The Week From Hell is nearly upon us. The topic of at least one conversation last night was all of the things going on next week – paper due Tuesday (for some of us, including yours truly), curriculum planning on Wednesday, Contracts Review session on Thursday, followed immediately by Contracts mid-term. Friday brings welcome relief in the form of spring break, and not a moment too soon. Of course, for the Saturday Legal Writing people (SLWP), their break doesn’t start until the afternoon.

My plan for spring break is simple – work on the trial-level brief due March 25th and catch up on reading, etc. There are a precious few who actually plan to travel to places like Cozumel and Cancun. More than one SLWP openly self-debated about skipping class to start Spring Break early, though most stopped when reminded of the miss-a-class-lose-a-half-grade penalty.

That segued into a discussion about Professor Contracts’ absence policy: miss two classes, and lose part of a grade, miss four and forget taking the final. This is unduly harsh to some, including me, whose work/commute schedules don’t always make it easy to show up promptly all the time.
From what I hear, I have the dreaded two strikes, simply because I arrived late. If that’s the case, I’m invoking the email I sent to Professor Contracts prior to the class’ start. The overall consensus is that Professor Contracts’ strategy is not a good one, nor popular.

Supposedly, Professor Contracts has a good memory. Last night, however, it must have been shut off. I bumped into her on the street outside one of the buildings shortly after class. She was looking for the Public Interest Law Society (hereinafter known as PILS) Charity Auction. She asked if I knew where it was, and I told her, whereupon she asked if I had been there in a prior year. I of course told her no, but seeing as I sit directly in front of her in class (albeit in the last row, but at roughly eye level), it made me wonder how much she paid attention to us.

The boyfriend of my classmate and friend Anita owns a restaurant in Highland Park, called Belle Via . He was kind enough to donate a $50 gift certificate to the auction, which I managed to win, beating out a woman none of us knew. Ironically, I was standing in line later in the evening behind several women, one of whom complained, “Can you believe I lost out to a GUY? A GUY? What guy would outbid me?” Well – me, that’s who. And you should have bid more, wench. Not that I bid a lot, but mine topped yours by $4, a nearly 20% increase. So there. Nyah.