The Closet Optimist

Zucchini success

2010-01-07T20:13:00.003-05:00

I have to admit, I remain astonished at how well the vegetable resolution is working. We did zucchini in omelettes last night. Tonight was vegetable rice (include zuccs) and chicken + vegetable stir fry (also with zuccs). Wow, AHC totally continues to outdo himself. Such a talent.

The Girl continues to amaze me with the willingness with which she's trying these dishes. Occasionally, I have mashed something up and stirred it into the tomato sauce or whatever (Q: "Mum, is that a pea?" A: "No, it's garlic") but I'm not totally for this whole "lying to your children" thing. I don't want to trick her into eating good food, I want her to know that it's just excellent if it's made properly, obviously with the caveat that we don't necessarily like everything.

We were supposed to do six dishes, but we're out of zucchini, so we're just going to move on to yams. I can't wait!

2010: Adventures in Vegetableland

2010-01-05T19:11:00.002-05:00

It's January: Tis the season for resolutions. Though not a formal resolution, I would like to get back into blogging. I miss writing, and I don't mean legal documents (I don't miss that. It's my life, every day). Anyway, there's a family resolution in the works and it involves vegetables. Incidentally, it also involves blogging, so I might as well kill two birds with one stone.

In an effort to get The Girl to eat more vegetables, I suggested that we might try a new vegetable per week. Initially, she negotiated down to a new vegetable every two weeks, but she's subsequently rethought her position and we're back at one a week (I suspect she realized that she'd have to eat the same vegetable for two weeks in a row....). We also decided to go alphabetically. The Girl insisted we start at "Z" because she was concerned that she'd have to deal with brocoli only two weeks into the new year. And really, she wondered, why ruin a good thing so soon??

So far we've successfully incorporated zucchini into fajitas and mac-and-cheese casserole. I'm actually astonished that she's levelled nary a complaint. We have bargained often on the vegetable front, with little to no success. I'm not sure what's different about this attempt, but she's going with it so far.

The deal is six dishes per week. In the past, she's sometimes agreed to try something, but her definition of trying something involves eating about a micron of the offending veg on the end of her fork. This time, we said that trying meant eating it for real, and in a variety of ways. Like I said, for some reason she agreed to this. Possibly because she herself realizes that this whole vegetable thing is about her having power (and not about the taste of food), and refusing to eat veggies is a poor use of hers, especially since we're not the type of parents to leave our kids powerless. Also, we genuinely won't make her eat something if she doesn't like it. But, as we've often argued, you can't know if you like something if you don't try it.

Next up: Zucchini stirfry, by request of The Girl herself.

How long can this success last? I'm closetly optimistic.

Study break

2009-04-29T12:29:00.003-04:00

The end is nigh. My last exam is tomorrow. I'm in the library with Trix, studying for Remedies. Hint to future 3Lers: DON'T sign up for the LAST exam on the LAST day of exams in your LAST year of law school. You might be surprised at the level of apathy and exhaustion confronting you at that point. Plus, all of your friends' Facebook updates announcing "I'm done law school" don't help either.

I'm submitting an essay I wrote this year to a competition and I sent it off to my mom (she's a truly excellent editor). Her email back said "I did not obsess about split infinitves you will be glad to know -- on balance, it made more sense to leave them split" and this helpful note in the edited version:

Before you go further…
I screwed up on footnote 5 – inadvertently deleted it...so all subsequent Fns are wrong. So I would suggest you don’t accept the changes on this version – just review it to see if you agree with what I have suggested and make changes to your own version
It is a very good paper – very lucid and well presented so that even a lay person can understand it quite well. You are GOOD.

Ha ha, Trix and I laughed, after briefly being horrified. I especially like how she suggests I don't accept the changes where she deleted the footnote.

Also love the Mom encouragement in caps and yellow highlight.

Thanks Mom!!

Thanks to My Feminist Law Profs

2009-04-09T16:06:00.002-04:00

Before coming to law school, I had no feminist education to speak of, except a small bit that was self-taught. It's a funny place to get it, but there is it. A lot of the best stuff (and hardest, and most meaningful) of law school happened in your classes, and for that I thank you:

Rosemary Cairns-Way
Sheila McIntyre
Jane Bailey
Kim Pate
Blair Crew
Daphne Gilbert
Elizabeth Sheehy
Constance Backhouse

Holy Crap, It's April!

2009-04-01T11:54:00.002-04:00

How did that happen?

I only have four more weeks of law school.

Am I panicking or rejoicing? Both, I guess.

My Life of Feminist Privilege...At Law School?

2009-03-09T01:36:00.006-04:00

It's late and I can't sleep. I'm not sure why, but maybe because I was up late reading Next Time She'll Be Dead for my feminist legal issues class. God, it makes me angry. And I'm still all keyed up about the Jane Doe Conference this weekend. Wow, was that ever great. The fact that a conference on sexual assault sold out is a really good sign among lots of not so encouraging news.

One of the great things about it was meeting other women in law school, new generation feminists who are committed and thoughtful and so smart. I sometimes wonder where we all are and wish we could find each other and work together more. Hopefully some of those connections were made during the conference and will endure.

I learned an astonishing thing, though. Compared to probably every other law school in Canada, my law school (uOttawa) is largely a place of safety for feminists. It's definitely not perfect. All of my colleagues here have at least one story where we have witnessed some form of anti-woman, heterosexist, homophobic, classist, racist, or colonialist displays that have gone unchallenged in the classroom (and outside the classroom). But I have, to a very large extent, been able to craft for myself a feminist legal education, taught by real feminists who declare their principles loudly. My classrooms have largely been a place where I felt safe to speak from a feminist perspective. Even where I knew I was not with a feminist prof, I was at least tolerated and not humiliated (had I taken evidence, it probably would have been the exception). Always, if I needed to, there was a feminist woman professor to whom I could turn.

Not so in other faculties, apparently. I probably should not have been quite so surprised. It's not as if I'm not totally aware of the treatment of women at the hands of the justice system (why would the education system that spawned the players be any different?). I just didn't realize how bad it was in other places. I thought that at least maybe people (profs and students alike) were affected enough by political correctness to pretend to be tolerant. Apparently being around feminists for the past three years has both distorted reality for me and made me less cynical and more hopeful about my place in the world. (Sort of.)

I've been experiencing a mounting anxiety about leaving a place that has been so openly supportive of my feminism. This is in direct contradiction to being utterly desperate to get out of law school, but that's definitely not because of the feminists. I'm feeling nervous about finding a community of feminists in a small, conservative (and Conservative) region. I wonder if I will be mocked and discounted if I am open about my feminism (in spite of the fact that I'm going to be a hell of a good lawyer). I'm spending a lot of time right now thinking about how I will locate a community of women, whether they will be feminists (openly or not), how I will contribute to my professional practice in accordance with my feminist values, and how I can contribute to my community in a positive, feminist way. I may have to do it quietly.

The past couple of years have made me realize how critical and relevant feminism is today. Before law school, I had no formal feminist education, and it's been both a privilege and a surprise to get it here. It's part of me now and I have to be a part of it.

Because North American Men Are Never Sexist

2009-03-05T13:47:00.006-05:00

I'm in a class called Alternative Dispute Resolution Processes this semester to fulfill my oral advocacy requirement, which I need to do in the moments leading up to The End of Law School. I figured I could do Trial Advocacy, and pick up skills I will use 10% of the time, or ADR, and pick up skills I will use 90% of the time. Lawyers don't actually spend much time in court. So, we've got this textbook called Dispute Resolution Readings and Case Studies.* In the section called "Mediation Styles and Strategies"this example** was used:

[A] male and a female employee....were arguing over behavior that the woman felt was sexist, demeaning, and harassing on the part of the man. She asked him to stop the behavior, but he failed to do so. Finally, she went to her supervisor, explained her view, and asked that he be told to stop making comments about her appearance, touching her on the shoulder, and constantly asking her to go out. The supervisor, on hearing the woman's description of the situation and learning that the man was a recent immigrant, speculated that the dispute might have arisen because of cultural differences regarding behaviors between the sexes. Nevertheless, in terms of the organization's regulation and the relevant laws, the man's behaviour was unacceptable.

Am I the only one irritated by the fact that someone chose to use an "othered" (i.e. immigrant) man as the sexist perp in this case of workplace sexual harassment? I find it very problematic. It reinforces the notion that other cultures are sexist instead of reflecting the fact that every culture is sexist. The manager pins the sexism on cultural differences apparently based primarily on the fact that the man was a recent immigrant. Based on what? Because every other place in the world is less progressive than North America and must be sexist, obviously.

Obviously. Because North American men are never sexist. Because we don't have a culture here that subordinates women. No, not us. By "othering" the sexist man in that example, we're allowed to lay blame on other cultures and call them less progressive, less equality-seeking, and more backwards, while simultaneously ignoring the very obvious sexism that exists right here in our own backyard. It even allows us to say that the sexism here isn't homegrown, but comes from other places. (Which, technically, it does--uhm hello? Colonization?! Colonial subordination of women in matriarchal Aboriginal societies?! Anyone? But I digress...) Those damned immigrants are the root of all our problems, including sexism! This type of case study gives us an excuse to be both xenophobic and ignorant of our own sexist ways.

Let us also reflect for a moment (three, actually) on language. What does it mean to use the phraseology "the woman felt the behaviour was sexist, demeaning and harassing"? It implies that behaviours in the workplace such as commenting on appearance, touching, and repeated requests to go out, are only problematic if the woman perceives them as problematic. Are these behaviours not problematic in and of themselves? Would it not have been accurate to write "a male and a female employee were arguing over behaviour that was sexist, demeaning, and harassing on the part of the man"? In using that construction the author reveals his own beliefs about sexism.

Next, what do we mean when we use the term "cultural differences"? It reminds me of being an exchange student, when were were encouraged to think of our new homes and locations and cultural experiences not as "good" or "bad" but as "different." That idea may hide all manner of sin within it. Any culture that finds in acceptable to objectify, demean, or harass women has a cultural problem not a cultural difference. Calling it a difference suggests that somewhere in this world it's okay to treat women like that. It's not. And anyway, remind me again how that would be different from our own culture?

Reinforcing that last point, the author finishes up with "Nevertheless, in terms of the organization's regulation and the relevant laws, the man's behaviour was unacceptable." Meaning: We acknowledge and accept your cultural propensity to treat women this way, but our regulations and laws tell us that you've been a bad boy. Apparently supervisor doesn't find anything inherently wrong with treating women as described. It's only wrong because some rule/law says so.***

The scenario goes on to say (in the dispute resolution portion of the exercise) that the man explained his behaviours were not meant to devalue his woman colleague, but "that his attention signified liking and admiration, and that touching was part of his life and culture." I fully acknowledge that some behaviours have different meanings in different cultures. It may very well be true that the particular culture imagined in this scenario incorporated more physical contact in general. For example, when I went to Italy as a wee 16-year-old from a small town, I thought there were a lot of out gay men because those guys kiss, hug and link arms a lot. There was more touching and much of it was identifiably related to cultural norms about touching between people and not about sexism towards women. Those cultural differences are okay, but behaviours that target women specifically are unacceptable in any culture. The scenario muddies this position by describing the problem both as "cultural differences between the sexes" and that touching was part of "the life and culture" of the man. Notice that it doesn't say "life and culture between the sexes."

In case you're wondering, the man agrees to stop touching her, she agrees to "accept his praise of her attractiveness as long as it was very general" (now that she understands his culture), and they both agree that now is not a good time for him to keep asking her out. Curiously, I feel as if that solution allowed what could be seen as universal sexism to continue (commenting on appearance) while stopping the culturally different (the touching of the shoulder, which, even though culturally explicable, the woman had every right to demand that it stopped. Also, in most workplaces, anything beyond handshaking is generally just kind of icky).

What I think is really interesting and problematic about this choice of scenario is that it presents a situation of workplace sexual harrassment that effectively explains away the harrassment. The "othering" of the man tells us first that North American men don't engage in workplace sexual harrassment and that when harrasing behaviours do occur, it's all just a big cultural misunderstanding. What would the resolution have been if the man was a North American, white, heterosexual male without the "cultural difference" crutch to stand on? How would he have explained those behaviours away? And why did the author chose to present workplace sexual harasment as he did instead of chosing a scenario that genuinely reflects the experiences of women at work?

Maybe it was just a case study and I shouldn't be reading in to it so much. But it's never just a case study, is it?
_____

*Julie Macfarlane, ed., 2nd ed. (Toronto: Emond Montgomery Publications Ltd, 2003). The section is at 292-298, the quoted material is at 295.
** excerpt from Christopher Moore, The Mediation Process, 2nd ed. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996) at 41 and 44-52.
***Admittedly, this section was about mediators whose substantive interests in conflict resolution are institutionally or legally mandated. But still. Isn't equality institutionally and legally mandated? Why wasn't the behaviour framed as unacceptable in relation to women's substantive rights to equality instead of to its relation to institutional regulation and law?

Holy Crap, It's March!

2009-03-03T09:26:00.001-05:00

How did that happen?

I only have eight more weeks of law school.

I don't know whether I should be panicking or rejoicing.

I'll let you know.

Help Stop Violence Against Women...

2009-02-21T16:13:00.004-05:00

...and go see the Vagina Monologues, one of the more uplifting ways to fight violence against women. I went last night.

I got a ({VDAY OTTAWA}) tote bag, a chocolate vagina and these cool buttons:

Nothing beats buttons! Except sharing two hysterical, poignant, touching, honest hours with a theatre full of mostly women and a few good men. It was awesome!

Travelling

2009-01-19T06:44:00.009-05:00

I'm reflecting today, because in lieu of class, I'm travelling, once again, the long road between home and home. It's a good day to reflect; fitting, I mean, because it feels like I've been travelling, on a journey (if you will pardon the cliche), over the course of this class. Fitting too, to say that I'm travelling between home and home, because I live geographically in two places the same way that maybe I live in the law as my profession and outside of that I have my own politics, morals and personal values and I'm always travelling between the two, trying to reconcile them, make them known to each other and living harmoniously. It's not always an easy task, in the literal or metaphorical sense.

A course like this seems like an act of reconciliation between them, because it's been about connections and connecting. Connecting theories of restorative justice to our own experience through practice; and connecting our own expecience to those of the people in our circle. From that, I think, has come some reconciliation for me.

We don't often get the chance in law school to reveal pieces of ourselves to our colleagues because we're concerned with learning very carefully selected facts, which support rules developed over time designed to result in very carefully constructed conclusions, that too often serve the interests of a select few but disguised as something called "justice", which is theoretically good for everyone.

We come in to law school, frequently, maybe even often, with a sense of idealism (even if we pretend we don't), and they try to make us forget that using a variety of strategies. Chief among those, I believe, is the tendency to dehumanize and to ignore the people who have made the law, all of the people who are subject to the law and all of the people who suffer the law.

But here, we got to take some risks. We got to be the people we are and tell our stories. On day four, I was really angry and upset. But the process gave me a space and some tools to understand why I was upset and also why I should move past that and stay engaged. The circle allowed me to make a choice to stay involved. In a lecture, we would have just moved on and I would have gone home and judged and never changed that judgment. But, day after day in the circle, I was really required to look at that judgment, unpack it, question it and, I think eventually, to let it go.

I think I need to carry that memory with me as I go into practice.

On Truth and Reconciliation

2009-01-19T06:43:00.009-05:00

I have a hard time talking about the status of Aboriginal people in Canada, about the apology they received this past summer, or about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. See, the problem is, I'm white.

Actually, it's not so much that I have a hard time talking about it (this does not tend to be a problem for me), it's that I maybe I should be listening right now. I'm not sure that it's my place to have an opinion about these things, except to say: please, tell me what you need me to do to make this better for you. Tell me as a woman, as a mother, as a lawyer, as a voter and taxpayer what I can do to make restitution, to make amends, to take responsibility for this country's past. I do not want to speak for you on this matter, but I do want to stand near you and echo your voices, if you want me there at your shoulder and if you want my voice joined with yours. If not, I will listen because you need to be heard. I am prepared to hear you, and I am prepared to act with you.

I hope the time has come for this. I feel like Canada's Obama moment will come when we elect our first Aboriginal Prime Minister. But shit, we could start with appointing someone to the Supreme Court. FYI: They're all white.

Is Youth Wasted on the Young?

2009-01-19T06:43:00.005-05:00

I presented a seminar on restorative justice and the Youth Criminal Justice Act today with a couple of my mates. One of the things that surprised me a little bit was the strong opinions about whether it was ageist the way that the YCJA embraces (on its face) many restorative elements in its approach to youth criminal justice when this approach is denied, more or less, to adults in the sentencing provisions of the Criminal Code. The YCJA is explicit in the need for the justice system to consider things like least restrictive measures, rehabilitation and reintegration into the community when considering how to deal with youth accused of crimes.

In a nutshell: one side says that the government and justice system has limited resources, they have to make choices about where their resources go, and youth are the best place to park the resources that will hopefully divert from crime because they are still young, have a long life ahead, and are perhaps more salvageable than someone older offenders.

The other side says that we shouldn't be making these judgments solely based on age and that everyone should have access to the types of restorative measures we find in the YCJA if it's appropriate.

I'm not totally sure where I fall in this debate. Adults are merely young people, all grown up. It's too cynical for me to just dismiss an adult offender's prospects for restoration (writ large) because he or she (go gender equality) has got a criminal record an arm long. But, maybe if there had been a restorative intervention early on the long record wouldn't have gotten so long. I agree with the position that every offender should have access to a restorative process where appropriate. BUT resources are limited. Would the resources be better spent on restorative processes? I mean, they're going to spend the money one way or another. Why not this way? Prisons are expensive!

I hate these resource questions. All of the answers suck. And there's never enough money, apparently.

Plus Ca Change...

2009-01-19T06:42:00.003-05:00

Here's a newsflash: Restorative justice practiced in the context of the patriarchal justice system still screws women over!

Now I now that is hard to believe, since some of you think that restorative justice is The Answer. Well, that's where you'd be wrong. So cute and naive.

Angela Cameron, a guest speaker in our class, called her feminist concerns "a constellation of worries" about the way restorative justice is practiced, including concern for the vulnerabilities of the particular group (e.g. battered women) to the offender and whether there is someone who is familiar with those vulnerabilities who is part of the process.

Her work with Emma Cunliffe revealed that the circle sentencing process in cases of intimate violence is quite problematic from a feminist and anti-VAW perspective. Practiced in the context of our beloved (patriarchal) justice system, the supposedly restorative circle sentencing practice actually perpetuates some of the same ills of the conventional system, including eliminating the voice of the survivor and perpetuating mythologies about women's bodies. To top it all off, the judgments they analyzed kind of pat themselves on the back for being restorative, even though they demonstrably continue to fail to address the issues through a gender-sensitive lens. Well, that's not entirely true; they do in fact address issues of intimate violence through a gender-sensitive lens. It's just that the gender they're sensitive to is male.

Just when you think there's hope...

Siiiiigh.

What is a feminist to do?! When I reflect upon the abysmal status of women interacting with the justice system as victims/survivors and as offenders (and maybe even the lawyers and judges), the logical thing is to not have a lot of hope. This system seems broken broken broken for many people, most of them vulnerable for some reason. Even me. I'm vulnerable because I'm a feminist. Someday (soon, I imagine, since I am soon to make my escape from the most left-wing ivory tower law school in the country), I'm going to pay some price because someone's going to find out I'm a feminist. But I'm no where near as vulnerable as the women survivors and offenders, clearly.

I have always pretty firmly been on the side of change from within. I'm never going to be so radical that I become alienated from the establishment because I don't want to get locked out (and I don't dismiss the possibility that this has something to do with liking my own privilege). I'm just a lot more useful chipping away at the establishment from the inside. But, this establishment is so screwed up in places that I wonder if it can ever really act in an equality-seeking manner. It can't, I don't think, until it acknowledges, for example, that buying in to circle sentencing or other restorative measures does not a fair system make.

Just when you think there's hope...

(Sometimes there is. After all, I am The Closet Optimist, not The Closet Pessimist).

I'll See Your Apology and Raise You Some Forgiveness

2009-01-19T06:40:00.004-05:00

In circle today one of the rounds asked us to share a time when someone had apologized to us. The only things that came into my head were times when I hadn't received an apology where I felt one was deserved on a few big bad things in my life. The question made me feel like giving an example of an apology that meant something to me would somehow diminish the importance of the apologies that I didn't get. This feeling leads me to think and question on two points:

1) Did not acknowledging the apologies I have received diminish their importance? and
2) Do those who have harmed me still have power over me because I have not received an apology?

On the first point, I guess there are lots of small hurts in life that I don't even remember, and probably meaningful apologies have come with a few of those, but I part of me doesn't even remember them. I've moved on. I don't really feel like too many bad things have happened to me that would require grand apologies. And the small ones happen in the course of life. I have no memory for those details in general, so I've probably forgotten many apologies that were important to me at the time.

On the second point, this came as a bit of a shock to me, actually. I was surprised to find how the lack of an apology had left...[searching for the words]...an absence in my life, maybe like a blank space. Just when you think you've moved on from some of these big hurts, when you think someone can't hurt you anymore...I don't know.

There is debate, discussion, around the role of apology and forgiveness. I was caught by something Pumla Cobodo-Madikizela wrote about forgiveness:

the decision to forgive can paradoxically elevate a victim to a position of strength as the one who holds the key to the perpetrator's wish...In this sense, then, forgiveness is a kind of revenge, but revenge enacted at a rarefied level. Forgiving may appear to condone the offense, thus further disempowering the victim. But forgiveness does not overlook the deed: it rises above it. 'This is what it means to be human," it says. "I cannot and will not return the evil you inflicted on me." And that is the victim's triumph.

I like this view. I think it gives victims power. But will there always be a space when no apology is forthcoming?

I don't know, and I don't know if I like that.

Some Unanswered Question for People Who Criticize Alternatives

2009-01-08T16:53:00.010-05:00

The bent of one of our readings reminded me of a paper I wrote last year on alternative medicine and its treatment within the legislative and judicial systems. Two things that reminded me of that research was 1) how we fail to enquire about the dominant system in our criticisms of the "alternative" and (relatedly) 2) how a double standard exists for the dominant system and the alternative system.

Here is a quote from my paper:

Sceptics frequently use this argument to discredit alternative therapies, and suggest that there are no such things as "alternative" treatments--there is only medicine that is supported by solid reserach and medicine that is not.

I think if you replaced "alternative treatments" with "circle sentencing" and the notion of Western medicine with the traditional justice system, you could see some parallels in the thinking that underlies the reading I just mentioned, "Sentencing Circles: Some Unanswered Questions."*

There is a focus throughout the article on the lack of empirical study surrounding circle sentencing--"It is curious, in light of all these claims of circle sentencing's benefits, that no scientific evaluation has been conducted." This starts from a fundamentally flawed position: that empirical study is the appropriate means of measuring "success" in this context. This attachement to empiricism is a significant feature of critiques of alternative health therapies as well. It assumes that some kind of "truth" exists and that it can be measured exclusively by empirical study, and fails to acknowledge that science and empiricism are, in fact, themselves social constructions. To paraphrase one writer, advocates of these therapies are not anti-science or against empirical study; the schoice is not between science or no science, but about which science. It is wrong, in my view, to assume that we can accurately or adequately measure the outcomes of any alternative process using tools designed to legitimize and recognize the outcomes of the dominant process. It's simply unfair, and destines the alternative to poor performance in many cases.

The other thing that really bothered me was the double standard issue. This kind of relates to the impiricism issue, in that frequently the alternative will be measured in some way and then will be criticized for its poor success. The thing that is too often not disclosed is that the mainstrain/dominant options also have low "success" rates, even though they are being measured by a tool that is designed within the same cultural/scientific context. The authors do cite a number of statistics, which I found somewhat suspect, but I don't feel fully qualified to evaluate them (because I have an entirely weak grasp of statistical analysis). But, for example, in talking about custody rates in provinces where circle sentencing is used, they cite that in Saskatchewan the number of aboriginal offenders had actually gone up in the period they studied and note that "it can hardly be argued that circle sentencing has had a positvie impact on the incarceration of native offenders." This may be entirely misleading because there is no information to suggest that a correlation exists between the incidence of aboriginals in custody in Saskatchewan and the use of circle sentencing. The authors draw a link where one does not necessarily exist and do it to cast doubt on the efficacity of the alternative sentencing process.

Also related to the double standard problem is the fact that the authors impose higher standards or expectations on the alternative process without demanding the same of the traditional process. This was typical of what I found in relation to alternative medicine as well. For example, the authors write that "clearly some national standards need to be developed if there is to be consistency of application across the country" (in relation to criteria for inclusion). The problem with that is that the typical sentencing process doesn't have any national standards, to my knowledge, to ensure consistency across the country beyond what exists in the Criminal Code and precedent decisions. The creation of some kind of national standards in addition to what is already imposed by statute and by precedent creates a higher burden on sentencing circles.

Overall, it kind of seems these critics are expecting some level of perfection from circle sentencing that they clearly do not expect from the usual process ("this article should not be taken as an apologia for the status quo"). This was also typical of what I found in relation to alternative health therapies. In spite of the fact that we can show clear failures in the current systems, there seems to be an unusually high degree of hesitation (to put it mildly) in examining alternatives. In spite of their complaint that no empirical evidence exists to support the claims of sentencing circle supporters, the authors feel confident in proclaiming in the conclusion of their article "their ability to effect refor has been exaggerated, to say the least." I would ask them to consider why they can make this claim confidently without empirical evidence but deny supporters the same right to make positive claims?

I think it's an area ripe for reflection--comparative studies on how we deal with "alternatives" to the mainstream in our justice system. These two examples--medicine and circle sentencing--tell me there's a pattern here that we should investigate.

*Julian V. Roberts and carol LaPrairie (1996) 39 Criminal Law Quarterly.

He or She Said

2009-01-08T16:53:00.007-05:00

Types of words I felt like saying today in class as we talked about gender neutrality in certain language contexts:

Oh well, you know, it irritated me. It made me frustrated. It made Sisyphean tears spring to my eyes. I don't want to rehash the whole thing here, but it was this thing about how our readings were primarily referring to "offenders" in the masculine and "victims" in the feminine. There's no clear cut answer on this, so every generalization can always be proved false, but I get a little tetchy when we try to gender neutralize things that are very gendered.

When we did the second circle round, the question was about what we learned from the previous round (which was how talking about the topic made us feel). When it came to me, I passed. I passed the talking stick on because I just didn't have anything nice to say (isn't there some lesson about that?). ("I learned that I'm tired of men feeling sorry for themselves. Boo-farking-hoo." Which would have vastly underserved the whole discussion. Sometimes, sometimes, I know when to shut up.) Mostly I just wanted to GTF out of that circle and out of that room.

It did not feel like a place of safety for me right at that time.

There was part of me that felt incredibly arrogant in my unwillingness to "learn" anything. Maybe it was incapacity? Maybe I'm too entrenched in my position? Too defensive? Maybe. I wasn't exactly being radical. So maybe I'm going to hang on a little bit to my unwillingness in that situation. I can co-operate on lots of things but I can't compromise on some.

Maybe the most meaningful thing I heard was something a colleague said: blame comes on strong when there's a lot of pain.

So yeah. The inequality women face--and I'm not talking about poor me, white, privileged, educated, upper-middle-class (in spite of my vast student debt), heterosexual, mainstream (mostly) me, I'm talking about the vast class of women who face way worse than me, but with whom I stand in solidarity because harm to them harms us all--is really painful for me. It's not debilitating pain, usually, though I feel despair at times. It's angry pain. It's I'm-so-damned-tired-of-this pain. It's I-keep-taking-responsibility-for-myself-now-it's-your-turn pain. It's real pain.

It's real.

Consumed!

2009-01-07T22:56:00.003-05:00

FCLF and I decided to play recycling jenga leading up to exams. Curiously, while we both went to our respective homes for the holidays, the recycling didn't magically disappear. Who can imagine why not? This what it looked like when I got back to Ottawa:

Also, I have mentioned in previous posts about my cola consumption during exams. It kind of reached epic proportions this year, but also included Gatorade, in addition to Coke and Coke Zero (I don't really care, it was just what was available). This is what it looked like at the end of exams:

There's also a couple of bottles of POM, Bolthouse Farms C-Boost Fruit Smoothie and the bottle of wine that I mostly drank after my last exam. I was on Skype with a couple of my Italian friends, who came looking for me because they knew I was finished exams. Since they're six hours ahead, I kind of got my celebrating in early and was almost totally sobered up by 11 pm. Not bad.

I'll Restore Mine, If You Restore Yours

2009-01-07T18:34:00.006-05:00

My January term course is Restorative Justice and part of our evaluation is a daily reflective journal. I see this as a fine excuse (erm...opportunity) to blog every day. Since there's a grade involved, I'm likely to do it. If only the course were 27 days long, wouldn't it be habit-forming? Anyway, dear Readers, you might actually get bored of me if I posted anything substantive 27 days in a row! I'm already two days behind, so I need to catch up now.

Restorative justice (RJ) is kind of a perfect topic for this alter ego, The Closet Optimist. Because I want to believe in it, but I can hardly live in this world and not be a little bit cynical. Okay, a lot cynical. But, since I actually have to live in this world, I have to be kind of an optimist, or life would be too depressing. Same goes for this justice system that I've signed up for. It's kind of a f*cked up place, but it's what we've got. I've got to find hope within it somewhere. I take solace in the fact that there are good people working in a flawed (and that's putting it gently) system.

Things I'm thinking about in our non-traditional, traditional* circle format of learning and sharing together:

Sharing (ha ha, see title). It's kind of weird to be in a place where part of the process is to open up and share our own experiences. In situations of semi-familiarity, like class, I'm of two minds (at least) on the issue of personal disclosure. Some people learn and achieve understanding by relating their own stories to whatever topic is being discussed. I sort of occasionally find this annoying in (other) classes because it seems like every time some people raise their hand, it's to relate a story that may or may not actually add anything. I can't help but thinking snidely, "This one time, at band camp..." (OMG, I'm so mean.) I mean, sometimes it's totally relevant, and I do it too, but I feel like there's limits. Also, while genuine disclosures and sharing can be super meaningful, relevant and powerful, I hesitate about it at some points because I feel like it can be exploitive, in the vein of "Look at me, I'm legitimate!"

See, this is a perfect example about why context is important. Because to date, in the stuff that we've done in the circles (and ok, this is a day one journal, but I'm writing it on day three), none of that other (mean) stuff applies. In this context, that sense of opening up your own experiences makes perfect sense and without it the exercise would actually be kind of meaningless.

Feeling jaded, not wanting to be too open with my feelings, not wanting to be too personal, too enthusiastic about it. Though, I think I probably hide this well. And I know it's not just me. I find those chirpy enthusiastic idealists false and cloying, unless they can admit there's a limit to their idealism. (Which, by definition, precludes them from being chirpy, false and cloying.) There does not appear to be any of those in this class, which is kind of a relief. But still, I think we're mostly expected to be kind of hardened, so when we're required to be kind of humane, it feels like we're being suckers, and maybe suckered. This can be linked directly, I think, to that belief that some hold that a restorative process is a soft process, easier, lenient and insufficient to really mete out "justice". Anyone who thinks that has never had to face their demons, I think, because it's fecking hard to take responsibility for your actions and make peace with all those involved, including yourself and those you've harmed.

So, I feel like so far (because I don't want to make these posts too long and I'm going to wrap it up), this course is going to be a lot about my own relationship with the justice system, with my clients and my opponents. It's not about black letter law, in particular, because there's not too much of it, saving some case law on circle sentencing, some of the Criminal Code sentencing provisions (from which you can extrapolate the use of restorative processes), and the Youth Criminal Justice Act, which is explicitly restorative.

I don't know if I'll ever have the opportunity to participate in restorative processes early in my career (because someone will be bossing me around for a while), but at least I think I must try to incorporate some of the humanity of this process.

Humanity is good.

In music:

*Non-traditional in the sense of what we usually see in our justice system, but traditional in that the circle is borrowed, with respect, from traditional Aboriginal practices.

Listening To Mixed Tapes

2009-01-02T23:52:00.002-05:00

The other day, a big chunk of ice fell off our neighbour's roof and landed in our driveway. On our car. Sigh. It could have been worse, of course. As it were, all that happened is a new dent on the passenger-side door and a nearly decapitated side mirror. We weren't able to get it into the garage to get it fixed, what with the New Year's holiday, so I had to borrow a car from my parents so I could drive back to Ottawa today.

All that to say, their car is old enough to have a tape deck. It also has a really crappy radio which hardly works, so this time I remembered to grab a handful of tapes to while away the hours between home and school.

Oh, the memories! Many of them were given to me by friends from my past, some of them still kicking around, some of them lost to time. It was a lot of fun listening to them again, and bringing back high school, leaving home, living, growing up and loving in Europe--and remembering a time when we still had tapes. (I recently had to explain to my nine-year-old niece what a cassette tape was. She has an iPod.)

There was "Punk As F*ck" (aka "[TCO]'s Happy Fun Tape") from Laura, my first friend from The City. Actually, it was Richmond Hill, which I would not now consider the city (I can be such a Toronto snob at times). Her hippie parents bought a farm outside of Midland and we met through a mutual friend, but soon decided we liked each other better. She introduced me to army pants, Lollapalloza, dandylion wine made my her hippie uncle Darce (I think), and music such as Dino Jr, NoFX, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Violent Femmes, Jane's Addiction and Propagandhi, and my boyfriend Sean. I lost track of her after Europe. Last I knew of her, she was on her third member of a punk (I guess that's what they were) band made up of guys she knew and working at the convenience store in Balm Beach. We grew apart.

Kary and Scott made me "[TCO]'s Frustration" for my trip to Europe, after I graduated from high school. Kary and I worked together in a photo store. She and Scott both graduated from Ryerson's photography program. That was back in the day when I wanted to be a photographer, so I thought they were pretty cool. It was called that because I was theoretically going to be frustrated in the love department. This did not really prove to be true, but it was a good tape. It has Sid Vicious's version of "My Way".

I have about three tapes from Andrea of music he wrote. He wasn't my first boyfriend, but he's the first one I regretted hurting (or behaving badly toward, whether he was actually hurt I guess I don't really know). Which is, I suppose, as close to my first love as any of my pre-AHC boyfriends can get. He wrote a really nice dedication to me in one of the covers, which ends with "PS Why are you LEAVING??" He gave it to me right before I left for France (pre-bad behaviour). There's another one he gave me the year that AHC came to Italy and proposed to me, and the dedication mentions him as well (back when AHC was still thinking about making films). We're still vaguely in touch and he's still a musician.

There are a couple of mixes made when I was in France, one of which is entitled "Hit Express. French Torture Experience". In case that title didn't give it away, France was a difficult and crazy time. But, some of the music was fun.

There's one called "Wonderful Spot", which I either "borrowed" (i.e. failed to give back) or was given by my Italian sister, Claudia. It's all music from European t.v. commercials. I think I could actually visualize some of those commercials when I heard the music. But it really reminded me of Italy.

And who can forget "Un'ora sola" from Giovanni, a tape he made for not one, not two, but three girls at the same time (but that's another story). We were all friends at the time, and we all remained friends in spite of his cheekiness. He did marry one of the three of us. We lost track of each other for a while but those friendships have recently been rekindled, a thing that pleases me greatly.

Anyway, these tapes remind me so much of my late teens! If anyone asks, generally I'd say that I hated being a teenager, but these reminded me that there was some pretty good stuff too, mixed in with all that angst (of which there was no shortage).

I closed out the last few New Year's parties of my adolescence in Italy. It's hard to believe that 10 years ago, AHC (long before he was AHC) visited me in Italy and proposed to me at a house party in Florence as we feted in 1999. I guess those were the good old days that lead to these good old days, as they will someday be.

Happy New Year everyone.

Pre-paper, Post-paper

2008-12-12T21:09:00.005-05:00

Before:

And after:

Unfortunately, I don't think these pictures do justice to the level of tidy serenity that existed before I started writing, and then, the level of chaos that existed once the paper was done. It was difficult to navigate the floor, the bed, the desk...

It was, however, incredibly satisfying to put every piece of research I had printed in a neat pile and haul it out of my room, into a temporary resting place on the bookshelf in the living room. I'll have to face it again though, because the topic is interesting enough that it should be paid attention to and polished up. It can, decidedly, wait until exams are done.

Post-Exam, Pre-Paper

2008-12-11T14:46:00.005-05:00

Rest the night before an exam is never really satisfying, in spite of the fact that I actually went to bed at 11 p.m. last night. This is me, yawning uncontrollably, after my admin law exam:

Now, I sleep for a 1.5 hours. And then, I write.

Favourite Things, Part IV

2008-12-09T12:27:00.003-05:00

It's exam time! How does one survive?

Coffee in the Bodem
(I love it. It's so low tech)

Consuming coffee and tea from my law school mugs

(I found these the first week of law school and I love them)

Strawberry Twizzlers. Yum!

Insight Into Political Events in Canada

2008-12-05T12:38:00.002-05:00

My stunningly brilliant and beautiful colleague has repeatedly proven that she has an "amazing ability to see (and explain)" (as another brilliant and beautiful colleague put it) a wide variety of phenomena in this world. Here, her observations on current politics and our political leaders (reprinted with permission):

I like to view the current actions on Parliament Hill as a historical moment wherein Parliament altruistically sacrificed its dignity so that Canadians could work on their own personal issues and family relations problems.

Harper has taught us the age old lessons of natural consequences: "one must sleep in the "confidence vote" bed one makes" and "mean people suck". No one likes them and the friends they have are acquired through fear. Furthermore, all they can do is bad (ie. sending us into a constitutional and unity crisis).

Dion and Layton's actions reinforced the maxim that "one must act like an adult in order to be given adult responsibility". No amount of fist pounding, name calling, and yelling will ever get you what you want.

Bob Rae will soon teach us that the lesson of "never publicly set a limit that you are not willing to follow through on". This lesson will come when he burns down every bridge still open to the Liberal party by insisting on voting down what I think with be a drippingly generous stimulus package because he thinks Harper's an asshole.

Ignatiaf will teach us the well-known lesson of the "quiet child": the kid that makes the least amount of fuss for their parents get the biggest inheritance. His relative silence during this whole debacle will win him the Liberal leadership.

I have to say, I think she's pretty on point on all fronts. I think Harper's an asshole for proroguing. But the time for the coalition has passed, unless Harper is stupid enough to present a vindictive budget, a la economic update of last week, a second time around. Which he won't be. He's a stunningly calculating political tactician (I will give him that) and the only explanation for these events is hubris. And the fact that he's an asshole.

I hope the reason that the meeting between Harper and GG Jean took nearly three hours yesterday is because she was baking him a humble pie and spoonfeeding him every goddamned crumb of it.

TCO Supports a Coalition

2008-12-04T14:09:00.004-05:00

You can have your political views. Be Liberal, be Conservative, be NDP, be Green, be BQ.

But don't lie. Harper lied about our Constitution. Not interpreted according to his politics (which are clearly divisive and oppressive, but that's my interpretation). He lied, flat out and bald-, bold-, and bare-faced (depending on which usage you prefer).

I get that pols spin. It's politics. I lie. It's life. But this is too much. Don't f*ck with my Constitution!!

Get thee out, spot!

And by "spot", I mean Harper.

Postcards from the Edge, Sixth in a Series

2008-12-03T21:02:00.002-05:00

For a friend:

Handy Advice

2008-12-01T14:33:00.004-05:00

"Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain."
Kahlil Gibran, "Joy and Sorrow", The Prophet.

I had bad and sad news this weekend, which has well and truly taken me off guard. I received instructions from a friend this morning to put on my palm to-do list today:

I'm trying, in only moderately successful ways, but I am grateful for those who are checking in. It makes it easier to laugh knowing that I am not alone.

You Know It's the End of the Semester When...

2008-11-28T00:20:00.002-05:00

...FCLF knocks on my door at 11:45 p.m. and says, "I'm going to the 7-11...you wanna come?" and I reply, "YEAH!" enthusiastically, resulting in a trip that scores Doritos, Fruit & Nut, two bottles of Coke and $2 worth of penny candy (which is now actually worth five pennies).

It's Brain Junk, Autumn 2008 edition. It's interesting to note that my first post about brain junk occurred on December 17, 2006, which was almost entirely through the first set of 1L exams. It's not even December yet, and already I've resorted to the junk.

The situation is clearly serious.

Favourite Things, Part III, Superhero Edition

2008-11-22T14:19:00.004-05:00

It's kind of funny that I'm a future lawyer and yet I'm utterly taken with that icon of vigilantism, the superhero. We're a Justice League family. The four of us are relatively obsessed. I can't explain my hypocrisy on this one. I don't like violent TV for kids, but this is one of the exceptions I'm obviously willing to make.

A while back, we quizzed each other on who our top JLers were. Mine follow. Upon reflection, I realized that my favourites are all Leaguers who do not have superpowers, just their wits about them (and cool gadgets). This probably says something about my character. I'll let you decide what.

Absolute #1:

Batman

The rest are tied:

Huntress

Green Arrow

Favourite Things, Part II

2008-11-19T11:40:00.002-05:00

Pointy shoes

Fishnet stockings

Fig and cucumber body butter
(in a pinch this is also a very fine-smelling alternative
to hair pomade for messing up my new haircut,
another one of my favourite things)

Palm, v. 0.0

2008-11-18T07:40:00.001-05:00

I wrote my to-do list:

And then I synched it with my cell phone:

Postcards from the Edge, Fifth in a Series

2008-11-17T14:52:00.002-05:00

Remember

2008-11-11T00:56:00.007-05:00

Last night after yoga, I went to the National War Memorial to view RH Thomson's Vigil 1914-1918. It was quite moving.

I went because I thought I should see, and reflect on what my responsibilities are as a human being and what they will be as a lawyer. Law is an extremely important instrument, especially perhaps in times of war. This is a privileged profession and I take that privilege seriously.

I wouldn't say that I'm a pacifist, but it is safe to say that war is never good. I don't know if I support many of the military actions that are currently ongoing, but that doesn't mean that I don't support the people who do the job. What a job it is.

It occurred to me last night that my cousin is in the military. So, I remembered how close this could be to our family.

It's my last year in Ottawa, so I'm going to take this opportunity to go the service today at the Memorial.

Photo by adam is on flickr used under Creative Commons licence

Postcards from the Edge, Third & Fourth in a Series

2008-11-10T23:51:00.003-05:00

Today, one for each kid:

I Stood in Mountain Pose

2008-11-10T23:06:00.002-05:00

I stood in mountain pose, with my heart open to the dead.

I watched 525 names of men, lost to the war, for most of an hour.

When I was cold, I opened my heart more and breathed though the loss of them.

I bowed to the dead, known and unknown, and then I walked slowly away.

Postcards from the Edge, Second in a Series

2008-11-10T09:26:00.001-05:00

I need to work on my bubble letter penmanship. It's been awhile since I've had cause to draw bubble letters, I guess.

Favourite Things, Part I

2008-11-10T01:16:00.003-05:00

A random assortment of things that please me:

The plants I have managed not to kill for 2.5 months.
Also, those little white pots.

These socks, because they have polka dots and they come up above my knees.

My Converse All Star Mary Janes.

Postcards from the Edge, First in a Series

2008-11-09T13:38:00.002-05:00

When I was living in Europe the first year that AHC and I started dating, we wrote each other a lot of letters. One of the things that he did that I loved (and still love, to this day) was send me postcards on a very regular basis. Like, sometimes daily. It was awesome.

Recently, I decided to return the favour for AHC and the kids. I'm barely going to be home until I write my last exam on April 30, 2009. Life is not going to be any easier from here on it, until that day. But, maybe getting postcards from here will make it a little easier. Everyone loves getting mail!

There's Good News and There's Bad News

2008-11-05T14:15:00.002-05:00

The good news is: He Won!

Boy, the law school was excited today. Professor Sheila McIntyre gave quite a moving endorsement in her opening to today's Greenberg Lecture (I swear, being surrounded by that many feminists always makes me want to cry with joy).

Remember:

See here for the bad news.

So listen, I know I didn't post anything when that robot (and I don't mean that as a compliment) Stephen Harper won (sort of) the Canadian election. It might have been despair. I feel quite sad about the state of democracy in Canada. I hope, as the Onion wrote today, that Canada doesn't have to get "shitty enough" to make social progress happen. But it might.

I have a sneaking suspicious that hope (without making a judgment on the validity of said hope) might start to build here. Personally, for an Obama-level change (and it's going to be an uphill battle every single inch), I think we might need to elect an Aboriginal Prime Minister.

This Might Be A Problem

2008-11-05T13:59:00.005-05:00

I was doing research for a paper in my Aboriginal Law class and came upon this telling FAQ page:

Is it just me, or is something wrong with that?

(Apparently you have to click on it to get the full effect. I can size it right for some inexplicable reason.)

Things That I've Been Lately Reading:

2008-10-20T18:21:00.002-04:00

Sun-tzu, The Art of War (edited and translated by John Mumford)
Margaret Atwood, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth
Joseph Boyden, Born With a Tooth
Joseph Boyden, Through Black Spruce
Constance Backhouse, Carnal Crimes: Sexual Assault Law in Canada, 1900-1975
Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

All of these and more (i.e. textbooks) are on the go. I'm just taking them little bits at a time, because I can't afford the time to read them all at once, but I also feel like I can't put them off to a time when my schedule will be free and clear for reading. Because, when will that be?

Wow!

2008-10-15T16:56:00.002-04:00

As I drove back to OT yesterday, I stopped in Bancroft for gas. And I paid less than $1 per litre! I haven't paid less than a dollar in what feels like months. Whether in fact it has been months, or how many months it has actually been, is nebulous.

See, there are good effects of the global economic meltdown. Personally, I am sort of in favour of high gas prices (though I wish it was through taxation which benefits government coffers and not via enriching polluting oil companies), because it better reflects the real environmental costs of fossil fuel use. However, I am sort of doing my part by traveling back country and staying off highways, where high speeds result in both increased emissions and fuel burned (is this different or the same? I'm not exactly sure). Anyway, as a somewhat poor student, I was happy for the reduction in price.

Best Case Today

2008-10-08T09:30:00.001-04:00

Bastard v. Smith (1838), 2 Mood. & R. 129.

I'm not kidding. It's a real case.

Angry. White. Female.

2008-09-11T15:45:00.005-04:00

See, this happens to me all the time. I say I'm going to start blogging again, and then I get overwhelmed by the kind of sad reality that exists in the world and I can't even put into words my sadness, my anger, my sense of helplessness....

This semester, I am in two difficult classes: the Law of Sexual Assault and Aboriginal Law. One makes me angry based on my gender and one makes me angry based on my race. One for being a victim of my gender, and one a perpetrator of my race.

One of our first readings in the SA class...Okay, aside required: really, I can't bring myself to write "sexual assault" too often, because I now have to think about it so much. I've taken to referring to it as my "Crim" class. I suppose it's a way of neutralizing it, kind of like reforming the law to call it "sexual assault" instead of rape neutralized it within the criminal law. Anyway, one of our first readings was from Andrea Dworking, respected, lionized, hated and despised radical feminist. It was a transcript from a speech she gave at a conference of the National Organization for Changing Men in 1983. I feel these words apply equally to men--as Dworkin intended--as they do to me as a white person:

...everything is a reason not to do something about changing the fact that you do have that power.

Hiding behind guilt, that's my favourite...Oh it's horrible, yes, and I'm so sorry. You have the time to feel guilty. We don't have the time for you to feel guilty. Your guilt is a form of acquiescence in what continues to occur. Your guilt helps keep things the way they are.

...mostly your guilt, your suffering, reduces to: gee, we really feel so bad...And I'm sorry that you feel so bad--so uselessly and stupidly bad--because there is a way in which this really is your tragedy.

...You damn well better believe that you're involved in this tragedy and that it's your tragedy too.

So, that is what I'm thinking about these days. I'm thinking about graduating in 10 months and joining a profession which can perpetuate and perpetrate as well as force change, protect, and do right. Where will I be?

This song has been doing it for me:

Worst. Blogger. Ever!

2008-09-09T16:57:00.002-04:00

Apparently it's a good thing that I'm going to be a lawyer because I'd obviously be a dismal failure as a professional blogger.

A ridiculous rain shower just struck, and I have a fairly perfect view from my 22nd floor window. Across in Gatineau, it's blue skies. From here, I don't really need the Weather Network, because I can just watch the weather roll in.

Ah, Gatineau. You know which city Gatineau is across from? That's right. Ottawa.

Here we go again.

I shan't bore with tedious descriptions of the relative disdain I'm feeling (if my mood were a facial expression, it would be a scowl) about being back at it for 3L. I felt moderately better after having lunch with Trixie and TF&C yesterday. Almost the only good thing about 3L is that I've only got 8 months left.

Not that I should be too negative. I picked my classes this year based entirely on what I was interested in (Admin Law excepted) and which profs I wanted . So, there is potential for improvement. And, I would dearly like to enjoy the last 8 months of formal education that I will be subjecting myself to for at least the next, oh, I'd say 5 years.

In 8 months, some of the best friends I've ever had will scatter to the four corners, so I should be grateful that we've got this time together. And I am. It's just kind of a shame that law school is getting in the way.

Now, I just have to hang in there and get through it.

End of 2L Update, Part II

2008-04-18T08:28:00.004-04:00

My Constitutional Law II exam begins in 32 minutes. It's a take-home (or download-at-home). In lieu of panic or furious last-minute studying, I'm going to blog. This is either a reflection of supreme confidence in my ability to write something coherent in the next six hours or a reflection of my zen-like acceptance of my fate ("....if you do not understand, things are as they are").

This is a picture of my book, with all sorts of little flags. These are supposed to help me, but I have no idea whether they will. I just think they kind of look pretty and they make me feel better.

I'm listening to the Talking Heads at full blast.

"And you may ask yourself, how did I get I get here....?"

That, my friends, is a story that will take longer than the next 27 minutes...

Good luck.

Self-depricating Humour

2008-04-17T10:27:00.002-04:00

Q: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check ofr a pulse?

A: No.

Q: Did you check for blood pressure?

A: No.

Q: Did you check for breathing?

A: No.

Q: So, then is it possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?

A: No.

Q: How can you be so sure, doctor?

A: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.

Q: But could the patient have still been alive nevertheless?

A: It is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law somewhere.

That's from some compilation of actual transcripts from cases in the US somewhere. I want to know what that case was about.

Helpful Direction for Law Students Examining Constitutional Questions

2008-04-15T16:10:00.003-04:00

From Ward v. Canada (AG) et al. [2002] 1 SCR 569 at para. 17:

"The first task in the pith and substance analysis is to determine the pith and substance...of the law."

Heavens! If it weren't for that insightful direction, I never would have guessed that a pith and substance analysis would involve a determination of the pith and substance of a law.

For Anyone Who Wants to Automate Jurisprudence

2008-04-15T08:42:00.006-04:00

"In any event, it ought to be clear that a judge interpreting a federal constitution is no mere automaton--that, on the contrary, he has critical choices to make at different stages of the process."*

That Robots class is following me everywhere I go.

We're surrounded! Head for the hills!

*WR Lederman, "The Balanced interpretation of the federal distribution of legislative powers in Canada" in JE Magnet, Constitutional Law of Canada, vol. 1, 9th ed. (Edmonton: Juriliber, 2007) at 279.

End of 2L Update, Part I

2008-04-14T18:41:00.005-04:00

Okay, did I even comment last week about the end of 2L course work? TF&C, what's that quote from T.S. Eliot? "This is the way the world ends; not with a bang, but a whimper" is the way it goes, I think. So went 2L.

After a couple days back at the ranch to see the fam and deal with AHC business stuff (web designers, ads, gentleman's agreements), I returned to O.T. on Saturday for my last full week here. Exam on Friday, move out on Saturday, head back home and crack out a couple of papers.

This year has officially been kind of a mess, and I've had to undergo a bit of an attitude adjustment, summarized here, in order to survive my somewhat logistically ridiculous life choices. In spite of the craziness, I've actually done some work this year that I'm really proud of (a trend which will hopefully continue until April 30). The stuff that was disappointing to me was less about personal failure than about system failure. It's not easy travelling two days a week, trying to meet everyone's needs and give both family and school their due. Top off with selling a house in a crazy market, moving the family, getting the kiddies into a new school AND language, starting a new business...you get the idea.

Exam rituals? I have cleaned my room today. So far not too much junk food, and no pop (soda water, though). It's early going though. Music on shuffle: several Beatles albums, Tragically Hip, Broken Social Scene, Led Zepplin, Bob Marley, Franz Ferdinand. Don't ask me why.

And, today is our wedding anniversary. Lucky number seven. Six years ago on our anniversary, both AHC and I decided to go back to school, me for media and he for culinary management.

Could we have imagined then any of this now?

Please Hold, Someone Will Not Be With You Shortly

2008-04-08T07:46:00.003-04:00

On Friday, I hitched a ride back to T.O. with FCLF (French Common Law Friend). We had a rendezvous at the Thrifty on Laurier. I was a few minutes early, so I wandered in and sat down in the waiting area. Now, I wasn't being particularly noisy or anything, but I wasn't in stealth mode either. I sat there close to 10 minutes without seeing even one employee.

FCLF showed up at the appointed meeting time, and we started talking so it is likely that someone heard us (or should have). He waits a minute or so and then wanders over to an open door that apparently leads to the office space.

"Hello? Hello?"

No one comes out. There's no bell, there's no sign indicated someone will be back in five minutes. How do we attract attention? FCLF calls them on his cell phone.

"Hi, I'm standing out front and there's no one here and I have a reservation."

Okay, so then whomever he was speaking to actually put him on hold! We could actually hear the person in the back. I don't know why he was put on hold when he or she could have just said someone would be out in a couple of minutes. But he decided to stay on hold just so we could see how long it took. And it lasted at least three minutes before the utter ridiculousness of it caused FCLF to hang up. At which point someone did actually come out to the front to say that someone else would be with him....when they could find the guy.

THEN, after the relevant guy shows up (another couple of minutes) and starts the reservation, the phone rings and he picks it up without a word to FCLF and proceeds to have a fairly long conversation (in normal time, not so long maybe, but in customer service time when you're ignoring another customer who is right in front of you and whose transaction you've just interrupted, a very long time). This is one of my HUGE customer service pet peeves. And if you have to talk on the phone in the middle of my transaction, you better say "excuse me" before you pick up that phone and then you better apologize when you hang up.

The only good part of that whole encounter was that we got a free upgrade because there were no compact cars available.

Reason, Finally

2008-04-01T09:36:00.002-04:00

I am so pleased to see this article in The Toronto Star today, on a new report on homework from the Toronto District School Board. Some of the recommendations include:

no homework for kindergarten kids
no homework over holidays
up to grade 2, having homework consist mostly of game playing, discussions or cooking with family
grade 7 & 8 students should have no more than 1 hour per night of homework combined across all subjects and high school students no more than 2 hours

I'm so happy to see some wisdom on this issue. Our new school has been pretty good on the homework front, but when TG started grade one in Toronto, you may recall some of my trepidation about the expectations laid out by her teacher. This extended to homework, which we invariably only completed fully about half of the time (we had a lot on our plates, and better things to do with our family time). Each week we got a little pink sheet detailing each day's homework (this is mostly fine, the report recommends assigning homework in blocks so parents can plan, but it didn't need to be assigned down to the day) with the ominous reminder at the bottom "Homework will be graded."

TG got a C in homework. Seriously. I just shook my head at that because she couldn't do that work on her own, she needed our help to read the instructions and sometimes more. When the work didn't get done it was very clearly our fault, not hers. The report also says that non-completion shouldn't affect a student's overall grades.

Some of our friends in Toronto are still lamenting the amount of work their kids are getting. I don't blame them. Before we left, TG's teacher told us she was concerned about her switching to full French (from immersion), and was worried she couldn't handle it. This teacher was nice, but I think had entirely unreal expectations of the kids. We got TG's first report card from her new school and she got a bunch of A's and B's. No C's. And no grade for homework.

Earth Hour

2008-03-30T20:33:00.003-04:00

We participated in Earth Hour yesterday. I don't think any of our neighbours really did, but we shut off the lights and computers and whatnot and had fun by candlelight with the kiddies and niece and nephew.

Playing Blockus

The boys play with superheroes

The girls play dominoes

The fish observe Earth Hour by turning off their tank light

Fun was had by all.

Internet Problems Revealed, Solved!

2008-03-26T17:48:00.006-04:00

A very helpful technician from Bell showed up today to fix our wireline (finally, it only took them three months to figure out it needed to be done). Since we moved in January to our awesome and lovely century home, the internet has been a continuous problem (you can only imagine my horror), either not working at all, or working very slowly or only half working (in spite of the fact that we're in a 6 zone or something). He replaced a bunch of sub-standard wire not fit for internet. He also removed the thing you see above, "the original phone box" which routed the line from the street throughout the house. The very nice tech thinks it was probably installed around the time of the war. And I don't mean the Iraq war, part one or part two.

The fact that the internet worked at all routing through that old technology makes me kind of impressed. We have a brand new, modern phone box encased in grey plastic. It works a lot better, which makes me happy and all, but it's certainly not as pretty or interesting to look at as the original ceramic piece. Another antique for our collection.

Turning (No, Not Turing)

2008-03-26T10:11:00.002-04:00

This past weekend I celebrated my naissance by throwing a party for someone else. AHC got hired by the boss/friend of a friend to do a fancy dinner and I went along to help him out because a) it was a Saturday night and being out without the kids is almost a date b) the business is 50% mine so all of my control-freak instincts are completely reasonable and c) AHC is really in his element in this type of setting and I rather enjoy watching him practice his craft and supporting him when I can.

In spite of not really partying for myself, there was undeniable satisfaction in the work. I spent my time making stemware sparkle, setting the table (when in doubt, Emily Post), preparing party favours (AHC's balsamic reduction in little jars for the guests), doing dishes (yes, dishes), helping plate to courses and serve them, and occasionally giving presentation advice (I saved him from making an error in judgment on the Roma tomato & boconcini salad).

What I was doing was labour, an interesting fact given the recent work Trixie and I did on slavery and technology and higher pursuits versus lower pursuits. It's a nice change from school, which, at its worst, is not much more than intellectual wanking. At its best, it's something really interesting and worthwhile, but I have alluded in my recent posts to my sense it's just been a lot of wanking this year. (My perspective changed recently after the presentation Zen I experienced with Trix a week ago. I'm feeling a lot more energetic about the thoughtful pursuits these days). Intellectual fatigue is something much different than the physical fatigue that hits after you've been on your feet for 7 hours labouring. Helping AHC on a few occasions these past few weeks has provided a nice counterpoint to my other life.

So there it is. I turned 30 in someone else's kitchen doing something that we both like to do. (I even have my own whites, which make me feel slightly like a poseur, but AHC assures me I'm just fine.) I'm not one of those people who freaks out about getting older. I still believe that the farther I get away from my adolescence, the better. I will, however, look forward to a time in my life when my birthday won't fall at the end of the semester (no one is in the mood to have fun!).

On a scale of Un to Zen

2008-03-15T08:51:00.001-04:00

"If you understand, things are as they are. If you do not understand, things are as they are."

One liner

2008-03-05T08:16:00.003-05:00

I have just been reading a number of articles for my Robots class (yes, Robots!), and I was struck by this line from Duncan Kennedy:

"I think their answers to questions like those I have been addressing are just made up out of whole cloth to....scratch the itch of existential dread before the unknowableness of the most important things in life."*

Like, wow. I totally know how that feels, and I think it beautifully puts words to the unease of my current state of mind.

*"Toward A Critical Phenomenology of Judging" in Allan C. Hutchison and Patrick Monahan eds., The Rule of Law:Ideal or Ideology (Toronto: Carswell, 1987).

Stick(er) it to 'em

2008-03-04T12:32:00.002-05:00

In an effort to motivate me at school (she's not deaf, obviously she's heard me complaining some this time around), my adorable child has provided me with the above selection of stickers and helpful advice on how to use them to get my work done. She suggests setting a timer and setting a goal for myself in the allotted time. If I am successful, she says I can give myself a sticker to decorate my computer.

When I talk to her at night, she frequently asks me if I got any stickers today. This invariably makes me smile. And because I don't want to a) lie to her and b) disappoint her, I find myself using this system of mild-mannered behaviour modification.

In so many ways, she has truly changed my life.

When Banks Are Our Friend...Sort Of

2008-02-27T11:10:00.003-05:00

I have to admit that I sometimes find the invisible ability of banks (and credit card companies) to track our movements a little spooky. One time I used my "emergency" credit card to buy a pair of shoes, in my own city even. There was a message from the bank by the time I got home asking me to call and verify that the purchase was legit. Apparently even the bank's algorithms twigged to the fact that my need for pretty shoes does not, in fact, qualify as an emergency. Apparently it was in my best interest (and theirs) to ensure the safety of my credit.

AHC got a call this morning from our bank saying they suspected his debit card has been hacked and that his account was frozen. In a bizarre bit of luck, I happened to have made a number of large payments via online banking yesterday. One effect of this was that we inadvertently contravened a rule, imposed by the bank, about daily spending limits from the account which we share. AHC tried to make a purchase which failed to be authorized because we had exceeded the spending limit (unbeknownst to him), in spite of the fact that sufficient funds were there. (One can discuss the legitimacy of the banks controlling how much money I want to spend in a day via electronic regulation, but that's for another time.)

The other effect was, of course, saving us from having nearly $1,000 stolen from our account. The daily-limit rule prevented the PIN-thief from getting the money because the bank overruled the withdrawl in spite of the availability of the funds. And their magic algorithms alerted the bank to the unusual pattern of activity which resulted in the freeze on the account.

All that to say, I still have a love-have relationship with the bank. And I'm totallyawed by the computations that must be behind all of it.

"It's time for the news"

2008-02-26T22:09:00.005-05:00

Pencil and 1.0mm Staedtler Fibre-tip pens.

I actually understood WTF they were talking about on CPAC when they referred to the extension of the the accelerated capital cost allowance write-off.

Woot.

"What I dream of is an art of balance"

2008-02-25T20:45:00.001-05:00

I have a really great colouring book. I bought it for The Girl, but she insisted I bring it with me to Ottawa. I miss my creative self. Time to find her. This is part of enjoying life again. Anyway, each page has a theme or suggestion.

This page's was "Draw something heavy on each side". I felt it was an appropriate start because of the whole clichéd balance issue I'm dealing with (not that that has anything specific to do with what I drew).

The quote in the title is from Matisse. Also apropos.

O Blogging, Where Art Thou?

2008-02-25T19:26:00.002-05:00

It's time for me to admit that I have a problem.

And that problem is school-related guilt.

It prevents me from doing things in my life that I enjoy. In fact, it prevents me from enjoying life, which has been a real problem over the past six months. I can't say that I've been enjoying law school much this year and it's had a rather poisonous effect throughout my existence. Life outside of my studies quite "got in the way" this 2L and that put me quite behind in the studies department. My twisted guilt-complex said something like: "you can blog when you're caught up."

So, since November 28, I have not blogged. This blog is not a celebratory post announcing that I am caught up! I am not caught up! Upon reflection, not blogging hasn't really helped my mood any. It hasn't particularly made me more productive either. Only more depressed in the absence of something that I actually like to do.

So that's it. No more torture. No more self-flagellation.

It's time to enjoy life again. Come to think of it, I'd rather like to enjoy law again too. I'm still working on a plan for that one, but I'm open to suggestion.

A video is worth a thousand words

2007-11-28T23:07:00.000-05:00

This clip by Maria Bamford reflects so many of my fears about moving back to the small town of my youth. I should say that the anxiety is probably mostly unfounded. We don't even have Target in Canada!

Talis(wo)man(s)

2007-11-27T08:08:00.000-05:00

I'm not exactly one of those people with a multitude of lucky trolls at a bingo game, but at times like these (uhm, 14 days until my major paper is due, quickly followed by two exams and another paper!) I start to draw strength from things that remind me of those dear to me. I have two lucky objets du jour: a necklace that Ilush gave me when she visited from Israel two years ago (she's a PhD, so I draw strength from her academic staying power and her absolute wit about the academic life) and a scarf that Merlot knit for my last birthday which she only recently finished (symbolizing both: someone loves me enough to knit me a scarf and the old adage "better late than never"). I love these women. Even from afar (Israel and the West-friggin-End), they carry me on.

First Snow

2007-11-16T21:32:00.000-05:00

I was out for a walk to get air and buy exam supplies when it started to snow! First time it's happened to me this year. Turns out I had to buy a hat while I was getting notepads, post-it flags, a file organizer (I seem to have a lot of research materials these days) and some magnets (I don't know what it is about them, but I can't resist)--lest my ears freeze off on the way home. This marks the beginning of exams and intensive period of research. I have several interesting projects I'm working on, plus a couple of exams that I need to take care of.

I remember the uncertainty last year of the first set of 1L exams. How little we seemed to know back then! Life is overwhelming for different reasons this semester, but this is probably as trying as it's going to get ever.

At least I started off this season of marathon studying in fine fashion with dinner at TF&C's. Everyone needs homemade tourtière, friends and good conversation for a couple hours before the mental onslaught and exhaustion of exam season.

That time of year

2007-11-15T09:13:00.000-05:00

There's something that starts to happen about this time every semester. I start buying food that has expiry dates after my exams. When I go to the grocery store I'm going to have to start asking for paper bags so that I have something to hyperventilate into when I talk stock of how near I am to the end of the semester (and what feels like imminent doom, though I may be overstating that a little bit).

Everything is better with flannel jammies

2007-11-03T12:09:00.000-04:00

The best time I ever had reading Civil Procedure was this morning at 7am when TBB padded quite sleepily down the stairs, crawled up and fell back to dreams on my lap. He was giggling in his sleep and carrying on a nonsensical conversation with me from the beyond.

And he was wearing flannel Spidey PJs.

Those were the best Civ Pro readings ever.

Lost in Translation

2007-10-14T17:44:00.000-04:00

When I went to Norway for ISFiT 2005, I got kind of a head cold on my way home, probably from running around in the snow dressed inadequately. I bought this in the Schipol Airport in Amsterdam to dull the sinuses on the flight home.

I find this lost in translation to be exceedingly funny, though it's probably politically incorrect of me to do so. Still, if this did what it said it did in English, it would explain so much.

Apologies

2007-10-13T09:47:00.000-04:00

Has is been since Sept 18 since I last posted? That is simply unacceptable, I agree. When you start law school, there's this saying that upper years pass along: in first year they scare you, in second year they kill you and in third year they bore you.

In the killing phase of law school, and it's living up to it's reputation. But it's not law school so much, it's really the fact that I'm hardly in Ottawa, I spend half my time commuting, I've got more than one job and I'm selling my house. I think in first year, you spend so much time trying to figure out law school stuff and then you hit a point where you kind of get it. Getting it gives you delusions of grandeur, which makes you think you can do things like having jobs and selling your house, in addition to law school. I will only know whether that is actually possible in December when I have two major papers and two 100% exams written.

Right now, all I can say is that I hope third year lives up to its reputation. And I rather hope I live to find out.

1L This (Was) Your Life

2007-09-18T14:18:00.000-04:00

The Charter, Dolphin Delivery, Suresh, Morgentaler, Gosselin, M. v. H., N.B. Broadcasting, Slaight, Eldridge, McCutcheon, Lavigne, Dagenais, McKinney, Douglas College, Stoffman, Vriend, Hunter v. Southam, Oakes, Irwin Toy, Keegstra, Keegstra, Thomson, Harper, RJR MacDonald, Lavigne, Ford, Oakes, Singh, Motor Vehicle Ref, G.J., B.R. v CAS, Rodiguez, Blencoe, Nova Scotia Pharmaceuticals, CFCYL, Keegstra, Butler, Law, Andrews, McKinney, NAPE, Turpin, Corbiere, Schachter, Auton, Miron v. Trudel, Egan, Therens, Big M Drugs, Edwards Books, Little Sisters, Phillips, Manitoba Language Reference, Canadian Dyers Association Ltd. v Burton, Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v. Boots Cash Chemists, Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co., Goldthorpe v Logal, Blair v Western Mutual Benefit, Williams v Carwardine, R (v) Clarke, Harvela Investments v Royal Trust, R v Ron Engineering, MJB Enterprises Ltd v Defencec Construction (1951) Ltd., Livingstone v Evans, Butler Machine Tool Co v Ex-cell-0 Corp., Tywood Industries Ltd v St. Anne-Nackawic Pulp & Paper, Ontario Law Reform Commission, ProCD v Zeidenberg, Kanitz v Rogers, Brinkibon Ltd v Stahag Stahl, Rudder v Microsoft Corp, Household Fire & Carriage, Burne v Van Tienhoven, Dickinson v Dodds, Errington V Errington and Woods, Barrick v Clark, Manchester Diocesan Council v Commercial and General Investments Ltd., Balfour v Balfour, Rose and Frank Co. v JR Crompton and Bros. Ltd., Toronto Dominion Bank v Leigh Instruments Ltd., The Governors of Dalhousie College at Halifax v The Estate of Arthur Boutillier, Wood v Lucy, Lady Duff v Gordon, Eastwood v Kenyon, Lampleigh v Braithwaite, Thomas v Thomas, B (DC) v Arkin, Pao On v Lau Yiu Long, Gilbert Steel Ldt. V University Const. Ltd, Williams v. Roffey Bros & Nicholas (Contractors) Ltd., Foakes v Beer, Re Selectmore, Foot v Rawlings, Judicature Act, Central London Property Trust Ltd. v High Trees House Ltd., John Burrows Ltd. v Subsurface Surveys, D & C Builders Ltd. v Rees, Saskatchewan Rivers Bungalows v Maritime Life Assurance, International Knitwear Architects v Kabob Investments Ltd., History of Doctrine of Privity, Provender v Wood, Tweddle v Atkinson, Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. v Selfridge & Co. Ltd., Vandepitte v Preferred Accident Insurance, McCannell v Mabee McLaren Motors Ltd., New Zealand Shipping Co. Ltd v AM Satterthwaite & Co. Ltd., London Drugs Ltd v Kuehne & Nagel International Ltd., Edgeworth Construction Ltd v ND Lea & Associates Ltd., Redgrave v. Hurd, Smith v. Land & House Property Corporation, Kupchak v. Dayson Holdings, Bank of B.C. v. Wren Developments, Redican v Nesbitt, Ontario Sale of Goods Act s.13-15, 27, Hong Kong Fir v. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Krawchuk v. Ulrychova, Wickman v. Schuler, 968703 Ontario v. Vernon, Machtinger v. Hoj Industries Ltd., Parker v. South Eastern R.y. Co., Promech v. Bronco Rentals, Thornton v. Shoe Lane Parking Ltd., Interfoto Picture Library v. Stiletto, McCutcheon v. David MacBrayene Ltd., British Crane v. Ipswich Plant Hire, Lestrange v. Gracoub, Tilden Rent-A-Car Co. v. Clendenning, Delaney v. Cascade River Holidays Ltd., Zhu v. Merrill Lynch HSBC, Solway v Davis Moving and Storage, Karsales v. Wallis, Photo Production v. Securicor Transport Ltd., Hunter Engineering v. Syncrude Canada Ltd., Roberts v. Gray, Ontario Law Reform Commission, Hart v. O’Connor, Dynamic Transport v. OK Detailing, Madison v. Alderson, Steadman v. Steadman, Degelman v. Guaranty Trust, Lensen v. Lensen, Pao On v. Lau Yiu Long, Gordon v. Roebuck, National Westminster Bank v. Morgan, Geffen v. Goodman Estate, Morrison v. Coast Finance Ltd., Marshall v. Can Permanent Trust, Lloyd’s Bank v. Bundy, J.G. Collins Inc. Agencies Ltd v. Elsley, Sherk v. Horwitz, Assisted Human Reproduction Act, S.C. 2004, McRae v. Commonwealth Disposals Commission, Bowlay Logging Ltd. v. Domtar Ltd., Sunshine Vacation Villas Ltd. v. Hudson Bay Co., Hunt v. Silk, Chaplin v. Hinks, Groves v. John Wunder Co., Nu-West Homes v. Thunderbird Petroleums, Jarvis v. Swans Tours, Hodgkinson v Simms, Hadley v. Baxendale, Victoria Laundry v. Newman, Asamera Oil Corp v. Sea Oil & General Corp, White and Carter (Councils) v. MacGregor, Semelhago v. Paramadevan, John E. Dodge Holdings Ltd. v. 805062 Ontario Ltd., Warner Bros. v. Nelson (Bette Davis), Zipper Transportation v. Korstrom, R. v. Ssenyonga (1991 and 1993), R. v. Cuerrier(1998), Ontario (Attorney General) v. Ontario (Criminal Injuries Compensation Board), R. v. Moore, R. v. Proulx (2000 SCC), R. v. Hinch and Salinski (1968 SCC), R. v. Gladue (1996, then 1999 in SCC), R. v. Naquitarvik (1986 trial and appeal), R. v. Moses, R. v. Hamilton (2003, 2004), R. v. Latimer (2001 SCC), Sault Ste. Marie (1978 ONCA), BC Motor Vehicles Reference, R. v. Wholesale Travel, Canadian Dredge and Dock Co.(1985 SCC), R. v. Safety-Kleen, Bill C-45 (2003), R. v. Buzzanga and Durocher, R. v. Steane, Gaumont v. Henry, R. v. Jorgensen, Beaver v. The Queen (1957), R. v. Pappajohn, R. v. Vaillancourt (1987), R. v. Martineau (1990), R. v. DeSousa, R. v. Creighton (1993), R. v. Tutton, R. v. Creighton (1993), R. v. Ubhi (1994), R. v. Finlay (1993), Teaching Rape Law--Susan Estrich, Pappajohn (1980) SCC, R v. Sansregret (1985) SCC, Amendments to Rape Laws in Criminal Code: 1983 Amendments, 1992 Amendments, R v. Darrach (1998) Ont. C.A., R v. Park (1995) SCC, R. v. Ewanchuk (1999) SCC, DPP v. Beard (1920) HL, R v. George (1960) SCC, R v. Leary (1977) SCC, R v. Robinson (1996) SCC, R v. Bernard (1988) SCC, R v. Daviault (1994) SCC, R v. Daviault: A Principled Approach to Drunkenness or a Lapse of Common Sense--Martha Schaffer , R v. Abbey (1982) SCC, R v. Chaulk & Morrissette (1990) SCC, Rabey v. The Queen (1990) SCC, R v. Parks (1992) SCC, Winko v BC (Forensic Psychiatric Institute), R v. Stone (1999) SCC, R v. Luedecke, R v. Parks (1993) Ont. C.A., R v. Williams (1998) SCC, R v. Spence (2005) SCC, R v. RDS (1997) SCC, R v. Hill (1986) SCC, R v. Thibert (1996) SCC, R v. Ly (1987) BCCA, R v. Eyapaise (1993) Alta QB, R v. Mallott (1998) SCC, R v. Jacko, Paquette v. The Queen, Hibbert v. The Queen (1995) SCC, R v. Ruzic (2001) SCC, Yanner v Eaton, INS v AP, NBA v Motorola, Morris v PGA Tour, Victoria Park Racing, Moore v The Regents, Gould Estate v Stoddart, Jones v Los Angeles, R v Clarke, Mariner Real Estate v NS, Didow, Edwards v Sims, Robertson v Wallace, Koenig v Goebel, Blewman, R v Nikal, LaSalle, Diamond Neon, Glencore, Indian Oil, deMarchant, Cavalier Yachts, Gidney v Shank, Theberge v Gallerie, Monsanto v Schmeiser, Harvard Mouse, Mattel (Barbie), Sotelo v Direct Revenue, Intel v Hamidi, Hoffman v Monsanto, Popov v Hayashi, Pierson v Post, Doyle v Bartlett , Black v Molson, Carrozi v Guo, Keefer v Arillotta, Teis v Ancaster, Barberree v Bilo, O’Keefe v Snyder, Trachuk v Olinek, Baird v BC, Bird v Fort Frances, Millas v BC, Parker v British Airways Board, Charrier v Bell, Nolan v Nolan & Arnor, Re Bayoff Estate, Brown v Rotenburg, Pembery v Pembery, McDonald v McDonald, Watt v Watt, What is property? Right, Access Theory (Waldron), Doesn’t Exist (Grey), Purposive – Economists, Security (Reich), US Const. Expropriation, Right to Exclude, Right to Exclude – Consensus, Essentialism, Multiple-variable essentialism, Nominalism, Yanner v Eaton, Properties of Property, Burdens of Ownership, Systems of Property, Public, Common, Public & Common, Case for Private Property, Important Social Values, Economic Arguments, Law & Economics – Efficiency, Exclusive, Transferable, Tragedy of the Commons, Justification for Private Property, Utilitarianism, Tragedy of the Commons, Natural Rights, Personhood Claims, Labour & Desert, Promotion of Freedom, Aboriginal Title, Recognition of Aboriginal Title, Other Rts, Loss or Alteration, INS v AP, NBA v Motorola, Morris v PGA, Victoria Park Racing, Amistad, Gould v Stoddart, Scott, “Poverty in Canada”, Waldron, “Homelessness & Freedom”, Jones v LA, R v Clarke, “No Place Called Home”, Magna Carta, Declaration of Rights of Man, US Constitution, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, European Convention on Human Rights, Canadian Bill of Rights, NA Free Trade Agreement, Canadian Charter, Mariner Real Estate, Didow, Cujust est solem, Edwards v Sims, Coase Theorem, Transaction Costs, Holdouts, Monopolies, Endowment, Robertson, Koenig, Border Trees, Blewman, R v Nikal, LaSalle, Diamond Neon, Dunsmore v. Deshield [1977] Sask, Neighbour Principle, Donoghue v. Stevenson [1932], Anns v. Merton London Borough Council [1977] HL, Cooper v. Hobart [2000], Moule v. N.B. Elec. Power Comm. [1960] SCC, Amos v. N.B. Elec. Power Comm. [1976] SCC, Palsgraf v. Long Island Ry. Co. [1928] NY, Osterlind v. Hill [1928] MASS, Matthews v. MacLaren; Horsley v. MacLaren [1969] ONT, Crocker v. Sundance Northwest Resorts Ltd. [1988] SCC, Jordan House v. Menow [1973] SCC, Stewart v. Pettie [1995] SCC, Childs v. Desormeaux [2002] ON, Jane Doe v. Metropolitan Toronto Commissioners of Police [1998] ON, Thorne v. Deas [1809] NY, Smith v. Rae [1919] Ont CA, Zelenko v. Gimbel Bros Inc. [1936] N.Y.S. SC, Soulsby v. Toronto [1907] Ont, Morash v. Lockhart & Ritchie Ltd. [1978] NB CA, Corothers v. Slobian [1975] SCC, Urbanski v. Patel [1978] Man, Horsley v. MacLaren [1972] SCC, Videan v. British Transport Comm [1993] England, Saccone v. Fandrakis [2002] BC, DUTIES OWED TO UNBORN, Pre-Conception Wrongs, Risk to the Fetus, Wrongful Birth and Wrongful Life, Arndt v. Smith (1994) BCSC, H.(R.) v. Hunter [1996] Ont, Wrongful Pregnancy, McFarlane v. Tayside Health Board (Scotland) [2000] UK HL, Rees v. Darlington Memorial Hospital [2002], Pre-Natal Injuries, Dobson (Litigation Guardian of) v. Dobson [1999] SCC, Maternal Tort Liability Act (Alberta), R. v. Sullivan [1991], Becker v. Schwartz (1978) N.Y. C.A, Winnipeg Child and Family Services (Northwest Area) v. D.F.G [1997] SCC, B.R. v. L.R. 2004 Alberta Q.B, Krangle (Guardian ad Litem of) v. Brisco [1997] BC, Bourhill v. Young [1943] England, Alcock v. Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police [1991] UK HL, Rhodes v. Canadian National Railway Co [1990] BC CA, Haughian v. Paine [1987] Sask CA, Health Care Consent Act, 1996, Risks to be Disclosed, Manufacturer’s and Supplier’s Duty to Warn, Hollis v. Dow Corning Corp [1995] SCC, Beshada v. Johns-Manville Products Corp. [1982] NJ, Lem v. Borotto Sports Ltd., Lapierre v. A.G. Que [1985] SCC, Good-wear Treaders v. D&B Holdings Ltd. [1978] NS CA, Reasonable Person, Arland v. Taylor [1955] Ont CA, Bolton v. Stone [1951] HL, Miller v. Jackson [1977] Eng CA, Paris v. Stephen Borough Council [1951] HL, Vaughan v. Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Comm. [1961] NS SC, Watt v. Hertfordshire County Council [1954] CA, Priestman v. Colangelo [1959] SCC, The Cause-In-Fact, The But-For Test, Barnett v. Chelsea & Kensington Hospital Management Committee [1969] HL, Qualcast v. Haynes [1959] UK, Richard v. C.N.R. [1970] PEI SC, Kauffman v. Toronto Transit Commission [1959], Material Contribution Test, Walker Estate v. York-Finch General Hospital [2001] SCC, Arndt v. Smith [1997] SCC, Materially Increased Risk – Inference of Causation, McGhee v. National Coal Board [1972] UK HL, Snell v. Farrell [1990] SCC, Sindell v. Abbott Laboratories [1980] Cal SC, B.M. v. British Columbia, Athey v. Leonati [1966] SCC, Nowlan v. Brunswick Const. Lee [1972] SCC, Penner v. Mitchell [1978] AB CA, Dillon v. Twin State Gas and Elec Co. [1932] US, Re Polemis and Furness, Withy & Co. [1921], Wagon Mound No. 1 Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd. v. Morts Dock [1961] AC, Hughes v. Lord Advocate [1963] HL, Thin-Skulled Plaintiff Rule, Smith v. Leech Brain & Co. [1962], Marconato v. Franklin [1974] BC SC (Egg shell personality application), Wagon Mound (U.K.) Ltd. v. Miller Steamship Co. Pty [1967], Assiniboine South School Division v. Greater Winnipeg Gas Co. [1973] SCC, Bradford v. Kanellos [1973] SCC, Oke v. Weide Tpt. Ltd. [1963] Man CA, Jolley v. Sutton London B.C. [1998] BC CA, Price v. Milawski [1977] Ont. C.A., Hewson v. Red Deer [1976] AB, Tong v. Bedwell [2002] AB, Robitaille v. Vancouver Hockey Club [1979], Kraft v. Oshawa General Hospital [1985], Janiak v. Ippolito [1985] SCC, Andrews v. Grand & Toy Alta. Ltd. [1978] SCC, Krangle v. Brisco [1997] SCC, Death of a Dependent Family, Bianco v. Fromow, Dredger v. S.S. Edison, Ratych v. Bloomer, Cunningham v. Wheeler, The Doctrine of Subrogation, R in Right of Can. v. Sask. Wheat Pool [1983] SCC, Walls v. Mussens Ltd. (1969) (N.B. C.A.), Negligence Act, [1990], PURE ECONOMIC LOSS, NEGLIGENT MISREPRESENTATION, TORT LIABILITY OF PUBLIC AUTHORITIES, Just v. British Columbia (1989) SCC, Contributory Negligence, Walls v. Mussens Ltd. (1969) NB CA, Gagnon v. Beaulieu [1977] BC, Madge v. Meyer [2002] AB CA, Ottoson v. Kasper (1986), Mortimer v. Cameron (1994) ON CA, Voluntary Assumption of Risk, Dube v. Labar (1986) SCC, Participation in Criminal or Immoral Act, Ex Turpi Causa, Hall v. Hebert [1993] SCC, John Bead Corporation v. Soni [2002] ONT, Norberg v. Wynrib [1992] SCR, Inevitable Accident, Rintoul v. X-Ray And Radium Indust. Ltd. [1956] SCC, Basra v. Gill [1995] BC CA, Cook v Lewis, Smith v Stone, Gilbert v Stone, Miska v Sivec, Hodgkinson v Martin, Ranson v Kitner, The Mediana,Livingston v Rawyards, Hawkins v McGee, B (P) v B (W), Penarth Dock v Pounds, Bettel v Yim, Non-Marine Underwriters v Scalera,Larin v Goshen, Dalhberg v Nayduik, Stewart v Stonehouse, Morgan v Layacomo, McDonald v Sebastian, MK v MH, Bruce v Dyer, Holcombe v Whitaker, Police v Greaves, Bird v Jones, Campbell v Kresge, Robertson,Herd v Weardale, Thomas v Norris, Nelles v ON, Proulx v Quebec,Stoffman v OVC, Wilkinson v Downton, Purdy v Woznesensky, Radovskis v Tomm, Samms v Eccles, Clark v Canada, Cant v Cant, Motherwell v Motherwell, Hollinsworth v BCTV, Cadbury v Schweppes, Szarfer v Chodos,Argyl v Argyll, Sonmar v McDonald’s Restau, Bhadauria v Seneca College, Fouldes v Willoughby, Boma Manufacturing, McKenzie v Scotia Lumber,Aitken v Gardner, Gen & Finance Facilities, Entick v Carrington, Turner v Thorne, Harrison v Carswell, Trespass to Property Act, Hudson’s Bay v White, Kerr v Revelstoke, Bernstein v Skyviews, Boehringer, Edwards v Sims, Ont. Ltd. v Huron Steel, Hollywood Silver v Emmett, Christie v Davey, Tock v St. John’s, AG Ont v Orange Productions, Hickey, Rylands v Fletcher, Read v Lyons, Gertsen v Metro Toronto, Defences to Rylands rule, TG Bright Co v Kerr, BPA v Curry, Salmond principle, 671122 Ontario Ltd v Sagaz, Wright v McLean, Agar v Canning, Williams, Papadimitropoulos, Toews v Weisner, Latter v Braddell, Lane v Holloway, R v Jobidon, MM vKK, Nelitz v Dyck, Norberg v Wynrib, Marshall v Curry, Malette v Shulman, Brushett v Cowan, C v Wren, Consent and culture, Thomas v Norris, Wackett v Calder, Gambriel v Caparelli, R v Duffy, McDonald v Hees, Bird v Holbrook.

Gone but not forgotten...

xoxo,

TCO

Green with envy

2007-09-09T12:39:00.000-04:00

AHC's brother is a fancy copy writer in advertising and got tickets for the Coen bros. release at TIFF, No Country for Old Men. He generously asked AHC to go with him to the show, at the Elgin Theatre. Apparently they had great seats.

Now, I'm not much of a fanatic when it comes to stars. But there are a couple of leading men that I am particularly fond of. Clive Owen and Viggo. I loved Clive before anyone knew who he was. Admittedly, the role of Aragorn brought Viggo to my beloved attention.

After the show, the boys were filing out and a volunteer asked them to wait a moment so that a group of starts could pass by, including Woody Harrelson, Kelly Macdonald, Eddie Vedder.

AND CLIVE OWEN! Apparently he's as tall, dark and handsome in person as in fantasy land. AHC said, "Hey, Clive Owen!" And Clive turned and looked at him and kind of acknowledged the fact that he was, indeed, Clive Owen. ACH thinks I would have peed my pants if I'd been there, and even I can admit there's some chance of that.

Like I said, normally I'm not that starry-eyed over stars, but you can't deny that Clive Owen is pretty dreamy.

I really need to start volunteering at TIFF. Think of all that I've been missing out.

Happy New Year

2007-09-04T22:28:00.000-04:00

As ever, the summer has disintegrated into thin air. In some ways I lament its passing, but somewhere around August I start to feel the pull of academic life. Even for the few years that I was out of school between high school and university, September, and not January, signaled the new year for me.

The Girl started grade one today. First time in full day school, though she started full time daycare when she was a year old, so being out of the house all day is nothing new for her. Different, however, is all the talk of responsibility, even on the first day. The demands on we parents shall grow ever steeper, I get the distinct impression already. Though she/we have a reprieve from homework for the first week, I have a sheaf of papers that I must dutifully fill out (emergency contact, pick up release form, optional phone and email request, immediate community walking excursion permission form, lunch information form, and a media release--which I have decided not to sign).

Also receive were the instructions of Mme G, our new teacher--and I mean "our." Instructions on: indoor shoes; bathroom procedures and expectations (I'm not kidding, there are bathroom expectations now); classroom recess toys routine ("to ensure that toys are returned and to promote students' responsibility"); attendance expectations; school year supplies (including these specific essentials: "2 storing pockets for communication and homework, must be CLEAR PLASTIC (NO COLOR[sic] VELCRO TAB OPENING, 3-HOLED"); pocket information (which will come in the aforementioned clear, velcroed storing pockets); the home binder with clear instructions on inserting tabs and labeling them in the appropriate order (in case you're wondering, the appropriate order is Room 4, School, Old Monthly Behaviour Charts, Songs' Repertoire, Vocabulary Sheets/Spelling, Sounds/Phonetic, Reading, Writing, Math Sheets, "..."); Behaviour Schoool Tracking & Home Follow-up (including a list of suggestions for a reward/consequence system); and finally the weekly schedule.

HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!

In rereading the package (I want to call it The Brick, after listening to Naomi Klein's interview on The Current this morning) I notice that the way that one of the headings is laid out on the page makes it read like "Room 4 Parents Behaviour School Tracking and Home Follow-up." Which is appropriate, since I have the distinct impression that my behaviour as a parent will be tracked and followed from now on. I've got a bit of a love-hate relationship with the school system. I have an instinct to fight some of this rule-boundedness, but then I don't want to screw my kids, do I? It's a conundrum.

Anyway, the good thing about this type of school model is that it's bound to dull some of the sharpness of their clever little minds. After school TG proudly presented me with a book she'd drawn for me today with all of my favourite things: herself, AHC, Big Boy, a castle cake, Harry Potter and my laptop. Jesus Christ. "HA! She's got you pegged," said AHC.

Bring on the rules. She needs to be a little less clever...

If my career in law fails, I'll be a homemaker

2007-08-10T15:49:00.000-04:00

It occurred to me suddenly today that no fewer than THREE of my favourite people have the initials MM. Is this statistically unusual? I don't know. If there is a statistician out there who can answer that question for me, I'd be interested in knowing the answer.

The one male MM of the group came over for lunch today. Threatened with the prospect of having to live up to AHC's standard, I made peach crisp for dessert. Luckily MM is a recovering country boy from Out East, and lived a childhood replete with every variety of crisp baked by his mother. I'm sure he was saying it just to quell my insecurity, but he said mine was better than his mother's.

Take that, AHC!

(Sadly, this picture would be so much better if I had my dad's Nikon. Will somebody please buy me a digital SLR and put me out of my misery??)

Attack!

2007-08-08T19:58:00.001-04:00

On the long weekend, the fam and I went to O-town to move some of my stuff. Within five minutes of arriving at CFO's house, the kids managed to break a lamp (that's one in 100% of the places I've lived in Ottawa). After moving, we hit the Children's Museum, the Dinosaur show at the Imax, a Tex-Mex resto with TF&C and Partner, and, on Sunday, a friend's cottage near Arnprior. We had a great time. AHC actually picked mussels out of the Ottawa River and cooked them up just to try. I think we all only had one, so probably not enough to kill us with whatever pollution or toxins lay within.

The Big Boy got out of the River with a little friend attached to his little toe for lunch. Now, I sort of regret not taking a picture of it while it was still attached. After all, I don't think leeches are life threatening. My mothering instinct was more intent on getting it off. Which is why I would have failed as a papparazzo. I did take a pic afterwards now, with the wound. And you can't even really see the yucky bruise! Eek!

Why are women always looking like idiots?

2007-07-12T12:51:00.001-04:00

I'm not the first person to notice this, but I'm having a surge of "pissed off" about it right now:

Why is it that commercials always make women look like dumb freaks on any kind of cleaning product ad? Seriously. I just watched two Febreeze ads. One of them actually had a female psychiatrist lying on the patient couch sniffing like a fool. The patient says "Doctor, shouldn't I be on the couch?" and she snaps back, "No!" So, presumably a woman who has spent thousands of dollars and years on her education lacks the capacity to maintain professional behaviour faced with a sweet smelling cleaning product.

This is but one example of any number. It disgusts me. I'm going to start buying lemons and vinegar to do my cleaning because I'm offended by it.

And yet in December 2006 , our friends in Canada's New Government thought it was a good idea to remove equality from the mandate at Status of Women, close SoW offices and cut funding to advocacy programs.

Don't think these are unrelated in the grand scheme of things.

Eat Your Greens

2007-07-05T22:48:00.000-04:00

Just a quick note to point out that AHC has started posting on his recipe blog again after a bit of a hiatus (could it be that he was a single dad with two kids for eight months? I'm not going to hold it against him...too much). His recent post on cooking vegetables reminded me of the fact that when he started studying culinary, he hated vegetables. I always bugged him that it was not going to be acceptable for a chef to not eat vegetables. After a short time at cooking school, he realized that, in fact, he did NOT hate vegetables, just that his mother had been overcooking them for his entire life.

(It also amuses me that she likes to take credit for his cooking ability: "I taught you everything you know!" whenever he has suggestion (like, for example, the right way to cook veg). It's like that scene in Dirty Dancing where Baby's mother says something like "I think she gets it from me." On the bright side, she's really good at refried beans and other southern fare of her youth.)

Being that I am the beneficiary of pretty much every recipe on the blog, I can certify that it's all pretty damn good. I highly recommend reading and cooking from it.

The Facebook Dilemma

2007-07-05T09:02:00.000-04:00

PRIVACY: I've spent considerable time this year studying privacy at school, for my research job and for my own personal interest. I've spent the past several weeks reading numerous SCC judgments on the "reasonable expectation of privacy," a standard (if you can call it that) underlining a person's s. 8 Charter rights. I worked lengthy hours on a report about digital rights management technologies and the privacy concerns surrounding them. I've got a continuing project about health records and privacy. I'm all over privacy.

Which is why I have a Facebook dilemma. I've resisted thus far. I do not have an account, though I will admit to hypocrisy: When I came back from school, I logged on to AHC's account (with his permission) and nosed around. Found some people, sent a couple of messages and even re-connected with a couple of people from the past. Otherwise, it seems kind of freaky to post stuff for the world to see. I know you can fix your privacy settings, but I have concerns that there's insidiousness just below the surface and I don't want to get sucked into it.

This is mostly a problem right now because I am in Toronto and many of my friends are not. But many of them have FB accounts. It seems like one way to keep in touch. Scanning someone's FB page seems kind of like passing them in the hall, or chatting for a minute by the lockers after class.

In truth, I'm one of those people who thinks you can't really replace face time with a person. I'm against living online. It would drive me crazy in class that people would be posting on people's walls in the middle of class to people who were three rows away. Seriously, wait until after class and talk to the person! It's a whole confluence of elements in our culture, I think: our sharing culture (guilty! I have a blog!) and our soundbite culture (not exactly guilty, but I do have a past in journalism, contributing to the phenom), to name but two. Oh, and I should add our simulacrum culture, just to shout out to Killingsworth. [On a weird note, I just pulled out my Canadian Oxford to check the spelling of "simulacrum" and I opened it on exactly the right page.]

What to do?!

US Supreme Court

2007-07-03T13:41:00.000-04:00

The Sunday New York Times (from July 1) had an interesting article on the session of the US Supreme Court that just closed. By the way, why is there only one woman (and only one visible minority) on the US Supreme Court? Not that Canada is the shining paragon of equality, but at least we've got four women sitting in our highest court. Though we're a little slim on the minorities ourselves. Unless you count the French.

Curse Selection

2007-06-21T16:01:00.000-04:00

Have you ever noticed that dropping one little letter turns a "course" into a "curse"?

That has meaning at so many levels, but I am referring in particular to the selection of these courses/curses, which is happening as we speak. My dear, dear university posted no fewer than 10 documents pertaining to selection, with over 100 classes to chose from. Luckily, my scheduling requirements are very specific, so I was able to eliminate most of them, so my choices were more limited.

I hope it all works out.

'Fraidy Cat

2007-06-20T10:35:00.001-04:00

I was reviewing a number of judgments late into the night last night, long past dark and long past the kids and AHC went to bed. The judgments pertained to a variety of unsavouries, including murderers and drug dealers.

The house was very quiet and very dark and I fairly expected someone to jump out and harm me as I went up to bed. I checked the doors were locked twice.

It's like watching horror movies and being too scared to sleep (which I don't do because I'm a suck). I totally managed to psyche myself out.

TCO Reads

2007-06-13T12:43:00.000-04:00

Isabel Allende, Aphrodite. (June 2007)
Ahhhhh, food. And love. Or lust. Hot stuff. It's a book all about aphrodisiac foods. It was great. Funny and amusing. And thank God, it didn't take itself too seriously. Plus, good recipes. Or, I assume they might be good. I might even try some of them. I need to cook more to get in touch with my inner creator.

Scott Turow, One L. (June 2007)
I picked this one up at CFO's house, when AHC and I stayed there last week. The infamous law school book! I expect I would have had a different reaction had I read it before or during school. As it were, I recognized the sentiments and laughed at some of it in solidarity. But the utter confusion is passed (gone since Poa On in the first semester of contracts). And I didn't have any of those Perini-type crazy Socratics. I did have one really crappy teacher, but that is another story.

Batya Gur, Murder in Jerusalem. (June 2007)
It was alright. A murder mystery. Another pickup from the guest room up north. Passes time in the summer.

Wayne Johnston, The Colony of Unrequited Dreams. (June 2007)
This was quite beautiful. I visited St. John's last year, so I could picture the places in the book, which is something I tend to love when reading a book. Plus, I remember writing an essay on Joey Smallwood in grade 8. I don't remember what I wrote at all, except that Smallwood was a personal hero of my teacher (so I imagine it was glowing). I love the humanity, foibles and weaknesses of heroes. It reminds me of my grandfather, who was a great man and loved by many (known to many in his capacity as a United Church minister), but with undeniable shortcomings in some parts of his life. And yet we love and idolize him all the same. I tend to love him more because of this humanity, by which I mean to indicate his capacity for mistake, poor judgment, weakness. Even the great men and women are touchable.

Michael Cordy, The Messiah Code. (May 2007)
Urgh. Don't read this. It was weekend reading from the guest room at my parents place. I picked it up for something to do. It was even renamed to sound like The DaVinci Code to capitalize on the popularity of that book. Which it needed, because otherwise it sucked, even worse than DaVinci Code.

Nicola Kraus and Emma McLauchlin. Citizen Girl. (May 2007)
Okay, for a summer read. But perhaps slightly depressing given its take on the job market, on women in the job market, on young women and the need to sell out in the job market, and on the feminist job market. Maybe not the way I needed to start my summer after spending the previous eight months increasing my student (and personal) debt by several thousand dollars just for the privilege of studying law. May my future not be hers, but I have at least a shadow of a doubt about that.

Between the Covers

2007-06-13T12:38:00.001-04:00

A while ago I heard or read an interview with a woman (I can't now remember who, but I think maybe it was on CBC) who kept a journal of all the books she read. This sounds like a fascinating idea to me. I used to read a lot more than I do now (other responsibilities in life have reduced my overall reading time), but I still manage to get in a lot of reading compared to some people. Anyway, I'm going to start just such a record. See the menu for the link to the list...

Closetfill

2007-06-10T22:57:00.000-04:00

For some inexplicable reason, I had a strong urge this weekend to clean out the closet of my childhood. And that's not a metaphor for anything. I mean the actual closet of my childhood, which has been accumulating stuff since I moved to that house in 1983. It's been cleaned out a variety of times over the years, but not so much since 1996 when I graduated from high school and moved to Europe. Since then, my room ceased to be mine, and all my stuff got boxed up and closeted...until now. I took a couple of antihistamines and dug in.

I found a lot of good/funny stuff: tons of ridiculous and hilarious stuff from old boyfriends (including a cool pair of socks from one of the Italians which I still could not part with), a picture of ACH and me on the night that began it all, a letter dated 1992 from the uncle who has had an undeniable impact on my present path, some of my old art (I hope I don't regret tossing it out, but it's not that good), and all manner of photographs from every stage of my life.

One of the most fantastic things, though, is the collection of cassette tapes accumulated over my life. The last time I was in that closet, people still listened to cassette tapes. In fact, I am listening to some of my old tapes right now. Talk about flashback. Anyway, here's my collection, because it's seriously making me laugh:

All manner of mixed tape, including *'s Happy Fun Tape (punk tape made by my best friend from grade 11-12), my dad's Oldies but Goodies mix with the Bobby Fuller Four version of "I fought the law" which I LOVED when I was a kid (and still do), and at least a couple of boyfriend mixes (Seany's Noisy Mix comes to mind)
A whole series of The Solid Gold Collection which was this series published by Esso or Shell in the '80s. You got them when you filled up. Gas stations never do that any more.
Butterfly Plague and Imp, both bands with people I knew in them
Debbie Gibson "Out of the Blue," Olivia Newton John, "Greatest Hits" (none of which I recognize), Paul Abdul "Forever Your Girl" (apparently not enough to ruin her life forever), Madonna "Like a Virgin", Salt n Pepa "Very Necessary" (not the one with "Let's Talk About Sex")
Jimi Hendrix "The Ultimate Experience," Christopher Cross, Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way," Leonard Cohen (still a fan, but now I'm old enough to appreciate him),
Smashing Pumpkins, the Flaming Lips, Enigma "The Cross of Changes," 54-40, Nirvana "Bleach," Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis "We Can't Dance," Snap "World Power" (?), The Beatles, Beastie Boys "Licensed to Ill" (a tape which got stuck in the the player of my LeBaron for several months one time), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Arrested Development "3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days in the Life Of", Nine Inch Nails (yeah, that one), USA for Africa "We Are the World" (back when MJ wasn't a total freak yet), Technotronic, Breakdance (a compilation of break dance music), and C+C Music Factory ("Everybody dance NOW..." oh, the good old days!)
A ton of stuff from my dad's collection, including lots of classical music, Bellafonte, Liberace and the Dueling Banjos
There's a tape labelled "Elvis Presley - LIVE (Taped in Denver-11/77-Gramps) Merry Xmas to Ricky 1977"-there's no one that I can think of in my family named "Ricky" so I'm going to have to find out who that is. Also, Elvis didn't perform after June of '77, but it definitely sounds like him on the tape...maybe it's his ghost.
And, my personal favourite, from 1984, published by K-tel International Ltd: The Minipops "Let's Dance"!!!! I'm embarrassed by it, but Hsuan (our billeted harpsichordist from the TBSI) and I kind of got down listening to this tonight. I have to say, they do a pretty good "Our house [in the middle of our street]."

There is a ton of stuff without labels, so I'm going to have to go through and check it out, just for old time's sake.

Okay, time to bust a move.

Okay, Now I'm Done

2007-05-30T14:26:00.000-04:00

When I got into the car this morning, The Beatles came blaring at me, to the tune of "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da," with the meaningful refrain: "Life goes on." Yeah. I took that as a good sign. And The Beatles was fitting music in some ways, being one of the all time favourite groups of the professor of my property law class, a class in which I managed to pull off a minor coup on my final grade. A rather unexpected pleasant surprise. So, I thought, it makes sense to listen to that music if it, in some cosmic way, connects me to the brain waves that got me such a gift in my property class.

No car accidents, no infections or diseases (or infectious diseases), no fire alarms or bomb threats (or fire bombs). For better or for worse, that exam is now done. Just getting it written feels like a minor coup. I'm happy.

AND, I am officially done 1L.

Seriously, I Still Have One Exam to Write

2007-05-29T09:03:00.000-04:00

Me and exams? We've got issues. And it's not that I can't write them, either. I do just fine on exams, thank you very much. But last semester it was ear infections before Crim (and throughout the rest of 1L). Then, on the first day of exams I had to attend a funeral, so my K exam was deferred. Which I promptly rescheduled. And then promptly got a strep infection the day before I was supposed to write it.

I'm fairly convinced that I'm going to get into a car accident or something on the way up to Osgoode (that's where I'm writing the exam, so I don't have to go back to Ottawa) just because things happen in threes (don't they?) and because it would just sort of be funny if it happened. Again.

The Sour Cream of Wit

2007-05-28T18:50:00.000-04:00

AHC and I spent dinner last night teaching the kiddies about sarcasm. They hear us use it all the time, but I'm sure it's confusing for them, especially the irony part. Cognitively, kids can't get their heads around this linguistic device until a certain age. The Girl, at 5 3/4 years, got it once we explained it to her, but Big Boy, at 3 3/4 years, just couldn't think up one sarcastic thing to say. I suppose I should be grateful for that. I should perhaps hold off this type of teaching until they get through their teens, but I've really never been smart that way.

We played this game where we'd give them a phrase and they'd have to say whether it was sarcastic or not. TG was right 100% of the time and BB was mostly just perplexed (Me: TG just loves it when we make broccoli for dinner, TG: That's sarcastic, BB: But I like broccoli!). AHC gave her this one: "It makes me so happy when [the neighbour's dog] pees on our lawn." To which TG deadpanned:

"That's definitely sarcasm."

Love on the Internet

2007-05-24T12:50:00.000-04:00

Some days, I love the internet. I just had a live chat with a librarian from Glendale in Los Angeles County, California who helped me locate a state bill in Oregon which I could not find.

Librarians are fantastic. Some days, I wish I was one.

Radio Silence

2007-05-13T18:18:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the long absence. Between the never ending exams, deferral--part one, immediately driving to Montreal for CFP only hours after finishing my last exam, the long drive back to TO from MTL after 8 long months of law school, strep throat, deferral--part two, two days in class for a summer course, and the job interview...you get the picture.

Anyway, I'm back. My law peeps are scattered. Or maybe I'm the one that's scattered. We're probably all a little scattered right now. Praise be that I never have to do 1L ever again.

Stay tuned for a series of post-1L reflections, just for the hell of it.

Big Boy Joy

2007-04-29T16:03:00.000-04:00

Conversation with the Big Boy this morning, who is with the Grands this weekend while I finish up IL:

BB: Hi Mummy [resigned voice]
Me: Hi Big Boy!
BB: Mummy, I miss you A LOT. [matter-of-fact voice]
Me: Oh, I miss you too.
BB: Where ARE you? [confused voice]
Me: Ottawa, at school.
BB: Oh, yeah. Now you've got 'zams. Lots of 'zams. [sympathetic voice]
Me: Yes, lots of exams.
BB: And lots of reading. Lots of reading. Are you coming home on Monday?
Me: Not Monday, Friday. Five sleeps [I count the sleeps with him]
BB: YEEESSSSSSSS!

He's starting to sound a lot older on the phone now. Like a little adult. I don't think I could take this much longer. He makes me too happy. I'm totally selfish for his love, his little kisses, his hysterical sense of humour, and his good company. Even if the Big Boy weren't my kid, I think we'd be friends. I mean, how can you not be friends with someone who adores you?! Aside from the adoration, there are definitely less than 10 people in this world who crack me up like he does. There's lots of other good things about him too, but if I get into them all, I'll just sound like one of those biased mothers (which would be true, but he's actually fabulous).

Rituals

2007-04-21T08:52:00.000-04:00

It finally feels like I'm writing spring exams and not winter exams. Snow storm on Monday, but yesterday it was 18 degrees or something like that. Actually warm. I've been studying steady (almost) for the last 10 days, however, and I notice my exam rituals. I think I have three fairly reoccuring ones:

1Rroom cleaning. At the beginning of exams I always to a major clean up and then I basically have to start every day after tidying. Because by the end of a day of studying there's paper, coffee cups, glasses and the detritus of brain junk all over the place.

2) Music. This semester it's Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Count Basie and a little Bob Marley (because the sun finally came out). Last semester it was Chris Isaac, Sarah Harmer, Hawksley, Cat Power. Apparently I needed mellowing last semester.

3) Junk food. I bought Coke last night. This is almost the only time I drink pop. I'm not even a mixed-drink kind of pop drinker. There will probably also be Pizza Pizza, M&Ms, chips. It's kind of like an act of desperation. I have no good excuses for this one!

Anyone got good exam karma for me?

Hitched!

2007-04-14T12:52:00.000-04:00

Wow! I've been married to a nice guy for six years today. SIX YEARS! That's pretty good, I think. And what's really good is that I'm more sure today than I was eight years ago (when we got together) why we're great. It's a bit of a comfort to know that things have actually improved in our relationship over time. None of that post-honeymoon let-down. We're still getting better!

Anyway, to AHC, it really sucks that I'm not home today with you and the fruits of our (*my*) labours, but soon we'll be through this most difficult of years. History tells us that we keep getting better, so there's no reason to doubt that now...

And now that I'm in law school, I kind of love the fact that I got married in the Court of the Queen's Bench at Osgoode Hall. I loved it before, but my career path makes it extra-extra special (for the sentimentalist in me who likes tradition and lineage).

Home Stretch

2007-04-11T09:37:00.000-04:00

It was rather anti-climactic, but my last class of 1L occured yesterday. There's a lot going on, so I failed to notice that I'd made it this far. "Made it" being a relative term. This was kind of a crappy semester, between the vertigo and the ear infections and the family strain (they are getting so sick of me being absent). Also, I haven't really made anything until I pass those final exams, which will hopefully be at least mediocre. You know it's been a bad semester when I am hoping for mediocre.

I have two papers and four exams to go. I already miss my friends. I'm a cocooner at exam time. I don't play well with others. I'm a study group failure. I kind of hate every person who ever encouraged me to go to law school. But it will pass. I hope. Since I really like some of those people.

Good luck to my prof who had to cancel class this morning. It's the best of times and the worst of times for awhile, but it usually gets better...

It's a Small, Small Wiki After All

2007-04-10T20:39:00.000-04:00

I just found out that a guy I had a fling with in highschool has a wikipedia page. This is what living with your high school friend with a laptop and a highspeed wireless connection does to you.

Seriously, I should be studying.

The Riot Grrls Will Not be Happy

2007-04-01T10:13:00.000-04:00

Argh! There's a porn movie on an adult channel (which, by the way, I do not subscribe to, I just see the menu) called "Grrrl Power!" Talk about co-opting the women's movement for the wrong reasons. And something tells me it's not of the feminist porn genre. Could it be that it's on the Hustler channel. Yup, that might be it.

Oops

2007-03-31T12:15:00.000-04:00

I just dropped my cellphone into my coffee.

Opinions on whether that's bad?

This Week in Survival

2007-03-30T09:07:00.000-04:00

I turned and faced the strain this week, which meant a return to the family in Toronto. It's been a long seven months of me being mostly gone and we're all feeling it.

This week I got by on:

Loose leaf Earl Grey tea
Raking the yard
Putting air in the bike tires for spring
After dinner walks around the neighbourhood
Mommy sandwiches
Picnics on the front porch (first one of spring) and on the livingroom floor
Planning a feminist counter-culture bachelor(ette) party for a great friend
Buying new mechanical pencils
Hot butterscotch toddy before bed

Without classes to get in my way, I have actually been doing quite a lot of work, co-mingled with quite a lot of family time. Sometimes school is not the end all be all, and that's just the way it is.

Eat Your Heart Out

2007-03-21T23:53:00.000-04:00

I love AHC. He is so delightful that he agreed to bring his chef self to Ottawa and cook for my small group. One of our profs is a sommalier and she agreed to do the wine pairing. And one of my colleagues (and his lovely wife) with a real house, including real (i.e. not student) kitchen offered to host us. I think there were 24 of us all together. Here's the menu, to set your mouth a-watering:

Smoked salmon on pesto-glazed crostini w/ drizzle of balsamic-soy reduction
*
Ginger-lobster salsa on Belgian endive with rice vinaigrette
*
Tequila-lemongrass broth
*
Lamb shank or chicken with shitake mushroom risotto and steamed bok choi
*
Watermelon-basil palette refresher
*
Chocolate mousse & flourless chocolate torte w/ sake flambéd berries.

Wines:

Quinta de Cabriz Vino Espumante Qualidade Bruto, 2004

Jean-Paul Godinat Quincy, 2005

Five Rivers Pinot Noir, 2005

Cuvee des Ardoises Chateau des Earles, 2003

Moscato d'Asti, 2006

Ho-ly Christ. It was a fantastic meal, if I do say so myself. Nice work, AHC, and nice work Prof. Sommalier.

Richard Posner, One Helluva Guy

2007-03-21T23:06:00.000-04:00

I recently read the following passage in Solove & Rotenberg, eds., Information Privacy Law (New York: Aspen Publishers 2003) at p. 41. (Sorry if the citation is wrong. Where is my goddamned McGill Guide when I need it?!)

One economic argument for privacy is that sometimes people form irrational judgments based upon learning certain information about others. For example, an employer may not hire certain people based on their political views or associations, sexual orientation, mental illness, and prior criminal convictions -- even though these facts may have no relevance to a potential employee's abilities to do the job. These judgments decrease efficiency. Posner, in his book, The Economics of Justice, offers a response:
This objection overlooks the opportunity costs of shunning people for stupid reasons, or, stated otherwise, the gains from dealing with someone whom others shun irrationally. If ex-convicts are good workers but most employers do not know this, employers who do know will be able to hire them at a below-average wage because of their depressed job opportunities and will thereby obtain a competitieve advantage over the bigots. In a diverse, decentralized, and competitive society, irrational shunning will be weeded out over time..." [emphasis added]

Now, I'm as much of a fan of the law and economics perspective as the next person (*ahem*) but am I the only one who thinks that 1) the above statement is practically inhumane and 2) Posner is a blindly faithful fool if he thinks that irrational shunning will be weeded out in a decentralized and competitive society? Because, yeah, so far that's totally playing out. Or maybe when he says "over time" he means like a really really loooooooong time when we'll all be, you know, dead.

You Do It To Yourself, You Do

2007-03-14T23:59:00.000-04:00

In a cruel twist, I am being punished for making light of dead grandmothers (who are not legitimately dead anyhow, so I don't know why I am being punished).

More or less 24 hours ago, I brought up "Dead Grandmother Season" and what happens to me? Struck down by dual ear infections. And when I say struck down, I mean it kind of literally, in that
my balance is all screwed up and I walked into a doorframe and practically knocked myself unconscious. [Stop laughing at me!]

Now the pressure in my ears is so intense that I can't sleep, which would be very nice, and I can't do anything useful, which would at least be productive. Poor poor me.

In lieu of useful or very nice, and in an attempt to distract myself, I just spend 5 minutes checking out Feminist Law Professors. This post positively made me cry, and not because of my ears. Ann Bartow is my new flavour of the month (and perhaps longer, but I won't know until I can spend more than 5 minutes at a time reading). Thanks to the CRCELT for pointing out this blog. Someday I hope to know as many cool things and people, but I doubt if I'll ever catch up now.

Pointless Law Question of the Day + One Embarassing Moment

2007-03-13T18:34:00.000-04:00

I don't know why this thought popped into my head, but I was wondering what happens to all of the "R. v."s when we don't have a Queen anymore? When Charles takes over, will we call cases The King v. So-and-so, Rex Regis v. So-and-so? Someone, please clear this up for me.

My embarassing moment occured when I ran into one of my profs on the way out of FTX. He asked me how I was doing, and I replied that I was busy with school work and that it was getting to be "Dead Grandmother Season". He had this just absolutely horrified look on his face and seemed worried for a minute until I said that I just meant that it was getting to be that time of year where people start coming up with excuses for not getting their work done. As in "Sorry my paper is late, my grandmother died." As one former-prof friend of mine said, "they start dropping like flies this time of year."

I suppose I may have been a bit presumptuous - I just assumed he'd get that since he's a prof and I heard that expression from other of my profs (though not law profs). So wow, I don't know if he now thinks that I have really poor taste in humour or what, but the look on his face was kind of priceless (even if he does think I'm a bad person now for making light of poor dead grandmothers).

Train Etiquette

2007-03-10T07:54:00.000-05:00

I've learned a thing or two about train etiquette since I've been taking the train about six times a month for the past six months. I'm a commuter on the VIA passenger service, so my perspective is a little more sophisticated perhaps, than someone who is just an occasional traveller.

I was mightily annoyer nearly the entire ride home yesterday morning with a passenger who was sitting behind me. She decided to share far too much information with the women sitting across from her. For example, I know that she's on her third degree (you'd think someone was giving her the third degree), and she's in teacher's college right now; she once took a class in which she had to learn all of the states and their capitals, as well as countries and capitals (or maybe she knows someone who was teaching that class); her boyfriend's name is Tom and he's a swell guy; they've had quite a lot of long distance in their relationship due to travel and school, but they talk all the time (like that morning and the night before); she was quite ill this fall and had to be hospitalized for a while; when she got out, Tom re-arranged his schedule so he could be in Ottawa with her and he had to follow her around for two weeks because she had some balance problem which could have caused her to topple over at any moment; she has a brother who is two years younger than her, who was put into a private school as a teenager because their parents were worried about his behaviour; said brother went through three post-sec programs in two years and couldn't decide on one until finally Dad refused to pay anymore; now Brother is working for Dad and he's turned himself around - all of the customer's love him because he's a real charmer and no one has a bad word to say about him; she struggled with the decision whether to pay for a cab to the train station in the morning, but she decided to in the end and she tipped the cabbie (who spent the entire time on the phone) because he was really friendly; she lives somewhere within a $12 cab ride of the train station in a first floor apartment with a few steps walk-up; I also know her opinions on the Children's Aid Society, manners and a general parental failure to teach them these days (as if, we get blamed for everything), friendliness, cleanliness and godliness. Okay, I don't know if she talked about godliness - I slept half the time. But the rest of it is true.

It's not that I care if she shares all sorts of personal and pointless information with strangers. It's really more that she did it in a carrying voice for all to hear. Talking in the train requires something akin to a stage whisper. Loud talking on the train is probably the biggest breach of etiquette. Forget the safety cards in the seats - print the rules of etiquette.