The most beautiful words in the English Language

"The name above appears on the pass list for the July 2007 California Bar Examination"

I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 3

Woot Woot and a Ha-cha-cha-cha. Honestly, I like the essay/PT days sooooo much better than the MBE days. This morning I ran into Eliot. Its the first time I've seen him during the test. It made me feel better, more comfortable. We had the three essays in the morning. The first a crim law/con law cross over. I have a problem with Con law. I tend to get diarrhea of the brain...I can't stop writing. Today I spent an hour and 15 minutes on the first question. I knew I had to stop. I knew I could have written more. Luckily the next two questions were pretty straight forward - Contracts/remedies and Community Property. The last was the most fun because I got to completely BS a section of the question, but I used legal words and it sounded pretty good to me. Honestly, I don't really care if it was right or not, I doubt the graders will know for sure - kinda like how one of our lecturers told us he referred to the UCC when he couldn't think of the applicable tort answer. (The UCC only applies to contracts) Giant Balls finished an hour early again. Look buddy, you're not fooling anyone. You can't write 3 essays in 2 hours. You just can't. That's 40 minutes an essay. Have you heard of facts? You might want to start including some of them.

The performance test was great - well, great meaning "I didn't pee my pants and start crying for mommy" It was a persuasive letter based on statutes and two cases. 2/3 of the test was solely statutory, as in - copy the statute and say therefore.....for the most part.

But the best part of today? IT'S OVER! I'M DONE! I can now return to my regularly scheduled life. I'm staying here for another night so I didn't have to deal with the horrendous traffic back. Jon suggested a pick up a bottle of wine for myself, so I did. But I don't have a wine opener, so I had to get one with a screw top. There's something pretty pathetic about drinking a bottle of cheap wine in a hotel room by yourself, but know what? You can't call me pathetic cause I just finished the Bar and you didn't. So there.

Day 2

Today started out okay. Walk to the test center. As I was walking this guy turns to me:
Guy: You look really familiar
(Shit, am I getting hit on? This is a weird time to pick someone up)
Turns out we went to high school together. Remember I told you I used to be in audition based singing groups? Well this guy was in one of those groups with me. And the group only had like 16 people in it, so now I feel like super-bitch for not remembering him and thinking he was hitting on me.

Sit in my assigned seat. I noticed there were a couple preggos in the room. I can't imagine it makes the test easier, but then again, they have a couple more months before work starts so maybe I missed out on a smart move. Eh, I'll stick with my puppy plans.

I love my proctor. She's a super sweetie. She gives us verbal gold stars and thanks us for making her job so easy. AND she has the good gossip. Turns out 7 people left yesterday from our room after viewing the essay questions. Closed up their computers, told the proctors they couldn't do this and were escorted out. She shook her head. "They didn't even try."

The morning questions weren't so bad. The guy in front of me left early again. He does this EVERY session. He leaves an hour early. Now, I'm not saying it takes me a full 3 hours to do the questions, but it does take me 2 hours and 50 minutes to answer the questions, go over the ones I'm unsure about, and check my answers for the ones I'm more confident about. This guy must have balls the size of Wisconsin, cause there's no way he has time to answer the questions and give them a second look.

After lunch things took a turn for the worse. The cramps started in, and I began to think those preggos might have been on to something. Then there were the questions. Bleh. They were ridiculous. There were questions on Wills! There's not supposed to be wills questions on the multi-state! And they tested on torts we never covered in school or Barbri. There were so many questions I was just clueless on. And there was a whole section of D's which always freaks me out, but reading other blogs leads me to believe it might just be an evil ploy of the test makers. And I have to admit, if my job were coming up with questions all day I could definitely see myself being evil and making a million of one letter in a row. I would also try spelling out words with the correct answers. Good thing that's not my job. Giant Balls left an hour early in this one too. I hope he fails. Seriously, at least sit in your seat and pretend to check your answers dude. You're not impressing anyone.

At least there's only one day left!

Day 1

I'm exhausted. Completely exhausted. Not to say that the day didn't go well. I got to the test center and as I sat waiting to begin I came up with this brilliant epiphany - It's only a three hour test, I just have to take 6 of them. For some reason the thought of taking 6 tests is much less intimidating than 1 18 hour test. Its like finals. I can do finals.

The person beside me didn't show up today. On one hand that kinda freaks me out. Who doesn't show up for the bar? On the other hand I have lots of extra room to spread out my stuff. Not that I need it. It's plenty roomy in the test center.

The girl two down from me is either really stupid or her boyfriend is a little overprotective. He had to help he turn on her computer, start examsoft, and place her exam number on all of her test papers. Turns out girl and boyfriend spent all summer in Costa Rica studying for the bar there. Hmmm I guess that's two more people I can knock off my competition list.

The test itself went fine. Three essays this morning - Landlord/tenant, products liability, and evidence. This afternoon was the performance exam. As I was writing this morning I decided the essays are my favorite part of the test. 1 hour and they're done. I like that I feel a sense of completion every hour. Its kinda zen. This afternoon I took out my earplugs for a couple of minutes and listened to the sound of 900,000 people typing. It sounded like rain.

Greetings from THE BAR

As soon as I opened my room, a wave of excitement washed over me. Not because I'm excited or ready to take this test. Not because I'm excited to be away from my husband for a week. I got excited because my room
1) Has air conditioning (its 1 million degrees here)
2) Smells good
3) Has a giant bed
4) HAS A FRIDGE! and not one of those sissy mini-fridges full of crap, a completely empty fridge for my water, gatorade, and lunches for the week
5) HAS A MICROWAVE! for heating up my yummy lunches. At least they will be yummy now that they can be heated up. (I made giant stuffed potatoes)
6) HAS FREE WIRELESS INTERNET!

After checking in, I walked to the Convention Center to see how far away I was. It's an 8 minute walk. One of the things no one tells you about is "the walk". I kept getting giggly as I would pass another person who was gaging the distance between their hotel and the Convention Center. I passed them on my way there, passed them on my way back. A grip of people, all walking by themselves, head down, avoiding eye contact, and then spinning around upon destination and heading back. I even watched one guy do "the drive". It didn't make me feel so good watching him make illegal U-turns up and down the street.

Hitting the Road

That's it folks, time is up. I'm about to hit the road for THE BAR. Because I'm not positive about the wireless situation where I'm staying this may be the last you hear of me for the week. I'm a raging bundle of nerves, not yet getting that sense of zen everyone keeps telling me will hit me. Then again, I did sleep through the night last night for the first time in weeks (of course, half a bottle of wine helps with that, now doesn't it?)

My packing list:

• 4 t-shirts, including the lucky one I made (will reveal its contents at a later point in time to ensure the luckiness remains intact)
• 2 sweatpants and a pair of jeans
• sweatshirt and socks (in case the Convention Center is air conditioned)
  
• swim suit (there's a hot tub at the hotel... we'll see what the crowds look like before I use it. Otherwise-)
• bubble bath
• ziplock bag with: admission ticket, erasers, lucky pencils, pens, highlighters, earplugs, watch
• laptop, power cord, ethernet cable
• cell phone, cell phone charger
  
• 1 pg (or 2 pg) outlines
• Performance Test skills and tips
• In class notebook
  
• Lucky Joe - the teddy bear Jon got me for our anniversary about 3 years ago. When you squeeze his hand he says "I love you, I love you"
  
• mp3 player
• PMBR cds for the drive up
• hand weights
• Shrek dvds
  
• water bottles
• gatorade
• cooler of lunches and oatmeal fruit cookies
  

- And my last minute shout outs:
- Thank you to Mom, Dad, and Jon. I know I've been a PITA this summer. Thanks for not rubbing it in too much. I will be back to being my regular PITA self after this week.
- My Nesties. Seriously, the "good luck emails" I received after BN's email made me cry. Seriously.
- Special shout outs to WeeMo, Diane, Jess, and Sara. I love having your support.
- Special shout out to Liz. Your weekly emails checking in on me were so appreciated!

"The Constitution must be dead" or "How studying for THE BAR ruins a good time, part II"

Jon rented "The Last Mimzy" tonight....apparently whoever wrote this doesn't believe in the Constitution. Jon got mad at me because I went off in a HUGE tizzy. Here are my set offs:

1) Police/FBI/STATE ACTORS come to the main character's house and demand to come in and search:
Dad: Do you have a search warrant?
FBI: I don't need a warrant, I have probable cause.

WHAT??????? Since when do you not need a warrant TO SEARCH SOMEONE'S HOME if you have probable cause? Dad should have said "Take your probable cause to the magistrate and get yourself a search warrant."

2) Police/FBI/STATE ACTORS bring main characters to headquarters and place them in a room where they are videoed as the kid confesses to his parents. HAVE THEY BEEN READ THEIR MIRANDA RIGHTS? I scream. Jon shusshes me. YOU CAN'T BRING PEOPLE INTO CUSTODY WITHOUT READING THEIR MIRANDA RIGHTS!


Seriously Kamisar would be ALL over this shit.

This just made me feel so much better

I found this on someone's blog today:

"California Bar Exam
I've read a few blogs from those who are taking the California Bar Exam and I am a bit surprised by what they have written. Personally, I am not taking the bar exam too seriously. I've spent about 20 minutes a day, at most, reviewing the material. Since I never studied in law school (I have a photographic memory of what the professors talked about) and only visited the law library twice, I see no need to spend countless hours studying for the bar. Even if I failed, the punishment is fairly light: I get to take it over again. Oh well. The punishment in law school was far worse if one failed--dismissal. Somehow I passed. Since I passed law school, which is far tougher, I see no reason to spend extra efforts on a fairly simple exam."

1) I hope everyone follows this guy's train of thought. It will be so much easier to pass the bar if people are only "reviewing the material" 20 minutes a day.
2) "photographic memory" refers to seeing something and being able to picture the exact image in your head, you know like a PHOTOGRAPH. If you are remembering things your professor SAID this is not photographic memory.
3) Law school does not equal the California Bar Exam. My last semester of law school I took a class. I failed to purchase the book. I missed more classes than I attended. During class I didn't take notes. I started "studying" a few days before the final which consisted of me downloading other people's outlines off the internet and reading them. Not only did I pass the class, but I got a REALLY high grade on the final. Should I attempt this plan of action for THE BAR? (Can anyone else hear Honigsberg saying "Gooooddd Ideaaaaa?")

Why I'm surprised we've yet to have a woman president

Conversation between Jon and one of his friends from law school last week:

J's friend: So when do you and Kate head up to THE BAR?
J: Oh, I'm not going. Just Kate.
J's friend: You're not taking off work to go with her?
J: Why would I go with her?
J's friend: You know, so you could make her sandwiches for lunch.
J: *blank stare*

- This conversation brings up a couple very interesting points
1) It must be nice to be independently wealthy enough to take off a week of work to make sandwiches for someone.

2) Seriously, Jon didn't ask, but do you think J's friend's wife (now ex-wife) went with him to THE BAR when he took it and made him sandwiches?

3) Can a man who has made it through 12 years of pre-college education, 4 years of college education, and 3 years of legal education not make his own sandwiches?

4) For someone sooooo concerned with my well being during THE BAR, do you find it obnoxious that this fellow is spending the night at our apartment the night before I leave for THE BAR? (Otherwise known as "the night of no sleep" or "Kate's last night to freak out at home" - in contrast with "Kate's last night to freak out in the hotel" which will occur the following night) There better be a stack of sandwiches waiting for me Monday morning when I get up.

Keep it Simple Stupid

I hate Performance Tests. No really, hate them. And not that warm, fuzzy kind of hate either. Its not the subject matter of the Performance Tests, although it is partly that, its just soooooo long. AND completely impractical. Let me tell you how things are done in "the real world":
1) Partner tells you "write a memo/brief/questions for deposition"
2) You go into the firm files and find a memo/brief/questions for deposition. Using that as a guide, you fill in relevant facts to the current case.

Compare this with how the performance test works:
1) Partner tells you to write a memo/brief/questions for deposition
2) You have never done this before
3) You have no samples
4) Basically you have three hours to pull something out of your ass, which shouldn't take 3 hours, because really, there's not that much in your ass.


As much as I hate them though, I knew I had to practice at least one more before THE BAR so I sat down today to force myself to do it. And I had a special strategy. Honigsberg recommends that after you've read through the file and the library you take a little break. So I took a little break. I used my break time to make cookies. Mostly because making cookies is one of the least time consuming things you could possibly do. I laid out all my ingredients before starting the test, and after reading the file and library I dumped them in a bowl and mixed. During this time I thought about what an idiot my client was. He cashed a check that was marked "payment in full" while he was in a suit disputing the amount of money he should be getting. Now, I understand he's a patent attorney, but didn't he have to take the bar? Didn't he learn over, and over, and over, and over again that you NEVER cash a check marked paid in full????? Didn't he learn it in his property review? His contracts review? Hell even his remedy review? I have lost all sympathy for my client and thinks he gets what he deserves. Once the cookies were in the oven I sat back down to write - but I kept my opinions about what an idiot client is to myself, instead offering him numerous options of what he could do. Turns out, I was right on the money, the sample answer didn't accuse the client of being an idiot either.

The rest of the day was pretty normal:
Community Property: It's funny, in school this was not my strong subject. As I was reviewing the material today, I was thinking that the key to community property is not to examine it too closely. I started noticing things that led me to question my knowledge. Woooaaahh there, why am I questioning things now? I used to gloss over the material and felt very confident on the essays. Today I was thinking - Lucas? Pro Rata? I don't know this stuff at all! But really, I think I do, I'm just looking too deeply.

Community Property essay: See, this was an easy one so I did okay. Periera/Van Camp I can do. Pro rata contributions of community property into separate property, separate property into community property? I'm getting nervous.

Crimes: The more I study, the worse I do. I should have taken this test last week. At least I had cookies to cheer me up.

And the cookies? They definitely cheered me up. I made them with the idea that I would take them with me next week for a little mid day pick me up. This meant I had to make them 1) semi-healthy, and 2) something Jon wouldn't eat. I had seen oatmeal raisin cookies in Delilah's blog earlier this week and thought they would be perfect. Jon doesn't do oatmeal raisin cookies. Something about them not having chocolate in them. And with all those oats and raisins they were basically granola, right? And besides, I have a soft spot for Delilah since we share the same birthday, so that must make these lucky oatmeal raisin cookies. I made them even healthier by 1) using whole wheat flour (I really need to get to the store to buy AP flour) and 2) subbing dried cranberries and blueberries for half the raisins. Unfortunately, Jon saw the cookies. Still I thought I was safe, I mean Jon doesn't like oatmeal raisin cookies.

J: What are these?
K: Cookies for me to take to THE BAR.
J: Oh, are they those oatmeal cookies you get from TJs?
K: no
J: Wait, did you MAKE these?
K: yeah
J: Do you promise? (code for "are you lying?")
K: I promise. Why don't you believe me?
J: They don't look like you made them, they look store bought. (takes and eats a cookie) Woah, these are really good! And I don't even like oatmeal raisin cookies.
K: Sigh, I know, that's why I made them. I knew if I made chocolate chip cookies there wouldn't be any left by Monday.
J: Yeah......(looking slyly at the cookies)

- Looks like I'm going to have to hide the cookies.

Keeping with the simple theme, and trying to up my iron count before the test, I made steak for dinner. With one of the simplest recipes I know. Salt, Pepper, grill pan. That's it. I'd post a real recipe, but it would look something like this:
1) Rub a buttload of salt and pepper all over the steak pressing it into front, back, and the sides.
2) Heat the grillpan super-de-dooper hot hot hot. It should smoke. You should fear for nearby paper products.
3) Place the steak on the grill pan and sear both sides to lock in the juices. The steak should now be a great brown color.
4) Lower the heat significantly and cook until your desired temperature. We like ours medium rare.


-Lately I've been dressing up our steaks with marinades. Tonight was simple. And the response may sum up my new philosophy of "keep it simple."
J: This is the best steak you've made in a long time. Sometimes all you need is a little salt and pepper.


Whole Wheat Oatmeal Fruit Cookies
(adapted from Delilah's Corner)

1/4	pound (1 sticks) margarine or butter, softened
1/2	cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4	cup granulated sugar
1	eggs
1/2	teaspoon vanilla
3/4	cups whole wheat flour
1/2	teaspoon baking soda
1/2	teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4	teaspoon salt (optional)
1 1/2	cups Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1/4 1/16 1/16	cup raisins cup dried cranberries cup dried blueberries

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat margarine and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and fruit; mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

The Remedy is the experience

The good news is, today wasn't as bad as yesterday.
Remedies - 1 page outline. Woot Woot.

Remedies Essay - ummm, helllloooo. Seriously? I mean, I had read about this question on Amanda's blog, and I thought that prepared me, but WHAT THE HECK IS A PURCHASE MONEY RESULTING TRUST? Don't you think maybe this is something someone should have taught us either in Trusts or Remedies? Naw, that would be waaaay too easy.

Professional Responsibility - 1 page outline, and I think I actually learned it this time - unlike all the other times I tried to learn it. I finally figured out that the mnemonic isn't Court Don't Prefer (which I could never figure out what the P stood for), it's Court's Feel Differently (Candor, Fairness, Dignity)

Professional Responsibility Essay - My newfound knowledge really came into play here and I hit almost all the issues, I think I may have missed one - but hey, I'm not perfect

Property - review, still working on shortening the outline

Property multistate questions - Hey! Even on PMBR I got in the 70s! (See WeeMo, I can kick this things ass if I want to) Which leads me to believe I got property down and should turn my attention elsewhere

Still to do this week:
- pick up some gatorade
- pick up some water
- make my lucky bar t-shirt
- pack
- makes some lunches

Stepping it Up

There are only 6 study days left before THE BAR, so I've upped the game a bit. Everyday I'm focusing on one multi-state subject and one essay subject. Today was Corporations and Torts. Torts I'm definitely at the comfortable stage with, but Corporations is still a scary subject for me, or so I thought.

Study plan:
1) 50 Mixed MBE questions - 88%, yay! Maybe I am learning something!
2) Review/memorize/shorten outlines for Corporations and Agency - I really love the little one page tear out for agency
3) 2 Corporations essays - Nailed these guys. Honestly, they came so easy I was worried I missed some major issues (only one duty breached? That can't be right!) but I didn't. And frankly, I think my organization of the issues was better than the sample (of course that could explain the "above average" I got on my organization/format. This was a really good boost because I felt like this was a weak spot of mine, but apparently its not as weak as I thought.
4) Review/memorize/shorten outline for Torts - got it down to one page, could have gone shorter, but I felt anxious about removing some rules that weren't tested in practice
5) Torts MBEs - I did about 50 of these too, just to keep the streak going....it didn't.
6) Listen to Torts CDs. My walks to and from the library are not as fun as they used to me. But since I'm an aural learner I'm hoping to pick up a few minor details.

On my own

So now that Bar/Bri's over, I have all day to study. However, the paced program only gives me a couple of hours of work a day. Now maybe this is to reward me for keeping it up with the paced program, but it makes me nervous. So I've started supplementing. Extra MBEs, extra essays, eventually I will bring myself to do a performance test, but right now the thought gives me a headache. Right now me weakest spots are:
Evidence MBES (for some reason I'm amazing at the essays)
Con Law Essays (again, amazing at the MBEs)

- which basically tells me I know the Evidence doctrines, but can't always apply them
and
- I recognize Con Law issues, but don't know them by heart

I'm still scoring in the high 70s for the MBEs, so things could be worse, but the fact that there are now 11 days until the bar is starting to hit home.

On the homefront, today I turned to an old favorite for dinner. Sparkpeople's Oregeno Chicken. I used to make it about once a week during the school year. The funny thing is, its never the same twice, kind of like "Chicken surprise".

SP's Chicken Oregeno

• 2 chicken breasts
  
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
  
  
• cooking spray
  
  
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
  
  
• 1 lemon, sliced
  
  
• 1 tomato, chopped
  
  
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
  
  
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  
  
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano (or one teaspoon dried)
  
  
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
  
  
• 3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
  
  
• 1 medium, sweet green pepper, cut into strips
  
  

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.



2. Lightly coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray.



3. Cook chicken over medium heat until light brown (about 15 minutes), turning once. Reduce heat.



4. Sprinkle garlic, lemon, half of tomato, onion, parsley and oregano over chicken pieces in skillet.



5. Add wine and broth.



6. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.



7. Add remaining tomato and sweet peppers, cover and continue to simmer for 7-10 minutes or until chicken is tender and cooked through.

One small step for mankind,

One giant step on the road to becoming a lawyer. Today was the last day of Bar/Bri. Another day of Honigsberg telling us "everyone passes." I'm actually really glad to be done with classes and have the whole day to study. Lately, its been really hard for me to stay focused in class - I blame it on the fact that we've been doing this for 7 weeks. 7 weeks? That's almost a full quarter! (poor spoiled UC brat)

I wanted to celebrate being done, and I also wanted to wish my fellow classmates good luck. After all, since all but a couple are taking the Bar in San Diego, this was the last time I'd ever see most of them. So at 9pm last night I made cupcakes.

Perhaps I should back the story up a bit. I actually started making cupcakes much earlier. Around 7pm, right after I finished the cobbler. I waited a bit for the oven to cool down (cobbler cooked at 400, cupcakes cooked at 350). However, because I am the world's worst baker and am additionally cursed with the evil oven from hell they didn't come out so good. That's actually an understatement, but you get the idea.

So at 9pm I came up with a scathingly brilliant idea. Actually I'm not sure its all that unique, but it was unique to me. Cookie cupcakes. I always have cookie dough in the freezer for those nights when Jon looks at me with that "what's for dessert" look in his eyes. I grabbed my chocolate chip dough and began pushing it into the cupcake pan. Jon looked on bewildered, not entirely convinced that my plan would work.







I frosted them with chocolate frosting, just in case there wasn't enough chocolate in the cookies.
They came out great! Everyone in the class took a bite and said "It tastes like a cookie" which made sense, cause really, it was a cookie. (I'm sure these people are going to do GREAT on the bar)

These are great because they're small, chocolaty, and easy to make. Honestly, they can be made with any cookie dough, and any frosting you like. They'd be great to take to a party, and equally great to serve for guests. I think I found my new bestest dessert.

Your love is like a rollercoaster baby, baby

Dear Bar/Bri,
When we first met I was a little hesitant about our relationship together. It seemed like you were the needy sort and would require my undivided attention. I don't do needy. As we began our courtship I learned I could manage your needs. I even began feeling as though I needed you too. Minutes I spent with out you became minutes I thought of you endlessly. You were never far from my thoughts. But what I never learned to manage was your mood swings, your changes in affection. There are times when you wrap me in your arms and tell me all the things I want to hear. "You'll pass" you coo. "I know you can do this" you murmer. Sweet nothings designed to lure me into your web. Take yesterday for example. First there was the return of my Civil Procedure Essay. "Above Average" you crowed. "I'm so proud of you!" Words of love, soft and tender will win a girl's heart after all.

But as comforting as you are, you can also turn on a moment's notice to become cruel and mocking. Scare tactics, hidden away can strike at a moments notice. And where were all your words of kindness today when the performance test was returned? I scanned the pages and it seemed as though your heart had become black and cold.

I wanted to let you know our time is quickly coming to an end. I will always be grateful for everything you have given me, but I believe there is someone better out there for me. Someone who will not toy with my emotions. Someone who loves me for who I am.

Good luck. Love,
Kate

Dead Men Tell No Tales

At least that's what I was thinking today in our last substantive lecture - Wills and Trusts. Of course, it doesn't help when they inform you a constructive trust is "giving a treasure map that leads to buried treasure"

Honestly, THAT'S what probate is missing. Pirates. Every Will problem should be based on Pirates:
"Long John Silver leaves everything to Davy Jones in a will. But Long John Silver does not realize that he has children from various wenches throughout the seven seas. If these children find out about the will, what rights do they have to Silver's booty?" (And yes, every question should also try to work in the word booty)

I also started playing the mnemonic game today. Oh its a fun game. Not as fun as say, Life, or Jeopardy, but my idea of fun is VERY different than it was 2 months ago. Here are my good ones for you:

Trustee's Duties: "Lemonade Is Excellent" Said Dear Aunt Daisy. (Loyalty, Investment, Earmarking, Segregation, no Delegation, Accounting, Due care)

State Investor duties: Gold Canaries Fly, Singing Songs. No Bird's Near Sighted (Government bonds, Certificates of deposits, First deeds of trust, Sometimes Stocks, No new Business, No Second deeds of trust)

And my FAVORITE, Prudent Person Investor Duties: GoldFinger Caught Bond. Miss Moneypenny Notifies British Naval Service. (Government bonds, First deeds of trust, Certificates of Deposit, Blue chip stocks, Maybe Mutual funds, No new Business, No Second deeds of trust)

Back to work

Back to Bar/Bri work today. Its not as fun as it sounds. Although today wasn't so bad. Wills, and the lecturer was jamming through it. Speedy McSpeedster. Which I don't mind. But it got me thinking. For everything negative I have to say about my school, I cannot complain about the professors. More and more I realize how excellent they were. I thought about that again today during the lecture. I really felt like the lecture, as well as the speed made Wills seem much more complicated and difficult than it really is. I could understand Haley's frustration with the subject because it really does seem confusing this way - and I definitely felt comfortable with the material all through my law school class. It's not hard material. It's even easier when you're learning it solely for the bar because there is a limit as to what they can test you on in essay form. But honestly, if I didn't have prior knowledge? I think I'd be confused too.

Must See Movie

Jon and I went to see "Sicko" tonight. Please, please, please - go see this movie. And then tell everyone you know to see this movie. And maybe get some strangers to go see it too. I'm a little pedantic about it because this is my baby, this is what I want to do when I grow up, this is it folks. My studies in health law, my studies of European health law while I was in Europe - go see this movie and you'll understand my drive, my raison d'etre. Okay, that's a little overly dramatic, but come on, I WAS a theater major.

On a related side note - one of the commercials before the movie was for the Scion - it showed a bunch of sheep getting mutilated. And all I could think was "That's me! I'm supposed to be a sheep!" Now granted, they were cartoon sheep, but still. It's a foreboding omen.

"How Kate is smarter than the devil" or "Studying for the Bar sure ruins a good time"

We sat down tonight to watch Ghost Rider. I've been wanting to see it for a long time, and Papa Kate had a copy he lent us. In the first 15 minutes the main character sells his soul to the devil, which led to this monologue:

"You know, I bet the devil doesn't record that sale. If you were smart, you'd sell your soul again to someone else and make sure they recorded it first. Then they would be a BFP and they would have superior rights to the devil in either a notice jurisdiction or a race-notice jurisdiction. Then the devil wouldn't ever get your soul."

Yeah, I'm a ton of fun at parties too.



In other news, Jon dared me this week. I'm pretty rebellious, so if someone tells me I can't do something, it makes me REALLY want to do it. By this time I know you're on the edge of your seats. Well sit back, its not that exciting. Basically what happened is that I told Jon this week's ingredients for the Platinum Challenge.
K: Blueberries, Cheese, Corn, Citrus, and Hot Peppers
J: How come they never give you anything that you can make into one dish?
K: What are you talking about, you can use all of those things in one dish.
J: No, it would be weird.
Okay, so its not exactly a dare, but its close enough. So tonight I made pork with blueberry salsa. I got the idea from one of my all time favorite salsa's TJ's pineapple salsa. Fruit salsa is great because the sweet and the hot are so complementary. The jalepeno keeps the salsa from being too sweet, the blueberry keeps it from being too spicy. I topped it with some Spanish machego cheese, which is slightly salty and very mild. As usual Jon was quick to change his mind once he tasted it. In fact, the salsa was so good on its own that it might become our new staple for with chips! And even though I used leftover porkchops, this would also be very excellent on chicken (surprise surprise) or even steak. I know for sure I'm bringing some to Mama and Papa Kate's 4th of July Barbeque! (My way of thanking them for Ghost Rider)

Pork Chops with Blueberry Salsa and Manchego Cheese

Ingredients:
2 cups blueberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 medium red onion, minced
1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup corn
3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 pork tenderloin - cook it anyway you like it then slice
grated manchego cheese

Directions:
1) Combine first 9 ingredients
2) Let salsa sit for an hour to let flavors blend (I believe Alton calls this the flavor tango)
3) Top pork with salsa
4) Sprinkle with manchengo cheese

Step gingerly children, I don't know if it will hold

Well, I do believe Hell has officially frozen over. Funny, I thought it'd be colder. Of course, since it is Hell, maybe I shouldn't be too surprised.

I got back my Contracts essay today. I passed. And not the fake pass like last week where I really passed but she crossed off "pass" and wrote "fail." This time it was a real honest to goodness pass. And not only did I pass, the only comments written on the essay? "Great use of IRAC for each issue! Keep up the good work! You're doing great!" So either Bar/Bri has completely given up on me and decided they might as well just pacify me, someone wants me to feel like my money is well spent, or I'm not as horrible a person as my previous essay grader led me to believe.

In other "Hell has frozen over" type news. Apparently they're now flavoring cocaine. Anyone know where I can pick some of this stuff up? It sounds like "Lipsmackers" for grownups.I think my favorite part of the article is where they talk about how this is just another marketing ploy. Yeah, first Vanilla Coke, now Coconut Cocaine....cause really, the cocaine business just isn't what it used to be. Customers aren't buying it in the mass quantities the way they used to and frankly packaging it with toys didn't increase sales the way cocaine executives were hoping for.