Working towards...

Where we end up....is that where we intended to be? So when I see some guy working the corporate grind, bored out of his mind, 2 kids, 1 dog, white picket fence should I NOT be envious? I feel like that is what I am working towards, I want to work normal hours and have a 9-5 job(for an attorney those hours are amazing). Is that wrong? Society has told us to work towards our dreams but Hollywood has turned that dream into a joke. Maybe the "recession" is making the mediocre American life seem more appealing but I strive toward that "mediocrity". I put it in quotes because I believe that it is becoming more desirable to have constant employment at a company that allows you to start at a normal time and leave at a similarly normal time. Mediocrity. Build your dreams up and land where you always thought you would be looking down upon. Cynical you say? Probably, but can you blame me? Did we grow up thinking unemployment would reach all time highs? That the financial sector would be overrun with unethical business practices, putting greed at an all time high? Still, I am excited to start my legal career, in whatever field I end up in and with all the hope an naivety in the world. Here's to those naive, yet optimistic ideals!

Be Thankful

More reasons to be thankful this holiday season. I have seen the bottom, I have talked with those who are down and out, and it makes me see things differently. I see that my life, no matter how bad it may seem at times, is not nearly as bad as those who are incarcerated. These people have been stripped of their freedom for past transgressions of the law. Do they deserve where they are? That is a topic for another day. Today, the point is that we should all appreciate the fact that we are able to come and go as we please to do what we want without restriction, and to be free. That basic privilege is one that not many have considered and those who are in "the system" are usually not new-comers. I rarely see people who have unblemished records and it saddens me to think that these people are doing life sentences on the installment plan. I fight everyday to keep people free and to allow those who have been wrongly convicted to aquit themselves in a court of law. So be happy that you are not my client and that you are free this Thanksgiving. Also do not break the law! haha it goes without saying I guess but it really is not worth it and the government will make sure that will always be true.

inception

I JUST saw the movie today and it was great! I loved that there was this simple concept Hollywood turned into such an entertaining movie. Usually movies are dumbed down to appeal to the masses but every once in a while a truly intellectually stimulating film slips through the fine tooth comb of the movie brass. Either that or no one can write a half decent script that is both believable enough to get into without realizing that you are in a movie theater every 2 minutes or they are too inconsistent to follow one plotline from beginning to end.
I digress, however this movie came to be I enjoyed it and would recommend it to people who have ever thought about dreams, wondered about the subconscious mind, or considered the possibility of confusing reality and other states of mind. This subject is a personally intriguing one which I have always been interested in exploring. Just think, we could be living in some alternate reality right now and be totally unaware of it. It's enough to make you crazy if you are not completely sure whether you are dreaming or not, which is what I feel like it would be like if you had mental illnesses which altered your mind to such a degree. In other words if I couldn't tell, or wasn't sure I would be a crazy person! Any creative medium be it msuic, speech, writings, artistic creations, or otherwise that invoke the kind of thought that I expereinced today should be celebrated and shared with anyone who has ever had these thoughts, who's interested in exploring our being and concerns themselves with trying to understand life as we know it. "call me Plato, I philosophy" - Guerilla Black in Compton

What do you do when you get knocked down?

The correct answer is get back up, right?

Probably, but right and wrong is of course a matter of perception. Anyways, the point is that we do what we need to in order to survive. Most of us will feel a sense of vulnerability, that something can have such a powerful effect on us. That there could be an event, or series of events that would detract from our current situation to the point that we feel the sting of desparation. Desparate to be back to the way things were and to fill this void in our once full being with the things that once gave us no trouble but we now find troublesome to a degree that was once unimaginable. If this sounds overdramatic just shrug it off but if you've ever been knocked down, kicked, smacked off your daily "normal" routine and spun down the downward spiral of insecurity-OK so that was a little heavy, but when you are in the heat of the moment, when things get bad it's how we respond afterward taht shows us that we are better than that, that we can handle that sitaution and that having gone through the situation once we can get through a similar situation or difficulty with more restraint and hope than the first time. Isn't that the point? Who knows...live how you live and do what makes you happy! Within reason of course...you crazy kids out there.

Choices??

Each and every facet of life has the ability to morph into somethine so much more with a simple variable adddition. Most things are already complicated enough but then we are challenged at one point or another to try and deal with an supplementary factors that may or may not help us make our decision. It reminds me that life is never completely solid, that there is always something that could change, a phone call you could get that makes an issue you thought was resolved that much more difficult to resolve. In my current situation choices and complication to the issue is a good thing. I am currently talking about mmy summer internship search of course and the question that has plagued me since the moment I opened my eyes, what are you going to do with yourself? I guess plagued is a little more harsh than I wanted to be with such a broad undefinable question with more self-realization inferences than I first realized but nevertheless lately it has weighed heavily upon my mind. When I only had one real opportunity for the summer there was really no option, I have but one. Now that I have another interview and the possibility that I could get a different internship, one that I was origianlly interested in more so than my current one it muddies the waters of clear decision-making.
Criminal Law or Environmental Law? Public Defender or Defenders of Wildlife...
Well I havent been offered the latter as of yet, my interview is tomorrow so I will let you know... it is nice to think we have choices, it is nice to think that life will throw us a curveball every once in a while, good or bad these keep us honest, sane to a certain degree, and fill us with the spontaneity that I for one crave as a part of my life. It will continue if I like it or not so...why not sit back and enjoy the ride?

Put on my gasoline boots and walk through IL

Life is getting interesting, am I going to be able to finih all my school work, that is prepare for EVERY class, write the required papers, that is solicit for law review and finish my GLS paper, and keep my sanity? Even I am interested in the outcome. On top of all that the next two Saturdays are some of the biggest partying days of the year. I had a bad bad bad experience for St. Pattys day last year and this year I know will be different, however its more proving to myself that I can handle it than having a good time.
Back to school, the last few days have been relatively calm, but looking onto the horizon so to speak, there are stormy waters ahead. The little assignments that are included with our regular reading assignments are killing me, we have a civ pro writing assignment due tomorrow, but that is included with the readings and a torts negotiation and crim law review session on Monday. Should I go out this weekend? I broke my phone last weekend when I did so...Gotta keep it civil, keep it simple, and make it count. Good luck.

The Grind

Well, it's been about 2 and a half weeks in school and I'm already looking for the emergency exit! This semester has started with a flurry, the work piles up each night and I feel like i am running on a hamster wheel. Last semester seemed so straightforward, ok let's learn this subect and move on to the next. I'm treading water frantically trying to keep my head above water. Enough visuals for ya??? Seriously though this new year is starting out a little bit more stressfully than the last. However, the correct outlook to take, yes I said correct because I believe it, is that we can only do so much and we can only try so hard before it becomes so burdensome and consumes so much time that it is impossible, literally. Looking at each year of students who graduate from first year and move on to complete their legal degrees proof becomes apparent that it IS possible to do! What a novel concept? It's been done by many before what is holding me back? I have been increasingly more comfortable in shifting my focus to other interests such as females, movies, tv, music, and the like. Becoming accustomed to doing recreational or leisurely activities really undermines the work I have done in training my body and more importantly my mind to concentrate on school work, sitting in one place and focusing on a page for hours, and trying to make sense of ideological and rational concepts mixed together to form a system of malleable rules we call the laws of the states.

Back to school

What is it about the human psyche that makes certain things desirable activities and others well, not. However, the mind can overcome those thoughts which in turn makes those activities either neutral or even desirable. That's my theory anyways and I will try to implement this into life so that I enjoy doing homework this semester. I do enjoy learning about the law, just not the hard work that comes along with it. Who's with me? New year new outlook on life!