Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Oral Arguments

So Washington is crazy with the Affordable Care Act at the Supreme Court. Today is Day 2 of oral arguments. Wish I could have gone, but I was not prepared to line up beginning last Friday morning. On the upside, professional line-standers (yes, that's a real thing) are making a killing. (Oh, it would be so ironic if someone got sick from standing in line in the rain and had to charge it to their health insurance company at the hospital.) I'm taking a nerd poll on how this case comes out. I say they uphold the law 6-3 with Scalia, Thomas, and Alito dissenting and a narrower holding than liberals would like. But what I was really hoping would happen was Thomas breaking his vow of silence from the bench and making that the story. I wonder how many of my professors were at the arguments today? A bunch, is my non-technical guess.

Instead of being at oral arguments at the Court, yesterday I attended Ron's oral argument at Jessup internationals. He was actually awesome. And not just because I'm his friend and was rooting for him. He had no notes and busted out the equivalent of an oral string cite, with about eight cases he just pulled out from memory. He might as well have walked over and slapped his opponent in the face while singing "Ball so hard..." His partner also did really well, and in fairness so did his opponents. But I have a feeling his team won that round.
Then today I had an oral argument of my own, volunteering to defend (gasp) Congress for my Separation of Powers class. Gun so hard... But my professor was happy that I had volunteered, and it was sort of neat acquainting myself with the issues involved. It was essentially a mock negotiation between Congress and the Executive branch over subpoenaed documents. The negotiation is based on the real-life fact pattern of Congressional oversight of the Clinton Justice Department's handling of campaign finance violations in the 1996 election. As my professor introduced the facts, "Some of you may remember this, and some of you may have been playing with Transformers."
I think it went pretty well. It was kind of fun arguing for Congress. Part of my argument essentially was "You really should just hand over the documents we want. I'll remind you we have the power to appropriate funds. I'm not saying we will deny your appropriations. But I'm also not not saying that." Being a member of Congress is sort of like being a mafia boss from what I gather. The major difference being you have no extra obligations on the day of your daughter's wedding. Oh, and Congressmen get a great pension. But really, it illustrated just how broad Congress's powers are and how many tools they have - both political and legal - to get what they want. Of course, the proper test in a situation of a congressional subpoena vs. a claim of executive privilege is a balancing of each branch's interests; often the result comes from your inherent trust or mistrust of one branch. So people who grew up with Watergate might prefer Congress; people who grew up with McCarthyism might prefer the Executive. And people who grew up with President Bush and the current Congress might prefer anarchy.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Grammar, People

I don't mean to be dramatic, but I am having a real problem here. I was reading a law review article written by my favorite professor (who happens to be my Separation of Powers professor), and I found a problem. Everyone, what is the plural of attorney general?
Right, it is attorneys general. Not attorney generals. But this article uses the incorrect plural. I don't even know what to think right now.

Sweater Is Better. No Stealing.

Drunk fantasy baseball drafts are probably not the way to win the season.

Happy first day of spring. I began the day quite early, being woken up by a huge clap of thunder. I began the day for the second time also quite early, since construction on the building diagonally across from mine begins at 7:15 am. Yeah, that construction really might result in me moving. I began my day for the third time at a reasonable hour, but an unreasonable humidity. It's only March 20th, and I already find it oppressively humid in DC. A bad harbinger. Also, I'm just a New England boy. If you can go outside without a jacket before April, I disapprove. Honestly, it is t-shirt weather already. I wish it stayed colder because, well, I love wearing sweaters. They are probably my favorite clothing item. The more days I can wear a sweater, the better. I think I have a slogan here: Sweater is Better. (c) 2012.

It's nice out so I think I'm just going to listen to Sublime. Does anyone else just feel that compulsion?

Apparently a picture is circulating comparing my Antitrust professor to Dwight Schrute. The comparison is apt to an unfortunate degree. Tonight's class was supposed to be about the recent AT&T - T-Mobile attempted merger. Instead, we got a 90 minute lecture on this history of the telecommunications industry in the United States. Then fifteen minutes of merger discussion, followed by fifteen minutes of observations we have heard three times before. It would be infuriating, but I'm so used to it.
So for a change I am looking at it on the bright side. Rather than being mad about a prolonged tangent, I learned a lot about the history of the telecom industry. And rather than completely tune out, I did some listening. With my ears. Really what I am trying to say is: at least I wasn't sitting through Trusts & Estates.

One paper and three exams. Just keep telling myself that. For graduation, I think we get poofy sleees.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Surprisingly Tame St. Patrick's Day

So the weekend was highlighted by a brief visit from Matt Hope and a surprisingly calm St. Patrick's Day. Matt came to visit from Phillie during his spring break. Turns out Ph.D. students get spring break just like everyone else. Maybe they do have souls. It was great to see him - we ate bar-b-q, went to the bar, and got bar-b-q stomach aches. And reminisced about old times. I miss college, though I am about ready to be done with school after 19th grade.

"Motherlover" is heinously overrated.

St. Patrick's Day was an 11-hour apartment crawl. I kept a surprisingly even consumption pace, and easily avoided being one of those people puking in the street. Cause I wasn't on a street! Just kidding - it's because I drank responsibly like all those commercials tell me to. I hopped around with Ryan, Steph, Kerry, Puja, and a few other people. The highlight of the day was Shannon's boyfriend James getting drunk and becoming the most sarcastic person in the world. Eight (unwanted) drunk girls (really, they were not welcome) stopped by our apartment and Ryan suggested we play Kings. So we get literally three cards into the game when:
Drunk Girl: Oh, I know this great game we should play!
James: Oh could we do that right now? Let's just stop this game. Or would you rather just change the rules right now? What do Jacks do?
From then on every time the girl opened her mouth, James was sarcastically supportive and she was drunk enough to think he was totally on her side. I just laughed until Drunk Girls 1 through 8 finally left.

Tonight, my neighbors (from home) are in DC doing college tours. So I got taken out to dinner and chose District Commons. I had low expectations (take that, Dickens!) since last time I tried to eat there I was given a lot of attitude by a hostess for expecting to sit at a table without a reservation. There were fourteen empty tables, none of which I was allowed at. But my visit was pleasantly surprising. Turns out once you get by the hostess station, it's a good restaurant. Good food, quick and friendly service. And I didn't pay. What's not to like? Oh, the hostess. But we're over that, right? Right?? So District Commons gets a web redemption. (Apparently Daniel Tosh is my celebrity look-alike and act-alike).

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

My San Francisco Trip. In More Detail Than You Want

So I would've updated from San Francisco but Blake, in a moment of incredible silliness, forgot his wireless internet password. It's a good thing I have one, because I was relegated to my iPhone for internet access for most of the trip. Blake, that deserves a fist shake. There, I shook my fist. Internet problems aside, San Francisco was a ton of fun. Real quick recap
Tuesday - arrived and met up with Dave, who saw Will Ferrell in a Starbucks at the airport. I clearly arrived too late. Once we got to the city, we (the gang - Dave, Blake, and Emma, as well as Dylan, Blake's roommate, oh and Kool-get it?) went to the Mission for some delicious burritos. Then we hit up a bar called the Rio whose main attractions were terrible margaritas and even worse live music. And a cat roaming around the patio. We lasted for two rounds at that bar before moving on to find greener pastures. We settled on heading to a party hosted by some girl Emma knows (read: "knows"). After listening to Blake complain about the bus system for twelve minutes, Emma decided to try to catch the bus. Blake and Dylan decided they weren't going along and headed towards the BART station (yes, San Francisco's subway is named after a Simpsons character). I followed Blake, and we ended up near the party waaaay before Emma and the rest. So we went to another bar before heading to the party. The party ended up being a bunch of drunk modern hippies sitting around a bonfire trying to make s'mores. Life lesson: marshmallow is a bad chaser for whiskey. The fire was pretty fun though - marshmallows, guitar, a burn victim, and Blake tackling Dave. My clothes smelled like smoke for the next fifteen hours, but it was well worth it.

Wednesday - Emma and Blake had work. Lame. Dave and I met up with his roommate Sam, and the three of us did touristy things. We walked around the Embarcadero, Fisherman's Wharf, and the Pier. We saw a man try to scare a seal off the dock. Wildlife abound. After a desperate search for somewhere to pee, we ate a much anticipated meal at In N' Out Burger. People from the West Coast love it. I've heard much praise. And honestly, it wasn't that great. Maybe it was my sobriety. Or maybe I just didn't drink the In N' Out Kool-Aid. I don't really get the hype. Chipotle hype seems more legitimate. I mean, the burger was just fine. The "animal style" fries were sort of gross. It was far from the mind-blowing experience I expected. Our next stop was recommended by my mom, of all people: the Buena Vista, famous for its Irish coffee. And I'll say, the Irish coffee did exactly the opposite of In N' Out burger; it totally rocked my world. Best Irish coffee I've ever had. Heck, the Buena Vista was even mentioned in a recent NYTimes article about Irish coffee. At night the gang headed out to a New York style deli (chosen by Blake - why is that what I want to eat when I head out west?) and a couple bars. The first bar, Kozy Kar, had centerfolds all over and classic tv interspersed with porn on tv. It really wasn't the perfect set-up, so we moved on to playing pool at an Irish bar. Emma put metal on the jukebox and scared away customers, leaving Blake and Dave to apologize to the bartender. Way to go.

Thursday - (wow this is getting long. I'll try to shorten it up) Again with the work for Emma and Blake, leaving Dave and me to fend for ourselves. I had lunch with my cousin at the Embarcardero and bought twelve dollar jeans. I was proud of myself. That evening, Dave and I ventured out to an Italian restaurant called Ideale and a fantastic bar called the Comstock Saloon. The Comstock was on the GQ top 25 cocktail bars list, and it absolutely lived up to its billing. I had the best Sazerac of my life, and a really good Blood and Sand. Then we met up with Emma to watch fire spinners. As in, people spinning sticks that were on fire. Apparently it's a popular hobby? But it was pretty cool to watch. However, the highlight of the night was one of Emma's friends letting me use his bullwhip. I'll be damned if I didn't hum the Indiana Jones theme song to myself as I attempted to crack the whip without smacking myself in the face (I succeeded!) It was epic. I think I have to purchase a bullwhip now. It's just about the coolest thing I've ever held. Dave got a hotel room with his girlfriend (too long a story - he can get his own blog if he wants to tell it), so Emma and I got some bomb nachos and went back to Blake's. Long story short, I ended up drinking with Blake and his girlfriend until 4 am (7 am EST, which is the time I was on). And Thursday mergers into...

Friday - where I woke up drunk after about five hours of sleep. What a miserable feeling! Oh god! It's somehow worse than the "I'm never drinking again" feeling. Blake took the day off and he, Dave, and I went to Haight St. Apparently there are no laws in San Francisco and you can drink and smoke a bowl in public. Saw lots of that. And a drum circle in the park at the end of Haight, which I think is Golden Gate Park. Nothing causes righteous anger like a drum circle. (Side note: I really have never smelled as much pot just walking around the street. It's totally crazy for me to wrap my mind around. I guess I'm not 'chill' and 'mellow' enough to find it normal. Don't you all have jobs?? What are you doing smoking a joint in the middle of the day walking down the street?) In the middle of Haight, I started feeling a lot better (how is not fit to print). We went to the Alembic, another of GQ's chosen cocktail bars, where I had a good pisco sour. Maybe it was the context (not feeling well, middle of the afternoon, bartender's bad attitude), but the Alembic was not as good as Comstock Saloon. Take a note of that. Still a fun bar. After Haight, we went for dinner in the Mission. Blake ordered a pitcher of margaritas and berated me for an hour that I wasn't day drinking with him. How dare he take a day off and I refuse to drink away my hangover? So while Blake and Dave engaged in some competitive margarita drinking, I ate a taco salad and felt a lot better. That night the gang went to a funk show at the Independent. Now, we thought we were going to see Dumpstafunk (not that it means anything to me), but the opening band just kept playing. And playing. Their first three or so songs I was fine with. Then I got annoyed, but I found solace in the fact that they were just the opening band and would end shortly. I was wrong. They played for at least an hour and a half. I went through the entire emotional spectrum: excitement -> annoyance -> anger -> denial -> acceptance -> funkytown. But by the time I got to funkytown, everyone else got to anger. Who was I to stop everyone from leaving a funk show where we had already put in 90 minutes? So we left, went to a crappy bar, and I got about 4 hours of sleep before my flight. The next day Southwest almost let me miss my flight, but that's not as good a story.

And that's quite long enough for that post. More later. Sufficed to say, I am back in DC, the weather is beautiful, and I have little to no drive to do my reading. In fact, this week I just skipped my Trusts & Estates reading. And no hellfire rained down. Nothing bad happened to me. I think this may be the start of a whole new outlook on life.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Costco is a great place

I would say the highlight of my weekend was going to Costco. If only to congratulate myself for the awesome purchase of a 24-pack of Guinness in preparation for St. Patrick's Day. What forethought I have. Oh thanks, me. Between that and an industrial-sized pack of Cliff Bars, I feel that I made out like a bandit. Not to mention that cheap pizza and hot dog I had from their vendor. The $1.50 hot dog-soda combo they offer restores my faith in humanity. I love knowing they can profitably sell that delicious due to me every time I visit.

Besides that, it was mostly research for my antitrust paper and being weirdly tired. Damn you, coal industry for being unnecessarily opaque in terms of production and pricing data. You are making my paper much more difficult to research. Sounds thrilling already, doesn't it? Oh, you want more? Well I am writing about a merger between coal firms in the Southern Powder River Basin of Wyoming, the largest coal-producing region in the country. I know it's thrilling. Please, hold your applause.

My plane ride tomorrow will be full of coal mergers and editing 2L note drafts. 'Cause I'm going to San Francisco! I believe the appropriate words are "Oh yeah!" I'm meeting up with Dave and staying with Blake and Emma. It's going to be magical. In preparation I've been listening to nothing but "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay". Now I am curiously depressed to visit California. I'll have to mix in a little "California Love" and "California Dreaming." And "California Girls." Hey, why are there so many songs about California? And so many movies? They think they are better than the rest of us?! Well listen up hippies, I'm coming to prove you wrong. This thought took a belligerent turn. It needs more Tupac. And the Eagles!

Alright, I have to pack. But I promise there will be California updates.