good advice...

there's no such thing as a free lunch but there is such a thing as free advice. usually, the value of the advice is inherent to its cost but sometimes it's really good...

1. if it sounds too good to be true…it probably is.

impulsiveness!! i'm never at a loss for things to spend my money on. but sometimes it's best to put your money back into your pocket and step away from the botkier...

2. waste not….want not.

i used to buy fruits and veggies in bulk, because i lived down the street from wal-mart. now, when i buy more than i can eat in 2-3 days, it goes bad in the fridge. since i'm about to be an unemployed student again, i'll have to plan even more carefully...

3. it is better to save a penny than earn a penny.

a penny saved can actually earn you money whereas a penny earned incurs taxes and most likely will be spent. i'm better off figuring out where i can cut back than figuring out how i can earn a little on the side...

4. live within your means!

argh!! the hardest thing for me to do! no matter how i try and no matter how frugal i am, it always seems that i'm living just a few dollars above the floor!

5. have an occasional treat.

ok, i'm through tips 1-4... finally, a tip i can build a habit around!!

the breaks

my uncle hubert told me in february that the decision of where to attend law school would be a difficult decision for anyone. he could not have been more on point: i now have my master list of schools i've paid seat deposits for fall matriculation -- boston college, georgetown, st. john's university, cardozo school of law.

there's no right answer of where to go to school. no matter what you may think of us news' law school rankings, each of these schools has a number of distinct, personal pros and cons.

st. john's university -- the pros are the NYC location, the strong regional reputation, the alumni network, and the fact that i'm a full scholarship recipient. the cons are that st. john's is located in jamaica queens and that there's a broad mix of students and faculty of high merit and mediocrity.

boston college -- the pros are the strong national reputation, the alumni network, and the strong academic program. the cons are that i would have to be in boston for 3 yrs and that i only got a partial scholarship.

georgetown -- the pros are the strong national reputation, the alumni network, and the strong academic program. the cons are that i would be in DC for 3 yrs and i got no scholarship monies, homey.

cardozo -- the pros are the NYC location, the strong academic program in IP law, and the fact that i'm a full scholarship recipient. the only con i have is that i haven't seen as many cardozo grads as partners or even associates at big law firms in my research.

so while i already know that i'm going to excel no matter where i end up, and i do recogize that i'm very blessed to have a lot of choices and options, i'm still undecided as to where i'm gonna be in the fall....

another one bites the dust...

orlando opera is shutting down:

"The recession of the past 18 months has resulted in lower ticket sales, reduced contributions, and defaults on pledged donations," said Jim Ireland, President & CEO of Orlando Opera. " In spite of significant cost reductions, Orlando Opera has not been able to break even on operations nor has it been able to eliminate its long-standing accumulated operating deficit."

hofstra LGBT fellowship

so... just to be clear, i had (what felt like) a horrific interview for the hofstra LGBT fellowship. my interests in LGBT family law were really raked over the coals... one interviewer went so far as to say, "since you, an attractive black female, have so much interest in family issues, why don't you focus on the family issues concerning black families? personally, I think of LGBT family law issues as white, upper middle class issues." he was totally serious... even though the majority of LGBT families in america are black, latina and asian lesbian households.

i'm guessing you can imagine my surprise that i got called this afternoon with the offer to come to hofstra as the CO'12 LGBT fellow....

i think i'll just leave this post at that.