Harry Potter and the Ghoulish Gelato

As anyone who reads this site a lot knows, (anyone?) I like to read, and not just those stacks and stacks of engrossing statutes. This last semester, however, hasn't seen me read much. It's been so lacklustre that I've actually returned to try and finish the book I was reading when I started law school - Dickens' Bleak House. Damn you 900 page tomes!

Luckily, there are new and excellent (and non-law-related) books on the horizon:

Michael Chabon - The Yiddish Policemen's Union
I've been waiting for this ever since I first put down The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (and every time I've put it down since). Chabon is one of the very few authors I'd read word unread, (is this the literate equivalent of sight unseen?) but in this case what I know about the novel has my interest piqued. It comes out May, too late to make exam studying more bearable, but whaddya know, advance leaks aren't just restricted to the musical world...



Elmore Leonard - The Complete Western Stories
I once went through a phase where I read every Elmore Leonard novel I could get my hands on. City Primeval is still my favourite of the idiosyncratic criminal fare, but I also loved his Western stuff. In particular, "Forty Lashes Less One" - a story about two prisoners taught the art of distance running to raise their spirits, which of course inadvertently makes chasing them after a prison break that much harder. Anyway, this collection has stories like that, times thirty, plus one.



Alex Kapranos - Sound Bites
This one isn't new, nor is it really a novel. But I've come to several conclusions: (1) I'm renting an Italian villa this summer, so I'd like to be able to prepare some great meals there. (2) Typical cookbooks are normally a wasted effort on me. (3) I like Franz Ferdinand and their lead singer wrote a book about experiencing meals around the world, meals that could perhaps provide the necessary inspiration. You could have it so much better, indeed.




JK Rowling - Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows
You knew this would be on the list. Will it make it less childish if I try and read the Italian version? No? Ha valso uno sforzo.

Villa-fied

E fatto! Più meno di cinque mesi!

To translate, I'm excited. We finalized plans and booked a villa right in the centre of Amalfi - and more imporantly - right near the beach. For a week in July, we have a great base to check out several towns along the Amalfi Coast or just relax. And if the relief work done by Google Earth map experts is correct, any sort of travel around these mountains calls for a lot of relaxation.



To be honest, the trip was partly inspired by an episode of Jamie Oliver's show I saw where he went to the Amalfi coast. I liked the idea of being in a villa where you could cook some of your own meals instead of depending on restaurants all the time.

Of course, the place does come stocked with a healthy supply of food: fresh fruit, olives, wine, prosciutto, among other things and my particular favourite - Nutella. European kids are raised on that stuff and it's an oversight in my opinion that the FDA/CFIA hasn't put the product on more breakfast tables in North America.

It wasn't a dealmaker in and of itself - that was left to the stunning views of the mountains and ocean - but it's nice to know you're taken care of. I was reminded of the various things to look for in signing a property agreement.



As if the next few months of law school weren't going to go by slow enough, now I have this on the horizon. And what a horizon it is!

Arrivederci Dracula

My special lady/ladyfriend and I have settled on a summer trip destination. Previous itineraries of Eastern Europe and the pillaging of Dracula's castle will have to wait for another year. Instead, for (at least) two weeks, it'll be the Amalfi Coast in Southern Italy.

I like the idea of having several weeks to relax, visit beaches, and - talents willing - spirit home Dickie Greenleaf. Plus, it'll give me an opportunity to use my Italian. And the timing couldn't be better: now, in response to "What do you do back in Canada?" I'll no longer have to say,

"Sono studente della legge," (I'm a law student). Instead, I can say:

"Sono avvocato," (I'm a lawyer), a phrase I've always admired on account of how it sounds like copping to being an avocado.

Adesso voglio imparare la legge Italiana

When I was at Queen's University, in my first year I got 97% in Italian and I knew things could only go down from there. (And oh, how they did.) Fall term marks for third year came out yesterday, and I'm glad to report that I've actually created the opposite trend throughout law school. Of course, this term wasn't free from the typical aberration.

If you had talked to me directly after my first, second and third year exams, I would have said my best tests were Contracts, Advanced Criminal Procedure, Corporations and most recently, Conflicts. If you were to ask me directly after receiving my marks for each of these terms, these classes nicely correspond to my worst marks.

I suppose I can appreciate this kind of irony, I just really, really hope it doesn't flow over into my legal career. I can just picture it now:

[Me to client]: I feel really good about our chances with this one, nay, I'm sure of it.

[Client to Crown]: Let's make a deal.