Reality Show Pitches by my friends

This Is How You Spend Your Money. Patience is going to find people with money and spend it for them.

It's as simple as it sounds. Patience came up with this when she noticed that a lot of rich people spend their money on tasteless things or not spend it at all. She is going to show them how to live it up.

Surprise Wedding. Instead of proposing, a guy (or girl) will plan the whole wedding and ask his/her significant other to show up. The significant other says yes or no at the surprise wedding. Credits to Ray for coming up with this one. 

family time

Spent some time with the fam over the weekend. I gave the kiddies my business card. Their mom (my cousin) advised, "If you ever owe anyone money, give them this card, and say 'Call my auntie. She will pay you.'" -___-

Me (to the 13 year old): If you want a car, start asking now. It's going to take 3 years to get one.
Rachel: Yeah, and if they say no, you can ask for a cellphone and it won't seem so bad in comparison.

I added the 13 year old on facebook. His mom is my facebook friend. She found out and made him deactivate. He was not that mad about it. They still have Xbox. 

lawyer jail

My friend Mercy had her first hearing in federal court last year. Her name wasn't on the pleadings. I've never appeared in federal court (even though I am admitted), but apparently, appearing when your name isn't on the pleadings is a big no-no. She came back from her hearing and we asked her how it went. "They didn't send me to lawyer jail!" she exclaimed.

And thus the term "lawyer jail" was coined.*

Today, another friend (let's leave her anonymous for now) asked me, "Hey, is it okay if someone else contacts a party represented by counsel? As long as it's not me, right?"
"Yeah, as long as it's not you or at your direction."
"I don't like that answer."
"Fine, then make up your own rules!"
"No, I don't want to wake up next to [sleazy lawyer name omitted] in lawyer jail!"


*I'm still not sure what lawyer jail actually is, but my understanding is that there is a special jail for lawyers when you act in contempt of the court.

night runs

Drake and I have had a long history. I first met Drake first year of college, when I could barely run a mile. I jogged/walked with my roommate and floormates. It was bad times.

I kept at it though, and by second year of college, I could run four miles without collapsing. I used to come to Drake late at night, after the lights have gone off, and run until I was too exhausted to think about my problems. Second year was kind of tough on me. My grades weren't where I wanted them to be. The freshman 15 made me feel self-conscious about my body. I was mentally recovering from a death of a friend. I didn't realize how depressed I was until I emerged on the other side during senior year of college. Drake was there, with its open inviting lanes, giving me peace of mind in the darkness.

By senior year, Drake and I were regular buddies. I turned to Drake to clear my mind. I didn't really have problems, just the occasional boy drama. Whenever I was frustrated or angry, I would just leave my phone at home and hit the track with my mp3 player. By the time I got back to my apartment, I had a bit of clarity, new resolve, and a couple of new text messages (sometimes).

I met up with Drake again tonight. Ran the 3.7 miles from my apartment, felt the familiar rubber under my feet. Hello old lover, I've missed you.

#donttellsteve

We have an unofficial General Counsel at the firm. I say this because the first time he found out he was the GC was during a firm presentation when the managing partner announced that he was the new GC (in addition to being a new partner) and everyone clapped. No one questioned it from that point, not even Steve.

As our GC, he has to counsel us when potential liabilities arise, so the associates have taken to tagging our emails with donttellsteve whenever something remotely scandalous is mentioned in an email. (We still do it even though hashtags don't work in Outlook.) I have the distinction of being the only person to ever say it out loud in front of Steve.

Today, Steve came in my office to tell me that he told our client about #donttellsteve and he received an email from an employee of the client who had included #donttellsteve at the end. Love it. 

California Bar exam nostalgia

Write, I tell myself. Write something. Write anything. No one reads this blog anyhow.

     The California Bar ended today. It's been two years since I took the bar, and I'm starting to feel nostalgic? My friend's boyfriend is taking it this year, so it seems more real to me than it did last year. Last year was too soon for me to feel any nostalgia about the bar. It was just this terrible thing that happened to me once. The memories have dulled, and now it doesn't seem that bad? (I am seriously questioning my own memories. Did I imagine how terrible it was?)

      By far the worst part about the bar was the possibility of failing. During bar prep classes, urban legends began to surface. Everyone knows someone who went to Harvard/Yale/Stanford who failed. The word failed is delivered in the most ominous way possible by the storyteller while the rapt listener chugged some more Red Bull, grabbed a highlighter, and furiously attacked the Conviser guide. What about that guy who suffered a minor concussion and still passed? The legends span both sides of the extremes.

     What made studying so difficult was the fact that no one knew how much was enough. You're never done studying. It's impossible to master all 16 or so topics, so you try to learn maybe 70% of each topic, or maybe master 11 and hope that the 5 that you don't know don't come up. I think I tried to master all the topics in three months. That was prob not the best strategy for my health, but it made me feel better going into the exam.

     I miss the comraderie of having a ton of friends going through the same hell. I miss making up stupid acronyms and teaching them to each other. I miss spending way too much time in coffee shops, not really getting much work done, then coming home and actually doing work. That summer just flew by, just like this one. The end of summer always feels a little sad to me, because it seems like we steamroll right into the new year, and all these changes start to unfurl.

    I guess all this nostalgia isn't really for the bar exam itself, but for that part of my life that ended with the bar exam.