To Zone or Not to Zone

simtropolisAfter my property ASP, I ended up in an interesting conversation about zoning. I know nothing about zoning both because I am a 1L and because I am from Houston, the only city in the country (to my knowledge and pride) without zoning.

As I listened to a few anectdotes and told a few of my own, I was reminded of the “mainland” in Second Life (r) (SL). I think of what I have been told about the reason that Houston “is the way it is,” generally meaning that there is a lot of mixing of buildings for public and private use and much city sprawl. I also begin to think of the mainland on Second Life (R). A chaotic place to say the least.

In an effort to better understand the basics of zoning, I looked it up in the dictionary and on Wikipedia. Here is a bit of what I’ve found. 

Continue ReadingTo Zone or Not to Zone

Imagine this…

Snapshot_002You wake up in the morning and look out your window at the snow. You go to your inventory and pick out a nice outfit and shoes. Then go into appearance and, after wearing your clothes and shoes, you quickly take off all your hair; you need to look sophisticated today. You attach a new ‘do. On second thought…

A quick skin change and some low key accessories later, you teleport out. A few seconds pass, and you find yourself among a group of people in shorts & skirts under the bright sun of Tropical Eden. You realize that the organizers of the contest you came to enter preferred tropical dress, so you popo open your inventory and change outfits, shorten your hair and put on different shoes.

Now that you are ready, you walk to the line that has formed. As you do, you notice the chat around you. “No furries allowed in the contest.” A well dressed wolf curses and disappears and a few tails come off. “Please no biting during the contest.” A lady behind you whispers to a friend, “That is what garlic is for.”

Continue ReadingImagine this…

In Too Deep?

 

b9df7f5b8b1280964519cb1f0cd53f13Thank you, Professor O’Hear and Professor Slavin for inviting me to share my comments with the Marquette University Law School community. 

On my first day of law school, former Marquette Professor Eric Goldman informed our orientation group that, much to his own dismay, the practice of law is nothing like it is portrayed on television.  “What?”  I thought, “You mean cases can’t be tried start to finish in one hour?”  

Although I never truly expected that practicing law would resemble the television shows, I realized that there was value to be gained by watching these shows.  Not only do they offer a bit of light-hearted entertainment, but also an opportunity to test those years of legal education. 

One of the most recent newcomers to legal television is ABC’s new dramedy, “The Deep End.”  In “The Deep End,” five new associates join L.A.’s most prestigious law firm—Sterling, Huddle, Oppenheim, & Craft.  As the show’s title would imply, these associates are immediately thrown into the deep end.   I can appreciate that filming document reviews and the preparation of written discovery would not make for entertaining television.  I also understand that filming legal research in a law library filled with Pacific Reporters is better cinema photography than filming.  Thus, within their first week of practice, the legal neophytes are handling motion hearings, taking depositions, meeting with the firm’s major clients, and of course, groping each other, their support staff, and their clients. 

Continue ReadingIn Too Deep?