UPDATE: Success Rate Now 100%

Update:

I just got my electricity turned on in my name as of tomorrow AND I went back to New York Sports Club (this time on Wall Street, where people will demand good service) and, sure enough, got the $135 fee reduced to $50 (which I knew I'd have to pay).

Tomorrow I'll go to Yale, take possession of the apartment, go to Ikea and order all my stuff, and give Yale my financial aid forms, medical certification, and Columbia transcripts. I also called Yale and asked them what to do if my rent is higher than they allow for in the budget and the financial aid woman was amazing, telling me that if at ANY point I feel like I can't live on Yale's budget then I should come in, review my expenses, and we'll get an increase.

OH, I should also say that when I called the phone rang and the financial aid director picked up...no recordings or touch-tone menus, no hold time, no underlings.

The good thing about a law school that is, like, 15 people lol is that each of these "offices" (financial aid, registration, even admissions) basically only has one or two people in it, so you really do get great care.

I don't know what I'll think of Yale or New Haven when I'm there, but I can say that thus far it has been like the Four Seasons of law school customer service in all my dealings with them so far. I've never had an email go more than a day without a reply and I've NEVER received back answers that were just the rote repetition of university policy, rather than tailored solutions to my problems.

:)

VC

Busy Morning: 80% Success Rate

So I spent the morning (and will spend much of today and tomorrow) doing things we all hate: errands.

This morning I knew would be pretty nasty, since the 5 things I had to do were all Columbia or New York Sports Club stuff, which means I knew I was in for a hassle.

Things got off to a really bad start at NYSC where a miserable woman (probably fired by the Columbia Registrar when they decided to re-vamp the office and only hire nice gay men) told me that I would owe $135 to cancel my membership and that (GET THIS!) I needed to come in and PRINT FOR HER FROM MAPQUEST geographic evidence that I would not be living within 25 miles of a New York Sports Club -- and this is after I'd already shown her my new lease!

I was pretty pissed (still am -- and just called but the entire company, not just my club but the WHOLE east coast corporate headquarters, is on a lunch break from 12-1pm), and was kind of walking to my next task seething, until I remembered that this is how I felt EVERY DAY in Cairo. I don't know how I lived there for two years. Everything was SUCH a customer service struggle.

Anyway, everything else so far has been successful, so I totally re-grouped, and was even surprised by how easy everything was. This morning I also:

1. Scheduled to have my cable cut on 13 August and get a pro-rated bill.

2. Canceled my Columbia Fall and Spring leases with no fee!

3. Got MORE transcripts from the Registrar (THANK GOD for the gay guy who totally gives me a "gay solidarity" break and just, without any big to-do, politely removes the hold on my account every time I need something; last time he gave me 5 copies of my transcript with official envelopes, but I told him I didn't need the undergrad part -- turns out I was wrong and today I had to come back for the complete undergrad and law transcript and it was no problem!).

AND, the huge and unexpected victory:

4. Went to Columbia Health Services and got a copy of my vaccination history! I was dreading this, because I probably have medical records that are as easy to track and gap-filled as an undocumented immigrant...I mean seriously. Anyway, Columbia keeps records for 7 years for college students and, with only like a month before its deletion from the system, I got mine! I really didn't want to have to get baby vaccinations again at the Yale Clinic. Gross.

So those are all the things I took care of. I also bought my new mp3 player AND called the electric company in New Haven (AGAIN -- they were only open on the weekend for emergencies) but the hold time is (get ready) 1 hour 54 minutes - 2 hours 25 minutes. WOW. Anyway, they have a call-back service, so hopefully I'll hear from them soon!

There are several emails I need to send today and more things to take care of, but at least I'm moving on this stuff!

VC

Sunsilk: It Makes Your Veil Shiny

...or your teeth white...or it makes you a good horticulturist.

I don't know what this commercial means but it's hilarious. I've never before seen a shampoo commercial where the star is a veiled woman -- they even show her washing her out-of-frame hair in the shower! lol

Here you go: Sunsilk Malaysia.

VC

Voice Lessons Actually Work

Before: J'ai deux amours

That was back in 1931 before her intense focal training (9 months of it) for La creole in 1934. Apparently she really blew people away with the progress she made. There is hope for me yet!

After: Dans mon village

VC

Josephine Baker

"We can make all our dreams come true, but first we have to decide to awaken from them."

Gorbachev, Vuitton, Leibovitz

I think this photo is fantastic. Sometimes I think her stuff is over-rated, but Annie Leibovitz really got a great shot, here, particularly considering the fact that it's a luggage ad.

This is the stuff law students wishing they were doing PhDs in art history live for lol

I'm impressed with the references to both Bush's Cold War politics and themes of escape, corruption, wealth etc. in post-Soviet Russia...his reflection in the graffiti on the wall. It's a brilliant image.

VC

Cool NYTimes Feature

This is VERY cool if you're as obsessed with how much Bush sucks and lies as I am.

VC

Yale Transfer Blog

Ok it's not really about transferring to Yale, but we do have a 3L who transferred from Stanford to Yale for his second year who has been appointed our informal contact point if we have any questions about the transfer experience.

I just googled him and found his blog. It's also kind of funny because he's living in my building in New Haven! He apparently hasn't even been inside yet (that's what he told me via email) but I think I made a good choice since he lived, last year, in a competitor building I was thinking of and decided to leave.

Here's his blog.

Here's a funny quote from it about grading at Yale:

***

So, anyway, I took six classes this semester. For a rough description at how this grading structure might effect how seriously course work is taken here, I offer the following actual exchanges as examples. All are from the last week alone.

Law of Democracy
Me: "I actually had a multiple choice exam last year. I just figure the Professor didn't want to grade papers."
Prof: "That's never really been a problem for me. I can usually grade an exam in around five minutes."

Administrative Law
Prof (to class, re: final exam):" Credit is given for attempting to answer the question."

Public Welfare Law
Me: "When should the research paper be turned in?"
Welfare Prof: "Whenever you'd like the credits."

Evidence
Prof (to class, re final exam): "There are no rules. Just write that on your exam and you'll get your pass."

Supreme Court Reading Group
Me: "Hey -- about your last e-mail to the section. I know my attendance wasn't perfect. How's my standing?"
Reading Group Moderator: "Oh? I was just kidding about that. I was trying to scare some up to attend. Yeah, you're good for your credit."

Race and the Constitution
Prof: "Write something demonstrating you attended my class this semester."

***

VC

Speaking of Pizza...

I just counted the number of non-jeans pants hanging in my closet that I can't fit into anymore lol.

The lucky number? THIRTEEN.

That's right, I have 13 pair of slacks and khakis that I can't wear anymore.

I knew it seemed like my business casual options were getting limited! lol

It's a good thing I stopped gaining weight or I wouldn't be able to wear the few pair of pants that still kind of fit!

Now the choice is whether or not I want to stay at this weight, which is perfectly healthy, and buy new clothes or try to lose weight and wear my old clothes. In other words, what do I value more? Pizza and cookies or Donna Karan?

VC

Papa Johns is Yo Daddy

I decided to boycott Dominos for all the familiar reasons (they can't make a pizza, which is, you know, kind of the only thing they are supposed to be able to do!). I decided to try Papa John's and it ROCKS MY WORLD.

I knew I was at the right place when their online for had the following pre-set menu (I didn't even have to ask for it!):

---

Step 3 Select your pizza instructions.

I want to add special instructions for this pizza -- light, extra or no sauce; light or no cheese; well done bake

Regular Sauce Light Sauce Extra Sauce No Sauce Normal Cheese Light Cheese No Cheese Normal Bake Well Done Normal Cut Square Cut

---

I am able to get light sauce, normal cheese, well-done, and square cut with the click of a button. THEY SO GET IT. Papa John's is way ahead of the pizza game in this whole "age of increasingly particularized consumer preferences" THING.

VC

Almost Lover

Saw this video as I was going to sleep two nights ago and, as when I originally saw Amy Winehouse before she was all over Perez and the US media, I think I have found another late-night gem.

"Almost Lover"
Fine Frenzy

Your fingertips across my skin
The palm trees swaying in the wind
Images
You sang me Spanish lullabies
The sweetest sadness in your eyes
Clever trick

Well, I never want to see you unhappy
I thought you'd want the same for me

Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do

We walked along a crowded street
You took my hand and danced with me
Images
And when you left, you kissed my lips
You told me you would never, ever forget
These images

Well, I'd never want to see you unhappy
I thought you'd want the same for me

Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do

I cannot go to the ocean
I cannot drive the streets at night
I cannot wake up in the morning
Without you on my mind
So you're gone and I'm haunted
And I bet you are just fine

Did I make it that
Easy to walk right in and out
Of my life?

Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do

MY NEW APARTMENT

I love it. I'm totally 100% mad about this apartment. I had the choice between several studios in this building and ultimately chose the one I did because it's REALLY unique and I think has a lot of potential...I mean a ton. People probably don't like the space because it's a TRIANGLE, but I love it. It also has three huge arched windows. It's just perfect for me. I mean, I am almost never excited about a place, but I love this one. The ceilings are SUPER high and there is even a COLUMN when you walk in. How hot is that!?

Here is the website. THE LIBERTY :)

This is my floorplan -- you can see what I mean about the triangle. I am concerned that the windows may not have drapes and that the nook on the upper right part of the floorplan, in my actual apartment (since they're all slightly different) actually is not wide enough for a bed, but overall I love it. Oh, and the model floorplan is 433 sf. but MINE is 491sf!

YAY!

VC

Exchange on Race

I wanted to post an exchange between me and a professor of mine both because I think the point being made is important and also because I am just SO impressed by her. It's possible that part of what I like about her is that she reminds me so much of my own mother. When I was little my mother explained to me why it was so important to her that we have a view of the ocean (from the time I was a baby), which is that she wanted me to always see how big the world actually was, and imagine something beyond where we were. My professor actually makes a kind of similar comment in her reply to my email.

Check out her comments on Giuliani!

Email from VC to PW:

I just saw this on tv and had to send it to you. This is a clip from memri tv that shows a popular Palestinian kids program which follows the hero, Farfour, as he fights against Israeli occupiers. What was so shocking about this clip is that a black Israeli interrogator shows up and murders Farfour (in the most recent episode he was replaced by his cousin).

I should say that, as someone with an MA in Middle East studies and having spent a lot of time in the Middle East, I don't consider Memri tv to provide objective translations of the media sources it monitors, and even CNN has aired examples of really outrageous translation "mistakes."

One of the most common perceptions I encountered when people found out I lived in New York was that the US is an incredibly dangerous place (and compared to many Arab countries, it is), and that the REASON that it is so dangerous is because the streets are filled with black people with guns. I mean, I can't tell you how many reasonably well-educated and otherwise open-minded people would ask me about how I felt living in New York when there are so many dangerous black people around. It was stunning. Anyway, I think that it's an elision of "filthy jews" with the idea that to murder is, in essence, to be black, that motivates this clip.

The "interrogator" comes in at 2:13

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrieBhaGgHM


Email from PW to VC

Hi Chunk,
This is so, so incredibly depressing. I'd heard about Farfour, the
faux-Mickey; it's gotten a lot of press about how anti-Semitic and
offensive it is. I wasn't prepared for how weirdly sad it is as
well--from the bad acting to the undertone of despair to the youth of
the actors--it's really as though it's written not just for but by very
young children. And yes, the degree to which blackness as a trope for
evil and danger has taken on a kind of globalized dimension scares me.
I agree that the elision with the notion of the "filthy Jew" is very
much what Sander Gilman describes in his books. And what worries me a
lot too, is the growing habit of profiling according to the kinds of
simplistic formulae that Rudolph Guiliani seems to be pitching as he
travels around the world--London, Paris, Mexico City, the man's on a
mission. He leaves a trail of the most divisive policies imaginable.
I do wonder what kind of world my son will face in another few years;
I've tried to raise him to be well-traveled for lots of obvious
reasons, but also because I wanted him to realize that prejudice is a
mutable phenomenon, that it takes on different shapes, objects,
scape-goats, depending on the time and society. That it's not
inevitable in other words. But things are changing fast and there are
very few places we've been where it hasn't been clearly communicated
that he embodies someone's worst or exoticized fears. Are you from the
BRONX?! asked one little old lady in rural Ireland one summer when we
were sitting in a doctor's waiting room when my son was about seven.
She didn't even know we were from NY, and she didn't say it meanly--she
seemed to be almost trembling with the happy anticipation of meeting
the kind of person she'd seen on TV. It was so absurd. But there
aren't many places that escape these images anymore. There's a kind of
world-wide stereotypification around skin color--as well as so many
other things--that's going to be very hard to reverse.
Anyway, let me not get pessimistic. Thanks for sending this--it's
really deeply provocative on every level.
pw

Name That Muslim Flag

It's not the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. What is it? :)

Last Yale Post Until I Find an Apartment

I promise :)

Ok it's only the second one, but still

Check out this link to read about YLS :)

Great News

I wanted to just put the coat of arms for YLS but then Dr. Juicy pointed out to me that most people wouldn't get it, and when she sent me the text from the YLS website explaining the symbols of the coat of arms, I just had to post it. I'm warning you that it's truly awful. I mean, I've never heard of a coat of arms where the symbols are basically a big game of pictionary where the symbol has no meaning other than it depicts something which sounds like the name of an important Yale person. The dog one is the worst, but the staples one is pretty bad:

The Arms of the Yale Law School first appeared on the School banner in 1956. The Arms incorporate, with slight modifications, heraldic elements from those of three of the founders of the School.

During the first decade of the nineteenth century, Seth Staples (Yale B.A. 1797), started a law school in his New Haven law office and purchased and maintained a law library, which together eventually became the modern Yale Law School. Samuel Hitchcock (Yale B.A. 1809), Staple's successor in 1824, was the moving spirit of the School until 1845. Judge David Daggett (Yale B.A. 1783), a judge of the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut and a former U.S. senator from Connecticut, became co-proprietor at Hitchcock’s New Haven law school in 1824 and Kent Professor of Law in Yale College in 1826, positions he held until 1847.

Mr. Staples is represented by silver staples, medieval in character, on a black field. An alligator on a green field represents Mr. Hitchcock: when the Hitchcock family emigrated from Wales to the British West Indies, the dragon that traditionally represented Welsh entities was replaced by the alligator as the heraldic motif (a crocodile sits atop the coat of arms granted to Jamaica in 1661). Judge Daggett (‘Doggett’ or ‘Doget’ being early spellings of the name) is signified by a collared greyhound combatant on a field of gold.

The Arms were designed and executed by Theodore Sizer, Professor of the History of Art at Yale from 1927-1957, associate director and director of the Yale Art Gallery from 1929-1947, and University Pursuivant of Arms from 1962 until his death in 1967.

Good Point, Mom

Hi Bunny!

I left my phone at home today. Darn it!

When I see on CNN some of the video questions people are going to ask of the Dems at their debate, I think that everyone will ask the obvious questions and that I don’t have anything to ask; however, it dawned on me this morning that I would like to hear what they have to say about the need to build a rail system in the U.S., and is that any part of their energy conservation plans. I know there are groups visiting Washington and trying to push some projects along these lines but it is my understanding that since our country and economy are built on cars and highways (Eisenhower in 1953 “the National Defense Highway System), it won’t ever happen. I would love to see the topic of “why can’t we have a rail system like Europe?” addressed.

Love you Chunk!

M. Wong

Not My Typical Thing, But I Still Like It

Plain White T's
"Hey There Delilah"

Hey there Delilah
What's it like in New York City?
I'm a thousand miles away
But girl tonight you look so pretty
Yes you do
Times Square can't shine as bright as you
I swear it's true

Hey there Delilah
Don't you worry about the distance
I'm right there if you get lonely
Give this song another listen
Close your eyes
Listen to my voice it's my disguise
I'm by your side

Oh it's what you do to me
What you do to me

Hey there Delilah
I know times are getting hard
But just believe me girl
Someday I'll pay the bills with this guitar
We'll have it good
We'll have the life we knew we would
My word is good

Hey there Delilah
I've got so much left to say
If every simple song I wrote to you
Would take your breath away
I'd write it all
Even more in love with me you'd fall
We'd have it all

Oh it's what you do to me

A thousand miles seems pretty far
But they've got planes and trains and cars
I'd walk to you if I had no other way
Our friends would all make fun of us
and we'll just laugh along because we know
That none of them have felt this way
Delilah I can promise you
That by the time we get through
The world will never ever be the same
And you're to blame

Hey there Delilah
You be good and don't you miss me
Two more years and you'll be done with school
And I'll be making history like I do
You'll know it's all because of you
We can do whatever we want to
Hey there Delilah here's to you
This ones for you

Oh it's what you do to me
What you do to me.

How It All Began

$1099 -- Egypt Package incl. Air, Hotel & Nile Cruise
http://www.travelzoo.com/Top20.asp?id=100312904
Source: Gate 1 Travel

It Saved My Life

OMG I'm just walking out the door for work (7:10am -- yay!), and the comedy channel, which I was watching last night, has turned into an exercise infomercial station in the early morning.

Anyway they're interviewing success stories (read: struggling actors) who have used the Turbo Jam workout videos, and one guy just said of the video:

"It saved my life, and made me a better person."

WOW

I should suggest to the ICTJ that we consider incorporating Turbo Jam into our arsenal of transitional justice mechanisms!

VC

Leitmotif: My Silliness viz. Men

I find myself so laughable sometimes.

Here is the email I originally composed to a guy in my law school class who I have a tiny crush on but who I recently found out is straight. He's German, of Czechoslovakian descent (that's right: both Czech and Slovak), but looks totally German; he played tennis at Cornell, did his MBA at INSEAD in Paris, and, like me, is late in coming to law school. We agreed that we should get together sometime this summer but have both been really busy, and so I decided I should shoot him an email:

I'm going to run the central park loop and would invite you, except that would be embarrassing given my slow pace and the likelihood that I will keel over and die somewhere around the 7th Ave. south turnoff.

So, since you can't come running with me, how about something stationary? I'm busy through Thursday night, but am free starting Friday whenever you are. If you're someone who likes to keep the weekend open then we can also just make plans for dinner or something Monday.

Hope this finds you well :)

-- Chunk

I then decided that the email was totally lame, and overly-flirtatious, so this is the one I sent instead lol:

Hey Crush [OF COURSE I DIDN'T REALLY SAY THAT!],

Hope you've been well since we spoke last. I am going for a run, which means my brain has kicked into "do anything you can to NOT run right now" mode and so I decided I should catch up on emails lol

I'm pretty busy until Friday, but let me know if you want to get together this weekend or early next week. I'm pretty open as far as time/place, and since we live in the same building it shouldn't be that hard to find a place (even though stuff around Columbia kind of sucks).

Best,

Chunk

Columbia Human Rights Law Review

Congratulations! On behalf of HRLR`s board, I would like to invite you to join our journal as an editor. Beth Morales Singh (the EIC) and I strongly believe that you would be an asset to the journal and we hope that you will seriously consider this offer. To that end, don´t hesitate to contact Beth or me if you have any questions. Today you’ll also receive a phone call from one of us. But if you’ve already accepted an offer at another journal, let me know as soon as possible. The deadline for making a decision is Monday, July 23(see attached).

Cool :)

Bad Blogger

I know...I never blog about important things I'm thinking, things that are happening, places I've been, things I've done...

Too bad lol

I'm writing this because Swissy has just sent me an email that I think perfectly sums up why it is that I find him adorable *even though* I would not date him even if I were living in Switzerland right now (it really bothers me that he's not out) -->

I wrote him a kind of bitchy email basically just saying that I thought it was rude that he didn't reply to my emails this week (even though, I admit, I totally didn't send him anything of substance, and really gave him nothing to grab on to and reply to -- it was more just sweet notes and cute little things and I promised "more soon" but never wrote more). After the email, because just the process of writing him my bitchy email made me totally grin thinking about how much I like him, I had to send him a PS saying "meme si tu m'ennerves je pense a toi amicalement encore" (even if you frustrate me I still think of you fondly).

Anyway, by freak coincidence he was emailing me at the same time and called the email "coucou" (which he does because I told him I like seeing that subject line in my inbox...it's like an affectionate way of saying "hello there" to someone you like...like the bird noise...and now he always writes that) and he sends me this long email talking all about how his mother is ill and how he's been unwell etc. and I was sending him the mean email! lol

Oops.

Anyway, he sent this reply as a PS when he got my PS:

"et btw tu disais a ton dernier email... more soon ... le more que je n ai pas eu et me suis pas énnervé :) car je pense a toi et pas envie de t'écrire si je n ai rien a dire et quand je suis pas bien je n ai rien adire excepte parler du temps et tu aime pas ca lool
bisous"

I think the way he uses little English things is cute; he says: "and btw you said in your last email "more soon" and the "more" I never got and you don't frustrate me :) I think about you but don't want to write you if I have nothing to say and when I don't feel well I have nothing to say except talk about the weather, and you told me you don't like that lool bisous"

It's true -- I complained once that he always writes about the weather and that I don't care about the weather and ALREADY check the weather in Lausanne on weather.com

Anyway, he's just...I just can't be mad at him...like he's adorable, and he knows exactly when not to take me seriously lol

I like someone who can sort of disarm me so effortlessly (and delicately) that way. He's my adorable Swissy.

They're Stil Crazy, Even at YLS

I just got information from the Yale Law Review about the summer journal competition. Stage 1 is an exam where you check for citation errors in a fake journal submission, and Stage 2 (if you pass Stage 1) is a writing competition. Check out the madness re: the first stage. As if I would ever spend 40 hour studying for a Bluebooking exam (and take a practice test!).

The have training sessions, a diagnostic test, practice exercises AND a practice exam. This is pure madness.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
BY TRANSFER STUDENTS
June 17, 2007

What percentage of errors are applicants expected to catch on the Source & Citation Exam?

The Advancement Score is approximately 75%.

Is tabbing The Bluebook necessary?

Most people find this helpful, but some don’t. It’s entirely up to you. To the extent
that tabbing may help you locate certain rules or tables more quickly, you may find it
advantageous.

How much do I need to study for the Source & Citation Exam?

Unfortunately, this is a question you’ll have to answer yourself. Our training sessions,
diagnostic test, practice exercises, and practice exam will help you through the
process. At a minimum, we recommend reading through The Bluebook once and
taking the practice exam. Many of our members have also found it helpful to take
the supplemental practice exam under timed conditions. Most successful applicants
study about 40 – 50 hours for the exam, but studying a certain amount does not
guarantee success. You should be comfortable with your performance on the
practice test.

Trends

I realized something yesterday that I thought I should share.

The last time I weighed myself before I really started gaining weight in Cairo was in February 2005 (about 6 months into my stay) and I was in good shape but wasn't paying any particular attention to fitness or diet, so let's call that weight X -- my healthy baseline.

Over the next 15 months, I gained 20 lbs. -- it may have been more, at points, since that X+20 data point came right after I got back from India in May 2006, and I suspect I lost a little weight I was there just from all the sweating alone. But lets say 20 lbs in 15 months, or about 1.33 lbs/month.

In November 2006, 6 months later (and 21 months after I was last measured at baseline X) I had gained a total of 34 lbs -- 14 lbs. of that in approx. six months. That means my weight gain accelerated to nearly 2.5 lbs/month.

This was clearly a really bad trend.

My current weight is X+29, and it has been within a few pounds of this since April. This means that for the last seven (almost eight) months, my trend has been totally flat (-0.625 lbs/month).

I have sometimes thought "well I didn't lose the weight, yet," but what I didn't realize until yesterday, and which is really important, is that I have stopped gaining weight.

When you're talking about an upward trend that, by the end, was seeing me gain almost 2.5 lbs per month (!), to lose five pounds and stay steady over almost eight months is actually a really good change. :)

VC