Prepping for Graduation

Our family and friends are on their way. The law school is waiting...

Reformat

I'm sitting in the law school library computer lab while my computer is being fixed by our fabulous ITC staff. PS why are there so many people in the library right now? Looks like mostly law review cite checks and papers. Ouch.

Anyway, my laptop's ethernet port stopped working about a year ago. Then in the fall the sound stopped working. The law school ITC people performed a battery of tests, and then sent me to Cavalier Computers. CC performed a series of tests and sent me back to the law school people. I think we've finally arrived at a solution: it's a software problem. Time to REFORMAT the hard drive!

Why is that such a scary concept to me? Something about deleting everything on your entire hard drive is just freaky. Am I sure I saved all my photos? Do I have all my mp3s backed up? Where did I put all my disks? What if I lose my address book?

There's just something frightening about starting over. Which of course got me to thinking about graduation, moving, and moving on. So much of my identity is tied up in certain people; okay, let's be honest, a certain person. And certain friends. And so much of my identity is tied up in this place, here in Charlottesville. What happens when I move on? Will I lose some of my identity? What will I be without these things?

I recently joined Facebook. I was startled to see what has become of some of my childhood and high school friends. It's fascinating to see where people live, what they do for a living, how they look, and what their passions are. This has obviously made me even more reflective about my life and how I have changed over the past couple of decades. I guess I've changed a lot, but since the changes happen so slow, I didn't even notice them.

For example, I'm graduating from law school. People are constantly congratulating me on my "big accomplishment." I know in my head it's a big accomplishment, but it doesn't feel like it. I've just taken one class at a time, one assignment at a time. All of a sudden I'm done!

As another example, I'm moving to New York in the fall. This has been a long, drawn-out decision for me, carefully considered and made. But to others who have spent their whole lives in the east Bay Area, and who haven't seen me or heard from me in years, this seems like a huge step.

I mean, since most of those friends saw me, I became fluent in Spanish, I got married, I made some lifelong friends, I learned to like green beans, I lived in a foreign country for two years, I wrote a senior Linguistics thesis on "pop versus soda," I gained a sense of fashion, I became president of a non-profit music organization, I produced a highly acclaimed album, I got a young man acquitted on DUI charges, and I tried sushi. Graduating from law school is just one thing among many!

So as I sit here reformatting my computer, I'm realizing that we all sometimes have to re-format ourselves. At certain times in our lives, we delete some things about our lives in order to restore ourselves to a better state.

But that doesn't mean we have to forget. Or even that we have regrets. Sometimes it's just time to move on. I'll still keep my photos, my address book, and my memories. I'll carry lessons learned and friendships earned.

But it's about time for my laptop and me to get a fresh start.

I'm in the clear

I'm not really sure what I wrote on that corporations exam - it's kind of a blur. But I answered all the questions, and I wrote legalish stuff, so I'm hopeful that I did well enough to pass. That's really all I care about at this point!

What now? All that stuff I've been putting off until after finals. Piles to go through, house to clean, stuff to pack,... everything on that May list from a couple posts ago. But for tonight, I'm mostly just going to relish in the moment.

I finished law school.

My head's in the guillotine

I'm about to take my corporations exam. I've got my computer all set up, my exam document open and ready to type, my casebook, my supplement readings, my backup flash drive, my in-case-it's-freezing fleece, my Fiji water, my cashews, and best of all... my gummi bears. Sounds good, huh? If it weren't for the fact that I'm about to submit myself to three hours of torture, it would be a party in here.

I've chosen to take my exam in a classroom in our law school's Slaughter Hall, in honor of how I feel about this experience. As scary as that sounds, consider that my alternative was Brown/Withers!

For anyone who reads this between 2 and 5pm eastern time, please send corporate thoughts my way.

Yay for May

This is my final finals season. I take my final final exam tomorrow. Finally!

I promise I will post more soon. Right now I owe every second of my day to corporations.

After this, I have a busy month. Cleaning my house, family in town, GRADUATING, moving out my stuff, moving myself, visiting my sister's fam, selling my car, visiting my friends, moving in with my folks for the summer, nephew's birthday, other nephew's birthday, Mother's Day, brother-in-law's birthday, sister's anniversary, and beginning bar exam study ALL IN MAY. *inhales*

And it's already the 7th! I better get back to work...

I'm trying to be patient

FOUR MONTHS AGO

I pull up to the Taco Bell intercom.
Me: I'd like two tacos and a bean burrito with no onions.
Intercom Voice: FSNRPHRIPHNRANRPHSNARN
Me: Okay thanks.
I pull around to the window.
Me: Did you know your intercom is at an eardrum-blowing level?
Taco Bell lady: Yeah, there's nothing we can do about it.
Me: Ohhhkay.

TWO MONTHS AGO

I pull up to the Taco Bell intercom.
Me: I'd like to try something new. I'll have two tacos and... a spicy chicken burrito.
Voice: Anything else for you?
Me: No. Wait, unless there's onions in the burrito.
Voice: It has fiesta.
Me: .....
Me: Mmm, sounds like a party.
Voice: I'm sorry?
Me: I don't know what you mean when you say it has fiesta.
Voice: The burrito has fiesta in it.
Me: Right. What does that mean?
Voice (clearly annoyed): Fiesta is a combination of onions, tomatoes, and chilis.
Me: So it has onions in it?
Voice: Well, it has fiesta. But yeah, it has onions.
Me: Okay, then on my chicken burrito, hold the fiesta.

TODAY

I pull up to the Taco Bell intercom.
Voice: Can I help you?
Me: I'd like two tacos, a bean burrito, and a nachos.
Total silence for an honest 30 seconds.
Voice: I've got a nachos, a bean burrito, and a nachos?
Me: Close.

An addendum

Okay, I must confess that I've re-taken the typing test several times now and every time my score has been lower than 118 wpm. So I guess I'm a bit of a phony. But the 118 was legit when I got it; I really did.

The good news is that every time I've taken it, I've gotten over 100. So I do find that somewhat fulfilling.

Can you tell it's finals season? The most fulfilling thing in my life is a TYPING TEST.

No, Dad, I'm not wasting precious study time. I'm... "practicing my typing skills so as to better utilize the 3 hour exam slot to its fullest advantage." Hey, now I'm really starting to sound like a lawyer.

Check me out

118 words

Speedtest

Lousy Charlottesville

ENORMOUS cricket in my sink right now. The kind that would make Rosa freak out for days. Just standing there next to my soaking dishes (not that I ever leave dishes in the sink, Mom). This is the beauty of living in a town out in the middle of nowhere.

Speaking of that, we were enjoying a lovely day in here, sun, highs in the 80s, light breeze, all of that, when suddenly CRACK! Thunder, a little lightning, and out of nowhere a major downpour. With my car windows open. Sorry, Sis Who's Buying My Car In A Month - but don't worry, our father raised me to have dozens of rags on hand for occasions just like this. The car is fine.

But anyway, since it's raining in Charlottesville and the wind is blowing a little, of course we lost power for a bit. Props to Virginia Dominion for getting it back on swiftly, but oh my goodness.

At least classes are over. And at least I'm moving to Salt Lake for the summer where my fabulous parents have a fabulously new house with a fabulous backup generator. And then off to New York City where the crickets don't dare enter a midrise apartment complex for fear of being shot.

Good Samaritan Robbed

This morning I saw a story on the Today show that just broke my heart.

A young ROTC man walks out of a store, strikes up a conversation with a homeless man, and then hands him some spare change. Moments later, the ROTC man suddenly suffers from a major seizure. While the ROTC man is convulsing on the ground, the homeless man doesn't run to get help but instead robs the distressed man.

Disgusting.

I should say that all of this is not proven, but only alleged. But they've got it all on videotape.

Read the story here.

Church choir

So true. Which one are you?



Hat tip: Church Times via A Cappella News.

A few laughs

From Jay Leno's monologue Monday night:

"Vanilla Ice was arrested and charged with shoving his wife; and like most people, the police had none of his records."

I'm sorry, but I thought that was just hilarious.

Then I just had to share this email I got from Rosa Monday night:

Esther and I were at Walmart, and we were walking out of the restroom when we saw this can.

Did they really need to clarify??

My car

I'm sitting here in the Toyota service center waiting for my Highlander to have its 75,000-mile checkup. This seemingly mundane moment actually brings a set of mixed feelings for me.

A gift from my generous parents as I returned from Spain in Fall 2002, my car has been my most reliable friend over the past 5+ years. She's driven with me back and forth from Utah to California numerous times; all the way to Virginia and back twice; and to Georgia, North Carolina, and New York for various school and music commitments. She spent last summer parked in New York just outside Manhattan, making a couple trips upstate to visit friends. Though sometimes a little late on my timing, I've given her every service and every update she's needed. Which, since she's a Toyota, hasn't been that many.

So why the mixed feelings? The truth is that our relationship is doomed. I'm moving to New York City in the fall to start my new job and I just can't take her with me. Having a car in Manhattan is more of a liability than an asset. Not including all the expenses of insuring and fueling the car, the parking alone is cost prohibitive; The $500+ per month you spend housing the car is like letting it have its own apartment. In essence, my new job is taking me to a place she can't come. So sad.

The silver lining here is that I'll be selling the car to my sister in Ohio. Her car is on its way out, and considering how expensive a new car is, and how unreliable an unknown used car can be, it's actually a win-win. It'll be a good car for her family (they already love their other Highlander), the price is right, and I need to sell. Jenga.

Even so, it's still a little sad for me. This was the car that greeted me at the airport when I returned from Spain. This was the car that moved me to school after my mission. This was the car that provided me a social life while in college. This was the car I drove away from my wedding in. We're nearly inseparable.

But alas, we will soon separate. We now face the inevitable. We only have another 6-8 weeks together. I should start one of those construction paper chains so I can count down the days.

Of course it's all for the best. Here's to you, my Highlander.

No foolin'

I don't really have anything to write about, but I thought it would be cool to have a post on April Fool's Day with that title.

Happy Easter!

... or as Rosa said this week, HOPPY Easter. So gross.

This past weekend was Easter, of course, and it turned out to be a very nice one for me. The morning started out with a surprise Easter basket on my doorstep! I was ding-dong-ditched, except it wasn't a ding-dong since I don't have a doorbell. A knock-knock-ditch. That expression doesn't have the same feel to it. It needs to be alliterative. A rap-rap-runaway?

Anyway, this is the beautiful sight I saw when I opened my door. It's also the same beautiful basket that has kept my caloric intake a little higher than I'd like this week. But Cadbury cream eggs?! Come on! So good!


After a lovely Church service, I was invited to the Forbes' home for a delicious Easter potluck dinner. And the second annual EGG BASH! That's right, egg bash. Everyone shows up with all their beautifully decorated Easter eggs, like these that the Olsons brought:


Then we're all seeded into a very complicated bracket system. For each round, one of us brings his or her eggs to the gladiator ring (in common circles, this may be referred to as a disposable plastic table cloth). You line up against your competitor with eggs in hand.


Then you roll them at top speed toward one another.


And WHAM-O. Whoever has a dented egg loses that round. Each person brings six eggs to the competition, and the last one with an egg still standing (not literally, though we are close to equinox) wins.

Here are my lovely eggs before the contest. They didn't want to be decorated. Instead they spend the past several months training for this event. Jersey numbers only. BEFORE:

Little did they know what awaited them. AFTER:

It was a slaughter. My last egg held out for several rounds. But she went out in a blaze of glory, getting the shell actually knocked off her. Ouch.

We did this at the Forbes' place last year (apparently it's a tradition in Steph's family), and I'd forgotten how fun it is. I recommend it to everyone - what else are you going to do with those decorated eggs?

Despite a scary losing streak in the middle of the contest, Josh pulled out as the winner, actually finishing with TWO intact eggs. Here he is in a scandalous shot with the egg that brought him all that glory.

I hope everyone had a... hoppy Easter.

Law Firms Rank UVA #4 in Nation

The publication Vault, highly influential in the world of law firm rankings, has just published its first set of law school rankings. They surveyed a huge batch of large law firms, asking them which law school produces the most employable grads. UVA is #4, baby. My father must be proud.

Check out the story.

UVA ranks somewhere in the top 10 law schools on basically every survey out there. But I think this is the first one to put them in the top 5. Booyah.

Big Day

Spring is here! Woohoo!





[editor's note: Okay, it's also my birthday.]

Busy weekend

A couple weekends ago, I had a whirlwind of a time up in Northern Virginia. I attended the East Coast A cappella Summit, full of the best pro groups and music experts around. I got to attend a bunch of workshops, and I had the great opportunity of working with a whole batch of high schoolers and semi-pro groups, trying to help them improve. The weekend was really fantastic.

I actually wrote a review for the CASA website. Check it out here.

My debut on NBC Sports

I never thought I'd be interviewed extensively by a writer for a major sports website. Dork as I am, the article is about collegiate a cappella competitions. For those who don't know, these competitions are fiercely competitive. It's a lot like March Madness!

Since I work for the company that produces the competition (Varsity Vocals), and since I have a history with both of the last two ICCA winning groups (Vocal Point and Noteworthy), the sports writer gave me an extensive interview a couple days ago. He had been to a couple of these competitions and was just fascinated by the precision and the rivalries. He's really on to something - many of these groups take this competition very seriously.

Anyway, so here's the product: an article about a cappella competitions and then a follow-up article purely about the rivalry between Vocal Point and Noteworthy. So exciting!

How cool is this?!

This is my new favorite product. When I move to New York and have virtually no closet space, I've gotta get me one of these.


Rakku makes some beautiful products. Check them out here.