March 12--new post, but still in school.....

Wow. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I have a good excuse (really)! The semester has kind of gotten away from me, but I do not mean in a bad way. I cannot believe that I am almost halfway through the second semester. This is gong by a lot faster than the first semester, and I can only attribute this to the fact that I am now fully acclimated to the law school lifestyle. Day in and day out, I have my classes. The funny thing is that I have not missed a single class yet. Last Wednesday, I arrived at school a full 1.5 hours early as is my custom. Upon arriving, I went to the study lounge and sat down at a table with my friend Kwabena. He and I exchanged pleasantries as I reached into my bag to get the power cord for my computer. There was one problem…the power cord was still plugged in under my desk at home! D’oh! I immediately ran downstairs and boarded an El to get back to my place. The problem is that I did not have enough battery power to last throughout the day, and I rely on my laptop. To make a long story short, I arrived back on campus and entered Constitutional Law class about 3 minutes late. Professor Blackmun was in the middle of his recap, so I had not missed anything. The problem was that my seat (we chose our seats for the entire semester in each class at the beginning of the semester) was nearer to the front, and I did not want to disturb the class. I snuck into the classroom and sat at a seat near the back. After class, people came up to me and asked why I had missed. I remarked that I was there but not in my customary seat, but it was kind of gratifying that my classmates noticed that I wasn’t there. I asked a couple of them about this and they said: “Artful, you never miss class. It was strange not to see you there.” Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I tend to be a bit Type A. I can hear all of you uttering a loud sarcastic “NO!” right about now, so I will move on…..

So what is going on in my life right now? Other than classes, not much. A couple of weeks ago, I attended the Barrister’s Ball (kinda like law school prom) with my friend Susan at the Hilton in Chicago. It was a lot of fun to see my classmates dressed up and to interact with them in a social setting. My classmates tend to be surprised when they find out I am 34. I guess that my immaturity is finally paying off! Actually, I attribute this to being a perpetual student. People sometimes ask me if I am going to go after another degree, and I usually say that after this one, it’ll be time for me to collect social security. I also joke that I want a business card. At the end of my name following the first few degrees, I want my card to read “continued on the other side.” In all seriousness, though, this is my last degree. That sound you all heard was the collective sigh of relief from my family and friends…..

Hmmm…what else….My brother and I are going to Las Vegas this weekend (the first weekend of March madness). I had only gone once before (a short weekend jaunt accompanying my mom), but my brother has never been. I am looking forward to the vacation. I have not had a vacation trip in so long that I have forgotten what it is like to travel for the fun of it. When I worked for Bio-Rad, I practically lived out of my suitcase to the point where the American Airlines personnel at O’Hare knew me by name. Heck, they even stopped “randomly searching” me after the first few months on the job. Anyway, I am looking forward to going out into the desert and seeing the stars, visiting Hoover Dam, seeing the Strip, and taking in some sightseeing. I will have a lot of work to do later in the week, but I actually have a spring break. 34 years old and I have spring break….weird…

I cannot wait until Tuesday is over with. I have a legal writing memo due. I finished the first draft late yesterday and will be whittling it down and fine tuning it all evening tomorrow. After that, the rest of the week is downhill. My friend Stan from Bio-Rad will be in town for the week, and we will probably have dinner on Wednesday night. On Thursday, my classmate Phil (a really good friend of mine) is celebrating his birthday with 20 people at the Whirlyball place in Chicago. What is Whirlyball? Think bumper cars crossed with la crosse. Friday is St. Patrick’s Day. For those of you who have seen the movie “The Fugitive”, I am sure that you are aware that St. Paddy’s is a big day here in Chicago. They had the parade and the green river this weekend, but people will also be out in force next Friday. I intend to get a good night’s sleep and prepare for my trip.

I hope that all of you are doing well. If you have any questions (things that you might like me to comment on, etc) just leave a message on my blog. I guess you could call it “reader’s request.” I never seem to know what to talk about, and this blog is mostly for all of you to keep up with what I am doing. I just don’t know what people would be interested in reading about. Let me know.