I say "kind of" because my lovely fantasy about lazing around all day tuesday didn't happen. A) I was sick, really sick, and B) my daughter was super duper extra sick... poor little lamb. Sick enough so that it seems like we might not be making our Christmas airplane trip this weekend after all. The jury is still out. We'll make the call tomorrow night. *Sigh* I just knew this was going to happen. But if she has to be crazy sick, thank heavens it is when I can be at home with her without missing lots of school... or any school at all.
My last final was surreal. The prof evidently decided last minute to change his format... not so that it was substantially different... but it became more of an endurance test. Again... no clue how I did. I'm just glad it's over.
I've decided to wait until right before my break is over to do a 1L first semester wrap up. I don't think I could do it justice now.
Happily all of my books are bought for next semester... and being able to shop the internet for them instead of being forced to pay school bookstore prices. (Sidenote: I just looked back at my blog to link to a post I was sure I had made about why the admin sucked because they wouldn't give us our book list until the end of intro week, thus, only being able to purchase from the bookstore... and I DIDN'T COMPLAIN ABOUT IT! What was I thinking?) I spent about $250 for books for this semester so far. Although that doesn't include supplements. I've heard the prof I have for Con Law is pretty raw and that I need every supplement known to man in order to pass. Sigh.
I've started reading A Civil Action, which is part of our Christmas homework. Nerdy, but it's kind of interesting, especially if you can banish the image of Travolta from your mind while you read.
And on a very happy mommy note: we gave our daughter one of her presents early today since we are homebound and she is so stir crazy... it's a kitchen playset. I can't tell you how many chocolate milks and pancakes I have "eaten" today. She loves it!
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Why you should never think about the exam after it's over
Gah. I feel sick! I just realized that I totally screwed my K damages question. I'm reasonably certain the Prof K wanted expectation, reliance, and restitution damages figured out for the hype... yeah... nice. I only did expectation damages. Damnit.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
2 down, 1 to go; and post finals plans
Hooray! Civ Pro was this morning. And it wasn't... so bad. Which makes me wonder if 1) I missed somehting critical or 2) it really wasn't that bad, so getting a really good grade would have required the shedding of actual blood, which I didn't do. Sigh. Guess we'll see.
Monday is Torts. For my class, we've been told by the prof, previous students, etc... re-read the book. Lovely. But it's all about memorization... you get to take nothing into the test. Yikes!
After that test... I'm going to sleep. The next day I will take kidlet to school... in my jammies. Get a donut or other breakfast confection on the way home... and throw my Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea DVDs into the player, grab my favorite blanky and pillow and go in and out of consciousness all day. Then I'm going to go to the library and get Wives and Daughters by Gaskell and read. Other than that... everything else can just go away.
Monday is Torts. For my class, we've been told by the prof, previous students, etc... re-read the book. Lovely. But it's all about memorization... you get to take nothing into the test. Yikes!
After that test... I'm going to sleep. The next day I will take kidlet to school... in my jammies. Get a donut or other breakfast confection on the way home... and throw my Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea DVDs into the player, grab my favorite blanky and pillow and go in and out of consciousness all day. Then I'm going to go to the library and get Wives and Daughters by Gaskell and read. Other than that... everything else can just go away.
Monday, December 12, 2005
I think I feel it... mild panic is setting in.
in 2 days I have my civ pro exam from a prof who changes her mind like she changes her underwear. It is so frustrating. So you can't take her at her word that anything won't be on the test... or that she is going to test like she told you she would. Sigh. And I'm sick of it. Sick to death of reading the FRCP and purposefully trying to find the wankiest bizarre tidbit about the rule to memorize, 'cause that's about the one thing I think that I can count on with the test.
On the up side, I don't have the glassy, too wide eye look yet... you know the one that clears the room when you enter because people can feel panic and fear oozing from your body.
Calm. Breathe in. Breathe out. Go read the supplemental jurisdiction cases again.
On the up side, I don't have the glassy, too wide eye look yet... you know the one that clears the room when you enter because people can feel panic and fear oozing from your body.
Calm. Breathe in. Breathe out. Go read the supplemental jurisdiction cases again.
Sunday, December 11, 2005
One down--2 to go
And that's how I feel... mixed sentences and inconsistencies and just too tired to care. In some ways I think that an 8-hour take home exam is an evil way to start your first exam ever in law school. But I was mightily greatful for that when I experienced the classic "Contracts? Did I take Contracts? I don't know any of this stuff" feeling when I looked at the test. I got over it in about 5 minutes... talking myself down from the ledge so-to-speak.
Overall, I have no idea how I did. Did I get an A? Probably not. Did I fail? Definately not. I think that most decent law schools are set up so that you only fail if 1) you don't show up or 2) you never read, prepped, or attended class. So yeah, somewhere in the middle. But honestly no freaking clue. Here's a puzzler for you though. Why does it take until the end of January to get grades? Here's my theory: your tuition is paid for next semester and no longer refundable at that point.
Gah, I've got Civ Pro on Wednesday. And I'm trying hard to pull some motivation out of somewhere to keep going. I can. I will. It's just so much more draining than I thought it would be, and it's really the first time that I have felt that being a mom to a young child is a rather weighty disadvantage. I can't just disappear and study for two weeks. I guess we'll see in the end.
Overall, I have no idea how I did. Did I get an A? Probably not. Did I fail? Definately not. I think that most decent law schools are set up so that you only fail if 1) you don't show up or 2) you never read, prepped, or attended class. So yeah, somewhere in the middle. But honestly no freaking clue. Here's a puzzler for you though. Why does it take until the end of January to get grades? Here's my theory: your tuition is paid for next semester and no longer refundable at that point.
Gah, I've got Civ Pro on Wednesday. And I'm trying hard to pull some motivation out of somewhere to keep going. I can. I will. It's just so much more draining than I thought it would be, and it's really the first time that I have felt that being a mom to a young child is a rather weighty disadvantage. I can't just disappear and study for two weeks. I guess we'll see in the end.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Review of Pride and Prejudice--the new movie
Sigh. Grumble and then more sigh. In the interest of full disclosure, I love the 6 hour BBC P&P version and can't picture a more perfect Darcy or Elizabeth or Bingley for that matter (not so much Jane). In any case, when I heard about this remake, honestly, I wasn't expecting much good to come of it.
The first 20 minutes or so fulfilled my expectations. But then, it changed for the better. I can't put my finger on it exactly. I hated Lizzy. I thought Knightley's portrayal as too flippant and light and the Darcy not quite proud enough. (And can I say that her wigs sucked... really, could they not find one to cover her own short hair in the back; every scene that bugged me to death).
The ball was where it really changed for me. I loved Mr. Bennet holding a crying Mary, realizing her pain and caring for it. I loved the slightly tipsy Mrs. Bennet. Overall, their portrayals through the entire movie were more "parent-like" than the BBC version, and I liked it. You realize that their shortcomings towards their daughters are not out of a mean or even selfish spirit. Rather Mrs. Bennet's neuroses are truly on behalf of her soon to be impoverished daughters.
Collins was spot on. Loved it. And Judi Dench as Lady Catherine was also fabulous. I was rather disappointed with their rather unappetizing Colonel Fitzwilliam. Yeech. And Wickham was perfect. Charming right up to the bitter end.
Overall, it could have been better. They could have cut 10 minutes of the crying Mr Bennet/Lizzy scene at the end in favor of more time at Pemberley, developing any kind of Georgiana character. Or even allowing Darcy and Lizzy more interaction at Rosings.
I will concede that the proposal scene in the rain was wonderful. Possibly better than BBC (though obviously not true to the book). Let's face it, it's always good to see a wet Darcy. I just felt that the scene had lots of power. I liked the impropriety; that they yelled. Of course it's too bad that it was half way through the movie before we see any chemistry between the two.
Jane was far better in this movie than in the BBC. I liked this portrayal better, showing that a very good Jane can also be lighthearted, instead of unfailingly, boringly proper.
The two rather dismal castings were that of Bingley and the Gardiners. Bingley was ghastly. This Jane should have pitched him; he had no spine at all. Yuck. And the Gardiners did alright with what they had, but were about 20 years (at least) too old.
As I hated the first 20 minutes, the last 15 or so didn't do much for me either. I liked the second proposal in the field but was left in the cold after that (actually the whole "body and soul" thing was a bit much as well, but you can't have everything). Too much gushing from Mr bennet and Lizzy... NO WEDDING! What? The whole Pemberley as marrieds was just too much. Blech.
So what do we learn from this folks? As a lover of Pride and Prejudice Utah; Pride and Prejudice Bollywood style and the original film version with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson, I obviously don't mind even serious deviation from the book. But unless you can improve on perfection (BBC version) don't go there.
The first 20 minutes or so fulfilled my expectations. But then, it changed for the better. I can't put my finger on it exactly. I hated Lizzy. I thought Knightley's portrayal as too flippant and light and the Darcy not quite proud enough. (And can I say that her wigs sucked... really, could they not find one to cover her own short hair in the back; every scene that bugged me to death).
The ball was where it really changed for me. I loved Mr. Bennet holding a crying Mary, realizing her pain and caring for it. I loved the slightly tipsy Mrs. Bennet. Overall, their portrayals through the entire movie were more "parent-like" than the BBC version, and I liked it. You realize that their shortcomings towards their daughters are not out of a mean or even selfish spirit. Rather Mrs. Bennet's neuroses are truly on behalf of her soon to be impoverished daughters.
Collins was spot on. Loved it. And Judi Dench as Lady Catherine was also fabulous. I was rather disappointed with their rather unappetizing Colonel Fitzwilliam. Yeech. And Wickham was perfect. Charming right up to the bitter end.
Overall, it could have been better. They could have cut 10 minutes of the crying Mr Bennet/Lizzy scene at the end in favor of more time at Pemberley, developing any kind of Georgiana character. Or even allowing Darcy and Lizzy more interaction at Rosings.
I will concede that the proposal scene in the rain was wonderful. Possibly better than BBC (though obviously not true to the book). Let's face it, it's always good to see a wet Darcy. I just felt that the scene had lots of power. I liked the impropriety; that they yelled. Of course it's too bad that it was half way through the movie before we see any chemistry between the two.
Jane was far better in this movie than in the BBC. I liked this portrayal better, showing that a very good Jane can also be lighthearted, instead of unfailingly, boringly proper.
The two rather dismal castings were that of Bingley and the Gardiners. Bingley was ghastly. This Jane should have pitched him; he had no spine at all. Yuck. And the Gardiners did alright with what they had, but were about 20 years (at least) too old.
As I hated the first 20 minutes, the last 15 or so didn't do much for me either. I liked the second proposal in the field but was left in the cold after that (actually the whole "body and soul" thing was a bit much as well, but you can't have everything). Too much gushing from Mr bennet and Lizzy... NO WEDDING! What? The whole Pemberley as marrieds was just too much. Blech.
So what do we learn from this folks? As a lover of Pride and Prejudice Utah; Pride and Prejudice Bollywood style and the original film version with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson, I obviously don't mind even serious deviation from the book. But unless you can improve on perfection (BBC version) don't go there.
Whip out the party favors! Today was the last day of classes!
Yay! Woohoo! Whoopee! Whee!!!!!!!! Zipp!
OK, not sure where the Zipp came from, but still I do feel some pride in having made it through my first semester, especially since it looked kind of dicey for the first month or so with my daughter's problems.
In any case, here we are. I'm done with Torts. I'm done with K. and I'm done with Civ Pro. Whee! Again. I say Whee!
Even better, I treated myself to a matinee. Where I saw Pride and Prejudice, which I will review in a subsequent post since I'm a pride and prejudice freak.
In any case. Now the really hard work begins. I've got a Civ Pro practice exam tomorrow morning. And I am actually a wee-bit concerned. Jurisdiction seems like forever ago and joinder doesn't seem all that recent and that was last week. Yikes. I guess tomorrow will be a good reality check for where I am at with my Civ Pro knowledge (not far :( ) So it is.
Tomorrow afternoon is play with daighter time. And tomorrow night is either Civ Pro or Contracts.
I'm in a quandary over the Contracts study time. I actually think that I know most of it pretty well. I need to review the elements of each big rule, but I'm not honestly sure how much more I am going to do with K. It's an 8 hour take home, so you really don't have to have the greatest outline or know everything cold. There is time to look up the wording you want from a case or rule... Contracts exam is next Friday. I think I'm going to do an even rotation on all my classes until Wednesday. Then Contracts only Wed/Thurs. Then pass out on Friday night :)
Good luck everyone!
OK, not sure where the Zipp came from, but still I do feel some pride in having made it through my first semester, especially since it looked kind of dicey for the first month or so with my daughter's problems.
In any case, here we are. I'm done with Torts. I'm done with K. and I'm done with Civ Pro. Whee! Again. I say Whee!
Even better, I treated myself to a matinee. Where I saw Pride and Prejudice, which I will review in a subsequent post since I'm a pride and prejudice freak.
In any case. Now the really hard work begins. I've got a Civ Pro practice exam tomorrow morning. And I am actually a wee-bit concerned. Jurisdiction seems like forever ago and joinder doesn't seem all that recent and that was last week. Yikes. I guess tomorrow will be a good reality check for where I am at with my Civ Pro knowledge (not far :( ) So it is.
Tomorrow afternoon is play with daighter time. And tomorrow night is either Civ Pro or Contracts.
I'm in a quandary over the Contracts study time. I actually think that I know most of it pretty well. I need to review the elements of each big rule, but I'm not honestly sure how much more I am going to do with K. It's an 8 hour take home, so you really don't have to have the greatest outline or know everything cold. There is time to look up the wording you want from a case or rule... Contracts exam is next Friday. I think I'm going to do an even rotation on all my classes until Wednesday. Then Contracts only Wed/Thurs. Then pass out on Friday night :)
Good luck everyone!
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