Wish me luck.

In other news, I had an interview at a law firm on Friday, which, in very uncertain terms, seemed to go pretty well. From the few hours I spent there with various partners and associates, I gather that they seem to be very interested in my science background, particularly the time I spent in working in biotech. That and the possibility of me taking their IP department "to the next level." Their words, not mine. No ego here.

Comments fixed?

According to the latest news, Blogspot (or whatever the company's name is that allows me to carry on this nonsense) has fixed the way that comments can be left. Since nobody who looks at this site ever responds (except for Josh aka anonymous), that announcement might not make your day, but if it was the Blogspot-mandated process in which you were forced to be involved that prevented you from doing so, fear not, for a new era is upon us. Let the compliments begin!

By the way, Josh, your comments that don't involve insults are highly appreciated.

Like a bolt of lightning

Eveything was fine in the early morning; I went to class, then to a meeting with my lawyering group to discuss our forthcoming mediation session. But as soon as I returned home from that meeting, a rumbling began in the deep pits of my bowels. Within minutes, it was obvious that something was horribly wrong. In a desperate attempt to return to normalcy, I submitted to a nap for a few hours. Sadly, my effort was in vain, for when I awoke the virus had taken hold of my being, leaving me feverish and on the brink of a major purging. To combat the malevolent machinations of the virus, I ordered soup - japanese udon to be specific - for dinner, purchased Tums, and consumed numerous massive cups of orange juice as well as a dose of Theraflu. Then, I topped it all off with a Tylenol PM and passed out at 10 PM.

Thankfully, after the marathon sleep session, I'm feeling like the devil has, for the most part, released his grasp on my insides. My only hope now is that I'm feeling chipper enough tomorrow to perform well at the job interview I have scheduled for 2 o'clock.

Want a small glimpse of law school?

I'm sure you don't, but I'm too tired and sick-feeling to whip up anything more than what I am already working on. So here goes:

"Our client, Mr. Adam Young, believes he has been the victim of discrimination in violation of the New York City Administrative Code, section 8-107. The alleged discrimination comes in the form of the denial of a routine lease renewal by his current landlord.

Mr. Young is an African-American of West Indian descent who has resided in a rent-stabilized one-bedroom apartment at 837 Cloremount Avenue, Brooklyn since 1995. He is a successful advertising executive who makes timely rental payments; in fact, he is one of just a handful of tenants who has set up automatic payment of the rent from his bank account. Over the past eight years, he has successfully renewed his two-year lease four separate times by sending a short letter to the management of the building requesting a renewal. Though his interactions with the neighbors are limited, many of them hold him in high regard and, up until April 2004, he had never been the recipient of a complaint.

Last January, the building was sold to Clemens Properties, Inc. Lee Clemens, the new owner, also hired Jesse Jones as superintendent. About two months later, Alex Pierce, a caucasion graduate student at a nearby medical center, moved in with Mr. Young. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Pierce adopted a stray dog named Cleo, a Shepard-retriever mix. Mr. Young’s lease does not prohibit him from having a roommate or a dog.

The dog, however, did manage to cause some slight problems with the other tenants in the building. Several complaints were made directly to Mr. Young regarding the loud barking of the dog (although, to his knowledge, not to the building management). One complaint came from Ms. McArdle, who lives one floor above Mr. Young and also finds the “baby in 5A” and the “collie in 4A” to be “chronic nuisance[s]”. Mr. Young attributes the dog’s troublesome behavior to its new environment and maintains that the noise situation has been resolved. Ms. Fox, who lives in Apartment 4C and is a neighbor of Mr. Young, corroborates this claim. There was one additional incident during which the dog, though on a leash, jumped up on another of his neighbors, Ms. Dreier, in the elevator, but it is not clear whether she complained to anyone other than Mr. Young. Mr. Young asserts that she overreacted to the dog’s playful behavior, but has since made certain to keep the dog away from the other tenants and always keeps the dog on a leash.

Since Mr. Pierce moved in with him, Mr. Young has had several unpleasant encounters with Mr. Jones, the new superintendent. Most disturbingly, he was prevented from entering the building one night as he returned from work by a handyman who let him pass only when Mr. Jones allowed it. Neither Mr. Jones nor the handyman apologized or offered an explanation for the incident. This treatment angered Mr. Young but he did not make a formal complaint. Mr. Jones also ignored Mr. Young’s request to repair a window in his apartment, even though he had quickly fixed a faucet leak soon after Mr. Pierce moved in. Mr. Young also noticed that Mr. Jones did not greet him and tended to speak in a condescending tone, if at all, while other residents were treated more respectfully. Mr. Pierce also claims similar treatment from Mr. Jones, as well as from the residents of the building.

Persevering despite the incidents, in December 2004, Mr. Young sent a letter of renewal to Mr. Clemens as he had done with the previous building owners. The renewal was denied with no explanation. After Mr. Young repeatedly attempted to determine the reason for the refusal, Mr. Clemens told him that there had been complaints about the dog; Mr. Young suspects a more invidious motive. Our investigation uncovered evidence that one tenant, Mr. Foote, accompanied by his neighbor, Mr. Stevens, complained to Mr. Jones about the “mixed, backward, and unnatural” relationship Mr. Young and Mr. Pierce shared. In reaction to this, Mr. Jones made a brief phonecall and promised that management “would do what it could to remedy the situation.” There was also evidence that other tenants made similarly derogatory remarks and treated Mr. Pierce with what he perceived to be obvious disapproval (is this true?).

Given close to 10 years as a model tenant, Mr. Young is understandably indignant over the discriminatory treatment from Mr. Clemens and his staff and the undeserved renewal rejection. Furthermore, he has suffered a great deal of pain and anguish due to the situation. He seeks relief from the New York City Commission of Human rights for the discrimination detailed herein."

Black and Blue

After an extended weekend like this last one, the normal expectation is to emerge rested, relaxed and ready to capitalize on the remainder of the week. Instead, I feel beat up, both physically and economically. Starting with the Stroock reception at Jane last Thursday, I've been on a tear, alternating between socializing, recovering, and studying when the other two have run their respective courses. The most important lesson I learned this weekend was not law related; rather, it was that four days in a row of going out can have a dramatic drain on one's energy levels and have a visible impact on one's countenance. Not to mention the fact that prolonged fun can also be an incredible drain on one's wallet - although that might have more to do with a single night at BLVD than anything else.

Unfortunately, I'm in the midst of being a vicitm of that fairly obvious phenomenon right now. I think a respite from socializing is in order.

Oh, and sorry for lack of updates.

ALAN ADSBE....

is forthcoming.

And here it is. ALAN ADSBE is an anagram of a pair of words that adorned the chests of Ron, Rich, Peter and I as part of our costume for the 1st Annual Inappropriate Individuals Party, hosted last Saturday at the law school. Obviously, this was not a school-sanctioned party; it was hosted by a girl who dressed as Janet Jackson from the super bowl, complete with wardrobe malfunction and aluminum foil jewelry.

But before we get to that, I should mention my birthday celebration the night before. With a well-crafted email espousing my more admirable traits, Brian managed to wrangle about 10 or so people to a swanky restaurant/bar/loft in the East Village called Essex, which serves a interesting variety of Latin fusion cuisine (for example, I selected calamari with habanero guacamole as an appetizer). The atmosphere - high ceilings, skylights, and elevated eating area - was awesome; the food less so (but still acceptable). The beverages, of course, were fantastic (I had a delicious mango margarita and the staff even offered our entire party free liquor at the bar once we had finished our meal, a reward we indulged in liberally.

At this point a few more people showed up, and to show my appreciation I immediately ordered our posse to abandon Essex and migrate towards Pioneer, which I mistakenly thought was a block or two away. At Pioneer, drinks flowed freely and inhibitions dispersed like knowledge of Contract law after the final. Accordingly, someone who will not be named spilled a drink on his fellow patrons for no apparent reason and someone else almost entered into a physical confrontation with a person suspected of being a member of the Russian Mafia. Good times and I'm happy no one got killed (a reference to the latter predicament)

Now back to our regularly scheduled program. The Inappropriate Individuals event turned out to be a blast, mainly because (1) my roommates were intoxicated beyond belief (one dressed up as a priest and the other an altar boy) and (2) our costume drew so much positive attention. If you cannot figure out what was spelled out on our chests and why the costume was as beloved as it was, I will give you a hint: we wore Mardi Gras BEADS that night. Frankly, I'd rather people didn't know what it said, as I am a little bit embarrassed by the juvenile nature of our creation, so don't put too much effort into deciphering the code.

After leaving D'AG and the inappropriate individuals stationed there and after multiple Forks in the Neck delivered by Peter, we ventured over to Town Tavern, a bar that recently opened up adjacent to Fat Black. There, we drank quite a few beverages with our new best friend, Courtney, who was kind enough to meet up after avoiding my birthday celebration the night prior. Never one to disappoint, Peter soon managed to get 86'ed from the bar for either constantly going in and out of the entrance or starting a fight with the bouncer - no one is sure which of these actions was the true cause but rest assured, in his state of drunkeness, both were more than sufficient. I, for one, salute the bouncer for the public service he performed by removing Peter from the crowded interior where he was bound to administer a true "Fork in the Neck". Following his shameful discharge, Peter, honorable and noble as always, chose to direct his anger toward a more worthy opponent - a five-foot tall irate female. Fortunately, Courtney quickly quelled the commotion and, with a rallying cry of "Pioneer", we sped off in search of fame and fortune at our favorite bar in NYC.

The remainder of the night has been captured in pictures, but not my memory. Well, that's not completely true; I actually remember most of what happened it's just not exciting enough to bore you with. One last thing, if you are ever considering walking to Greenwich Village from Gramercy Tavern at 4 A.M., don't.

After years of bad-mouthing the Ipod as an over-priced, over-hyped, featureless mp3 player that is not much more than a pretty package, I joined the light side with my first Ipod purchase - a 512 MB Shuffle. Tail between my legs, I offer my sincerest apologies for being a hypocrit.