2007: the wrap up

well amigos y amigas, i hear 2007's death rattle, so the time is ripe for a cursory review and recap.

2007 started off full of uncertainty.
i was working at a small hotel on ocean drive, miami beach.  i was a bartender.  the management was changing hands and my job was in peril, so it was time to make some hard decisions 
regarding my future plans.  

option a:  move to chicago in the dead of bitter winter and try to find a job in
 my field (law).

option b: try to find a legal job in miami.

option c: become a career bartender.

so when i was finally up against it, unemployed and running out of cash, 
i hit a stroke of good luck.  i was 
walking aimlessly down espanola way 
when i noticed a lot of construction related commotion in an old theatre, the Cameo.  
i walked in and introduced myself to someone,
and inqured about the possibility of employment at what appeared to be a slick new mega-club, almost completed.  i got the job.  
the next month was spent working on opening the club and having a hell of a lotta fun doing it.
we got it open, and i started working as a full time enabler.  the money was good, and the job was a gas.

all the while, my j.d. lurked in the corner of my mind like a creepy patron.  i sent feelers into the career job market, and with the help of a career counseler from my law school, who met me for mojitos and crab cakes...i applied for and secured a position at the miami dade public defender's office.  

a criminal defense attorney...a public defender, my dreamjob.  the next 3 months were spent learning, and learning, and learning how the law works, in practice.  most days, i went home with a headache, and sleep listfully, speedy trial rules and discovery procedures floating in my head like sugarplums.  all the while i kept slinging drinks on the weekend, living a double life like some sort of ubergemini.

then july hit, and it was time to take the florida bar exam.  
i embraced the challenge, freaked out, and 
smashed on it.  

after that i just kept working and working and working...i now have had 7 jury trials, 3 not guilty and 4 losses.  not bad for the quality of cases i get.  i also now feel comfortable on every part of the jury trial, the motion practice and organizational skills still leave a little to be desired.  i am also still at the club, having built up a lot of good will there, and i still take a lot of pride in that job.

don't get it twisted though,
2007 was also off the hinges in my personal life...
i met a lot of cool people, 
friends, aquaintances, clients 
and for lack of a better term, dime-pieces.

my game and swagger grew this year. my chi is strong.

i went to 2 sgllp sponsored weekends, each chock full of debauchery and belly laughs.  san diego, sal se puedes, santo domingo and sosua...formative trips, my friends.

i also visited texas twice and survived.

didn't read many good books this year, but saw a shitload of good films, and ate well always.

i was cigarette free for 1/4 of the year.

i caught brown trout in iowa with my dad and brothers.

i still miss my ex girlfriend and talk to her on occasion.

thats about it... wow, this year was mental...all i know is, 2008 is gonna be retardiculous.