misadventures from O.L.A.(ts) land law school continues to distort my sense of reality. add OLA to the equation, and my sense of reality becomes totally whacked. i'm just not used to added responsibility, especially if that responsibility means defending another's cause. i think i'm a few more neuroses (and a law degree) short of being ally mcbeal.
what makes me happy now? stapling cases. it's so brainless, yet productive. not to mention therapeutic. and it's not something i can entrust to my secretary (for lack of one) so i really have to do it myself.
last week, due to miscommunication, i initially thought that the case of an applicant (i interviewed before) was assigned to me. i knew she had to submit a position paper that same week, and i was getting all stressed out thinking of how i'm going to do that and study for the tax midterms. when i found out that the case was assigned to another team, i was so relieved that if i can do cartwheels, you would probably have seen me doing them in front of malcolm theater. i was just so ineffably ecstatic that i think i must be going crazy. hwehe.
daily decision making processes become more difficult. on some days, decisions would be obvious (attend puboff class or watch "click"? doh.), but on other days, it won't be as clear (study for tax midterms, draft a petition for bail for an allegedly innocent client who has been in jail for months or go to the gym to burn unwanted fat?). not very good for a generally indecisive person like me.
and then there's the bar exam. thanks to mario, i now know that there are only 52 more weeks until the 2007 bar.
hay. the travails of being in law school.
"attorney's" "fees"
today, i got my first ever "attorney's" "fees". i use the term with quotation marks because it's obviously a misnomer. i am not an "attorney" (not yet anyway =P), although people address me as such already. whenever i call up my clients, even without me introducing myself to the person answering the phone, i can hear in the background, "hoy (insert client's name here)! nasa telepono si attorney!" at first i try to correct them, but it gets tiring after a while. besides, "law intern bacorro" just doesn't have as much oomph. second, these are not "fees". they are "attorney's fruits" as my blockmate (GM) kathy put it. the client actually gave me bananas, oranges and apples. yesterday, when we had the hearing in muntinlupa, the client gave us bananas and mangoes. see, if none of the good law firms accept my application (assuming i graduate AND pass the bar), i can work pro-bono, live on (attorney's) fruits and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
our team is probably the most OLAts of all the O.L.A.(ts) teams. everyone wanted to sign up for the tuesday schedules, none wanted to be in thurs. pm. one of our teammates us moved to a monday, so there are only 5 of us in the team while the other teams have 10 people. given that, PLUS our supervising lawyer is still missing in action (nananawagan kay...). we only met her once. we are often left in the dark on what we are supposed to do in most of the cases. good thing our director still manages to meet up with us in lieu of our SL. that, PLUS we get the oddest cases. well, i don't know about the others, but i do have odd cases. case #1 involves psycho client. i should be thankful now that she hasn't been coming to the office in a long time. she's been gone for so long that i'm seriously wondering if she's dead. either that, or she learned from the court that i already filed something, so she thought it best to just leave me in peace already.
case #2 is the art. 36 case. i'm regretting that i even agreed to handle it. i just thought it would be funny to poke fun at other lawyers' ineptness after i read that the other party's pleading is replete with wrong grammar. hehe. i could have the pleading photocopied, framed, have it plastered on the wall in my room with the inscription, "remember, the person who made this passed the bar". other than that, the case also involves psych, something i'm familiar with because i took up psych a long time ago in college. and based on the pleading and the client's stories, the other party just irks me so much that i want to have his case dismissed (he's so detestable that when i told my dad about it, he went on and on with his usual "ang gago ng gumawa niyang pleading. gago talaga")
case #3 is supposedly for abatement of nuisance (yihee, property). when dych and i saw the site, i only saw a piece of corrugated metal sheet (that's yero for you) and bags of trash impeding the alleged walkway. they could probably get four (or less) men to go there and pluck the darn thing out of the way. no need to clog the court dockets with the case. no wonder the law interns before me never filed or even drafted a position paper on it.
and then there's this one applicant i interviewed earlier. i seriously want to accept the case, but i don't know if i'll be able to handle the load. i took home the application form just in case to give it some more thought. i just noticed that the applications i check as "i'm interested in" all (well, both. dalawa pa lang eh hehe) involve women's issues (and gago adverse parties? hehe). i think i have the propensity to handle such cases. yihee, girl power chuva. maybe i've finally found my calling. haha. ano buh. =P
the infamous "i'd rather be green than be blue" video it's so bad, you'd think it was made by an atenean to spite lasallistas. hahaha. enjoy the clip! don't mind the disclaimer about "ateneans getting offended" at the start. geez. =P
love, thank you for the laughter, for tolerating my kajologanz (with a z. ay, zay. haha), for the beautiful words, for inspiring me to become a better person, for always talking some sense into me, for being my source of strength, for not getting tired of listening to my horror law school/OLA/psycho client/muntinlupa hearing stories, for heeding my call when i got locked in the restroom, for all the love. (yihee haha) =)
we weren't able to take a pic yesterday, so i'm just posting this pic of mark and his mini me nathan last friday, at uncle ernie's birthday (where i stuffed myself with lotsa food and successfully evaded the magic mic. =P ) love the first candid pic even if nathan couldn't stay put. haha.
best.shirt.ever.
i just got the barops shirt last week, which sold like hotcakes (or, as melanie marquez would say it, "selled hotcakes"). i already got a barops shirt in white last year, so i decided to get a black one this year. unfortunately, they ran out of size medium. i didn't want to get the large one because it looked awkward, so i tried my best not to look like a suman in bought a size small. sorry, makapal talaga mukha ko. the material is stretchable anyway. one more reason to add to my "why i should go to the gym" list. apart from "ang laki na kasi ng mukha ko" says my dad.
i showed the shirt to my dad, who was utterly pleased and said, "ang ganda!". he thought that i was finally beginning to warm up to the idea of loving my school. until he saw what was actually written on the shirt:
and with that he goes, "haha! ang gago. sinong gumawa niyan??" (i'm actually not sure. rich, sino nga ba? but whoever did it is brilliant. dapat meron ding "i *heart* OLA" for the seniors.)
last saturday
'met up with gia and weki, had dinner at mong kok and then went to bagaberde to watch up dharma down and paramita. it was another sponsored event by oggs' frat. and we got 2 free tickets thanks to oggs. the gig would've been great if the people actually knew the bands. i think UDD wasn't playing with much enthusiasm after seeing that half the crowd left while they were playing. shucks. but they were still great nonetheless. oggs was kind enough to cover our bill (salamat ulit oggs!). jenn and mark-tisoy (to distinguish him from mark-tsinoy hehe) also came and took advantage of the unlimited beer. some of our professors were also there. oggs and i were contemplating on having a make up class there with one prof who has been missing in action for weeks. (no, we didn't have class. hehe) i didn't even greet the prof. it would pain me too much if he returns my greeting with a blank stare, followed by the question, "are you even my student?"
inxs concert
i know this is long overdue. we watched the inxs concert last august 15. wow, my second major concert for the year! the event wasn't publicized much, and the ticket prices were a bit steep, so araneta coliseum wasn't as crowded as expected. i actually had remlaw class that night from 6-8 pm, and the concert was supposed to start at 8 pm. i literally dashed out of the classroom the second we were done with the lecture. much to my disappointment, mig ayesa was still onstage when we arrived. hehe. he wasn't so bad though. but i'm still glad he wasn't chosen to become the new inxs lead singer because he just isn't rock star material. he would do better in the theater biz. i was a bit surprised when he announced, in all his feeling-rocker glory, "my yaya's here!" haha. 'didn't expect him to be so pinoy as to actually have a yaya. yaya must really be proud that totoy is all grown up. =P
we didn't have to wait long until inxs came on stage. yeah, we didn't know 80% of the songs, but it was okay. i could only make wild guesses as to which songs were taken from the new album/the old ones. they didn't even play "elegantly wasted", the one song that became popular when i was in 2nd year high school. but i enjoyed even the unfamiliar ones. their songs are all diverse and powerful. i noticed though that JD looked out of the place beside the lolo band members. haha. the lighting effects were nice as well, 'reminded me of the DMB concert last june. JD was gyrating onstage like a resident dancer from adonis (not that i have seen a gyrating resident dancer from adonis. =P ). which was rather inappropriate especially since there were two grade school children in front of us, dragged by their rock-loving parents. haha. the kids were pretty game at first, but got tired after a few songs. and the mom was adamant to exhibit her dance moves because her daughter was pulling her from her seat whenever she would attempt to dance. the band was great, and i love the fact that JD attempted to establish a connection with the audience (although at some point, such "connection" would mean throwing a used up, sweat-soaked hanky to the audience, which was caught by some, um, guy). anyway, "afterglow" and "pretty vegas" were, of course, the two highlights of the night. when afterglow was played, i was paying more attention to the boyfie singing along beside me. (yihee ulit! haha). and then they sang "new sensation" for their grand finale.
i was a bit surprised that the concert turned out to be pretty decent. no people throwing bottles or yosi butts. it was a far cry from the dmb concert. but then again, that was in the US.
in re. my sister's comment that "inxs is evil": i recently saw an old gothic video of inxs (circa 80's), and i think they had a complete image overhaul since then. especially since they got a new lead singer.
s.p.i.t. midterms over
no results yet, but i'm glad that we're done with the tax midterms. hay nako. i'm praying the results won't be disastrous. x_x
and now i'm taking the week slowly. aside from the muntinlupa hearing on wednesday, i have no deadlines/exams this week. yay!
oh, and to all those taking the bar next week, GOD BLESS!!! barops na kami on sat.! at pag natapos niyo na yung bar, kami na!! waaaahh!!!!
senti senti dawprocrastinating taking a break from studying one of my worst stressors, TAX.
last wednesday, we had a despedida dinner (at dampa, cubao) for one of my uncles, uncle efren, who left for the states yesterday. this is the second time this year that a relative from my dad's side migrated to the US. my aunt's family left last march. it didn't really bother me much then, until i realized that around 70% of my relatives from my dad's side are already abroad. only my dad and another brother are left here in the phil. it's just saddening that people are impelled to leave this country to search for better lives. moving out of this country is always, ALWAYS, an option. of course, they will say mas masaya sa pilipinas, but in the end, what ultimately matters is whether you are able to earn enough money to provide your family with a comfortable life. sadly, not all are given the privilege to stay and live in this country with sufficient money for daily coffee at starbucks.
i know this is one minor detail, but our new year celebrations will never be the same again with most of my relatives gone, especially uncle efren. he has always been the life of the party / game master / party host extraordinaire (hehe) and always the first one to get drunk on new year's eve. haha. i've always been proud of how we celebrate new year's eve - having a big buffet on the table, old school fireworks firecrackers, parlor games, videoke and the like. complete with cash prizes and jolog music (last new year, it was "pinoy ako". =P ), it's almost like having our very own variety show right in the comfort of our house. it's just hardcore kabakyaan fun. haha. it's something i can record on videotape and mail to the US with the shoutout, "walang ganyan sa states!". but with only a few of us left here, i don't know how we're going to pull it off next new year.
new year 2005
yes, this is uncle efren. hehe
when my aunt's family left for the states last march, my dad, being his usual matigas self, didn't even plan to say goodbye or hold an all out despedida party for them. i know he was sad, but he was holding back, and tried to justify his lack of expressive emotion by saying, "eh sila naman ang gusto umalis eh." he was disappointed that they left, despite my aunt and uncle's good career and status in the philippines. my mom secretly told me that when my uncle left this time, he bawled until the wee hours of the morning.
grabe ang tanda na natin. hahaha. just a few years ago (few pa naman ang 7 years diba), we were making up all sorts of nicknames for everyone we meet (from "jollibee" to "big brown" to "namimink" hehe), applying make up on characters in our english textbook, spending our breaks laughing at everything and everyone, having intellectual talks about 80's movies and jograd, at kung ano ano pang immature na bagay. ngayon ay mommy ka na! =D wishing the best for you and your baby. =)
not that eventful, but stressful, yes. crammed studied for the remlaw midterms. 'had a lot of things going on in my mind about pressure and expectations again that i tried to avoid my dad the whole week at all costs. psycho client paid me a visit. 'had the remlaw midterms, 'felt bad about it afterwards. i felt my performance was not commensurate with my study time. unpleasant, fortuitous events kept on popping up. 'been more absent minded and mentally blocked than usual. (eg, once, i left my ROC codal right after i left the house and 'had to retrieve it; left an important book i was supposed to study at home and realized it when i got to cbtl, 'thought my wallet got lost somewhere, i looked for it all over only to find it somewhere in the car; 'lost a car number; hit the crv [ssh they haven't noticed the deep dent scratch yet]). basta, there was just something terribly wrong with the past week that whenever something bad came my way it didn't surprise/shock me anymore. plus the fact that i've been sooo unmotivated to do things lately. gosh. 4th year, and STILL not used to law school. and OLA is an aggravating circumstance. 'feels comforting to know i'm in good company.
but i guess i should be thankful that the week ended well. i watched Click last friday (with mark, joy and mitch), which reminds me of "the family man" (starring nicolas cage and tea leoni). and then last saturday, mark and i had dinner at this fancy french resto - je suis gourmand. we were supposed to have dinner with the harkadah, but pat (nahanap ka na rin namin sa wakas! hehe) had it moved because she still had the flu. mark and i were thinking of an alternative plan, so he suggested we go to the gym at the fort and then eat at the aforesaid fancy resto. i was initially thinking if we should eat there some other time, like on a special occasion, but then again, why not eat there now? and so he called the resto and had a table reserved for us. it was one of those places where they could reasonably impose a dress code, but thank God they didn't. i went there straight from school, and i only had my usual casual top, jeans and flip flops. anyhoo, dinner was great, the place was really nice and cozy. i loved the onion tart salad (so far those are the only words i could remember from the menu hehe) we had for appetizer. 'had a nice talk with mark, although i had to consciously tone down my voice several times because it was quiet in the establishment. we wanted to check out the place a bit, under the pretense of "looking for the restroom", but i ended up really going to the restroom.
and just when i thought the week's trail of misfortunes was over, i locked myself in the restroom.
after i was done washing my hands, i tried to open the door and realized i couldn't open the lock. it was a big, strange, metal lock, and the knob was hard to turn. i was beginning to get worried already, and it reminded me of an incident my sister had in some fitting room in glorietta where they even had to unscrew the whole door just so she could get out. the thought of causing a commotion bothered me more than the possibility of losing oxygen/suffocation. on the brink of desperation, i calmly picked up my cellphone, thought of texting mark, but decided to call him (he might think i'm pulling a joke if i text him hehe). i could almost see his furrowed eyebrows when he answered the call with a surprised, "hello?". and then i sheepishly told him, "puwede mo bang tanungin sa waiter pano buksan yung lock?". a few seconds later, i could hear a commotion on the other side of the door. "nalock daw eh" "hindi mabuksan" "ma'am, hindi niyo ba talaga kayang buksan yung lock?" the waitress said. (gosh, if i can, would i be shedding all my pride and calling my boyfriend through my cell asking for help?) good thing they had a key, but despite that, they still had a hard time opening the door. when they finally had it opened, i was smiling like an idiot as i got ouf of the room. there were 4 waiters standing outside, and i was just thankful that they were able to get the door open without breaking down the whole door. i was smiling out of relief, but i think it was mostly out of shame. haha. it was one of those times when i just wanted to bang my head on the wall (can you say "dobbie?"). and it didn't help that it was such a formal, posh resto (but then again, if that happened in any other resto, i would've felt just as embarrassed). haay hooray for stupidity. 'saw mark looking all worried by the table, but suddenly smiled when he saw me with my stupid grin. anyway, we had a few laughs out of it afterwards, together with mark's "dibale, love pa rin kita" assurances. aba dapat lang noh. haha jk. i would perfectly understand if you don't. hehe.=P first, the fork incident [which i would rather not discuss here hehe], now this. hay. and no, i didn't pursue a torts case. (which reminds me, i don't have a grade in that subject yet. and i took it in 2004..)
