The Surreal Life

As I was walking to my car today from my last interview of the day - a very frank and revealing one I must say - a man decided to be social with me. Now if you are a loyal reader you know that I am normally adverse to strangers striking up conversation with me. Not because I think I am a mean person, but because I can be ridiculously shy (yes, its true). He commented on my being all dressed up, and I was somewhat flattered when he had to ask whether I was being interviewed or whether I was the interviewer. We walked along on what turned out to be an overcast, grey, and windy day and he asked where I was from. When I said Houston he perked up and told me that he had clerked for a judge there back when the 5th circuit stretched from Texas to Florida. I knew this man was a professor since I had seen him before, and so I did my best to be social.
Then he made a comment about how life leads you in so many directions you never expect. I thought about how true that is and asked him where it had led him. And as he began to tell me I felt smaller and smaller. He told me how from Houston he had gone to UC-Berkley to teach. And then to D.C. to clerk for Supreme Court Justice Black. And then he had worked at a major law firm in D.C. And then had been tapped by President Johnson to work in the maritime administration. And he had hosted a radio show, and worked for the FCC, and ran for Congress. I'm sure I missed something in there, and may have gotten the order wrong, but he did all those things. And I thought to myself...wow. I say it made me feel small, but really it just made me wonder if I could even achieve half so many things in my life. At this point I'm just praying that someone gives me a job next summer in Chicago. The praying became even more fervent after I received the dreaded "Thanks, but no thanks" letter from my top choice firm- the one I had had the best interview with. I feel like I stare at my phone all day willing it to ring and some recruiter telling me they want me to come for an office visit. I freak out when I think what will happen if November 1 comes and I don't have anything. But somehow the musings of this professor made me feel a little better. Cause things always work out somehow. Even if no one wants me, Im sure I can find something to do for the summer. So I have to say the combination of the weather, the last interview of the day, and the wise professor who has done so much with his life made for a seriously surreal moment.
As a side note that is totally unrelated...I hear that three men from my hot list, and one of them being the OMD, were joking a few days ago about how they were all hot and how "some gay guy" had said they all were. Now I have been assured that the some gay guy comment was not derogatory, they just either didnt know my name or didnt want to admit it. Which is funny since I have class with all 3 of them. I even sit next to one. I'm told the OMD - Erik Axelson for any new readers - knows who I am, and if he doesn't he should have figured it out with all I stare at him in class. But I'm not sure if the other two know. But anyways...don't let it go to your heads if you are on my hot list. It's a priveledge no doubt, but it says nothing at all about your personality, and if that's bad it could totally wipe out any attraction. And if you are on my hot list feel free to say hi. I don't bite or molest those who aren't willing to participate.

I Feel So Smart

Do you ever have days when you just feel like you are smart? I used to have them all the time in high school. But since coming to law school I have had them less and less. Sitting through Ward's Tax class is enough to make me think I've completely lost what intelligence I once had. But today I had a smart day. While doing research for my note topic I had to check out several books to my carrel and as I sit here staring at them (yes, sadly I am writing this while sitting in my carrel on a Sunday afternoon) I feel like I am smart again. Now granted, I have yet to open them and read anything in most of them, so there is no guarantee I will understand any of it. But I imagine if someone walked by my carrel and peered into the glass part at the books they would think a smart person must live here. They would also sadly think I have a love, or perhaps even an obsession for Contract Law since I have 4 different case books on Contract Law. That would be thanks to the lovely Professor Gaulding who has had me doing research for her contracts class. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I didn't learn anything since I had such a wonderful Contracts I professor. I gotta say though, since reading one of these books I feel like I finally get what consideration is. It only took me a freakin year of law school. But some other titles that make me look smart: well first there is a Seventeenth edition of the Blue Book. Actually that makes me look dumb, cause I bought it for Pettys small section, only to learn that the wonderful people at Harvard and Yale decided to come out with a new edition over the summer, so I had to go buy a brand new one just so I could do internet citations correctly. Can you imagine if you were one of the editor's of that thing? Talk about boring. I also have my text books from IP Law, Corporations, and Real Estate, but those are fairly normal so I think I just look of average intelligence from those. But then, staring back at you in bold maroon I have my two wonderfully fascinating books on Pension and Employee Benefits. Talk about a couple of page turners there. The tax code and ERISA have never been so engrossing. You just can't put them down...unless it is in a fire.
But actually its the books I checked out today that make me feel smart. And while you know that I haven't read them yet, just imagine how smart I will be if I actually do read them and understand what they are talking about. I look forward to such a day, when I can say I know about some random stuff that really isn't even appropriate for cocktail party conversation. So here is the list of books I just checked out:

The Kemalists
A Changing Turkey
Islam
Introduction to Islam
The Constitution of Iran
History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran
Human Rights and the Legal System of Iran
Law and Human Rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Don't those just make me look so smart. Well maybe not the introduction book, but the rest for sure. How envious of me are you that I get to read about the constitution of Iran? Feel free to stop by my carrel and bask in the knowledge that radiated from it...while Im not there. I kind of dim the radiance with my presence so its best if you wait til the space is vacant. Well anyways, I have to get to writing a 10 page memo about some of the stuff in those books, so enjoy!

Lying

Recently I discovered that someone had lied to me about something I considered important. As with all lies it led me to the inevitable question of "Why did they lie?". Which of course led me to think about why anyone lies. As I went through the list I thought how odd some lies were, and how much trouble they can get you into, so I thought I would share some of the reasons I came up with on why people lie.
The first one that popped into my head was the "white" lie. That one you tell someone to spare them some pain or perhaps to make them feel better. The most famous of these is when any woman asks "Does this make me look fat?". Now no man or lesbian in their right mind would ever say yes to that. I thought about the times Ive used this and the most often was when I rejected someone. I would say things like "Oh, Im not interested in dating right now" or "I'm actually interested in someone else right now." Both of these were really code for "You are not my type and I don't find you attractive and you annoy me." Now that's not to say that sometimes the above statements weren't true, but most of the time it was my effort to be nice. Only if someone kept prying or trying to convince me that I should go out with them would I finally tell them the truth(and then they thought I was mean, like they hadnt brought it upon themselves).
The next kind of lie I thought of was the one to keep yourself out of trouble. This is an obvious one and generally considered to be worse than a white lie. This is like if you kill someone and then say "Oh no, I didn't do it. Those aren't my fingerprints on the murder weapon." Kids use this all the time, but they suck at it. They will lie to you even if you clearly saw them do it. And since criminals are essentially kids in big bodies...well you get the idea.
The last major lie I could think of is where you lie about something you don't want people to know. Like sex. For example "No, that's not my leather harness and chaps and handcuffs, those belong to my roommate." Or how about "I'm a virgin." You tell these when you are ashamed of something. I personally try to avoid any of these, and will just tell anyone anything I do, but maybe I overshare.
So after going through all these I was still stumped. I couldn't figure out why this guy lied to me. Just so you know the background, I asked this guy out and he told me that he was dating someone in L.A. Well obviously that doesnt fall into the ashamed category or the kind to keep yourself out of trouble. But it could clearly be in the one where he didnt want to hurt my feelings. But then I even gave him an out and asked if he was just saying that to let me down easy. And yet he continued the lie! Personally I would rather the harsh truth than a candy coated lie, but I realize most people aren't like that. Yet still, it was a dumb lie to tell, especially in a place as small as Iowa City where I was gonna find out he was sleeping with folks. I guess there is fourth kind of lie-the irrational lie. The one you tell just to tell, since you don't really need to. So I'm going to say I was the victim of an irrational lie. It sounds so much better than he lied cause he didnt think I was cute, lol.