Field Trip

Two friends and I got to know the campus a little better this afternoon when we took a field trip to the Med School. Whether just to scout it out or to secure future spouses (does it really matter?) we made a couple of stops on the way...

• The first was Sterling Hall. We considered this homework, since we'd been discussing the case in Crim Law just before the field trip. Ok. Technically we didn't know where it was, walked past it, asked someone where it was, he pointed it out and we kept walking... but... we meant to stop.
  
• The second was the Babcock Dairy Store, a place I had never heard of in the Dairy Sciences Building. Yes, that's right, Dairy Sciences. It's a kind of amazing place, with various snacks based on dairy (grilled cheese) and sells ice cream and cheese, both to eat there and to take home. They also have an observation area on the second floor where you can look down and see how they're making all of these dairy products. The building is entirely devoted to the science of dairy and is decorated with a lot of dairy propaganda for the State of Wisconsin. Like this:
  

But I had some very good strawberry frozen yogurt, as did one friend. The other elected a baggie of cheese cubes and coffee. I also brought this home this:


The Med School was totally bizarre and really, really, really nice. Beautiful, even. Amazing light, study space, facilities-- even landscaping! We walked over this beautiful arching bridge to the Pharmacy School... which was also nice and much nicer than the Law School. And we left huffy, vowing never to refer to what we have as "The Atrium" again after having seen the Med School's Atrium. Henceforth, it will be known as The Pit.

The News

At the end of another 13.5 hour Wednesday, unable to commit to bed because of a residual caffeine/adrenaline situation, I thought I'd take the opportunity to keep all 6 of my readers updated on the news.
There's this, and this, and this.

Also, the new ipod shuffle looks really cool. But what else is new?

Why is it...

that after 7128265 uneventful chews, one inevitably takes a chunk out of his/her cheek/lip?

Just to keep you on your toes? Appreciate not having open sores in your mouth all of the time?
Refamilizarize you with the taste of blood (assuming you're not Angelina Jolie, in which case I doubt you could forget)?
Ah, maybe just to remind you you're alive.

And I win!

So this is just a small brag over a small thing that I'm rather pleased with. Last Thursday I went to a fundraising meeting to get a group of us to Austin next month for a convention. We could apply for a grant through UW and I volunteered/was roped into writing it. It was due within hours. So I had this kind of crazy evening of grant writing/preparing to be on-call in Contracts the next day evening. And not only did I do fine in Contracts, but after a hearing and presentation this evening (which was not unlike the 3rd level of hell...), I just learned I scored us $326. Which isn't a lot for 8 people... but woo-hoo.
On another note, this hearing was. so. so. weird. We presented along side the Campus Crusade for Christ (they invite folks of "the non-christian faith" to come along to their weekend retreat and "observe how Christians act."), the Undergraduate Zoological Society which was seeking a grant to go to the Crane Institute in Baraboo (which is 40 miles away), the Indian Grad Student Alliance trying to finance their annual Diwali festival and an organization run by a certain Wesleyan Alum who is now a Med Student and also used to be blond, but now has magenta hair and didn't acknowledge we might know one another. Email me for details, closest guess wins a prize.

Marbles

This is amazing. And makes the whole Diebold issue seem a little much-ado-about-nothing.

Why Law School is like High School

I have a locker.
I have a picture of Maggie & Jake Gyllenhaal in the locker.
I think a girl in my class overheard me referring to her as a "ho" on Saturday night.
I received this today in my mailbox:

Law in Action...

What I've most enjoyed about law school so far is the rare occasion when a case or concept intersects with something that seems relevant to my life... the jurisdiction conversations in Civil Procedure shed light in retrospect on a lot of the work I did at CWT last year. I've filed these motions, watched the process of arguing over jurisdiction... it's interesting to learn what those arguments are and why they're being argued. Contracts, for example, usually doesn't thrill me, but when we read a case that explains why FedEx can lose the Sex and the City DVD that I sent KBLA for Christmas last year and have it not be their fault... that's kind of interesting, too.
Last week, though, we drafted a complaint in Civ. Pro. suing a Police Department for the wrongful death of an unarmed man... and shortly after, KBLA told me about this.
The victim was someone she'd met, the actual relationship sounds weird (cousin's boyfriend's cousin?) but the point is that it is appalingly law school come to life. And also points out some kinds of futility in the system... writing a complaint on behalf of the family of Radio Raheem is a practice in theory. In theory, monetary compensation is what we have to give people who have been injured, deprived of their rights and have lost something at the hands of someone else. But in reality, obviously, a fat check from the City is no compensation for officers with histories of shooting 15 yr olds having killed a family member. So what do we have? And how are we supposed to evolve and make ourselves more humane when the only recourse for the loss of a loved one is monetary.**

** It's not like I have a better idea... but still.

Weeds

I started watching Weeds on DVD from Netlflix... and while it's not "great," it's strangely addicting. A gateway show, if you will. But The past few episodes have featured songs from The Mountain Goats. Which fits in well, because I am currently completely obsessed with The Mountain Goats and Tallahassee and Sunset Tree are all I ever listen to. Again and again and again.

Inconceivable...

I also like how there is a lot of great coffee here.
Which leads me to the only contribution I made in Contracts. I was very tired today and am still #%$^%@ sick. When my professor (we were talking about whether you could calculate the profit a Starbucks would make in a new place based on the profits of other Starbucks other places), asked "Is there anywhere in the country where people don't like coffee?" I let out an unintentionally very loud and shocked-sounding, gasp, "No!"

Getting Fleeced

One thing I really like about my triumphant return to the midwest is how it's ok, acceptable and even fashionable to wear polar fleece. I've held onto some of the standards adopted in New York... like I didn't start wearing shorts again. I don't count my city shorts as shorts. And neither does Manhattan. But I had all this other stuff that wasn't getting worn in my NYlife. Namely hiking boots and polar fleece. And since any new "need" excites me because it opens the possibility of consumption, I'm loving it. Since I can now wear fleece jackets again... no way can I still rock the sage green one from freshman year.

Noooooo...
I.
Need.
To.
Go.
Shopping.
At REI. Or another gear shop... the stores I love but was on hiatus from. Strange because I used to be something of an outdoorswoman in my previous midwestern life but I suppressed that identity for a number of years. Much as suppressed the urge to say "pop." (Don't worry, I still say soda...)
What I like about Madison is how there are truly all kinds of people here. Ones who wear oversized sunglasses, all black, leggings and no body fat. Ones who wear Birkenstock clogs (welcome back, boys.)
And a lot of ones who wear Bucky wear.

"Nah. too many 1Ls...."

So I'm sitting in the atrium of the law school. A couple of guys just came in, surveyed the scene and not-so-quietly left saying, "Nah, there's too many 1Ls." Now, I am all for disliking people based on things they can't control... (usually, though, I prefer things they can control. Asshole? Passive Aggressive? Dumb but think they're smart? Annoying? Stupid laugh? Attention whore? Mean to me?) but... odds are I am older than this kid. Don't treat me like the freshman. Because it's not the same. Thre dynamic is really strange, going to school with people of all ages and how they can be of different "grade" while being both younger and older. So some 23 yr old can feel great about being a second-year and lord it over the 30 yr old first year...
Now, there are plenty of reasons I would consider legitmate to dislike a good portion of the 1Ls... (reasons listed above) but the fact that they were doing something else last year and/or the year before besides law school is not one of them.
In a related note, there seem to be a lot of women between 26 and 30, but not a lot of men. They're either fresh out of college or... married. With children. I wonder why this is.

"The Middle West Now Seemed like the Ragged Edge of the Universe"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Erin
Date: Sep 20, 2006 10:51 AM
Subject: Re: Important!
To: Sarah

 

Don't pretend to be nice just because you moved back to the midwest where everyone is nice.

 

Invisalign

In December of 2003, Erin and I attended a holiday party in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. We didn't know anyone there and the friend who brought us, left us soon after arriving. Stories of this party have been told, reaching legend status, but I'll try to summon the highlights, not necessarily in chronological order:

• Feeling terribly uncomfortable, one of us tells the other, we must either leave right now or get really drunk. There is some debate as to who said this to the other. We agree, however, that we chose the latter.
• We find a gift bottle of maker's mark, a gift for the hosts. We open it and drink it. All.
  
• A woman who ends up being Erica's supervisor at her old old job points to a plate of what I believe are cookies, and asks me to look at one and see if it has carbs in it. I ask what a carb looks like.
• The woman tells us about her fantastic "invisalign" adult braces. She has horrible skin and was ugly and got the braces to help her appearace. She claims the braces got her a boyfriend. She offers a graphic description of how her boyfriend is grateful for the orthodontia and how it improves her, um, oral sex skils. We are horrified and can't stop laughing.
• It turns out the mystery food was meatballs, not cookies. Carb content remains unclear.
  
• In the holiday raffle, Erin wins a book of poetry inspired by the race riots in Crown Heights.
• I win a picture frame.
• We try to make out with the hosts when we are the last two guests. They send us home in a cab.
• Erin accuses me of trying to secretly communicate with the cabbie in Spanish.

You can only imagine how pleased I was to arrive at the orthodontist's office this afternoon and discover they'd put my $125 toward my very own invisalign.

You know you're in Wisconsin when...

This is a viable service.

Fall

I like fall. I really do. Once I get over the inherent bummer of the end of summer, fall is great. I also think of 3 autumns in New York as such a relief after the uncomfortable late summer sweat-fest. Summer didn't end so sweltering in Madison, but that kind of bite in the air is still nice.
My new home in a small city surrounded by country means things like corn mazes and bonfires (ok, this might be a stretch) and hayrides and the smell of burning leaves and those are always great about fall.
Also, what might be the best points:
a) I ordered a new winter coat on severe clearance from brooklyn industries, so I'm ready (from head to toe in down) for whatever Wisconsin can dish out.
b) Fall colors and clothes are by far my favorite-- the light-layered look. What's better?

The tunnel. The light. The end.

Today was a nice day, even though 6-7 hours of it was spent doing work. I went to a parade full of kids (and adults) in costumes. The kind of parade where virtually every one there is in the parade, it's relaxed and casual and full of silly costumes and political slogans and stilts and reminds me of my own growing up. I went with my former coworker who is here and a refreshing change from the all-law-school-all-the-time of my day to day.
I went to the library, saw people I like and felt ok about myself and my place and taking a break to walk to get an iced coffee with soy milk on a sunny day on State St.
I went out to a sushi dinner and then grocery shopping with a friend, both situations which are much more my speed and much better for my mental space.
I remember starting college and realizing at a certain point that I hadn't gotten a hug in a long time. And I'm not a super-touchy-feely kind of person. So I guess I hadn't thought that hugs were something important to me, but they are. I think this is just an awkward process, starting over and takes time. And maybe it's ok to acknowledge the suckiness of the interim. I need to create more structure for myself, a schedule and become involved in things that remind me why this is all a good idea and how I will come out of this ready to do what I want. And maybe figure out what that is in the meanwhile.
I also know about myself that I have a tendency to put up distance if I feel wronged by someone-- fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me-kind of mentality. And this isn't always the best way. What may speed this all up is a little more pride-swallowing and to make my own things happen. And not to just retreat into myself/my apartment because I can and because it's easier is doesn't end with my feeling disappointed in other people.
A small step in this is maybe studying in the library more. While I am not any more productive there (maybe less), there is a social component that I apparently crave.
Meanwhile, I can also be proactive about other things: health (cholesterol, this cough, the strange little blisters appearing all over my feet and hands...), sleep patterns, plans with new friends.
And now, I swear the next post will not be about my whiny existential crisis.

The honeymoon is over...

And last night was really tough. I went from writing emails saying, "I'm not lonely and despondent" to realizing, I am lonely and despondent.
I made the mistake of rereading old emails from all kinds of people and feeling sorry for myself that it was Saturday night, I was in over my head and there was no one in a 200-mile radius who would pick up the phone if I called.
Of course everything looks better by the light of day. But there has been some watershed. The social aspect is strange, because while there are a lot of people I like just fine... interactions all feel superficial, I don't feel like in the past month I've really gotten to know anyone or them me. I don't do well in crowds and large-group socializing and that's most of what it has been. And when you're just superficial friends, no one is ever accountable to each other. If someone says they'll call and they don't, there's no recourse because it's almost like you don't know them well enough to demand a to be treated a certain way. Which is really isolating because it means you get dropped for something that sounds better...
Last night I really felt like this was a huge mistake-- I had a comfortable, if not terribly intellectually rewarding, life full of people who genuinely liked and loved me and wouldn't "forget" to call when something else cooler came up... to this. And while I knew it was happening while I was doing it-- I was aware I was giving up a lot of things to be here, I guess I assumed it would all be worth it. But now I don't know... I'm working all of the time, I'm not even particularly good at this and now, yes, I'm lonely and despondent. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Ok, had to get that out. Back to mildly-amusement minutiae...

Things I don't like:

include my persistant cough and the fighter jets that fly over my house. WTF? If I knew military planes, I'd tell you what kind they are... all I know is that they fly in threes, they are very loud, and for a second make me fear impending nuclear holocaust... and then they're gone. There must be something I don't know about the People's Republic of Madison or (a varying number, depending on who you ask-- from 25 to 89.4) square miles surrounded by reality.

Lady Justice might be blind... but damn is she clever.

There's an annual tournament here between the law school and the med school, called the Dean's Cup. It encompasses all kinds of events, from ultimate to kickball to bowling to trivia. A lot of folks are really into it, and were going crazy organizing the law students to take back the Cup, which we've lost for the past two years. So I'm willing to help, right? And figure I should lend my strongest hand. Which, let's be honest, is not athletics. Or bowling (which, no, I don't consider athletic.) So I signed up for trivia because basically my knowledge of random fact is what I most have going for me.
I ended up on a team with my small group and since I was late arriving, had to lay down on the end of the bench in the bar in order to see the TV displaying the trivia. Well, needless to say, law swept med last night. My personal highlight was, from practically under the table, saying "llama, llama, llama!!!" when the question appeared, "what animal is a vicuna most closely related to?" So apparently I learned something during study abroad/my Latin American studies undergraduate education. I had some other clinchers and law took the top 4 spots out of 12, our team came in 4th. Also thanks to my groupmate Scott's encyclopedic knowledge of sports. Apparently when given the names of 6 Phillies players, some people know who plays what position... in the same way I know Andean mammals.
A little unsettling was how poorly the med student performed-- especially in light of the fact that some of the question were definitely med-related (note: there were no law-related questions.) One was something about where the something or other was located and the answer was pancreas... we got it wrong, but they did, too. Which leads us to only one conclusion: If you need a lawyer, a UW grad will kick ass. For major surgery... uh, go somewhere else.

Rite of passage?

Of every law student when they add "tortious" to Word's dictionary so that Word will stop auto-correcting their notes to say "torturous."

5

Number of times I've been asked, "Are you watching the game?"
And I guessed the wrong game.

Correct answers include:
Texas
Wisconsin
Texas
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings

It's really dark here

It's a little hard to get used to. There are maybe two streetlights per block in residential areas... so, uh, it's dark. Coming from New York, or even Minneapolis, I've got to keep reminding myself that this is Madison and darkness doesn't necessarily mean being raped and murdered and left in a ditch... in Madison, in all likelihood, it means you'll get lost. But I am considering packing a flashlight.

Subject matter

So since my life is not very exciting these days... I wake up between 6 and 7. I go to school until 2:15, sometimes 4:30 and then I do my homework. And then maybe I watch tv on DVD and then I go to sleep, goal time between 10 and 11. Repeat. Today I got sick quite rapidly, sometime between 9 and 9:15 am. So, basically, I realize no one wants to hear me complain about a) my workload or b) my health... which challenges me to cultivate the very small portion of my day-to-day existence that doesn't seem to involve school. Or a painful, hacking cough.
But since this post is already kind of about school, I'm going to allow it... school is good. It's not unlike the periods at college where I'd be working really hard, kind of in a flow... but it doesn't seem to stop and operating this way is exhausting. And it's been raining for 5 days. But tomorrow is Thursday and I have no class on Friday, which should provide for plenty of R & R and recuperation and catch-up and maybe even some fun. Like this...

from the archives

From: me;
>Subject: no words.
>Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 01:33:49 -0400 (EDT)
>
>love,
>wow. things here are indescribable-
>I've never experienced anything like this.
>I am so, so, so unbelievably lucky to be watching
>all of this from somewhat of an outside perspective
>Tuesday morning there were some serious scares
>BUT, everyone is ok. Every story I've heard is a
>blessed exception- someone who went across the street for a cup of coffee
>someone who just decided not to go to work on Tues-
>but I do know for every one of those stories, there
>are ten of unthinkable horror- There are some people here, though
>who are still waiting- and no one can get into New York for another
>few days. This is insurmountably huge and frightening
>and NATO just ok'd US military retaliation
>and I honestly think we are going to be bombing afghanistan within
>the next 24 hours... this is all at a level I don't think many
>people have, or can comprehend. We can't deal,
>we are ill-equipped and scared and angry
>and it's the truest test of my politics
>about the death penalty, and US aggression.
>Anyway, one thing that this has all brought out
>is an insatiable need to hold everyone we love close
>and swaddle them in blankets and hide them under my bed
>and protect them from the world and the monstrous ugliness
>and pure evil that has happened. I don't even have the right
>words to talk about it. But, when I think of these people
>I want swaddled and under my bed- I think of you.
>I love you so much.
>This is being compared to JFK's assassination- it is polarizing
>and has shattered the way everyone thinks- it has truly
>changed everything. I honestly can't even wrap my mind around it.
>Let me know how you are.

Good Mail Day

I was huffy walking home in the pouring rain from the orthodontist where I spent $125 to get my old retainer removed and a new, removable one made (um, don't they understand that I don't really care if my teeth move. You can't stop evolution, baby.) But I came home to the most awesome mail day:
1. The new jeans I bought on ebay. Perfect, fit great-- have even been altered in length to be perfect.
2. My I-Pass. So I can pay half-priced tolls in Illinois.
3. Invitation to my cousin's wedding in November. Which promises to be very fun.
4. Coupons for pizza.

I guess I'm reaching with the last one, but I was individually excited about each item.

Yesterday's NY Time Magazine included this which refers to my former employer and his cronies liberally. And I intended that pun, yes.

I have also enjoyed counting how many times I see my former office building in the media these days. Total so far? A lot. And that's not including the facetime in "Hitch."

Feels great to have the old retainer gone. Kind of weird that I had it installed in me for HALF OF MY LIFE.

Simple pleasures

A rainy morning of coffee and the first edition of my new Sunday-only New York Times subscription? Pretty nice. And much nicer than participating in the Ironman in the pouring rain. Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 and run a full marathon? Um, thanks but no thanks. The running segment took place between me and the law school, which was a little annoying because it prevented me from double-parking and running in to get my torts book. So, see, it's not like I wasn't challenged today, too...

Broken

I got braces in 6th grade. I got the braces off a year and a half later and that was that. Not too traumatic, I got good teeth of out it... fine. When they removed my braces, they installed this "permanent" retainer (which was a good thing since I wore the non-permanent one all of 3 days...) Every time I've been to the dentist in the past five years, I've asked them to remove it. They've all said, "Oh, well if it's really bothering you we can, otherwise you should leave it in." Fine. So this afternoon as I'm flossing my teeth, the retainer comes loose. Hmmm... now that I'm in a new city, without a dentist or dental insurance, entering my second week of law school... I AM SO GLAD I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS. Jesus, how annoying. Meanwhile, I am cleaning my apartment which quickly became completely disgusting as this week as every dish I used, item of clothing I wore and thing I spilled is exactly where I left it. And it's the first Badger football homegame. For me, this only means streams of people wearing red parading past my window. Which is actually only a kind of lovely distraction on this otherwise grey day.

I am an idiot.

Because what other explanation is there for a person who goes to a place where they drink beer by the bootful (literally) at 9pm, enjoys herself with abandon, drops her second drink in law school (that would be the second one I've dropped, not the second one I've had), comes home at 12:30... all knowing that she has 3 classes the next day, starting at 7:45am? Nope, I think idiot just about covers it. So, although I wasn't at my prime today, I spoke in class a few times and got positive feedback afterward for what I said/asked... so maybe hungover is how I do my best thinking? Um. No. I just sent off a writing assignment that is due at 5pm... and now I'm throwing some goods in the crockpot and taking a nap.... yesssssss....

Famous

Can you ID the owner of these childlike paws? That'd be yours truly.



At Starbucks, my very favorite place to study-- sit outside, drink coffee, no internet? Recipe for productivity, I'd say. I did warn the photographer that I wasn't actually going to be "using" my laptop, I'd only be acting. He said that was ok, now you've got the "behind the scenes"...

Ok, it's sinking in.

I went to school at 7:45 this morning, I came home at 8:45 tonight. I oscillate between feeling glib and... well, prematurely glib. Also, at the age of 25, on my second day of law school, I am quite convinced I am developing adult acne. I also had a picture of my hands taken today for a student newspaper. This is phenomenally fortunate and hopefully I'll be able to find photo on the internet to post.

Today I watched "Do the Right Thing" for the second time in an academic setting.

File under:

a) Why my education has been awesome.

and

b) Another thing Wesleyan and Wisconsin have in common, besides the "W" and red.



Now I am at home, preparing for my SECOND day of law school.

too much of a good thing...

I am just finishing up the last of my homework, contemplating my last night as a civilian. I feel ok about all of it, really. Some of the work was challenging, but kind of rewarding once it was over and I felt like I understood it a little. What I don't feel good about is having eaten somewhere between 75 and 400 million brussel sprouts... thanks a lot, farmers market. Pictured is what still remains of the brussel sprouts. Maybe I need a roommate after all.

Like riding a bike... a boring, shitty bike.

Classes haven't even started yet... but a few things are familiar. The feeling I have not missed over the passed three years of complete freedom on the weekends. I had a nice day yesterday, but felt guilty and like there was something hanging over my head the whole time... and that something was HOMEWORK. It's been awhile. But also familiar is being back in the world of school in that it's what people are talking about all of the time. Specifically their workloads. Granted, we're taking different classes and I don't really know the volume of what's been assigned for other sections... BUT... I know what I've been assigned. I've been having fun, cooking, watching a lot of tv and have completed all but about another half hour's worth that I'll do tomorrow. I tend to like anything axiom that starts with, "there are two kinds of people in this world..." So here's one: There are two kinds of people in this world... those who enjoy getting worked up about their homework and talking about how long they've been studying... and... well, me. I get my shit done and since 11th grade or so, I don't even do it at the last minute. BUT. I don't get off on talking about how long I spent in the library and I want it to take as little time as possible. Because, hello, it totally interferes with my ability to watch TV on DVD...

Ah. Some things never change.

Eggplant

I'm making use of my produce from the farmer's market yesterday, as well as my crockpot and have a ton of "baked eggplant" simmering away... recipe courtesy of The Crockpot Cookbook. I was thinking it's really odd that eggplant is regularly used to substitute for meat-- sandwiches, eggplant parmesan. When you think about it, it's a bizarre substitution since eggplant has next to no nutritional value. It's like making the veggie option a wedge of iceberg lettuce. Then again, eggplant IS delicious...

Football and Bagels

"I never liked football, either... until I became a student here."

Badger football began yesterday, with a triumph over Bowling Green. Or so I heard. And I still get confused because Bowling Green is the last stop on the 6 train... not a school. I guess I'd like to go to a game at some point this fall, but footballmania has only highlighted that this is a very different place than I've gone to school before...

This morning I puttered around the house and went grocery shopping. I am building an impressive collection of fake meat in the freezer and Copps' sale on Morningstar Farms did a lot of supplement it. Fake mini corn dogs? Very excited to try. On the way home, I stopped at Bagels Forever. A place Madison natives won't shut up about. It was a kind of Madison version of the Bageltique. But they're not open 24 hours. And you have to drive there. I also felt like the girl making my sandwich was judging me when she asked if I really wanted cream cheese AND tomato. Meanwhile, the woman ahead of me had asked for cream cheese and ketchup... now, THAT'S weird. I enjoyed my bagel with a diet Mountain Dew and reflected on the experience. The bagel was good, definitely better than Bruegger's, which I used to think was a good bagel back when I didn't know any better. But its no Bageltique. I was also pleased that Diet Mountain Dew is everywhere around here, sometimes even out of the fountain... this is very good for me because I love it so very much. I was even able to spread the DMD gospel to a couple of folks in my section and they're into it. Although it's kind of hard to tell if they're just humoring me and actually think I'm nuts.

Everybody Needs Somebody to Look Down On...

So I knew in moving back to the midwest and attending large state school here... I'd probably have to get over my prejudice against people from rural Wisconsin. People from rural Minnesota are one step above. I've tried to think of these people as more impressive-- we're at the same place, yet I had the advantage of not only a fancy-pants, coddling liberal arts college, but regular access to theatre and shopping choices beyond WalMart. But some things I can't get over, and it mostly relates to speech patterns. Thoughts on readjustment to the upper Midwest:
1. The accent. I can't get over it. I was never normal to me, but I keep trying to catch someone's eye when someone breaks out in Marge from Fargo. I just want a "wow, get a load of this" look to be exchanged.... nothing. Also, "pop." I used to say it, but now I give a start every time I hear it.
2. At all. "Would you like another beer, at all?" I had forgotten about this one. And now I just realized I sent an email yesterday that closed with, "Are you going to Chicago, at all?" What does that even mean? I never had so much of an accent, can I pick it up now? Would that be the single worst thing to happen to me mental health-wise and professionally? Possibly.
3. I don't know where small towns are. Except if they are an exit off 94... I'm sorry. I know Kenosha is on the east side of the STATE. And Wauwasee? I had now idea, I may have just made it up right now. I don't know this for Minnesota, either. Generally I know whether a town is north or south of the Twin Cities... but... that's about it.
4. People in Wisconsin hate Minnesota. I had forgotten this, too. Many times recently after answering, "Minneapolis" to "where are you from?," the asker has said: "Minnesota? ICK." I railed on a drunk 19 yr old who propositioned me on the way home the other night (um, not for propostioning me, but for hating on Minnesota.) "Get over it, we are the same people. Enough with the in-fighing, my friends. Once you leave the midwest and people start asking you what state Wisconsin is in... you see we need to stick together." It's not like I even care about college sports-- or the NFL. What are we arguing about?
5. People in Wisconsin hate people from the coasts, particularly East. This is a blanket statement and generally applies to undergrads where the term "coasties" is thrown around. Granted, most people who come to UW from the east coast are interested in paying steep out-of-state tuition with no possibility of financial aid and not smart enough to get into Michigan (did I say it? Whooops!)
6. Bucky the Badger looks like a total dick.

The only thing that redeems him is the turtleneck. So he looks like a jerk with a dated fashion sense? Awesome. Bucky comes up because he is EVERYWHERE from t-shirts to tortilla chips in this town. And I've been trying to spread the campaign against him.

A new chapter...

So I've been in orientation this week. And most of what I've heard ends with, "but do whatever works for you...." But I've also heard repeatedly that in the first year of law school, people have a real hard time maintaining contact with their lives outside of school. Thankfully, I don't have a husband or children to neglect... BUT... I have a bevy of amazing friends. So I am thinking I'll resurrect the blog in order to do something of a job ("a better job" seems to be possibly misleading) of keeping those I love in touch with what is happening to me on the day-to-day.
I just wrote this to a friend, and it kind of sums up my mood at the moment:

Things have gotten real here very quickly since I now have my books AND assignments for the first days of class on Tuesday... shit! It's tough, because I've met a surprising number of people I really like.... but boy do I miss having facetime with someone who has known me for more than 2 weeks. The absolute best part of the University of Wisconsin-Madison is the terrace at Memorial Union. Imagine a huge terrace, full of students and faculty and folks from the community, on lake, where you sit and drink the cheap beer they sell... pretty much my ideal. Although it is September 1st and I am wearing a wool sweater and shorts... long shorts, I mean, I've carried over SOMETHING from my tenure in NY. I really like Madison, which is good. I like the ethos of the law school. On the first day of orientation this week, I really thought I was going to throw up before I got to school, nerves hit me like WOW. But as time has gone on, I've gotten less scared and more sure that this is totally something I can do... but it's going to be an intense year. It's also so weird to go to a huge state school... the other night I was walking home and there were literally THOUSANDS of undergrads roaming in packs and screaming. Like Wesleyan times one million... and once again, I am so thankful for what we had there.