I’m Melissa. I am 23 and graduated from undergraduate college in May 2007 with a Bachelor’s in English at a small, private liberal arts college.
I took a year off to work, raise some money, and give law school some thought in the midst of doing random data entry for random corporations. Like most law blogs I’ve read, this one starts the summer before I start as a 1L and will hopefully continue down the merry little path of distorted reality that is sure to come into view.
I’ll be going to a large state university a couple hours away from my hometown, but I won’t name names except to say that it’s Southern/Midwestern.
The name of the blog really does come from a tattoo I have. Here’s the explanation. Jonathan Swift and Matthew Arnold had this idea about bees, that they are the noblest creatures because they produce the two things that bring the most productive and useful happiness in the world: honey and candle wax, or sweetness and light. I wrote my senior thesis using some of the works of P.G. Wodehouse, a British humor novelist who had a character named Uncle Fred. Uncle Fred was known to create a lot of mischief but have a damn good time messing up and subsequently straightening out people’s lives. He lived by this personal code that told him to “spread sweetness and light”.
I got a tattoo of this saying on my hip while I was working on the thesis because I found Uncle Fred to be such a badass, and after I got it, I remembered that the original quotation had been about honeybees, and not just spreading goodwill and a sunny nature around to other people. My name actually means “honeybee” in Greek, and so the circle closes.
If you are curious to know more about me, here are a few random facts. I’m left handed. I went to an elementary school with an immersion program, so I learned everything in Spanish for several years. I spent a semester in London when I was in college and really enjoyed that. I like photography and bowling. I like needlepoint, but not in an ironic way. I’m a fast typer.
