How to ensure law school doesn't suck the creative writing out of you...

I just realized that I started and quite quickly abandoned this blog, with my last post being last February.  That is pretty sad.  Now, I have done some other writing but this blog in particular was started to help me keep my "creative" side going.  A place where I could just write for fun, with no rhyme or reason.  I have had a few people in the legal field tell me that their law career, law school especially, managed to suck their ability to do creative writing (short stories, poetry, etc) right out of them.  I am trying to not let that happen to me.  So I am going to set myself a reminder today on my calendar that I will post at least one "creative" blog per month on here.  Somewhere to just stretch my thinking a little and maybe create some interesting banter.  Now, I will not promise that the posts will not be law school or legal field related, after all that is my world right now, but I will promise that they will be entertaining, unstructured, and have just the right amount of "Jen" thrown in.  

That's it for now... but another post before January is over!!

Sitting in the Coffee Shop

It's Friday night and I have gone to the local coffee shop because I needed internet access and a place for some coffee. There is live music here on the weekends so it is a great place to have a good coffee, sit on a comfy couch and hear some good tunes. Which was exactly what I had been doing until the 20 year old college couple came in and sat on the couch that is next to me. When they first came in they were all cuddly and kissy which is fine. Everyone deserves a little cuddly time. But then the band took a break and their conversation quickly drifted over to me. And it is so... childish... and the boy is obviously trying really hard to impress the girl because he is giggling at everything she says even though it is clear to everyone around us that it is not funny. I have not even moved my eyes in their direction to really see who they are or what they look like. That part is not really that important. What is important is that I was enjoying the music, and so were they... until the break. And now they are just talking away and giggling. Even though the music has started back. They are discussing what they are going to do for her 21st birthday. She wants to go to the casino and he is educating her on the odds of winning at the casino. And she thinks that is cute too I guess... because even that conversation makes her giggle. Then he giggles. And the giggling ensues... And I am out of coffee...

Why a bed in your living room is cool...

So, since I am preparing to move next weekend, I have done some creative furniture shifting in my apartment. Basically, I disassembled my bed and I put all the boxes that I packed into my bedroom and took my mattress and box spring and placed them on the floor in my living room. So what this gives you is basically the ability to walk right in my front door and collapse onto the bed. So here are the reasons I think this is the coolest thing ever:

• Instant relaxation as soon as you get home.
• It's like having a sleepover or a camp out every night.
• Everything you need (aka Refrigerator) is just a few steps away
• Less vacuuming to do since the bed covers the entire living room floor
• I am much more motivated to crawl into bed with a book instead of go out and eat/drink too much
• It is entertaining to see the look on people's faces when you open your front door and a bed is right there.

The only catch... most of those things listed above are also negatives... and when I say negative, I mean that they totally promote laziness. :) But hey... it's only for another week so I am living it up while I can!!

Concerned Parent Gets Kicked in the A**

That's right. It's Saturday morning and I am once more fired up by some random news article I stumbled across. Check out this story about a 14 year old boy who was charged with nine counts including statutory rape and indecent assault and battery of a child under the age of 14. Now those of you who know me well, you know that I am a huge advocate for sexual assault laws, sex offender regulation and much more. And I know that our law allows for little "gray" in some areas so that it can protect us from legal professionals. But sometimes, you just have to say, "COME ON - GET REAL".

Now, let me first say that I in no way condone the thought of my (or any) 14 year-old son having sex with anyone regardless of their age. And if the day comes where I find out my son has decided to make that decision at such a young age I am pretty sure my head will spin off my shoulders and I may need to have someone restrain me so that I don't beat him senseless. BUT, do I feel that he should be charged and marked forever as a sex offender because not only he, but the girl he liked, were both dumb enough to think they were ready to make such a monumental decision? NO!

Initially, when I started reading the article, I found the opening premise to be very valid. When I worked in law enforcement, one of my roles was to oversee the sex offender registration for the city where I worked. We didn't have a lot of offenders in that city, but even those we did have were a wide variety. From the teenage boy whose girlfriend happened to be just one year younger than the law thought "okay" so when her parents filed charges he was quickly found guilty, to the just plain creepy guy who performed lude sexual acts on kids 15 years younger than him. For the latter, I say lock them up, throw away the key and let them suffer the same pain they caused others. But the former... that is where we need the gray. So when I saw this article asking why the girls were not charged as well, it did give me pause. I mean, why were they not? They were all underage and they all made the same decisions. Why is only the boy made to be punished? Is the law actually saying that because he was 14 and the girls were 12 that he should be THAT much older and wiser than them?? I mean, obviously the court has not spent much time with a 14 year old boy before.

But hold on - I am not at the height of my pissdom (yeah, that's right... I said "pissdom") yet. I kept reading the article because I love being fired up in the morning. And there, in the last paragraph of the article is where you learn how it all started. The boy's father, being a good attentive father, read the son's sexually explicit text message from (or to) one of the girls. He was obviously upset and concerned about this behavior on the part of both children. So he called the mother of the girl to talk to her about it. The mother, she calls the police and files charges!! Even the girl is quoted as saying the acts were all consensual! So there, Dad... that's what you get for paying attention to your son and trying to open the lines of communication between you and the parents of your child's friends. Someone slap this woman.

Now, because I like to imagine the best in individuals, I would like to imagine that this woman, somewhere down the road realized she had overeacted by involving the police. Of course, by that time the law had control of it and she couldn't really go back. But maybe she at least realized it. What I am saying is this... as a parent, if you are put in this situation, LISTEN to your children. If you know your children, you will know if they are lying, you will know if they are saying it was consensual out of fear of retalliation or if they really felt it was. No child at the age of 12 can truly "consent" - I know that. But I also know that today, sex is cool. Kids are talking about sex, dressing sexy, taking sexy pictures, and some of them are actually having sex. You have got to get in there and intervene. Distract them. Hell, keep them so busy they don't have time to have sex. I don't know what the perfect answer is, all I know is that ruining a child's life by having him labeled as a sex offender for the rest of his life is not teaching him anything. Make him babysit everyday after school and all weekend to show him what it is like to be a parent at 14. That will teach him something.

You Reap What You Sow?

You know, I have always been a big believer in karma. I have seen it in action both in my own life and in the lives of others. Sometimes it is the little things like letting someone turn in front of you in traffic and sometimes its the larger things like giving freely of your time or talents in order to help others. When you do good, good seems to return to you.

On the other hand, when you do bad, bad seems to return as well. Just ask Alexander Kirilov, who learned the hard way that no bad deed goes unpunished. I mean, really?? First of all, who in their right mind looks at a raccoon and goes, "Hmm... I wonder if my ding-dong would fit in there?" And even if someone was loony enough to think it, who in the WORLD would actually try it?? This guy is obviously in need of some therapy and may want to consider the possibility of not drinking again in the future if he is going to blame drunken stupor for this outrageous act. I mean I know Russians make good vodka... but seriously??

Is it the Hippocratic Oath or the Hypocrite Oath?

We have all heard of the Hippocratic Oath. It's the oath that we have always thought of doctors taking. However, according to Wikipedia, it is no longer obligatory or taken by all physicians. Maybe that is why Dr. Christopher Thompson of Brentwood, California felt he was justified in his decision to teach two cyclists "a lesson". I suppose he was one of those doctors who didn't take the oath. Or maybe he just assumed that since these cyclists were not his patients, he didn't have to apply the oath to this situation. Because that is an oath to "do no harm" and I am pretty sure that driving down the road and slamming on your brakes in front of two cyclists had some harm intended. This decision on the part of a 59 year old physician, caused one cyclist to be thrown through the cars rear window and the other to land on theh pavement. As a result of this incident, he is being charged with several felony charges including reckless driving and battery. Apparently, this incident is not the doctor's first run in with cyclist. The LA Times reports that he has attempted to do the same thing to other cyclists.

I could not help but be shocked when I read this article the first time. Just plain old human ethics should keep someone from doing something like this. I can understand the fact that some of these cyclists do ride as if they "own the road". I do understand that it can become frustrating. I don't understand waging war against them in your car. It is not a fair battle. He could have killed these men. This is a man who has promised to preserve life and instead he has put it in harms way. Are we really that angry? Are we really that in need of emotional release? Take a martial arts class, lift some weights, write blogs where you bitch about all the things that make you mad... do something... but not this.

I am sure the California doctor has a good lawyer and it looks like he is sticking to his plea of "not guilty" as of now. The trial is set for March 6th... which I am sure they will delay 15 times... Man, I would love to be the lawyer on the other side of this trial. Of course, before I can do that, I will need to learn how to control my own anger because what I would really want to do is walk across the court room and just knock that hypocrite upside his head. :)

Need a Gift Idea?

You ever have that person that is just impossible to buy for? Maybe Oilfield Jewelry is just what you are looking for. Growing up in South Louisiana, there were a lot of the oilfield worker types. Both of my sisters were either married on in a long term relationship with those types. I suppose if I would not have gotten married so young, I probably would have ended up dating one of those too. And I suppose, if I had, then I might understand how cool it would be to have a sterling silver drill bit charm or a tiny drill bit earring. And I suppose I wouldn't mind spending a lonely Friday night with a six pack of beer and a CD of the Oilfield Cowboy. I also suppose I would understand the humor behind a hard hat label that says "Its a total nipple up" with a topless girl on it.

Now, knowing these oilfield guys, I can tell you that most all of them could do well by stopping in at the Oilfield Bible Fellowship Church. There are a lot of sins to be forgiven with those guys! Possibly they could all get together and sing some roughneck songs.

You are probably wondering how in the world I ended up on these pages. Well, I have an explanation... sort of. You see, I use GMAIL and in GMAIL, they give you what is called "web clips" along the top of your inbox. Some of the the clips are things like quotes and some are website "advertisements". They are typically based on the subjects of your emails. So, for instance, if someone sent me an email and in the body of the email asked me about recipes for spaghetti, it is quite possible that I will get a web clip that shows a link for spaghetti recipes. It is actually a pretty cool concept and I try to make a habit of clicking the links that catch my attention. (After all, GMail is free and I really like it and I would really like to keep it that way.) So, I am not exactly sure what email I got that caused the web clip for "Oilfield Jewelry" to show up on the top of my email, but nonetheless, I clicked it. Once I was there I was trapped by some odd sense of curiousity. I can't help but wonder, if my brother-in-law, the die hard oilfield worker, was still alive... would he be really excited about this?