Game 5, Take 2

After 28 years, the Philadelphia Phillies win the 2008 World Series!

Game 5 was scheduled for Monday, October 27. It was a dream set-up for Phillies fans--a star pitcher on the mound, in Philly, with the team coming off of a blow-out win the night before. The game started off to the Phillies' advantage and Phillies fans became more believing of the reality: the Phillies were in Game 5 of the World Series with a chance at bringing home the coveted title.

And then it started raining. Phillies were ahead 2-1 going into the 6th inning when the Rays scored, tying the game. The decision was made to suspend the game until the weather cleared up. Had the Rays not scored, the game could have been called as a win for the Phillies, but everyone seems to agree that there is limited glory in winning the World Series because Mother Nature happened to be on your side when you were ahead.

So, Game 5 resumed on Wednesday, October 29. It was an exciting game all the way to the end, when the Phillies struck out a Rays batter in the top of the 9th to clinch the victory and the World Series. I always love watching the celebration after a championship win, but I admit that this was one of the most heartfelt victories I've seen.

It took them 2 games to accomplish what they could have accomplished in one game. When all is said and done and time passes, people will begin to forget the weather-induced spectacle that forced Game 5 to be played on 2 different days. However, Phillies fans will never forget that they won the World Series.

I will remember this World Series as I begin to study for the bar...again. In the end, when I PASS the bar in February, others may forget over time that I did not finish the game and bring home the victory on the first occasion. My game has merely been suspended until February. When I pass in February, the sweetness of that victory will overshadow the fact that I had to play the championship game on 2 different days. Like many Phillies fans, I might even shed a few happy tears.

Flat Blueberry Muffins: Another consequence of law school

Yesterday morning, I was excited to bake blueberry muffins with a very highly rated recipe, using blueberries that my mother had picked (mom has this blueberry-picking fetish of sorts, which is nice, because we all end up with pounds of organic, North Carolina grown blueberries).

I followed the recipe to a "T" and awaited the promised glory of fresh, streusel topping muffins to accompany my coffee and Sunday paper.  When they were done, I admit I was disappointed.  That didn't stop me from eating 3 of the flat muffins.

I wondered why the muffins didn't turn out well.  I called up a culinary-minded friend of mine who promptly asked about my baking soda. I replied that I didn't use baking soda, just baking powder. Hmm...

Looked at the baking powder... "Best if used before July 2003"

Obviously I didn't do much baking in those 4 years I went to law school at night while I worked full-time during the day.  I tossed the can and bought a new can of powder at my trusty convenience store.

The second batch of muffins came out gloriously.  Sometimes the second time around is sweeter and better anyway...

Closer to 346 than to 13.1

I missed passing the bar by 1 point.  I scored 345.  I needed 346.  I have until February to improve by 1 point (or, hopefully, more...some insurance would be nice).  Training for that will start in November.  I will post my study schedule once I figure it out myself.

Now, as for the other February goal...

Right now, I can do a 4 mile run once a week.  My other 2-3 runs are about 3 miles. I need to get to 13.  The thought of running 13 miles is still overwhelming.  By the end of November, I need to be able to run 6 miles comfortably.  I really believe that my big obstacle right now is getting over the mental finish-line. When I'm running on a familiar course and I near the end, I fizzle out.  I just can't. run. another. minute.  I know that it's mental, yet don't know how to get over it except for just making myself go a little bit longer each time.

So, come February, I will know what sitting for a bar exam feels like.  I hope to know what running 13 miles feels like.  Either way, I will do both and be successful.

I danced and I danced

I danced so hard that my feet muscles hurt.  I will have to make sure to do some extra toe-stretching yoga this evening. 

Actually, my run this afternoon felt good for my feet---for the rest of me, not so much.  After another weekend of good drinking and eating, getting back on track on Mondays is often a challenge.

Shakori Hills was a wonderful time.  The last time I camped there was back in my college days at UNC.  This camping experience was much more "grown-up": marinated beef and asian slaw instead of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, good craft beer and red wine instead of Milwaukee Beast and Boone's Farm, sleeping in your tent instead of sleeping wherever you passed out...

But, not surprisingly, I can still party like I did when I was 21, as did my friends.  I wonder what all of the high school kids thought about us old folk there dancing next to them at 2 a.m!

One thing I enjoy about Shakori Hills music fests is the multi-generational diversity.  There are people of all ages in attendance.  My guess is that some older folk were there chaperoning their teenage children.  It almost reminded me of Mexico where parties are attended by all generations and where grandparents stay up drinking and dancing until sunrise. There were plenty of children dancing on stages and in the fields.  I truly hope they continue to dance with such confidence....they won't look any sillier than we did dancing salsa!  

There is good energy at Shakori, for the most part.  Apparently, the Durham-born Carolina Chocolate Drops (one of my favs at the fest) played some music powered by a biofuel generator when electricity went out for a bit (hmm...I don't remember that.)  It feels like community when you run into coworkers, former classmates, and old friends...I love this area and festivals like Shakori remind me of why.

I finally drifted asleep around 3:30-4 a.m. and arose to our tent neighbors packing up.  I'm a light sleeper, so I couldn't fall back asleep (unlike my tent-mate who apparently slept pretty soundly in those wee hours).  I went for coffee and enjoyed the feeling of morning...people were doing yoga in the lifting fog, vendors were setting up shop for another shot of making money, and families and friends were enjoying conversations that seem to be only inspired by coffee and wine.

Anyone who goes to yoga classes probably has heard the instructor say "so when you leave here, take this feeling of peace and awareness with you" or something like that. So, when I do my yoga tonight and stretch my toes out, I will remember how good it felt to be dancing without abandon with my sweetie and with friends and in a space full of positive energy where there was no measure of success or failure, just smiles and laughter.

Capitalizing on Mistakes

Two weekends ago, I went to the Durham World Beer Festival. I had the opportunity to taste lots of different brews from all over this great country. Some of my favorites were Founders Breakfast Stout (already mentioned here before....can you tell it's a favorite?), Moon River Honey Bock, Foothills Sexual Chocolate (yes, that's what it's really called), Kuhnhenn Braggot Mead, and Bud Light Lime (not really...just seeing if you're paying attention, although I've read this is Cindy McCain's favorite beer right now).

I am still a novice beer taster (expert beer-drinker) so I can barely say much more about a beer other than "yum, tastes like coffee" or "yuck, tastes like cat urine." I do like learning about the ingredients that a brewery has used to create a particular brew, as well as any special inspiration for the beer or its namesake.

One beer I tried recently has an interesting background which seems relevant to my current life theme of failing at something, yet somehow finding the silver lining or otherwise making lemonade (lots of failure related sayings out there). Lagunitas Brewing Company's Brown Shugga turned a potentially failed batch of beer into a pretty tasty brew. From the label:

"An aborted batch of their Old Gnarleywine ended up tasting nearly as good as that they were hoping for, so they bottled it. God bless capitalism."

What they had planned didn't turn out as planned. But, instead of crying over spilled milk (or failed barleywine), they figured it wasn't so bad after all and bottled it up (and are making more $$ off of it than they would have if they had ditched the batch of bad beer).

What I had planned on didn't quite turn out the way I had expected. I'm trying to make lemonade (preferably with cane sugar and a fresh mint leaf). But, if I get thirsty enough and there's no more lemonade left, I'll gladly take a Brown Shugga beer and feel proud that I am supporting Lagunitas' attempt to make lemonade out of a less than perfect batch of beer.

Tactile and Left-Brained

Makes me sound like a dinosaur.

A friend came over last night and brought a book titled How to Learn Anything Quickly. She has been trying to decipher her own style and suggested I do the same since we are both in the enviable position of having to study AGAIN for the Bar exam.

After going through a few quizzes, turns out I'm a tactile, left-brained learner. The left-brain part didn't surprise me much considering that I've always been good at things with words (spelling, writing, foreign language, etc.) However, I didn't realize that I was a tactile learner, although in retrospect, it does make sense.

I take horrible notes (ask my 2 study buddy classmates). See, I don't take notes to read them later---I take them so that I can remember things. That's why I had to go to class in order to learn (law school anyway, not high school or college). If I borrowed someone else's notes, I realized that I didn't learn the material as well.

While studying for the bar, in the last 2 weeks before the exam, I made colored posters of the North Carolina topics and plastered them all over the walls. What was on my posters, I remember. What I didn't write down (like contracts regarding wills), I didn't learn (and consequently received a "0" on that essay on the exam!)

As I slowly begin to get back to studying, I've been thinking about the best way to go about it. Since I *do* have 4 months to study this time around (instead of 2 months last time), I have some flexibility regarding a study schedule.

Things I will do like last time:

• Make posters of main topics (though I already have posters made, it's the making of the posters that helps me, not the mere reading them)
• Write rules on dry-erase board ad nauseum (write rule, erase, write rule, erase)
• Make post-it notes of rules to post around house

Things I will do differently:

• While listening to PMBR CDs (which I did in the car), I will take notes (did not do that last time)
• Find cases that deal with a certain topic of the law (in law school, I loved reading cases that dealt with tough topics for me to handle---putting faces and facts to the rules helped me remember and conceptualize the laws in action).
• NOT sit through another BarBri videotaped lecture and fill out outlines (*not* my style of learning since I only seem to remember what I wrote down and not the whole sentence--some outlines were better than others, but where there were only 2-3 blanks per page, my mind would wander)
• After doing a multiple choice question, write down the rule of law (in a notebook, on a dry-erase board, anywhere) instead of just reading the answer
• Not take off a whole month to study

I put my supplemental application in the mail yesterday. I should get my graded essays sometime next week. Time is going by quicker than I thought it would. Before long, I'll be back into the land of Torts, Contracts, Constitutional law (though, at the rate this administration is going, this will be a moot topic as there will be no constitutional rights that are still honored), and my favorite topic, Property (not really).

One thing about the NC Bar Exam is that you only get your scores if you fail. So, when I find out that I passed in March, I won't know my score. It would be interesting to know if these proposed changes in studying actually make a measurable difference.

I actually love reading about and learning the law. I just don't like studying for the Bar exam. They are not the same thing (as anyone who has taken a Bar exam knows).

Enough about studying...I promise an update shortly about the Durham Beer Fest last weekend. Last weekend was definitely one of those perfect weekends where I truly felt grateful to be on this Earth and in this space that I'm in now---having passed the Bar in July would not have made me any happier.

Post-season play

The Phillies are heading to the National League Championship Series!!!!  This will be their first time since 1993  Next up for the Phils: the Dodgers.

And, in other sports news from the weekend:  UNC beat previously #24 UConn!!  UNC made it into the AP Top #25 for the 1st time since 2001, coming in at #22.  I hope the winning trend continues and takes UNC to a post-season bowl game.

So, Phillies made it to the post-season.  UNC will likely make it to post-season play.  Perhaps I should consider the February bar exam as my post-season?  A championship of sorts.  Not sure I want a Gatorade shower in March when I find out that I passed...

Happy October!

October is my favorite month of the year. Things I particularly like about October:

• College football--Go HEELS!!!!!!!!!
• Pumpkin flavored everything (cream cheese, lattes, muffins, beer)
• Halloween (and Halloween candy)
• Pumpkin pie
• 70 degree days and 50 degree nights
• Leaves changing colors
• Outdoor festivals, especially Shakori Hills
• Pumpkin pie with homemade whipped cream
• Campfires
• Running at sunset
• Being able to leave the windows open all the time
• Fall colors
  
• Pumpkin pie

Yes, I put pumpkin pie in there more than once :)

Go Phillies!!!!!!!!

The first game of the playoffs is today. I grew up watching the Braves and became quite a fan when the Durham Bulls fed to them. However, for some strange, unknown reason, I've been converted into a Phillies fan. I'll still pull for the Braves if they are playing other teams but I have really enjoyed following the Phils this season.

I'm sure the Mets feel somewhat like I do about failing the bar exam by 1 point. The Mets choked AGAIN in the last game of the season, despite being in front heading into the last games of the season.

Excluding the 1981 split season, the Mets became the first team in major league history to hold 3 1/2-game division leads in consecutive Septembers and fail to make the postseason both times...

What went wrong for them? I'm sure they can't get that loss out of their heads and will analyze it over and over again. It was also the last game at Shea Stadium and the Mets disappointed their fans. They blew it....not once, but twice.

I will not be the Mets. I may have blown it this time, but I will not blow it again in February. To that same note, here's hoping the Phillies don't get swept (again) like they did last year for the NL Championship.

Go Phillies!!!

Gone Fishing

While every one else was getting their newly minted law licenses in the mail, I got a fishing license. This past weekend, I put it to use. This was not my first fishing trip with my favorite surffisher, but it was the first trip where I fished with him, instead of sitting in the truck reading the UCC (my law buddies cringe at the thought of the UCC, but for those non-law folks out there, the Uniform Commercial Code gives us the rules for dealings in goods).

Ocracoke, NC is a quaint village on the Outer Banks, accessible only by ferry. The weather was gorgeous, although I had to be vigilant about sunscreen (as always). I am one of those who burns in a few minutes unless slathered in at least a 30 SPF. It was so nice to be at the coast with nothing to do except for fish and drink beer.

So, what did I learn (about fishing)? I learned how to cast out on various rods, how to "set the hook," how to reel a fish in without losing it(the fish, not my mind), and how to put live bait (sea mullet) on the hook. Over the course of 4 days, I caught 2 puppy drum that were too small to keep, a spot that was used for bait, a sea mullet that we ate for dinner on Monday evening, and something else that I can't remember right now.

What else did I learn (about life)? Patience is crucial. With fishing, sometimes you just have to wait and wait and wait....and be OK with that. If you always try to "set the hook" or reel your line in everytime you feel something, you'll probably get tired pretty quickly and you might miss out on catching something. It's hard to just be still and wait, especially if you feel like you might be missing out on something. But, in the end, it really is best to be patient and be still. At least for a few minutes.

I was also reminded of my insignificance on this earth in the grand scheme of things. It was new moon so it was very dark out on the beach. Stars and planets were visible in the night sky and crabs were abundant on the beach. We are all ultimately merely a speck on this great planet. The 6 months in between Bar exams is really an insignificant amount of time in my life. I need to be still and patient and let February come to me....no need to wish that it be here any sooner.

Speaking of February...this is the week I can get my graded essays. I am particularly anxious to see essay #10. I know I wrote *something* about wills, but I still got a "0" on the essay (which we were told never happens unless you don't write anything or don't identify the area of law). Obviously, I should not have even wasted my time on it and perhaps should have spent more time on another essay.

One point. I'm still amazed at the difference one point is making in my life right now. I would likely be wrapping things up at my current job and getting ready to really go out there on my own. But, considering that now is not the best time in history to get a business loan nor any other type of credit, having an extra 6 months to save is possibly a blessing in disguise. Clients will probably be pinched to pay attorneys, especially in family law (what I want to do) where people usually don't put away money just in case their spouse cheats on them or leaves them with the kids. Between paying for food and paying an attorney, I think I'd be last on a list of bills to be paid. I'd be up for bartering law services for gasoline, coffee, beer, and nachos, so at least I'd wouldn't go hungry....especially now that I know how to fish.

I just have to be patient and still and wait for the fish to bite my line.