Deep Dark Secret: In which the Blawgirl reveals sordid details about her life and innermost thoughts.
If you’ve read this blawg in the past, you’ll know that the Blawgirl, besides referring to herself in the third person on occasion, loves her some cute. Which is why I was thrilled, to say the least, when the White House finally announced that Pres. Barack Obama had made good on his promise to his daughters and had adopted Bo, hereafter referred to as the First Dog of the United States of America, or FDOTUS.
I was equally thrilled when I discovered that, besides posting candid shots of the president at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the White House’s Flickr photostream also showed photos of the FDOTUS intereacting with Mr. Obama and White House staffers. Here are the Blawgirl’s favorite photos of Bo so far!
Bo being friendly with a staffer:
Bo checking out his new office:
And here’s one that, according to Fox News, shows the president bowing to the FDOTUS. The Blawgirl thinks he’s just stooping over to give him a bellyrub:
If you’re a California resident or even an outsider who’s been following news of us here in the Golden State, you know that we’re in deep doodoo when it comes to the state budget, which is seeing a $24 billion deficit.
In order to close the state’s budget shortfall, the Governator has proposed steep cuts to many of the state’s programs, including cutting $1.9 billion to the University of California and California State University systems and $5.2 billion to the state’s K-12 schools. This could mean very bad news for the U.C. Hastings School of Law, which would lose $10 million in funding under the governor’s proposal.
It could also mean very bad news not just for students looking to go to community colleges, which fall under the K-12 umbrella, but also for a state that needs all the help it can get.
According to the California Community Colleges Web site, the institutions “supply workforce training and basic skills education, prepare students for transfer to four-year institutions and offer opportunities for personal enrichment and lifelong learning.”
In other words: community colleges are not just a proving ground for students planning to attend a four-year university, they’re a training ground for workers who want to learn new skills or improve on the ones they have already acquired
If the community college system lost significant funding or were cut entirely, it would mean some students who want to go to college but who can’t necessarily attend a public or private university straight out of high school will be left in limbo.
It would mean that some people who lost their jobs during this recent recession may not have the option to take classes to build skill sets that would help them find gainful employment.
It would mean that potential sources of revenue for the state – the entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers who could have been produced and/or trained by the colleges – may not reach their full potential or even leave the state to find training elsewhere.
As a product of a community college and of a state university (If you’re thinking “Hmm. That explains a lot,” we don’t love you anymore), I know that both systems of higher education are invaluable. I discovered my passion for journalism in community college and honed my journalism skills at the state university.
I also know, however, that no matter how you slice it, it’s going to be painful when the budget axe finally falls here in California, and there are going to have to be some tough decisions made (don’t believe me? Try closing the budget shortfall)
But the worse thing the state can do is limit the accessibility to these institutions of higher education.
Photo: Franco Follini / Flickr
In The Shark Attack, the Blawgirl brings you a list of links to blog posts published at The Shark, a blawg written by and for law students.
A grout way to cheat. Bathroom breaks aren’t just for gathering pithy bits of wisdom anymore. Some law students see it as an opportunity to get ahead in their law school exams.
Anti-John Yoo protests at Berkeley’s commencement ceremonies: round two! Surprise! Students and alumni were expected to protest Capt. Waterboard John Yoo during U.C. Berkeley’s commencement ceremonies.
Shame on you, law school cheaters. Shame on you. Everyone has an opinion on cheaters. The Blawgirl is no exception. They are idiots.
Supreme Court nominee round-up. Before Sonia Sotomayor was announced as President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee earlier this week, the blawgs, blogs and pundits were doing what they do best: speculating! At The Shark, we scoured the Interwebz to find some little-known factoids about the possible nominees. Check them out: Possible SCOTUS nominees way back when: Kagan and Sotomayor in law school, SCOTUS shortlist: one scholar and two politicians, SCOTUS shortlist: The man, man
0L dates 1: Turns out law school puts some pressure on romance. As you know the Blawgirl is dating the Boyfriend, who just finished up his first year in law school. At The Shark, the Blawgirl reflects on the Boyfriend’s past 1L year.
Several weeks ago, before this blawg was born, I sent in a vocal recording to the Sending a Wave podcast, a program for fans of the Firefly television series by Buffy creator and geek god Joss Whedon. The podcast had teamed up with Browncoats: Redemption, a fan film for charity, to host a contest to find the voice of Redemption, the ship in the movie.
I didn’t really expect too much; I just thought that it would be fun to send in an audition and it would give me an excuse to play around with GarageBand on my MacBook. But yesterday I discovered that I was one of five finalists! Confetti!
In retrospect, and after listening to the clip I sent in, I think I might have taken the prompt to sound matter of fact “while still sounding cute” a little too seriously, as my voice sounds more anime and all-too-American than austere and all-knowing. These are the times that I wish I were a Brit … or French. *Le-Sigh*
You can listen to the other awesome contestants here, and vote for your favorite in the poll in the sidebar.
Photo: Dunechaser / Flickr
I normally tend to ignore the law school-related stuff that comes on postcards. More often than not, they are solicitations for summer programs that claim to give gunners you a head start or are offers for law student loan programs.
A postcard I received yesterday from Access Group, a non-profit student loan provider, was pretty standard as it didn’t deviate from this pattern. What was extraordinary, however, was the amount of customization that went into it.
The front of the postcard shows a newspaper clipping with the headline “Ines nominated to Supreme Court” and with the subhed “(My hometown) resident has been appointed”. What you can’t see from the photo I posted along with this story is the lede paragraph of the fake article.
“AP, (My hometown) – The President nominated U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Julieanne Ines for the Supreme Court last night. He introduced his choice for the nation’s 112th justice in a primetime East Room ceremony broadcast live on national television after a dramatic day of shifting speculation that captivated Washington. The President hailed Ines as an impressive legal figure who would interpret the Constitution and laws rather than legislate from the bench. ‘Julieanne Ines’s entire professional life has been’ entire professional life has been devoted to the cause of justice and has been widely admired for intellect, sound judgment and personal decency.’ ”
I know that it’s just a rather creative use of mail merge, but the ad got my attention.
Ever wonder what you’d look like as a Star Trek character? Wonder no more. Cheez-It has partnered with the movie franchise, whose latest installment opens Friday, to allow fans to Trek-ify themselves.
With Trek Yourself, you can make yourself look like Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock, a Romulan, or an officer. The only female choice is the officer so, natch, that’s what I picked. I mean, you can technically put your face on any of the other characters, but for me it just looked creepy. The Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock avatars made me look like Bobby Lee playing dorktastic, dress-up, and the Romulan just made me look like a creepy, bridge troll. The officer fit just right.
Once you’re done picking your character, you can also pick from a handful of backgrounds, and have your character speak some pre-recorded lines or type in your own!
I was expecting it. People on law school boards were saying that only about 100 applicants out of more than 2,000 were getting offers to attend. I turned in my application a little later in the cycle. I didn’t receive anything in the mail inviting me to Admitted Students’ Day. No follow-up emails. No calls. No fat envelopes. No quirky musical montage. Things were not looking up.
Still, I was a little disappointed when I received that skinny envelope from the fledgling U.C. Irvine School of Law last week. I did not get the golden ticket, the free law school education that was promised to any member of the school’s inagural class. I would not get to be an anteater. Twas a sad day in Julie-ville.
Then, yesterday I read on The Shark blawg that Dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s grand expedition into the law school yonder had turned away 2,740 other students who were hoping to hitch their wagon to the new California law school. And I realized that it may have been a sad day in many other people’s villes as well.
In the spirit of reject solidarity, I offer you, the other 2,740 of my brothers and sisters in reject-dom, this.
Despite the fact that we’re not going to be going to their totally awesome school (which they themselves acknowledge is totally awesome and is almost as awesome as Harvard and Yale), we can make our peace with the fact that we will not be endowed with awesomeness. How can we accomplish this awesome feat, you ask? By learning how totally not-that-awesome U.C. Irvine’s mascot, the anteater, is:
Random Anteater Facts
- The name anteater usually refers to the Giant Anteater but is also applied to the aardvark, the numbat, the echidna, and the pangolin. Together with the sloths, these animals comprise the order Pilosa. All these animals are known to eat ants and termites.
- The tongue of the Giant Anteater is over 2 feet long. (via www.randomfacts.org)
- Giant anteaters walk with a slow shuffle on all four legs with their nose pointed to the ground. The anteater does not walk on its paws. Instead, with the claws curled up into the paws, it walks on its “fists.”
- Giant anteaters have no teeth but a specialized tongue that allows them to eat up to 30,000 ants and termites each day.
- An adult female giant anteater gives birth to a single baby (twins are rare) while in a standing position, propped up by her strong tail.
- The giant anteater’s main enemies are jaguars and pumas
- The giant anteater has been around for 25 million years (via www.sandiegozoo.org)
OK. Well, maybe they are kinda cool. And I have to admit that they can also be kinda cute. Here’s “Anteater eating a creamsicle”.
Here’s one called “Stewie walks on two legs”.
And I leave you with “Baby Anteaters”.
With cute, almost anything can be forgiven. Even a law school rejection. Sigh.
Susan Boyle of Britain’s Got Talent did. The 47-year-old singer, who says she’s never been kissed, impressed the three judges of the talent competition – including the ever-cynical Simon Cowell – after waddling onto the stage in an ivory granny dress and opaque grey tights and gyrating her hips just moments before her stunning performance.
Maybe it was Ms. Boyle’s song selection of “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables and the honesty of her performance, or maybe it was just my hope of seeing the underdog prove the cynics wrong, but the YouTube video had me cheering in front of my computer, and, yes, wiping away a tear or two.
I didn’t think I could be as surprised as I was when I first saw Paul Potts sing Nessun Dorma on the same show a couple years back, but Ms. Boyle, thanks for putting a smile on my face.
I hope your dreams come true!
Whether you’re dealing with the stress of applying to law school or the nail-biting of waiting for admissions (or, boo, rejections), I am of the mind that looking at cute things is as good, if not better, than taking aspirin.
If you don’t know me, let me explain: I am a sucker for all things cute, with special attention paid to puppies, kittens and baby elephants.
I’m one of those annoying people who stops folks out for a stroll with their dogs just so I can pet them (the dogs, not the people). And, yes, I know they come from evil, evil puppy mills, but I can’t help but smile and play with the puppies at the local pet store.
Today more than ever there is no shortage of sources for cute on the Interwebz, which makes my fluffy-puppy-LOLcat-baby-heffalump loving heart glad. LOLcats have their LOLs, and all’s right with the world. If you want to join me on this cute odyssey, here are a few places to start your search:
- Cute Things Falling Asleep. I think the name is pretty self-explanatory. This site is a collection of videos from around the Interwebz, mostly YouTube so far, of puppies, kitties, penguins, babies, elephants, etc., falling asleep and looking oh-so-adorable doing so.
- Cute Overload. An overload of mind-exploding and heart-bursting cuteness.
- I Can Haz Cheezburger. LOLcat central. If you haven’t been exposed to the wonder that is a LOLcat (a cat photo with a caption written in LOLspeak) this is a good introduction. And if you’re not familiar with LOLspeak, the site also offers a handy primer and a link to the LOLspeak wiki.
- I Has A Hotdog. The sister site to I Can Haz Cheezburger, this site has photos of dogs and puppies, or “goggies”, captioned in the LOLcat style.
- The Cute Project. A site with the laudable goal of collecting all the world’s cuteness in one place. World peace, one kyute at a time.
Photo: I Has A Hotdog
People going into their first year of law school know that law school is going to be difficult. It may even be the toughest thing that they have ever had to face. Like ever. They prepare mentally. They read books, blogs and blawgs on the topic. They speak to people who have had experience in the area. They drop enjoyable but unproductive hobbies in favor of said research on law school. By the time first-year orientation rolls around, they are fired up and ready to go.
But in all their preparations for their big first day, they may have forgotten to consider that they are not the only ones going to law school, that they are only half of the equation. Because when they go, they take all the relationships they have - and all the obligations they have to the people they are in those relationships with – with them. Romantic relationships included.
Being someone who is going into law school, but who has been on the other side as well, I would like to share some insight into what your significant other(s) (hereafter referred to as “SO”) might be feeling and might share with you, and what YOU can do to support them. Because, let’s face it, going to law school is a selfish thing, and being a grad student forces you to be selfish with your time. But when you’re through being scary-evil-time-hoarding hermit, you’re going to want the person you care about to still be around three years later.
- “I won’t be able to see you in, like, forever.” If you plan on being a good student, and definitely if you want to make law review, you’re probably definitely going to spend a lot of time hitting the books and preparing for class.
What you can do: Help your SO understand why you’re going to law school and why your law school grades are important. Then, take out a calendar, write out your law school schedule, and make sure you schedule a day when the both of you can just hang out and do whatever it is you do as a couple. Make sure that day is a priority, and that SO knows it’s a priority.
Also, it’s healthy to make friends in law school, but it might not be a good idea to frequently substitute “going out” with SO and law buddies as that one day a week you spend together. He/she still needs to feel like they are an important part of your life, even though law school clearly is your No. 1 priority.
- “You won’t have time for our relationship.” Yeah, this kinda relates to you hitting the books again.
What you can do: Don’t forget that there are other ways to connect with SO during the week. If you can’t see them, maybe schedule a certain time in the evening, every other day, whatever works for you, when you can give them a call and maybe catch up and share things about your day. If calling is too much (Really? If it is then I wouldn’t want you to be my boyfriend), then you can send an email, or get a Twitter account and touch base that way.
- “We won’t be able to go out like we normally do.” You’re taking out huge student loans and have little or no income. You probably won’t be able to go to a fancy frou frou French restaurant, or even the not-so-fancy Red Lobster, like you did in your pre-law school days.
What you can do: Instead of going to the movies, rent a movie. Instead of going out to eat, maybe cook a meal at home. Maybe take a walk at the park, or go for a run by the beach or on some trails. The point is, when you’re out with SO, you have so little time that the venue or the activity sometimes isn’t very important. The reconnecting with each other and the enjoyment of each other’s company is.
- “All you talk about is law school.” Stop it. No, really. Get a hobby or something.
What you can do: Yes, law school is tough and all-consuming. But you don’t have to talk about it to SO every single time, and at the expense of talking about more important things. Like feelings. Seriously though, the reason why it’s good to have someone you can speak with intimately is because they can help you get away from the stress that is law school sometimes. Why bring that burden onto an already time-burdened relationship.
- “You’re really annoying to argue with.” Yes, you are.
What you can do: Don’t be an ass. Remember that some arguments are not meant to be won and that you have to LISTEN to what SO is saying. Sometimes they bring up a point not to convince or persuade you, but to share a point of interest. Don’t use lawyer speak. Communicate with SO, don’t preach or talk at them.
This list can go on forever, believe me. But as someone who has lived on the other half, there’s just one thing I hope all future 1Ls, 2Ls and 3Ls understand. Those of us on the other half just want to know that we still matter, that you respect our relationship and the sacrifices we have to make as well. If you do, we are more likely to take our half and meet your half somewhere in the middle. (Not meant to sound dirty, but if that’s how you take it I can do nothing to sanitize your dirty, dirty mind. Well, maybe, except this)
Photo: Ayumina / Flickr
I am currently reading …
}
