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#1: Hillary spent the day at Knott’s Berry Farm, “America’s First Theme Park,” yesterday, as she was inititated into the youth group here. She isn’t much on roller coasters. She rode the Big Foot Rapids (get the concept from this YouTube video):
She did not ride rides like this one: 
But she had a fun day!
#2: While she spent the day at the theme park, Jody & I took my mom to LAX for her flight back home. We then went in search of a Wal-Mart to use a gift card a kind friend gave us before our move, but finding one in Los Angeles, California, is no easy feat. We finally made it to one in the heart of L.A., the strangest Wal-Mart we’ve ever seen. It was three stories and part of a mall (ever been in a Wal-Mart with escalators?). Master P and Romeo were scheduled to make an appearance there Monday night.
#3: Last night we watched Gustav on CNN. I already feel guilty not being on the Gulf Coast – even more so because being a first year law student means I’m here in the library no matter what happens. I feel better knowing the Logans are there in Ocean Springs, but I wish I could be there with them if Gustav decides to head that way. I feel better, too, having come to know Rodney before I left. Ocean Springs is in strong, capable hands.
If anyone in Gustav’s path reads what I write, listen closely: do not be afraid. Be smart, be safe, but do not be afraid. If you believe Jesus at all, do not be afraid. During difficult times, people need sources of strength. Be a source of strength. Don’t panic like everyone else. Followers of Jesus are called to look at the events of life in a fundamentally different way. This is an obvious opportunity to be different. Jesus is asleep in the boat with you. Have faith. Do not be afraid.
#4: This morning my family will be officially announced as members of the University Church of Christ here on Pepperdine’s campus. We are honored to be a part of this family.
We watched the classic movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird,” last night. I’ve read the book, but until last night I don’t think I had watched the movie in its entirety. It was amazing. Atticus Finch, both in literature and on the big screen, is one of the greatest fictional characters of all time.
My favorite scene comes after Attticus lost the verdict on Tom Robinson’s behalf, when he gathered up his stuff to leave. Well, check it out on YouTube below – if you don’t have ten minutes, let it load so you can fast forward to the 5:00 mark. From 5:00 to 6:15 is a short movie clip that I can only dream would define my life.
After the movie, I watched a bonus feature about the movie. In it, a black attorney from Alabama made a statement that addressed one of my deepest values and framed it in such a way that touched something deep inside me. He said that Atticus Finch lived in such a way that he was peerless – which is to say that in breaking down all the walls that divide people, he possessed a sense of integrity that no one else shared. Yet in being peerless in this way, the attorney noted that to Atticus Finch everyone became his peer.
I cannot claim that this is even close to me. At least I can’t say this yet. But I can aspire to such greatness. And thank both Harper Lee and Gregory Peck for giving me such an unforgettable picture of this goal.
Today is the 3rd anniversary of unforgettable Hurricane Katrina. Memories.
Today, ironically, is the day we officially close on the sale of our house on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Relief.
Today, our daughter and our many old friends are watching Hurricane Gustav. Anxiety.
Of course, Gustav concerns me because of what hurricanes do, but more than that, I’m concerned about the pyschological reactions of people living in that part of the world. Katrina left some bad karma around there, and although Gustav hasn’t even made it to the Gulf of Mexico yet, it is the first significant threat since “the big one.” I expect it will be more dangerous in the area before the storm than in it.
Keep your eye on the storm, and pray for the people.
I go to school at 7:30 each morning (Pacific Standard Time, which I’m starting to get used to…) and study until 5:30 each afternoon.
Last evening, after dinner, Hillary went to her youth group while Jody and I went to Dean Tim Perrin’s place for the first law school Bible study of the year, an event hosted by our Christian Legal Society chapter. We set a record with 70 people crammed into the Perrins’ lovely home.
Afterwards, Jody & I joined the youth group at a pool for the baptism of a young woman. It was a beautiful event. Roslyn (Hillary’s youth minister) had the honors, and it was so very sweet. Both of Sarah’s parents spoke, and a sizeable crowd gathered to join in the blessed event. Sarah’s parents invited everyone to their place after the baptism to enjoy desserts and friendship, and though we are new, we tagged along and had a great time. People have been so good to us.
But I had more studying to do. We pulled Hillary away from her new friends, and it amazed me how instantly Hillary has fit in – part Hillary amazing, and part amazing acceptance by these new friends.
I put in another 2 1/2 hours of study before bedtime last night, studying both Contracts and Property. Much of law school studying is “briefing cases,” and I briefed my favorite case so far late last night: Popov v. Hayashi (a battle over possession of Barry Bonds’ record-setting 73rd home run ball in 2002). The legal opinion was fascinating.
Right now I’m guessing it takes me 3-4 hours of study for every one hour of class – just staying up with the work load. With 14 hours of class each week, that puts me in the 60-70 hour category. That’s a lot of reading and thinking, don’t you think?
I’m getting used to it. It’s all in a day’s (and night’s) work.
#1: Hillary’s new P.E. clothes say “Malibu High School Physical Education.” That’s just cool.
#2: Last night was extra cool: our good friends from Mississippi (Todd & Tyler) came to campus to see us, and I got to show them around campus and Malibu. It was so good to see them.
#3: There was a brush fire north of campus yesterday that burned 80 acres. Firefighters contained it and nobody lost their house, so it didn’t even merit mention around these parts.
#4: I missed Hillary Clinton’s speech last night, but I’m sure she did a good job.
#5: I’ve survived my “first” class in each of my law school classes. Today will be a full day.
#6: I think my St. Louis Cardinals are through for the season, but I hope Pujols wins the batting title.
#7: We get to attend our first “law school Bible study” tonight, and we get to see one of Hillary’s new friends get baptized, too. Hillary’s friend’s dad won a Pulitzer Prize, which is pretty cool, too.
Gotta get going this morning. Big day ahead.
Law school is going to be long and hard.
And very interesting.
I’m already fairly fascinated by the subject matter. I used to teach Civics, but I’ve learned more how our legal system operates in one day than I had in my previous 37 years of life. I am excited to realize how much I will learn over my time here.
For instance: you’ve probably heard complaints about “activist judges” who make laws and how bad that is since the judicial branch is supposed to interpret law, not make law. I learned yesterday (at a conservative law school) that this whole line of thinking is crap. That judges have always made law. That this is how our system works. That all three branches make law constantly.
Sure, Congress makes law (the legislative branch). The executive branch makes law when it attempts to implement the general laws passed by Congress (ever heard of the FDA?). And judges make law every time they specifically interpret vague laws, along with every time they rule on cases where there is no law (and establish precedent).
I wonder what I will learn today?
#1: Went to watch Pepperdine’s ladies play soccer versus Cal-State-Fullerton Saturday. We lost 1-0, but it was fun anyway. Looking foward to more games.
#2: Church was good yesterday. In class, they “promoted” the incoming sixth graders to the Youth Group, and they were so sweet to include Hillary. She received a gorgeous framed document with the words “Remember Jesus Christ” on it, written in both English and Greek. Worship was held in the Firestone Fieldhouse to kick off the year with all the new college students. Our new church family has a different outlook on participation in the service (both gender and age), much more in line with my personal belief system. To that end, Hillary and the youth group participated by passing the collection trays around, which I found cool.
#3: We bought groceries yesterday, and I guess we had a star sighting. A middle-aged guy and an older man were shopping together, and we were all perusing the selection of hot dog buns. As always, I initiated conversation, saying something stupid like, “Didn’t know it was so hard shopping for hot dog buns!” (since we were both struggling with the choices). The middle-aged guy looked at me funny, which I thought was either due to my distinctive Southern accent or because I said something stupid. When he walked away, Jody informed me he was a “soap star.” So the funny look was proabably either thinking I was trying to suck up to him or shock that a doofus like me didn’t recognize him. For soap stars, you can see my hot dog bun shopping friend HERE.
#4: Oh yeah, I start law school today. YIKES!!!! Torts class this morning. Civil Procedure this afternoon. Studying the other 22 hours or so. Wish me luck!
One of the best parts of my day comes quickly anymore. I get up early, training myself to need less sleep. Before my family gets up – in fact, before campus gets up – I head out on a morning walk.
My destination is Stauffer Chapel, a breathtaking building down on the undergrad campus. And I mean
D
O
W
N
on the undergrad campus. We live on a mountain, and in addition to the steep grade that defines the biggest part of the walk, I counted 202 steps from our apartment to the chapel’s front door.
I took my camera along the other day – just the once – to record bits and pieces of my early morning.
There are often deer along the path. The sun isn’t up yet on my morning walk, so I had to mess with the flash on my camera so you could see the deer. The pictures aren’t great. But the reality is awesome.
I’ve learned it isn’t easy to walk down a steep hill. It doesn’t take much effort to fall down one, but to steadily walk is quite a challenge.
Anyway, it doesn’t take long to arrive at the chapel. I’m asuming this beautiful building is open 24/7 because it is always open when I get there, and no one else besides the deer and the landscaping crew is up yet.
I’m not much on the traditional signs of reverence. I don’t think God has a financial interest in stained glass. And I only take off my hat in a church building to keep from pissing people off. But for some reason, I walk in this building and my arms move themselves to remove my baseball cap. And I sense God.
I walk to the front of the chapel each morning. On the way, there are six Bible verses I read on the wall: three on each side. Three of the verses are some of my favorites. I salute each of them. I end up standing, hat in hand, in front of this massive stained glass wall. Each morning, I look up in awe and recite the Lord’s Prayer. This is how I intend on starting my day every day. It is my focusing prayer.
Then I turn and walk out. Simple as that.
I have to walk to the other side of the stained glass first to take in the amazing view of the Pacific Ocean. I see the waves rolling in. I see the ocean lose itself in the sky on the horizon. I’ve seen the sun rising over the mountains a couple of mornings.
Then, I trudge up the 202 steps and the steep mountain grade to get started on the rest of my day. The prayer walk is great, but facing the mountain in the immediate aftermath is hard. Not a bad metaphor for life.
We have lots of great friends who have said they plan to come see us sometime. I have an offer you just can’t refuse. When you come, I will be immersed in law school, and Jody and Hillary will be much more available than me. But bring your walking shoes. You have a standing offer to get up off our couch in the early morning, go on a morning walk with me, and have in your possession an unforgettable start to the gift of a day.
Orientation ended yesterday. It was good, but everyone involved is still glad. The real fun is scheduled to begin Monday, but in law school (in case you didn’t know) you have many assignments due on the first day of class – and professors EXPECT you to be ready and randomly call on students – so this weekend won’t be very restful.
Dean Starr hosted a barbecue for all of us newbies in Alumni Park as a nice ending to orientation. It was a family-friendly event, so Jody, Hillary, and my mom had the opportunity to enjoy it, too.
The setting blew us away.
To me, the friendliness of the professors that came to be with us eclipsed the breathtaking setting. Professor Grant Nelson is a world-renowned real estate legal scholar (and my Property professor come Tuesday). Check this out: he came up to ME and knew who I was! He sat with my family, and then asked me about my new friend, Ben (he knew who Ben was, too!). Pretty freaky. Professor Nelson knows a lot about us already.
Pepperdine’s law faculty is ranked #1 in the country in “professor availability,” and that has been evident so far.
The only thing better than the friendliness of the professors (which, if you’re taking notes was even better than the setting) was Jody’s story she shared at the dinner table. Yesterday, in the campus bookstore, she stood in line next to Pat Sajak who was helping his son get settled into college. Jody said he was buying books with his boy. And yes, I asked if he bought any vowels.
Yesterday began with my morning walk (which I plan to write about tomorrow). After that, I drove with Hillary’s newly-updated immunization record to Malibu High School. I drove down the PCH, sunroof open, blaring U2’s “Beautiful Day” on the stereo.
As I looked at the waves roll in on Zuma Beach, a block from Hillary’s new school, I thought about Paul’s statement in Philippians that he knew how to “be abased, and how to abound.” I guess Katrina still brings to mind some feelings of abasement. But now, I sure feel like I’m abounding a lot.
It was a good Friday.
Okay, check this out: last night we have a required meeting for all new married students in our complex – go over rules, eat some dessert, meet the new folks (me, and a few others). We go ’round the room doing intros, and get this, the intros don’t do it. AFTER the get-together, Jody is talking to our next door neighbor, Kerri (who happens to be the director of our entire complex and another graduate complex on campus), and we discover that her husband and I are from the same hometown!
Zac Heath is a moviemaker out here in Malibu. I taught his brother, Jeremy, when he was a junior in high school. His little sister, Whitney, is a Facebook friend. And now, he’s my next door neighbor.
Check THIS out.
