My Social Life Exists!

This is kind of what a classroom looks like.

Lots of lappies, but fewer assholes in preppy clothes.

Everyone told me that once I started Law School I would have no life outside of class and reading. This is, thankfully, SO NOT TRUE!!

I happen to be a part of the alleged "party section" of my 1L class (there are 8 sections of 40 students each, with whom we spend our entire first year--I'm in section 8). Perhaps this characterization arose out of our large, continued presence at Law School social events, but I'd like to think it's because we are sO mUcH fUn! Anyway, contrary to popular belief, I have managed to go out, either to bars or parties, a substantial number of times in the past two weeks. AND I have kept up with my reading!

My first outing with the Law Peeps was to the weekly Bar Review (har har, get it?), which first week was at BrewCo, the Westwood staple. In the event that I was too shy to talk to anyone, I dragged Logo along with me and ReeRee met up with us later. Thankfully, it was karaoke night, so Logo and I got a little drunk and sang, yay! However, it was ridiculously crowded--apparently Law Peeps really needed a break after two days of classes. After getting tired of that scene, the roomies and I peaced out and wandered over to Q's on Wilshire, where Jelly got us some crazy-ass shots of grapefruit juice and some fruity vodka--delish!! Jelly is Logo's awesome bartender boyfriend who knows all the best drinks and is just all-around cool. Case in point:

Upon leaving Q's, we ran into a homeless man scooting himself down the street because he couldn't walk. He asked us plaintively if we could get him some McDonald's, and of course Jelly agreed. The homeless guy then proceeds to go "double quarter pounder with cheese, man! And fries, don't forget the fries... *scoot scoot*" So Jelly drives us through McDonald's, to my great happiness, since I had the drunk munchies and rreeeeeaaalllly wanted a cheeseburger (or two... with fries...). After waiting for our food for 20 minutes--and after Jelly demonstrated his Mexican accent skills--we finally got back to the homeless guy. He was a block farther than where we left him, and was asking some other guys for food. When we pulled up he was like "oh man, I thought you forgot me man, thank you so much!" so we all felt warm and fuzzy and life was great. This is what Jelly does to the world. Warm fuzzies.

Back to being drunk and maintaining my lawyerly dignity. I miraculously woke up to my alarm at 8 am and did my reading for Friday, got to class on time, and was not hung over! First outing: 4 stars.

Last week was a record week for me in terms of partying. I have not partied like a college student for a loooong time, and last week I was out three nights in a row.... Sunday was not a good day.

Blue Moon: my beer of choice. Slurp.

Thursday night was Bar Review again, this time at Q's--lovely to see you again, boudoir decor. Since it's so close to our place, I volunteered to have a little pre-party, much to ReeRee's joy (I'm expanding my social horizons! Look ma, no fear!). But the bar was, again, CRAZY crowded, and I lost my posse after about 20 minutes, so I went home. I'm hoping the attendance will peter out once the semester progresses and people get more worried about finals. Second outing: 2 stars. Friday was my BFF Melly's housewarming, low-key but also drinky. This wasn't lawyerly so I won't rate. Saturday was an epic Section 8 party, at which many games of beer pong were played (not by me) and I hit my head on something mysterious that produced a large bump the next day. Third Outing: 5 stars. All in all, an epic weekend. Doing my reading yesterday was a shit show.

This post doesn't really seem to be going anywhere. But that's ok, the whole point is that even with all the stress of being prepared for class, the dense subject matter, and the time that all takes, I have still found time to start forming some friendships that I know will continue throughout my Law School years and beyond. Who cares if they're founded on alcohol.

First Impressions

Literal translation: Light Law People

Today was my first *real* day of school. For the past two days, I have been getting orientated along with the rest of the first year law students, or 1Ls. Learn this lingo now, I'll be slinging it around like I know what I'm talking about soon!

Disclaimer: as much as this post may seem complainy, I am really enjoying school so far. Even the reading. I swear.

Now. Let's start with Monday. I arrived at orientation at 8:45 for refreshments and check-in. My section, 8, had pink nametags! <3> socialize for the next 45 minutes. This may not seem so bad to some of you, but here's a little something to know about me:

I am shy. I do not do well meeting new people because I get flustered and don't like to feel like I'm being fakely nice. However, this aversion to social interaction makes me prone to being labeled as cold and snobby--not exactly what I wanted the first impression of me to be. Thus, I put on my best smile, quelled my nerves, and struck up a conversation.

Luckily, everyone seemed to be in the same boat; slightly nervous, awkwardly asking the same questions over and over (where did you go to undergrad, where are you from, etc.) and staring surreptitiously at each other's nametags/boobs. After this lovely introductory period, we were ushered into classrooms for various talks on what to expect, a mock class, blah blah blah when's lunch? UCLA is known for the quality of its food, and considering all three meals were being catered Monday, that's what I was looking forward to the most.

Oh sorry, I'll recap what breakfast was: assorted danishes, cinnamon rolls, muffins, coffee, tea, and orange juice. Lunch was a HUGE assortment of sandwiches and salads, maybe 10 different kinds! Ok that's not HUGE per se, but it was still very impressive. And tasty~ nom nom Tuscan chicken nom. By this point in the day, satiated and happy to be out in the sun, all of my fellow classmates were beginning to open up a bit more, joking and having a jolly good time. May I also mention that everyone is super nice!? What happened to cutthroat, "you're not allowed in my study group" Vivian stereotype? UCLA is so much better than Harvard.

Vivian. She's a betch.

After the compulsory tour of campus (highlight: getting sunburned), we had another session and convocation, followed by a reception! More noms.

So that was my first day of exposure to law school. Very mild, very kind, and very enjoyable. Yesterday was much of the same, with a delicious fiesta lunch accompanied by eccentric faculty and BEEEES.

Last night, I spent my evening reading and preparing for my first day of class. I was so focused, I didn't even eat dinner until I was nearly done! Major change of heart from undergrad, mostly because of fear. My first class, Lawyering Skills, was nothing scary. The professor, on the other hand, is. He's LOUD and veeeerrrry expressive. I liked him immediately. Then came lunch, which I ate alone until Melf came and joined me (yay!). After that came my first experience with a real class: Property. In which I had my first experience with failing to say anything of real importance. Namely, I was the first to make an ass of myself! Hurrah! At least I tried, right? Everyone else had all these great, though mostly irrelevant, insights, and there I go, trying to participate, and I get a "Let's try to push that a little more" and a massive FAIL. Can you sense the self-pity? I guess it wasn't actually that bad--my slighted brain is overreacting a bit. I plan on reading veeewwwy carefully tonight so I can redeem myself tomorrow. Or not so carefully, if I don't finish by the time Top Chef airs.

Oh, and I know you're all wondering, what did I wear on my first day?! Sadly, no pencil skirts or sexy librarian glasses: just a plain old comfy dress, stolen from ReeRee's closet. Yay!

Learning to Read

I bought my books on Wednesday--3 casebooks, 2 supplements, 2 "lawyerly terminology" books, 1 course reader, and 1 legal novel (yay!)-type book.

To prepare for my first trip to campus as a Law Student, I spent two hours getting ready; I had to look intimidatingly/endearingly cute in case I met anyone! Alas, those two hours were wasted on my 10 minute trip into the LuValle Bookstore. I parked at a meter (even though I have a parking permit) and proceeded to put 5 precious quarters into it before realizing it was stuck at two minutes. BALLS. With my usual nonchalance for parking tickets, I thought "fuck it" and continued on my way. While approaching the bookstore, I basked in the shade of the trees in the sunken garden and reveled in the breeze sweeping through the Royce/Powell corridor, when--*gasp*--LuValle is RIGHT NEXT to the Law School?! Wow, what hole had I been living under during my 3 years as a north campus major? At least I knew that the bookstore was hidden under the food court thing. And I will have easy access to coffee and snacks.

That's the Law School!

Upon entering the bookstore, I stopped to say hi to Mimi*, an old acquaintance from my a cappella days. However, I don't know if she just didn't recognize me or didn't want to acknowledge me, but it was definitely awkward. In any case, I walked reluctantly by the awesome UCLA Law sweatshirts (which would make a great "congrats on Law School present") and made my way to the textbook section, which is ONLY law books! I think.... Oh well. Could be wrong. LuValle is also TFT-town.


I had conveniently emailed myself my book list, so with my iPhone in hand, I quickly piled up 8 of my 9 books. The last one I needed was in a section blocked by another student and her mom, who were rifling through all the used books, presumably to make sure no pages were missing/annotations weren't obnoxious. Maybe I should have done that too, but I just checked the two used books I bought and they're fine. I like annotations from previous students, because either a) I can laugh at their stupidity, or b) they help me out!



After dropping a cool $650 (average $72/book), I lugged my two bags of books out of the store, cheerfully calling "Bye, Mimi!" as I walked by--ignored! Sigh. When I got back to my car, a little worse for wear from the 100-yard walk carrying heavy books, the meter was expired!! WTF I thought it was stuck!? I didn't have a ticket though, so all was right with the world. My newly-purchased books sat in my car for two days until I brought them in today so I could start my reading for my first week.



Ok. Legal writing is bu-hor-ang. And also utilizes extremely poor diction. I mean really, who says "this case is BOTTOMED on" instead of "this case is BASED on?" That makes me think "oh, this case was the bottom of the barrel." Or "this case is a butt." Ok, that's stretching it a little, but RUFSM (Are you Fucking Serious Me, taken from my former roomie's awesome food blog, to which post I am unable to link due to a "forbidden error")?! This is why I have a book entitled Plain English for Lawyers.

This is supposed to help me write.

I have finished the two cases I am supposed to read for orientation Monday, and will now begin my first day reading for Wednesday. I have a feeling that this blog will be a nice/evil distraction in the years to come.

*Names changed to protect the innocent

Law School, the Ginger Way

Following in the footsteps of my (sort-of-not) idol, Elle Woods, I start school at UCLA Law in a week and two days.

This will be the most intense three years of my life--but with my faithful hamster sidekick, Cheeto, I will persevere! And learn to study! And suck up not having a social life!

Here is what I know about Law School--always capitalized--thus far:

*I have reading assignments for Orientation. Three of them.
*My professors are all women for Fall semester
*One of said professors ranks a 10 on the "difficulty of class" scale
*I will have over $150k in loans when I graduate in 2012
*I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO WEAR ON MY FIRST DAYYYYY!!!!

That about sums up my knowledge of UCLA Law at this point. There will be many sob stories, countless bitch-fests, and myriad cuddle seshes with the Cheet, but I will leave those to the future and end this, my first post, with a solemn vow:


I hereby promise that I am a natural-born Ginger, as is my hamster Cheeto, and that I will update my faithful readers on every aspect of my journey through Law School, whether you like it or not.

Now to find an outfit!