Law without philosophy is like physics without math.
--------
Speaking of physics, my torts professor said this on Monday (regarding a case that extended strict liability for blasting to include harm resulting from "concussive force" and not just flying debris):
“Now this concussive force opens the door to unlimited liability… now this concussive force in theory, according to Steve Hawkings, can go on forever.”
2007-11-15
2007-10-13
Intriguing
While having lunch at the bagel place across from the law school, me and Sultan came up with a spur-of-the-moment photo op to boost our street cred:
It's hard to tell from the photo, but the two books in my hand (the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal Rules of Evidence) are upside down. I also had a Chinese chess set in my backpack but I figured it would just make things worse
It's hard to tell from the photo, but the two books in my hand (the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Federal Rules of Evidence) are upside down. I also had a Chinese chess set in my backpack but I figured it would just make things worse
2007-10-07
People
Here is where I'll talk about some of the people I see regularly and use codenames so they still want to see me.
Pier 39 is practical and good at cooking. She has kind of a monotonic, range-constrained way of speaking (so do I for that matter) but she can be funny when she wants to.
Your Mom makes a lot of your mom jokes and suggestive reversals, e.g.
Me: I want to do X
Your Mom: I bet you DO want to do X
When I say a lot, I mean a lot, which is pretty uncommon among girls (I wonder why she hasn't switched to your dad jokes). But she's funny and they usually work.
Sibbach is serious and usually keeps quiet when the rest of us are joking around. Maybe it's because she's older than the rest of us. Well, 26 isn't that old-- I think it's a personality thing. But she's been opening up a bit more lately.
Sultan is the person I've spent the most time with so far in law school. He's an ec major, but he has both a CS-y kind of sensibility and a philosophical bent like me. This has made for some great discussions between us. We've spent hours talking about philosophy, morality, religion, and (of course) the law. He thinks quickly on his feet, but he's not out to score points when he argues, which is a rare combination. I appreciate that. And the dude does a great impression of Prof. "Coach" Heise.
Negative Feedback looks like someone who went to Berkeley (but he actually went somewhere else). He seems to think everything here sucks or is meh at best. But many people like him, strangely, so I must be missing something.
Flutist was, like me, the flute section leader for her high school marching band. How cool is that. She seems like a very friendly, good-hearted person. But she thinks piccolos are manlier than flutes because piccolos aren't as gentle. WTF. First, piccolos are half as long as flutes, and second, flutes sound gentler because piccolos are bitchy.
Wikipedia will back me up on this one:
I rest my case.
Finally, Skittles is demure, well-dressed, and nervously apologetic. She really wants me and Negative Feedback to be friends for some reason. Also she wants to learn chess (!) but doubts she'll have the time (:().
I hope this post does not bite me in the ass
Pier 39 is practical and good at cooking. She has kind of a monotonic, range-constrained way of speaking (so do I for that matter) but she can be funny when she wants to.
Your Mom makes a lot of your mom jokes and suggestive reversals, e.g.
Me: I want to do X
Your Mom: I bet you DO want to do X
When I say a lot, I mean a lot, which is pretty uncommon among girls (I wonder why she hasn't switched to your dad jokes). But she's funny and they usually work.
Sibbach is serious and usually keeps quiet when the rest of us are joking around. Maybe it's because she's older than the rest of us. Well, 26 isn't that old-- I think it's a personality thing. But she's been opening up a bit more lately.
Sultan is the person I've spent the most time with so far in law school. He's an ec major, but he has both a CS-y kind of sensibility and a philosophical bent like me. This has made for some great discussions between us. We've spent hours talking about philosophy, morality, religion, and (of course) the law. He thinks quickly on his feet, but he's not out to score points when he argues, which is a rare combination. I appreciate that. And the dude does a great impression of Prof. "Coach" Heise.
Negative Feedback looks like someone who went to Berkeley (but he actually went somewhere else). He seems to think everything here sucks or is meh at best. But many people like him, strangely, so I must be missing something.
Flutist was, like me, the flute section leader for her high school marching band. How cool is that. She seems like a very friendly, good-hearted person. But she thinks piccolos are manlier than flutes because piccolos aren't as gentle. WTF. First, piccolos are half as long as flutes, and second, flutes sound gentler because piccolos are bitchy.
Wikipedia will back me up on this one:
Range of a piccolo
I rest my case.
Finally, Skittles is demure, well-dressed, and nervously apologetic. She really wants me and Negative Feedback to be friends for some reason. Also she wants to learn chess (!) but doubts she'll have the time (:().
I hope this post does not bite me in the ass
A touching moment
AJ: sup
Me: I think I caught a cold over the weekend
AJ: Aww that su-
Me: Why didn't you tell me your mom was sick?
AJ: ... dammit
Last weekend I went to an animal sanctuary and gave a 600 pound pig a bellyrub. I felt a bit awkward because I hadn't eaten breakfast that morning and my stomach kept rumbling while I was looking at the animals. Whoops.
Me: I think I caught a cold over the weekend
AJ: Aww that su-
Me: Why didn't you tell me your mom was sick?
AJ: ... dammit
Last weekend I went to an animal sanctuary and gave a 600 pound pig a bellyrub. I felt a bit awkward because I hadn't eaten breakfast that morning and my stomach kept rumbling while I was looking at the animals. Whoops.
2007-09-19
dang dreams
Last night I dreamt I was in an abandoned amusement park at night, searching for something I can't remember. I wasn't looking through my eyes, but from an isometric overhead view, like this:
Eventually I found a wide tunnel full of abandoned cars. I guessed that the tunnel led to an underground parking garage. The cars looked ancient, 50 years old at least, all rusty with broken glass and cobwebs spanning their steering wheels. It was a traffic jam. I wondered where the drivers went.
As I entered the tunnel, my vision shifted to the first-person. The tunnel spiraled downward for some length before abruptly opening on a huge, circular indoor lot. My guess was right; it was a parking garage. The place was well-lit and the cars here looked newer than the cars in the mouth of the tunnel. I sensed that I was close to what I was looking for. My intuition led me straight to a black, boxy looking car in the center of the lot. It had an 80s style and was probably the newest thing here, hardly any signs of wear. The door was unlocked-- no surprise-- and I stepped into the driver's seat.
After I closed the door, I felt a sudden shiver of fear and looked at the rear view mirror. Something wasn't right. I adjusted the mirror so I could clearly see the driver's side of the car behind me. Where there had been empty space not a minute ago, I now saw a decayed skeleton, still wearing a fancy suit. Turning around I saw that all the cars were not empty but filled with corpses, some looking like they'd died in terror, clawing at the glass. The windows were no longer broken but whole...
I quickly turned away and tried to open the driver's side door. It was locked. I bashed the glass to no avail. That's when I first noticed the smell inside the car-- and knew I had a passenger.
...at this point I pressed Escape to reach the main menu and reload my game. No, I'm not making this up. This happens to me all the time. Most people wake up from their scary dreams. I have an in-dream mechanism for keeping the fun alive. I selected an old saved game, and soon I was back in the amusement park, earlier in the day. I don't remember the rest-- something to do with wizards.
Eventually I found a wide tunnel full of abandoned cars. I guessed that the tunnel led to an underground parking garage. The cars looked ancient, 50 years old at least, all rusty with broken glass and cobwebs spanning their steering wheels. It was a traffic jam. I wondered where the drivers went.
As I entered the tunnel, my vision shifted to the first-person. The tunnel spiraled downward for some length before abruptly opening on a huge, circular indoor lot. My guess was right; it was a parking garage. The place was well-lit and the cars here looked newer than the cars in the mouth of the tunnel. I sensed that I was close to what I was looking for. My intuition led me straight to a black, boxy looking car in the center of the lot. It had an 80s style and was probably the newest thing here, hardly any signs of wear. The door was unlocked-- no surprise-- and I stepped into the driver's seat.
After I closed the door, I felt a sudden shiver of fear and looked at the rear view mirror. Something wasn't right. I adjusted the mirror so I could clearly see the driver's side of the car behind me. Where there had been empty space not a minute ago, I now saw a decayed skeleton, still wearing a fancy suit. Turning around I saw that all the cars were not empty but filled with corpses, some looking like they'd died in terror, clawing at the glass. The windows were no longer broken but whole...
I quickly turned away and tried to open the driver's side door. It was locked. I bashed the glass to no avail. That's when I first noticed the smell inside the car-- and knew I had a passenger.
...at this point I pressed Escape to reach the main menu and reload my game. No, I'm not making this up. This happens to me all the time. Most people wake up from their scary dreams. I have an in-dream mechanism for keeping the fun alive. I selected an old saved game, and soon I was back in the amusement park, earlier in the day. I don't remember the rest-- something to do with wizards.
2007-09-18
don't tase me bro
I've settled into a routine over the last couple weeks. My typical school day goes like this:
Morning: class
Lunch: eat with classmates, often discuss cases
Afternoon: classes (Wednesday-Friday), dicking around on the internet (Monday-Tuesday)
Late afternoon: nap, sometimes cut short by meetings and errands
~5PM-11PM: study in the law school library, with dinner thrown in somewhere, usually eaten by myself . I don't always work to 11 every night, and I don't always start at 5.
After studying: come home, study chess for an hour or so, go to bed. Been watching Battlestar Galactica lately, too.
It's a pretty comfortable routine and I hope I don't get too bored. Or boring.
The temperature has dropped sharply over the last week. Starting to get chilly. California lifers glancing sideways at each other like kids looking into a deep dark well. The kind that doesn't echo when you drop a stone into it. Like the one that little Billy fell into last summer, never to be seen again.
Well, maybe not that bad. But with the winter chill will come a social chill as the 1Ls freak out about exams. I'm not looking forward to the quiet weekends, the annoyed "What do you want?"s, the stress under everyone's eyes. They say 1L fall is the worst semester of law school. Why can't people just chill.
Morning: class
Lunch: eat with classmates, often discuss cases
Afternoon: classes (Wednesday-Friday), dicking around on the internet (Monday-Tuesday)
Late afternoon: nap, sometimes cut short by meetings and errands
~5PM-11PM: study in the law school library, with dinner thrown in somewhere, usually eaten by myself . I don't always work to 11 every night, and I don't always start at 5.
After studying: come home, study chess for an hour or so, go to bed. Been watching Battlestar Galactica lately, too.
It's a pretty comfortable routine and I hope I don't get too bored. Or boring.
The temperature has dropped sharply over the last week. Starting to get chilly. California lifers glancing sideways at each other like kids looking into a deep dark well. The kind that doesn't echo when you drop a stone into it. Like the one that little Billy fell into last summer, never to be seen again.
Well, maybe not that bad. But with the winter chill will come a social chill as the 1Ls freak out about exams. I'm not looking forward to the quiet weekends, the annoyed "What do you want?"s, the stress under everyone's eyes. They say 1L fall is the worst semester of law school. Why can't people just chill.
2007-09-13
2007-09-11
1L: two week review
I've had a little more than two weeks of classes now, and overall it's been pretty fun. The material is more interesting than I thought it'd be. I thought I'd only care about criminal procedure, constitutional law, and IP, none of which I'm taking this semester, but torts, contracts, property, and civil procedure actually keep me engaged. I think this is because we've been looking so closely at particular cases that I haven't had time to step back and evaluate the philosophical underpinnings and find them dull.
Apparently "Coach" Heise, my torts professor, was John Elway's backup quarterback at Stanford. That explains his mannerisms. I usually leave his class feeling like I haven't learned much, though, either about the law or about how to "think like a lawyer." Almost everything I've learned in his class was gleamed from the casebook and not from lecture or in-class questioning of students.
Prof. Summers really hammers the lawyering methodology. Most of his questions in class are directed at criticizing the cases we've read (and the student's briefs of those cases) and encouraging us to read carefully, talk with our classmates outside class, and think creatively. It's fun hearing him tear apart the opinions in our casebook-- casebook that he cowrote with another professor here.
I'd estimate my workload at 3-3.5 H cores equivalent. Homework is 3 hours on average every night, maximum 5.5 on bad days (Tuesday nights). Not too bad. Less work than college. I'm glad I went straight from college to here, because many of the students who took time off seem to have trouble getting back into the academic world. It'll kick up though. 1L is supposed to be the hardest year.
Apparently "Coach" Heise, my torts professor, was John Elway's backup quarterback at Stanford. That explains his mannerisms. I usually leave his class feeling like I haven't learned much, though, either about the law or about how to "think like a lawyer." Almost everything I've learned in his class was gleamed from the casebook and not from lecture or in-class questioning of students.
Prof. Summers really hammers the lawyering methodology. Most of his questions in class are directed at criticizing the cases we've read (and the student's briefs of those cases) and encouraging us to read carefully, talk with our classmates outside class, and think creatively. It's fun hearing him tear apart the opinions in our casebook-- casebook that he cowrote with another professor here.
I'd estimate my workload at 3-3.5 H cores equivalent. Homework is 3 hours on average every night, maximum 5.5 on bad days (Tuesday nights). Not too bad. Less work than college. I'm glad I went straight from college to here, because many of the students who took time off seem to have trouble getting back into the academic world. It'll kick up though. 1L is supposed to be the hardest year.
2007-09-06
Property
We watched this video in Property today:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pUPsfYJONrU
Later our professor mentioned that Michael Jackson didn't invent the Moonwalk, then performed the dance for 30 seconds in case any of us forgot how it looked. The little "Hoo!" at the end was the clincher. Bear in mind he's a 60-year old balding white man with crazy fashion taste (he usually comes to class wearing a blue-on-white pinstripe suit and pants, pink ruffle-collared shirt, and a loudly colored bowtie. All he needs is a porkpie hat and a cane to twirl).
What an awesome class.
According to Prof. Alexander the Moonwalk was invented by James Brown, but I think I've seen it even earlier. See Cab Calloway's moves here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=HaZOXF83zBg
In other news, my Lawyering professor read everyone's Facebook profile that he could view. =/
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pUPsfYJONrU
Later our professor mentioned that Michael Jackson didn't invent the Moonwalk, then performed the dance for 30 seconds in case any of us forgot how it looked. The little "Hoo!" at the end was the clincher. Bear in mind he's a 60-year old balding white man with crazy fashion taste (he usually comes to class wearing a blue-on-white pinstripe suit and pants, pink ruffle-collared shirt, and a loudly colored bowtie. All he needs is a porkpie hat and a cane to twirl).
What an awesome class.
According to Prof. Alexander the Moonwalk was invented by James Brown, but I think I've seen it even earlier. See Cab Calloway's moves here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=HaZOXF83zBg
In other news, my Lawyering professor read everyone's Facebook profile that he could view. =/
2007-09-02
today's ingredient
I met a girl who is a human Necker cube. One second she'll look cute, then suddenly she'll look like the host from Iron Chef. I cannot explain this any further.
2007-08-30
One nice thing
One nice thing about being a CS major from Silicon Valley is, you can tell all the poli sci kids from New York that Sunnyvale gives complimentary "wireless hats" to its residents. And they'll believe you.
Tomorrow: Steve Jobs gives my dog a free iPhone
Tomorrow: Steve Jobs gives my dog a free iPhone
2007-08-28
last weekend
* Met two people who immediately grokked my shirt. Nice.
* One of them has read the Monster manga. Double nice. But her favorite Pokemon is Psyduck. Eww dude. Scyther all the way.
* Helped a drunken person hobble and puke her way back to her apartment for the first time. Amazingly I never did this in college despite being the only Sober Guy at most drinky events.
* Listened to the same person practicing violin in the law school kitchen the next day. She's hella good (pro quality) and I guess she gets over hangovers fast. Hope she keeps practicing regularly.
* You know who's not good? The guy in my apartment who diddles on his keyboard when I'm trying to sleep. Argh stop accompanying imaginary middle school choirs (that's what it sounds like)
* Signed up for a few clubs at the activities fair. Especially the ones that gave out food. The Hong Kong Students Association had white rabbit candy! Nice! See you guys on Saturday!
* Noticed the undergrads here are signif. more attractive than at H and immediately felt guilty for thinking that. Man I was a college senior not three months ago and now I feel like the star of the next To Catch a Predator episode.
* Note to self: avoid Collegetown Bagels and Rulloff's for breakfast.
* One of them has read the Monster manga. Double nice. But her favorite Pokemon is Psyduck. Eww dude. Scyther all the way.
* Helped a drunken person hobble and puke her way back to her apartment for the first time. Amazingly I never did this in college despite being the only Sober Guy at most drinky events.
* Listened to the same person practicing violin in the law school kitchen the next day. She's hella good (pro quality) and I guess she gets over hangovers fast. Hope she keeps practicing regularly.
* You know who's not good? The guy in my apartment who diddles on his keyboard when I'm trying to sleep. Argh stop accompanying imaginary middle school choirs (that's what it sounds like)
* Signed up for a few clubs at the activities fair. Especially the ones that gave out food. The Hong Kong Students Association had white rabbit candy! Nice! See you guys on Saturday!
* Noticed the undergrads here are signif. more attractive than at H and immediately felt guilty for thinking that. Man I was a college senior not three months ago and now I feel like the star of the next To Catch a Predator episode.
* Note to self: avoid Collegetown Bagels and Rulloff's for breakfast.
Early impression of professors
Summers (Contracts)
The 2Ls said he's scary. Picks one poor student every class and latches onto him for an hour, teaching the whole lesson through a Q&A session with the kid. So far he does seem to like staying on one victim, but he's not all that scary, despite trying to trip people up. (Look for a change of mind when I'm in the hot seat.)
Favorite line: "Ma-toor" (mature)
Heise (Torts)
They call him "Coach" Heise and I see why. First day of class he told us that we were all his "clients" and he would work for us. He talks and gesticulates like he's trying to pump us up for the BIG GAME WHOO GO TORTS. But he also likes to let students answer questions and doesn't answer very many himself. I wonder if he knows what's going on sometimes. Occasionally he says things that sound good at a distance, but when you step closer you're not sure what he just said. I will call this the Heise Uncertainty Principle.
Favorite line: "OK GOOD NOW TURN THAT EXACT SAME ARGUMENT AROUND AND MAKE IT WORK FOR THE OTHER SIDE YES EXCELLENT"
Alexander (Property)
At first I thought he was touched in the head. He speaks slow-ly and e-nun-ci-ates every syllable like he was screwing a lightbulb into the mud. He even wiggles his head a little bit from side to side like the lightbulb doesn't want to sit still. But he's my favorite professor so far. Alexander is agile in answering students' questions and he asks good questions of his own. And he's pretty funny.
Favorite line: can't remember one, his style of speaking is funnier than his words
Rossi (Civil Procedure)
Rossi is old and has been doing this shit for a long time. He has his lectures memorized hard. He seems like a good lecturer so far, but I can't really judge. The material is pretty dry (read the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure sometime) but at least easy to follow.
Favorite line: his impression of an unscrupulous judge trying to get two parties to settle out of court
Mollenkamp (Lawyering)
This guy is crazy energetic. He would live a long life as a fish he's so off the hook. We haven't done much substantive work in his class yet but I still feel exhausted when I step out of Lawyering.
Favorite line: "WOO!" (quoting Will Smith)
The 2Ls said he's scary. Picks one poor student every class and latches onto him for an hour, teaching the whole lesson through a Q&A session with the kid. So far he does seem to like staying on one victim, but he's not all that scary, despite trying to trip people up. (Look for a change of mind when I'm in the hot seat.)
Favorite line: "Ma-toor" (mature)
Heise (Torts)
They call him "Coach" Heise and I see why. First day of class he told us that we were all his "clients" and he would work for us. He talks and gesticulates like he's trying to pump us up for the BIG GAME WHOO GO TORTS. But he also likes to let students answer questions and doesn't answer very many himself. I wonder if he knows what's going on sometimes. Occasionally he says things that sound good at a distance, but when you step closer you're not sure what he just said. I will call this the Heise Uncertainty Principle.
Favorite line: "OK GOOD NOW TURN THAT EXACT SAME ARGUMENT AROUND AND MAKE IT WORK FOR THE OTHER SIDE YES EXCELLENT"
Alexander (Property)
At first I thought he was touched in the head. He speaks slow-ly and e-nun-ci-ates every syllable like he was screwing a lightbulb into the mud. He even wiggles his head a little bit from side to side like the lightbulb doesn't want to sit still. But he's my favorite professor so far. Alexander is agile in answering students' questions and he asks good questions of his own. And he's pretty funny.
Favorite line: can't remember one, his style of speaking is funnier than his words
Rossi (Civil Procedure)
Rossi is old and has been doing this shit for a long time. He has his lectures memorized hard. He seems like a good lecturer so far, but I can't really judge. The material is pretty dry (read the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure sometime) but at least easy to follow.
Favorite line: his impression of an unscrupulous judge trying to get two parties to settle out of court
Mollenkamp (Lawyering)
This guy is crazy energetic. He would live a long life as a fish he's so off the hook. We haven't done much substantive work in his class yet but I still feel exhausted when I step out of Lawyering.
Favorite line: "WOO!" (quoting Will Smith)
Class schedule
This is what's up
M
0905-1000: Contracts
1010-1105: Torts
1115-1200: Property
Tu
Same as M
W
Same as M with the addition of Civil Procedure from 1325-1420
Th
0905-1000: Lawyering (damn straight it's a word)
1010-1105: Torts
1115-1210: Property
1325-1420: Civil procedure
Fri
0905-1000: Lawyering
1325-1420: Civil Procedure
16 credits
M
0905-1000: Contracts
1010-1105: Torts
1115-1200: Property
Tu
Same as M
W
Same as M with the addition of Civil Procedure from 1325-1420
Th
0905-1000: Lawyering (damn straight it's a word)
1010-1105: Torts
1115-1210: Property
1325-1420: Civil procedure
Fri
0905-1000: Lawyering
1325-1420: Civil Procedure
16 credits
Ithaca
Ithaca used to house a firearms company famous for its shotguns
Cornell has a reputation for a high suicide rate
Coincidence?
(Non sequitur-- must establish that Cornellians have unusually prehensile toes. -Ed.)
Cornell has a reputation for a high suicide rate
Coincidence?
(Non sequitur-- must establish that Cornellians have unusually prehensile toes. -Ed.)
2007-08-27
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