Harvard-Schmarvard

Swiped from the ABA Journal, idiot in search of “simpler life” burns his degree from Harvard Law School:

“Jack,” a Washington, D.C., a 30-something lawyer who announced on his blog in June that he is giving up his $300,000-plus annual salary and opting for a simpler life.

In Adventures in Voluntary Simplicity, Jack blogs about his excesses and exit strategies. Then on Oct. 27, he took a key symbolic step in that direction. He burned his Harvard law degree and posted a video on YouTube for all the world to bear witness.

“I’ve been thinking about doing this, in one way or another, for a while now. But I was never really sure if I would be doing it for the right reasons. Not to mention how silly it sounded whenever I brought it up to people. But this weekend it all came together: the weather was beautiful, the trails were inviting and freedom seemed just around the corner. So I went for it,” Jack writes.

“This is NOT a knock against Harvard. Or a calculated criticism of legal education. Or even a rejection of elitism, per se. Sometimes you just need to say goodbye to your past in order to move forward.”

In the end, he concludes, “it was just a piece of paper.”

That’s some privilege for you… burning up your degree means nothing. “Just a piece of paper,” is right. Nobody ever asks to SEE your degree. They can care less. It’s basically a big piece of vanity. A pat on your back. Mine hangs in my living room. When I get my JD, I’m sure I’ll put it in my office but that’s not necessary. If “Jack” ever wants to get another $300,000 gig, all he has to do is turn in his resume with Harvard, send in a transcript from Harvard or even say “Harvard” and he’s back. This is like Bill Gates burning $100,000. So the fuck what?

Rest assured, however, that I will NOT be burning my shit. All the blood, sweat and tears (literally. that’s not just a cliche) I put into these past three years will go into a nice little frame so everyone can see it and I can pat myself on the back.

Reading is fundamental

In class today, some chick made a comment that to have a bright and motivated child, you have to sit down and read to them. I immediately thought, “well, nobody sat down and read to me and I’m remarkably bright!” I think I’m sort of an anomaly though. While no one really sat down and read books with me, reading was always encouraged by example in my household.

I initially grew up with my grandmother and she loved to read romance novels. She had a bookcase full of paperback novels. Covers with long-haired men clutching porcelain-skinned women with heaving breasts in a castle. In elementary school I grabbed those books and would read them, devour them. Sure, it was fun because they had “grown-up” things inside but nothing too dirty. You kind of need some foundational knowledge of sex to begin with if you’re going to decipher lines like, “then he un-sheathed his powerful sword and impaled the center of my pulsing love.” Um, okay. If you’re not familiar with romance novels, you might not realize that they’re more than trashy books for housewives. The authors of those books research them like crazy. I learned so much about history since many of the books are set long, long ago.

The book fair at school was so much fun. Where else could you buy Judy Blume books, unicorn folders and kitten bookmarks? I loved getting those little paper leaflets a week before the book fair advertising what would be for sale. I’d take it home and circle what I wanted, then show it to my grandma who would give me the money. Then on the day of the book fair, our teachers would take us to the library where cases of books would be opened to display all the wares. Maybe I just liked buying something or maybe I just liked kitten bookmarks. I don’t know.

Then there was this bookstore called Bookworms. Sometimes my aunt, my grandpa and I would all go there. It was a place where you could take your used books and get credit to buy other books. There were tall shelves filled with paper- and hard-backed books. The best thing was they had two aisles dedicated to teen books. Man, I would spend time going all through the shelves picking up 4 or 5 books per visit. My favorite area was the Babysitters Club area. I don’t know if you know this about me, but I’ve read every single Baby Sitter’s Club book written up until 1996 (they stopped being published in 2000), including the Super Specials. I loved Ann M. Martin and her tales of the diverse babysitters in fictional Stonybrook, CT. I wrote Ms. Martin who wrote back telling me how to start my own club. I failed at that, by the way. There are no babysitter’s clubs in the hood. :(

While no one really told me it was important to read or sat down and read to me, reading was a valuable past time. Even my mom, who is anything but a model parental example, likes to sit still and read. I think that contributed to my love for books and for my thirst for knowledge. I like historical fiction, Asian fiction and books dealing with the immigrant experience. When I like someone, I usually buy them a book. Call me corny, but I think it’s romantic to lay in bed with someone and you both read quietly to yourselves. Nowadays, I have no time to read anything besides law books, cases and depositions. I think that will be one of the best things after the Bar – getting back to books.

I think in the future (when I’m out from under some of this education debt) I’d like to support public libraries. Become a patron of sorts. I’m kind of afraid for the future of institutions like libraries and I think they’re really important. Perhaps libraries need to do more to fit into today’s world and appeal to today’s youth but they ought not become relics. I still have library cards from Chapel Hill, Wake County and Brooklyn libraries. I need to cop one for the Philadelphia Free Library, while I’m talking.

What do you like to read? Do you have time to do it anymore?

Rain, rain go away

The World Series got rained out last night. I’m forced to wear a hood today because the wind is making it rain sideways. Silver lining – I’m wearing cute rain boots. I’m inspired to play some “rain” music.

SWV- RAIN

MISSY – The RAIN

NEW EDITION – Can You Stand the RAIN

Soul 4 Real – Candy Rain
Madonna – Rain
Milli Vanilli – Blame it on the Rain
Ashanti – Rain on Me
Jill Scott – Love Rain
Tamia – Rain on Me
Blu & Exile – Dancing in the Rain