Back in Crimson City. At least the weather is about the same as it was in SF -- soggy and grey -- and even temperature-wise. Warm for January.

Life is just better in California, though. I come back to Crimson City remembering what it's like to be cheerful, to walk around with a smile on my face, to feel optimistic and light-hearted. (Also, I come back addicted to fresh cilantro, but that's neither here nor there, except I will need to have pho soon.)

I'm in the throes of studying for my third final, Contracts, as I have completed first passes for both Civil Procedure and Property . As I read over my notes and the book and my classmate's notes and, word by word, create an outline, I realize that I find it very hard going when it's so boring.

Property is, relatively speaking, interesting -- big Constitutional concepts mixed in with everyday matters like whether you have the right to withhold rent if your landlord has violated 1,500 counts in the housing code. Contracts can be sort of interesting because it's anchored in everyday dealings (like, do you really have to go to arbitration when you find a problem with your Gateway computer if the arbitration clause is only in the agreement you got AFTER receiving the computer?), but discussions quickly get away from the interesting and into dry logic.

Civil Procedure is best not spoken of. It chappeth my hide most profoundly, for it is both deadly dull and dangerously difficult. Dastardly.

And now, my break is over and I return to postponed bargaining and the Uniform Commercial Code.