LSAT Notes to Self

Logical Reasoning accounts for 50% of this test. You can finish the section in a timely manner. Be calm and read slowly, actively, critically, and carefully. Find the conclusion if there is one and use it to answer the question. Pace yourself. If it's a long passage and it's tough to get through, skip it and complete shorter ones.

Analytical Reasoning (Logic Games) suck. It is only a game if you like to torture people. With that said, get over it. Start with a good diagram and follow through. No excuses for not making deductions. Read the Stimulus and first rules before diagramming. List questions are easy, do not give away those points.  Be certain during what If questions.  Use the past diagrams as possible outcomes.  Work quickly (time is of the essence).  Do not fret, if it's taking too long, then jump it and move on.

Reading Comprehension.  Make notes. Read carefully, slowly, and understand the whole. Try to find passages that work for you. Find the author's point of view and conclusion early. If there is evidence presented, determine it's role.

Writing Sample.  Do not blow this off, because it may be your saving grace. IRAC. That's what they want to see. Pick a side and defend it, do this by stating and proving why one side is much better than the other. Be the defender/ publicist. Do not spell words wrong.

I think my feelings regarding this test are best summed up by P!nk's "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)", as this test is my bad boyfriend. 

I think I've finally had enough, I think I maybe think too much
I think this might be it for us (blow me one last kiss)
You think I'm just too serious, I think you're full of sh-t
My head is spinning so (blow me one last kiss)

Just when I think it can't get worse, I had a sh-t day (no!)
You had a sh-t day (no!), we've had a sh-t day (no!)
I think that life's too short for this, I'll pack my ignorance and bliss
I think I've had enough of this. Blow me one last kiss

37 Full Days Left....Each time get better. Do not settle for mediocre. I must go in 37 days from now knowing that I did everything that I could to prepare. I will cut myself a break maybe once a week because I work full-time and go to school full-time, but other than that it's all about time management.

Watch Out, Rainbows, LSAT

It turns out that I'm the type of person who will pull over to the side of the road to take a picture. I'm also the type of person who will pull over the side of the road to write down thoughts that pop into my head.

I find this happening more frequently as I've become more cerebral. I have things I need to remember or that I'd like to use later. I started carrying around a notebook.

Today, it was raining like crazy. In Florida people suck at driving when it starts to sprinkle. So as a jerk was about to rear-end me, I looked in my mirror. I saw the angry stupid driver and also a giant rainbow. Which is when I slammed on my breaks like an Asian woman, and took a picture of the sky. I'm totally kidding about the previous statement. I really just pulled over and took these pictures. Upon arriving home, I found the rainbow over our house too.

                                    I resurrected Kimfucious (who has not been around since my college days), and came up with the saying: "Don't be so mad because it is raining, that you miss the rainbow." That would definitely be one of those positive, literally "look on the bright side" quotes. Enjoy.

I got some things coming up. I'll tell more about them when they happen. In the mean time, I continue to study for the LSAT. Seven weeks left, I've moved onto timed practice. I am glad that I started the timing prep now, because at first I totally panicked at first.

An interesting study came out this week determining that studying for the LSAT makes your brain do things, essentially making you smarter (http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/08/22/intense-prep-for-law-school-admissions-test-alters-brain-structure/). I completely believe this. Since I've started my hardcore studying, I feel smarter and I see things a little bit differently. I just need a few extra neuron connections and I'm all set.

When did I become a crazy dolphin lady?

These are the pictures from my desk at work. I won’t even show you pictures from my house, but let’s just say that we have a room just full of dolphins. I do not know when this happen, maybe it always was, but when did I become the crazy dolphin lady. People go to stores and they buy me dolphins. During Christmas time, people buy me dolphin gifts. This has occurred for as long as I can remember.

The Origin: When my brother and I were younger, during our Summer breaks from school, our parents would drive us all around the East Coast taking us to different aquariums. Any time we went on vacation, we would also go to aquariums. Possibly, the earliest memory I have is my dad holding me over a dolphin tank to feed them fish when I was 3 or 4 years old. My mom would always buy me books about the ocean and dolphins. 

When we were younger, our family use to have a friend that swore up and down that she was a dolphin in a past life. At the time, Chris and I thought she was crazy, and I thought how could anyone be that crazy. Fast forward 20 years, and it's now me. While I don't think that I was a dolphin in a past life, I seem to be at that similar level of crazy.

My brother and I can visually identify and probably tell you a couple facts about a majority of the fish in the known world. I’m better with marine mammals, but my brother can ID most fish. It’s a shame that neither of us studied Marine Biology.

I think I like dolphins because they’re intelligent, beautiful creatures. They can be mysterious or show-offs. Plus, they live in the sea.

So I guess that I’m a crazy dolphin lady. I’m sure if they could live in bathrooms I would have a bunch of them in my house. I do have one request to anyone reading this. No more dolphin gifts. I really have no use for them. What would be useful is money. If you don’t want to give me money, at least give the dolphins some money : The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

Book Reviews: Divergent & The Selection

I am not sure what it is about the young adult dystopian genre that’s drawing me in.  Slap in a strong female character and a couple of cute boys and I’m definitely going to read your book.  One can liken the genre to a metaphor for my own life, stuck here in Orlando playing by society’s rules.  My love for this genre started with “The Giver” by Lois Lowry in 6^th Grade, then a deep intellectual study of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, my Junior year in college.  A couple of years later the Hunger Games series caught in mainstream. With that series over, I longed to fill the page turning void. 

Enter Divergent by Veronica Roth. This is one of those books that mix Hunger Games and The Giver. I read it in one day, which is a symptom of the dystopian genre. This book revolves around a society separated by traits like “Courage,” “Intellectual,” and “Generous”.  Not exactly the city names, but you get the idea. Upon reaching a certain age, teens get to pick between staying in their designated group, or choose to go through a trial process of joining another group. Our main female character, decides to leave her family and move to a more aggressive society. The initiation process is terrible, but of course she excels and falls for a mentor.  I think the weakest part of the story is the main character. The author made a point to inform us of her age right from the beginning, which disconnects the reader. I did enjoy the plot and the cute love story line. While still clever, the plot tips its hand too much about what will happen. Much like the trains in the story, the "ah ha" moments, you can see from a mile away. This book is part of a trilogy with the last book scheduled to come out in 2013. I am on hold for the 2^nd book Insurgent, but it’s probably going to be a few weeks before it is my turn.

In previous posts, I’ve discussed how much I love ebooks from the library, the bad part is that if a book is popular then there’s a long wait time. Some people do not know how to return a book properly and then 20 days later it automatically returns into the system. Then again, it is free, so no complaining! 

Yesterday I finished the PowerScore Logical Reasoning LSAT book and decided to give myself a break. I started with a nice cold soda and downloaded The Selection by Kiera Cass. I waited for this book for about two months from the library, but yay. As you all know, I often read books straight through, then have a book hang over the next day. 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Selection. Featuring a strong female character and a good and kind Prince, The Selection is about a newly formed nation trying to find a Princess for the good Prince Maxon. Enter America, a teenager from a low caste, who wins a lottery to enter The Selection and meet (and hopefully marry) the Prince.  Despite her efforts to avoid attention, America manages to catch the prince's eye with her individuality and honest personality. BAM! Love Triangle and female-on-female drama. It's a trilogy, with Book 2 coming out in 2013. I cannot wait. The book is sorta predictable, but not terribly so. I recommend it! I suspect in future books the actual dystopian part will come more into play, but I am perfectly content with seeing how the love triangle plays out.  

If I ever thought of a book to write myself, it would be very much like The Selection. The character choices and personalities are very similar to the characters floating around in my mind. My friend, Mike Costello, who is a published author himself, encourages me to shut up about what I would like to write, and just do it. I have a story in mind, I have the characters in mind, what I do not have is the time (possibly the confidence). Sharing your thoughts and creating a world is a very personal thing.  I get that there will always be critics –people who cannot do better themselves, but I’m not too worried about it. Becoming a published writer is not as difficult as it used to be. The Internet has made e-publishing much easier. So, much like studying, I just need to sit down, shut up, and type. 

Want to know what I’m reading? Follow me on GoodReads. 

The LSAT: My bad boyfriend

According to @LSATCountdown I have 50 days left until the test. *Keep Calm and Study On*

In theory, I have intermittently studied for this test since last year. I planned on taking it in June, but failed to register on time before the testing centers in Central Florida filled up. I think this was a secret blessing because there was no way that I could have done well in June.

So, with less than two months left, I woke up and realized that I took the entire summer off from my studies. Now don't get me wrong, the book definitely moved all over my room from my dresser to my bed, to my nightstand, to the floor, to my closet. They make excellent paperweights and roach smashers. Luckily, I woke up to this reality and set myself a lofty goal of one chapter at least a night, which should give me enough time to take practice tests all September.

I've asked my friends and co-workers to openly mock and berate me in order to keep me motivated. (Shout out to Christian Fulton - who's been in my shoes and is great about keeping me going).  I wrote out a syllabus (which I probably should have done months ago). I still got this. There is no doubt in my mind that I will break my pre-test score of 143. I've been training myself at work to sit still for 4 hours at a time. I usually do not eat until I'm about ready to pass out. Towards the end of September I will be waking up at the crack of dawn and get the blood flowing and develop into a physical routine. (The real test starts at 8 AM, and I'm not a morning dolphin).

Turning each page is like finding a new form of torture. 

I get that this test is suppose to rank and weed-out mediocre would-be lawyers, but for real...for real.  I can't imagine more than a handful of concepts that I've encountered truly helping in the law profession. It's just my torture. I think I'm addicted to getting absolutely nothing wrong in practice and then getting half the questions right in a section. The LSAT: my bad boyfriend. I read early on from LSAT Blogspot that you'll start to find logical errors in everyday life. With all these political ads showing every five minutes, I find myself screaming: "Straw Man," "Mistaken Reversal," "Percentage Error," etc. at the TV.  I diagram everything in life. Pro Tip: If you work in customer service, do not try to use LSAT logic on angry customers...does not work.

School starts for me in two weeks. To summarize, I work 40 hours a week, go to school for 8 hours a week,  and will probably start an 8-10 hour a week internship too. I can do this though. I'm a master of time management. Some say the schedule is impossible; I say - we'll see.

Guess who's not 18 anymore

So I took my first ballet class since college. The class definitely reignited the passion for dance. I looked great and felt great during the class. The days following; however, not so much. I quickly realized that I'm not a teenager any more and probably inherited my dad's epic failure of a bone structure.

I learned and realized that the warm-up is just as important as the cool-down.  Research indicates that the cool-down helps move the lactic acid away from the muscles. Unfortunately, research for me occurred on day two. Instead, I went to a bar and drank rather than cooled down.

So by day two I was unable to walk and felt like my calf muscles were on fire with every step.  Here are a few thing I did to help alleviate the muscle pain:

First, I began with the typical stretching and elevation of the legs. It's incredibly hard to stretch when you feel like you'd rather cut off your legs. So then I decided that eating proteins and such would probably be easier. I should have taken a photograph, but I ate it instead.

Kim's Super Protein Filled Sandwich
1 English Muffin
1 slice of cheese
2 eggs
1 Morning Star Veggie Patty

Make the eggs into omelet of your choice. Warm up English Muffin and Morning Star Veggie Patty as directed. Place all the ingredients into the the English Muffin. Enjoy one giant protein filled sandwich.

Then I tried to drink as much water as possible.  Drinking water hydrates the body and allows the metabolism to get all the nastiness out.

Legs Up a Wall

Even Oprah says that this yoga pose is beneficial.  It is an inversion and should not be done if you have hypertension, the pregnancy, or high blood pressure.  By raising your legs above your head it "reverses" the blood flow.

The best way to get into this pose is to sit against the wall with your legs to one side. Get as close to the wall as possible with your butt, then lay back and swing your legs onto the wall.

You can either stretch your arms above your head or keep them on your chest. It is important to breathe in your nose and out your mouth. This will also help relax your body.

Out of all the things I did this past week to recover my body, I think this was the thing that was most beneficial.

DIY Cheap Non-(Foam) Roller

In Pilates, we use foam rollers as part of our exercise, in yoga we use foam rollers to stretch and massage parts of the body. I do not own a foam roller, but I recently ordered a poster from Snapfish.com, and luck have it, that I did not throw out the cardboard tube. 

I do not recommend sitting on a cardboard tube, but it definitely can be used to massage out muscles.  A partner is great for applying pressure, but if you're alone you just roll on the tube.

I can't imagine that this is what Michael Phelps or Gabby Douglas does as part of their routine, but it totally works for me.

Free Stuff Obsessions

I love free stuff. I'm always looking for new ways to things or earn more money. I recently started getting people together to go to trivia night once a week, to supplement the income. I figured with my crazy amount of random knowledge we can get some prizes. Our team name is "The Lovely Narwhals," so if you ever see us at bar trivia watch out!

Aside from bar trivia, there are also a bunch of websites and apps that I use to get free stuff. I don't think I've paid for iTunes or eBooks in years. I've received things like gift cards,  clothing, food samples, laundry detergent, and more.  

(Disclaimer: All links below are definitely self-promotion and lead either to my page or my referral links.)

CrowdTap.com is a online research/marketing site that companies use to poll the audience and participate in discussions. By answering 'QuickHits' or participating in Discussions you can earn points, which can be redeemed for online gift cards or donated to charity. I'm a points hoarder, so I have no spent any points yet. A unique feature about CrowdTap are events like Movie Previews (usually if you live in a metropolitan area), Sample and Shares (free products for you an a friend in exchange for reports/reviews/photos), hosted parties (gather friends to host an event based around a product).  For a beginner it is harder to get the big ticket events like Sample and Shares, but it's well worth the dedication and it's free. I've received two samples from Old Navy (one bikini and one dress). It's free to sign up and does not require a lot of commitment.

I am not sure why people buy recipe books anymore. Almost any DYI project, recipe, or style can be found using Pinterest.com. 

I just started using the Viggle App. If you watch TV at all, then you really have nothing to lose. Once you download the app, you use your cell phone to check into whatever show you are watching to earn points.  Some featured shows offer more points and some shows have live trivia associated with it to earn even more. The Olympics have provided me with tons of points. After gaining a number of points you can redeem them for things like gift cards, music.  If you save a couple million of points there are even opportunities for a cruise or new computer. Most people just save up for the Starbucks Gift Card.

In the past I've used SwagBucks.com, mostly to earn points for iTunes Gift Cards.  You can earn SwagBucks from a variety of style like searching the internet, surveys, buying things, etc. I found this site to be a little too tedious, but the rewards were definitely real.

Did you know that most public libraries have free music downloads? I get almost all of my music from Freegal Music offered through the Orlando Public Library.  All you need is a library card and pin number. You get a maximum of three downloads a week, then it resets on Monday.

Similarly, my public library offers free eBooks through Overdrive.com. Just like in the real library, you check out books for a couple weeks. If the book is out, then you are on a wait list. The best part, automatic returns = no late fees! Overdrive now has books for Nook and Kindle. Win!

As you know, I'm "Studying" for the LSAT. I've decided to not do a fancy prep program, instead going for the book method. So I've also found some free supplements for these studies. Using Youtube.com or VelocityLSAT to explain concepts has been free and invaluable.

Don't forget to enter Facebook contests. Many companies make it as easy as one-click and signing in with Facebook to enter a contest. I've won a few movie tickets and prize packs from just "Liking" a businesses page.

I'm not ashamed to say that I whore out my beautiful German Shepherd, Charger, into every pet photo contest I can find. While we have not won yet, she's starting to get a good following on her blog. I just take some good photos of her and enter on the web. I recent did a bunch of picture of Charger reading a book. Woof!

If you have any sites that I should be checking out, comment below!

Kim's Olympics Coverage

Every so often (like every two years or so), I become obsessed with the Olympics.  I normally do not watch sports, but something about countries sending their best athletes to a foreign land, draws me in.  During the Summer Olympics I fall in love with swimming, gymnastics, and equestrian, although, I'd watch it all. During the Winter, it's all about ice skating. I'd love to attend one of these spectacles or even work at one.

I've been watching the coverage each day, oddly enough with my dad. We watch the games together and have become experts in swimming and gymnastics.  I can't say that I liked The XXX Olympics opening ceremony. It was definitely a British spectacle. My cousin visited during that week and we gathered around the television to watch. I think the emphasis on sick children and modern technology was a bit much. 

Here are a couple of my favorite stories from around the web:

Fresh Take: Raisman's day turns golden thanks to her quick-thinking coach and one lucky talisman 

I love this success story of a coach rallying behind this athlete. I'm glad that Aly Raisman won this event, because her routine was spectacular. The piece describes the appeal process from Aly's coach's perspective. 

70,000 Olympic volunteer Games Makers help make games work

This article talks about the volunteers who make the Olympics function. The profiles range from sand smoother to arrow gatherer. An interesting read.

Liu Xiang may have hurt Achilles

Chinese hurdler Liu Xiang has never cleared a hurdle in an Olympic games. Yesterday, he fell over the first hurdle and probably ended his career. Despite the physical pain, he finished the race hopping on one leg. If that's not athleticism, I do not know what is. 

Olympic Village Sex: It's Party Time For Athletes At London Olympics

Opposite of pain and suffering is the story when a bunch of sexy athletes are forced to live in close quarters. Debauchery is expected. 

Stephan Feck and the most embarrassing dive of the London Games

If you Google 'fail dive' you can watch videos of Mr. Feck back flopping into the Olympic diving well. A cringe-worthy performance leave you feeling sad for the guy. A moment in time that someone's dreams crush in an instant.

Wow it's been a bit.

It looks like the last time I posted was about a year ago. It turns out that I go through these phases of writing online and then writing in my real paperback journal. Summary of my life in the past year - got promoted a couple times, but still not making enough money to do what I want to do. Almost done with school, but not quite. Decided I'd try to go to law school - studying for the LSAT. Still in Orlando.

So, since I have a small few weeks break from school, I have itchy fingers and need to write. Expect a gear up again. I would say this blog is once again for real, but I have commitment issues.