An Update to Gray Hall II

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only known site on the place called the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for the semi-regular feature of this blog that I like to call The Un-Update. It may not be much, but at least it is something.

I've got the newest chapter to Gray Hall II posted up. It's a rambling chapter about foodies, food, and the experience that women go through called the chocolate high, the almost-religious state of esctasy that women get while eating chocolate.

I'm still doing research for the research paper. This is going to be the worst part of the research process as it means doing a thorough search of the WTO documents website and finding out how many countries state they have or claim to have the right to "public morals" exemptions. Plus I need to find examples of "public morals" clauses in other trade agreements. And I have to download the Tuna-Dolphin cases and the Antigua Gambling case. For those who are not familiar with international trade, the WTO decisions are very long (sometimes, up to 500 pages), very complicated (multiple parts and fiendish legal analysis), and very complexly written (see previously mentioned items in this list). Let's just say that despite being written in English, Spanish, and French, their decisions don't make any sense in any of the three languages. And this is a complaint that comes from even the best international trade lawyers and scholars in the business. That includes my International Trade Law professor who has an impressive background in international trade law.
To sum up the research I have done so far, I can say the following about "public morals" as used in international trade with little hesitation.
Everybody uses the term "public morals" based upon the limited research I have done.

1. "Public morals" depends on the culture as evidenced by the many kinds of subjects that fall under "public morals," including, but not limited to the following: pornography, alcohol, the proper handling of corpses by undertakers (an actual law in a state in the US), non-kosher products (Israel), pistashios(no kidding), country music(no kidding as well), illegal narcotics, images of Buddha (several countries in Southeast Asia like Thailand), and gambling.
2. The WTO, in a recent decision, gives a defintion of "public morals" (most likely copied from a dictionary like the Oxford English Dictionary) and a test for what is necessary.
3. Necessary is another one of those terms that can mean anything, but the test for what is "necessary" is even worse as it is just as vague as "public morals."
4. Nobody knows what "public morals" means and that includes the WTO.

It's time for me to do some more research on this topic and make some kind of effort into understanding the vagaries and contradictions and confusion raised by this subject. Why do I inevitably choose the Catherine's Wheel topic that promises to be painful, self-inflicted torture? Oh the joys of international trade law! All of this is just a tiny bit of what life as a 3L at KU Law is like.

That's all for now.

A Weekend Update

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only known site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for a weekend update to this blog, only because I truly care for your mental wellbeing. I know that you just can't live without knowing what is going on in my so-called life in this so-called part of the real world known as Lawrence, Kansas.

As much as I hate to do this, I find myself questioning my mental sanity and what potential psychological problems I might have as of this moment. Recently, I began to wonder if I had Asperger's. Now, I'm beginning to wonder if I am manic-depressive or just plain depressive with bits of clarity and manic behavior. Maybe this is just a sign of rationality, though quite an irrational kind of rationality. If this is what being "mentally stable" is supposed to be, then God has a strange sense of humor.
You know, this would be so much easier to accept if I had some kind of obvious genius or intense creativity, as everyone seems to assume that the really creative people like your composers, painters, sculptors, and what not had mental issues. A large proportion of the people society considers to be genius had mental problems. Beethoven suffered from depressive states. VanGogh was mentally unstable due to coffee, absinthe, and a bad case of manic-depression. Many poets suffered from what they termed "melancholy" but that was most likely depression. Hell, Nobel Prize winners like Nash were paranoid schitzophrenics.
The Italians in the Renaissance had a term for this. People who had such awe-inspiring talent and what can kindly be said,"unsociable natures," had a personality called terriblita(there should be an accent in there, but I can't seem to put one in right now). Michaelangelo possessed this. Not that he was mentally unstable in any manner, but he was an unsocialble person and he was so into his work that he ignored everything else. One could call it a manic-depressive state. But I digress...
There's been this gradual decay of my excitement for law school. I'm reaching new lows in apathy for it which I never thought would be possible. Nothing excites me now. As long as I pass the finals in May, I'm all right. I've lost most, if not all of my previous notions and ideals about how great law school and everything else was going to be. It's gone, replaced by a level of loathing and cynicism for many of the inner workings and hoop jumping and God knows what else that defines the law school experience.
Then again, I could have taken another path and quite possibly, ended up even more bitter and railing against that path. Or I could be happier. But I can't guess or say if or wonder what it might have been like.

Oh, I'm now knee deep into research for a research paper for one of my law school classes. I think I have gone through twenty law review articles, one book, three cases, and several lengthy newspaper/magazine articles. I have more to go through like a list of state/federal statutes, some trade agreements, some WTO Appellate Panel/Dispute Settlement decisions, and much more. I add in the "much more" as I probably will have to talk to the professor sooner or later about my paper topic and he will want to suggest some other helpful references that might help with my paper topic.

In other more exciting news, I am up to Chapter Seven of Gray Hall II. This is an important milestone as I am quickly approaching the end of the fictional first semester. Halfway done. Woohoo.


That's all for now.

An Update

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. For all of you constant readers, you know the drill. For those who are not, this site is all about the random stuff that I find interesting going on in my so-called life.

I'm now beginning the painful reasearch process for a research paper. This paper is required for a law school class I'm taking right now. My procrastination and loathing of several aspects of law school academics have caught up to me quite painfully. While slogging through yet another lengthy and well, quite frankly, dry and academic law journal/law review article, I begin to doubt my level of sanity. I also doubt my decision of leaving the writing requirement until the last semester of law school. Then I begin the sanity-doubting procedure again as I think the letters on the paper are moving.
Let me tell you, law school is not what it's cracked up to be. It's nothing like the movies. I can list several movies that make law school seem like a great experience. Legally Blond is one of them. If it were true to reality, I doubt that it would have made for an interesting movie, if your idea of "entertaining" is watching another rehash of a "dumb blond who really isn't and succeeds with flying colors" flick. After seeing the trailer, I knew this was going to be just like that. And I was right. Hollywood definitely needs to come up with better and newer plots...quickly. I digress and I probably angered every single female who has seen this film. And yes, I have (quite regretably and reluctantly) saw this film.

In other news, I have the next installment of Gray Hall II posted online. It's a rambly and informative essay about brainwashing and cult mind control. It also goes into a discussion of how cults are related to law school in a more academic form. After reading it, I scared myself. I seriously need to find an outlet for this.

That's all for now.

Radioactive Chairs...

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. Basically, I write about stuff that I find interesting and post it on this blog so all the people on the Internet can see what's going on in my life.
If this isn't your cup of tea, well, there are many other sites you can visit. Like billions. Please click on the Google link on the sidebar and have some fun. If this site isn't what you were looking for due to some poorly done web search, then click on the Google link on the sidebar and resume your search. Or you can click the Back icon on your web browser. If this is now what you're looking for, but you are strangely attracted to this site and want to read on, the Mind Reading version of HTML must be working. Soon, you will be telling your friends about this website. If you enter in "Un-Zone" into Google, this site is Number One on the results list. It must be working. I should try something else next week.
Just kidding. There is no Mind Reading version of HTML. However, I do get the odd urge to...nah. It has to be the CIA mind control machine.
Anyways...

I probably should have posted this in yesterday's post, but I guess I forgot. If you've paid attention to the news, when it actually talks about the news, you might know that there have been studies about cell phones causing cancer. I don't belive them. By the way, I don't own a cell phone for personal reasons.
But wait. Head cancer? Most people have their cell phones in their pants pockets and for men, that poses for an interesting situation. The anatatomical proximity of the reproductive organs makes them an excellent target for these sterilizing radiation waves. And to think that in the future, sterility won't be due to surgeries, but due to carrying a cell phone in your pocket too long.
You now can add in the following to things and places you should avoid if you want children. The chairs in Green Hall Room 201, commonly referred to as The Courtroom. To be more specific, the jury box. Why should you avoid these chairs at all costs if you want little versions of you?
As the post title should hint, the chairs are radioactive. Yes, these chairs are emitting out radiation. It's possible that this radiation could cause you to go sterile.
Well, the nice people at Green Hall did post up the following warning sign:

CAUTION
CHAIRS MAY BE RADIOACTIVE

Yes, it says "may be" radioactive, but this is a law school. That's just a disclaimer that could mean anything, like the chairs are radioactive and we're warning you of the possibility. Everybody says it "may be" but I know that they wouldn't be posting up that sign if those chairs didn't register on a Geiger counter or if they knew that some source of radiation was near those chairs. You just don't post up these warning signs if you knew, absolutely without a doubt, there wasn't a reason to be worried about radiation. It's kind of like posting a "BEWARE OF DOG" sign in your yard if you don't have a dog. Well, that wasn't an apt simile, but I think you should be able to get the logic.
Great. I used to spend lots of time in those chairs during my law school career. I hope that I haven't been affected by this...discovery. Lead-lined suits on the ol' family jewels from now on...
I'm now beginning to wonder why there are signs on Room 104 mentioning that certain classes will be meeting in a different room. Next thing you know, I'll walk into a classroom and see a sign warning about potential asbestos hazards, lead hazards, and God knows what.


That's all for now.

Gray Hall Update

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for an update to this site and to tell you about the random events that occur in my so called life.

Well, law school started last Friday. My Friday wasn't so bad. It's my busiest day with three classes, but I'm out before 12:30. That isn't so bad. The professors seem pretty cool, so I'm not too worried about those classes. My Advanced Litigation class is basically mock trials, but the person teaching the class tries to make it like a real world experience. This is unlike law school as law school and all things about it, well, law school is like the surreal version of reality.
My only class for today was Advanced International Trade Law. This is a class about international trade law. It promises, despite the class name, to be an interesting course. Free for all discussion about trade law and all that this topic involves. Ooh fun. I now get to pull out wacky and random stuff to add to the discussion and not sound like a total wacko. The only downside is the course requirement of writing a 30 page research paper, but that shouldn't be too bad. Hey, I've written reasearch papers (many of them) during my time in college. Oh, me and reseach papers are well acquainted.

Ah, speaking about law school, the new chapter to Gray Hall II is up. This chapter is all about the connection between cults and law school. As an added bonus, you get a fake article based upon a real article I wrote during law school about this topic. But the cult fun does not end there. The next chapter, actually a random essay, is about brainwashing.

This is my final semester of law school. After this, it's time to hit the real world and make my name in the field of law or something like that. No more weekends that start on Thursday. No more schedules that allow for having afternoons off. Too bad. I was getting used to it. Then again, I won't miss the more inane stuff that academic life encompassed. Things like research papers, finals, and all that jazz.
But I must go now. As much as I hate to do it, I need to read a thrilling chapter about subsidies for International Trade Law and a rousing chapter on criminal procedure. Plus some other amazingly fun reading that I rather not read, but have to as class participation actually counts for my grade (for once). And to think this is all part of the exciting life of a law school student.
That reminds me, I really should fill out the dreaded Bar application, or at least look at it.

That's all for now.

Something Stupid Exercising

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for an update to this site.

I've been exercising pretty regularly for about eight months and I've never felt better. There's a certain amount of satisfaction that comes when you've taken your body to a certain limit and possibly beyond. I feel much better after I exercise. And I'm wearing clothes I haven't worn in a while, like in high school.
For some reason, when it comes to doing things, I either slack off or go overboard. When it comes to exercising currently, I tend to go towards the side of "Jesus Christ, you're going to kill yourself." This is not a good thing, as sometimes, I manage to go way overboard and end up injuring myself. Which totally defeats the purpose of exercise, namely, being physically fit. You probably can see where this post is heading...
I've become a fan of the treadmill, which by the way, seems to be an illogical exercise device. People are moving to stay in place or the result in falling flat on their face. We humans tend to find amusement with hamsters as they run around in their hamster wheel. Running and running without going anywhere. I suspect if we could read the mind of hamsters, they would laugh at us running on a treadmill. I digress.
Lately, for the past week, I haven't been so regular with the running (about three miles a day, three to four days a week, 6MPH pace). So I get the really guilty feeling. This can seriously screw up your common sense. Ah, I'm now sure you can guess where this is going.
So I start running. I hit one mile. Things are going well. Then I hit two miles.
At this moment, I'm feeling a little tired. At this moment, I should have slowed down. Common sense, right? But I don't. "I'm doing OK. I can go a little more." Maybe I was trying to look a little more hardcore than I normally am. Who knows.
I hit 2.25 miles. By this time, I'm feeling a little light headed. Now would be a good time to stop and slow down. Common sense, right? But no, I'm wanting to really feel the burn. To be a tough-as-nails runner. To push the body a little bit farther. No pain, no gain. "I'm feeling fine. I'm going to fight through this."
If I were a more-regular runner, or a ultra-marathon runner or a triathlete or a marathon man, I probably could have fought this and won without a problem. But I'm not. That's what common sense says. But due to a misfire in my mind, I go on.
I hit 2.5 miles. I finally stop as the nausea-feeling is hitting. But I don't stop. Oh no. I don't cool down and let my heart slow a bit. I go on and push through with the workout my mind has prepared.
The leg extensions. The upright rows.
It hits me during the upright rows. I'm getting dizzy. My vision is getting blurry. Walking straight takes too much effort.
Problem. The last time this happened, it was after I managed to run a sub-9:00 minute mile. Which was a long, long time ago, when I wasn't 30 pounds overweight. I had ran so hard, I collapsed and couldn't go on and got sick. That sucked.
This was worse. I managed to stumble to the locker room and I collapsed onto a bench. Didn't move for at least five minutes. Should have stayed there longer.
I walk out and the dizziness hits again. Sit down on the floor.
"Are you OK?" "Is he OK?" Oh, someone is talking about me...to me.
It takes a while to think properly.
"Uh, I'm fine. Just overdid it today. Just need some rest."
Need water. Feel sick when I drink it.
Not doing this again. For a while.
That was a foolish thing to do. Today's lesson is not to overdo it. Once the little voice of reason starts talking, it is a good time to listen to it. Or you end up convusling due to heat stroke or exhaustion and you wake up in a hospital with an IV running solution in your arm.

That's all for now.

Update to Gray Hall

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's time to do one of those update thingies.

After much ado over nothing, I finally posted the first installment of Gray Hall Two. The working title for this moment is Gray Hall Two: High School Wants Their Drama Back. For those who are in law school, you will know what I am talking about when it comes to the name of this title. For those who are not in law school, you will soon find out. Put simply, law school shares many eerie similarities to high school. It is like the Bowling for Soup song, "High School Never Ends."
I would have posted the first installment earlier, but I just didn't like how the first chapter was written so I rewrote some parts of it. And that led to other stuff being changed and modified and well, the great editing bug struck. Go figure.
I should have the other chapters coming out a little more regularly, depending on how busy the schedule becomes. I'm guessing that it will be busy considering that law school (the final semester) begins on Friday. Oh the joy. I can feel the awful, tingly feeling already.
As soon as I get chapters finished to my standards, a notice will be stated on this blog as soon as it is published and ready for public viewing or shaming or whatever happens.

That's all for now.

New Changes to the Un-Zone

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only known site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for an update.

If you haven't noticed already, I have made a change to this site. I have changed the template to a brand new one. I decided that the old one was kind of dull and so I had it fixed. The Un-Zone got renovated. Or it could be a minor paint job.
As of this moment, I think I like the changes. I can always go back to the old template design if I want to.

In other news, I have Chapters One and Two finished for Gray Hall II. The first actual web installment should be up some time this week.

That's all for now.

Another Small Update

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only known site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for a small update as I cannot think of anything more to say that what I will say. If you would like more, then too bad.

First, I would like to say that yesterday provided for an interesting, as well as pathetic day of professional football. If you were watching the games yesterday, you would know what I am talking about.
The Kansas City Chiefs were absolutely, positively, fucking pathetic yesterday. Well, I shouldn't be too harsh as the defense for a little more than two quarters gave Payton Manning lots of trouble. If you can limit the Colts to 9 points in the first half, that is pretty good. To limit the Colts to 23 points in one game is not too shabby. To get asswhipped due to a lack of any offense it bad. On national television just makes it even worse. Considering the defense was on the field for about 40 minutes and was playing tired, the defense did a good job overall.
The offense, however, was, as I stated earlier, absolutely, positively, fucking pathetic. No first downs in the first half. A missed field goal (a chip shot that a college kicker, let alone a high school kicker could make). A grant total of NEGATIVE EIGHT YARDS of offense in the first half. Yes, NEGATIVE EIGHT. The defense gained more yards than the offense. What did the Chieft offense do in the first half? Squandered three interceptions and got zero points.
The Cowboys played a lot better than the Chiefs. Hell, every single freaking football team playing that day played better than the Chiefs. I'm thinking the college teams playing in the International Bowl played better than the Chiefs. The USC Trojans could easily manhandle the Chiefs.
Tony Romo. I'm thinking that everyone in the Dallas-Forth Worth area will be after him. Considering he messed up the handle on the potential game-winning field goal. The one that would have sent the Cowboys to the next round of the playoffs. That must suck. Well, at least the Cowboys put up a fight till the end. Unlike the Chiefs who did nothing.
Damon Huard for QB. Assuming he stays until next year.

I've finished two chapters in the Gray Hall sequel and I am almost done with another one. I should have Chapter One completed in the next few days. Chapter Two should soon follow. At this moment, I am reasonably happy with what I have written so far. I think once I get the first few chapters done, I might post them up.


That's all for now.

A Small Update

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only known site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's time for a small update to this site so you all know that I am still conscious and relatively alive.

I've now developed a crick in my neck. I tilt my head to the right and it feels fine. I tilt it to the left, and well, it does not feel fine. Yesterday, it was awful. Today, it is much better. I'm not exactly sure why, but I think I might have slept in a funny position and my neck could not take it.

I've started on the Gray Hall sequel. At this moment, I have finished one chapter and am working on three others at the same time. I would have started working in a chronological, beginning to end fashion, but this one chapter just wanted to be written first and so I wrote it first. The other three chapters are in the works, and they are earlier chapters in this sequel.
At this moment, I am not sure if it will be anything like the first Gray Hall story, but I think that it should style-wise for the most part. There will be reoccuring characters from the last story, plus some new characters and locations as well. It should end the series quite nicely. Whether there will be a prequel, I am not sure. I guess I could take that route. But then again, I might not, at least for now.
Will I post up stuff anytime soon...that depends. I think that for now, probably not. Once I get the earlier chapters done and I think that the story seems complete in those chapters, I think I will. For some reason, I am liking the online "quasi"-book publishing thing.

That's all for now.

First Post of 2007

Greetings and welcome back to The Un-Zone, the only known site on the Internet devoted to all things related to Un. It's that time again where I post some random stuff floating around in my head that I find interesting.

First up...football.
1. The Mizzou football team lost to Oregon State. I am so, so sad. Not really. For some reason, like the Kansas football team, they manage to pull defeat out of the jaws of victory, instead of the other way around, which is more preferable. It's too bad, as if Mizzou won, the headlines would have been pretty funny. You can come up with a lot of funny headlines once you realize the Oregon State mascot is the Beaver. No stories about beating beavers.
2. The Los Angeles area has no professional football team. They all moved to the Bay Area, though if can consider the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers "professional" football teams is another story. I'm thinking that the USC Trojans could beat both of them easily. The Trojans certainly beat the Michigan Wolverines convincingly in the Rose Bowl. The quarterback names were, to say, unusal. Booty and Henne. Imagine the arguments between a USC and Michigan fan. Enough said.
3. The Fiesta Bowl between Boise State and Oklahoma was classic. The Broncos (unlike the team in Denver) won an exciting match. In overtime. Using a Statue Of Liberty play with a counter. On a two-point conversion. This WAC team whacked the competition this year. They are a GOOD team.
4. How the hell did the Chiefs make it into the playoffs, despite playing, for the most part, mediocre football? They were pretty damn lucky they won against Jacksonville and had every single game result fall into place. That was a lucky break. Now it's off to Indianapolis to lose against the Indianapolis Colts (most likely, I think). At least they made it to the playoffs for once. If they pull off a Pittsburgh-like run and win the Superbowl...I'll just watch the games and see what happens.

In other non-football related news, I've decided to write the sequel to the original Gray Hall story. The one I wrote in 2005 and not 2006. It seemed only logical I finish the story and bring to a complete end and not leave characters in a type of fictional character limbo.
Well, Happy New Year's to you all, the readers of this blog, even the ones who only stumble onto this site. May 2007 be an excellent year in every way.

That's all for now.