This I Know

My favorite place in the world is quite possibly Cinque Terre, Italy.

Something can be simple and complicated at the same time.

I miss the rooftop of 43 Avenue C.

I'm twenty-five and just bought a new pair of rollerblades. There is some part of everyone that will always be a child.

Everyone should learn forgiveness.

I am usually up for a chick-flick but would prefer to watch a movie that makes a political statement or is historically based. There is a little nerd in everyone too.

I will walk on streets of gold one day.

If I could go back to any point of my life, it would be my sophomore year in college. Those were days of belonging and innocence.

We make our own luck.

I have floated in the Dead Sea and jumped from an airplane at 13,500 feet.

Something worthwhile involves risk; few people ever experience anything worthwhile because they are scared to take that risk.


That's about all I know.

How to Change the World

An advertisement catches my eye. It reads: "Can the next generation save the world?"

If it involves buying a t-shirt, maybe we can.

A little over a year ago, Bono launched Product (Red), which has raised $45 million dollars as of the end of September for The Global Fund from its product sales. Ingenious, really.

However, there are some who seem skeptical of this tactic: Should we really induce people to give to those in need by purchasing things for themselves?

Of course we should. We want to save the world, but we want our ipods as well. Sure, there are those saints who travel to the ends of the earth in hopes of answering the world's prayers. Then, there are the rest of us.

Not that we are bad. We are aware of the devastation in our world. Product(Red) just made it easier on us to shift our awareness into activism by buying merchandise for ourselves that benefits those in need. If you think about it, in combining two trends of my generation, the premise of Product(Red) is an oxymoron: the need for commercialism and the desire for social justice. Really, ingenious.

So for those that are not going to hop on the next plane to Africa, buy Product(Red)'s new "Two Week" shirt at Gap. Your contribution in purchasing the shirt is equivalent to two-weeks of medicine for people living with HIV and AIDS in Africa. Do your part in changing the world.

For the Sake of Writing

First memo down. Sign of relief. If you ever have any questions about common-law marriage in Iowa, I will most likely be about to answer it. Seriously though, I turned in my first major writing assignment today. Ten pages of conclusions, proofs, and analysis. Compared to the hundred-page business plan I created in business school, ten pages sounds like a mere opening paragraph. Yeah, well it was not. I spent countless hours drafting and re-drafting. Even worse, I heard that last year the highest grade given was a B.

If you can't tell, school has gotten to be a little overwhelming. I'm tired. Tired of reading, thinking, writing, reading more, briefing, discussing, reading more, thinking more. The one complaint I had about my job (ok, maybe one of the many complaints) was that it was not stimulating. Law school is the exact opposite. I'm being challenged to the point that my head is spinning. Actually, the most challenging aspect is not necessarily all of the material but organizing that material in an applicable way. You can always read about the law; law school is about learning how to think through the law. That's not that easy.

There's no really point to this entry. I guess that's life though; sometimes there's not really a point to some things. Sometimes you just have to write for the sake of writing just because it is writing that is not a legal memorandum.

With the Windows Down

It's fall. The temperature in DFW did not rise into the 90s today. Fall is here, even though I'm still wearing flip flops and tank tops. I really miss fall in New York. Pushing through the rotating door onto Fifth Avenue after work there's a crispness in the air, the leaves of the Central Park trees across the street are golden golden and auburn, twirling lazily in the air then landing softly on the ground. People are wrapped in comfy sweaters walking by me drinking a hot beverage, maybe eating Nuts for Nuts. It signals that the holidays will be here soon but doesn't hurry them along. But I'm in Texas now, walking down the Target aisle looking at pumpkins and, as I turn my buggy down the next aisle, there are Christmas ornaments. Meanwhile, I'm still wearing my flip flops and tank tops.

Today as I was driving home from school, I rolled the windows down. The sun was setting, casting a pinkish-orange glow over the highway. I turned up the music. I could feel my hair forming in knots as the wind whipped it around. It felt good. It was a rare moment when I was fine being where I was; a moment that I would not trade to be back in New York. It was a moment of freedom, something that I haven't felt much since being here. Who ever thought I'd say this, but God bless Texas fall evenings driving down the highway with your windows down.

Diamond Rings

A friend sent me an email the other day about a twenty-five year old girl who posted an ad on Craig's List seeking a man that makes at least $500,000 for marriage. This is my favorite part of the excerpt:

"I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?"

So, as a single twenty-five year old girl, I am asking why are people so desperate to get married? Now, just so I don't offend anyone, I make the disclaimer that everyone that is married by my age is not desperate. For some people, the time is just right, I understand that. But for a twenty-five year old living in New York City, really, you want to be married? That, I just do not understand.

Inevitably, as a girl, I am obligated to write about boys and marriage and all that at some point. So here it is.

Since I've lived in only two places for longer than a year, here's my conclusion of the boys that I am familiar with: Texas boys are eager to spend their money on engagement rings; New York boys are eager to spend their money guying girls drinks. Texas boys want to buy a two-car-garage house in the suburbs; New York boys just want to bring the girl to their bachelor pad for the night. Texas boys want to settle; New York boys want to do anything but settle. So does that mean that I have to go to Kansas to find a boy that doesn't want to put a ring on my finger tomorrow but also wants me around for more than one night? I mean, is there an inbetween?

The thing is that there are very few couples that I meet whose life I want mine to be like. I would rather be single, traveling the world, than buy a cookie-cutter house outside of the city. So will this perception ever change? I hope not. The thing that I like so much about my life right now is my idealism. The desire to change the world; the challenge of significance; the need to be apart of a bigger world; the hope that tomorrow will be better; the want to risk. I don't see this in too many married couples. Maybe that's why marriage seems so boring to me. Maybe one day I'll wake up to realize that all my dreams may not come true; my idealism will fade into a realism of weekend yard-work, having babies and driving carpool. Or maybe, I'll find someone that is just as idealistic.

Even though I think its kind of cheesy, I agree with the concept from the book Wild at Heart; boys want adventure; girls want to be a part of that adventure (I think it goes something like that but its been awhile since I've read it). So my question: does married life give you the kind of rush that freefalling from an airplane at 13,500 feet does? Maybe it does and, at twenty-five, I'm missing out. But I think right now, I would rather feel like I have the world at my fingertips than have a diamond ring on that finger. And I'll just keeping hoping that someone is out there that likes jumping out of planes as much as I do.

Halfway Point

This week marks the halfway point of the semester. Last year at this time, I was consistently working until midnight to finish a report promised to our client's board of directors; now, I am consistently studying until midnight. In the past month and a half my vocabulary has changed; I now understand terms like "we affirm in part but reverse on X's claim of promissory estroppel" and "A had record title to Lot 1 but B has adversely possessed Lot 1 with accrual beginning in Year X". My eyesight has deteriorated from the hours spent reading case opinions, even though I didn't think it can get any worse. I am constantly analyzing situations to determine if a duty of care has been breached, thus giving rise to an action in negligence (and possible money damages). Yep, I am looking at the world totally differently. But more than just the knowledge that I've learned in the classroom, I'm learning the difference in living to work and working to live.

I've had a lot conversations about this lately: Are we meant to work to make a living or live for our work? I've been in law school for not even two months but one thing that I know is that after this experience I want to work to live. Now I know that I am only wading in the shallow end of the pool right now, but I have three years of studying ahead of me, not to mention a banking account that is thousands of dollars in the red. I don't want to invest myself in something that will merely get me from weekend to weekend.

So many people complain about their job. I've been there. Not everyone has landed their dream job, I understand. But that doesn't mean it's not out there. Sometimes our current position is just a spring board to get us there; we just have to keep jumping for it. I don't believe that people just luck into dream jobs. I do believe, though, that sometimes people don't want to risk actually taking a chance to find it because it means losing a security. I'm writing this more for myself than anyone else as an encouragement not to settle. I want to spend the significant portion of my waking hours doing something that is fulfilling to me. Slowly, I'm beginning to understand what that is, and I think I'm in the right place to get me there.

But first things first, finish the first semester.