Due diligence

Law school update: I got a nice scholly offer from a very good school and plan to use that as leverage from the school that I'd ultimately like to attend. The negotiations with my true (law school) love have taken a bizarre twist at this point. It's like I'm playing hard to get after giving it up on the first date. They know I want them. They know that I know that they know I want them. That makes it very hard to say "Make me a better offer or I walk" with a straight face. But we'll have to let the posturing play out to the bitter end.

That's about it. It's strange. Law school is SUCH a big part of my life but it really entails so little at this point. I'm not even in class yet I'm stuck in limbo for months because of it. Why months? I start law school in August. I go on interviews and tell my interviewers this and they show me the door. I know they'll show me the door, but I can't lie because of C&F. Character & Fitness is the fun part of the bar exam where they search for any possible excuse to invalidate your J.D. and refuse to let you practice law. They'll definitely question my past employers and a "He lied to get this job" will very quickly place me in front of a board of old humorless Caucasians.

So each week I go on fruitless interviews and pick up my unemployment check which coincidentally will run out right when I start law school. I can't say it's a perfect system, but it hasn't been too cruel to me. I project that I've already gotten enough unemployment to more than square me and the government for all the taxes I ever paid and then some.

In my endless spare time, I've started practicing Mandarin again. I don't think I'll ever live in China but in corporate law partners are very fond of sending newbies off to remote parts of the world, so I figure I might as well show some initiative and be the guy they love to send to the glorious People's Republic.

I'm also working hard to bolster my nerd street cred. It's a daunting task. You played Pokemon while everybody was at prom and you thought you were in. You're a card carrying nerd for life right? Nope. Nope. You walk into a poorly lit basement with your magic cards, thinking you're the shit, and see about 7 middle-aged men with neckbeards. They are standing around a table strewn with dice. These men are wearing capes and SCREAMING about THAC0 and attempting to disbelieve. You haven't even scratched the surface.