I'm alive. Honest. I've been busy switching over my files from one laptop to another. That and I do have the MPRE on Friday, and apparently Lollapolluza on Saturday.
I get to see Incubus, A Perfect Circle, and Audioslave. Giddy does not even describe it.

I swear I'm not paranoid, and this just proves it. What can the Secret Services' reaction be called then? Over caution?
When we live in an age when we can't criticize or even praise a President for his actions it's not called freedom, it's called censorship. And it's getting worse, will continue doing so if people don't become informed about the Patriot Act and the other measures Ashcroft and his cronies are trying to pass through Congress that threaten our rights, our privacy.
This was just creepy, and really stupid of the Secret Service to not get the connection. Too many blows to the head now have we, or was it Bush's speeches?
Link via Neil Gaiman

After almost a year I finally fixed the guestbook on my personal website. I actually had time to fix it, and it only took less than five minutes! I have a guestbook. ::laughs::
I also fixed the blackglass guestbook, and I realized why I hadn't received any hostee applications all summer. The form wasn't working. But no one tried to email me either, so I guess they really didn't want to be hosted...
I also did pay on time. On the 30th to be exact, with a day to spare since my domain expired on the 31st. I am now paid through till 2006. Blackglass.org will be a household name one of these days, though I promise I won't make it my legal name any time soon.
Now I just have to decide what to do next. I still have to fix the mailing list program, which will not be easy. I also have a few emails to reply to, and I want to add a few links to this blog though my ultimate goal is to give a new layout. My first priority though is to email one of the members of my study group and fix a time with her soon to get her MPRE materials since I probably should start studying for that exam soon.

::sniff:: It took me two days, but I just finished Order of the Phoenix. I'm sad I finished it, and tears threatened through the last fifty pages, but what a great read!!! It was so worth the wait!

I just found out from L. that people in Houston actually left the exam and had to throw up. I'm telling you, it was bloody awful. But, I agree with her. Come swearing in time, out of the four of us, the one with the lowest score will gladly buy everyone else drinks. Here's to November.
And here's to blessed, blessed bed!!

It's over. It's finally over, and I think I'm brain dead.
Thanks everyone for your support. You guys so rock my world. I just have one more exam to go.

Finally! The first lawsuit against the Patriot Act has been filed. It only took how many years?

Two days down. One to go.
First day was alright. I wasn't too happy with the first part of Day 1. I was restricted to three lines instead of five, which made it more difficult and I had to go back and change my wording on so many things. That and I made the court reporter type the MPT on the laptop instead of his machine because the whole business of going through and flagging things and then going back and changing things once I was done was just not going to work. Not yesterday and not tomorrow for the essays. He's bringing his big keyboard tomorrow so he can type faster.
The MBE was what I expected, but it did not make it any easier, and this morning did not go well. I kept yawning and I could not see straight, and my answers were freaking me out, so I don't know. I seriously regretted not bringing my glasses even though I probably would not have been able to use them. The afternoon went a little better after having a frappucino (yum). I'd just rather not think about it. I don't want to think about whether I failed.
I have one more day to go. That's the only thing I can think about. And yay me. I saw there were spoilers about how Spike comes back on Angel, and I didn't read them. I'm behaving.

Ok, this is it. All my luck to Brookie and my friends who are taking this thing tomorrow, and keep your fingers crossed for me for the next three days. I'm seriously going to kick this thing in the ass. 😉

Though I've never been of the type to discuss politics, I couldn't help but catch this little tidbit at How Appealing, which discusses in brief Volohk's displeasure with a particular New York Times article (I'd link that but I really didn't read it).
What caught my eye were two things. The entry mentioned my law school, and that one of Bush's darling nominees to the DC court had some negative things to say about the law review. Granted, I'm not the biggest fan of my law school or the law review, and the title is atrocious, but the faculty is decent, and they are not going to publish trash. Second, courts have relied on secondary sources in the past in forming their decisions. Not primarily, but they have influence, especially when technology is involved because the field is so new. It is very unprofessional of a California Supreme Court Justice to say something like that, let alone publish it, and it makes me ill to find out that she's a nominee for a federal position now.
Which leads me to another thing that's related to this topic and that I've seen mentioned at Sua Sponte and Effinchamp in regard to choosing the right law school, since I noticed mine was rather discredited. Here's my two cents.
I've made no secret about disliking my school St Mary's University School of Law. I was deceived about it being ADA compliant, and my second semester there the administration decided to change the handbook after the bar results came out with disaterous results, and our mean went from a B- to a C+, among other things. The administration basically stopped treating it's students decently, and right now many of us have no market potential whatsoever. But prior to this, I wanted to come here. Why? Reputation.
You can go anywhere in the state of Texas, and if they ask you where you graduated from and you say St. Mary's, it's almost as good as saying Notre Dame. Sure, it's not the same, but it's on par. People's eyes open a little wider, and you know that they know that they've just met a good lawyer.
What I've loved about St Mary's is that we take care of each other. We're a smaller school, and even though we're still a competitive bunch, we're still there for each other to help out in times of need; ie, the finals crunch and now the bar. And the Alumni Association makes it its business to try and hire new graduates each year.
The problem is the administration, especially the dean, has ruined our oppourtunities in the job department, which I could elaborate upon but I care not to at this time, and of course it doesn't help that the bar passage rate has been very low for the past two years. But you'll see, my class will change all that.
If you're looking for a law school, pick what fits you best. If your grades and lsat scores are great, and you're competitive, go for the big leagues. If you like the smaller schools, those are great too. Just make sure you do your research. Investigate the schools. Look into their policies, what their specialties are. I think schools with clinics are great, and if you want to do law review look into the schools with the more reputable ones. If you're physically disabled, please, please, please do not accept to go to that law school until you have visited the campus and they have given you in writing the accomodations they have promised to make for you. Especially if you're going to live on campus.