My husband and I have planned a FANTASTIC trip and we’re quite excited. Right now in Texas it hovers between hot, miserable, and melt-your-face-off. Therefore, we are hopping in the car right after the last day of the bar and driving up to the mountains of Colorado. We’re staying in tiny, no-frills cabins and it’s going to be one inexpensive trip but the truth is IT DOESN’T MATTER. All I know is that I’m going to be somewhere that is not here, with nice weather and my best friend.

Last year, Above the Law posted an article about the bar trip being cancelled due to the recession. Now this is where my practical side kicks in and wants tell people that SERIOUSLY you can take an inexpensive vacation. Stay in your state, go on a cheap cruise, go camping, do anything but I advise getting out of town if possible. Yes, Europe may be out of reach in this economy but that doesn’t mean you can’t go to Branson, MO (okay, that one might be a joke).

Anyone else doing a bar trip?

Can you tell I’m excited?!?!

jennyteresa “I can hold it together till something stupid happens: sitting in the library sobbing because my BarBri videos won’t play:(”

failingpanda “If it takes more than a day to smoke a pack, that’s a win. #barbri“

AngelaLeeV “With BarBri as soon as I feel like I have taken a step forward suddenly it feels like I take a giant step backwards.”

blondegator “#Barbri = Worst 4th of July ever.”

MademoiselleLST “Everyone on twitter is listing where they’re going for the 4th. Me? THE DESK. Thanks #barbri”

janenotmyname “Turns out, I am 3 times better at MBE questions when I am sober.  #barbri”

ETlaw07 “When I’m studying about Marvinizers for Community Property, I think of Marvin the Martian.http://tinyurl.com/38hc3sl #barbri #cabarexam”

misch_ka “Tonight’s bedtime story is “Torts: A Tragic Comedy.” #BARBRI“

Well, on that note, I’m going to go study. Feel free to add any other great BarBri / Bar exam tweets to the comments.

Maybe So, Maybe No

1(year in)L

0L to 3L

Legally Questionable Content

Vodka Sours

My Life in Words

Leave a comment if you want to be included on the blogroll! Happy reading!

Size: Please note: the examples below show size, not proper use.

• attorney—client [em-dash]
• attorney–client [en-dash]
• attorney-client [hyphen]

Use: Again, this is a very brief summary. Please do not rely on this information as a comprehensive guide.

• Em-Dash: to set off words at the beginning or end of a sentence, with an appositive, and to strongly emphasize a clause
• En-Dash: join terms of equal weight, to designate a span from one value to another, to join sections or chapters when appropriate in that jurisdiction
• Hyphen: phrasal adjectives (look it up if you don’t know), words hyphenated in the dictionary

How to Create in Word:

• Em-Dash: Type your first word, no space, two hyphens, and then your second word. Word will automatically convert the hyphens to an Em-Dash.
• En-Dash: Type your first word, a space, two hyphens, a second space and then your second word. Word will automatically convert the two hyphens surrounded by two spaces to an En-Dash.
• Hyphen: Well. Type the hyphen.

I personally recommend creating keyboard shortcuts for these little guys so you can use them in web browsers as well. I do hope this was useful and for more information I would pick up a legal style guide such as the Redbook. You never know the things you never knew until you read through a legal style guide.

I think back to the first day of law school when there were people set on meeting others with the intention of finding those with the best “credentials” in order to associate themselves with that group. I truly don’t understand that attitude. Relationships are not about personal gain, they’re about expanding your knowledge and generally just having fun. Some of the law students I have the most fun interacting with are those that are the least like me.

I’d be interested to hear from the practicing attorneys out there about how they feel about the “legal marketers” and “social media experts” out there. Now I don’t want to cast a wide stereotype, it’s not always the title but how the person interacts. I don’t want to get your sales pitches all the times, it’s like  having a relationship with a telemarketer that can never turn it off. Thankfully, on platforms like Twitter, one can end that drivel with a single click. I have to admit, the most common source of an “unfollow” from me is too much self-promotion. I think its also interesting because few of those individuals out there promoting social media are actually engaging in it. They’re  constantly re-tweeting themselves and links to their own material and are not engaging socially with other users.

The law students on Twitter have a pretty neat community that’s mostly based on creating actual relationships. Do we end up talking about cupcakes, Glee and bad movies fairly often? Yes, but it’s those silly conversations that allow the serious ones to have more meaning.

Well, there you go.

Lately, I’ve decided to just ignore the bad news and keep going. Right now during BarBri, obsessing about the state of the job market will do nothing but harm. Therefore, I’m going to be foolishly quixotic and forge ahead thinking that I’ll find my dream job soon after the bar. Thankfully my ideal job involves helping others, a pretty meager salary and lots of hard work so I’m hoping that someone needs me under those terms.

I’m going to take a cue from Bye, Bye Birdie and, “Wipe off that “full of doubt” look, Slap on a happy grin! And spread sunshine all over the place, Just put on a happy face!”

That totally fell apart this weekend. I’m now totally convinced that I’m going to fail miserably. My study habits haven’t changed, nothing has really been drastically altered but I’m suddenly a nervous mess. I wish I could go back and retrieve my calm, cool and collected attitude, but I think it is at the bottom of the ocean swimming with the fishes.

I have 7 weeks left. Somewhere deep inside my head, I know I’ll be fine but it’s awfully difficult to keep telling myself that. I know that everyone reaches this point of panic and I know this is not my last freak-out about the bar so I’m trying to just keep on going in spite of feeling so uncertain.

1. I’m too much of a power user. While many people use their laptops for mere web surfing, emails and the occasional document, I push my laptop to the edge. I use my laptop to upload things to websites and maintain them. I use CS3 to edit and create images. I rely heavily on text input to create large documents and spreadsheets and I do these things on a regular basis. Touchscreen input is fine for the occasional email or web form but you just CANNOT make a large document on that keyboard. I know that you can use an external keyboard but right now the other options preclude that idea.
2. I can’t stand being locked down. I think I would always want the flexibility of my laptop and being able to download open source options for almost anything. The other day, I needed to do a teeny bit of audio editing and BAM I just downloaded Audacity and I was in business. With the iPad, this would not have been possible.
3. I don’t do presentations and I don’t travel much. I’ll admit that if I start traveling a lot I would really consider it. I don’t think there can be a better entertainment option when stuck in airports, planes, hotel lobbies and hotel rooms. I just don’t currently spend much time on the road.
4. My media consumption is all over the place. I listen to pandora, music on my iTunes, Last FM, and *gasp* CD’s. In terms of video, I kinda do whatever is there, usually being Hulu or a TV network’s website. However, I love free codes, so I’ve watched amazon.com rentals and other things of that sort. I also still pop a good, old DVD in the optical drive after a stop by the RedBox.  It’s pretty difficult to manage all those types on the iPad.

So there you go. The iPad is a really cool toy but it’s not for my needs.

I think an intervention is in order.

You spend more time with the book than with me. **SNIFF**

I haven’t been in the world of bar exam studying very long but I’ve already noticed a few things. People deal with stress very differently. Now, this concept is quite evident during the first 1L exam period but the bar exam makes it especially extreme.

I’ve discovered that there are couple of coping mechanisms utilized by recent law graduates during the bar exam. I’m pretty sure that all are equally annoying so I’m not trying to point fingers, I know that my method of dealing with this (blogging furiously) might not be all that healthy either. So without further ado, the types of bar studiers:

1. The Alcoholic. This one is pretty self-explanatory, these are the people with the flasks at BarBri (I really have seen this, maybe it’s a Texas thing but whoa). They plan the outings on Friday night and try and convince everyone around them to join in the drinking. Their sole motivation for the bar is the party after the last day.
2. The Heavily Caffeinated. Same as the above but with coffee, 5-Hour energy drinks or something of the like. Sometimes their visible shaking is a little disruptive in BarBri.
3. The Braggart. We’ve all seen this one too. She proclaims to the room, “I’ve already made flashcards of every single concept covered on the bar and I’ve scored 100% on every practice MBE I’ve taken.” Now this one is reasonably easy to cope with because at least everyone else knows that she’s just saying this because of how scared she is.
4. The Avoider. This one is like a small child, closing their eyes and believing that if he wishes hard enough, the monster will just go away. The avoider golfs (or substitute works out, shops, plays tennis, etc.) 4 days a week and goes to BarBri about once a week. Just enough to show off his tan.
5. The High-Talker. I have to say that this person is the most difficult to deal with because he is visibly nervous at all times. His voice inevitably goes up in pitch as he talks to showcase his fear about the exam. He’s in a constant state of shaking and worry. This person copes with their fear by trying to freak everyone else out. Somewhat like a chihuahua.
6. The Recluse. No one has to worry about this person because you never see them. Banished to a dark corner of the library or a hovel in a local state park, the recluse is never seen. She deletes her Facebook account and vanishes off the face of the earth. No one is even sure if this person is still alive.

Now what am I? Not so sure. I tend to drag the hubby into crazy adventures but then I do lots of studying in the wee hours of the morning. Oh and I blog about my experience.