a post as promised....

but no pictures yet. His is working on getting those posted. We are both typing blog posts at the same time so some of this information is probably going to overlap. Also the Z and Y are reversed on this keyboard so there might be a few typos.

We are having an amazing time. We landed in Munich and hit the christmas market first thing. Well, actuallz we had a braut and beir first and THEN hit the christmas market. The town squares all seem to have massively huge decorated xmas trees. It is kind of like Rockefeller Center but EVERYWHERE.

The next day we went to Linz, Austria, where we stayed on the Danube and enjoyed yet another xmas market.

Then it was on to Cesky Krumlov. I wish I could post pics of this right now but do yourself a favor and google it. It was the perfect place to spend Christmas.

We are now in Prague which is even more gorgeous than I could have imagined. We are about to head of to communism museum and then eat a big mac at the McDonalds located right below the museum. Solidarity.

Merry Christmas From Prague

Here are a few photos from out trip. We are having a great time over here.

The entrance to the Christmas Market in Munich. It is filled with small shops with food and ornaments.
From Munich we hit Linz and then to the small town of Chesky Krumlov. We heard a live action version of Pinachio was filmed here and it is easz to see why.
One of the traditions in Chesky Krumlov is involves the bears kept in a moat outside the castle. On the morning before Christmas, the keepers remove the bears from the moat and let and let the people of the town in to leave treats for the bears. Then the people leave and the bears are let back in to enjoy their own Christmas treats.

For those that know how to get on on Kodak Gallery site, we have a few more pictures there, but it is still only a small portion of what we have taken so far.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.

And We're off!

It's been way too long since we posted but for some reason this semester saw us busier than we anticipated.

A few of the highlights:

We passed our Ethics bar so we have now been deemed ethical enough to be lawyers. Go on, make you your jokes.

My rugby team earned the coveted Vermont cup by dominating the tournament this year. I didn't have much to do with the win as I was playing injured and not much good. I blew out my ankle the week before, but thankfully I had an awesome trainer to tape me up so I could play (with the help of some pain killers).

Okay, well, nothing else interesting really happened so on to the new stuff.

We are leaving this today:

To go to this:



Perhaps not much warmer but certainly more scenic. And all we are taking for three weeks is this:



HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL!

And check back as we fully expect to be posting pictures throughout our trip.

Minneapolis airport mens room. Don't make me go in there.

Another Labor Day in Law School

Swimming . . . Check

Laying out by the pool . . . Check

Brawts . . . Check

Potato Salad . . . Check

Baked Beans . . . Check

Reading the UCC's Statute of Frauds . . . Check

Damn, sometimes I hate law school. Almost a perfect a Labor Day.

Unwired And Hating It

In some ways it feels like we've come full circle. I remember coming to Panera's when we first moved out here to get a few minutes of Internet time while we waited for Verizon to get our DSL connection going. Now we're in our final year of school and back at Panera's for its Internet connection. We suspended cable and Internet while we were in the city this summer in order to save some money. The downside is that we had to do it for at least three months. That means we won't get Internet back until at least the 28th. School starts the 25th though, so we won't miss our home Internet connection too much after this week.

So Long NYC

Hers and I are on our way back to Albany tomorrow afternoon. While we hate to say good-bye to the City, we're definitely looking forward to getting back to more spacious accommodations (and a kitchen we can actually cook in). On the other hand, we're going to miss all the great places to eat and we're going to miss Seamless Web (oh how we're going to miss Seamless Web).

You Never Know What You'll See in NYC

This was the scene right outside of our apartment complex on 14th St. and 7th Ave. last Sunday. So far, we haven't found an explanation and pictures don't really do it justice. Mind, this went on for hours. Everyone would dance around in a circle while some never-ending song played in the background. And then everyone would stop, break out the bull whips, and do this:

And the Storm is Here

Storm Blowing in Over Union Sq.

Hers' commentary:

This is one of our favorite views in the city from one of the chairs at Fieline's Basement, one of my favorite shopping locations. His chilled here watching the storm come in while I was shopping for Cabo wedding attire.

What is the Spanish verb for "to whip"

I'm not really sure how to describe the scene that unfolded outside of our window last night. That is our lovely fire escape in the foreground and behind that is some sort of Mexican Festival that we couldn't really figure out.

There were men, dancing in masks and large hats with osterich feathers. The outfit was completed by loud sequined capes. These men danced around in a counter-clockwise circle for the entire day...to the same song. The only time the dancing stopped was when the men would line up facing each other and take their bull whip and hit the other guy on his backside. I'm not making this up.

We should have more pictures to post later.

Law Firm Night at Yankee Stadium

Just for the record, the Yankees won 8-2.

Where has a decade gone?

My 10 year high school reunion is tomorrow. This has led me to realize that I AM OLD and really need to get my act together. I am, for all intents and purposes, an adult now.

PS

GO SPARTANS!!!!! Class of 98 RULES!

Clearing the Backlog of Pics - 4th of July Coney Style

So I'm a little behind in getting some 4th of July pics up, but better late than never. Hers and I headed out to celebrate the 4th on Coney Island. The highlight, of course, was the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating World Championship. As the carnival-style barker made clear to all, it was here, in front of the original Nathan's Hot Dogs, where God and Satan would meet in the ultimate battle between Good and Evil. But until the competition began, we had an Uncle Sam on stilts to keep us amused.

And watching over Unlce Sam are some of New York City's finest perched atop Nathan's Hot Dogs.

Before we knew it, the competition had begun. We all knew it was going to come down to two competitors, Kobayashi and last year's Champ, Joey Chestnut.

Being an American on the 4th of July met we pretty much had to cheer for Chestnut against Kobayashi, who hails from Japan. Chestnut jumped out to an early lead only to see Kobayashi come back and take a slim lead heading into the final minute. Chestnut somehow made an incredible come back in the last minute, however, and the two ended in a tie. 59 hot dogs and buns each.


They decided on an eat-off to crown this year's champion. Whoever could down 5 hot dogs first would win. Somehow, Chestnut was able to pull through. His perserverance in the face of overwhelming odds made us all proud to be an American. Or so the barker said.

As the competition broke up, Hers and I went to grab some corndogs and headed off to ride the coasters. Ah, Independence Day in NYC.

Bon Jovi as Seen Through My Cell Phone

Not the best cell phone pic every taken, but it should give you some idea how close to the stage we were. Yes, the dark blurr in the center is Jon, who, as Hers pointed out, is a bit of a spaz on stage. Oh well, it was still a great time in a great setting.

Bon Jovi

Was awesome.

A more detailed report to come.

****More Detailed Report ****

His surprised me with two tickets the Bon Jovi concert in Central Park because he is a great guy, and, well, I love Bon Jovi! Crossroads is one of the all time great road trip CD's. Ah, hair bands. Their well-penned philosophy on life and love truly inspired a generation. Okay, maybe not but when a steel-horse riding cowboy tells you its "[His] Life", well, you listen. Unless you want to go "Down in a Blaze of Glory". Okay, I think that's it for the Bon Jovi song references.

Concerts in Central Park don't happen all that often, mostly because the Parks Department wants to keep the Great Lawn intact. Previous acts have included Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand, Simon and Garfunkle, and Garth Brooks. So it is kind of a big deal to get tickets to the concert. His did good.

It was reported on the news (okay, it was gothamist.com but that is as good as the news in NYC) that people were lining up the night before in order to get the good seats in the Park. Seating was on a first-come basis. We got in line at 11:30 am, the concert was to start at 8:00 pm.

The line wasn't bad. We were number 737 in line. We met a couple from Long Island in front of us, and a family from New Jersey behind us. Come to think of it everybody there was from New Jersey or Long Island --- I've never been surrounded by worse accents in my life. But we made friends with our line mates and before we knew it 2:00 came and they were starting to let people into the park. We made our way through miles of barricades and security only to stand behind another gate that wasn't open. And then that gate opened and the race was on. It was a mad-dash of big haired jersyites sprinting across what was once a beautiful lawn in Central Park. I took the heavy bag and sent His on his way with the towels to claim a spot. I bet this is how the land grabs in Oklahoma worked too.

We got a great spot and by the time the concert started we were about 15 yards from the stage. Bon Jovi was great. Although Jon is a bit of a spaz, he really is high energy. And they sang nothing but hits for two hours (the concert had to end at 10 sharp). The coolest part was to see the crowd behind us projected up onto the big screen, it was such a cool sight.

The concert ended and the crowd dispersed really quickly, leaving the remnants of Jersey behind them. His and I tried to stay out of the way and let the crowd thin out before we started heading out. It was a gorgeous evening and the moon was shinning of the Manhattan skyline. The PA system was playing "New York, New York". So we danced. in central park. under the moon.

Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia!

That means Merry Christmas in Polish.

It is official, His and I have booked our flights for our Winter Break to Eastern Europe. There was just something fitting about visiting former Soviet Bloc countries during the winter. After we booked our tickets we went to a German Beer Garden in the West Village and had a great time chatting with the proprietor, who is from Germany, on what we can expect: Christmas Markets, waffle's with cream and fruit, hot wine, and holiday beers.

We will be there for 3 weeks. We are flying in and out of Munich, a town that I fell in love with on my previous trip to Europe. So far the itinerary looks like Munich, Prague, Krakow, Budapest, Salzburg with a sprinkling of smaller towns in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary and perhaps a stop in Slovakia and Slovenia.

If anybody has any tips/ suggestion or a clue on how to pronounce the title of this post let us now.

We reminded ourselves of what we don't like about New York

Last night I met His up by his office in midtown. His had spent the day up at a partner's summer place in Westchester (read: more expensive and exclusive than Beverley Hills) lounging around the pool and eating BBQ. I had spent the day in the monotony of a government office building. I figured this entitled me to a nice evening out.
We went first to Nintendo World where we checked out the latest wii games.
Then we had dinner at Bar American, Bobby Flay's least Southwestern restaurant. The food was great. His' tuna was fabulous.
It was a gorgeous evening so we decided to walk the 40 blocks back to our apartment. The problem was the walk led us right through Times Square, the place we vowed never to return to.
I just don't understand the draw of this place. Yes there is a lot of neon signs, but you have to have seen a Red Lobster, TGIF, Applebee's, McDonald's, etc. before. Do you really have to stop directly in front of me to take the picture? And if you do, take the picture quickly. It is called a SNAPshot for a reason; snap it and move on. And to the tourist that I almost plowed over last night, do not stop in the middle of a crosswalk. New York is a crowded city but it functions very efficiently when people use the sidewalks for walking not standing. Time's Square is decidedly our least favorite place in the city. For any of you out there that read our blog and are planning on visiting us out in New York, please understand why we will not be taking you there. And if you insist on eating there, we will make fun of you mercilessly.
/Rant.
12 hours to I rock out on my steel horse!

Let the madness begin

We're going to the Bon Jovi concert tomorrow in Central Park.
I'm concerned though, because people started lining up for the concert yesterday: http://gothamist.com/2008/07/11/bon_jovi_mania.php

Tourist Saturday

Last weekend, we went back to Albany. This weekend, we left Manhattan again, but only briefly and this time we only went as far as Liberty and Ellis Islands.

A view of the Statue of Liberty through the trees on Liberty Island as we approached the massived security line.

A closeup of Lady Liberty from Liberty Island. Some say it resembles the sculptor's mother.

Once we made it through the lengthy security lines, we were in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. It's been converted into a museum and the original torch (replaced in 1986) greets visitors as the enter the pedestal.

The torch of the Statue was closed in the early 20th century and the crown was closed off after September 11. However, once you make it up the 150-plus stairs you can get a small glimpse of the inside of the Statue. The above picture is looking up through the top of the pedestal at the Statues support.

The view from the obersvation deck at the top of the pedestal was amazing, but I'm not sure it was worth the security hassles. This is a view of the Manhattan skyline from the observation deck. You can see the Empire State building in the background.

Another view of the Ellis Island from the observation deck.

Our next stop was Ellis Island. After entering the massive (and recently restored) building, we saw the ground floor where emigrants were asked to leave their bags. We then walked upstairs to the registration room pictured above. The view is from the stairs leading up from the baggage room. At the far end of the registration room are the desks where names were matched to the ship's manifest. During the entire time in line, doctors on the balcony above watched for signs of lameness or illness. If you were ill, you were detained on the island until you recovered or you were sent back. Only about 2% of emigrants were actually sent back due to illness. Most made it ashore eventually, although in some cases it took months.

From the windows on one side of the registration room you could see the Statue of Liberty.

And from the other window, you could see the Manhattan skyline.

A shot of the Registration Room from above. You can almost imagine the crowd of people waiting to get to the registration tables.

This is a picture of the registration room during the early 20th century, about the time my Great Grandmother arrived at Ellis Island.


Back in Manhattan, we capped the day off with a late lunch on Stone Street. This is one of my favorite places. They drag tables out to the cobblestone streets. It's a great atmosphere and the beer and food aren't bad either.

What a weird coincidence

As I'm walking down the sidewalk by a bar in front of my building I see a girl who looks really familiar and I tell His that it looks like a girl i went to college with. His and i continued on our walk and ended up back at the neighborhood bar where this girl comes out to smoke a cigarette and I'm thinking more and more that she was my RA from college but i didn't want to be the pshyco who said "are you Kim from Texas?" She looked over and saw me, recognized me and the rest is history.
3000 miles away and I run into my freshmen dorm RA...in NYC. Wow.

The Summer Chronicles

Well, we are both down in The City now and have had a lot of fun this past week. While, His has been working I've been off shopping, exploring the area, and enjoying the Met.

We're living on the border of the Village and Chelsea. The area is great, very residential, with tons of stores and restaurants to explore. We found the perfect margarita a mere 4 blocks away (and its not too expensive) We had perhaps the worst margarita of my life on our block and will not be going back there. We've had an excellent French meal and a pretty good Italian meal all within one block of our apartment.
Our apartment is small (pictures are coming) and its not our stuff. Subleasing is hard. I really want to redecorate but I can't. Oh well, we don't plan on staying in here too much. There is a horrible bird across the hall that squawks, loudly, at all hours of the night.
Yesterday was a beautiful day so I headed uptown for a walk through central park that ended up at the metropolitan Museum of Art. The Met is fabulous and there is always something new to discover. This time I found the rooftop gallery and if i can figure out how to get the pictures off my phone I will post them. The Met is at about halfway through central park making for an unobstructed view for about 20 blocks in all directions. The view of the Manhattan Skyline from up there is amazing!
I met His at his office after the Met and we meandered our way back home to change and head out for a Friday night on the town, Indian Jones Style. We went to see Indy on its opening weekend. Thankfully His had pre-bought the tickets because the show was sold out and the line for seating wrapped around the block. It was a really cool old theatre and the crowd was infectious. Everybody cheered, laughed, and applauded at all the references to the old Indiana Jones movies. Speaking of old, Harrison Ford should not make another Indiana Jones movie, that is not the way I want to remember Dr. Jones.
We're heading out of the city today for a friends wedding. Hopefully, we will be back down in time to catch the end of the fleet week festivities. The Sailors are everywhere!

Watkins '08

Saturday marked yet another Watkins Rugby Tournament at Albany Law. The girls dominated in their first game and ended up wining second place in their tournament. For any of you wondering what it might be like to watch a Rugby game, we've attached a short clip from yesterday. (Keep an eye out for Hers (no. 1) wiping out an opposing player in a scramble for a ball.)

Supreme Court Arguments

Well, we didn't make it in to see the full oral arguments in the DC handgun case. Arguments were this last Tuesday and people began lining up to get in around 5:30 Sunday night. We did, however, make it in to the "3 minute" line that got us into the building to see 3:00 minutes of oral arguments.

The 3-minute line is stuck behind a row of red curtains with gold trim. From my position, I had to lean into the aisle to see all the justices. It was quite a sight to see some of the figures we've been studying over the last year.

Below is a transcript from the portion of the arguments we did get to hear. We're looking forward to reading the decision when it comes out:

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: What is -- what is reasonable about a total ban on possession?

MR. DELLINGER: What is reasonable about a total ban on possession is that it's a ban only an the possession of one kind of weapon, of handguns, that's been considered especially -- especially dangerous. The

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: So if you have a law that prohibits the possession of books, it's all right if you allow the possession of newspapers?

MR. DELLINGER: No, it's not, and the difference is quite clear. If -- if you -- there is no limit to the public discourse. If there is an individual right to guns for personal use, it's to carry out a purpose, like protecting the home. You could not, for example, say that no one may have more than 50 books. But a law that said no one may possess more than 50 guns would -- would in fact be I think quite reasonable.

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: The regulation -the regulation at issue here is not one that goes to the number of guns. It goes to the specific type. And I understood your argument to be in your brief that because rifles and shotguns are not banned to the staple extent as handguns, it's all right to ban handguns.

MR. DELLINGER: That is correct because there is no showing in this case that rifles and handguns are not fully satisfactory to carry out the purposes. And what -- and what the court below says about -- about the elimination of this -

JUSTICE KENNEDY: The purposes of what?

MR. DELLINGER: I'm sorry.

JUSTICE KENNEDY: You said there is no showing that rifles and handguns. I think you meant rifles and other guns.

MR. DELLINGER: Yes, I'm sorry. Rifles and handguns.

JUSTICE KENNEDY: Is necessary for the purpose of what? What is the purpose?

MR. DELLINGER: The purpose -- if the purpose -- if we are shifting and if we assume for a moment arguendo that you believe this is a right unconnected to the militia, then the purpose would be, say, defense of the home. And where the government here, where the -- where the correct standard has been applied, which is where a State or the district has carefully balanced the considerations of gun ownership and public safety, has eliminated one weapon, the court below has an absolutist standard that cannot be sustained. The court below says that once it is determined that handguns are, quote, "arms," unquote, referred to in the Second Amendment, it is not open to the District to ban them. And that doesn't promote the security of a free State.

JUSTICE GINSBURG: But wasn't there a leeway for some weapon prohibition? Let me ask you, in relation to the States that do have guarantees of the right to possess a weapon at home: Do some of those States say there are certain kinds of guns that you can't have, like machine guns?

MR. DELLINGER: Yes. And here what the opinion below would do instead -- would -- it's hard to see on the opinion below why machine guns or armor-piercing bullets or other dangerous weapons wouldn't be categorically protected -

JUSTICE BREYER: Could you go back to the -

MR. DELLINGER: -- in those States -

JUSTICE KENNEDY: If I could just have one follow-on on Justice Ginsburg real quick. Do those States -- Justice Ginsburg asked -- - that distinguish among weapons, State constitutional provisions do not do so?

MR. DELLINGER: No, it's not in the text of the State constitutional provision; it's in their -

JUSTICE GINSBURG: It's in interpretation.

MR. DELLINGER: --reasonable application. And here, the question is how has the balance been struck? The District allows law-abiding citizens to have functioning firearms in the home. From the time it was introduced in 1976, it has been the consistent position that you're entitled to have a functioning firearm. At issue is the one type of weapon -

JUSTICE SCALIA: Mr. Dellinger, let's come back to your description of the opinion below as allowing armor-piercing bullets and machine guns. I didn't read it that way. I thought the opinion below said it had to be the kind of weapon that was common for the people -

MR. DELLINGER: That is -

JUSTICE SCALIA: -- that is common for the people to have. And I don't know -- I don't know that a lot of people have machine guns or armor-piercing bullets. I think that's quite unusual. But having a pistol is not unusual.

MR. DELLINGER: The number of machine guns, I believe, is in excess of a hundred thousand that are out there now, that are -

JUSTICE SCALIA: How many people in the country?

MR. DELLINGER: Well, there are 300 million, but whether that's common or not, but the -

JUSTICE SCALIA: I don't think it's common.

MR. DELLINGER: But it's the -- the court protects weapons suitable for military use that are lineal descendants. I don't know why an improved bullet wouldn't be covered, unless you adopt the kind of reasonableness standard that we suggest, where you look to the fact that -- and I don't -- some people think machine guns are more dangerous than handguns -- they shoot a lot of people at once -- but a handgun is concealable and movable. It can be taken into schools, into buses, into government office buildings, and that is the particular danger it poses in a densely populated urban area.

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Well, I'm not sure that it's accurate to say the opinion below allowed those. The law that the opinion, the court below, was confronted with was a total ban, so that was the only law they considered. If the District passes a ban on machine guns or whatever, then that law -- that law would be considered by the court and perhaps would be upheld as reasonable. But the only law they had before them was a total ban.

JUSTICE SCALIA: Or a law on the carrying of concealed weapons, which would include pistols, of course.

MR. DELLINGER: Let me fight back on the notion that it's a -- it's a total ban. It's not as if every kind of weapon is useful.

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS: Are you allowed to carry the weapons that are allowed? I read the "carry clause" to apply without qualification. So while you say you might be able to have a shotgun in the home, you can't carry it to get there.

MR. DELLINGER: No. You can -- you can with a proper license. The District has made it clear that there is no doubt that it interprets its laws to allow a functioning gun. And to say that something is a total ban when you own only one particular kind of weapon would apply to a machine gun if it were or came into common use and -

DC Thoughts So Far

The closer your proximity to DC, the greater the number of black sedans and SUV.

Lincoln looks like he will smack you silly if you misbehave in his monument.

You can't look at the reflecting pool on the mall without wanting to shout "JENNNNYYYY!"

Conversation you overhear around the Vietnam Memorial are MUCH different from the conversations you overhear at the other monuments.

Why can't the New York Subway be as a clean as the DC Metro?

High school kids should not be sent to DC in large, poorly supervised groups.

As bad as high school kids, teachers can be worse.

If your eyes don't well up when you hear "Taps" played at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, you're not human.

Spring Break!

Senator Chad
Future President Chad (he's not quite old enough for this...yet)


-Hers

Congratulations Albany Law Women

Over a months worth of practice and preparation paid off for the Albany Law Women's Basketball team today as they placed second at Western New England College's annual basketball tournament. The girls endured a grueling Saturday schedule that saw them play four games with no more than an hour break between games (leaving no time to eat until after their last game ended at 6:00). Despite the tough schedule, they managed to grab the second seed and play their way into the finals today. Make room in the trophy case for some new hardware.

Spring Break Law School Edition

Our Spring Break is March 17-21 this year. We were all set for a relaxing weekend in Newport, Rhode Island. That is until Hers was perusing the upcoming Supreme Court Docket (as is her habit) and noticed that on Tuesday, March 18, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear D.C. v. Heller. For those of you who have a life, the Heller case is a huge Second Amendment. The District of Columbia has some, in my opinion, draconian handgun laws that prohibit anyone from possessing a handgun, even in their own home. The city of D.C. appealed the decision of the D.C. Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. If the Supreme Court upholds the decision, some say it could have a significant impact on handgun laws in places like New York City.

So, not only will we hopefully get to hear a Supreme Court case, but we'll get to hear one of the hottest cases to come before the court in some time. Even if we don't make it in for the Heller case (and that's quite possible due to the number of people who are going to want seats), the court is hearing arguments on Monday and Wednesday as well, so should be able to sit in on a session at some point. Plus, I am yet to visit D.C., so it'll be a great chance to see the sites (and Hers is an excellent D.C. tour guide).

Yep, Supreme Court oral arguments, that's how we law students roll.

Poltical Speech and Google News, Ugh.

His and I have just finished our 25 page rough draft for our note and comment. Yup, the same one we were suppose to be working on all break. We started with 0 pages written on Friday and by Sunday at 7:00 we have 25 pages. Yea!
My paper is on political speech and its first amendment protections. I can't possible write any more about that topic right now so you are all spared. His is writing about the copyright implications of Google News. Wow, we are such dorks.
This weekend was quite eventful for us. As I mentioned before I am on a basketball team and we had our first practice this weekend. His practiced with us because we needed the extra body. He didn't play too bad. Anyway, while at practice I re-injured the toe that I had injured during Rugby last year. We ended up having to go to the Doctor to have the majority of my big toe nail removed. My toe is gnarly looking right now and hurts. Unfortunately that wasn't a good enough excuse to get an extension on our paper. So that's what we've been up to!

Here We Go Again

The first day back is essentially social day. No one can stand one another by the end of finals, but all is forgotten the first day back. Everyone is grouped together in the foyer and the halls talking about their break and asking what classes everyone is taking this semester. At least Hers and I have some interesting stories to tell this time around as opposed to last year when we basically watched TV for about three weeks straight with no money to go out and do anything fun.

Hers has a killer schedule. She has eight hours of class today. Hers accepted a tutoring a position for Advanced Legal Reasoning this semester. Unfortunately, the offer came late Friday and she rearranged her whole schedule to accommodate it. The result is an eight hour Monday. But she just has some ALR related chores on Thursdays and no class on Friday.

Monday is my busiest day, but it's not nearly as bad. Hers and I are both in Advanced Constitutional Law (which deals with Freedom of Religion). Hers and I also have Matrimonial Law tonight from 5:00-7:30. At least we don't have class tomorrow until the afternoon.

Classes start tomorrow!

We've done most of our reading but we're not nearly as prepared as we have been. Also, that paper is not going so well. However, the New York Football Giants just won and Albany will either be hungover tomorrow or still celebrating. The Giants training camp is in Albany and this is totally a Giants town! His and I are just excited to see Farve play another game on the frozen tundra.

His and I did our Con Law reading today. One of the assignments involved pretending that we were administrators of a trust that gave money to people for obeying the ten commandments. The only commandment at issue in the hypothetical problems was "thou shalt not commit adultery." So interestingly we spent our Sunday discussing the finer points of adultery and the legal arguments to get around those points. Law school does nothing, if not promote a healthy marriage.

New Years Resolution

One of our (my) New Years Resolutions is to actually post things on this blog. We have almost half a dozen readers that I don't want to disappoint.
The drawbacks to the increased posting are:
1. We have pretty mundane lives, so the material just won't be that interesting.
2. It is hard to write about non-law related things, so again the material just won't be that interesting.
3. I'm not a good writer and probably won't be taking the time necessary to edit my ramblings. Sorry.
If you can make it through the boring and nonsensical material and the grammatical errors then our (hopefully) new found enthusiasm for posting should be a real treat.

School starts on Monday. His and I are probably more stressed about this semester than any other. My 14 hours of class include advanced constitutional law, public access to government information, administrative law, intro to tax (expect some calls, Mom) and Matrimonial Law (with His, of course).
I'm still working at the Board of Elections. We have a presidential primary coming up and have been federally mandated to install all new voting machines. We're expecting mucho litigation about that and I should have plenty to do there.
I've also excepted a position as a Teaching Fellow for our Applied Legal Reasoning class. The class is geared towards those first year students who are at the bottom of the class. It is suppose to help them understand what it takes to be a successful law student. Basically, its my chance to indoctrinate a new group of people with the mantra "Don't freak out, law school is way easier than the real world".
Oh, and on top of that I have my note and comment to write. That's right, the same note and comment that I didn't work on at all over break. It, unfortunately, refused to write itself, so it is on to plan B, actually writing it. (You were warned that my posts would not be well written).
Rugby hasn't started yet but I am playing on the Woman's basketball team here and we have a big tournament in Boston soon.
Other than that I'm just relaxing and playing some Wii.