Back to School

That phrase used to be more exciting than it is now. It used to elicit feelings of anticipation - a new year, a new teacher, new backpack, new tennis shoes,... I don't have a new backpack, but I do have a trendy new Ogio shoulder bag, courtesy of Manning Curtis, which holds my computer and makes me look stylish at the same time. I don't have new tennis shoes, but I definitely have a brand new beautiful suit, along with tailored shirts, new ties, new belt, new dress shoes, and even some new socks, all of which definitely helped in my TWENTY ONE interviews over the past five weekdays. Yowza! I interviewed with eighteen firms (a handful had me interview separately for separate offices). I didn't think it would be that taxing - I enjoy talking to people and asking questions - but it really was draining, especially yesterday, when I had seven interviews in one day. I guess it's a good problem to have. Everyone keeps asking how things went, and the answer immediately is "great, I think" - I won't find out how things really went until I hear back from each firm, at which point I'll know if they're passing on me, or if I have a "callback." If I get called back, the firm will fly me out to their office for an even more grueling set of interviews with various associates and partners there in the office. At least I get to fly around a bit - hopefully. So far I've gotten three callbacks - which is at least enough to know I'm not a nincompoop. All three great firms - so that's exciting.

Anyway, back to Criminal Adjudication reading. I almost forgot - going back to school actually entails learning!

My Bird Girl

Rosa made her Utah musical theatre debut this past Friday night as "Bird Girl #2" in an adorable trio of singers in Rodgers Memorial Theatre's Seussical: The Musical. The silly, family-friendly song-and-dance show revolving around the storyline from Horton Hears a Who opened Friday night to a sold-out crowd, and was extremely well received. In fact, the entire 3-week run of the show has nearly sold out, and there's already talk about extending the run. I'm so proud of you, Rosie!

Just to embarass her, here's her picture for the entire world to enjoy:

She's so very... yellow. No seriously, though, isn't she adorable?

I made it!

Last night, my 32-hour drive from Salt Lake ended - and fortunately, at the time, I was in my car, parking right out front of my Charlottesville apartment. The last day of driving was definitely the worst, and felt the longest. I just wanted to be done with it. On the bright side, I was very fortunate to be traveling in such comfort in perfect safety. And I even got to stop and see Julie's family along the way.

Today's my nephew's birthday - he's five! Sometimes I feel sad that we're all so far away from each other. But at least we have airplanes and cars so we can visit each other.

This morning, I've joined in helping a couple friends move in. I'm still going through my own boxes, buying books, picking up groceries, cleaning the car, and trudging my way through all these errands that gotta get done.

Back to work!

Article about auditions

Check out my latest article here.

Landed in lovely Loveland

SUNDAY
Drove from Centerville, UT to Ogallala, NE

MONDAY
Drove from Ogallala, NE to Moline, IL

TUESDAY
Drove from Moline, IL to Loveland, OH

My sister Julie and her family live here in Loveland in their beautiful new home. Custom, gorgeous, everything you could want in a house. Julie says they'll stay here until she can't walk up the stairs any more.

I was pleasantly greeted, given a tour of the home, and shown my lovely guest quarters. It's fun to see the nearby basement area where Julie will soon be teaching early morning Seminary! We went out to dinner a local cafe place, and then picked up the kids from mutual activities. When we got home, we watched Saints and Soldiers, which I hadn't seen before. Rockin' flick.

Time to go to bed, even though it "feels" like it's not as late to me. I'm still on Utah time. Off to bed anyway...

Goodbye, Summer

Today is my last day at work. It has really been a wonderful summer. All the attorneys and staff members at Manning Curtis Bradshaw & Bednar have treated me very well. Although we've had fun firm activities and lots of nice free lunches, what's meant the most to me is that I've gotten to really work. Within the first few minutes after I arrived my first day, I was already digging in to a case. I've had lots of opportunities to contribute substantively to a whole host of cases in a variety of areas of the law. Much of my work has been flipped around and given straight to the client, which I take as a compliment. I've done work for all sorts of clients - everyone from a friend of an associate to some very sophisticated blue-chip clients. I did work in a dozen areas of the law, sat in on a motion hearing (which we won!), and even drafted a motion that was filed in court (which I hope we win!). It's really been an incredible experience.

This week, the firm's managing partner and recruiting coordinator took me out to lunch. They asked me for some feedback about the firm and the firm's summer program. I had mostly glowing things to say, but gave a couple constructive criticisms, which they were delighted to hear. After that, they gave me some feedback on my performance, which was more kind than it probably should have been, and then they made me an offer to return to the firm! It was really exciting - getting an offer is about the best way to finish your summer at a law firm. After making the offer for me to return next summer, the firm said they'd understand if I went elsewhere next year, just to expose myself to more areas of the law, or to other types of firms. There's no telling where Rosa and I will be next summer or what type of firm we'll be at. But regardless, it's nice to know that Manning Curtis will give me a nice recommendation, and that I'm hopefully always welcome back here.

Sweet.

Four-for-one

K, so I don't write very often. To make up for it, I'm writing four posts in one:

1) Interview requests are now being processed, but I already found out that I won four lottery interviews. That means I bid enough points to get those interviews automatically, regardless of whether the employer wants me or not. Hey, I've got at least four!

2) First round of class selection ended today. I've got three great classes for first semester, and two great classes for spring. There's another couple rounds of class selection left, but I'm very happy with the ones I've got so far. Rock on.

3) I've got a monthly column now on the CASA website. If you care about how to plan a summer tour, read my first article.

4) I've been selected to co-host and produce a podcast of all original a cappella music. It's more fun than I even expected! If you're interested, or even just want to mock my radio voice, give it a listen (I'm on episode 2).

Cream of the crop

The law review has just announced its membership decisions. Congratulations to Rich G, Jason S, Ryan F, Jason A, and a batch of other smart folks.

Cool

The UT-based International Children's Choir has been selected to represent the United States in the World Choir Games, an olympic-like tournament for choirs. This year's Games will be held Xiamen, China. Because they've been asked to sing music that represents the religion of their area, they will be performing a few LDS hymns: "The Spirit of God," "Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise," and "A Child's Prayer." The last one will be sung in various languages. For more info on the story, check here.

ID4

GREAT weekend. Nice to have time off work, spend time with family, catch up on some things... On the 4th, we went to Kaysville in the morning to see my nephew Josh in the parade. Half of the parade was normal and nice, and the other half was a huge water fight. Which I wasn't looking forward to at first, but by the time that part of the parade came, it was really hot, and really nice to get doused by the hoses. And watching 8,000 children go nuts is pretty fun. That night we went back up to Kaysville for a fun BBQ with family, then over to the park to watch some of the best fireworks I've seen in years. What a great holiday!

ghmmmmm

Grades are up. Yeah, hopefully I can *write* on to law review...

Disassociate

This is a pretty funny site. I don't have similar feelings about where I work, but still it's funny.

Chuggin' along...

Internship is going well. Employment defense, personal injury, corporate, you name it. I'm learning a TON and really enjoying myself.

That is all.

My first day!

I had a spectacular day at work today. My first day at my first legal job! I was greeted kindly at the door, directed to my own office, introduced to everyone, and given my first assignment. I spent the day researching. It sounds boring, but it was really fun - I got so into it, I didn't realize it was 2:00pm already, when they took me out to lunch. The people were all really nice to me, and it seriously rocked. I'm sure there will be some tougher, less exciting days ahead, but at least today was great!

In other news, I'm official: check me out in the middle of this page.

welcome to utah

Rosie and I made it to UT on Wednesday afternoon. It was a long trip, but we broke it up with some really fun (though short) visits with family. We're just about unpacked.

Saw DaVinci Code last night. It was well done, but not as good as the book. The movie felt a little rushed. If you hadn't read the book, the movie might be a bit hard to understand. But I still liked it.

Start work this Monday.

Woohooo!

Ding! I'm done!

When I walked out of my last final today, I actually felt giddy. It sounds silly, but I had a smile on my face, and I didn't even mean to. And everyone around me did too. It was such a relief! It's cool that summer's here, and it's job time, and all that good stuff, but just having the pressure of finals off your back really puts you in a good mood. No more studying, no more grade curves, no more heavy books, no more cramming 'til 4am... at least for a few months.

Rosa and I leave tomorrow. Goodbye, amigos! Goodbye, Charlottesville! See you soon...

3/4

Took Corporate Finance today, felt good about it. I'm not sure how much I'll ever need to use corporate finance and accounting, but at least now I finally understand my dad's and my brother's jokes. Those guys are pretty funny.

bōrd

Board. I received a nice phone call today from Deke Sharon, founder and current president of the Contemporary Acappella Society (CASA). They took a vote today, and unanimously voted me in as a member of the society's Board of Directors. This means that in addition to my current duties as a head of one of their programs, I'll also participate in their monthly board meetings online, and their annual board retreat in the SF Bay Area. Sweet.

Bored. I'm studying bond valuation right now. Exciting.

Board. Since it's a lovely, sunny day in Charlottesville, I put on some old shorts, and it turns out they have a hint of sunblock smell on them. I keep getting a whiff every few minutes, and it reminds me of my family's annual summer vacations to the beach at Pajaro Dunes in Monterey Bay. Mmmm.

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

First of all, happy five of may.

Second, congratulations to the Ormsbys for the birth of a reportedly beautiful, healthy baby boy. Tyler Jeffrey Ormsby was born yesterday. Even though he was a few days early, he came in at a hearty 8 lbs 10 oz and just over 21 inches long. Big boy for a little mommy. I hear both are doing well. Congrats to them! And good luck to Matt, who still has two finals left! As I write this, he's sitting in the hospital reading his Criminal Adjudication textbook.

While we're on the subject of babies, Aubrey Anna Scott is growing well and is as beautiful as ever. For like a zillion pictures of her, visit this blog.

Lastly, congratulations to me for being halfway done with finals. I knocked out Constitutional Law on Wednesday and Mass Torts today. Now I'm studying corporate finance, and feeling pretty good about choosing law school over MBA school. :-)

One short week from now, we'll be leaving Charlottesville. I can't believe it! I'm gonna miss my friends here and our funny little apartment. But I'm looking forward to a fun summer with a great firm and cool roommates.

Okay, back to net present value calculations...

my favorite poem

roses are red,
violets are blue,
some poems rhyme,
but this one doesn't.