through the process of outlining answers and checking them with the sample answers myself. Not like I'm actually doing that either - instead I've spent most of today finishing up my flashcards from Crimes. The results on the drills wasn't good - 11/17 - but I'm assuming that will improve once I commit all of the elements to all of these f'd up common law crimes to memory. Crim Pro is definitely my strong suit, thanks to working my ass off during that class first semester of my 3L year.

I've been listening to the Crim Law and Crim Pro PMBR CDs... and last night on my way home from coffee heard the most entertaining thing thus far on the otherwise drab CDs - "Don't worry about the essays. If after 4 years of college and 3 years of law school you still haven't figured out how to bullshit your way through an essay, you don't deserve to be a lawyer." Granted, this statement by PMBR was self-serving, as they only focus on the MBE, but the force with which the prof. said 'bullshit' was hilarious. And I actually think that will be true in my case - I'll be fine on the essays provided I learn the black letter law, and I'll be able to learn the black letter law by doing a fuck-ton of MBE questions.

It's odd - I actually feel okay about the bar right now. With only a month and a half to go, I think I may be able to get all of this stuff down to pass, provided I put in the work. Speaking of work - I need to knock out some Crimes IQs before heading home later tonight, drinking a few glasses of wine, and getting some much-needed sleep.

There is no you, there is only me

2007-06-06T23:08:00.001-05:00

Evidence MBE - Advanced - 77%. I'm thrilled. Looks like I may not suck on the multiple choice questions as much as I thought I was going to.

I've ordered the two PMBR books off of ebay, which I should have in a few days... for those who had the course - what's the difference between the two books? I'm assuming one is the "hard" questions...

Today was Crimes with Prof. Whitebread. His style is interesting to say the least - as opposed to going through everything, he basically makes one small point, repeats it 5 times, and moves on. I also found him rather entertaining, despite the repetition, thanks to a few comments he made about animals. (You aren't guilty of murder for killing a crime solving talking dolphin, and the MBE examiners aren't going to ask you a question on beastiality. If you've seen the lecture you'll know what I'm getting at with these.)

Speaking of animals, George may be dead. I'll update later.

When your mind's made up

2007-06-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

67% on the second half of my Evidence MBEs. Not great, but at least I didn't completely fuck up. I'm starting to think I'll actually get better at these with practice, which helps.

I also got a "Pass" on the Torts essay that I turned in a week ago. So I don't think I'll feel as bad when I get the big fat "Fail" on my property essay. Yes, still bitter about missing adverse possession.

I overslept this morning, which means I got the evidence prof on TV this afternoon... it was a long, boring, experience, of which I felt that I got little out of. Most of this stuff is just going to take a lot of practice, so I should try to rely less on how great I think the lectures are going to be.

Tomorrow is Crim Law day, and there's no handout. Why? I have no idea, but it pisses me off. I'm not looking forward to Crim Law in general, as I completely zoned out in that class first year and have virtually no recollection of anything aside from my Prof.'s stories about clerking for Justice Thomas. Too bad they don't test on that.

Back to reviewing the MBEs I missed.

Two tickets torn in half

2007-06-04T18:39:00.000-05:00

Update... Motivation Monday has taken a turn for the worst, thanks to a $40.00 parking ticket for an expired meter in front of my coffee shop. Argh. And I was 10 minutes late in sticking in another quarter.

No it doesn't mean a thing, big nothing

2007-06-04T18:26:00.001-05:00

Evidence Drills - 76%

Evidence IQ MBEs, 1-34 - 53%

I'm ok with the percentages so far, as most of the questions I missed related to material that wasn't covered in today's lecture. Speaking of today's lecture, I'm not overly impressed with the prof so far. His style is a little odd, and not as well outlined as the other profs so far. I'm probable just spoiled because I had an excellent evidence prof in law school, who would make a far better BarBri lecturer. If only my law school prof had taught us Cali law (especially that damn Prop 8, which seems to fuck up everything).

Anyways... Motivation Monday is going swell. I'm done with the assignment for today, and now will go back and start checking my answers and making flashcards from the CMR. George has also seemed to have gotten into the Motivation Monday spirit, as I found him on top of the refrigerator this morning, and still don't have a clue how he got up there or avoided knocking over the bottles of my "good" wine that I keep up there. Reach for the stars, George, reach for the stars.

And the truth is, I missed you

2007-06-03T23:36:00.000-05:00

Completed the turn in exam for property, and missed adverse possession. In the commentary, the notes state: "... if you missed adverse possession... you would also fail." Great. Failure. What a good way to end the evening of studying.

I don't get many things right the first time

2007-06-03T20:14:00.000-05:00

I sucked ass on the Property drills, and got 59% on the Property IQs. Property was my best subject first year, so I found this rather frustrating. My timing was fine on the questions though, which makes me feel slightly better about my sub-par performance. I'm now beginning to wonder how many of the 33 questions will be of the IQ level, or worse yet - the advanced level... they don't really tell you this in BarBri. I'm going to spend the next 2 and a half hours going over the answers, then write the essay that's due tomorrow. I haven't done any of the other assigned essays on this, partly because I've been lazy, though mostly because I don't feel prepared. Should be fun.

George likes to open up the doors to the cabinets below my sinks in the bathroom and in the kitchen and chill with my cleaning supplies. I think he misses his tiny cage from the shelter. I miss my tiny cage of my coffee shop in St. Paul, so I can relate.

I'm dubbing tomorrow "Motivation Monday" where I'll get to all of the assigned questions on Evidence and not slack off. We'll see how that goes.

She shows no emotion at all, stares into space like a dead china doll

2007-06-03T00:30:00.000-05:00

I don't want to study for the bar. At all. And to make sure that didn't happen, today I adopted a cat named George, who, despite being in my apartment for the last 8 hours, has yet to use his litterbox. Perhaps he's just angry with me for lining it with the property pages of my CMR. I've given up for today, and will now turn to the bottle of wine I've been eyeing up for the last 4 hours or so.

51 days until the bar... you'd think I'd be more motivated.

Bitter, just one more day when it's already been too long

2007-05-31T01:02:00.000-05:00

My car battery died. Again. Considering I just got a new battery a week and a half ago, something tells me the battery may not have been the problem the first time around. So once again I am car less, stuck with the same mechanic because I don't know who else to go to, and will be missing BarBri tomorrow. Lovely. Needless to say, I'm not what one would call "happy" at this point. As I'm incapable of studying within the confines of my apartment, or at the Starbucks across the street due to their very small tables, tonight was spent cleaning up a bit and watching the Deadliest Catch on my TiVo. I'm sure that will help me with all those crab-related bar questions.

And to think, I thought that remembering the RAP and the Rule in Shelly's Case was going to be the worst part of the day. Yes, Property review has started, and I'm thoroughly annoyed by the Prof. - Paula Franzese. She sings during class. At length. Granted, some people may find this useful in remembering certain key points for the bar, but I just find it grating. And we have her for the next 2 days. Argh.

The only good thing today was getting an A in my FDA class. I'm still not sure how that happened, but I'll take it.

I had plans for both of us for a trip out of town

2007-05-29T21:41:00.000-05:00

I decided to take a last minute trip out of town over memorial day weekend, probably to avoid studying. Not really a good call, but it was worth it. I've decided that under no circumstances will I leave Los Angeles until after the bar. The trip wasn't completely bar-avoiding; I did a bunch of the easy practice questions to remind myself that I wasn't a moron and got about 95% on those. I would have done more straight up studying, but I managed to leave my Con Law notes on the plane. Not good.

Today I got back into the game, doing all of my torts flashcards - about 100+ so far from the CMR. I just finished the torts practice question which I'll be turning in tomorrow, and based on the sample answer I did ok. I missed one issue (which I'll avoid pointing out because others will probably be turning in the same exam), but I didn't think that issue was as big of a deal as it appears from the sample answer. Normally my writing is pretty clear and "legal sounding" - so ideally the graders will agree with me.

As there was no lecture today, I started work at about noon... so I think I'm going to head home soon and maybe attempt some more MBEs later on tonight. Or not. The advanced ones scare me.

So twist one more, although I know you'll break me

2007-05-26T20:58:00.000-05:00

I did horribly on the first set of torts drills - 10/17. On the bright side, it's not my fault. The questions I missed all involved things that weren't covered in the torts lecture. I think the hardest part of studying for the bar will be accepting the fact that I'll get questions wrong - lots of them - but need to do that in order to learn the subtle distinctions that aren't included in the lectures. Listening to the PMBR Torts CD earlier today reminded me of this, which is a good thing. As is the CD itself, despite the Prof's insistence on using the word "gang" WAY too often. Apparently after 1500 MBEs or so things will start coming together and my percentages will improve.

One thing that I wasn't really prepared for with this whole bar exam prep was the notion of me getting regular migraines. In the last two days I've had two, and that's really rare for me. The last one I got was last summer during my "Buildable Hours" excursion with the firm. I don't have any normal migraine triggers - and it can't be stress related (yet) - so I'm probably going to have to see a doctor sometime soon to get hooked up with more meds. If only I could get through 48 straight hours in Cali without something going wrong. Argh.

Tonight's plan - 1/2 of the MBE IQ Torts questions, more if my plans for later tonight fall through.

I'm a victim to the impact of these words

2007-05-25T20:05:00.001-05:00

This morning I decided that sleep was more important than attending the live session, so I held off on Torts 2 until 1:30. There were about 20 people there total, which seemed really strange. I was actually more distracted than I would have been if I was in the crammed live session, but only because there was a person sitting next to me who came in late and spent her time there by playing with her hair and her outfit. And texting people. I'm not sure why, but it really through me off. I actually should encourage this type of behavior so there are more folks out there lowering the curve. Ah well. I think I'm still going to try to make it to the early sessions so I don't start my day too late, but it's nice to have a morning off every once and awhile. And the sleep was fantastic.

As for the substantive portion of class - it went well. My favorite line from the prof went along the lines of "If you are doing drugs, don't stop between now and the end of the July. Now's not the time to go cold turkey." If it wasn't for BarBri, I would have kicked my coke habit like I had planned to tonight. And then I just be screwed. NIED was covered, but sadly the corpse cases were not. I was a little put off about his cursory treatment of nuisance, which I know will be on the bar, but there's always the mini-review and PMBR audio CDs for that. Torts should really be a 3 day subject instead of 2.

As I've not had any suggestions yet on a better coffee place, I'm back at my normal venice spot until close. I'm hoping to type up my notes from Torts 1 (when I didn't bring my laptop, as I assumed that we would have been given a handout form to take notes on like Con Law) and get through the MBE Drills. If I have time, I'll then get through as many practice MBEs as possible before calling it quits. Tomorrow we have a morning essay writing lecture, so I won't be going out anywhere tonight (or for the next 2 1/2 months).

To conclude - random thoughts about Cali thus far:
1) Apparently there is no such thing as "skim" milk here. It's "non-fat" milk. My barista almost gave me soy because she didn't understand what I was asking for.
2) It took me less than 24 hours to turn into a horrible driver, doing 50 in residential neighborhoods and 80 on the interstate, and weaving through traffic like a madman. And yelling obscenities at other drivers, of course.
3) I don't get the big fuzzy boots thing that I keep seeing people wear (with skirts or shorts) to the morning session. That sort of thing makes sense in Minnesota when it's 20 below, but not when it's 75 and sunny here. I'm never going to be trendy. Ever.
4) There needs to be a Ralph's in downtown LA. By the time I got back from the grocery store yesterday, my frozen food had been fully cooked.
5) Apparently your car can get impounded for not having valid registration stickers, or so my one non-law-related Cali friend found out last night at 2 AM when the cops pulled him over and drove his car away, leaving him on the side of the road.

So you left me on my own to complete the mission

2007-05-24T19:46:00.000-05:00

Today was the first day of torts... and went pretty well. The speaker, Robert Schechter, is pretty damn entertaining. Only 2 minor complaints: 1) he kept us over about 1/2 hour, which could have been eliminated if he spent a little less time on the details in some of his hypos, and 2) I think he's leaving out a few things that we really should know for the bar, such as the role of corpse mis-handling in IIED cases and the role of the 1st amendment in defamation cases. Granted, for the latter he told us to go through the conviser for the material, so that's excusable, but overall he tends to speak in pretty broad terms with clear-cut hypos that are a lot easier than we will get on the bar. This sort of scares me. But for pure entertainment value when I've had less than 5 hours of sleep and not enough coffee, he gets an A+.

Anyways, last night I did the first two sections of MBEs for Con Law, averaging about 70% correct. Of the 30%, I missed 2 where I think the question was fucked up for some reason, a handful I just misread, and the rest I straight up didn't know. I took some decent notes on what I fucked up, and will be converting that to flashcards tonight. Should be fun. I was actually surprised at how many I missed - I would have thought that coming out of 2 straight days of Con Law I'd pull at least an 80%. Welcome to my ego.

I also just finished the first Con Law essay, getting what I think would be most of the points on it, and missing only one minor issue. Sadly, it was the easiest Con Law essay (the book goes in order from easiest to hardest in each section). I think I'll do the second one after I finish my flashcards for tonight. Or perhaps tomorrow to see my ability to retain things overnight.

The BarBri schedule has "Review" section on it every day with a given topic. I have no idea how much time I'm supposed to spend reviewing each day - and it's a lot easier to just knock out the MBEs that are assigned and go home. Starting next week I'm going to have to set up a firm schedule for myself so I don't continue to procrastinate. I think that's where the extra MBEs will come in - I can set a goal of an additional 50 - 100 MBEs per day with time to go through the answers, which will tack on the additional reviewing time. And avoid me staring blankly at my outlines.

I'm also going to hunt for a different coffee shop starting when I get home tonight. The tables at my place in Venice are too small, they don't have diet coke (or any pop for that matter), and about 1/2 the baristas seem pretty pissy (although there are a few good ones here who I like). SO - if you know of a place between the West LA BarBri location and downtown LA that has: 1) free internet, 2) large tables, 3) power outlets, 4) diet coke, and 5) good baristas, please let me know. Good bar karma will come your way, I swear.

Rather waste some time with you

2007-05-23T15:52:00.001-05:00

I didn't do a single practice problem yesterday, as I couldn't seem to get out of the house. I'm not thrilled about my lack of motivation yesterday, but today I hope to rectify the situation by heading out for my coffee shop once the cable people arrive and leave. I'm going to stay there until close (10 PM). At least that's the goal.

Today was the last day of Con Law lecture, and went well, with Chem-Chem throwing out some even worse jokes. Tomorrow torts begins, though I don't know who the lecturer is.

Despite my pathetic bar studying performance last night and the lack of sleep I got overnight, today is shaping up to be a pretty good day. I found out that my firm is raising salaries to 160 for first years, which will mean that since I was hired on as an associate the first year pay has jumped $35,000. Not bad for me not having to do anything. Actually - someone just commented on the raise in my comments, though I'd love to know who - so e-mail me, whoever you are.

Also this morning I discovered that the mechanic gave me a remote control car door lock thing - which I've wanted for as long as I got my car. I'm not sure how or why it showed up on my keychain, but it's there and it works. Considering that they overcharged me for my battery, I'm going to not question anything.

Finally, my first grade came back from 3L second semester - an A in BA/Corps. Given that I completely bombed the last question, and that I attended less than 10% of the scheduled classes, I was pretty happy about how I did. Not that grades really matter anymore, aside from the ego boost.

As a side note, my sister called me last night to (1) request that I finance her trip to Sweden this summer, which I declined to do, and (2) to report that all my father wants for Father's Day is for me to pass the bar. I think (1) is more likely, but I'll do my best for (2).

2007-05-22T22:00:00.001-05:00

The following search string just pulled someone into my site --

"the california bar results are coming out soon, i am very nervous"

I found this funny. Then again, as I pointed out in the last post, I like Chem-Chem's jokes.

Consider this a sign

2007-05-22T19:24:00.000-05:00

Well, the lecture with Chem-Chem got off to a pretty bad start, as the BarBri folks failed to mention to us yesterday that we were supposed to bring our in-class workbook to class, which meant that about 25% of the people there didn't have theirs and photocopies needed to be made. I was lucky enough to have mine in the car. Granted, it says on the front of the book "BRING TO EVERY CLASS" - but this thing was in the bottom of the 40 lb. box they gave us, and I hadn't gotten that far down in the box yet. So we started about 40 minutes late. After that, however, I thought Chem-Chem lived up to my expectations. Yes, there were a lot of awful jokes, but at least they were mildly entertaining. The guy clearly has done these lectures way too many times - having everything memorized down to the Roman numerals on our outlines. One kid in front of me thought he was using a teleprompter. I also feel like I got a lot out of the lecture, which will make getting up at 6:30 again tomorrow morning a whole lot easier.

Other than that, everything else has gone to shit. My car is fixed, though they charged me a small fortune to replace the battery. They mechanic also thought something was off with the steering, but didn't know what. Lots of good that did me. But at least my Saturn is running now, and hopefully can make it until next January, where I will dump it off at the side of the road and purchase a BMW like a good first year BIGLAW lawyer.

Speaking of driving, I put my new Cali license plates on my car today, only to find out that they had only given me one set of stickers. I'm assuming that's not correct, and will now debate going back to the DMV to bitch and try to get them for free, or just saying I lost them and paying $16 for a new set. I'm leaning to just shelling out the cash.

In other bad news, the cable guys also came today to try to fix my HBO and Video on Demand. Apparently the system was down when they came by, so I had to stay at home until the system was up and they could remotely send the correct signal to my box. Well, as it turns out the signal isn't reaching my box (same problem as before) and now I'll have to come home again tomorrow afternoon after class in order to sit around and wait for them to set up a new DVR box. I'm not happy. It's taking them 3 trips for what should have been done in one. I also could bitch to the cable company to try to get a reduction in the cost of service for this month (seeing as I'm losing channels), but once again I don't have the energy.

Yet another full afternoon wasted... now it's time for Con Law Drills and MBE practice questions until god knows how late tonight. Dormant Commerce Clause and PIC-4/PIC-14 here I come!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life

2007-05-21T14:31:00.000-05:00

I awoke at 6:30 this morning in order to leave my downtown apartment by 7:30 to ensure that I made it to BarBri by 9:00 - traffic was bad, but tolerable, and I made it there in about 55 minutes. After tracking down the one girl I knew from my summer class that was in the same session, I sat down to take in the Intro day at BarBri.

So far it's been pretty much what I expected. They made a point to tell us to actually do the assignments they give us, to not use the "big" books unless we need help clarifying something, as was pointed out in the comments yesterday, and there were a number of jokes that fell flat. The lecturers also made a few digs on PMBR - though not by name - telling us NOT to do 50 MBEs a day (in fact, they want us to take about 10 days off from doing them at all while they go through the essay portions). I'm still on the fence with this one - although I didn't take PMBR I bought all of the CDs and had planned on doing 50 MBEs per day. I guess it will all come down to how much time I have and my motivation to keep studying into the wee hours of the morning.

Another difference from the Bar Prep books I've read regarding the MBEs is the time vs. untimed approach. BarBri seems to want us to spend the 1 minute 48 seconds per question for the full amount of questions we're doing, then check our answers. The other book I read suggested 1 or 2 questions at a time, then read the answers, then increasing the number of questions before answer review later on. As my ability to retain information is horrible, I'll probably do the non-BarBri method for awhile.

The schedule for class and review looks pretty intense. I'm happy with the level of detail on the schedule - how many questions, what subjects, etc. Without a forced scheduled I'm sure I'd fall behind.

Class got out after about 2 hours, so I left and went home and was able to get my car towed to a mechanic. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the repairs won't suck up the rest of my bar stipend. I had planned on a new car in January or so, after I knew for sure that I passed the bar so my job wouldn't be in jeopardy, but worst-case scenario I'll be shopping for a new car this weekend.

Tomorrow the man himself - Chemerinsky - will be doing our Con Law lecture. I'm looking forward to it in a sick sort of way.

Now - off to the starbucks across the street to begin officially studying for the CBX. Here goes nothing.

To vanish into oblivion is easy to do

2007-05-19T23:41:00.000-05:00

First - the good news: The Ramada in Arizona was very nice.

Second - the bad news: Everything went downhill once I got into Cali on Thursday. Well, things Thursday were okay - just moving in and unpacking. It's really amazing how much shit I had boxed up and really should have just thrown away. Ah well. Friday morning the cable guy came over to set up my HDTV service. Unfortunately, he managed to do this incorrectly, which I didn't figure out until hours later. A service tech will now be coming Tuesday afternoon, cutting into my bar review coffee time. So I'm not thrilled about that.

Friday morning I woke up early so I could go to the BarBri office to get my books. For some reason some of the books are 11 x 14, which I find relatively obnoxious. I'm going to class in West LA (which at the time I thought was a good idea so I could see a "Live" session, but now am regretting due to the commute from downtown) and discovered that the parking situation is pretty poor over there. I asked the BarBri guy about it, and he gave me a map with large parking lots posted. However, I was unable to figure out where these lots actually were, even after driving around for some time. I think Monday morning I'm just going to leave early and find some street parking a few blocks away.

Friday afternoon was DMV time, as Cali requires you to get your car registered within 10 days before you start racking up fines. I had a 2:30 appointment, but arrived a full hour early, which got me stuck in the no-appointment line. I explained to the number-hander-out person what I was there for - car registration and license - and he gave me my number. I waited for about 1/2 hour before talking with the DMV person, who then explained that I would need a smog test before I could get my car registered. I didn't even know what that was, nor was it on the list of things I needed to do according to the DMV website - but I figured I could at least get my license first. I did, but not until after I failed my first written test (which is written horribly, so I put way more thought into it than I should have). That whole process took an hour and a half. I then went across the street for a smog test, which cost me about $45. Then I went back to the DMV, drove my car though the verification line - which also took much longer than one would expect - then went through the DMV line inside to actually give my paperwork to someone else. 3 1/2 hours later I left. But at least I'm done with that place for the time being, and have new Cali license plates to show for it.

That would have been enough of a hassle for the week, but my car started acting funny the moment I left the DMV - I actually though I was getting hit from behind every time I hit the gas. I had no idea what was wrong, but once I got on the highway things seemed to be working ok so I pretty much ignored it until today hoping that the problem would solve itself. No such luck. On my way out to Target in Pasadena this afternoon, the same problem happened again, and on came the ominous "Service Engine Soon" light and the battery indicator (at least I think that's what it was). By the time I made it home from Target every auto place was closed, and I have no idea if there is a legit mechanic in downtown. To top it off, with BarBri Monday morning I don't have any time to deal with this sort of thing. After freaking out for a bit, I made reservations to pick up a rental car tomorrow morning, talked to my apartment manager to get an extra spot for Sunday night, and will come back from BarBri Monday afternoon and try to find a place that I can take my car which isn't too far from downtown. I have the rental car booked from Sunday through Wednesday, so ideally that will be enough time for them to figure out what's wrong with it. Argh.

I'm starting to feel pretty good about my decision to book a hotel during the bar exam.

It's the end of the world as you know it

2007-05-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

Saturday was graduation, a rather pointless affair with mediocre speeches and cheap champagne. Dinner with my family, however, was very good - we ate at the Capital Grille in Minneapolis and my uncle splurged on an amazing bottle of cab. After meeting up with a few friends at an uptown bar to say goodbye, I went home, slept for 4 hours, packed up my apartment, and departed for St. Louis to visit a few friends there for two days. All went reasonably well there, aside from getting attacked by a slug and a June bug and being forced to watch an episode of Springer.

Earlier today I left for the next leg of my trip - a one night stay in Amarillo, Texas. It was an 11 hour drive, which doesn't really bother me, but apparently the lack of sleep I've been getting lately has taken it's toll - I actually attempted to drive away while pumping gas. Not good. Thankfully I didn't get that far and the hose stayed connected. Thanks to the bad gas station karma, I had trouble finding gas when I needed it the next time around, stopping at a gas station with a subway but no fuel. To not make the stop a total waste, I decided to eat dinner at the subway there - when a group of 3 people cut in front of me in line. The employee then proceeded to make all of their sandwiches (and a few extra for some people that were apparently in the car) with the speed that only a sloth would appreciate. After about 15 minutes of waiting I wanted to leave, but felt committed at this point and stuck it out.

I finally rolled into the hotel at about 9:30 this evening. Aside from a short wait, check-in was without incident. It was all downhill from there. My room was located at the other side of the hotel, so I lugged my two bags up to my room, plugged in my key (which worked), tried to open the door, and found it latched from the inside. Being the complete idiot that I am, I figured it was messed up some how and proceeded to try to jimmy it open... until the 60 some year old occupying the room came to the door, slammed it shut, opened it, barked "wrong room" and slammed it again. I trudged back down the stairs, told the front desk that someone was in my room, and they re-assigned me to a room farther down the hall. Back to the third floor again, I found out that my door to my new room (which was vacant, thank god), didn't work. The key was fine, but the latch was broken. I played with it for a good 10 minutes, attracting some strange looks by people walking by, tried calling the dowfront desk from my cell and got no answer, then resigned myself to the fact that I was going to have to walk down there again. As I made my way down the hall (with bags in tow, which had somehow doubled in weight), a guy around my age asked if I was having room trouble. I explained what had happened, and he offered to let me use is phone to call the front desk. Not wanting to get gang raped (which, given my luck today was sure to happen), I declined. He then asked if he could just try my door for me. I weighed the risks of rape versus carrying my bags back to the front desk again, and at this point basically gave up. After a few minutes, he was able to get my door open. And he left after that point, dispelling any fears I had that he was going to accost me in my room.

After pretty much collapsing in bed, I ended up deciding to get a movie. Halfway through The Queen, I got a great deal of static until the picture finally cut off. After sitting on hold for about 20 minutes with the front desk, I was informed that I should reorder the movie and they would deduct one of the charges off the check, but seeing as there was no way to fast forward through the half I had already seen, I just requested that the item be taken off of my bill entirely. The night manager, somewhat disgruntled, agreed.

I've now officially given up on this being a good day by any stretch of the imagination, and will cut my losses now by going to bed. This, however, my be easier said then done, as I seemed to have seared off about half of my skin in St. Louis (thanks to all the direct sunlight, which I hadn't seen since before law school started), so now it hurts to have anything touching my back or arms. It's going to be a long night.

Tomorrow, I'm banking on getting food poisoning and then getting into a car accident. At least I'm finally used to the feeling of my life spinning completely out of control, which should help with the bar prep. And I'll have my PMBR Property CDs to keep my company all the way to Flagstaff.

Smile like you mean it.

2007-05-10T14:00:00.000-05:00

I just finished my FDA exam. In record time. That was nice. As I sent my exam to be upload with Examsoft, I leaned back in my chair, smiled, and thought: “That the last exam that I’ll ever have to take in my life.”

Then I remembered the bar.

Fuck.

Try to kill it all away, but I remember everything

2007-05-08T17:38:00.000-05:00

Sad Kermit - Hurt
Uploaded by sadkermit

Found it elsewhere. Watch it quick, before it's gone.

I don't care if it hurts, I want to have control

2007-05-08T17:33:00.000-05:00

The best one - Sad Kermit does Hurt by NIN - was removed from You Tube earlier today. Now that hurt.

Yeah I'm a selfish bastard, but at least I'm not alone

2007-05-07T08:05:00.000-05:00

The moving company is set to arrive within the next hour. At about 3:00 AM this morning I decided that sleep wasn't really a possibility, so I got up, went to the Flameburger for a burger and fries, headed home, and cleaned. Well, not so much cleaned as throw away a ton of shit. The merry maids I hired will need to take care of the rest. Considering how bad my floors look, I'm now considering hiring a weekly maid service when I get out to California. Or perhaps after I pass the bar so I know if I can pay them.

This is my second all-nighter in less than a week. With an 8 hour exam either Tuesday or Wednesday, and a Thursday AM exam, it probably won't be my last all-nighter. Paranoia does some strange things to me. Ideally the inability to sleep won't kick in right before the bar - or I'll be up for a minimum of 72 hours straight. Although the all-nighters in law school lead to pretty much straight As, I doubt that the same can be said for the bar.

Moving van is here... excellent timing. I need to go to sleep.

Broke into the old apartment, this is where I used to live

2007-05-05T16:57:00.000-05:00

Two days ago I received a list of cleaning costs for my apartment, which will tell me what they will deduct from my security deposit. The vast majority of the charges are insanely high. $50 to vacuum, $30 to wipe down the fridge, $30 to clean each and every one of the blinds, $10 to replace a broken light bulb, etc. If I left my apartment as-is, it'd cost me something like $2,000. There's no way that this passes the reasonableness test that has to be somewhere in the statute (because there's always a reasonableness standard), but as much as I want my current apartment complex to suffer I can't really deal with filing a small claims court action while taking the bar. So I've decided to hire a maid service to do the cleaning for me. It's kind of sad that I won't just suck it up and do it myself - but with my last final being on Thursday morning and my parents arriving for graduation Friday afternoon, I won't have the time or the energy to take care of things.

I had my BA/Corps final Thursday morning, of which I remember very little aside from me completely fucking up one question (along with rest of class, assuming the post-exam rumblings were true), and how poorly the exam questions were written overall. At least I think I did fine. Only 2 finals left now - Sports Law and FDA. I'm trying to get a large chunk of my FDA outline done today, and it was going pretty well until a group of about 40 people descended on my (tiny) coffee shop to look at the new artwork on the walls. Claustrophobia set in, followed by sheer annoyance at the people hovering over my table to look at the pictures. I'm not even that stressed out about the exam... so I can only imagine if something similar were to happen while I'm studying for the bar. Chances are I'll either burst into tears or throw something at the people around me. Hard.

So anyways, graduation is a week away. I'm in denial. I've been refusing to say "good-bye" to anyone, and instead have been making plans to see people this week that I know I won't be able to keep. It's probably a good thing that I start my drive out to Cali next Sunday - a quick escape may be my best bet to avoid unnecessary stress.

Speaking of stress - my graduation robe is wrinkled to all get-out. I packed my iron a month ago, and have no idea what box it is in. Anyone know if the local dry cleaners does ironing jobs?

You're getting carried away feeling sorry for yourself

2007-05-01T13:57:00.000-05:00

Two days ago I turned in my two-months notice at my apartment building. My lease runs through the end of June, so I'll be stuck paying rent in Minnesota even though I'm moving to Cali in less than 2 weeks. Yesterday, after a full day at coffee then 4 additional hours of studying/screwing around at Perkins, I came home at about 3:30 AM to find a note stuck to my door: "We will be showing your apartment home on May 1, 2007 at 12:45 and May 2, 2007 at 5:30 PM. Please have your home in showable condition at this time." I was annoyed at the fact that I'd have to clean up my place when I got home late tonight to prepare for tomorrow's showing.

Then I realized that May 1st was today.

Less than 24 hours notice from my management. I could have killed them. Instead, I was up until 6:00 AM throwing laundry in baskets, moving around boxes, scrubbing my counters and bathroom, etc. Most of my apartment is packed up, but the boxes are everywhere and a lot of them have yet to be sealed up. I left an angry voicemail with the building manager explaining that I was in the middle of finals and would appreciate at least 24 hours notice before they went through my place. 10 hours later and I have yet to receive a return call.

To make matters worse, after about 4 hours of sleep, I got up earlier than I had planned to take the trash out and clean up a bit more. As I walked out of my apartment I found a note stuck on my door: "We're replacing the boards on your deck. Please have any items on your deck removed by tomorrow morning." I have a few things on my balcony, which wouldn't be a problem to move aside from the fact that all of my sealed up moving boxes completely obstruct the balcony door. And some of the those fuckers are heavy.

I'm thoroughly contemplating using my worn down patio furniture to block my apartment door as I leave tomorrow morning. Or setting the furniture on fire. Or both.

If I could be sweet, I know I've been a real bad girl

2007-05-01T13:18:00.000-05:00

Late last night I was talking with a good friend of mine, and learned that the questionnaires from the Moral Character folks had gone out. He has an odd sense of humor, so the conversation went something like this:

J: You better be nice to me.

Me: Why?

J: I received that form today for your lawyer thing.

Me: Seriously??? What does it say???

J: Not telling.

Me: C'mon! Please? I'm dying to know!

J: No.

Me: [Fifteen minutes of begging.]

J: [Fifteen minutes of refusing to tell me anything.]

Me: PLEASE!!!!

J: Okay, fine. [Reads off questions - 11 total - How long have you known the applicant? Do you know if the applicant has committed a crime? Been a party to a lawsuit? Has a mental illness? Has a chemical dependency problem? Is generally honest? Etc. Each question has a check-the-box answer: Yes, No, Don't Know, Prefer Not To Answer. If any are answered "Yes" then the person filling out the form is supposed to write out an explanation.]

Me: Well, you're going to check "No" for everything right? [Because I haven't done shit, I grew up in Wisconsin, for christ's sake.]

J: No, I think I'm just going to put "Prefer Not To Answer"

Me: That's funny. Please don't. Please. [Additional begging.]

J: Okay, fine. Oh wait, I forgot one question. "Do you think that the applicant should be admitted to practice law in the State of California?" I'm going to put no for that one.

Me: What?!? Why?!?

J: Don't worry, I can explain the answer on the back. I'll just write that lawyers are blood-sucking assholes, and that I don't want you to be one of them. They shouldn't hold that against you.

Me: Oh dear god.

J: Don't worry about it, it'll be fine.

Me: Right.

I really should have picked my friends' parents to fill these things out... Sense of humor + Bar App = Moral Charactrer Failure.

We have no time to stall or protocol to hem us in

2007-04-28T18:44:00.000-05:00

The people sitting behind me at my coffee shop are attempting to pick a ring tone for their phone. Which means, of course, that they feel the need to go through all of the pre-programed ringtones, then go on the internet and pull up some more. If Minnesota can pass a statewide smoking ban, you'd think they'd also be able to pass a statewide ban on going through ringtones in public. I'm assuming that me hurling a large blunt object at their faces poses a much worse risk to their health than secondhand smoke.

After your leaving, your leaving me alone

2007-04-28T17:09:00.000-05:00

Two weeks from today I graduate, and three weeks from today I'll be unpacking boxes in my pimp new apartment. Scary.

Today I received an e-mail from the graduation committee with the graduation party info... it turns out that there will be a cash bar and an appetizer buffet. A cash bar? After 3 years, they seriously can't have an open bar for us? At least we get "happy hour prices" - but still. Not even free champagne? Argh. I'm now questioning if I should really go to the party, or should buy a cheap bottle of cab and sit at home watching episodes of Dawson's Creek on DVD.

Tonight is another graduation party of sorts with some non-law school friends in town. It's quite possibly the last time I'll see most of them for quite awhile. Thankfully, the alcohol will be free and I'll be able to get rid of half-full bottles of vodka that have been sitting in my freezer for months. One less thing to pack!

When I think about you I [kill] myself

2007-04-26T20:30:00.000-05:00

I just checked my stats to see how people were finding my blog. Turns out that the following search strings in google lead here:

"fail bar exam kill myself"

"does anyone pass california bar exam"

AWESOME.

You're working hard on a life of your own

2007-04-26T19:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my last day of classes... and proved to be very anti-climatic. Perhaps that's because I'm only used to having classes two days a week. Now I actually have to worry about studying for finals. With my seminar paper out of the way, I only have three actual finals, which start a week from today. I started outlining my BA Corps class yesterday, which will end up being the easiest to study for as I've actually done all the reading. FDA and Sports Law will be more problematic - neither class had a book, so I didn't always prepare for class by pulling the cases off of Westlaw. And as a 3L, I didn't always make it to class (though my track record was much better in those classes than it was in BA Corps). Anyways, all bar prep will stop until I'm done with finals.

In other news... Last week I received and read Proceed With Caution: A Diary of the First Year At One Of America's Largest, Most Prestigious Law Firms. It turned out to be a waste of Westlaw points. Perhaps it would be an ok read for someone considering going to law school, but only if that person understands that Keates whines like a 4 year old. His basic point is that firms suck in students with fancy summer programs and big salaries, then work them to death, and partners/other associates can be assholes. I'm not sure why he expected anything else. I just don't think it's realistic to get hired right out of law school at a large firm, get paid 145k/year, and expect to work 9-5 five days a week. You give up a lot for that salary, and understanding that before you sign up is a good idea. And although I didn't have any terrible partner experiences during my 2L summer, I'm well aware that I won't be BFF with all of my co-workers. That's life. Thankfully I don't think that I'll have to worry about it much in my practice group, as I worked with them a lot and heard nothing but good things about the group. We'll see I guess.

I need a new drug

2007-04-23T21:40:00.000-05:00

First - the countdown... Less than 3 weeks until graduation, less than one month until BarBri, a little over 3 months until I fail the bar, less than 7 months until I'm notified that I failed the bar.

Anyways...

I drink an insane amount of Diet Coke, approximately 2.5 tons of the stuff each day. Normally I go for Diet Coke with Lime, though lately my coffee shop has been running out on a regular basis. Today, however, my coffee shop had in stock Diet Coke Plus. The can looks like it's straight out of the early 90s, or is a new GLTB-friendly caffeinated beverage variety. This soda not only comes with the caffeine my brain needs to survive finals and the bar exam (as well as the next 40 years of firm life), but also vitamins and minerals. It actually tastes pretty close to regular diet coke. I feel so healthy, especially considering how many caffeinated donuts I've been consuming.

If only Marlboro Reds would come out with a calcium-infused cigarette... then I'd really be set.

Our time is running out

2007-04-21T16:24:00.000-05:00

As My Bar Tab pointed out a few days ago at the end of one of her posts, I too need to write my friends and family a "Leave me the fuck alone until July 27th" note, or at least convey the general sentiment. It sounds relatively easy in theory, but hasn't worked out so well in practice. While I was drinking with my parents back in Wisconsin last weekend, I told them not to tell me if anyone (aside from an immediate family member) died during the month of July. I was serious, but my mother didn't believe me. She's having a ton of trouble grasping the concept that her uber-smart daughter, who never really studied in her life, would be SO engrossed in one test as to not come back home if someone died. I think my father understood though... or that could have been the PBR talking. As for my former co-workers, a few of which want to come visit me, I basically told them it wouldn't be workable until after the new year. By the time I get finished with the bar, take my bar trip, and get a few months in at work, I'm not going to be settled in enough to have visitors.

Lately I've been working on doing absolutely nothing. I barely have the motivation to wake up in the morning, let alone study for the bar (which I've officially decided to forget about until BarBri, aside from listening to the PMBR CDs in my car). I should be working on a take home final for one of my classes right now, but instead I'm posting in the blog. I haven't outlined for any of my other classes yet, and finals for those start in a week and a half. What's really surprising is that I was a closet gunner all through law school - pretty quiet in class, but worked my ass off when finals hit. I still care about my grades, but not enough to do anything about it thus far.

Instead of studying, I've been taking my bar stipend and going on a mini-spending spree. After buying a replacement computer for the one with the broken screen (which I'm still using, as I'm too lazy to transfer my files to my new computer, which is still in the box), I spent a good week researching flat screen TVs. Two nights ago I finally purchased a Samsung 40" LCD HDTV. No good reason for this really - it's not like I'll have a lot of free time to watch all the stuff I'm planning on TIVO-ing over the summer, I just WANTED it. And this desire was so intense that I knew I wasn't going to be able to study until I bought it.

So I bought it online, and went to go pick it up to get myself that instant gratification I'd been so hoping for. The nice young guy that wheeled it out to my car, when seeing the size of my 99 Saturn, remarked: "Are you a genie?" Apparently I'm not, because despite my fingers being crossed the TV didn't fit in my backseat. I was intent on getting this thing home at this point, so I had him take it out of the box shove it in my backseat. (Good call, placing a $1600 TV unprotected in my car, clearly.) I got it home, only to realize that I was going to have some issues getting it up to my apartment. (Those things weigh a ton.) A managed to get it done unaided, after about an hour baby steps through my building. I hooked up up, and am very pleased with the purchase.

The problem though - 2 days later, my back hurts so much it's hard to bend over, and I still can't study to save my life. Maybe I should buy a new car. Yeah, that'll get me motivated.

The devil's in the details

2007-04-16T21:28:00.001-05:00

Ah, the irony. My Structured Finance prof. made a side comment during class today regarding extended warranties along the lines of "I mean, really, how many of you have had to replace your laptop screen?" No one raised their hand (although the POS comps they give us our first year have given pretty much everyone problems). After class, I headed over to my coffee shop, opened my other laptop, and discovered that the right 1/3 of the screen was completely cracked. I purchased this computer about 2 months ago from Circuit City, with the intention of using it for the bar exam. Initially I was pissed, then decided to run over to the store to see about having the screen replaced (knowing that it was covered by the 1 year warranty). Low and behold, everything but the screen is covered, and the cross-eyed sales associate informed me that a new screen would run about the same price as a new laptop. (I bought mine for around $900). So I'm pretty much fucked as of now. I was told not to just buy a cheap, possibly refurbished, model from eBay, but should look there for a screen. Nothing was to be found after some extensive searching there. It looks like I probably will just buy a new comp, and get the extended warranty from the store that covers the screen. And also make sure I don't throw it around like a baseball like I have been. So much for me using my graduation money for my bar trip.

Speaking of laptops, does anyone know if they have electrical outlets for those taking the bar with their laptops? My battery life is ok, but it won't make it through a full day.

Less than one month until I graduate. Yikes!

All your friends and sedatives mean well but make it worse, every reassurance just magnifies the doubt, better find yourself a place to level out

2007-04-16T01:10:00.000-05:00

I've returned from my mini vacation to Wisconsin. My pre-graduation graduation party was in most respects a success, thanks to my family consuming vast quantities of alcohol. I also had time to visit with one of my good friends who is a 2L at UW Madison, bond with my grandmother, introduce a few co-workers to the joys of cruising on the Ave, and eat what will probably be my last home cooked meal until after the bar exam is over with. I was also supposed to get one of my graduation gifts - an Elliott Smith framed CD. They sent me Bob Seger's Greatest Hits instead. Cruel. Anyways...

Given the emphasis on family activities this past weekend, I fell behind on my bar prep. I did, however, manage to get started on the Contracts PMBR CDs. They're pretty entertaining, considering the subject matter. Props to Daniel Fessler for cracking a few jokes, but not going overboard.

The good news is that the CDs thus far have covered topics that I'm familiar with, and seem to be doing an excellent job of jogging my memory on such evil topics as the statute of frauds, the parol evidence rule, and section 2-207 of the UCC. The bad news is that there is a fuck-ton of information I'm going to have to retain. I have yet to take a law school exam that is completely closed book or closed note... in Contracts we got a 2 page cheat sheet where I could jot down anything I felt I was going to forget (and I got to write really small). I've rarely needed most of the the items I've brought in to an exam, but simply having them there made a huge difference mentally. Now I'll be walking into the exam with nothing but what has been ingrained in my brain - which scares me to death.

Also scary... a Justice Kennedy bobblehead that is up for bid as part of the Class of 2007 graduation auction. Which reminds me of my favorite Guy Charles quote: The eight scariest words in the English language are: "Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the court." Hmmm... I think I'm going to bid.

Coast To Coast

2007-04-11T14:21:00.000-05:00

So much California specific law, so little time. I just reviewed the "Scope of the California Bar Examination" to remind myself that I'll need to be familiar with California specific rules in Evidence and Civil Procedure (as well as the federal rules). It looks like I'll also need to be familiar with sections of the California Probate Code, and the California Business and Professionals Code. Ah, and then there's California Community Property.

At least for Community Property I got a state specific E&E book. I'm now wondering if I should get more state specific materials for the other subjects, like my own copy of the California Rules of Evidence or Civ Pro. Or just cross my fingers that BarBri will have what I need for these. Preferably with a chart that explains the differences between Cali law and the federal/common law rules... I love me some charts.

I read through the introductory materials in "Scoring High on Bar Exam Essays" - relatively basic information that could be summarized "write logically/write well." I'm hoping that the $50+ I paid for the book will sting a little less when I start using it to write essays, which I won't start until after I begin BarBri. Also - the book hasn't been revamped since the late 1980s (the reason for the big note on the cover that reads "Classic Text." The author did add a 2006 appendix on how to do legal analysis, but all of the sample questions and notes about grading are from the 80's, so I don't know if they are entirely accurate anymore. If you are going to buy the book, you might as well get one of the older additions if it'll save you any $.

I'm in Wisconsin visiting family through this weekend, and it's snowing. According to WeatherBug - "Light snow will become moderate to heavy at times in the Shawano... Appleton...Seymour...Green Bay and Kewaunee areas during the mid afternoon hours. Snowfall rates up to an inch an hour are possible between 2 PM and 5 PM. Northeast winds will gust to 35 to 40 mph in the northern Fox valley and along the Lakeshore." Total accumulations of 4 inches expected. Great. Currently in Los Angeles - 67 degrees and sunny.

The point - although I could have gotten out of taking the bar exam entirely by going to law school and practicing in Wisconsin, there are perks to getting a job in California (aside from the huge salary differential.)

It's like a fatal disease

2007-04-10T14:33:00.000-05:00

And now I have something else to worry about besides passing the bar: The possibilty that my firm will close prior to my start date.

Good thing I didn't accept a job at Rider Bennett. They are closing their doors effective May 31st. Apparently there was at least one 3L at my school that was going to be joining the firm after taking the Minnesota bar. Poor kid.

It's over now the test, and you should sleep well

2007-04-09T14:31:00.000-05:00

Just got my MPRE score report back... 112 scaled score. Which means I won't have to retake the exam as I had planned. My friends had a goal of getting the lowest possible passing score, and right now i'm winning.

The minimum score in Cali is 79... which will jump to 86 next January.

I'd go out and celebrate tonight, but I'll be sitting though another Structured Finance class and watching the Twins destroy the Yankees on gamechannel. Happy.

I don't need to walk around in circles

2007-04-06T12:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my firm sent me an e-mail regarding some first year associates views on PMBR in an attempt to help us decide if we should take it or not. Of course, there was no clear cut up or down vote - comments ranged from "a complete waste of a weekend" to "definitely take it." The firm covers BarBri but not PMBR, so despite my intense desire to sign up for everything bar exam related, I'm going to wait until I see how I do with the multiple choice section in BarBri before signing up. I've already purchased all of the PMBR CDs (and am only a third of the way through ripping them on to my computer), so I'm hoping if I just get one PMBR books and use that on my own I'll get everything I need to without having to attend the class.

What struck me more about the e-mail was the fact that at least some of the people had taken the bar more than once. I've started wondering more and more lately about what happens to those who don't make the cut the first time around. There was no discussion of this over the course of my 2L summer at the firm, and nothing in the materials the firm has sent out thus far. I'm scheduled to start work in early September, before the bar results are released. So if my worst fears are realized and I don't manage to pass, do I just continue working as a clerk? Is my salary cut? Do I get asked to leave until I pass? Perhaps it's better if I don't know what happens - and let the fear of the unknown act as additional pressure to study my ass off and "make it work."

I also asked the Prof. I'm an RA for what he suggested in terms of bar prep, as he somewhat recently took the Cali bar exam. His response: "Go to the lectures. Focus on the Convisor Mini-review outline thing (or whatever that's called). Put together your own shorter outline (like 5-10 pages per MBE subject). that'll be enough." Then again, he graduated from one of the best 2 law schools in the nation and is insanely intelligent. But it's a start.

Looking for answers, committing murders along the way

2007-04-04T16:46:00.000-05:00

My BarBri schedule came via e-mail today... you can find a copy of it here. I'm glad that my location has nothing scheduled over the weekends - not that I'm planning on having any sort of social life on weekends, but at least I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive to class on a Saturday morning. I expected the class to run a little bit longer than it does - maybe right up until exam time. Apparently I'll be given a study schedule for the post-class, pre-exam period from BarBri, so ideally I'll be able to stick to that and not procrastinate when I'm done with the class.

Also included in the e-mail was a note about picking up the books. They don't have a pickup location in Minnesota, so I have two options - 1) Wait until the first day of class to get my books (which I can do as they are available in the LA BarBri office), or 2) Have the books sent to me via FedEx for $35. Although I'm dying to get my hands on the materials, I think I'm just going to wait until I get out to California to get them. I don't want to shell out the extra money to have them shipped, and I don't want to have to give up the space in my Saturn to bring them out to California myself when I drive out there.

Speaking of moving - it's miserable. Not only do I have years of crap in my apartment that I need to throw away, I have to figure out how to schedule the move and get all the packing done with my insanely tight schedule. Finals are the first two weeks of May, and I graduate on the 12th. My lease in Cali begins on May 15th, and BarBri starts in LA on the 21st. The moving company gave me a 5 to 12 day window between the time they pick up my stuff to the time they deliver it, and storage is insanely expensive (and most likely over the firms $4,000 cap on moving expenses). The best option would probably be to wait until the 14th of May to have the pickup, but this means that I will need to take at least one day off from BarBri when the moving company delivers my stuff. It also means that I'll be dealing with unpacking on top of studying for the bar, and could potentially spend over a week on an air mattress in my new place.

I can also have my items picked up before or during exams, but then may have to deal with the extra storage costs, which I may have to pay out of pocket as the firm will not cover anything over their cap. Besides that, I go slightly insane during finals, and don't really want to waste a full day watching the movers pack up my apartment when I should be studying. At this point, I wish the firm would just give me the $4,000, and I'd replace everything I had in my place when I got into town. As that's not going to happen, I'm just going to end up picking a date and crossing my fingers. Happy.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

2007-04-04T01:34:00.000-05:00

My PMBR CDs arrived today, and I'm still feeling like a kid at Christmas. Tomorrow I'll attempt to rip them all onto my computer so I don't scratch them all to hell and thus miss out on any part of contracts review.

I also spent some time today bonding with my California Community Property E&E... The sick thing is that I actually enjoyed it. I'm sure that feeling will fade away fast.

The Prof. that I am an RA for just assigned me some work on FRE 609... I'm glad I'm getting paid to do things that will help in a small way for my bar prep - I'm just hoping that California has the same (or similar) rule... speaking of this, does anyone know if Bar Bri provides us with a copy of the California Rules of Evidence? I'm pretty sure that starting this year we are tested on those on the bar, as opposed to the federal rules. And in the event that it's NOT in the Bar Bri materials, anyone have an old copy of their rulebook they want to donate to a good cause?

The moving company that the firm uses is coming out tomorrow to go through my place to see how much crap they'll be hauling out to Cali at the end of the month. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the cost of bringing it out there and storing it for two weeks will be under the firm's cap on moving expenses.

On a non bar-review note - I got the 3rd season of Entourage today. I'll probably watch the rest of it tomorrow (got through the first 4 episodes tonight), so it won't further distract me from studying. I may have to swear off of TV show DVDs until August - they're more addictive than crack.

I want to hurt (her), I want to give (her) pain, I'm a roman candle, my head is full of flames

2007-04-02T19:49:00.000-05:00

To the girl in my Structured Finance course who feels the insatiable desire to mutter "Mmm-hmm" every time the professor pauses mid-sentence, please stop. The entire class knows that you comprehend and/or agree with each sentence fragment spoken pertaining to taxation of fixed investment trusts. Good for you. You get your choice of a gold star or a cookie. This offer is contingent, however, on your ability to shut the fuck up for the remaining two classes, as some of the members of the class are distracted by your constant interjections. Not to mention the fact that it throws us off from watching the Twins home opener on Game Channel.

If you are unaware of your habit of making audible noises continuously through the lecture, rest assured that next class period I will be throwing my half full bottle of diet coke at your head. I'm a good shot.

And if, by some bizarre twist of fate, you are enrolled in my BarBri course in LA, I'l be filling my diet coke bottle with sand before it I throw it at you. Just a heads up, so to speak.

Once beaming with confidence, now brooding with doubt

2007-04-01T13:01:00.000-05:00

Things haven't exactly gone as planned this weekend, as my best friend from school was admitted to the hospital on Friday and I spent most of Friday and Saturday with her. Thankfully she's doing much better now, and the practice questions can wait for a few days (or a few months). But the event got me thinking about what happens if during the middle of bar prep someone I know is seriously injured or dies. This is a definite possibility, given the sheer number of relatives I have (my father had 12 brothers and sisters, most of whom are married with children). In the California Bar Exam Primer, Rule 6 for Passing the Bar Exam states: Get things done before bar prep starts. Prepay bills, get the oil changed, clean the house, take a leave of absence from work. No weddings, births, divorces, home sales, moves, or new pets during bar prep. Although this is targeted at the person taking the bar, I'm guessing the same logic can be applied to dealing with friends' weddings, births, divorces, etc. I'm already skipping my cousin's wedding and a family reunion as they fall in late June and July. I can't exactly skip a funeral, but I wish there was a way I could completely isolate myself during May, June, and July from anything that could possibly impact my studying.

Related to this is the problem of conveying to my non-law school friends and relatives that I'm going to be MIA for those three months. I don't think my parents ever really understood how much I studied during law school, especially around finals. I got good grades, but they still questioned why I got an A- in any given course instead of a solid A. They're not harsh or demanding, but I've always done well in school without putting much effort in, so they expect good grades. When I explained to them last week that I was getting nervous about the bar, they just said that I was overreacting and they were sure I'd pass. No additional pressure there, clearly. The only other lawyer in my extended family never took the bar exam (he went to law school in Wisconsin and practices in Wisconsin, and therefore was not required to sit for the bar), so there is no one to tell my parents how hard it is. Ah well.

So the revised plan for the remaining hours of the weekend is just to get my BA Corps reading finished and review some materials for my Sports Law class. If the spirit moves me later on today I may try a few contracts MBE questions,,. Or review the California Community Property E&E book that arrived yesterday. I think we spent a day on this in Property, but Minnesota isn't a community property state so I need to focus on this area more than some of the others.

What's a game of chance to you in this world of real skill

2007-03-30T16:04:00.000-05:00

After watching 2 episodes of Modern Marvels (water and bathrooms) last night, I headed over to Perkins to meet a few friends with my MBR book in tow. I got through the introductory material and took a look at the outlines of material covered that heads up every chapter. Much to my dismay, a number of the sub-topics are areas that I didn't cover when I took the course. Although I thought my evidence prof. was fantastic, I'm not thrilled that he decided to skip the Best Evidence Rule as it wasn't really applicable anymore. Apparently to the bar examiners it still is useful enough to test on. I also had a full year of Con Law by another amazing prof., who is now one of the co-deans of the law school. I'm all about the Commerce Clause, but he believed that First Amendment issues belonged in a separate course, and thus I didn't learn any of that material. Not good. I'm guessing BarBri will cover this stuff, but I wish I had a little more exposure to it. Especially from the profs. that had the mad skillz.

A few of my non-law school friends decided to try their hand at some practice questions... and in some cases guessed the right answer when I didn't have a clue. This lead them to conclude that the bar isn't as difficult as I'm making it out to be, even though I went to great pains to point out that the passage rate in Cali is like 48%. (Granted, there are repeat takers in that number, and those that don't put any work in, but still...) It's not like I'm up against the members of my high school graduating class here - most people taking the bar graduated from an accredited law school and I'm guessing most of them are going through BarBri and studying to some extent. There are people out there that are smarter than I am that are going to fail. That's not reassuring.

My PMBR CDs still have yet to arrive... I should have upgraded to priority shipping.

Weekend plans currently include doing at least 10 practice questions from each of the 6 subjects tested on the MBE. It's not much, but considering I'm going to be going through each of those questions pretty slowly and reading all of the answer explanations, it should take awhile. Then the depression can set in when I only get 3 out of 60 correct. As if it hasn't already.

2007-03-29T19:22:00.000-05:00

I don't care how you do it, just save me...

2007-03-29T18:07:00.004-05:00

Mad props to Barnes and Noble, who delivered Strategies and Tactics for the MBE today, rather than tomorrow as they originally had scheduled. The book looks to be useful, just for the sheer number of practice problems. I was going to go out later tonight, but I may just hit up coffee instead and dive right in. Yes, I am that lame.

I finished up Mastering the MBE... well, at least the first part that provides general tips and a practice strategy for the multiple choice questions. As I'm guessing I'm going to have more problems with the multiple choice portion than the essays, having John Talamo tell me in detail how to go through the questions when preparing will hopefully prove to be useful. At least some of his tips sound good in theory - like "Regardless whether you were right or wrong, read (study) the sample answer." I probably would have just moved on after finding out I got the question right. I also like his pacing style in terms of how many questions to answer at any given time.

Now, if only my PMBR CDs would come in! I'm dying to review the RAP, which we never covered in Property (thank god).

You have no scars on your face, and you cannot handle pressure

2007-03-29T01:17:00.000-05:00

Over the past few days I've started to become overly paranoid about sitting for the California bar exam this July.... and like first year of law school, I've decided the best way to deal with the stress is by posting (venting). At the very least, those of you who know me well enough to call will understand why over the next few months I won't be returning your calls, or when to send flowers to my mother if I inadvertently kill myself while falling asleep while smoking in bed studying multiple choice questions.

Initially I wasn't overly concerned about the California bar... I was worried to some extent, but also knew that my insane studying habits and paranoia about failing would drive me to study enough to get a passing score. However, a few weeks ago I was out in California to locate an apartment, and had dinner with a friend of mine that was a fellow summer associate. She indicated that she was going to be taking the PMBR in addition to the Bar Bri course. For some reason I had always assumed that PMBR was some sort of ghetto Bar Bri... as it's only a 3 or 6 day course, I figured that those who took it just didn't want to shell out the extra money to take a more complete course. After talking with her and a few other people, I discovered that it supplements the Bar Bri course and in some cases can be really helpful. Not that that changes much for me... I graduate on the 12th of May, and Bar Bri starts a week later. The PMBR course is being during the week in between, and I'll likely be in the middle of Nebraska driving my Saturn cross country to LA at that time. But now that I can't take it, I really want to. Or at least get the books.

So that was a few weeks ago... flash forward Monday of this week, when I was sitting through another painful discussion in BA Corps. The prof. typically finds it more useful to ask about 20 of my fellow classmates what they *think* the result should have been in a given case, rather than teaching us what the result actually *means*. (Keep in mind that most of these cases don't even involve any hot button issue that would yield any sort of emotive response.) Anyways, I'm usually put off by this sort of approach to teaching, as it requires nothing more than soliciting opinions from the few fuck-tards in the class who feel the need to suck up a little bit, but my discomfort turned into a mild rage when I realized I know little to nothing about the substantive law in that course, and it will be on the bar exam. (At one point, I was asked my opinion on a case... I remarked that I didn't really have one. The prof. then felt it necessary to tell the class that I was going to make an awful attorney. My quick response to that, which didn't go over to well, was the following: "Who's paying me?" I haven't been asked to opine again.) 3 years of law school for this? And I'm even less prepared for the bar than I would have been had I stayed at home reading a treatise on tort law. Sad.

As the prof. continued to get a feel for how the class would handle the case, I turned to looking up more on the California Bar... double check which topics are tested, the formats, the hotel information, etc. I then came across a few blogs - including this one. As I scrolled through a few posts, I realized that he had started studying already. Actually, he has been studying for awhile. Nothing too aggressive, but just going through a few books and listening to the PMBR CD's on first year subjects. I, on the other hand, have been sitting at Perkins until all hours of the morning, and then coming home to watch Jericho and Studio 60 on my computer. I have been told by most of the people I work for and the few people I know that have sat for the bar to not study for it until after school lets out, and that Bar Bri will teach me everything I need to know. It's practically a mantra. But this blogger got me worried, for a few reasons. First, the people giving me advice have all sat for the Minnesota bar - where the passage rate is significantly higher than that in California. Second, my retention skills are sub-par. I did well in law school, but I honestly read most of the cases 3 times, still brief and highlight in technicolor. I shouldn't be getting advice from those who took the exam here, and I shouldn't assume that just because I did well in school means I have any recall as to what the elements of negligence are now.

So I left BA Corps, and headed off to a few bookstores to try to find a few bar prep books with absolutely no success. I've since ordered Strategies and Tactics for the MBE, which is due to arrive Friday, and the entire PMBR audio set which will now occupy most of my time on the drive out to California. Both of these have been suggested in other blogs, and thankfully when I spend money on study aids I tend to calm down a bit. I also booked a room at the hotel where the bar will be given, to avoid the nasty commute from downtown LA to Century City while I'm sitting for the bar. I thought about adding in a chocolate dipped strawberries as part of my room-request, but ultimately decided against it as my bar stipend from the firm doesn't exactly cover $24 treats.

It's going to be a fun ride. And by fun, I mean the most horrific experience of my life. Here goes nothing.

*** Update: With apologies to Biff, I've changed the "she" to "he" -- I think I inadvertantly confused him with the writer of A Girl Walks Into A Bar (Exam). My bad.

Do you think you'll pass the bar exam?
	Of course! I #$%!#$ Conviser and he gave me the exam early.
	Not sure. I only know 23 of the hearsay exceptions by heart.
	Not a snowball's chance in hell. I still think Prop 8 applies in civil cases.
	I'm not taking the bar, I just relish in the misery of others.

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