I went to yoga last night for the first time in about four months, and it kicked my ass.
But I feel awesome today. Really! The sky is cloudy, it’s cold, I was unbelieveably groggy this morning when I got up, but I still feel really good. (And the grogginess is really just that great exhausted feeling, where you just ran four miles and are wiped but feel terrific, or where you got the best night’s sleep.)
Anyway, it’s a nice way to end the week.
Sigh. I’m so glad it’s the weekend.
Book #4: The Virgin Suicides, Jeffrey Eugenides
I know everyone else has already read this book, but I hadn’t. If you haven’t read the book, you’ve probably seen the movie. I saw the movie and loved it—it’s so poignant and touching. It also shows that, no matter how bad of an actress she is, Sophia Coppola knows something about making movies.
So anyway, I really enjoyed the book. It’s not long, it’s a pretty easy read, and the language is really lovely. I finally picked it up because the movie was on TV not too long ago and, as I stopped to watch, I realized the wonderful narration of the movie must be straight from the book. I’d read Eugenides before (Middlesex), and I really enjoy his treatment of words. This book was an obvious choice for me.
One thing I did have to get used to was how the “end” of the book isn’t a surprise at all. The story is told almost in the fashion of a memoir, and the what I’d think of as the climax of the plot (the actual virgin suicides) is not hidden at all. I kept not wanting to read the little references to the suicides that are peppered throughout the book. Once I got over that, though, I was totally absorbed.
Book #5: The Runes of the Earth, Stephen R. Donaldson
This is sci-fan/fantasy, lent to me by my brother, who has lots of disposable book income. It’s the first book of a third trilogy (except this one will have four books) in the Thomas Covenant series. I enjoyed the first Thomas Covenant trilogy, liked the second one slightly less, but it was still a good read, and I liked this book well enough. It wasn’t the best sci-fi plot I’ve ever read, although it’s very well-written (a big consideration in this genre).
I’ll say this: if you read the Covenant novels way back when and liked them, this is a nice read. Maybe not a purchase, since it’s only in hardback. And maybe you want to wait until he’s actually finished the series, since nothing is worse than the Robert Jordan syndrome, where you start reading a series in high school and fifteen years later he’s still not done with them.
I’ll add that I’m generally not a fan of authors picking over their older, better-selling books for new plots (hello, David Eddings). That being said, it’s been a long time since I’ve read the original Covenant books so this felt at least sort of fresh. Oh, and Dylan seems to think this book is a sign of the apocalypse. I say, lighten up. It’s not the worst retread out there (again, HELLO, DAVID EDDINGS).
While heating up my breakfast this morning in our break room (raisin and spice oatmeal, yum), I ran into our director, my boss’s boss’s boss, and he stopped me to talk about my future plans.
Yep, it’s out. I knew it was going to be coming out since the BMOCs are talking budget right now, but I wasn’t sure how high the news had gone. Apparently, it’s gone as high as it can.
Anway, he was very nice about, asking me all about my plans and my interests, and it was really a lovely conversation. And it struck me how lucky I’ve been to work for and with such good people for the last six years. Sure, my actual job isn’t the most challenging thing, and that’s at least part of why I’m going back to school, but the people around me are really some of the best people there are. (They have to be, to work in the public sector. Pride and dedication are about the only extra remuneration we get.)
Still, I’m keeping busy. Everyone knows I’m going, but I still have five months to get through. I try not to get caught in the “passing time” mindset. Thankfully, I’ve just passed out of a phase where everything I was working on was rote. Just in time for spring!
From the alphaDictionary, I am:
84% (Dixie). Did you have any Confederate ancestors?
Yes, yes I did. I’m related to one of them through both my mother’s family AND my father’s family. No jokes about Southern inbreeding, please.
Via Amber, among others.
Law school admissions are arcane. I’m pretty sure the law schools do this on purpose. I don’t know why, as it only increases the anxiety of their future students, but I can’t imagine that their administrators haven’t wondered if there are more efficient, kinder ways to produce a class of students each year—much less figured out ways to reform the process.
As an example of the stupidity of admissions, LawMom has been hearing from law schools, but in confusing ways. She’s received deferrals and holds from schools who admit lots of other students with her numbers. Why? They haven’t said.
Likewise, Sui Generis is frustrated with the seeming illogic of his current application status. He’s resorted to imagining what the adcoms are saying about him—why haven’t they admitted him?
I myself have been waiting an inordinately long time for a decision from a school where my numbers are smack in the middle of their middle 50%. Even my in-state choice has decided not to give me any information lately. Why? What else do they need from me? What are they waiting for?
Too many whys out there, that’s what I see. We’re frustrated, and the message boards are groaning under the collective weight of a million posts about not hearing anything, or only being rejected or deferred.
This process could be simpler! I think about one of the schools I’ve gotten into and how they lay it right out there on their website—we like students with work experience. Hey, that’s me! Yet they get a lot of flak for this—some bloggers equate it to turning law school into business school. But, hey, if that’s what they want to do, let them! At least they get applications from students who know that their work experience factors in—and they enroll students who know what to expect in terms of the school’s environment.
I’d love it if every law school out there would be up front and honest about their application process. You just look at numbers? Tell us! I’m sure there are lots of students with good numbers but no other soft factors who will apply in droves. You like lots of undergraduate volunteer experience? Great—all those kids who were in Alphi Phi Omega know where they’re going to apply.
Instead, the admissions websites babble about “holistic” approaches to applications, about “considering the whole student.” But that doesn’t help—everyone is a unique individual with a lot to offer! Tell us more specifically what you like in a student:
“We consider the whole student. Particularly, we like students with an undergraduate record that indicates interest in rigorous academics, an interest and devotion to others, and a well-developed social sense.”
OK, so no Kinesiology/Fashion Merchandising majors, and Greek participation is a plus.
Or how about this:
“We feel that test scores don’t adequately reflect a student’s abilities, and prefer to focus on the quality of undergraduate education.”
In other words, if you went to a top undergrad, we’ll give you some leeway on your LSAT.
Maybe this would work:
“We understand that, while rankings are imperfect, they are the best current measure of an institution’s prestige. Therefore, our admissions policies will reflect our interest in rising in rank.”
That speaks clearly enough for me.
So maybe this sort of disclosure would be too radical. How about, then, being open and upfront in those deferral and waitlist letters?
“We waitlisted you because we see that you’ve been a stay-at-home mom for many years and aren’t sure how serious you are about this whole thing.”
I bet LawMom would love a response like that because it would give her something to address in a further letter to them.
Or if SG or myself were told, “Your numbers are decent, but we’re holding out for better students. If we don’t get them, we’ll look at you again.”
Sure, this is the general presumption, but at least we’d know. After all, what if the real reason I haven’t yet gotten in is that they’ve already accepted too many students from Texas? I could at least argue that I intend to stay in DC after graduation.
It’s arcane, that’s all. And it’s frustrating and everyone’s time gets wasted: my time, in fretting; their time, in reading applications from students who will never attend their school.
I always liked the KISS method: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Law school applications are anything but simple. They need fixing.
Update: Fellow blawgcooper Bad Glacier makes a good point, too, that when students know so little about the admissions process, they often end up letting a school choose them. That’s bad, also.
This makes me simultaneously very hungry and very nauseous. (Click the picture for the news story.)
Did I mention that it’s already March? When did that happen? And why don’t I have any idea where we’re going to move this summer?
Lest Mr. Angst freak out because I’m talking about the uncertainty again, I will note that I am trying to arrange a meeting with a realtor friend of ours. I am also immersed in a very good book that keeps me from thinking about all the nonsense.
And I’ve stopped obsessively checking GULC’s status checker. Oh, I still look in on it a couple of times a day—it’s been updating more than once a day lately—but I’m not madly refreshing the browser, hoping for a change.
Likewise, late application decisions frustrate me.
Ten weeks, Georgetown. Ten weeks. Make up your mind already.
