Last day of class

I feel many emotions today on this, the last day of my law school classes. But I’ll just say this: for the last three years, law school consumed me like nothing else ever has. And somehow, without me even noticing until yesterday, it’s over.

Just like that.

britt

bolognese

Every night, after Chris tells me stories from his childhood or the day’s news, I make bolognese in my head until I fall asleep. Even though I’ve only actually made this recipe once in real life, I’ve been making it in my head nearly every night since December.

I mentally collect all the ingredients and lay them out on the counter. I grate the onion, the carrots, the celery. After they’re browned, I add the tomato, then beef. When the grape juice is reduced (yeah, I don’t even make-believe cook with make-believe wine), I restock my make-believe counter, and I start grating a new onion.

It’s kind of like counting sheep, but tailored to an over-anxious law student who finds solace in Italian food.

britt

To Fall (as summer):

Last week we went over to the Palace of Fine Arts. It was a beautiful night, and we had the place completely to ourselves. Pretty awesome. We don't usually take a ton of pictures, but I took an instagram, and Chris took a panoramic with his fancy new iPhone.

Dear San Francisco,

I love you most in the fall. There is no line for the cable car, there’s a shorter wait at my favorite restaurants, and we can make impromptu trips to Ghirardelli. But maybe more than anything, I love that it’s October 2 – it’s fall – and it’s 85 degrees outside. Not a cloud in the sky. I can read cases at Ocean Beach. Which is to say, I suppose, that I actually love summer. I love that San Francisco in the fall feels like stealing two extra months of summer.

brittney

Hey guys,

Dear friends, co-workers, strangers, and most especially Chris,

Last week I stubbed my toe against a door frame and broke one of the tiniest bones in my body – and I know it sounds stupid, but an exhausting week ensued. Thank you for taking such good care of me. Every day I am completely overwhelmed by the compassion and genuinely earnest offers to help. Thank you for going out of your way to commiserate, open doors, carry my crutches up stairs, drive me around, hold my books and bags, give me piggybacks, feed me tasty snacks, and say, “get better soon!” You have strengthened my faith in humanity. You are the best. Thank you.

love,

britt

To the Class of 2013,

the view from where I study in the library

To My Colleagues (One of my professors this semester is British, and he says “colleagues” all the time. It sounds real legit in a British accent.)

I heard people were mean in law school. “They might be nice enough, sure,” they said, “but when push comes to shove they’ll let you drown in the Ocean of the Truth of the Matter Asserted mumbling something about never owing you a duty in the first place.” But on the first week of my last year of law school I hugged at least a hundred people, and when Aly saved me a seat in Federal Income Tax there was a note signed, “a gorilla” at my desk. I thought I didn’t want to go back to school this semester, but it’s been three weeks, and I was wrong. I am so happy to be back, studying, agonizing, learning with you guys.

 Love,

Ms. Perry

Elevators-

Chris walks me to work. Today I took him upstairs so he could see my office and experience the elevators.

I work on the 7th floor of my building, and for the first time in my life I’m spending regular time in elevators. A few observations:

• The elevator feels the smallest when I share it with only one other person and that person is openly carrying a gun and a taser. 
• Most mornings, the elevator smells like someone just peeled an orange. It’s something like the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy. This person maintains absolute anonymity, but brings a citrus scent wherever they go. To date, there have been no Orange Eater sightings.
• Related: if you haven’t showered for several days, your presence lingers in my elevator long after you’ve left. 
• I know exactly when to jump. I am awesome at that now.

love, 

"legal research" (this is what the Deputy DAs call me)

to the legions of people who had to write law school exams by hand, before everyone had their own computer -

Five minutes before the scheduled start of my last exam, the registrar walked into our classroom with stacks of bluebooks and said, “Because we can’t get the internet up, you must all handwrite your exams.” I thought it was a joke and agreed to their terms only if, in addition to the bluebook, they provided a hacky sac, a boy band mix tape, and if the word “rad” could be included as many times as I wanted. Nobody was amused, and I spent three and a half hours writing down everything I knew about Corporate law, and the subsequent three and a half weeks hating the registrar's office.

- Brittney Perry, class of 1995 2013

Dear Studying,

see, here's the trick: from this picture, I could be reading Revenue Ruling 74-555 or I could be writing this blog post. so this system-o-shame only works if people can see my screen. which... they can't when I'm alone at home... which is why I'm writing a blog post right now instead of reading Revenue Ruling 74-555.

There’s this girl in the library who is always on task. Always. She is never scanning Facebook, never writing emails, never staring off into the distance day-dreaming of summer. No - one hundred percent of the time, that girl is flipping through flash cards, working on practice exams, printing out outlines. It’s miraculous; I’ve never seen anything like it, and I would probably worship her if I wasn’t weren't so jealous. My 1L year I never worked in the library, but this year, I sit next to this girl, and I’m shamed into working on my international tax outline – because if this girl can do it, so can I.

- "hard working student"

Dear Judge Posner,

Your Indiana Harbor Belt opinion, and I do mean this literally, made me cry. I actually burst into tears in my Torts professor’s office. But the day I stopped hating you was the day I read your American Amusement (244 F.3d 572) opinion:

"The player is armed with a gun - most fortunately, because he is being assailed by a seemingly unending succession of hideous axe-wielding zombies, the living dead conjured back to life by voodoo. The zombies have already knocked down and wounded several people, who are pleading pitiably for help;  and one of the player's duties is to protect those unfortunates from renewed assaults by the zombies. His main task, however, is self-defense. Zombies are supernatural beings, therefore difficult to kill. Repeated shots are necessary to stop them as they rush headlong toward the player. He must not only be alert to the appearance of zombies from any quarter;  he must be assiduous about reloading his gun periodically, lest he be overwhelmed by the rush of the zombies when his gun is empty."

Well said, my good man. Well said.

- second-year law student.

Dear Night Classes,

Least favorite part of Monday = night class. Most favorite part of Monday = emails from my brother living in Madagascar. This is a picture of Sammy in Antananarivo with my cousin, Alisha, who served in the same mission a few years ago and visited this week.

I’m never taking another night class again. Ever. Not in a million years. Do you hear me, 6:30 to 9:30 classes? I don’t care if you have the coolest classes or best teachers; you’ve seen the last of my charm and good looks. It’s over.

- daytime student, committed to daytime classes, forever

Dear Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

NYT image here. The NYT recipe we used here. 

Corporations is a night class that I normally have once a week. It’s from 6:30 to 9:30 and it’s pretty dense material. Federal proxy voting rules, etc. Well this week I had THREE, three-hour Corporations classes in seven days. We had to read nearly a billion pages to prepare for class, and then had nine. hours. of. lecture. When we first made you, giant cookies, I thought we’d never get rid of you, and we shared you with Esther, Marcus, Aly, Laura… but it was much harder to stress eat when you were gone, and I missed you.

 - apparently full-time Corporations student

Dear Ethics Cookies,

cookie cake here.

Each week, my Professional Responsibility professor brings cookies and tea for everyone in the class. He does this because studies show that snacks “promote positive and efficient discussion in depositions.” I am the only second-year student in my class; everyone else is in their last semester of law school, and I thought I would be more comment averse. The point is: I know he brings these cookies to manipulate me into talking in class. I know he’s tricking my brain into being happy for that three-hour seminar. 

But it works, cookies.
It works every time.

- Little Cookie Monster

dear law school,

in other monumental news: Chris shaved :) he is so handsome.

This morning I had my last class of the semester, which means I am officially half-way through with law school classes, and I feel a little grown up and terrified.

- little grown up and terrified.

"Shared Items" -

Since I pretended to see you last:

• I just want to crawl into that bed up there. and read and watch movies and cuddle and giggle and never leave. I'm glad finals start/end soon.
• This is the coolest photobooth I've seen in a long time.
• Justice Posner on Occupy Wallstreet.
• I have seen so many awesome minimalist posters recently:
• I keep coming back to these modern children's story posters.
• And retro muppet band/concert posters.
• And this is my favorite of Matt Owen's posters.
• The most powerful weapon on earth.
• Did you know freaking Ron Swanson HAS A WOOD SHOP?

miss you,

student that's just ready for finals to be over so she can start properly celebrating Christmas

to the universe:

picture from my aunt cari 

I am most thankful for:

• my family. 
• a flight back to san francisco with a travel buddy (for the first time in like seven years).
• the best travel buddy ever.
• pie.
• the people I go to school with.
• the little girl playing the ukulele in the Oakland airport this week.
• being half-way finished with law school in three weeks.
• Caltrain.
• Birthdays and birthday parties.
• the internet.

Perspicacious,

a perspicacious bunch.

You are my favorite word. As November begins and finals approach, I aspire to be many things. You are one of them.

perspicacious |ˌpərspiˈkā sh əs| adjective

having a ready insight into and understanding of things : it offers quite a few facts to 

the perspicacious reporter. 

- wannabe

Hey Dad,

I saved this picture to my desktop before my computer crashed. It was the inspiration for my Halloween costume this year (Che + Fidel Castro). And when we plugged in the external hard drive and restarted my computer, my desktop came up and I knew things weren't so bad because this picture was still saved there. And then I was really pleased that a picture of Castro could be my computer's symbol to me saying, "yeah, we're still here. I know you thought you got rid of us... and you tried your best. But you can't. We're stil here."

First of all, AlwaysAlwaysAlwaysAlwaysBackUpYourStuff. Always. And you should also invest in Apple Care if you can. Second of all, this week, like a cave person, I had to bust out a freaking stone tablet and chisel away my notes for Con Law, Wills and Trusts, and Evidence. I did this because my hard drive failed, and I didn’t have a computer for two days. Thank you for getting me that external hard drive for Christmas. Because of that, I still have my notes and outlines, my pictures and post-its, my songs and screenshots. Were this not the case, my only option would have been to drop out of law school and move back in with you guys. So thank you for saving my career.

 - lover of time machines.

Dear Growing List of Responsibilities,

this is a closeup of my locker at school: job search handbook, Constitutional Law casebook, California Probate Code, Wills, Trusts, and Estates casebook, Evidence casebook, Federal Rules of Evidence supplement, Accounting, Auditing, and Finance for Attorneys text, and Costco trail mix (aka the source of life and happiness)

Even though the weather has been absolutely beautiful recently, I’ve taken to wearing long sleeved shirts and hanging out in the library. Before I start my homework, if I take a moment to literally roll up my sleeves it gets me focused and keeps me in the right frame of mind. I have more to do before Halloween than can actually be done. I ask you. In times like these, what’s a girl to do but roll up her sleeves and get to work.

- trail mix addict

Justice Scalia,

Today I asked a stranger to take this picture for me because OMG MY SCHOOL HAS BABY BUSTER'S HAND CHAIR.

It’s been years since a book kept me up at night (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), but this week I stayed up reading Constitutional Law until 1:00 because I got seven sentences into your Heller opinion, and wondered how you were going to convince me that Americans have a constitutional right to carry guns. Coincidentally, in the three days after reading Heller, I read almost 80 pages of opinions you've written over the years, mostly your hearsay cases. You, Your Honor, are brilliant. By the end of your opinions I find myself thinking, "Wait... how did I get here? Am I agreeing with Justice Scalia right now?"

- Con Law Convert

Dear Idaho,

When I was taking my property test, quite by accident I discovered that my “happy place” is in Ammon, Idaho. I was a little surprised, to be honest, but tonight spring was in full bloom and I remembered why I could endlessly savor these nights. My dad and I headed out to the garden to pick some rhubarb, and just being around the trees in my backyard is debilitating; the air around the thousands of lush apple blossoms is intoxicating. This smell is second only to the long-awaited rhubarb raspberry pies baking in the oven right now.

- rhubarb pie enthusiast