I am relieved to find out that I passed.

Tell the truth, I haven't thought about the California Bar at all until this last week, when everyone I know started talking about it. And seriously, I haven't been nervous these last four months. I wasn't nervous when I was studying for it. I wasn't even that nervous during the test. And I certainly wasn't worrying about that on my bar trip. However, when I came home this evening in time to check the results online.. Well that was a lot tougher for some reason.

Anyway, now I feel like I can breathe a huge sigh of relief. I also feel the need to listen to loud music and drink a beer.

Just like in law school..

So today I sold my HP Pavilion dv6405us laptop to some dude from San Jose for $500. It felt really great!

Why? Because the Pavilion was one thing and one thing only to me: a PC laptop on which I could run the software to take the California Bar Exam. Getting rid of it, then was ( cathartic. )

I'm also finally ready to talk about the Bar Exam itself (oooo!). It's been three weeks since it began. And I can understand now why it has the reputation that it does as this monumental, anxiety-inducing event in the lives of would-be lawyers. It is, more than anything, an endurance test, the marathon you have to finish after already completing the marathon that is law school. Two months of study is a long time (and it is indeed necessary). Plus the test itself is grueling, six hours a day. By the afternoon of the third day of the exam I found myself exhausted and wanting to go to sleep in the middle of the final Performance Test question.

At the same time, from this side of the fence, I can also say there is a lot of dread and fear around the Bar Exam that is not warranted. Law students are neurotic creatures by nature, perhaps by definition. The stakes are high, true, but you can take the test as many times as you want. And it's easy to forget that, at heart, it is a minimum competency exam. You are seeking to pass, not get the highest score. And on the six issue-spotting essays, at least, the Bar Examiners are not trying to trick you. The issues should be obviously if you were diligent in studying. (The multiple choice MBE's, on the other hand, were a different matter entirely, and were quite tricky.) An objective way to look at the exam is by the numbers: although the overall pass rate is 40%, most ABA-accredited law schools have an 85-90% first-time pass rate.

A bit of advice I got from a previous exam-passer back in April proved to be the most helpful: prepare yourself as much you need to feel comfortable about the test, but don't stress yourself out. I feel, hopefully, that is what I did.

As for the venue, San Mateo was pretty chill. The test was indeed in the gigantic warehouse with the rainbow flags. Surprisingly, nobody freaked out, nobody got up and left in the middle exam, nobody was outside retching in the bushes. The weather was beautiful, bordering on perfect, with the cool Bay breeze flowing in the whole day. And the hotel arrangements with Joel and Henry worked out very well.

So, there you have my high level post-mortem for the exam. I hope never to take it again, but I will not jinx myself by talking about it.

Last Monday, Henry, Joel and I went to check out the San Mateo Expo Center, where the Bar is being held. San Mateo has the ugliest and worst convention hall that I have ever seen. It's basically a dump.

The Expo Center itself is remniscent of a storage lot, or a small regional airport. I don't know where exactly I'll be taking the test, but there are two meeting halls at opposite ends of the place. The one at the far end is by far the largest, and our money is on that one.

This is the outside of the large building at the Expo Center. It is basically a big warehouse. I think they were going for the festive look, but failed.


Here's Henry and Joel trying to look inside.


Think how many Bar test takers you could fit in here! In addition, this cavernous space has four restrooms, one conveniently located in each corner..


It's always nice to know what you're up against!

So it all comes down to this. I am now 72 hours and a good night's sleep away from the California bar exam. I still have 2 topics to review, as well as a final global once-over to bring all the highlights from all thirteen bar topics to the forefront of my mind.

I am starting to feel the pressure (and for the most part, I haven't been that stressed out the last two months.) I know I'm running out of time, and have to pick and choose what to review. I can't do every practice essay in the book.

But things could be a lot worse. Because apart from this whole bar review thing, ( life has been pretty good. )

I could go on at further length about why life is good. For one, my parents got me an awesome backpack for my birthday (well, I chose it and charged it to their account, ha ha). But I better get back to work.

So this graphic allows me to do a couple of things. First, it gives me an excuse to tell you that my birthday is in two hours! Second, it lets me showcase my recent fascination with lolcats, and in particular, I Can Has Cheezburger.com.

This little guy here is a lolcat. "Lolcats" are a subset of image macros, or pictures that float around the Internet with bizarre captions attached to them. As this guy explains, lolcats have distinct and recognizable grammar patterns, including frequent and intentional misspellings. Of course, this just makes them cuter.



Third and finally, I like this picture because this cat's predicament is sort of a metaphor for how I feel about the California Bar, which is in five days. It's literally draining the fun out of my birthday celebration.

Deep, I know.

In other news, I flew down to LA today for an interview (more on this later) and had an impromptu birthday dim sum with my parents, sister, and grandma! I'm very happy about that.

There are people who yell late into the night, every night, outside my window. Party nights, i.e. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I can understand, although that doesn't mean I appreciate Latin dance music being blasted from the lounge next to my apartment until 2:40 am. And Sunday night? Tuesday?? Even worse, it sounds like these idiots are drunk. I guess it's summer, everyone has it easy, there's all sorts of summer camps going on around campus..

..But won't you STFU? If it is night time, I am either trying to study, or go to sleep. Thanks.

For the past six weeks of bar review, I've been playing basketball with a group of my bar review/law school friends. We get together twice a week, typically, and play 3-4 pickup games each time, lasting about 2 hours. It's been great fun, although things are winding down because bar review classes are now over.

I never got to play organized basketball as a kid, although I always wanted to. In grade school, which was the last time I played basketball, I was always one of the last kids to be picked, and I never was any good. However, these games with my friends are so casual that I get to play the whole time, and I've learned quite a bit by playing with these guys. Everyone is at a different skill level, and it doesn't really matter, because it's all in fun.

I haven't developed a shot yet, or much in the way of ball handling skills. (I'm working on those.) But I like to bring it on defense and can make anyone's day miserable (except maybe Ognen, who is 6 foot 9.) My nickname on the court is "The Worm," which is apparently a Dennis Rodman reference. (I have also been called "The Spider" and "The Pencil," for reasons I don't fully understand.) However, I like to think I draw my inspiration from the UCLA basketball team.



Back to Evidence, the topic of the day..

Today was muggy and overcast. I didn't want to get out of bed for lecture this morning, and after lunch (Wahoo's with Joel and Henry) I took a nearly hour and a half nap. It's funny but true how the weather can affect your mood. Today's weather made me feel blah.

We are pretty much done now with Bar | Bri lectures. Today was the last of four video sessions with Richard Sakai on how to prepare for the essay portion of the exam. (He's awesome, by the way.) Tomorrow is some final lecture on the Performance Exam that I'm not particularly looking forward to, and may decide to leave early. It's crunch time now. There is no hiding.

So, I've been swamped. I've had class 11 out of the last 12 days, including a 6 hour simulated MBE exam followed by two eight hour review sessions last week. So it was kind of a relief to reach the end of this week's classes.

Not surprisingly, I didn't do any work today after our Professional Responsibility lecture ended at 12:30 -- just a whole lot of relaxing and fun activities with my friends:

• I had lunch with Joel and Henry in downtown Palo Alto and then went with them to a travel agency down the street to plan our post-bar trip to Europe.
• After that, I took a nap.
• This took me all the way to dinner time. Dinner was at Darda Seafood in Milpitas with a larger group that included Cara and Grace. Darda is the only Islamic Chinese restaurant in the Bay Area, and it was awesome. I especially enjoyed the signature thick sesame onion bread; and the cumin lamb was simply superb.
• Dinner was followed by boba at Fantasia, which I think may be the best in the Bay Area, and which is also in Milpitas Square.
• Finally, rather than spend the rest of the evening in quiet, half-hearted studying, I went to a 10:00 pm showing of Live Free, Die Hard. I don't remember the older movies, but this one was a lively and well-produced, if standard, action flick. Featuring the superhot Maggie Q, no less.

I usually wouldn't let myself have so much fun in one day, but why not? The July 4th weekend is coming up, and perhaps it will be the one last mental break I will get before I hunker down for good, and start studying as I never have before. I'm allowed at least this, aren't I?

I just glanced at my Bar Bri schedule and realized that I'm half done. That is pretty scary, because I will really be responsible for all this legal junk, very soon.

In other news, I get to graduate again tomorrow morning in the general University ceremony at Stanford Stadium! This should be fun. I even got my cap & gown back from the bookstore and had my dad take "graduation portraits" of me today. I like to think that this particular one of Auguste Rodin's Burghers of Calais is agonizing over the California Bar. It certainly reflects how I feel.

(My dad also took me to lunch at a delicious Chinese restaurant on Castro St. in Mountain View -- New China Delight. Yay!)

Flickr graduation portrait set here.

UPDATE: University graduation pictures here.

I have been studying all day and can't think straight anymore. I got up at 7:30 am and have been studying, primarily, ever since. There is so much to do and catch up on (current topics are Evidence and Real Property).. Out of 15 hours, then, I probably spent at least 8-10 studying. MY only other activities today were cleaning out my desk (probably 2 hours) and going for a swim (probably 1 1/2 hours inclusive of washing off and travel time); I ate all my meals at my desk. So I guess this is how bar review is supposed to be like.

I had a productive day and I'm properly motivated, but I think I'm done for.

I got a road bike just over a month ago and have been able to take it out 5-6 times so far. It's really great and can really take you places that my feet aren't likely to reach! For instance, Page Mill Road and Alpine Road take you up to the rolling hillls behind Stanford, to the south. And to the north is the Baylands Preserve, a marshy area by the San Francisco Bay that you can reach via Bayshore Road, just alongside the 101:



I went there on Monday with my neighbor Julia (pictured) and her friend Andrew (photographer, not pictured.)

I learned how to ride a bike for the first time about a year ago, and have been biking to class regularly this year on a little old bike I inherited from my cousin Greg (who graduated from Stanford last year.) So I'm still a little new to this whole bike thing, and I really love it. My road bike is a Giant OCR 2, which is fairly awesome. The only problem so far is that I'm still afraid I am going to fall off.

I am still having trouble concentrating on Bar Review. Luckily, I am not behind or anything. I just need to be diligent, which may or may not be easy given that I am going to my friend Alice's wedding this Saturday in Las Vegas...

So, I've written two research papers this year that I've been trying to get published. (I've done it for one already..) It turns out that the online service that law students submit papers to law reviews and journals, ExpressO, also lets you showcase your manuscripts on your very own website, entitled "Selected Works of [Your Name here]." It sounds pretty nifty, so why not? Check out the Selected Works of Eric Chan.

So far, I like Selected Works. I'm probably not going to add anything else to that page in the foreseeable future, but it has a very slick interface that feels very, well, Blogger- like. It's online publishing for the hip generation. (Compare, for example, how one of my same articles looks on SSRN.)

I had two hours of introductory Bar Review class this morning. It wasn't anything substantive, but it's clear that this is going to be rough. You don't get weekends off, you are prescribed 5-8 hours of studying and test-taking a day, and you have to sit through an additional 4 more hours of videotaped lecture a day. Not cool..

I'm so happy. Surprisingly, I "passed" my patent bar examination today. It was tough -- 6 hours, with a break in the middle, in a small, generic testing center in a Fremont industrial park. The fact that I've only been studying for it about 2 weeks aside, it was more unpleasant of an experience than even taking the LSAT (which in turn, was worse than the SAT.) Fortunately for me, I figured out what I was doing about halfway through the exam -- namely, how to look up the right sections in the Manual of Patent Examination and Procedure and find those nitpicky little details that the test wanted me to ask about. (A friend who has already passed the exam observed that it is basically a trivia test, and it's true. It's just that the trivia is really, really arcane.)

For my trouble, I got a little printout that says, "preliminary test results show that you passed," although the final grading determination is to be made by the Patent and Trademark Office in about a week. I will just die of mortification if they revoke my tentative passing grade. (As it is, I just lost a bet to my friend Henry. Just so you know, I bet him a bottle of homemade vodka and tonic that I would fail.)

How could this horrible scenario occur? According to the USPTO's web site, the computer tells you that you pass if you get an "unofficial" score of 70% or higher. So if there is a discrepancy between the "official" and "unofficial" scores, then I might still be screwed. It says that ten of the one hundred questions I answered were not graded, so I actually only had to get 63 questions right out of 90. Whether or not the computer was telling me I got at least 63/90 (which would mean I am in the clear), or merely 70/100 (in which case, if I am borderline and more correct than wrong answers are removed when the nongraded questions are taken out, I could suddenly fail), is unclear. The PTO's wording suggests that maybe I have nothing to worry about, but we'll see.

UPDATE: I've been told that the PTO doesn't regrade the exam afterwards. They just don't want to get your hopes up in case there *is* some sort of computer screw up.

UPDATE [7/16]: Check this out.

So now it's on to the real bar review. I gotta be at the law school at 9 am tomorrow morning, bright and early!