devarim

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From Bang It Out's Weekly Bang:

Zainy Jewish Fact: July 4th, 1776 was a fast day (Sheva Assar B'Tammuz).... can you imagine the break-fast?

I have no life until July 30. If you catch me doing anything besides studying, eating, or sleeping, please come over here and smack me. Thanks.

(I just noticed that this is entry #42. What does that say about my life?)

Today I sat for Bar/Bri's simulated MBE. Our hyperanalyzed scores will be posted at the end fo the week, but I self-graded when I got home anyway. I am now thoroughly convinced I am going to fail, since I have no hope of getting significant points on the essay portion of the exam and have to count on a near-perfect MBE score to get a passing score. Or something. Whatever the key to this damn thing is, I don't have it.

If you're considering law school, don't. If you're already there, get out now while you still can.

I wrote this out for a friend who is taking the Massachusetts Bar Exam this month, but took her Bar/Bri simulated exam at another location. My simulated exam was held at the World Trade Center in Boston, where the actual test will be, and I figured this report on the testing environment might be helpful to anyone else out there who is taking the Mass bar and has not been to the test site. For non-Cornellians (inasmuch as I can communicate with you at all), "Barton Hall" is a very, very large atheletic building on Cornell's campus I'm not sure how large. Just...very.

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OK, test room....they had half of it closed off for us, but said that the day of the test the entire room will be set up, but there will also be more people there. The room was huge...not the exact dimensions of Barton Hall but probably about that size in total square footage. today's setup had four looooooooooooooong rows of about 50 tables each, where each "table" was really two folding tables set end-to-end with four people sitting on each side. The Bar/Bri guy said that the day of the test we will all be facing the front of the room...I'm still not 100% clear how many people will be at each table in that scenario,

The room was, as I said, quite chilly. It was not quite enough to make me want gloves and earmuffs, but I was certainly glad I had a flannel shirt to put over my T-shirt. I suggest bringing/wearing three layers of clothing (you may want to put one under your butt or behind your back instead of wearing it) and under no circumstances---except possibly the sudden swelling of your foot to three times its normal size--should you wear sandals. The floor is some kind of hard cement stuff, so we were told not to wear hard-soled shoes or heels.

There was a distinct buzzing/humming from the lights throughout the exam. Outside the left wall (while facing front, entrance in the back) there was the occasional sound of loud trucks rumbling by. The massive air conditioner started and stop several times...I never really noticed it starting, but there was a clear change in the sound level when it stopped. None of these sounds bothered me personally, but if you are the total-silence-with-earplugs type, you should keep this iin mind.

The women's bathroom in the BACK of the hall (entrance side) has six stalls and three sinks. IIRC, the sinks were of the two-handles-that-you-turn variety as opposed to the push-down-for-water variety. The soap had a vaguely beachy-sunscreeny smell to it. Bathroom was clean. One stall (at least) ran out of paper by the last half-hour of the morning exam. The stalls I used did not have toilet seat covers or even toilet seat cover dispensers. Also, around half an hour before the end of the morning session, there was a line for the bathroom.

The women's bathroom in the FRONT of the hall (opposite the entrance, and where the podium was set up today) has nine stalls and six sinks. These sinks are of the single control push-on-auto-off variety, though the temperature of the water was adjustable. The stall I used had a full toilet seat cover dispenser and no apparently toilet paper supply problems.

I walked around outside a little during the lunch break. Clear though not very strong scent in the air of fish and saltwater. There appeared to be adequate outdoor benches as well as a (not very large) mostly-glass-enclosed apparently public atrium in another building in the complex (go across the street and down toward the water). As for outdoor locations, most looked like they would not be in the shade (today was very cloudy here, so I couldn't tell).

I donated blood today. Mostly. On a whim, I walked a couple of blocks out of my way after Bar/Bri this afternoon (I went to a make-up session at New England School of Law) and the center had room for drop-ins. Yay. It's been a very long time since I've been able to donate, since more than half the times that I try, my iron is too low. Bah. I've been dutifully taking my vitamins for the past couple of weeks, including extra iron supplements. Hemocrit number today: 39. Passing is 38. Woo-hoooooooo!

The downtown Boston Red Cross Blood Center does apherisis, and I signed up to donate red blood cells and platelets. It's a 2-hour process, but apparently more helpful than just filling a bag with a pint of whole blood. During the process, particularly at the end, the machine pumps saline back into your bloodstream so you are at least somewhat rehydrated (if still low on RBCs and platelets). I've donated this way several times before without incident, so I expected today's donation to be no different. I watched the news (over and over, it seemed) and flipped trhugh my Bar/Bri essay review book with my free hand.

About ten minutes before the end of the procedure, I started to feel lightheaded and nauseated...um, not good. Called out that I felt dizzy, and within seconds two nurses (they're nurses, right? phlebotomists?) were at my sides, tilting my chair back, placing ice packs behind my neck and on my chest, whipping off my hat to cool me off, and putting a paper bag over my face to ward off hyperventilation. It took me about fifteen minutes to feel well enough to sit up, another five or so before I could stand, and then another five walking slowly around the center before I felt well enough to walk to the T. By the time I got out to Brookline, I had to call Julian and ask him to pick me up at the T stop. It's only three blocks from there to our apartment, so you can imagine how pathetic I felt. It took me another hour after getting home before I felt well enough to plug in my computer and check my email (so now you really know it was bad.)

Loads of fun, let me tell you. A whole damn barrel full of monkeys.

I'd had only one prior bad experience when donating. The second time I donated (whole blood at a school blood drive), when I was 18, I threw up a couple of minutes before the bag was completely full. At traveling blood drives, they fill the sample tubes at the end of the procedure, and I heard someone saying they weren't going to be able to use my blood because they had no samples for safety testing. I remember screaming, "I'm fine, I'm fine--just fill the damn tubes!" Puke. "Fill the tubes!" (They did, in fact, fill the tubes. I think.)

With today's procedure, the sample tubes were filled from a little pouch of whole blood that was filled first. Brilliant. My donation is usable! It turns out I filled my platelets bag and was about 85% of the way to filling my RBC bag, so I guess this was mostly a success. Actually, the only significant part of the procedure that didn't happen was the part where they rehydrate you.

Bottoms up.

I received my information packet from the Massachusetts Board of Bar Examiners today. Everything seems to be in order...and on the instruction sheet I noticed this little tidbit: "Headgear (hats, etc.) of any kind may not be worn in the examination room."

We'll call tomorrow and see what sort of provisions they make for people who cover their heads/hair for religious reasons. However, since we're so close to the exam (less than three weeks), and since I do not cover my hair on job interviews (a discoverable fact), I'm not going to raise too much of a fuss if I run into trouble.

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...and your hat, apparently. I called the Board of Bar Examiners this morning. I was told I can wear a head covering, but someone will take me into the ladies' room before the exam to check underneath it, I guess to make sure I'm not cheating.

The next question is: do I make a point of wearing a religious-looking scarf that covers all of my hair so it will be easier to explain the day of, or do I just wear the same damn sort of hat or bandana I normally wear and hope I don't have to deal with too much skepticism?

Sars does it again. I think I love that woman.

Just a few phrases in progress. If you live around here and you've looked outside today, you know why.

Comments (positive and negative) welcome.

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green-gloved arms entangled
weaving, grasping
at gossamer curtains
whispering, rustling, swelling,
slipping down
to silken grassy fields
seams streaming to the street
rushing, singing
the mating call of the river

So, I've studied real property. That's land. I understand the concept of personal property. That's stuff you can move.

Please tell me there won't be an essay question about "imaginary property." I wouldn't put it past the examiners to dream up this concept just for the fun of torturing us.

Today I went to the second part of BarBri's Massachusetts Mini Review. Hopefully I'll be able to watch the tape of the first part tomorrow at the office. No great loss if I can't, but the disciplined approach will help me more than a bit.

I've made a study schedule that carries me from tomorrow through the final weekend. I omitted times of day, but I did break each day's tasks down into small segments with little checkboxes next to each item. Julian is looking into how to cut off my access to certain domains (on my request) so that I don't get tempted into any black-hole distractions. I am also trying to shift my "awake and alert " times to earlier in the day. Julian will have a look at my checklist when he gets home in the evening, and I will also post a daily progress report on this blog (making me accountable to all of you). If the day's tasks are completed in a timely fashion and it is before 9 PM, I will be allowed access to message boards in the evening. Yes, I realize that I am treating myself like a four-year-old. At this point, I'm going with whatever works.

The fact that this misery all coincides with the Nine Days is more poetic than I ever could have imagined. God most definitely has a Plan.

I'm experiencing many of the classic physical and mental effects of stress: insomnia, nightmares, an inability to focus, panic, momentary bodily tremors, and a strange desire to be kidnapped by aliens, anal probe and all. What I have not experienced is "unexpected weight loss."

Why can't something good come of all of this? All I'm asking for is five little pounds! I mean, fifteen or twenty would be ideal, but not in the span of ten days. C'mon, can't I experience some drastic appetite loss or turbo-charges metabolism for the next week or so? Is that too much to ask for?

As of 9 PM, I had completed the following from today's list: all 70 planned Multistate questions, two essay answer copy-outs and half of a third, and a moderately careful reading of criminal law and procedure outlines (both multistate and Massachusetts distinctions) and the professional responsibility outline from the "mini review" book. (Mini, my ass--that was about 100 pages of review reading.) I also did an additional 31 Multistate questions for the sake of checking up on what I had learned from the other 70 (10 questions each on one subtopic of each of the multistate areas; two subtopics of contracts). That was a bit of waste of time and served mainly to stress me out even more, so I won't be going beyond teh 60 questions per day I've allotted for the next four days.

Since 9:00 I've read the agency and partnership outlines (we also ate dinner), and I'm mostly done with that third essay. Hopefully I'll be able to write out a fourth before going to sleep, but I'd really like to be in bed by 11:00 (11:30 at the very latest. Given the amount of work I did get done, I think that takes priority, Of course, I didn't get it all done on schedule, so no message board or New York Times for me tonight.

I finished writing out that third essay but I just can't focus on the fourth one for tonight.

Tomorrow, in addition to my full study schedule, I will be watching the tape of part one of BarBri's Massacusetts Mini Review (which was held on Saturday). The scheduled showing is from 9:30 Am until 3:30 PM, and i think I should be able to at least get some Multistate questions and some mini-review reading done during the breaks. Generally speaking, though, tomorrow is going to be hellish.

On a happier note, I have a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream at any Ben & Jerry's scoop shop. I've been really good about avoiding ice cream all summer, but I think I deserve this one. There's one on Newbury Street not far from the BarBri office...but far enough that I can argue that I'll be walking off at least some of the extra calories getting there and back on my lunch break.

Last night at midnight, right after The West Wing ended on Bravo, we were prevented (prevented, I tell you) from shutting off the television by the appearance of a "coming next" segment for...The Princess Bride. We figured it couldn't hurt to leave the TV on for a few minutes, just for a scene or two (or three). It would give me a chance to show off my ability to recite every line of the movie from memory, something that Julian truly appreciates because he thinks it gives him the right to tickle me.

Oh, how it hurt.

They cut stuff! Short clips here and there, and they did a good enough job of it that if you'd only seen the movie a couple of times before you may not have noticed. (If you've never seen the movie at all, you deserve to be shot, or else tied down and made to watch it and then shot for making us go to all the trouble, but at least your last moments were nice.) The three cuts that remain in my memory as of this morning:

• In the opening scene in The Boy's bedroom, they did not show the closeup of the eighties-licious baseball video game that he was playing. They cut right from the title screen *cough* *cough* to his mother coming into the room to announce The Grandfather's entrance.
  
• When Prince Humperdink introduced Buttercup to the people in the square, he went right from, "She was once a commoner like yourselves," to, "Would you like to meet her?"--skipping the line: "But I think you will not find her so common now." It's a great line, and Chris Saradon delivers it wonderfully. How could you deprive us of that joy just to save a few short seconds?
  
• As Buttercup comes across Vizzini, Inigo, and Fezzik in the forest, they ask her about a nearby village. In last night's showing, Buttercup merely said, "There is no village." No way, lady. What about "Not for miles,"--did you forget that? Oh, right, the evil Bravo people stole it from you.
  

We shut off the movie after "Anybody want a peanut?" because (a) it was getting late, and (b) I just couldn't take it anymore. Yes, you may call me obsessed now. If only I could remember constitutional law the way I remember this movie.

Turns out Ben and Jerry's is not accepting the coupon--and for good reason. It seems it was supposed to be distributed only to people who participated in a speacil political action program, but since someone(s) let it loose on the general public, the chain isn't honoring it at all. I'm sure the person who sent it to me had no idea.

So, I'm mildly grumpy about not getting the free ice cream (I still got a single scoop cone of Dublin Mudslide...yum). I'm more upset, though, on behalf of the people who got one of these coupons legitimately and now won't get their (deserved) free ice cream.

So far today: Went to BarBri office, watched tape of first part of MA Mini Review. Went home. Crashed. Woke up.

Yeah, nine o'clock is not happening today either.

I only did about half of the planned MBE questions yesterday and nothing else on my list, but I spent nearly three hours on the phone with a good friend who is also taking the Massachusetts bar. We sped through our mini-review books, highlighting the bits we thought were most important and asking each other for clarification on some fuzzy issues. It was definitely beneficial.

I finally received the fourth (of five) graded essays back from BarBri. This is the first one with a score that might actually get me somewhere on the bar exam itself. Let's just hope for an evidence essay, shall we?

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Wednesday's accomplishments:

• completed Tuesday's assigned MBE questions (there were about 25 remaining)
  
• reviewed all of Tuesday's assigned MBE questions with an overall 90% retention rate
  
• completed all 60 of Wednesday's assigned MBE questions
  
• issue-spotted and wrote out five essays--the remaining one from Monday's list (torts) and the four from Tuesday's list (agency, trusts/professional responsibility, real property, constitutional law)
  
• had an epiphany about equitable servitudes
  
• went over two worst BarBri-graded essays (on contracts and criminal law) with Rachel, who (if she doesn't mind my saying) aced them

Retention rate for yesterday's MBE questions was 93%. I'm pretty sure that if they let me take the multistate exam twice, I'll pass.

Also, yes, I realize that my day countdown may be one day off, depending on how you interpret it. All day counts are as of the midnight at the end of that day, meaning that "t minus five" is correct for today if you discount the rest of today. The system makes sense to me, because: (1) it tells me how many study days I have left (next Tuesday doesn't count); and (2) strictly speaking, I would have to change the day-count at around 9 AM, and that's just too damn confusing.

Or maybe I just can't count. It's not a math test.

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Trust me.

I'm stupid. I did a stupid thing. I can't go into details here, but suffice it to say I'm the stupidest idiot to ever walk the face of the earth. Or, at the very least, the stupidest idiot to ever post to this blog. I need to stop trying to be nice.

If my performance on today's MBE questions is any indication, I should just send in my application for the February examination now.

Maybe it's because I'm stupid.

Accomplished today:

• Reviewed yesterday's MBE questions; retention rate over 90%
  
• Did today's 60 MBE questions; intial success rate was pathetic
  
• Near nervous breakdown, which may have affected performance on MBE questions
  
• Wrote out three essays: civil procedure/federal jurisdiction; contracts; criminal procedure/constitutional law
  
• Ate too much pizza

This Shabbat we read parshat Devarim.

The following is written on the back of the package of pens (for use at the bar exam next week) that I bought at CVS today (emphasis mine):

The Pilot EasyTouch® is guaranteed to be the most comfortable, smoothest writing rubberized grip pen you will ever use. If for any reason, you are dissatisfied with its performance return it, postage paid, to [address omitted] and we will replace it free with a product of equal or greater value.

(Actually, I'm less than thrilled, because it turns out that they have that more liquidy ink that smudges. I'm going to have to look for new pens on Sunday. In case you're wondering why I'm putting so much effort into this, it's because I want fine point pens. The writing looks neater that way.)

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Accomplished on Friday:

• Reviewed Thursday's MBE questions - 83% retention rate
  
• Did Friday's 60 assigned MBE questions...it looks like I'm going to nail character evidence, and that's about it
  
• Wrote out two essays: commercial paper/partnership; evidence/professional responsibility
  
• Issue-spotted a third essay question on criminal law and checked against model answer (ran out of time before Shabbat to write out the whole answer)
  
• Did some additional constitutional law (separation of powers) studying for the sake of a blog entry

Well, not precisely talking, but in the past week or so I have had dreams about evidence, criminal procedure, constitutional law, torts, and commercial paper. I find it simultaneously quite helpful and awfully disturbing that my subconscious mind is schooling me on the elements of a negligence action while I sleep.

Also, my brain managed to work messianic Jews into a dream about hearsay exceptions. I'm not kidding.

Eeek! Did I just say three? I think I want to re-evaluate my countdown system. Anyway, Saturday's accomplished tasks include:

• Reviewed questions 1-75 of the simulated MBE (including a careful reading of each explanation)
  
• Read and digested (heh) Conviser Mini Review outlines for contracts and sales, along with the corresponding Massachusetts distinctions
  
• Noticed another mnemonic: NICE compensatory damages for breach of contract (nominal, incidental, consequential, expectancy)
  
• Began reading CMR torts outline
  
• Slept a lot
  
• Wrote out two essays: mortgages/contracts/torts; torts/93A (the model answer to the mortgages essay was just bad)
  
• Talked to Rachel about the mortgages essay; she agrees that it's not the best model answer
  
• Discussed various points of professional responsibility with Rachel
  
• Discussed with Rachel the very important issue of whether, where, and how to celebrate together on Thursday evening

Today was less productive than I'd hoped it would be, but I think the usefulness of my actual studying is waning, and it's probably more important now to rest my brain a bit and practice sitting in one place for three hours at a time.

Tasks accomplished:

• Reviewed Friday's 60 MBE questions - 96% retention!
  
• Wrote out three essays: torts/civil procedure/contracts/93A; agency/contracts; domestic relations
  
• Reviewed questions 76 through 100 on the simulated MBE (yeah, I know...)

The whole studying thing is a drag. I think I'm going to bake brownies tomorrow. Blame Rachel. She and Mr. Rachel (hey, that's what he wants to be called) gave up on studying tonght and decided to bake cookies.

I'm finding it nearly impossible to focus on studying today. Part of me says that there's no way I can cram more information into my brain, and I should just rest for the next (almost) two days and let it all soak in. Part of me thinks, "But what if you could glean just one or two more little bits of law from doing just a few more questions or reading just one more outline? And what if that very fact you pick up today is the keystone of an entire essay?"

And then part of me just wants to go to out to the store for cream and chocolate chips so I can bake some brownies.

Things are definitely winding down. Today I did the following (in no particular order):

• baked brownies
  
• made black bean salsa to toss with pasta for my exam day lunches
  
• reviewed questions 101 through 125 on the simulated MBE
  
• wrote out one essay on domestic relations
  
• washed some dishes and crystal
  
• had a rather drawn out conversation with Batya about the 9/11 Commission report (which I haven't read) and the "Free Speech Cage" (which I haven't see in person, but like to think I know enough about to discuss); we (not surprisingly) disagreed on most things in this conversation

Also, it is Tisha B'Av, so I'm doing my share of not eating and floor-sitting.

So, I elected not to take the New York Bar Exam today because of the fast. The make-up day for peple in my situation is Thursday...the same day as a whole bunch of other states (including Massachusetts), so that doesn't really work, huh? I'm not taking the NY exam altogether, and I figure that if we ever move to/near NY and I want to practice there, I'll either suck it up and retake the test then, or else I'll petition for admission on motion (if I've practiced long enough here). No biggie.

Wouldn't you know it? I'm having the easiest fast ever.

No, not really. Actually, I'm 65% pure on the Law School Purity Test. I'm not sure whether I should be proud of that.

Also, an excellent article on why both law school and the bar exam are fairly pointless measures when it comes to turning out good lawyers.

Tomorrow's lunch (and Thursday's) is made. Brownies are cut and individually wrapped. Pencils are sharpened; pens are tested. My one-gallon clear plastic food storage bag is packed with writing implements, instruction sheets, wallet, keys, tissues, lip balm, and teabags. (The lip balm wasn't on the "approved" list, but I think it'll get in. If it doesn't, I'll toss it. No biggie.) All of my clothes for tomorrow--including undergarments, socks, and hat--are laid out on a chair in the living room.

Now, if only I actually knew enough material that I could be confident about passing...

(It was a toss-up between that and "Twenty-Twenty-Twenty-Four Hours To Go-o-o.")

At this point, I am fairly convinced that for the past two months I have been studying the law of another country.

I barely have the energy to post. In fact, if I didn't think there might be someone out there scared that I committed suicide by number two pencil in lieu of finishing the test, I wouldn't be posting at all.