buffalo goals

I'm in Buffalo..lounging until I start work on June 21. My life can't start until I know my grades from last semester. That's just how it works. My life is on pause. Yesterday, Prof. West sent the class an e-mail saying he had posted the grades and told us to e-mail him if we were impatient and curious. I am both but I think it'll be better for me to wait it out and see it posted online rather than hear it from him via an e-mail. But it hasn't posted!! My pride(?) doesn't allow me to ask him now. Should have done it when he first offered. Ughs. I'm really worried about one of my grades (not Japanese Law). Grades technically shouldn't matter anymore but I still have to write an application...and though I'm not sure what their threshold is, I don't want to worry about not getting in. Ugh, I'm almost 25! Grades really should be a non-factor in life. Period. Why does it still matter, why? Woes.

Buffalo goals:

1) lose weight?
2) finish 1Q84 volumes 1 and 2
3) start and finish Anna Karenina
4) practice my Japanese
5) make packing list for Japan/Korea
6) master the art of taking pictures of myself

never ever trust law professors

that is all.

I am so glad I took Kyle's (Prof. Logue) exam pass-fail. I think I passed. Don't think I wrote a very good exam though. Whew.

Yay! Next semester, I will have a 4.0 semester. Every class will be pass/fail except for my research paper under Mark (Prof. West). Well...never mind. "Never ever trust law professors."

My life is sweet right now. I realized that Professors Logue and West have really cute names. One syllable first names and one syllable last names. Both their middle initials are D. I used to be torn about my fave-- but I've made up my mind. At least for now.

I am packing to move out! It's hard to pack up my 1 year and 9 months of Ann Arbor living! Hello SUMMER!

awkward good-byes

I always find saying good-bye to be an awkward exercise. As a student, you always have to say good-bye. Yesterday was the last day I had Partnership Tax. Today was the last day I had Japanese Law (last class ever with Prof. West). Last week, I had to say good-bye to Prof. Logue -- or rather, Corporate Tax. The good-byes don't seem real until the final exams I think. Final exams serve as good formalities.  I've having a hard time saying good-bye right now-- but after I see what these Profs have in store for me via the final exam, I will probably say...heck yeah, good-bye! That's how I felt after taking my Individual Income Tax exam last semester. I have very little doubt that our good-byes will be finalized like a divorce decree the moment I see the final exams. DK, KL, MW, please be gentle. I still have two more classes with Prof. Avi-Yonah. I trust RAY to be gentle and kind. Anyway, this good-bye exercise is bittersweet-- but at the moment, I feel a sense of loss. Must.say.good-bye.

My friends (especially NC) are so good at knowing what I'm up to by what I write. Yes, I have been watching hours and hours of television last night (not 36 hours straight -- and I did manage to shower!). One thing television does for me is it puts me back into perspective. I learn how to have higher expectations. I also am able to take a step back from my life and analyze it as a viewer (which my mom told me to stop doing-- I'm too introspective, she thinks). I am uncomfortable with being alone -- but I know that I will feel lonely when I'm with someone who cares for me. No one will understand me inside-out. Maybe only JC. Bahs. Soul-mate, where are you? Is JC the only one who can understand and love my soul?

drama = reality ?

How off do you think dramas are from reality? Probably a lot...right? I just started a new Japanese drama (素直になれなくて- Hard to say I love you) and I had to pause it to blog about it. So, last week in Japanese Law, we read cases about sexual harassment (I learned that this form of discrimination can only happen in the workplace!). So Prof. W explaining a type of sexual harassment known as "quid pro quo" said the following tagline: "Baby, let me touch your hair~ I'll make you manager!" Haha, it was hilarious at the time.Well, I still think it's funny.

Anyway, my point is...those cases are 10-20 years old. This drama I am watching right now is current. It is an episode from last Thursday, the 15th of April of 2010. It's the first episode. I like(d) it. I like the stuff this drama writer has done in the past (Long Vacation, Orange Days, Beautiful Life...so many of my faves). So it's about a bunch of people in their twenties (I'm sure it's going to get all love-dovey and what not) but the part I like is how it shows these young people struggling in their professional lives. They're at the bottom of the food-chain and are stressed at being not that great at their jobs, run into major problems with colleagues and lament over their deferred dreams/hopes! My type of story.

So this upper twenty-something year old guy who works at a magazine publisher just got sexually harassed by his boss who is fat, ugly, and old AND female! Awesome. I mean, I don't condone sexual harassment in any shape or form but it's fascinating that in Japan, on prime-time, a 27-ish year old grown man is getting sexually harassed by his female boss in order to stay in the publishing division rather than the sales division. He cried after he had to kiss her. Instead of forcing herself on him, she asked him to kiss her. I guess that's how females harass males.  Dramas probably don't portray reality as it is -- but there's gotta be some correlation to truth, no? I may be delusional.

For those who are wondering, I had a fabulous time at Prof. Avi-Yonah's house. He had Zingerman's sandwiches and brownies for us! I'm done with all the work for that elective! Yay! Also, I made it to the 11:11am service. My life is complete.

apalsa faculty lunches

I love APALSA-faculty lunches. APALSA gathers about ten students and invites a faculty member to eat Potbelly's with us in a classroom. It's a pretty informal gathering where the invited professor talks about his/her career path, research interests, and answers students' questions. Last year, I went to two of them. The first one I went to was Professor West's (obviously, it was amazing) and the second one I went to was Professor Margaret Chon's. This year, I also attended two of these events. I went to Professor Khanna's and Professor Laycock's (today). Here are my reviews! Obviously, the only really objective review is Prof. Laycock's lunch since it is still very fresh on my mind. Sorry about boring you guys. I use my blog for documentation purposes sometimes. I know for a fact that I had a wreck sandwich all four times.

Fall 2008

West: I doubt Prof. West remembers (about the event itself) but I asked him what my chances were at obtaining approval to study at Waseda. I was (as I am still today) one-track minded. The study abroad at Waseda program was one of the main reasons why I was so happy to get into Michigan (and one of the main reasons why I was upset at Penn and Columbia). He was pretty confident that I could go (and if there were any problems, he was confident he could solve them) and so I was very satisfied. He talked about his recent book about "love-judges" and it was highly entertaining. The lunch took place before I had to take Criminal Law with him for the Winter semester so I got to scope out my future 1L professor. Killed two birds with one stone.

Winter 2009

Chon: I didn't ask Prof. Chon anything but we found out that we were from the same neighborhood back in Buffalo! That was a cool moment. I took German for three years at the high-school she attended. She is a Korean-American who like me went to high-school in the Williamsville School District and studied at Michigan Law. I learned a lot from that lunch about how hard it is for schools like Michigan Law to achieve faculty diversity. I actually fell in love with her. I dragged Tina to another lunch event where she spoke about ...I don't remember what. Yeah. She was a visiting professor for the Winter semester.

Fall 2009

Khanna: I was taking Enterprise Organization (EO) with him when I went to the lunch event. It was pretty fascinating to hear about how he became an academic. So yeah, that was it actually.

Winter 2010

Laycock: I loved loved loved it! I actually had zero expectations. I was genuinely interested in the other three professors prior to the lunch talk. I have little interest in whatever he taught (he is leaving Michigan Law for UVA). What I liked about him was his personality! He talked about how he always followed his wife around to wherever her career path took her (and him). It was amazing to hear how he followed his girl around and was reprimanded by his own father for doing that. I wish I took a class with him. Well, not really. But overall, it was a great experience! He was also very gracious and intelligent when answering students' questions.


This is the last full week of classes! So many good-byes. Thursday will be the last time Prof. Logue will teach me. I desperately want him to teach a class in Winter 2011 that I haven't taken (there aren't any classes left that he teaches regularly that I haven't taken...unless he starts teaching the seminar Tax Policy Readings again). I would totally use my last priority for that...but I don't think it's going to happen. I don't know if I'm ready to say good-bye to Prof. Logue. I'm going to be so jealous when Sally and Tina are in his class next semester.  I'm not sure if tomorrow is my last day with Prof. Kahn. I'm not really ready for that either. Oh no. I get too attached. I still have next week before I have to worry about saying my byes to Prof. Avi-Yonah and Prof. West. It was an excellent semester.

I marked it close to zero

Yesterday, Prof. Mark West delivered his SFF-auction service/event ("Mark it Zero") by hanging out with us at the bowling alley(for pictures refer here). He was fashionably twenty minutes late. I don't really know how to blog about yesterdays so bear with me. We all had a fabulous time. The outing lasted about five hours -- we parted ways when it become a chore to speak with each other around 2AM. Prof. West was pretty amazing. He sent us an e-mail after the outing with a youtube video related to each one of us. For me, he sent a link to a video titled "arashi laugh" from the conversation we had about my favorite j-pop band. The embarrassing thing about this is that I have seen most of the shows that make up that edited version of the video of Arashi members laughing. What an otaku I am.

I drank quite a bit and was gloomy by the end of the night. I can be a happy drunk or a pensive one. Too bad I was pensive last night even though I did have a great time! People were wondering if I was okay. I was definitely okay. Just glooms.

The bowling aspect of the event was a disaster for me. I had no intention of bowling or even bidding for the event...because it had the word "bowling."  If you know me, you know...anything that has to do with sports (yes, even bowling) is a no-no. Ben Potter had a great time watching me "bowl." This was our connection moment, I think. Prof. West and Joe kept teasing me asking me if I knew the point of the game was to knock down the pins...not throw the ball. Messed up. I told them to shut up. It was all good.Tina and Stephanie Yoshida were amazing bowlers! What the flip! Evan, Joe, Prof. West...I didn't really pay attention to. Average. Ben was pretty good. Sally was not bad at all! How?!

I think everybody was a little astonished at how consistently terrible I was -- maybe if Nick was there, I would have learned how to bowl properly (last year, he taught me how to play ping pong-- he is a patient teacher). This morning, I asked Sally what she thought of my bowling. She said, you were really really bad. Consistently bad. Hahah. I was really really terrible.  I knocked down 6 pins in one game (as in...the entire game...ten times you bowl or whatever, single digit score).  I improved to about 20-30 in the later games (all coincidence). Yeah.

Well, the embarrassing part of the story is from here (I don't know enough about bowling to feel shameful about my single digit score). After awhile, people didn't care to watch me bowl -- how many times can you watch a person suck? Even though it was a chore, I kept on bowling when my turn came up. If there's one thing Lily Kim is good at -- it's showing up.  So, during one turn, I went a little too close to the bowling lane...and as I threw the ball down the lane...I SLIPPED and fell on my ankle/butt! UGH. Major humiliation. According to Sally, Tina's mouth dropped and everyone was shocked (but dying...laughing). Woes. I stumbled back with a smile. It would be weird if something like that didn't happen in my woe-ful life. My ankle was fine last night (due to alcohol) but when I woke up this morning, half-drunk...I knew my ankle wasn't okay. Hopefully it's not too bad.

I must now take my limping self to the library to SPARTA.

school-girl moment

I think most of my huge readership are facebook friends with me. So, last semester -- I bombarded everyone's newsfeed with my "Logue" obsession. I had a crazy case of mentionitis. I took two of Prof. Logue's classes last semester. And I talked about him a lot...I thought I had graduated from this school-girl crush this semester. Especially after many people caught on to the goodness that is Prof. Logue. As mentioned earlier, I do not like to remain on a bandwagon for too long because I am not good at sharing. I'm taking Corporate Tax with him this semester. There are very few professors I trust enough to allow them to grade 10 credits. Prof. West is the other one I'm gambling (trusting) on with 10 graded credits! (He is another story for another time).

My interaction with Prof. Logue is always off. This is probably my fault since I get too nervous around him and thus I come off very unnatural. I wish I could be who I am...in front of him! I am usually a very friendly, active, eager-eyed student (mostly for Professors Kahn and Avi-Yonah). I am cold and cool-headed during Corporate Tax (or so I think). I probably look bored, disinterested, or sleepy. I'm anything but those three things. But I was totally out of character in front of Prof. Logue today. Tina, Sally, and I went to lunch at Sadako. When we had finished ordering, in came Prof. Logue with another not-important-to-me-professor to have lunch. I was sitting with my back towards (against?) him as he sat at the next table. I had a meltdown. Oh no! Do I say hi? Will he recognize me? What if he doesn't? My life would lose all meaning. Should I say hi...or should I ignore him? Oh no, oh no!

I eavesdropped on his conversation with the other guy...but it was too intelligent for me to understand. A lot about tax policy, the President, constitutionality, statutory interpretation...etc. Yeah...I was being a total creepster and eavesdropping. When we paid for our food and stood up...I made up my mind. I will say hi! Ugh, mistake.

Instead of being normal...I waved frantically, rapidly...and said "Hi, Professor!"

UGH. SCHOOL-GIRL MOMENT.

As always, Professor Kyle Logue is so gracious and kind. He waved back (less enthusiastically than me but pretty enthusiastic on a normal-scale) semi-imitating me (with the five to six times wave) and said, "Hey, how are you!" He didn't call me Ms. Kim...so I have no idea whether he recognized me or not. He might not have...who knows.

I wish I was less of a freak. What a melt-down. Tina and Sally died LOL-ing. I must recover from this before facing him on Wednesday morning.

P.S. I have another important post to write. I also am not keeping my word...about placing a strict word limit on my entries. I apologize for the length of this entry.

origins was so last night...

But I need to document it in some shape or form. I choose to document it with pictures since I forgot all my sentiments/words. This is why I must blog religiously on special days. I had a fun time. All I remember is talking a lot. I hope I didn't make any blunders with my big mouth.

shopping stress and technical vindication

I went to the mall with Tina and Sally today. I hate going to the mall. Shopping is stressful. Online shopping is so much faster and less stressful. We were on a mission to find a dress to wear for APALSA's annual banquet, Origins (buy a ticket!). I was so tired by the end of the shopping trip. I hate hate hate shopping. Shopping with a mission is also too too too stressful. I found a dress! Actually Tina found me a dress. Sally found me the shoes. I rarely try on things...but since I was shopping for dresses...I tried them on to make sure I didn't look like a hog. I was not in an ideal outfit to try on different clothes. Ugh.  Changing in and out of my clothes was a major hassle. I wish I could love shopping!

Back to e-mails. I wrote an e-mail to a professor who I don't know...to ask for money for his APALSA banquet tickets. I know he's a busy man...but it makes me feel insecure when there is no reply! Because I get so insecure about not receiving e-mails, a lot of times...I try to write e-mails where it could be a conversation-killer (last e-mail) or could be a conversation-starter...depending on the receiver's mood. But the e-mail I sent to this professor...was definitely..."PLEASE E-MAIL ME BACK OR I'M GOING TO FEEL INSECURE" type of e-mail. Oh wells. I'll never take a class with him and he'll never really have an effect in my life. Or...will he? 

I got fired up in Japanese Law today when the topic of "comfort women" came up and...I might have been a little on the offensive side to a guest lecturer. Actually, I think I was semi-offended by his casualness but as Sally said...how can I change someone's mind/consciousness about something? But, it was all in good fun...hopefully that man doesn't hate me. I regret getting all heated up about it...but what can I do. I want technical vindication. Is that too much to ask? Prof. West said, "good luck on that" when I proposed to the guest lecturer what my ideal solution would be (in the guest lecturer's words..."final solution"...this is because he doesn't know what connotation the term "Final Solution" carries) to this human rights issue. Technical vindication. Or..just wait until everyone who is still alive and was affected dies. It's only a few more years.

the e-mails I didn't receive...

So, I discovered today that I was not on the e-mail list for Professor Kahn's class (Partnership Tax...the one I'm always "fighting" with material-wise). I never received an e-mail from him and I wrongly assumed that...maybe this professor didn't use e-mail. Little did I know...that this man is an e-mailing machine. He e-mailed the class with so many explanations of what was discussed in class...and other administrative matters such as cutting down on reading...what's on the exam and such. SO SO IMPORTANT. Thankfully, a classmate has forwarded all the e-mails Prof. Kahn sent to the class. Now, I must go read them...out of context. Boo.

How did I figure out that I wasn't in sync with the rest of class?

I raised my hand today when he skipped the material I read and the problems I solved. I was so confused as to why he was skipping the material I spent five hours...(while facebooking, gchatting) learning.

Me: Professor! I do not understand how your syllabus works...I did a lot of the reading...that you're not covering in class...

Prof. Kahn: Ms. Kim, did you not get my e-mails?

Me: No....

Prof. Kahn: (kindly) Too bad! You should check your e-mails!

Me: ...

Prof. Kahn: Come see me after class!

MESSED UP. UNCOOL TO THE MAX. Actually, he was gracious about it...and understood where the problem came from. His secretary had failed to add me...because I added the class late.

Lesson: never assume that your professors over age sixty do not know how to use e-mail. Apparently, they're e-mailing machines. Prof. Kahn sent the class more e-mails than Prof. Logue! (And Prof. Logue...definitely is a spamming type).

for the win...for the "children"

Losing was never an option. I did not plan on losing. I had a solid group who committed a lot of money. I was willing to up my commitment if there was a need. Losing was not an option.

We won! Professor Mark West will enthusiastically (?) bowl with us and buy us beer. Refer here for a discussion of my strategy. Because my own sister turned irrational on us...and hyper, I also saved some money! Sally abhors gambling but she was totally into the bidding. Loved it. We won the item for $700. Tina also blogged about it.

Professor West continuously told us that he was afraid that no one would bid for his item. However, this was clearly a misrepresentation. There was a 1L who was told the same thing he told me! Hah, he told me he didn't know who was on the other side of the bidding war. That was a lie!  Everything he says is suspect from now on...except things related to law! He totally drove the bid price up! For the "children" (according to him, the "children" are those law students who will work in public service).

Side-note: There is something I really appreciate when it comes to friendships. N. Chang and J. Coburn made me feel all warm inside the past two days. Even though one on one, they give me a hard time...when they are speaking with someone else, they speak so highly of me. I always notice it with Nick. He always praises me so much in public (it's almost embarrassing). Joe does the same. He is always willing to speak about me...give me credit...when speaking to others. I was pleasantly surprised when he spoke about my reserve price to Prof. West. Total <3

I took a picture with a very drunk and happy Ms. Hernandez after the auction.

P.S. I checked with the Professor. He has cleared his name. He did not know until an hour before the auction. :)

"people are so fickle!"

...said Professor Kyle Logue. He was talking about a poll in USA Today that said that a majority (small) is satisfied that Obama signed the health care bill. Before it was signed, there was a majority that disapproved of such a thing happening. People changed their mind so quickly! Or so Professor Logue said.

I love how Professor Logue starts each day of our corporate tax class. He spends about 5-7 minutes talking about anything but corporate tax. He sort of gave me a wake-up call today because I am clueless as to what is happening with health care. I haven't kept up. I must go do that now. It's really nice to have a smart law professor give summary points of what happened and discuss it casually with his editorial comments. This is the kind of learning environment I dreamt of! He said the takeaway from his mini discussion is this: lawyers will now pay more taxes. He is kidding, obvi (about the takeaway...not the taxes).

I think he's right about people being fickle. One day...they hate something...the next day, they love it. For me, the usual pattern is...I love something so much...and hate it the next day. I guess I'm a lover and then a hater...rather than a hater...then a lover? I like to get off the bandwagon rather than get on it even though I stay on the bandwagon for a little longer than I should. I also try to avoid getting on the bandwagon...even though I want to get on it so badly.

Forgive my fickle nature. But, I make it up with passionate (yet fleeting) adoration?

p.s. I still have some beef against Barry Obama...but I do sincerely love him. He's a good man.

gunning obligations

Maybe it's because I'm Asian. I don't like raising my hand when someone else is speaking. It seems rude. I also don't like to compete with people to get the attention of the professor. That was why it was so hard for me to participate in Criminal Law last year. Everyone was dying to participate and they for sure did not care if their hands were raised when someone else was speaking. I for sure was not dying to participate. I also didn't want to be rude and raise my hand with a scowl when someone else was sharing their valuable (?) opinions/perspectives.

Today, before class started, I told Prof. Kahn that I was unprepared because of a take home exam. He was extremely nice about it. But a little too nice. It started getting really really awkward...when he had called on everyone but me. Every moment was so awkward...as he looked at the seating chart...and paused...and tried to find anyone but me (he really was trying!). He had to start calling on the same people over again. And then...later he called on me for an easy one...prefacing it with..."I know you haven't prepared for class today...but Ms. Kim!" Ugh, I wanted to die. But I was relieved that he called on me. You feel terrible not carrying your weight when a class is so small. Now, I must be prepared tomorrow. He was so gracious about the whole deal. But I can't ever let him down again. I will become excellent. Hopefully.

I also have to gun in Japanese Law tomorrow. For some reason, every single other person participated last week. I don't understand how that happened. Usually, there are a few kids who refuse to speak in any given class. I'm not usually one of them...but it turned out that I was the only one in the class who hadn't spoken last Wednesday. Japanese Law is actually a really hard class to gun in. Especially since I take that class with my blood-related sibling. Too hard to be impressive older sibling!

I have gunning obligations for tomorrow. I hope I know when to start talking...and stop talking. I hope the material I'm about to read is relatively intuitive. I hope I won't hate me after tomorrow for being a bad gunner...or a really good one. I just need to be mediocre. That will be sufficient.

TAKE HOME EXAM OVER. 1 class down...5 more classes to go!

"mark it zero"

One of my biggest regrets (well...that's a little bit of an exaggeration) from last year is that I did not engage in this narcissistic exercise of blogging about my life. I wish I had captured my 1L sentiments/moments/woes/wows. 1L year is all a fuzzy memory. I would have definitely blogged about watching J. Coburn lose his common sense (and marbles and lots of money) bidding for a stuffed animal owned by our retiring Property professor, A.W.B. Simpson, for an obscene amount of money...$900? Our law school has an annual auction where students/alumni can bid for events/things professors offer. The money goes to support law students who plan on working in public interest...I think. Minor detail for me. Anyway, this year, I plan on bidding for the following item:

Your Foot Was Over the Line, Smokey.
Mark it Zero.
“I’ll buy the beer. But nobody is allowed to blow smoke
in my face. And only 1Ls get the gutter guards.” You’d
be crazy not to take Professor Mark West up on this
offer to make an hour of cosmic bowling at Bel-Mark
Lanes even better (includes two lanes for one hour, plus
shoe rental, two large pizzas, and two pitchers of pop,
up to $94 value). Beer courtesy of the professor. Bowling,
shoes, pizzas, and pop courtesy of Bel-Mark Lanes.

Unlike J. Coburn last year, I will be cool-headed and calculated in my bidding strategy. I have recruited six other students who have varying levels of desire to win, risk profiles, and etc. Thus, I borrowed from what I learned in Stern and what I learned from Professor Kahn in Partnership Tax to create a spreadsheet in order to align our risk preferences and resources in the most fair and efficient manner. Some of us will operate like general partners and engage in more risk...while some of us will operate like limited partners. The limited partners are definitely necessary for this venture because they provide the foundational basis to allow the general partners to engage in risky behavior. Haha, did that make sense?

We should probably win this since (1) we're super organized, cool-headed, and rational; (2) some of us are irrational when it comes to winning and losing; (3) J. Coburn is on our team (except he is engaged and has become an adult); (4) I'm an all-or-nothing kind of person; and (5) many other reasons that will not be disclosed. However, if we lose...then (1) Prof. West is too popular for his own good; (2) we deserve to lose; and (3) the 1Ls or others are too wealthy and/or unwise and have lost their marbles.

I cannot show you the spreadsheet (since that would reveal our strategy and our max amount)...but here is a picture of it.

I was working on it alongside my APALSA treasurer duties. I should actually be preparing for my 72-hour final exam that starts at 4pm today. Woes. I was debating whether to pass/fail it...but my law school angel (J. Lafond) said the following: Jason: one day you're going to have to take a class for a grade.

Touche. Have a beautiful weekend. I will be taking an exam and learning a lot about Taxation of Financial Instruments. Woes.

you pay when you press the "snooze" button

I only had one class today but it happened to be a 9:05 class. I have 9:05 classes from Monday through Thursday. I usually "wake" up to 4 alarms: 6:00, 6:40, 7:17 and 7:30. However, on some mornings, I set a fifth alarm to 8:00. Today was such a day and I had to pay for the 1/2 hour of sleep I stole from my morning "preparation."

My usual routine: I usually like to get to class 10-15 minutes earlier. Thus, I must leave my apartment by 8:40. It takes me 15 minutes to wake up from my wake up because I play with my i-phone. So I'm usually in the shower by 7:45-8:00. It takes me 15 minutes to shower and dress, 10 minutes to dry my hair, 10 minutes to straighten my hair. So I'm already at 8:20 on my best days after these steps. It takes me 10 minutes to disguise myself (i.e., put on contacts and apply makeup). 8:30? I have to pack my bag and turn the heat off and put my breakfast (pouch of Capri-Sun) into my bag. I leave my apartment by 8:35ish and make it to my classroom by 8:50.

Today I had to skip all the steps after drying my hair from my regular routine because I woke up at 8:00 and managed to get into the shower by 8:10. So my hair was clean but was flying everywhere! I skipped putting on contacts and applying makeup and had to wear my thick glasses which make the size of my eyes look like tiny little peas to others. I wore my crappiest clothes and set out to learn the magic that is Corporate Tax.

Today, Prof. Logue said so many witty things. I jotted them all down but unfortunately left my notes in my locker (I will become better about this). He brought us bagels from Panera and posed the question, "is this a taxable event?" Yes...he's a tax geek(god). People rushed to get the bagels and said "no, de minimis"! He said, "you can't go to de minimis first. Lets say...it's a tiny refund of the tuition you paid." I thought that was hilarious...but now that I typed it up...I realize, I have a very low threshold in the morning when it comes to finding things funny. I didn't eat a bagel because not only was I very ugly for class...I am an ugly eater. I don't like eating in front of strangers and people I admire. I eat fast...it looks like I'm shoving food into my mouth. Also, I'm very sloppy. So I try not to eat in front of people I'm unfamiliar with. That's why I lose weight when I have to eat with strangers (lawyers club dining hall - 1L year) or in front of people I may be attracted to in some shape or form.

At the end of class, there was some discussion about a recent decision that allows tax professors to testify in court about the law, and he said another witty thing like..."if I was able to make $1,000 an hour, that would change a lot of things. If my wife asked me to vacuum...I would be able to say...do you really think that is a good use of my time to vacuum for 20 minutes?" Haha, loved it. Again, my threshold isn't that high. I find Prof. Kahn funny on Monday and Tuesday mornings.

So, since I was looking very ugly today...as soon as class ended, I rushed home to avoid running into anyone I knew. And of course...since I live off of a popular street, I ran into everybody and their moms. I met Barry and Linda...who recognized me...and it might have been my imagination but they so smirked at ugly me. I smiled and hurried away. And then I saw Matt Veenstra. But the sad thing was he didn't recognize me and walked past me! So even though I was very ugly, I turned back and called him (I call him "ajuhshi"...his Korean is very good). He was like..."oh, it IS you! I didn't recognize you. You're in disguise!" Oh no...fail. Without straightening my hair, putting on contacts, and putting on makeup...I am in disguise?! Hahaha. I must go drop Sally off the airport and proceed to disguise myself from my disguise.

Random thought: blogging is invading my thoughts. I no longer think to myself...but to a blog audience. I am constantly blogging in my mind throughout the day. I literally ran into my room to blog and Sally was unimpressed.

sparta?

I apologize to my faithful and needy reader for not posting yesterday. I had a really bad day. I slept most of that day away so I had no time to blog or read for Partnership Tax. I never read for International Tax so that is not new news. I am officially more than 270 pages behind in my reading for that class. Woes.

I was lucky in Partnership Tax and was not called on. I don't know if I would have said (1) Professor...I didn't get to the problems or (2) Well...since this is a blahblahblah (proceed to read off old outline) if he had called on me. Probably the latter.

As I'm taking mostly tax classes, I am in the same class with the same old people. There are two girls that really irritate me and I can't control my eyes from rolling due to their same old lameness. They are always without fail late to class. They are always without fail unprepared for class. I don't know why Professor Kahn keeps calling on them. I guess he sort of enjoys the awkwardness that follows after their "I didn't get to the problems"? What a sadist. On the other hand, the two girls make every other person in the class look amazing. This was a hater-entry on my part.

I am in the reading room at 7pmish on a Tuesday! That is why the hater in me has come out. Why?! It is Sparta-time. I must must must read.

Random thought: God is a genius for having created the maternal instinct. I can't imagine how I would ever care for anyone in that loving (slavish?) manner when I can't even get myself to boil hot water or make my bed. Genius.

explanation of why I'm taking the classes I'm taking

Hello girls and boys. A lot is on my mind but instead of sharing those thoughts, I will explain what classes I am taking and why. I am taking the following classes:

Partnership Tax
International Tax
Corporate Tax
Income Tax Treaties
Tax for Financial Instruments
Japanese Law

The simple explanation is that I want (?) to be a tax lawyer and since I am going abroad (losing out on a semester at Mich Law), I needed to take as many tax classes as possible. I am taking Japanese Law because I wanted to go study abroad at Waseda. The preceding sentences probably explain most of my motivations behind taking the classes. The Financial Instruments class was chosen because it was being co-taught by a person high up in EY. However, there is another (compelling) reason why I'm taking some of these classes now. It has to do with a part of me that is semi-uber-cheap. Please refer to this entry to read about what I do to receive free lunches.

I inherited some of J. Lafond's tax books. I inherited both his International Tax and Partnership Tax texts. In order to avoid the textbooks expiring on me (ie., a new edition being published), I was compelled to squeeze Partnership Tax into my schedule despite warnings that it would be the hardest class I would take in my life (I had dropped an elective with Prof. Avi-Yonah since I was already taking two of his classes...and taking three classes for the same semester with Prof. Avi-Yonah is definitely OVERKILL).  Partnership Tax is indeed the hardest class I've taken in my life that I could legitimately get a C- putting in much effort!

Also, even though I was planning on taking Japanese Law from day 1 of law school (or before, since I mentioned interest in my law school app), I inherited (or borrowed) it from the APALSA collection! Yay for textbooks that are current and free! Income Tax Treaties has no textbook! Yay!  I did end up buying two textbooks...one for Corporate Tax and one for Financial Instruments. It killed me a little when I had to purchase the two books.

The real reason why I'm still taking the Financial Instruments class is the book return policy of Ulrich's. I had purchased the book and opened its shrink wrapping before attending the first class. I hated the first class and desired to drop. Never ever take a class that is front-loaded and meets for 3 hours per session. Also, even though I don't think I'll follow my advice, don't purchase the textbook before attending the first class. Ugh. I am currently studying for a take-home final for this class which will begin next Friday. Because the book cost about $200 and was not returnable, I ended up just taking the class. Woes.

Anyway, after next Friday, I need to attack these babies published by Foundation Press. Wish me luck! I really really need it.

around 40

I had a chit chat with one of my professors today (it was an awesome experience). He is around 40 years old. I have no idea how he evaluates his progress in life but on paper, he's definitely a high-achiever. All my professors are on paper (at the very least)...high achievers. I think I look up to them a lot. I wonder what the correlation is between paper achievement and off-paper achievement. Some may say there is none but I don't think that can be quite right.

I wonder where I'll be in life around 40. Will it be my kids that preoccupy my mind/day? Their academic achievement? My career? My husband's career? (If and only if he runs for political office...hahaha) Religion? Meeting ends? Will I achieve much both on paper and off-paper?

I just had a battle with bugs in my room. I sprayed a lot of bug killing spray. My room smells like bug killing spray and a lot of it (sorry this is an ambiguous pronoun! haha, the spray) spilled onto my bed. Oh no.

Also G. Kim is mad at me for not going out to bar night. He dared call me a party pooper when he is one 22/7! Anyway, faithful readers...have a beautiful Thursday night.

logue v. west

I really can't decide who's my number 1! (Tad "oppa" sang BoA's song today).

e-mails

When it comes to e-mails, I am extremely anal. As soon as I send someone an e-mail, I keep refreshing my inbox to see if they've replied back. I treat e-mail responses as if they were im-chats. I want instant gratification. Instant replies! This OCD-ness (is this OCD?) is especially acute when I have emailed people who have some control over my life (ie., professors, recruiters, etc). I sent a harmless e-mail to Professor West but I think I might have been a little sassy. I don't think I was too sassy but if he's in a bad mood, he could possibly roll his eyes. Ugh. Why did I risk this? I must stop writing this entry and go back to refreshing my inbox to see if he has responded and is not a tiny bit annoyed. Please, please, please. My heart keeps jumping when I see that I've received new mail. My heart drops when I discover that it's spam. Woes.