Aurgh ... Only Gender and the Law Would Entice Me ...

... to leave my house with this going on outside:


... now ... where are my long john's again?

Word of the Day

I've been reading "Difference and Dominance: On Sex Discrimination [1984]" by Catharine A. MacKinnon for my Gender and the Law class.

Here's a word I had to ironically look up:

obfuscatingly

Tuesday Morning Reads

Interesting bit on fraudulent power of attorneys in real estate transactions over at Law Times.

When do you plan on retiring?

For those of us thinking about articling, Law, Eh? Canadian Law School's bit about The Average Law Student ... After Law School is a little bit comforting.

Simpson's writer and executive producer Tim Long blogs at Vanity Fair about the Collective Anger Quota ... hits a chord for me ... you?

I've been waiting to trade some CAN currency for US ... looks like it's about that time.

Yikes ... didn't know breast size could be a sign of risk ...

Free LAW Lecture!

If you can make it - you should go!

This was an announcement sent out over PAWS:

Jean McKenzie Leiper, Ph.D will speak on her book:

Bar Codes: Women in the Legal Profession

Friday, February 1, 2008
10:00 to 11:30 am
Room 1008 Arts

Jean McKenzie Leiper (Professor Emerita, Department of Sociology, King's University College at The University of Western Ontario) examines women lawyers' attempts to reconcile their professional obligations with other aspects of their lives. It charts the life courses of women who constitute the first wave in a profession designed for and by men and in which formal codes of conduct and subtle cultural norms promote masculine values. She analyzes women's encounters with this culture and raises questions about the stresses common to many Canadian women.

Sponsored by:
Department of Women's and Gender Studies
Humanities Research Unit
College of Law

In the Name of the Budget!

I'm looking to compile a list of budget friendly specials/deals about town for food and entertainment (this proved remarkably hard to find by simple Internet searching).

So ... here's the start of my list (I'll be adding to it all the time, so I guess I'll put a link on my sidbar). I'm hoping that people will jump in here with suggestions/known deals etc. Saskatoon is supposed to have a crazy restaurant-to-person ratio ... so let's find those CHEAP EATS IN TOON TOWN!!


Mondays:

Yard and Flagon: Pub burger night, burger and a beer for $4.99.

Tuesdays:

Yard and Flagon: wing night

Wednesdays:

Aroma Mediterranean Resto Bar in the Radisson Hotel: Half-price pizza and selected pints at $3.50.

It's Coming ...

... last night in Natural Resources we had guest speaker Monique Wismer come in to speak about climate change and carbon credit trading.

Ms. Wismer gave a GREAT overview of something incredibly complex and technical to fairly non-technical people, and was an engaging speaker.

It was so interesting to have the perspective of a REAL SCIENTIST, as opposed to the political activists (I could write a lot about fear mongering for ulterior motives ... but we'll leave that for another day).

Looking at real data, you can see how greenhouse gasses (did you know water vapour is considered a greenhouse gas - I didn't ...) have risen exponentially since the industrial revolution ... a lot more so than the historically expected rise due to the cyclical patterns that exist on this planet (~ a 100K year cycle from ice-age to ice-age ... is what I gathered from the presentation last night ...).

This info isn't highly controversial ... so from what I gather, the controversial bit is what this actually MEANS. It seems that MOST scientists worry about this increased rate itself, while there is the worry out there that if the pattern deviates too greatly, we could actually break the cycle and not GET to our next ice-age. The hugeness of that seems crazy.

So ... as one of my classmates put forward in discussion ... what we need is for some genius to invent some radical technology to fix this. Any takers?

As for the carbon credit trading overview - I had no idea that there were separate markets for this stuff (maybe I've had my head in the sand?).

The policy and decision making that Canada is involved in RIGHT NOW is so neat to be able to watch ... this is governing in action with real repercussions! Talk about an administrative nightmare.

Gave me a little to think about regarding the major paper that I'm going to do on coal bed methane - WHICH I have to do an outline and pick a thesis for ... ah ... the to do list is starting to grow ... I'm not gonna lie ... I kind of love it.

I'll tell you, though, having evening classes is sure changing the dynamic of my life. Not in a bad way ... just a very different pace.

Feeling Less Blue ...

... which is nice.

I'm REALLY enjoying my Gender and the Law seminar on Tuesdays. It's an entirely different kind of thinking ... the type of thinking that I imagine I'd have used had I done classes in sociology before (which I always wish I had). It's so engaging and interesting, and it's neat to apply an academic structure to concepts that have always seemed intuitive for me. Aurgh. I love it.

Also ... I hesitate to admit this ... but I am really liking Tax so far. I know! It's something that you'd picture being a little dry, non? But ... I'm really liking it. I think it's neat that it's so relevant (i.e. applicable to ME PERSONALLY), but also that it really is a statement about Canadian values and policy making. When we are looking at things and our Prof tells us that this is as in depth as we go - any further analysis is for Tax II (the next class - I'm in Tax I), I get frustrated because I want to know NOW!

I think I'm going to take Tax II for sure next year, and I hope they offer the Tax Policy seminar ... I think that'd be so interesting.

As for summer job offers ... feel pity for me because I didn't get any. Luckily, I'm the kind of girl that appreciates the process, and I really am so thankful for getting to know people at each of the firms that I interviewed with, and getting to learn a little bit about firm culture. This in light of the fact that soon I'll be needing to make decisions about where to apply for articling, and so any information I can get is invaluable. I believe that everything happens for a reason (I know ... cliche, but I think it's true), so I'm happy for those that got job offers, and I'm already looking for the next opportunity that comes along ... wherever that may be.

And ... last but not least ... a friend from school showed me the most hilarious blog/zine ever:

http://www.thesneeze.com

I urge you to check out the Steve Don't Eat It section ... but not right before you plan on eating ... or even remotely NEAR ANYTIME you plan on eating.

Feeling a Little Mopey and I'm Blaming it On ...

... Blue Monday being today.

Seems about right.

On the bright side, doing my readings for Oil & Gas tonight have really put me in the mood for my Natural Resources major paper ... got a bit of an enthusiasm rush thinking about the principles in Borys as applied to Coal Bed Methane.

Yikes.

I need to clean my house.

Busy Weekend - Lots of Fun

Well, after a long stretch of quiet relaxing ... it looks like our hectic lives are back on.

Friday night Jason and I went to the poker and beer night fundraiser that was hosted by the Legal Follies team. It was held upstairs at Maguires, and I think they raised tons of cash for the Legal Follies event, which is awesome. We didn't partake in the poker, but we did partake in the $10 for unlimited beer (yikes).

Saturday night, we had a function at the Saskatoon Club. It was a nice dinner, and it was great to get back inside that building, which always seems to be a little mysterious from the outside for some reason!

Tonight, I went to curl with my intramurals team. Ahahahah. I know ... I'm pretty bad, but I have a pretty good time, so it all evens out in the end. It's nice that the games are back on ... we really didn't get many in last semester due to the CUPE strike, so I'm glad that I'll get a bit more of a taste this semester. I even got a few past the hog line - and a few somewhere in the area of where my skip wanted them. So ... seems like each time I play, I get better - although - I only have a decent chance at a shot when I don't worry about staying upright ... so usually I end up sprawled across the ice - it's a sight to see.

This week is shaping up to be pretty busy too ... which is awesome. Now ... we just have to find our X-Country skis, and we'll be set.

Hilarious!

My cousin posted this link on his Facebook account - had to share - HILARIOUS!

I'm Very Proud

Jason and I hit the gym last night. Yup ... getting back on that horse. It's been far too long. Hopefully we'll be able to motivate each other ... I was finding it too hard to go alone.

If you see me on Saturday ... likely I won't be able to move my arms.

Yesterday didn't have any classes, just a brief meeting with my Natural Resources prof to go over my major paper topic.

I'm starting to realize that soon ... soon I'll have to have my affairs organized to get ready to apply for articling positions.

In Calgary (well, Alberta actually) there is a matching program which is run through National Matching Services. The stuff for 2009/10 articling isn't up yet, but looks like the end of February is when it will be.

One thing that is nice is that having gone through the summer job finding process already, my resume etc. are pretty up-to-date ... so that helps.

I'm going to have to book another meeting with our Career Services Officer, Terri Karpish ... Terri was so helpful when I had questions about summer job interviews ... so I'm definitely going to go get the low down for articling positions.

The Career Forum at school is coming up, too ... so that should help get me in the mood for articling job searching.

Found this on the SK CBA website - super interesting comparison of U of S Law Grads, comparing and contrasting experiences as students/lawyers in AB/SK.

Also - on the subject of jobs - Monday is when the job offers are supposed to be made for the on-campus-interviews (Calgary firms) that were held back in October.

I've Been Remiss in my Blogging, I Know

But ... I'm starting to feel the routine come together, which makes me happy.

The beginnings of semesters are always chaotic, and this one seems like the worst so far. We've finally gotten to move into our new building (hooray), and so I've been wandering around trying to figure out where the heck I'm going, while trying to figure out how to get my readings, and buy textbooks, and refill coffee ... whew ... it's been crazy. I have a locker again, though, which makes me so happy I could scream. Also - my new Timbuk2 Messenger Bag (pictured at the right) which was a Christmas gift from my Sis Julie, is making my everyday a joy in textbook hauling. I never knew a bag could make me so happy. Seriously. I'm spoiled. Also - it feels fitting since we first found out about Timbuk2 bags by watching the show Ed, where ED - the bowling alley lawyer - sported one.

I'm pretty excited about my semester, which seems to be shaping up to be a VERY different pace from last semester.

Luckily, I passed all my classes (heh heh), and even did FAR better in Bus Org than I thought I would. I have a lot of choice words about that, but we'll save those for another forum.

This semester, I've got Gender and the Law, Natural Resources Law (both of which are seminars requiring paper writing as opposed to test writing ... so that should be interesting considering it's been about 10 years since I wrote a paper), Tax Law, Professional Responsibility, and Oil & Gas Law. Pretty exciting.

I have 2 evening classes too, first time for that. Opens up a lot of my day, but hopefully that just means that I'll be cranking away on papers ASAP.

I've been following that CRAZY Linda Keen story (click here for the news story about her getting fired). It's an almost embarrassing story ... what with the publication of things like this. Makes you wonder what all the REAL back-stories are here.

I've been doing a lot of work on the web, as well, lately. I'm trying to keep up with the LSA web stuff, and I've been working on a friend's wedding website: http://www.WADEandCARRIE.com.

Also - I'm trying to not let my house reach disaster mode. It's coming close - which is scaring me ... but so far we've kept it JUST in check.

I've been fighting migraines too, for the last week. Weird, since I haven't gotten many since being in SK.

Anyhoo - I promise to be better at blogging ... mostly to myself, since I find it cathartic.

AAAAaaaaaaaaaand ..... I'm Back.

I know.

I haven't posted in forever.

Jason and I went home for Christmas, and I took my break very seriously. It was heavenly.

We spent Christmas near Edmonton with Jason's parents, and spend Joe's B-Day, Julie's B-Day and New Year's in Calgary.

We caught up with friends, watched Battlestar Gallactica (got season 1, 2, and 2.5 for Christmas - woo hoo), watched lots of movies, I crocheted, we went snowmobiling on Buck Lake, I got a manicure with my Mom (which is still holding up decently), played some awesome games (Apples to Apples is awesome, and we LOVE the new Cranium), we were spoiled, and we relaxed.

I'm still trying to clean up my house after getting home late last week, and trying to get myself in school mode since I've already begun classes.

Had tax on Friday, and today have Professional Responsibility and Oil & Gas ... sigh.

Time to detox from the chocolate too ... which is depressing.

Anyhoo - I'll catch up with a better post soon ... promise!

Happy New Year to everyone!!!