Renewal

I've a really good feeling about this year:

1) marriage is awesome, continually challenging us (me in particular... the Wife seems to get it all before I do) to reach new heights of self-appropriation, friendship, and self-giving. A sort of microcosm of the universe in that sense. We had several solid opportunities over break to think/talk about how we hope this year to turn out and fit into the overall goals of our lives... and it's exciting! Yay for love!

2) i'm slowly acclimatizing to school, realizing that it is indeed something that I want to do and care passionately about. I think I'll always be a philosopher at heart and always bring theory into practice, but it's nice to practice too. So many of the underpinnings of our societal ills are legal... anyway, that is for another post.

3) one of my favorite persons in the world moved in with us, which makes every day a party! So good to have a mini-community right in our place... community just becomes more and more important w/every passing week.

4) as some of you who read the Wife's blog may have heard, we're planning on adopting and pursuing that glorious possibility.

So, here's to the new year and it's infinite possibility! Since bucket lists are fun to read, here's a few (some carry overs as well) things that I hope to accomplish this year:

• A blog post a week for three reasons: non-academic writing... so I don't lose it all; non-academic thought... so I don't lose that either; and developing the awesome online community I've slowing been realizing the potential of.
• Half Marathon sub 1:15. My last half was precisely 1:40, so it's ambitious, but I didn't train for that last half either, so I'm hopeful.
• Depending on the one above: Full Marathon sub 3 hours. Qualifying for the Boston before I leave would be awesome.
• A summer Century. I found cycling balanced out my running perfectly, and when I move back to the West Coast I don't want to be too out of shape for the mountains. Also, rumors of doing the Laramie Enduro this summer...
• Keep a journal. I often feel I let things slip by in the stream of consciousness that would save me a lot of trouble/time/heartache were I to pay more attention to them. Journaling is a first step.
• Read non-school books. Sort of along the same lines as blogging, I don't want to "drown in the sweet honey-head of Plato". See?
• Running/Cycling are fabulous, but I need pilates/yoga to be a really integrated person. Making more of an effort in that arena. Hopefully before my ten-class card at Back Bay Yoga expires. Yes it is good for a year. ;)

Namaste!

Anticipation

Twenty-four hours from now I will be heading to the airport, bound for Inyokern, CA. I do not think I have looked forward to a break more in the thirteen consecutive semesters I've completed in the last six years. Law school is draining in a very unique way, but more on that when I have time. This is just an anticipatory post, one reminding myself that this last final, tomorrow morning, is the end of this semester. A little unreal.

Snow is blowing outside as I write a few things that I'm looking forward to over break:

1) Family!!! & Friends! I've missed everyone so, and every year, every thing I learn just builds the love that I have for them & my yearning to spend time with them.

2) Reading: one super-awesome thing about law school, is that we get actual breaks... I think this will be my first break in three years where I haven't had some sort of writing project to accomplish by the beginning of the next semester. Sure we have job apps but those pale in comparison to the amount of work a 30 page research paper or half-hour academic presentation can take. Here are the titles I'm planning on imbibing:

1. All Hallow's Eve by Charles Williams. I've started this one, over a nice break for Jury Duty in November and it is one of the best I've ever read. Without giving anything away, Williams can blend spiritual and physical reality so well, when you 'come back' to the 'real world' you're not sure it is.
2. The Legend of Sigurd & Gudrun by JRR Tolkien. As you all know, my favorite author of all time and this book is his retelling/mix of two old Norse sagas, probably my favorite era of literature. Should be blazingly awesome.
3. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. As a avid fan of Russian literature (Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Solzhenitsyn in particular), that this book has slipped by me (how?) is a crime deep and terrible. Luckily one of my lovely friends from law school Alisa has illuminated my path and even provided me a copy of her most favoritest book to glory in over break. I'm stoked, to say the least. Expect raves.
4. War in Heaven, another Charles Williams :) and an early Christmas present.

Usually I would list many more, but, attempting to be wiser every year, I figured that break being from December 22nd to January 10th, that is a manageable chunk that I can hope to tuck away.

3) Cycling & Running: I've actually been pretty good about both over the semester, until these last few weeks where all my energy was directed at my books. But it will be nice to cycle a good hundred road miles or so in the Mojave, mountain bike a few trails in the Pacific Northwest & trail run in the Sierra Nevadas, as well as the Cascades. Nothing refreshes and rejuvenates like miles flowing under my feet.

4) Coffee: I've stocked up on a few cafes I need to snuggle up w/aforementioned books and sip dry cappuccinos: http://www.stumptowncoffee.com/; http://www.victorscelticcoffee.com/; http://www.zokacoffee.com/index.php/page/Display/Default. One old favorite, two new storied locales :) looking forward to bringing beans back. Cuppings in the spring for sure.

Those are the stand out things at the moment.

What are you looking forward to my friends? Namaste

The First Week & Thoughts

Hello Friends,

As many of you know, I just started at Boston College Law School, indeed, this is my second day of classes. After two days of orientation and one of class, I am happy to say that I am really excited for the next three years! This venture is unlike any I've encountered so far, in that it commits me to a relatively solid path for the next three, and more likely seven years.

In many ways it is like undergrad in that the course load is similar, classes are often and in the morning, and the mix of people is, if anything, even more diverse. When the Dean of the School introduced our class, it was humbling to hear the impact my classmates have had on the world and thrilling to realize that I'll be working with them closely for the next three years and beyond.

Two things I've gathered in my very short time here are that
1) Law School is all about method, learning a new, precise, and powerful method of reasoning, namely legal reasoning. I'm interested in seeing how this style of thinking differs and coincides with my studies on cognitional theory and epistemology. The thing about inculcating a method, is that it takes a lot of work and time... hence the infamous 1L year :) http://www.hulu.com/the-paper-chase

2) (and perhaps this is just my current orientation, but) Law School emphasizes relationships much more than I anticipated. The law community is a small one, and everyone ends up working with and knowing everyone else. Sure there are abuses and many of the negative images associated with lawyers show keen insight, however, those images do not represent the majority of lawyers.


A few unrelated thoughts:

I've been attempting to choose between Google and Bing as far as reliablity of searches go, and have yet to make a decision... I feel that Bing is indeed better, but, alas, I have adapted so well to Google that I can often find things faster and more efficiently with the scatter-gun approach. Hmm... try it for yourself :) http://www.bing-vs-google.com/

As I may have mentioned, I'm training for the 2010 Laramie Enduro. Having added cycling to my running has really improved my running speed and lower heart rate endurance. I've cycled to the BCLS campus every day this week over Heartbreak Hill which, with 20-30lbs of books on my back, has and will be good climbing training for next summer!

Peace,

Taylor