1. I live in Philly now. Sup.
2. Law school is difficult. This should surprise no one. I feel like a lot of growing pains have been lumped into this one experience (see #4) and it is taxing as hell.
3. I need a break from law school. It's been nonstop since August. I feel like I'm going to barely make it to Thanksgiving.
4. I dislike my roommate nearly to the point of hating him with what little energy I have left over from school.
5. Duke basketball starts on Friday so all will be right with the world.

I believe people come into our lives for a reason - to teach us something. My recent experience with Jeff taught me a whole host of things, but I think the biggest and most relevant to my current life outlook is to have expectations.

I used to be the kind of person who didn’t believe in having expectations because then you could never be disappointed. Let’s be honest, being let down makes you feel like crap. Now I’m starting to realize that a little disappointment never hurt anyone.

When I was younger and got in trouble, my mother was never mad at me, she was always disappointed. I always wanted her to just be angry. Her being disappointed made me feel that much worse because I knew better. I should have done the right thing.

Disappointment just means that there is more work to be done. Something isn’t right; it isn’t where it needs to be. I think having expectations means pushing yourself to be better than you are and pushing the people around you to be better than they are.

High expectations might leave you disappointed at times, but why settle for less than what you deserve? If you expect nothing then you’ll get nothing. (I know this firsthand now).

If you expect x,y,z then don’t stop demanding x,y,z. You’re selling yourself short otherwise.

On Saturday, Chief told me he wanted to start his own business. He'd put some thought into it. Had an idea and had even found interested buyers. He got an investor yesterday. He's already got a business plan and a marketing strategy. He said he was going to do it and he's doing it. I have an overwhelming amount of respect for that. And I'm silly excited for the guy. He deserves all the success in the world.

But hell, if he can start his own company in less than a week then I can certainly read 20 pages of a book. I can write a 4 page paper.

The bottom line is that you have to stop talking and start doing.

Just do it.

If he's lucky, he will die young, 200 feet beneath the waves, for that is the closest he'll ever get to being a hero.

Littoral -
littoral |ˈlitərəl|
adjective
of, relating to, or situated on the shore of the sea or a lake : the littoral states of the Indian Ocean.
• Ecology of, relating to, or denoting the zone of the seashore between high- and low-water marks, or the zone near a lake shore with rooted vegetation : limpets and other littoral mollusks.
noun
a region lying along a shore : irrigated regions of the Mediterranean littoral.
• Ecology the littoral zone.
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Latin littoralis, from litus, litor- ‘shore.’

Ululate -
ululate |ˈəlyəˌlāt; ˈyoōl-|
verb [ intrans. ]
howl or wail as an expression of strong emotion, typically grief : women were ululating as the body was laid out.
DERIVATIVES
ululant |-lənt| adjective
ululation |ˌəlyəˈlā sh ən; ˌyoōl-| noun
ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Latin ululat- ‘howled, shrieked,’ from the verb ululare, of imitative origin.

Serendipity -
serendipity |ˌserənˈdipitē|
noun
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way : a fortunate stroke of serendipity | a series of small serendipities.
DERIVATIVES
serendipitous |-ˈdipitəs| adjective
serendipitously adverb
ORIGIN 1754: coined by Horace Walpole, suggested by The Three Princes of Serendip, the title of a fairy tale in which the heroes “were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things they were not in quest of.”