I went running today again, but I think I may have pushed it a little too much.  Also have been trying to coordinate a time when I can go and check out the trails in South Orange County.  The city of San Clemente was kind enough to post a map of all the trails and how they link up on their site.  I think i am going to check them out this weekend.  I read an article a few days ago that I wanted to chat about.  The article was from the BBC and it was in reference to something the governator said.  He suggested that illegal aliens be jailed in Mexico instead of the US.  According to him buy building prisons in Mexico and having private companies in Mexico run them the US could save billions of dollars.  I agree, but I wish it could be taken one step further.  I think that building prisons in Mexico to house individuals who cause trouble in the US is a great idea.  It will serve as a deterrent but maybe we should kick it up a notch.  Why not include the prison idea and the DREAM ACT idea.  Have people that are trying to be here legally and working hard to make America a better place by being educated get a chance at residency and citizenship, but those who are here illegally and commit crimes should be cataloged both here and in mexico and denied any visas temporary or permanent.  These people should be identified by their fingerprints.  This way when they provide an alias or a false identity both countries would still be able to ID them.  I think that illegal immigrants that commit crimes in the US are simply contributing to the negative sentiment that the the US has about our southern neighbor.  Lets get both sides talking and take real steps towards making it happen.  I have plenty of friends who are here illegally, but that are making the best use of their time.  One of them is pursuing a PhD, has zero debt from a private university and is shear brilliance; he deserves to be here.  But those who just come to the US to abuse the system and whose intention is simply to send money back to Mexico should really take a hard look at what they are doing.  Why send money back to your home country?  is it worth it to suffer and not see your family?  I think that wherever you are is home, they should be making the US great not taking away from its greatness.

This weekend I have to work on our legal writing class assignment.  I swear the most recent class was the most refreshing and great experience I have had so far in school.  The professor was wonderful and I felt like she was normal.  I am not trying to say that all of the other professors are not normal people because they are, but she just was speaking in a language I could understand.  She broke down exactly what type of writing she wanted and reassured us all about what was expected of us.  Last semester things were a little different.  I felt more lost and severely under prepared for the work load.  I think the amount of work hit me last semester the day before it was due, this time it is very different.  Our professor genuinely cares that we all become better legal writers and that is very motivating.  I also have feel that I am grasping concepts a lot faster than last semester.  I think that the combination of exercise/ golf/ and reading has helped mellow me out.  I was really starting to feel depressed about the whole law school experience.  
Golf was ok.  I hit at a range in Koreatown.  its nice because i can hit the end of the range.  I found that shortening my swing to 3/4 is giving me better results because i am getting better timing.  i am going to go with that and see where it leaves me this weekend.  

Today I went to check out a used car I was looking at.  It was nice but just got an odd vibe from the seller so I guess we are skipping that one.  It was just a weird feeling from the guy.  Anyway I also went on a jog and worked out today since we finally got a break from the rain.  I think I am getting faster, which is really nice considering most tortoises could run faster than I could. 

This weekend I have been reading a lot of cases for class.  We have to turn in an annotated bibliography with at least 8 cases we are going to use.  I think I am getting burnt out on reading so many because I feel like I am not going to use them.  I have also been doing the regular reading for the other classes; torts and contracts.  Torts are still tougher for me to grasp because I start confusing it with Criminal Law since some of the terms seem to interchange or at least seem to be the same.

Hit some golf balls yesterday with the new Pings.  I suck.  I can’t even explain the disappointment with the wedge.  It was a wreck.  Redeeming factor was that I was hitting the driver more accurately than I had in a long time.  The moment of impact I am still off on my timing.  I will work on it the coming weeks.

Yesterday went to the shooting range. It was more complicated that I had thought it would be. We ended up shooting one 40 and one 45 cal pistol. I am not a gun advocate but I do believe that the bill of rights should be protected. At the same time I do not think that all people should have one; they are pretty serious. The 45 had the quickest trigger and it commanded respect. I felt like my trigger finger grazed it and the gun would shoot. In the hands of someone with bad intentions that gun would be terrible. However, I did enjoy firing them, and I will probably go again, but to own a gun would not be my thing. I think it is good to know how to shoot, kind of like a guy should be able to do an oil change. Anyhow, it was fun and I liked it a lot but I think that will be a range only thing. I also read a story in the BBC that the updated picture of Osama Bin Laden; classic. The FBI composite person took the picture of a Spanish businessman and aged it. They FBI apparently said that the stock pictures they have to work with did not work so they pulled this guy’s mug off the internet. So now he is going to have to wait in line even longer at the airport. Because his face would technically be a plastic surgery fix of Osama.

http://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=37378 

The story is priceless. I love it that we are the most technologically advanced country in the world, supposedly and we resort to googling random person’s faces in order to get potential Osama look a likes. Classic. This one is right up there with looking for weapons of mass destruction. I am an independent so don’t guess my political leanings, but I guess memorable errors occur in any administration regardless of the party

Law school was good, read a lot on the weekend but I did not retain as much as I wanted too. The weather just put me in an off mood. I know California is spoiled and rain is not a normal occurrence, but remember Californian’s pay for it in taxes and crazy fees, thanks governator.

The Golf paragraph is always my favorite paragraph. I have decided to play two driver’s next round and take out my 3 wood. The main reason is because I cannot even hit the dam 3 wood. I hate that thing with a passion. I hit it but it goes 9 yards above the ground and there are really no holes where I could use it since, I van hit a hybrid more accurately and off the deck the 3 wood is not going to happen. I tried it on the first par 5 at the san clemente muni a few times in an effort just to “get it out there” to no avail. So I figure that the two drivers would suit me better. One is a 10.5 and the other is a 9.5. The lesser lofted one is also 1.5 inches shorter and the head is smaller. So its like an angry 3 wood that I hit very low. The other is my standard r7 driver.

Comments = Pings = No School

Funny how one comment or statement can change your whole perception of someone or a group of people.  The other night I went to visit a friend of mine I had not seen in a long time.  We had a great time catching up and smoking cigars.  In the course of our conversation a topic came up.  He mentioned that he heard someone make a comment about me that he did not agree with because he knows both sides involved.  But it bothered him.  He gave me a warning and re-confirmed what others had already warmed me about.  I really did not give it much thought until later last night after I got home.  I could not get the comment out of my head, and the weird thing is the 7 words were terms those people use not my friends.  I could be certain that he had heard something of that sort.  It concerned me, but at the same time consoled me.  I thought I had made a better impression but apparently I am only human and can’t please everyone.  I also came to a distinct realization; I express myself in act not in words.  I don’t really speak much about anything close to me but when I do things they are expressions of what I want or need.  I should really practice talking it out some more.  And I am going to shooting range tonight and it should be fun times; I have actually never fired a real gun (BB guns and pellet guns don’t count). 

Law school has been great, it did not happen because of MLK day, so I get one day to re-read a few things that I sped read this weekend.  Happy times.

Yes the exciting paragraph.  Two sets of Pings arrived fresh from the Ping factory in Phoenix, AZ.  I had gotten fitted for pings at the golf shop but was not about to drop a couple grand on new sticks.  That would be crazy and I am a broke law school student.  So I went online, investigated which older pings could be adjusted directly by the manufacture and stole them on eBay.  I say stole not because I literally high jacked them in an online sting or anything, but I did get sweet deals.  I got two ISI-K (3-PW) and Eye 2+ (2-SW).  So now both sets are orange dots.  When I decide to sell a set I will throw it up on eBay and get rid of it.  So the end is coming near for those rounds where I failed to break 100.  I know it is not a lofty goal by any standard but it’s my goal darn it, for now.

Sunday Post

Over the last few weeks I feel like I have been a total slacker with my health.  Not that I am being unhealthy or not working out because I am.  I feel that I have not picked it up to a level where I can see better results.  So I have decided that I am going to take a break from going out until April.  I talked about it with a friend of mine and he agrees and gave me some good reasons.    I feel some down time to figure stuff out will help, just to get away from certain scenery and then figure out what I am going to do.  I promised myself that 2010 is not going to be the year I see fly by just like 2009 was.  I am going to make positive changes and most likely leave San Clemente.  I love this town…so I will decide if it is official in April.  Now why is April so special you may ask?  Well there is something going on in April that I have decided to try and be a part of.  I know I am being ambiguous for a reason, because I am not going to say, obviously.  However that’s the projected time, so that becomes my projected time.  It will make sense later. 

Besides that Law school is going great, the traffic is not that horrible anymore.  I used to have to worry about it and I can honestly say I am back to commuter status.  I received the problem that we have to read for the legal writing class.  I am not too excited, but I will take it as a challenge and dive right in.  Also I apparently missed the greatest Tort class for me in particular according to some people in class.  The professor went over the history of Torts and the philosophical ramifications and implications of Tort law.  I am not mad I missed the class, yes second day of class and I missed, because I was busy having a 36 hour relationship with the flu.  I was so tired and so dehydrated I could not really function.  I actually left work half the day on Thursday and spent Friday (all day) literally drinking water and sleeping.  Anyway I will have to work twice as hard in that class now so the professor knows I am working hard; I don’t want him to think I am a slacker. 

My golf swing; ah what can I say.  The swing is looking better every day, but I am not getting it to produce the distance I want.  I am accurate, and that’s fine.  I want about 10-20 yards more per club.  I know it’s greed, sorry.  I like the fact that I am accurate and feel more in balance.  Yet I am not rolling the wrists as I should and the club simply doesn’t react well to me.  I don’t know why.   The last bit was a lie, I know that I am striking the ground a ¼ inch too soon which causes the me to swing on the upswing.  If I tear through the ground it may fly at the expense of a bruise wrist, or if the ground is to tough the face will open and create my standard weak fade.  I am on it though.  Its good.

I had my fist torts class last night which was great but scary at the same time.  The professor is super high energy (for an evening class) and very intelligent.  I have the same feeling from all my professors except one.  They are very brilliant; it is impressive.  However I felt like the class was going to be one that may drift off topic because of the nature of torts.  I think I am going to have to read a lot of supplemental material in order to wrap my head around the subject prior to engaging in much class discussion.

True to form I am sitting in the front, just like I did for Criminal Law.  When I am scared of a class I think the front is the best place to be, because it forces you to be prepared, and maintain attention span.

This winter break I have had an unusual amount of time to myself to simply reflect on the decisions that I have made over my short life span.  Even though I have made many terrible decisions they have inspired great ones.  My first thought is that I would take back the “bad” decisions in a heartbeat.  However, upon reflection I think the bad decisions not only gave me the greatest learning opportunity but at the same time reiterated how truly blessed I really am.  I have been lucky all of my life.  I am not a wealthy guy nor do I come from wealthy family but I have never had to worry about where my next meal would come from like many Americans have too.  In america we are really blessed that there are so many people willing to help out.  Places like Haiti that have suffered a national disaster can look to us for help.  If anyone reads this please donate to the red cross or another charitable organization and pray for them and their families in this time of need.

I am also fortunate to have a Mexican mom and grandmother who are amazing cooks.

Its great whenever I go over to my grandmother’s house she is always so concerned that she has nothing prepared to give me.  However in five minutes flat she whips up ten things, a coke and tortillas…heaven.  With all the additional time I have had to myself I have been relatively productive.  I have started running again, which is dreadfully slow, but it’s a must.  Also I have improved my golf swing (I think). 

I am focusing more on tempo and having an inside to outside swing path, unfortunately my timing is not where I want it to be but it is getting there. I also got re-fitted since my swing has changed so I am an orange dot with the ole pings (2 deg flat).  I think that it should work out perfectly so I am not worried.  I have opened up my stance more to combat the reverse pivot I had, thanks baseball, and to give me better aim at the target.  I am focused not as much on my feet being square but rather on squaring the face of the club at impact.

I am going to do my best to play Saturday mid-morning at the usual San Clemente Muni.   I have been walking on as a single and just joining people on the tee.  I don’t understand why I am more comfortable playing with strangers than with people I know.  We’ll see if the distances hold up since it is supposed to rain next week and be fairly cold on Saturday.  Mind you this is California cold so probably a sweater and a cigar should do it.

the South Butt

I read an article today about the North Face, mountain climbing Apparel Company, and their lawsuit against another company called “the South Butt.” The lawsuit is classic. This 19 year old kid decided to start a clothing line as a joke and parody of the North Face. The motto of the line is “never stop relaxing” and he had about $5,000 in sales when he got sued.

Because of the suit he can now pay his full 4 year college tuition bill .

http://www.thesouthbutt.com

I think that’s awesome. Its capitalism and the North Face, although they are trying to protect their image but this kid out of nowhere takes a shot at them. I think that they may have a good chance of shutting him down because the logo seems to be the North Face logo but upside down. It will be interesting to hear the arguments about infringement, but until then I think I am going to a buy a sweater and rock it at REI.

1st day - Spring Semester

Finished my first day back at school;  I think I missed it more than I could imagine.  I know I am a nerd and it’s a sad truth but I really did miss the challenge of learning something new.  Unfortunately along with the joy of education comes the Los Angeles traffic as well as the feeling of helplessness amongst a sea of study aids and books.

I am glad to be in my same professor’s class for contracts.  I don’t know what it is about the way that she teaches but I simply understand.  I have at least 1 or 2 “ahah” moments in her class.  It’s really enjoyable.  I do feel like an idiot when I ask questions though, but when I ask people sitting beside me they are in the dark as well.
 

My writing class is going to different this semester than last.  The last term I had difficulty with the teaching style, but this semester I am getting a good vibe.  Especially when we were told that we would have to think on our feet and be able to engage in different aspects of court functions.  We shall see, hopefully torts will be understandable.  I have started reading the torts study guide to try and get a grip on what’s going on and I am fairly lost already. 
 

I read an interesting article about the proposition 8 arguments that are going to be heard in San Francisco.  Now I rarely share my political views on anything because I believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion no matter how much I may agree or disagree with it.  But in regards to this issue a blog I read drew attention not to the result, because we all know that the loser will appeal no matter what until hopefully it gets heard by the US Supreme Court. 


However, instead of the issue the blog focused on stating the importance of how they get to the answer, because the issue is so hotly debated it will be important to get the steps right, almost more important than the decision itself.  I am also glad that they put a hold on putting the trial on you tube.  I think that justice should be free from the pressure of knowing that what you say will have equal or maybe even lesser value than how you look or act.  Think Kennedy debates, he looked better than Nixon…people that heard the debate on the radio gave Nixon the win I believe and others who saw it on TV saw it Kennedy’s way.  Hopefully history does not repeat itself in this case.

Devil's Advocates - humitily - golf

I have been reading a ton this winter break.  I read a book called the "Devil's Advocates".  Now everyone that saw me with the book would immediately tell me to watch the movie and that al pacino was great in it as the devil himself.  I would smile and thank them for their imput.

the book is actually about the greatest closing arguments in criminal law.  The Miranda v Arizona (your miranda rights in case you don't remember), John Adams defending the British Soldiers of the "Boston Massacre" & a few other good ones.  I really never think about landmark decisions or cases that have changed the scope of American History and american culture but in reading these I found them fascinating.   Highly recommend the book, and the good thing is that it is one of those books that you can put down for a while and them pick right up and it still reads well. 

Next week I start school again, I am excited because even though it stinks to sit in LA traffic I do miss the conversations and class discussions.  I know I am a nerd but whatever.  Its refreshing to listen to people speak and how eloquent some of them are when doing it.  I think sometimes that I am very hard on people that I do not know and sometimes even brush them off, its true, sorry.  But when I listen to the thing that come out of people in class I am reminded that although they give off a certain impression the fact is that there is an intellect at work there that has a lot of knowledge to share.  Got to practice staying humble more often. 

The problem with me and the humility problem is that it blends with my patience problem.  I lost patience and have not had time to go and look for it.  When I get impatient I seek to quickly dismiss and do not give the necessary time to people that I should.  I am going to work on that one.

So last week I purchased a hybrid club for my bag.  I am excited but sad at the same time.  I am excited because it will give me the chance to score easier and hopefully start hitting part fives either in regulation or at least give me a decent third shot in.  The part that makes me sad is that i have not been able to regain the distance i had for two weeks.  There was a two week span in November that i was hitting every club in the bag at least 20-30 yards further.  I was so excited I could not wait to take my new found distance onto the course.  However, the day before my scheduled tee time it promptly disappeared after a spirited discussion (i.e. argument) with my now ex girlfriend and never came back. 

So naturally I blamed circumstance, but it has been a few months now and I have been unable to get that level of solid contact with the ball.  We'll see hopefully going to the range in Koreatown will straighten me out.  I actually sort of miss the Korean pop music they play, its catchy.  I have no clue what is says or means or anything but the tune of it does stick in your head.  we shall see.