Deathly Hallows

I read what will likely be my last for-pleasure book before law school this weekend. It was "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." I read it in the span of two days.

I discovered Harry Potter in early 2007 in the basement of the library where I worked. I happened upon the J.K. Rowling (pronounced ROLL-ing) section, an event that seems weighty in a college library that uses the Library of Congress call number system. (I've worked in the MIT science library for almost four years and the system still makes little sense to me. Cutters and decimals confuse me and mnemonics fail. One must happen upon books or intentionally seek them out because pointedly browsing in the LC call# muddle doesn't happen.)

I say I discovered Harry Potter because I started reading "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in a basement years after the craze had hit the world's young-adults. I started reading and kept reading and took the book home and stayed up most of the night with it. I was shocked, astounded, and I understood that that Harry Potter is celebrated because the books are stunningly good. It's the best fiction I've ever read.

In that period of early 2007, when my life was crashing around me, I read the rest of the series straight through, pausing only for a few days to wait for the release of "Deathly Hallows" in July, 2007. I purchased my reserved copy the day of the release and read the 759-page book straight through, beginning at 1 pm and finishing at 3:38 am. After two hours of sleep I opened the book to page one and began again.

The Harry Potter books aren't about magic, even though they are. Rowling used the pretense of wizardry to write about love and friendship and family and mystery and growing up and self-discovery. The books captured my heart and my imagination and it was then that I settled on law school. The books aren't responsible for my decision but they are connected. Harry Potter served as a bridge between the facts of what existed in my life at the time and the fiction of the doors that were there to be opened.

But I'm not trying to moralize here. I'm trying to pass on this one overriding message: Read Harry Potter. Go to your library (trust me, libraries need all the business they can get) and borrow "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." (In your public library it is probably shelved in the young adult fiction section under "R.") Open it up and read late into the night like the rest of us have. If you take nothing else from me take this: do not live your life without reading these books.

Please see my original post here: http://lauramcwilliams.wordpress.com/2009/08/10/deathly-hallows/
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Gimme some sugar

I'm pretty stressed.

Some signs are typical: my hair is falling out; I'm having nightmares and difficulty sleeping; I end most days with painful tension headaches.

The other sign seems to be particular to me. When I'm anxious I crave sugar.

I'm not talking about rich cakes and cookies here, though those would probably do. When I'm stressed I want pure sweetness. I've been gorging on Smarties, Gobstoppers, Nerds, and hard peppermint candies. For variety I snack on graham crackers, apple juice, apples, and animal crackers, but I quickly return to my sugar stash for dessert.

None of this is helping my anxiety. The sugar makes me jumpy and bloated. When I'm jumpy I feel more nervous; when I'm bloated my law school clothes don't fit right. When I'm jumpy and bloated and anxious I'm close to miserable.

I don't know why I rely on sugar when stress is knocking me down. If anyone has thoughts I'd love to hear them. Meanwhile I'm headed to CVS. I hear the Halloween candy is finally on the shelves and I need a few bags.

Please see my original post here: http://lauramcwilliams.wordpress.com/2009/08/06/gimme-some-sugar/
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Preparing for Law School II

[Check out this post for updated info on how I prepared for law school.]

It's come to my attention (thanks, Google Analytics) that the keywords that most often bring people here are "preparing for law school." My previous post on the topic was entirely unhelpful. Trust me; I wish I had the answer. But since I want to serve my readers I thought I'd offer a short post on what I've done to prepare myself.

Most helpful was Andrew J. McClurg's book, 1L of a Ride. See my previous post. Some reassurance came with knowing a little bit about what to expect this fall. And I think I now have a sense of how hard it's going to be. (Of course I don't.)

I've also been reading law blogs (called blawgs). I recommend Bloglines for keeping up with blogs. Once you create an account you can read the highlights of each blog you follow through the main page. Check out Blawg Review and Above the Law to get started.

Other than that, I've been trying to do what most people recommend: take it easy and enjoy the last bit of simple life I'll have until I retire. I'm running and painting and messing around on Facebook. You know, doing all those things I won't have time to do once school starts.

Seriously, though; come back in November so I can give you a REAL answer. Meanwhile, take a look at "Fearfully Optimistic" and start writing.

Please see my original post here: http://lauramcwilliams.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/preparing-for-law-school-ii/
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Loafing in Beantown

I've been invited to a scholarship recipients' luncheon at Suffolk. Following the luncheon I'm to have my photograph taken for the student directory. Business attire required.

My plan is to wear a white blouse and black pants. That's business attire, right? I hope so, because that's what I'm wearing. Which brings multiple equations to the fore.

1. White blouse + food (luncheon) = fiasco
2. Standing up while wearing a stained white blouse = mortification
3. How did I end up deciding to begin a career that requires BUSINESS ATTIRE? I, of baggy jeans and sneakers, = scarcely prepared for this.
4. Shoes. My past shoe choices have always been driven by comfort. For this event I will be wearing black loafer-type shoes, which are not entirely foot-merciful. How did I end up deciding on a career that includes wearing LOAFERS? Feet = never cushioned again.
   
5. Hot. It's August in Boston and therefore hot and humid. White blouse + [camisole] + pants + socks + loafers +subway + Boston + August + subway = disaster.
   

Even after all this I've got my fingers crossed that my attire will indeed be business (enough) and I will neither be over- nor under-dressed.

Loafers be damned. Seriously; damn those loafers.

Update, Agust 6, 2009. My sources tell me that my white blouse/black pants combination is not, in fact, business attire. I need to buy a suit. This thing just keeps getting worse.

States and states

No one's more surprised than I am. I survived the weekend.

My twin sister left Boston last week. The grief I felt seemed unbearable; I didn't believe I could survive the sadness. My twin sister was gone and that loss felt permanent. I was suddenly alone.

Then my aunt called to make sure I was ok and my mom sent flowers. Jenna sent periodic text messages. I have a small family, but the small size just increases the percentage of people in it who care. [x=100/(5-ish/3)]. (Or, more probably, somewhere around 100%.)

But next the fear set in. This family is now focused in the midwest, and I'm living all the way in the fingers of the country. Massachusetts is far away from everything I know--very far from southern Michigan. It's...backward. Jenna is the brave one and I should have been the twin to stay home. My older sister is having her first baby and I wanted to be there for that. My birthday's not far away and then comes Thanksgiving, and Christmas. I should be living in that soft, bright mitten. Instead I'm hanging from my ankles (Harry Potter spoiler alert) in a room by myself. LIBERACORPUS.

However.

Today is Monday and I'm calm. The people who know me know this isn't my normal state. Panic: probably; tears: of course; anxiety: most definitely. But not calm. (Though stress is making my hair fall out at an alarming rate. More on that in a later post.)

Law school starts in two weeks and I have plenty to do before August 18. There are backpacks to try on and loads of textbooks to buy. And even in Beantown there are flowers to remind me that I'm not alone.

I hate today

I don't even know how to approach this, so I'll just launch into it.

My sister's leaving today. She's moving from Boston to Bloomington, Indiana, where she will begin a doctoral program at IU. I'll be staying in Beantown to begin my law studies at Suffolk University Law School.

We spent six of our adult years living together; eighteen of our childhood years. We lived in Michigan first, then Colorado, where we could see the Rocky Mountain foothills from our house. Four years ago we walked the Freedom Trail and found an apartment in Massachusetts. We packed a Uhaul and drove halfway across the country with all of our stuff in the back and a car dragging behind. This year we rented separate moving vans, both small and neither towing a car.

Jenna's my go-to person. When I'm hurting or sad or lonely or happy; when I have good news or bad or anything in between my first thought is: I have to talk to Jenna. We're twins. I wouldn't know if our relationship is stronger than others'. I'd [unavoidable cliche] run into a burning building for her. Now that she's leaving I feel like I'm standing in a burning building alone. First thought: I need to tell Jenna that I'm standing in a burning building alone.

UN Security General Decries Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for states, particularly in Asia, Europe, and Africa, to strengthen prevention and protection measures against sexual violence in armed conflicts.

In his report to the Security Council, Mr. Ban wrote:

Sexual violence is deeply dehumanizing, inflicts intense mental and physical trauma, and is often accompanied by fear, shame and stigma. It is a well-established method of torture.

Mr. Ban later refers to International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), which, for the first time, in 1994, qualified the crime of rape as a form of genocide.

In so doing, ICTR recognized that sexual violence was a step in the process of group destruction — the “destruction of the spirit, of the will to live, and of life itself”.

I bow my head to Mr. Ban and recognize his heroic efforts to work for peace.