Holla

Funny Story.

I haven't made a lot of friends in my LLM program. Actually, I haven't made any friends in my LLM. I don't really know why. I am friendly enough. Maybe it's because I like to sit in the front row. (Look, it's tax. If I don't sit in the front for classes like Timing of Income, I will fall asleep.) Or maybe it's because I have the highest bar number (hence, the newest bar admittee) or maybe because everyone else in my program is middle aged and working. Either way, I have no friends. However, I missed my Tax Research class from last week and I needed some notes in order to do the assignment. So I asked this guy who sat next to me in the last tax research class. He was pretty friendly and sent me the notes.

I ended up sitting next to him in tax research again this week. The first thing he asks me is: "Did you cut your hair?"

Let me stop here for a moment. Throughout my adult life, I have accused of being rather naive when it comes judging whether a guy is hitting on me or not. I just assume no one is hitting on me and a gentleman just wants to make conversation. I had sort of a "friend syndrome." I never wanted to be the girl who thinks that every guy is hitting on her so I just assume if a guy talks to me, he just wants to be friends. After some misunderstandings over the last couple of years, I think I have evolved a little from that. My default is still the "friend syndrome" but I have picked up some signs. Back to the story.

So when a guy a barely know, or even talked to says something about my hair, I get suspicious. Is homeboy really hitting on me? Yes, I think he was. Naive no more. Anyways, I politely say no and thank God that class has started. A couple of minutes later, I see homeboy tear off a piece of paper from his legal pad. He writes something down and the folds it. I'm thinking: "Woah, is homie going to give me his number during class?" That's ballsy. He slips me the piece of paper and I open it. It says: "Sorry to bother you. But you have something stuck between your teeth." I take out lint brush/pocket mirror. I have a huge black bean stuck in the front of my teeth from lunch. Naive no more? Perhaps. Totally moded? Definitely.

While reading my ginormous book Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin I stumbled upon a quote that made me pause and reflect:

"Having hope means that one will not give in to overwhelming anxiety, a defeatist attitude, or depression in the face of difficult challenges or setbacks. Hope is more than the sunny view that everything will turn out all right; it is believing you have the will and the way to accomplish your goals."

That's me on a good day.

Lib Lib Lib

After taking the bar and becoming jobless, I started to go to the library. I have always thought of myself of a bookstore kind of gal. Before this year, the last time I set foot in a library was in high school. And even then, it was just somewhere to study after school or a place to kill time until my parents picked me up after playing tennis. However, in an attempt to save money, I started to go to library to feed my need to read. But what started as an attempt to pinch pennies has evolved into a full blown appreciation for borrowing books and the library itself.

As corny as it may sound, I feel like being a library card holder gives me a bigger attachment to my community. Just by borrowing a book that someone else has read makes me feel more connected to my neighbors. As an added bonus, you don't have to pay for it! How awesome is that? And you can rent DVDs and CDs from the library? Who knew? Well, if you didn't, you know now!