The Way Everybody Knows My Name

For some inexplicable reason I've woken up most morning this week with a song stuck in my head. That is not unusual in itself. But there's no music, no radios, nothing playing anywhere near me, my room, my flat, or possibly my street at that time in the morning. So where on earth do I get things like the Theme Song from Cheers, and George Gerschwin classics stuck in my head? Bizarre.

But the upside of that means my morning stroll into work has been somewhat more interesting. Humming a song to counter the rhythm of footsteps, oblivious to the numerous other passengers stuck in the sway of foot traffic. It is quite sincerely possible that by now I have become infamous among morning corporates. I hope not. In any event at least my anonymity remains.

I've also had innumerous hours of fun with fridge magnets. The collection we have is rather astounding, though still somewhat limited. Unfortunately most of the great words have been allocated by the girls to adorn cut outs of Daniel Craig and some Welsh guy. Thankfully the remnants I've utilised have remained untouched.

Curious German

On my travels and daily searching for procrastination, I've taken to improving my German language skills again. To that end, it really involves looking up strange and exotic words in the German Language. You see, there's a plethora of nouns out there we English speakers would be lucky to have. One word to precisely describe a feeling, thought, situation, or reaction. It's a stunning language.

So far, the one that made me laugh the most at work is legerdemain - the feeling of residual guilt that remains after you've discovered that one of your illicit pleasures was lawful after all.

I think I'm going to continue my hunting and collecting on this front. You're welcome to join me.

Bliss

Near Picturesque

Wellington has been visited by some beautiful weather of late, though sadly not for the most part of today - the wind has found it's viscous strength again and seems intent on flouting it. But besides that, the weekend was amazing. As suggested, picturesque.

It seems so bizarre that this weather has been hitting us. Wellington is usually known for its characteristic wind, yet over the last few weeks, it's been notoriously absent. Something it's reminding us of now as the window frames pulsate with the prodigal gales. In any event, it's provided some idyllic days, some glorious sun, and some peaceful afternoons. I've been trying to take it in, but it's difficult. The last time I encountered such idyllic Autumnal weather, I was in Hamburg.


It's almost picturesque, but there's something missing. I'd give anything.

Mrs Robinson

Graduation time again in the grand old city of Wellington, and boy was the weather turned on for us today. Immaculate conditions, bright, sunny, and still.

It was amazingly climatic. Sounds bizarre, but I had written off graduation, wondering whether it would all be anti-climatic. The parade was great fun, seeing so many people come out and cheer us on, and then the ceremony. But it felt amazingly good to stride out across the stage and collect my degree in Science, and another in Law. Damn it felt good. The surge of clapping from the staff was reassuring. It was made all the more better by having a Senior Lecturer, who had lectured me in first paper six years ago, handing me my degrees and whispering "Congratulations Michael, it's about bloody time".

So, finally, I am a graduate. And everything is going so brilliantly well. It's as if things have slid into place for me since my excursion to Germany. Everything is on the up, and I'm striving to keep it that way.

Mr Credible

Okay, today saw my first ever appearance in the Court of Appeal, and it was pretty damn sweet. This nicely sums up my thoughts on it:



I'm going to fight tooth and nail to get into the litigation team sooner rather than later. I'm a damn determined fellow.

Anyways, onto graduation tomorrow. Waltzing through town in a periwinkle blue gown on a windy day, then sitting for three hours of speeches before getting my three seconds of fame as I stride across the stage to collect two bits of paper representing six years of my life. I'm looking forward to it. Closure. That's what it is.

Does that make it wrong that I'm starting to think about doing a Masters of Law part time now too? Probably something in Alternative Dispute Resolution and IP, or IP on the internet. Something cool like that, something to sink my teeth into, and get work to pay some towards.

Dear John,

I mentioned The Letter Project last post, and I'm seriously giving it some thought. I mean, how often to we get letters these days? Okay, I'll rephrase that. It's rare for me to get anything other than bills and account statements in the post these days.

Gone is the romanticism of penmanship. And if you know me, you know I'm a hopeless romantic. Even my emails can be long detailed works. I'd describe them as resounding tomes, except for the fact they often reflect on mindless daily drivel, or needless flowery language as a lecturer once told me. Tomes, yes. Resounding, no.

Cards would be a nice alternative though. I enjoy sending them. I can't comment on receiving them, as its been awhile. Admittedly the frequent ones from my Mum when I was in Germany were reassuring, motivating, and I'd like to think, grounding me in reality.

This whole discussion begs the question: what is the etiquette relating to written works and cards, is there a required or expected time of response, is a response necessary, and if so, must it be in the same form? Card for a card, or is it limited to the form - hand written for hand written, or is an electronic response to a hand made card appropriate?

Instant communication may have robbed us of the antiquities we once savoured.

Tidbits

Interesting link of the week has to go to The Letter Project.

It's an extremely intriguing idea, and I'm almost tempted just to flick an email off. Everyone loves mail, and of late all I've had is bills or bank statements. I'm sure there'd be appreciation for a hand written letter or card.

Also, have people seen The Great Beer Delivery? The guy featured in it is a good mate of mine, and details have been passed on in confidence. All I can say is this will be massive, absolutely massive, and I would love to go. Green with envy. That's me. Though things are pretty damn sweet here, and taking three months off from this is something that may hurt me in the longer term.

To finish on a high note - I'm graduating this Thursday, six years down the track, and I'm finally closing the books on my Chemistry degree and my Law degree. The excitement builds.

OMFG

I was just asked today to participate in a Court of Appeal case. No. It's not like the High Court case below. I get to write submissions on what has become a central issue. And it's law yet to be settled in an appellate court in New Zealand. So I'm feeling amazingly over the moon and nervous at the same time. And it's on Monday. I have two working days to do this...

But nonetheless, I'm still blown away. Four months on the job and I'm writing submissions on a piece of unsettled law in New Zealand that's to be determined by my submissions in an appellate level.

My friends in major law firms who've been there for years are yet to do this. Hell, and I'm not even really involved in litigation according to my job description.

Oh, and for the completely whacked out experience of the day, check out Antartica, and the Southern Auroa. Whack.

Six Degrees of Separation

So today I had my first involvement with a High Court case. Okay, so I didn't make submissions. Nor did I write them. Okay, okay, I watched a case. But it had someone from my firm involved. Well, okay, I didn't get to see her present, that's because she was there as an instructing Junior. But it was good fun nonetheless.

I did get to meet the Partner in charge of litigation. And she had heard of me before, and conveyed the amazing impressions of me passed on to her. Score! And she's also said that she'll be in touch when she's down next week. Sweet! Maybe I'll be getting more exposure to litigation. I sure hope so.

Things are looking up at work.

The Tang of Success

Sweet sweet news. Work has asked me to attend a hearing tomorrow. That's right, I'm going to be Junior Counsel.

I was asked this morning if I'd like to help out, and my answer was naturally positive. The file was passed onto me, and my instructions were to go through the evidence and submissions and see what I thought and how I'd deal with it all. Which was amazing. Goes to show what they think of my experience thus far. Even more so as Senior Counsel took note of my comments and approach.

I'm totally over the moon about it. I've been grinning all day. But it's been the only highlight of the day really. Work was otherwise work. It's still a case of learning alot, and that's difficult enough without the criticism. It's completely constructive, and it's more than welcome, but it is disheartening to hand something in which took many hours to prepare to have so many corrections to it. It's draining nonetheless. Then there's the study, the tutorials, and finding time to do everything else. Like I said, draining.

As the remainder, I had posted alot more, but it's not really relevant. Babbling more like it. And chances are things will change over the next couple of days. One hopes.

Oh, but I did find this:

Little Things

Smiles mean alot to me. Especially yours. It's a glorious sound.