Pooped

It's Friday night and I just finished everything I wanted to do today.

I went on an AM run, read a little, and did a 4 hr training for a program called Court Advocate Program. It's a pro-bono program where law school students help domestic violence victims file an order of protection, i.e. retraining orders. It was really interesting. And then I read some more.

I'm so cool to be doing this on a Friday night... New York City is apparently the city with the highest percentage (number?) of single un-married women. I'm definitely contributing to that statistics...

On the flip side, I'm working really hard this weekend because, unlike me, my sister is getting married next weekend! I can't tell you how excited I am for her. And despite what I just said above, pure happiness is the only thing I feel about her wedding. I'm looking forward to spending a great day with everyone I love. It's what gets me through the night when I'm tired as I am right now.

Listening to mother

One of the things my mom says periodically is that money-saving starts by cutting out daily cafe-bought coffee.

I used to be awesome with this, but ever since law school started, I've been purchasing coffee everyday at the school cafeteria. I already carry enough shit around, and don't think far enough to shove my tumbler into my book bag. The other thing about buying coffee is that I get to enjoy a fresh cup of coffee more often, which is key. Especially for a black coffee drinker. (Milk kills the acidic taste that old coffee has.) I don't care about my coffee being fancy and expensive, but I do care that it's fresh.

Anyhoo, I'm trying to be better. I bought my tumbler that I bought in Japan today, and enjoyed my free cup of coffee from home. Imma try to keep that up, but no promises.

I need new jeans...

Right?

Fashion cliché

I don't usually feel like a fashion trend cliché because I don't usually strictly adhere to trendy clothes. For example, I have yet to purchase skinny jeans. Skinny jeans make me look like a hipster guy wearing skinny jeans.

Anyway, this navy striped shirt makes me feel like a cliché because everyone else on the street is wearing a horizontal stripped shirt.

Oh wells.

P.S. There are fireworks going off along the East River, and it is scaring the LIVING SHIT OUT OF ME. I haven't been able to handle the sound of fireworks since I was a kid. It sounds like a war zone. MAKE IT STOP.

Panda Lisa

Today's picture is in honor of Peter's call for Panda Photos.

Panda!

Energy!

There is not a lack of bakeries in New York City, and I've managed to find a favorite bakery in each neighborhood that I've lived in (which is just... 2... ).

My current favorite bakery is Damascus Bakery in Cobble Hill, because they bake the most amazing pillow-y pita bread I have ever tasted. PLUS! They're A DOLLAR A BAG. A DOLLA.

I go by the bakery on the weekend after my long run. Today, the man behind the counter smiled when he saw what a sweaty mess I was. He said, "This will give you plenty of energy!" and handed me a warm bag of pita and my change.

I mean... I don't even stand a chance.

Thank Black

There are many things that I'm thankful about my upbringing, but one of the biggest thing that I am grateful about is the lack of dependence my parents had on sugary drinks to raise us kids. We didn't grow up on juice or soda, but mainly drank barley tea or water.

Or coffee.

I don't know if I'm entirely thankful of my inherited dependence on coffee, but I am very thankful that (in the least) it is a dependence of black coffee. Especially now, when it's even more crucial to be attentive, I am glad that I can guzzle away my coffee without serious weight gain consequences. Other side effects, I can't really tell yet.

Cheers to black coffee!

I'm red because I tried.

I went out beer-drinking bowling today with a student group. I tried. I had fun. But then, they wanted to go out allllllll the way into the night. I was the oldest one there, and I just couldn't.

But hey! At least I tried! And now I'm red, because I had beer.

It was really bad lighting so I had to take down my lamp to show you that I'm red. Despite my efforts, I don't think you can tell...

Hunting down the free-dom

There's a farmer's market on my way to my school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. One particular stand sometimes hands out whole peaches as a sample, and I pass by every Tuesday and Thursday to make sure to snatch it up. It's not often when free produce is handed out, and I am pretty sick of free pizza at this point. (Although, I am NEVER tired of free coffee.)

As a student, it's always a hunt for these free things that are of nutritional value. I will continue my hunt for these little treats.

(P.S. For the farmer offering these samples... I promise to be a loyal paying customer once I get a job after I graduate from law school and I end up staying in the neighborhood.)

PUSH ME

I had the best run I've had in a LONG TIME this morning.

Running outside means you're part of the public. Sometimes, you come across other runners. When you're in a city like New York, where EVERYONE is a runner, it even gets a little competitive amongst strangers. You find yourself trying to keep up with other strangers, and you end up running faster than you intended. I am severely apprehensive about actively running with other people, so these moments are the only times I actually feel like I'm running with someone.

The above happened to me this morning but, infinitely better. This women was right next to me the entire time I ran across the Brooklyn Bridge back to Brooklyn. We were neck and neck. One passed the other for a second, and the other caught up right away. At a certain point, our eyes met, and we silently acknowledged each other, and it became almost like a race. We were BLITZING. HARD. At the end of the race, we ran so hard and well that we high five-ed each other. It was the greatest example of running camaraderie. She screamed "GREAT JOB!!" and I sincerely thanked her for the competition. I don't know what her name is, nor where she's from. But she pushed me to my limit this morning, and I couldn't thank her enough for letting me start out my day accomplishing something I normally don't get to do.

I know this is more reason to find a running team... I hope I get to that some day.

The picture is me in complete elation, right before I took a shower for my 9AM class.

Elation can sometimes look like crazy. Just sayin.

YESH

Do you ever have evenings where you're so on a roll, that you sit and work without caring what time it was?

I just had one of those evenings. AND. IT. FEELS. GOOD.

YESH!

P.S. I realize that I have worn what I am wearing today on this blog multiple times in the last couple of days. Whatever, my classmates haven't seen this scarf before, so I wore it again.

One step away from Lunchables

I've been eating string cheese lately as a snack. They're portable and salty, and durable enough that I don't have to worry about squishing them, like bananas.

Eating string cheese makes me feel like a grade school student. However, I suppose it's a step better than resorting to Lunchables. I shall not go that low.

Bite my lip

I'm working on my first memo, which is about a case where a dog bites a child.

We have to read several relevant cases and make our argument using past applications of the law. I have to mentally bite my lip when I feel like saying something aloud. These cases are so likely to happen, that it makes me hesitant to ever be around children.

Dogs, on the other hand, give me a sense of relief vs. a sense of panic. I miss my dog.

It was mighty AC-ed and cold in the cafeteria where I was studying.

Lifesaver

Did I ever tell you about how I used to think the lightsabers from Star Wars were called lifesavers? It made sense to me at the time; you use them to save lives. However, you can also argue that they were used to kill lives as well. Woops.

Anyhoo, my current lifesaver is my locker at school. Law school books are a couple of pounds each, and when you have 4 classes, it can get unmanageable without a place to store them.

This is where our lockers are stored. There's a mirror in the locker room, and it definitely needs to be cleaned.

*click*

Last night, the weather suddenly clicked into fall. Today was full-on fall weather, and there were no shadows of summer left. In fact, the weather won't be above 69 degrees until next Tuesday.

I busted out my warmer clothing, including a fall-appropriate mustard yellow dress.

I love this time of year until January.... <3

Another cool thing about being a student...

...is access to Amazon Student!

With free 2-day shipping, there is just no reason for me to do substantial shopping outside of the online market. No wonder physical retail stores are collapsing.

It's like a present I give myself. I came home to a package today, and it perked up my night.

In other news, it is currently 57 degrees outside, and tomorrow's expected high is 67 degrees. Good bye, summer, HELLO AUTUMN I LOVE YOU YOU'RE MY FAVORIIITTEE!

one of those days again

I've been running around the whole day. Class from 9-1pm, meeting from 1-1:30pm, lunch, read 3 chapters, and another meeting in Midtown from 6pm to 8pm.

The above picture is what I felt like around 4pm, after 2.5 cups of coffee, a Snickers bar, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Seriously, since I've been a student, my eating has gone downhill. ESPECIALLY since my school offers free pizza almost every day. I'm kind of sick of pizza. I miss the days at LTSC when they used to give us free banh mi sandwiches.

JEANS

One of my favorite things about being back in school is the ability to wear jeans EVERY. DAY.

Today was a jeans and black T kind of day. I lurve that kind of day.

I'm studying to get into a profession that's all about suits, (both law and apparel - har har!) so I'm getting as many days in jeans as possible.

can't get the energy...

... to even pose for an actual picture.

I'm exhausted and it's only 9:30PM. Whatevs...

What today has been like

I did what I usually do today. I did a semi-long run across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, while listening to Weekend Edition on WNYC. Today, they did a little bit of Weekend Edition, and then switched over to live coverage of the 911 Memorial, including 6 moments of silences tolled by bells.

I was just at the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge when the first one went off at 8:46AM with lower Manhattan in perfect view. I stopped, went to the side, and participated in the moment with those near the World Trade Center. Just like 10 years ago, it was a blue clear bright day, even though the weather forecast expected some rain showers.

I proceeded with the rest of the day with constant reminders of what had happened 10 years ago, and also with the reminder that fall was around the corner.

I threw on a fall-colored scarf to welcome the fall, and to respect what this time of year means to a lot of people in this city.

I need to clean my room.

So I'm going to get to it right after this post.

September 10th, 2011

Tomorrow, everyone will be remembering what had happened 10 years ago. I can't tell you how quickly those 10 years had gone by.

I want to focus on what had happened before 9/11/2001 today. I had just graduated high school, and just turned 18. I was in my 2nd week of college in my dorm.

In high school, I didn't care about politics and world events at all. I didn't listen to public radio, I didn't watch news television, and I didn't read news papers. I knew who my president was, but I couldn't have told you who my senators were, or who my congress member was. I was consumed with marching band, acne, boys, MTV, and starting college.

I entered college and realized how small my world had been thus far. I was mourning a little about the passing of Aaliyah, and was struck by how little people care about that kind of music. My school was a very liberal school, and people mainly listened to Phish, the Grateful Dead, or some kind of indie bands with ü's and ø's in their names. Anything mainstream was looked down upon, so I kept silent about my sadness about Aaliyah. On top of that, people had very strong opinions about politics, and I didn't have one. There were discussions erupting in the dorm hallways about things like Sudan or freeing Tibet, or why capitalism sucked (and I probably didn't even know what capitalism really meant). People had bumper stickers on their dorm room doors with bold messages like, "TAKE YOUR RELIGION OFF MY OVARIES" or "LEGALIZE IT". People identified themselves as a feminists, Democrats, atheists, etc etc. I just didn't really have a clear opinion or an idea about any of those things.

I was starting to be aware what having an opinion might mean, and how important it was to start paying attention to what was happening, both domestically and internationally.

Then, those planes crashed into those towers. From then on, it suddenly became imperative that I find out what the hell was going on in the world. And now I am obsessed with current events and politics.

That's what it was like for me up to 09/11/2001, and I reflect on it today.

sneaky

in the student lounge...

Taken earlier today, when I was typing up my handwritten note after my AM classes.

I'm listening!

I am currently listening to President Obama's speech via one of my favorite form of media: radio.

I won't discuss it here today, but know that I'm always trying to be aware of what is going on, even if I'm consumed with studying.

A full-time job

Do my eyes look dead? Because they feel dead. As does my brain.

I spent about 10 and a half hours today on campus without a moment of wasted time. It was back to back classes, a meeting with a professor, and pages of briefing cases. Some where in there, I inhaled a salad. I was deliriously hungry at that time, and ordered tofu AND cubes of feta in my salad. Each time I took a bite of my salad and thought it was feta and got tofu instead, I died a little inside. I love tofu, but unseasoned tofu in place of feta just doesn't spell win.

Law school really is a full-time job, but unlike some jobs that I've had, some days don't allow time for fucking around on Facebook. Today was just that day.

I am kind of enjoying it though!

I don't like rain.

It's raining a lot today.

I have a theory. Those who "looooooove rain! <3 :D :D :D" have never been in a living situation where you have to deal with rain. And by to deal with, I mean not get to hide in your car, and have to walk in it regardless of how much it rains and pours. The way I feel about rain is the way most of you feel about ants: I only approve of it for its ecological purpose. Otherwise, I don't like it. I've never liked rain, even when living in LA. It also makes me laugh when people living in LA buy rain boots. You guys have a gigantic rain boot called a car.

I think I don't like rain because I don't like getting partially wet. I also don't like water rides at amusement parks, because you're partially wet for the rest of the day. Rain makes me not want to do things, and I really don't like being unproductive.

I admit, I dislike rain in NY less than in LA for one reason. There's less chance of me causing harm (i.e. me driving in the rain) here in New York than in LA.

Still. I don't like rain.

Chalk Bathroom!

I spent 2.5 hrs reading about personal jurisdiction today at a cafe, where the bathroom looks like this.

Not too shabby. I also washed my hands before taking this photo, fyi.

what i'm doing right now

First off-site post.

I'm hot because I tried.

It is hot outside. By hot, I mean East Coast humid hot, because it's only 80 degrees but muggy. It's not the hottest it's been, though, so I really can't be complaining too much.

I'm hot because I tried to be social and went to a student organization picnic at a nearby park. I don't know if you can tell, but I'm a tad more on the anti-social side in New York. In Los Angeles, I'm surrounded by people I grew up with, so I don't have an excuse to be anti-social. In fact, even if I tried to be anti-social, people will barge into my room unannounced.

New York is a place to be alone in some sense, and not in a bad way. Most people leave you alone and let you be. However, that means you have to make an effort to meet people, which is not my strong suit. I tend to let things happen to me rather than make it happen.

BUT, I made an effort today, and I had a good time. I had a good time, but now I'm sweating balls because I was outside in this slightly muggy weather. Small price to pay for new connections. I'm trying to fan myself, if you couldn't tell.

Off to go read!

AAaahhhh.

You guyssss. I love living by myself!!

I don't know if I mentioned it here, but I am living by myself for the first time in my entire life. I'm living in a studio without a roommate, and I can't handle how much I am enjoying this. It's been almost a month since I moved in, and I don't know if I can ever go back to living with roommate. The only people I can conceivably handle living with is Peter, and I know he doesn't want to live with me.

Wanting to continue this living style is definitely a great motivator to do well in school so I can secure a job that allows me to keep living by myself.

I have Lucille Bluth moments of walking around my (small) space singing along, and eating crap laying down. Aahhhhh...

Student Fair!

Today was my law school's student organization fair. I'm kind of overwhelmed with the options. In undergrad, I was the kid who couldn't pick a major until the last moment possible, and I'm the same kid now. I'm not sure what I'm interested in. I'm interested in serving the public, but I'm also extremely interested in not being poor. I.e., I'm interested in going into public interest law, but equally interested in corporate law. (Just for the record, I'm genuinely interested in corporate law as a subject matter as well.)

We. Shall. See.

(By the way, did you notice all of my zits? I'm almost 30 and still getting pimples. I though this was supposed to be an adolescence thing. WTF.)