Notes and Binders:

Your class-note organization needs will differ whether you take notes on a laptop or hand-write. I hand-write for [...]]]> I got received a facebook question from a 0L (who did not take my advice to run) about staying organized in law school. My response is below. Current law students should add tips/disagree in the comments!

Notes and Binders:

Your class-note organization needs will differ whether you take notes on a laptop or hand-write. I hand-write for some classes but I invariably lose my notes to coffee or car trunk gnomes if I do not transcribe the notes quickly.

UMN law forces us to buy school laptops, but possibly the one good thing about my spastic school laptop is that it came with Microsoft OneNote, which is amazing.

OneNote is sort of like MS Word, but it looks like a binder. It has tabs, and auto-saves whatever you type. You can“print” PDFs and powerpoints into OneNote, so your folder for a class will contain everything you need come finals time. OneNote even lets you highlight the PDFs, and share your folders online if you’re feeling generous.

As far as binders and such… I would hold off buying anything other than maybe pens, one legal pad, and a bag (and please no rolly bags!) until you get the syllabi for your classes. Most of the stuff the bookstore scares you into buying (before you know what you actually need) will just collect dust under your futon.

Study Aids, Dictionaries:

And please don’t buy and supplements or study aids yet. My friends and I wasted so much money on crap we didn’t need.

Westlaw and Lexis are the two online legal research systems that your school will probably give you passwords to during orientation. Lexis has course outlines, and Westlaw has black’s law dictionary, treatises, summaries of law, and topical digests. All of it is online for free. And even if you buy the print version you’ll probably find yourself using the online version anyway because of the convenience.

And, if you cannot resist wasting money, then just get a very small pocket law dictionary. But again, everything is online, for free. If find that you desperately need a print-form-something-or-other during the semester then your school bookstore will still have it.

Time Management:

Scheduling was a little crazy for me during my 1L year because my school had Lexis training, Westlaw training, special 1L seminars, club meetings, etc. and was not very good about communicating exactly when things were.

I recommend Windows Calendar if you have a PC. Windows Calendar is a free program that comes with Vista, and it is similar to Apple’s free calendar program and Google Calendar. What I like about Windows Calendar is that it lets me set alarms, so my computer will flash, buzz, and do the chacha to remind me of an appointment.

If you have a SmartPhone, you can also use that to remind you things.

Also keep a print version of your class schedule. All of us forgot were our classes were during the first few weeks, and because no one knows where they are going, it isn’t uncommon to have a pack of 1Ls waiting in the wrong room because they saw “someone” go into it. Don’t be that person.

One more time management tip! Make “no” your default answer to things that you aren’t super-passionate about. An easy way to decline these invitations (to club meetings, bar night, canasta, etc.) is to say, “I have to decline because I think I have something scheduled for that time/day, but if anything changes I’ll let you know.”

Then, once you get in front of your calendar and reading assignment list, you can figure out if you really DO want to attend whatever you just declined.

(See also 5 steps to productivity)

Food Management:

And, although I am not sure if this fits really into the organization category, or just a time management/health thing, but, my friends and I noticed ourselves eating out a lot during 1L year.

It is far easier to suck it up and go to the grocery store once a week and take an hour on Sunday to cook basics – plain meat, rice, pasta, etc. and to throw in tupperware for the week.

Then everyday you can just pull out your tubs of pre-prepared basics, do different combinations, dress them up with whatever fresh sides (fruit, etc.) or seasonings, and then have a quick meal original meal.

It sounds like a lot of work , but this is much quicker and cheaper than waiting in line at Chipotle.

Hope this helps!

• Law School Advice
• Please don’t drop out…
• Blue Booking tips (for legal writing)
• Advice for the gunners (And more on gunners)
• Why I avoid the law library
• Blawging & Casual relationships
• Not-so-hopeful exam advice…

It is like a crying toddler who stops throwing a fit when he sees another toddler having an even-more-dramatic meltdown at grocery store. It’s like, “Woah. Nevermind. I thought I was having a fit. I was mistaken.”

And yes, the [...]]]> Whenever I get frustrated proofing this Physical Evidence Paper, I just watch the Winnebago Salesman.

It is like a crying toddler who stops throwing a fit when he sees another toddler having an even-more-dramatic meltdown at grocery store. It’s like, “Woah. Nevermind. I thought I was having a fit. I was mistaken.”

And yes, the Winnebago man has his own biopic. The trailer is here.

This was the week of shit. The dogs kept breaking into my 3-tiered plastic food shelf, gorging themselves, and then crapping everywhere.

I would come home to find a chocolate rendition of the Bavarian [...]]]> So I knew things were out of hand when Harley looked at me, hunched over, and spewed diarrhea all over my living room.

This was the week of shit. The dogs kept breaking into my 3-tiered plastic food shelf, gorging themselves, and then crapping everywhere.

I would come home to find a chocolate rendition of the Bavarian Alps in my living room, and the dogs passed out in the kitchen. The dogs also figured out how to open the toilet lid and drink the blue-water, so they had the runs most of the time.

The steamer and cleaning spray barely kept up. I spent most of my week flustered and disgusted. Ick.

And although I finished moving to the new apartment last week, I had yet to clean out my old apartment because I thought that I had until August 1st to move out.

So I was horrified when my landlord left me a voicemail: “I showed your apartment today. It’s trashed. I’m also showing it tomorrow. Can you clean it, you filthy slob of a man?”

As a rule, any unexpected entrances into my apartment happen on the ONE day that it is trashed, so I should have expected that call.

I ran upstairs and cleaned my old apartment. It took about three hours. The old apartment looked absolutely crazy because all of my random trash and non-essential stuff was strewn about – dog hair, papers, old plant pots…

And of course the fridge had nothing left in it besides beer, condiments, and foul asparagus. The freezer had vodka and a turkey. My fridge in my new apartment looks like I robbed the farmer’s market: fruits, veggies, lactose-free milk, organic cold cuts, etc. But the remnants in my old fridge looked like Maury’s playing in the double-wide. Fail.

The bedroom had even more dog hair. Underbritches on the floor, and of course, to complete my humiliation, a magnum condom wrapper in the middle of the floor. What a lurid dig… all that was missing was a cutting board and scale…

And to think that the landlord showed a prospective tenant that room! My landlord probably thinks I’m some sort dirty hillbilly prostitute and a complete caretaker fail. Ugh.

The apartment is clean now. My standing with the landlord? Eh. Probably irreparable. We’ll see if I get an eviction notice tomorrow. I really want to take him to my new apartment and prove that I’m not a slob, and that my apartment is actually cute and sanitary despite the occasional shit puddle…

Besides leaving a filthy apartment for unwary tenants and cleaning up dog shit, I spent the week fielding phone calls from crazies, changing my work schedule for apartment showings that never materialized, and finishing my Physical Evidence class.

The last class was pretty amazing because Cristina, (one of my classmates who is awesome) brought a sandwich bar for her presentation. Another student brought booze. I think booze should be a requirement for any student presentation over 10 minutes. It was glorious and put me in a good mood until about 20 minutes after class when I had to shovel shit from my living room.

Hopefully this coming week will involve less fecal matter.

Harley was obviously thrilled by his new apartment buddy.

There were even fruit flies in my bedroom closet! I don’t even want to think about why…

So I turned to my blackberry, [...]]]> One of the first things I noticed about my new apartment was the fruit flies. The apartment was clean, and there was no exposed food in the kitchen, but the fruit flies were everywhere.

There were even fruit flies in my bedroom closet! I don’t even want to think about why…

So I turned to my blackberry, googled fruit-fly trap concoctions, and set my trap.

The fruit-fly trap was a glass of pear juice with a plastic cover (with holes) stretched over it.

A few days later Alesus was over, and I told him about my trap. He noted that there were no fruit-flies in the kitchen, but there were also no flies in the trap. Hm.

I didn’t figure out what was going on until today:

Normally, a massive spider web in my kitchen would horrify me, but I left it alone. Fruit flies are unsanitary. Spraying pesticide in the kitchen is equally disgusting, but this spider web thing works.

So the kitchen spider stays. His name is Freddie. I have another spider named Bartholomew in my studio. He does a thorough job as well.

In May, I finished finals and managed to survive the relentless hanging out with my law school people before they went off to their summer clerkships, study abroad countries, and odd family vacations.

June was all about reconnecting with the non-law school friends I neglected in May. And [...]]]> This is the high water mark of the summer.

In May, I finished finals and managed to survive the relentless hanging out with my law school people before they went off to their summer clerkships, study abroad countries, and odd family vacations.

June was all about reconnecting with the non-law school friends I neglected in May. And birthdays. It felt like every-other-day was someone’s birthday. I ran out of cards. Oh, and there was some dating too…. a pride parade, and some business about music production.

July started with loud-ass fireworks, my birthday, and heat. Lots of heat. And thunderstorms. And tornadoes. And hairspray (this is all very dramatic.)

There was also the epic move to the downstairs apartment and a dozen trips to Ikea, Target, and Home Depot. You can call me Tim Allen. Where’s Pamela?

In addition to drilling and the crap-load of cleaning associated with moving, I also became the building caretaker. That means I have to field the craziest phone calls from people who want apartment showings.

One lady left three voicemail messages within 10 minutes. Another thought that she could – possibly – have a serious eviction, and wondered if that might be a problem. Maybe girl. Maybe.

These crazies prospective tenants usually want showings in the middle-of-the-day, which means my work schedule resembles that of an overnight gas station clerk without the threat of robberies or free soda.

I only do showings on Sunday now because the prospective tenants like to cancel on me 10 minutes before our odd-middle-of-the-day appointments which I rescheduled my life around. No longer! They can see the open apartment on Sunday or move into the crack motel down the street. I’m taking a stand, damn it! Hear my roar.

Another kink my workweek was my Physical Evidence class, which finally ended. I still need to write a paper for it, but I no longer have to work around that bizarre 4:30pm-7pm time slot.

The lack of internet in my apartment is also horrid. Bethenny got married and I MISSED IT! During the past few weeks I had to sneak to Dunn Brothers or Spyhouse to blog, which involves dealing with more wilting Madonnas than I have the energy for.

I have an appointment with my internet provider after tomorrow’s dog training class, so I should be online tomorrow afternoon? Maybe? We’ll see. If not, I’ll ask my trainer how to train Harley to leave an expression of my gratitude in front of their offices.

New tracks coming soon…once I figure out the internet situation at casa de la Jansen. I am also working with some talented vocalists [...]]]> My first song, “Pride Games” is now on Soundcloud and downloadable for free, for all the mavericks on the dancefloor. Ta-da:

And of course, “Tap Me” is also available for free download as well.

Bump!

New tracks coming soon…once I figure out the internet situation at casa de la Jansen. I am also working with some talented vocalists who are silly nice enough to let me produce music for their vocals. Buhaha. Little do they know…

See, he’s plotting:

And, for additional randomness:

It was a long night for her, obviously. But she still posed for a picture out of a sense of duty. People want pictures with you when you rock a big [...]]]> I took this during Pride, but forgot to post it, which is a shame because she’s fabulous.

And, for additional randomness:

It was a long night for her, obviously. But she still posed for a picture out of a sense of duty. People want pictures with you when you rock a big blonde wig to the bar. Now if we can only convince her to sing tardy for the party…

The lake itself was kinda bland, but hanging out with the coworkers was hilarious.

There was also an intense volleyball game. People changed into athletic clothes. There were dives and aggressive stances. Absolutely amazing.

I also played this bean-bag toss game [...]]]> We had our annual company picnic at Blackhawk Lake. Lawyers playing trivia is always amusing.

The lake itself was kinda bland, but hanging out with the coworkers was hilarious.

There was also an intense volleyball game. People changed into athletic clothes. There were dives and aggressive stances. Absolutely amazing.

I also played this bean-bag toss game that apparently is a Midwestern staple. Who knew?

I am the caretaker for my apartment building now, so gloriously awkward phone calls from prospective tenants interrupted the picnic. Apparently my landlord listed my telephone number in the newpaper ads for the building, and these prospective tenants think I am the building owner.

I have 10-types of crazy calling for apartment showings. Good thing the craziest callers end up canceling the apartment showings 10 minutes in advance or don’t call back when I inform them that their prior evictions may, in fact, be a problem. Life in Minnesota gets more amusing every day.