iCulture

After getting home about a week ago, I decided to order iPods for myself and my sister. They arrived a few days ago, and since then, I've been continually ripping CD's and organizing my digital music. I had no idea how much crap I had in terms of my music collection. So far, it says 671 songs, that's roughtly 2 days worth of music.

What is it with the term "i" that's being put in front of everything nowadays to make it look all techy? There's iPod, iRiver, iBook, and so much other stuff with 'i.' It used to be 'e' for 'electronic,' but that seemed to have all of a sudden been replaced with 'i.' Does the "i" stand for interactive? If it does, that's ironic, because because of things like the 'iPod' and 'i' whatever else, people are becoming more closed off and doing their own thing (see next paragraph about how the iPod does this). Does the 'i' stand for 'innovative?' That would make some sense. Maybe it stands for 'individual.' I think that make sense too. I personally think the 'i' stands for 'irrelevant.'

The first day I got the iPod, I loaded some music onto it and was walking around the house. I showed my mom the little gadget and played some music for her. She said, "wow, you can shut out the entire world when you're listening to that." She was absolutly right. It's not just the iPod, but people in general, especially in NY, float around in their daily lives, shut off from everything going on around them. I think the iPod is just a symptom of that. Going on the subway or anywhere in public, the white headphones are ubiquitous. Everyone wearing a set is completely shut off from the world, minding his own business and enjoying the musical world in his own head.

Undoubtedly, I'm the same way. When I start carrying this iPod around with me in Atl, I'll be doing the same thing, lost in my own music and thoughts, ignorning whatever's going on around me. My sister said that her iPod will make her China Town bus experiences less painful (considering her Chinatown bus experience is the main topic on her blog 90% of the time, I guess she'll have to find something new on which to comment... maybe she can write about how she hates my taste in music?)

So yesterday, Nizar hosted the back-2-basics party. For some reason, the guys were extremely hesitant to call it a sleepover. We had no problem calling it that back in the day, so I don't see their phobia of calling it that now. It was pretty fun, just hung around, talked, ate junk food, played videogames. They hooked up his Xbox and PS2 to his big home theater screen, which was pretty cool. I rarely play video games, let alone Xbox and PS2, so needless to say, I got my butt kicked most games. The problem is that the games are way too complex for me now. I think old school Nintendo, with the direction pad, select, start, A and B as the only buttons was ideal. The Xbox controller has more buttons than a switchboard at Nasa control. I couldn't figure out what to do. I miss the old days of regular Nintendo and Sega Genesis.

So NY is cold. It's been snowing recently. I don't like the snow, it's too cold for me. I need to move someplace warm.

Home... Home again...

"... I like to be here when I can." Those are lyrics from Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon,' which most people of my generation only know because of the strange synchronization with the Wizard of Oz. I barely watch tv anymore, but now that I'm home and have some spare time, I flip channels every once in a while. The Wizard of OZ was on yesterday. It didn't have Dark Side playing along with it since it was on network TV, but nonetheless, it made me think about some of the tracks, and now they're stuck in my head. Why is it that they always play Wizard of Oz around Christmas time? The movie really has absolutly nothing to do with the holidays. Oh well... I guess it's a family favorite for most American families, and holidays are supposed to be about family.

But I have been home again for the past few days. On the drive up from Atl, I stopped in DC and spent a day with my cousin. That was awsome. If only our sisters could have been there too.

I'm bored at home. So yesterday, I met up with Yon and Sarah. Got my fix of Patsy's food. No wonder I was obese while here in NY. It just made me realize how unbelievably bad the food is down there in Atl. But it was great seeing Yon and Sarah. After that, I went back to my polar apartment in Brooklyn. For some oddball reason, the heat wasn't on in the bedroom, but it was fine in the rest of the Apt. So I woke up this morning not wanting to get out from under the blanket. But alas, I braved it out. Met up with Jeff for lunch at this really awsome little French cafe on Smith St. But now I'm back home, bored to tears.

I like being home, but I also miss Atlanta. I hope the rest of the break is more exciting.

The Gauntlet

From Dictionary.com:

gaunt·let2 also gant·let ( P ) (gôntlt, gänt-)n.
1. A form of punishment or torture in which people armed with sticks or other weapons arrange themselves in two lines facing each other and beat the person forced to run between them.
2. The lines of people so arranged.
An onslaught or attack from all sides: “The hostages... ran the gauntlet of insult on their way to the airport” (Harper's).
3. A severe trial; an ordeal.

I have just finished running the gauntlet that is known as the first semester of law school. These past two weeks have been severely difficult, with a serious lack of sleep, over caffeination, intense studying, emotional mayhem, but in the end, peace. It feels really good to have the first semester over with. Ironically, I'm feeling pretty accomplished at this point. I essentially stepped up to the challenge, and I know I didn't fail.

The first semester really did feel like a gauntlet. Each class was taught by a professor beating us with an intellectual stick. Each lined up to take a whack at me and every other first year student. The mental scars are definitely there, but they definitely make you tougher. I'm still standing and willing to ask for more.

So yesterday, after the exams were over, the law school had a big party at 1150. It's supposed to be one of Atl's better clubs. It was nice. The place is an old playhouse or theater that's been converted. Most of the 1L class was there. The nice thing is that everyone was calm. Nobody wanted to talk about school or the meatgrinding experience. It was just plain fun.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for home. I figure the drive alone will be a killer, so I'm stopping in DC for a day to visit my cousin. Funny, during the long drives, I find it really theraputic to think about life while passing scenic patches of greenery and city skylines. Puts things in perspective, makes you think about other stuff. The alone time is good. When you're left alone with nothing but your thoughts, the only person there to get to know is yourself.

Hopefully my time on break in NY won't be as difficult as it was in the undergrad years. Those were always difficult, coming home and not being used to living with parents anymore. Always grumbling about how much you like your school living situation better. I don't know this time. I know there will be remnants of those thoughts, but at least I have my Brooklyn Apt. for when I want to go out in the city. Speaking of, I can't wait to see my friends at home. It's been too long. A few weeks back, I sent a sappy mass email to most of them telling them how much I miss them and all. Even though I met a great bunch of people here, the feelings around here aren't as comforting as they are with the people at home.

What I'm looking forward to most is 'back to basics.' Back in the highschool, my jamatkhana friends and I (the guys) used to have sleepovers, where we'd stay up all night, talk, play video games, watch stupid movies, all that sort of stuff. We havn't done one of those in god knows how many years. We decided that since most of us are home, why not have another one? It's been nearly 10 years, but who cares. It'll be awsome nonetheless. Why not enjoy the opportunity to recapture good memories of childhood while we still can.

The Halfway Point

Two finals down, two to go. On Tuesday, I had my contracts final. I think it went decently well. Hard to say. I kind of freaked out the first half hour, but after calming down, I finished up with enough time to go back and resolve issues on the first half of the exam. But in the course of three hours and thirty minutes, I was done with it. Yesterday morning wasn't as much fun. It was the legal methods final, which was a take home test. We pick it up at 9 a.m, and it's due the next day at 5 p.m. So after picking it up yesterday, I got crackin, hoping that I'd get a decent amount done.

But it turns out that the exam was a total iceberg. It seemed to be not bad at first... I worked for several hours reading through the cases in the packet. Then when it came to actually writing the exam, I realied how unbeliveably in depth the thing had to be. I worked for nearly 21 hours straight, with some breaks for eating and stretching. But I pulled a near all nighter, worked straight through until 6 a.m. I think I started halucinating at that point. The letters started moving around on the screen (and off it), and I was slipping into a near unconscious state. So I decided it would be helpful to come home and sleep for a bit. Three hours later, I was up and working on it again.

But the funny thing is that after waking up, I read the things I wrote the previous night and a lot didn't make sense. Some of it didn't even seem to be in plain english. I was meshing sentences together and all that sort of stuff. You could tell it was written in a state of exhausted delirium. But I finally finished and handed it in at 4. Came back and crashed for an hour, then went to khane. Alas, some degree of sanity came back.

But now the crunch begins for the remaining two finals. Torts Monday, Civ Pro Wednesday. Then freedom at last. But these next two exams are the most difficult hurdle to clear. Tomorrow should be an interesting day of cramming.

The Calm Before the Storm

Fifteen hours and 32 minutes until my first final begins. I'm feeling nauseated. All I ate today was a bagel in the morning, had a cup of coffee, and a granola bar sometime around late evening. And I still feel like I'm about to throw up.

The exam tomorrow is Contracts. I didn't start my outline until about 2 and a half weeks ago. But luckily I got it done a few days ago. I'm feeling pretty good about the material. As long as I don't blank out, I should be fine. It's strange... I'm finding it strangely easy to spot most of the issues. But the hard part is verbalizing it and explaining it according to the facts. I'm gonna have to take a lot of deep breaths tomorrow.

I feel like a person six inches tall crawled down my throat and into my stomach (kind of like that weird slim jim guy), and is jumping around and banging my gastric walls. That's the only way to describe it. I know it's gonna be worse tomorrow. But hopefully it'll subside after the first hour or so.

I miss home. I miss my friends at home. I miss my room. I miss the guest room that I normally sleep in. I miss being fat (not really, but I miss all that sugar I used to down).

You can cut it with a knife

It's definitely crunch time. Today was the last day of classes, which marks the beginning of the reading/panic period for the 1L's. So after class, most of us came here to the library, while the rest went off to their respective study places. I personally can't get anything done outside of the library. The desk in my room is cluttered with papers and other stuff, and while I'm there, I just lose the working mindset. It's strange, despite all of its shortcomings, the library does bring out a certain work ethic in me.

The biggest problem with the library is the neuroses of the students here. We're all in a very high stress environment, and people are handling it differently. There is definitely a tension here. The atmosphere of this place is so tense you could 'cut it with a knife.' That's the best cliche I could think of that describes the atmosphere in this building.

What the hell does that mean anyway? It was so tense you could cut it with a knife? You could cut anything with a knife, regardless of whether it's tense. It's a completely meaningless metaphor with just a commonly assumed meaning. Another one of those is "have your cake and eat it too." I always hated that phrase. It's also completely nonsensical when you think about it. What the hell is the point in having cake if you can't eat it? When I asked people about this, they said it had a Marie Antoinette reference. That sounds intelligent... except for the fact that it's also completely wrong.

Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake." Her statement was mean spirited because it acknowledged that if you don't have it, you can't eat it. Both phrases use the word 'cake,' but don't say the same thing. Yeah, the peasants didn't have bread (nor cake), and therefore couldn't eat it. That makes sense. But where the hell did this phrase "You can't have your cake and eat it too" comes from? It makes no sense whatsoever. Having it is a prerequisite to eating it. Other people explain it by saying that if you eat your cake, you no longer have it. Well, duhhh. If you have it, you can eat it. If you ate it, logically, you had it first. Enough of the linguistic rant.

As I so readily demonstrated above, to keep sane, between my long periods of studying, I come up with stupid things to think about completely non-related to law school. In exactly two torturous weeks, it'll all be over with for the semester. Then I get to go home, sleep late, drive around with the folks, see my friends, bother my sister, eat left over Halloween candy, and a whole slew of other things.

So to deal with the reduced sleep and the intense studying, I've been having coffee lately. Yesterday, I got the eggnog latte from Starbucks. I have to say, it was absolutly disgusting. It literally tasted like coffee with dirt in it. Yuck. But today I had the ginger bread latte. Now that was good. Now I have the energy to keep me awake and finish my contracts outline.

Wish me luck.