Dante & the Bar Exam

So, we (Dem, Elliot, and I) are nearing the completion of our time apart. In about a week, I will have finished the bar exam, and will have arrived in Midland, Texas. At that point, finally, we'll be together as a family again. It'll be the first time I will have seen Elliot in five weeks; and, considering he's only eight months old, that means I have missed a good chunk of his life. Needless to say, the reunion will be joyful.

Until then, however, the bar exam intrudes on my thoughts every moment. Never would I wish it on my worst enemy (be he commie, fascist, or Dennis Kucinich, a.k.a., Gollum)












to spend twelve to fourteen hours per day studying contracts, property, torts, con law, crim law, admin law, wills, trusts, corporations, agency, partnership, evidence, sales, indian law, secured transactions, civil procedure, etc.

Honestly, I wake up at night thinking about the definition of burglary -- the breaking and entry at nighttime of the dwelling of another with the intent to commit a felony inside the dwelling. How messed up is that?! And, if I'm feeling particularly boring while asleep, I'll conjure up some res ipsa loquitor, which contains the following exciting requirements: (1) Demonstrate the accident is not the type that normally happens in the absence of negligence, and (2) negligence is attributable to defendant (normally demonstrated by showing defendant was in exclusive control of that instrumentalities that caused the accident).

In light of how the bar so thoroughly depletes one's humanity, I expect to see the following engraved above the bar exam entrance in Albuquerque: Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate [Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here]. This is, of course, part of the famous inscription above the gates of hell in Dante's Inferno. Upon entering the gates, Dante sees all number of teeth curling monstrosities. My only question is: Is what Dante saw worse than what I will see in six days? I doubt it. My bet is Dante's horrors ain't got nothin' on the bar.

Elliot Eating

The title tells it all: this is a video of Elliot eating. Specifically, he's eating cheerios, but he seem much more interested in grabbing the camera.

Dressing Your Child

One of the greatest pleasures about having a child is dressing him -- I say "him," not because I'm a sexist who masculinizes all speech, but because we actually have a boy. And possibly the greatest part about dressing your child is you can dress him in anything, and I mean anything. Just think about the clothes we put on our kids: outfits full of monkey, giraffes, elephant, and every domesticated animal excepting the alpaca (although, I'm sure Peruvian parents are all about alpaca laced onesies). Moreover, any color (including taupe for heaven's sake) is acceptable on any child.

One interesting phenomenon in our "dress your kids in anything" universe is the political statement onesie. Parents are now wont to dress their children in a onesie sporting whatever political fad statement rules the day -- e.g., "Go green" or "Barack's my guy." I guess this is a natural extension of earlier times when parents would pin "I Like Ike" buttons on their child's overalls.

In any case, we (well, I, mostly) have decide to join the political baby fray with the following onesie:

I couldn't resist. My friend Shannon and I were IMing one evening, and he linked me to this. I had to buy it. When I told Demaree about it, she asked: "What if Elliot turns out to be a liberal?" I replied, "Well, it obviously won't be our fault."

So, there you have it: the politicization (or better yet, the Scaliazation) of our child has officially begun.

Beaglemania

Demaree's brother, Erick, and his wife, Gretchen, brought their dogs, Luke and Han, to Texas. Turns out Elliot really enjoys dogs, and he was all over Luke like white on rice. As this video shows, Luke was great about it.

The Sagacity (and Humor) of Youth

Last night, Dem's little nephew, Josh, informed Demaree it was good we adopted Elliot, because "It's okay that brown people live with peach families." What a beautiful, insightful statement.

Sold Our House!

Well, as the title indicates, we recently sold our house, or, more correctly stated, we contracted to sell our house. It'll close August 15, which is just in time to not pay our August mortgage payment. (whew.) This house sale is slightly different from our last experience.

To explain, a few years ago we bought a house in Vegas. Luckily, we bought it at the beginning of Vegas's big housing boom, and sold before the ensuing bubble burst. This time however, the Lincoln market has been stagnant for the last four to five years, which means we didn't make much, if anything, on this house. That being said, we're grateful to have sold the house quickly (about thirty days) and for the price we did.

And now, we must take a minute to thank our friend (and realtor) Charmaine Kearl. She was incredible throughout the home selling process. We owe her everything, and we thank her very much. She's been a great friend over these last few years. Oh, and if you're selling your house in Lincoln (or thereabouts), we recommend Charmaine.

New Job & Elliot Update

I began my new life as an actual lawyer on Monday. For those unaware, I took a job with the litigation firm Miller Stratvert. It's one of the largest firms in New Mexico. The lawyers and support staff are great.

The greatness of the people notwithstanding, Monday was, well, somewhat disappointing. I spent most of the day filling out paperwork. I billed a total of 24 minutes (not so good when you have to bill 1800 hours per year). Thankfully, the next day was much more productive, as was today.

Okay, enough boring lawyer stuff. Elliot and Demaree attended the pops concert in San Angelo today. As is tradition, at the end of the concert, those crazy San Angeloans bust out the fireworks and cannons -- that's right people, they have cannons. Apparently, Elliot was unphased by the rather substantial noise. In fact, about half way through the fireworks display, he got bored and fell asleep. Now, contrast our calm, cool, collected son with the baby sitting next to him: she cried troughout (little wiener). Yet more evidence Elliot is a stud.

Demaree's Travels

Having discussed my Nebraska/Colorado/New Mexico travels, I thought it fitting to review Demaree's Nebraska/Kansas/Oklahoma/Texas travels. Everything was fine until, somewhere in Oklahoma, a dust devil hit the Civic. Apparently, it was a strong little devil (pun intended) because it blew off the car top carrier and part of the driver's side front door. A nice man helped Dem reattach the carrier. Demaree then stopped at the next rest area, unloaded the carrier, and ditched it next to a dumpster. Apparently, the rest of the trip was fairly uneventful (which is what you would expect driving through the midwest). When she and Elliot arrived in San Angelo, all rejoiced -- except, of course, for the Civic (she's still upset at the dust devil).

(Aside: I've always been of the impression that nothing good happens in Oklahoma, and this experience proves it. Honestly, the most exciting things in Oklahoma are: (1) prairie fires, (2) the state lotto, and (3) dang, I can't even think of a third thing. Anyway, stay away, stay very far away.)