It seems that people really get fired up about silly little water bottles. There's been an unusual raft of comments left defending the sweet little Nalgene bottle.
Let’s be clear, people. Nalgene bottles might be the perfect thing for camping and assorted other outdoor activities. The devotion slathered on them by mere law school (and undergraduate) students who – as far as I can tell – have never gone hiking in their lives is truly unwarranted.
Campers, & c., flame away!
This article* got me thinking. If you were to become a great public figure, what would you leave behind that people would point to as illustrative of your early thought?
I think for most of us, it's all electronic. But there's something to be said about the personality embodied in the physical. It's somehow a lot more intimate than the bits we leave in our wake.
Although many people think electronic paper management is the way to go, I haven't been able to separate myself from my quirky and complicated filing system. I used to be married to huge three-ring binders that stored everything, until I realized the possibilities of filing. I can move things around to suit my current projects and my current thoughts. Of course, electronically, I could do this too (and have my cake and eat it too, as it were). However, something about the physical representation of papers makes it easier for me to think about things. I get great satisfaction from knowing everything is in its place.
There's also the feeling of knowing what's important to me. What I choose to keep does not reflect everything I do; yet I know what I save are the important bits. Every time I stash another thing away, I have a mental reminder of what is going on, the parts I've forgotten, the things I'm doing too much of. Were a perfect stranger to stumble upon my boxes of files, he would know immediately what I was interested in, what I've done, and what I'm doing. A quick peek inside my folders would reveal both my influences and my personal thoughts.
Perhaps it's not that this sort of physical record is necessary, but some way of designating significance is. Then again, can little flags and intricate naming systems for your folders ever give the kind of import that physical objects do? I can tell how important a letter is by the weight of the paper and the ink I used. An email with a priority flag just doesn't contain that gravity. The physical act of filing (especially with the circular file) ensures that whatever you've retained does have some sort of significance. Perhaps it's not just the lack of physicality that makes electronic files less important, but the fact that it's so easy to keep everything.
And, let's face it, a little notebook full of jottings is just cooler than a big mess of Word documents.
Just something to think about (and a reminder to tackle my "to file" box).
*p.s. this is a really old link!
Learned Foot (of open and notorious) wants to know what law school is really like.
UPDATE: Make yer submission here.
In the comments to my last post, Lane asks
Now for that second question. I have several answers.
Notification. Depending on how bored I am, I set my news reader to check and download new posts anywhere from every couple of hours to every hour. I don't have to spend the time visiting each site to ascertain whether a new posting has been made. Neither do I have to rely on updating mechanisms like those found in my blogrolls (which, I might add, is nowhere near the total number of blogs I read). Not all blogs automatically ping weblogs.com when there are new posts. Moreover, I don't actually use my blogrolls to read blogs -- I use my news reader, and a bookmark organization program. Both of these programs save me the time of visiting sites. However, I have to set aside time to go through my bookmarks, whereas new posts from blogs with syndicated feeds automatically pop up in my news reader. That's pretty handy.
Organization. With my newsreader, I can mark posts I want to save for later, either to read more extensively, or to save for blogfodder (to post, reply to, think about, whatever). Plus, all of my posts are automatically organized into multiple folders depending on how I categorized the site when adding the subscription into my newsreader. If I only have the time to read law student posts, I just head to that folder. Easy Peasy!
Visual Appeal. Reading posts through a news reader doesn't mean I don't ever visit the site. First off, not all feeds are set to contain the full text of the post (mine has one that does, and one that doesn't). Personally, I prefer the full text so I don't necessarily have to visit (but often I will, whether to comment, look at it, or whatever). Many news feeds don't contain the whole post, which often drives me crazy, but certainly forces me to visit. I despise RSS feeds that basically notify me there is a post, but nothing more. Often, I don't even spend the time to visit, even though I might love the blog and know that there's good stuff there. My time is scarce and quite valuable, so I cut corners.
This might seem a bit strange coming from someone who (I think!) obviously spent a good deal of time on the visual appeal of her site (well, for IE users, anyways). I'm not sure if I've answered the question totally, but in the end, you can still get the time savings and ease of use plus visual appeal by simply clicking on the link in the news reader to the full post.
My advice? Get an RSS feed. A real one. Your readership will increase, I promise, if only by one (me!). [Note, however, if you are using those free web-based statistics, you won't necessarily be able to tell.]
UPDATE: You can also do cool things like this with RSS feeds.
Uncharacteristically, I am about to give linking advice for your blog, rather than law school advice. Hopefully, it shan't be too painful.
If you have a new blog, then you must publicize it. Email establish bloggers about your new blog. Try to have actual posts on your blog before you do this, because otherwise there is nothing to read. Make sure your first posts are really good and not blithering idiocy. That, unfortunately, will not establish a readership (however, as I have proven, it might sometimes retain your readers). Do not, however, expect that every blogger you ask will link to you. In fact, don't even ask for a link, just tell them about your new blog. Because I am rather picky about the content level here, I don't like linking to new blogs because they are new. Many others are like me. Many others are not. If you are smart enough, you will be able to figure the people that are most likely to link to you.
You must link. Even if you plan to generate content that normally doesn't require any links (like stories or what not), link. Create in between posts that link to other blogs and continue the conversation. It will get you noticed. If you can't bring yourself to do that, at least have a blogroll or list of links.
When you link, you must click on the link. This is especially true if nobody is reading your blog. Otherwise, how will we know that you have linked to us? It's sort of like the sound of one hand clapping. Or the tree that fell down. Or whatever. Write your post. Link. Look at home page. Click on the link. After you make a blogroll, go and click on every single link.
Okay, that is all. Volokhs &c. have a post somewhere on this very topic (especially the publicity part), but I can't find it. Do not forget to click. I mean it.
It has recently come to my attention that everyone is getting married (quite scary, really). I'll have to chalk up this phenomenon to summer associate salaries. After a few weeks of this massive cash influx (with a little outflow devoted to large-screen televisions, video games, and stereos), it seems that most of the boys have found a little room in their bank accounts to pick up a nice little diamond on the side. Of course, it's easier for the involved parties to get hitched right after the bar exam, before work starts -- wouldn't want a little thing like a honeymoon interfering with that firm job!
But this post is decidedly not about the mating habits of law students (which are, in general, quite pitiful). It's about money. Serious wads of cash. The moolah. The stuff that buys the serious bling-bling. The filthy lucre that enables lawyers to engage in ridiculously lavish lifestyles. Or at least pay off their student loans.
Indeed, it seems that I have some loans to pay off, to around the tune of one hundred thousand dollars. That kind of money is just more than I can really think about. (I discovered recently that any amount over about $3,500 is all the same to me. Don't ask.) This situation might have been ameliorated somewhat if I had worked as a summer associate this year, but for a variety of reasons, I did not. Now, as fall recruiting is starting to gear up (well, I've been revising my resume, which counts in my book), I am suddenly struck with the realization that I have never had a real job. And certainly, I've never had any real money. Not that I need a particularly large amount, mind you, but a certain flexibility would be awfully nice. And so would paying off those loans. I've watched my best friend struggle to keep up with oodles of loans on a beggar's salary. She and I both know she'll have to suffer this ordeal for the next twenty years or so, and I'm not sure if it's something I'm prepared to do. After my experience this summer (that is, all of my friends buying nice new toys and women), I'd like to live it up, too, if only for a little while. Hell, even high school students are doing better than I am (scroll down).* That's just not right.
So, I suppose my disillusionment has reached a new level. Or I am disillusioned with my disillusionment. Or I misunderestimated my disillusionment. I'm not really sure, and I don't think it matters too much. It's time for me to stop pretending that I'll be a student for the rest of my life and move on. (Besides, students don't get secretaries, which I desperately need.) I haven't quite figured out what exactly what route I'm going to take, but I think it might be a little different than I had originally planned. So, stay tuned for Alice's wild ride through job-hunting hell. It'll be interesting, if nothing else!
* I find this singularly disgusting. High school kids are getting paid more than I am to do office work or some such stuff while I much through theoretical garbage on a daily basis. I don't begrudge these students the money. I should get paid more. They have no degrees. I have almost two.
Yes, I've been taking a bit of a blog vacation (yet still kicking my feet around in the dirt with Plainsman at drink me).
Just a quick advisory -- if you're planning to take the August administration of the MPRE, you should register now before you miss the deadline (which is July 1). After that the $52 fee doubles! You may register here.