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
9/29/2004
I've got internet access in most of my courses now. Just wanted to mention that, as it should lead to some interesting blogging.
9/27/2004
When I started this thing 21 months ago I lived with Wade (and Gatsby the cat). Wade has his own quiet blog over at Livejournal, which I've not linked to in the past. But now Wade has a new site, also at Livejournal. Check it out: Wade Remembers What he Cooks.
See, back when I lived with Wade he cooked a lot. He enjoyed it. And he was a purist, to the point where he got mad at me once for briskly stirring pancake batter instead of gently folding it... something about the glutins, who the hell knows. I got my current enjoyment of cooking from living with Wade, but I never really realized just how into it he was. Check out the site and see. There are only a few posts so far, but they are fantastic. If you like Good Eats, you will love Wade's new site. It is meticulously but artfully written. A good read even if you never cook at all. But do not fear, I will be attempting the frittata in short order.
9/26/2004
The Texas jaunt was pleasant. Once I have a job secured I'll tell some good stories about the interview process. Luckily, though, I wasn't only interviewing. While in Dallas I was able to catch up with The RD, SMU legal scholar, country music aficionado, and all around good dude.
The RD and I decided to catch a Stoney LaRue show at a place in Dallas called Poor David's. Stoney used to play at the Deli in Norman every Monday with Travis Linville, but then he moved to New Braunfels, TX to further his career. Stoney plays a great solo show. He just plugs in his acoustic Martin and goes to town. Poor David's was a interesting venue. It was a new place, pretty big and clean, with just a small bar and lots of seating. The chairs were school cafeteria-style, colored plastic, which was pretty funny. Anyway, the place was exclusively set up as a place you go to listen to live music. There was no social scene or anything, just people there for the music. Oh, and excellent acoustics. All in all, a great place to see a show.
Stoney's billing on Poor David's website included "a very special guest." The RD and I were trying to figure out who the guest might end up being. In our dreams, somebody like Willie Nelson or Merle Haggard would stroll on in and join Stoney on stage for an acoustic duo performance. We also thought it would be cool if it were Cody Canada, Jason Boland, or some other Oklahoma-scene music star. But then The RD ran into one of his buddies who knew somebody who claimed to know who the special guest was: Mark Chesnutt.
Mark Chesnutt got onstage as a camera light from the local Fox affiliate film crew cut through the smoke. People cheered a bit, but the reception was lukewarm. We weren't there to suck up to a second-tier mainstream guy whose album we didn't own. Stoney introduced him as a fellow country musician from the Nashville scene. Mark replied, and I quote, "You watch that Nashville shit, man. I'm from Beaumont, Texas." That was our first hint that he might not be just an older, fatter Kenny Chesney.
The two didn't seem to know what to make of each other as they started off, but after some shared songs and some shared shots they started to click. They traded off Stoney's Martin between numbers, and played a mix of old favorites and each other's songs. The highlight in my opinion was a soulful rendition of "Long Black Veil." "Pancho and Lefty" was a close second. I didn't have anything until 11am the next day, so we stuck around until the end. It was a great time, and props to The RD for picking me up at my hotel and hanging out all night. We are the two newest fans of Mark Chesnutt. I recommend going to his site and checking out his music. It's great.
9/21/2004
It may be telling that while I'm in Texas all I want to do is watch CMT since we don't get it in Chicago. I find it ridiculous that neither cable company in the third largest city in the nation carries Country Music Television. For that matter, I also find it ridiculous that the same market only has one country music radio station. And the DJs get pumped about the Keith Urban concert... Keith frickin Urban from New frickin Zealand, but the Pat Green show doesn't even get a mention.
Maybe I should just quit law school and start my own Chicago country band and push the real thing there. No Kenney Chesney or Rascall Flatts allowed. Does anybody feel me on this?
9/19/2004
Well now I've been 25 for a day. Starting to feel a little old. At least now my belly and hairline aren't so uncommon among my peers. I don't think I can rely on the excuse of "youthful indiscretion" anymore. But car insurance goes down, and I can rent a car now too.
The Sooners performed well yesterday. Obviously Adrian Peterson is living up to the hype. Jason White looks pedestrian, but Oregon had a very solid pass rush blitz package set up. Not that he won't be seeing that all year- hopefully the coaches will fix that hole where the safety or corner kept slipping in on the rush.
I'm going to Houston on Tuesday. Until then I'm basically on vacation. The weather's gorgeous, so I'm just going to putter about and kill time until school starts.
9/15/2004
It was a great day yesterday, so a buddy and I went to another law friend's apartment to lay out at the pool and get some sun. We hung around until about 7:30, and when we came back all my law friends were waiting at the place to surprise me! Of course, my birthday isn't until Saturday, so I was totally off guard. It was awesome, and our place is really great for a party. The only problem was that I was all gross from laying out in the sun and couldn't shower because all the guests were already there. But those sorts of things are secondary. Surprise parties are an incredible ego boost. Particularly considering that I felt like my roommate and friends were ignoring the fact that I wanted to make plans for Saturday and were giving me the cold shoulder. It was a great turnaround. And yes, the party was a major blast.
Now my campus interviewing is over I've got a few days to relax before I have to continue with callback interviews and then start classes. My plan is to explore some of the coffee shops around here and read some books. It's going to be nice to do nothing at all for a little while.
9/14/2004
So it's 9pm here in Chicago, and my surprise 25th birthday party is underway! I wanted to type this moment to let everyone in the law school know how much I appreciated the work that went into it, and I'll leave a full post tomorrow reflecting on what this all meant to me.
A new coffee maker. My old Mr. Coffee has seen better days, and there are so many features out there. Perhaps something like this, or perhaps even fancier like this. Of course, the old standard always works too.
CASH. Mail a check, or I can set up a PayPal account so you can use your credit card.
Oklahoma Sooner paraphenalia. I'd especially like some stuff to go in the apartment, which you can find here and oh, especially here.
If you're in Tulsa and want to get really creative you can mail me a bottle of Elmer's BBQ sauce. Mixed, please.
[I will add to this throughout the week so check back- ed.]
Any and all of the above, or whatever you feel, may be sent to 2651 N. Burling St #2, Chicago IL, 60614. Or you can wait until I am home in October or November or December. Or you can call, or just ignore me altogether. I'm used to it.
9/09/2004
The receptions are the real icing on the cake. See, these firms send people to interview us, but some of them also want to entertain us. So they rent rooms at restaraunts or bars, serve cocktails and hors d'oevres, and socialize. Sometimes with us. Much of the conversation is terrible, forced chitchat about the firm or Chicago or the weather or whatever. That's why it's nice that they have cocktails. It's really just like rush. Both lawyers and law students stand around, eat and drink, and wait for the event to be over so they can talk about their assessments with each other.
There are little things I've learned about these parties, though. For one, order an odorless cocktail. Specifically, not a Jack and coke. Jack and coke is a smelly drink and makes you seem to be there for the party. So get a vodka tonic or white wine. You have to note the dress code from the invitation. Casual, Business Casual, or Business. Business is suit and tie, Business Casual is slacks and a shirt, but I'm not sure what Casual is that's different from Business Casual. Maybe khakis and a polo?
Also, rather than elbow into a circle to try to talk to a guy who looks old enough to be a partner, I prefer to stand on the edge, alone if necessary, and evaluate things from afar. Then, if a lawyer or somebody is actually looking for someone to talk to, he or she can come talk to me. Also, I get to be Disintersted Wry Observation Guy- you know, stand back, remark about the silliness or it all, or just pretend to hate being there. ZDonohew is a master of this.
Well I'm off to one right now. I'll be the guy in gray slacks and a blue button-down on the edge with a vodka tonic. Come make ironic comments with me.
9/07/2004
I hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend. I know I did. I'm still just getting used to being in the city. The weather here is cool but gorgeous: the forecast is sunny and in the low 70s all week long.
I want to tell funny stories about interviews but I'm worried that these firms are googling me and finding this website. Of course, if that has occurred then I'm probably done anyway, but I'll keep my mouth shut for now just in case.
The Sooners had what I feel was a mostly successful opener Saturday. Bowling Green may sound like a cupcake, but they did win eleven games last year. And we beat ourselves in the first half. My only worry is that the defense has started to believe its own hype and is sleepwalking through a lot of the game. Hopefully Bobby whips some sense into them. Otherwise we'll have to send Merrick down from the Sunshine State to show the D-line who's boss.
Although there was ABC coverage, we got the Michigan game on the network up here, so I had to find a bar with ESPN Gameday package. Luckily for me and my Penn State roomate, there happens to be just such an establishment about a hundred yards from our front door. The Burwood Tap, at Burling and Wrightwood (get it?), is a friendly place with cheap beer and, more importantly, a bartender who let me hold the remote during the game. This is a promising start, although I'll still attend Sooner Club of Chicago events for the big games.
I'm sitting in my new apartment in Lincoln Park at the moment. Our internet service isn't up yet, but our neighbor's wireless network is coming on strong, so I've got access for free. (Note to self: password protect your network when it goes up).
I've spent the last three nights on Stephen "Cotton Eyed Joe" Cowen's couch. Thank you Cotton. As pleasant as my stay was, I was very happy to move into my own place. It's the second floor of a three flat. Very roomy in the common areas but very tiny in the bedrooms. My room is about 7.5x11 feet. And it needs new carpet. But isn't that what landlords are for! I may look into hardwood, depending on what the dude will pay for. I bought a bed and dresser off of the previous occupant of my room. The dresser is great, but the bed is a queen-size, so it takes up approximately 70% of the floor space of the room. And my sheets barely fit- they're stretched to the max. Maybe I'll just sell it on craigslist.org and buy a new full bed. I've always wanted a pillow-top mattress.
Contrary to rumor, I am not interviewing for the job of pavement-cleaner. In fact, I am vehemently pursuing the job of Law Firm Summer Peon. Right now we're in the preliminary round of on-campus interviewing. One or two lawyers from a firm sit with you in a room and have a twenty-minute conversation with you. And they ask you for your transcript. I've only had four interviews so far, so I can't give a really good generalization, but they've ranged simple small talk to random questions about briefs we wrote last spring.
I'm busy busy right now but I'm sure I'll have time to update on occasion. And visit any time- we've got a futon right now and soon will have a couch and recliner.
