Notes from the Road

Friends,

I hope this finds you well, preferably in the warmth of a pending spring.  As the title suggests I am not writing from my familiar roost (a Diet Pepsi-encrusted, glass-top workstation in the corner of my living room); instead I am sending dispatches from the road.  In this particular circumstance, the “road” would be Sanibel Island, Florida.  Yup, the land of ‘gators, ‘Gators and, um, Scarface?

Now, if you were to think to yourself, “What’s he doing in Florida?  I didn’t think it was Reading Week”, well, then, you’d be correct.  It’s not reading week, thank you very much.  But if it’s all the same to you I’ve decided to tailor my winter break around the opportunity to travel rather than the pre-ordained break in studies offered by the school. 

Lest you think I bring this up to either a) gloat or b) display how coolly contrarian I am about school (read “the system”) let me clear the air.  With regards to the former let me state that this trip is not nearly as good as you might expect: the sun is so warm that I often find myself sweating, sometimes even before noon; all I want is orange juice from concentrate but nooooo, it’s all freshly squeezed here; I was hoping to see some carp in the water here but instead all I saw were dolphins (yeah, I get it, you can work an abacus.  Good for you.); and finally, how many days can a guy go drinking almost nothing but margaritas?  I mean, c’mon.

With regards to the latter rest assured that I am no rebel.  I mean, I write a weblog for the school.  I might as well be a hall monitor.

So what am I getting at (besides an apparent love of diversionary prose in a vain attempt to show just how damn witty I am)?  Well, being away from school this week reminded me of a question I am often asked by would-be law students: do you have time to have a life while you’re in law school?

Some people might tell you that no, you don’t have time.  We call those people “Dean’s Listers”.  I kid, of course, likely because I’m jealous.

Really, I imagine that any one of my compatriots would tell you that yes, it’s quite possible to have a life while in law school.  I know more than a few who’ve not only made the time for extra vacations, but who have gotten married or even had kids (I, obviously, am referring to young goats rather than infant humans.  You can’t spit without hitting a goat farmer at Western Law.)

Most people at school are rounding out seven years of higher education (and some have plenty more) and with that type of tenure comes the understanding that “quantity” does not necessarily mean “quality”.  In my opinion, succeeding at school is about knowing who you are beyond the study of law as much as it is about who you are within it.

And to do that, to keep track of who you are rather than what mark you got in Trusts or what law firm you work for, I think it’s important to make time for (including, but not limited to)

Family

Travelling to Florida

Dancing by yourself in your apartment

Chatroulette

Weekly breakfast with friends at Billy’s Deli

Pitchers on Barney’s patio to celebrate the first warm day of the year

Watching seasons 1-5 of LOST in just under a single calendar month

Taking courses out of interest rather than for strategic reasons

Driving to Toronto to see MUSE even though you have 2 essays due that week

Bachelor parties

Dennings

Heading to the pub even when there is no Denning

Movember

Xbox, PS3, Wii, (and for that matter original Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx16, Neo-Geo and, oh what the heck, EasyBake Oven)

Pick-up basketball

The Beatles Anthology

Having a pint with your old man

Having a pint with any old man

Tracking your Roll-Up-The-Rim-To-Win stats via Excel spreadsheet

Sending a note of congratulations to 2010 Academy Award Winner for Best Director, Kathryn Bigelow, not for her work on The Hurt Locker, but for the film for which she really deserves the accolade: Point Break (with notes from T. Tynan)

Purchasing a remote-controlled fireplace and pretending that you are a wizard every time you turn it on

Ghost-writing even more Lady GaGa hits

March Madness

A rousing game of solo Cranium 

Starting and then summarily halting a number of “Get Ripped in 4 Weeks!” workouts, and

Bare-knuckle boxing 

Whoops, I was watching Guy Ritchie’s Snatch and that last one snuck in there.  See, Snatch, another non-school related thing I’m doing right now!  It’s easy, try it for yourself! 

In the end, law is (and I’m going on pure conjecture, here) a profession of human beings. So I feel like it’s a good idea to act like one from time to time.  Sure, I don’t need to travel to Florida to do so, but it’s a heck of a lot more fun this way.  Even if I have to share the beach with those self-satisfied dolphins.

Chris

P.s. Here are a few things that I learned while driving from Ontario to Florida.

            -Cracker Barrel is less a restaurant than an infestation.

-Jesus is the savior and his return is imminent. 

-Somebody thought it would be a good idea to name a town state park “Big Bone Lick”.  True story.

-Toronto’s rush hour has nothing on Atlanta’s.

-You don’t want to find yourself hunting for a gas station in rural Georgia after sundown.  Even the GPS gets freaked out.

-Only in America could you see a sign for “Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd” about a half-mile from a Confederate flag the size of a football field.

Posted by Chris Crighton on March 18, 2010 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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