Barrister by day, Bacardi by night

Guess who?

When my father first saw this photo, he said, "There it goes ... I knew my son was a closet liberal."  Of course, that may not be an exact translation.

I was out for a mid-morning jog and decided to see who was still around from the Law Student Division.  I ran into John, a California law student, who asked me if I wanted to attend a luncheon.  He mentioned that Senator Clinton would be speaking.  "Wait ... you mean Hillary Clinton's here?" I asked.  He nodded.  A free lunch ... I've always liked the sound of that.  I asked John, "You don't think I can walk in like this."  I stood back pointing to my bright orange Nike tank top and navy blue running shorts."  John shook his head.  So I glanced at the ticket: "Lunch served promptly at 11:30."  I glanced at my watch: 11:20.  My hotel was 5 blocks away and 19 floors up.  The Hyatt was 3 blocks away from my hotel.  If I've ever possessed a specialty, its working magic in a time crunch.

Mind you, I've got some great looking calves.  But I'm glad I decided to change into something more appropriate.  My table happened to be 4 tables diagonal to the Senator's.  Moments before the luncheon began (fortunately, things like this always run late) my former classmate Robin pointed out that Senator Clinton just arrived.  I said to her, "Dude, we've got to get photos."  And we did.

I wonder what she would've thought if I walked up sweating profusely in pair of running shorts.

My Life On-line

Aug 12 - After talking with an academic counselor, I decided that it was best if I kept a lighter course load.  I'm looking at a long write-on competition for the law reviews this fall semester.  Namely, I'm expected to write a 60-page note complete with footnotes.  Most people never finish.  So I'll still take Business Association & Criminal Procedure.  I reluctantly dropped Jurisprudence so I avoid taking day classes 4 days a week.  Instead, I'll be talking Trademark and International Business Transactions.

I'm currently in Atlanta today, far removed from where I should be searching for place to live and even farther from where I need to pack my belongings. Yet, through the wonders of modern telecommunications, I am able to make arrangements via the Internet. One minute registering for classes and the next minute I'm browsing through job listings on the Career Services forum. I keep hitting up Craigslist in hopes of finding an apartment nearby campus that's less than $650 (utilities included and furnished) but then again, I've always been the dreamer.

I had just said my farewells to a few of my first-year professors yesterday at Texas Wesleyan. I was scheduled to take Business Associations, Intellectual Property, Constitutional Law, Employment Discrimination, and Professional Responsibility. All fine courses, but perhaps nothing as focused as what American University offers. I just registered for Criminal Procedure (a required course), Business Association (a prequisite for many future courses), Legal Aspects of Foreign Direct Investment, and Jurispurdence. I have yet to determine a final class to round out my 16 hours. Perhaps I'll take a seminar on International Contract Law or Space Law & Satellite Communication. Its difficult to decide between courses of interest and courses of relevance. My interest lie in corporate litigation and international law; but at the same time, my curiosities lie in other topics such as entertainment law and terrorism. A broad field of interest indeed. In the end, I feel it best to follow the advice of my first-year property professor, Professor Short, "take classes where you'll get the best grades."

Victory is Mine

Eight months ago, I swore that before graduation I would ensure that Shannon Kruger would succumb to the taste of alcohol.  Originally, I crafted a devious plan to form an 8-member elite team with the singular purpose of spiking Shannon's water bottle.  The endeavor was code named Jack and SEVEN.  The trick was separating Shannon from her water bottle, which she guarded like a hawk.  It would've been easier to walk into the New York Federal Reserve and have security guards help you load truckloads of gold.  Plus, Shannon had counter-intelligence operatives that would have foiled most amateurs.  Who would've known that all I needed to do was call Oprah and ask her to recommend drinking a glass a wine everyday.

Alright, so I really didn't have a hand in any of this.  But a couple of the law students headed out to Fox & Hound in downtown Fort Worth to watch the NBA finals.  Many of my classmates are taking summer classes in the evenings and a few are working as legal assistants at small general practice firms.  They draft more motions than they write memorandums.  They don't do much research but they are learning a lot about procedure.

you may likes

It's a hoot whenever I get an e-mail from my mother.  In fact, I'm still astonished that she knows how to send an e-mail.  Come to think ... my mother's quite talented with the PC, if you can excuse her poor grammar and inability to construct proper sentences.  My father is a different story.  Should I ever receive an e-mail from him ... I know the four horsemen are saddling up.  Needless to say, when I get a message titled "you may likes," I was rather curious what my mother had in store.

Aww ... my mother's wishing me luck for exams.  Wish I received this before my Torts II exam.

Advice from the Animal Kingdom*

Indulge in the things you truly love.

Exercise to keep fit.

... and close your eyes and smile at least once a day!

* selected excerpts

New Orleans Nights

I often deal with a full palette, even in the mist of looming finals.  I strongly don't advise doing what I do.  This past weekend, I was at the Spring ABA TIPS meeting at New Orleans.  TIPS, which represents the Torts Trial & Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association is one of the must join organizations as a law student.  Membership to the section is free to all law students who are ABA members.  As the vice-chair for the International Law committee, I get an opportunity to network with lawyers beyond the DFW area.  It was also good catching up with other friends from other law schools.  That ... and Bourbon Street.

For Our Eyes Only

My fellow friend and classmate Ronnie Hall wanted to share this photo with everyone.  Ronnie was essential to my outlines, without which I would still have many gaps in my class notes as a result of my frequent absences.  Enjoy.

Encore Photos

Photos from Wesleyan Night Live are now available on-line.  Courtesy of Cody McDonald.

LIVE from Fort Worth

If you missed out on last night's performance, then you missed out on the greatest highlights of the year.  The Texas Wesleyan Law Fellowship hosted its inaugural show with skits and songs by "The Not Ready for Practice Players".  All the proceeds go towards awarding public interest scholarships for Wesleyan students.  This year, the Fellowship awarded $26,000 to 16 of our classmates whose internships range from 4 weeks to 8 weeks.

You missed our Jamaican talent-star Evert Chambers, academic support coordinator, serenading "You're my Angel" to Dean Turner and Professor Rainwater; the hilarious tunes of Professor Barnes; and best of all ... Ronnie Hall's, 1L, "Special Ed", a most apropos song regarding our frustrations with Legal Writing and Analysis.  Yes, we do feel dumber with each D we receive.  At one point, several students waved around lighters for Professor Barne's encore performance.

So what can you do with that worn-out dust-covered wet-dog-smelling roller bag of yours?  You obviously can't get enough booty with that piece-of-trash you lug around.  But Roy Harris, 1L, can help you with that.  He'll Pimp Your Rollerbag by accessorizing your tote with the latest stickers, ribbons, and wind twirly-things. ... Bored with the same old service of process by a U.S. Marshal?  Then start serving up defendants with style.  Call up Rik Sehgal, 1L, and get your own Fly Girl Dancers (Katrina Sumter, 3L, and Deborah Johnson, 2L), a crew of street-slamming funkdafied no-hold break-dancers to serve your opponents with attitude.  They Got Served!  ... And, no night can be complete without the courtroom stylings of Napoleon v. Kip, portrayed by Jon Boswell, 2L, as Kip and Professor Barnes as Napoleon Dynamite.  Watch the cage-fighting tensions build as Napoleon defends Pedro, played by Elvin John, 1L.  If you find Pedro not guilty, he will offer you his protection.  Sweet!

So can you Name That Professor?  By now, if you can't shout out each professor's signature move, you probably weren't going to class.  No one can overlook Professor Seymore's automatic card shuffler, Professor Green's foot on the chair, or Dean Martin's arched-back-with-thumbs-at-the-sides strut.  You can tell who's impersonating Professor Barnes with the index-finger-power-triangle.  And my personal favorite?  Professor Rambo's scowl as she stumps into the classroom while waving around a coffee mug.

But doctor ...

Let's say that you were playing rugby last week.  Now suppose that as you carried the ball,  someone lunges at you from behind and rams his shoulder into your behind.  You felt sore for the next two days until the pain was so unbearable that you found yourself in the ER.  Now a week later, after walking around like a gimp with an ass pillow, what can you expect the doctor to tell you?

Hey, there's a cyst the size of a dollar pancake lodged right between the hip bone and muscle tissues.  A cyst is a closed sac having a distinct membrane and developing abnormally in a cavity or structure of the body.  And your leg feels numb as if something is pinching your nerves.  You're absolutely correct.  Whenever you exert pressure in your lower body (e.g. sitting down, walking up stairs), the cyst presses against your sciatic nerve causing a most pleasurable feeling.

So, eh, what's up Doc?  Will this cyst go away this weekend?  He laughs. "No, it'll take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months before it'll get smaller.  And even then, it may not altogether disappear."  Great, but that means that I can work out right?  "No.  For the next three weeks, imagine yourself as an 80-year-old man.  Do nothing." 

That bastard.

Men of Rugby

 

Click here to view the Rugby Album.  Photos courtesy of Ryan "Playboy" Curry.