The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Study Break: Time to Smile

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    Ruth Carter

    As the semester winds down I, like many of my classmates, find myself exhausted and stressed most of the time.   With finals on the horizon, we’re spending most of our time outlining and studying for our exams, which are the sole basis for many of our grades.  Yesterday, my friend in the law school’s IT department remarked that it looked like I never left the computer lab all weekend because every time he saw me, I was sitting at the same computer, toiling away at my papers.

    yip yip yip yip yip yip
    Image by It’s Marie the Bee via Flickr

    When I’m studying for hours on end, sometimes I need to take a short break to breathe, relax, and smile.  I am very grateful to certain persons and entities who post videos on YouTube who have made me smile during my law school career.  There is a common theme across all these videos:  the main characters are always doing whatever makes sense to them and it works out in the end.  I think along with making me smile, these videos give me hope that if I keep doing what my gut tells me I should be doing, that everything will work out in the end.

    Here are my top four entities on YouTube that I watch during a study break:

    1. The Yip Yips – These two martians always make me smile with their innocence and honest perspective.  I have memorized nearly every classic clip of  these two encountering objects for the first time.  If I am ever in Sesame Street’s neighborhood, I will seriously contact the show and ask if I could meet these little guys.  Happy happy happy boing boing boing boing!
    2. Foamy – Jonathan Ian Mathers is somewhat of a genius for creating this cartoon squirrel that says what many of us wish we could say.  Foamy’s bluntness and honest perspective on everyday life validates many of my views.  He validates the fact that sometimes life sucks and that people often act in moronic ways.  I look forward to every new video of this creature and the rest of the cast.
    3. Tom Green – I watched a lot of Tom Green videos during my 1L year and tried to pick out how many torts he was committing.  There was a lot of infliction of emotional distress.  I like him because he knows that he’s pushing people’s buttons, but it’s always done with an underlying sense that he means no harm.  It’s usually just to be funny and to see people’s reactions to the unexpected.
    4. Where the Hell is Matt – Matt Harding is proof that the American dream is still alive.  He quit his job and took a trip around the world.  He danced a cheesy jig everywhere he went.  He made a video of his dancing.  Stride liked it so much that they paid for him to do it two more times.  One of the things I like about Matt’s work is that there is no underlying agenda.  He’s just a guy who likes to dance – and he does it in some of the most beautiful places in the world.

    Thank you to everyone who makes studying for finals a little less painful.  To everyone who loves a law student – we’re not going to be completely human for the next few weeks.  Thank you in advance for being patient, loving, and occasionally giving us reasons to smile.

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  • Sponsor A Law Kid – Update – Nov. 24, 2010

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    Ruth Carter

    I launched Sponsor A Law Kid a little over a week ago.  I was surprised by how much traffic my blog has had over the past week.  The ABA and Above The Law wrote articles about #SALK which literally brought thousands of people to my blog.

    At first a lot of the comments were very critical, angry, and downright nasty.  I was shocked by the hatefulness of some people’s comments.  I figured if a person didn’t think #SALK was a good idea, that they simply wouldn’t sponsor a day and that would be the end of it.  I’m not sure that everyone understood that people who sponsor a day get a blog dedicated to the person, company, or cause of their choice.  Some of the comments gave the impression that I was simply asking for money and offering nothing in return.  I am very grateful to my supportive friends and the commenters who followed the angry comments with their support and encouragement.

    To date, I have sponsorship for 20 days.  I was very humbled that two families have sponsored days to bring attention to rare illnesses that their children have and organizations that support the families who are coping with these illnesses.

    I was especially touched by a lawyer from Cleveland.  He saw the article about #SALK on Above the Law and he came here for more information.  He had no intention of sponsoring a day, but when he saw “the unwarranted insults and anger” towards me in the comments, he was inspired to purchase my most expensive day.  I am still in awe over his generosity.

    I hope I can continue to use #SALK to bring attention to special people, companies, and causes.  If you would like to sponsor a day, please contact me at SponsorALawKid@gmail.com.

  • Unsolicited Advice: Right Size = Right Message

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    Ruth Carter

    For many years, I have said that I’m a gay man trapped in a woman’s body.  This semester I feel like I’m being beckoned to jump on my fashion soapbox.  I have noticed an ongoing problem in the courtroom: people wearing suits that are too small.  I’ve seen this problem across the board, from law  students to judges, in men and women equally.  At first I thought it was just me, until I shared my observations with two judges.  They both responded with an astounding, “Yes!”

    Ernest Peixotto
    Image by Smithsonian Institution via Flickr

    A person that dresses according to the needs of the body that they have, as opposed to the body that they wish they had or used to have, they exude a stronger sense of confidence.  When a person is presenting their case in court, they need to appear strong, solid, and trustworthy.  If the person cannot see and accept the truth about their own size, how can they be trusted to speak the  truth about the case at hand?

    Tim Gunn said it best when he said that you should consider, “silhouette, proportion, and fit” when selecting your clothes.  Some clothes are little more forgiving.  For example, jeans – if they are  touch to snug when you first put them on, they’ll loosen in up a few hours.  A suit, however, has no give.  If you think it’s too tight, it’s too tight.

    Most people who are wearing the wrong size suit, are only off by one size, like a woman who is a size 8 and squeezes herself into a size 6.  I want to share some of the visual give aways that you’re wearing the wrong size suit.  I have seen all of these fashion problems in the law school or at the court this semester.

    Let’s start with the jacket.  The shoulder seams should sit on the end of the shoulder.  The arms should fit comfortably in the sleeves.  If the upper arm is too tight, there will be bunching, which gives you the “sausage arm” look.  Buttoning the jacket should not take an effort or require you to suck in your stomach.  You never want the judge to be afraid that a button might fly off your suit and hit her in the face.

    Like the jacket, there should not be any bunching in the pants or skirt.  When a man’s pants are too tight, he risks having bunching in the crotch area.  Women are likely to have bunching through the thighs if they’re wearing pants and in the midsection if they’re wearing skirts.  The length of the skirt should also be such that you don’t have to pull on your hem when you stand up.

    Beyond wearing the proper size suit, I support people using fashion to display their personality.  When deviating from the norm in a formal business environment, such a court room, it must be done impeccably.  One of my classmates walked into his final mock trial today rocking a pair of suspenders and a fedora with his suit.  He looked fantastic!  Other fashion signature pieces could be a bow tie, a necktie on a woman, cuff links, a paisley pocket square, a brooch, or an untraditional hairstyle.  Just be sure that what you’re wearing does not distract the court or detract from your message.

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