Of Outlines and Bricks

Law school finals ended Friday, and I am officially half way through law school.  It's time for some much-needed reflections on this whirlwind semester.

After going through three cycles of finals, which comprise all or most of my grade in each class, I'm fairly certain that law school finals basically only measure how skilled one is at filling one's mind to brimming, dumping it on a page (in the most orderly and concise way possible, of course), wiping the mind clean, and starting all over again for the next final. 

With each final, my textbook and my carefully-organized notes for that class become my complete life and being for a space of two or three days.  My process is:
1) take notes by hand throughout the semester,
2) type up my notes,
3) spend hours and hours formatting, refining, bolding, adding to, and whittling down those notes,
4) print out the notes, highlight through them, and index them with brightly-colored tabs. 

By the time I am finished, my notes have become the all-important Outline, and I'm privately convinced it is a genius work of art.  The process with statute books is similar: strategic tabs and highlighting are an absolute necessity.  There is nothing more beautiful than a nicely tabbed statute book.  Like this one (I took this picture just before my 9am Secured Transactions final):

I walk into a final feeling like my textbook and Outline are my very best friends and absolute lifeline.  Then, three hours later, I carry those same objects out of Green Hall and dump them, to be forgotten, in the back seat of my car. 

It makes me sad, to see them lying there abandoned...  But they are abandoned out of necessity: law school just doesn't leave you much time to ponder or appreciate newly-gained insights. 

One of my time-consuming tasks this semester was editing other people's (sometime poorly-written) footnotes in articles submitted for publication in the Kansas Law Review.  During one of my frantic editing sessions (they never struck at a convenient time, but then again, there's never a convenient time to edit footnotes for four hours), I came across a quote in a book that provided a lovely metaphor for my semester, and maybe for law school generally: 

The author analogized bits of information to bricks, falling all around you.  At a certain rate, you can use those bricks build a wall, placing each brick as it falls into its place on the wall.  But if they begin to fall at too fast a rate, and if there are too many bricks all around you, you will never be able to find space to build a wall, and the bricks are useless.

I felt all semester that I was being buried alive by my metaphorical bricks of information.  The classes I took this semester were really quite interesting, exactly the kind of thing that I was happy to spend time reading and thinking about.  But I had to cram each new fact or idea into an unfilled sliver of my brain to make space for the next onslaught. 

About half way through the semester, I gave up attempting to mentally organize and process the material that I read through each night.   There was just too much.  It was frustrating knowing that I could be getting a lot more out of my classes, if I could just find some space to build a coherent structure out of my thoughts. 

But maybe that is for after law school.  Maybe law school is just to show you the bricks, impress you with how many there are, and hit you over the head with them a few times so you at least remember where they are in case you need to come back for them later.  If you're lucky, maybe you'll walk out of each class with a brick in each hand? Hm (I like analogies).

Well, now that I'm not trying to process so much new info every day, I'm starting to feel unoccupied space opening up again, both in my schedule and in my mind.  My goal for next semester is to use at least one idea a month as inspiration for a blog post here, in the attempt to feel that I've at least partially processed and refined a few thoughts from my classes. 

Meanwhile, I'm spending some time during my break working on projects that use other parts of my brain, and it feels great--I hope to do a post on those projects in the next week or so.   But if you don't hear from me before next week, I'm wishing everyone the mental space and peace of mind to enjoy family, enjoy break, and enjoy Christmas.

I.L.A.*

My mission this weekend was to accomplish as much of my homework for the week as I could before the week ever starts.  20 more pages to read in my Native American Natural Resources book and I will have all of my class homework for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday finished!

Scout helps me with my homework by napping in my bag of textbooks:


I did get a little bogged down my Environmental Law reading.  I love acronyms* for their convenience and cleverness, but the legal system REALLY loves acronyms.  Especially, as it turns out, environmental protection statutes.  I was just starting to get used to the acronyms for NEPA (National Environmental Protection Act ), but today I tripped over the following acronyms that popped up in only three pages of reading on the CAA (Clean Air Act):

NAAQS: National Ambient Air Quality Standards
SIP: State Implementation Plan
PSD: Prevention of Significant Deterioration
NSPS: Nationally Uniform New Source Performance Standards (apparently they didn't think that "NUSPS"was any good, but I personally like it better)
RACT: Reasonably Available Control Technology
LAER: Lowest Achievable Emissions Rate
BACT: Best Available Control Technology
BART: Best Available Retrofit Technology
and, last but not least, NESHAP: National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.

Here's a special sample from my reading: "The three emission standards (under the CAA) applicable to sources that are required to apply for permits under the nonattainment, PSD, and visibility protection programs (now why not just call that "VPP" while we're at it, hhhmm???)--LAER, BACT, and BART--are not technology-based in the same sense as the mobile-source standards, the NSPS, and RACT for existing sources."

...I think this might be why environmental lawyers focus on becoming experts on only one environmental statute.

This extra push on homework is my attempt to make a little more room for my other law and non-law projects I have going this week, some of them more fun than others, for example: skimming the 50+ articles that I have waiting to be read for the two 30-page research papers I will write this semester, practicing piano for my part in Chelsea and Jacob's wedding this weekend, volunteering at the new Ten Thousand Villages opening up in Lawrence (Hooray!), soaking up the joy of having some of my favorite people in town for the wedding (DOUBLE HOORAY!), and catering snacks to the 5th floor of Green Hall every day for the 30 person staff of the Law Review (Hoo...! .......wait a sec...).

That's right, it's my week to provide my hard-working peers with snacks.  Another "perk" of making the Kansas Law Review.  Actually I really love snacks, so I'm willing to do my part if it means I always have access to a little pick-me-up when I'm hungry halfway to lunch, or falling asleep at my study carrell reading Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, or both.

I took a break this evening between Secured Transactions and Environmental Law reading to cut a few veggies for tomorrow's veggie-hummus-tray masterpiece:

 Mmmmm doesn't that look tasty? The snack menu gets less healthy from here but I thought I'd at least start the week right. Notice also the multiple mugs from tea and coffee, the basil from my garden still waiting to be turned into pesto, and my binder of articles for Law Review research (I don't know why there's a broken clothes-hanger on the table, you'll have to ask CJ).

Alright--20 more pages and then it's to bed with me.  Who's ready for another big, fun week?!

Hm, this research is making me thirsty...

October comes around too quickly this year.  The other day someone asked me if I was already halfway through my semester and I gasped "NO!" ...I might be in denial. 

This evening is a nice break, of sorts, from homework.  I don't mean I don't have homework tonight, I just mean I have a little bit of time outside of homework for myself: time to write, time to pick tomatoes and peppers from my garden, time to play a game or two with CJ.

What has been soaking up all my time? I am researching water rights issues in Kansas.  You know, I'm self-conscious enough about my nerdiness that I usually assume I should just stop right there, but it really is a fascinating topic... Let's see if I can sum it up:

As a state, Kansas adopted a permitting system for water that allocates each water user a certain amount of water annually, and if the water runs low (for example, during a drought), then water rights users with "younger" permits are cut off until the supply of water picks up again.  This system works great for streams and rivers, which have a finite but renewable supply at any given point, but......... it turns out that it doesn't work quite so well for underground water supplies, like the Ogallala Aquifer.  Unlike rivers and streams, groundwater remains available in any amount it can be pumped, which means that there is no built-in mechanism to limit water use to only a self-sustaining amount, and which allowed Kansas to willy nilly grant permits to anyone who could put the water to a beneficial use. 

It didn't take long to realize it might not be a good thing to be using up the water in the Ogallala Aquifer at over ten times the rate it could recharge itself. The problem is that those water permits magically turn into private property when they are granted, and no one is too keen on the state telling them they just have to stop pumping water now, or even reduce the amount.  In fact, Amendment #5 of the Constitution says that Kansas can't just take away people's property unless they pay for it, and Kansas probably can't or doesn't want to pay to buy those water rights back, so, maybe we are stuck. 

On the other hand, if nothing is done to stop the rapid decline, a lot of Kansas is going to be without water at some point in the not too distant future, and when that happens, all those pieces of private property in water permits are not going to be worth anything at all.  We are pushing voluntary conservation measures, and they sure are conserving some water, of course, but... Voluntary conservation just isn't coming close to the kind of change that would have to happen to keep the Ogallala around for more than a generation.  Is there any legal way that Kansas can or should squirm its way around the 5th Amendment, allowing it to make the tough calls on water usage?  Does Kansas have any obligation to preserve value of property in water for later by infringing on property value in water now?

Quandary.  I'll leave you hanging for a while on that one... partly for the suspense factor, but partly because I'm pretty conflicted about the answer.

Ok, I really did try to keep it short, but my quick summary turned into my entire blog post.  I hope you liked it. 

The Livin' is Easy

If I thought life would slow down after the wedding, I was wrong.  Correction--if I thought I would allow life to slow down after the wedding, I was seriously kidding myself.  The last few weeks have been full of activity, particularly of the social type.  

At the end of June, Cj and I made the trek up to Freeman, South Dakota to catch a few friends and family who were gathering in the area.  Our visit coincided with a rib festival, quilt show, and a reunion tour by Radar Ray and the Creekbusters.  After eating mostly vegetarian the past couple of months, sampling and judging a rib from each vendor left me with a seriously full and dangerously grumbly belly.  The only cure for what ailed me was sitting around a campfire, singing repetitive songs with homemade lyrics, drinking cheap beer, and catching up with old friends.  

The two following weeks I couldn't seem to stop myself from planning activities...  There are just so many important people, and so little time! Finally, Cj called me out on our excessive scheduling.  He helpfully pointed out that, at some point, we need to leave time for things like writing thank you notes, and playing music, and replanting all the pots on our deck whose plants perished in the Great Heat Wave of 2012.  And I remembered that I wanted to have time for those things too, and I knew it was time to back off. 

The frenzy of social activities originates from two hyperactive squirrels in the back of my brain: One is the squirrel that is frustrated by the unfairness of having all of my favorite people in the world in one place at the wedding, and not being able to spend quality time with any of them.  So of course I've been trying to spend quality time with everyone I know every free second ever since.  

The other squirrel is driven mad by a sense of foreboding about this fall's law school schedule.  I recently accepted a position on the staff of the Kansas Law Review.  This position will likely be the most expensive gold star on my law school resume, paid for with any free time I might have had remaining outside of my normal academic work.  I hope it's worth it, but it's not encouraging when law students a year ahead of me say "Congratulations" in the same tone of voice that they would say "I'm so sorry, I just ran over your puppy."

Ok so there are lots of reasons why it's great to be taking advantage of the summer by spending time with friends, but... yes, sometimes it's just too much.  So I'm trying to be more intentional about leaving free space in my schedule.  

Yesterday evening was quiet, and lovely.  Cj and I cooked a simple dinner together, using some of our new cooking devices, which are overflowing our kitchen and camping out forlornly in the music room while they wait for permanent homes.  Most of those kitchen gadgets are probably unneeded, but dang are they fun to experiment with.

We celebrated the sub-100-degree temperatures by eating on our back deck, and then biking the long KU hill to the Merc (our local organic granola bulk food grocery establishment), with empty mason jars in tow.  We coasted the whole way home with our jars full of rice and lentils.  The zero-effort roller coaster ride was totally worth hauling myself and my bike up that hill.  

Back at home we watched Back to the Future, which, incredibly, I had never seen before.  As with most classic movies that I should have seen as an 8 year old (other movies that have been on this list until recently: Edward Scissorhands, Labrynth, and Alice in Wonderland),  my impression of the subject matter was totally inaccurate... I think I thought Back to the Future was going to be some sort of intellectual science-fiction masterpiece.  As a result, I was in gleeful giggles most of the way through the movie.

I'm not done socializing or traveling for the summer yet.  This weekend is my birthday, and next weekend is the annual Larson-Friesen trip to the Lake of the Ozarks.  The following weekend Cj and I leave for our honeymoon in Colorado.  Well, summer is for life and friends and relaxing and projects.  Hopefully all in balance.  At least this week was one significant step back towards equilibrium.  

I have to admit, this semester is a lot harder than last semester.  Free time is rare and sacred.  My blog has fallen to the bottom of the priorities, and I'm definitely not hurting for opportunities to read, write, and edit.

But I got a new camera, and I've been taking a lot of pictures during my limited non-homework time.  Pictures don't require nearly as much time to perfect the message, so I'll share a few with you.

Baking in my spare time (this was early in the semester... I haven't baked in a while...):

Saturday Brunch

 Wine and Cheese Party in February:

 A Recent Visit to Mom and Dad's Farm:

Mardi Gras in Kansas comes to Free State Brewery:

 Law Prom (an excuse to wear my high school prom dress and buy a suit for CJ):

 Presidents' Day Party at the MVS House in Kansas City (Taft and Roosevelt made an appearance):

 Making Wedding Invitations with Abby (and Samson):

 Grilling and Lawn Games at CJ and Jacob's:

Well... that's it.  Now you know everything other than homework, internship, and job searching that I have done since January. It's really a pretty good life :)