Moo

Just when you think Minneapolis is a real city...

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=258764.

I guess it's not Minneapolis, but too close for comfort. On the other hand, it gives me solace to know I might have the same success should my "neighbor" dog prove to be as vicious and evil as I believe him to be.

In other news, I am, sitting alone right now, eating carrots in the grass during Mock Bar Exam lunch break. I couldn't find my friend (singular). I tried making some phone calls but my husband is at work, my wife is not answering, my dad is in L.A. and my mom is in the campo. Mock Bar Exam. More like Mock First Day of High School.

Moo.

Straight from Grandpa Lund's Pen

"by the way if one of your little friends steps forward as the person dissing my grand baby tell her/him that if it happens again they will face dealing with the norwegian mafia and that ain't fun."

dag yo.

Any Takers?

A quiz I took on the internet says that according to the old wives (of "old wives' tales" fame) little Pavo will be a girl (I am carrying high, kid's heartbeat is always above 140, I am craving fruit more than meat etc.)

My old husband says he thinks it's a boy, even though he once cut out a picture of a little brown girl in the Old Navy ad and hung it on our fridge.

I have had dreams of both girl and boy babies, making my psychic powers a la the hit show Medium a bit less dependable in this situation.

Any guesses folks? We will find out on July 20. I will buy a drink (alcoholic or non) for anyone who guesses the gender right. * Deadline for entry is 7/19/07.

* In order to redeem said drink, I must already be friends/family with you to the extent that we would choose to go for a drink together absent this special offer. You need not be located in Minneapolis as drink will be redeemable for all those meeting threshold criteria until the subject of the offer (genderless child) turns 21 years of age, or until the Rule Against Perpetuities voids this offer.

Strong Feelings

I have been having a lot of strong feelings the past few days, and not just about the Bush administration. Two of the past five days, I have felt full of rage --once toward the loan officer who told me I think I am more important than he is because I wanted him to return some papers to me and because when he didn't, I was persistent; and the second time toward a friend who totally crossed the boundary of what is appropriate, making me feel embarrassed and furious.

Normally these things would make me "mad" so that I would bitch about them to my husband, my wife, and my dad. But for some reason, it seems these feelings were amplified beyond what they normally would be.

Not sure if this is related to being knocked up, suppressed stress of studying for the bar exam, or that these particular situations were just particularly egregious. But they're over now. And I am calm again. And ready to spend the next 9 hours reviewing criminal law--a good refresher on why, even when I am very very angry, I should avoid any actions that would subject me to the criminal laws of Minnesota.

Girlie Property

I know I've been writing quite a bit about my house/owning a home, as well as about studying for the bar exam. Here's a combo of sorts.

I was just reviewing a Property outline and came to the subject of Marital Property. At the common law, as a matter of law, women could not own property after they were married. It all belonged to her husband a.k.a night in shining armour. The rule was that the woman's husband had the right to use, occupy, and dispose of all of her property, and in return, he had the duty to protect her (by beating her soundly and making sure she didn't learn to read, I presume) .

Of course, all these rules have been gone for quite a long time, but coming across these old laws made me feel even more attached to and sentimental about owning my own house. Not just because it's a rite of passage or because it means I have a good credit score, but because it makes me feel indebted to those bitchin' dames of the past who hoisted up their petticoats, kicked their husbands in the balls, and said "Enough is enough."

K*

"K" is legal shorthand for Contract. Because lawyers don't spell. Also, this may or may not be the only thing I know about contracts. Last week at Barbri we had 2 mini-marathon Contract learning sessions, which I anticipated would be largely review. They weren't. F. I took Contracts class in the Fall of 2004, which is a long time ago, but the other subject "reviews" have actually felt like a return to/brushing up on material I had once learned. The K review was over half stuff I had never heard of before.

This makes me want to write a letter to the U of MN and accuse them of breaching their contract with me--I mean, didn't they have an implied duty to teach me basic legal subjects? There was 100K of consideration which I will spend the next 20 years paying off! They didn't perform! If the UCC governed this problem, I would have a right to perfect tender! Hm, unless it's an installment K, which I suppose it would be (6 semesters, 6 installments) in which case, the U only committed a partial breach and my damages are limited to the installment in which the delivery was sub par. What about the implied warranty of merchantability? Huh, what about that? When I went 100K into debt for the U, there was no disclaimer of the implied warranty of merchantability of the product they were peddling!

Well, unfortunately, I don't think that education is governed by the UCC because that statute only covers sales of tangible goods. Education is one of those intangibles. Inexplicable also, since apparently one can graduate from a premier U.S. law school and not know anything about the common law of contracts. But, I shall learn it because I need to pass the bar, and I need to think of all the claims and remedies I might have against the U for breaching its duty to teach me Contracts.

*Disclaimer: I am bitterly aware that this is probably the nerdiest thing that has ever appeared on my blog and perhaps the whole internet. That said, I warned my readers what this summer would be like as we navigated the Bar. Also, note that I have not yet had any coffee today.

An Unacceptable Someone

David Hasselhoff. Seriously unacceptable. Why is he famous? It used to only mildly irritate me that people all over the world loved him. I could sort of understand-- I mean, on a rainy Saturday afternoon sometimes a Baywatch rerun is all that's available for entertainment, so fine, the adoration of the masses is not completely beyond comprehension.

My active hatred for him is more recent. Ann Curry (an extremely acceptable someone in my book) interviewed him a few days ago and his dismissive treatment of the subject of alcoholism and AA was infuriating. When Ann asked how he was dealing with his disease and the fallout from the gross drunken hamburger video from a few weeks ago, he announced that "when you have a problem you just deal with it." Ann pressed on and asked how recovery was going. The Hoff then proceeded to proclaim himself "recovered." Now, I am not in AA but I have read Al-Anon books and I am from planet earth so I know very well that there is no such thing as a "recovered alcoholic." Only recovering. I think it is both sad and shameful that he has such a grave misunderstanding of his own disease and that he would go on national television and talk about it like he had recovered from the flu.

Then, Ann asked if he was working the AA program. The Hoff again showed what a moron he is and said "See, it's anonymous. That's the thing about it. I can't talk about it." Un. fucking. believable. Now, of course, talking about other people at the AA meetings and their problems and struggles is against the protocol. But AA is not like a silent birth a la Scientology! Of course people can talk about the 12 steps and their own recovery. Unless, of course, they are just making stuff up because they have never actually gone to an AA meeting or made any meaningful steps toward their own recovery, but rather, just want to sound good on morning TV.

I don't hate the Hoff because he is an alcoholic. I know in a very real way that addiction is devastating, both for the addict and for the family. I feel sad for his ex and his kids. But I find it irresponsible and more importantly, disrespectful to addicts who are involved in NA and AA and are truly recovering that the Hoff would pontificate so incorrectly about such a serious subject.

And, that, among other reasons, is why I will not watch America's Got Talent this summer.

Indulgences

Not the Martin Luther kind.

The kind where I go to Target to buy lightbulbs and soap, and decide that I "deserve" the 2nd season of 90210 on DVD. Just because I did a good job studying this weekend and got an average of 80% on the practice multistate Con Law questions I did. 80% is far above passing, hallelujah!

Or the kind where I spend $13.00 on lunch at French Meadow Bakery just because I am hungry and can say I'm hungry for two now so it's really 2 lunches for $13.00. But then I get full almost immediately and can't eat most of what I ordered.

Martin Luther would be so disappointed.

Titles

This is year of many new ones for me. By the end of the year, I will have many titles I have never had before.

• Attorney at Law (technically I am an attorney now, just an unlicensed one).
• Mom
• Homeowner...and today I am officially this one!

Now that the house belongs to us, I really want to be in it NOW. I didn't realize I would feel so elated about it...I thought it would be no big deal to just wait the one extra month. But I guess I underestimated myself in a couple ways --

1. I am possessive about stuff that belongs to me and sometimes don't like to share and
2. I have no patience whatsoever and have zero capacity to wait for things or to let things come in stride.

People who don't have the 2 aforementioned characteristics are...Europeans. I mean, sure Norway rules in a lot of ways, but I could never live there. They all like sharing and don't mind waiting. Good thing the Lunds came over on the boat to the land of enough property for everyone and instant gratification.

In short, I am a homeowner now and I like this new title.