Let me tell you about my living situation since last August. Last summer, before moving to Gainesville, time was getting short and I had not yet found a place to live. Julie called several churches around the city to see if they had any members who had something to rent. One week before moving to Gainesville, I had put down a deposit and was putting in an application on an apartment. I received a call from a nice lady offering me a house. The rent was $100 less than any aparment in Gainesville and included utilities. I am sure I am saving $150 a month at least. The apartment is also furnished and has a washer and dryer, so I don't even have to go to a laundromat. The only caveat was that I would have to share the house with someone.
Well, the house turned out to be a trailer. I was pretty bummed at first, but it has proven to be comfortable enough for the year. It has served its purpose. My landlord, who lives in the trailer on the next lot. (No, it's not a tralier park. It is a regular neighborhood, but many of the lots are occupied by trailers.) She has divided her trailer into three small units and rents out two of them. Some time last year, she bought the lot next to hers and a trailer to put on it. Well, the trailer she bought was a former tatoo parlor. My father-in-law still gets a kick out of that. She "subdivided" the trailer into two units. She made the master bedroom into one unit and remodeled it's bathroom to also serve as a kitchenette. The other side is the living room, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms. She's just a little real estate developer.
I live on the side with two bedrooms. When I moved in, the person I was supposed to share with was actually living in the smaller "apartment." My landlord was trying to find another graduate student type person to live with me. Well, the only responses she got were from college girls. She didn't think it would be appropriate for me to live with a young college girl (why not?), so she got the idea to move the other guy in with me and rent the other side to a girl.
Well, the other guy was a 16 year old kid from Brazil. His name is Fernando and he was a Junior at a local Christian high school this year. Apparently, his father, who teaches at a university in Brazil, had spent time at UF, went to church here, and was responsible for converting my landlord. Now, he was sending his son to live with her and go to school in America. And he was living with me, a 30 year old graduate student.
We pretty much avoided each other. We went our own directions, did our own things and rarely talked. He was a pretty active kid, seemed to be pretty popular at school and did lost of stuff with his friends. He's a good kid. Very polite and respectful. But he and I didn't hang out. My landlord, who is responsile for watching over him, told me a couple of weeks ago that he was going to home to Brazil for most of the summer. I was kind of looking forward to him leaving and having the place to myself for the summer. I was anticipating it would be pretty quiet and more conducive to studying for the bar exam.
He left today. I was sleeping in a little and heard him moving around this morning, having breakfast, packing his things. I got up when I heard him leave the apartment. He had taped a note to my door letting me know how long he would be gone and wishing me a good summer. I looked at the note for a minute and realized I was sad he was leaving. I was surprised to feel that way.
It has always bothered Julie that he and I could live in the same place and not know much about each other. She would say she just doesn't understand boys. Well, now it bothers me a little. I think I am sad because I regret not reaching out to him and not getting to know him. We both probably could have enriched each other's lives. For example, I knew he was playing soccer at his high school. That didn't surprise me...he's Brazillian. Julie's parents hosted Felipe, a Brazillian exchange student a few years ago. I think he played soccer at his school, but I don't think there was anything really special about his ability. I just assumed the same thing about Fernando. Well, my landlord told me that he was the best one on his team. A few weeks ago, she told me he's got scholarship offers to play at some good soccer schools like North Carolina and Duke. I didn't know that.
I am sad because now I don't have the opportunity to reach out to him. He's getting back to Gainesville less than 10 days before the Bar Exam, so I won't be spending any time with him then. I am moving back to Miami right after the exam and getting on with my life. I probably won't ever know much about him. That's an opportunity lost and I regret that.
Enjoy your time home Fernando and good luck with your soccer career.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Sunday, May 28, 2006
TV Notes
1. NBC showed the series finale of Will & Grace on Thursday night. The same episode that aired one week earlier. How pathetic is that? I realize that NBC was ranked last this year in ratings overall and last in most (if not all) demographic groups. I realize that this is an indication that NBC does not have much to choose from. I also realize that most of the stuff that comes on TV for the next few months will be reruns of some sort. But c’mon! Surely they could find something to show instead of showing the exact same show in the exact same time slot two weeks in a row. I may be a bit biased since I’m not a big fan of the show, but I don’t think the finale was worth watching once, much less twice. If this is the type of thinking at NBC, it is no wonder they are doing so poorly and there is no reason to think it will get better any time soon.
2. I was reading an article on Thursday about the season finale of American Idol when I saw that Ryan Seacrest was boasting that 63 million people voted, more votes than any president has received. I was all set to rant about what a sorry commentary this was on society and how bad it is that people are more willing to vote for a pop singer than for the leader of our nation. But after I thought about that number some more, my cooler head prevailed. First, 63 million votes does not come close to the number of people that voted in the 2004 presidential election. (Results here.) It’s probably been a long time since that few people voted in a presidential election. Second, the chick probably got a fair number of the votes, which means neither of them came close to President Bush’s total in 2004. Finally, as some bloggers have pointed out, many of those votes may have come from outside America. So while voter turnout could stand to be higher, there is no reason for cultural alarm over Ryan Seacrest’s claims about American Idol voters.
3. There was small snippet in the sports section this week that said Kirk Herbstreit will be calling ABC’s Saturday night college football games this fall. What the article did not say is whether this means Kirk is leaving College Gameday. It is possible that ESPN will be sending Gameday to the site of the ABC game. But I’m not sure about this possibility because it would mean that Gameday won’t be going to any more SEC games, which are carried on CBS. If Kirk does leave Gameday, the best sports pregame show will be ruined. There is no better way to kick of a fall Saturday than by waking up and watching Gameday. Herbstreit is probably one of the best, if not THE best, college football analysts. He is fair in his reporting and does not come across as biased. (Although, his Ohio State roots have shown a little more the last couple of years, but it was no where near as bad as Trev Albert’s Nebraska/Big 12 homerism.) If he leaves Gameday, I will be greatly disappointed, but the Saturday night ABC games are going to be great with him doing color.
2. I was reading an article on Thursday about the season finale of American Idol when I saw that Ryan Seacrest was boasting that 63 million people voted, more votes than any president has received. I was all set to rant about what a sorry commentary this was on society and how bad it is that people are more willing to vote for a pop singer than for the leader of our nation. But after I thought about that number some more, my cooler head prevailed. First, 63 million votes does not come close to the number of people that voted in the 2004 presidential election. (Results here.) It’s probably been a long time since that few people voted in a presidential election. Second, the chick probably got a fair number of the votes, which means neither of them came close to President Bush’s total in 2004. Finally, as some bloggers have pointed out, many of those votes may have come from outside America. So while voter turnout could stand to be higher, there is no reason for cultural alarm over Ryan Seacrest’s claims about American Idol voters.
3. There was small snippet in the sports section this week that said Kirk Herbstreit will be calling ABC’s Saturday night college football games this fall. What the article did not say is whether this means Kirk is leaving College Gameday. It is possible that ESPN will be sending Gameday to the site of the ABC game. But I’m not sure about this possibility because it would mean that Gameday won’t be going to any more SEC games, which are carried on CBS. If Kirk does leave Gameday, the best sports pregame show will be ruined. There is no better way to kick of a fall Saturday than by waking up and watching Gameday. Herbstreit is probably one of the best, if not THE best, college football analysts. He is fair in his reporting and does not come across as biased. (Although, his Ohio State roots have shown a little more the last couple of years, but it was no where near as bad as Trev Albert’s Nebraska/Big 12 homerism.) If he leaves Gameday, I will be greatly disappointed, but the Saturday night ABC games are going to be great with him doing color.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Marriage
I recently read an article in the March 2006 GPSolo, which is a publication of the American Bar Association. The article, which you can read here is about sexually transmitted diseases and divorce cases. There were a couple of comments in the article that disturbed me. The author of the article says
I understand that the author is a divorce attorney and deals with divorcing couples all day long, but I don't understand why he would state that divorce is the most likely end of a marriage. The divorce rate is certainly high, but it has never been more likely than not (50%+ chance) that any given marriage would end in divorce. In fact, the divorce rate has actually been dropping in recent years. You can read all about divorce statistics here.
Setting aside arguments over divorce statistics and their interpretation, what does this kind of comment say about attitudes toward marriage in our country? I think comments like this are a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. It has long been known in the education community that students live up or down to expecations. Students whose teachers expect the students to achieve generally do and those whose teachers have low epectations of their students generally don't do well. Are we predetermining marriage outcomes with thinking exhibited in the article? Have we conditioned people to think that most marriages don't work so that when people hit a rough patch, they don't have the desire to work through it? Have we conditioned people to think, as the author asserts, that it is normal to seek comfort in the arms of another just becuase things don't go as planned?
I am not condeming people who have been through a divorce. I have friends and family who have experienced it and I know it can be painful in individual situations. I understand that some situations are bad and it is better to leave the situation. But, as a society, I think we should be working to encourage people to work on staying together rather than creating an aura of negativity that causes people to abandon their commitments all too easily.
As a future lawyer, it distresses me to see a member of the profession perpetuating this type of thinking. I just hope that as I enter the profession, I can serve my clients well while making a positive contribution to society.
In today’s world, where divorce often is the most likely end of a marriage and where people secretly seek outlets outside of marriage to express their sexual identities...
I understand that the author is a divorce attorney and deals with divorcing couples all day long, but I don't understand why he would state that divorce is the most likely end of a marriage. The divorce rate is certainly high, but it has never been more likely than not (50%+ chance) that any given marriage would end in divorce. In fact, the divorce rate has actually been dropping in recent years. You can read all about divorce statistics here.
Setting aside arguments over divorce statistics and their interpretation, what does this kind of comment say about attitudes toward marriage in our country? I think comments like this are a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. It has long been known in the education community that students live up or down to expecations. Students whose teachers expect the students to achieve generally do and those whose teachers have low epectations of their students generally don't do well. Are we predetermining marriage outcomes with thinking exhibited in the article? Have we conditioned people to think that most marriages don't work so that when people hit a rough patch, they don't have the desire to work through it? Have we conditioned people to think, as the author asserts, that it is normal to seek comfort in the arms of another just becuase things don't go as planned?
I am not condeming people who have been through a divorce. I have friends and family who have experienced it and I know it can be painful in individual situations. I understand that some situations are bad and it is better to leave the situation. But, as a society, I think we should be working to encourage people to work on staying together rather than creating an aura of negativity that causes people to abandon their commitments all too easily.
As a future lawyer, it distresses me to see a member of the profession perpetuating this type of thinking. I just hope that as I enter the profession, I can serve my clients well while making a positive contribution to society.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Time to join the real world.
I'm usually one of the last people to join technological revolutions. But when I finally join, I jump in completely. For example, I've had my cell phone just over two years, but I've already abandoned a land line in favor of just the cell. I bought my iPod in January, but I listen to it constantly now. CD? What CD's? I've been reading blogs for a while now and actually comment on a few every now and then. So I finally decided to join the blogosphere. For those of you that know
Metz or Mark, you might be tempted to assume that just becuase they started their blogs as a way to announce the upcoming births of their children, Julie and I would have similar news. Alas, I hate to disappoint you. Julie and I are not currently awaiting a child. Stick around though, it might be sooner than you think.
Not only am I joining the blogosphere, but I really am about to join the real world. After many years of school, capped off by law school and the LLM, I can no longer put off the inevitable. It's finally time to get a real job and support my family. Julie says I have to make some money before I can consider more education.
I will be spending the summer preparing for the bar exam, taking my last class ever (for now at least), looking for a job and generally being very busy. This blog will be an outlet to destress for the first few months of its existence. Then it will be my platform to talk about football Hurricanes, real hurricanes and everything in between. If anyone actually reads this, feel free to comment. I hope you enjoy.
Metz or Mark, you might be tempted to assume that just becuase they started their blogs as a way to announce the upcoming births of their children, Julie and I would have similar news. Alas, I hate to disappoint you. Julie and I are not currently awaiting a child. Stick around though, it might be sooner than you think.
Not only am I joining the blogosphere, but I really am about to join the real world. After many years of school, capped off by law school and the LLM, I can no longer put off the inevitable. It's finally time to get a real job and support my family. Julie says I have to make some money before I can consider more education.
I will be spending the summer preparing for the bar exam, taking my last class ever (for now at least), looking for a job and generally being very busy. This blog will be an outlet to destress for the first few months of its existence. Then it will be my platform to talk about football Hurricanes, real hurricanes and everything in between. If anyone actually reads this, feel free to comment. I hope you enjoy.
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