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Tomorrow will be the fourth winter solstice since I started writing this page.
Seasonal Solstace Salutations to you!

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The Bar Exam is as much a test of timing as it is a test of knowledge. If you don't give an answer to all of the essay questions - - no matter how good or perfect your answers were to the questions that you did answer - - you will fail.

I remember when I took the Bar five and a half years ago, the guy to my left turned to me and complained, "Shit, I didn't even get to the last question!" Since one out of every two test-takers ultimately fails the Exam, I used his comment to give me confidence that he was in the failing half, and I was in the passing half (which I was). It didn't make much sense statistically to think that, but it sure beat worrying.

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Freshman year in college there was this tradition called "Screw Your Roommate" (which, I believe, was ultimately discontinued on the grounds of sexism, homophobia or general offensiveness). Screw Your Roommate gave each student an opportunity to set up their roommate on a blind date, and then a big party was held in the dorm for all the roommates and dates.

For some reason or other the same small handful of frosh ended up being set up with roommates at all the different dorms. Somehow I became one of the (lucky or unlucky) few who found herself in the Screw Your Roommate Circuit.

I must have gone to ten of these parties. Each date I was set up with had a name like "Herman" or "Norman" and each was just as nerdy as his name. Now, I don't mind nerds at all (being, admittedly, a nerd myself) but it can make an event like a party more difficult - - not even to mention that I always managed to do things like spill red punch all over my dress. I met a lot of people - - none of whom I wanted to date - - and after SYR five or six, I grew tired and frustrated with the tradition altogether.

So, for SYR number 10, I stood up my date. It was a rude thing to do, and I cannot remember why I did it. I remember sitting on my bed reading David Hume or Noam Chomsky, and letting the phone ring on and on without answering it. I was tired and depressed, and wanted to work on my philosophy paper more than anything else.

A few days later I found out that my date was someone I vaguely knew and liked from that very class. It may well have been a great match.

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I am now home from LA, and done, thankfully, with all of my travels for the near future. I am not even going anywhere for the "Holidays," and relish the possibility of sitting home Houston-style, writing, on New Year's Eve. Or, maybe something similar to the things I have had to decline while digging myself out from under this too-much-to-do pile will unexpectedly return when I am more burden-free.

Only one thing is certain, though:

Timing is everything.

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thanks, Top25.org

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Seeking Stardom on the Web
What Bill Could Give For Christmas
Netscape's Code Gamble Pays Off Big!
Networker Inner-View
Silicon Spin.
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