baby, be my mafia boss, I'll be your right-hand man

So on Monday I turned up at work, and after feeling progressively worse, went off to a clinic, where I was told by a very sweet elderly doctor that I had a fever I wasn't aware I was running. He greeted my surprise with a disapproving, "You mean you didn't know?" At which I recalled this instance last year when the country was hit by a shock following an earthquake in a neighbouring region, and at which several of us young pupils felt ill. Which we responded to by thinking 'We must be working too hard' and went right back to work.

ANYWAY! I WANT TO SAY A MASSIVE THANK YOU TO firestorm717 for the lovely gift, which had me beaming from ear to ear, and also, ONE DAY I HAVE TO TAKE YOU OUT FOR DINNER AND DRINKS, YOU BEING ONE OF THE PEOPLE ON LIVEJOURNAL WHICH I AM UTTERLY CONVINCED I WILL MEET ONE DAY. ♥ :D :D :D BEST WISHES IN YOUR CHOICES - I can actually imagine you as this amazing Professor Emeritus one day, and that'd be just ONE of your stellar academic achievements. :D

Also! The Supreme Court is throwing a massive open house next weekend, from the 14 - 15th of March. Check out the Website Here. It's called The Living Courthouse. This is pretty cool because the Court is never open on weekends, ordinarily, so it is a FUN TIME TO GO AND TAKE A LOOK. There will apparently be a series of short, informative and light-hearted court enactments, but honey I have got to object to that description because you're re-enacting bankruptcy, personal injury claims, seizure of property, and breach of contract. There is absolutely nothing light-hearted about that.

And now I simply must pass on the link that anyasy gave me:

★★★ The Live-Action All-Female Phoenix Wright Musical, as performed by the Takarazuka Revue. You remember the Zuka Club in Ouran High School Host Club? Well, the Takarazuka Revue was the Zuka Club's inspiration!

I've never made a secret of how I feel about Phoenix Wright, but even I have to say that the ten-minute preview here is utterly compelling. Phoenix and Edgeworth are especially noteworthy. You are never in doubt that they are played by women, but both their actresses are incredibly charismatic, and they are amazingly good at being masculine. Watch it, you'll see what I mean.

This song goes out to my Opposing Counsel, because it perfectly describes one of the cases I've been on since last December:

First you say you won't, then you say you will.
You keep me hanging on, and we're not moving on
I"m standing still, Jenny, you got me on my knees
Jenny, it's killing me
The Click Five, Jenny

CAN WE GO TO TRIAL ALREADY

It's funny that I was talking to elvaron about just this situation, because today I had a major heart attack when the client called and wanted to talk to me because everyone else coincidentally wasn't in the country.

Also, today I recorded the most billable hours for any day I've worked so far, so this CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION!

Also the way I unwind after an entire day with law in my head is with a lot of pictures.

( altor discovery of capslock worthy proportions )

Incidentally, Altor is EVIL. EVIL. Just three hours with the Mukuro path and still uncompleted, mind you, and already taking the Gokudera path BREAKS MY HEART.

GOKUDERA MAKES EVERYTHING BETTER.

( SEE )

( plus random Hibari and other people )

( Giotto and his Mist Guardian )

( Tsuna + Mukuro )

Dear World,

Though it's hard sometimes, I love my job. I love that I can do what I can do, and I love that I'm learning more so I can do more. I love that sometimes in the middle of what I'm doing I think, Yes, this is where I'm supposed to be, and there are those priceless moments in which I think,
I am here in this world for a reason, and this is my reason.

And hey, I get that not everybody loves this job, and I sure get that a whole lot of people don't love the people who do this job. I get that from my own family often enough, from the relatives who tell me, Go corporate, that's where the money is, from my brother, whom I love dearly, but who thinks lawyers are scum and won't hold back that opinion even from me, from my uncle, who backed away when he heard that I'd be qualifying soon - and even though some of it is in jest, I can't say I'm completely unaffected.

But it's not going to stop me.

I get that most people's experience with lawyers haven't generally been the sort that leave favourable impressions. Hey, I get that most people's experience with lawyers are pretty darn godawful never-to-be-repeated I'll-never-touch-a-lawyer-with-a-ten-foot-pole experiences.

My first experience with the legal profession was an experience like that, after all.

It left such a deep impression on me that it was the biggest unspoken reason I became a lawyer. It's the one I rarely ever talk about. But I know how awful it is to be on the other end of a nasty situation (and I'm not even going to say nasty lawyer, because the situation is sometimes bad enough that whether the lawyer's good or bad makes no difference).

And I'll never forget what it feels like. There's so much fear, anger, and frustration when you or someone you know is on the recieving end of the law or a nasty lawyer. But it doesn't take away the good that lawyers can do, and are doing, in the world. We're not perfect. Nobody is. There sure are a lot of lawyers out there who could be doing a lot better. There sure are a lot of lawyers out there who shouldn't be lawyers at all. But there are lawyers out there who are making life easier for their clients and for the people who can't afford lawyers, by volunteering and just doing their best. And I think that that shouldn't be forgotten.

I've always thought that the problem with the world was that you never heard enough about the lawyers who were doing good in the world. Most of what everybody hears and remembers are, Guess which lawyer ran off with what spectacular sum of money? Guess what they're suing for? Guess who's helping them sue for it?

You want jokes about why hell's got all the lawyers? I've heard all of them.

And I know I'm going to develop a much more robust attitude towards this, but I'm still new to this, and every time I hear of someone who's had a bad experience with a lawyer, however near or far away to my life it is, I can't help but think I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that that happened to you. And I wish you'd met someone else who could've showed you that lawyers aren't all like that, and that it doesn't have to be that way. Just like the way I'm disgusted for hours and outraged on some indefinable level for longer than I should be whenever I read about a misbehaving lawyer in the papers, as I think, This is why people hate us!

But, you know what? There are good people in this profession, too. People who don't forget that it isn't all about the money. There are so many ways in this profession to make a good difference in this world. Sure, we have our share of total bastards. But so does every profession. We have people who make lawyers ashamed to be lawyers.

But we're not all like that.

You can be a lawyer and a good person. I've met people like that: lawyers who are kind, gentle, and completely wonderful people, people who made me think, I want to grow up to be like you. Lawyers who are kind to those whom they work with and to those who they're up against. Lawyers who have shown me that even in the most heated legal battles that there is room for courtesy, and there is room to respect everyone you're dealing with.

And God help me, I'm going to grow up to be like that.
And I'm going to do everything I can to not become the sort of lawyer I'd be ashamed of sharing a profession with.

Law Talk
In summary: Defending Guilty People Isn't Easy, or, Why Life Is Not Like Phoenix Wright;
and ( A Funny Thing I Found in Spam )

And now for something completely different: I am not an Arashi fan, but my heavens, they make FUN icon material! (This reminds me, I still haven't done a proper Abyss icon post) This icon post is especially in honour for farfello, who was the FIRST to introduce me to Arashi videos. I don't yet know of this is going to be a wild-and-crazy fall-in-love obsession the way Abyss or even Blades of Glory was, but I do know that I can't stop making Arashi icons (they do the most priceless photoshoots ever), and I love their videos, whether they are dancing in top hats and tailcoats atop a subtle-as-a-jackhammer rainbow, making tempura out of marshmallows, strawberries and strawberry cake.

And actually, if anyone can and doesn't mind identifying who's turning up in the Arashi icons, I would greatly apprciate the help. ♥ Kaasan helped for these ♥ I have now, so I know those already.



( icons and bases )

Also, anyasy linked this amazing Balthier and Basch cosplay, as well as this Balthier and Fran cosplay. An amazingly good Fran, really, I can't believe anyone could have pulled off making all that armor and that costume quite as well as this cosplayer did. I'm just really pleased at the Balthier and Basch. Many thanks for the links! ♥