tazbhachoodottumblrdotcom

Wow. I didn’t realise the last time I blogged was over two months ago. Not much has happened apart from: exams, then some stress, then more exams, then some mocks, then some stress, then another mock, then exams, followed by an energy drink overdose, then more exams and then options and then options exams and now the BPTC has ended. 

Sad times. In a way I already miss it. Not so much for the work, but for the people. Weird how much you learn about people on such an intense course. It is mental! Anywho, as is customary of my blogs around this time of year, I ought to talk about being in some sort of limbo. Yes in a way I am, in terms of potentially being a barrister but not being a barrister, but I can honestly say it does not bother me in the slightest.

OK. That is a lie. Pupillage would be amazing but it is not the end of the world if I don’t get it. The Bar is an incredibly difficult profession to get into and it is still not the fairest. I mean, I don’t have an undergrad from Camford (or Oxbridge - I prefer the former!) and I also don’t have money coming out of my arse to be able to remain a student and complete my masters but - I am hoping (*fingers crossed*) that someone, somewhere will appreciate hiring a law-based person!!

All that said, I am also enjoying the break. It has been a tough few years, and I am slowly clawing my life back. [insert supportive cheer] It also means that I might even blog more. 

Yeah right.

… but sometimes people get on my nerves.

First thing is the newly formed CoL Library Gestapo that are enforcing the ‘bottled water policy’. No one reads the emails - sod off.

Second thing are the people in the library who sit there with headphones on and then complain about the level of noise? WTF?! Turn the music up or take the headphones out. 

Third thing revision sucks. Especially when your examining institution cannot write multiple choice questions for S*!@. 

Once again, sorry for the rant but I was worried someone may complain if I was vocal about it….

A blog for April, created in the midst of Professional Ethics revision about…

…my Facebook news feed. 

So a lot of people have been moaning about the government and the budget cuts and the protests blah, blah, blah. In fact my entire Facebook wall at the moment is covered with different posts from friends about the fee increase. WHY DO WE CARE?! I mean, most of the people I know have been to or are at university. Stop moaning for the sake of it and focus on your degrees. (That made me sound a little like my gran and dad rolled into one!)

Also - we are in a recession. Boo hoo. The amazing thing about this country is that we have a reputation of just getting on with it. I mean, after the 7/7 bombings people got on with it. They were more cautious but their lives carried on. Ok relating a GLOBAL recession to a terrorist attack isn’t the best analogy but, if people stopped causing a fuss and went about their lives they would realise that even in the midst of an economic downturn there are still opportunities. Go out and find them - what use is trashing central London and causing more money to be used?! One more thing - whatever government is in power during a recession is hated. Considering that part of the coalition were sold out to the other part by their leader it is unfair to really attack them. Especially since there are only 57 of them…. But in all seriousness - yes there is a recession, yes there are going to be funding cuts and yes people will hate the government. What we need to remember is that the economy is sporadic, it will peak and then plummet, funding cuts will happen - we have to deal with it and the coalition government is our own problem. We put them there and if people are that serious about not liking them - they need to start the ball rolling to get them out. I for one want my facebook newsfeed to be an active procrastination tool not a political blog/debate!!!! 

Rant over. Back to revision. 

Decided to give a little more than the usual ramblings about my monotonous life as a trainee Barrister…

Take a look at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2011/mar/24/dignity-uk-europe-human-rights?commentpage=last#end-of-comments

Its an article written by one of my old lecturers and disso supervisor (back when I was a humble law student a few moons ago!).

I think its a really good article but I have to say - if you ever get the chance or the opportunity to attend a talk about this subject,or get the chance to see a lawyer/barrister/legal academic talk about it or read a little more into it - I would certainly recommend it! 

This one comes with the title that makes it sound a little like those late night radio shows almost no one listens to. 

But, I am here - suffering from a bout of insomnia and clearly hoping one of the methods of Alternative Dispute Resolution will help me drift off. It hasn’t and as a result - I have decided to watch ‘Christopher and His Kind’ on iPlayer. All in all - it was fantastic. Quite a good adaptation of Christopher Ishwerwood’s biography but, a lot crammed into an hour and a half!! 

Makes me wonder if I would ever be able to write an autobiography. What ever would I put in the damn thing?! I find it hard to put a day in words (hence why this blog is so scarce!) yet a whole lifetime would be such a mammoth task. Where would you start? Well stupid question really because I guess you would have to start at birth, any thing prior to birth may induce vomiting in the reader. Funnily enough, sitting in my bed, looking around my room, its amazing to see what I have managed to collect (hoard) from really random places. Those who know me can vouch that I am not the most die hard sporting fan yet there is a signed basketball on my desk from some team somewhere. Nearby a collection of old 80s/90s CDs which would probably disclose the cringe-worthy music taste I have. Then there are various law textbooks - some from school, some from uni and some never touched. I always maintain that I am not a stereotypical boring, lifeless lawyer - yet, after watching something like that, I have decided. I need a (non law related) adventure.

So, I am here again. Mid-afternoon madness in the library once again. Handed in a skeleton argument the size of the amazon today. Crazily decided to stay in the library and ‘revise’ for my upcoming exams

Bad Idea.

I ended up spending an hour and a half running around west London looking for a suitable place to get some food. Finally found a place, got undercharged for a small banquet (IDEAL) and then decided to photocopy some more and just waste time.

Gone are the concerns with “why i am here?” and “what am I going to do?”. I now find myself asking WHAT AM I HERE FOR?? I am basically descending rapidly into this legal asylum where I see the world with a rosy hue and judges may end up resembling teddy bears or unicorns (in the style of robot unicorn attack). When I am not considering getting a straight jacket made at Ede and Ravenscroft, I am giggling hysterically at the randomness of my life or polluting facebook with my countless posts (of which this, will be one).

The best way to describe my mood is this: Have you ever had a day where you know you have things to do - but end up googling your name? THATS WHAT I HAVE DONE (though google is one of MANY search engines that have had my name typed into them…). Seriously, I am about 30 minutes away from photocopying my face.

So, I am sitting in the library trying to multi task my way through ‘mountains’ (slight exaggeration, some people would call it a small hill) of work in preparation for some of my BPTC exams next week.

Short of staring aimlessly/pointlessly/blankly into space, I thought I would attempt to fill the void that is my blog! So yeah, here I am - now wasting words and energy writing utter b*&^%$s in an attempt to inspire myself to work more.

The interesting thing is that it is March. Almost a quarter of the year has passed within a moment (or so it seems!). I don’t know if it is just me but things seem to be moving a lot faster the older I get. Back when you were younger time never used to fly - although, the hours/days/weeks and months still seem to merge themselves seamlessly.

The last six months seem ironically effortless. The rainforest of papers that I have collected in my room stand as evidence to the work I have done on the BPTC yet, in about four months - I will be called to the Bar. That’s it. Everything I have worked towards for almost half a decade is over in one simple ceremony.

Pupillage is a way off. What happens in between? I feel like I am being propelled into limbo, quite fast. I will soon enter this world when I can call myself a Barrister but not actually be one - if that makes sense? Another funny thing is the strain a course like this puts on friendships and relationships. The pressure, the (odd) desire to work harder and the urge to succeed seems to take over your life. I never thought that I would become someone who lives for the weekend but at midday on a Friday I breathe a huge sigh of relief. Finally - a day when the wretched alarm clock doesn’t blare at 5.30/6.00 am. My new ritual is to greet the weekend looking like a dishevelled zombie and emerge on Monday morning looking somewhat more refreshed. I think for anyone undertaking a course as intense as this, adoption of the “mantra” - ‘work hard, play hard’ is a must. It also explains why so many Barristers like a drink or two.

Still staring aimlessly into space. I think the only thing I have achieved is wasting 10-15 minutes of time typing this out. Fun stuff. Now, back to the silence, the tapping of keyboards and the work. Joy.

Where the law is learned (Taken with instagram)

February is one of those ‘meh’ months - don’t you think? January is over - as are the sales. February makes you realise a whole manner of things such as… failing at your new years resolutions (which I have done), spending too much in the sales (which I have done) and not doing enough work to name but a few!

Also its such a random short ass month too! It’s practically half over! Another thing that annoys me about February is Valentines day. Ew. This year it was as if it was on steroids. Walking past Paperchase near enough every day made me feel ill. It was red, and glittery and all - “buy me and waste money”. Ew. (Rant over).

That’s it for now. 

A small, and slightly pointless post. (see you in March perhaps?!)

…today is an exception. Also, failing on my resolution to use this thing more often. On the other hand - twice in a month is better than my previous track record!!

So - what has got me so annoyed I thought I would blog about it? These blasted defence cuts. I shall be the first to admit I am not an expert in Ecomomics and the recession but seriously.

Have a browse of: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12294766. Stupid. Scrapping an entire fleet of harriers, perhaps one of the only fast jets that can hover and then scrapping a new £200 million fleet of Nimrods. Something is seriously wrong - the country has also been left with aircraft carriers it can’t use!!

I thought this ‘coalition government’ was supposed to bring the country out of recession. For one thing the economy has further decreased. Rather than repairing ‘broken Britain’ the government is crippling it.

Another thing that will frustrate me is that people will realise this and then proclaim “I am going to vote BNP!!”. WHY?! Just because the government that the majority of this country put in power are useless - that’s no reason to turn into a racist! I wish I could fight Labour’s corner in this farce, but unfortunately - unless they sort out their front bench, bring in some charachter and dynamics then this country will face hong parliament after hung parliament. I also think it’s high time the government stopped pointing the finger at the opposition. Recession was inevitable. Gordon Brown did not trigger a world wide recession, though his policies were adopted in other countries. Britain does not have the worst deficit in Europe. I think what this country needs is a leader… but what we have, is a PR man. Someone that was a reasonably good orator and was a suitable candidate for airbrushing. His deputy isn’t better. Surely if the Liberals really wanted to make a change to this country, the leader accepting the role of Deputy Prime Minister ‘in order to enforce coalition agreements’ is, in my opinion, a cop out. I think that unfortunately the one ‘real’ progressive party has now turned into the scapegoat so that the Conservatives can enforce thier agenda. Sad times.

Recession or not, I think it is high time someone took control and sorted this mess out. Stop pointing the finger, and make sensible cuts - perhaps to how much wine the government used to entertain perhaps?

Ok. Rant over. Apologies for the preceding rubbish!! I will use this blog more often.