The Surprisingly Popular Lazy Man’s Halloween Costume

Last evening was the Law School Halloween Party.  This required a costume of some sort.  Being the advocate of efficiency that I am, I thought to myself, “Self – let’s figure out a good costume that does not require much money or time to prepare.”  So, I went and purchased a ten dollar pair of aviator sunglasses (a.k.a. “stunna shades”).  This left me two options, dependent on me acquiring a flight jacket.  If I was able to acquire such a jacket, I would comb the hair and shave, and go to the party as “Iceman” of Top Gun fame.  If I could not find such a jacket, I would purchase a zip-up hoodie and attend as the Unabomber.  Well, I could not find the jacket so Unabomber was the final decision.  I shaved my beard into a fairly creepy mustache, wrote some hilarious messages (such as “NOT A BOMB”) on a US Postal Service box, put on my aviators, and headed out the door.

I failed to account for the fact that, apparently, law students think alike.  Upon reaching the pre-party, various law students recognized my costume (which was, in itself, extremely surprising, since I didn’t think I looked THAT much like the Unabomber) and commented that another student apparently selected the same costume.  When I reached the meet-up spot to wait for the bus, I met an individual who was going to also be the Unabomber until his girlfriend guilted him out of it.  He was quite awed at my costume and disappointed in himself when he saw me.  Later on, at the actual party, I met the person who had also decided upon an evening as good ol’ Ted.  Precisely the same costume.  Running shoes, same shade of light blue jeans, exact same sweater purchased from Target, and of course, aviators.  We took a few pictures together, so hopefully somebody uploads them to Facebook…but two Unabombers at the same Halloween party – what a coincidence!

UPDATE: added picture of the costume, cropped to the infamous FBI Unabomber sketch (below)

Creeeeeeeeeeeepy

What inspires me? Well, not a blue wave.

The answer to this question…what is it?  I sure don’t know.  To be sure, lots of things.  Excitement.  Justice.  Adventure.  Some sort of battle of ideals.  Helping people out.  The positive results of hard work.  A good idea.  But how do you answer something like this, coming from an employer who you aren’t even interviewing with (yet)??  This was the question that baffled me at the Equal Justice Works conference and career fair this weekend.

Anyway, on to more pressing matters.

The Sonoma State Rowing unisuits this year are incredible.  If I recall, my brother described them as making the team look like “a Swedish rock band from the 80′s,” and that all they needed was “goofy hair and guitars.”  I suppose the intended message was “we’re fast AND stylish.”  But it seemed to really say “we got puked on by a blue neon alien.” (see below)

The Puking Neon Alien

Oooooooh scary!!!  Other teams must say to themselves, “WHOA!!  I’m intimidated by the fashionable blue wave design!!  They might make us look bad because they’re so fashionable!!  They’re shinning (yes, shinning!) stars of rowing!!!  What do we have?  Tanks?  Plain old unisuits without a cRrRaAaZzYyYy blue wave?!  Let’s just give up now!!!”

Sorry.  I had to comment on that issue.  But seriously children, you can do so much better.  At some point, I really need to get the right to design the uniforms.  And if not me, then Khoua.  I’m not what you’d call the creative type, but seriously…I think I’ve been wanting to design the unisuits since someone out there ordered our men’s team the ugliest women’s unisuits one could have thought up.  I did enjoy the supportive design however.  Very flattering.

 

So anyway…enough of that…I have to actually work on something.  My oh my.  Dee lawz iz vewwy time-conzuming.

Top Coffee Shops!

Here, I rank coffee shops from the Bay Area and Durham/Chapel Hill Region.  I should note that (a) there is probably an inherent bias toward/love of the Bay Area coffee shops and (b) that just making this list is an honor – it means that you are part of the prestigious “T-13″ coffee shops.  Also, in evaluating the list, keep in mind the “tiers” within the T-13.  Enjoy.

1.  Starbucks, East Cotati Avenue, Rohnert Park – Would there be another shop at the top of this list?  Too many good friends have hung out with me there for this not to be the best coffee shop ever.  SSU Starbucks = #1.

2.  Rolling Pin Donuts, San Bruno Avenue, San Bruno – Open 24 hours with many kinds of coffee and many kinds of delicious treats.  By itself, those things make this place great.  But it’s also a Peninsula staple, has been there for years, and really can make you nostalgic for when you were a kid and Dad or Mom would bring home donuts.  Also, it’s right across the street from Araujo’s if you’re feeling like some late night Mexican food.

T-3.  Aqus Cafe, Foundry Wharf, Petaluma – They make some killer hot chocolate.  This place was awesome to go to after practice on weekends or during winter break.  Kind of wish we made it there more often.

T-3. Joe Van Gogh, Broad Street, Durham – It’s got new art on the walls every so often, is pretty cheap, and has new, special drinks all the time.  Also, free internet.  And they make some smokin’ espresso drinks.  Best latte in town?  Perhaps.  A real up-and-comer in my book.

5.  Peet’s Coffee, Broadway, Millbrae – Such a chill place to hang out in my hometown.  Very relaxing environment, and great coffee and tea.  A good place to sit and watch traffic go by and bullshit with a friend.

T-6.  The Grove, Chestnut Street, San Francisco – Unbelievably huge drinks, great espresso and chai, and tasty food make this place a great spot to hang out in the Marina.  The dim lighting and cozy atmosphere make it a place to stay for a while.  Also, I hear Brian Wilson really likes their oatmeal.

T-6. Caribou Coffee, Franklin Street, Chapel Hill – No joke, I actually can get work done here.  And they give a free refill with every cup of (pretty tasty) coffee.  Additionally, they have three different roasts available at the same time, and free internet too.  And good looking women seem to show up here.  Solid all around.

8.  Mel’s Diner, Geary Boulevard, San Francisco – Good food, good coffee, not too expensive, open late, and feels like an old-fashioned drive in.  Awesome.

9.  Saladelia, University Drive, Durham – Yeah, the coffee here is pretty good, but it’s not on this list because of it.  Fact is, it’s not really just a coffee shop.  They have very fresh food here – I had the Turkey Reuben today, and it was a win-and-a-half.  And the people who work here are so friendly.

10.  Refectory Cafe, Duke Law School, Durham – The people here are super nice.  The reasons this cafe is only at number 10 on the list, and not higher, are (1) because I hate that their food is both delicious and slightly expensive – loans hurt, and (2) if I’m here, I’m at school, which usually means I’m tired, studying, or both.

11.  Alpine Atrium, Duke University, Durham – Solid coffee and a great environment for studying (many many power outlets, seats with cupholders).  For when you want to study at lunch, but don’t need to be at the law school all day!

12.  Starbucks, Mt. Moriah Road, Durham – Just when you thought I wouldn’t find a decent Starbucks around here.  I did.  Standard Starbucks drinks, but with lots of tasty restaurants and shopping nearby.  Great location, wonderful hangout.

13.  Starbucks, El Camino Real, San Bruno – It’s open 24 hours.  People I know show up there.  These can be good or bad things, but I have found myself there quite a bit.  Always an adventure.

Full Steam Ahead Into (and out of) Writing Week!!

So, very soon I will be 1/12 done with my law school career.  This is actually an incredibly good thing, for one very specific reason.  “Writing Break.”  A full week (nominally) “off” of class to write a legal memorandum.  Now, with any luck, I will stop procrastinating at some point tonight (which will involve not blogging) and actually knock out a rule explanation or two.  I feel that the word limit on this document is also going to be a monstrous pain in the…well, you know.  But anyway, once this storm passes, there is undeniable fortune ahead!  After “Writing Break,” legal writing class ends for the semester!  On top of that, my contracts professor is out of town for two weeks, and my property professor is out of town for one!  This means that I will only be actually in class for one of my four classes for a full week, immediately after not going to any class for a full week.  AMAZING!  Then, I’ll have only two classes for the following week, and three classes (like everybody else) for the rest of the semester.  So…meh…but still, there will be two kick ass weeks of catch-up work, E&Es, exercise, sleeping in, and stressing less than the rest.  Nice.

<a day passes>

Well, after a night working on this memo in the undergraduate library, I have discovered three things.

(1) Organizing a memo is balls-difficult.

(2) I am sick.  Again.

(3) I am in the library.  Again.

Well, all right!  Okay back to work.

<another four days pass>

Well, it’s currently 2:58 AM on Tuesday morning.  I am probably about 2/3 done with my memo, which will then be subject to massive editing by me, then more editing of my citations, and then I will be subject to massive napping.  I feel like an all-nighter tonight might be appropriate given that I seem to have the energy and keep getting sidetracked trying to clarify legal issues that the courts were not really explicit about.  Oh and Facebook.  That gets distracting as well.  Also I’m blogging right now which probably isn’t good.  And I think I checked my fantasy football teams about 51 times and cleaned my room while on “breaks” from writing this thing.  The worst part? My fantasy teams got smashed and I’m still not sure that I’m completely right about what I am writing.  Huzzah!!

<17 hours pass>

Went to office hours today.  Realized I need to fix a sizable amount of material in my paper.  I feel like I’m coming up on the home stretch of this thing, but there’s some NFL offensive line that is blocking my path to the finish line (read: word limit, Bluebook).  Back to work, will write more later.

<5+ hours pass>

At this point in the evening, I’ve given up and am shamelessly trolling online games and message boards, as well as Facebook.  Of course, this was after a 2 AM cheeseburger run.  See you in the morning, Mr. Memo.

<sometime Thursday>

I actually worked fairly hard today.  After getting absolutely nothing done yesterday.  Will the memo be finished tonight?!  Only time will tell!!

<Monday, 3:40 AM>

Bad News: I do, in fact, have Contracts today.

Good News: I finished the memo and I think (read: hope) it’s pretty good.

More Good News: I now know more about a defense of impossibility of performance in Washington, DC than I ever thought possible.

Down to three classes for the semester now, after I turn this thing in tomorrow.  Also, the hunt for summer work is beginning soon.  Hopefully I find something interesting.  Got a few things I’m looking into at the moment, plus the Equal Justice Works conference this coming week (check it out, there’s some sweet employers).  But anyway, I thought that, upon finishing my memo, I should honor all that coffee has done for me, this week and in the past and future.  So, my next post will be “Top Coffee Shops.”