3 More Weeks

Happy Halloween! I'm not feeling that well, but I am going to a costume party tonight. I don't know why, but everyone who is going has made a big deal out of keeping their costume a secret. Once they started that, I couldn't very well tell them mine. So I'll let you in...I'm going as a pirate wench. Very nice, huh? :)

Public service announcement of the day: don't forget to turn your clocks back one hour before you go to bed tomorrow!

My Cat Needs to Learn How to Do This

Then she could stop meowing at me all day long, wanting "fresh" food put in her bowl!

Do Not Give Me That Knowing Grin!

While in law school, I was much too busy to rant about all the little mundane things in life that annoy me so much. Lucky for you, now I have the time to do so! ; )

Last week, I went to the DMV to change my name on my driver's license. They punched a hole through the expiration date on my license and gave me a temporary paper license. When using my credit cards (which are now in my maiden name), I have been showing sales clerks both the old and new (paper) licenses, which I have clipped together. I thought it would make it easier for them to see that everything is valid.

Yesterday I went to a party store to get some supplies. Both clerks were wearing Halloween costumes. The guy who waited on me was a tall, white guy, wearing a long, black, dreadlock wig and tie dyed shirt. After charging my purchase, he asked to see my id. When I pulled out my licenses and handed them to him, he looked at me, pointed to the punched out date, and smiled.

"Oh, mine has that too!" he said, thinking he had connected with another fellow DUI-er. "Yeah, I just got my license back."

You big loser, I thought to myself. "Um, I just changed my name. That's all." Ugh.

Who Is Everyone Talking To??? And Why Do They Have to Do It When I Can Hear Them?

I'm not saying that I don't carry my cell phone with me, and answer it when I am out, but I don't really understand having long, involved conversations on one when you are out in public. It is almost like people think they enter a soundproof bubble when they answer the phone, forgetting that everyone around them can hear every word they say.

When I was out running errands this morning, it seemed like half of the people in stores were talking on their cell phones. Here are some of the conversation snippets I heard:

"Dad already yelled at me for that. I don't know why he thinks I intentionally forgot."

"I'm sorry about crying yesterday. I just had a total meltdown."

"Yeah, she is really going to get it."

None of these conversations were short ones, but quite involved. None appeared to be any emergency. So, why? You couldn't possibly, um, I don't know, wait until you got in your car or home before doing this?

While I'm at it, all of you people walking around with those bluetooth devices sticking out of your ears while you are walking around in public look like idiots!

Palin the Poser

In case you missed this the other night:

4 More Weeks

Now that we are less than a month away from the results of the California bar exam being posted online, it feels real and not so far off. I really need to think of something to keep myself busy for this last month of waiting.

My rant for the day: Why can't people spell? I don't get it. If I don't know how to spell something, I look it up. I can understand typing fast and not realizing that you misspelled something, but why would you just write something that could not possibly be correct without checking?

I was looking at home listings online (plan on buying something as soon as I pass the bar and get a job) and came across the following description of a house:

Spacious 5 bed, 4 BA, over 2,600 s.f. with huge greatroom, 2 bedrooms- (1)is used as office (1) is used as gameroom, no closets, amwas stay, Large breakfast area, Jack & Jill bath, oversized master w/2 closets, extra large 2 car garage.

I sat there, wondering what "amwas" was. It finally hit me that the person meant "armoires". Apparently the writer must have heard someone pronounce that word in the French way and decided a phonetic spelling was good enough (though, wouldn't that then be "ahmwah"?), or they were too embarrassed to ask. (But how embarrassing is it to publish that kind of error online?)

Then I was reading a forum and saw a post announcing, "Without further adooo......"

What is wrong with people? Are they that stupid, or do they just not care? Ugh. Drives me crazy! Don't even start me on the "there/their/they're" stuff.

First Gang Injunctions, Now Trademark Infringement

Prosecutors have tried various means to go after gangs, as it is often difficult to find witnesses willing to testify against gang members. Gang injunctions, like the one I helped draft against the Dog Pound gang while interning at the DA's office, allow the police to pick up any gang member for engaging in any disallowed activity in the "safety zone" described in the injunction.

The US Attorneys have a new tactic. They are going to seize not only gang property, but the gang's trademarked name. Once the trademark forfeiture takes place, the police can take any property from a gang member that bears the trademarked gang name and charge him with trademark infringement.

As the article mentions, sounds like a clever idea, but seems bound for court battles.

July 2008 Bar Exam Questions

The essay and performance test questions from the July 2008 exam are now online.

Well, This is One Way to Get Rid of Your Ex

Is it just me, or does this strike anyone else as funny:

"So the researchers set up a field experiment in which they watched the spiders, sometimes snatching the males from the jaws of females before they were devoured." (Italics added.)

I'm just imagining a female researcher, the morning after a bad date....."Die you little bastard. Let's see how you like that!"

Yeah, I really need to pass the bar and get a job!

Scrabble Update

I know I haven't commented on the Scrabble cumulative score (my not-very-official cumulative score of all of the games of my boyfriend and I, started some time in the last month or two) in a while. Since I finally won a game last night, I figured I should do so. The last I reported, I had the lead in the cumulative score by 12 points.

About 2 weeks ago, I beat him by 82 points, putting me ahead by 94, cumulatively. We have played for the last 3 nights in a row. After he beat me the first 2 times, I couldn't let that record sit for weeks and insisted we play again last night! The first game this week he won by 86, and the second by 66. I won last night's game by 22. This gives him the cumulative lead by 36, so he ought to know I'm a good sport for posting that. ; )

I do believe he said last night that any win over a 20 points difference was an ass-kicking. While that may not be what I originally said, I don't have any problem agreeing with him on this (for now). By his standard, we have both had our ass kicked, and kicked the other's, twice in this last string of games. Overall, I guess we can say that we are pretty even. :)

W- Who is He?

We went to see W last night. It was much different than I thought it was going to be. With all the flubs and misstatements that President Bush has made over the years, I anticipated a lot more making fun of him and his less than perfect ways. (Anyone who watches David Letterman is reminded nightly of just how imperfect he is, as the clip below shows.)




To me, the film was a look at the man, a man who lacked direction and purpose in his life, and a man who sought the approval and acceptance of his father but never received it. Without this acceptance, he eventually turned to God, with whom he apparently not only found acceptance, but also gained what he believed was a divinely inspired purpose for his life. Even though he had this new direction for his life, the group of advisors surrounding him (each with his own agenda) and his own inability to effectively manage them led to a less than stellar performance while in office.

I expected a film that would be mean-spirited, poking fun and taking cheap shots, but that is not what I saw. While it is hard to know exactly how much of the story portrayed is true, I thought it was presented in a thoughtful and entertaining way.

5 More Weeks

I really did not mind the first 10 weeks, but now it is getting annoying. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of doing (next to) nothing. I'm tired of wondering. Did I mention I'm tired of waiting?

At least I'm getting small stuff done. My name is now changed with Social Security, AAA, and all my credit cards. Just need to do my bank accounts and driver's license, which I have an appointment for next week.

We're going to see W tonight. I don't believe that I have seen any of Oliver Stone's other films before, but from the reviews I have read, this one is apparently not a complete history re-write. Of course, when you are given the right kind of material, how much do you need to make up???

How About a Cage Fight?

Today's Fresno Bee reports on yesterday's debate between Judge Wanger and Mayor Autry, as does Bill McEwen's column. He makes observations, such as the following:

"The judge didn't play fair exactly. He based his arguments on things like the law, precedent and the Constitution. Autry did what people do when they don't have evidence or law on their side. He said that judges should use common sense."

I am impressed that both reporters got the facts right and were not taken in by Autry's charisma nor misled by his legal misunderstandings. However, as the article points out, while the judge went to law school, Autry's degree is in physical education. I'm guessing he would be more than happy to take on the judge in a cage fight, as suggested by McEwen. At least there Autry may have a chance of winning.

ETA: If you are interested in listening to the debate, here is the audio.

Happy 3rd Blogiversary to Me!

I started this blog 3 years ago today. Hard to believe that I have been doing this that long. Even harder to believe that people are actually still visiting and reading it! ;)

Today was the debate between Judge Wanger and Mayor Autry. I'm not even sure where to start commenting on it, other than to say it was most entertaining and definitely worth the $15! I guess I will just make some random observations because there is too much that could be said, and I, unlike my boyfriend, did not take any notes.

The first thing that was obvious is how little most people, who are not lawyers, know about the courts, the Constitution, the law and the way all of those function. I am sure Autry had been briefed by his legal team, but he still seemed to have little to no understanding of any of this. He claimed that the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution, was the document guiding our country and courts and that the Declaration's words hold a superior position to anything else said anywhere.

Autry also has no clue what "judicial notice" is, but seemed to think it was a magical phrase that was going to get him the win in this debate. He spoke about it as if this allows judges to do outside research on cases, and bring in anything they find, along with their own opinions and common sense, and get those into evidence under "judicial notice". Um, that is not how it works, but he brought it up at least a dozen times, seeming to hope each time that that would be the time it would click in his audiences' heads and they would see the value in this argument. Nope. Never did.

And then there were points he made that contradicted himself. He said that judges should be able to bring in common sense and outside knowledge (Autry's "judicial notice") and use that in deciding cases. However, when Judge Wanger made a comment in the homeless case, which prompted this debate, that the actions of the city of Fresno were "demeaning" to homeless people (their personal belongings were seized and destroyed, without notice- a common sense observation???), Autry claimed that the judge already had an attitude about the case. How can you say judges should bring in their common sense and outside knowledge on one hand, and then criticize them on the other when they do just that?

Autry tried to create visuals through his stories. The problem was that they seemed just that- like stories, doubtfully enhanced by his desire to create a certain perception in the media. One of his stories was that the ACLU lawyers who filed the class action on behalf of the homeless did not really care about these people, and could not get away from them fast enough. I believe his quote was something to the effect, "As the homeless pulled on the arm of the ACLU lawyer, the lawyer quickly left, hopped into his limo and drove out of town. The view of Fresno in his rearview mirror was the best thing he'd ever seen." Ok, please. Can he get any more dramatic?

Actually, he did. As he described the homeless encampment, which he claimed to have visited, you would have thought he spent quite an amount of time there. According to him, the place had a coffee pot used as a urinal that was filled with disease and mattresses infected with hepatitis. Homeless people there fouled their pants with diarrhea, were openly using and selling drugs, and having sex. Autry topped off this story saying that this entire scene was visible to a little girl who lived across the street. For good measure, he also threw in that around the corner from this encampment was the Rescue Mission, with "food, shelter, medicine and hope." Ok, that was just corny.

When the topic of the settlement on the homeless case was brought up, Autry was asked why he signed it if he did not agree with it. He brought up the difference between the world we live in and the world we wished we lived in. He signed it because he didn't want to risk the future of the city with the possibility of losing a lot more if the case went to trial, and he hoped the judge would step in and alter the agreement to make it more "reasonable". Ok, so the world Autry wishes he lives in is the world where judges think like he does, but that is not the world he actually lives in, so why didn't he realize that difference before he signed the thing?

I'm wondering how the paper will portray this event in tomorrow's paper. I'm sure Autry probably thinks he did a good job. I'm equally sure that the lawyers (and soon-to-be lawyers) in the room probably cringed, seeing in person exactly how much our mayor does not know.

Presidential Candidates and the Supreme Court

Erwin Chemerinsky wrote this recent article for the LA Times, which was reprinted in today's Fresno Bee. Would be interesting if some of this is discussed in the final debate this week.

6 More Weeks!

It's finally start to feel like finding out the bar results is not so far away now, like it is actually going to happen. I'm so tired of my life being in limbo and cannot wait to find out the results. Of course, I'm going to be crushed if I failed, but even that result will give me something to do!

In completely unrelated news, two public service announcements:

On October 3, 2008, Congress temporarily increased FDIC deposit insurance from $100,000 to $250,000 per depositor through December 31, 2009.

Replacement adapters are available at Apple stores starting today for anyone who purchased an iPhone 3G. I recommend calling your local store to make sure they are actually in stock before making a trip there.

That's it for now!

Now I Remember!

This is the picture I was thinking of the other day, when I caught my cat posing. Of course, my cat isn't nearly as privileged as this one, since I refused to bring her the remote and a beer.

In other news, the escrow on my house finally closed yesterday, after being on the market for 16 months! The final selling price was only 12% more than I paid for it in 2003, and a whopping 33% less than the original price I listed it for in June 2007. Considering everything that has happened in the financial markets in the last few weeks, and what seems bound to happen in the months ahead, I feel fortunate that it did close and that I did walk away with some money from it. Still, it makes me feel sick to think how much more I could have gotten out of it, had I sold it a year earlier.

I learned something new the other day. Once a judge signs your divorce judgment, it is in effect the day that the judge signs it. (This does not shorten the time for a dissolution to be final to less than 6 months, if the judgment is signed before that time, however.) What this means for me is that since my maiden name was being restored, I do not have to wait until the final date of dissolution for my name to change. Legally, since the judgment was already signed, it has been changed. I'm now in the process of doing all the paperwork to get it changed on everything. Yes, that is a pain, but at least I have the time to do it right now.

NO Shame

What can I say? My cat is fat and she doesn't care who knows it!

So Mavericky!

7 More Weeks

I'm past the halfway point now, so I know these next 7 weeks are going to fly by. Yep, before you know it, I will be logging on to the California State Bar website and finding out if I passed the exam. Sigh....

At least there are a few events in the coming weeks to help distract me. This weekend, it is the Fresno Fair. It's been a tradition in my family to attend every year, look at the exhibits and eat some fair food. (My personal favorites are the soft tacos and cinnamon rolls. YUM!) Sometimes the weather doesn't cooperate and I remember more than once walking around the fairgrounds in 95+ degree heat! This year should be much more pleasant, though there is a chance of some rain tomorrow.

Hal Holbrook will be appearing as Mark Twain next weekend. My boyfriend and I already have tickets for that, so I'm looking forward to it. And of course, on the 15th is the debate between Judge Wanger and Alan Autry, for which we also have tickets.

Coming up in a couple weeks is the Civil War Revisited. I have taken my kids to that for years and we have always enjoyed it. History has been one of my son's favorite subjects so I think I will still be able to get him to attend with me.

Nice to have a few things to look forward to. But now I need to drive over to school. I heard that they put up the photos from my graduating class and I want to go take a look.

If You Had an Unfortunate Name....

would you pass it on to your child? I'm just asking...