It's already autumn!

I'm going to try and rip off a quick post here before I have to leave for class.

The Green Bay Packers are 3-0, the Ohio State Buckeyes are 4-0, and Tenacious D Softball is 1-1. The win came by default, though... we were playing the Law Republicans and there were no girls on their team, so they had to forfeit. But we decided to just give them a few of our players so we could play anyway. They ended up beating us 18-9, I think. Good thing they had to forfeit. I got on base twice... both times by being walked. I think I only scored one run, though, because the other time I got on with two outs and then someone hit a pop fly. Our next game is tomorrow, but I don't think I'll be able to play because it's from 4:30-5:30 and I have CASA training at 6. I don't think I should be going to CASA all dusty and smelling like B.O.

Speaking of CASA, it's going really well. We have 5 training sessions left, and then we get sworn in by the judge! I think he's supposed to be coming to our training tomorrow night to talk to us. That should be really interesting. I'm excited about getting started on a case, but I'm nervous, too. It's such a big and important responsibility! I know we have supervisors to give us advice, but I just can't believe that just normal people off the street could so quickly become court advocates. That seems crazy to me. Ooh and I met a new Puerto Rican friend at CASA. He is from San Juan and grew up there. He came to the states for college (Harvard), then worked for a few years, and then now is here at law school.

That reminds me... it surprises me how old some of my peers are! They look like people who would have come straight from college, but I look at their Facebook profiles, and they're 2004 graduates! THEY WERE BORN IN THE '70s! It just completely surprises me everytime I see someone who I think is maybe 24 or 25 and they're 28, 29, or 30! I guess it's so weird for me because I'm at the opposite end of the age spectrum, so even though 28 is not old AT ALL, it's just so surprising that they're 7 years older than me when I thought they were the same age.

Yesterday, a small group from our section went out to King Family Vineyards in Crozet for a wine-tasting and polo match. It was really neat. I'd never seen polo before and I'd never been wine-tasting before. I now know why people say things like, "This wine has a woody flavor," because one of the wines DID TASTE LIKE WOOD. I seriously thought I was drinking liquified tree bark. I didn't like that one very much. I thought the chardonnay was pretty good, but the other people there, who are the wine connoseuirs (sp?) of Section D said it was a bit too oaky. I really liked the dessert wine. It tasted like sugary apricots.

I think I'm going to be cold-called in Criminal Law today. I saw Harmon's seating chart in class last week and she uses Post-it flags to mark the people who are next in line. I think one of the flags was on my seat. Tomorrow, I'm heading up a group with five other people to go out to lunch with Professor Harmon. She is just so awesome. Five-foot-nothing, but if you get on her bad side, she is the most intimidating person you could ever meet. The more we learn in Criminal Law, the more I think that might be the direction I'm headed, so tomorrow will be a great opportunity to sit down with her and learn more about her experiences. She worked for a while as a federal prosecutor in New York, I believe, and she dealt a lot with sex crimes, apparently.

Human Rights Project is offering foreign language classes in the evenings in October and November. I'm interested, but do I really want to take on something else? I'd like to learn either Portuguese or Arabic. I'm also signing up to tryout for the Extramural Moot Court Team, but the tryout isn't for a few more weeks. (Moot Court = Mock Trial) They were asking for someone to tryout also for a competition that they're going to in March... IN VIENNA. Austria is at the top of places I want to visit, but it was a week long competition that came the week after spring break. So basically, go on spring break, come back on Monday, and then leave Friday for Austria. I wanted to sign up to try out for that so badly, but I don't think that missing a week's worth of classes is a good idea for a 1L. Maybe if they continue to go to that competition, I could do it next year.

Saturday is Foxfield... It's a big event at UVA (undergrad, too) and this weekend is the law school's weekend. Foxfield is a horse race... and apparently the goal of UVA Law students is to go to Foxfield all three years and to never see a horse. You are supposed to show up around 10:30 AM and start drinking. You're also supposed to wear ridiculous outfits (sundresses, seersucker, etc.). Knowing me, I'd probably be one of the few people to go to UVA Law and see a horse every year.

Fall break is coming up in a few weeks and I really want to go out to Columbus. Nathan is going to be there because he'll be on fall break, too. I don't know if I can afford the gas, though. And, I'd have to ask Carolyn if I could stay at her house, but I don't think that's a good idea, because if I wanted to go out with people at night (since they'll all be in class during the day) then I'd be coming in late. I just don't want to pay for a hotel. Ugh. I don't know.

Anyway, time to leave for class.