Sunday, June 24, 2007

My Life With the Cave and the Cool Kids

So yeah, this law school program is kicking my ass a little - as is evident by my lack of posts. I was very concerned initially that I wouldn't have any friends and wouldn't find a study group. As luck would have it, I met an awesome study partner, C, and have been grateful after realizing the other jackasses I could have ended up with (that is in no way to minimize the awesomeness of C...just to accentuate the full extent of some of the jackasses). Seriously, I think most people in there think that lawyers are supposed to argue all the time. Um, yeah, they actually do more writing than anything. Here are a few highlights...(I really don't have time to highlight the jackasses...that will have to be in a separate post...there's just too much to say).

The Cave
The Law School at Saint Louis University is absolutely arctic. At times, it's so cold that C and I can see each others hair blowing from the vents above our heads. We attempted to do homework in the student lounge and atrium...too cold. We wandered over to the Business School. We walked around, in all honesty, looking for snacks, but found a wonderful place to work. "Breakout Rooms" and they're called, are glorious rooms for multiple people that have thermostats and windows. When all else fails and we're still too cold, you know those windows are opened!

The cave was also necessary because we were being stalked by a couple people hoping to join our study group. We're not snobs...but we can't let anyone in that doesn't get it equal to or more than us. And we're a little snobby, but mostly because we're older than most of the class (The Fiance calls us Mean Girls...we are not mean, just not joiners).

The "Cool Kids"
When we first started, it was unclear as to who would hang with who. After the first week, a couple of the kind of attractive hipsters began going to lunch together and walking back to the Law school with their Arby's cups - giggling and looking cool. C and I were leaving our cave one day...looking at the cool kids walking from the other direction, I said,

"C, I think those are the cool kids...and I think we're the nerds."

C replies, "yeah, I think you're right...and I'm not usually a nerd."

I respond, "Yeah, me not so much either...and YOU WERE A DANCE MAJOR!"

C, "I KNOW!"

Me, "Oh well, at least we're getting our homework done."

C, "True, I'm ok being a nerd."

Side note: To be certain, let's do a little nerd checklist:
yes - Early to class
yes - Go to professors office to discuss questions
yes - Pack our lunches (this should count twice for me because I have a pink anime lunchbox)
yes - Stay at school between classes and until 6 pm
yes - Take notes old school...not on laptops
yes - use backpacks, not roll-y things
yes - Made flashcards
yes - Skipped Beyonce concert (not that I would have gone EVER, but the cool kids did - ON A SCHOOL NIGHT!)
yes - Judged the cool kids for seeing Beyonce on a school night
Yep - all signs point to nerd

The next day, two of the cool boys (because the cool girls want nothing to do with girls that might be construed as at all hot...and we are) came up to us after class. We could call them "Cocky-Gym-Teacher-Who-Wants-To-Be-An-Athletic-Agent" and "Cool-San-Diego-Kid-With-His-Collar-Up-That-Smokes", but we'll stick with V and S.

S, "Hey guys, we've been meaning to talk to you for a few days, but you always scurry off and disappear after class."

V, "Yeah, where do you go anyway?"

Me, "The business building (being as vague about geographics as possible, lest they attempt to join our study group by stalking us...a tactic S attempted - and FAILED at!), the rooms are temperature controlled so we don't freeze like in the business building."

S, "Ahh, some sort of study cave."

C, "Sort of (I could tell she was hesitant to talk about it further...again, our study group is full).

Anyway, we chat for 15 minutes or so. The most important highlight is that they thought we were their ages (25)...and we're 29 and 32. And yes, it must always be about me being thought younger...an ongoing theme on this blog.

Anyway, this interaction gave us validation that we could be cool kids AND nerds. And seriously, as much as we make fun of the cool kids behind their backs sometimes, they were really very nice.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Evil Intent

This photo needs very little explanation. Basically, I dropped an egg, liked how it looked, and took a picture. At the last moment, the kitten slid into view.