Firsts

There have been a good amount of firsts going around. Today was the first time I've ever had to shower because I smelled like lamb. Oh, and yesterday was the first day of classes. They were fine...I'm sure they will be further discussed. Nothing too stunning yet - the highlight so far is Clarence Thomas speaking so reckless, as usual. His views are still radical and impractical. But the lamb I roasted was delicious. I've been looking forward to it for a little bit now. Alena ate it with me, and she was quite patient as I figured out just how long it needed to stay in the oven. Want something gross looking? It's lamb drippings. Also, delicious for future gravies or sauces.

Being back at school is a little stressful. Everyone talking about jobs, internships, journal, homework, and skeet shooting. Alright, one of those discussions really added no law school pressure. But the others make me want to not talk with my classmates. If I pretend to be deaf do I get one of those ASL interpreters who can stand next to the professor every class period? That's a heinous abuse and waste of resources, but I kind of want to know. Would you get that?? Whenever I see someone signing along next to a speaker I inevitably look at them despite not understanding sign language. No matter how compelling the speaker, I am drawn to watching. It is entirely unclear why. I don't think I'll keep looking at French subtitles of a film in English.

It's almost college football season: the time of year where I can't watch ESPN anymore on Saturdays because I just don't care that much about any of it.

Law School v. 2.0

Tomorrow is the first day of classes. Holy crap I am so much more prepared for it this time than I was last year. Last year I didn't know anything. I was getting thrown into the deep end with no lifeguard. This time I am swan-diving into the pool, only I mess up the dive a little bit and end up hurting my shoulders and dignity. I am actually excited to learn in my classes (Con Law II, Administrative Law, Corporations, and US Foreign Relations Law), but I am not excited about journal nor the job search. Those are my big downers. Like a New Year's resolution I am sure this won't last, but I really am going to try to maintain a decent work schedule along the 9 to 5 lines. My alarm is set for 8 am, and I am prepared to be cranky but productive in the morning.

The swamp that is DC is still hot. I do not enjoy breaking a sweat walking around outside after the sun has gone down. I feel like ever since I got here I have just been showering constantly. One in the morning, one after I work out, and then a third because I unintentionally got really sweaty just from walking around. Not cool (hot and sweaty, in fact).

This weekend was Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally, so a lot of attendees/tourists were in town. It was pretty easy to pick them out. They were mostly overweight, white, and dumpy-looking. The rally's standard uniform was a tucked-in t-shirt that either had a rally logo on it or just an American Flag - just to show how much they loved America. I was honestly a little scared by these people. I kept wanting to stop and make conversation, just to see how it went. I'm not saying they are bad, ignorant, or bigoted people - I am just interested in how you could be so moved by Glenn Beck that you forfeit your weekend and spend money to come to a three hour rally in the heat on the National Mall. I don't get it. I live here and I couldn't be bothered to attend (granted I 1) had a meeting and 2) disagree with just about everything this rally stands for). I want to know what the motivation is. I think the only way I'd cross state lines to go to a rally is if someone really awesome were there...someone like Tina Fey. Yeah, I'd go see her. Throw in Alec Baldwin and I'm there.
Also, conservatives wake up really early! The rally started at 10 am, that means tens of thousands of people got up, navigated a strange public transportation system, and got settled all by 10 in the morning. There is no way I could manage that.

Bewilderment

Whooooooo six personalized "thank you" emails! Pounded those out before the close of business. I am literally certain that they are full of grammatical problems if not plain spelling errors. As a result, I am going to imagine they are idyllic and not look in my "Sent Messages" folder.

"Hi, my name is nervousness and I am here to keep you awake last night."
"Well thanks nervousness, I didn't really feel like sleeping anyways. Let's play Boggle."
-Conversation that occurred two nights ago, pre-interview day, in my head.

A lot of the time when I am dealing with tense situations I invent ridiculous ways to approach them. For example, I created an elaborate plan to deal with my interview involving bringing Justin Timberlake (Shaked wisely recommended that I leave Justin in the reception area). It didn't necessarily help me de-stress, but it did make me want an entourage - not like that show "Entourage" but more like with Justin Timerlake who can narrate things in song form. Ask RKG, I tried inventing songs for him to sing in the background to help during my interview.

Now that I am done being slightly bewildered...

A dog is man's best friend, but diamonds are a girls best friend. Those are two quite different things. Has anyone ever explored this before? Discuss.

Here's a thing I still don't care about - youtube videos of people doing stupid crap.

A Middle East peace strategy maybe we should try: asking politely. Then sulking in the corner when our good-will is rebuffed until someone notices and gives concessions just to make us feel better. Then we all play four square and make the "double-taps" rule, and end up spiking the ball through someone's square who has been uncooperative.

Law of Large Numbers

Stephen Strasburg strained a flexor tendon in his pitching arm; I strained my patience for writing cover letters. I am (sort of) attempting to go with Shaked's idea and let the law of large numbers work its magic. That is to say, if I apply to enough places one of them is bound to want me, right?? To glance at my resume and say "He is the one!" It's a rough job market out there, that's the one thought that keeps getting drilled into us. So while I do not take rejection as an ego blow, I can only hope that my persistence pays off. I do get bored of the endless cover letters, however (Exhibit A: this blog entry).
Of course, there are still some places I would actually prefer to work, and I am not at the stage of being completely un-picky just yet. Though that could change sometime soon.

Last night I was half-watching "Inglorious Bastards" at a pregame at Damien's house. It started out as a few guys watching, some of whom had never seen it before (myself included). More people came, and I was still trying to keep an eye on the movie. It was difficult for me because I didn't bring my glasses and I do not have best eye sight in the world, meanwhile there are a lot of subtitles. I remarked on this and a girl's response was "There aren't many subtitles in this movie." "Well, the last half an hour has been entirely subtitled because they are all speaking German, and they are subtitles on the screen right now...so, I'm going to go ahead and disagree with you," was my polite response.

There are a lot of things I just never learned about, like matting in picture frames. When was I supposed to learn about that?

Damien busted out matzah last night and gave me a piece to eat. That was probably the first time I have ever eaten matzah in August. What a random thing to have lying around the kitchen.

The Walk Home From U Street

Last night's walk home had a definite high point and a definite low point. Not often you get twenty minute walks with such moments.
The low point: watching two enormous rats playing rat tag in the middle of the sidewalk without any regard to the fact that people were walking there. Rats, you are supposed to be afraid of humans.
The high point: walking next to the Dupont fountain and seeing a number of people with balloon artist created hats in a bunch of ridiculous colors and sizes. Then hearing one cop say to the other "If I weren't on duty I'd love one of those."

I met with my (former) Civ Pro professor today. It was 1/4 "How was your summer?"; 1/4 good advice; 1/4 talking baseball; and 1/4 listening to him eviscerate big law firms and tell me how awful they are to work at. I'd say that was a productive meeting. I hope he's a good reference for the big law firms that call! (Read: IF anyone shows enough interest in me to bother calling references. Fingers crossed? Knock on wood? Mighty Mighty Bostones in fifth grade?)

I managed to assemble a bookcase somewhat incorrectly today. That was quite the accomplishment, considering that I have had said bookcase in my possession for literally a year at this point. Finally assembled. Great success.

Where Have I Been?

Whoa, I totally have been falling down on the job of blogging this month. I apologize for that gentle reader (Miss Manners, anyone? Wow my childhood was weird). I have been running around organizing my move, moving, finishing moving details, and beginning law school stuff version 2L. But now I am back in DC, with a relatively organized apartment which was luckily not wrecked by my sublet. My mother was quite nice to drive me down. We made good time to New Jersey: 3.5 hours from Boston to get over the GW Bridge. Avoided New York traffic so it should have been a piece of cake from there, right? Wrong. I spent the next 6 hours in traffic between the armpit and the ant (New Jersey and Delaware) before finally getting to DC. I had to restrain my road rage a little bit because my mom was in the car, but I definitely *ahem* "had words for" this lady in a Chevy who cut me off coming out of a rest stop into a traffic jam, nearly running me into another car. Sorry mom!

So now I am back, immersed in the fall recruiting process (FRP) - a preposterous exercise where we search for jobs for next summer despite the fact that it is still August of this summer. Apparently most of 1L was to get us to this point so we could get a job for 2L summer. I am currently going through some on-campus interviews (OCI), which is akin to what I imagine speed dating to be like. People who have 'screening interviews' wait around a hotel for their pre-scheduled appointments with different law firms. We get 20 minutes per interview, and who knows what they are looking for in these things? I think they have been going well so far, I have demonstrated that I can be personable and articulate, and that I am not intensely socially awkward (which is more of an accomplishment than you might think). But interviewers have around 20 interviews a day - how do you stand out there except in a bad way? I sometimes contemplate doing ridiculous things like asking if I can order room service or just taking off my pants, but then I remember the rule of wedding crashing - do not draw attention to yourself in a negative way. That's right, "Wedding Crashers" is the only reason that I don't do ridiculous things. Thanks Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson!

I will update more soon, and with more frequency. But, predictably, I have more stuff to do. Crime never sleeps.

The Look

Indian food is not always a good idea, though it is usually a delicious one. This afternoon Shaked and I got Indian buffet, for old time's sake, and I haven't been really able to eat properly for the rest of the day. Mis-take. Even though when I was there I thought that I hadn't eaten myself into oblivion. I wasn't quite at that point where I was considering cutting open my stomach to relieve the pressure. Nonetheless, my stomach hasn't felt right for the past 10 or so hours. Hopefully it will rally and tomorrow will be a day of greater intestinal fortitude. It is times like this when salad has never sounded so appealing.

Salad: if not for dressing, it would be so unappealing. Good salad dressing is an investment. I don't mind spending the extra dollar for the good stuff. In the end it will lead to me eating far more salad than if I have some crap I don't like.

I think in preparation for moving back to DC I am going to hit up the New Hampshire state liquor store. Cheap prices and no tax? Yes please!

Last Friday I got into an altercation with a vaguely German sounding man driving an Audi SUV. He stopped at a stop sign for about fifteen seconds before I had to cross that street. I was nervous that maybe he stopped to fiddle with something in his glove compartment or something and he would start going without seeing me. Rather than walk in front of his car, I walked behind it - no big deal, right? But he rolled down his window and started yelling at me. He, apparently, was quite upset that I disrespected him so by walking behind his car. I was just under the impression that I was commuting and listening to my iPod. So he started yelling and I was shocked. I was confused at first and just trying to explain myself, but after he dropped two F-Bombs at me, I got into it with him. My Boston-ness took over, so of course I started cursing right back at him. This went on for about a minute, when we got to the real highlight of the "conversation":
Man: (in a German-esque accent) You gave me The Look; no one gives me The Look!!
Me: What????? What the hell are you talking about????
I capitalized "The Look" because I can only assume it is a proper noun. I have absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but with his accent and propensity for anger it was quite amusing. After he finally drove away, I continued my walk home. At first I was a little shocked that this had just occurred, then I started laughing. Then I checked over my shoulder to make sure he didn't turn around and follow me, because I have a feeling that he really would not have appreciated me laughing the rest of the way home. Luckily, he was not there, so I did.

I am thinking about (and have been for a long time) getting a new phone. Currently, every time I charge my phone I literally have to hold the charger in place with duct tape and rubber bands, so it might be time for a new one. But they don't make any good regular phones anymore (or ones that I like at least), so I am thinking about getting a smart phone. The question becomes Blackberry or iPhone...or Android? I just don't know what to do here. Advice? And consent? Maybe I should just go back to those Nokia block phones that were only black and white and you could drop down the Grand Canyon and they would still work just fine.

Thursday night when I was on the way to drop off Eva in Cambridge, I was called upon to help Shaked change a tire on her car. Three of the lug nuts came off without excessive amounts of struggle, but the fourth was a trickster. Shaked and I each pulled the car trying to loosen the nut. A Ford Focus. With the emergency brake on. What?? After a good fifteen minutes spent on this lug nut, Shaked calls her father. "Jump on it," he tells her. "I did." "Jump on it like you mean it." So Shaked jumps on it again and miraculously the nut comes off. Who would have thought that would be the best, and most useful, advice?