First up, the introduction of the cocky first year students.

Then we have the rude awakening that the Socratic method and law school classes are hard.

This one is about the rivalry between “fake” and “real” night students – the students in our school’s evening program who have full-time jobs versus those who just have a part-time course load and all the time in the world to study. I’m in this one.

Then we have the last-minute panic of cramming for exams. This is the most complicated dance I’ve done in years. The concept is supposed to be like a flash mob-style dance.

In this one, two students reveal the terrible truth about the second year of law school – it’s so much work. So much work.

This number is about Early Interview Week and On-Campus Interviewing, an annual tradition of pain and humiliation where students beg for jobs. More of me dancing at the beginning.

This one is about the age-old rivalry between the school’s competition teams – the Moot Court team, the Brendan Moore Trial Advocacy Center, and the Dispute Resolution Society. There’s really no chance for the groups to actually face off with each other in real life, so we have to fight it out in Follies.

This was my favorite number that I wasn’t in. It was a bunch of bitching about our registrar – the person in charge of classroom assignments and course registration and graduation requirements.

Finally, we have the traditional 3L farewell song.

This year was a lot of fun, and I got a lot of opportunities to take center stage. I was the stage manager for the show and I helped write about half a dozen songs. I played the dean, again, which was fun. I also got some plum parts like one of three bar preparation company reps in a parody of “Fugue For Tinhorns” from Guys and Dolls and lead parts in songs based on “Populism Yea Yea” from Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and “Skid Row” from Little Shop of Horrors. They also let me dance this year (last year I mostly did a lot of bopping in place) but I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. So far, the only number from this year we have on line (with me in it, anyway) is this one…

I’m sure we’ll have more footage from the show online soon. On the other hand, we did three promo videos this year (directed by me). The “Libraria” number was from last year’s show and got a Dishonorable Mention in the online contest for these things. The “Not Going to Georgetown” video, which was an original written specifically for promotional purposes and features way too much of me singing, got an Honorable Mention.

We had a bit of extra adventure this year. The undergraduate theatre department was staging a production of The Good Person of Szechwan that involved piling up a bunch of ugly shipping pallets on the stage we use to put on the show. This meant we had to build a stage on top of their shitty-ass platforms. We learned about this on Monday of tech week. We ended up having some fun with this and designating this the year of “Follies Extreme!!”

I’ll definitely be doing something with the show again next year. In fact, I’m already starting to write some songs and make plans for videos. I’m going to miss these little shows after I’m done with law school.

We held a couple events leading up to the show including social nights, a sex ed trivia contest, and a panel on women and violence. Throughout it all, we were raising funds for the V-Day spotlight charity – the women and children of Haiti – as well as our local charity – Safe Horizon, which assists victims of domestic violence. Ultimately, we raised over $20,000 for the charities.

We had a fantastic cast involving student from all class years, a member of the law school staff, and a student from the graduate social work program. I’ll be helping again next year, but in the producer’s role instead of director, which means fewer late night rehearsal and more coordinating the big details.

Anyway, here’s our promo video and pictures.

I’m still waiting to hear back on one grade, but the semester is over. I’ve got about two weeks of downtime before my summer position at the ACLU begins.

What a semester it has been. I’m about to publish several blogs in a row hitting some of the highlights. I’m not promising that I’m going to get back into regular blogging, but we’ll see what the summer brings.

Academically, this semester has been interesting. I took a class on worker’s rights in the changing economy that was interesting and had me working on a project with the Freelancers Union. I had a class in Sexuality and the Law that should have been better than it was, but at least it wasn’t challenging if it wasn’t going to be educational. Mostly because of a scheduling problem, I also took a course in Income Tax law (hated it).

I got accepted into a clinic for next year dealing with women’s rights in Africa. Class registration is still a few weeks away, but I’m hoping to take Evidence, Labor Law and a writing course in the fall. I don’t have quite so many extracurriculars next fall, so I think I’m not over-extending myself.

Outside of law school, not a lot has been going on. There has been quite a bit of karaoke this semester. Also, a lot of flaky guys who set up dates and then cancel at the last minute. Fucking flaky New York gays.

I have been doing a better job at seeing shows. At the end of last semester I saw Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and American Idiot. This semester I saw The Normal Heart, which has a special place in my heart because it was my first show with the Nevada Repertory Company at my alma mater.

I haven’t seen many movies, but I did go to Thor last week and I’m looking forward to Green Lantern and Captain America this summer.

My only upcoming travel plans are pretty much limited to flying back to Salt Lake City for my sister’s wedding in August. Now that Jeanne is getting hitched, only the Keys boys remain single. That’s a lot of pressure. I repeat: Fucking. Flaky. New. York. Gays.

In other news, today is my first no-smoke-iversary. Technically, I think it might be tomorrow, but it doesn’t matter, it’s been a full year since I quit smoking. I celebrated by pushing myself for a really fast run in the park this morning. I was on track to do 5 miles in under 40 minutes, but about halfway through I ran headlong into about 5000 marathoners going in the opposite direction and I was forced to take a break and figure out how to get around them.

I also looked at some apartments today. There’s one in Harlem that I really, really like, although the guy who is moving out just said this morning that he doesn’t plan to leave until June 1 and I have to be out of the dorm May 28 at the very latest, so it might be impossible.

I started reading Changeless by Gail Carriger yesterday. It’s the second book in the series after Soulless, which I read over Spring Break. A few lines had me laughing out loud in Sheep’s Meadow this afternoon.

I also took myself to see Clash of the Titans last night. I was a great date, but I did get a little handsy later. Anyway, I thought the movie was fine summer popcorn fare. They did exactly what they promised to do – update the original film with modern special effects. Same plot. Same characters. Same opportunities for respectable actors to chew the scenery as mythical gods and monsters and warriors.

Otherwise, school is school. It’s not as stressful as last semester, but it’s not as new and exciting, either. We had a rather intense Constitutional Law week, covering 3 weeks of material in 3 days. Even though it was interesting material (14th Amendment Equal Protection stuff), it was rough. Interestingly, we had more classroom resistance to heightened scrutiny of gender-based laws than we did to applying a higher standard of review for laws that negatively impact gays, lesbians and bisexuals (again, not an especially trans-aware discussion). Whatever, I mostly keep my mouth shut in class these days and listen, especially on issues where I feel passionate.

Anyway, I’m soaking up some sun and having some fun because once school starts up again, it’s all downhill to finals, then the writing competition for law review and journals, then summer interning, then registering for classes… aside from Memorial Day (when I will likely be settling into a new apartment), I don’t anticipate a long weekend again until the 4th of July.

We had 7 posters for the show this year (featuring the faces of faculty photoshopped onto pop culture references) and I designed 4 of them. Which one of my poster designs is your favorite?:

I know New York is a long trip for the majority of my bloggy friends, so I’ll try to point you to some video clips as soon as possible.

It has been a delightful experience putting together a show again, hanging out with people who instinctively think the same thing I do when someone working with the penal system refers to cell block 6. Hamming it up backstage. Notes from directors that will only ever make sense to this cast (“bigger and armier”). Silly costumes and props and sight gags.

Last night’s tech was a bit of a disaster (music cutting out mid-song, a sound effect cue that kept randomly appearing at the beginning of unrelated scenes, the addition of a huge and unmovable set piece in the middle of our backstage area for an undergraduate show that won’t open until after Easter, etc), but that’s usually a good sign that opening night will be phenomenal.

Wish me luck a broken leg!

I’m going to assume most of you raised your hands. (fuckers)

So, my roommates finished their finals yesterday and left for the holiday already. Since I now have the place all to myself, you know what that means… YouTube karaoke! From one of my favorite musicals ever…

I can’t resist occasionally mimicking the incomparable Ellen Greene at a few moments in this song. Particularly in her accent/pronunciation. Unfortunately, I’m also fast at times and had to randomly improvise add my own interpretive color to the song.

I used to have every single part of this song down pat. I’m clearly long out of practice (and not a big-voiced, belty black chick). This is not my best singing, but it was too much of a pain to re-shoot.

Anyway, for those who were asking… my Property exam yesterday was brutal. Without a doubt the toughest test I’ve ever taken (including the LSAT). I knew the material well enough, time management was a problem. My last exam of the semester is in Contracts and it’s on Monday afternoon. I have to admit, this was my least favorite subject this semester, and so I’ve got the most work to do in being prepared for Monday. Luckily, if past exams are any indication, the professor is more concerned with making logical arguments than mechanical memorization and application of a bunch of dusty rules (*cough*property*cough*), so there’s less drilling and memorization to do.

Anyway, reports of expected snow in Manhattan are getting more and more dramatic as the day wears on. I planned to go running in Central Park tomorrow, but I may have to settle for the treadmill if I do actually wake up to 85 feet of snow. Either way, I’m thinking a walk in the park with my camera will be required.

In the meanwhile, there are three more tracks that are must-haves for any holiday playlist:
I’ve Got a Boner for Christmas – Nerf Herder
Christmas in the Stars – Star Wars
Sleigh Ride – Star Wars

You’re welcome.

And a quick story… on my last holiday playlist post, I included an MP3 of Michael Arden singing the Joni Mitchell classic “River,” earning me the scorn of someone who wondered why I’d even bother with a cover when the Joni version exists… Anyway, I had to run to Starbucks last night to get some late-night study coffee and who should I see waiting on a drink? Yup. Michael Arden. (If I’m just crazy and it wasn’t actually him, it was his long-lost twin brother) And can you guess what was playing on my iPod at that very moment? Yup. “River” as sung by Michael Arden. So, of course, I got painfully shy, stared at him awkwardly, got my coffee and practically ran back to school. Since I so rarely get to venture off campus, this was my first random New York celebrity sighting (unless you count the Puntabugang).

Well, I should get some sleep so I can do a morning jog before the exam.

Happy Saturnalia!

And he’ll be appearing on Glee in the not-too-distant future. If you didn’t know, I’m a Gleek (which is publicity-department-generated hype-speak for “crazy obsessive fan”).

In the meantime, here’s a fun (language NSFW) video starring triple-threat and Buffy alum Tom Lenk. Incidentally, “Tom Lenk gay” is the third most common 3-word search term bringing people to my blog this month – after “Mario Lopez circumcised” and “vagina virgin gay” and coming in barely ahead of “Cory Monteith naked.” Now that I’ve used those phrases again, I can expect even more traffic!