As an added bonus, here is a picture of Chewbacca and me.
12 hours ago
Monday, July 30, 2007
Early Birthday Post
Okay, okay, so I know it isn't my birthday for at least a week yet. But I wanted to post a picture of the gift I got from Mom and Dad. It is working great. I can use it to play music in the house, or even just to charge the ipod without turning on my computer. Nice!
As an added bonus, here is a picture of Chewbacca and me.
As an added bonus, here is a picture of Chewbacca and me.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
The Bar in Tampa
The Summary:
The Bar was an experience. I couldn't tell you whether I did well enough to pass or not, because it's really unlike any test I've taken before. The Bar both was devastating and reasonable. I don't know how to say anything else except to be very specific. I've gotten a few phone calls requesting details that I haven't had a chance to call back on yet, so I'll describe it all here. The crux is I don't know if I passed, but I tried very hard. The answers to my many questions on how I did will not come until mid-September. I am cautiously optimistic. If I did not pass, I will try again. If I did pass, I will be very grateful not to repeat this experience.
The Detailed Version:
Every test I've taken prior to this, the test-makers expect that some people might get a perfect score. But on the Bar, over the past 14 exams in 7 years I believe (which is all the records the stats I saw kept), no one has gotten a perfect score. I don't believe anyone has ever done better than getting about 40 questions wrong. 40 out of 400. Most people don't get anywhere close to that.
The Bar tests 21 subject areas, each of which has their own semester or year-long course. The exam is written to test only some knowledge of every area. But because you never know what areas they will ask you about, you have to learn them all. And despite what you learn, it may not help: I memorized countless principles of law in three subject areas that not a single question was asked about (of course, no one could have known that going in, as two of the three were areas the Bar has tested almost every year recently). So that's the framework for the Bar.
The Bar takes place in a convention center. About 1500 people sit in one giant high-ceiling room at wooden desks on concrete floors, two people to a desk. You can't take anything in with you (and they use security guards and metal detectors/wands to be sure you don't). There are four sessions, three hours each: FL essays Tuesday morning, FL Multiple-choice Tuesday afternoon, Multi-state questions on Wednesday morning and afternoon.
The Bar on Tuesday morning was - I suppose depressing is the word. The three essay questions were in nuanced areas that I had studied but that were very complex or difficult to analyze. I do not know how I did, though I wrote several pages on each essay and knew some applicable points of law for each. I know I got things wrong on these as well. I left Tuesday morning's portion feeling horrible, worse than I can ever recall feeling about my performance on something.
I don't know if my concern on Tuesday was a justified feeling. On a normal exam in school, if I got below a 80%, I would feel like I had not done well. On the Bar, the State of Florida is perfectly happy for people to get just 60% right. So perhaps my feeling bad was because I knew I hadn't gotten 80% and so it felt like failure; in reality, I may have gotten a 60% or 70% and have no reason to feel so bad. All I know is I felt pretty bad afterwards and that night.
Tuesday afternoon was the FL multiple-choice questions and I felt better about them but was still shaken by the morning. I had a hard time studying Tuesday night, but I did it anyway. I really wanted to go home; it felt like the show was over. I pressed through it because I had come too far to give up and, objectively speaking, I might have done fine Tuesday and just misperceived things.
Wednesday went, I feel, very differently. The questions all made sense. I felt like I knew the law. I still had several questions where I could only narrow it down to two of four choices. But I felt good about many questions. I left Wednesday feeling like I had a chance of passing again. I don't know if that means I passed. But I feel much better about Wednesday.
In sum, I am unable to predict how I did. I spoke to many people from my class and this was the common consensus - we each felt bad about some part or another and did not know how we did. Something like 300 or more of those who took it will not pass the Bar. In mid-September, we'll have the answer. As I said above, I will be cautiously optimistic. Generally, I don't plan to think about it much - there are other, better things to do between now and then.
The Bar was an experience. I couldn't tell you whether I did well enough to pass or not, because it's really unlike any test I've taken before. The Bar both was devastating and reasonable. I don't know how to say anything else except to be very specific. I've gotten a few phone calls requesting details that I haven't had a chance to call back on yet, so I'll describe it all here. The crux is I don't know if I passed, but I tried very hard. The answers to my many questions on how I did will not come until mid-September. I am cautiously optimistic. If I did not pass, I will try again. If I did pass, I will be very grateful not to repeat this experience.
The Detailed Version:
Every test I've taken prior to this, the test-makers expect that some people might get a perfect score. But on the Bar, over the past 14 exams in 7 years I believe (which is all the records the stats I saw kept), no one has gotten a perfect score. I don't believe anyone has ever done better than getting about 40 questions wrong. 40 out of 400. Most people don't get anywhere close to that.
The Bar tests 21 subject areas, each of which has their own semester or year-long course. The exam is written to test only some knowledge of every area. But because you never know what areas they will ask you about, you have to learn them all. And despite what you learn, it may not help: I memorized countless principles of law in three subject areas that not a single question was asked about (of course, no one could have known that going in, as two of the three were areas the Bar has tested almost every year recently). So that's the framework for the Bar.
The Bar takes place in a convention center. About 1500 people sit in one giant high-ceiling room at wooden desks on concrete floors, two people to a desk. You can't take anything in with you (and they use security guards and metal detectors/wands to be sure you don't). There are four sessions, three hours each: FL essays Tuesday morning, FL Multiple-choice Tuesday afternoon, Multi-state questions on Wednesday morning and afternoon.
The Bar on Tuesday morning was - I suppose depressing is the word. The three essay questions were in nuanced areas that I had studied but that were very complex or difficult to analyze. I do not know how I did, though I wrote several pages on each essay and knew some applicable points of law for each. I know I got things wrong on these as well. I left Tuesday morning's portion feeling horrible, worse than I can ever recall feeling about my performance on something.
I don't know if my concern on Tuesday was a justified feeling. On a normal exam in school, if I got below a 80%, I would feel like I had not done well. On the Bar, the State of Florida is perfectly happy for people to get just 60% right. So perhaps my feeling bad was because I knew I hadn't gotten 80% and so it felt like failure; in reality, I may have gotten a 60% or 70% and have no reason to feel so bad. All I know is I felt pretty bad afterwards and that night.
Tuesday afternoon was the FL multiple-choice questions and I felt better about them but was still shaken by the morning. I had a hard time studying Tuesday night, but I did it anyway. I really wanted to go home; it felt like the show was over. I pressed through it because I had come too far to give up and, objectively speaking, I might have done fine Tuesday and just misperceived things.
Wednesday went, I feel, very differently. The questions all made sense. I felt like I knew the law. I still had several questions where I could only narrow it down to two of four choices. But I felt good about many questions. I left Wednesday feeling like I had a chance of passing again. I don't know if that means I passed. But I feel much better about Wednesday.
In sum, I am unable to predict how I did. I spoke to many people from my class and this was the common consensus - we each felt bad about some part or another and did not know how we did. Something like 300 or more of those who took it will not pass the Bar. In mid-September, we'll have the answer. As I said above, I will be cautiously optimistic. Generally, I don't plan to think about it much - there are other, better things to do between now and then.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Just a few more vacation pics
Here is the last bunch of vacation pics I plan on posting here. You can see Peter and Anne, Mom and Eli, Rachel and Josiah, David, Mom and Eli again, and Dad in the following shots.
Tallahassee from above
These are some pictures that I took of Tallahassee from a plane taking off. They are all from the south to the north (generally), so that might help orient you. The first one is of the FSU campus in general. You can see the stadium (large brick building in left back) and many of the brick campus buildings (across the back of the shot). The large white oval on the left is a lake, and the clearing on the right in front (further south) of campus is the FAMU stadium area.
This shot is of Adams and Monroe streets from the south looking north. You can see all the downtown building about 2/3 up the picture. Our house is somewhere in the woods to the right (east) of Monroe in this picture, but there are too many trees to see it.
This picture is a closer view of the FSU stadium. The picture is taken from the east looking west (the main street heading off the right side of the picture is Pensacola, a main east/west road).
This shot is of Adams and Monroe streets from the south looking north. You can see all the downtown building about 2/3 up the picture. Our house is somewhere in the woods to the right (east) of Monroe in this picture, but there are too many trees to see it.
This picture is a closer view of the FSU stadium. The picture is taken from the east looking west (the main street heading off the right side of the picture is Pensacola, a main east/west road).
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
"Beach" week
Although it was a beach week, we did do things other than go to the beach. Everyone went on a bike ride or two, we went to the farmer's market, we played games, we made puzzles, and we played this new game where you throw strung balls at a target (no idea what that is called--see second picture). The last two pictures were taken from the upper balcony.
The front garden
Here are some pictures of the front garden at my parent's house. I was there last week only for one day, but it was nice to visit the house and see the garden. If you look closely, you can see Mom in the first picture (she was sure she would not be visible at all). I am holding the camera in the second shot, but I think it turned out okay. The last one is my favorite though.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
ferret update
The ferrets have been busy lately, playing and sleeping and eating and exploring. Chewbacca got a new (cat) toy that consists of different levels covered in carpet and several dangling balls. Here he has grabbed one of the balls and is chewing on it. The balls have rattles inside that make them very tempting.
One thing the ferrets like about their new room is the windows. They like to check out the windows, blinds, cord for the blinds, etc. Here Rex is looking out the window to see what he can see.
The ferrets love to play on the futon, which is on their room partially for that reason. Below the futon, there is an extensive network of tubes that they love to run through. On the futon, they love to jump and play. Having a blanket on the back makes it a lot easier for the ferrets to climb up to the very top. Here Eve is showing her climbing abilities. I think she is the best climber, partially because she has the smallest amount of weight to pull up.
Brussels is recovering well from his surgery. He still has some bald spots (like here on his rear leg), but the fur is starting to grow back in, which is a good sign (it means that his hormone levels are returning to normal). Here you can also see the carpet that we put in 1/2 of the room for the ferrets to play on.
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