Scandinavian Diaries, Day 1 - 4

Here are a summary of my four days so far in Scandinavia. Pictures hopefully soon to follow.

Day 1 (Thursday):
We get to Stockholm at 11:30 am local time. Arlanda airport is immaculately beautiful – modern, bright, airy, clean, and the exact opposite from the cramped, ugly, and creakyAmerican Airlines international terminal in JFK. After an extremely hectic time in Heathrow (thanks for nothing, f’ing terrorists!), we were very grateful to arrive at a place where everything seems orderly and under control.

Upon arrival, however, Boyfriend and I discovered with dismay that our luggages did not arrive. The British Airway agent did not seem at all surprised, and very perfunctorily took down our information and said that BA would reimburse each of us up to 50 pounds for our expenses replacing the necessary toiletries for the next few days. He said that our luggage would probably be delivered later in the day or during the night.

With some difficulty, we find our way from the airport to our hotel. Swedish is very similar to German, which ended up helping enormously because I was able to vaguely understand that the subway that was supposed to take us to our hotel was under renovation and that we had to take a bus transfer instead. We finally get to the hotel around 3:30 or so. Our room is a small, cutterbox-type basic room at a hotel that we found at approximately $70/day – a real find for Scandinavia! – a ways outside the city. Boyfriend and I collapsed immediately upon arrival. I remember lying in the bed and literally not being able to move a muscle. Then I fell into a deep sleep.

We wake up at dusk, around 8 or so, and struggle out of bed and decide to go to the local supermarket, which turned out to be about a 20 minute walk away. The scenery on the way – trees and square and functional apartment buildings, remind me of East Germany, or Israel. Only one lone supermarket was open in the shopping center district. We stocked up on toiletries, yogurts, fruits, and veggies, then carried our purchase back in our backpacks and walked back to the hotel just before darkness fell. We had dinner in the hotel garden and went back to sleep around 10:30 pm.

High point: the airport
Low point: the lack of our luggage.

Day 2 (Friday)
I woke up around 2:30 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. To pass the time, I read Bill Bryson’s essays “Neither Here Nor There,” which is an account of his travels in Europe, starting in Norway, no less. It’s very funny. Boyfriend, who is a much better sleeper than I am, wakes up around 5:30, and we make our way out of the hotel around 7:30. Our luggage, sadly, has not arrived.

We take the bus/metro (which is called the T-Bana here in Swedish) into town. We get out at Gamla Stan, the Stockholm old town, and walk around. Gamla Stan is the classic European center city, with narrow cobble-stoned streets, colorful old houses, touristy shops, town squares, and outdoor cafes. Because it was early, nothing was open yet, so we had the whole quite winding paths to ourselves.

Stockholm is a city built on small islands, and some guidebooks have called it more watery than Venice. Walk in any direction for a few minutes and you’ll likely come upon a harbor, a canal, or a lake. In the early morning sunlight, the entire city was glistening with water and sunlight. The facades of grand old buildings by the water were beautiful and imposing. The view was quite stunning.

Boyfriend, who is still wearing his sweatpants that he wore to the airplane, needs a pair of regular pants urgently. So we found our way to the more commercial parts of the city, the equivalent of 5th Avenue in New York, where hundreds of glitzy, affluent boutiques and department stores opened their doors wide to tourists and shopaholics of all nationalities. We dive into the stores and shop shop shop. I got some urgently needed face lotion and lipstick (my own extensive collection is sadly inaccessible in my lost luggage). Boyfriend got himself a pair of pants.

In case you are wondering, Swedish people are indeed breathtakingly beautiful. Every other person walking down the sidewalk is so gorgeous he/she could be a model. They are tall and trim and blond and tan and glowing with wholesomeness. Never in my life have I felt so short and plain. The men have chiseled faces, and wear narrow pants and expensively cut sweaters or suits. The women are tall, stylish, wide-set eyes, almost whitish blond hair, golden skin, impossibly thin, their almost endless tan legs ending in a pair of understated ballerina flats. Random people are more gorgeous than movie starlets in the United States – the bank attendant, the ticket counter lady, the salesgirl, the ice cream vendor, even the bus driver (a blonde with large, liquid eyes). It’s almost ridiculous. There are women with darker complexions here too, some of them probably southern European immigrants, and they too are often very beautiful. Perhaps the city brings it out in people. Very few people are overweight here.

So, after the shopping, Boyfriend and I sat in the café section of NK, a large and ritzy department store here, and had an excellent shrimp and cottage cheese salad and coffee. After that, my sleeplessness caught up with me, so I went back to the hotel to sleep while Boyfriend wandered around more and met up with his cousin who lives in Stockholm for dinner. I myself napped until after 7, then caught the bus and wandered around in Gamla Stan a bit more. The canals and the old city looked very romantic in the evening, and the streets were filled with pedestrians and street artists. Around 10:30 it got chilly, and I decided to go home.

High point: Evening stroll by the canal.
Low point: having no matching shoes except for my blindingly white sneakers to wear all day long. I miss my luggage!

Day 3 (Saturday)
Still no sign of any luggage.

Once again I got up around 2:30 am and could not fall back asleep, so read my guidebook and the New Yorkers that I brought with me on the trip as reading material.

Weather-wise, the day was as perfect as the previous few days. It is sunny and dry and not too warm but also not too cool. No air-conditioning needed in our hotel room (and there was none). Perfect days to walk outside, which is what Boyfriend and I did for much of today. We walked around in the city center and had coffee and breakfast at a large gourmet market place that we discovered by accident. The food was fresh and delicious (couscous salad, tomatoes, fresh shrimp, broiled beef, plums, and beef teriyaki kebab), though certainly not cheap. Afterwards, a very full Boyfriend and I went across the street to Sweden House to buy a 48-hour Stockholm Card, which entitled us to enter more than 47 museums and use all of the city’s transportation system for no additional cost. We than attacked the city’s museums and attractions like there’s no tomorrow.

First place we went was the royal palace, right outside of Gamla Stan. It’s no Versaille, but there were quite a few rooms to walk through in the royal apartments section, and interesting nonetheless. There were a few interesting exhibits, both within the Royal Palace itself and nearby in the Royal Armory and art museums. We also witnessed an initially interesting but increasingly endless “changing of the guards” ceremony that takes place every day at noon. A lot of loud military music, shouting of orders, and men in military uniforms involved.

Boyfriend and I went to a few other museums after that, and contemplated taking the ferry, but ended up not to and just walked round and round the city, exploring several neighborhoods and neighboring islands. Before this trip, I got a pedometer from this trendy little store, and according to it, we walked more than 30,000 steps yesterday. Not bad.

High point: the royal palace. But the discovery of the gourmet food hall was wonderful as well. We will definitely be back for more.
Low point: Boyfriend losing his Stockholm Card, upsetting me and prompting a serious discussion about his carelessness while sitting on the bank of the island.

Day 4 (Sunday)
I woke up dutifully again around 2:30am, but this time was able to fall asleep again at 4:00 for a couple of hours. Had a lot of weird dreams about law school people.

Boyfriend and I had a leisurely morning and didn’t leave the hotel until after 9, the latest we’ve left yet. We spend some time in the central train station reserving train rides to Copenhagen next week, then debated how to spend our Monday – whether to go to a nearby small town named Uppsala, or to take a ferry to one of the 24,000 small archipelagos surrounding Stockholm and hike. In the end, we decided that Stockholm is way too pleasant and interesting for us to leave and that we should stick around instead. Also, in case we don’t see our luggage again, there’s some shopping that we need to do!

Boyfriend got another Stockholm Card, and we found our way to another of Stockholm’s central islands where there the Nordic Museum, the famous Vasa Museum and a big open air folk museum named Skansen. The Nordic Museum is beautiful, but the exhibits are kind of blah. The Vasa Museum, which features an entire sunken ship from the 17th century that was lifted out of the water and restored, is the coolest thing I have seen so far on this trip. Boyfriend and I spent hours in the museum poring over everything, and just marveling at the size and the beauty of the ship.

We then walked around the park grounds – the entire island consists of a large botanical garden and lovely views of the center city and lots of nice picnicking spots. We ended up eating our food at one of these spots, then strolled along the canals looking at the boats gliding by, the

We are now sitting at one of the cafes in the city that has free Internet access. This evening, we plan to take a cable car lift to the top of a cliff to see Stockholm from a high point.

High point: hands down, the Vasa Museum.
Low point: Learning that I hate, hate, hate herring. Ugh.

Travels

Okay, so I haven't posted for a while. But folks, you ain't seen nothing yet. I have been traveling nearly all of last week, to GenCon in Indianapolis for a few days and hung out with ABS and his Gay-mer friends, and then to DC for a whirlwind visit with Dickie (long time no see!) and shopped 'til we dropped.

AND, this Wednesday I'm flying to Scandinavia with Boyfriend, for three weeks! We are flying through London, which is a little scary.

Ever since I came back Sunday evening, I have been packing furiously. Today Boyfriend and I went out and got a lot of provisions for our trip, including comfy sneakers, snacks, eyemasks, and little bottles that I can put my lotions and creams and shampoos.

Words on the street is that Scandinavia is pretty modern and there are many wireless hotspots, so perhaps I would be able to post every once in a while, but don't be surprised if you don't see me very often.

Here's my approximate itinerary:
Aug 17-20: Stockholm, Sweden
Aug 20-22: Helsinki, Finnland
Aug 22-26: Copenhagen, Denmark
Aug 26-27: Danish countryside
Aug 27-29: Oslo, Norway
Aug 29-31: Bergen, Norway
Sept 1-2: fjords
Sept 3: Bergen - Oslo
Sept 4: Oslo
Sept 5: departure.

School starts on Sept 5, so I'd have to call the registrar and beg them to let me come in a day late, or change my flight. Here's to crossing my fingers.

:D Europe, I missed you!
:( too much to do before I leave!!

In Shock

Ned Lamont defeated Joe Lieberman in the Connecticut democratic primary! I'm not sure what to say, except that I'm kind of shocked.

Ending. Beginning.

My internship officially ended yesterday. Actually it officially ended last Friday, and I kind of sat in mourning of that this weekend, feeling listless and vaguely sad. But I still had a few things to wrap up -- memos that an attorney assigned to me about 5 weeks ago that had not been finished. So I stayed for one more day.

Saying goodbye to everyone was a bit sad. Thankfully, most of the interns who still remained went to NYC to see an attorney from our office argue in front of the Second Circuit, so I was spared the hugs and the pang of sadness that always came when I had to take my leave. What do you say to people that you'd very much like to see again, but may not, ever? When JG, one of the interns, left us on Thursday, we jokingly said: "Have a good life." But it really wasn't that in appropriate, when you think about it. Would any of us ever see JG again? The chances are slim, though of course not impossible. I suppose if we wanted to we could, but then the currents of life sweeps you along, and you lose the desire to seek out old friends (or acquaintances in this case). Or you forget about them.

But of course, there is always the possiiblity of a chance encounter, on the street, or in court. (Heh.) Someone looked vaguely familiar, but you can't place him. You begin hesitatingly, then "Oh my God! It's you!" "How have you been all these years?" "I'm doing very well too!" Perhaps a real surge of warmth. The guy I hung out with for a summer when I was in my mid-twenties! But more likely awkwardness.

So I said goodbyes to a few attorneys when I left the office at 6. They tried to give me advice. "What do you want to do after law school?" "Yes, it really is a great sacrifice to go into a firm." "Make sure you go into it with your eyes open." "Follow your heart." I spoke to KS and EG and TK and JM. Some of the attorneys had already left, so I was spared of having to say goodbye to them.

I really liked them all -- I would like to see them again someday, but I really am just so bad at goodbyes. They grip me with fear. I am so conscious of a stage of my life ending. Of course this means another stage is beginning, but at least before I settle into it, I approach it with apprehension. I'm not sure what the future will bring. Will I like my 2L year? WIll it be disappointing, now that I'm not on Law Review? Will ABS and I remain close? Will I be at a good firm? Will I make new friends and find new passions and still feel good about myself? Will I finally reach clarity on what I want to do with my life, now that I have advanced inexorably another year towards -- well, death really, but let's call it middle age for now...?

So, that was an ending. Not very dramatic. Anti-climactic really. I gave my ID back to EG. I'm sorry to part with it, because using it to open our super-securitized office doors every morning made me feel proud, that I am a member of this organization fighting crime and immorality. I will miss it here. Perhaps I will return one day.

:D Indianapolis for GenCon tomorrow!
:( Feeling reflective.

:D on the beach with CC and his dog Nemo.
:( "night out" with the interns.

Scattergories

Co-intern N hosted a party for the other interns at her house tonight. I showed up about 2 hours late, but brought my game Scattergories, so no one was mad at me.

Here are a few memorable plays for the night:

Category: tools. Letter: G
"Guns"

Category: bad habits. Letter: A
"Abstinence"
(Co-intern JB had some interesting explanation for why he came up with that one, which I shall not repeat here. :) )

Category: bad personality traits. Letter: A.
"Aggressive, passive-"

Category: terms of endearment. Letter: J.
"Jew"
(This last one was dreamt up by N, who is Jewish herself. Otherwise it would have been mildly offensive.)

Category: terms of endearment. Letter: J.
"Ju-ju bean"

There were more than a few iffy ones in there, so just imagine how chaotic it was, with 6 would-be and very much drunk lawyers arguing over whether a word should or should not count in that category. It was a ton of fun.

:D Party, and dropping another pound
:( There are actually two things today:
1). 99 degrees today, with 60% humidity. Holy crap...
2). hung jury in TK's trial! Very surprising.

Last Week at Work

This week is my last week at the internship. I feel a little sad because I will have to say goodbye to all the nice attorneys and co-interns who I have come to be very fond of. Today was actually the first time I've been in office because yesterday all the interns drove to the State Capital for TK's trial. This is the first time TK is first-chairing a criminal trial, I think, and he did a really good job. Looking at him, I could hardly believe that this was the same boy who was my freshman counselor.

Today I rode in CC's truck to the State Capital again, to hear TK's closing arguments. TK was phenomenal, and afterwards all the interns agreed that the jury would definitely find the defendant guilty. On the way there and back, CC and I had really nice conversations. We found out that we had a lot in common. CC continues to be my favorite person at work (though JS comes in a close second, and MM close behind - oh me and my obsession with ranking things). I really hope I keep in touch with him after the internship (and with the others as well, of course).

After work the interns went to a little Mexican place, and I had a little margarita. The rest of the day I ate only fruits. The weather was brutal today -- 96 degrees. I nearly died when I ran the mile around the W-Square this morning. Near the evening there was a violent thunderstorm, and it cooled down, but only a bit. Nearly died again when I ran my mile in the evening, but very proud of myself. :)

I thought I would feel sadder about my last week at work, but I think I'm still adjusting to the idea - and tired. I'll sort everything out when I have my energy. For now, it'll be an early night in for me.

Also, booked my flight to Indianapolis for GenCon this weekend. I'll be hanging out with ABS and his "gaymers" for 4 days! Then flying over to DC to visit Dickie. Yay.

:D laughing and talking with CC
:( Nothing, really, just tired.

Fall Courses

Almost forgot to post my fall semester courses, courtesy of the (semi-incompetent) registrar:

- Con Law (5 credits)
- Citizenship: Seminar (2 credits)
- Comparative Con Law (3 credits)
- Globalization (4 credits - maybe)
- Another Seminar or Independent Writing (1 or 2 credits - maybe).

So I got my top three choices, though thinking of dropping globalization, even though it's taught by a super-famous and genius prof, and instead take a few seminars or independent writing course.

My spring semester courses are still a bit up in the air, other than a few "multi-section" courses like corps and admin law. Still not sure whether I really want to take corps.

:D TK's trial today, including his cross-examination of the defendant.
:( still working to take off those 4 lbs.

Weekend with Parents

My parents came to visit me and Boyfriend this weekend. On Friday and Satureday, Boyfriend spent a long time cleaning up the unit next to our apartment, and I spent the evening shopping for groceries, marinating shredded porks, and making a big pot of soup in the small pot. I also tried to make meringue, which turned into the World's Worst Dessert, but we won't go into that. :)

On Satureday, parents arrived around 1 in the afternoon, after a big traffic jam. I had already worked all morning and whipped up 8 dishes on the table, and we proceeded to have a very big and yummy meal. Afterwards, Boyfriend, who wasn't feeling too well, went upstairs to take a nap while I directed my parents to a premium outlet mall in the area, and shopped to our heart's content. I bought a pair of sunglasses; my mom got some shirts, and my dad bought some shoes. All was happy.

We stopped at the grocery store on the way home and brought fresh salad ingredients. I then made a big salad for the four of us, and we had wine with dinner. Parents and I then talked about law school plans sans law review, what I want to do with my life after law school, what firms I want to interview at, etc You know, the perrenial topics. Around 11:00 we called grandma in China and spoke to her briefly.

Boyfriend is really so sweet. Parents and I sometimes speak in Chinese, just because it is the easiest for us. And he just listens patiently, even though he doesn't understand, and sometimes even guesses what we are talking about and chimes in. I found that very amusing. I'm so glad that he gets along with my parents.

Today my parents left around early afternoon, after a lunch at my favorite Thai restaurant and driving around for a bit at the beach. Boyfriend and I drove to a nearby mall and bought a bunch of beach novels, then came back and relaxed.

Some thoughts on reading: I haven't read any fiction for quite some time. Last time I really read was on the vacation to Vermont, when I devoured three books by David Sedaris, which, while funny, were not exactly serious literature. I used to like reading fiction so much, but nowadays I find it hard to really immerse myself in the worlds. If it came too close to my life, it gives me anxiety; if it's too far apart, then it's hard for me to really follow the narrative and to enjoy the plot.

The last "serious" fiction I enjoyed reading was Ishugoro's "Never Let Me Go", and that was a loooong time ago. I liked Jonathan Franzen too, because his books are well-written and easy to read, but he hasn't done anything in recent years. The books I bought today were mostly trashy easy readings, but I included a few serious ones in there too.

I think my inability to enjoy fiction is a sign of my ADD and the fact that I lack much of an "inner life" these days other than thinking about law and my career. This is not good, and I want to change that. By starting to read serious fiction. As soon as I'm done with the trashy novel that I'm reading right now. :)

:D quality time with parents!
:( gained 4 lbs over the weekend. Is this possible?!??!

The Defeat of Article III People

Today was the first of three softball games between my office and the office of the court clerks, or whom I affectionately call the Article III people, as opposed to the Article II people, which is us.

About 8-9 attorneys showed up from our office, with their wives and kids. All of the interns from our office except for one showed up. The attendance from the Article III people were much more spotty.

Even though I wasn't going to play, I ended up being the catcher, and swung the bat a few times. Despite not having played softball since Eighth Grade, I managed not to embarass myself terribly and actually hit a few balls. The rest of the time I clumsily caught the balls clumsily to me by the pitcher, and cheered for my teammates.

Some of the attorneys from my office were very athletic and quite impressive. In the end, we defeated the Article III people 21:13. Yes, Article II clearly rocks more than Article III.

The weather was super-humid today. But everyone seemed to have a great time.

:D winning, of course!
:( treked dirt all over the livingroom floor and earning the wrath of Boyfriend.

News

Well, I didn't make law review. I'm disappointed, but have already begun to plan what I'm going to do with my free time for the rest of this summer and next year.

Went on a fieldtrip to a medium-security Federal Correctional Institution today. It was a women's facility, and the inmates actually seemed quite content inside.

:D sashimi
:( Law Review

Excellent Weekend

Boyfriend and I had a lot of good food. We ate at an excellent Indian restaurant on Friday evening, and we also cooked a lot on Saturday and Sunday I approximated some Thai recipes (with low-carb twists of my own, of course) and we both had very good food for both of the days. Perhaps in the next few days, when I have time, I'll post some of them here.

We also went shopping both yesterday and today, and I got a very cute Ralph Lauren Polo bikini that was on unbelievable sale, and a pair of gold hoops that was also on sale. Yoohoo for shopohaliism!

Today, there was rain forecasted, but we went to the beach anyway, and the weather actually stayed excellent right until the end. Perhaps because of the fear for rain, the beach was quite empty, and we walked along the sand for a long time, then read my stash of New Yorkers that we haven't had a chance to read. Afterwards, we went to a nearby Starbucks where we read some more, and I sipped a Earl Grey tea.

Felt very at peace with myself today. Hopefully this feeling will stay in the next few days...

:D running to "Survivor" by Destiny's Child.
:( work tomorrow (and I actually do have a lot of work! Yikes.)

Cure for Insomnia?

Those of you who have read Petite Bourgeoisie long enough know that I am an insomniac. But lately, I have begun running every day for about a mile, and my sleep problem has pretty much gone away on its own. I now feel really tired around 10:00 at night, and go to sleep by about 10:15, and wake up 9 or even 10 hours later. Could it be that exercising has cured my insomnia? Who knows? But it's lovely not waking up feeling tired.

Deja vu

So, voir dire was really interesting, though it did little to make me more confident in our jury system.

I woke up bright and early yesterday morning (6:30!) to get to the office by 7:30 so TK could give me a ride to the state capitol. He showed up in a sweet little Mercedes two-seater, "spoils from his law firm days," he called it. Ride both there and back was very pleasant, and we talked about alma maters (he went to the same undergrad and law school as me), gossiped about professors, talked about law firms and firm life, and practicing law for the government.

Back to voir dire, apparently, each judge does his jury selection differently, and our particular judge summoned a bunch of jurors (we had 45) to the courtroom, asked them to talk about themselves for 45 seconds, and then the prosecutions and the defense must make their decision about whom to strike and whom to keep based on the little information that they received.

Apparently, this judge is known to be quick among the bar in this state, to the detriment of the selection process, I thought. Other federal judges take more time to ask jurors relevant questions and to feel them out a bit more. In fact, both the prosecution and the defense submitted questions they requested the judge to aks the prospective jurors before voir dire began. But apparently, in this judge's hurry, only one of these questions was asked.

So no one was happy. Both the defense and the prosecution complained privately about the judge afterwards. They thought that his questions were irrelevant and did not at all give them a good idea about the jurors. "Who cares about their personal interests?" TK said to me afterwards. "What we need to know is their attitude towards crime, whether they or anyone they know have ever been a crime victim, whether their friends or close relatives are law enforcement officers or victims."

But, the whole thing was done in about 2.5 hours, much faster than I thought. I was back in N-Town by the middle of the afternoon.

The best part of the day was talking to TK about his former life as a private attorney in a famous New York firm C, S, & M, and his reflections on practicing law as an associate in a big law firm versus being a prosecutor for the government. Both lives have their advantages and disadvantages, although he is definitely enjoying his life and freedom now. We talked on the way there, during lunch, and on the way back. I had a lot of chance to ask my burning questions about a life in law, and I definitely have a better idea about what to expect, and what I want for myself as a lawyer.

I was of course the envy of the interns when I got back -- how lucky was I to see something so cool!

Today, we had a brownbag lunch with a really, really funny FBI agent talk about biochemical weapons (the talk was enough to make me queasy about eating any kind of processed food for a while). He was full of interesting anecdotes and stories, unfortunately not all pleasant.

This affternoon, one of the trials that two of the attorneys from our office worked on had the closing arguments, and I heard one of the best orators I have perhaps heard in my life - attorney DR from our office was just spellbinding. He is normally such a quiet and unassumign man, a bit aloof, that I had never thought he could be such an eloquent speaker. But he was. For 45 minutes, he kept me, the jury, the judge, and everyone else in the court -- even the defendant -- breathless and spellbound. And at the end of the impassioned speech, I was ready to vote whatever way he wanted me to vote. Heck, I was a little in love with the man. Wow, did I ever want to be a litigator like him.

So - perhaps this summer was useful for this. I want to be a litigator -- a trial attorney.

After work today, at my suggestion, 6 of the interns, and one of the other attorney who was working on the same case with the orator DR, came to this neat little bar near my alma mater, and we drank to our internship, the cool weather, the end of the trial, and anything else we could think of. I walked home with MR, a new intern who just joined our office this week and who lives quite close to my house. She split her summer and worked first for a firm in N-Town for 7 weeks, and will now work in my office for another 7 weeks. So she'll be working long after the rest of us are gone.

Lucky her. :)

:D Two glasses of pinot grigio after work. First time I've drunk wine in a week!
:( not much work done today, since I was trial-spectating.

Voir Dire

Voir Dire is a legal term that basically means "selection of jury". A case for which I have done a few research projects is going to trial, and tomorrow we are selecting the jury in the state capitol. And the attorneys who are prosecuting the case asked me to accompany them!

So, I have to get up at 6:30, and ride with TK, my former freshman counselor who also happens to be the attorney who is doing the case. I have never seen a voir dire before and can barely contain my excitement.

Otherwise my day was filled with work. I was working really hard on my research assignments and got quite a lot done, and had really good conversations with two of the attorneys about my legal research. I am still amazed that the "adults" here in the office still take us interns' opinions seriously, but they really do listen and engage with us. It's a great work environment.

In other news, apparently, our little flyer action yesterday in W-Square has triggered a bit of neighborly reaction. Boyfriend had a long conversation today with a neighbor about the assault. Apparently, the teenagers attacked not only him but also another old lady. There have also been other random acts of vandalism and theft on the rise in the square, and many are concerned and angry.

Anger is good! Anger is a great motivator and gets things done. Tonight, for example, there is a town hall meeting about exactly the problem of crime in our neighborhood. If Boyfriend and I had known about it in time, we would totally have gone too.

Yay for citizen action!

:D Knocked out two projects!
:( Lebanonese civilian casualties.

Updates

Thanks to all of you who emailed me out of concerns about Boyfriend! He is fine, and my heart is also tres warmed.

I had the idea this morning that Boyfriend and I should post flyers around the square where he was assaulted, describing the incident and asking any witnesses to the event or anyone who can identify his attackers to step forward and contact the police. Of course the chances of anyone coming forward is remote, but there are a few reasons why I thought it's good to post the flyers.

1. The teenagers who attacked Boyfriend seem to hang out at the square after dark. This flyer would serve to let them know that their would-be victims would not be victimized lying down.

2. It would warn others who are in the square after dark to be careful.

3. It might rally the neighborhood and remind the other neighbors that we are a community and that it is up to all of us to try and make the neighborhood safe. So that next time someone is attacked or a crime is committed, perhaps the bystanders will step forward and help.

So, here is the final text of the flyer that Boyfriend and I ended up using. This evening (before dark of course), while I jogged in the 90 degree weather, Boyfriend went around the square and put them up with tacks.

"ATTACK IN W-SQUARE

On Sunday at 9:30 pm, one of our neighbors was assaulted without provocation by three or four male, African American teens. The attack occurred at the corner of A-Street and CH-Street, after which the youths were seen running up C- Street, turning right onto O- and into the entrance of the XXX Apartments. This crime has been reported to the police, who is taking the matter seriously and has opened an investigation.

If you can identify the individuals who committed the assault, or can provide any information relating to this assault or these individuals, please contact N-Town City Police Officer P--- K---, at (###) ###-####.

Those who commit crimes of violence use our fear and apathy against us. It is up to us to make our neighborhood safe and free of violence. If you are walking in W- Square after dark, please use your vigilance. If you see a crime being committed against one of our neighbors, please help!"

Consider that my little civic moment of the day.

:D Affable senior judge from the Circuit Court joined the interns for a very entertaining lunch!
:( 100 degree weather!

Crime Blotter

Boyfriend was assaulted this evening around 10:00 pm by a group of black teenagers while walking in the square next to our house and talking to his nephew on the phone. He is okay, though a bit shaken up. The police was called, but did not catch the teenagers, who were apparently just doing this for sport (they didn't attempt to mug him or anything. Apparently the assault was just for sport.)

This is quite an upsetting ending to what is otherwise a very nice weekend. Perhaps a sign that crime in N-Town is on the rise again and safety down?

:D lots of cooking and eating today.
:( If you have read my post, you can guess.

Lost in "Lost"

My primary activity today, other than dealing with my angst, was watching 4 episodes of Lost with Boyfriend. We just finished watching the First Season. Wow. What a great show. Can't wait to download the Second Season from iTunes and discuss with ABS!

My Little Mid-Life Crisis

I've been buying a lot of clothes lately, which is usually a sign that I'm anxious about something, although I try to tell myself that it's because of "work" and "summer" (most of my clothes are in C-Town and although Boyfriend and I meant to, we haven't been back once this summer to retrieve the things that I thought I would retrive once summer began.)

The past few days I didn't sleep very well, although I felt fine at work.

I feel restless and anxious, like I have some urgent things on my mind, though I can't figure out what they are. I think it was the conversation with KS on Tuesday that affected me. KS went to exactly the same undergraduate and law school as I had, so I felt a bit of alumni kinship with him. (He also went to the same ritzy private school in DC that Dickie went to). On the way back from the polygraph test, I asked him how long it had been since he had worked in my office. He said since 1998. He started out his career working for a prominent DC firm that does primarily litigation, then decided to move with his wife to this area because they wanted to start a family. He first worked in a small practice that he started with some other folks. (This part I didn't really quite follow, but I didn't' want to interrupt his flow). I think it was his wife who first got a job in my office. He worked then for a small firm right in the city, then went over to this office too. I think his wife is no long working in the office, though once again I'm not sure.

It's how he describes his current life that struck me. He described working for the DC firm as "very lucrative, but some of the work you do is not necessarily pleasant." I had heard this before, of course. But then, he said: "and now, the money is not too bad. I can support a nice home close to the water."

(I of course immediately went and looked up his address and google-earthed it to see how close to the water it really was. And it WAS close to the water -- it was the second house down from a large public beach near N-Town.)

Then, just as we walked into our office building, he said: "Of course, now I have to decide if I want to send my kids to private school. If so, then I have to figure something out."

Perhaps it's because I feel a bit of kinship with this person that I was so struck by his concerns. I guess in a flash I looked at the stuff that I'm likely to be thinking 15, 20 years down the road, and I suddenly felt suffocated. It's like looking at a life and thinking: do I want this? What do I want? A nice house by the beach in the suburbs; 2 kids that I can send to private school; working in a small colleagial office, doing financial ligitation and winning a few cases. Isn't that a good life? A life that most people would die to have?

But why do I feel so soffocated thinking about it? Thinking: That's IT? That's what my life is going to be like? It's a view down a predictable, safe path, one that I know will make me reasonably happy, probably, but one that also terrifies me. Will I get bored? Will I be disappointed? Will I feel trapped? Will I envy those with more money or success than me? But even if I had chosen THEIR life, would I then regret not spending more time with my family, my children. Do I even want children? Would I want to be tied down like that and take over the terrifying responsibility? Would I be happy with ANY kind of life? But what kind of life do I really want? And would it be too late to change if I realized that I was wrong?

:D large dungeness crabs with vinegar, ginger, and garlic sauce
:( angst.

Madness

Oy... What is going on at the Israel-Lebanon border? I hope this doesn't turn into a full-fledged war.

Today

Today a man accused of child molestation was found guilty by 12 jurors on all counts. He is going to go away for a long, long time.

Today one of the attorneys from my office, KS, took me to the FBI building, where I saw for the first time an FBI agent performing a lie detector test. It was a very interesting experience. The agent was very charming, very authoritative, and I seriously felt that if it was me in the room, I would have told the truth immediately.

Today I submitted my course selection once again, before this Friday when the bids are all due. I won't bore you with the details once again. My top three choices are: citizenship seminar, comparative con law, and globalization of law in historical perspective. ABS commented that my course selection looks very international law and comparative law heavy.

Today I did nearly no work, once again. Between the polygraph test (4 hours) and the verdict (1 hour) I was only able to squeeze in a little bit of research and some scanning.

Today I feel slightly depressed. Perhaps it's realizing that my summer internship has only 3.5 weeks left, and that I will miss here a lot. Perhaps it's seeing so many life-changing decisions being made every day where you really get a sense of how quickly someone's life can go down the drains. Perhaps it's feeling the gravity of the decisions I'll have to make in the months ahead. What firm do I want to interview with? What kind of job do I want? This summer, after all, is just a stopping place. I thought I was sick of N-Town when I left. I never thought that I would become so fond of it again, and so filled with regret that I will leave soon.

Perhaps it's a bit early for retrospectives, but this summer I got a lot more excited about practicing law, and about associating with other lawyers. I feel pretty good that our judicial system is being run by this group of dedicated, good-hearted, (perhaps a little too morally extremely but really doing their best) and multi-talented practitioners.

:D KS
:( Feeling suddenly as if the summer is about to end.

What I did this weekend

Saturday: eccentric but entertaining First Year Lawyering instructor, W, who chatted with me on a number of occasions and who became friendly with me, emailed me and said that he was in N-Town and wanted to hang out. So Saturday night, I went out with him and a bunch of his friends (all failed academics somehow), along with some random guy one of his friends brought, who is from Sudan and teaching Arabic at my alma mater, and who claimed that he's a prince, and who is having a lot of trouble picking up American women. We first went to hang out a bit at my old huant the Graduate Student Bar, on one of its deadiest night ever, then went out to a much more happenin' Irish bar.

I got to witness W engage in some very un-professorial behavior, mainly consisting of expounding endlessly on how to pick up women. He was determined to hook up the Sudanese with someone, and got to work looking for a date for him among the clubgoers. Amidst this boredom, I ran into CC and was overjoyed to have an excuse to be away from W et al. for a bit, though W relentlessly tracked me down. But CC and I managed to have some nice conversations.

Eventually, some woman W met on the dance floor invited him and friends to this strip club nearby. That was when I bailed, walked 5 blocks to where I parked my car, and drove home half-drunk. Not a good idea in general, but thankfully I got home safely. :)

Sunday: got up at 8, and drove to Six Flags around 10, where I met up with J and her husband, and went on a gazillion rides. My favorite? Superman. You have to experience it to understand how awesomely fast and insane it was.

The weather was perfect today -- clear, breezy, a bit on the hot side but not in the shades. We went on many water rides as well as rollercoasters to keep ourselves cool.

This was the first time I saw J all summer. She was busy preparing for her brother-in-law's wedding (where she was supposed to perform an Indian dance), and also to prepare to go to Cambodia for 5 weeks doing research.

We also exchanged belated birthday gifts. J gave me a pair of earrings and a necklace that she made herself. It was so sweet.

:D I lost 4 lbs since last week! Hopefully it's not all waterweight. I'm determined more than ever to lose the 10 lbs I gained in law school.
:( I miss ice cream.

Some Photos from the North

Here are some photos I took last weekend in the countryside in Vermont.


I loved the chickens roaming free on the farm. They are always looking for food and follow people around, and they seem so happy.



A little country inn we passed by. We were tempted to stay there, but already had reservations elsewhere



Sitting in the sun room in the afternoon with a glass of raspberry wine, reading David Sedaris. Heaven.



A new friend peeks out!



This is where we stayed: a little B&B on a farm overlooking a hill...



... and very aptly named.



Evening falls from the air...



Bath by the window.



Northern trees.



Bridge over a stream in the woods. The water was calm.



Moose country.



Poetry walk. We are in Frost Country.



A little waterfall.



Whose woods these are I think I know...

Bowling!

Work was stressful today. Since I hardly did any work on my vacation, today everything crashed down on me with full force. At 2:30 I had to meet one of the attorneys and discuss this project I've been researching. So spent my morning and early afternoon preparing for that. I ended up meeting with him for an hour and a half discussing where the project should head. It was exhausting, and I was basically a vegetable for the rest of the afternoon.

The meeting is going to continue tomorrow afternoon. Sigh...

After work, went shopping with Boyfriend and got a pair of pearl earrings. Then came back and took a shower, and drove out to a bowling alley about 20 minutes from my house, where some interns and their friends have scheduled a big match. I have only bowled once in my life before, with AC, S, et al, and I am really not very good. But it was a ton of fun, and people were very complimentary, and my score wasn't half bad.

One of the interns, CC, who is actually one of my favorite person at work, has his own bowling ball. He is an awesome bowler, who just seems to casually throw his ball on the lane, and the ball somehow curves around and hit all the pins. And even if it doesn't, he just casually throws the ball on the lane again, and it would head straight to the stray pin. It was pretty awesome.

We divided the team up into law students and non-law students, and we won two games out of three. It might have had something to do with the fact that there are four people on the law student team and only three on the non-law team, but the three were all strong, beefy guys who hurled the bowling ball the way Zeus hurled his thunderbolt. Plus, the law student team had me, which gave them a bit of a handicap. I think under the circumstances, it's pretty amazing that we won.

I drove my co-intern N home again. On the way, a police car began flashing its lights. I thought for sure I was speeding, and sat in my car trying to remember all the things that the police was and was not allowed to do during a "stop," and how I would politely but firmly refuse if they wanted to search my trunk (which, being a hatchback, the car sadly lacks). But the policeman only pointed out that the registration of the car has expired, and after I told him that the car belonged to my boyfriend, he just bade me good night and waved me off.

Oh well, I guess I won't be experiencing a live crim pro demonstration after all.

I was still a little freaked out on the way home, but N squealed with delight. In restrospect, that was a pretty neat ending to our night.

By the way, I finally saw "March of the Penguins" last night. I know that I'm a few months too late, but it was an awesome, awesome film. Absolutely loved it. Penguins are now officially my favorite birds.

:D Seeing CC's awesome bowling skillz.
:( zit on right cheek, and the 100% humidity.

Happy Independence Day

Sorry that I have been AWOL for the past few days. Boyfriend and I spent our 4-day long weekend on a B&B farm in Vermont, without Internet access, and had a fantastic time.

I have taken a lot of photos this weekend, and will post them as soon as I find the necessary cables to download from my camera. For now, I have to go recuperate from today's long drive home.

:D donkeys!
:( work tomorrow!

Grades and Superman!

Second semester grades came out this week. We got an email about it earlier in the week.

And no, I have not looked at them yet. And I am not about to.

Not looking at your grades is really liberating. I realized today that the reason I have been so cheery this past year is because I don't now what my grades are. A few of my would-be employers know what they are. :) And I had to print them out without looking at them. It didn't take that much will-power, actually.

Today, co-intern N and I snuck out of the office at 3:30 to go to the movies! We watched "Superman Returns". The verdict: the plot was bleh, but Brandon Routh was very good. He makes a fantastic superman, noble, handsome, confident, but vulnerable. There are a few surprises in the film too. I won't give any spoilers here. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see it.

And now my 4-day long weekend begins! Boyfriends and I have plans to go up to the mountains in the North. I am really really looking forward to it.

:D This
:( Um, no work done today?

Another Day, Another Court Appearance...

First thing in the morning, one of the attorneys from our office, TK, came to my desk. "Want to do an arraignment proceeding in half an hour?"

Of course I said yes. TK was covering for another colleague who couldn't be there, and didn't even know the facts of the case himself. But in half an hour we figured out the (very simple) facts, he explained the proceeding to me, and I worked out (roughly) what I was supposed to say.

The proceeding this time was in a much smaller and less elaborate courtroom with a Magistrate judge. TK told me that the courtroom actually used to be a conference room until they remodeled it a few years ago. Everyone, including the defense attorney, was very nice, and kept on complimenting me.

All I had to do was to stand up and tell the defendant the maximum penalty for the offenses. The defendant was facing two counts with a combined maximum penalty of 20 years, $500,000, and 6 years of supervised release. And oh, $200 of special assessment fee. Must not forget that. Apparently that's like the MOST important thing I had to mention. (Just kidding, but when I did my change of plea proceeding last time with EG he certainly made it seem that way.)

The judge said "good job" after my speech, and I felt momentarily bad for the defendant. I mean, this is his life, and yet everyone is treating this like a training opportunity for a law student intern. How insulting.

I thought I did pretty well, until I returned to the office and realized that I forgot to mention one important part of the indictment, which outlines the government's forfeiture claims. TK said it didn't matter, but I felt bad. Damn. Oh well. Hopefully this won't give the defendant grounds for appeal.

Did a few other research projects in the meanwhile, and attended court proceeding for a mega RICO case. All very interesting.

:D my burgeoning litigation career. He he.
:( Really need to start reading law books! I haven't read any this summer yet!

Birthday!

Happy birthday to me!

And thank you, my readers, for all your birthday wishes. :) I am quite thrilled to advance yet one more year in my mid-twenties-dom.

And a perfect day it was today. Boyfriend presented me with a rose as soon as I woke up, and helped me prepare my party with co-workers throughout the day. All my co-interns came to my apartment for my birthday. We had plenty of libation, yummy pizza, and a lot of good conversation, and topped off the evening with an excellent game of Taboo.

:D reconnecting with my long-lost friend L, whom I first met 10 years ago at a summer camp, and who showed up at my party today.
:( yet another year closer to the big three-O! Gulp.

Saturday

Still have not consolidated my loans. I have, however, began researching law firms for fall On Campus Interview, and made a preliminary list of 20 firms that I think I MIGHT be interested in working at. Right now, the list doesn't consist that many firm that's not in the Vault 20, but I have looked into a few mid-sized firms too.

Question: how do you know what a top "boutique firm" is? I suppose it helps to know what area you want to practice law in. But just in general, in the absence of any Vault-styled rankings, how does a newcomer to law know these things?

Rainy all day today, so Boyfriend and I took it very low-key. We had lunch at my favorite Thai restaurant, then came home and took a nap.

We then went to Costco and bought food, then came home while I drank a glass of white wine, read my corporations casebook and played monopoly. I'm still feeling tired so will probably go to sleep soon, even though it's weekend. I love those relaxing, low-key days.

:D We now have pictures on walls!
:( nothing, really.

Reminder to Myself

I need to consolidate my loans.

Does anyone know how?!?!?

GenCon!

It's official! I signed up for GenCon after ABS reminded me that tomorrow is the deadline for registration. Just got my event badge ($65) and signed up for a couple of scrabble tournaments. Will think about signing up for a massive Civilization game next. Perhaps I'll also see what ABS and his friends are up to and try to go to some of the same games.

Work today was very, er, unproductive, shall we say. The interns snuck out mid-morning to go to a nearby bar to watch the doomed US-Ghana game for the World Cup. We were not happy when we left the bar.

Had lunch with an attorney from the Federal Defender's office in N-Town. It was very interesting and informative. The attorney talked very candidly about his work, the good parts and the bad, and how an outsider perceives our office. I had a bacon cheeseburger and curly fries for lunch.

Later this afternoon, witnessed a semi-high-profile guilty plea for a map thief who stole some antique maps from, among others, the rare books library of my alma mater. The story apparently received some media attention, and there were hordes of cameramen and journalists waiting on the courthouse steps for the defendant. My fellow interns and I watched the commotion in the background, and I think I caught a glimpse of myself on the 6 o'clock evening news.

In the evening, Boyfriend and I went to a premium outlet mall about 30 minutes away from where we live. Finally bought some proper work shoes. So far this summer I have already spent over $1K on my wardrobe!

Sauteed beef liver for dinner. Yum.

:D IM with S made me feel semi warm and fuzzy.
:( Messy apartment. Need to clean up for the party on Monday!

Classes for Next Fall!

I finally got to filling out my course lotteries today. These are not final decisions. The actual bids aren't due until July 7th, so I have a bit of time to mull over my selections. But here's my first draft:

1. Comparative Constitutional Law (with very famous prof who just came to my law school)

2. Empirical Studies of Economic Transformations (Seminar with strong emphasis on research paper writing with a very famous and very popular female prof)

3. Comparative Law: Globalization of Law in Historical Perspective (with super-famous genius prof)

4. Comparative Law: The Role of Law in Chinese Society (co-taught by 2 profs. This is kind of an impulse selection for me. Have never been interested in Chinese law, but... why not? right?)

5. Citizenship: Seminar (with semi-famous prof who was JUST snatched up by my law school from another famous law school. After the immigration appeals I'm doing this summer it should be pretty interesting.)

6. Bankruptcy (same prof as #2 - but a large lecture course.)

7. Intellectual Property Theory: Reading Group (Reading groups are only 1 credit, and no exams. It's all pass/fail. I know nothing about IP, but the prof is supposedly brilliant.)

8. Personal Values and Professional Character: Reading Group (This is co-taught by my super-annoying contracts prof and another person. I'm not sure about this one, but I sure care about "personal values" :) )

9. Law and Economics: Seminar (This is co-taught by the two law and econ gurus at the school. I used to be very excited about this seminar, but now I'm no longer so sure. Law and econ is powerful, but seems kind of cliched. Behavior law and econ seems to be the new thing. So.. I don't know.)

10. Immigration Law (Same prof as #5, but large lecture so I put it more towards the end.)

11. Political Economy of Modern Capitalism: Seminar (taught by my likeable civ pro prof and another person. Have my doubts about this, but may be worth it just so I can get to know her better.)

12. Theory Workshop (This is a yearlong seminar also taught by my civ pro prof. Also have my doubts about this. I heard that it's all about Marxism.)

13. Criminal Procedure: Advanced (I have no idea who this prof is. But this summer has definitely gotten me interested in crim law.)

14 Taxation: Current Issues in Tax Law: Seminar (yes, yes, I know I hated tax. And this is even taught by my tax prof from last semester, whom I also didn't like that much. Which is why I didn't rank this in the top 10. This IS a seminar, and perhaps that prof is better in small groups? Also, my tax course has got to be good for SOMETHING. Please God please...)

And finally...:
15. Moral Order and the Irrational: Readings in Nietzsche and Freud: Seminar (Don't ask. I don't know why either.)

Reflections on Summer Solstice

Happy Longest Day of the Year! Hope you guys did something useful with your daylight. :)

Work was busy today. A lot of things to do, which is good. I conferred with my supervising attorney on the brief I'm writing, and then worked a bit more on the research project about the gun case and also on an objection to the motion for a pro se defendant who is filing the motion from prison.

About that last case: I feel bad for the defendant. I wish I didn't have to write the objection, but sadly, after reviewing the law, I'm pretty convinced that she is incorrect on the merits.

Still, I feel bad. This is perhaps the first case this summer where I genuinely feel bad for the defendant and wish I could be doing something different. I suppose this kind of moral conflict will always happen when you are an attorney. Especially when you work for an employer, like a firm or the government, you can't always choose your clients, and sometimes you have to defend or prosecute someone or argue for a cause that you don't really believe in.

I need to give this more thought.

In othe rnews, after work these days, I'm absolutely brain dead and cannot get much done. Need to figure out a way to make this NOT true.

Had lunch at a very nice diner today near the office. I have always walked past it on my way to work and home, but it looked so unimpressive from the outside that I've never felt the urge to go in. It turned out to be very good: tasty sweet patato fries, crispy bacon, breakfast 'til 4:30 (for me, that last item is a prerequisite for any decent diner). I approve, and will definitely go back again.

Another inconsequential observation of the day: I need sandals -- sandals that look formal enough to go to court in, but still cool enough so I don't need to wear nylons all the time, because in this weather, the less I wear the better it is.

:D no humidity today - loved walking outside.
:( total listlessness in the evening and got nearly nothing done. I'm turning into a couch potato!

Assignments, Yay!

I don't know about you, but when I don't have enough things to do at work, I get worried. I also get bored, but mostly, I get worried because I feel like I'm not given assignments because attorneys who worked with me previously were unhappy with my work, so they don't return. Since I usually don't get a lot of feedback, getting more work from the same attorney that I had worked with is often the only feedback I ever get. So I get happy when I receive assignments, and very worried when I have too little to do.

Which was why I had been kind of worried for the past few days at work. Not enough to do. Spent almost entire days watching ongoing trials in the courthouse nearby. It was interesting stuff, since the trial was about sexual harassment and quite a few whoppers came out during cross-examination. Just to give you an idea, the plaintiff admitted during cross-examination that she "brushed her hand" against the crotch of one of her co-workers! And when asked why, she muttered a few words about how she wanted to "fit in." WTH?

But, back to my discussion about work. While I greatly enjoy watching a live trial (the jury found for the defendant, by the way), I'd much rather watch the trial while I have a pile of paper waiting on my desk for me to review when I return. I don't want to spend whole days in the courtroom literally BECAUSE I have nothing to do.

Well today I received two new assignments. Yay. I even stayed until 5:30 to research for this one case. The cases are very itneresting, one about sentencing, the other about rules of evidence. Me very happy.

Weekend at Home

This weekend I went home to NJ to spend Father's Day with my parents. It was a ton of fun, though also exhausting. I drove down on Saturday morning, and we had lunch at our favorite Szechuang restaurant, whose food is so spicy that it always made my stomach upset afterwards, but soooo yummy! After that, parents and I walked around in the Princeton campus near our house, and eventually went to a coffee shop that some famed writers and members of the literati frequented. Dad had a cappucino, while I had a latte. Yum.

For Father's Day, I got my parents a "cactus garden." Here's a photo of it taken by my dad. I got it at Costco with Boyfriend and actually got one for myself as well because it's so pretty I have always wanted to give my parents a plant, but they don't really know how to take care of them. So a cactus garden is the perfect solution. My parents loved it.



The weather just started getting hot this weekend, so walking around outside was not as pleasant as it could have been. After escaping to the coffee shop, we went home and drank some refreshing white wine that I picked out from a wine store near my parents' townhouse.

We spent the whole night talking about my experiencces in law school and at my internship, all of which my parents found fascinating. (My dad actually taped me speaking so he and Mom could review the notes later and possibly even write an article about it or two.)

The next day, we went shopping, and Mom and I each got a Zohari Petite suit. It would serve as my birthday present. Afterwards, we went strawberry picking at a local farm. The temperature was 95 degrees and it was very hot in teh afternon, and I got way tan, but it was SO MUCH FUN. Here's a photo of our crop.



I drove back from Jersey this morning and after a few mishaps, didn't get into work until nearly 11 AM. I was also so tired that I left very early, and then took a 4-hour nap as soon as I got home. Have just gotten up now and have been watching TV. Life is good.

:D a lot of strawberries in my fridge.
:( 100% humidity today.

My Career as Litigator

So today marked my lackluster beginning to a career in litigation! I did a plea-change agreement myself. Actually, that just consisted of reading aloud a statement of facts to the court. Really neither complicated nor dramatic. But a milestone nonetheless, I guess.

The whole thing was rather anticlimactic. First of all, the proceeding began 40 minutes late. This is not unusual. So far every single proceeding that the interns have attended, except for the very first one, have begun late, and not just a little late, but in general between an hour and an hour and a half late. EG, the attorney who interviewed and hired me, was also my supervising attorney. He was annoyed because he had a brief that was due Friday, and he had spent the whole day on it. But now he had to wait listlessly in a courtroom.

The judge was this white-haired lady that reminded me of Sandra Day O'Connor. Grandmotherly in her appearance, but very forceful in her personality.

The case involved a drug sale. The man was a hispanic male in his 20s, perhpas my age, short, plump, and kind of dazed looking. He was held in jail before the proceeding, and was brought in by marshals wearing an orange jumpsuit. He didn't seem to know exactly what was going on. Didn't even speak English that well and required an interpreter.

The judge did most of the talking, and I found the whole thing oddly poignant. The entire proceeding consisted of making sure the defendant understood the rights he was giving up by pleading guilty, so the judge asked him questions regarding every single right that he was waiving. "Sir, do you understand that you have a right to trial with a jury? Do you understand that by pleading guilty you are giving up that right?" While the judge spoke, the interpreter would translate contemporaniously into the defendant's ears, and the defendant would answer, in a thick accent, "Yes." "Do you understand, sir, that you have a right to confront witnesses who testify against you? Do you understand that by pleading guilty you are waiving that right as well?" And then he would listen to the interpreter again and answer, "yes." So on and so forth.

And I felt sorry for the man, the defendant. He seemed genuinely confused at times, and chastened, defeated by life. He was going away for at least 4 or 5 years, for one single criminal act. He was my age and I felt sorry for him.

Sometimes he would get confused, as when the judge asked the defendant whether the government coerced him into pleading guilty or whether the government made any improper promise. Since the answer to every previous question had been "yes", the defendant began saying "yes," then had to say "I mean 'no.'" The judge was dissatisfied with that answer, and asked the question again, and amazingly the defendant answered incorrectly again, until he finally looked at his lawyer helplessly and his lawyer shook his head no, so the defendant answered "no."

Then it was my turn to recount the facts. I had written out a whole sheet of facts, and read it like a schoolgirl. They were doing me a favor by letting me do this. I was neither horrible nor brilliant. Just mediocre, average. It was the first time I spoke in open court. I was too nervous to really notice anything else, my supervising attorney behind me, the defendant and his attorney next to me. The interpretor somehow falling silent. I remember thinking "why isn't she translating my stuff?"

After that, the judge asked the defendant whether he agreed with the version of events. He said yes. The judge then accepted the guilty plea, set a sentencing date, and then the court was adjourned.

A New, Healthier Me

Am posting solely because it's 8 am, and I've already been up for 1.5 hours!

What I did with my morning: cuddled on the bed with Boyfriend a bit, then went out for a run around the square with him, then made breakfast and just finished eating it. Going to wash up now and go to work!

Work is good these days. I ran out of assignments briefly yesterday and made the mistake of telling people about it, and the internship coordinator now sends everyone with an assignment over to me. Did some research assignments yesterday and also began working on an appellate brief, which will probably take me a ton of time but thankfully is not due until August.

:D healthy!
:( tired already! Hehe.

Ahhhhhh Weekend

I was enjoying my weekend too much to interrupt it and post. Yesterday: reading, eatng good food, and watching TV. Today: visiting 2 local wineries, both of which surprisingly excellent; reading at Starbucks; exercising and shopping; vegging on the couch.

I have been vegging too much and really should start thinking about what classes I want to take in the fall. The deadline for the fall general classes lottery is in early July. I will post my choices once I have things figured out.

Tomorrow: work starts again. On Wednesday I get to speak in Court, and I'm already nervous about it.

:D White wines
:( Neck problem

Good Day

Work was AWESOME today. Sadly, I can't talk too much about substance. Suffice to say that we witnessed the beginning of a very big case for us, and all the attorneys in the office are so excited.

None of the interns had too much done today, because of the chaos and the excitement. We went to a press conference, a court detention hearing, and about 3 hours of waiting around for the above two events to happen. Yes, apparently, nothing happens on time in the justice system.

However, I did get to know our other interns a lot better.

Also, EG (our attorney intern coordinator) asked me whether I wanted to speak in court next week! It's only a plea-change hearing, but still. I'm so excited.

Tonight, Boyfriend and I went to a very hip Japanese restaurant, sat outside, and had great salmon nigiri and alaskan rolls. Yum.

:D Got ADORABLE Mary Janes for only $28 at massive sale.
:( Only 6 hours of sleep last night

Exhausted, but in a Good Mood

I worked late today. I was there almost by myself until 10:00 pm in the office. By then I think almost all the attorneys have left, except for some occasional foodsteps down the hall, but that may just be the custodians.

I feel very hard-working, being one of the last people to leave the office. :) I'm sure I won't feel the same after a few more nights of this.

I got new research assignments today, every bit as frustrating as the ones from yesterday. But I was more patient and expected more difficulty, and perhaps I AM improving in my research skills. I actually know how to write an actual Westlaw command now. Well, in any case, I was determined to find at least ONE relevant case, and finally, after like 8 hours of research today, I did find some authority. Yoo-hoo.

The case I'm working on goes to trial tomorrow. Actually it's jury selection, and then it will be trial time. All the interns are invited to go and watch. I'm kinda excited about that.

All the summer interns are getting closer with each other. All the guys in my group have very good personalities: stable, calm, outgoing, funny, etc. I really like this girl from an large state university law school, who is my age and very stable and elegant and quiet and self-assured. Another girl is extremely outgoing (perhaps too outgoing?) but has a good sense of humor as well.

Have also been chatting online a bit with friend Dickie over Gmail chat, which is the greatest invention ever. Hopefully, though, my employer is not monitoring my online usage since there's some embarrassing personal details being disclosed. :)

:D finally finding a relevant case after hours of reading irrelevant ones.
:) sprained my neck this morning somehow and it still feels weird 10 hours later.

Insecure

I am paranoid about how people at work think about me. I wonder if they all think that I'm ditzy and dumb.

Since beginning this job, I realized that law school doesn't really teach you very much practical things, like how to write a motion, or how to do actual research. From my conversation with ABS, he has the same impression. We are both concerned that we seem so clueless in our respective jobs, and that other people, even people from the same law school as we do, seem to know much more about these "practical" things like civil procedure than we do.

ABS said that he's annoyed at our civ pro professor, because apparently, we didn't learn anything useful in that class, like venue and class action suits. I'm mostly annoyed because we didn't learn anything from our lawyering classes. The type of research and the kind of "memos" we had to write for lawyering are completely different from the stuff we actually had to write in reality. Real lawyers apparently don't have time to read through long memos in the format of CRuPAC (Conclusion-Rule-Proof-Application-Conclusion). Most of the time they just want some cases that are on point.

Speaking of cases that are on point, today was a horrible day for research assignments. I got an assignment yesterday that seemed very simple, but whcih turned out to be a nightmare. When I tried to find relevant cases, no matter how hard I tried, i could not find anything that was exactly on point. After nearly two full days of work (I even skipped my lunch hour today to focus on this assignment) I had to admit defeat and wrote a memo to the assigning attorney (who is actually my freshman counselor -- something that increased my embarrassment) that I couldn't find anything. Now I'm terrified that he thinks I'm stupid. Argh.

:( Lack of knowledge about apparently basic legal skills.
:D Boyfriend's yummy dinner this evening.

Formal Wear

One thing I don't like about working is how you have to dress up every day. Unlike the other two offices in the state, my office requires professional wear. Every day.

The men take it in strides, because I think men's formal wear is about 1,000 times more comfortable than women's. Perhaps the only thing men have to wear that even approaches the discomfort women have to suffer through is their tie. Boo-hoo. Women in comparison have to wear heels, stockings, a narrowly tailored skirt that makes it hard to walk, skirt that hug too tightly after you've eaten lunch and are bloated, shirts that bunch up inside your suit...

Speaking of shirts, this weekend I went shopping and got a whole bunch of silk shirts that at least are a joy to wear. Sadly, I was not so lucky with shoes. To this date, I'm not able to find a pair of formal heels that do not create huge blisters on my feet.

Some of the girl interns are rather lax on the definition of "formal." One girl did not wear a suit to work today, but just a blouse and a skirt. Another girl refused to wear high heels and instead wears comfy flats. I wore a pair of heels today that look very good but hurt my feet like hell. Perhaps I'll try to be a bit lax tomorrow too.

Updates

The motion that I have been working on, which was supposedly a "simple legal issue," turned out to be this monstrous thing that took me more than 3 full days to research and write. I finally finished it this evening, having stayed for 2 hours longer than I had to. I think I was one of the last to leave the office. Talk about job dedication!

This marks the end of my work with financial litigation for a while. Tomorrow I start working on a criminal case.

My real mother's American husband passed away. I have never met him, but I felt sad for him nonetheless. Sniff.

:D I have been losing weight because I actually eat healthy food now, courtesy of Boyfriend.
:( The fact that I'm still awake. Need to sleep!

Heaven

Guess what I've been doing all day?

Got up around noon. It was raining and Boyfriend went out and foraged for food while I played on-line monopoly and read. Talked to friend J for nearly an hour and a half. Then, around 9 we started watching the DVDs of the Fourth Season of 24 that we rented last Tuesday.

It's 6 hours later, and we (well, mostly me) are still watching.

:D Jack Bauer
:( weekend is too short.

In Awe

I'm still in awe of how cool my internship is. The attorneys there seem to really enjoy their jobs. Today we had a brown bag lunch where the two people heading the two main departments here spoke to us and described what they do. It was fascinating to hear thier personal experiences and the cases they handled, but what was even more awesome was to hear how passionate they are about their jobs. They all seem very eager to mentor us, as well.

Spent the whole day researching and drafting motions. Next week I get to appear in court!

I am still in disbelief about the substantive work they actually let us do. It's one thing to research legal questions and drafting a memo. It's another altogether to draft indictments and trial memos and plea agreements! It's so cool it takes my breath away.

:D cafe right in the building I work. Food is pretty good too!
:( rainy, and 100% humidity.

My New Life

Happy International Children's Day! And pardon me for being away for a while. As an excuse, I'll just say that I have had the worst week of my life with Law Review competition, and the single Worst Day of My Life last Friday.

I don't want to go into details, because it is just too painful to recount, but let's just say that I ended up turning my LR competition entry 15 minutes late, for which there is probably some sort of penalty, though they refuse to be more concrete, and that I temporarily lost my ID card and wept in full view in the middle of the reference library while a very nice reference librarian photocopied stuff for me. Which reminds me. I should send him flowers.

Don't worry, everything is okay. Just more fun stories about law school to tell my grand kids. I have by now returned to my former cheerful self, but let's get on to the next topic before the bad memories come flooding back! :)

So, my new life has begun since this Tuesday! After a long weekend of sleeping, recuperating, and packing, I am now moved into Boyfriend's condo in N-Town and have started work on Tuesday!

Work has been fascinating, and definitely a whole other world from law school. There are seven interns in total at my office, mostly 1Ls, but 1 2L and 1 3L (!). Three girls and four boys. They all seem very nice, and scarily, they all seem like they know more than I do about the workings of the law. I feel like I have learned nothing but legal theory this past year, but my comrades actually seem to know about drafting motions and doing legal research and stuff like that.

Speaking of which, my office seems very short-handed, and they really do throw you into the water feet first. I began working almost right away on Tuesday, and my first assignment was (gulp) drafting a motion. A real, bonafide, actual motion that is going to get used in an actual court proceeding! I was too ashamed to say that I didn't know how, and I tried my best to copy the format and the language of the sample motions that I found, but still, I'm sure that my product was full of mistakes.

The attorney who gave me the first assignment is this cool lady with a statuesque figure and short hair. She was extra nice with me and tried to be reassuring. Her work mostly involves forfeitures and restitution and fines. So I have been struggling to remember stuff from my Ames brief, which is kind of about that topic. Who knew that all this stuff would come full circle?

Morale seems to be very good at my office, and most of the attorneys are only a little older than me. Surprisngly, my freshman counselor from college works at the office too. When he called out my name, I was so surprised that his name escaped me for a second. And then the memories came flooding back. It's kind of embarrassing, but I actually had a huge, obvious crush on him back in freshman year. :D Not anymore, of course.

It's great to see first-hand how much of the law you learn from the books is actually useful. It's also a little dismaying to see how little of the law we learn in 1L year is actually useful. So far, everything I have done has something to do with statutes, which we didn't do at all first year (well, other than in tax, that is). Although part of my work is to look up cases that interprete the statutes, it is definitely not the straight-up common law that we have been learning all year in the classrooms. Yes. The 1L curriculum needs reform, NOW!

Okay, enough for now. I have to be discreet here and not give away any particulars because it is against the rules and against the law. I could get prosecuted for violating the attorney-client privilege, some federal statutes, AND the confidentiality agreement that I signed. So I will only talk about work in a general way, but not about any cases. I'm sure you'd understand.

:D Work, probably.
:( Getting up at 8 every day. My body is NOT built for this...

Law Review Hell

Exactly 24 hours before I have to turn this thing in. Let's just say that I slept 5 hours on Monday night, 5 hours on Tuesday night, 2 hours last night, and likely no sleep tonight. And after all this, still not sure whether I have a good product. A case comment is hard as hell.

This is probably the hardest I have ever worked in law school, and ironically, it's not even a part of school!

The upside to all this: it all comes to a crashing halt tomorrow at 3.

Oh, I'm also dogsitting J's black lab mix. She's sleeping on the floor in my apartment right now. Yes, she was distracting, and no, I don't mind because she is so affectionate and cute!

:D dog-walking
:( case comment.

Law Review Competition, Day 4

Got up at noon today and began working only after 2-hour lunch with ABS.

Work was solid though, and wrote part of the case comment that can be done without formulating a thesis. I found the mechanical aspect of writing somewhat soothing, although by dinner, both ABS and I were panicking a little that it's already Monday, we have 3 days left, and still don't have a thesis for the case comment.

Should get back to work now. Hopefully, I will sleep by 2 AM tonight...

:D nice weather, finally
:( too much secondary sources to read

Law Review Competition, Day 3

So, after ONE precious day of freedom, in which I lounged around with ABS and another gay guy from our section, GW, the Law Review competition started on Friday.

ABS and I picked up our competition packets at around 4 in the afternoon with a bunch of friends. In case you're wondering, the legendary packet is about 4 inches thick, and too heavy for me to hold on one hand. It required 3 humungous binders, and almost didn't fit into my bookbag. Such is the back-crushing realities of law school.

After picking up the packet, ABS and I sat in our favorite spot on campus and read the directions. The competition is divided into 2 parts: subciting, and writing a case comment. The subciting part is tedious work: editing and simple bluebooking of a 30-page case comment that has been "doctored" by the editors. Errors abound. Then, we have to write a case comment about a Supreme Court case that was decided last term. Our case is on a very technical aspect of the death penalty. Since I'm not allowed to talk about it, I won't discuss it here. :)

On Friday night, I did very little work, just read the article that we are supposed to subcite for, and the actual case itself.

Yesterday, worked around 6 hours. I did nothing but subciting, and ended up finishing about half of the subciting section. However, didn't touch the case comment part. The case was very complex and I wanted it to swirl around in my mind a little more.

Last night, ABS and I met for dinner. We are strictly bound by the honor code to not talk about the competition, so we didn't. Instead, we made up a schedule and realized that every single day of the next week is going to incredibly full. Think 10-hour days.

Today, I got up too late (around 11) and started working about 1.5 hours later (procrastinated before then, of course.). I started out with case comment (read a few central cases, jotted notes down, etc.), then finished my first round of subciting just around now. Subciting is tedious... there are so many errors, and it involves reading every source closely and making sure the source supports the statement. It's pretty much like normal subciting, except now the errors that we find have point values.

I worked in Starbucks today for 7 hours, sitting there in the center big table (selfishly taking it all up myself!) and drinking first a huge latte and then a big green tea. It was pretty nice. Perhaps I will go back there tomorrow just because it's a nice change of pace.

Around late afternoon, there was a big thunderstorm, which I really liked. People streamed into Starbucks to take cover from the heavy downpour.

Afterwards, there was a single rainbow that shimmed in the sky in a perfect arch. Then, there was another one! I ran outside and took photos with my cell phone. (It's the one time that my camera phone actually had some use!) Since my cell phone camera is crappy, the colors are not as rich and dramtic as it was in real life. But take a look, they are still pretty cool.





:D see photos above.
:( nothing but self-imposed work today!

Done with My 1L Year!

Just finished my property final exam (a 3-hour take-home). Wow, done. I'm done with one 1L year! (At least academically. There's still the week-long Law Review competition that starts on Friday, but I'd rather not think about that right now).

The property final went okay, I thought. The questions seemed straight forward, and I knew my rules and cases reasonably well, and even had the wherewithal to put a bit of humor into my answers.

Contracts this Monday, however, was another story. It was brutal, partly because I hadn't slept the night before. (I thought I was tired enough to go to sleep just on my own, around 11 or so. By the time I realized this was NOT true, it was too late to take a sleeping pill.) So the early part of the 8 hours I was fighting back sleepiness. The later part of the 8 hours I was frantically writng and not having enough time. Was a pretty horrible expereince all around.

However, my experience pretty much accorded with everyone's. And since there's a curve, it's all up in the air.

My experience with contracts was by no means the worst. Apparently, all sorts of mishaps happened on the way to the exam. Two people from my section neer took it. One was suspected by his doctor to have mono. The other one has no explanation thus far. So, these people would apparently have to either make up for the exam in the next few days, or retake contracts next year. Yikes.

Also, a girl drove in from another town (where she was spending the night with her boyfriend), and could not get to the exam until 2.5 hours later because of the flooding.)

THEN, another guy apparently wrote the entire exam in the library (b/c he lived too far awy to go home). THEN, as he was priting, his computer crashed, and the entire file was GONE. He has to retake contracts next year as well, OR retake the contracts exam from the same professor. Either way it's pretty horrible.

Another girl also, for no explanation as far as I could tell, turned in her exam 20 minutes late. Not sure yet what the consequences of THAT is.

Argh, exam season. So much stress and drama. It's finally all over.

:D After 9 days of rain, we finally see the sun today!
:( My summer employer wants yet MORE stuff. I'm seriously worried about them getting the security clearance done on-time.

Things I've Always Wanted to Do In Law School

Taking an eight-hour take-home exam on 0 hours of sleep.

Check.

:D Contracts Exam finished!
:( Why am I still conscious?!

Daaaaaaaaamn...

Am still up outlining for property. Damn we read a lot of cases last semester.

1500 pages! How did the prof sneak that many pages into our syllabus and still remained so popular?!?

Sigh...

Well, tax exam is over. One down, two more to go.

I was not happy after the exam -- felt that there were a lot of things that I could have done better; felt some problems on the exam could have been less tangential; felt that I could have studied harder; felt that the prof could have been less anal;

... but whatever. It's over. Onwards!

:D lavender ice cream
:( question 2 on the tax exam

I Am a Tax Zombie

Spent 10 hours yesterday studying, and will likely spend that much time today. I now know more about tax than I ever knew, which is really not saying much, especially since I'm still figuring out some very very basic concepts.

Sadly, I took a practice exam last night and realized that even with all my newly acquired knowledge, I still don't know nearly enough. So, more studying and exams today.

By tomorrow this time, I will have been done with tax... hopefully forever. Crossing my fingers...

:D Sorry, no :Ds today. The day is one of the dreariest in memory. Rainy, no good food, lots of tax.
:( See above.

How I Procrastinated

- hand-washed 4 pairs of underwear

- did very complicated 4-step cleansing and moisturizing facial I learned from Allure.

- called parents.

- dim sum

- folded clothes

- washed dishes

- bought milk

- lit candles

And finally, here's the all-time winner for absurd procrastination tactics:

- meticulously sorted my humungous bowl of sugar and sugar substitute packets that I accumulated over time from getting travelers from Starbucks, and put them into different containers. There were like about 500 of those, now all neatly stacked in jars.

I also did a (not double-blind, sadly) tasting, and decided that my favorite is the brown cane sugar, followed closely by Equal. I hated Sweet n Low and threw all the packets out.

Top that, I dare you!

:D bean curd with shrimp!
:( tax

From our property class notes:

"Property rights can be best perceived as a bundle of sticks. The stick to keep the dead body in your house does not exist."

"Tennesee: at the forefront of identity rights law, b/c of Elvis impersonators."

Last Day of Class

Had our last contracts class today, and last class ever for our 1L year. A bit of an anticlimax, except for the very memorable 30 seconds where our contracts professor actually WALKED ON HIS HANDS for us. It was pretty cool, and made me like him a lot more. We all applauded and whistled. Law School can be so weird sometimes.

Well, right now I feel too stressed to be sentimental.

It's Friday night and I'm doing TAX. I know, I'm not happy about this, but 1 1/2 weeks more and I'll be done with my 1L year, and the thought scares me.

The student coop outside has a very noisy party, with loud dance music, and people screaming. I guess everyone is happy that school is done and the weather is gorgeous. Summer is in the air today. 80 degrees, sunny skies, and the air smells like flowers and grass. In the afternoon ABS and I sat ourside while I completed my financial aid forms. We had Japanese food in the evening, and afterwards I came home and subjected myself to tax and other people's wild evenings.

They are playing a lot of Madonna songs. This is like the fourth one in an hour, and people are singing it, rather, screaming it together. Man, I hope I wasn't as obnoxious in college, but I probably was.

:D Classes over?
:( Classes over?

Ew

Just got a letter from my summer employer, informing me that they would like "all the summer interns" to start working on May 30th. This is almost a week before the date I thought I was going to start working, and my parents are already planning a trip up to B-Town to hang out with me Memorial Day weekend. I hate to haggle over things like this before I even start working. So, so, so annoying.

:D 72 degrees outside! 'Nuff said.
:( the Internal Revenue Code. 'Nuff said.

6 Days to Tax Exam

And what studying did I do today? Nothing.

I did, however, make up a detailed and extremely busy study schedule for the next two weeks. Let's see if I stick to it.

Today we had our last property class, and yesterday we had our last tax class. I'm a bit sorry that property is over, because I liked the prof, though less in the second half of the semester than the first half. I didn't like tax at all, and gave the prof very low ratings. I just hope that I stuff enough tax into my head in the next few days to do okay on the exam...

AC came over to my apartment to chat about "girl things" today. We talked about relationships, life, career issues, and lots of other things. It was really fun. We had wine and just sat in our chair and chatted. At the end of the evening, we hugged and promised to do this again.

So, I promised myself: real, hardcore studying starting tomorrow!

:D Watching ABS playing his videogames today in his apartment today while trying to work.
:( See title.

:D and :(

Almost forgot. Here are the :D and :( of today:

:D Finally picked up my auction winning items, and found with a pleasant surprise that what they auctioned off as a $50 gift certificate is actually a certificate for a 90-minute Swedish massage, worth... $125. At least according to the spa brochure. The spa looks really nice. At least the brochure looks really nice. And boy do I need a Swedish massage like NOW.

:( My choices for the entire night, and for the foreseeable next two weeks, are: read contracts, outline for contracts, read property, outline for property, read tax, outline for tax, or sleep. And sadly, most of the time I WANT to do the last one. Depressing.

Results

Multi-sections courses lottery results came out this morning during property. Of course no one paid any attention for the second half of the class.

Here are my results:

For con law, I did not get my first choice, the superstar famous con law prof. (His course was also my first choice overall, if you recall). Instead, I got his younger counterpart DL. I was briefly disappointed, then resigned to my fate, then excited because ABS is in my class. I am on the waitlist for the famous prof's class, but I know I can forget about it b/c no one, NO ONE, who is already enrolled in that class will want to drop it. Ah well.

For corps, I got my top choice, the former dean of the law school. However, now I'm feeling ambivalent about him and wondering if I should have gone for the super-nice hippie prof JH, who offers a corps that is extremely critical of corporate rules. The prof that I got will teach straight-up, hardcore corps, so I'll definitely learna ton in his class, whereas JH will teach more theory-oriented critique of corps, so it will be a lot less substance but a lot more interesting. Which one do I prefer? I dunno. I am also on the waitlist for JH's class, so we'll see. Maybe I'll just take a seminar with him instead.

For admin law, I got the famous superstar visiting prof, so I'm really happy about that. Yoohoo. His equally famous wife will also be a visitng prof here and will be teaching a philosophy seminar. I wonder if i should go for that as well.

I also got into the section of evidence that meets during winter term. I'm not as committed to that class and there's a big chance that I will drop it instead. Of course, I just read all about this professor, and he is apparently quite famous, one of a handful of people who graduated summa cum laude from the law school, and who founded the Internet Studies Center at the law school. He sounds like quite an interesting character, and worth getting to know.

I'm on the waitlist for a total of 8 courses.

Now, I just have to figure out the rest the courses for next year, like smaller lectures and seminars. Also, clinicals registration lottery begins tomorrow!

Feminism

I'm finding feminism interesting again. In high school I found it interesting, and loved author like de Beauvoir and Freidan. In college, Women and Gender Studies folks scared me and I found their rhetoric and shrillness tiresome. Many of them also don't seem to be that intelligent or imaginative, and instead just rehash the old jargons that were never that great even when they were new. Most of the "feminists" also seem very angry and unpleasant to be around.

In college I was also in my idealistic phase. I was very interested in literature, philosophy, art,... basically, fields where pleasure and aesthetic appreciation reign paramount. I still believe that those fields are not particularly suited for the feminist critique (although the feminists certainly try). Feminist theory's relentless and insistent need to see nearly everything as a power relationship, or related somehow to the subjugation of women, really turned me off. Feminists seemed like a bunch of humorless bore.

Well, now I'm studying law, and law actually IS about power. From the cases I read, I AM increasingly aware of the imbalance of power and the many male-oriented assumptions that legal doctrines make. And this makes feminist theory relevant to me as it has never been before.

For instance, last semester in crim law, we talked for a bit about how manslaughter, which gives people a lesser sentence for killing someone because there was "provocation", can be seen as condoning the killing of another in the heat of passion -- a very "male" response. This jibes with reality, since the vast majority of people convicted of manslaughter are male. Female, it seems, don't really respond to provocation by killing, but usually by retreating.

There are other examples of this kind of assumptions in crim law. Indeed, what better reflects the assumptions and attitudes abotu women than rape law and domestic violence law? It was very interesting to see how both developed. And I'm sure there are examples like this in torts and contracts and property.

In any event, what I want to say is, I am finding feminist theory, and gender theory, and all that stuff that I couldn't stand when I was doing literature or philosophy or history, interesting again. Law seems like a particular appropriate field for this kind of critique and analysis, since it is after all about the allocation of power. The ultimate question for any law ought to be what the Crits ask: what group does this law favor in society? In fact, now as I type this, I can hardly believe that some would dispute that this is the most important question in law. What is the use of law, except to preserve order and effect positive change in society? And how can you possibly evaluate a law without looking at its results and effects for different groups of people in society?

so, anyway, I am planning to spend my summer reading up on some feminist critique of law. I'm sure I'll have many questions, doubts, and problems with it, just as I do with everything else, but it's a start.

:D Seeing S dance Bollywood styled dances at the International Party tonight.
:( The fact that I'm still not asleep, and the fact that I have a 10:30 class tomorrow morning.