Go Bears!

In honor of Cal's bowl game on Saturday I wore my Berkeley sweatshirt (which I wear on most chilly days anyway, but still...). While walking across the Hoover Dam (an entry about the Miller-Christmas-Family Vacay in Vegas will be posted soon) a random woman yelled "Go Bears!" to me. I of course responded with an equally enthusiastic "Go Bears!" Cal then went on to win the bowl game. I wouldn't say that I was responsible for this win, but I bet our "Go Bears" exchange at least contributed to the good JuJu. I love being an alum of the best public university in the US.

Don't You Wish Your Law School Friends Were Cool Like Mine?

I received one of the most amazing and unique Christmas presents ever this year from my law school friend Dave. He made Me, Randi, and Bri Lego scenes(?). Rather than writing about them, I'll just show pictures.

This is Me, Randi, and Bri. My Lego thing is a coffee shop, Randi's is a court room, and Bri's is a bar, with a stripper pole. I like how I'm literally glowing in this pic. We're going to put these on our desks at work.

This is a close up of me in my coffee shop. Note: it's a corner (pretty sure you didn't remember that off hand and got it off of fb Dave), pink coffee mug, shutters, handmade lego chair, brief case (that opens) for lappy, smooth floors, and fancy lamp (doesn't turn on). Dave was going to put a plant in the corner, but was apparently out of plant legos. If it was the thought that counted this wouldn't matter....bummer.


This is a dorky pic of Dave, who if he ever reads this, will probably kill me for posting this pic. He's using his lego mug that Randi and I got him for his B-day last year in the law school library. Dave hearts legos (though I doubt he would use that phrase). I don't know if this is a fair introduction of him onto the blog. He's way cooler than this makes him out to be, and he obviously gives great Christmas presents.

Milestone

I AM HALF WAY DONE WITH LAW SCHOOL!!!

Taken Off Guard

I was going over my Reproductive Rights notes at Starbucks today when a woman came up and asked what I was studying. I hesitated for a second deciding whether or not I should tell her specifically what I was studying or give her a more general description. The lady didn't give me a choice. When I told her I was a law student studying for finals she asked what courses I was taking. I really didn't feel like getting into it with some stranger in the middle of Starbucks when I was in a productive mood, but I was afraid that if I only listed 2 classes she'd think I was a slacker (3 is much better right???). Of course she zeroed right in on my Choice class and asked if I was taking it for any specific reason. Again, trying to avoid a political discussion I gave the most neutral answer I could think of: "I'm generally interested in the topic and it seemed relevant." Before I knew it she was asking me if I could agree that secular humanism affected judicial decisions like Roe. I just kept telling myself to smile and nod. She just assumed I supported abortion rights. I wanted to tell her that I agreed with her, but I didn't know if she was the sort of pro-lifer I wanted to associate myself with as she spouted off random studies that link abortion to cancer, started quoting doctors, and throwing out lots of big words. She was clearly ready to confront and change my liberal ideology. Even after I politely mentioned that I don't agree with abortion, she was still very confrontational. She left telling me about how tragic she thought it was that the academic community shunned conservative view points and seemed to be warning me that if I spoke up in class about what I really thought I would probably fail whether or not what I said had any academic merit.

The irony in all this is that I've been stressing about this very thing as I prepare for this final. Taking this class has been a challenge, and most days I am the only one advocating "conservative" viewpoints, but overall I have really appreciated the opportunity to study this topic through a legal lens. Now, as I create my outline and think about the various issues that come up I'm continually asking myself, "how would I answer this?" and "what does my professor want to hear?" I hope that I can achieve some sort of balance as I write my final, making clear and convincing arguments for what I know is right and true, but not forgetting my audience and how complicated this topic really is.