"Second Year They Work You To Death"

I can't believe I'm just finishing up the second week of school and am already at nervous breakdown levels of stress and anxiety. I thought this year was supposed to be better! But with a 30-50 page unwritten appellate brief looming in my future, tons of reading for all of my classes, all kinds of busy work for student organizations, etc. etc., who can relax?!? Hopefully I'll do some catching up this weekend and maybe even (dare I say it?) take a day off of work. Although I'd settle for getting a really good night's sleep.

But I've been doing all I can to try and maintain some semblance of a life. I've been practicing guitar, watching a little t.v. and, in what feels like a monumentally subversive act, got a newspaper subscription. God forbid law students should have any room left in their heads or strength left in their eyes after they finish reading their homework to actually learn a little about what's happening in the "real" world. (Um, is anyone else a little nervous about what's going on in Mexico?)

So, sorry if I've been unforgivably atrocious about keeping in touch lately. People are hating me right now. I accept that. I wish I could say it would get better, but let's be honest - we all know it's only going to get worse. Much worse. All I can say is that most of my communications these days have been reduced to text messaging. So if you're into that sort of thing, we can like totally keep in touch. Otherwise, maybe we can catch up sometime around Christmas?

Blogging Under Duress*

The first week of school is over and things are already in full swing. It's been fun catching up with schoolmates, getting the hang of my new schedule, and enjoying the last remnants of free time I'll probably have for the rest of the semester. I'm already pretty confident that this year is going to be vastly different from last year. I'll probably be just as busy, if not more so, but the culture of fear that drove us all to complete madness has dissipated somewhat. The whole fall recruiting season has thrown me for a bit of a loop. I mean, I'm the last person who wants to work for a big corporate firm. But am I a total slacker who's just shooting herself in the foot if I don't buy into the game just a little bit? Or is it more of a demonstration of my commitment to being destitute for the rest of my life so I can find work that will hopefully make a real difference in the world? Tough call. But after my incredibly exciting international jet-setting summer, which included 5 different countries in the last 6 weeks, I think I'm ready for whatever this year has to offer.

What I'm really excited about?
My beautiful new guitar: an undeserved gift from an admirer. I already know about 5 chords, which probably gives me the ability to play about 60% of the songs out there. It's finger-pickin', it's finger-pickin' good ya'll.

Family time: I'm finally enjoying the fruits of Operation Free Rohan and have spent the last couple of Sundays in the east bay with the clan (including the cutest little monster on the planet). And just to make it that much better, sister Joy is going to be out here for the next month doing an emergency medicine rotation!

American television: I think I may have watched an hour of television total over the summer. Don't get me wrong, it was sooo nice to have a break from the babysitter. But when you have Project Runway, Weeds, and The Daily Show on the telly, how can you say no?

International Law: It's unspeakably awesome to be able to choose your own classes, because a fan of property and contracts I am not. Comparative Law and Public International Law on the other hand, rock my nerdy little world. And on that note, I better get my ass up to school and kill those 100 or so pages I have to read by tomorrow!

*Because no one in their right mind ignores a direct order from the Busby women.

Flowers in My Hair

My last few days in London went by dizzingly fast. On my last night there, my flatmates threw me a lovely little going away barbecue in our garden. I was amazed to see how many people I had met over the course of a couple of months show up for my grand send off. In the span of just a few weeks I managed to create an entire life, complete with a whole slew of amazing friends and acquaintances. It was hard to turn the page on that most wonderful of chapters. But if for no other reason, I was glad I was leaving the next morning so I wouldn't have to help clean up the insane mess that was made. And since I was leaving so early the next morning I of course pulled another all nighter. I have GOT to be getting too old for those. But it was worth it just to be able to spend my last few hours with some of the people who have meant the most to me this summer.

Since getting back to the states so many people have asked me how London was. How does one answer that question? A simple "it was amazing" seems to be enough to satisfy most people's curiosity. But as with any big adventure it was so much more. Between you and me, it's true - it was amazing. But it was also difficult, eye-opening, inspiring, heartbreaking...more things than I will probably ever be able to express in words. Most importantly though, it was mine. A new set of memories, places, faces, and emotions to add to my little piggy bank of experiences that all add up to who and what I uniquely am.

So now I'm back from outer space. NYC was a great transition back. I got to spend some quality time with Bruno, Miguel, Jo, Elizabeth and Drew and somehow managed not to melt my face off in the infernal city heat. Reggae on the River was complete and utter insanity. I'm still recovering. Since getting back though, I have reaffirmed for myself that San Francisco is indeed the greatest city in the world. I've spent most of my time so far scrambling to get school stuff in order...financial aid, class schedules, etc. Most notably I was recently invited to join USF's team for the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the world's largest international moot court competition. Exciting stuff, I know. Unfortunately, this probably means I won't be going to Japan for Spring semester. But considering I was so broke in London I was actually considering selling the rights to my future progeny, it probably wasn't going to happen anyway. What is it with me and this penchant for living in the most expensive cities in the world? (I guess this probably wouldn't be a good time to talk about that internship in NYC I want to apply for.)

But for now I'm just happy to be home. After spending 5 hours cleaning up the devastating mess my sublettor left me, I settled in just fine and have been happily cuddling my little Tofu kitty ever since. And with over a week to go before classes start, I'm sure that mile long to do list will take care of itself somehow. So thus ends my crazy summer. I've had so much fun documenting the whole thing with the digi-cam, but alas all good things must come to an end as I have to return it soon. But don't forget Christmas is right around the corner, people!