Hello. Welcome to my website. It started while I was in Europe for a semester, and I've kept it up since then. I'm now at the University of Chicago Law School, living in Hyde Park, and the story continues. If you want to say hi or visit me, email cfloyd at uchicago dot edu.
"Life is nothing if not the sum of your anecdotes." -Scotty The Body, on storytelling "But it ain't that bad, man. Just figure out the system before the system figures out you." -T. Matthew Smith, on the 1L year "The beer just doesn't taste as good when you're not drinking it with your buddies." -Anon., on being away from good friends "Somebody has to pay the rent around here. Why the hell not us?" -Cotton, on studying for exams
11/30/2003
Every time I go home I forget to bring something back with me. This time it was toothpaste. So baking soda it is...
11/30/2003 08:21:00 PM
11/24/2003
It's 11:10pm. A highlighter I bought yesterday at 8pm just ran out of ink. 27 hours worth of highlight for a buck-fifty. That's just wrong. I don't know who to sue--the makers of the highlighter, the law school for giving me so much work, or myself for choosing to highlight too many key points in each case.
11/24/2003 09:09:00 PM
Winter showed up today. Lows in the teens, highs below 30. The wind was strong too. It was really really cold. So I got up early in order to find a parking spot and drove to school. I greeted somebody in the hall with a "How's it going?" and his reply was, "OK, I guess, except that winter started today and I'll be depressed for the next three months." Oh, lovely.
I think I need a new hat. My flimsy Old Navy fleece beanie just ain't gonna cut it. Maybe I'll set up a PayPal account when I do my site redesign so you all can donate to my Chicago Winter Wardrobe Fund. Hmmmm...
11/24/2003 03:10:00 PM
11/23/2003
I'm back. Have you missed me? I haven't written anything of substance for the last two weeks. That's mostly because I don't do or think about much of substance except for law school now. In the free time I might spend journaling, I'd rather not bother writing about the grind. But it's time I checked in, so here goes.
First of all, a good buddy of mine, Jordan Jones, just moved to Florence, Italy, to teach English. He has a weblog up and running via livejournal. You should check it out right here. Leave him a comment to let him know you're keeping an eye on him.
I hope to get moving on posting new pictures and my music. I think it will involve a pay upgrade to my site so that they'll host my files with less hassle. I'm busy these days, so that may not happen until Christmas break.
Busy, you ask? Whatever could you mean? Well, I feel like I'm behind the pack in preparing for exams scheduled for December 10 and 12. This may or may not be the case, but I know for a fact a lot of people are a lot further along, having completed course outlines and practice exams in their spare time. I, on the other hand, have been keeping up with class but haven't really hit the grindstone for exam prep, so I've been working up to that.
A course outline is a document you put together that sums up the learning you've done over the term. The exams are open-notes, so you're making the most effective cheat-sheet possible. The idea is that you spend so much time compiling and tweaking this document, that you don't even need to access it during the exam itself. The process, not the finished product, is the point. I have two exams this quarter, so I have been working on two outlines. I am debating whether to bring this work home over Thanksgiving. I don't think I will. Instead, I'll do summer job stuff.
"Summer job stuff" involves writing a resume and cover letter and sending these to law firms where I want to work. Sounds pretty straightforward, and it is, but it's very labor-intensive. Firm jobs are hard to find for first-year law students, so I will be sending my resume to at least 70-100 firms in Chicago, Texas and Oklahoma. I figure, if I'm don't get a job here, I want to work as close to home as possible. Anyway, the firms are not allowed to consider 1L job applicants until December 1. So you want your letter to arrive as quickly after that date as possible. My resume and cover letter are written and ready; I just have to do the work of picking firms and sending letters. Fun fun fun. That's how I'll be spending a good portion of my Thanksgiving "free time." Then once I get back, with that hopefully behind me, I'll focus on exams and hope for a call-back over Christmas.
Lately my days have been running long. I cook less and less because it takes up too much time. Also, I have to be home to cook, and I work much better at the library. I work at the law library mostly, but sometimes I go to the Regenstein, the main campus library. It's a good change of scenery, and the atmosphere is a little less oppressive than the quiet law library at night. Plus, a night bus runs from the Regenstein.
Okay, enough depressing stuff. I don't spend every single hour working. In fact, I took most of Saturday off. I worked in the morning, but then I went to Joe's Sports Bar to cheer on OU with the Chicago Sooner Club. The game was fun, though predictable. Some USC fan wandered over near out table, noticed we were Sooners, and started talking trash, since we'll most likely be playing Southern Cal in the Sugar Bowl. I just smiled and ignored him, even though he was talking to me. He was being obnoxious, but I tuned him out. But then at halftime Stoops gave an on-field interview. The USC guy, who everybody in earshot can hear but is ignoring, goes, "Nice visor, Stoops. Way to wear a gay visor. Your coach is so gay! He's wearing a gay visor!" I had heard enough, and I say, "How can you talk about somebody else's style when you're wearing a TURTLENECK!" He didn't have a comeback, and people around us started laughing loudly and making fun of his turtleneck shirt. Then I looked at him and said, "You can cheer for USC all you want buddy, but you better put your money on Oklahoma, because on January 4th we're gonna KICK YOUR ASS!" Everybody started cheering, and I made a bunch of new OU fans. The guy settled down a bit and went back over to his friends to try to save face. I felt kind of bad about embarassing him, but he had it coming, and random people congratulated me on getting in the last word.
One of the guys I was at Joe's with said, "Dude, did you know that there was a coup in the state of Georgia? Yeah, apparently they stormed the state government and took over! Crazy southerners!" I said "Man, that's the country of Georgia. You know, former-Soviet Republic of Georgia?" He just looked embarrassed. But it figures--he went to Notre Dame for college.
Okay, that's enough for now. I gotta study. But keep on reading and I'll keep on writing.
11/23/2003 06:55:00 PM
11/13/2003
Law school's picking up, big time. Between my normal daily reading, the writing assignment, resume preparation, and outlining for exams, I'm always busy.
11/09/2003
Yesterday I went to the Art Institute of Chicago with some friends. There was a special exhibition, "Manet and the Sea." It was a great time. The Manet was one of the best exhibits I've seen. It had tons of artwork from Manet and other artists who influenced him and who he influenced. They were easy to view, even with the crowds, because the exhibition was very well laid out. And the rest of the Museum was amazing. I had a powerful sense of deja vu, and I'm pretty sure it was because I was seeing so many works that I'd studied in my Art History courses. This place was like a State of Union address of significant artwork. I didn't have near enough time to see it all.
Coming out of Saturday, I have some recommendations for specific groups of people:
If you live in Chicago, go see this exhibition before it's over. And spend the extra $6 on the audio guide--it's worth it.
If you are still in school and have the opportunity, you must take an Art History course. It would be best to find one that is smaller and has room for discussion, rather than a 150-person survey, but take any you can. When you visit museums in the future, you will be glad that you have a faint clue what it is you're looking at.
If you already know a lot about art, don't spout your knowledge to people with you when you're at museums. It makes you look pretentious. E.g., "Oh, that is so like Pissaro! He totally liked to defy convention with his motifs. I remember writing about it in my junior year thesis..." Listen to me: wash your dreadlocks, shut your mouth, and quietly enjoy the artwork like everybody else.
Today I cooked 15-bean soup. It's got about 30 minutes to go. I just added chopped onions and minced garlic. Oughta be tasty. And it serves 14. Or me for five days until I get sick of it.
11/09/2003 04:18:00 PM
11/07/2003
Today when I was walking to school I saw a guy walking while playing with a yo-yo. I thought, man, I haven't seen a yo-yo in years! How cool! I should get a yo-yo and walk around playing with it! But then I though, oh, wait. Then I'd be Yo-Yo Guy. And who wants to be Yo-Yo Guy?
In Civil Procedure, while I was thinking about whether the jury system in civil trial is really that important to a fair and just outcome, I noticed that two people in front of me were editing their resumes on their laptops. That's one more reason I don't bring my computer to class.
I went to the Student Clinic after school to give them my immunization records. I've had a cold for over a week, so I asked them about seeing a doctor and they told me it was free and I could see a doctor if I waited a little while.
While in the waiting room I read all the little pamphlets they have. I learned that Loneliness can affect you even in a crowd, and it can lead to Depression, and you shouldn't wait to seek help. I also learned that women have up to nine different options for Contraception. There's no excuse not to have Safer Sex. It's only Safer, though, not Safe, because the only truly Safe Sex is Abstinence. Inactive people need about 0.5g of Protein in their daily diet per pound of body weight, but males in training as much a gram per pound. More than five drinks in a sitting is problematic. Marijuana is involved in almost 15% of all traffic accidents. And alcohol is involved in more than 75% of acquaintance rape. Pizza may seem like an easy choice for dinner, but there are many healthier options involving more fiber and less saturated fat.
"Charles?"
"That's me."
"Come this way please."
So it turns out I have wonderfully low blood pressure. That's the good news. The bad news is that I have a sinus infection. So I need antibiotics. But that's not all I left the clinic with. The also offered me free ibuprofen, sudafed, cough syrup, a flu shot, condoms and a pregnancy test. Just in case.
Now I'm resting, waiting to get well, listening to Lyle Lovett (his Anthology I). I totally forgot to mention that I went to see him play the Chicago Theater last Wednesday. It was a great show. He played all kinds of music, from jazz to country to bluegrass. The band was really big, with two drumsets, three guitars, a standup bass, a cello, a fiddle, a mandolin, a piano/electric organ player, and, at the end, a full gospel choir. Considering that the last concert I saw was Pat Green in a big field outside the Tumbleweed in Stillwater, Oklahoma, this one was pretty classy. The best part was when the choir came out at the end and they played gospel music. The whole theater full of people were on their feet clapping. Good times. I have to remind myself to take advantage of all these cultural things that Chicago has to offer.
Tomorrow I think I'll go to the Art Institute. Remember that place from Ferris Bueller's Day Off? Maybe I'll join a parade.
11/07/2003 05:20:00 PM
11/05/2003
More random stuff...
There are parakeets in my neighborhood. Not domesticated. Wild. Seriously. Those little green birds from the pet store. They must have escaped and reproduced. It just got cold today, so I don't know if they'll stick around, but I have seen them several times in the alley between my building and the grocery store and also on my walk to school. They have large nests that they cluster around and make lound parakeet noises. It's very strange. Almost as strange as when a falcon was stalking Wade McClain in Norman...
There are constantly exotic cooking smells on my floor of the apartment building. When I come home from school they make me hungry. Sometimes I hear some Asian-sounding language being spoken in the apartment that the smells come from. I want to meet these people and make friends, so that they will serve me delicious cuisine from their home country. But I worry that they don't speak English, and I also have an irrational fear that if I knock on the door, some guy will practice martial arts from his native land on me. Hey, I said it was irrational...
A friend burned me the Jeff Buckley album Grace. I highly recommend it...
If you've seen my wallet, let me know...
I finished The World According to Garp. It was a decent read, although strange and tedious at moments. Also a bit dated with the social commentary. I think I'll look into some more John Irvin eventually, once I get around to it. Now I'm going to start Umberto Eco's Baudolino. After that, maybe some nonfiction. I read that everyday for law school. But Criminal Law seems more like fiction all the time...
I listen to a ShoutCast station called "Mostly Classical" sometimes when I do my course reading. It's normally really good, playing Mozart, Haydn, Vivaldi, Telemann, whatever. But sometimes it plays this awful new-agey vocal stuff, and it drives me up the wall and I have to change the channel...
Tonight I was about to read for Civil Procedure but I was finishing dinner and flipped to "The OC" on Fox. I never started my reading. The OC may be the best show on TV right now. Now I understand what everyone was raving about. It makes me happy that I found this show, because Dawson's Creek went off the air while I was in Europe and Smallville (as we knew would happen) has become seriously stale. Now I can say I watch something besides Sportscenter...
11/03/2003
Guess it's Monday, time for another week of case-briefing fun. Actually, some of the cases we read are highly entertaining, or at least would be if they didn't describe some really crazy actual crimes. Soon I'll put up the text from one or two that are particularly good. And someday I'll get around to fixing those pictures...
I realized I haven't posted since Bedlam. OU won. Big Surprise. Now we'll just coast to the Sugar Bowl. I have to decide whether a road trip is worth it. Since the Big XII Championship is in Kansas City I was thinking about driving down. It's about seven hours for me. Any of you headed up?
11/03/2003 08:41:00 AM
11/01/2003
Corso, the sonofabitch, just put on a Sooner Schooner hat. I have my concerns, but I will agree today with Lee. My forecast:
Okay, I've been watching GameDay for at least an hour. Campus looks outstanding. I really miss OU when I see it on TV in all its glory. There may have been places to go to school with an equivalent level of fun, but there's no way in Hell there was any better place in the world to go to school. I damn near got in the car yesterday and rolled down to Norman without a ticket, just to soak up the atmosphere.
