Let’s see… What happened over break? Well, I am single again.

And that is all I have to say about that.

But now that I am back in Jackson, I am taking life as it comes. I am giving back to the community when I can, I am working, and going to school to make this time in my life pass. Overall, I have found this is the best approach.

We had snow this morning… YES… snow. Dixie gets all in a twist when she gets snow. We had about an inch and they canceled most of my classes for the day. I walked outside this morning and noticed that the roads weren’t even covered in snow… they were just wet. These people…

Also, I wanted to note that while I have had a couple of people demand that I turn my 1L year into a tell all “Tucker Max” style book, I just don’t think that is realistic. If you think it is… contact his publisher and have them call me. HA!

I’ll update on my life as I can!

I am going to use my study breaks and the time after finals are over to try to update everyone on the goings on of the semester.

I guess I should start at the beginning.

School started and I took a job offer at the Office of the Attorney General as a law clerk in the Public Integrity Division. I guess that means I must have some integrity as a person, right? I mostly work with DUI prosecution questions from prosecutors and district attorneys from around the state. The job is enjoyable and has taught me a lot about the law already. While it is not experience in a law firm, which I will someday need, it is experience with legal research and looks good on a resume. I figure no one in Indiana is going to know what the law firm of Dewey Cheatam and Howe of Jackson Mississippi does. However, people know what the Office of the Attorney General does and how government employees operate. A steady paycheck is a much nicer way thinking about the job as well.

I took Appellate Advocacy, Copyright, Sales and Leasing, Constitutional Law, and Wills and Estates this semester. Constitutional Law has already had a bear of a final and while I am glad that it is over, I want to moan and groan in the defeat that was that test. No one feels as if they did a good job… which may be a good thing. The test itself was a big bag of trick questions. Red herrings that had case names not matched up to holdings that were real or holdings that were actually the holdings of other famous cases to trip up even a student who carefully reads. It was exhausting.

Appellate Advocacy had a final big paper that was due at the beginning of October. Mine was over 50 pages long. I won’t know what I got on it until after January. Ho Hum.

So that leaves me with finals this week in Copyright, Sales and Leasing, and Wills and Estates. Wills and Estates shouldn’t be a bear as the test is pretty similar year to year and the teacher gives a rat’s ass less that the students. Sales and Leasing is taught by a younger female professor who likes to have fun in class and then kill you on a final… I am dreading that test on the UCC Article 2. Copyright is in my wheel house and I should do pretty well on it I believe. The class has been a breeze so far and that is with me only partially listening to the lecture that has only 14 students in the class. Some in Copyright seem utterly lost… but it really isn’t that tough as long as you have some basis in fact of what a tangible fixed medium is. If you figure that out… the codebook will keep you golden. Fairness factors will keep you on the right track if you get totally lost.

I am still dating Jenny and she is still traveling down here with school going on. She even got me tickets to a Packers/bears game in Chicago on the 16th. We are going to the game in the afternoon and seeing “The Book of Mormon” on stage that night. WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE! I will write more on this later.

I have tried to keep some notes on things to write about over the semester and am going to break these posts up into smaller segments for the readership. Hope that helps.

So until I get another post out…. Stay classy.

-YJ_SL

But where to start? And how intense should the writing be? Should I tell people about my school semester and how the 2L year is dead on when they say that the school works you to death? Should I talk about how happy I am that Notre Dame is going to a national Championship? Should I write about the downfall of my PACKERS?  I could write about my new job with the state government. Maybe I could mention the girlfriend. I could even tell you about the fact that I have not been home to Indiana since before the school semester started. Hell, I am only going to spend a week at home for Christmas!

And where should I end? Should I end by telling you that I will not be in the United States on Christmas Day? Should I mention that I (again) have a new car? Should I tell you about the upcoming finals and my complete contempt for school? Maybe mention that there is no way that I am sad with straight “C’s” this semester: JUST GIVE ME MY DEGREE AND GET OUT OF THE WAY.

I just wanted to put a post on here to give my followers who apparently still exist a heads up on a big post tonight or tomorrow depending on when it is fully finished. I am studying for my finals and use my study breaks for this blog today and tomorrow. I want to post photos…. Tell stories… and reminisce. I guess my biggest want is just to have a semester in review.

Also, I should give a big shout out to y’all. Apparently my blawg is still netting hundreds of views a month without me writing a word. That leaves me almost speechless.

-YJ_SL

William Tell wasn’t certain that the arrow would hit his mark… but he took a chance.

It is one of those life defining moments that make you who you are. You can’t explain it on a resume. But you can put it away into the recesses of your mind for some tale to tell a grandchild or to some young one hard on his luck at the local watering hole.

I hope someday I look back on the choices that I make and can say that I did it the best way. Ryan M. would have me sing “My Way” at this point in the post, but I will resist.

~YJ_SL

It is sad that something that was such a “friend” to me during the 1L year is becoming more of a weight than it should be. I will leave it up to you, the readers if you would like to see it continue.

I have only my gratitude to extend to you all. It has been great so far, and I thank you for being on this journey with me. Please tweet me @aaronhommell or leave a comment.

If you want the blawg to continue to be updates, I will do my best to continue it.

Thanks,

~YJ_SL

The glorious distance set between yourself and the bars of the schoolhouse door. Miles in fact. Miles that can mean the difference between sanity and the barely sane.

How do you measure a break? A break in song can add depth and understanding. A break in conversation can add awkwardness or alternatively, meaning or a view into an abyss of subsequent feelings that go unsaid.

Taking just two classes this summer and not working has lead to one of the most interesting and frankly odd summers of my life. We cannot stand idly by as our life passes forth, but it is this exactly that I have found myself doing this summer.

Idle.

Neutral.

Moving without direction and more importantly without a real reprieve in action. I am not really as relaxed as I make myself out to be. I am still taking classes (even if they sometimes seem more like a joke than not) and I am still trying to get up and make something of myself each day. However, what is the feeling of getting home in the evening, after errands and class, that makes one think the day is merely wasted? Is it contempt? Is it a lack of purpose? Maybe it is more a lazy mixture of sleeping dog and wallowing, muddy pig-like tendencies that have me being the opposite of productive.

I find myself bored with day-to-day tasks and anything not to do with my future. I day dream constantly. I have even caught myself talking to myself more than usual. I’m not suffering from a mental disease or anything, but I know that talking to myself more than just in the shower should be cause to wonder, “what’s up?”

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.” – Oscar Wilde

I have a purpose. I have a want to move forward. I have an ache that lends itself from deep inside to be a better person each morning I wake up. Is this my “dawn” that Wilde makes mention of?

But, I have no control over those feelings.

The car has a sticky gas peddle and I’m tied up in the trunk.

Two way streets are quickly forged into single, narrow ideals founded in a warped sense of what is right in the world and what is wrong with it.

Maybe there is a sense of surprise. Where did these feelings and outlooks on topics come from? Did I set myself up?

William Faulkner said, “I have found that the greatest help in meeting any problem is to know where you yourself stand. That is, to have in words what you believe and are acting from.” So I must write down what I believe and am acting from in and amongst myself.

I believe in understanding what others want just as much as yourself. Even if I have not the means or opportunity to afford these people of their wants, I strive to know what they are.

I believe that one’s faults are not to be described in great detail during a quarrel with another. These words merely ruin later, more amicable conversations.

I believe that a promise to do some thing in the future should be left right where it was promised: the future.

I believe that a man is always more confident when he is erect. Men should stand up straight and not slouch.

I believe that happiness is not a feeling or a thought, but rather a state of depression. Without it, depression would not exist.

I disagree that we are all the same. Our differences are what make life tolerable.

I disagree with the notion that there are “haves” and “have nots.” There are only those who can afford not to care, and those who care not to afford.

I disagree that smoking, drinking, or other “sinful acts” are bad for you. I disagree with sin taxes.

I don’t care what you do in your living room, just don’t howl at the moon in mine.

I believe that Faulkner was right when he said, “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi.”

I am sure there are other things I should write as being personal beliefs, but maybe this is enough for now. I will work on this list and see where it takes me.

~YJ_SL

I am not complaining. I did much better this semester, and so did everyone else apparently. The school’s email did not take my grade from Sports Law into account or the other class I am taking this summer, Entertainment Law into account either. These both will only go to raising my GPA.

My best grades were in my worst classes from last semester. Civ Pro and Torts both netted me decent scores and Contracts only fell one half letter grade from last semester. Property/Crim Law stayed the same.

No matter how I spin it, it looks like I won’t be failing out. With the curve no longer set at the god-awful 2.59-2.79 and set closer to a 3.0, I should be set to only raise in the grades department. I also am close enough to the middle that I’d have to get a concussion and lose a limb for a half semester to get kicked out. I’ll take my chances.

I am not surprised by this. I am getting the grades I honestly thought I would or that I was capable of. I have also had fun and lived my life at the same time. Some one once told me, “Don’t ever be in the middle. Always be the best or the worst at something. The middle always gets fucked.” While I agree the middle is screwed over sometimes, I am okay with it at this moment in my life. Would I like to be in the top ten? Sure. But, if I can get through school with my sanity, my understanding of life at this age, well that is the price I will pay.

I know a few of the people who may not be returning this fall whether that is due to failing grades or transfer, it is interesting to see these people and reflect on what I once thought of these people. Some I viewed as smart or dumb and some have turned out to be just the opposite. Others I thought would succeed with vigor have fizzled out with me in the dreaded middle.

Oh well. Better do well this summer.

~YJ_SL

The house.

The Kitchen. All Maytag stainless steel appliances.

Fridge

Stove

Washer and Dryer

Nathan and Craig’s bathroom.

My closet

My bathroom. It is accessible directly from my room.

My room. two doors. One goes directly to the kitchen.

Living Room

View from kitchen through dining room towards the living room.

My redneck moving techniques.

 

I like it. That is all that matters.

~YJ_SL

“Professor Michael McCann is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of sports law, antitrust, and law and economics. He received tenure in 2010 and is Director of the Sports Law Institute.

Professor McCann is also Sports Illustrated‘s Legal Analyst, the “Sports Law” columnist on SI.com (CNNSI) , and he recently joined NBA TV as the On-Air Legal Analyst.  He is providing on-air legal analysis of the NBA Lockout and other basketball and law matters.  Professor McCann’s commentary for Sports Illustrated has attracted national acclaim. He has received recognition from The American Lawyer and the Newhouse School of Public Communications, among other entities, for excellence in journalism.

In addition, Professor McCann is a co-founder of The Project on Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School.  He also teaches a sports law and analytics reading group at Yale Law School. It is the first sports law and analytics course to be offered at a law school.

Professor McCann has placed scholarly articles in the Yale Law Journal, Wisconsin Law Review, Boston College Law Review, Connecticut Law Review, Case Western Reserve Law Review, Brooklyn Law Review, Yale Journal of Law and Technology, and Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, among other law reviews. His most recent article is American Needle v. NFL: An Opportunity to Reshape Sports Law, 119 YALE LAW JOURNAL 726 (2010).

Professor McCann was a visiting associate professor of law at Boston College Law School in 2008, during which time he also served as Chair of the Association of American Law School’s Section on Law and Sports. Professor McCann is also the Distinguished Visiting Hall of Fame Professor of Law at Mississippi College School of Law, where he was an assistant professor of law between 2005 and 2008 and where he now teaches a sports law course every summer. While at Mississippi, Professor McCann received the school’s most prestigious awards for teaching, including the Professor of the Year Award in 2006-07 and 2007-08 and the Professor of the Year for First-Year Courses Award in all three years. He was also honored with the Phi Delta Phi Professor of the Year Award in 2007-08 and his colleagues named him the recipient of the Shirley Norwood Jones Faculty Award, also in 2007-08.

Professor McCann is also a legal correspondent for the nationally syndicated Dan Patrick Show and he has been frequently interviewed on television programs, including HBO’s Bob Costas Now, CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, American Morning, Headline News, and Glenn Beck Show, Fox News’ Fox Live Desk, and CNBC’s Morning Call and Power Lunch. He has also been interviewed on NPR, BBC, CBC, CBS Radio, ESPN Radio, the Lou Dobbs Radio Show, and the Jim Rome Show, and by the New York Times, Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Business Week. Additionally, Professor McCann contributes to two award-winning blogs: Sports Law Blog and The Situationist.

Prior to becoming a law professor, Professor McCann served as counsel to college football star Maurice Clarett in his lawsuit against the National Football League and its age eligibility rule (Clarett v. NFL, 369 F.3d 124 (2nd Cir. 2004); cert. denied, 125 S. Ct. 1728 (2005)). He also served as a visiting researcher at Harvard Law School and legal counsel to U.S. Congressman Marty Meehan.

Professor McCann received his LLM from Harvard Law School, his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law, and his BA, magna cum laude, from Georgetown University. At Virginia, he was named a Hardy Cross Dillard Fellow, served as editor-in-chief of the Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal, and received the law school’s Best Oral Advocacy Award.”

Needless to say, I have learned a ton. I wish it was a class I could take all summer instead of just these two weeks.

~YJ_SL

There is no other coming of age ritual quite like the feeling one gets when they say that a chapter is over in life. None is more enveloping as the 1L year. There is no other question about the things you can accomplish when I think of the yeah I have had.

All the late nights, studying, practice tests and reading have lead to an academic life that is mid-range. The drinking, making new friends and being in a new city has given me a life experience that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

Thomas Edison may have put my law school experience best. He said, “Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.” I started with real planning and perceived intelligence but realized that sometimes it is the head games of what others believe you seem to be doing that is just as successful. Yet, some of those hours in the library that people thought I was studying was merely me writing for this blawg. That may have made them work harder, in turn decreasing my grade.

But it’s over. At least for now.

Sugar Ray Leonard once said, “Although it was a great accomplishment to win a gold medal, as soon as they put it on you, that’s it; your career is over.” My career isn’t over, but my blawg is no longer in the realm of the 1L category. I am now a rising 2L with his own challenges and beliefs that will be chronicled to the best of my ability.

While, I am not necessarily a supporter of our current President, Barack Obama, I can say with no shadow of a doubt that he understood the same things that I am going through now as a true crossroads in understanding of law and society. In his book, Dreams From My Father; A Story of Race and Inheritance, he eloquently wrote this; “The study of law can be disappointing at times, a matter of applying narrow rules and arcane procedure to an uncooperative reality; a sort of glorified accounting that serves to regulate the affairs of those who have power–and that all too often seeks to explain, to those who do not, the ultimate wisdom and justness of their condition.
But that’s not all the law is. The law is also memory; the law also records a long-running conversation, a nation arguing with its conscience.”

I don’t know if I can handle that at times. This societal memory. This bigger than I sense of accomplishment with a larger than life topic. Law is bigger than any of its pundits and teachers. It is us. It is in the very fabric of our being. And now, I, Aaron Hommell, am stuck within its varied conversations. Its endless wins and losses, coupled with shame and glory. Blind or not, justice is served.

Today a 2L, things are very much the same.

~YJ_SL