goodness

i hope the goodness continues. first off i got my hands on the latest issue of harpers (borrowed it off a friend as usual), then torts was cancelled, then the westlaw crew bribed me with a very yummy cupcake. the only problem is that i’m not getting any work done even though i’ve sat in the library for over an hour now. i reckon this place is too noisy and distracting during the day... okay, enough said. have to go and buy my ticket!!

superficial update

haha. i knew sooner or later i would be resorting to out right superficiality. and it really isn’t all that difficult a transition for me really...

anyway, the persian chick interview went relatively well this morning. the mediation went horribly well - i reckon it was an amazing learning experience. i wish i had a life-remote-control to pause people in their tracks before they say totally inappropriate/inflammatory things. i guess i’ll have to add that to my wish list, right after power to fly and teleport. i still haven’t found anyone to switch my auction shift with so that i can go to mehrsa and jared’s party... i’ve been inviting more and more people to come on saturday night - it might just be working :) i like to think it’s my charm but its more likely the promise of good food and enjoyable music. i’m falling a little behind with the reading because i’ve reached a point where my mind is just plain saturated and my body is exhausted. it’s not that i don't find due process and separation of power and negligence and the hand formula and all those darned estate rules interesting, it’s just that i’m experiencing a bit of an overload.

when the earth shakes

the build up to saturday’s very belated eid celebration is taking a lot of work. and i’m finding it extremely difficult to explain why we are having this all-in-one celebration. but i just persuaded someone else to come so i’m still hopeful about the whole process.

i’m wondering how people would feel if i suggest that the money we raise goes to the victims of today’s earthquake instead of the ones from the last one. does it sound awful? i hope not... i was just affected by the tragedy of it all so the proposal is very much a reaction to that.

to think that we have the power to create a society where we can reduce the number ofvictims of such natural disasters really does trouble me. i’m certainly not going to rant about how can god let this happen to innocent people. i think that’s the wrong kind of reasoning. in today’s world where we know exactly where the fault lines are, and we have the ability to build structures to withstand earthquakes, we really can’t shift the blame to anyone else. iran is arguably one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world and experiences a minor tremor almost everyday since it lies on top of the intersection of three tectonic plates. and yet nothing seriously is done about it. people are just waiting for the big earthquake that will hit tehran and kill hundreds of thousands, if not millions of people. there is little incentive for people to follow the building regulations or to move away from the capital... i wonder if it’s their desire to live in the moment. or perhaps they somehow think that they are invincible. to mere it’s sheer insanity but for the millions who live there it’s just life.

a quiet weekend

boston is such a quiet city.
i guess it must be the fact that by now i’m used to the hustle and bustle of life in nyc. for the first couple of hours i couldn’t figure out what was wrong and then it finally hit me: the place was clean, quiet and almost deserted. granted it was also darned freezing!

it was great seeing lil’ sis. it felt like i had just seen her a few days ago... i really hope she decides to move here soon so we can be together all the time – i’d rather be sick of seeing her than go for weeks not seeing her smile. bit of a sap story isn’t it.

now i have an immense amt of work to do and i have to head out to shop for the extravaganza that will be taking place next saturday. a week chocked full of work lies ahead…

pride, pride and more pride

i had over-exposure to pride and prejudice earlier this week. given the unfortunate amount of work i have to struggle through this week, our lil’ gathering on monday night stretched out longer than planned as we watched all of the bbc adaptation which my good friend has on dvd. amazing. and through class the next day, i could not help but read my favorite parts of the book (online of course) as the same stuff was repeated over and over again. so now, not only am i reminded of the happy memories of dearest, lovliest elizabeth, but thoughts of broading mr darcy have kept a smile on my face for a couple of days. and to say the least it has somewhat affected my language (as you may already have taken note from the strange style of this posting). for a while i even recovered my english accent as we chatted about the infinite merits of the whole affair.

but as a total reminder of how much law school has permeated my thinking, the references to property and inheritance laws, and entailment did much to rouse our curiosity. every reference was promptly followed by excited conversation on our part as began to construct hypothetical situations before we realized what we were doing and checked our shameful enthusiasm.

but alas, work still beckons. i’ve slowly been hearing back from the cool places i wrote to informing me that they do not have summer internship programs. i’m caught in a dilemma of sorts and really cannot figure out what i should do at this point. for now the administrative code is yearning for my attention...

good times

i can’t believe i haven’t written about the events of the last couple of days.

oc night was a ton of fun!

i saw an amazing movie over the weekend which reaffirmed my belief in the power of cinema to transport one into the lives and tribulations of others (shah-re ziba: beautiful city -- you have to see it if you love indep cinema and iranian movies)

sunday was interesting because of t.

this morning was our client interview with an angry and distressed victim of discrimination. i love lawyering cos it really does bring home the realities of legal practice. grappling with questions of ethics and the limits and boundaries of advocacy are far more challenging than i ever imagined. and i’m looking forward to the challenges to come.

then i proceeded to mid-town for my call-back interview which went very differently to what i expected. the two “conversations” that i had were great but i felt a little ill-prepared when the partner wanted to talk to me about art, my favorite museum in the city and what book i was currently reading! yeah, not exactly my idea of a law firm interview either.

the one thing that kind of freaked me out a little is when the hr person showed me the lunch room. somehow the reality of actually working full-time hit me like a ton of bricks. i will be spending more time with these people than with my family (or anyone else for that matter) and i will have to eat all my meals with them. not exactly freak out material but it did the trick as i recalled some awkward lunch events from my work experience week when i was in grade 9! yeah, i know it’s been a long time since then but i guess i’m still as insecure as ever:)

a little dazed...

there is something going on but i can’t seem to put my finger on it. i feel like something has changed since last week and somehow my world is different. i don’t know what it is so i can’t exactly articulate it. the people? the school? the interactions? i can’t figure it out.

i can’t seem to focus on school work at all. doing the readings is a chore that i get through somehow but it doesn’t feel like i’m retaining all that much. i wish i could somehow re-enter the heightened productivity mode that i had for a week or two last december...

missions

missions accomplished:
send resume and impassioned email to a bunch of organizations: check
read torts: check
mandatory hour spent in each library: check
find out more about cftc for interview: check
print several resumes and fake transcripts: check

missions not yet accomplished:
understand torts: argh...
(actually it seems really straightforward but for some reason the class doesn’t do it for me)
finish writing sample: hmm...
fix posters on my wall that seem to be peeling from excessive heat: must do...
pay cell phone bill: good thing I remembered that one...
work on dua anthology: lacking the inspiration...

Where have all the people gone?

the school is deserted.

i’m feeling glum cos things haven’t gone as i expected. one should never be ungrateful of life’s little blessings – they often disappear much faster than they appeared in the first place. that said i’m still a miserable fool for wanting the stupidest things in the world.

anyway, i had to write to an email to a really cool prof that i want to meet with and had to clarify what my “career” interests are. it made me realize how difficult it is going to be. i would be okay with doing a lot of things with my life, but what really gets me excited is the possibility of effecting positive change on a grand scale... i don’t know if it came across as naïve or pretentious in my email but i just put it out there anyway.

and the fact that i was told the consulate does not have any internship opportunities put a damper on my day. this is where i too wish i benefited from nepotism and an intricate web of connections...

balmy nyc

it is a beautiful day here in nyc. it feels like spring already! i’d even venture to say that it’s kind of balmy out there. and it’s been a pretty chill day for me. i managed to get up at a decent hour, read a little torts, cook lunch, take a long nap, talk to mummy for a while and now after a walk i’m trying to finish off this tort reading. unfortunately i missed a call from my friend who transferred to chicago while enjoying my mid-afternoon nap and forgot to go to the meeting at columbia... i should have headed up to midtown to pursue my suit-acquiring-efforts but i was just too lazy. may be i’ll head up tomorrow cos the streets are likely to be deserted with everyone glued to their tvs watching the super bowl. what’s that all about?

gone are the days of good ol’ football (aka north-american “soccer”) on the tellie... i need to find myself some football buddies and watch some games before i go insane from footie-deprivation.

theory rocks

so i had an interview with a firm the other day. a select number of firms conduct interviews on campus and their slots are distributed via lottery. thinking that i had nothing to lose i uploaded my resume a couple of weeks ago. then by the luck of the draw (quite literally) i got an interview. overall i thought it went okay but since i had no idea what they were looking for i didn’t know if my “okay” put me into their yes or no category. and for now it seems to be the yes category... i got a call back last night and i was very cool about it. i haven’t got the job by any means but at least i get to go check out the firm and can rest assured that i’m more articulate than i give myself credit for… haha. it’s going to my head already.

now i have to touch up my writing sample and buy a new suit!
i don’t actually have to buy a new suit but since i want to get one anyway i might as well get it sooner as opposed to later. and i actually happened to come across the most gorgeous suit by theory. i haven’t decided whether i can deal with paying almost a month’s worth of rent just for a suit but it was an amazing fit. hmm. i’m going to check out elie taheri tomorrow (i’m pretty sure he must be persian… that’s a totally persian name). who would have thought dressing yourself could be so complicated...

burn baby, burn

i’ve burnt myself out... not from studying (that would be funny) but rather from social interactions... so confused. so very confused. i decided that i’m going to take a break for a couple of days. not go anywhere that would involve having to speak with these people until i figure out what is going on and what i’m going to do.

i’d like to get away from here. may be i’ll head out and spend the weekend with mrs. m and her family. but that takes energy too and i’m not sure if i’m up for it.

i need someone who will make me laugh and put me at ease without any strings attached.

and what is interesting is that things turn around when you stop trying. sigh.