Onward and Upward with the Ambitions!

If I haven't mentioned it, I'm a file clerk at a good-sized firm here in A-town. Today is my first day in moving from the Real Estate section where the people are hypersamaritan nice but the job is boring, to Litigation, where the opposite is true, if rumor is to be believed.

But first: on Monday, a real estate lawyer took my colleague, Zabba (also a file clerk and future lawyer) and myself to lunch, where we plugged him for information like a government detainee. We asked him tons of questions about law school, choosing firms and practice areas, and wheeled out every horror story we'd read in Scott Turow's One L, specifically about the first year only allowing for thirty minutes of sleep. To all of which this gentleman replied with a slight shrug of the shoulders and an unimpressed 'Eh'. Eh! He pointed out that how one responds to pressure is probably the best indicator of how one will handle law school and put in a point for remaining diligent and calm. Zabba and I were in jaw-dislodged awe. I mean, yes, that's a fine theory, just like I should wake up early every morning and do tai chi on Mt. Bonnell, but it's hard to implement. But he--who Zabba appropriately dubbed Even Steven--seemed genuinely unflapped by pretty much anything. Even Steven keeps a steady hand.

Second: As yesterday was my last day in real estate, at 5:30, Zabba and I took my stuff from my desk on 22 up to my new desk on 24 and dropped it there. I think we both have visions of Litigation being very sexy and well-connected. Well, RE must be well-connected as well, but it really only has one modus operandiddly: development of the good earth. Litigators, on the other hand, can be anything: pirates, knights, librarians, mongooses, nuns and snake-charmers. One of the litigators I'll be working with strolled out of his office and struck up conversation with us. Nice guy. He and I graduated from the same program at UT and he once was a law firm gopher. (sometime, I'll go into detail about what it's like to be living office equipment) We got onto City Council elections coming up and he pointed out he was a major Candidate X backer, and I said, Well, do you need any help, and he said, Well, yeah, but do you know anything about Candidate X? I pointed out that we'd met him, but that was it. He said to check him out and see if I wanted to pitch in.

Which I did last night. Seems like my kinda guy. I don't think he'll win. Well, he might, but only if it goes into run-offs, as it almost certainly will. So, that sounds like fun. I mean, here it wasn't even my first day yet and I'z gettin the hook UP.

But I must remember Even Steven's advice and keep a cool cortex.

La la la la la la!

I haven't posted in two weeks b/c I had a fire-hot dilemma on my hands: the day after returning from NY, while sitting at my desk at work, a dread creeped over me, like someone smashed an egg on my noggin. Why NY? Why not here at home, in Texas? NY could totally blow like bazooka joe, but I know for a hard, clinical fact that I love it here on the Lone Star range. Also, to go to one of those NY schools, I would have taken on enough debt to fund my own Iraq invasion: three years of U of Houston cost less than one (1!) year of NYLS.

So I decided this is it, this is the range and I'm at home. (there's more to it than that, but time won't yield)

Unfortunately, this decision backbumps my plans by a year. I'll take the LSAT again and learn more about law at work and in my independent study and apply to UH and UT for the Fall of 2006. So I'll be 27 when I enroll rather than 26. C'est la vie. And la vie is getting longer and longer such that I'll be able to work until I'm 98.

The day I told my kind, sweet HR person about my decision to stay here was the same day one of the file clerks in litigation turned in her week-and-a-half notice. Because yours truly had declared his far-sighted plans, he was subsequently offered the position, or in francais, une posicion.

Lesson learned: commitment can score you hot new prospects.

In between hence and thence: new job with new ropes, and studying for the LSAT. Last time I paid for one of those prep courses and I'm not saying I didn't learn anything, but this time (the last time) I'm instituting my own program: Fat Rocks The Standardized Demon, comprised only of difficult analytical reading (Wittgenstein & Chomsky--my old pals!) and old exams.

Sometimes I reflect on how quickly life zooms and how little I've got on my resume. Then I sing myself to distraction!

Exploratory Worth

After visiting NYLS yesterday, I've decided to enroll there. This decision--based on the school's legal writing program and the breadth of its Justice Action Center--leads of course, to the next aurora of tasks: securing money and loans, finding a place to live, buying a new library of books. Aye yi yi!

But all for the best, of course. I'm excited and whirring. Today's a beautful day in NYC--after four days of cold wet--and we're off to the park. Tomorrow, back to Austin and then back to the studious organization of this bafflingly humongonous adventure. This was the thrilling dipping of the toes in the pool.

!!

Founding Indecision

I've been accepted to a few law schools in the US but I'm fairly firmly set on attending in New York City.

Yesterday, I visited Pace LS in White Plains and found it charming, but underwhelming, in regard to size and reputation. I have no doubt that I would receive an excellent education there, but seeing the school in person made me suddenly wonder: my goodness, what DO I want to study in law school? Pace hangs its hat on its enviro/internat'l programs and rightfully so, owing to its national reputation. But I don't see myself studying these things just b/c they're not my cup of tea.

What, then?

Tomorrow, NYLS which has a legal writing program that I'm keen to know more about.