Law Students

gap studies

Posted on May 06, 2008
I've written previously about the gap between my scholarship on work/family conflict, and my own likely approach to handle that conflict: by outsourcing childcare and housecare, using institutional resources and strategic family planning (don't have one till you can afford the resources), and working within the system of rather than outright challenging it (although I probably will ask to stop the tenure clock if I have a baby pre-tenure, I will put in all those hours both at the office and at home/weekends)...

oh, what the hell

Posted on May 05, 2008
It doesn't require courses in Asian American Studies (which I've done), or ill-fated attempts at being a co-chair of an Asian American law student association (which I've also done) or reading lots of Asian American jurisprudence (again) to see that Kung Fu Panda is incredibly stupid and offensive, trading in the most venal and atavistic stereotypes of Asians...

GN/BN

Posted on May 05, 2008
Good news: It is 85% likely that I don't have strep throat (initial test negative; apparently the more accurate throat culture takes longer to develop).Bad news: I just have to ride out this virus until it's done gone. Until then, I have all of the pleasures associated with strep throat: sore throat, swollen glands, malaise, headache, sinuses...

William James: philosopher and ghostbuster

Posted on May 05, 2008
I just finished reading The Master by Colm Toibin, which is a beautiful novelization of Henry James' life. Yeah, I'm behind in blogging my 50 book challenge. I'm impatient with writing the reviews of fiction, since they seem like silly book reports. However, I will write essays on social science literature...

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Saturday Poet: William Carlos Williams

Posted on May 04, 2008
A Love Song by William Carlos Williams What have I to say to youWhen we shall meet?Yet?I lie here thinking of you.The stain of loveIs upon the world.Yellow, yellow, yellow,It eats into the leaves,Smears with saffronThe horned branches that leanHeavilyAgainst a smooth purple sky...

i was going to post on the stereotype-laden marketing of kung fu panda, but

Posted on May 04, 2008
There is plenty to think about and for me not to comment on, though biting my tongue hurts a little, in the following article about a real life embodiment of the East, for which one does not even need to have a there and the hell away from again relationship to Asian American studies to have a reaction:From the NYT:A trim, close-cropped man who likes to dress fashionably in dark colors and black leather pants, Tan Dun is a kind of rock star of the modern music scene...

inside and out

Posted on May 04, 2008
Oh, did I already post this before? Whatever. It's awesome.

liberation

Posted on May 03, 2008
It's usually a dumb idea after a breakup (cough Felicity cough), but cutting 4 inches off your hair feels liberating after a tough week in which someone took what, in ye olden days, would be called a "cudgel" and swung it repeatedly at your emotional and professional self...

1943 Guide to Hiring Women

Posted on May 03, 2008
Click to enlarge.And then smack your forehead on the table and go "oy."

What's In A Name?

Posted on May 03, 2008
Shakespeare: a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.Olderwoman, at Scatterplot: Not if you're publishing under it.This is a really good essay full of things we young, yet-unpublished academics should consider in our public name. Apparently a lot of complications when you take a spouse's name mid-career, or if you divorce and have to keep using that name...

how does it feel to sleep 22 hours?

Posted on May 03, 2008
Pretty awesome if your sickness appears to be stress-induced. My throat, it is less swollen. I am responding to Advil. I can eat the rice krispie treats I made on Friday now. Periods of consciousness: 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, 8:00 pm to 2:00 am, 10:00 am till now...

correlation does not equal causation

Posted on May 02, 2008
I didn't care about its impact on my kidneys or metabolism (in fact, I would crack open a can, take a sip, and point at what I thought were my kidneys to Jurisprudential Boy of Wonder with a big thumbs up, to which he would say "those are your ovaries--your kidneys are in the back!"), but I was ready to throw out all of the Diet Coke in my house because it seemed to be burning my throat...

Flowchart of the Day: The McDonnell-Douglas Burden-Shifting Framework for Individual Disparate Treatment Cases after Desert Palace v. Costa

Posted on May 01, 2008
Click to enlarge.PFC = prima facie caseLNR = legitimate, non-discriminatory reasonPrice-Waterhouse = Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins, a mixed-motive discrimination case--if discrimination is reason among other "legitimate" reasons, then Plaintiff can still win...

weird and wacky

Posted on May 01, 2008
Really, Bryan? You did entire radio show of covers of "Louie Louie"?I think you have officially endeared yourself to the more fringe elements of the L&L audience, although you have possibly alienated most of us.I think that's awesome!I went on a date once with a guy who got fired from his college radio station for playing 4 hours of Gordon Lightfoot...

The Best Defense is a Good Offense

Posted on May 01, 2008
I defended my dissertation prospectus today from 3:15 pm to 3:30 pm. Seriously. Yes, my program is apparently fake. But this is how I looked:Phew! The most intense 15 minutes ever!! I think I did fine, although I did get some tough questioning in those 15 minutes regarding the difference between organizational norms and legal norms...

Happy International Worker's Day!

Posted on May 01, 2008

write like a college freshman majoring in English literature day

Posted on April 30, 2008
Well, if I were Scott Eric Kaufman, I would actually do that and produce something hilarious. But I am not he. One can only dream, and I dream about playing with puppies.But if I did, I would probably choose some theme that is relatively obvious and yet ambitious (like the "concept of time") and choose some incredibly difficult and abstruse author (like T...

Wednesday Love Poetry, Just Because

Posted on April 30, 2008
Lots going on. Exam tomorrow to advance to candidacy. Paper writing. Other stuff.So I'm reading poetry instead of doing work. And then I'm going to go for a long run and eat some ice cream. Yes, I think that this is productive and a good plan for the day...

Org Theory Smackdown: Culture v. Structure v. Agency

Posted on April 29, 2008
It is a mark of a highly ambitious, and possibly deluded graduate student to try to say anything about that neverending debate full of fine but possibly false distinctions. Which is more powerful than the other? Which has the greatest potential for harm? Which comes first? Is everything culture? If everything is, what isn't? Is culture embedded in structure, or does structure determine culture? Can agency do anything to affect culture or structure? Is there any agency at all? What explains employment discrimination better: a bad work culture or institutional/structural barriers? Both? What is the more pernicious mechanism that operates to discriminate or prevents the mobilization of rights? What can the employee do about it, and can anything be done at all?For context, it is like pondering the eternal Roshambo of rock, paper, scissors...

"No man can resist evil! The bet is on!"

Posted on April 29, 2008
In celebration of the fact that I'm still here, here's one of the coolest things I've ever seen. This is a chunk of F.W. Murnau's silent film "Faust," with a new and unbelievably awesome score by Phillip Johnston.

Intro to Introductory Introductions.

Posted on April 29, 2008
So after Belle's introduction, I am left trying to figure out an "introductory" post.I would by lying if I were to say that contributing to Law & Letters has me feeling a bit intimidated. I mean, it's one thing to imagine blogging about neo-liberalism's impact on post-structuralist cultural relativism, but it's an entirely different thing to actually do it...

This is it. I think.

Posted on April 29, 2008
There is still time for you to advise me. I have been getting lots of different advice, and I am taking most of it into account. Seems that 2.1 GHz is sufficient, while 3 GB RAM is definitely advisable. I am getting a higher rpm hard drive (160 GB at 7200rpm rather than 5400rpm), and a wireless-N card...

I am FURIOUS

Posted on April 29, 2008
I am so mad, that I can't even think straight. I don't have anything productive to say other than a string of expletives. But really, what can you say, or what needs to be said, against such utterly contemptible falsehoods?Why am I mad?Scalia says "Get over it...

Laptop Shopping Advice Stat!!

Posted on April 29, 2008
Within the next 2-3 days I am going to purchase this Thinkpad X61 Laptop.Due to some sweet deal, I am going to be able to get a souped up rice rocket of a laptop for 30% less. So, I have more freedom with add-ons now. I have a budget of $1500. So far, I have just been adding the extra stuff and finding that wow, I can still afford this...

OrgTheory's Grad Skool Rulz for Women

Posted on April 29, 2008
Over at OrgTheory, my other favorite non-law blog, Fabio Rojas has compiled some great advice from women in the academy for other female scholars and graduate students:Spouses: A common theme was that women have to really work extra hard to manage their partner?s expectations...

changes in the lineup

Posted on April 28, 2008
Thanks to my illustrious guest bloggers for their interesting and insightful posts. For the illustrious guest bloggers who never blogged, I am sure that your posts would have been just as interesting and insightful. Fortunately, they are all friends, and know I love them...

choose your own adventure

Posted on April 28, 2008
(The best way to ensure that I'll blog is for me to declare that I won't blog. But don't get too used to this until after 5/15).Over at Scatterplot, Jeremy has an interesting mental exercise for you, albeit potentially depressing."Does anybody else have a counterfactual career they wonder about?"Some of the answers are surprisingly within the realm of possibility, like "children's book librarian", "veterinarian," or Jeremy's "computer programmer...

poetry for tired people

Posted on April 28, 2008
Maturity by Philip Larkin A stationary sense ... as, I suppose, I shall have, till my single body grows Inaccurate, tired; Then I shall start to feel the backward pull Take over, sickening and masterful? Some say, desired...

Exhaustion

Posted on April 28, 2008
There's lots to blog about on the failure of the Ledbetter Amendment and the idea of equal pay. Also, I could go over the (false?) dichotomy of organizational culture vs. organizational structure.But I'm too tired and busy. This blog will be bad for a few weeks...

Linux Geek Bleg...

Posted on April 26, 2008
So I'm trying to free myself from the clutches of microsoft, and I'm almost there, but the display on my laptop is not playing nice with ubuntu... can anyone who knows how to fix this stuff pleeeaaaassseeee go here for the details and tell me what to do to make life better? Thank you!

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