Some things you should know about me

There are some things you should know about me before you get to know me any better:

• My teeth are typically clenched from 9am-7pm
• I always have a wise ass comment on the tip of my tongue. Always, no matter how inappropriate the circumstances.
• If there is food, I will eat it. Because of this, I hesitate to stock the pantry.
• I have trouble going to sleep at night. I have even more trouble getting up. I don't really have insomnia-because I could sleep forever if I had a chance to sleep past 8 ever. So I don't think I'm an insomniac. Maybe I just have no will power.
• I don't like evidence. Not because it's not useful. I just find it lawyerlike to base rules on the stupidity of the average person. Necessary, but it just makes me feel bad.
• I would choose a barbeque with friends over a 4 star meal every day of the week.
• I say I like to travel, but I'm really a homebody. I like to travel if I can make the place I'm going feel like home. Which happens sometimes. Switzerland. Some of Germany. NY.

He had never heard that song before, but he still got the metaphore.

-Hold Steady

Less to do

Do you remember when stressful was whether or not Georgia was going to win on Saturday? Do you remember when dressing up was khakis with an untucked collared shirt? Do you remember when a long day was studying until 9, or maybe working at Kroger until 9? Do you remember drinking a 6 pack on a Wednesday, just because you could? Do you remember watching a movie during the week? Do you remember having whole weekends with almost nothing to do? Remember when drinks started after the 2pm class? Remember things moving more slowly? Remember field parties? Remember AIMing until 2am? Remember never going to bed before midnight? Remember never waking up before 10? Remember drinking maybe three cups of coffee a week? Remember when the concept of drinking Diet Coke was foreign? Remember when the day used to end at 2, how about when it ended at 5, how about when it got fun at 9?

Yeah, neither do I. The life of the future lawyer.

"Holly's not invincible. In fact, she's in the hospital, not far from the bar that we met, on that first night."
The Hold Steady The First Night
-Get their new album. It's like emo met Bruce Springstein...but not nearly as terrible as you would expect that combination.

"You Looked Stressed"

Last night I went out to dinner with Krista. My day started at 7am, woke up, worked till 415, came home, changed, ran to the museums and back, showered, got ready, went to dinner, ate with Krista, had a drink at Lizzie O'Neils, saw her off, studied for a couple hours, did laundry, she came over.

The funny thing is that she said "you looked stressed" when I saw her. I was stressed, it's been a fucking long summer. But I'm rarely stressed when I'm with her. She helps me forget about all the other stuff, for at least a little while, which is an absolute blesssing. I can't begin to say how grateful I am for that.

So when I woke up this morning, I took a shower, washed the sleep out of my eyes, went to brush my teeth and looked in the mirror. Man I look old. I feel like I look like in the past two months I've taken up smoking 2 packs a day and washing each cigarette down with a shot of Jack. I mean, my complexion has gone from decent to old-manish in just a little while. My face looks a little gaunt, I'm not gonna lie. I haven't been outside all that much, so I don't have much of a tan. My hair is too long, and I shave a helluva lot less than normal. I need to get this overwith so I can return to my youthful self. The 5 hours (average) of sleep I get a night is not cutting it. The staring at a computer screen 6 or 7 hours a night isn't helping. The 40-50 hours a week at a deadend job certainly aren't helping. Man I can't wait for school to start.

"I don't feel like dancing."
The Comas Dirty South-only because I'm on my way there.

Need This

I've been good. I've never really cheated on anyone. I've never stolen anything that I can think of. I rarely try and hurt someone on purpose and when I do, I feel so bad that I'm apologizing for weeks. I'm kind to my fellow man. When there's work to be done, I do it. When there's tears to be shed, I'm there as a shoulder. When somebody needs a hand, I offer it.

This summer I haven't drank very much. I haven't borrowed much money from the parents. I haven't gone on vacation. I haven't spent much money. I've lived frugally. I've busted my ass at work despite the fact that the job isn't very challenging and only pays $8.50. I've been nice to my coworkers. I've hid the fact that I'm in law school as best as I can because I think it makes people come off as an ass. I've done everything. I've studied, I did my best to try and write on to law review, I've applied for jobs, I've done loan things, I've got in better shape. I haven't volunteered, but I don't think there's an hour in the day where I could have.

Sure, I mess up. Occasionally I drink too much and do something stupid. Once in a while I say something horrible. Once in a while I think something mean-spirited. But still, throw me a bone.

I need to pass this test on Wednesday, and I really don't think I'm going to. I feel like I've put in the hours and it's just not working. I'm just not doing well. I need to improve big time in the next week. I don't think anything has intimidated me as much as this. So yeah, I'm screwed. I could use some help. I could use a job, I could use an offer to be on law review to boost the confidence, and I could definetly use some lucky guesses on Wednesday. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in these matters. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Evan

Lyric: "The world is a hundred to one again." Sufjan Stevens

P.S. I'll make that lame promise that I'll go to church every week for, oh, the first six weeks of school, because after that I know I'll just disappoint.

Things to Remember if You're Ever Rich

• That the person waiting on you, or helping you with your groceries, or cooking your meal may be a lot smarter than you are.
• Don't ever talk to people like they're less intelligent than you are. Otherwise you'll end up like the present state of the Democratic Party.
• Remember that you can make about 30 times the amount of tapenade you just bought for roughly the same price as that little jar.
• If anyone ever calls, emails, or interviews with you about getting a job, make sure you email them back. Even if it just says "sorry, we hired someone else." That way they don't hang in fucking limbo for weeks at a time.
• The days you were not only mentally exhausted, but also physically exhausted. Oh yeah, and also broke. That too.
• That you have people that loved you when you were poor, stressed out, and acting like an ass.
• Don't take a cab everywhere. Set some sort of limit. For example: when it's raining, when the bus is no longer running, when it's 85 degrees or higher, when you're running late, and when you're dressed up and don't want to get dissheveled on the public transit.
• Simple things: Cold cheap beer, a chilled out night of pool, and discussions about oh, maybe sex, drugs, rock and roll, football. As opposed to: Bombay Sapphire gin and tonics, nights that begin at an expensive restaurant and end $300 later, and discussions about whose firm has better perks than whose.
• That you could be 35, working two jobs, raising two kids, and still paying rent.
• When a pair of $95 running shoes was busting the bank.
• Dinners of eggs and a bagel.
• Walking the mile and half to school because you didn't have cash for the bus. You weren't completely broke-you could've taken out a twenty and gotten change. But if you had done that, you know that $20 would have disappeared like you never had it.
• When you debated for a week about dropping $450 on a suit.
• That you are not a good person because of how smart you are, or because of what firm you work for, or because of what case you win, or because of what department you're in, or because of what school you go to, or because of how much money you make.
• Debating whether you could afford that delicious $0.99 Potbelly Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie. You could.
• That at the end of the day, if you've got you're health, a little bit of spending money, at least one person that loves you, and a roof over your head, you are better off than most people in this world.
• That success is based largely on luck. Don't get me wrong, there's some skill and hardwork involved. But there's also luck.
• Relax, because in the end, it's not worth worrying about.

"Beneath the cigarettes and sugar shit of alcohol brand, I can taste the ocean on your tongue, Remember when we sat on the sidewalk, of your, boat dock, against the wall, under the stars, talking about love's meaning? Well, I wasn't dreaming."

TV on the Radio Playhouses (Sensing a theme?)

Law Review

This writing is not going well. I am not a fan of affirmative action analysis. I'm liberal, and want to embrace affirmative action, but it's premised on such idiocy that I just can't do it. I can't. Sorry Trina Jones, but diversity based upon race or ethnicity alone is not a compelling state interest.

Pacing

Yesterday I finished reading 3 landmark Supreme Court cases and one Federal Circuit case that will be reviewed by the Supreme Court in the fall. I read some law review articles, a handful of briefs and the instructions for the Law Review Write-On Competition. Tonight, I've begun the task of writing. I hate it. Don't get me wrong, I love writing, but I just have too many thoughts flowing to eliminate it down to "concise" analysis. If you said in middle school or high school, hell maybe even at UGA, that my main problem with law school would be to eliminate what I have to say down to a certain page count, I'd tell you that you were crazy. Twelve pages in high school seemed like the end of the world. Now twelve pages...well, still seems like the end of the world, but for different reasons. God I really need to learn how to be shortwinded.

Anyways, one of the best things to do when you're trying to boil your ideas down to their bare essentials is to pace. I have a great apartment to pace. I have hardwood floors that are just slippery enough to be fun. I have a view of the city (but no longer one of the lake, thanks to the high rise going up next to me). I have a lot of floor space. I've been pacing. I should go to bed.

"It's a rough, wild world,
could you please chapperone?
It's a mind field drift,
So leave it the fuck alone."
-TV on the Radio Method