Marda Loop Justice Film Festival

What a great event, right here in Calgary:

Marda Loop Justice Film Festival

View the schedule here:

http://www.justicefilmfestival.ca/festival.php/loc|mardaloop

So many great films ... how many will I go to see? Hmmmm ....

Steve Jobs

I was shocked to learn of the death of Steve Jobs this morning. While many reflect upon his impact on the world, here's a link to the SLAW article which reflects on Steve Jobs and his impact on the law:

Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011)
by Simon Chester

Another Awesome Read

Found this through a friend's Facebook posting:

Do children really need to be gender-free
Globe and Mail

Think about this the next time you walk through Toys'R'Us with the creepy gender-division down the middle.

I Love This Idea

No 'him' or 'hers' allowed: Is a gender-free preschool going too far?
Globe and Mail

I love the idea of laying a foundation for challenging the norms that we encounter. I don't think anyone would say that it is realistic to pretend that there aren't genders, but taking a different approach to how gender differences are treated and thought about should be applauded. A different approach to perceiving any of our social norms should be applauded ... does it not only promote mindful decision making and blasting away ignorance and prejudice?

Very interesting. We decided against one preschool for our daughter when the director of that school said to us "Well, girls will be girls ... " and then went on to describe what she thought "girly" behaviour to be. Seemed like my kid wouldn't get a chance to just be herself, her role was already defined. Didn't make me very happy.

PS - the commenters on the Globe & Mail website, not surprisingly, do not agree with me. I wonder if people re-read their comments before they hit publish? Each comment I read solidified the way I think, as outlined above. I don't understand what is so threatening about challenging the gender norms. Why do people react so strongly? I've never understood this.

Lawyering - Lisa Styles

So, now that I'm a full-fledged lady of law, I find that I just don't have the time or inclination to keep writing this blog. Perhaps it is that so much of what I do during the day, I CAN'T tell you about (heh). Perhaps it is that I am a mother to a toddler ("I'm not a baby, I'm a toddlyiar", she tells me when I ask how my baby is doing), and any spare time that I do have belongs to her (and the spa, let's be honest). Perhaps it is that life has finally slowed down and I've been busy enjoying camping with my family, going to work and continuing to learn every single day and continuing to love what I'm doing, watching movies, reading books, and being thankful that I don't have to go through CPLED again - mwooo ha ha ha ha.

BUT ... I think this law student blog needs to live on, mmmmm ... how to accomplish such a feat?

Here's a teaser: I may have found a recruit to whom I can pass the torch (did I get it "write"? ... ahahahahah ... my brother is the pun-master, and it isn't often that I think of one). When I know for sure, I'll post a reveal.

In the meantime, just to keep this blog a little bit fresh and tasty, I'll try to visit a little more often and post some of the interesting tid-bits that I come across throughout my day.

For instance, this one isn't hot off the presses - it is about a month old, but I found it pretty interesting even though I don't practice criminal law:
R v. J.A. 2011 SCC 28

This one is hot off the presses:
New home builder facing several charges - Government of Alberta News Release

Worried about privacy? The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (Federal, with AB and BC) developed an online tool to help assess privacy policies:
Securing Personal Information: A Self-Assessment Tool for Organizations

Also - an interesting piece by Sanjoy Mahajan, Associate Director at the Teaching and Learning Laboratory and Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, over at the Freakonomics Blog, makes me think of litigation, thinking on your feet, and negotiation for settlement:
What Chess Tells Us About the Value of Perception

By the same author, on the same blog, a few articles that have me thinking, especially as my "toddlyiar" is entering playschool this fall:
Deliberate Practice: How Education Fails to Produce Expertise
How Richard Feynman Thought


And, now I want to buy his book. Sigh. sometimes I wonder if it would be better to request my salary be paid in Chapters gift cards ....





ETA: One more that I just came across:

http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/images/stories/pdfs/Surveys/2010/cl_june_salary%20survey.pdf

It's Good to be Home

While there are so many reasons that it is good to be home, weekends like this past weekend really make it true.

It is my 6 month anniversary today, at my new job, and I'm starting to feel like we're finally getting into a groove of sorts. Things have been very hectic up until this point, and this past weekend we finally got to connect with friends, spend time with our families, and actually get some rest and relaxation.

On Saturday we met friends at the Pfanntastic Pannenkoek Haus for breakfast, and were not disappointed by the amazing pancakes that we have been meaning to try for quite some time now. After that, we were able to hit The Princess and the Pea at Storybook Theatre, which was a cute little show for the kidlets. The best part about Saturday was that we were never more than 5 km away from where we live - excellent.

Sunday, we hit Nakiska for some skiing with Jason's family. Also excellent. It hit me, while on the chairlift, that I haven't been skiing or snowboarding for 4-5 years now. Hmmm. Luckily, everyone was very patient with me, and I eventually got down the hill (may not have been pretty, but I was picking up speed by the end of the day).

Monday we got to spend time with my family, and on Tuesday (an extra day that I took off), after running a few errands, we went into hibernation mode and watched a few movies (including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which I had never seen before - my kid has a thing for musicals).

All in all, excellent relaxation.

I began to think, this week, that if I was still in school, I'd be on reading week right now. Also made me think that it was about this time that we had finished moots and were making the final preparations before exams hit in April. Sigh. I don't miss that kind of pressure, but I do miss having reading break off.

Anyhoo - here's a neat post over at Slaw which is both Star Trek and Law related (could it get any better): The Replciator