90 degrees from reality

So a week ago today I strode out of my Employment Exam - last exam of my three year JD. I turned to my peers and cried "Last exam is over! Who will join me for gelati and drinks!"
Disappointingly most of them had to rush off to do laundry, check out of a hotel, go to aerobics class, or go work on an essay that's due in 2 weeks...so I only had one friend join me for a small lunch and debrief of the whole three year process.

It's still sinking in that I've finished. I'm feeling pretty good about the assessment, so I'm confident that come December 20th I will be wearing the gown and getting the parchment. There's still another year to do the practical training in, then the whole job hunting process begins...

Just a short one tonight, I've been gaming all day and my folks want me to wake up early enough to cram tomorrow full of relaxing. *sigh* sometimes growing up seems to involve more effort for less fun.

Anyway, I was thinking about my character today, who I am feeling very happy with - she's a street cop with low Int, low Will, whose basic concept was to make things happen. It's hugely frustrating as a GM when all the players make the saves, or disbelieve the illusion, or have no incentive to do the plot, so she was mostly made to make the game go faster. The funny thing is that now she seems to be driving the plot - she has the contacts to get the info to get things done. She has a moral code that she makes the others at least conform to while she's watching. And she's simple enough to worry over some very basic problems in a world of superheroes. Basically, what is the right thing to do with someone who has a dangerous power?

It doesn't have to be someone with uncontrollable nova blasts whenever they hiccup - almost every power gives the user an advantage over others. So should the super-powered be tagged? segregated? locked up? 'cured'?

And then the uncomfortable bit - she is a super-powered person. If she wants to make a decision, she needs to apply it to herself.

Things to talk about...well, I guess a general update works. This is a bit long...


( I wrote this on the weekend, but the vagaries of the internet prevented it seeing light until now...Collapse )

So that's all the stuff I wanted to talk about last week. It's Wednesday now, so I've hit the first day of VLA proper, seen my first case file, handled some cases. Tomorrow I might go to court, do some more case files, and get ready for Friday. My current problem isn't my colleagues, athletic and debonair as they are, it's the way my shoes - my beautiful, comfy, flat hushpuppies - are chewing up my ankles. Tried Party Heels - worse than useless. They stuck to the shoe and the heel, and grew the blister faster. The moleskin stuff from the chemist seems to be the best option, but instead of lasting for days only lasted an afternoon before my walking wore a hole in them. :( Wish I could wear my uberDocs...

Summary - VLA = awesome. I recommend their help line to anyone who has a legal matter that they're unsure of. 9269 0120. Now to track down whoever set office dress guidelines and throttle them with some pantyhose...

And I'm certain I'm not the first to make that joke. Okay, flexing the old typing muscles again...

On Saturday I went to the William Marshal Tourney, out in Alphington. It's an SCA event, focussing on melee fighting.
Stuff like this:

I've got some more photos on my picasa account, if you want to see more.

It was my first big SCA event - I had been to one out at Monash, which was great, but all too short. This one went on for most of the day and seemed to have everything - singing, feasting, costumes and court, and of course, the loud thwacking of combat. I felt very welcome. I also got thoroughly roasted by the sun. My neck has started peeling by now, I seem to have saved my face from that fate. And yes, I used sunscreen. Clearly not enough.
It was nice to see some familiar faces from Second Floor again - these days it seems we only meet at Halloween.The nobility were also well represented - two baronies, the Crown Prince and Princess, and the Queen. It meant some really impressive bouts and a lot of formality. *wince* Still learning that bit.

I think what intrigues me about the Society for Creative Anachronism, is how matter of fact it is. It's a group of people working together to make life more awesome, and it's not a massive effort for an annual event, or a small effort for a weekly get-together. I'm used to the others, this is new and very impressive. While I've always been enchanted by swordplay, this is more than a game. I like this community that has built up around a common ideal.

As always, my challenge is to turn my plans into reality. I've had a lot of fun admiring people's garb and thinking of what I'd like to wear, or looking up the crafts they teach. I need to set some simple steps and get moving.

I had a movie night for fencers and people who like swords last night - and we managed to run the gamut of quite-good-but... to WTF? But the one thing all four movies had in common was a strong emphasis on fatherhood. I suppose if we'd pulled out Three Musketeers, it would have been about brotherhood... yet I wonder, was this coincidence or is there something about the genre?
( Our playlist [SPOILERS]Collapse )

Overall, a good night, and people resolved to do it again. Hopefully with better weather.

I've made a New Financial Year Resolution - To stop running away from social encounters.

This started when I was in a sport shop, surveying the wall of goggles and pondering if I wanted the Active type or the Sports type (both made by the same brand). Guy wanders up, also baffled by the wall of almost-but-not-quite identical items, and passes me some friendly commiseration. To which I blurt out something, grab the box I'd just replaced, and scurry off to the registers where I then ponder this reaction. It's...well, silly. I'm not the Alien who reads all lunchtime that I was in primary school, or Wednesday Adams from high school. I don't need to be so defensive around strangers.

So I've made this resolution, and so far it's working out ok. More casual conversation with other law students (by this point we're all on nodding terms at least), and when I ran into one on the street he actually cancelled his phone call to have a proper chat. Still hesitant in aerobics classes - they're not really my age group I guess. And I went to SCA fencing last Tuesday and felt very welcome. I think I need to dial it down - planning video nights on the strength of two hours acquaintance might be a little too much.

Similarly, my long habit of lurking in social media has had a peculiar effect - now I've got my MacGuffin and easy access to all these sites, I'm feeling more familiar with people than is in fact the case. I love hearing all these stories of home renovations, toddlers being imaginative and friends expecting newborns. But when I get the urge to offer advice or assistance, I remind myself that I've never had an actual conversation with some of these folks, at least not for several years. It's...odd. And still something I'm chewing over as to what is the correct ettiquette to apply.

In the vein of online self-improvement I've joined the Epic Quest Game, and set myself targets for professional skills development - got at least 4 places to apply to this weekend. I've also helped a friend with his cover letter and he has linked me to some jobs, so teamwork there.

Finally I've been managing to lose weight, build strength, and restrain myself from snacking like I used to - a lot of which is due to couchsurfing with my parents. I'm swimming 1km a week, and started using 5kg weights in pump class.

Lots of little goals, building towards becoming someone I want to be.

Went to Sydney last week to catch up with my sister and enjoy a short break. Three days was far too short a time, but I managed to cram in the essentials: Taronga and the Opera House. The weather was bright but chill, perfect for photos.

The Menagerie
I was avoidably delayed by the nonappearance of the free shuttle bus. After waiting half an hour for it I decided to brave the arcane intricacies of the Sydney metropolitan train service - they have double decker trains! And seats that you can switch around so they face forward or backwards - handy for facing your friends or avoiding the creepy stare of the furtive petrol sniffer. I wonder how long before we get these marvels. I did manage to make the seal show, which was as amazing as promised, although I found the bird show far more impressive. See, I already knew that seals were smart and acrobatic - I didn't know that you could train pigeons, brolgas, chickens and galahs to perform routines, especially without a trainer on hand to cue them through it.

It was set in an open air amphitheatre, with the harbour as the backdrop and bushes flanking the stage. The show opened with a white pigeon flying down to a stand, pecking at a string which then released the flyer of the sponsor. The bird then flew off stage left. A voiceover started, telling the story of how the birds got their colours, and as it went all these galahs and cockatoos flew over the audience to the stage, did their display and exited into the wings while six or eight jungle roosters ran across the amphitheatre floor. Then a presenter walked on and began to talk about Australia's birdlife. A brolga swooped low over the audience to land and let us see the world's tallest flying bird, a tiny hawk demonstrated tool use in using a pebble to crack open an 'emu egg' (she was very enthusiastic, smashing up the proxy egg even after she got the treat out of it.), and a kite decided it was having too much fun in the sunshine to catch treats from the presenter. The show closed with a flight of white pigeons flying across the stage and circling a nearby tree over and over. The presenter told us that all these behaviours were created through positive reinforcement.
The rest of the zoo was fun, but not that eye opening. Elephants were adorable, snakes were looking for good sun baking spots (like my shoulder, it would be tempting to move to Sydney to have a python in the roof), and the tortoises can move surprisingly quickly when there's leafy greens involved.

The Corroborree
My sister and I went to see the Bengarra dance troupe perform at the Opera House that night, and that was absolutely breathtaking. They are an indigenous group, and their style is hard to pin down. Usually when you see a tribal style, it's all about the stomping and strong beat, but - as my sister put it - these dancers had nothing to prove, so their tribal was balletic, moving smoothly from a squat to a lunge, square strong arms to bending like branches. It was different from anything I'd seen before. Highly recommended.

Those were the high points of my holiday, and the only thing I regret is not visiting Mrs Macquarie seat - I still think that is a really impressive piece of ironwork.

neo_leviathan and I have broken up. Formally a week ago, but it was brewing for a while. I had a grand adventure, however in the end we faded away.
Social stuff and games are on hiatus while I get myself sorted.

 It was the first class of my winter intensive today - Evidence and Proof - which is all about the journey from the event in question to the events in the courtroom. We watched the tale of Ronald Cotton and Jennifer Thompson - with the moral that even a rational, focused eyewitness can be critically mistaken when it comes to identifying her rapist. We then heard the story of Farrah Jama - a Victorian case - where the only thing linking him to the scene of the alleged crime was the crisis centre identifying his dna in the victims hair (the woman had passed out in a nightclub, woken up in the toilet with her pants down, and worried that she might have been assaulted).
It comes out that the centre had contaminated samples, but in any case, the story didn't make sense. Jama was a young Somali man, and the location of the incident was an over 40s nightclub full of white people. He didn't appear on the security tapes, surely it would be too much of a stretch to think he danced around the gaps in the coverage?
And that's what the next two weeks will be about for me - creating stories that are consistent with the facts and assessing the reliability of those facts. I'm already enjoying it - we're covering a murder trial, and it's like running a murder mystery. And the methods we're learning should have wide application inside and outside of law.

In other news, I've joined the world of twitter and online scrabble. If anyone wants a game send me a message. Clearly MacGuffin is a tool for evil. My tool.

Welp, one exam down, two to go, then a winter subject, then another exam... Here's hoping the cocktail of caffeine and natural stimulants I took this weekend don't have too many side-effects.

On a more pleasant note, I'm tossing up what to wear to two upcoming events.

Firstly, the Continuum Maskobalo. I'm considering either a mishmash of my halloween outfit from last year and my bridesmaid dress. So think a punked out cornrow wig with horns and headphones, a kimono-esque skirt and obi, with stompin' silver docs. OR use neoleviathan's costume from last halloween - and go to a ball in a ballgown.

Second event - Halloween! The theme this year is to come as a character from a musical - and I love musicals. Currently thinking about:
 - Frederick from Pirates of Penzance (I'm a G&S fangirl, but I think there should be some variety in what I dress as, otherwise it would be Katisha all the way!)
 - Animal or possible the Swedish Chef from the Muppets (unless someone wants to partner me as a Statler and Waldorf duo?)
 - Lina Lamont from Singing in the Rain
 - Sebastian the Crab from the Little Mermaid (ok, that one would be less serious)
 - Javert from Les Mis

I'm looking forward to seeing what other musicals are being dug up for this year!