New Kid on the Hallway

Because I'm cranky about finals, I'm going to complain about L.L. Bean

So, today I got a L.L. Bean women's clothing catalog in the mail. It featured their new "Contemporary Fit" line, which is clearly an attempt to be a little more trendy, maybe a little more youthful (though still in a preppy New England way, of course--I mean, there's a skirt with lobsters on it!). It's kind of moving in a J.Crew direction. And I thought some of the pieces were honestly kind of cute--like this and this.

And then I saw this notice:

"Sizing is different than our traditional sizing; see page 40 for more information."

So I saw page 40.

Apparently "Contemporary Fit" means smaller:

• The largest size is an XL, but while an XL in the traditional sizing is 18-20, an XL in Contemporary Fit is a 16.
• Not only that, but the Contemporary Fit size 16 is different from the traditional sizing: the waist is smaller, and the hips are smaller (but wait! the bust is bigger!).

Now, for this post to make sense, I have to come clean, even though it doesn't thrill me to do so: I generally wear an XL. In numbered sizes, I wear a size 14-16 on top, and (in many stores) an 18 on the bottom (in some stores a 16 is fine; I've even had 18 be too small; and I remember one skirt in Target which was almost too big in a 14).

And yes, just writing these numbers down makes me want to issue all kinds of disclaimers about my big bones--which is such a cliche, but yes, I do have a big frame--but really, whether my dress size means I'm as big as a barn, or, say, simply trying to find something to clothe a 6' 4" frame, is irrelevant here: for whatever reason, I'm too big to wear these clothes.

Now, there are already quite a few stores that don't go up to a size 18 (*cough*J.Crew*cough*), or that offer size 18 online but not in the store (so I never get to try their stuff on ahead of time), and I can live with that (it's frustrating, but I figure, it's far worse for women who can't fit into any mainstream sizes, and I often can).

But it's pretty galling when a store that normally offers clothes in my size (L.L. Bean goes up to a 20 in Misses sizes, and 26 in Women's) decides to come out with a new! shiny! cute! cool! contemporary! line--but not for me. Because, apparently, I am too fat to wear new! shiny! cute! cool! contemporary! clothes.

(Well, cool by L.L. Bean standards, anyway.)

* * * * *

Coda: I sent L.L. Bean an e-mail letting them know about my disgust. Within an hour or so I had a response, thanking me for my comment, and letting me know they'd passed my comments along to the Corporate Office, which wouldn't be able to respond individually, but takes customer comments very seriously. Because L.L. Bean's reputation is the result of listening to customers over the years.

The customer service person then added:

"I would like to remind you that we still carry all our traditional item in a traditional sizes and fit [sic]."

Dude, apart from the grammatical errors? SO how to miss the point entirely.

* * * *

(And if anyone feels like making any "well, if you weren't so fat..." comments, you can just save the electrons. Thanks.)

Yes, I realize this sounds like is me complaining about good fortune

But I hate awards ceremonies.

I mean, getting awards is cool - I'm good with that. It's the part where I have to stand up in front of a whole ton of people and actually get handed the award that completely freaks me out.

This is partly, I think, because enough times, I haven't been the one getting the award, so I sit through ceremonies and empathize with the people who are left out of it.

And then there is my (erroneous, but still there) belief that I am not a "real" student, which convinces me that when I walk up to accept an award, the students are all thinking, "Her?? Why pick HER??" In other words, physically getting the award makes me feel exposed to the world as a fraud.

I kind of wonder, too, if there's a kind of blue-collar-ness to my background that contributes to this. I was decidedly NOT raised working class, but my parents both grew up very working class, and some of the things that bloggers who do identify as working class have said about that identity have really resonated with me.

I think Dr. Crazy is one who's talked about how you're not supposed to think you're better than anyone else. While my parents always encouraged my sister and me to succeed, and have always been proud of our successes and made it clear to us that they're proud, I do feel like I grew up hearing, "No one likes a conceited person" an AWFUL lot. It was one thing actually to work hard and to succeed; it was another to tell anyone about that success. It was just drilled into me from an early age that you do not brag about what you've done or what you've got, so you don't offend others not as lucky as you. (Which I guess implies that what you've done/got is about luck rather than talent or skill?) And awards ceremonies are the epitome of saying, "Look! Look at MEEEEEE!"

Anyway, for whatever reason, I hate awards ceremonies. And I sat through an hour of one this afternoon.

After which I took my car to get the oil changed and promptly locked my keys in the car in the parking lot of Jiffy Lube. It's a very good thing that business was slow, because my car blocked one of the bays while I was waiting for AAA to show up. Made me want to whip out my award and say, "Seriously, I really AM smart! I swear!"

I didn't even get to see them recoil when I said I was a law student

My jury duty experience:

1. Arrive at 8:30 am (as requested).
2. Watch the nifty video about the Importance of the Jury System (it was kind of neat to recognize some of the judges), and get told they will probably start calling for juries around 9:15 am.
3. Wait with everyone else for 3 hours.
4. Get called for a jury (as part of the first group to get called).
5. Get led down 3 flights of stairs to the courtroom, where someone came out and consulted with the bailiff (or jury commissioner or whoever was shepherding us around), who then announced that our case had settled and therefore we were free to go.

Woo hoo.

(Not especially surprising, though, since we've learned all about how few cases actually go to trial, and the jury commissioner person announced that there were 100 cases on the docket for today. I don't know how many courtrooms they have/how many trials run concurrently, but you KNOW they're not holding anything remotely like 100 trials a day.)

Hanging around the city & county building was cool, though. It would be neat to work there.

Hmmmm

So, I was just reading someone's blog, and this person said they had to go prepare to teach for the next day.

For some reason, my brain read this as suggesting that I needed to go prepare to teach for the next day, and a nearly had a panic-induced heart attack.

A sign that I've moved on from my previous profession, or a sign of how deeply it's marked me, that even now I can freak out that I haven't got my (non-existent) work for it done?

(I have very-much-existent work for the classes I'm taking, but that's different--no one else is relying on it. And in fact, no one will even know if I get it done for tomorrow, because I have to miss class because I've been called for jury duty. Not, I know, that anyone in their right mind is going to put a law student on a jury, but I have to show up so I can be properly dismissed.)

When I was in college, we chiseled our notes onto stone tablets

Today I forgot the power cord for my laptop, which I managed to coax through my two morning classes, but I knew wouldn't make it through the end of my afternoon class. So I handwrote my Crim Law notes today (I wasn't sitting near anyone with a Mac from whom I could siphon juice).

Me at the start of class: Hey, this is kind of fun! I get to use my nice pen! I can write in the margins and draw arrows and link things up and everything! Maybe I should take all my notes by hand!

Me at the end of class: [surveying unbroken blocks of scrawled text] Wait, WHAT the hell does that say?????

My laptop's status as the most important technology in my life remains firmly cemented.

Stream of consciousness

Gah, I cannot get myself to start working today. I think it's because I've managed to thoroughly freak myself out about the amount of work I need to get done by the end of the semester (if I want to do well in my classes, anyway!), and also to freak myself out about the fact that if I don't do well, I will NEVER GET A JOB (which I probably won't even if I do well, since the economy is so awful that no one anywhere in any field is ever getting a job ever again). So I'm feeling a little pressure. But since I MUST work on this stuff NOW, I'm not allowed to do anything else, which means I may NOT go to Target until after I've SPENT TIME OUTLINING (although I'm just going to get allergy meds which I'm out of; instead, I sit here sniffling). Oh, and I'm also freaking out that I have no clothes appropriate for my summer job, and I desperately need a pair of new black flats (as in my current pair is literally fraying at the seams), so clearly I must RIGHT NOW pore over the sales pages of all the major clothing stores, and spend much time trying to figure out if I can in fact wear the kelly green chino skirt on sale for $12, even though I have nothing to wear it with and try to avoid BRIGHT colors on my bottom half as a matter of principle, because the skirt is $12!!!, and to ignore the voice telling me that there's a REASON it's on sale for $12.

Aren't you glad you don't live in my head?

Screw it, I'm going to Target.

Hey wow

So, I wrote this one article, and it's fairly decent, and it got placed in a really good essay collection, so it's actually been cited in a number of places.

And that was pretty cool, and all, but in my latest vanity-Google I found something even cooler:

Someone's assigned it for a class.

I'm verklempt.

In which I am indecisive

Sorry to have been absent from this space so much. Life is less bloggable these days - full and interesting and all those good things, but just not providing much in the way of blog fodder.

Anyway, I'm currently obsessing about my schedule for next fall. The problem is that there are about 16 different classes I'd like to take, and of course, I can't actually take 16 (I can take 5 or maybe 6, depending on how many credits each is). And of course, what I take next semester will determine THE COURSE OF MY FUTURE CAREER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

(Okay, not really, but sometimes that's what it feels like.)

So I'm going to run through my plans here, and the pros/cons of different options, just because it might help me resolve some things. If anyone has input, feel free to weigh in!

American Indian Law I - am definitely taking this; it's one of the reasons I attended this school, because it offers American Indian law.

Legal Ethics and Professionalism - this is a required course, and I plan to take it in the fall; I'm hoping to get into the section taught by a federal judge, because getting to know federal judge would be a VERY useful thing. (I have to stop telling my classmates that's who this instructor is because now they all want this section as well!)

If I don't get into this section, I'm inclined to take Advanced Legal Writing and Research instead, which meets at the same time, so works well as a backup (also taught by a judge, a small class, I'm good at the research/writing so will probably get a decent grade because yay, not an exam class!, and I want to continue to hone my research and writing skills). But this would be a backup because fulfilling the requirement is preferable.

After this, things get a little murky...

I'm 95% sure I want to take the Gender and the Law seminar that's being offered. We have to take one seminar before graduating, but hell, I'd take all seminars if I could - they're very small (capped at 12), they're all about writing, you work closely with the prof and other students in the class, and NO EXAM! I think it's safe to say I have a much better shot at excelling in papers than in exams. Plus, I prefer papers (even if they drag out the pain longer than exams; I just feel like I have more control over them).

It's probably awful of me to admit this, but I have less than zero interest in business law. So I intend to avoid the core business courses: Income Tax, Agency & Partnerships, Corporations, and the like. I might take Wills and Estates sometime, but that would probably do it, and I don't want to take that in the fall.

I'm thinking Administrative Law, since it's a good basic building block for government/public law.

Now, if I plug these into a schedule, it turns out that I have Wednesdays and Fridays free. That would COMPLETELY rock, because I'd like to work/intern/extern/whatever, and having two class-free days would make that easier.

Problem is, that makes me reluctant to add any W classes, which rules out some interesting stuff.

So, the other things I'm considering:

First Amendment Law
Pros                               
• Con Law is cool
• Freedom of speech/religion is really interesting
• I plan to take Education Law in the spring, as well as a related seminar, and First Amendment is really relevant to these subjects
• Doesn't meet on Wednesdays
• If I read the schedule correctly, it won't be offered again while I'm in school, so this is my only shot
• Underenrolled the last time it was offered, which might mean that it will be a smaller class

Cons
• Maybe not the most practical course?
• Professor is not spoken of as one of the amazing ones (hence perhaps the underenrollment?)
• If I take Education Law and the related seminar, I might not need to take a separate First Amendment class, since it will be covered in those courses.

Employment Law
Pros
• Sounds interesting to me
• Probably useful for future employment
• I hear very good things about the professor
• Bigger than a seminar, but on the smaller side of the big classes
• Doesn't meet on Wednesdays
• If I read the schedule correctly, it won't be offered again while I'm in school, so this is my only shot

Cons
• Conflicts with First Amendment Law, so I can't take both
• Might not be as interesting as I'm thinking (I fear an overabundance of contracts)

Advanced Constitutional Law
Pros
• Really interesting topic this time round
• I hear good things about the prof
• Probably not offered again on this topic while I'm here
• Small class

Cons
• Meets on Wednesdays
• May be a seminar (not quite clear from schedule), in which case I may not want to take it on top of the other seminar

Family Law
Pros
• Really interesting topic (to me)
• The professor is supposed to be AMAZING

Cons
• (Partly because professor is amazing,) very BIG class
• Meets on Wednesdays
• Is offered every year (obviously not a problem with the course, but it means I don't have to take it next semester)

Immigration Law
Pros
• Really interesting topic (to me)
• The professor is supposed to be AMAZING

Cons
• (Partly because professor is amazing,) very BIG class
• Meets on Wednesdays
• Is offered every year (obviously not a problem with the course, but it means I don't have to take it next semester)

International Law
Pros
• Quite interesting topic (to me)
• Doesn't meet on Wednesdays
• Can serve as a prereq to a few other courses

Cons
• Another big class
• New professor, so no reviews available
• Is offered every year (obviously not a problem with the course, but it means I don't have to take it next semester)

Trial Advocacy
Pros
• Taught by a judge
• Immensely practical if I do (as I kind of think I want to) go into litigation
• Small class (I think?)
• Doesn't meet on Wednesdays

Cons
• Offered every semester, so I don't need to take it now
• Meets late in the evening, making for a loooong day and a late commute home

Introduction to Intellectual Property
Pros
• Potentially interesting topic
• Doesn't meet on Wednesdays
• Can serve as a prereq to a few other courses

Cons
• Another big class
• Have heard mixed things about the professor
• Is offered every year (obviously not a problem with the course, but it means I don't have to take it next semester)

Hmmm, this was actually helpful... I'm thinking it looks like Employment Law might beat out First Amendment Law?

But don't worry, by this time tomorrow I'll have probably changed my mind again...

(Oh, before anyone brings it up, I'd like to do a clinic while I'm here, but I don't want to do so next year - the one I'm most interested in would really benefit from having completed some of the 2L classes first. Plus, a 3L was saying that a benefit of doing clinic your third year is that by then you're really sick of classes, and so it's a great break. You can pretty much only do one clinic for credit, so I'm going to hold off.)